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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap’n Warren’s Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cap’n Warren’s Wards
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 11, 2009 [EBook #3280]
+Last Updated: September 27, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP’N WARREN’S WARDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson and D. A. Alexander
+
+
+
+
+
+ CAP’N WARREN’S WARDS
+
+ By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+ Author of “The Depot Master,” “The Woman Haters,”
+  “The Postmaster,” “Cap’n Erie,”
+  “Mr. Pratt,” etc.
+
+ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
+ BY EDMUND FREDERICK
+
+ A. L. BURT COMPANY
+ PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT 1911, BY
+ D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+
+ _Published October, 1911_
+
+ Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: “Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was facing
+her.” [Page 48]]
+
+
+
+
+CAP’N WARREN’S WARDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+“Ostable!” screamed the brakeman, opening the car door and yelling his
+loudest, so as to be heard above the rattle of the train and the shriek
+of the wind; “Ostable!”
+
+The brakeman’s cap was soaked through, his hair was plastered down on
+his forehead, and, in the yellow light from the car lamps, his wet nose
+glistened as if varnished. Over his shoulders the shiny ropes of rain
+whipped and lashed across the space between the cars. The windows
+streamed as each succeeding gust flung its miniature freshet against
+them.
+
+The passengers in the car--there were but four of them--did not seem
+greatly interested in the brakeman’s announcement. The red-faced person
+in the seat nearest the rear slept soundly, as he had done for the
+last hour and a half. He had boarded the train at Brockton, and, after
+requesting the conductor not to “lemme me git by Bayport, Bill,” at
+first favored his fellow travelers with a song and then sank into
+slumber.
+
+The two elderly men sitting together on the right-hand side of the car
+droned on in their apparently endless Jeremiad concerning the low price
+of cranberries, the scarcity of scallops on the flats, the reasons why
+the fish weirs were a failure nowadays, and similar cheerful topics. And
+in his seat on the left, Mr. Atwood Graves, junior partner in the New
+York firm of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves, lawyers, stirred uneasily on
+the lumpy plush cushion, looked at his watch, then at the time-table in
+his hand, noted that the train was now seventy-two minutes late, and
+for at least the fifteenth time mentally cursed the railway company, the
+whole of Cape Cod from Sandwich to Provincetown, and the fates which had
+brought him there.
+
+The train slowed down, in a jerky, hiccoughy sort of way, and crept
+on till the car in which Mr. Graves was seated was abreast the lighted
+windows of a small station, where it stopped. Peering through the
+water-streaked pane at the end of his seat, the lawyer saw dim
+silhouettes of uncertain outline moving about. They moved with provoking
+slowness. He felt that it would be joy unspeakable to rush out there and
+thump them into animation. The fact that the stately Atwood Graves even
+thought of such an undignified proceeding is sufficient indication of
+his frame of mind.
+
+Then, behind the door which the brakeman, after announcing the station,
+had closed again, sounded a big laugh. The heartiness of it grated on
+Mr. Graves’s nerves. What idiot could laugh on such a night as this
+aboard a train over an hour late?
+
+The laugh was repeated. Then the door was flung briskly open, and a
+man entered the car. He was a big man, broad-shouldered, inclined to
+stoutness, wearing a cloth cap with a visor, and a heavy ulster, the
+collar of which was turned up. Through the gap between the open ends of
+the collar bristled a short, grayish beard. The face above the beard and
+below the visor was sunburned, with little wrinkles about the eyes and
+curving lines from the nostrils to the corners of the mouth. The upper
+lip was shaved, and the eyebrows were heavy and grayish black. Cap,
+face, and ulster were dripping with water.
+
+The newcomer paused in the doorway for an instant, evidently to add the
+finishing touch to a conversation previously begun.
+
+“Well, I tell you, Ezra,” he called, over his shoulder, “if it’s too
+deep to wade, maybe I can swim. Fat floats, they tell me, and Abbie says
+I’m gettin’ fleshier every day. So long.”
+
+He closed the door and, smiling broadly, swung down the aisle. The pair
+of calamity prophets broke off their lament over the declining fisheries
+and greeted him almost jovially.
+
+“Hello, Cap’n!” cried one. “What’s the south shore doin’ over here in
+this flood?”
+
+“What’s the matter, Cap’n?” demanded the other. “Broke loose from your
+moorin’s, have you? Did you ever see such a night in your life?”
+
+The man in the ulster shook hands with each of his questioners, removing
+a pair of wet, heavy leather gloves as he did so.
+
+“Don’t know’s I ever did, Dan,” he answered. “Couldn’t see much of this
+one but its color--and that’s black. I come over this mornin’ to
+attend to some business at the court-house--deeds to some cranberry bog
+property I just bought--and Judge Baxter made me go home with him to
+dinner. Stayed at his house all the afternoon, and then his man, Ezra
+Hallett, undertook to drive me up here to the depot. Talk about blind
+pilotin’! Whew! The Judge’s horse was a new one, not used to the roads,
+Ezra’s near-sighted, and I couldn’t use my glasses ‘count of the rain.
+Let alone that, ‘twas darker’n the fore-hold of Noah’s ark. Ho, ho!
+Sometimes we was in the ruts and sometimes we was in the bushes. I told
+Ez we’d ought to have fetched along a dipsy lead, then maybe we could
+get our bearin’s by soundin’s. ‘Couldn’t see ‘em if we did get ‘em,’
+says he. ‘No,’ says I, ‘but we could taste ‘em. Man that’s driven
+through as much Ostable mud as you have ought to know the taste of every
+road in town.’”
+
+“Well, you caught the train, anyhow,” observed Dan.
+
+“Yup. If we’d been crippled as _well_ as blind we could have done that.”
+ He seated himself just in front of the pair and glanced across the aisle
+at Mr. Graves, to find the latter looking intently at him.
+
+“Pretty tough night,” he remarked, nodding.
+
+“Yes,” replied the lawyer briefly. He did not encourage conversation
+with casual acquaintances. The latest arrival had caught his attention
+because there was something familiar about him. It seemed to Graves that
+he must have seen him before; and yet that was very improbable. This
+was the attorney’s first visit to Cape Cod, and he had already vowed
+devoutly that it should be his last. He turned a chilling shoulder to
+the trio opposite and again consulted the time-table. Denboro was the
+next station; then--thank the Lord--South Denboro, his destination.
+
+Conversation across the aisle was brisk, and its subjects were many and
+varied. Mr. Graves became aware, more or less against his will, that
+the person called “Cap’n” was, if not a leader in politics and local
+affairs, still one whose opinions counted. Some of those opinions, as
+given, were pointed and dryly descriptive; as, for instance, when a
+certain town-meeting candidate was compared to a sculpin--“with a big
+head that sort of impresses you, till you get close enough to realize it
+_has_ to be big to make room for so much mouth.” Graves, who was fond
+of salt water fishing, knew what a sculpin was, and appreciated the
+comparison.
+
+The conductor entered the car and stopped to collect a ticket from his
+new passenger. It was evident that he, too, was acquainted with the
+latter.
+
+“Evening, Cap’n,” he said, politely. “Train’s a little late to-night.”
+
+“It is--for to-night’s train,” was the prompt response, “but if it keeps
+on at the rate it’s travelin’ now, it’ll be a little early for to-morrow
+mornin’s, won’t it?”
+
+The conductor laughed. “Guess you’re right,” he said. “This is about as
+wet a storm as I’ve run through since I’ve been on the road. If we get
+to Provincetown without a washout we’ll be lucky.... Well, we’ve made
+another hitch. So far, so good.”
+
+The brakeman swung open the door to shout, “Denboro! Denboro!” the
+conductor picked up his lantern and hurried away, the locomotive
+whistled hoarsely, and the train hiccoughed alongside another little
+station. Mr. Graves, peering through his window, imagined that here
+the silhouettes on the platform moved more briskly. They seemed almost
+excited. He inferred that Denboro was a bigger and more wide-awake
+village than Ostable.
+
+But he was mistaken. The reason for the excitement was made plain by the
+conductor a moment afterwards. That official entered the car, removed
+his uniform cap, and rubbed a wet forehead with a wetter hand.
+
+“Well, gentlemen,” he said, “I’ve been expecting it, and here it is.
+Mark me down as a good prophet, will you? There’s a washout a mile
+further on, and a telegraph pole across the track. It’s blowing great
+guns and raining pitchforks. It’ll be out of the question for us to go
+forward before daylight, if then. Darn a railroad man’s job anyhow!”
+
+Five minutes later Mr. Graves descended the steps of the car, his
+traveling bag in one hand and an umbrella in the other. As soon as
+both feet were securely planted on the platform, he put down the bag
+to wrestle with the umbrella and the hurricane, which was apparently
+blowing from four directions at once. Feeling his hat leaving his head,
+he became aware that the umbrella had turned inside out. He threw the
+wreck violently under the train and stooped to pick up the bag. The bag
+was no longer there.
+
+“It’s all right,” said a calm voice behind him. “I’ve got your satchel,
+neighbor. Better beat for harbor, hadn’t we? Here! this way.”
+
+The bewildered New Yorker felt his arm seized in a firm grip, and he was
+rushed across the platform, through a deluge of wind-driven water, and
+into a small, hot, close-smelling waiting room. When he pushed his hat
+clear of his eyes he saw that his rescuer was the big man who boarded
+the train at Ostable. He was holding the missing bag and smiling.
+
+“Dirty weather, hey?” he observed, pleasantly. “Sorry your umbrella had
+to go by the board. I see you was carryin’ too much canvas and tried to
+run alongside in time to give you a tow; but you was dismasted just as I
+got there. Here’s your dunnage, all safe and sound.”
+
+He extended the traveling bag at arm’s length. Mr. Graves accepted his
+property and murmured thanks, not too cordially. His dignity and temper
+had gone overboard with the umbrella, and he had not yet recovered them.
+
+“Well,” went on his companion, “here we are! And I, for one, wanted to
+be somewheres else. Caleb,” turning to the station master, who came in
+at that moment, “any way of my gettin’ home to-night?”
+
+“‘Fraid not, Cap’n,” was the answer. “I don’t know of any. Guess you’ll
+have to put up at the hotel and wait till mornin’.”
+
+“That’s right,” agreed the passenger called “Dan,” who was standing
+near. “That’s what Jerry and I are goin’ to do.”
+
+“Yes, but you and Jerry are bound for Orham. I’m booked for South
+Denboro, and that’s only seven miles off. I’d _swim_ the whole seven
+rather than put up at Sim Titcomb’s hotel. I’ve been there afore, thank
+you! Look here, Caleb, can’t I hire a team and drive over?”
+
+“Well, I don’t know. S’pose you might ring up Pete Shattuck and ask him.
+He’s pretty particular about his horses, though, and I cal’late he--”
+
+“All right. I’ll ring him up. Pete ought to get over some of his
+particularness to oblige me. I’ve helped _him_ once or twice.”
+
+He was on his way to the ticket office, where the telephone hung on the
+wall. But Mr. Graves stepped forward and spoke to him.
+
+“Excuse me, sir,” said the lawyer. “Did I understand you to say you were
+going to South Denboro?”
+
+“Yes. I am, if the powers--and Pete Shattuck--‘ll let me.”
+
+“You were going to drive over? May I go with you? I’m very anxious to
+get to South Denboro to-night. I have some very important business
+there, and I want to complete it and get away to-morrow. I must be back
+in New York by the morning following.”
+
+The captain looked his questioner over. There was a doubtful look on his
+face, and he smiled quizzically.
+
+“Well, I don’t know, Mr.--”
+
+“Graves is my name.”
+
+“I don’t know, Mr. Graves. This ain’t goin’ to be a pleasure cruise
+exactly. You might get pretty wet.”
+
+“I don’t care. I can get dry again when I get there. Of course I shall
+share the expense of the livery. I shall be greatly obliged if I may go
+with you. If not, I must try for a rig myself.”
+
+“Oh, if you feel that way about it, why, come ahead and welcome. I was
+only warnin’ you, that’s all. However, with me aboard for ballast, I
+guess we won’t blow away. Wait a jiffy till I get after Pete.”
+
+He entered the ticket office and raised a big hand to the little crank
+of the telephone bell.
+
+“Let’s see, Caleb,” he called; “what’s Shattuck’s number?”
+
+“Four long and two short,” answered the station master.
+
+Graves, wondering vaguely what sort of telephone system was in use on
+Cape Cod, heard his prospective pilot ring the instrument for a full two
+seconds, repeating the ring four times altogether. This he followed with
+two sharp tinkles. Then came a series of shouted “Hellos!” and, at last,
+fragments of one-half of a dialogue.
+
+“That you, Shattuck? Know who this is, don’t you? Yes, that’s right....
+Say, how many folks listen every time a bell rings on this line? I’ve
+heard no less’n eight receivers come down so far.... Two of ‘em went up
+then, did you hear ‘em?... Sartin.... I want to hire a team to go over
+home with.... To-night--Sartin.... I don’t care.... Yes, you will,
+too.... _Yes_, you _will_... Send my man back with it to-morrow... I
+don’t care _what_ it is, so it’s got four legs and wheels....”
+
+And so on for at least five minutes. Then the captain hung up the
+receiver and came back to the waiting room.
+
+“Bargain’s made, Mr. Graves,” he announced. “Pete’ll have some sort of
+a turn-out alongside soon’s he can get it harnessed. If you’ve got any
+extra storm duds in that satchel of yours, I’d advise you to put ‘em on.
+We’re goin’ to have a rough passage.”
+
+Just how rough it was likely to be, Graves realized when he emerged from
+the station to board the Shattuck buggy. “Pete” himself had driven the
+equipage over from the livery stable.
+
+“I wouldn’t do this for anybody but you, Cap’n,” he vouchsafed, in what
+might be called a reproachful shout. Shouting was necessary, owing to
+the noise of the storm.
+
+“Wouldn’t do what?” replied the captain, looking first at the ancient
+horse and then at the battered buggy.
+
+“Let this horse out a night like this.”
+
+“Humph! I should think night would be the only time you would let him
+out.... There! there! never mind. Get aboard, Mr. Graves. Put your
+satchel on the floor between your feet. Here, let me h’ist that boot for
+you.”
+
+The “boot” was a rubber curtain buttoned across the front of the buggy,
+extending from the dashboard to just below the level of the driver’s
+eyes. The lawyer clambered in behind it, the captain followed, the end
+of the reins was passed through a slit in the boot, Mr. Shattuck, after
+inquiring if they were “all taut,” gave the command, “Gid-dap!” and
+horse and buggy moved around the corner of the station, out into
+darkness.
+
+Of the next hour Graves’s memories are keen but monotonous,--a strong
+smell of stable, arising from the laprobe which had evidently been
+recently used as a horse blanket; the sound of hoofs, in an interminable
+“jog, jog--splash, splash,” never hurrying; a series of exasperated
+howls from the captain, who was doing his best to make them hurry; the
+thunderous roar of rain on the buggy top and the shrieking gale which
+rocked the vehicle on its springs and sent showers of fine spray driving
+in at every crack and crevice between the curtains.
+
+The view ahead, over the boot, was blackness, bordered by spidery trees
+and branches whipping in the wind. Occasionally they passed houses
+sitting well back from the road, a lighted window gleaming cozily. And
+ever, as they moved, the storm seemed to gather force.
+
+Graves noticed this and, at length, when his nervousness had reached
+the breaking point, screamed a question in his companion’s ear. They
+had attempted no conversation during the ride, the lawyer, whose
+contemptuous opinion of the locality and all its inhabitants was now a
+conviction, feeling that the result would not be worth the effort, and
+the captain busy with his driving.
+
+“It is blowing worse than ever, isn’t it?” yelled the nervous Graves.
+
+“Hey? No, just about the same. It’s dead sou’west and we’re getting out
+of the woods, that’s all. Up on those bare hills we catch the full force
+of it right off the Sound. Be there pretty soon now, if this Old Hundred
+of a horse would quit walkin’ in his sleep and really move. Them lights
+ahead are South Denboro.”
+
+The lights were clustered at the foot of a long and rather steep hill.
+Down the declivity bounced and rocked the buggy. The horse’s hoofs
+sounded hollow on the planks of a bridge. The road narrowed and became
+a village street, bordered and arched by tall trees which groaned and
+threshed in the hurricane. The rain, as it beat in over the boot, had,
+so the lawyer fancied, a salty taste.
+
+The captain bent down. “Say, Mister,” he shouted, “where was it you
+wanted to stop? Who is it you’re lookin’ for?”
+
+“What?”
+
+“I say--Heavens to Betsy! how that wind does screech!--I say where’bouts
+shall I land you. This is South Denboro. Whose house do you want to go
+to?”
+
+“I’m looking for one of your leading citizens. Elisha Warren is his
+name.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“Elisha Warren. I--”
+
+He was interrupted. There was a sharp crack overhead, followed by a
+tremendous rattle and crash. Then down upon the buggy descended what,
+to Graves, appeared to be an avalanche of scratching, tearing twigs
+and branches. They ripped away the boot and laprobe and jammed him back
+against the seat, their sharp points against his breast. The buggy was
+jerked forward a few feet and stopped short.
+
+He heard the clatter of hoofs and shouts of “Whoa!” and “Stand
+still!” He tried to rise, but the tangle of twigs before him seemed
+impenetrable, so he gave it up and remained where he was. Then, after an
+interval, came a hail from the darkness.
+
+“Hi, there! Mr. Graves, ahoy! Hurt, be you?”
+
+“No,” the lawyer’s tone was doubtful. “No--o, I--I guess not. That you,
+Captain?”
+
+“Yes, it’s me. Stand still, you foolhead! Quit your hoppin’ up and
+down!” These commands were evidently addressed to the horse. “Glad you
+ain’t hurt. Better get out, hadn’t you?”
+
+“I--I’m not sure that I can get out. What on earth has happened?”
+
+“Tree limb carried away. Lucky for us we got the brush end, ‘stead of
+the butt. Scooch down and see if you can’t wriggle out underneath. I
+did.”
+
+Mr. Graves obediently “scooched.” After a struggle he managed to slide
+under the tangle of branches and, at length, stood on his feet in the
+road beside the buggy. The great limb had fallen across the street, its
+heavy end near the walk. As the captain had said, it was fortunate for
+the travelers that the “brush” only had struck the carriage.
+
+Graves found his companion standing at the horse’s head, holding the
+frightened animal by the bridle. The rain was descending in a flood.
+
+“Well!” gasped the agitated New Yorker. “I’ll be hanged if this isn’t--”
+
+“Ain’t it? But say, Mr. Graves, _who_ did you say you was comin’ to
+see?”
+
+“Oh, a person named Elisha Warren. He lives in this forsaken hole
+somewhere, I believe. If I had known what an experience I must go
+through to reach him, I’d have seen him at the devil.”
+
+From the bulky figure at the horse’s head came a chuckle.
+
+“Humph! Well, Mr. Graves, if the butt of that limb had fetched us,
+instead of t’other end, I don’t know but you _might_ have seen him
+there. I’m Elisha Warren, and that’s my house over yonder where the
+lights are.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+“This is your room, Mr. Graves,” said Miss Abigail Baker, placing
+the lighted lamp on the bureau. “And here’s a pair of socks and some
+slippers. They belong to Elisha--Cap’n Warren, that is--but he’s got
+more. Cold water and towels and soap are on the washstand over yonder;
+but I guess you’ve had enough _cold_ water for one night. There’s plenty
+hot in the bathroom at the end of the hall. After you change your wet
+things, just leave ‘em spread out on the floor. I’ll come fetch ‘em by
+and by and hang ‘em to dry in the kitchen. Come right downstairs when
+you’re ready. Anything else you want? No? All right then. You needn’t
+hurry. Supper’s waited an hour ‘n’ a half as ‘tis. ‘Twon’t hurt it to
+wait a spell longer.”
+
+She went away, closing the door after her. The bewildered, wet and
+shivering New Yorker stared about the room, which, to his surprise, was
+warm and cozy. The warmth was furnished, so he presently discovered,
+by a steam radiator in the corner. Radiators and a bathroom! These were
+modern luxuries he would have taken for granted, had Elisha Warren been
+the sort of man he expected to find, the country magnate, the leading
+citizen, fitting brother to the late A. Rodgers Warren, of Fifth Avenue
+and Wall Street.
+
+But the Captain Warren who had driven him to South Denboro in the rain
+was not that kind of man at all. His manner and his language were as far
+removed from those of the late A. Rodgers as the latter’s brown stone
+residence was from this big rambling house, with its deep stairs and
+narrow halls, its antiquated pictures and hideous, old-fashioned wall
+paper; as far removed as Miss Baker, whom the captain had hurriedly
+introduced as “my second cousin keepin’ house for me,” was from the
+dignified butler at the mansion on Fifth Avenue. Patchwork comforters
+and feather beds were not, in the lawyer’s scheme of things, fit
+associates for radiators and up-to-date bathrooms. And certainly this
+particular Warren was not fitted to be elder brother to the New York
+broker who had been Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves’ client.
+
+It could not be, it _could_ not. There must be some mistake. In country
+towns there were likely to be several of the same name. There must be
+another Elisha Warren. Comforted by this thought, Mr. Graves opened his
+valise, extracted therefrom other and drier articles of wearing apparel,
+and proceeded to change his clothes.
+
+Meanwhile, Miss Abigail had descended the stairs to the sitting room.
+Before a driftwood fire in a big brick fireplace sat Captain Warren in
+his shirt-sleeves, a pair of mammoth carpet slippers on his feet, and
+the said feet stretched luxuriously out toward the blaze.
+
+“Abbie,” observed the captain, “this is solid comfort. Every time I go
+away from home I get into trouble, don’t I? Last trip I took to Boston,
+I lost thirty dollars, and--”
+
+“Lost it!” interrupted Miss Baker, tartly. “Gave it away, you mean.”
+
+“I didn’t _give_ it away. I lent it. Abbie, you ought to know the
+difference between a gift and a loan.”
+
+“I do--when there is any difference. But if lendin’ Tim Foster ain’t
+givin’ it away, then I miss my guess.”
+
+“Well,” with another chuckle, “Tim don’t feel that way. He swore right
+up and down that he wouldn’t take a cent--as a gift. I offered to make
+him a present of ten dollars, but he looked so shocked that I apologized
+afore he could say no.”
+
+“Yes, and then _lent_ him that thirty. Shocked! The only thing that
+would shock that good-for-nothin’ is bein’ set to work. What possessed
+you to be such a soft-head, _I_ don’t know. When you get back a copper
+of that money I’ll believe the millennium’s struck, that’s all.”
+
+“Hum! Well, I’ll help you believe it--that is, if I have time afore I
+drop dead of heart disease. Abbie, you’d make a good lawyer; you can get
+up an argument out of a perfect agreement. I said the thirty dollars
+was lost, to begin with. But I knew Tim Foster’s mother when she used
+to think that boy of hers was the eighth wonder of the world. And I
+promised her I’d do what I could for him long’s I lived.... But it seems
+to me we’ve drifted some off the course, ain’t we? What I started to say
+was that every time I go away from home I get into trouble. Up to Boston
+‘twas Tim and his ‘loan.’ To-night it’s about as healthy a sou’wester
+as I’ve ever been out in. Dan fetched in the team, has he?”
+
+“Yes. It’s in the stable. He says the buggy dash is pretty well
+scratched up, and that it’s a wonder you and that Graves man wa’n’t
+killed. Who is he, anyhow?”
+
+“Land knows, I don’t.”
+
+“You don’t know! Then what’s he doin’ here?”
+
+“Changin’ his duds, I guess. That’s what I’d do if I looked as much like
+a drowned rat as he did.”
+
+“‘Lisha Warren! if you ain’t the most _provoking’_ thing! Don’t be so
+unlikely. You know what I mean. What’s he come here, to this house,
+for?”
+
+“Don’t know, Abbie. I didn’t know he _was_ comin’ here till just as we
+got down yonder by Emery’s corner. I asked him who he was lookin’ for,
+he said ‘Elisha Warren,’ and then the tree caved in on us.”
+
+“‘Lisha, you--you don’t s’pose ‘twas a--_sign_, do you?”
+
+“Sign?”
+
+“Yes, a sign, a prophecy-like, a warnin’ that somethin’ is goin’ to
+happen.”
+
+The captain put back his head and laughed.
+
+“Sign somethin’ _had_ happened, I should think,” he answered. “What’s
+_goin’_ to happen is that Pete Shattuck’ll get his buggy painted
+free-for-nothin’, at my expense. How’s supper gettin’ along? Is it
+ready?”
+
+“Ready? It’s been ready for so long that it’ll have to be got ready
+all over again if.... Oh! Come right in, Mr. Graves! I hope you’re drier
+now.”
+
+Captain Warren sprang from the chair to greet his visitor, who was
+standing in the doorway.
+
+“Yes, come right in, Mr. Graves,” he urged, cordially. “Set down by the
+fire and make yourself comf’table. Abbie’ll have somethin’ for us to eat
+in a jiffy. Pull up a chair.”
+
+The lawyer came forward hesitatingly. The doubts which had troubled him
+ever since he entered the house were still in his mind.
+
+“Thank you, Captain,” he said. “But before I accept more of your
+hospitality I feel I should be sure there is no mistake. I have come on
+important business, and--”
+
+“Hold on!” The captain held up a big hand. “Don’t you say another word,”
+ he commanded. “There’s just one business that interests me this minute,
+and that’s supper. There’s no mistake about _that_, anyhow. Did you say
+‘Come ahead,’ Abbie? or was you just going to? Good! Right into the
+dinin’ room, Mr. Graves.”
+
+The dining room was long and low. The woodwork was white, the floor
+green painted boards, with braided rag mats scattered over them.
+There were old-fashioned pictures on the walls, pictures which brought
+shudders to the artistic soul of Atwood Graves. A broad bay window
+filled one side of the apartment, and in this window, on shelves and in
+wire baskets, were Miss Baker’s cherished and carefully tended plants.
+As for the dining table, it was dark, old-fashioned walnut, as were the
+chairs.
+
+“Set right down here, Mr. Graves,” ordered the captain. “I’ll try
+to keep you supplied with solid cargo, and Abbie’ll ‘tend to the
+moistenin’. Hope that teapot is full up, Abbie. Hot tea tastes good
+after you’ve swallered as much cold rain as Mr. Graves and I have...
+Father-we-thank-thee-for-these-mercies-set-before-us-Amen.... How’s
+your appetite when it comes to clam pie, Mr. Graves?”
+
+Mr. Graves’s appetite was good, and the clam pie was good. So, too,
+were the hot biscuits and the tea and homemade preserves and cake.
+Conversation during the meal was, for the most part, a monologue by the
+captain. He gave Miss Baker a detailed and exaggerated account of his
+adventures in Ostable, on board the train, and during the drive home.
+The housekeeper listened, fidgeting in her chair.
+
+“‘Lisha Warren,” she interrupted, “how you do talk! Rainin’ so hard you
+had to hold the reins taut to keep the horse’s head out of water so he
+wouldn’t drown! The idea!”
+
+“Fact,” asserted Captain Warren, with a wink at his guest. “And that
+wa’n’t the worst of it. ‘Twas so dark I had to keep feelin’ the buggy
+with my foot to be sure I was in it. Ain’t that so, Mr. Graves?... Here!
+Abbie won’t like to have you set lookin’ at that empty plate. She’s
+always afraid folks’ll notice the gilt’s wearin’ off. Pass it over
+quick, and let me cover it with some more pie.”
+
+“Yes, and have some more tea,” urged Miss Abbie. “You mustn’t pay
+attention to what he says, Mr. Graves,” she went on. “Some day he’ll
+tell the truth by accident, and then I’ll know it’s time to send for the
+doctor.”
+
+Several times the lawyer attempted to mention the business which had
+brought him to the Cape, and the probability of his having made a
+mistake. But neither host nor housekeeper would listen.
+
+“When you’ve been in South Denboro as long as I have,” declared the
+former, “you’ll understand that the time to talk business is when you
+can’t think of anything else. Wait till we get into the settin’ room.
+Abbie, those six or eight biscuits I’ve ate are gettin’ lonesome. I’ll
+take another for sociability, thank you.”
+
+But, at last, when all the biscuits but one were gone, and the cake
+plate looked like the Desert of Sahara, the captain pushed back his
+chair, rose, and led the way into the next room. Miss Baker remained to
+clear the table.
+
+“Set down by the fire, Mr. Graves,” urged the captain. “Nothin’ like
+burnin’ wood to look hot and comf’table, is there? It don’t always make
+you feel that way--that’s why I put in hot water heat--but for looks and
+sociableness you can’t beat a log fire. Smoke, do you?”
+
+“Yes. Occasionally. But, Captain Warren--”
+
+“Here, try that. It’s a cigar the Judge gave me over to Ostable. He
+smokes that kind reg’lar, but if you don’t like it, throw it away.
+He ain’t here to see you do it, so you won’t be fined for contempt of
+court. I’ll stick to a pipe, if you don’t mind. Now we’re shipshape
+and all taut, I cal’late. Let’s see, you wanted to talk business, I
+believe.”
+
+“Yes, I did. But before I begin I should like to be sure you are the
+Elisha Warren I came from New York to interview. Is there another of
+that name in Denboro?”
+
+“Um-hm. There’s Warrens a-plenty all through this section of the Cape.
+Our family blew ashore here a hundred and fifty years ago, or such
+matter. My dad’s name was Elisha; so was my grandfather’s. Both sea
+cap’ns, and both dead. There’s another Elisha livin’ over on the shore
+lane.”
+
+“Indeed. Then perhaps it is he I want.”
+
+“P’raps. He’s keeper of the town poorhouse. I can tell you better if you
+give me an idea what your business is.”
+
+“I am an attorney. And now let me ask another question, please. Have
+you--had you a brother in business in New York?”
+
+“Hey?” The captain turned and looked his guest squarely in the eye. His
+brows drew together.
+
+“I’ve got a brother in New York,” he answered, slowly. “Did _he_ send
+you here?”
+
+“Was your brother’s name A. Rodgers Warren?”
+
+“‘A. Rodgers’? No. His name is Abijah Warren, and--Wait! His middle name
+is Rodgers, though. Did ‘Bije send you to me?”
+
+“A moment, Captain. Was your brother a broker?”
+
+“Yes. His office is--or used to be on Broad Street. What--”
+
+“You have not heard from him for some time?”
+
+“Not for eighteen years. He and I didn’t agree as well as we might.
+Maybe ‘twas my fault, maybe ‘twas his. I have my own ideas on that. If
+you’re lookin’ for ‘Bije Warren’s brother, Mr. Graves, I guess you’ve
+come to the right place. But _what_ he sent you to me for, or what
+he wants--for he wants somethin’, or he wouldn’t have sent--I don’t
+understand.”
+
+“Why do you think he wanted something?”
+
+“Because he’s ‘Bije Warren, and I was brought up with him. When we was
+young ones together, he went to school and I went to work. He got the
+frostin’ on the cake, and I got the burnt part next to the pan. He went
+to college, and I went to sea. He.... However, you mustn’t think I find
+fault with him for that. I sp’iled him as much as anybody, I guess.
+‘Twas later on that we.... Well, never mind that, either. What is it he
+wants of me, after eighteen years?”
+
+“He wants a good deal of you, Captain Warren. Or _did_ want it.”
+
+“Did? Don’t he want it now?”
+
+“I don’t know. Captain, I’m surprised that you haven’t heard. It seems
+that I am the bearer of bad news. Your brother--”
+
+“Is ‘Bije _dead_?”
+
+“He died ten days ago very suddenly. In a way it was a great shock to us
+all, yet we have known that his heart was weak. He realized it, too.”
+
+“So ‘Bije is dead, hey?” Captain Elisha’s face was very grave, and he
+spoke slowly. “Dead! Well, well, well!”
+
+He paused and looked into the fire. Graves saw again that vague
+resemblance he had caught on the train, but had forgotten. He knew now
+why he noticed it. Unlike as the two brothers were, unlike in almost
+every way, the trace of family likeness was there. This sunburned,
+retired captain _was_ the New York financier’s elder brother. And this
+certainty made Mr. Graves’s errand more difficult, and the cause of it
+more inexplicable.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat.
+
+“Well, well!” he sighed. “So ‘Bije has gone. I s’pose you think it’s
+odd, maybe,” he went on, “that I ain’t more struck down by the news. In
+a way, I am, and, in a way, I’m mighty sorry, too. But, to speak truth,
+he and I have been so apart, and have had nothin’ to do with each other
+for so long that--that, well, I’ve come to feel as if I didn’t have a
+brother. And I know he felt that way. Yes, and _wanted_ to feel so--I
+know that.”
+
+“I wouldn’t say that, if I were you,” observed the lawyer, gently. “I
+think you’re mistaken there.”
+
+“I ain’t mistaken. Why, look here, Mr. Graves! There was a time when
+I’d have got down on my knees and crawled from here to New York to help
+‘Bije Warren. I lent him money to start in business. Later on him and I
+went into partnership together on a--a fool South American speculation
+that didn’t pan out for nothin’. I didn’t care for that. I took my
+chance same as he did, we formed a stock company all amongst ourselves,
+and I’ve got my share of the stock somewhere yet. It may come in handy
+if I ever want to paper the barn. But ‘twa’n’t business deals of that
+kind that parted us, ‘twas another matter. Somethin’ that he did to
+other folks who’d trusted us and.... Humph! this don’t interest you, of
+course.... Well, ‘Bije was well off, I know. His wife died way back
+in the nineties. She was one of them fashionable women, and a hayseed
+salt-herrin’ of a bachelor brother-in-law stuck down here in the
+sandheaps didn’t interest her much--except as somethin’ to forget, I
+s’pose. I used to see her name in the Boston papers occasionally, givin’
+parties at Newport and one thing a’nother. I never envied ‘em that kind
+of life. I’m as well fixed as I want to be. Got some money put by for
+a rainy spell, comf’table house and land, best town on earth to live in
+and work for; I’m satisfied and always have been. I wouldn’t change for
+nothin’. But I’m nine year older than ‘Bije was--and yet I’m left alive.
+Hum!”
+
+“Your brother had two children by his marriage,” said Graves, after a
+moment of silence.
+
+“Hey? Two children? Why, yes, I remember he did. Boy and girl, wa’n’t
+they? I never saw em. They’ve growed up by this time, of course.”
+
+“Yes, the eldest, Caroline, is nearly twenty. The boy, Stephen, is a
+year younger. It is concerning those children, Captain Warren, that I
+have come to you.”
+
+Captain Elisha turned in his chair. “Hey?” he queried. “The children?
+You’ve come to me about ‘Bije’s children?”
+
+Graves nodded. “Yes,” he answered, solemnly. “That is what I meant by
+saying your brother had not forgotten you or wished to forget you. In
+spite of the estrangement, it is evident that his confidence in your
+judgment and integrity was supreme. His children were his idols, Captain
+Warren, and he has left them in your charge.”
+
+The captain’s pipe fell to the hearth.
+
+“_What_?” he shouted. “Left his children to--to _me_! Mr. Graves,
+you’re--you’re out of your head--or I am!”
+
+“No, I’m perfectly sane. I have a copy of the will here, and--”
+
+He was interrupted by Miss Baker, who appeared at the door of the dining
+room. “Did you want me, ‘Lisha?” she asked.
+
+Her employer stared at her in a dazed, uncomprehending way.
+
+“Want you?” he repeated. “Want you?”
+
+“Yes; I heard you holler, and I thought p’raps you was callin’ me.”
+
+“Hey? No, I don’t want you, Abbie.... Holler! I shouldn’t wonder! If
+all I did was holler, I’m surprised at myself. No, no! Run along out and
+shut the door. Yes, shut it.... Now, Mr. Graves, say that over again and
+say it slow.”
+
+“I say that your brother has left his two children in your care until
+the youngest shall become of age--twenty-one. I have a copy of his will
+here, and--”
+
+“Wait, wait! let me think. Left his children to me!... to _me_. Mr.
+Graves, had ‘Bije lost all his money?”
+
+“No. He was not the millionaire that many thought him. Miss Warren and
+her brother will be obliged to economize somewhat in their manner
+of living. But, with care _and_ economy, their income should be quite
+sufficient, without touching the principal, to--”
+
+“Hold on again; the income, you say. What is that income?”
+
+“Roughly speaking, a mere estimate, about twenty to twenty-five thousand
+yearly.”
+
+Captain Elisha had stooped to pick up the pipe he had dropped. His
+fingers touched it, but they did not close. Instead he straightened up
+in his chair as if suffering from an electric shock.
+
+“Mr. Graves,” he began; “Mr. Graves, are you cra--. No, I asked you that
+before. But--but twenty _thousand_ a--a year! For mercy sakes, what’s
+the principal?”
+
+“In the neighborhood of five hundred thousand, I believe. Of course, we
+had no authority to investigate thoroughly. That will be a part of your
+duties, but--”
+
+“S-shh! Let me soak this into my brains a little at a time. ‘Bije leaves
+his children five hundred thousand, half a million, and--and they’ve got
+to _economize_! And I’m.... Would you mind readin’ me that will?”
+
+The attorney drew a long envelope from his pocket, extracted therefrom a
+folded document, donned a pair of gold-mounted eyeglasses, and began to
+read aloud.
+
+The will was short and very concise. “‘I, Abijah Rodgers Warren, being
+of sound mind--’”
+
+“You’re sartin that part’s true, are you?” broke in the captain.
+
+Graves nodded, rather impatiently, and continued. “‘Of sound mind,
+memory and understanding, do make, publish and declare this to be my
+last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say:--
+
+“‘First:--I direct my executor hereinafter named to pay my just debts
+and funeral expenses as soon as maybe convenient after my decease.’”
+
+“Did he owe much, think likely?” asked Captain Elisha.
+
+“Apparently not. Very little beyond the usual bills of a household.”
+
+“Yes, yes. Grocer and butcher and baker and suchlike. Well, I guess they
+won’t have to put in a keeper. Heave ahead.”
+
+“‘Second:--I give, devise and bequeath all my estate, both real and
+personal, to my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive--’”
+
+The captain gasped. “To me?” he cried, in utter amazement. “He leaves
+it to _me_? ‘Bije leaves--say, Mr. Graves, there’s some mistake here
+somewhere, sure! And besides, you said--”
+
+“Just a minute, Captain Warren, if you please. If you’ll be patient and
+not interrupt, I’ll try to make the whole matter plain.”
+
+“Well, if you can do _that_, you’ll have King Solomon and all his wisdom
+beat a mile, that’s all I’ve got to say. Go on.”
+
+“‘To my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive me, _in trust_,
+nevertheless, for the following purpose, to wit:--
+
+“‘To invest the same and to use the income thereof for the education and
+maintenance of my two children, Caroline Edgecombe Warren--’”
+
+“Edgecombe? Named for some of his wife’s folks, I presume likely. Excuse
+me for puttin’ my oar in again. Go on.”
+
+“‘And Stephen Cole Warren--’”
+
+“_That’s_ his wife, sartin. She was a Cole. I swan, I beg your pardon.”
+
+“‘Until the elder, Caroline Edgecombe Warren, shall have reached her
+twenty-first birthday, when one-half of the principal of said estate,
+together with one-half of the accumulated interest, shall be given to
+her, and the trust continued for the education and maintenance of my
+son, Stephen Cole Warren, until he shall have reached his twenty-first
+birthday, when I direct that the remainder be given to him.
+
+“‘Third:--I appoint as testamentary guardian of my said children my said
+brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+“‘Fourth:--I appoint as sole executor of this, my last will and
+testament, my said brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+“‘Fifth:--Imposing implicit trust and confidence in Elisha Warren,
+my brother, I direct that he be not required to give bond for the
+performance of any of the affairs or trusts to which he has been herein
+appointed.’
+
+“The remainder,” concluded Graves, refolding the will, “is purely
+formal. It is dated May 15th, three years ago. Your brother, Captain
+Warren, evidently realized, although no one else seems to have done
+so, the precarious state of his health, and prepared, as every careful
+person should, for the great emergency.”
+
+The attorney removed his eyeglasses and rubbed them with his
+handkerchief. Captain Elisha sat silent, staring at the fire. After an
+interval, Graves spoke again.
+
+“Of course, Captain,” he went on, “my errand is now plain. I come to
+acquaint you with your brother’s last wishes and to ascertain whether or
+not you are willing to accept the trust and responsibility he has laid
+upon you. As you doubtless know, the state provides a legal rate of
+reimbursement for such services as yours will--or may--be. Ahem!”
+
+“May be? You mean I ain’t got to do this thing unless I want to?”
+
+“Certainly. You have the right to renounce the various appointments, in
+which case another executor, trustee, and guardian will be appointed.
+I realize, and I’m sure that your brother’s children will realize, your
+hesitance in assuming such a responsibility over persons whom you have
+never even met.”
+
+“Yes, I guess we’ll all realize it; you needn’t worry about that. Look
+here, do the children know I’m elected?”
+
+“Yes. Of course, the will has been read to them.”
+
+“Hum! I s’pose likely they was overcome with joy, wa’n’t they?”
+
+Graves bit his lip. Remembering the comments of Miss Caroline and
+her brother when they learned of their uncle’s appointment, he had
+difficulty in repressing a smile.
+
+“Well,” he replied, slowly, “of course, one could scarcely expect them
+to rejoice. They have never seen you. In fact, I doubt if either of them
+knew their father had a brother, living.”
+
+“Y-e-e-s. That part don’t surprise me. But the rest of it does. By the
+miracles of the prophets! the rest of it does! That ‘Bije--‘Bije--should
+leave his children and their money to _me_ to take care of is passin’
+human belief, as our old minister used to say--.... Humph! I s’pose
+likely, Mr. Graves, you’d like to have me say yes or no to the thing
+while you’re here, hey?”
+
+Graves nodded. “It would be well to do so,” he said. “The settlement
+of the estate must be taken in hand as soon as possible. The law so
+directs.”
+
+“Yes, I see that. Well, what would you advise my doin’?”
+
+To this direct question the lawyer returned a noncommittal answer.
+
+“I’m afraid that must be answered by yourself alone, Captain Warren,” he
+said. “Of course, the acceptance of the trust will necessarily involve
+much trouble and inconvenience, especially to one of your--er--settled
+and--er--conservative--I judge merely from what you have said--your
+conservative habits. The estate is large, the investments are,
+doubtless, many and varied, and the labor of looking into and
+investigating them may require some technical skill and knowledge of
+finance. Yes.”
+
+“Um-hm.... Well, I judge that that kind of skill and knowledge could be
+hired, if a feller felt like payin’ fair wages; hey?”
+
+“Oh, yes, yes. Any good lawyer could attend to that, under the
+supervision of the executor, certainly. But there are other
+inconveniences to a--a--”
+
+“Country jay like me. I understand. Go ahead.”
+
+“I mean that you would probably be required to spend much, or all, of
+the next two or three years in New York.”
+
+“Would, hey? I didn’t know but bein’ as a guardian has entire charge of
+the children and their money and all--I understand that’s what he does
+have--he could direct the children fetched down to where _he_ lived, if
+he wanted to. Am I wrong?”
+
+“No,” the lawyer’s hesitancy and annoyance was plainly evident. “No-o.
+Of course, that _might_ be done. Still, I--”
+
+“You think that wouldn’t cause no more rejoicin’ than some other things
+have? Yes, yes; I cal’late I understand, Mr. Graves. Well, I guess
+you’ll have to give me to-night to chew over this. I guess you will.
+It’s come on me so sudden, ‘Bije’s death and all, that I want to be by
+myself and think. I don’t want to seem unsociable or lackin’ in
+hospitality. The whole house is yours. Help yourself to it. But when I’m
+caught in a clove hitch, I just have to set down and think myself out of
+it. I _have_ to. I was built and launched that way, I guess, and maybe
+you’ll excuse me.”
+
+“Certainly, Captain Warren. You’re quite right in wishing to deliberate
+on so important a matter. And, if you will excuse me in return, I
+believe I will go to my room. I’ve had a rather wearing day.”
+
+“And a damp evenin’. Yes, I’ll excuse and sympathize with you, too. I’ll
+see you to your room, and I’ll hope you’ll have consider’ble more sleep
+than I’m likely to get. Abbie!... Abbie!... Fetch Mr. Graves’s lamp,
+won’t you, please?”
+
+It was after two the next morning before Captain Elisha rose from his
+chair by the fire and entered his bed chamber. Yet, when Atwood Graves
+came down to breakfast, he found his host in the sitting room awaiting
+him.
+
+“Afore we tackle Abbie’s pancakes and fishballs, Mr. Graves,” said the
+captain, “let’s get the rest of that will business off our minds. Then
+we can have the pancakes to take the taste out of our mouths, as you
+might say. And let me ask you one more question. This--er--er--Caroline
+and Stephen, they’re used to livin’ pretty well--fashionable society,
+and the like of that, hey?”
+
+“Yes. Their home was on Fifth Avenue, and the family moved in the best
+circles.”
+
+“Hum! I should imagine life on twenty-odd thousand a year must be
+pretty much all circles, one everlastin’ ‘turn your partners.’ Well, Mr.
+Graves, my circles down here are consider’ble smaller, but they suit me.
+I’m worth twenty-odd thousand myself, not in a year, but in a lifetime.
+I’m selectman and director in the bank and trustee of the church. When I
+holler ‘Boo,’ the South Denboro folks--some of them, anyhow--set up and
+take notice. I can lead the grand march down in this neighborhood once
+in a while, and I cal’late I’m prettier leadin’ it than I would be doin’
+a solitaire jig for two years on the outside edge of New York’s best
+circles. And I’m mighty sure I’m more welcome. Now my eyesight’s strong
+enough to see through a two-foot hole after the plug’s out, and I can
+see that you and ‘Bije’s children won’t shed tears if I say no to that
+will. No offense meant, you know; just common sense, that’s all.”
+
+This was plain speaking. Mr. Graves colored, though he didn’t mean to,
+and for once could not answer offhand.
+
+“So,” continued the captain, “I’ll ease your and their minds by sayin’
+that, the way I feel now, I probably sha’n’t accept the trust. I
+_probably_ sha’n’t. But I won’t say sure I won’t, because--well, because
+‘Bije was my brother; he was that, no matter what our diff’rences may
+have been. And I know--I _know_ that there must be some reason bigger
+than ‘implicit trust’ and the other May-baskets for his appointin’ me in
+his will. What that reason is I _don’t_ know--yet.”
+
+“Then you intend--?”
+
+“I don’t know what I intend--in the end. But for a beginnin’, I cal’late
+to run down to New York some time durin’ the next week, take a cruise
+‘round, and sort of look things over.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+“It’s a box of a place, though, isn’t it,” declared Mr. Stephen Warren,
+contemptuously glancing about the library of the apartment. “A box, by
+George! I think it’s a blooming shame that we have to put up with it,
+Sis.”
+
+Mr. Warren sprawled in the most comfortable chair in the room, was
+looking out through the window, across the wind-swept width of Central
+Park West, over the knolls and valleys of the Park itself, now bare of
+foliage and sprinkled with patches of snow. There was a discontented
+look on his face, and his hands were jammed deep in his trousers
+pockets.
+
+His sister, Caroline, sat opposite to him, also looking out at the
+December landscape. She, too, was discontented and unhappy, though she
+tried not to show it.
+
+“Why don’t you say something,” snapped Stephen, after a moment of
+silence. “_Isn’t_ it a box of a place? Now come.”
+
+“Yes,” replied the young lady, without looking at her brother. “Yes,
+Steve, I suppose it is. But you must remember that we must make the
+best of it. I always wondered how people could live in apartments. Now I
+suppose I shall have to find out.”
+
+“Well, I maintain that we don’t have to. We aren’t paupers, even though
+father wasn’t so well fixed as everyone thought. With management and
+care, we could have stayed in the old house, I believe, and kept up
+appearances, at least. What’s the use of advertising that we’re broke?”
+
+“But, Steve, you know Mr. Graves said--”
+
+“Oh, yes, I know. You swallowed every word Graves said, Caro, as if
+he was the whole book of Proverbs. By George, _I_ don’t; I’m from
+Missouri.”
+
+Mr. Warren, being in the Sophomore class at Yale, was of the age when
+one is constitutionally “from Missouri.” Probably King Solomon, at
+sixty, had doubts concerning the scope and depth of his wisdom; at
+eighteen he would have admitted its all-embracing infallibility without
+a blush.
+
+“I tell you,” continued Stephen, “there’s no sense in it, Sis. You and I
+know plenty of people whose incomes are no larger than ours. Do they
+‘economize,’ as Graves is continually preaching? They do not, publicly
+at least. They may save a bit, here and there, but they do it where it
+doesn’t show and nobody knows. Take the Blaisdells, for instance. When
+the Sodality Bank went up, and old Blaisdell died, everybody said the
+family was down and out. They must have lost millions. But did _they_
+move into ‘apartments’ and put up a placard, ‘Home of the Dead-Brokes.
+Walk in and Sympathize?’ I guess they didn’t! They went into mourning,
+of course, and that let them out of entertaining and all that, but they
+stayed where they were and kept up the bluff. That’s the thing that
+counts in this world--keeping up the bluff.”
+
+“Yes, but everyone knows they are--bluffing, as you call it.”
+
+“What of it? They don’t really know, they only suspect. And I met Jim
+Blaisdell yesterday and he shook my hand, after I had held it in front
+of his eyes where he couldn’t help seeing it, and had the nerve to tell
+me he hoped things weren’t as bad with us as he had heard.”
+
+“I never liked the Blaisdells,” declared Caroline, indignantly.
+
+“Neither did I. Neither do most people. But Jim is just as much in the
+swim as he ever was, and he’s got his governor’s place on the board of
+directors at the bank, now that it’s reorganized, and an office down
+town, and he’s hand and glove with Von Blarcom and all the rest.
+They think he’s a promising, plucky young man. They’ll help his bluff
+through. And are his mother and sister dropped by the people in their
+set? I haven’t noticed it.”
+
+“Well, Mrs. Corcoran Dunn told me that everyone was talking about
+the Blaisdells and wondering how long they could keep it up. And the
+newspapers have been printing all sorts of things, and hinting that
+young Mr. Blaisdell’s appointment as director, after his father wrecked
+the bank, was a scandal. At least, we haven’t _that_ to bear up under.
+Father was honest, if he wasn’t rich.”
+
+“Who cares for the newspapers? They’re all run by demagogues hunting
+sensations. What makes me feel the worst about all this is that Stock
+Exchange seat of father’s. If I were only of age, so that I could go
+down there on the floor, I tell you it wouldn’t be long before you and I
+were back where we belong, Sis. But, no, I’m a kid, so Graves thinks, in
+charge of a guardian--a _guardian_, by gad!”
+
+He snorted, in manly indignation. Caroline, her pretty face troubled,
+rose and walked slowly across the room. It was a large room, in spite of
+the fact that it was one of a suite in an apartment hotel, and furnished
+richly. A. Rodgers Warren spent his money with taste, and spent it
+freely while he lived. The furniture, the paintings, and bric-a-brac
+were of the very best, chosen with care, here and abroad.
+
+“Oh, dear!” sighed the girl. “I do hope Mr. Graves will be well enough
+to call to-day. He expected to. Except for the telephone message telling
+us that that _man_ at Denboro--”
+
+“Our dear Uncle Elisha,” put in Stephen, with sarcasm. “Uncle ‘’Lish!’
+Heavens! what a name!”
+
+“Hush! He can’t help his name. And father’s was worse yet--Abijah! Think
+of it!”
+
+“I don’t want to think of it. Neither did the governor; that’s why
+he dropped it, I suppose. Just what did Graves say? Give me his exact
+words.”
+
+“His partner, Mr. Kuhn, telephoned. He said that Mr. Graves had a bad
+cold, having been wet through in a dreadful storm down there in the
+country. The doctor forbade his leaving the house for a day or two, but
+he would call on Tuesday--to-day--if he was sufficiently recovered. And
+Mr. Kuhn said that everything was satisfactory. This Captain Warren--a
+ship captain, I suppose he is--would, in all probability, refuse to
+accept the guardianship and the rest of it--”
+
+“Refuse? I should think so. I’m just as certain father was insane when
+he made that will as I am that I’m alive. If I thought he wasn’t, I’d
+never forgive him.”
+
+“Hush, Steve. You promised me you wouldn’t speak in that way.”
+
+“Well, all right, I won’t. But, Caro, he _must_ have been insane. If he
+wasn’t, do you suppose he would have put us and the estate in the care
+of a Down-East jay? It’s inconceivable! It’s ridiculous! Think of it.
+Suppose this uncle of ours had accepted. Suppose he had come to town
+here and any of our friends had met him. ‘This is our guardian, Captain
+Warren, of Punkin Centre.’ ‘Please to meet ye,’ says Uncle ‘Lish. ‘How’s
+taters?’ Horrors! Say, Caro, you haven’t told anyone, Malcolm or his
+mother, or anyone, have you?”
+
+“Of course not, Steve. You know I wouldn’t.”
+
+“Well, don’t. They needn’t know it, now or at any other time. Graves
+will probably get himself appointed, and he’s respectable if he is an
+old fogy. We’ll worry along till I’m twenty-one, and then--well, then
+I’ll handle our business myself.”
+
+Evidently there was no question in his mind as to his ability to handle
+this or any business, no matter how involved. He rose from his chair and
+yawned.
+
+“It’s deadly dull,” he complained. “You don’t need me, do you, Caro? I
+believe I’ll go out for a while. That is, unless you really care.”
+
+His sister hesitated before replying. When she spoke, there was
+disappointment in her tone.
+
+“Why, Steve,” she said, “I did hope you might be here when Mr. Graves
+came. He will wish to speak of important matters, and it seems to me
+that both of us should hear what he has to say.”
+
+Young Warren, who had started for the door, stopped and kicked
+impatiently at the corners of the rug.
+
+“Oh, _well_!” he observed, “if you want me of course I’ll stay. But why
+doesn’t old Graves come, if he is coming. Maybe he’s under the weather
+yet,” he added, hopefully. “Perhaps he isn’t coming at all to-day. I
+believe I’ll call up Kuhn on the ‘phone and find out.”
+
+He was on his way to the telephone when the doorbell buzzed.
+
+“Gad! there he is now,” he exclaimed. “Now I suppose I’ll have to stay.
+We’ll hear about dear Uncle ‘Lish, won’t we? Oh, joy!”
+
+But the staid butler, when he entered the library, did not announce the
+lawyer’s name.
+
+“Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and Mr. Malcolm,” he said. “Will you see them, Miss
+Caroline?”
+
+The young lady’s face lit up.
+
+“Certainly, Edwards,” she said. “Show them--Oh, Mrs. Dunn, I’m so glad
+to see you! It was _ever_ so good of you to come. And Malcolm.”
+
+Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn was tall and, in South Denboro, would have been
+called “fleshy,” in spite of her own and the dressmaker’s efforts to
+conceal the fact. She was elaborately gowned and furred, and something
+about her creaked when she walked. She rushed into the room, at the
+butler’s heels, and, greeting Caroline with outstretched hands, kissed
+her effusively on the cheek.
+
+“My dear child,” she cried, “how could I stay away? We have spoken of
+you and Stephen _so_ often this morning. We know how lonely you must be,
+and Malcolm and I decided we _must_ run in on you after lunch. Didn’t
+we, Malcolm?”
+
+Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, her son, was a blond young man, with a rather
+indolent manner.
+
+“Sure, Mater!” he said, calmly. “How d’ye do, Caroline? ‘Lo, Steve!”
+
+The quartette shook hands. Mrs. Dunn sank creakingly into a chair and
+gazed about the room. Malcolm strolled to the window and looked out.
+Stephen followed and stood beside him.
+
+“My dear,” said Mrs. Dunn, addressing Caroline, “how are you getting on?
+How are your nerves? Is all the dreadful ‘settling’ over?”
+
+“Very nearly, thank goodness.”
+
+“That’s a mercy. I should certainly have been here yesterday to help you
+in superintending and arranging and so on, but I was suffering from one
+of my ‘hearts,’ and you know what _they_ are.”
+
+Everyone who knew Mrs. Corcoran Dunn was acquainted with her “hearts.”
+ The attacks came, so she was accustomed to explain, from an impaired
+valve, and “some day”--she usually completed the sentence with upturned
+eyes and a resigned upward wave of the hand.
+
+Her son turned from the window.
+
+“I say, Mother,” he explained, wearily, “I do wish you wouldn’t speak of
+your vital organs in the plural. Anyone would imagine you were a sort
+of freak, like the two-headed boy at the circus. It’s positively
+distressing.”
+
+Stephen laughed. He admired young Dunn immensely. Mrs. Dunn sighed.
+
+“Don’t, Malcolm, dear,” she pleaded. “You sound so unfeeling. One not
+acquainted with your real kindness of heart--”
+
+“Oh, drop it,” interrupted Malcolm. “Let’s omit the heart interest.
+This isn’t a clinic. I say, Steve, how do you like the new flat? It is a
+flat, isn’t it?”
+
+Stephen turned red. His sister colored and bit her lip. Mrs. Dunn
+hastened to the rescue.
+
+“Horrors!” she exclaimed. “Malcolm, you really are insufferable. Flat!
+Caroline, dear, you mustn’t mind him. He will have his joke. Malcolm,
+apologize.”
+
+The command was sharp, and her son obeyed it.
+
+“Beg your pardon, Steve,” he said. “Yours, too, Caroline. I was only
+joking. There’s a little beast of a bookkeeper down at the office who
+is forever talking of his ‘nice flat in the Bronx.’ It’s a standing
+guy, you know. So far as I can see, these are pretty snug quarters. And
+attractively arranged, too. Your taste, Caroline, I’m betting.”
+
+Miss Warren, slightly mollified, bowed assent.
+
+“I thought so,” continued Malcolm. “No one but you would have known
+exactly the right spot for everything. Show us through, won’t you?”
+
+But Mrs. Dunn had other plans.
+
+“Not now, Malcolm,” she put in. “Caroline is tired out, I’m sure. A
+little fresh air will do her good. I was going to suggest that you and
+she and Stephen go for a short ride. Yes, really you must, my dear,” she
+added, turning to the girl beside her. “Our car is at the door, it’s not
+at all a bad afternoon, and the outing will be just what you need.”
+
+“Thank you, Mrs. Dunn,” said Caroline, gratefully. “I should like to.
+Indeed, I should. But we have been expecting a business call from Mr.
+Graves, father’s lawyer, and--”
+
+“Oh, come on, Sis!” interrupted Stephen. “I’m dying to get out of this
+jail. Let old Graves wait, if he comes. We won’t be long; and, besides,
+it’s not certain that he is coming to-day. Come on!”
+
+“I’m afraid I ought not, Steve. Mr. Graves may come, and--and it seems
+too bad to trouble our friends--”
+
+“It’s not trouble, it’s pleasure,” urged Mrs. Dunn. “Malcolm will be
+delighted. It was his idea. Wasn’t it?” turning to her son.
+
+“Oh, yes! certainly,” replied the young gentleman. “Hope you’ll come,
+Caroline. And you, of course, Steve. The blessed machine’s been off its
+feed for a week or more, but Peter says he thinks it’s all right again.
+We’ll give it a try-out on the Drive. Hope we have better luck than my
+last,” with a laugh. “They nabbed us for speeding, and I had to promise
+to be a good boy or to be fined. Said we were hitting it at fifty an
+hour. We _were_ going some, that’s a fact. Ha! ha!”
+
+“But he won’t be reckless when you’re with him, Caroline,” put in his
+mother. “You will go? That’s so nice! As for Mr. Graves, I’ll explain
+if he comes. Oh, no! _I’m_ not going! I shall remain here in this
+comfortable chair and rest until you return. It’s exactly what my
+physician orders, and for once I’m going to obey him. My heart, you
+know, my poor heart--”
+
+She waved her hand and raised her eyes. Miss Warren expostulated, but to
+no purpose. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn would _not_ go, but the others must. So,
+at last, they did. When Caroline and her brother had gone for their
+wraps, Mrs. Dunn laid a hand on her son’s arm.
+
+“Now mind,” she whispered, “see if you can find out anything during the
+ride. Something more explicit about the size of their estate and who the
+guardian is to be. There are all sorts of stories, you know, and we
+_must_ learn the truth very soon. Don’t appear curious, but merely
+friendly. You understand?”
+
+“Sure, Mater,” was the careless answer. “I’ll pump.”
+
+The two departed, leaving their lady visitor ensconced in the
+comfortable chair. She remained in it for perhaps five minutes. Then she
+rose and sauntered about the room. She drifted into the drawing-room,
+returning a moment later and sauntering casually toward the open desk by
+the fireplace. There were papers and letters scattered about this desk,
+and these she turned over, glancing toward the door to be sure no one
+was coming. The letters were, for the most part, messages of sympathy
+from friends of the Warren family. Hearing an approaching step, she
+hastily returned to the chair.
+
+Edwards, the butler, entered the library and replenished the fire. Mrs.
+Dunn languidly accosted him.
+
+“Ah--er--Edwards,” she said, “you are--er--growing familiar with your
+new home?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” replied Edwards, politely.
+
+“It must seem--er--small compared to the other.”
+
+“Smaller; yes, ma’am.”
+
+“But very snug and comfortable.”
+
+“Yes, ma ‘am.”
+
+“It is fortunate that Miss Warren and her brother have the aid of such
+a--an old servant of the family.”
+
+“Thank you, ma’am.”
+
+“Is Miss Caroline managing her own affairs?”
+
+“Apparently so. Yes, ma’am.”
+
+“I presume, however, a guardian has been appointed? With an estate such
+as the late Mr. Warren _must_ have left, some responsible person would
+be, of course, necessary.”
+
+She paused. Edwards, having arranged the logs to his liking, brushed the
+dust from his hands.
+
+“I don’t know, ma’am, I’m sure,” he said. “Neither Miss Caroline nor Mr.
+Stephen have spoken with me concerning the family affairs.”
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn straightened, with hauteur.
+
+“I think that was the doorbell,” she remarked, a trifle sharply. “If it
+should be Mr. Graves, the attorney, you may show him into the library
+here.”
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” said Edwards once more, and departed.
+
+The lady visitor heard voices in the passage. She listened, but could
+hear nothing understandable. Evidently the butler was having an argument
+with someone. It could not be Graves.
+
+Edwards reappeared, looking troubled.
+
+“It’s a--a gentleman to see Miss Caroline,” he said. “He won’t give his
+name, ma’am, but says she’s expecting him.”
+
+“Expecting him?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am. I told him she was out, but he said he was intending
+to stay a while anyway, and would wait. I asked his business, but he
+wouldn’t tell it.”
+
+“That’s odd.” Mrs. Dunn was slightly interested. “A tradesman, perhaps;
+or an agent of the landlord.”
+
+“No-o, ma’am. I don’t think he’s either of them, ma’am.”
+
+“What sort of a person is he, Edwards?”
+
+The butler’s face twitched for an instant with a troubled smile. Then it
+resumed its customary respectful calm.
+
+“I hardly know, ma’am. He’s an oddish man. He--I think he’s from the
+country.”
+
+From behind him came a quiet chuckle.
+
+“You’re right, Commodore,” said a man’s voice; “I’m from the country.
+You guessed it.”
+
+Edwards jumped, startled out of his respectable wits. Mrs. Dunn rose
+indignantly from her chair.
+
+“I beg your pardon, ma’am,” said the intruder, appearing in the doorway.
+“You mustn’t think I’m forcin’ my way where I ain’t wanted. But it
+seemed to take so long to make the Admiral here understand that I was
+goin’ to wait until Caroline came back that I thought I’d save time and
+breath by provin’ it to him. I didn’t know there was any company. Excuse
+me, ma’am, I won’t bother you. I’ll just come to anchor out here in the
+entry. Don’t mind me.”
+
+He bowed politely, picked up the large suit-case, plainly bran-new,
+which he had momentarily placed on the rug at his feet, and, with it
+in one hand and a big soft felt hat in the other, stepped back into the
+hall out of sight. The astonished Mrs. Dunn and the paralyzed Edwards
+heard a chair crack as if a heavy weight had descended upon it.
+Evidently he had “come to anchor.”
+
+The lady was the first to recover the power of speech.
+
+“Why!” she exclaimed, in an alarmed whisper. “Why! I never heard of
+such brazen impertinence in my life. He must be insane. He is a lunatic,
+isn’t he, Edwards?”
+
+The butler shook his head. “I--I don’t know, ma’am,” he stammered.
+
+“I believe he is.” Mrs. Dunn’s presence of mind was returning, and with
+it her courage. Her florid cheeks flamed a more vivid red, and her eyes
+snapped. “But whether he is or not, he sha’n’t bulldoze me.”
+
+She strode majestically to the door. The visitor was seated in the hall,
+calmly reading a newspaper. Hat and suit-case were on the floor beside
+him.
+
+“What do you mean by this?” demanded the lady. “Who are you? If you have
+any business here, state it at once.”
+
+The man glanced at her, over his spectacles, rose and stood looking down
+at her. His expression was pleasant, and he was remarkably cool.
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” he said, gravely. “I’ll be glad to tell you who I am,
+if you’d like to have me. I’d have done it before, but I thought there
+weren’t any use troublin’ you with my affairs. But, just a minute--”
+ he hesitated--“I haven’t made any mistake, have I? I understood your
+steward--the feller with the brass buttons, to say that Abijah Warren’s
+children lived here. That’s so, ain’t it? If not, then I _am_ mistaken.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn regarded him with indignation. “You are,” she said coldly.
+“The family of the late Mr. Rodgers Warren lives here. I presume the
+slight resemblance in names misled you. Edwards, show the gentleman
+out.”
+
+“Just one moment more, ma’am. It was Rodgers Warren’s children I was
+lookin’ for. A. Rodgers Warren he called himself, didn’t he? Yes. Well,
+the A stood for Abijah; that was his Christian name. And he left
+two children, Caroline and Stephen? Good! I thought for a jiffy I’d
+blundered in where I had no business, but it’s all right. You see,
+ma’am, I’m their uncle from South Denboro, Massachusetts. My name is
+Elisha Warren.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn gasped. Edwards, peering over her shoulder, breathed heavily.
+
+“You are--their _uncle_?” repeated the lady.
+
+“Yes, ma’am. I’m ‘Bije’s brother. Oh, don’t worry. It’s all right. And
+don’t fret yourself about me, either. I’ll set right down out here
+and read my paper and wait till Caroline or Stephen get home. They’re
+expectin’ me. Mr. Graves, the lawyer, told ‘em I was comin’.”
+
+He calmly seated himself and adjusted his spectacles. Mrs. Dunn stared
+at him, then at Edwards. After an instant’s indecision, she stepped
+back into the library and walked to the window. She beckoned, with an
+agitated finger, to the butler, who joined her.
+
+“Edwards,” she whispered, “did you hear what he said?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” replied Edwards, wide-eyed and wondering.
+
+“Is it true?”
+
+“I don’t know, ma’am.”
+
+“Did Mr. Warren have a brother?”
+
+“I didn’t know that he had, ma’am.”
+
+“Do you--do you think it likely that he would have a brother like--like
+_that_?”
+
+“I don’t know, ma’am.”
+
+“Was Miss Caroline expecting him?”
+
+“I don’t know, ma’am. She--”
+
+“Oh, you don’t know anything! You’re impossible. Go away!”
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” said Edwards thankfully; and went. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn
+stood for some minutes by the window, thinking, or trying to think a way
+to the truth in this astounding development. Of course the man _might_
+be a lunatic who had gained his information concerning the Warren family
+from the papers; but he did not look like a lunatic. On the other hand,
+he certainly did not look as one would have expected a brother of
+Rodgers Warren’s to look. Oddest of all, if he was such a brother, why
+had neither Caroline or Stephen mentioned his existence? According to
+his story, Graves, the Warren lawyer, had warned the children of his
+coming. Caroline had been very reticent concerning her father’s will,
+the amount of his estate, and the like. And Mrs. Dunn had repeatedly,
+though discreetly, endeavored to find out these important details.
+Neither hints nor questions had resulted satisfactorily. Was it possible
+that this was the reason, this country uncle? If so--well, if so, here
+was a Heaven-sent opportunity for a little genteel and perfectly safe
+detective work. Mrs. Dunn creakingly crossed the room and spoke.
+
+“Mr. Warren,” she said, “I feel guilty in keeping you out there. Won’t
+you come into the library?”
+
+“Why, thank you, ma’am, I’m all right. Don’t you trouble about me. Go
+right on with your readin’ or sewin’ or knittin’ or whatever you was
+doin’ and--”
+
+“I was not reading,” replied Mrs. Dunn, with a slight shudder. “Come in,
+please. I wish you to.”
+
+Captain Elisha folded his paper and put it in his pocket. Entering the
+library, he stood quietly waiting.
+
+“Won’t you sit down?” asked his impromptu hostess, trying hard to be
+gracious.
+
+“Thank you,” said the captain. He sank into an armchair and looked
+curiously about him.
+
+“So you are the late Mr. Warren’s brother?” asked the lady, making her
+first lead in the game.
+
+“Yes, ma’am. His older brother. ‘Bije was ten year younger’n I am,
+Mrs.--er--”
+
+“Dunn. I am an old friend of the family.”
+
+“That’s good. I’m glad to hear they’ve got friends. When you’re in
+sickness or trouble or sorrer, friendship counts for consider’ble. How
+are the young folks--Caroline and Stephen--pretty smart, hey?”
+
+“_Smart_? Why, they are intelligent, naturally. I--”
+
+“No, no. I mean are they pretty well?”
+
+“Very well, indeed, considering the shock of their recent bereavement.”
+
+“Yes, yes. Of course. And they’ve moved, too. Movin’s an awful job. They
+say three movin’s are as bad as a fire, but I cal’late I’d rather burn
+up a set of carpets than _pull_ ‘em up, ‘specially if they was insured.
+‘Tain’t half so much strain on your religion. I remember the last time
+we took up our carpets at home, Abbie--she’s my second cousin, keepin’
+house for me--said if gettin’ down on my knees has that effect on me
+she’d never ask me to go to prayer-meetin’ again. Ho! ho!”
+
+He chuckled. Mrs. Dunn elevated her nose and looked out of the window.
+Then she led another small trump.
+
+“You say that Miss Caroline and her brother expect you,” she said. “You
+surprise me. Are you sure?”
+
+“Oh, yes, ma’am. I’m sure. When Mr. Graves came down to see me, last
+week ‘twas, I told him to say I’d be up pretty soon to look the ground
+over. This is a pretty fine place the young folks have got here,” he
+added, gazing admiringly at the paintings and bookcases.
+
+“Yes,” assented the lady, condescendingly. “For an apartment it is
+really quite livable.”
+
+“Livable!” Captain Elisha’s astonishment got the better of his
+politeness for the moment. “Um! Yes, I should say a body _might_ manage
+to worry along in it. Was the place where they used to live any finer
+than this?”
+
+“Certainly!”
+
+“You don’t tell me! No wonder they talked about economi--Humph!”
+
+“What were you about to say, Mr. Warren?”
+
+“Oh, nothin’, nothin’! Talkin’ to myself is a habit I’ve got. Abbie--my
+second cousin; I guess I told you about her--says it’s a sure sign that
+a person’s rich or out of his head, one or t’other. I ain’t rich, so--”
+ He chuckled once more.
+
+“Mr. Graves came to see you at your home, did he?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am. At South Denboro. And he certainly did have a rough
+passage. Ho! ho! Probably you heard about it, bein’ so friendly with the
+family.”
+
+“Ahem! Doubtless he would have mentioned it, but he has been ill.”
+
+“Sho! I’m sorry to hear that. I was afraid he’d catch cold.”
+
+“Yes. I hope Mr. Graves’s errand was successful?”
+
+“Well, sort of so-so.”
+
+“Yes. He came to see you in connection with your brother’s estate--some
+legacy, perhaps?”
+
+She did not look at the captain when she asked this question. Therefore,
+she did not notice the glance which he gave her. When he answered, it
+was in the same deliberate, provokingly deliberate, manner.
+
+“Um-hm. Somethin’ of that kind, Mrs. Dunn. I can’t help thinkin’,” he
+went on, “how nice it is that Caroline and Steve have such a good friend
+as you to help ‘em. Your husband and ‘Bije was chums, I s’pose?”
+
+“No, not exactly. The friendship was on my side of the family.”
+
+“So? Want to know! Your husband dead, ma’am?”
+
+Mrs. Dunn changed the subject. Her husband, Mr. Corcoran Dunn--once Mike
+Dunn, contractor and Tammany politician--was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
+She mourned him, after a fashion, but she preferred not to talk about
+him.
+
+“Yes,” she answered shortly. “It--it looks as if it might snow, doesn’t
+it?”
+
+“I shouldn’t wonder. Have you any children, ma’am?”
+
+“One--a son.” The widow’s tone was frigid.
+
+“So? He must be a comfort to you. I s’pose likely he’s a friend of my
+nephew and niece, too.”
+
+“Certainly.”
+
+“That’s good. Young folks ought to have young friends. You live in this
+neighborhood, ma’am?”
+
+The lady did not answer. She gazed haughtily at the trees in the Park.
+Captain Elisha rubbed a smile from his lips with his hand and remained
+silent. The tall clock ticked loud.
+
+There came the sound of laughter from the passage outside. The hall
+door opened. A moment later, Caroline, followed by her brother and young
+Dunn, entered the library.
+
+The girl’s cheeks were rosy from the cold wind. Her hair, beneath the
+fur auto cap, had blown in brown, rippled disorder across her forehead.
+She was smiling.
+
+“Oh, Mrs. Dunn!” she cried. “I’m so glad I accepted
+your--Malcolm’s--invitation. We had a glorious ride! I--”
+
+She stopped short. Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was
+facing her. Mrs. Dunn also rose.
+
+“Caroline,” she said, nervously, “this”--pausing on the word--“gentleman
+is here to see you. He says he is--”
+
+The captain interrupted her. Stepping forward he seized his niece’s
+hands in his. “Well, well!” he exclaimed admiringly. “‘Bije’s girl, that
+I ain’t seen since you was a little mite of a baby! Caroline, I’m your
+Uncle Elisha.”
+
+“Good _Lord_!” groaned Stephen Warren.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+If the captain heard Stephen’s fervent ejaculation, he paid no attention
+to it. Dropping his niece’s hand, he extended his own toward his nephew.
+
+“And this is Stephen?” he said. “Well, Steve, you and me have never met
+afore, I b’lieve. But that’s our misfortune, not our fault, hey? How are
+you? Pretty smart?”
+
+The boy’s face was flaming. He mumbled something to the effect that he
+was all right enough, and turned away without accepting the proffered
+hand. Captain Elisha glanced quickly at him, then at his sister.
+
+“Well, Caroline,” he said, pleasantly, “I s’pose you’ve been expectin’
+me. Mr. Graves told you I was comin’, didn’t he?”
+
+Miss Warren, also, was flushed with embarrassment and mortified
+surprise.
+
+“No,” she stammered. “He has been ill.”
+
+“Sho! you don’t say! Mrs. Dunn--your friend here--said he was laid up
+with a cold, but I didn’t realize ‘twas as bad as that. So you didn’t
+know I was comin’ at all.”
+
+“No. We--we have not heard from you since he returned.”
+
+“That’s too bad. I hope I sha’n’t put you out any, droppin’ in on
+you this way. You mustn’t treat me as comp’ny, you know. If ‘tain’t
+convenient, if your spare room ain’t ready so soon after movin’, or
+anything of that kind, I can go to a hotel somewheres for a day or so.
+Hadn’t I better, don’t you think?”
+
+Caroline hesitated. If only they might have been spared this public
+humiliation. If the Dunns had not been there. It was bad enough to
+have this dreadful country uncle come at all; but to have him come now,
+before they were prepared, before any explanations had been made! What
+should she do?
+
+Her brother, fidgeting at her elbow, not daring to look at Malcolm
+Dunn, who, he knew, was thoroughly enjoying the scene, could stand it no
+longer.
+
+“Caro,” he snapped, “what are you waiting for? Don’t you _know_ that the
+rooms are not ready? Of course they’re not! We’re sorry, and all that,
+but Graves didn’t tell us and we weren’t prepared. Certainly he’ll have
+to go to the hotel, for--for the present.”
+
+He ventured to raise his eyes and glare indignantly at the captain.
+Finding the latter looking intently at him, he dropped them again and
+jammed his clenched fists into his pockets.
+
+Captain Elisha pulled thoughtfully at his beard.
+
+“Humph!” he grunted. “Humph! then I cal’late maybe--” He took a step
+toward the door, stopped, turned back, and said, with calm decision, “I
+guess I’d better stay. You won’t mind me, Caroline--you and Stephen. You
+_mustn’t_. As I said, I ain’t comp’ny. I’m one of the family, your pa’s
+brother, and I’ve come some consider’ble ways to see you two young folks
+and talk with you. I’ve come because your pa asked me to. I’m used to
+roughin’ it, been to sea a good many v’yages, and if a feather bed ain’t
+handy I can get my forty winks on the floor. So that’s settled, and you
+mustn’t have me on your conscience. That’s sense, ain’t it, Mrs. Dunn?”
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn did not deign a reply. Caroline answered for her.
+
+“Very well,” she said, coldly. Stepping to the desk she rang a bell. The
+butler appeared in the doorway.
+
+“Edwards,” said Miss Warren, “this gentleman,” indicating the captain,
+“is to be our guest, for the present. You may show him to his room--the
+blue room, I think. If it is not ready, see that it is made so.”
+
+“Yes, Miss Caroline,” replied Edwards. Retiring to the hall, he returned
+with the suit-case.
+
+“Will you wish to go to your room at once, sir?” he asked.
+
+“Why, I guess I might as well, Commodore,” answered Captain Elisha,
+smiling. “Little soap and water won’t do no harm. Fact is, I feel’s if
+‘twas a prescription to be recommended. You needn’t tote that valise,
+though,” he added. “‘Tain’t heavy, and I’ve lugged it so fur already
+sence I got off the car that I feel kind of lonesome without it.”
+
+The butler, not knowing exactly how to answer, grinned sheepishly.
+Captain Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn and her son.
+
+“Well, good afternoon, ma’am,” he said. “I’m real glad to have made your
+acquaintance. Yours, too, sir,” with a nod toward Malcolm. “Your mother
+told me what a friend of the young folks you was, and, as I’m sort
+of actin’ pilot for ‘em just now, in a way of speakin’, any friend of
+theirs ought to be a friend of mine. Hope to see you often, Mr. Dunn.”
+
+The young man addressed smiled, with amusement not at all concealed, and
+languidly admitted that he was “charmed.”
+
+“Your first visit to the city?” he inquired, in a tone which caused
+Stephen to writhe inwardly.
+
+“No-o. No, not exactly. I used to come here pretty frequent, back in
+my sea-goin’ days, when my ship was in port. I sailed for Osgood and
+Colton, down on South Street, for a spell. They were my owners. You
+don’t remember the firm, I s’pose?”
+
+“No. The privilege has been denied me. You find some changes in
+New York, don’t you--er--Captain? You are a captain, or a bos’n, or
+admiral--something of that sort, I presume?”
+
+“Malcolm!” said his mother, sharply.
+
+“Oh, no offense intended. My sea terms are rather mixed. The captain
+will excuse me.”
+
+“Sartin! Cap’n’s what they all call me, mostly. Your son ain’t ever been
+to sea, except as passenger, I cal’late, ma’am?”
+
+“Certainly not,” snapped Mrs. Dunn.
+
+“Of course, of course. Well, ‘tain’t a life I’d want a boy of mine
+to take up, nowadays. But it did have some advantages. I don’t know
+anything better than a v’yage afore the mast to learn a young feller
+what’s healthy for him to unlearn. Good day, ma’am. Good day, Mr. Dunn.
+I mustn’t keep the Commodore waitin’ here with that valise. I’ll be
+out pretty soon, Caroline; just as soon as I’ve got the upper layer
+of railroad dust off my face and hands. You’ll be surprised to see how
+light-complected I really am when that’s over. All right! Heave ahead,
+Commodore!”
+
+He departed, preceded by Edwards and the suit-case. Stephen Warren threw
+himself violently into a chair by the window. Young Dunn laughed aloud.
+His mother flashed an indignant glance at him, and then hurried to
+Caroline.
+
+“You poor dear!” she exclaimed, putting an arm about the girl’s
+shoulder. “Don’t mind us, please don’t! Malcolm and I understand. That
+is, we know how you feel and--”
+
+“Oh, but you _don’t_ know, Mrs. Dunn,” cried Caroline, almost in tears.
+“You don’t understand! It’s so much worse than you think. I--I--Oh, why
+did father do it? How could he be so inconsiderate?”
+
+“There! there!” purred the friend of the family. “You mustn’t, you know.
+You really mustn’t. Who is this man? This uncle? Where does he come
+from? Why does he force himself upon you in this way? I didn’t know your
+poor father had a brother.”
+
+“Neither did we,” growled Stephen, savagely. Malcolm laughed again.
+
+“What does it all mean, dear?” begged Mrs. Dunn. “You are in trouble,
+I’m sure. Don’t you think we--Malcolm and I--might be able to help you?
+We should so love to do it. If you feel that you _can_ confide in us;
+if it isn’t a secret--”
+
+She paused expectantly, patting the girl’s shoulder. But Caroline had
+heard young Dunn’s laugh, and was offended and hurt. Her eyes flashed as
+she answered.
+
+“It’s nothing,” she said. “He has come to see us on a matter of
+business, I believe. I am nervous and--foolish, I suppose. Mr. Graves
+will see us soon, and then everything will be arranged. Thank you for
+calling, Mrs. Dunn, and for the ride.”
+
+It was a very plain hint, but Mrs. Dunn did not choose to understand it
+as such.
+
+“You’re sure you hadn’t better tell me the whole story, dear?” she
+urged. “I am old enough, almost, to be your mother, and perhaps my
+advice might.... No? Very well. You know best but--You understand that
+it is something other than mere curiosity which leads me to ask.”
+
+“Of course, I understand,” said the girl hastily. “Thank you very much.
+Perhaps, by and by, I can tell you everything. But we must see Mr.
+Graves first. I--oh, _don’t_ ask me more now, Mrs. Dunn.”
+
+The widow of so astute a politician as Mike Dunn had been in his day
+could have scarcely failed to profit by his teachings. Moreover, she
+possessed talent of her own. With a final pat and a kiss, she prepared
+for departure.
+
+“Good-by, then,” she said, “or rather, _au revoir_. We shall look in
+to-morrow. Come, Malcolm.”
+
+“I say, Mal!” cried Stephen, rising hurriedly. “You won’t tell anyone
+about--”
+
+“Steve!” interrupted his sister.
+
+Malcolm, about to utter a languid sarcasm, caught his mother’s look, and
+remained silent. Another meaning glance, and his manner changed.
+
+“All right, Steve, old man,” he said. “Good-by and good luck. Caroline,
+awfully glad we had the spin this afternoon. We must have more. Just
+what you and Steve need. At your service any time. If there is anything
+I can do in any way to--er--you understand--call on me, won’t you?
+Ready, Mater?”
+
+The pair were shown out by Edwards. On the way home in the car Mrs.
+Corcoran Dunn lectured her son severely.
+
+“Have you no common sense?” she demanded. “Couldn’t you see that the
+girl would have told me everything if you hadn’t laughed, like an
+idiot?”
+
+The young man laughed again.
+
+“By Jove!” he exclaimed, “it was enough to make a wooden Indian laugh.
+The old jay with the barnacles telling us about the advantages of a
+sailor’s life. And Steve’s face! Ho! ho!”
+
+His mother snorted disgust. “If you had brains,” she declared, “you
+would have understood what he meant by saying that the sea was the place
+to learn what to unlearn. He was hitting at you. Was it necessary to
+insult him the first time you and he exchanged a word?”
+
+“Insult him? _Him?_ Ha, ha! Why, Mater, what’s the matter with you? Do
+you imagine that a hayseed like that would recognize an insult without
+an introduction? And, besides, what difference does it make? You don’t
+intend putting him on your calling list, do you?”
+
+“I intend cultivating him for the present.”
+
+“_Cultivating_ him?”
+
+“Yes--for the present. He is Rodgers Warren’s brother. That lawyer,
+Graves, traveled miles to see him. What does that mean? That, in some
+important way, he is connected with the estate and those two children.
+If the estate is worth anything, and we have reason to believe it is,
+you and I must know it. If it isn’t, it is even more important that we
+should know, before we waste more time. If Caroline is an heiress, if
+she inherits even a moderate fortune--”
+
+She shrugged her shoulders by way of finish to the sentence.
+
+Malcolm whistled.
+
+“But to think of that old Down-Easter being related to the Warren
+family!” he mused. “It seems impossible.”
+
+“Nothing is impossible,” observed his mother. Then, with a shudder, “You
+never met your father’s relatives. I have.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Captain Elisha emerged from his room, after a wash and a change
+of linen, he found the library untenanted. He strolled about, his hands
+behind him, inspecting the pictures with critical interest. Caroline,
+dressed for dinner, found him thus engaged. He turned at the sound of
+her step.
+
+“Why, hello!” he cried, with hearty enthusiasm. “All rigged up for
+inspection, ain’t you?”
+
+“Inspection?”
+
+“Oh, that’s just sailor’s lingo. Means you’ve got your Sunday uniform
+on, that’s all. My! my! how nice you look! But ain’t black pretty old
+for such a young girl?”
+
+“I am in mourning,” replied his niece, coldly.
+
+“There! there! of course you are. Tut! tut! How could I forget it. You
+see, I’ve been so many years feelin’ as if I didn’t have a brother that
+I’ve sort of got used to his bein’ gone.”
+
+“I have not.” Her eyes filled as she said it. The captain was greatly
+moved.
+
+“I’m a blunderin’ old fool, my dear,” he said. “I beg your pardon. Do
+try to forgive me, won’t you? And, perhaps--perhaps I can make up your
+loss to you, just a little mite. I’d like to. I’ll try to, if--”
+
+He laid a hand on her shoulder. She avoided him and, moving away, seated
+herself in a chair at the opposite side of the desk. The avoidance was
+so obvious as to be almost brutal. Captain Elisha looked very grave for
+an instant. Then he changed the subject.
+
+“I was lookin’ at your oil paintin’s,” he said. “They’re pretty fine,
+ain’t they? Any of them your work, Caroline?”
+
+“_My_ work?” The girl’s astonishment was so great that she turned to
+stare at her questioner. “_My_ work?” she repeated. “Are you joking? You
+can’t think that I painted them.”
+
+“I didn’t know but you might. That one over there, with the trees and
+folks dancin’--sort of picnic scene, I judge--that looks as if you might
+have done it.”
+
+“That is a Corot.”
+
+“‘Tis, hey? I want to know! A--a--what did you call it?”
+
+“A Corot. He was a famous French artist. That was father’s favorite
+picture.”
+
+“Sho! Well, I like it fust-rate myself. Did ‘Bije--did your father know
+this Mr. Corot well?”
+
+“Know him? Certainly not. Why should you think such a thing as that?”
+
+“Well, he bought the picture of him, and so I s’pose likely he knew him.
+There was a young feller come to South Denboro three or four year
+ago and offered to paint a picture of our place for fifteen dollars.
+Abbie--that’s Abbie Baker, she’s one of our folks, you know, your third
+cousin, Caroline; keepin’ house for me, she is--Abbie wanted me to have
+him do the job, but I wa’n’t very particular about it, so it never come
+to nothin’. He done two or three places, though, and I swan ‘twas nice
+work! He painted Sam Cahoon’s old ramshackle house and barn, and you’d
+hardly know it, ‘twas so fixed up and fine, in the picture. White paint
+and green grass and everything just like real. He left out the places
+where the pickets was off the fence and the blinds hangin’ on one hinge.
+I told Abbie, I says, ‘Abbie, that painter’s made Sam’s place look
+almost respectable, and if that ain’t a miracle, I don’t know what is.
+I would think Sam would blush every time he sees that picture.’ Ho, ho!
+Abbie seemed to cal’late that Sam Cahoon’s blushin’ would be the biggest
+miracle of the two. Ho! ho! You’d like Abbie; she’s got lots of common
+sense.”
+
+He chuckled at the reminiscence and rubbed his knee. His niece made no
+reply. Captain Elisha glanced at the Corot once more and asked another
+question.
+
+“I presume likely,” he said, “that that picture cost consider’ble more
+than fifteen, hey?”
+
+“Father paid twenty-two thousand dollars for it,” was the crushing
+answer.
+
+The captain looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, shut it again,
+and, rising, walked across the room. Adjusting his glasses, he inspected
+the Corot in silence for a few minutes. Then he drew a long breath.
+
+“Well!” he sighed. “_Well_.” Then, after an interval, “Was this the only
+one he ever painted?”
+
+“The only one? The only picture Corot painted? Of course not! There are
+many more.”
+
+“Did--did this Corot feller get as much for every job as he did for
+this?”
+
+“I presume so. I know father considered this one a bargain.”
+
+“Did, hey? Humph! I ought to know enough by this time not to believe all
+I hear, but I kind of had an idea that picture paintin’ was starvation
+work. I’ve read about artists committin’ suicide, and livin’ in attics,
+and such. Whew! About two such bargain sale jobs as this, and
+I’d guarantee not to starve--and to live as nigh the ground as a
+second-floor bedroom anyhow. How about this next one? This feller in a
+dory--coddin’, I guess he is. Did--did Mr. Corot do him?”
+
+“No. That is by a well-known American artist. It is a good piece of
+work, but not like the other. It is worth much less. Perhaps five
+thousand.”
+
+“So? Well, even for that I’d undertake to buy consider’ble many dories,
+and hire fellers to fish from ‘em, too. Humph! I guess I’m out of
+soundin’s. When I thought fifteen dollars was a high price for paintin’
+a view of a house I was slightly mistaken. Next time I’ll offer the
+paintin’ feller the house and ask him what he considers a fair boot,
+besides. Sam Cahoon’s a better speculator than I thought he was. Hello,
+Commodore! what’s worryin’ you now?”
+
+Edwards appeared to announce that dinner was served. Caroline rose
+and led the way to the dining room. Captain Elisha followed, looking
+curiously about him as he did so. Stephen, who had been sulkily dressing
+in his own room, entered immediately after.
+
+The captain surveyed the dining room with interest. Like the others
+of the suite, it was sumptuously and tastefully furnished. He took the
+chair indicated by the solemn Edwards, and the meal began.
+
+The butler’s sense of humor was not acute, but it was with considerable
+difficulty that he restrained his smiles during the next half hour. A
+more appreciative observer would have noticed and enjoyed the subtler
+points. Stephen’s glare of disgust at his uncle when the latter tucked
+his napkin in the opening of his waistcoat; Caroline’s embarrassment
+when the captain complimented the soup, declaring that it was almost
+as good as one of Abbie’s chowders; the visitor’s obvious uneasiness at
+being waited upon attentively, and the like. These Edwards missed, but
+he could not help appreciating Captain Elisha’s conversation.
+
+Caroline said little during dinner. Her brother glowered at his plate
+and was silent. But the captain talked and talked.
+
+“Maybe you think I didn’t have a time findin’ your new lodgin’s,”
+ he said. “I come over on the cars, somethin’ I don’t usually do when
+there’s anything afloat to carry me. But I had an errand or two to do
+in Boston, so I stopped over night at the hotel there and got the nine
+o’clock train. I landed here in New York all shipshape and on time, and
+started in to hunt you up.”
+
+“How did you get our address?” asked his niece. “Mr. Graves couldn’t
+have given it to you, for we only decided on this apartment a few days
+ago.”
+
+“Ho! ho!” chuckled Captain Elisha, rolling in his chair, like a ship in
+a cross sea. “Ho! ho! You remind me of Abbie, Caroline. That’s what she
+said. ‘I never heard of such a crazy cruise,’ she says. ‘Startin’ off
+to visit folks when you haven’t the least idea where they live!’ ‘Oh,
+yes, I have,’ I says, ‘I know where they live; they live in New York.’
+Well, you ought to have seen her face. Abbie’s a good woman--none
+better--but she generally don’t notice a joke until she trips over it.
+I get consider’ble fun out of Abbie, take her by the large. ‘New York!’
+she says. ‘Did anybody ever hear the beat of that? Do you cal’late New
+York’s like South Denboro, where everybody knows everybody else? What
+are you plannin’ to do? run up the fust man, woman or child you meet and
+ask ‘em to tell you where ‘Bijah Warren lives? Or are you goin’ to trot
+from Dan to Beersheby, trustin’ to meet your nephew and niece on the
+way? I never in my born days!’
+
+“Well,” went on the captain, “I told her that the last suggestion
+weren’t such a bad one, but there was one little objection to it.
+Considerin’ that I hadn’t ever laid eyes on Steve and that I hadn’t seen
+you since you was a baby, the chances was against my recognizin’ you
+if we did meet. Ho, ho, ho! Finally I hinted that I might look in the
+directory, and she got more reconciled to my startin’. Honest, I do
+believe she’d have insisted on takin’ me by the hand and leadin’ me to
+you, if I hadn’t told her that.
+
+[Illustration: “The captain talked and talked.”]
+
+“So I did look in the directory and got the number on Fifth Avenue where
+you used to be. I asked a policeman the nighest way to get there, and
+he said take a bus. Last time I was in New York I rode in one of those
+Fifth Avenue omnibuses, and I never got such a jouncin’ in my life.
+The pavement then was round cobble stones, like some of the roads
+in Nantucket. I remember I tried to ask a feller that set next to me
+somethin’ or other, and I swan to man I couldn’t get nothin’ out of my
+mouth but rattles. ‘Metropolitan Museum,’ sounded like puttin’ in a ton
+of coal. I thought I was comin’ apart, or my works was out of order, or
+somethin’, but when the feller tried to answer he rattled just as bad,
+so I realized ‘twas the reg’lar disease and felt some better. I never
+shall forget a fleshy woman--somethin’ like that Mrs. Dunn friend of
+yours, Caroline--that set opposite me. It give me the crawls to look at
+her, her chins shook around so. Ho! ho! she had no less’n three of ‘em,
+and they all shook different ways. Ho! ho! ho! If I’d been in the habit
+of wearin’ false hair or teeth or anything that wa’n’t growed to or
+buttoned on me I’d never have risked a trip in one of those omnibuses.
+
+“So when the police officer prescribed one for me this v’yage, I was
+some dubious. I’m older’n I was ten year ago, and I wa’n’t sure that I’d
+hold together. I cal’lated walkin’ was better for my health. So I found
+Fifth Avenue and started to walk. And the farther I walked the heavier
+that blessed satchel of mine got. It weighed maybe ten or twelve pounds
+at the corner of 42nd Street, but when I got as far as the open square
+where the gilt woman is hurryin’ to keep from bein’ run over by Gen’ral
+Sherman on horseback--that statue, you know--I wouldn’t have let that
+blessed bag go for less’n two ton, if I was sellin’ it by weight. So
+I leaned up against an electric light pole to rest and sort of get my
+bearin’s. Then I noticed what I’d ought to have seen afore, that the
+street wa’n’t paved with cobbles, as it used to be, but was smooth as
+a stretch of state road down home. So I figgered that a bus was a safe
+risk, after all. I waited ten minutes or more for one to come, and
+finally I asked a woman who was in tow of an astrakhan-trimmed dog at
+the end of a chain, if the omnibuses had stopped runnin’. When I fust
+see the dog leadin’ her I thought she was blind, but I guess she
+was deef and dumb instead. Anyhow, all she said was ‘Ugh!’ not very
+enthusiastic, at that, and went along. Ho! ho! So then I asked a man,
+and he pointed to a bus right in front of me. You see, I was lookin’ for
+the horses, same as they used to be, and this was an automobile.
+
+“I blushed, I guess, just to show that there was some red underneath
+the green, and climbed aboard the omnibus. I rode along for a spell,
+admirin’ as much of the scenery as I could see between the women’s hats,
+then I told the skipper of the thing that I wanted to make port at 82nd
+Street. He said ‘Ugh,’ apparently suff’rin’ from the same complaint the
+dog woman had, and we went on and on. At last I got kind of anxious and
+asked him again.
+
+“‘Eighty-second!’ says he, ugly. ‘This is Ninety-first.’
+
+“‘Good land!’ says I. ‘I wanted Eighty-second.’
+
+“‘Why didn’t you say so?’ says he, lookin’ as if I’d stole his mother’s
+spoons.
+
+“‘I did,’ says I.
+
+“‘You _did_?’ he snarls. ‘You did not! If you did, wouldn’t I have heard
+you?’
+
+“Well, any answer I’d be likely to make to that would have meant more
+argument, and the bus was sailin’ right along at the time, so I piled
+out and did some more walkin’, the other way. At last I reached your old
+number, Stevie, and--Hey? Did you speak?”
+
+“Don’t call me ‘Stevie,’” growled his nephew, rebelliously.
+
+“Beg your pardon. I keep forgettin’ that you’re almost grown up. Well,
+as I was sayin’, I got to the house where you used to live, and ‘twas
+shut tight. Nobody there. Ho! ho! I felt a good deal like old Beriah
+Doane must have on his last ‘vacation.’ You see, Beriah is one of our
+South Denboro notorieties; he’s famous in his way. He works and loafs
+by spells until cranberry pickin’ time in the fall; then he picks steady
+and earns thirty or forty dollars all at once. Soon’s he’s paid off, he
+starts for Boston on a ‘vacation,’ an alcoholic one. Well, last fall
+his married sister was visitin’ him, and she, bein’ strong for good
+Templarism, was determined he shouldn’t vacate in his regular way. So
+she telegraphed her husband’s brother in Brockton to meet Beriah there,
+go with him to Boston, and see that he behaved himself and stayed sober.
+Beriah heard of it, and when his train gets as far as Tremont what does
+he do but get off quiet and change cars for New Bedford. He hadn’t been
+there for nine years, but he had pleasant memories of his last visit.
+And when he does get to New Bedford, chucklin’ over the way he’s
+befooled his sister and her folks, I’m blessed if he didn’t find that
+the town had gone no-license, and every saloon was shut up! Ho! ho! ho!
+Well, I felt about the way he did, I guess, when I stood on the steps
+of your Fifth Avenue house and realized you’d gone away. I wouldn’t have
+had Abbie see me there for somethin’. Ho! ho!”
+
+He leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud. Caroline smiled faintly.
+Stephen threw down his napkin and sprang to his feet.
+
+“Sis,” he cried, “I’m going to my room. By gad! I can’t--”
+
+Catching a warning glance from his sister, he did not finish his
+sentence, but stood sulkily beside his chair. Captain Elisha looked at
+him, then at the girl, and stopped laughing. He folded his napkin with
+care, and rose.
+
+“That’s about all of it,” he said, shortly. “I asked around at two or
+three of the neighbors’ houses, and the last one I asked knew where
+you’d moved and told me how to get here.”
+
+When the trio were again in the library, the captain spoke once more.
+
+“I’m ‘fraid I’ve talked too much,” he said, gravely. “I didn’t realize
+how I was runnin’ on. Thought I was home, I guess, with the fellers of
+my own age down at the postoffice, instead of bein’ an old countryman,
+tirin’ out you two young city folks with my yarns. I beg your pardon.
+Now you mustn’t mind me. I see you’re expectin’ company or goin’ callin’
+somewheres, so I’ll just go to my bedroom and write Abbie a line. She’ll
+be kind of anxious to know if I got here safe and sound and found you.
+Don’t worry about me, I’ll be comf’table and busy.”
+
+He turned to go. Caroline looked at him in surprise. “We are not
+expecting callers,” she said. “And certainly we are not going out
+to-night. Why should you think such a thing?”
+
+It was her uncle’s turn to show surprise.
+
+“Why,” he said, with a glance at Stephen, “I see that you’re all dressed
+up, and so I thought, naturally--”
+
+He paused.
+
+Young Warren grunted contemptuously.
+
+“We dressed for dinner, that is all,” said Caroline.
+
+“You--you mean you put these clothes on every night?”
+
+“Certainly.”
+
+Captain Elisha was plainly very much astonished.
+
+“Well,” he observed, slowly. “I--guess I’ve made another mistake. Hum!
+Good night.”
+
+“Good night,” said Stephen, quickly. Caroline, however, seemed
+embarrassed.
+
+“Captain Warren,” she said, “I thought possibly you might wish to talk
+business with my brother and me. We--we understand that you have come
+on business connected with father’s will. It seems to me that the sooner
+we--we--”
+
+“Get it over the better, hey? Well, maybe you’re right. It’s an odd
+business for an old salt like me to be mixed up in, that’s a fact. If it
+hadn’t been so odd, if I hadn’t thought there must be some reason, some
+partic’lar reason, I--well, I guess I’d have stayed to home where I
+belong. You mustn’t think,” he added, seriously, “that I don’t realize
+I’m as out of place amongst you and your rich friends as a live fish in
+a barrel of sawdust. That’s all right; you needn’t trouble to say no.
+But you must understand that, realizin’ it, I’m not exactly imposin’
+myself on you for pleasure or--well, from choice. I’m so built that I
+can’t shirk when my conscience tells me I shouldn’t, that’s all. I’m
+kind of tired to-night, and I guess you are. To-morrow mornin’, if it’s
+agreeable to all hands, we will have a little business talk. I’ll have
+to see Lawyer Graves pretty soon, and have a gen’ral look at your pa’s
+affairs. Then, if everything is all right and I feel my duty’s done,
+I’ll probably go back to the Cape and leave you to him, or somebody else
+able to look out for you. Until then I’m afraid,” with a smile which had
+a trace of bitterness in it; “I’m afraid you’ll have to do the best you
+can with me. I’ll try to be no more of a nuisance than I can help. Good
+night.”
+
+When the two young people were left alone, Caroline turned to her
+brother.
+
+“Steve,” she said, “I’m afraid you were a little rude. I’m afraid you
+hurt his feelings.”
+
+The boy stared at her in wonder. “Hurt his feelings!” he exclaimed.
+“_His_ feelings! Well, by Jove! Caro, you’re a wonder! Did you expect me
+to throw my arms around his neck? If he had had any feelings at all, if
+he was the slightest part of a gentleman, do you suppose he would come
+here and disgrace us as he is doing? Who invited him? Did we? I guess
+not!”
+
+“But he is father’s brother, and father asked him to come.”
+
+“No, he didn’t. He asked him--heaven knows why--to look out for our
+money affairs. That’s bad enough; but he didn’t ask him to _live_ with
+us. He sha’n’t! by gad, he sha’n’t! _You_ may be as sweet to him as you
+like, but I’ll make it my business to give him the cold shoulder every
+chance I get. I’ll freeze him out, that’s what I’ll do--freeze him out.
+Why, Caro! be sensible. Think what his staying here means. Can we take
+him about with us? Can our friends meet _him_ as--as our uncle? He’s got
+to be made to go. Hasn’t he now? Hasn’t he?”
+
+The girl was silent for a moment. Then she covered her face with her
+hands. “Oh, yes!” she sobbed. “Oh, yes, he must! he _Must_! _Why_ did
+father do it?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The Warren breakfast hour was nine o’clock. At a quarter to nine
+Caroline, entering the library, found Stephen seated by the fire reading
+the morning paper.
+
+“Good morning,” she said. Then, looking about the room, asked, “Has--has
+_he_ been here?”
+
+Her brother shook his head. “You mean Uncle ‘Lish?” he asked,
+cheerfully. “No, he hasn’t. At least, I haven’t seen him and I haven’t
+made any inquiries. I shall manage to survive if he never appears. Let
+sleeping relatives lie, that’s my motto.”
+
+He laughed at his own joke and turned the page of the paper. The butler
+entered.
+
+“Breakfast is served, Miss Caroline,” he announced.
+
+“Has Captain Warren come from his room?” asked the young lady.
+
+“No, Miss Caroline. That is, I haven’t seen him.”
+
+Stephen tossed the paper on the floor and rose.
+
+“I wonder--” he began. Then, with a broad grin, “A sudden thought
+strikes me, Sis. He has undoubtedly blown out the gas.”
+
+“Steve! How can you!”
+
+“Perfectly simple. Absolutely reasonable. Just what might have been
+expected. ‘He has gone, but we shall miss him.’ Come on, Caro; I’m
+hungry. Let the old hayseed sleep. You and I can have a meal in peace.
+Heavens! you don’t care for another experience like last night’s, do
+you?”
+
+“Edwards,” said Caroline, “you may knock at Captain Warren’s door and
+tell him breakfast is served.”
+
+“Yes,” commanded Stephen, “and tell him not to hurry on our account.
+Come, Caro, come! You’re not pining for his society. Well, wait then!
+_I_ won’t!”
+
+He marched angrily out of the room. His sister hesitated, her wish
+to follow complicated by a feeling of duty to a guest, no matter how
+unwelcome. The butler reappeared, looking puzzled.
+
+“He’s not there, miss?” he said.
+
+“Not there? Not in his room?”
+
+“No, Miss Caroline. I knocked, and he didn’t answer, so I looked in and
+he wasn’t there. His bed’s been slept in, but he’s gone.”
+
+“Gone? And you haven’t seen him?”
+
+“No, miss. I’ve been up and about since half past seven, and I can’t
+understand where he could have got to.”
+
+The door of the hall opened and shut. Edwards darted from the library.
+A moment afterwards Captain Elisha strolled in. He was wearing his
+overcoat, and his hat was in his hand.
+
+“Good mornin’, Caroline,” he hailed, in his big voice. “Surprised to see
+me, are you? Ho! ho! So was the Commodore. He couldn’t understand how
+I got in without ringin’. Well, you see, I’m used to turnin’ out pretty
+early, and when it got to be most seven o’clock, I couldn’t lay to bed
+any longer, so I got up, dressed, and went for a walk. I fixed the door
+latch so’s I could come in quiet. You haven’t waited breakfast for me, I
+hope.”
+
+“No; it is ready now, however.”
+
+“Ready now,” the captain looked at his watch. “Yes, I should think so.
+It’s way into the forenoon. You _have_ waited for me, haven’t you? I’m
+awfully sorry.”
+
+“No, we have not waited. Our breakfast hour is nine. Pardon me for
+neglecting to tell you that last evening.”
+
+“Oh, that’s all right. Now you trot right out and eat. I’ve had mine.”
+
+“Had your breakfast?”
+
+“Yes, indeed. When I’m home, Abbie and I usually eat about seven, so I
+get sort of sharp-set if I wait after that. I cal’lated you city folks
+was late sleepers, and I wouldn’t want to make any trouble, so I found
+a little eatin’ house down below here a ways and had a cup of coffee and
+some bread and butter and mush. Then I went cruisin’ round in Central
+Park a spell. This _is_ Central Park over across here, ain’t it?”
+
+“Yes.” The girl was too astonished to say more.
+
+“I thought ‘twas. I’d been through part of it afore, but ‘twas years
+ago, and it’s such a big place and the paths run so criss-cross I got
+sort of mixed up, and it took me longer to get out than it did to get
+in. I had the gen’ral points of the compass, and I guess I could have
+made a pretty average straight run for home, but every time I wanted to
+cut across lots there was a policeman lookin’ at me, so I had to stick
+to the channel. That’s what made me so late. Now do go and eat your
+breakfast. I won’t feel easy till I see you start.”
+
+Caroline departed, and the captain, after a visit to his own room, where
+he left his coat and hat, returned to the library, picked up the paper
+which his nephew had dropped, and began reading.
+
+After breakfast came the “business talk.” It was a brief one. Captain
+Elisha soon discovered that his brother’s children knew very little
+concerning their father’s affairs. They had always plenty of money, had
+been indulged in practically every wish, and had never had to think or
+plan for themselves. As to the size of the estate, they knew nothing
+more than Mr. Graves had told them, which was that, instead of the
+several millions which rumor had credited A. Rodgers Warren with
+possessing, five hundred thousand dollars would probably be the extent
+of their inheritance, and that, therefore, they must live economically.
+As a first step in that direction, they had given up their former home
+and moved to the apartment.
+
+“Yes, yes,” mused the captain, “I see. Mr. Graves didn’t know about your
+movin’, then? You did it on your own hook, so to speak?”
+
+Stephen answered promptly.
+
+“Of course we did,” he declared. “Why not?”
+
+“No reason in the world. A good sensible thing to do, I should say.
+Didn’t anybody advise you where to go?”
+
+“Why should we need advice?” Again it was Stephen who replied. “We
+aren’t kids. We’re old enough to decide some things for ourselves, I
+should think.”
+
+“Yes. Sartin. That’s right. But I didn’t know but p’raps some of your
+friends might have helped along. This Mrs. Dunn now, she kind of hinted
+to me that she’d--well, done what she could to make you comf’table.”
+
+“She has,” avowed Caroline, warmly. “Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm have proved
+their friendship in a thousand ways. We never can repay them, Stephen
+and I, never!”
+
+“No. There’s some things you can’t ever pay, I know that. Mrs. Dunn
+found this nice place for you, did she?”
+
+“Why, yes. She and I found it together.”
+
+“So? That was lucky, wa’n’t it? Advertised in the newspaper, was it; or
+was there a ‘To Let’ placard up in the window?”
+
+“No, certainly not. Mrs. Dunn knew that we had decided to move, and she
+has a cousin who is interested in New York property. She asked him, and
+he mentioned this apartment.”
+
+“One of his own, was it?”
+
+“I believe so. Why are you so particular? Don’t you like it?”
+
+Her tone was sharp. Stephen, who resented his uncle’s questions as
+impertinent intrusions upon the family affairs, added one of his own.
+
+“Isn’t it as good as those in--what do you call it--South Denboro?” he
+asked, maliciously.
+
+Captain Elisha laughed heartily.
+
+“Pretty nigh as good,” he said. “I didn’t notice any better on the way
+to the depot as I drove up. And I doubt if there’s many new ones built
+since I left. It’s a mighty fine lot of rooms, I think. What’s the rent?
+You’ll excuse my askin’, things bein’ as they are.”
+
+“Twenty-two hundred a year,” answered his niece, coldly.
+
+The captain looked at her, whistled, broke off the whistle in the
+middle, and did a little mental arithmetic.
+
+“Twenty-two hundred a year!” he repeated. “That’s one hundred and
+eighty odd a month. Say, that cousin of Mrs. Dunn’s must want to get his
+investment back. You mean for just these ten rooms?”
+
+Stephen laughed scornfully.
+
+“Our guardian has been counting, Caro,” he remarked.
+
+“Yes. Yes, I counted this mornin’ when I got up. I was interested,
+naturally.”
+
+“Sure! Naturally, of course,” sneered the boy. “Did you think the
+twenty-two hundred was the rent of the entire building?”
+
+“Well, I didn’t know. I--”
+
+“The rent,” interrupted Caroline, with dignity, “was twenty-four
+hundred, but, thanks to Mrs. Dunn, who explained to her cousin that we
+were friends of hers, it was reduced.”
+
+“We being in reduced circumstances,” observed her brother in supreme
+disgust. “Pity the poor orphans! By gad!”
+
+“That was real nice of Mrs. Dunn,” declared Captain Elisha, heartily.
+“She’s pretty well-off herself, I s’pose--hey, Caroline?”
+
+“I presume so.”
+
+“Yes, yes. About how much is she wuth, think?”
+
+“I don’t know. I never inquired.”
+
+“No. Well, down our way,” with a chuckle, “we don’t have to inquire. Ask
+anybody you meet what his next door neighbor’s wuth, and he’ll tell you
+within a hundred, and how he got it, and how much he owes, and how he
+gets along with his wife. Ho! ho! Speakin’ of wives, is this Mr. Dunn
+married?”
+
+He looked at his niece as he asked the question. There was no reason why
+Caroline should blush; she knew it, and hated herself for doing it.
+
+“No,” she answered, resentfully, “he is not.”
+
+“Um-hm. What’s his business?”
+
+“He is connected with a produce exchange house, I believe.”
+
+“One of the firm?”
+
+“I don’t know. In New York we are not as well posted, or as curious,
+concerning our friends’ private affairs as your townspeople seem to be.”
+
+“I guess that’s so. I imagine New Yorkers are too busy gettin’ it
+themselves to bother whether their neighbors have got it or not. Well,”
+ he went on, rising, “I guess I’ve kept you young folks from your work
+or--or play, or whatever you was going to do, long enough for this once.
+I think I’ll go out for a spell. I’ve got an errand or two I want to do.
+What time do you have dinner?”
+
+“We lunch at half past one,” answered Caroline.
+
+“We dine at seven.”
+
+“Oh, yes, yes! I keep forgettin’ that supper’s dinner. Well, I presume
+likely I’ll be back for luncheon. If I ain’t, don’t wait for me. I’ll be
+home afore supper--there I go again!--afore dinner, anyhow. Good-by.”
+
+Five minutes later he was at the street corner, inquiring of a policeman
+“the handiest way to get to Pine Street.” Following the directions
+given, he boarded a train at the nearest subway station, emerged at Wall
+Street, inquired once more, located the street he was looking for, and,
+consulting a card which he took from a big stained leather pocket-book,
+walked on, peering at the numbers of the buildings he passed.
+
+The offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, were on the sixteenth floor
+of a new and gorgeously appointed sky-scraper. When Captain Elisha
+entered the firm’s reception room, he was accosted by a wide-awake and
+extremely self-possessed office boy.
+
+“Who’d you want to see?” asked the boy, briskly.
+
+The captain removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his
+handkerchief.
+
+“Hold on a jiffy, Sonny,” he panted. “Just give me a minute to sort of
+get myself together, as you might say. I rode up in one of those express
+elevators of yours, and I kind of feel as if my boots had got tangled up
+with my necktie. When that elevator feller cast off from the cellar, I
+begun to shut up like a spyglass. Whew! Say, Son, is Mr. Graves in?”
+
+“No,” replied the boy, grinning.
+
+“Hum! Still in the sick bay, is he--hey?”
+
+“He’s to home. Got a cold.”
+
+“Yup. It’s too bad. Mr.--er--Sylvester, is he in?”
+
+“Naw, he ain’t. And Mr. Kuhn’s busy. Won’t one of the clerks do? What do
+you want to see the firm about?”
+
+“Well, Son, I had reasons of my own. However, I guess I won’t disturb
+Mr. Kuhn, if he’s busy’s you say. Here! you tell him, or Mr. Sylvester
+when he comes, that Cap’n Warren, Cap’n Elisha Warren of South
+Denboro--better write it down--called and will be back about half past
+twelve or thereabouts. Got it, have you? Hum! is that Elisha? You don’t
+tell me! I’ve been spellin’ it for sixty years, more or less, and never
+realized it had such possibilities. Lend me your pencil. There! you give
+Mr. Sylvester that and tell him I’ll see him later. So long, Son.”
+
+He departed, smiling. The indignant office boy threw the card on the
+table.
+
+Captain Elisha strolled down Pine Street, looking about him with
+interest. It had been years since he visited this locality, and the
+changes were many. Soon, however, he began to recognize familiar
+landmarks. He was approaching the water front, and there were fewer new
+buildings. When he reached South Street he was thoroughly at home.
+
+The docks were crowded. The river was alive with small craft of all
+kinds. Steamers and schooners were plenty, but the captain missed the
+old square-riggers, the clipper ships and barks, such as he had sailed
+in as cabin boy, as foremast hand, and, later, commanded on many seas.
+
+At length, however, he saw four masts towering above the roof of a
+freight house. They were not schooner rigged, those masts. The yards
+were set square across, and along them were furled royals and upper
+topsails. Here, at last, was a craft worth looking at. Captain Elisha
+crossed the street, hurried past the covered freight house, and saw a
+magnificent great ship lying beside a broad open wharf. Down the wharf
+he walked, joyfully, as one who greets an old friend.
+
+The wharf was practically deserted. An ancient watchman was dozing in
+a sort of sentry box, but he did not wake. There was a pile of
+foreign-looking crates and boxes at the further end of the pier,
+evidently the last bit of cargo waiting to be carted away. The captain
+inspected the pile, recognized the goods as Chinese and Japanese, then
+read the name on the big ship’s stern. She was the _Empress of the
+Ocean_, and her home port was Liverpool.
+
+Captain Elisha, as a free-born Yankee skipper, had an inherited and
+cherished contempt for British “lime-juicers,” but he could not help
+admiring this one. To begin with, her size and tonnage were enormous.
+Also, she was four-masted, instead of the usual three, and her hull and
+lower spars were of steel instead of wood. A steel sailing vessel was
+something of a novelty to the captain, and he was seized with a desire
+to go aboard and inspect.
+
+The ladder from ship to wharf was down, of course, and getting on board
+was an easy matter. When he reached the deck and looked about him, the
+great size of the ship was still more apparent. The bulwarks were as
+high as a short man’s head. She was decked over aft, and, as the captain
+said afterwards, “her cabins had nigh as many stories as a house.”
+ From the roof of the “first story,” level with the bulwarks, extended
+a series of bridges, which could be hoisted or lowered, and by means of
+which her officers could walk from stern to bow without descending to
+the deck. There was a good-sized engine house forward, beyond the galley
+and forecastle. Evidently the work of hoisting anchors and canvas was
+done by steam.
+
+The captain strolled about, looking her over. The number of improvements
+since his seagoing days was astonishing. He was standing by the wheel,
+near the companion way, wishing that he might inspect the officers’
+quarters, but not liking to do so without an invitation, when two men
+emerged from the cabin.
+
+One of the pair was evidently the Japanese steward of the ship. The
+other was a tall, clean-cut young fellow, whose general appearance and
+lack of sunburn showed quite plainly that he was not a seafaring man
+by profession. The steward caught sight of Captain Elisha, and, walking
+over, accosted him.
+
+“Want to see skipper, sir?” he asked, in broken English. “He ashore.”
+
+“No, Doctor,” replied the captain, cheerfully. “I don’t want to see
+him. I’ve got no business aboard. It’s been some time since I trod the
+quarter-deck of a square-rigger, and I couldn’t resist the temptation
+of tryin’ how the planks felt under my feet. This is consider’ble of a
+clipper you’ve got here,” he added.
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied the steward grinning.
+
+“Where you from?” asked Captain Elisha.
+
+“Singapore, sir.”
+
+“Cargo all out?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Waitin’ for another one?”
+
+“Yes, sir. We load for Manila bimeby.”
+
+“Manila, hey? Have a good passage across?”
+
+“Yes, sir. She good ship.”
+
+“Shouldn’t wonder. How d’ye do, sir,” to the young man, who was standing
+near. “Hope you won’t think I’m crowdin’ in where I don’t belong. I was
+just tellin’ the doctor here that it had been some time since I trod a
+quarter-deck, and I thought I’d see if I’d forgot the feel.”
+
+“Have you?” asked the young man, smiling.
+
+“Guess not. Seems kind of nat’ral. I never handled such a whale of a
+craft as this, though. Didn’t have many of ‘em in my day. Come over in
+her, did you?”
+
+“No,” with a shake of the head. “No such luck. I’m a land lubber, just
+scouting round, that’s all. She’s a bully vessel, isn’t she?”
+
+“Looks so. Tell you better after I’ve seen what she could do in a
+full-sail breeze. All hands ashore, Doctor?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied the steward.
+
+“Crew paid off and spendin’ their money, I s’pose. Well, if it ain’t
+against orders, I’d kind of like to look around a little mite. May I?”
+
+The steward merely grinned. His companion answered for him.
+
+“Certainly you may,” he said. “I’m a friend of one of the consignees,
+and I’d be glad to show you the ship, if you like. Shall we begin with
+the cabins?”
+
+Captain Elisha, delighted with the opportunity, expressed his thanks,
+and the tour of inspection began. The steward remained on deck, but the
+captain and his new acquaintance strolled through the officers’ quarters
+together.
+
+“Jerushy!” exclaimed the former, as he viewed the main cabin. “Say, you
+could pretty nigh have a dance here, couldn’t you? A small one. This
+reminds me of the cabin aboard the _Sea Gull_, first vessel I went mate
+of--it’s so diff’rent. Aboard her we had to walk sittin’ down. There
+wa’n’t room in the cabin for more’n one to stand up at a time. But she
+could sail, just the same--and carry it, too. I’ve seen her off the Horn
+with studdin’ sails set, when craft twice her length and tonnage had
+everything furled above the tops’l yard. Hi hum! you mustn’t mind an old
+salt runnin’ on this way. I’ve been out of the pickle tub a good while,
+but I cal’late the brine ain’t all out of my system.”
+
+His guide’s eyes snapped.
+
+“I understand,” he said, laughing. “I’ve never been at sea, on a long
+voyage, in my life, but I can understand just how you feel. It’s in
+my blood, I guess. I come of a salt water line. My people were from
+Belfast, Maine, and every man of them went to sea.”
+
+“Belfast, hey? They turned out some A No. 1 sailors in Belfast. I sailed
+under a Cap’n Pearson from there once--James Pearson, his name was.”
+
+“He was my great uncle. I was named for him. My name is James Pearson,
+also.”
+
+“_What_?” Captain Elisha was hugely delighted. “Mr. Pearson, shake
+hands. I want to tell you that your Uncle Jim was a seaman of the kind
+you dream about, but seldom meet. I was his second mate three v’yages.
+My name’s Elisha Warren.”
+
+Mr. Pearson shook hands and laughed, good-humoredly.
+
+“Glad to meet you, Captain Warren,” he said. “And I’m glad you knew
+Uncle Jim. As a youngster, he was my idol. He could spin yarns that were
+worth listening to.”
+
+“I bet you! He’d seen things wuth yarnin’ about. So you ain’t a sailor,
+hey? Livin’ in New York?”
+
+The young man nodded. “Yes,” he said. Then, with a dry smile, “If you
+call occupying a hall bedroom and eating at a third-rate boarding-house
+table living. However, it’s my own fault. I’ve been a newspaper man
+since I left college. But I threw up my job six months ago. Since then
+I’ve been free-lancing.”
+
+“Have, hey?” The captain was too polite to ask further questions, but he
+had not the slightest idea what “free-lancing” might be. Pearson divined
+his perplexity and explained.
+
+“I’ve had a feeling,” he said, “that I might write magazine articles and
+stories--yes, possibly a novel or two. It’s a serious disease, but
+the only way to find out whether it’s chronic or not is to experiment.
+That’s what I’m doing now. The thing I’m at work on may turn out to be
+a sea story. So I spend some time around the wharves and aboard the few
+sailing ships in port, picking up material.”
+
+Captain Elisha patted him on the back.
+
+“Now don’t you get discouraged,” he said. “I used to have an idea that
+novel writin’ and picture paintin’ was poverty jobs for men with healthy
+appetites, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t know’s you’ll believe it,
+but I’ve just found out, for a fact, that some painters get twenty-two
+thousand dollars for one picture. For _one_, mind you. And a little mite
+of a thing, too, that couldn’t have cost scarcely anything to paint.
+Maybe novels sell for just as much. _I_ don’t know.”
+
+His companion laughed heartily. “I’m afraid not, Captain,” he said.
+“Few, at any rate. I should be satisfied with considerably less, to
+begin with. Are you living here in town?”
+
+“Well--we-ll, I don’t know. I ain’t exactly livin’, and I ain’t exactly
+boardin’, but--Say! ain’t that the doctor callin’ you?”
+
+It was the steward, and there was an anxious ring in his voice. Pearson
+excused himself and hurried out of the cabin. Captain Elisha lingered
+for a final look about. Then he followed leisurely, becoming aware, as
+he reached the open air, of loud voices in angry dialogue.
+
+Entrances to the _Empress of the Ocean’s_ cabins were on the main deck,
+and also on the raised half-deck at the stern, near the wheel, the
+binnacle and the officers’ corned-beef tubs, swinging in their frames.
+From this upper deck two flights of steps led down to the main deck
+below. At the top of one of these flights stood young Pearson, cool and
+alert. Behind him half crouched the Japanese steward, evidently very
+much frightened. At the foot of the steps were grouped three rough
+looking men, foreigners and sailors without doubt, and partially
+intoxicated. The three men were an ugly lot, and they were all yelling
+and jabbering together in a foreign lingo. As the captain emerged
+from the passage to the open deck, he heard Pearson reply in the same
+language.
+
+“What’s the matter?” he asked.
+
+Pearson answered without turning his head.
+
+“Drunken sailors,” he explained. “Part of the crew here. They’ve been
+uptown, got full, and come back to square a grudge they seem to have
+against the steward. I’m telling them they’d better give up and go
+ashore, if they know when they’re well off.”
+
+The three fellows by the ladder’s foot were consulting together. On the
+wharf were half a dozen loungers, collected by the prospect of a row.
+
+“If I can hold them off for a few minutes,” went on Pearson, “we’ll be
+all right. The wharf watchman has gone for the police. Here! drop it!
+What are you up to?”
+
+One of the sailors had drawn a knife. The other two reached for their
+belts behind, evidently intending to follow suit. From the loafers on
+the wharf came shouts of encouragement.
+
+“Do the dude up, Pedro! Give him what’s comin’ to him.”
+
+The trio formed for a rush. The steward, with a shrill scream, fled to
+the cabin. Pearson did not move; he even smiled. The next moment he was
+pushed to one side, and Captain Elisha stood at the top of the steps.
+
+“Here!” he said, sternly. “What’s all this?”
+
+The three sailors, astonished at this unexpected addition to their
+enemies forces, hesitated. Pearson laid his hand on the captain’s arm.
+
+“Be careful,” he said. “They’re dangerous.”
+
+“Dangerous? Them? I’ve seen their kind afore. Here, you!” turning to the
+three below. “What do you mean by this? Put down that knife, you lubber!
+Do you want to be put in irons? Over the side with you, you swabs! Git!”
+
+He began descending the ladder. Whether the sailors were merely too
+surprised to resist, or because they recognized the authority of the
+deep sea in Captain Elisha’s voice and face is a question. At any rate,
+as he descended they backed away.
+
+“Mutiny on board a ship of mine?” roared the captain. “What do you mean
+by it? Why, I’ll have you tied up and put on bread and water. Over the
+side with you! Mutiny on board of _me_! Lively! Tumble up there!”
+
+With every order came a stride forward and a correspondingly backward
+movement on the part of the three. The performance would have been
+ridiculous if Pearson had not feared that it might become tragic. He was
+descending the steps to his new acquaintance’s aid, when there rose a
+chorus of shouts from the wharf.
+
+“The cops! the cops! Look out!”
+
+That was the finishing touch. The next moment the three “mutineers” were
+over the side and running as fast as their alcoholic condition would
+permit down the wharf.
+
+“Well, by George!” exclaimed Pearson.
+
+Captain Elisha seemed to be coming out of a dream. He stood still, drew
+his hand across his forehead, and then began to laugh.
+
+“Well!” he stammered. “Well, I snum! I--I--Mr. Pearson, I wonder what on
+earth you must think of me. I declare the sight of that gang set me back
+about twenty years. They--they must have thought I was the new skipper!
+Did you hear me tell ‘em they couldn’t mutiny aboard of me? Ho! ho!
+Well, I am an old idiot!”
+
+Pearson stuck his fist into the palm of his other hand. “I’ve got it!”
+ he cried. “I knew your name was familiar. Why, you’re the mate that
+handled the mutinous crew aboard Uncle Jim’s bark, the _Pacer_, off
+Mauritius, in the typhoon, when he was hurt and in the cabin. I’ve heard
+him tell it a dozen times. Well, this _is_ a lucky day for me!”
+
+Captain Elisha was evidently pleased. “So he told you that, did he?” he
+began. “That _was_ a time and a half, I--”
+
+He was interrupted. Over the rail appeared a blue helmet, and an instant
+later a big and very pompous police officer leaped to the deck. He was
+followed by the wharf watchman, who looked frightened.
+
+“Where’s the other one of them?” demanded the policeman. “Oh, it’s you,
+is it? Well, you’re too old to be gettin’ drunk and fightin’. Come along
+now, peaceable, and let’s have no words about it.”
+
+He advanced and laid a hand on the captain’s arm.
+
+“You’re under arrest,” he announced. “Will you come along quiet?”
+
+“I’m under arrest?” repeated Captain Elisha. “Under--My soul and body!
+Why, I ain’t done anything.”
+
+“Yes, I know. Nobody’s done nothin’. Come on, or shall I--Hello, Mr.
+Pearson, sir! How d’you do?”
+
+Pearson had stepped forward.
+
+“Slattery,” he said, “you’ve made a mistake. Let me tell you about
+it.” He drew the officer aside and whispered in his ear. After a rather
+lengthy conversation, the guardian of the peace turned to the watchman.
+
+“What d’you mean by tellin’ all them lies?” he demanded.
+
+“Lies?” repeated the astonished watchman. “I never told no lies.”
+
+“You did. You said this gentleman,” indicating the nervous and
+apprehensive Captain Elisha, “was fightin’ and murderin’. I ask your
+pardon, sir. ‘Twas this bloke’s foolishness. G’wan ashore! You make me
+sick. Good day, Mr. Pearson.”
+
+He departed, driving his new victim before him and tongue-lashing him
+all the way. The captain drew a long breath.
+
+“Say, Mr. Pearson,” he declared, “a minute or so ago you said this was
+a lucky day for you. I cal’late it’s a luckier one for me. If it hadn’t
+been for you I’d been took up. Yes, sir, took up and carted off to the
+lockup. Whew! that would have looked well in the papers, wouldn’t it?
+And my niece and nephew.... Jerushy! I’m mightily obliged to you. How
+did you handle that policeman so easily?”
+
+Pearson laughed. “Oh,” he replied, “a newspaper training and
+acquaintance has its advantages. Slattery knows me, and I know him.”
+
+“Well, I thank you, I do so.”
+
+“You needn’t. I wouldn’t have missed meeting you and seeing you handle
+those fellows for a good deal. And besides, you’re not going to escape
+so easy. You must lunch with me.”
+
+The captain started, hastily pulled out his watch, and looked at it.
+
+“Quarter to one!” he cried. “And I said I’d be back at that lawyer’s
+office at half-past twelve. No, no, Mr. Pearson, I can’t go to lunch
+with you, but I do wish you’d come and see me some time. My address
+for--for a spell, anyhow--is Central Park West,” giving the number, “and
+the name is Warren, same as mine. Will you come some evenin’? I’d be
+tickled to death to see you.”
+
+The young man was evidently delighted.
+
+“Will I?” he exclaimed. “Indeed I will. I warn you, Captain Warren, that
+I shall probably keep you busy spinning sea yarns.”
+
+“Nothin’ I like better, though I’m afraid my yarns’ll be pretty dull
+alongside of your Uncle Jim’s.”
+
+“I’ll risk it. Good-by and good luck. I shall see you very soon.”
+
+“That’s right; do. So long.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The boy, Captain Elisha’s acquaintance of the morning, was out, regaling
+himself with crullers and milk at a pushcart on Broad Street, when the
+captain returned to the officers of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves. The
+clerk who had taken his place was very respectful.
+
+“Captain Warren,” he said, “Mr. Sylvester was sorry to miss you. He
+waited until half past twelve and left word for us to telephone if you
+came. Our Mr. Graves is still ill, and the matter of your brother’s
+estate must be discussed without further delay. Please sit down and I
+will telephone.”
+
+The captain seated himself on the leather-covered bench, and the clerk
+entered the inner office. He returned, a few moments later, to say:
+
+“Mr. Sylvester is at the Central Club. He wished me to ask if you could
+conveniently join him there.”
+
+Captain Elisha pondered. “Why, yes,” he replied, slowly, “I s’pose I
+could. I don’t know why I couldn’t. Where is this--er--club of his?”
+
+“On Fifth Avenue, near Fifty-second Street. I’ll send one of our boys
+with you if you like.”
+
+“No, no! I can pilot myself, I guess. I ain’t so old I can’t ask my
+way. Though--” with a reminiscent chuckle--“if the folks I ask are all
+sufferin’ from that ‘Ugh’ disease, I sha’n’t make much headway.”
+
+“What disease?” asked the puzzled clerk.
+
+“Oh, nothin’. I was just thinkin’ out loud, that’s all. Mr. Sylvester
+wants to see me right off, does he?”
+
+“Yes, he said he would wait if I ‘phoned him you were coming.”
+
+“Um-hm. Well, you can tell him I’ve left the dock, bound in his
+direction. Say, that young chap that was here when I called the fust
+time--studyin’ to be a lawyer, is he?”
+
+“Who? Tim? No, indeed. He’s only the office boy. Why did you ask?”
+
+“Oh, I was just wonderin’. I had a notion he might be in trainin’ for a
+judgeship, he was so high and mighty. Ho! ho! He’s got talent, that boy
+has. Nobody but a born genius could have made as many mistakes in one
+name as he did when he undertook to spell Elisha. Well, sir, I’m much
+obliged to you. Good day.”
+
+The Central Club is a ponderous institution occupying a becomingly
+gorgeous building on the Avenue. The captain found his way to its door
+without much trouble. A brass-buttoned attendant answered his ring and
+superciliously inquired his business. Captain Elisha, not being greatly
+in awe of either buttons or brief authority, calmly hailed the attendant
+as “Gen’ral” and informed him that he was there to see Mr. Sylvester, if
+the latter was “on deck anywheres.”
+
+“Tell him it’s Cap’n Warren, Major,” he added cheerfully; “he’s
+expectin’ me.”
+
+The attendant brusquely ushered the visitor into a leather-upholstered
+reception room and left him. The captain amused himself by looking at
+the prints and framed letters and autographs on the walls. Then a round,
+red, pleasant-faced man entered.
+
+“Pardon me,” he said, “is this Captain Warren?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” was the reply. “That’s my name. This is Mr. Sylvester, ain’t
+it? Glad to know you, sir.”
+
+“Thanks. Sorry to have made you travel way up here, Captain. I waited
+until twelve-thirty, but as you didn’t come then, I gave you up. Hope I
+haven’t inconvenienced you.”
+
+“No, no. Not a mite. Might just as well be here as anywhere. Don’t think
+another thing about it.”
+
+“Have you lunched, Captain Warren?”
+
+“No, come to think of it, I ain’t. I’ve been kind of busy this forenoon,
+and a little thing like dinner--luncheon, I mean--slipped my mind.
+Though ‘tain’t often I have those slips, I’m free to say. Ho! ho!
+Abbie--she’s my second cousin, my housekeeper--says I’m an unsartin
+critter, but there’s two things about me she can always count on, one’s
+that my clothes have always got a button loose somewheres, and t’other’s
+my appetite.”
+
+He laughed, and Sylvester laughed with him.
+
+“Well,” observed the lawyer, “I’m not sure that I couldn’t qualify on
+both of those counts. At any rate I’m sure of my appetite. I had a lunch
+engagement with an acquaintance of mine, but he hasn’t appeared, so you
+must take his place. We’ll lunch together.”
+
+“Well, now, I’d like to fust-rate, and it’s real kind of you, Mr.
+Sylvester; but I don’t know’s I’d better. Your friend may heave in
+sight, after all, and I’d be in the way.”
+
+“Not a bit of it. And I said ‘acquaintance,’ not ‘friend.’ Of course you
+will! You must. We can talk business while we’re eating, if you like.”
+
+“All right. And I’m ever so much obliged to you. Is there an eatin’
+house near here?”
+
+“Oh, we’ll eat right here at the club. Come.”
+
+He led the way, and Captain Elisha followed. The Central Club has a
+large, exclusive, and wealthy membership, and its quarters correspond.
+The captain gazed about him at the marble floors and pillars, the
+paintings and busts, with interest. After checking his hat and coat, as
+they entered the elevator he asked a question.
+
+“Which floor is your club on, Mr. Sylvester?” he asked.
+
+“Floor? Why, the dining room is on the fourth, if that’s what you mean.”
+
+“No, I meant how many rooms do you rent?”
+
+“We occupy the entire building. It is our own, and a comparatively new
+one. We built it three years ago.”
+
+“You mean this whole shebang is just one _club_?”
+
+“Certainly.”
+
+“Hum! I see. Well, I--”
+
+“What were you going to say?”
+
+“Nothin’. I was wonderin’ what fool thing I’d ask next. I’m more used to
+lodge rooms than I am to clubs, I guess. I’d like to take home a picture
+of this place to Theophilus Kenney. Theoph’s been raisin’ hob because
+the Odd Fellows built on to their buildin’. He said one room was enough
+for any society. ‘Twould be, if we was all his kind of society. Theoph’s
+so small he could keep house in a closet. He’s always hollerin’
+in meetin’ about his soul. I asked the minister if it didn’t seem
+ridic’lous for Kenney to make such a big noise over such a little thing.
+This where we get off?”
+
+The dining room was a large and ornate apartment. Captain Elisha, when
+he first entered it, seemed about to ask another question, but choked
+it off and remained silent. Sylvester chose a table in a retired corner,
+and they sat down.
+
+“Now, Captain Warren,” said the host, “what will you eat?”
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head.
+
+“You do the orderin’,” he replied dryly; “I’ll just set and be thankful,
+like the hen that found the china doorknob. Anything that suits you will
+do me, I guess.”
+
+The lawyer, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his companion, gave
+his orders, and the waiter brought first a bit of caviar on toast. If
+Sylvester expected this delicacy to produce astonished comments, he was
+disappointed.
+
+“Well, well!” exclaimed Captain Elisha. “I declare, you take me back a
+long ways, Mr. Sylvester. Caviar! Well, well! Why, I haven’t ate this
+since I used to go to Cronstadt. At the American consul’s house there we
+had it often enough. Has a kind of homey taste even yet. That consul was
+a good feller. He and I were great friends.
+
+“I met him a long spell after that, when I was down in Mexico,” he
+went on. “He’d made money and was down on a vacation. My ship was at
+Acapulco, and he and I used to go gunnin’ together, after wild geese
+and such. Ho! ho! I remember there was a big, pompous critter of an
+Englishman there. Mind you, I’m not talkin’ against the English. Some of
+the best men I ever met were English, and I’ve stood back to back with
+a British mate on a Genoa wharf when half of Italy was hoppin’ around
+makin’ proclamations that they was goin’ to swallow us alive. And,
+somehow or ‘nother, they didn’t. Took with prophetic indigestion, maybe.
+
+“However, this Englishman at Acapulco was diff’rent. He was so swelled
+with importance that his back hollered in like Cape Cod Bay on the map.
+His front bent out to correspond, though, so I cal’late he averaged up
+all right. Well, he heard about what a good--that I was pretty lucky
+when it come to shootin’ wild geese, and I’m blessed if he didn’t send
+me orders to get him one for a dinner he was goin’ to give. Didn’t
+ask--_ordered_ me to do it, you understand. And him nothin’ but a
+consignee, with no more control over me than the average female
+Sunday-school teacher has over a class of boys. Not so much, because
+she’s supposed to have official authority, and he wa’n’t. _And_ he
+didn’t invite me to the dinner.
+
+“Well, the next time my friend, the ex-consul, and I went out gunnin’,
+I told him of the Englishman’s ‘orders.’ He was mad. ‘What are you goin’
+to do about it?’ he asks. ‘Don’t know yet,’ says I, ‘we’ll see.’ By and
+by we come in sight of one of them long-legged cranes, big birds you
+know, standin’ fishin’ at the edge of some reeds. I up with my gun and
+shot it. The consul chap looked at me as if I was crazy. ‘What in the
+world did you kill that fish-basket on stilts for?’ he says. ‘Son,’
+says I, ‘your eyesight is bad. That’s a British-American goose. Chop off
+about three feet of neck and a couple of fathom of hind legs and pick
+and clean what’s left, and I shouldn’t wonder if ‘twould make a good
+dinner for a mutual friend of ours--good _enough_, anyhow.’ Well, sir!
+that ex-consul set plump down in the mud and laughed and laughed. Ho,
+ho! Oh, dear me!”
+
+“Did you send it to the Englishman?” asked Sylvester.
+
+“Oh, yes, I sent it. And, after a good while and in a roundabout way, I
+heard that the whole dinner party vowed ‘twas the best wild goose
+they ever ate. So I ain’t sure just who the joke was on. However, I’m
+satisfied with my end. Well, there! I guess you must think I’m pretty
+talky on short acquaintance, Mr. Sylvester. You’ll have to excuse me;
+that caviar set me to thinkin’ about old times.”
+
+His host was shaking all over. “Go ahead, Captain,” he cried. “Got any
+more as good as that?”
+
+But Captain Elisha merely smiled and shook his head.
+
+“Don’t get me started on Mexico,” he observed. “I’m liable to yarn
+all the rest of the afternoon. Let’s see, we was goin’ to talk over my
+brother’s business a little mite, wa’n’t we?”
+
+“Why, yes, we should. Now, Captain Warren, just how much do you know
+about your late brother’s affairs?”
+
+“Except what Mr. Graves told me, nothin’ of importance. And, afore we go
+any further, let me ask a question. Do _you_ know why ‘Bije made me his
+executor and guardian and all the rest of it?”
+
+“I do not. Graves drew his will, and so, of course, we knew of your
+existence and your appointment. Your brother forbade our mentioning it,
+but we did not know, until after his death, that his own children were
+unaware they had an uncle. It seems strange, doesn’t it?”
+
+“It does to me; _so_ strange that I can’t see two lengths ahead. I
+cal’late Mr. Graves told you how I felt about it?”
+
+“Yes. That is, he said you were very much surprised.”
+
+“That’s puttin’ it mild enough. And did he tell you that ‘Bije and I
+hadn’t seen each other, or even written, in eighteen years?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Um-hm. Well, when you consider _that_, can you wonder I was set all
+aback? And the more I think of it, the foggier it gets. Why, Mr.
+Sylvester, it’s one of them situations that are impossible, that you
+can prove fifty ways _can’t_ happen. And yet, it has--it sartinly has.
+Now tell me: Are you, or your firm, well acquainted with my brother’s
+affairs?”
+
+“Not well, no. The late Mr. Warren was a close-mouthed man, rather
+secretive, in fact.”
+
+“Humph! that bein’ one of the p’ints where he was different from his
+nighest relation, hey?”
+
+“I’m not so sure. Have you questioned the children?”
+
+“Caroline and Steve? Yes, I’ve questioned ‘em more than they think I
+have, maybe. And they know--well, leavin’ out about the price of oil
+paintin’s and the way to dress and that it’s more or less of a disgrace
+to economize on twenty thousand a year, their worldly knowledge ain’t
+too extensive.”
+
+“Do you like them?”
+
+“I guess so. Just now ain’t the fairest time to judge ‘em. You see
+they’re sufferin’ from the joyful shock of their country relation
+droppin’ in, and--”
+
+He paused and rubbed his chin. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were
+not. Sylvester noted their expression, and guessed many things.
+
+“They haven’t been disagreeable, I hope?” he asked.
+
+“No-o. No, I wouldn’t want to say that. They’re young and--and, well,
+I ain’t the kind they’ve been used to. Caroline’s a nice girl. She is,
+sure. All she needs is to grow a little older and have the right kind of
+advice and--and friends.”
+
+“How about the boy?” Mr. Sylvester had met young Warren, and his eyes
+twinkled as he spoke.
+
+“Steve? Well,” there was an answering twinkle in Captain Elisha’s eye;
+“well, Steve needs to grow, too; though I wouldn’t presume to tell him
+so. When a feller’s undertakin’ to give advice to one of the seven wise
+men, he has to be diplomatic, as you might say.”
+
+The lawyer put back his head and laughed uproariously.
+
+“Ha! ha!” he crowed. “That’s good! Then, from your questioning of the
+children, you’ve learned--?”
+
+“Not such an awful lot. I think I’ve learned that--hum! that a good
+guardian might be a handy thing to have in the house. A reg’lar legal
+guardian, I mean. Otherwise--”
+
+“Otherwise?”
+
+“Otherwise there might be too many disinterested volunteer substitutes
+for the job. Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt it.”
+
+“Have you made up your mind to be that guardian?”
+
+“Not yet. I haven’t made up my mind to anything yet. Now, Mr. Sylvester,
+while we’re waitin’ for what comes next--you’ve ordered enough grub
+to victual a ship--s’pose you just run over what your firm knows about
+‘Bije. That is, if I ain’t askin’ too much.”
+
+“Not at all. That’s what I’m here for. You have a right to know. But I
+warn you my information isn’t worth much.”
+
+He went on, briefly and with the conciseness of the legal mind, to tell
+of A. Rodgers Warren, his business and his estate. He had been a broker
+with a seat on the Stock Exchange.
+
+“That seat is worth consider’ble, ain’t it?” interrupted the captain.
+
+“Between eighty and one hundred thousand dollars.”
+
+“Yup. Well, it reminds me of a picture I saw once in one of the comic
+papers. An old feller from the backwoods somewheres--good deal like me,
+he was, and just about as green--was pictured standin’ along with
+his city nephew in the gallery of the Exchange. And the nephew says,
+‘Uncle,’ says he, ‘do you realize that a seat down there’s wuth
+seventy-five thousand dollars?’ ‘Gosh!’ says the old man, ‘no wonder
+most of ‘em are standin’ up.’ Ho! ho! Is that seat of ‘Bije’s part of
+the five hundred thousand you figger he’s left?”
+
+“Yes, in a way it is. To be truthful, Captain Warren, we’re not sure as
+to the amount of your brother’s tangible assets. Graves made a hurried
+examination of the stocks, bonds, and memoranda, and estimated the
+total, that’s all.”
+
+“I see. Well, heave ahead.”
+
+The lawyer went on. The dead broker’s office had been on Broad Street.
+A small office, with but two clerks. One of the clerks was retained,
+and the office, having been leased for a year by its former tenant,
+was still open pending the settlement of the estate. A. Rodgers Warren
+personally was a man who looked older than he really was, a good liver,
+and popular among his companions.
+
+“What sort of fellers were his companions?” asked Captain Elisha.
+
+“You mean his friends in society, or his companions downtown in Wall
+Street?”
+
+“The Wall Street ones. I guess I can find out something about the
+society ones. Anyhow, I can try. These Wall Streeters that ‘Bije chummed
+with--a quiet lot, was they?”
+
+Sylvester hesitated. “Why--why--not particularly so,” he admitted.
+“Nothing crooked about them, of course. You see, a stock-broker’s life
+is a nerve-racking, rather exciting one, and--”
+
+“And ‘Bije and his chums were excited, too, hey? All right, you needn’t
+go any further. He was a good husband while his wife lived, wa’n’t he?”
+
+“Yes. Frankly, Captain Warren, so far as I know, your brother’s personal
+habits were good. There was nothing against his character.”
+
+“I’m mighty glad to hear it. Mighty glad. Is there anything else you can
+tell me?”
+
+“No. Our next move, provided you decide to accept the trust, the
+executorship, and the rest, is to get together--you and Graves, if he is
+well enough; you and I if he is not--and begin a careful examination of
+the stocks, bonds, assets, and debts of the estate. This must be done
+first of all.”
+
+“Graves hinted there wa’n’t any debts, to amount to anything.”
+
+“So far as we can see, there are none, except a few trifling bills.”
+
+“Yes, yes. Hum!” Captain Elisha put down his coffee spoon and seemed to
+be thinking. He shook his head.
+
+“You appear to be puzzled about something,” observed the lawyer, who was
+watching him intently.
+
+“I am. I was puzzled afore I left home, and I’m just as puzzled now.”
+
+“What puzzles you? if I may ask.”
+
+“Everything. And, if you’ll excuse my sayin’ so, Mr. Sylvester, I guess
+it puzzles you, too.”
+
+He returned his host’s look. The latter pushed back his chair,
+preparatory to rising.
+
+“It is all so perfectly simple, on the face of it, Captain Warren,” he
+said. “Your brother realized that he must die, that his children and
+their money must be taken care of; you were his nearest relative;
+his trust in your honesty and judgment caused him to overlook the
+estrangement between you. That’s the case, isn’t it?”
+
+“Yes. That’s the case, on the face of it, as you say. But you’ve forgot
+to mention one item.”
+
+“What’s that?”
+
+“‘Bije himself. You knew him pretty well, I can see that. So did I. And
+I guess that’s why we’re both puzzled.”
+
+Captain Elisha folded his napkin with care and stood up. Sylvester rose,
+also.
+
+“Come downstairs,” he said. “We can enjoy our cigars more comfortably
+there, and go on with our talk. That is, unless you’re in a great
+hurry.”
+
+“No, I ain’t in any special hurry. So I get up to Caroline’s in season
+for supper--er, dinner, I mean--I don’t care. But I don’t want to keep
+you. You’re a busy man.”
+
+“This is business. This way, Captain.”
+
+The big lounging room of the club, on the first floor, Fifth Avenue
+side, was almost empty when they entered it. The lawyer drew two big
+chairs near the open fire, rang the bell, and ordered cigars. After
+the cigars were lighted and the fragrant clouds of tobacco smoke were
+rising, he reopened the conversation. And now, in an easy, diplomatic
+way, he took his turn at questioning.
+
+It was pretty thorough pumping, managed with the skill of an experienced
+cross-examiner. Captain Elisha, without realizing that he was doing so,
+told of his boyhood, his life at sea, his home at South Denboro, his
+position in the village, his work as selectman, as member of the school
+committee, and as director in the bank. The tone of the questioner
+expressed nothing--he was too well trained for that--but every item of
+information was tabulated and appraised.
+
+The tall mahogany-cased clock struck three, then four. The lawyer
+finished his cigar and lit another. He offered a fresh one to his guest,
+but the offer was declined.
+
+“No, thank you,” observed the captain. “I’ve been yarnin’ away so
+fast that my breath’s been too busy to keep this one goin’. There’s
+consider’ble left yet. This is a better smoke than I’m used to
+gettin’ at the store down home. I tell Ryder--he’s our storekeeper and
+postmaster--that he must buy his cigars on the reel and cut ‘em off with
+the scissors. When the gang of us all got a-goin’ mail times, it smells
+like a rope-walk burnin’ down. Ho! ho! It does, for a fact. Yet I kind
+of enjoy one of his five-centers, after all. You can get used to most
+anything. Maybe it’s the home flavor or the society. P’raps they’d taste
+better still if they was made of seaweed. I’ll trouble you for a match,
+Mr. Sylvester. Two of ‘em, if you don’t mind.”
+
+He whittled one match to a point with his pocket knife, impaled the
+cigar stump upon it, and relit with the other.
+
+Meanwhile the room had been filling up. Around each of the big windows
+overlooking the Avenue were gathered groups of men, young and old,
+smoking, chatting, and gazing idly out. Captain Elisha regarded them
+curiously.
+
+“This ain’t a holiday, is it?” he asked, after a while.
+
+“No. Why?”
+
+“I was just wonderin’ if all those fellers hadn’t any work to do, that’s
+all.”
+
+“Who? That crowd?” The lawyer laughed. “Oh, they’re doing their regular
+stunt. You’ll find most of them here every afternoon about this time.”
+
+“You don’t say. Pay ‘em wages for it, do you?”
+
+“Not that I know of. Some of them are brokers, who come up after the
+Exchange closes. Others are business men, active or retired. Some don’t
+have any business--except what they’re doing now.”
+
+“I want to know! Humph! They remind me of the gang in the billiard-room
+back home. The billiard-roomers--the chronic ones--don’t have any
+business, either, except to keep the dust from collectin’ on the chairs.
+That and talkin’ about hard times. These chaps don’t seem to be
+sufferin’ from hard times, much.”
+
+“No. Most of the younger set have rich fathers or have inherited money.”
+
+“I see. They let the old man do the worryin’. That’s philosophy, anyhow.
+What are they so interested in outside? Parade goin’ by?”
+
+“No. I imagine an unusually pretty girl passed just then.”
+
+“Is that so? Well, well! Say, Mr. Sylvester, the longer I stay in
+New York the more I see that the main difference between it and South
+Denboro is size. The billiard-room gang acts just the same way when the
+downstairs school teacher goes past. Hello!”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“That young chap by the mizzen window looks sort of familiar to me. The
+one that stood up to shake a day-day to whoever was passin’. Hum! He’s
+made a hit, ain’t he? I expect some unprotected female’s heart broke at
+that signal. I cal’late I know him.”
+
+“Who? Which one? Oh, that’s young Corcoran Dunn. He is a lady-killer, in
+his own estimation. How d’ye do, Dunn.”
+
+The young man turning grinning from the window, caught a glimpse of the
+lawyer as the latter rose to identify him. He strolled over to the fire.
+
+“Hello, Sylvester,” he hailed, carelessly. “That was a peach. You should
+have seen her. What? Why, it’s the Admiral!”
+
+“How d’ye do, Mr. Dunn,” said Captain Elisha.
+
+“Have you two met before?” asked Sylvester in astonishment.
+
+“Yes. I had the pleasure of assisting in the welcoming salute when our
+seafarin’ friend come aboard. How was that, Captain? Some nautical class
+to that remark?”
+
+“Yup. You done fust rate, considerin’ how recent you shipped.”
+
+“Thanks. Overwhelmed, I’m sure.” Then, with a look of languid amusement
+at the pair, “What is this--a meeting of the Board of Naval Affairs?
+Have you bought a yacht, Sylvester?”
+
+“No.” The lawyer’s tone was sharp.
+
+“Humph! Well, take my advice and don’t. Yachts are all right, to have
+a good time on, but they cost like the devil to keep up. An auto is bad
+enough. By the way, Sylvester, did you hear about my running over the
+Irishman this morning?”
+
+“Running over?” repeated the captain, aghast. “You didn’t run over
+nobody, I hope.”
+
+“Well, I came devilish near it. Ha! ha! You see, the old tarrier
+was crossing Saint Nicholas Avenue, with a big market basket full
+of provisions--the family dinner, I suppose. By Jove, the household
+appetites must be good ones. It was slippery as the mischief, I was
+running the car, and I tried to go between the fellow and the curb.
+It would have been a decent bit of steering if I’d made it. But--ha!
+ha!--by Jove, you know, I didn’t. I skidded. The man himself managed
+to hop out of the way, but his foot slipped, and down he went. Most
+ridiculous thing you ever saw. And the street! ‘Pon my word it was paved
+with eatables.”
+
+Sylvester, plainly annoyed, did not reply. But Captain Elisha’s concern
+was evident.
+
+“The poor critter!” he exclaimed. “What did you do?”
+
+“The last I saw of him he was sitting in the mud, looking at the upset.
+I didn’t linger. Peters took the wheel, and we beat it. Lucky the cop
+didn’t spot the license number. Might have cost me fifty. They’ve had me
+up for speeding twice before. What are you and the Admiral discussing,
+Sylvester?”
+
+“We were discussing a business matter,” answered the lawyer, with
+significant emphasis.
+
+“Business? Why, sure! I forgot that you were Graves’s partner. Settling
+the family affairs, hey? Well, I won’t butt in. Ta, ta! See you later,
+Captain. You must go for a spin in that car of mine. I’ll call for you
+some day. I’ll show you something they don’t do on Cape Cod. Regards to
+Caro and Steve.”
+
+He moved off, feeling that his invitation would have met with his
+mother’s approval. She had announced that the country uncle was to be
+“cultivated.”
+
+Captain Elisha’s cigar had gone out. He did not attempt to relight it.
+
+“Whew!” he whistled. “Well, when I go for a ‘spin,’ as he calls it, with
+_him_, I cal’late my head’ll be spinnin’ so I won’t be responsible for
+my actions. Whew!”
+
+Sylvester looked curiously at him.
+
+“So you met him before?” he asked.
+
+“Yes. He was at the rooms when I fust landed. Or his mother was there
+then. He came a little later with Caroline and Stephen.”
+
+“I see.”
+
+“Yes. Know him and his ma pretty well, do you?”
+
+“Slightly. I’ve met them, at mutual acquaintances’ homes and about
+town.”
+
+“Pretty well fixed, I s’pose, ain’t they?”
+
+“I presume so. I don’t know.”
+
+“Um. He’s a sociable young feller, ain’t he? Don’t stand on any
+ceremony, hey? Caro and Steve think a lot of him and his mother.”
+
+“Yes. Graves has told me the Dunns were very intimate with the Warrens.
+In fact, just before your brother’s death, I remember hearing a rumor
+that the two families might be even closer connected.”
+
+“You mean--er--Caroline and--er--him?”
+
+“There was such a rumor. Probably nothing in it. There is no engagement,
+I am very sure.”
+
+“Yes, yes, I see. Well, Mr. Sylvester, I must be trottin’ on. I’ll
+think the whole business over for another day or so and then give you my
+decision, one way or the other.”
+
+“You can’t give it now?”
+
+“No-o. I guess I’d better not. However, I think--”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Well, I think I may take the job. Take it on trial, anyhow.”
+
+“Good! I’m glad of it.”
+
+“You _are_?”
+
+“I certainly am. And I’m very glad indeed to have made your
+acquaintance, Captain Warren. Good afternoon. I shall hope to see you
+again soon.”
+
+Captain Elisha left the Central Club in a surprised frame of mind. What
+surprised him was that a man of such thorough city training and habits
+as the senior partner of the law firm should express pleasure at the
+idea of his accepting the charge of A. Rodgers Warren’s heirs and
+estate. Mr. Graves had shown no such feeling.
+
+If he had heard Sylvester’s report to Kuhn, at the office next day, he
+might have been even more surprised and pleased.
+
+“He’s a brick, Kuhn,” declared the senior partner. “A countryman, of
+course, but a keen, able, honest man, and, I think, a mighty good judge
+of character. If I was as sure of his ability to judge investments and
+financial affairs, I should be certain the Warren children couldn’t be
+in better hands. And no doubt we can help him when it comes to that.
+He’ll probably handle the girl and boy in his own way, and his outside
+greenness may jar them a little. But it’ll do them good to be jarred at
+their age. He’s all right, and I hope he accepts the whole trust.”
+
+“Well,” exclaimed Mr. Kuhn; “you surprise me. Graves seemed to be--”
+
+“Graves suffers from the absolute lack of a sense of humor. His path
+through life is about three feet wide and bordered with rock-ribbed
+conventionality. If a man has a joke in his system, Graves doesn’t
+understand it and is suspicious. I tell, you, Kuhn, there’s more honest
+common sense and ability in the right hand of this Down-East salt than
+there ever was in Rodgers Warren’s whole body.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+During the next day Caroline Warren and her brother saw little of their
+uncle. Not that they complained of this or sought his society. The
+policy of avoidance and what Stephen called “freezing out” had begun,
+and the young people kept to themselves as much as possible. At
+breakfast Caroline was coldly polite, and her brother cold, although
+his politeness was not overdone. However, Captain Elisha did not seem to
+notice. He was preoccupied, said but little, and spent the forenoon in
+writing a second letter to Miss Abigail. In it he told of his experience
+on board the _Empress of the Ocean_ and of the luncheon at the Central
+Club. But he said nothing concerning his nephew and niece further than
+the statement that he was still getting acquainted, and that Caroline
+was a real nice looking girl.
+
+“I suppose you wonder what I’ve decided about taking the guardianship,”
+ he added, just at the close. “Well, Abbie, I’m about in the position of
+Luther Sylvester when he fell off the dock at Orham. The tide was out,
+and he went into the soft mud, all under. When the folks who saw him
+tumble got to the edge and looked over, they saw a round, black thing
+sticking out of the mire, and, judging ‘twas Lute’s head, they asked him
+how he felt. ‘I don’t know yet,’ sputters Lute, ‘whether I’m drowned or
+smothered, but I’m somewheres betwixt and between.’ That’s me, Abbie, on
+that guardian business. I’m still betwixt and between. But before this
+day’s over I’ll be drowned or smothered, and I’ll let you know which
+next time I write.”
+
+After lunch he took a stroll in the Park and passed up and down the
+paths, thinking, thinking. Returning, he found that Caroline and Stephen
+had gone for an auto ride with the Dunns and would not be home for
+dinner. So he ate that meal in solitary state, waited upon by Edwards.
+
+That evening, as he sat smoking in the library, the butler appeared to
+announce a caller.
+
+“Someone to see you, sir,” said Edwards. “Here’s his card, sir.”
+
+“Eh? Someone to see _me_? Guess you’ve made a mistake, haven’t you,
+Commodore? I don’t know anybody who’d be likely to come visitin’ me here
+in New York. Why, yes! Well, I declare! Tell him to walk right in. Mr.
+Pearson, I’m glad to see you. This is real neighborly.”
+
+The caller was young Pearson, the captain’s acquaintance of the previous
+forenoon. They shook hands heartily.
+
+“Perhaps you didn’t think I should accept that invitation of yours,
+Captain Warren,” observed Pearson. “I told you I meant it when I said
+yes. And calling within thirty-six hours is pretty good proof, isn’t
+it?”
+
+“Suits me fust-rate. I’m mighty glad you came. Set right down. Lonesome
+at the boardin’ house, was it?”
+
+Pearson made a grimace. “Lonesome!” he repeated. “Ugh! Let’s talk of
+something else. Were you in time for your appointment yesterday noon?”
+
+“Why, yes; I was and I wasn’t. Say, won’t you have a cigar? That’s
+right. And I s’pose, bein’ as this is New York, I’d ought to ask you to
+take somethin’ to lay the dust, hey? I ain’t made any inquiries myself,
+but I shouldn’t wonder if the Commodore--the feller that let you
+in--could find somethin’ in the spare room closet or somewheres, if I
+ask him.”
+
+The young man laughed. “If you mean a drink,” he said, “I don’t care for
+it, thank you.”
+
+“What? You ain’t a teetotaler, are you?”
+
+“No, not exactly. But--”
+
+“But you can get along without it, hey? So can I; generally do, fur’s
+that goes. But _I’m_ from South Denboro. I thought here in New York--”
+
+“Oh, there are many people, even here in New York, who are not convinced
+that alcohol is a food.”
+
+“You don’t tell me! Well, I’m livin’ and learnin’ every day. Judgin’
+from stories and the yarns in the Boston newspapers, folks up our way
+have the idea that this town is a sort of annex to the bad place. All
+right, then we won’t trouble the Commodore. I notice you’re lookin’ over
+my quarters. What do you think of ‘em?”
+
+Pearson had, in spite of himself, been glancing about the room. Its
+luxury and the evident signs of taste and wealth surprised him greatly.
+
+“Astonish you to find me livin’ in a place like this, hey?”
+
+“Why, why, yes, it does, somewhat. I didn’t realize you were such an
+aristocrat, Captain Warren. If I had, I might have been a little more
+careful of my dress in making my first call.”
+
+“Dress? Oh, you mean you’d have put on your Sunday clothes. Well, I’m
+glad you didn’t. You see, _I_ haven’t got on my regimentals, and if
+you’d been on dress parade I might have felt bashful. Ho, ho! I don’t
+wonder you are surprised. This is a pretty swell neighborhood, ain’t
+it?”
+
+“Yes, it is.”
+
+“These--er--apartments, now. ‘Bout as good as any in town, are they?”
+
+“Pretty nearly. There are few better--much better.”
+
+“I thought so. You wouldn’t call livin’ in ‘em economizin’ to any
+consider’ble extent, would you?”
+
+“No,” with a laugh; “no, _I_ shouldn’t, but my ideas of economy
+are--well, different. They have to be. Are you ecomomizing, Captain?”
+
+Captain Elisha laughed and rubbed his knee.
+
+“No,” he chuckled, “_I_ ain’t, but my nephew and niece are. These are
+their rooms.”
+
+“Oh, you’re visiting?”
+
+“No, I don’t know’s you’d call it visitin’. I don’t know what you would
+call it. I’m here, that’s about all you can say.”
+
+He paused and remained silent. His friend was silent, also, not knowing
+exactly what remark to make.
+
+“How’s the novel comin’ on?” asked the captain, a minute later.
+
+“Oh, slowly. I’m not at all sure it will ever be finished. I get
+discouraged sometimes.”
+
+“No use in doin’ that. What sort of a yarn is it goin’ to be? Give me a
+gen’ral idea of the course you’re tryin’ to steer. That is, if it ain’t
+a secret.”
+
+“It isn’t. But there’s mighty little worth telling. When I began I
+thought I had a good scheme, but it seems pretty weak and dish-watery
+now.”
+
+“Most things do while their bein’ done, if you really care about doin’
+‘em well. Heave ahead! You said ‘twas a sea yarn, and I’m a sort of
+specialist when it comes to salt water. Maybe I might prescribe just the
+right tonic, though ‘tain’t very likely.”
+
+Pearson began to outline the plot of his novel, speaking slowly at
+first, but becoming more interested as he continued. Captain Elisha
+listened meditatively, puffing solemnly at his cigar, and interrupting
+but seldom.
+
+“I think that’s a pretty good idea,” he observed, at length. “Yes,
+sir, that sounds promisin’, to me. This cap’n of yours now, he’s a good
+feller. Don’t get him too good, though; that wouldn’t be natural. And
+don’t get him too bad, neither. I know it’s the fashion, judgin’ by the
+sea yarns I’ve read lately, to have a Yankee skipper sort of a cross
+between a prize fighter and a murderer. Fust day out of port he begins
+by pickin’ out the most sickly fo’mast hand aboard, mashes him up, and
+then takes the next invalid. I got a book about that kind of a skipper
+out of our library down home a spell ago, and the librarian said ‘twas
+awful popular. A strong story, she said, and true to life. Well, ‘twas
+strong--you could pretty nigh smell it--but as for bein’ true to life,
+I had my doubts. I’ve been to sea, command of a vessel, for a good many
+years, and sometimes I’d go weeks, whole weeks, without jumpin’ up and
+down on a single sailor. Fact! Got my exercise other ways, I presume
+likely.
+
+“I tell you,” he went on, “the main trouble with that tale of yours, as
+I see it, is that you’re talkin’ about things you ain’t ever seen. Now
+there’s plenty you have seen, I wouldn’t wonder. Let’s see, you was born
+in Belfast, you said. Live there long, did you?”
+
+“Yes, until I went away to school.”
+
+“Your father, he went to sea, did he?”
+
+“Yes. But his ship was lost, with all hands, when I was a baby.”
+
+“But your Uncle Jim wa’n’t lost. You remember him well; you said so.
+Tell me something you remember.”
+
+Before the young man was aware of it, he was telling of his Uncle
+Jim, of the latter’s return from voyages, of his own home life, of his
+mother, and of the village where he spent his boyhood. Then, led on by
+the captain’s questioning, he continued with his years at college, his
+experiences as reporter and city editor. Without being conscious that
+he was doing so, he gave his host a pretty full sketch of himself, his
+story, and his ambitions.
+
+“Mr. Pearson,” said Captain Elisha, earnestly, “don’t you worry about
+that yarn of yours. If you’ll take the advice of an old feller who knows
+absolutely nothin’ about such things, keep on rememberin’ about your
+Uncle Jim. He was a man, every inch of him, and a seaman, too. Put lots
+of him into this hero of yours, and you won’t go fur wrong. And when it
+comes to handlin’ a ship, why--well, if you _want_ to come to me, I’ll
+try and help you out best I can.”
+
+Pearson was delighted.
+
+“You _will_?” he cried. “Splendid! It’s mighty good of you. May I spring
+some of my stuff on you as I write it?”
+
+“Sartin you may. Any time, I’ll be tickled to death. I’ll be tickled to
+have you call, too; that is, if callin’ on an old salt like me won’t be
+too tirin’.”
+
+The answer was emphatic and reassuring.
+
+“Thank you,” said Captain Elisha. “I’m much obliged. Come often, do.
+I--well, the fact is, I’m likely to get sort of lonesome myself, I’m
+afraid. Yes, I shouldn’t wonder if I did.”
+
+He sighed, tossed away the stump of his cigar, and added,
+
+“Now, I want to ask you somethin’. You newspaper fellers are supposed to
+know about all there is to know of everything under the sun. Do you know
+much about the Stock Exchange?”
+
+Pearson smiled.
+
+“All I can afford to know,” he said.
+
+“Humph! That’s a pretty good answer. Knowledge is power, they say,
+but--but I cal’late knowledge of the Stock Exchange is poverty, with a
+good many folks.”
+
+“I think you’re right, Captain. It’s none of my business, but--were you
+planning to tackle Wall Street?”
+
+Captain Elisha glanced, under his brows, at his new friend, and his eyes
+twinkled.
+
+“Didn’t know but I might,” he replied, solemnly. “Ain’t got
+any--er--tips, any sure things you want to put me on to, have you?”
+
+“I have not. My experience of Wall Street ‘sure things’ leads me to
+believe that they’re sure--but only for the other fellow.”
+
+“Hum! I know a chap down home that made money in stocks. He made it so
+easy that, as the boys say, ‘twas almost a shame to take the money. And
+‘twas the makin’ of him, too.”
+
+Pearson was embarrassed and troubled. If this big-hearted, simple-minded
+countryman had come to New York to buck the stock market, it was time
+to sound a warning. But had he, on such short acquaintance, the right to
+warn? The captain was shrewd in his own way. Might not the warning seem
+presumptuous?
+
+“So--this--this friend of yours was a successful speculator, was he?” he
+asked. “He was lucky.”
+
+“Think so? Well, maybe. His name was Elkanah Chase, and his dad was old
+man ‘Rastus Chase, who made consider’ble in cranberries and one thing
+or ‘nother. The old man brought Elkanah up to be what he called a
+gentleman. Ho! ho! Hi hum! I ain’t sure what ‘Rastus’s idea of
+a gentleman was, but if he cal’lated to have his son a tramp in
+go-to-meetin’ clothes, he got his wish. When the old man died, he willed
+the boy fifteen thousand dollars. Well, fifteen thousand dollars is a
+fortune to some folks--if they ain’t economizin’ in New York--but to
+Elkanah ‘twas just about enough to make him realize his poverty. So,
+to make it bigger, he got one of them ‘tips’ from a college friend down
+here in Wall Street, and put the heft of ten thousand into it. _And_, I
+swan, if it didn’t double his money!”
+
+Captain Elisha’s visitor shook his head. He did not even smile.
+
+“He was extremely fortunate,” he said. “I give you my word, Captain
+Warren, that the majority of first speculators don’t turn out that way.
+I hope he was wise enough to keep his profits.”
+
+The captain rubbed his chin.
+
+“Jim--” he began. “Excuse me, I should have said Mr. Pearson, but I’ve
+got sort of in the habit of callin’ folks by their first names. Livin’
+where you know everybody so well gets you into those habits.”
+
+“Jim suits me. I hope you’ll cultivate the habit.”
+
+“Do you? Well, I will. Now, Jim, referrin’ to what I was goin’ to say,
+you, bein’ a newspaper man, ought to know everything, but it’s pretty
+plain you don’t know Elkanah Chase. Keep his profits! Why, when a feller
+is all but convinced that he knows it all, one little bit of evidence
+like that speculation settles it for him conclusive. Elkanah, realizin’
+that Wall Street was his apple pie, opened his mouth to swaller it at
+one gulp. He put his profits and every other cent he had into another
+sure thing tip.”
+
+“And won again?”
+
+“No. He lost all that and some more that he borrowed.”
+
+“But I thought you said it was the making of him!”
+
+“It was. He had to take a job over at the overalls factory in Ostable.
+As a fifteen thousand dollar gentleman, he was pretty average of a mess,
+but they tell me he makes middlin’ good overalls. Elkanah convinced me
+that Wall Street has its good points.”
+
+He chuckled. Pearson, relieved, laughed in sympathy. “Has he paid back
+the money he borrowed?” he inquired.
+
+“No-o! I guess the creditors’ll have to take it out in overalls.
+However, it’s a satisfaction to some of ‘em to watch Chase really work.
+I know that gives me _my_ money’s worth.”
+
+“Oh, ho! You are one of the creditors! Captain Warren, I’m surprised. I
+sized you up as a shrewder judge of investments.”
+
+Captain Elisha colored. “I judged that one correct,” he answered. “If
+I hadn’t thought ‘twould have turned out that way I never would have
+plunged. You see, old man Chase was a friend of mine, and--However,” he
+added, hastily changing the subject, “we’ve strayed some off the course.
+When I mentioned the Stock Exchange I did it because my brother was a
+member of it, and I cal’late you might have known him.”
+
+Pearson was astonished. “Your brother was a member of the Exchange?” he
+repeated.
+
+“Um-hm. Never would have guessed it, would you? I s’pose you cal’late
+all the stock I knew about was on the hoof. Well, I have been acquainted
+with other breeds in my time. My brother’s name was Abijah Warren--A.
+Rodgers Warren, he called himself.”
+
+The effect of this announcement was instantaneous and electric. The
+young man sat back in his chair.
+
+“A. Rodgers Warren was your brother?” he cried.
+
+“Um-hm. Seems to stagger you some. Contrast between us as big as all
+that comes to?”
+
+“But--but, Captain Warren--Your brother--Tell me, is Miss Caroline
+Warren your niece?”
+
+“She is. And Steve is my nephew. ‘Tain’t possible you’re acquainted with
+them?”
+
+Pearson rose to his feet. “Is--They used to live on the Avenue,” he
+said. “But you said you were visiting. Captain Warren, is this your
+niece’s apartment?”
+
+“Yes, hers and Steve’s. Why, what’s the matter? Ain’t goin’, are you?”
+
+“I think perhaps I had better. It is getting late.”
+
+“Late! It’s only the shank of the evenin’. Jim, I ain’t so blind that I
+can’t see through an open window. It ain’t the lateness that makes you
+want to leave so sudden. Is there some trouble between you and Caroline?
+Course, it’s none of my business, and you needn’t tell me unless you
+want to.”
+
+The answer was prompt enough.
+
+“No,” replied Pearson. “No. I assure you there is nothing of that kind.
+I--I met Miss Warren. In fact, at one time we were well acquainted. I
+have the very highest opinion of her. But I think it is best to--”
+
+“Just a minute now. No trouble with Steve? He’s a boy and at an age when
+he’s pretty well satisfied with himself and you have to make allowance.”
+
+“No. Steve and I were quite friendly. I’m sorry to cut my visit short,
+but it is late and I _must_ go.”
+
+He was moving toward the door. Captain Elisha looked at him intently.
+
+“Well, if you must,” he said. “But I hope you’ll come again soon. Will
+you?”
+
+“I hope I may. I give you my word, Captain, that I appreciate your
+invitation, and I do want to know you better.”
+
+“Same here. I don’t often take sudden fancies, Jim, but I knew your
+uncle, and I’d bet consider’ble on any member of his family. And I _was_
+kind of interested in that novel of yours. You haven’t said you’d come
+again. Will you?”
+
+Pearson was much embarrassed.
+
+“I should like to come, immensely,” he said, with an earnestness
+unmistakable; “but--but, to be honest, Captain Warren, there is a
+reason, one which I may tell you sometime, but can’t now--neither Miss
+Warren nor her brother have any part in it--which makes me reluctant to
+visit you here. Won’t you come and see me at the boarding house? Here’s
+the address. _Will_ you come?”
+
+“Sartin! I figured on doin’ it, if you gave me the chance.”
+
+“Thank you, you’ll be welcome. Of course it is _only_ a boarding house,
+and not a very good one. My own room is--well, different from this.”
+
+“Yup. Maybe that’s why I expect to feel at home in it. Good night, Jim.
+Thank you for callin’. Shall I ring for the Commodore to pilot you out?”
+
+“No, I can find my way. I--Someone is coming.”
+
+From the hall came the clang of the elevator door and the sound of
+voices. Before the captain or his friend could move, Caroline, Stephen,
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, and Malcolm entered. Caroline was the first to reach
+the library. Her entrance brought her face to face with Pearson.
+
+“I beg your pardon,” she began. “I did not know there was anyone here.”
+
+“It’s only a friend of mine, Caroline,” explained her uncle, quickly.
+“Just callin’ on me, he was.”
+
+“Good evening, Miss Warren,” said Pearson, quietly.
+
+The girl looked at him for an instant. Then her expression changed, and,
+with a smile, she extended her hand.
+
+“Why, Mr. Pearson!” she exclaimed. “I’m very glad to see you. You must
+excuse me for not recognizing you at once. Steve, you remember Mr.
+Pearson.”
+
+Stephen also extended a hand.
+
+“Sure!” he said. “Glad to see you again, Pearson. Haven’t met you for an
+age. How are you?”
+
+Pearson shook both the hands. He was embarrassed and hesitated in his
+reply.
+
+“It _has_ been some time since we met,” he said. “This is an unexpected
+pleasure. Ah, Mr. Dunn, good evening.”
+
+“It is Mr. Pearson, the financial writer of the _Planet_, Malcolm,”
+ said Caroline. “You used to know him, I think.”
+
+“Don’t remember, I’m sure. Yes, I do. Met you at the University Club,
+didn’t I?”
+
+“Yes. I was formerly a member.”
+
+“And let me present you to Mrs. Corcoran Dunn,” went on the girl. “Mr.
+Pearson used to know father well.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn inspected the visitor through her lorgnette, and condescended
+to admit that she was “delighted.”
+
+“I’m very glad you called,” continued Caroline. “We were just in time,
+weren’t we? Do sit down. And if you will wait a minute until we remove
+our wraps--Steve ring for Edwards, please.”
+
+“I’m afraid I can’t wait, Miss Warren. I dropped in to see your uncle,
+at his invitation, and, as a matter of fact, I didn’t know--”
+
+“To see our _uncle_!” interrupted Stephen, in amazement. “Who?”
+
+“Your uncle, Captain Warren here,” explained Pearson, surprised in his
+turn. “He and I made each other’s acquaintance yesterday, and he asked
+me to call.”
+
+“You--you called to see _him_?” repeated Stephen. “Why, what in the
+world--?”
+
+“I took the liberty of askin’ him, Caroline,” observed Captain Elisha
+quietly, and ignoring the last speaker. “I didn’t know you knew him,
+and I used to sail along with _his_ uncle, so he seemed almost like own
+folks.”
+
+“Oh!” Caroline’s manner changed. “I presume it was a business call,” she
+said slowly. “I beg pardon for interrupting. We had not seen you since
+father’s death, Mr. Pearson, and I assumed that you had called upon my
+brother and me. Excuse me. Mrs. Dunn, we will go into the drawing-room.”
+
+She led the way toward the apartment. Captain Elisha was about to speak.
+Pearson, however, explained for him.
+
+“Miss Warren,” he said, “if by a business call you mean one in the
+interest of the _Planet_, I assure you that you are mistaken. I am no
+longer connected with any paper. I met Captain Warren, under rather
+unusual circumstances. We discovered that we had mutual friends and
+mutual interests. He asked me to call on him, and I did so. I did not
+know, until five minutes ago, that he was your uncle or that you and
+your brother lived here. I beg you won’t leave the room on my account. I
+was about to go when you came. Good evening.”
+
+He bowed and stepped toward the hall. Captain Elisha laid a hand on his
+arm and detained him.
+
+“Just a minute,” he said. “Caroline, I want you and Steve to know that
+what Mr. Pearson says is exactly true. I ain’t the kind to talk to the
+newspapers about the private affairs of my relations, and, if I’m
+any judge of character, Mr. Pearson, knowin’ you as it seems he does,
+wouldn’t be the kind to listen. That’s all. Now, Jim, if you must go.”
+
+He and his guest were at the door. Caroline and Mrs. Dunn were at the
+opposite side of the room. Suddenly the girl halted, turned, and, moving
+across to where her uncle and the young man were standing, once more
+extended her hand.
+
+“Mr. Pearson,” she said, impulsively, “again I ask your pardon. I should
+have known. I am very sorry I spoke as I did. Will you forgive me?”
+
+Pearson colored. His embarrassment was more evident than before.
+
+“There is no occasion for apology, Miss Warren,” he said. “I don’t
+wonder you thought I had come in my former capacity as reporter.”
+
+“Yes, you do. You _must_ have wondered. I am very glad you called to see
+my--my guardian, and I hope you will continue to do so. Father used to
+speak so highly of you, and I’m sure he valued your friendship. Stephen
+and I wish to consider his friends ours. Please believe that you are
+welcome here at any time.”
+
+Pearson’s reply was brief.
+
+“Thank you, Miss Warren,” he said. “You are very kind. Good evening.”
+
+In the hall, as they waited for the elevator, Captain Elisha, happier
+than at any time since his arrival in New York, clapped his friend on
+the shoulder.
+
+“Jim,” he said, “I was beginnin’ to doubt my judgment of things and
+folks. Now I feel better. That niece of mine has got the right stuff in
+her. After _that_ invitation, you will come and see us once in a while.
+That makes it easier, hey?”
+
+Pearson shook his head. “I’m not sure, Captain,” he observed, slowly,
+“that it doesn’t make it harder. I shall look for you at the boarding
+house very soon. Don’t disappoint me. Good night.”
+
+The captain’s last remark that evening was made to Edwards, whom he met
+just outside the door of his bedroom.
+
+“Commodore,” he said, “a barn full of rats is a nuisance, ain’t it?”
+
+“Sir?” stammered the astonished butler.
+
+“I say a barn full of rats is a nuisance.”
+
+“Why--why, yes, sir. I should think it might be, sir.”
+
+“Yup. Well, I know a worse one. It’s a house full of mysteries. By, by,
+Son. Pleasant dreams.”
+
+He sat up until late, meditating profoundly. Then, taking from its
+envelope the letter yet unsealed, which he had written to Miss Abigail
+Baker, he added this postscript:
+
+    “Eleven o’clock. I have decided, Abbie, to accept the
+    guardianship and the rest of it, for a spell, anyhow. Shall
+    notify the lawyers in the morning. Necessity is one thing,
+    and pleasure is another. I doubt if I find the job pleasant,
+    but I guess it is necessary. Anyhow, it looks that way to
+    me.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Announcement of Captain Elisha’s decision followed quickly. Sylvester,
+Kuhn, and Graves received the telephone message stating it, and
+the senior partner was unqualifiedly delighted. Kuhn accepted his
+associate’s opinion with some reservation. “It is an odd piece of
+business, the whole of it,” he declared. “I shall be curious to see how
+it works out.” As for Mr. Graves, when the information was conveyed
+to him by messenger, he expressed disgust and dismay. “Ridiculous!” he
+said. “Doctor, I simply must be up and about within the next few days.
+It is necessary that a sane, conservative man be at the office. Far
+be it from me to say a word against Sylvester, as a lawyer, but he is
+subject to impressions. I imagine this Cape Codder made him laugh, and,
+therefore, in his opinion, is all right. I’m glad I’m not a joker.”
+
+The captain said that he would be down later on to talk things over.
+Meanwhile, if the “papers and such” could be gotten together, it would
+“sort of help along.” Sylvester explained that there were certain legal
+and formal ceremonies pertaining to the acceptance of the trust to be
+gone through with, and these must have precedence. “All right,” answered
+the captain. “Let’s have ‘em all out at once and get the ache and agony
+over. I’ll see you by and by.”
+
+When Mrs. Corcoran Dunn made her daily visit to the Warren apartment
+that afternoon, she found Caroline alone and almost in tears. Captain
+Elisha had broken the news at the table during luncheon, after which
+he went downtown. Stephen, having raved, protested, and made himself
+generally disagreeable and his sister correspondingly miserable, had
+departed for the club. It was a time for confidences, and the wily Mrs.
+Dunn realized that fact. She soothed, comforted, and within half an
+hour, had learned the whole story. Caroline told her all, the strange
+will, the disclosure concerning the country uncle, and the inexplicable
+clauses begging the latter to accept the executorship, the trust, and
+the charge of her brother and herself. Incidentally she mentioned that
+a possible five hundred thousand was the extreme limit of the family’s
+pecuniary resources.
+
+“Now you know everything,” sobbed Caroline. “Oh, Mrs. Dunn, _you_ won’t
+desert us, will you?”
+
+The widow’s reply was a triumph, of its kind. In it were expressed
+sorrow, indignation, pity, and unswerving loyalty. Desert them? Desert
+the young people, toward whom she had come to feel almost like a mother?
+Never!
+
+“You may depend on Malcolm and me, my dear,” she declared. “We are not
+fair-weather friends. And, after all, it is not so very bad. Affairs
+might be very much worse.”
+
+“Worse! Oh, Mrs. Dunn, how could they be? Think of it! Stephen and I are
+dependent upon him for everything. We must ask him for every penny. And
+whatever he says to do we _must_ do. We’re obliged to. Just think! if he
+decides to take us back with him to--South Denboro, or whatever dreadful
+place he comes from, we shall have to go--and live there.”
+
+“But he won’t, my dear. He won’t. It will take some time to settle your
+father’s affairs, and the business will have to be transacted here in
+New York.”
+
+“I know. I suppose that’s true. But that doesn’t make it any easier.
+If he stops here he will stay with us. And what shall we do? We can’t
+introduce him to our friends, or, at least, to any except our best, our
+understanding friends, like you and Malcolm.”
+
+“Why, I’m not sure. He is rather--well--er--countryfied, but I believe
+he has a good heart. He is not rude or unkind or anything of that sort,
+is he?”
+
+“No. No-o. He’s not that, at all. In fact, he means to be kind in his
+way. But it’s such a different way from ours. He is not used to society;
+he wouldn’t understand that certain things and ways were absolutely
+essential. I suppose it isn’t his fault exactly, but that doesn’t help.
+And how can we tell him?”
+
+“I don’t know that you can tell him, but you might hint. Diplomacy, my
+dear, is one of the necessary elements of life. Whatever else you
+do remember to be diplomatic. My poor husband used to have a pet
+proverb--he was interested in politics, my dear, and some of his sayings
+were a trifle grotesque but very much to the point. He used to say that
+one could get rid of more flies with molasses than with a club. And I
+think he was right. Now let me consider. Let’s look the situation right
+in the face. Of course your guardian, as a companion, as an associate
+for us, for our kind of people, is, to be quite frank, impossible.”
+
+“Yes. Yes, I’m sure he is.”
+
+“Yes. But he _is_ your guardian. Therefore, we can’t get rid of him
+with--well, with a club. He must be endured and made as endurable as
+possible. And it certainly will not do to offend him.”
+
+“Steve says we must do what he calls freezing him out--make him feel
+that we do not want him here.”
+
+“Hum! Well, Stephen is a nice boy--Malcolm adores him--but he isn’t a
+diplomat. If we should--what is it?--freeze out your uncle--”
+
+“Please call him something else.”
+
+“Well, we’ll call him the encumbrance on the estate; that’s legal,
+I believe, and expresses it nicely. If we should freeze out the
+encumbrance, we _might_ freeze him to his village, and he _might_ insist
+on your going with him, which wouldn’t do at _all_, my dear. For one
+thing, Malcolm would probably insist on going, also, and I, for one,
+don’t yearn for rural simplicity. Ha! ha! Oh, you mustn’t mind me. I’m
+only a doting mamma, dearie, and I have my air castles like everyone
+else. So, freezing out won’t do. No, you and Steve must be polite to our
+encumbrance.”
+
+“I shall not get on my knees to him and beg. That I sha’n’t do.”
+
+“No one expects you to. If anyone begs it should be he. Condescend to
+just a little. Make him feel his place. Correct him when he goes too far
+wrong, and ignore him when he gets assertive. As for getting rid of him
+at times when it may be necessary--well, I think you may safely leave
+that to me.”
+
+“To you? Oh, Mrs. Dunn, we couldn’t think of dragging you into it. It is
+bad enough that we should be disgraced; but you must not be.”
+
+“My dear child, I _think_ my position in society is sufficiently
+established to warrant a risk or two. If _I_ am seen in company
+with--with the encumbrance, people will merely say, ‘Oh, it’s another
+of her eccentricities!’ that’s all. Now, don’t worry, and don’t fret all
+that pretty color from your cheeks. Always remember this: it is but
+for a year or a trifle over. Then you will be of age and can send your
+encumbrance to the right-about in a hurry.”
+
+Caroline, under the spell of this convincing eloquence, began to cheer
+up. She even smiled.
+
+“Well,” she said, “I will try to be diplomatic. I really will. But
+Stephen--I’m not sure what dreadful thing _he_ will do.”
+
+“He will return to college soon. I will take upon myself the convincing
+of the encumbrance to that effect. And while he is at home, Malcolm will
+take charge of him. He will be delighted to do it.”
+
+“Mrs. Dunn, how can we ever thank you sufficiently? What should we do
+without you and Malcolm?”
+
+“I _hope_, my dear, that you will never have to do without me; not for
+many years, at any rate. Of course, there is always my poor heart,
+but--we won’t worry, will we?”
+
+So, with a kiss and an embrace, this affecting interview ended.
+
+There was another that evening between Mrs. Dunn and her son, which was
+not devoid of interest. Malcolm listened to the information which his
+mother gave him, and commented upon it in characteristic fashion.
+
+“Humph!” he observed, “two hundred and fifty thousand, instead of the
+two million you figured on, Mater! Two hundred and fifty thousand isn’t
+so much, in these days.”
+
+“No,” replied his parent, sharply, “it isn’t so much, but it isn’t so
+little, either.”
+
+“I suppose one can get along on it.”
+
+“Yes, one can. In fact, I know of two who are managing with a good deal
+less. Don’t be any more of a fool than you can help, Malcolm. The sum
+itself isn’t small, and, besides, the Warrens are a family of standing.
+To be connected with them is worth a good deal. There are infinite
+possibilities in it. Oh, if only I might live to see the day when
+tradespeople meant something other than nuisances to be dodged, I
+_think_ I could die contented.”
+
+“Caro’s a decent sort of a girl,” commented Malcolm, reflectively.
+
+“She’s a bright girl and an attractive one. Just now she is in a mood to
+turn to us, to you. But, for Heaven’s sake, be careful! She is delicate
+and sensitive and requires managing. She likes you. If only you weren’t
+such a blunderer!”
+
+“Much obliged, Mater. You’re free with your compliments this evening.
+What’s the trouble? Another ‘heart’?”
+
+“No. My heart I can trust, up to certain limits. But I’m afraid of your
+head, just as I always was of your father’s. And here’s one more bit of
+advice: Be careful how you treat that country uncle.”
+
+“The Admiral! Ho! ho! He’s a card.”
+
+“He may be the trump that will lose us the trick. Treat him civilly;
+yes, even cordially, if you can. And _don’t_ insult him as you did the
+first time you and he met.”
+
+The young man crossed his legs, and grunted in resignation.
+
+“Well,” he said, “it’s going to be a confounded bore, but, at the very
+longest, it’ll last but a year. Then Caro will be her own mistress.”
+
+“Yes. But there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year;
+remember that.”
+
+“All right, Mater. You can bet on me. The old hayseed and I will be
+bosom pals. Wait and see.”
+
+The formalities at the lawyers’ took some time. Captain Elisha was
+absent from the apartment the better part of the following two days. The
+evenings, however, he spent with his niece and nephew, and, if at all
+sensitive to sudden changes of the temperature, he must have noticed
+that the atmosphere of the library was less frigid. Caroline was not
+communicative, did not make conversation, nor was she in the least
+familiar; but she answered his questions, did not leave the room when he
+entered, and seemed inclined to accept his society with resignation,
+if not with enthusiasm. Even Stephen was less sarcastic and bitter. At
+times, when his new guardian did or said something which offended his
+highly cultivated sense of the proprieties, he seemed inclined to burst
+out with a sneer; but a quick “ahem!” or a warning glance from his
+sister caused him to remain silent and vent his indignation by kicking
+a footstool or barking a violent order at the unresisting Edwards.
+Caroline and her brother had had a heart to heart talk, and, as a
+result, the all-wise young gentleman promised to make no more trouble
+than he could help.
+
+“Though, by gad, Caro,” he declared, “it’s only for you I do it! If I
+had my way the old butt-in should understand exactly what I think of
+him.”
+
+On Thursday, after luncheon, as Captain Elisha sat in his own room,
+reading a book he had taken from the library, there came a knock at the
+door.
+
+“Come ahead in!” ordered the captain. Caroline entered. Her uncle rose
+and put down the book.
+
+“Oh!” he exclaimed, “is it you? Excuse me. I thought ‘twas the
+Commodore--Edwards, I mean. If I’d known you was comin’ callin’,
+Caroline, I shouldn’t have been quite so bossy. Guess I’d have opened
+the door for you, instead of lettin’ you do it yourself.”
+
+“Thank you,” answered his niece. “I came to see you on--I suppose you
+might call it business. At any rate, it is a financial matter. I sha’n’t
+detain you long.”
+
+Captain Elisha was a trifle disappointed.
+
+“Oh,” he said, “on business, was it? I hoped--I didn’t know but you’d
+come just out of sociability. However, I’m mighty glad to see you,
+Caroline, no matter what it’s for. That’s a real becomin’ dress you’ve
+got on,” he added, inspecting her admiringly. “I declare, you look
+prettier every time I see you. You favor your pa consider’ble; I can see
+it more and more. ‘Bije had about all the good looks there was in our
+family,” with a chuckle. “Set down, do.”
+
+The girl seated herself in a rocker, and looked at him for a moment
+without speaking. She seemed to have something on her mind, and not to
+know exactly how to express it.
+
+“Captain Warren,” she began, “I--I came to ask a favor. I am obliged
+to ask it, because you are our--” she almost choked over the hated
+word--“our guardian, and I can no longer act on my own responsibility. I
+wish to ask you for some money.”
+
+Captain Elisha nodded gravely.
+
+“I see,” he said. “Well, Caroline, I don’t believe you’ll find me very
+close-fisted. I think I told you and Steve that you was to do just as
+you’d been in the habit of doin’. Of course I _am_ your guardian now,
+and I shall be held responsible for whatever expense comes to the
+estate. Itvis quite a responsibility, and I so understand it. As I said
+to you when I told you I’d decided to take the job on trial, _while_ I
+have it it’ll be my pride to see that you or your brother don’t lose
+anything. I intend, if the Almighty spares me so long and I keep on with
+the trust, to turn over, when my term’s out, at least as much to you and
+Steve as your father left. That’s all. Excuse me for mentioning it
+again. Now, how much do you want? Is your reg’lar allowance too small?
+Remember, I don’t know much about such things here in New York, and you
+must be frank and aboveboard and tell me if you have any complaints.”
+
+“I have no complaints. My allowance is sufficient. It is the same that
+father used to give me, and it is all I need. But this is a matter
+outside my personal needs.”
+
+“Um-hm. Somethin’ to do with the household expenses, hey?”
+
+“No. It is--is a matter of--well, of charity. It may amount to several
+hundred dollars.”
+
+“Yes, yes. I see. Charity, hey? Church?”
+
+“No. One of the maids, Annie, has trouble at home, and I wanted to help
+her.”
+
+The captain nodded once more.
+
+“Annie,” he repeated, “that’s the rosy-faced one? The Irish one?”
+
+“Yes. Her father was seriously injured the other day and cannot work.
+His hip is broken, and the doctor’s bill will be large. They are very
+poor, and I thought perhaps--” She hesitated, faltered, and then said
+haughtily: “Father was very sympathetic and liked to have me do such
+things.”
+
+“Sho! sho! Sartin! Course he did. I like it, too. I’m glad you came to
+me just as you did, Caroline. How much do you want to start with?”
+
+“I don’t know, exactly. I thought I might ask our own doctor to attend
+to the case, and might send them some delicacies and food.”
+
+“Good idea! Go right ahead, Caroline.”
+
+“Thank you. I have been over to see them, and they need help--they
+really do.”
+
+“I presume likely. How’d the accident happen? Anybody’s fault, was it?”
+
+Caroline’s eyes snapped. “Indeed it was!” she said, indignantly. “It
+was a wet morning, after a rain, and the pavement was slippery. Mr.
+Moriarty, Annie’s father, was not working that day--they were making
+some repairs at the factory where he is employed, I believe--and he had
+gone out to do the family marketing. He was crossing the street when an
+automobile, recklessly driven, so everyone says, drove directly down on
+him. He tried to jump out of the way and succeeded--otherwise he might
+have been killed; but he fell and broke his hip. He is an old man, and
+the case is serious.”
+
+“Dear! dear! you don’t tell me! Poor old chap! The auto feller--did he
+help? Seems to me he ought to be the one to be spendin’ the money. ‘Twas
+his fault.”
+
+“Help! Indeed he didn’t! He and the man with him merely laughed, as
+if it was a good joke, put on speed, and disappeared as quickly as
+possible.”
+
+“Why, the mean swab! Did this Mr. Moriarty or the folks around get the
+license number of the auto?”
+
+“No. All they know is that it was a big yellow car with two men in it.”
+
+“Hey? A yellow car?”
+
+“Yes. Somewhat similar to the one Malcolm--Mr. Dunn drives.”
+
+“So, so! Hum! Where did it happen?”
+
+“On Saint Nicholas Avenue, near One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Street.”
+
+“Eh? Saint Nicholas Avenue, you say?”
+
+“Yes.” Caroline rose and turned to go. “Thank you, Captain Warren,” she
+said. “I will tell Doctor Henry to take the case at once.”
+
+The captain did not answer immediately. With his chin in his hand he was
+gazing at the floor.
+
+“Good afternoon,” said Caroline.
+
+Her uncle looked up.
+
+“Er--Wait just a minute, Caroline,” he said. “I guess maybe, if you
+don’t mind, I’d like to think this over a little afore you go too far.
+You have your doctor go right ahead and see to the old man, and you
+order the things to eat and whatever’s necessary. But afore you give
+Annie or her father any money, I’d kind of like to figger a little
+mite.”
+
+His niece stopped short, turned and stared at him.
+
+“Oh!” she said, slowly and icily, “I see. Please don’t trouble yourself.
+I should have known. However, my allowance is my own, and I presume I am
+permitted to do what I please with that.”
+
+“Caroline, don’t be hasty. I ain’t sayin’ no about the money. Far from
+it. I only--”
+
+“I understand--thoroughly. Don’t trouble to ‘figure,’ as you call it.
+Oh! _Why_ did I humiliate myself? I should have known!”
+
+“Caroline, please--”
+
+But the girl had gone, closing the door after her. Captain Elisha shook
+his head, heaved a deep sigh, and then, sinking back into his chair,
+relapsed into meditation. Soon afterward he put on his hat and coat and
+went out.
+
+Half an hour later he entered the office of a firm of commission brokers
+on lower Broad Street, and inquired if a gentleman by the name of Mr.
+Malcolm Dunn was connected with that establishment. On being answered in
+the affirmative, he asked if Mr. Dunn were in. Yes, he was.
+
+“Well,” said Captain Elisha, “I’d like to speak to him a minute or so.
+Just tell him my name’s Warren, if you don’t mind, young feller.”
+
+The clerk objected to being addressed as “young feller,” and showed his
+disapproval by the haughty and indifferent manner in which he departed
+on the errand. However, he did so depart, and returned followed by
+Malcolm himself. The latter, who had been misled by the name into
+supposing his caller to be Stephen Warren, was much astonished when he
+saw the captain seated outside the railing.
+
+“Good afternoon,” said Captain Elisha, rising and extending his hand:
+“How are you to-day, sir? Pretty smart?”
+
+The young man answered briefly that he was all right. He added he was
+glad to see his visitor, a statement more polite than truthful.
+
+“Well, what’s up?” he inquired, condescendingly. “Nothing wrong with
+Caro or Steve, I hope.”
+
+“No, they’re fust-rate, thank you.”
+
+“What’s doing, then? Is it pleasure or business?”
+
+“Well, a little of both, maybe. It’s always a pleasure to see you, of
+course; and I have got a little mite of business on hand.”
+
+Malcolm smiled, in his languid fashion. If he suspected sarcasm in
+the first part of the captain’s reply, it did not trouble him. His
+self-sufficiency was proof against anything of that sort.
+
+“Business,” he repeated. “Well, that’s what I’m here for. Thinking of
+cornering the--er--potato market, were you?”
+
+“No-o. Cranberries would be more in my line, and I cal’late you fellers
+don’t deal in that kind of sass. I had a private matter I wanted to talk
+over with you, Mr. Dunn; that is, if you ain’t too busy.”
+
+Malcolm looked at him with an amused curiosity. As he had expressed it
+in the conversation with his mother, this old fellow certainly was a
+“card.” He seated himself on the arm of the oak settle from which the
+captain had risen and, lazily swinging a polished shoe, admitted that he
+was always busy but never too busy to oblige.
+
+“What’s on your mind, Captain?” he drawled.
+
+Captain Elisha glanced about him somewhat uneasily.
+
+“I--I don’t know as I made it quite clear,” he said, “that it was sort
+of private; somethin’ just between us, you understand.”
+
+Malcolm hesitated. Sliding from the settle, and impatiently commanding
+the clerk to open the gate in the railing, he led his caller through the
+main office and into a small room beyond. On the glass pane of the door
+was lettered, “Mr. Dunn--Private.” A roll-top desk in the corner and
+three chairs were the furniture. Malcolm, after closing the door,
+sprawled in the swing chair before the desk, threw one leg over a
+drawer, which he pulled out for that purpose, and motioned his companion
+to occupy one of the other chairs.
+
+Captain Elisha took the offered chair and dropped his hat on the floor
+beside it. Then he inspected the room and its furnishings with interest.
+Dunn drew out a pocket case, extracted a cigarette, lit it, and waited
+for him to speak.
+
+“Well,” observed the young man, after a moment, “what’s the trouble,
+Admiral? Better get it off your chest, hadn’t you? We’re private enough
+here.”
+
+The captain answered the last question. “Yes,” he said, “this is nice
+and private. Got a stateroom all to yourself; name on the door, and
+everything complete. You must be one of the officers of the craft.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Um-hm. I sort of expected to find your name on the door outside, but
+there ‘twas, ‘Smith, Haynes & Co.’ I presume likely you’re the ‘Co.’”
+
+“_I_ ‘presume likely,’” with mocking impatience. “What about that
+private matter?”
+
+Captain Elisha did not appear to hear him. His eyes were fixed on
+several photographs stuck in the rail of Mr. Dunn’s desk. The photos
+were those of young ladies.
+
+“Friends of yours?” inquired the captain, nodding toward the
+photographs.
+
+“No.” Dunn took the photos from the rack and threw them into a pigeon
+hole. “Look here,” he said, pointedly, “I wouldn’t hurry you for the
+world, but--”
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha did not take the hint. His mind was evidently
+still busy with the vanished photographs.
+
+“Just fancy pictures, I s’pose, hey?” he commented.
+
+“Doubtless. Any other little points I can give you?”
+
+“I guess not. I thought they was fancy; looked so to me. Well, about
+that private matter. Mr. Dunn, I come to see you about an automobile.”
+
+“An automobile!” The young man was so astonished that he actually
+removed his feet from the desk. Then he burst into a laugh. “An
+automobile?” he repeated. “Captain, has the influence of the metropolis
+made you a sport already? Do you want to buy a car?”
+
+“Buy one?” It was Captain Elisha’s turn to show irritation. “Buy one
+of them things? Me? I wouldn’t buy one of ‘em, or run one of ‘em, for
+somethin’, _I_ tell you! No, I don’t want to buy one.”
+
+“Why not? Sell you mine for a price.”
+
+“Not if I see you fust, thank you. No, Mr. Dunn, ‘tain’t that. But
+one of the hired help up to our place--Caroline’s place, I mean--is in
+trouble on account of one of the dratted machines. They’re poor folks,
+of course, and they need money to help ‘em through the doctorin’ and
+nursin’ and while the old man’s out of work. Caroline was for givin’ it
+to ‘em right off, she’s a good-hearted girl; but I said--that is, I kind
+of coaxed her out of it. I thought I’d ask some questions first.”
+
+“So you came to me to ask them?” Malcolm smiled contentedly. Evidently
+the cares and complications of guardianship were already proving too
+intricate for the unsophisticated countryman. He wished advice, and
+had come to him for it, possibly at Caroline’s suggestion. Affairs
+were shaping themselves well. Here was an opportunity to act the
+disinterested friend, as per maternal instructions.
+
+“So you wanted to ask questions, did you, Captain?” he repeated. “Well,
+fire away. Anything I can do to help you or Caroline will be a pleasure,
+of course. Smoke?”
+
+He offered the cigarette case. The captain eyed it dubiously and shook
+his head.
+
+“No,” he said; “no, thank you, I commenced smokin’ at the butt end,
+I guess. Begun with a pipe, and them things would seem sort of
+kindergarten, I’m afraid. No offense meant, you understand. It’s all
+accordin’ to what you’ve been used to. Well, about the questions. Here’s
+the first one: Don’t it seem to you that the right one to pay for the
+doctorin’ and nursin’ and such of Mr. Moriarty--that’s Annie’s pa--ought
+to be the feller who hurt him? That feller, instead of Caroline?”
+
+“Sure thing! If you know who did it, he’s your mark.”
+
+“He could be held responsible, couldn’t he?”
+
+“Certainly.”
+
+“Um-hm. So I thought. And if he was a right-minded chap, he’d be glad to
+help the poor critter, providin’ he knew what damage he’d done; wouldn’t
+you think so?”
+
+Malcolm nodded sagely, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it
+again. A sudden recollection came to him, an alarming recollection. He
+turned in his chair and looked at his visitor. Captain Elisha met his
+gaze frankly.
+
+“Where did this accident happen?” asked Mr. Dunn, his condescending
+smile absent.
+
+“At the corner of Saint Nicholas Avenue and One Hundred and
+Twenty-Eighth Street. It happened last Friday mornin’, a week ago.
+And the car that hit him was a yellow one.”
+
+Malcolm did not answer. His pale face grew paler, and then flushed a
+brilliant red. The captain seemed to feel sorry for him.
+
+“Naturally,” he went on, “when I heard about it, I remembered what you
+told Mr. Sylvester and me at the club that afternoon. I understand how
+‘twas, of course. You never thought you’d done any real harm and just
+went on, thinkin’ ‘twas a good joke, much as anything. If you’d known
+you’d really hurt the poor old man, you’d have stopped to see him. I
+understand that. But--”
+
+“Look here!” interrupted Dunn, sharply, “did Caroline send you to me?”
+
+“Caroline? No, no! She don’t know ‘twas your automobile at all. I never
+said a word to her, ‘tain’t likely. But afore she spent any of her
+money, I thought you’d ought to know, because I was sure you wouldn’t
+let her. That’s the way I’d feel, and I felt ‘twas no more’n honest to
+give you the chance. I come on my own hook; she didn’t know anything
+about it.”
+
+Malcolm drummed on the desk with nervous fingers. The flush remained on
+his face, his cigarette had gone out, and he threw the stump savagely
+into the wastepaper basket. Captain Elisha remained silent. At length
+the young man spoke.
+
+“Well,” he growled, pettishly, “how much will it take to square things
+with the gang? How much damages do they want?”
+
+“Damages? Oh, there won’t be any claim for damages, I guess. That is, no
+lawsuit, or anything of that kind. The Moriartys don’t know you did it,
+and there’s no reason why they should. I thought maybe I’d see to ‘em
+and do whatever was necessary; then you could settle with me, and the
+whole business would be just between us two. Outside the doctor’s bills
+and food and nursin’ and such, all the extry will be just the old man’s
+wages for the time he’s away from the factory. ‘Twon’t be very heavy.”
+
+More reflection and finger tattoo by his companion. Then:
+
+“All right! I’m in it, I can see that; and it’s up to me to get out as
+easy as I can. I don’t want any newspaper publicity. Go ahead! I’ll pay
+the freight.”
+
+Captain Elisha arose and picked up his hat.
+
+“That’s fust-rate,” he said, with emphasis. “I felt sure you’d see it
+just as I did. There’s one thing I would like to say,” he added: “that
+is, that you mustn’t think I was stingy about helpin’ ‘em myself. But it
+wa’n’t really my affair; and when Caroline spoke of spendin’ her money
+and Steve’s, I didn’t feel I’d ought to let her. You see, I don’t know
+as you know it yet, Mr. Dunn, but my brother ‘Bije left me in charge of
+his whole estate, and, now that I’ve decided to take the responsibility,
+I’ve got a sort of pride in not wastin’ any of his children’s
+inheritance. Good day, Mr. Dunn. I’m much obliged to you.”
+
+He opened the office door. Malcolm, frowning heavily, suddenly asked a
+final question.
+
+“Say!” he demanded, “you’ll not tell Caroline or Steve a word of this,
+mind!”
+
+The captain seemed surprised.
+
+“I guess you didn’t catch what I said, Mr. Dunn,” he observed, mildly.
+“I told you this whole business would be just between you and me.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Captain Elisha was very far from considering himself a Solomon. As he
+would have said he had lived long enough with himself to know what a lot
+he didn’t know. Nevertheless, deep down in his inner consciousness, he
+cherished a belief in his judgment of human nature. This judgment was
+not of the snap variety; he took his time in forming it. People and
+their habits, their opinions and characters, were to him interesting
+problems. He liked to study them and to reach conclusions founded upon
+reason, observation, and common sense. Having reached such a conclusion,
+it disturbed him when the subjects of the problem suddenly upset the
+whole process of reasoning and apparently proved him wrong by behavior
+exactly contrary to that which he had expected.
+
+He had been pretty well satisfied with the result of his visit to
+young Dunn at the latter’s office. Malcolm had surrendered, perhaps
+not gracefully or unconditionally, but he had surrendered, and the
+condition--secrecy--was one which the captain himself had suggested.
+Captain Elisha’s mental attitude toward the son of the late Tammany
+leader had been a sort of good-natured but alert tolerance. He judged
+the young man to be a product of rearing and environment. He had known
+spoiled youths at the Cape and, in their surroundings, they behaved much
+as Malcolm did in his. The same disrespect to their elders, the same
+cock-sureness, and the same careless indifference concerning the effect
+which their actions might have upon other people--these were natural and
+nothing but years and the hard knocks of experience could bring about a
+change. Elkanah Chase, country swell and pampered heir to the cranberry
+grower’s few thousands, and Malcolm Dunn, idol of his set at the
+Metropolitan Club, were not so very different, except in externals. The
+similarity confirmed his opinion that New York was merely South Denboro
+many thousand times magnified.
+
+He knew how young Chase had behaved after an interview not unlike that
+just described. In Elkanah’s case several broken windows and property
+destroyed on a revel the night before the Fourth had caused the trouble.
+In Malcolm’s it was an automobile. Both had listened to reason and had
+knuckled under rather than face possible lawsuits and certain publicity.
+Chase, however, had sulkily refused to speak to him for a month, and
+regained affability merely because he wished to borrow money. According
+to the captain’s deduction, Dunn should have acted in similar fashion.
+But he didn’t; that was the odd part of it.
+
+For Malcolm, when he next called, in company with his mother, at the
+Warren apartment, was not in the least sulky. Neither was he over
+effusive, which would have argued fear and a desire to conciliate.
+Possibly there was a bit more respect in his greeting of the new
+guardian and a trifle less condescension, but not much. He still hailed
+Captain Elisha as “Admiral,” and was as mockingly careless as ever in
+his remarks concerning the latter’s newness in the big city. In fact, he
+was so little changed that the captain was perplexed. A chap who could
+take a licking when he deserved it, and not hold malice, must have good
+in him, unless, of course, he was hiding the malice for a purpose. And
+if that purpose was the wish to appear friendly, then the manner of
+hiding it proved Malcolm Dunn to possess more brains than Captain Elisha
+had given him credit for.
+
+One thing seemed sure, the Dunns were not openly hostile. And Caroline
+was. Since the interview in the library, when the girl had, as she
+considered it, humiliated herself by asking her guardian for money to
+help the Moriartys, she had scarcely spoken to him. Stephen, taking his
+cue from his sister, was morose and silent, also. Captain Elisha found
+it hard to forgive his dead brother for bringing all this trouble upon
+him.
+
+His lawyers, so Sylvester informed him, were setting about getting
+Rodgers Warren’s tangible assets together. The task was likely to be a
+long one. The late broker’s affairs were in a muddled state, the books
+were anything but clear, some of the investments were foreign, and, at
+the very earliest, months must elapse before the executor and trustee
+could know, for certain, just how large a property he was in charge of.
+
+He found some solace and forgetfulness of the unpleasant life he was
+leading in helping the stricken Moriarty family. Annie, the maid at the
+apartment, he swore to secrecy. She must not tell Miss Caroline of his
+visits to her parents’ home. Doctor Henry, also, though he could not
+understand why, promised silence. Caroline herself had engaged his
+services in the case, and he was faithful. But the patient was more
+seriously hurt than at first appeared, and consultations with a
+specialist were necessary.
+
+“Goin’ to be a pretty expensive job, ain’t it, Doctor?” asked the
+captain of the physician.
+
+“Rather, I’m afraid.”
+
+“All right. If expense is necessary, don’t be afraid of it. You do just
+what you’d ought to, and send the bill to me.”
+
+“But Miss Warren insisted upon my sending it to her. She said it was a
+private matter, and one with which you, as her guardian, had nothing to
+do.”
+
+“I know. Caroline intends to use her own allowance, I s’pose. Well,
+let her think she will, if ‘twill please her. But when it comes to
+the settlement, call on me. Give her any reason you want to; say
+a--er--wealthy friend of the family come to life all at once and
+couldn’t sleep nights unless he paid the costs.”
+
+“But there isn’t any such friend, is there, Captain Warren? Other than
+yourself, I mean?”
+
+Captain Elisha grinned in appreciation of a private joke. “There is
+somebody else,” he admitted, “who’ll pay a share, anyhow. I don’t
+know’s he’s what you call a bosom friend, and, as for his sleepin’
+nights--well, I never heard he couldn’t do that, after he went to bed.
+But, anyhow, you saw wood, or bones, or whatever you have to do, and
+leave the rest to me. And don’t tell Caroline or anybody else a word.”
+
+The Moriartys lived in a four-room flat on the East Side, uptown, and
+his visits there gave the captain a glimpse of another sort of New
+York life, as different from that of Central Park West as could well be
+imagined. The old man, Patrick, his wife, Margaret, the unmarried son,
+Dennis, who worked in the gas house, and five other children of various
+ages were hived somehow in those four small rooms and Captain Elisha
+marveled greatly thereat.
+
+“For the land sakes, ma’am,” he asked of the nurse, “how do they do it?
+Where do they put ‘em nights? That--that closet in there’s the pantry
+and woodshed and kitchen and dinin’ room; and that one’s the settin’
+room and parlor; and them two dry-goods boxes with doors to ‘em are
+bedrooms. There’s eight livin’ critters to stow away when it’s time to
+turn in, and one whole bed’s took up by the patient. _Where_ do they
+put the rest? Hang ‘em up on nails?”
+
+The nurse laughed. “Goodness knows!” she said. “He should have been
+taken to the hospital. In fact, the doctor and I at first insisted upon
+his removal there. He would have been much better off. But neither he
+nor his wife would hear of it. She said he would die sure without his
+home comforts.”
+
+“Humph! I should think more likely he’d die with ‘em, or under ‘em. I
+watch that fleshy wife of his with fear and tremblin’. Every time she
+goes nigh the bed I expect her to trip over a young one and fall. And if
+she fell on that poor rack-o’-bones,” with a wave of the hand toward the
+invalid, “‘twould be the final smash--like a brick chimney fallin’ on a
+lath hencoop.”
+
+At that moment the “brick chimney” herself entered the rooms and the
+nurse accosted her.
+
+“Captain Warren here,” she said, “was asking where you all found
+sleeping quarters.”
+
+Mrs. Moriarty smiled broadly. “Sure, ‘tis aisy,” she explained. “When
+the ould man is laid up we’re all happy to be a bit uncomfortable. Not
+that we are, neither. You see, sor, me and Nora and Rosy sleep in the
+other bed; and Dinnie has a bit of a shakedown in the parlor; and Honora
+is in the kitchen; and--”
+
+“There! there!” Captain Elisha interrupted hastily, “don’t tell me any
+more. I’d rather _guess_ that the baby bunks in the cookstove oven than
+know it for sartin. How did the grapes I sent you go?” turning to the
+sick man.
+
+“Aw, sor! they were foine. God bless you, sor! Mary be kind to you, sor!
+Sure the angels’ll watch over you every day you live and breathe!”
+
+Captain Elisha bolted for the parlor, the sufferer firing a gatling
+fusillade of blessings after him. Mrs. Moriarty continued the
+bombardment, as she escorted him to the door of the flat.
+
+“There! there!” protested the captain. “Just belay! cut it short,
+there’s a good woman! I’ll admit I’m a saint and would wear a halo
+instead of a hat if ‘twa’n’t so unfashionable. Good day. If you need
+anything you ain’t got, tell the nurse.”
+
+The grateful Irish woman did not intend to let him escape so easily.
+
+“Aw, sor,” she went on, “it’s all right for you to make fun. I’m the
+jokin’ kind, sor, meself. Whin the flats where we used to be got afire
+and Pat had to lug me down the fire escape in his arms, they tell me
+I was laughin’ fit to kill; that is, when I wasn’t screechin’ for fear
+he’d drop me. And him, poor soul, never seein’ the joke, but puffin’ and
+groanin’ that his back was in two pieces. Ha, ha! Oh, dear! And him
+in two pieces now for sure and all! Aw, sor, it’s all right for you to
+laugh it off, but what would we do without you? You and Miss Caroline,
+God bless her!”
+
+“Caroline? She doesn’t come here, does she?”
+
+“Indade she does. Sure, she’s the perfect little lady! Hardly a day
+passes--or a week, anyhow--that she doesn’t drop in to see how the ould
+man’s gettin’ on.”
+
+“Humph! Well, see that you don’t tell her about me.”
+
+Mrs. Moriarty held up both hands in righteous protestation. _She_ tell?
+Might the tongue of her wither between her teeth before it let slip a
+word, and so on. Captain Elisha waved her to silence.
+
+“All right! all right!” he exclaimed. “So long! Take good care of your
+husband, and, and--for Heaven’s sake, walk careful and don’t step on any
+of the children.”
+
+Mrs. Moriarty’s tongue did not wither; at all events, it was lively
+enough when he next met her. The captain’s secret was not divulged, and
+he continued his visits to the flat, taking care, however, to ascertain
+his niece’s whereabouts beforehand. It was not altogether a desire to
+avoid making his charitable deeds public which influenced him. He had a
+habit of not letting his right hand know what his left was about in
+such cases, and he detested a Pharisaical philanthropist. But there
+was another reason why Caroline must not learn of his interest in the
+Moriartys. If she did learn it, she would believe him to be helping them
+on his own responsibility; or, if not, that he was using money belonging
+to the estate. Of course he would, and honestly must, deny the latter
+charge, and, therefore, the first would, to her mind, be proven. He
+intended that Malcolm Dunn should pay the larger share of the bills, as
+was right and proper. But he could not tell Caroline that, because she
+must not know of the young man’s responsibility for the accident. He
+could not give Malcolm the credit, and he felt that he ought not to take
+it himself. It was a delicate situation.
+
+He was lonely, and the days seemed long. Reading the paper, walking in
+the park, occasionally dropping in at the lawyers’ offices, or visiting
+the shops and other places of interest about town made up the monotonous
+routine. He breakfasted early, waited upon by Edwards, got lunch at the
+restaurant nearest to wherever he happened to be at noon, and returned
+to the apartment for dinner. His niece and nephew dined with him, but
+when he attempted conversation they answered in monosyllables or not at
+all. Every evening he wrote a letter to Abbie, and the mail each morning
+brought him one from her. The Dunns came frequently and seemed disposed
+to be friendly, but he kept out of their way as much as possible.
+
+Pearson he had not seen since the latter’s call. This was a
+disappointment, for he fancied the young fellow and believed he should
+like him even better on closer acquaintance. He would have returned the
+visit, but somehow or other the card with the boarding-house street and
+number had been lost or mislaid, and the long list of “James Pearsons”
+ in the directory discouraged him. He speculated much concerning
+the mystery at which the would-be novelist hinted as preventing his
+accepting Caroline’s invitation. Evidently Pearson had once known
+Rodgers Warren well, and had been esteemed and respected by the latter.
+Caroline, too, had known him, and was frankly pleased to meet him again.
+Whatever the trouble might be, she, evidently, was ignorant of it. The
+captain wondered and pondered, but reached no satisfactory conclusion.
+It seemed the irony of fate that the one congenial person--Sylvester
+excepted--whom he had met during his stay in the big city should be
+scratched from his small list of acquaintances.
+
+With Sylvester he held many familiar and enjoyable chats. The
+good-natured, democratic senior member of the law firm liked to have
+Captain Elisha drop in for advice or to spin yarns. Graves, who was
+well again, regarded the new guardian with respect of a kind, but with
+distinct disapproval. The captain was, in his opinion, altogether too
+flippant and jolly. There was nothing humorous in the situation, as
+Graves saw it, and to laugh when one’s brother’s estate is in a tangle,
+indicated unfitness, if nothing worse. Kuhn was a sharp, quick-moving
+man, who had no time for frivolity if it delayed business.
+
+It was after a long interview with Sylvester that Captain Elisha decided
+to send Stephen back to college. When he broke the news there was
+rebellion, brief but lively. Stephen had no desire to continue his
+studies; he wished to become a stock broker at once, and, as soon as he
+was of age, take his father’s seat on the Exchange.
+
+“Stevie,” said Captain Elisha, “one of these days, when you get to be
+as old as I am or before, you’ll realize that an education is worth
+somethin’.”
+
+“Ugh!” grunted the boy, in supreme disgust. “What do you know about
+that?”
+
+“Why, not much, maybe, but enough.”
+
+“Yes?” sarcastically. “What college did you attend?”
+
+“Me? Why, none, more’s the pity. What learnin’ there was in our family
+your dad had. Maybe that’s why he was what he was, so fur as money and
+position and society and so on went, and I’m what _I_ am.”
+
+“Oh, rubbish! What difference does it make to Malcolm Dunn--now--his
+going through college?”
+
+“Well, he went, didn’t he?”
+
+Stephen grinned. Malcolm had told him some particulars concerning his
+university career and its termination.
+
+“He went--part way,” he answered.
+
+“Ya-as. Well, you’ve gone part way, so fur. And now you’ll go the rest.”
+
+“I’d like to know why.”
+
+“For one reason, because I’m your guardian and I say so.”
+
+Stephen was furiously angry. His father’s indulgence and his sister’s
+tolerance had, in most cases, made his will law in the household. To be
+ordered about in this way by an ignorant interloper, as he considered
+his uncle, was too much.
+
+“By gad,” he shouted, “we’ll see!”
+
+“No, we’ve seen. You run along now and pack your trunk. And take
+my advice and study hard. You’ll be behindhand in your work, so Mr.
+Sylvester tells me, but you’re smart, and you can catch up. Make us
+proud of you; that’s what you can do.”
+
+His nephew glanced at him. Captain Elisha was smiling kindly, but there
+was no sign of change of purpose in his look.
+
+Stephen ground his teeth.
+
+“Oh,” he snarled, “if it wasn’t for the disgrace! If things weren’t as
+they are, I’d--”
+
+“S-s-s-h! I know; but they are. Maybe I wish they wa’n’t ‘most as much
+as you do, but they are. I don’t blame you for feelin’ mad now; but I’m
+right and I know it. And some day you’ll know it, and thank me.”
+
+“When I do, I’ll be insane.”
+
+“No, you’ll be older, that’s all. Now pack your trunk--or get the
+Commodore to pack it for you.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+News from the Moriarty sick room continued favorable for a time. Then,
+with alarming suddenness, a change came. The broken hip was mending
+slowly, but poor Pat’s age was against him, and the shock and long
+illness were too much for his system to fight. Dr. Henry shook his
+head dubiously when the captain asked questions. And, one morning at
+breakfast, Edwards informed him that the old man was dead. Annie had
+been summoned by telephone at midnight and had gone home.
+
+Captain Elisha, though not greatly surprised, was shocked and grieved.
+It seemed such a needless tragedy, almost like murder, although there
+was no malice in it. And the thought of the fatherless children and the
+poverty of the stricken family made him shudder. Death at any time, amid
+any surroundings, is terrible; when the dead hands have earned the bread
+for many mouths it is appalling.
+
+The captain dreaded visiting the flat, but because he felt it to be a
+duty he went immediately. And the misery and wailing and dismay he found
+there were worse than his anticipations. He did his best to comfort and
+cheer. Mrs. Moriarty alternately called upon the saints to bless him and
+begged to know what she would do now that they were all sure to starve.
+Luckily, the family priest, a kind-hearted, quiet man who faced similar
+scenes almost every day of his life, was there, and Captain Elisha had a
+long talk with him. With Dennis, the oldest son, and Annie, the maid
+at the Warrens’, he also consulted. Money for their immediate needs,
+he told them, he would provide. And the funeral expenses must not
+worry them. Afterward--well, plans for the future could be discussed at
+another time. But upon Dennis and Annie he tried to impress a sense of
+their responsibility.
+
+“It’s up to you, Boy,” he said to the former. “Annie’s job’s sure, I
+guess, as long as she wants it, and she can give her mother somethin’
+every month. But you’re the man of the house now, and you’ve got to
+steer the ship and keep it afloat. That means work, and hard work,
+lots of it, too. You can do it, if you’ve got the grit. If I can find
+a better place and more pay for you, I will, but you mustn’t depend on
+that. It’s up to you, I tell you, and you’ve got to show what’s in you.
+If you get stuck and need advice, come to me.”
+
+He handed the priest a sum of money to cover immediate contingencies,
+and departed. His letter to Abbie that afternoon was so blue that the
+housekeeper felt sure he was “coming down” with some disease or other.
+He had been riding in that awful subway, where the air--so the papers
+said--was not fit to breathe, and just as like as not he’d caught
+consumption. His great-uncle on his mother’s side died of it, so it “run
+in the family.” Either he must come home or she should come to him, one
+or the other.
+
+But before evening his blueness had disappeared. He had just returned
+to his room, after stepping into the hall to drop his letter in the mail
+chute, when his niece knocked at the door. He was surprised to see her,
+for she had not spoken to him, except in brief reply to questions, since
+their misunderstanding in that very room. He looked at her wonderingly,
+not knowing what to say or what to expect; but she spoke first.
+
+“Captain Warren,” she began, hurriedly, “the last time I came to
+you--the last time I came here, I came to ask a favor, and you--I
+thought you--”
+
+She was evidently embarrassed and confused. Her guardian was
+embarrassed, also, but he tried to be hospitable.
+
+“Yes, Caroline,” he said, gravely, “I know what you mean. Won’t
+you--won’t you sit down?”
+
+To his surprise, she accepted the invitation, taking the same chair she
+had taken on the occasion of their former interview. But there was a
+look in her eyes he had never seen there before; at least, not when she
+was addressing him.
+
+She went on, speaking hastily, as though determined to head off any
+questioning on his part.
+
+“Captain Warren,” she began once more, “the time I came to you in this
+room you were, so I thought, unreasonable and unkind. I asked you for
+money to help a poor family in trouble, and you refused to give it to
+me.”
+
+“No, Caroline,” he interrupted, “I didn’t refuse, you only thought I
+did.”
+
+She held up her hand. “Please let me go on,” she begged. “I thought you
+refused, and I couldn’t understand why. I was hurt and angry. I knew
+that father never would have refused me under such circumstances, and
+you were his brother. But since then, only to-day, I have learned that I
+was wrong. I have learned--”
+
+She paused. The captain was silent. He was beginning to hope, to believe
+once more in his judgment of character; and yet, with his hope and
+growing joy, there was a trifle of anxiety.
+
+“I have learned,” went on his niece, “that I was mistaken. I can’t
+understand yet why you wished to wait before saying yes, but I do know
+that it must have been neither because you were unkind nor ungenerous.
+I have just come from those poor people, and they have told me
+everything.”
+
+Captain Elisha started. “What did they tell you?” he asked, quickly.
+“Who told you?”
+
+“Annie and her mother. They told me what you had done and were doing for
+them. How kind you had been all through the illness and to-day. Oh, I
+know you made them promise not to tell me; and you made the doctor and
+nurse promise, too. But I knew _someone_ had helped, and Annie dropped
+a hint. Then I suspected, and now I know. Those poor people!”
+
+The captain, who had been looking at the floor, and frowning a bit,
+suddenly glanced up to find his niece’s eyes fixed upon him, and they
+were filled with tears.
+
+“Will you forgive me?” she asked, rising from her chair, and coming
+impulsively toward him. “I’m sorry I misjudged you and treated you so.
+You must be a very good man. Please forgive me.”
+
+He took her hand, which was swallowed up in his big one. His eyes were
+moist, also.
+
+“Lord love you, dearie,” he said, “there’s nothin’ to forgive. I
+realized that I must have seemed like a mean, stingy old scamp. Yet I
+didn’t mean to be. I only wanted to look into this thing just a little.
+Just as a matter of business, you know. And I.... Caroline, did that
+doctor tell you anything more?”
+
+“Any more?” she repeated in bewilderment. “He told me that you were the
+kindest man he had ever seen.”
+
+“Yes, yes. Well, maybe his eyesight’s poor. What I mean is did he tell
+you anything about anybody else bein’ in this with me?”
+
+“Anybody else? What do you mean?”
+
+“Oh, nothin’, nothin’. I joked with him a spell ago about a wealthy
+relation of the Moriarty tribe turnin’ up. ‘Twas only a joke, of course.
+And yet, Caroline, I--I think I’d ought to say--”
+
+He hesitated. What could he say? Even a hint might lead to embarrassing
+questions and he had promised Dunn.
+
+“What ought you to say?” asked his niece.
+
+“Why, nothin’, I guess. I’m glad you understand matters a little better
+and I don’t intend for the estate nor you to pay these Moriarty bills.
+Just get ‘em off your mind. Forget ‘em. I’ll see that everything’s
+attended to. And, later on, if you and me can, by puttin’ our heads
+together, help those folks to earnin’ a better livin’, why, we will,
+hey?”
+
+The girl smiled up at him. “I think,” she said, “that you must be one
+who likes to hide his light under a bushel.”
+
+“I guess likely a two-quart measure’d be plenty big enough to hide mine.
+There! there! We won’t have any more misunderstandin’s, will we? I’m a
+pretty green vegetable and about as out of place here as a lobster in
+a balloon, but, as I said to you and Steve once before, if you’ll
+just remember I _am_ green and sort of rough, and maybe make allowances
+accordin’, this cruise of ours may not be so unpleasant. Now you
+run along and get ready for dinner, or the Commodore’ll petrify from
+standin’ so long behind your chair.”
+
+She laughed, as she turned to go. “I should hate to have him do that,”
+ she said. “He would make a depressing statue. I shall see you again in a
+few minutes, at dinner. Thank you--Uncle.”
+
+She left Captain Elisha in a curious state of mind. Against his will he
+had been forced to accept thanks and credit which, he believed, did not
+rightfully belong to him. It was the only thing to do, and yet it seemed
+almost like disloyalty to Malcolm Dunn. This troubled him, but the
+trouble was, just then, a mere pinhead of blackness against the radiance
+of his spirit.
+
+His brother’s daughter had, for the first time, called him uncle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+“Captain Warren,” asked Caroline, as they were seated at the breakfast
+table next morning, “what are your plans for to-day?”
+
+Captain Elisha put down his coffee cup and pulled his beard
+reflectively. Contrary to his usual desire since he came to the
+apartment to live, he was in no hurry to finish the meal. This breakfast
+and the dinner of the previous evening had been really pleasant. He had
+enjoyed them. His niece had not called him uncle again, it is true, and
+perhaps that was too much to be expected as yet, but she was cheerful
+and even familiar. They talked as they ate, and he had not been made to
+feel that he was the death’s head at the feast. The change was marked
+and very welcome. The bright winter sunshine streaming through the
+window indicated that the conditions outside were also just what they
+should be.
+
+“Well,” he replied, with a smile, “I don’t know, Caroline, as I’ve made
+any definite plans. Let’s see, to-day’s Sunday, ain’t it? Last letter I
+got from Abbie she sailed into me because, as she said, I seemed to
+have been ‘most everywheres except to meetin’. She figgers New York’s a
+heathen place, anyhow, and she cal’lates I’m gettin’ to be a backslider
+like the rest. I didn’t know but I might go to church.”
+
+Caroline nodded. “I wondered if you wouldn’t like to go,” she said. “I
+am going, and I thought perhaps you would go with me.”
+
+Her uncle had again raised his cup to his lips. Now he set it down with
+a suddenness which caused the statuesque Edwards to bend forward in
+anticipation of a smash. The captain started to speak, thought better of
+it, and stared at his niece so intently that she colored and dropped her
+eyes.
+
+“I know,” she faltered, “that I haven’t asked you before, but--but--”
+ then, with the impulsiveness which was one of her characteristics, and
+to her guardian her great charm, she looked him full in the face and
+added, “but I hoped you would understand that--that _I_ understood a
+little better. I should like to have your company very much.”
+
+Captain Elisha drew a long breath.
+
+“Thank you, Caroline,” he answered. “I appreciate your askin’ me, I
+sartinly do. And I’d rather go with you than anybody else on earth.
+But I was cal’latin’ to hunt up some little round-the-corner chapel, or
+Bethel, where I’d feel a little bit at home. I guess likely your church
+is a pretty big one, ain’t it?”
+
+“We attend Saint Denis. It IS a large church, but we have always been
+connected with it. Stephen and I were christened there. But, of course,
+if you had rather go somewhere else--”
+
+“No, no! I hadn’t anywhere in particular to go. I’m a Congregationalist
+to home, but Abbie says I’ve spread my creed so wide that it ain’t
+more’n an inch deep anywhere, and she shouldn’t think ‘twould keep me
+afloat. I tell her I’d rather navigate a broad and shallow channel,
+where everybody stands by to keep his neighbor off the shoals, than I
+would a narrow and crooked one with self-righteousness off both beams
+and perdition underneath.
+
+“You see,” he added, reflectively, “the way I look at it, it’s a pretty
+uncertain cruise at the best. Course there’s all sorts of charts, and
+every fleet is sartin it’s got the only right one. But I don’t know.
+We’re afloat--that much we are sure of--but the port we left and the
+harbor we’re bound for, they’re always out of sight in the fog astern
+and ahead. I know lots of folks who claim to see the harbor, and see it
+plain; but they don’t exactly agree as to what they see. As for me, I’ve
+come to the conclusion that we must steer as straight a course as we
+can, and when we meet a craft in distress, why, do our best to help
+her. The rest of it I guess we must leave to the Owner, to the One that
+launched us. I.... Good land!” he exclaimed, coming out of his
+meditation with a start, “I’m preachin’ a sermon ahead of time. And
+the Commodore’s goin’ to sleep over it, I do believe.”
+
+The butler, who had been staring vacantly out of the window during the
+captain’s soliloquy, straightened at the sound of his nickname, and
+asked hastily, “Yes, sir? What will you have, sir?” Captain Elisha
+laughed in huge enjoyment, and his niece joined him.
+
+“Well,” she said, “will you go with me?”
+
+“I’d like to fust-rate--if you won’t be too much ashamed of me.”
+
+“Then it’s settled, isn’t it? The service begins at a quarter to eleven.
+We will leave here at half-past ten.”
+
+The captain shaved with extra care that morning, donned spotless linen,
+including a “stand-up” collar--which he detested--brushed his frock-coat
+and his hair with great particularity, and gave Edwards his shoes to
+clean. He would have shined them himself, as he always did at home, but
+on a former occasion when he asked for the “blackin’ kit,” the
+butler’s shocked and pained expression led to questions and consequent
+enlightenment.
+
+He was ready by a quarter after ten, but when his niece knocked at his
+door she bore a message which surprised and troubled him.
+
+“Mrs. Dunn called,” she said, “to ask me to go to church with her. I
+told her I had invited you to accompany me. Would you mind if she joined
+us?”
+
+Her guardian hesitated. “I guess,” he answered, slowly, “it ain’t so
+much a question of my mindin’ her as she mindin’ me. Does _she_ want me
+to go along?”
+
+“She said she should be delighted.”
+
+“I want to know! Now, Caroline, don’t you think I’d be sort of in the
+way? Don’t you believe she’d manage to live down her disappointment if
+I didn’t tag on? You mustn’t feel that you’ve got to be bothered with me
+because you suggested my goin’, you know.”
+
+“If I had considered it a bother I should not have invited you. If you
+don’t wish Mrs. Dunn’s company, then you and I will go alone.”
+
+“Oh, land sakes! I wouldn’t have you do that for the world! All right,
+I’ll be out in a jiffy.”
+
+He gave his hair a final brush, straightened his tie, turned around once
+more before the mirror, and walked fearfully forth to meet the visitor.
+For him, the anticipated pleasure of the forenoon had been replaced by
+uneasy foreboding.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, as she rose creakingly to greet him, was
+extremely gracious. She was gowned and furred and hatted in a manner
+which caused the captain to make hasty mental estimate as to cost, but
+she extended a plump hand, buttoned in a very tight glove, and murmured
+her gratification.
+
+“I’m so glad you are to accompany us, Captain Warren,” she gushed. “It
+is a charming winter morning, isn’t it?”
+
+Captain Elisha touched the plump glove with his own big finger tips,
+and admitted that the morning was “fust-rate.” He was relieved from the
+embarrassment of further conversation just then by Caroline’s appearance
+in the library. She, too, was richly dressed.
+
+“Are we all ready?” she asked, brightly. “Then we may as well start.”
+
+“I’m afraid we’re a trifle early, my dear,” said Mrs. Dunn, “but we can
+stroll about a bit before we go in.”
+
+The captain looked at the library clock. The time was a quarter to
+eleven.
+
+“Early?” he exclaimed, involuntarily. “Why, I thought Caroline said--”
+
+He stopped, suddenly, realizing that he had spoken aloud. His niece
+divined his thought and laughed merrily.
+
+“The service does begin now,” she said, “but no one is ever on time.”
+
+“Oh!” ejaculated her uncle, and did not speak again until they were at
+the door of the church. Then Caroline asked him what he was thinking.
+
+“Nothin’ much,” he answered, gazing at the fashionably garbed throng
+pouring under the carved stone arch of the entrance; “I was just
+reorganizin’ my ideas, that’s all. I’ve always sort of thought a plug
+hat looked lonesome. Now I’ve decided that I’m wearin’ the lonesome
+kind.”
+
+He marched behind his niece and Mrs. Dunn up the center aisle to the
+Warren pew. He wrote his housekeeper afterwards that he estimated
+that aisle to be “upwards of two mile long. And my Sunday shoes had a
+separate squeak for every inch,” he added.
+
+Once seated, however, and no longer so conspicuous, his common sense
+and Yankee independence came to his rescue. He had been in much bigger
+churches than this one, while abroad during his seagoing years. He knew
+that his clothes were not fashionably cut, and that, to the people about
+him, he must appear odd and, perhaps, even ridiculous. But he remembered
+how odd certain city people appeared while summering at South Denboro.
+Recollections of pointed comments made by boatmen who had taken these
+summer sojourners on fishing excursions came to his mind. Well, he
+had one advantage over such people, at any rate, he knew when he was
+ridiculous, and they apparently did not.
+
+So, saved from humiliation by his sense of humor, he looked about him
+with interest. When the procession of choir boys came up the aisle,
+and Mrs. Dunn explained in a condescending whisper what they were, his
+answer surprised her a trifle. “Yes,” whispered the captain in reply, “I
+know. I’ve seen the choir in Saint Peter’s at Rome.”
+
+Only once did he appear greatly astonished. That was when the offering
+was taken and a certain dignified magnate, whose fame as a king of
+finance is world-wide, officiated as one of the collectors.
+
+“Heavens and earth!” murmured Captain Elisha, staring wide-eyed at
+the unmistakable features so often pictured and cartooned in the daily
+papers; “Caroline--Caroline, am I seein’ things or is that--is that--”
+
+“That is Mr. ----,” whispered his niece. “He is one of the vestrymen
+here.”
+
+“My soul!” still gazing after the Emperor of Wall Street; “_Him_ passin’
+the plate! Well,” with a grim smile, “whoever picked him out for the job
+has got judgment. If _he_ can’t make a body shell out, nobody can.”
+
+He listened to the sermon, the text of which was from the Beatitudes,
+with outward solemnity, but with a twinkle in his eye. After the
+benediction, when Caroline asked how he enjoyed it, the cause of the
+twinkle became apparent.
+
+“Fine!” he declared, with enthusiasm. “He’s a smart preacher, ain’t he!
+And he knew his congregation. You might not guess they was meek perhaps,
+but they certainly did look as if they’d inherited the earth.”
+
+He drew a breath of relief as the trio emerged into the open air. He had
+enjoyed the novel experience, in a way, but now he felt rather like one
+let out of jail. The quiet luncheon at home with Caroline was a pleasant
+anticipation.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn smashed his anticipation at a blow. She insisted
+that he and his niece lunch with her.
+
+“You really must, you know,” she declared. “It will be delightful. Just
+a little family party.”
+
+Captain Elisha looked distressed. “Thank you, ma’am,” he stammered;
+“it’s awful kind of you, but I wouldn’t feel right to go puttin’ you
+to all that trouble. Just as much obliged, but I--I’ve got a letter to
+write, you see.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn bore his refusal bravely.
+
+“Very well,” she said, “but Caroline _must_ come with me. I told Malcolm
+I should bring her.”
+
+“Sure! Sartin! Caroline can go, of course.”
+
+But Caroline also declined. Having misjudged her guardian in the matter
+of the Moriarty family, she was in a repentant mood, and had marked that
+day on her calendar as one of self-sacrifice.
+
+“No, Captain Warren,” she said, “I shall not go unless you do.”
+
+“Then the captain will come, of course,” declared Mrs. Dunn, with
+decision. “I’m sure he will not be so selfish as to deprive me--and
+Malcolm--of your company.”
+
+So, because he did not wish to appear selfish, Captain Elisha admitted
+that his letter might be written later in the afternoon, accepted the
+invitation, and braced his spirit for further martyrdom.
+
+It was not as bad as he expected. The Dunns occupied a small,
+brown-stone house on Fifth Avenue, somewhat old-fashioned, but eminently
+respectable. The paintings and bronzes were as numerous as those in the
+Warren apartment, and if the taste shown in their selection was not that
+of Rodgers Warren, the connoisseur, they made quite as much show, and
+the effect upon Captain Elisha was the same. The various mortgages on
+the property were not visible, and the tradesmen’s bills were securely
+locked in Mrs. Dunn’s desk.
+
+The luncheon itself was elaborate, and there was a butler whose majestic
+dignity and importance made even Edwards seem plebeian by comparison.
+
+Malcolm was at home when they arrived, irreproachably dressed and
+languidly non-effusive, as usual. Captain Elisha, as he often said,
+did not “set much store” by clothes; but there was something about this
+young man which always made him conscious that his own trousers were a
+little too short, or his boots too heavy, or something. “I wouldn’t
+_wear_ a necktie like his,” he wrote Abbie, after his first meeting with
+Malcolm, “but blessed if I don’t wish I could _if_ I would!”
+
+Caroline, in the course of conversation during the luncheon, mentioned
+the Moriartys and their sorrow. The captain tried to head her off and
+to change the subject, but with little success. He was uncomfortable
+and kept glancing under his brows at Malcolm, with whom, under the
+circumstances, he could not help sympathizing to an extent. But his
+sympathy was wasted. The young man did not appear in the slightest
+degree nervous. The memory of his recent interview with Captain Elisha
+did not embarrass him, outwardly at least, half as much as it did the
+captain. He declared that old Pat’s death was beastly hard luck, but
+accidents were bound to happen. It was a shame, and all that. “If
+there’s anything the mater and I can do, Caroline, call on us, of
+course.”
+
+“Yes, do, Caroline,” concurred his mother. “However, one must be
+philosophic in such cases. It is a mercy that people in their station do
+not feel grief and loss as we do. Providence, in its wisdom, has limited
+their susceptibilities as it has their intelligence. Don’t you agree
+with me, Captain Warren?”
+
+“Sartin!” was the prompt reply. “It’s always a comfort to me, when I go
+fishin’, to know that the fish ain’t got so much brains as I have. The
+hook hurts, I presume likely, but they ain’t got the sense to realize
+what a mean trick’s been played on ‘em. The one that’s caught’s dead,
+and them that are left are too busy hustlin’ for the next meal to waste
+much time grievin’. That eases my conscience consider’ble.”
+
+Caroline seemed to be the only one who appreciated the sarcasm in this
+observation. She frowned slightly. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn tolerantly smiled,
+and her son laughed aloud.
+
+“Say, Admiral,” he commented, “when it comes to philosophy you go some
+yourself, don’t you?”
+
+“Um-hm. I can be as philosophical about other folk’s troubles as anybody
+I ever see.” Then, with an involuntary chuckle of admiration at the
+young gentleman’s coolness, he added, “That is, anybody I ever see afore
+I come to New York.”
+
+Malcolm opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. The captain,
+noticing his change of purpose and following the direction of his look,
+saw Mrs. Dunn shake her head in sharp disapproval. He ate the remainder
+of his salad in silence, but he thought a good deal.
+
+“And now,” said Mrs. Dunn, rising and leading the way to the
+drawing-room, “we must all go for a motor ride. Everyone rides on Sunday
+afternoon,” she explained, turning to her male guest.
+
+The distressed look returned to Captain Elisha’s face. His niece saw it,
+understood, and came to his rescue.
+
+“I think Captain Warren prefers to be excused,” she said, smiling. “He
+has a prejudice against automobiles.”
+
+“No!” drawled Malcolm, the irrepressible. “Not really? Admiral, I’m
+surprised! In these days, you know!”
+
+“It ain’t so much the automobiles,” snapped Captain Elisha, irritation
+getting the better of his discretion, “as ‘tis the devilish fools
+that--”
+
+“Yes? Oh, all right, Mater.”
+
+“That are careless enough to get in the way of them,” finished the
+captain, with surprising presence of mind. “Still, if Caroline wants to
+go--”
+
+“I have it!” exclaimed Mrs. Dunn. “The young people shall go, and the
+others remain at home. Malcolm shall take you for a spin, Caroline, and
+Captain Warren and I will stay here and wait until you return. We’ll
+have a family chat, Captain, won’t we? Because,” with a gay laugh, “in a
+way we _are_ like one family, you see.”
+
+And, somewhat to Miss Warren’s surprise, her uncle agreed to this
+proposition. He did not answer immediately, but, when he did, it was
+with heartiness.
+
+“Why, yes,” he said, “that’s a good idea. That’s fust-rate. You young
+folks go, and Mrs. Dunn and I’ll wait here till you come back. That’s
+the way of the world--young folks on the go, and the old folks at home
+by the fire, hey, Mrs. Dunn?”
+
+The lady addressed did not relish being numbered with “old folks,” but
+she smiled sweetly, and said she supposed it was. Malcolm telephoned to
+the garage and to Edwards at the Warren apartment, ordering the butler
+to deliver his mistress’s auto cap and cloak to the chauffeur, who would
+call for them. A few minutes later the yellow car rolled up to the door.
+
+In the hall Mrs. Dunn whispered a reassuring word to her departing
+guest.
+
+“Now enjoy yourself, dear,” she whispered. “Have a nice ride and
+don’t worry about me. If he--if our encumbrance bores me too much I
+shall--well, I shall plead a headache and leave him to his own devices.
+Besides, he isn’t so _very_ dreadful, is he?”
+
+Caroline shook her head. “No,” she answered, “he is a good man. I
+understand him better than I did and--yes, I like him better, too.”
+
+“Oh!... Indeed! Well, good-by, dear. Good-by.”
+
+The yellow car roared as the chauffeur cranked it, then moved off up
+the crowded avenue. Mrs. Dunn watched it until it was out of sight.
+Her brows were drawn together, and she seemed puzzled and just a bit
+disconcerted. However, when she returned to the drawing-room, her
+gracious smile had returned, and her bland condescension was again in
+evidence.
+
+Captain Elisha had been standing by the window. She begged him to be
+seated. He thanked her, but looked dubiously at the Louis XVI chair
+indicated. She noticed the look.
+
+“Suppose we go into the library,” she said. “It is much less formal. And
+there is a fire--for us _old_ folks,” with a slight accent on the word.
+
+The library was more homelike. Not as many books as at the Warrens’, but
+a great deal of gilt in the bindings and much carving on the cases. The
+fire was cheery, and the pair sat down before it in big easy chairs.
+Mrs. Dunn looked intently at the glowing coals.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat. Mrs. Dunn leaned forward expectantly.
+The captain coughed and sank back in his chair.
+
+“Yes?” purred the lady. “You were about to say?”
+
+“Me? Oh, no, I didn’t say anything.”
+
+Another period of silence. Mrs. Dunn’s foot tapped the rug impatiently.
+She wished him to begin the conversation, and he would not. At length,
+in desperation, she began it herself.
+
+“I suppose you find New York rather different from--er--North--er--”
+
+“From South Denboro? Yes, ma’am.”
+
+“Do you like the city life?”
+
+“Well, I don’t know, ma’am.”
+
+“Not as well as you do that of the country, doubtless.”
+
+“Well, you see, I ain’t had so much of it.”
+
+“No, of course not. It does so depend upon what one is accustomed to.
+Now I fancy I should be perfectly desperate in your village.”
+
+One corner of Captain Elisha’s mouth curled upward.
+
+“I shouldn’t be surprised,” he admitted.
+
+“Desperately lonely, I mean.”
+
+“Yes’m. I judged that was what you meant. Still, folks can be lonesome
+in New York.”
+
+“Perhaps. But really I don’t see how. With all the whirl and the crowds
+and the glorious excitement. The feeling that one is at the very heart,
+the center of everything!”
+
+“Yes. If you belong to the machinery, I s’pose it’s all right. But
+if you’ve been leanin’ over the rail, lookin’ on, and get pushed in
+unexpected, maybe you don’t care so much about bein’ nigh the center.”
+
+“Then why stay there? Why not get out?”
+
+“If you’re caught in the wheels, gettin’ out’s somethin’ of a job.”
+
+“But, as I understand it, Captain Warren--I may be misinformed, for, of
+course, I haven’t been unduly curious concerning your family affairs--as
+_I_ understand it, you were not obliged to remain among the--among
+the wheels, as you call them. You could have gotten out quite easily,
+couldn’t you?”
+
+“I presume likely I could. But, you see, ma’am, I had a feelin’ that I’d
+ought to stay.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed lightly. “Ah me!” she exclaimed; “you felt it your
+duty, I suppose. Oh, you New England Puritans!”
+
+She shook her head in playful mockery. Then she added, “But, at all
+events, it cannot be so very disagreeable--now. I have no doubt it
+was--well, not comfortable for you at first. Steve and Caroline were
+quite impossible--really quite furious. Your sudden appearance in the
+capacity of guardian was too much for them. They were sure you must be
+a perfect ogre, Captain. I had to use all my eloquence to convince them
+they would not be devoured alive. But now--what a change! Why, already
+Caroline accepts you as--well, almost like an old friend, like myself.
+In the last few days this change in her attitude is quite marked. What
+_have_ you done? Are you a wizard? Do tell me!”
+
+This appeal, delivered with eloquence and most engaging play of brow and
+eye, should have been irresistible. Unfortunately the captain did not
+appear to have heard it. Leaning forward, his hands clasped between his
+knees, he was gazing into the fire. And when he spoke, it was as if he
+were thinking aloud.
+
+“I s’pose ‘tis a sort of disease, this duty business,” he mused. “And
+most diseases ain’t cheerful visitations. Still a feller ought not to
+growl about it in public. I always did hate for a man to be goin’ about
+forever complainin’ of his sufferin’s--whether they was from duty or
+rheumatiz.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn’s lips snapped shut. She pressed them together impatiently.
+Evidently her questions, and their diplomatic prelude, had been
+unheard and wasted. However, she did not intend to be sidetracked or
+discouraged.
+
+“One should not prate of one’s duty, of course,” she agreed. “Not that
+you do--far from it. But, as I was saying, our dear Caroline has--”
+
+“Thank you, ma’am. I hope I don’t groan too loud. Do you know, I believe
+climate has a bearin’ on duty, same as it has on rheumatics. I s’pose
+you city folks”--and there was almost contempt in the words--“are sort
+of Christian Science, and figger it’s an ‘error’--hey? Somethin’ to be
+forgot.”
+
+The lady resented the interruption, and the contempt nettled her.
+
+“Not at all!” she retorted. “We city dwellers have our duties, also.”
+
+“Is that a fact? I want to know!”
+
+“Certainly it is a fact,” tartly. “I have my duties and many of them.”
+
+“Um! So? Well, I s’pose you do feel you must dress just so, and live
+just so, and do just such and such things. If you call those duties,
+why--”
+
+“I do. What else are they, pray?”
+
+Mrs. Dunn was finding it difficult to keep her temper. To be catechised
+in this contemptuously lofty manner by one to whom she considered
+herself so immensely superior, was too much. She forgot the careful plan
+of campaign which she had intended to follow in this interview, and now
+interrupted in her turn. And Captain Elisha, who also was something of a
+strategist, smiled at the fire.
+
+“We do have our social duties, our duties to society,” snapped the
+widow, hotly. “They are necessary ones. Having been born--or risen to--a
+certain circle, we recognize the responsibilities attached to it. We
+_are_ careful with whom we associate; we have to be. As for dress, we
+dress as others of our friends do.”
+
+“And maybe a little better, if you can, hey?”
+
+“If we can--yes. I presume--” with crushing irony--“dress in South
+Denboro counts but little.”
+
+“You wouldn’t say that if you ever went to sewin’ circle,” with a
+chuckle. “Still, compared to the folks at your meetin’-house this
+morning, our congregation would look like a flock of blackbirds
+alongside of a cage full of Birds of Paradise. But most of us--the women
+folks especial--dress as well as we can.”
+
+“As well as you can!” triumphantly. “There! you see? And you live as
+well as you can, don’t you?”
+
+“If you mean style, why, we don’t set as much store by it as you do.”
+
+“Nonsense! We are obliged to be,” with a slight shudder at the
+vulgarism, “_stylish_. If we should lapse, if we should become shabby
+and behind the fashion or live in that way, people would wonder and
+believe it was because we could not afford to do otherwise.”
+
+“Well, s’pose they did, you’d know better yourselves. Can’t you be
+independent?”
+
+“No. Not unless you are very, very rich; then it might be considered an
+eccentricity. Independence is a costly luxury, and few can afford it.”
+
+“But suppose you can’t afford the other thing?”
+
+“Then we must pretend we can. Oh, you _don’t_ understand! So _much_
+depends upon a proper appearance. Everything depends upon it--one’s
+future, one’s children’s future--everything.”
+
+“Humph!” with the same irritating smile, “I should think that might mean
+some plannin’. And plans, the best of ‘em, are likely to go wrong. You
+talk about the children in your--in what you call your ‘circle.’ How can
+you plan what they’ll do? You might when they was little, perhaps; but
+when they grow up it’s different.”
+
+“It is not. It _can’t_ be! And, if they have been properly reared and
+understand their responsibilities, they plan with you.”
+
+“Land sakes! You mean--why, s’pose they take a notion to get married?
+I’m an old bach, of course, but the average young girl or feller is
+subject to that sort of ailment, ‘cordin’ to the records. S’pose one
+of your circle’s daughters gets to keepin’ company with a chap who’s
+outside the ring? A promisin’, nice boy enough, but poor, and a rank
+outsider? Mean to say she sha’n’t marry him if she wants to.”
+
+“Certainly! That sort of marriage is never a happy one, unless, of
+course, the girl is wealthy enough not to care. And even then it is not
+advisable. All their customs and habits of thought are different. No!
+Emphatically, no! And the girl, if she is sensible and well reared, as I
+have said, will understand it is impossible.”
+
+“My soul and body! Then you mean to tell me that she _must_ look out for
+some chap in her crowd? If she ain’t got but just enough to keep inside
+the circle--this grand whirlamagig you’re tellin’ me about--if she’s
+pretendin’ up to the limit of her income or over, then it’s her duty,
+and her ma and pa’s duty, to set her cap for a man who’s nigher the
+center pole in the tent and go right after him? Do you tell me that?
+That’s a note, I must say!”
+
+Mrs. Dunn’s foot beat a lively tattoo on the rug. “I don’t know what you
+mean by a ‘note,’” she commented, with majestic indignation. “I have
+not lived in South Denboro, and perhaps my understanding of English
+is defective. But marriages among cultivated people, _society_ people,
+intelligent, ambitious people are, or should be, the result of thought
+and planning. Others are impossible!”
+
+“How about this thing we read so much about in novels?--Love, I believe
+they call it.”
+
+“Love! Love is well enough, but it does not, of itself, pay for proper
+clothes, or a proper establishment, or seats at the opera, or any of
+the practical, necessary things of modern life. You can’t keep up a
+presentable appearance on _love_! If I had a daughter who lacked the
+brains to understand what I had taught her, that is, her duty as a
+member of good society, and talked of making a love match, I would....
+But there! You can’t understand, I suppose.”
+
+She rose and shook the wrinkles from her gown. Captain Elisha
+straightened in his chair. “Why, yes, ma’am,” he drawled, quietly; “yes,
+ma’am, I guess I understand fust-rate.”
+
+And suddenly Mrs. Dunn also understood. Her face, which had grown almost
+too red for one attached to a member of polite society, grew redder
+still. She turned away and walked to the window.
+
+“What nonsense we’ve been talking!” she said, after a moment’s silence.
+“I don’t see what led us into this silly discussion. Malcolm and your
+niece must be having a delightful ride. I almost wish I had gone with
+them.”
+
+She did wish it, devoutly. Captain Elisha still remained by the fire.
+
+“Automobiles are great things for hustlin’ around in,” he observed.
+“Pity they’re such dangerous playthings. Yet I s’pose they’re one of the
+necessities of up-to-date folks, same as you said, Mrs. Dunn.”
+
+“Surely,” she asked coldly, “you don’t condemn automobiles, Captain
+Warren? What would you--return to stage coaches?”
+
+“Not a mite! But I was thinkin’ of that poor Moriarty man.”
+
+“His death was due to an accident. And accidents,” she turned and looked
+directly at him, “when they involve financial damages, may be paid for.”
+
+The captain nodded. “Yes,” he said.
+
+“And when arrangements for such payment is made, _honorable_ people--at
+least, in the circle of which you and I have been speaking--consider the
+matter settled and do not refer to it again, either among themselves--or
+elsewhere.”
+
+“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded again. She did know; Malcolm, evidently, had
+told her. “Yes, ma’am. That’s the way any decent person would feel--and
+act--if such a thing happened--even if they hailed from South Denboro.”
+
+He pushed back his chair and stood up. She continued to look him over,
+much as if she were taking a mental inventory of his character, or
+revising an old one.
+
+“I hope,” she said, lightly, but with deliberation, “our little argument
+and--er--slight disagreement concerning--er--duty will not make us
+enemies, Captain Warren.”
+
+“Enemies! Land sakes, no! I respect anybody’s havin’ opinions and not
+bein’ afraid to give ‘em. And I think I can understand some of how you
+feel. Maybe if I was anchored here on Fifth Avenue, same as you are,
+instead of bein’ blown in by an unexpected no’theaster, I’d be feelin’
+the same way. It’s all accordin’, as I’ve said so often. Enemies? No,
+indeed!”
+
+She laughed again. “I’m so glad!” she said. “Malcolm declares he’d
+be quite afraid of me--as an enemy. He seems to think I possess
+some mysterious and quite diabolical talent for making my un-friends
+uncomfortable, and declares he would compromise rather than fight me
+at any time. Of course it’s ridiculous--just one of his jokes--and I’m
+really harmless and very much afraid. That’s why I want you and me to be
+friends, Captain Warren.”
+
+“Sure!” Captain Elisha nodded emphatically. “That’s what I want, too.”
+
+But that evening, immediately after his return to the apartment,
+when--Caroline having gone to her own room to remove her wraps--he and
+the butler were alone, he characteristically unburdened his mind.
+
+“Mr. Warren, sir,” said Edwards, “a young gentleman left a note here for
+you this afternoon. The elevator man gave it to me, sir. It’s on your
+dressing table, sir.”
+
+The captain’s answer had nothing whatever to do with the note. He had
+been thinking of other things.
+
+“Commodore,” he said, “I’ve got the answer.”
+
+“To the note? Already, sir? I didn’t know you’d seen it.”
+
+“I ain’t. I’ve got the answer to the conundrum. It’s Mother!”
+
+“Mother, sir? I--I don’t know what you mean.”
+
+“I do. The answer’s Mother. Sonny don’t count, though he may think he
+does. But Mother’s the whole team and the dog under the wagon. And,
+Commodore, we’ve got to trot some if we want to keep ahead of that team!
+Don’t you forget it!”
+
+He went to his room, leaving the bewildered butler to retire to the
+kitchen, where he informed the cook that the old man was off his head
+worse than common to-night.
+
+“Blessed if he don’t think he’s a trotting horse!” said Edwards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The note on the dining room table proved, to the captain’s delight, to
+be from James Pearson. It was brief and to the point.
+
+“Why don’t you come and see me?” wrote the young man. “I’ve been
+expecting you, and you promised to come. Have you forgotten my address?
+If so, here it is. I expect to be in all day to-morrow.”
+
+The consequence of this was that eleven o’clock the next day found
+Captain Elisha pulling the bell at a brick house in a long brick block
+on a West Side street. The block had evidently been, in its time, the
+homes of well-to-do people, but now it was rather dingy and gone to
+seed. Across the street the first floors were, for the most part, small
+shops, and in the windows above them doctors’ signs alternated with
+those of modistes, manicure artists, and milliners.
+
+The captain had come a roundabout way, stopping in at the Moriarty
+flat, where he found Mrs. Moriarty in a curious state of woe and tearful
+pride. “Oh, what will I do, sir?” she moaned. “When I think he’s gone,
+it seems as if I’d die, too. But, thanks to you and Miss Warren--Mary
+make it up to her!--my Pat’ll have the finest funeral since the Guinny
+saloon man was buried. Ah, if he could have lived to see it, he’d have
+died content!”
+
+The pull at the boarding-house bell was answered by a rather slatternly
+maid, who informed the visitor that she guessed Mr. Pearson was in;
+he ‘most always was around lunch time. So Captain Elisha waited in a
+typical boarding-house parlor, before a grate with no fire in it and
+surrounded by walnut and plush furniture, until Pearson himself came
+hurrying downstairs.
+
+“Say, you’re a brick, Captain Warren!” he declared, as they shook hands.
+“I hoped you’d come to-day. Why haven’t you before?”
+
+The captain explained his having mislaid the address.
+
+“Oh, was that it? Then I’m glad I reminded you. Rather a cheeky thing to
+do, but I’ve been a reporter, and nerve is necessary in that profession.
+I began to be afraid living among the blue-bloods had had its effect,
+and you were getting finicky as to your acquaintances.”
+
+“You didn’t believe any such thing.”
+
+“Didn’t I? Well, perhaps I didn’t. Come up to my room. I think we can
+just about squeeze in, if you don’t mind sitting close.”
+
+Pearson’s room was on the third flight, at the front of the house.
+Through the window one saw the upper half of the buildings opposite, and
+above them a stretch of sky. The bed was a small brass and iron affair,
+but the rest of the furniture was of good quality, the chairs were
+easy and comfortable, and the walls were thickly hung with photographs,
+framed drawings, and prints.
+
+“I put those up to cover the wall paper,” explained the host. “I don’t
+offer them as an art collection, but as a screen. Sit down. Put your
+coat on the bed. Shall I close the window? I usually keep the upper
+half open to let out the pipe smoke. Otherwise I might not be able to
+navigate without fog signals.”
+
+His visitor chuckled, followed directions with his coat and hat, and sat
+down. Pearson took the chair by the small flat-topped desk.
+
+“How about that window?” he asked. “Shall I shut it?”
+
+“No, no! We’ll be warm enough, I guess. You’ve got steam heat, I see.”
+
+“You mean you hear. Those pipes make noise enough to wake the dead. At
+first I thought I couldn’t sleep because of the racket they made. Now I
+doubt if I could without it. Would you consider a cigar, Captain?”
+
+“Hum! I don’t usually stop to consider. But I tell you, Jim--just now
+you said something about a pipe. I’ve got mine aboard, but I ain’t dared
+to smoke it since I left South Denboro. If you wouldn’t mind--”
+
+“Not a bit. Tobacco in this jar on the desk. I keep a temporary supply
+in my jacket pocket. Matches? Here you are! What do you think of
+my--er--stateroom?”
+
+“Think it makes nice, snug quarters,” was the prompt answer.
+
+“Humph! Snug is a good word. Much like living in an omnibus, but it
+answers the purpose. I furnished it myself, except for the bed. The
+original bureau had pictures of cauliflowers painted on each drawer
+front. Mrs. Hepton--my landlady--was convinced that they were roses. I
+told her she might be right, but, at all events, looking at them made
+me hungry. Perhaps she noticed the effect on my appetite and was willing
+for me to substitute.”
+
+The captain laughed. Then, pointing, he asked: “What’s that handbill?”
+
+The “handbill” was a fair-sized poster announcing the production at the
+“Eureka Opera House” of the “Thrilling Comedy-Drama, The Golden Gods.”
+ Pearson looked at it, made a face, and shook his head.
+
+“That,” he said, “is my combined crusher and comforter. It is the
+announcement of the first, and next to the last, performance of a play
+I wrote in my calf days. The ‘Eureka Opera House’ is--or was, if the
+‘gods’ weren’t too much for it--located at Daybury, Illinois. I keep
+that bill to prevent my conceit getting away with me. Also, when I get
+discouraged over my novel, it reminds me that, however bad the yarn may
+turn out to be, I have committed worse crimes.”
+
+This led to the captain’s asking about the novel and how it was
+progressing. His companion admitted having made some progress, more
+in the line of revision than anything else. He had remodeled his hero
+somewhat, in accordance with his new friend’s suggestions during their
+interview at the Warren apartment, and had introduced other characters,
+portrait sketches from memory of persons whom he had known in his
+boyhood days in the Maine town. He read a few chapters aloud, and
+Captain Elisha waxed almost enthusiastic over them.
+
+Then followed a long discussion over a point of seamanship, the handling
+of a bark in a gale. It developed that the young author’s knowledge
+of saltwater strategy was extensive and correct in the main, though
+somewhat theoretical. That of his critic was based upon practice and
+hard experience. He cited this skipper and that as examples, and carried
+them through no’theasters off Hatteras and typhoons in the Indian Ocean.
+The room, in spite of the open window, grew thick with pipe smoke, and
+the argument was punctuated by thumps on the desk and chair arms, and
+illustrated by diagrams drawn by the captain’s forefinger on the side
+of the dresser. The effects of oil on breaking rollers, the use of a
+“sea-anchor” over the side to “hold her to it,” whether or not a man
+was justified in abandoning his ship under certain given circumstances,
+these were debated pro and con. Always Pearson’s “Uncle Jim” was held
+up as the final authority, the paragon of sea captains, by the visitor,
+and, while his host pretended to agree, with modest reservations, in
+this estimate of his relative, he was more and more certain that
+his hero was bound to become a youthful edition of Elisha Warren
+himself--and he thanked the fates which had brought this fine, able,
+old-school mariner to his door.
+
+At length, Captain Elisha, having worked “Uncle Jim” into a safe harbor
+after a hundred mile cruise under jury jig, with all hands watch and
+watch at the pumps, leaned forward in triumph to refill his pipe. Having
+done so, his eyes remained fixed upon a photograph standing, partially
+hidden by a leather collar box, upon the dresser. He looked at it
+intently, then rose and took it in his hand.
+
+“Well, I swan!” he exclaimed. “Either what my head’s been the fullest
+of lately has struck to my eyesight, or else--why, say, Jim, that’s
+Caroline, ain’t it?”
+
+Pearson colored and seemed embarrassed. “Yes,” he answered, “that is
+Miss Warren.”
+
+“Humph! Good likeness, too! But what kind of rig has she got on? I’ve
+seen her wear a good many dresses--seems to have a different one for
+every day, pretty nigh--but I never saw her in anything like that.
+Looks sort of outlandish; like one of them foreign girls at Geneva--or
+Leghorn, say.”
+
+“Yes. That is an Italian peasant costume. Miss Warren wore it at a fancy
+dress ball a year ago.”
+
+“Want to know! I-talian peasant, hey! Fifth Avenue peasant with diamonds
+in her hair. Becomin’ to her, ain’t it.”
+
+“I thought so.”
+
+“Yup. She looks pretty _enough_! But she don’t need diamonds nor
+hand-organ clothes to make her pretty.”
+
+Then, looking up from the photograph, he asked, “Give you this picture,
+did she?”
+
+His friend’s embarrassment increased. “No,” he answered shortly. Then,
+after an instant’s hesitation. “That ball was given by the Astorbilts
+and was one of the most swagger affairs of the season. The _Planet_--the
+paper with which I was connected--issues a Sunday supplement of
+half-tone reproductions of photographs. One page was given up to
+pictures of the ball and the costumes worn there.”
+
+“I see. Astonishin’ how folks do like to get their faces into print.
+I used to know an old woman--Aunt Hepsibah Tucker, her name was--she’s
+dead now. The pride of Aunt Hepsy’s heart was that she took nineteen
+bottles of ‘Balm of Burdock Tea’ and the tea folks printed her picture
+as a testimonial that she lived through it. Ho, ho! And society big-bugs
+appear to have the same cravin’.”
+
+“Some of them do. But that of your niece was obtained by our society
+reporter from the photographer who took it. Bribery and corruption, of
+course. Miss Warren would have been at least surprised to see it in
+our supplement. I fancied she might not care for so much publicity and
+suppressed it.”
+
+“Um-hm. Well, I guess you did right. I’ll thank you for her. By the
+way, I told Caroline where I was cal’latin’ to go this mornin’, and she
+wished to be remembered to you.”
+
+Pearson seemed pleased, but he made no comment. Captain Elisha blew a
+smoke ring from his pipe.
+
+“And say, Jim,” he added, embarrassed in his turn, “I hope you won’t
+think I’m interferin’ in your affairs, but are you still set against
+comin’ up to where I live? I know you said you had a reason, but are you
+sure it’s a good one?”
+
+He waited for an answer but none came. Pearson was gazing out of the
+window. The captain looked at his watch and rose.
+
+“I guess I’ll have to be goin’,” he said. “It’s after twelve now.”
+
+His host swung around in his chair. “Sit down, Captain,” he said. “I’ve
+been doing a lot of thinking since I saw you, and I’m not sure about
+that reason. I believe I’ll ask your advice. It is a delicate matter,
+and it involves your brother. You may see it as he did, and, if so, our
+friendship ends, I suppose. But I’m going to risk it.
+
+“Mr. Rodgers Warren and I,” he went on, “were well acquainted during
+the latter part of my newspaper work. I was financial man on the
+_Planet_, and some articles I wrote took your brother’s fancy. At all
+events, he wrote me concerning them in highly complimentary terms and
+asked me to call and see him at his office. I did so and--well, we
+became very friendly, so much so that he invited me to his house. I
+dined there several times, was invited to call often, and--I enjoyed
+it. You see, I had few friends in the city, outside my journalistic
+acquaintances, and I suppose I was flattered by Mr. Warren’s kindness
+and the fancy he seemed to have taken to me. And I liked Miss
+Warren--no one could help that--and I believed she liked me.”
+
+“She does like you,” interrupted his companion, with surprise.
+“Caroline’s a good girl.”
+
+“Yes, she is. However, she isn’t in this story, except as a side-issue.
+At this time my ambitions were for a newspaper career, and I thought I
+was succeeding. And her father’s marked interest and the things he said
+to me promised more than an ordinary success. He was a well known man on
+the street, and influential. So my head began to swell, and I dreamed--a
+lot of foolishness. And then--”
+
+He paused, put down his empty pipe, and sighed.
+
+“Well, then,” he continued, “came the upset. I judged from what you
+said at our previous conversation, Captain, that you were well enough
+acquainted with Wall Street to know that queer operations take place
+there. Did you read about the South Shore Trolley business?”
+
+Captain Elisha considered. “Why, yes,” he said, slowly, “seem’s if I
+did. One of those consolidations with ‘holdin’ companies’ and franchises
+and extensions and water by the hogshead. Wa’n’t that it? I remember
+now; the Boston papers had considerable about it, and I presume likely
+the New York ones had more. One of those all-accordin’-to-law swindles
+that sprout same as toadstools in a dark place, but die out if the
+light’s turned on too sudden. This one didn’t come to nothin’ but a bad
+smell, if I remember right.”
+
+“You do. And I suppose I’m responsible for the smell. I got wind of
+the thing, investigated, found out something of what was going on, and
+printed a preliminary story in the _Planet_. It caused a sensation.”
+
+He paused once more. Captain Elisha, for the sake of saying something,
+observed, “I shouldn’t wonder.”
+
+“It certainly did. And the morning on which it appeared, Mr. Rodgers
+Warren ‘phoned me. He wished to see me at once. I went down to his
+office. Captain, I dislike to tell you this. Mr. Warren was your
+brother.”
+
+“I know he was. And I’m his executor. Both those reasons make me
+‘specially anxious to have you tell me the truth. Heave ahead now, to
+oblige me.”
+
+“Well, I found him very polite and cordial, at first. He said that a
+ridiculous and sensational story concerning the Trolley Combine had
+appeared in the _Planet_, and he would like to have me contradict it and
+suppress further falsehoods of the kind. I told him I couldn’t do that,
+because the story was true. I had written it myself. He was angry, and I
+could see that he was holding himself in by main strength. I went on to
+explain that it was the duty of an honest paper, as I saw it, to expose
+such trespass upon the people’s rights. He asked me if I knew who was
+behind the scheme. I said I knew some of the backers. They were pretty
+big men, too. Then he informed me that he himself was deeply interested.
+
+“I was knocked off my feet by that, you can imagine. And, to be frank,
+Captain, if I had known it at first I’m not sure that I, personally,
+would have taken the matter up. Yet I might; I can’t tell. But now that
+I had done it and discovered what I had, I couldn’t give it up. I must
+go on and learn more. And I knew enough already to be certain that the
+more I learned the more I should write and have published. It was one of
+those things which had to be made public--if a fellow had a conscience
+about him and a pride in the decency of his profession.
+
+“All this was going through my head as I sat there in his private
+office. And he took my surprise and hesitation as symptoms of wavering
+and went at me, hard. Of course I knew, he said, that the operation was
+absolutely within the law. I did, but that didn’t make it more honest or
+moral or just. He went on to say that in large financial deals of this
+nature petty scruples must be lost sight of. Good of the business,
+rights of stockholders, all that sort of stuff; he rang the changes. All
+the papers cared for was sensation; to imperil the fortune of widows and
+orphans whose savings were invested in the South Shore Stock, for the
+sake of sensation, was a crime. He should have known better than to say
+that to me; it is such an ancient, worn-out platitude.”
+
+“I know. I’ve been to political meetin’s. The widows and orphans
+are always hangin’ on the success of the Republican party--or the
+Democratic, whichever way you vote. The amount of tears shed over their
+investments by fellers you wouldn’t trust with a brass five-cent piece,
+is somethin’ amazin’. Go on; I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
+
+“Then he switched to a more personal appeal. He said he had taken a
+fancy to me; had liked me from the very beginning. He recognized my
+unusual genius at first sight and had gone as far as to make plans
+bearing directly on my future. He was associated with men of wealth and
+business sagacity. Large deals, of which the Trolley Combine was but
+one, were on foot. He and his friends needed a representative on the
+press--a publicity agent, so to speak. Some of the greatest corporations
+employed men of that kind, and the salaries paid were large and the
+opportunities afforded greater still. Well, that’s true enough. I know
+writers who are doing just that thing and getting rich at it. I suppose
+they’ve squared their consciences somehow and are willing to write lies
+and misleading articles for what there is in it. I can’t, that’s all;
+I’m not built that way, and I told him so.
+
+“It ended in an open break. He reminded me of the favors he had done me.
+He had treated me almost like a son, had introduced me to his family,
+entertaining me at his table. Where was my gratitude? That was another
+bad break on his part, for it made me mad. I told him I had not asked to
+be adopted or fed by him; if I had supposed his kindness had an ulterior
+motive, I would have seen him at the devil before I accepted a favor. My
+career as a financial visitor was ended. Get out of his office! I got.
+But the Trolley Combine did not go through. The _Planet_ and the other
+papers kept up the fight and--and the widows and orphans are bankrupt, I
+presume.”
+
+Captain Elisha’s pipe had gone out long since. He absently rubbed the
+warm bowl between his palms.
+
+“Humph!” he muttered. “So ‘Bije was deep in that business, was he?”
+
+“He was. Very deep indeed, I found out afterwards. And, I declare, I
+almost pitied him at the time. He acted as if his whole fortune was
+staked on the gamble. His hands shook, and the perspiration stood on his
+forehead as he talked. I felt as if I had been the means of ruining
+him. But of course, I hadn’t. He lived for some time after that, and, I
+understand, died a rich man.”
+
+“Yes. He left what I’d call a heap of money. My nephew and niece don’t
+seem to think so, but I do.”
+
+“So you see, Captain, why I stopped calling on the Warrens, and why I
+did not accept Miss Warren’s invitation.”
+
+“I see.... I see.... And yet I don’t know. ‘Bije may have took to you
+for business reasons, but the children didn’t. They liked you for
+yourself. Caroline as much as said so. And their father never told ‘em a
+word about the row, neither. Of course you couldn’t have called when he
+was alive, but he’s gone, and I’m--well, I’m sort of temporary skipper
+there now. And _I_ want you to come.”
+
+“But if Miss Warren did know? She should know, I think.”
+
+“I ain’t sure that she should. I guess there’s consider’ble in her pa’s
+life she ain’t acquainted with. And she’s as straight and honest and
+upright as a schooner’s fo’mast. You did nothin’ to be ‘shamed of. It’s
+the other way ‘round, ‘cordin’ to my notion. But leave her out of
+it now. I’ve sacrificed some few things to take the job I’ve got at
+present, but I can’t afford to sacrifice my friends. I count on you as a
+friend, and I want you to come and see _me_. Will you?”
+
+“I don’t know, Captain Warren. I must think it over a while, I guess.”
+
+“All right--think. But the invitation stands--_my_ invitation. And, if
+you want to shift responsibility, shift it on to me. Some day, if it’ll
+make you feel better, I’ll tell Caroline and Stevie the whole story. But
+I want them to know you and the world--and me--a little better first.
+‘Cordin’ to my notion, they need education just along that line. They’ve
+got teachers in other branches, but.... There! I’ve _got_ to be goin’.
+There’s the dinner bell now.”
+
+The string of Japanese gongs, hung in the lower hall, sounded
+sonorously. Captain Elisha reached for his coat and hat, but Pearson
+caught his arm.
+
+“No, you don’t!” he declared. “You’re going to stay and have lunch with
+me--here. If you say no, I shall believe it is because you are afraid of
+a boarding-house meal.”
+
+His guest protested, but the protests were overruled, and he and
+his host went down to the dining room. The captain whispered as they
+entered, “Land sakes, Jim, this takes me back home. It’s pretty nigh a
+twin to the dinin’ room at the Centre House in South Denboro.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All boarding-house dining rooms bear a family likeness, so the comment
+was not far wrong. A long table, rows of chairs on each side, ancient
+and honorable pictures on the walls, the landlady presiding majestically
+over the teapot, the boarders’ napkins in rings--all the familiar
+landmarks were present.
+
+Most of the male “regulars” were in business about the city and
+therefore lunched elsewhere, but the females were in evidence. Pearson
+introduced his guest. The captain met Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, plump,
+gray-haired, and graciously hospitable. She did not look at all like
+a business woman, but appearances are not always to be trusted; Mrs.
+Hepton had learned not to trust them--also delinquent boarders, too far.
+He met Miss Sherborne, whose coiffure did not match in spots, but whose
+voice, so he learned afterward, had been “cultivated abroad.” Miss
+Sherborne gave music lessons. Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles also claimed his
+attention and held it, principally because of the faded richness of her
+apparel. Mrs. Ruggles was a widow, suffering from financial reverses;
+the contrast between her present mode of living and the grandeur of the
+past formed her principal topic of conversation.
+
+There were half a dozen others, including an artist whose aversion to
+barbers was proclaimed by the luxuriant length of his locks, a quiet old
+gentleman who kept the second-hand book store two doors below; his wife,
+a neat, trim little body; and Mr. and Mrs. C. Dickens, no less.
+
+Mr. Dickens was bald, an affliction which he tried to conceal by
+brushing the hair at the sides of his head across the desert at the
+top. He shaved his cheeks and wore a beard and mustache. Mrs. Dickens
+addressed him as “C.,” and handed him the sauce bottle, the bread, or
+whatever she imagined he desired, as if she were offering sacrifice to
+an idol.
+
+She sat next to Captain Elisha and imparted information concerning her
+lord and master in whispers, during the intervals between offerings.
+
+“My husband will be pleased to meet you, Captain Warren,” she murmured.
+“Any friend of Mr. Pearson is certain to be an acquisition. Mr. Pearson
+and my husband are congenial spirits; they are members of the same
+profession.”
+
+“I want to know, ma’am.”
+
+“Yes. What is it, ‘C.’ dear? Oh, the butter! Margaret--” to the
+waitress--“Mr. Dickens wishes another butter-ball. Yes, Captain Warren,
+Mr. Dickens is an author. Haven’t you noticed the--er--resemblance? It
+is considered quite remarkable.”
+
+Captain Elisha looked puzzled. “Why,” he said, “I hadn’t noticed it
+‘special. Jim’s--Mr. Pearson’s--eyes and his are some the same color,
+but--”
+
+“Oh, no! not the resemblance to Mr. Pearson. I didn’t mean _that_. The
+resemblance to his more famous namesake. Surely you notice it _now_.”
+
+The captain shook his head. “I--I’m afraid I’m thick-headed, ma’am,” he
+admitted. “I’m out of soundin’s.”
+
+“But the nose, and his beard, and his manner. Don’t they remind you of
+the English Dickens?”
+
+“O-oh!” Captain Elisha inspected the great man with interest. He had
+a vague memory of a portrait in a volume of “Pickwick” at home. “Oh, I
+see! Yes, yes.”
+
+“Of course you see! Everyone does. Mr. Dickens often says--it is one of
+his favorite jokes--that while other men must choose a profession, his
+was chosen for him by fate. How, with such a name, could he do anything
+except write?”
+
+“I don’t know, ma’am. But names are risky pilots, ain’t they? I’ve run
+against a consider’ble number of Solomons, but there wa’n’t one of ‘em
+that carried more’n a deckload of wisdom. They christened me Elisha, but
+I can’t even prophesy the weather with sartinty enough to bet. However,
+I daresay in your husband’s case it’s all right.”
+
+The lady had turned away, and he was afraid he might have offended her.
+The fear was groundless; she was merely offering another sacrifice, the
+sugar this time.
+
+“Yes?” she asked, turning, “you were saying--”
+
+“Why--er--nothin’ of account. I cal’late the C. stands for Charles,
+then.”
+
+“No-o. Mr. Dickens’s Christian name is Cornelius; but don’t mention it
+before him, he is very sensitive on that point.”
+
+The Dickenses “tickled” the captain exceedingly, and, after the meal was
+over, he spoke of them to Pearson.
+
+“Say,” he said, “you’re in notorious company, ain’t you, Jim? What has
+Cornelius Charles turned out so far, in the way of masterpieces?”
+
+Pearson laughed. “I believe he is employed by a subscription house,”
+ he replied. “Doing hack work on an encyclopedia. A great collection of
+freaks, aren’t they, Captain Warren?”
+
+“Kind of. But that old book-shop man and his wife seem nice folks. And,
+as for freaks, the average boardin’ house, city or country, seems
+to draw ‘em like flies. I guess most anybody would get queer if they
+boarded all the time.”
+
+“Perhaps so. Or, if they weren’t queer, they wouldn’t board permanently
+from choice. There are two or three good fellows who dine and breakfast
+here. The food isn’t bad, considering the price.”
+
+“No, it ain’t. Tasted more like home than any meal I’ve had for a good
+while. I’m afraid I never was cut out for swell livin’.”
+
+Mrs. Hepton approached them as they stood in the hall. She wished to
+know if Mr. Pearson’s friend was thinking of finding lodgings. Because
+Mr. Saks--the artist’s name--was giving up the second floor back in a
+fortnight, and it was a very pleasant room. “We should be delighted to
+add you to our little circle, Captain Warren.”
+
+Pearson told her that his companion was already lodged, and she said
+good-by and left them. The captain smiled broadly.
+
+“Everything in New York seems to be circles,” he declared. “Well, Jim,
+you come up and circulate with me, first chance you get. I’m dependin’
+on you to call, remember.”
+
+The young man was still doubtful.
+
+“I’ll see,” he said. “I can’t promise yet--perhaps I will.”
+
+“You will--after you’ve thought it out to a finish. And come soon. I’m
+gettin’ interested in that second edition of your Uncle Jim, and I want
+to keep along with him as fast as you write. Good-by. Much obliged for
+the dinner--there I go again!--luncheon, I mean.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Pearson called. He appeared at the apartment a week after the luncheon
+at the boarding house and was welcomed by the Captain Elisha, who,
+hearing his voice, strode into the hall, sent the shocked Edwards to the
+right-about in a hurry, seized his friend’s hand, and ushered him into
+the library. Pearson said nothing concerning his change of mind, the
+course of reasoning which led him to make the visit, and the captain
+asked no questions. He took it for granted that the young fellow’s
+common sense had turned the trick, and, the result being what it was,
+that was sufficient.
+
+They spent a pleasant afternoon together. Caroline was out, and they had
+the library to themselves. The newest chapters of the novel were read
+and discussed, and the salty flavor of the talk was as pronounced as
+ever. Pearson left early, but promised to come again very soon.
+
+When Caroline returned her uncle told her of his visitor. She seemed
+unfeignedly pleased, but regretted that she had not been there. “He was
+such a friend of father’s,” she said, “that seeing him here would be
+almost like the old days. And so many of those whom we thought were his
+friends and ours have left us.”
+
+This was true. Rodgers Warren and his children had had many
+acquaintances, had been active in church and charitable work, and their
+former home was a center of entertainment and gayety while he lived. But
+his death and the rumors of shrinkage in the family fortune, the giving
+up of the Fifth Avenue residence, the period of mourning which forbade
+social functions, all these helped to bring about forgetfulness on the
+part of the many; and Caroline’s supersensitiveness and her firm resolve
+not to force her society where it might be unwelcome had been the causes
+of misunderstanding in others, whose liking and sympathy were genuine.
+“I don’t see what has come over Caroline Warren,” declared a former girl
+friend, “she isn’t a bit as she used to be. Well, I’ve done my part. If
+she doesn’t wish to return my call, she needn’t. _I_ sha’n’t annoy her
+again. But I’m sorry, for she was the sweetest girl I knew.”
+
+Stephen had never been very popular, and his absence at college still
+further reduced the number of young people who might be inclined to
+call. Their not calling confirmed Caroline’s belief that she and
+her brother were deliberately shunned because of their change in
+circumstances, and she grew more sensitive and proudly resentful in
+consequence. Naturally she turned for comfort to those who remained
+faithful, the Dunns in particular. They were loyal to her. Therefore,
+with the intensity of her nature, she became doubly loyal to them. The
+rector of St. Denis dropped in frequently, and others occasionally, but
+she was lonely. She craved the society of those nearer her own age.
+
+Pearson’s coming, then, was psychologically apt. When he made his next
+call upon Captain Elisha, to find the latter out but his niece at home,
+she welcomed him cordially and insisted upon his waiting until her
+guardian returned. The conversation was, at first, embarrassing for the
+ex-reporter; she spoke of her father, and Pearson--the memory of his
+last interview with the latter fresh in his mind, and painfully aware
+that she knew nothing of it--felt guilty and like a hypocrite. But soon
+the subject changed, and when the captain entered the library he found
+the pair laughing and chatting like old acquaintances, as, of course,
+they were.
+
+Captain Elisha, paying no attention to his friend’s shakes of the head,
+invited his niece to be present at the reading of the latest addition to
+what he called “mine and Jim’s record-breakin’ sea yarn.”
+
+“It’s really mine, you understand, Caroline,” he observed, with a wink.
+“I’m silent partner in the firm--if you can call the one that does all
+the talkin’ silent--and Jim don’t do nothin’ but make it up and write it
+and get the profits. Course, you mustn’t mention this to him, ‘cause he
+thinks he’s the author, and ‘twould hurt his feelin’s.”
+
+“He’s quite right,” declared Pearson, emphatically. “If the thing is
+ever finished and published he will deserve all the credit. His advice
+had already remade it. This uncle of yours, Miss Warren,” he added,
+turning to her, “is like the admiral Kipling wrote about--he has ‘lived
+more stories’ than ever I could invent.”
+
+The captain, fearful that his niece might take the statement seriously,
+hastened to protest.
+
+“He’s just foolin’, Caroline,” he said. “All I’ve done is set and talk
+and talk and talk. I’ve used up more of his time and the surroundin’ air
+than you’d believe was possible. When I get next to salt water, even in
+print, it’s time to muzzle me, same as a dog in July. The yarn is Jim’s
+altogether, and it’s mighty interestin’--to me anyhow.”
+
+“I’m sure it will be to me, also,” declared the young lady. “Captain
+Warren has told me all about it, Mr. Pearson, and I’m very eager to hear
+the new portion.”
+
+“There!” Captain Elisha slapped his knee. “There, Jim!” he exclaimed,
+“you hear that? Now you’ve _got_ to read it. Anchor’s apeak! Heave ahead
+and get under way.”
+
+So, because he could not well refuse, the author reluctantly began
+to read. And, as usual, his nautical friend to interrupt and comment.
+Caroline listened, her eyes twinkling. When the reading and the
+arguments were at an end, she declared it was all splendid; “Just like
+being at sea one’s self,” she said. “I positively refuse to permit
+another installment to be submitted unless I am--on deck. That’s the
+proper phrase, isn’t it, Captain?”
+
+“Aye, aye, ma’am! Jim, we’ve shipped a new second mate, and she’s goin’
+to be wuth her salt. You hear _me_!”
+
+She proved to be worth all of that, at least in Pearson’s opinion. His
+calls and the readings and discussions became more and more frequent.
+Each of the trio enjoyed them greatly, Caroline quite as much as the
+others. Here was something new and fresh, something to furnish a real
+interest. The story advanced rapidly, the character of the nautical hero
+shaped itself better and better, and the heroine, also, heretofore a
+somewhat shadowy and vague young woman, began to live and breathe.
+She changed surprisingly, not only in mental but in physical
+characteristics.
+
+Captain Elisha was first to notice the latter peculiarity.
+
+“Say, Jim!” he interrupted, one afternoon, “what was that you just read
+about Mary? Her hat blowin’ off to leeward and her brown hair blowin’
+after it? Or somethin’ of that sort?”
+
+Caroline laughed merrily. The author turned to the passage mentioned.
+
+“Not exactly, Captain,” he replied, smiling. “I said her hat had blown
+away, and her brown curls tossed in the wind. What’s wrong with that?
+Hats do blow away in a sou’wester; I’ve seen them.”
+
+“Perhaps he thinks she should have been more careful in pinning it on,”
+ suggested the feminine member of the advisory board.
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head. “No,” he observed calmly, “but why was
+she wearin’ that kind of hair? She’s pretty young to use a switch, ain’t
+she?”
+
+“Switch?” repeated “Mary’s” creator, with some indignation. “What are
+you talking about? When I first described her, I said that her hair was
+luxuriant and one of her chief beauties.”
+
+“That’s a fact! So you did. What made her dye it?”
+
+“Dye it? What do you think she is--a chorus girl?”
+
+“If I remember right she’s a postmaster’s daughter. But why is she
+wearin’ brown hair, if it ain’t neither false or dyed? Back in the third
+chapter ‘twas _black_, like her eyes.”
+
+Caroline burst into another laugh. Pearson blushed to his forehead.
+“Well, by George!” he admitted, “you’re right. I believe I did have it
+black, at first.”
+
+“You sartin did! I ain’t got any objections to either color, only it
+ought to stay put, hadn’t it? In a town of the size she’s livin’ in, a
+girl with changeable hair is likely to be kind of conspicuous. I tell
+you! maybe it bleached out in the sun. Ho, ho!”
+
+The writer made a note on the margin of his manuscript and declared
+that his heroine’s tresses and eyes should be made to correspond at
+all stages. They did, but they remained brown. Captain Elisha chuckled
+inwardly, but offered no further comments. Caroline, whose own hair and
+eyes were brown, did not refer to the matter at all.
+
+She and the young man became better acquainted at each succeeding
+“literary clinic,” as the latter called them. When Rodgers Warren first
+introduced him at their former home he had impressed her favorably,
+largely because of her desire to like anyone whom her father fancied.
+She worshiped the dead broker, and his memory to her was sacred. She
+would have forgiven and did forgive any wrong he might have done her,
+even his brother’s appointment as guardian, though that she could not
+understand. Unlike Stephen, who fiercely resented the whole affair and
+said bitter things concerning his parent, she believed he had done what
+he considered right. Her feeling against Captain Elisha had been based
+upon the latter’s acceptance of that appointment when he should have
+realized his unfitness. And his living with them and disgracing them in
+the eyes of their friends by his uncouth, country ways, made her blind
+to his good qualities. The Moriarty matter touched her conscience,
+and she saw more clearly. But she was very far from considering him
+an equal, or other than what Mrs. Corcoran Dunn termed him, an
+“encumbrance,” even yet. She forced herself to be kind and tolerant and
+gave him more of her society, though the church-going experience was
+not repeated, nor did she accompany him on his walks or out-of-door
+excursions.
+
+If Pearson’s introductions had been wholly as a friend of her
+guardian, her feeling toward him might have been tinged with the same
+condescension or aversion, even. But, hallowed as he was by association
+with her father, she welcomed him for the latter’s sake. And, as she
+became interested in the novel and found that her suggestions concerning
+it were considered valuable, she looked forward to his visits and was
+disappointed if, for any reason, they were deferred. Without being aware
+of it, she began to like the young author, not alone because he wrote
+entertainingly and flattered her by listening respectfully to her
+criticisms, or because her father had liked him, but for himself.
+
+Captain Elisha was much pleased.
+
+“I told you, Jim!” he said. “She’s just as glad to see you as I am. Now
+don’t you see how foolish it was to stay away ‘cause you and ‘Bije had
+a spat? Think of all the good times we’d have missed! And we needed a
+female aboard your Uncle Jim’s craft, to help with ‘Mary’ and the rest.”
+
+His friend nodded. “She has been a great help, certainly,” he answered.
+“But I can’t help feeling guilty every time I come here. It is too much
+like obtaining her friendship under false pretenses. She should know the
+whole thing, I believe.”
+
+“She shall know it, when I think it’s time for her to. But I want her to
+know you first. Then she’ll be able to judge without so much prejudice.
+I told you I’d take the responsibility. You leave the ship in my charge
+for a spell.”
+
+In spite of this confident assertion, the captain also felt a trifle
+guilty. He realized that selfishness was involved in his keeping
+Pearson’s secret from his niece. He was thoroughly enjoying himself with
+these two, and he could not bear to risk the breaking up which might
+follow disclosure.
+
+One evening, while a “clinic” was in progress and the three were deep
+in consultation, Edwards entered to announce Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and
+Mr. Malcolm. The butler’s giving the lady precedence in his announcing
+showed that he, too, realized who was ranking officer in that family,
+even though the captain’s “conundrum” had puzzled him. Mrs. Dunn and her
+son entered at his heels.
+
+[Illustration: “She and the young man became better acquainted at each
+succeeding ‘literary clinic.’”]
+
+The lady took in the group by the table at a glance: Pearson, with
+the manuscript in his hands; Captain Elisha leaning back in his chair,
+frowning at the interruption; Caroline rising to welcome the guests, and
+coloring slightly as she did so. All these details Mrs. Dunn noted, made
+an entry in her mental memorandum-book, and underscored it for future
+reference.
+
+If she discerned unpleasant possibilities in the situation, she did
+not allow them to disturb her outward serenity. She kissed Caroline and
+called her “dear child” as fondly as usual, shook hands graciously with
+Captain Elisha, and bowed condescending recognition of Pearson.
+
+“And how is the novel coming on? Do tell me!” she begged. “I’m sure we
+interrupted a reading. It’s too bad of us, really! But Malcolm insisted
+upon coming. He has been very busy of late--some dreadful ‘corner’ or
+other on the exchange--and has neglected his friends--or thinks he has.
+I told him I had explained it all to you, Caroline, but he _would_ come
+to-night. It is the first call he has made in weeks; so you _see_! But
+there! he doesn’t consider running in here a call.”
+
+Call or not, it spoiled the evening for at least two of the company.
+Pearson left early. Captain Elisha excused himself soon after and went
+to his room, leaving the Dunns to chat with Caroline for an hour or
+more. Malcolm joked and was languid and cynical. His mother asked a few
+carefully guarded questions.
+
+“Quite a clever person, this young author friend of yours seems to be,
+Caroline,” she observed. “Almost brilliant, really.”
+
+“He isn’t a friend of mine, exactly,” replied the girl. “He and Captain
+Warren are friendly, and father used to know and like him, as I have
+told you. The novel is great fun, though! The people in it are coming to
+seem almost real to me.”
+
+“I daresay! I was a great reader myself once, before my health--my
+heart, you know--began to trouble me. The doctors now forbid my reading
+anything the least bit exciting. Has this--er--Mr. Pearson means?”
+
+“I know very little of him, personally, but I think not. He used to be
+connected with the _Planet_, and wrote things about Wall Street. That
+was how father came to know him.”
+
+“Live in an attic, does he?” inquired Malcolm. “That’s what all authors
+do, isn’t it? Put up in attics and sleep on pallets--whatever they
+are--and eat crusts, don’t they? Jolly life--if you like it! I prefer
+bucking wheat corners, myself.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed, and Caroline joined her, though not as heartily.
+
+“How ridiculous you are, Malcolm!” exclaimed his mother. “Mr. Pearson
+isn’t that kind of an author, I’m sure. But where does he live,
+Caroline?”
+
+“Somewhere on West 18th Street, I believe. He has rooms there, I think.”
+
+“Oh! Really? And how is this wonderful novel of his progressing? When
+does he expect to favor us with it?”
+
+“I don’t know. But it is progressing very well at present. He has
+written three chapters since last Wednesday. He was reading them to us
+when you came.”
+
+“Indeed! Since last Wednesday? How interesting!”
+
+Malcolm did not seem to find the topic interesting, for he smothered a
+yawn. His mother changed the subject. On their way home, however, she
+again referred to it.
+
+“You must make it a point to see her every day,” she declared. “No
+matter what happens, you must do it.”
+
+“Oh, Lord!” groaned her son, “I can’t. There’s the deuce and all on
+‘Change just now, and the billiard tournament’s begun at the Club. My
+days and nights are full up. Once a week is all she should expect, I
+think.”
+
+“No matter what you think or what she expects, you must do as I say.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+“Because I don’t like the looks of things.”
+
+“Oh, rubbish! You’re always seeing bugaboos. Uncle Hayseed is pacified,
+isn’t he? I’ve paid the Moriarty crowd off. Beastly big bills they were,
+too!”
+
+“Humph! Uncle Hayseed, as you call him, is anything but a fool. But he
+isn’t the particular trouble at present. He and I understand each other,
+I believe, and he will be reasonable. But--there is this Pearson. I
+don’t like his calling so frequently.”
+
+Malcolm laughed in huge scorn. “Pearson!” he sneered. “Why, he’s
+nothing but a penny-a-liner, without the penny. Surely you’re not afraid
+Caroline will take a fancy to him. She isn’t an idiot.”
+
+“She’s a young girl, and more romantic than I wish she was. At her age
+girls do silly things, sometimes. He called on Wednesday--you heard her
+say so--and was there again to-night. I don’t like it, I tell you.”
+
+“Her uncle is responsible for--”
+
+“It is more than that. She knew him long before she knew her uncle
+existed. Her father introduced him--her _father_. And to her mind,
+whatever her father did was right.”
+
+“Witness his brilliant selection of an executor. Oh, Mater, you weary
+me! I used to know this Pearson when he was a reporter downtown,
+and.... Humph!”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“Why, nothing, I guess. It seemed as if I remember Warren and Pearson in
+some sort of mix-up. Some.... Humph! I wonder.”
+
+He was silent, thinking. His mother pressed his arm excitedly.
+
+“If you remember anything that occurred between Rodgers Warren and
+this man, anything to this Pearson’s disadvantage, it may pay us to
+investigate. What was it?”
+
+“I don’t know. But it seemed as if I remembered Warren’s ... or a friend
+of his telling me ... saying something ... but it couldn’t be of
+importance, because Caroline doesn’t know it.”
+
+“I’m not so sure that it may not be important. And, if you recall, on
+that day when we first met him at Caroline’s, she seemed hurt because he
+had not visited them since her father died. Perhaps there _was_ a
+reason. At any rate, I should look into the matter.”
+
+“All right, Mater, just as you say. Really you ought to join a Don’t
+Worry Club.”
+
+“One member in the family is quite sufficient. And I expect you to
+devote yourself to Caroline from now on. That girl is lonely, and
+when you get the combination of a lonely romantic young girl and a
+good-looking and interesting young fellow, even though he is as poor
+as a church mouse, _anything_ may happen. Add to that the influence of
+an unpractical but sharp old Yankee relative and guardian--then the
+situation is positively dangerous.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+An important event was about to take place. At least, it seemed
+important to Captain Elisha, although the person most intimately
+concerned appeared to have forgotten it entirely. He ventured to remind
+her of it.
+
+“Caroline,” he said, “Sunday is your birthday, ain’t it?”
+
+His niece looked at him in surprise. “Yes,” she answered, “it is. How
+did you know?”
+
+“Why, I remembered, that’s all. Graves, the lawyer man, told me how
+old you and Stevie were, fust time I met him. And his partner, Mr.
+Sylvester, gave me the date one day when he was goin’ over your pa’s
+will. You’ll be twenty years old Sunday, won’t you?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+It was late in the afternoon, and she had been out since ten o’clock
+shopping with Mrs. Dunn, lunching downtown with the latter and Malcolm,
+and motoring for an hour or two. The weather for the season was mild and
+sunny, and the crisp air had brightened her cheeks, her eyes sparkled,
+her fur coat and cap were very becoming, and Captain Elisha inspected
+her admiringly before making another remark.
+
+“My! My!” he exclaimed, after an instant’s pause. “Twenty years old!
+Think of it! ‘Bije’s girl’s a young woman now, ain’t she? I cal’late he
+was proud of you, too. He ought to have been. I presume likely _he_
+didn’t forget your birthday.”
+
+He rose to help her with the heavy coat. As he lifted it from her
+shoulders, he bent forward and caught a glimpse of her face.
+
+“There! there!” he said, hastily. “Don’t feel bad, dearie. I didn’t mean
+to hurt your feelin’s. Excuse me; I was thinkin’ out loud, sort of.”
+
+She did not answer at once, but turned away to remove her cap. Then she
+answered, without looking at him.
+
+“He never forgot them,” she said.
+
+“Course he didn’t. Well, you see I didn’t forget, either.”
+
+It was an unfortunate remark, inasmuch as it drew, in her mind,
+a comparison between her handsome, dignified father and his rude,
+uncultured brother. The contrast was ever present in her thoughts, and
+she did not need to be reminded of it. She made no reply.
+
+“I was thinkin’,” continued the captain, conscious of having made a
+mistake, “that maybe we might celebrate somehow, in a quiet way.”
+
+“No. I am not in the mood for--celebrations.”
+
+“Oh, I didn’t mean fireworks and the town band. I just thought--”
+
+“Please don’t. I remember other birthdays too well.” They had been great
+occasions, those birthdays of hers, ever since she was a little girl. On
+the eighteenth she made her début in society, and the gown she wore on
+that memorable evening was laid away upstairs, a cherished memento, to
+be kept as long as she lived. Each year Rodgers Warren took infinite
+pains to please and surprise his idolized daughter. She could not bear
+to think of another birthday, now that he had been taken from her.
+
+Her guardian pulled his beard. “Well,” he observed ruefully, “then my
+weak head’s put my foot in it again, as the feller said. If I ain’t
+careful I’ll be like poor cracked Philander Baker, who lives with
+his sister over at Denboro Centre. The doctor told Philander he was
+threatened with softenin’ of the brain, and the sister thanked him for
+the compliment. You see, Caroline, I wrote on my own hook and asked
+Stevie to come home Saturday and stay till Monday. I kind of thought
+you’d like to have him here.”
+
+“Oh, I should like _that_! But will he come? Has he written you?”
+
+“Hey? Yes, I cal’late he’ll be on deck. He’s--er--yes, he’s written me.”
+
+He smiled as he answered. As a matter of fact, the correspondence
+between Stephen and himself had been lengthy and voluminous on the part
+of the former, and brief and business-like on his own. The boy, on his
+return to college, had found “conditions” awaiting him, and the amount
+of hard work involved in their clearance was not at all to his taste.
+He wrote his guardian before the first week was over, asserting that the
+whole business was foolishness and a waste of time. He should come
+home at once, he said, and he notified the captain that such was his
+intention. Captain Elisha replied with promptness and decision. If he
+came home he would be sent back, that was all. “I realize you’ve got a
+job ahead of you, Son,” wrote the captain, “but you can do it, if you
+will. Fact is, I guess you’ve got to. So sail in and show us what you’re
+made of.”
+
+Stephen’s answer was a five page declaration of independence. He refused
+to be bullied by any living man. He had made arrangements to come to New
+York on the following Monday, and he was coming. As to being sent back,
+he wished his uncle to understand that it was one thing to order and
+another to enforce obedience. To which he received the following note:
+
+    “I can’t stop you from coming, Steve, except by going to New
+    Haven and holding you by main strength. That I don’t propose
+    to do, for two reasons: first, that it is too much trouble,
+    and second that it ain’t necessary. You can come home once in
+    a while to see your sister, but you mustn’t do it till I say
+    the word. If you do, I shall take the carfare out of your
+    allowance, likewise board while you are here, and stop that
+    allowance for a month as a sort of fine for mutiny. So you
+    better think it over a spell. And, if I was you, I wouldn’t
+    write Caroline that I was coming, or thinking of coming, till
+    I had my mind made up. She believes you are working hard at
+    your lessons. I shouldn’t disappoint her, especially as it
+    wouldn’t be any use.
+
+               “Your affectionate uncle,
+                    “ELISHA WARREN.”
+
+The result of all this was that Stephen, whose finances were already in
+a precarious condition, did think it over and decided not to take the
+risk. Also, conscious that his sister sided with their guardian to the
+extent of believing the university the best place for him at present, he
+tore up the long letter of grievance which he had written her, and, in
+that which took its place, mentioned merely that he was “grinding like
+blazes,” and the only satisfaction he got from it was his removal from
+the society of the “old tyrant from Cape Cod.”
+
+He accepted the tyrant’s invitation to return for the week-end and
+his sister’s birthday with no hesitation whatever; and his letter of
+acceptance was so politic as to be almost humble.
+
+He arrived on an early train Saturday morning. Caroline met him at the
+station, and the Dunns’ car conveyed them to the latter’s residence,
+where they were to spend the day. The Dunns and Caroline had been
+together almost constantly since the evening when Malcolm and his mother
+interrupted the reading of the novel. The former, while professing to be
+harassed by business cares, sacrificed them to the extent of devoting at
+least a part of each twenty-four hours to the young lady’s society.
+She was rarely allowed to be alone with her uncle, a circumstance which
+troubled her much less than it did him. He missed the evenings which he
+had enjoyed so much, and the next consultation over the adventures
+of Pearson’s “Uncle Jim” and his “Mary” seemed flat and uninteresting
+without criticism and advice.
+
+The author himself noticed the difference.
+
+“Rot!” he exclaimed, throwing the manuscript aside in disgust. “It’s
+rot, isn’t it! If I can’t turn out better stuff than that, I’d better
+quit. And I thought it was pretty decent, too, until to-night.”
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head. “It don’t seem quite so shipshape,
+somehow,” he admitted, “but I guess likely it’s ‘cause my head’s full
+of other things just now. I’m puzzled ‘most to death to know what to get
+for Caroline’s birthday. I want to get her somethin’ she’ll like, and
+she’s got pretty nigh everything under the sun. Say, Jim, you’ve been
+workin’ too hard, yourself. Why don’t you take to-morrow off and cruise
+around the stores helpin’ me pick out a present. Come ahead--do!”
+
+They spent the next afternoon in that “cruise,” visiting department
+stores, jewelers, and art shops innumerable. Captain Elisha was hard to
+please, and his comments characteristic.
+
+“I guess you’re right, Jim,” he said, “there’s no use lookin’ at
+pictures. Let alone that the walls are so covered with ‘em now a fly
+can’t scarcely light without steppin’ on some kind of scenery--let
+alone that, my judgment on pictures ain’t any good. I cal’late that’s
+considered pretty fine, ain’t it?” pointing to a painting in the gallery
+where they then were.
+
+“Yes,” replied the dealer, much amused. “That is a good specimen of the
+modern impressionist school.”
+
+“Humph! Cookin’ school, I shouldn’t wonder. I’d call it a portrait of a
+plate of scrambled eggs, if ‘twa’n’t for that green thing that’s either
+a cow or a church in the offin’. Out of soundin’s again, I am! But I
+knew she liked pictures, and so.... However, let’s set sail for a
+jewelry store.”
+
+The sixth shop of this variety which they visited happened to be one of
+the largest and most fashionable in the city. Here the captain’s fancy
+was taken by a gold chain for the neck, set with tiny emeralds.
+
+“That’s pretty--sort of--ain’t it, Jim?” he asked.
+
+“Yes,” replied his companion, with emphasis, “it is. And I think you’ll
+find it is expensive, also.”
+
+“That so? How much?” turning to the salesman.
+
+The latter gave the price of the chain. Captain Elisha whistled.
+
+“Whew! Jerushy!” he exclaimed. “And it wouldn’t much more than go around
+my wrist, at that. All the same size, are they?”
+
+“No. Some are longer. The longer ones are higher priced, of course.”
+
+“Sartin! They’re for fleshy folks, I s’pose. Mrs. Thoph Kenney down
+home, she’d have to splice three of ‘em together to make the round trip.
+Thoph’s always scared he won’t get his money’s wuth in a trade, but he
+couldn’t kick when he got her. To give the minister a dollar and walk
+off with two hundred and eighty pounds of wife is showin’ some business
+sagacity, hey? To do him justice, I will say that _he_ seems to be
+satisfied; she’s the one that does the complainin’. I guess this is the
+most expensive counter in the store, ain’t it, Mister?”
+
+The clerk laughed. “No, indeed,” he said. “These are all moderate priced
+goods. I wonder,” turning to Pearson, “if your friend wouldn’t like to
+see some of our choice pieces. It is a quiet day here, and I shall be
+glad to show them.”
+
+He led the way to a set of show cases near the door on the Fifth Avenue
+side. There before Captain Elisha’s dazzled eyes were displayed diamond
+necklaces and aigrettes, tiaras and brooches, the figures on their price
+tags running high into the thousands. Pearson and the good-natured clerk
+enjoyed themselves hugely.
+
+“Jim,” said the captain after a little of this, “is there a police
+officer lookin’ this way?”
+
+Pearson laughed. “I guess not,” he answered. “Why? The temptation isn’t
+getting too much for your honesty, is it?”
+
+“No,” with a sigh, “but I’m carryin’ a forty dollar watch and wearin’ a
+ring that cost fifteen. I thought they was some punkins till I begun
+to look at this stuff. Now they make me feel so mean and poverty-struck
+that I expect to be took up for a tramp any minute. Mister,” to the
+clerk, “you run right along and wrap up that chain I was lookin’ at.
+Hurry! or I’ll be ashamed to carry anything so cheap.”
+
+“Think she’ll like it, do you, Jim?” he asked, when they were once more
+out of doors with the purchase in his inside pocket.
+
+“She ought, certainly,” replied Pearson. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
+
+“Yes. Well, you see,” apologetically, “I wanted to give her somethin’
+pretty good. ‘Bije always did, and I didn’t want to fall too fur behind.
+But,” with a chuckle, “you needn’t mention the price to anybody. If
+Abbie--my second cousin keepin’ house for me, she is--if Abbie heard
+of it she’d be for puttin’ me in an asylum. Abbie’s got a hair
+breastpin and a tortoise shell comb, but she only wears ‘em to the
+Congregationalist meetin’-house, where she’s reasonably sure there ain’t
+likely to be any sneak-thieves. She went to a Unitarian sociable once,
+but she carried ‘em in a bag inside her dress.”
+
+Captain Elisha planned to surprise his niece with the gift at breakfast
+on the morning of her birthday, but, after reflection, decided to
+postpone the presentation until dinner time. The inevitable Dunns had
+taken upon themselves the duty of caring for the girl and her brother
+during the major part of the day. The yellow car appeared at the door
+at ten o’clock and bore the two away. Caroline assured her guardian,
+however, that they would return in season for the evening meal.
+
+The captain spent lonely but busy hours until dinner time came. He had
+done some scheming on his own hook and, after a long argument with
+the cook, reënforced by a small sum in cash, had prevailed upon that
+haughty domestic to fashion a birthday cake of imposing exterior and
+indigestible make-up. Superintending the icing of this masterpiece
+occupied some time. He then worried Edwards into a respectful but
+stubborn fury by suggesting novelties in the way of table arrangement.
+Another bestowal of small change quelled the disturbance. Then came,
+by messenger, a dozen American Beauty roses with Mr. Pearson’s card
+attached. These the captain decided should be placed in the center of
+the festive board. As a center piece had been previously provided, there
+was more argument. The cook took the butler’s side in the debate, and
+the pair yielded only when Captain Elisha again dived into his pocket.
+
+“But I warn you, all hands,” he observed, “that this is the last time.
+My right fist’s got a cramp in it this minute, and you couldn’t open it
+again with a cold chisel.”
+
+At last, however, everything was as it should be, and he sat down in the
+library to await the coming of the young people. The gold chain in its
+handsome leather case, the latter enclosed in the jeweler’s box, was
+carefully laid beside Caroline’s place at the table. The dinner was
+ready, the cake, candles and all--the captain had insisted upon twenty
+candles--was ready, also. There was nothing to do but wait--and he
+waited.
+
+Six-thirty was the usual dinner hour. It passed. Seven o’clock struck,
+then eight, and still Captain Elisha sat alone in the library. The cook
+sent word that the dinner was ruined. Edwards respectfully asked, “What
+shall I do, sir?” twice, the second time being sent flying with an order
+to “Go for’ard and keep your hatches closed!” The nautical phraseology
+was lost upon the butler, but the tone and manner of delivery were quite
+understandable.
+
+Several times the captain rose from his chair to telephone the Dunn
+house and ask the reason for delay. Each time he decided not to do so.
+No doubt there were good reasons; Caroline and her brother had been
+detained; perhaps the automobile had broken down--the things were always
+breaking down just at the most inconvenient times; perhaps.... Well, at
+any rate, he would not ‘phone just yet; he would wait a little longer.
+
+At last the bell rang. Captain Elisha sprang up, smiling, his impatience
+and worry forgotten, and, pushing the butler aside, hurried to open
+the door himself. He did so and faced, not his niece and nephew, but
+Pearson.
+
+“Good evening, Captain,” hailed the young man, cheerily. “Didn’t expect
+me, did you? I dropped in for a moment to shake hands with you and to
+offer congratulations to Miss Warren.” Then, noticing the expression on
+his friend’s face, he added, “What’s the matter? Anything wrong? Am I
+intruding?”
+
+“No, no! Course not. You’re as welcome as another egg in a poor man’s
+hen-house. Come right in and take off your things. I’m glad to see you.
+Only--well, the fact is I thought ‘twas Caroline comin’ home. She and
+Stevie was to be here over two hours ago, and I can’t imagine what’s
+keepin’ ‘em.”
+
+He insisted upon his visitor’s remaining, although the latter, when he
+understood the situation, was reluctant to do so.
+
+“Caroline’ll be real glad to see you, Jim, I know,” the captain said.
+“And I want you to stay for my sake. Between pacifyin’ the Commodore
+and frettin’ over what couldn’t possibly happen, I was half dead of the
+fidgets. Stay and cheer me up, there’s a good feller. I’d just about
+reached the stage where I had the girl and boy stove to flinders under
+that pesky auto. I’d even begun to figger on notifyin’ the undertaker.
+Tell me I’m an old fool and then talk about somethin’ else. They’ll be
+here any minute.”
+
+But a good many minutes passed, and still they did not come. Pearson,
+aware of his companion’s growing anxiety, chatted of the novel, of the
+people at the boarding house, of anything and everything he could think
+of likely to divert attention from the one important topic. The answers
+he received were more and more brief and absent. At last, when Edwards
+again appeared, appealingly mute, at the entrance to the dining room,
+Captain Elisha, with a sigh which was almost a groan, surrendered.
+
+“I guess,” he said, reluctantly, “I guess, Jim, there ain’t any use
+waitin’ any longer. Somethin’s kept ‘em, and they won’t be here for
+dinner. You and I’ll set down and eat--though I ain’t got the appetite I
+cal’lated to have.”
+
+Pearson had dined hours before, but he followed his friend, resolved to
+please the latter by going through the form of pretending to eat.
+
+They sat down together. Captain Elisha, with a rueful smile, pointed to
+the floral centerpiece.
+
+“There’s your posies, Jim,” he observed. “Look pretty, don’t they. She
+ain’t seen ‘em yet, but she’ll like ‘em when she does. And that over
+there, is her present from me. Stevie gave her a box of gloves, and I
+expect, from what Mrs. Dunn hinted, that she and that son of hers gave
+her somethin’ fine. She’ll show us when she gets here. What’s this,
+Commodore? Oysters, hey? Well, they ought to taste like home. They’re
+‘Cape Cods’; I wouldn’t have anything else.”
+
+“We won’t touch the birthday cake, Jim,” he added, a little later.
+“She’s got to cut that herself.”
+
+The soup was only lukewarm, but neither of them commented on the fact.
+The captain had scarcely tasted of his, when he paused, his spoon in
+air.
+
+“Hey?” he exclaimed. “Listen! What’s that? By the everlastin’, it _is_.
+Here they are, at _last_!”
+
+He sprang up with such enthusiasm that his chair tipped backwards
+against the butler’s devoted shins. Pearson, almost as much pleased,
+also rose.
+
+Captain Elisha paid scant attention to the chair incident.
+
+“What are you waitin’ for?” he demanded, whirling on Edwards, who was
+righting the chair with one hand and rubbing his knee with the other.
+“Don’t you hear ‘em at the door? Let ‘em in!”
+
+He reached the library first, his friend following more leisurely.
+Caroline and Stephen had just entered.
+
+“Well!” he cried, in his quarter-deck voice, his face beaming with
+relief and delight, “you _are_ here, ain’t you! I begun to think....
+Why, what’s the matter?”
+
+The question was addressed to Stephen, who stood nearest to him. The boy
+did not deign to reply. With a contemptuous grunt, he turned scornfully
+away from his guardian.
+
+“What is it, Caroline?” demanded Captain Elisha. “_Has_ anything
+happened?”
+
+The girl looked coldly at him. A new brooch--Mrs. Corcoran Dunn’s
+birthday gift--sparkled at her throat.
+
+“No accident has happened, if that is what you mean,” she said.
+
+“But--why, yes, that was what I meant. You was so awful late, and you
+know you said you’d be home for dinner, so--”
+
+“I changed my mind. Come, Steve.”
+
+She turned to leave the room. Pearson, at that moment, entered it.
+Stephen saw him first.
+
+“_What_?” he cried. “Well, of all the nerve! Look, Caro!”
+
+“Jim--Mr. Pearson, I mean--ran in a few minutes ago,” explained Captain
+Elisha, bewildered and stammering. “He thought of course we’d had dinner
+and--and--he just wanted to wish you many happy returns, Caroline.”
+
+Pearson had extended his hand and a “Good evening” was on his lips.
+Stephen’s strange behavior and language caused him to halt. He flushed,
+awkward, surprised, and indignant.
+
+Caroline turned and saw him. She started, and her cheeks also grew
+crimson. Then, recovering, she looked him full in the face, and
+deliberately and disdainfully turned her back.
+
+“Come, Steve!” she said again, and walked from the room.
+
+Her brother hesitated, glared at Pearson, and then stalked haughtily
+after her.
+
+Captain Elisha’s bewilderment was supreme. He stared, open-mouthed,
+after his nephew and niece, and then turned slowly to his friend.
+
+“What on earth, Jim,” he stammered. “What’s it _mean_?”
+
+Pearson shrugged his shoulders. “I think I know what it means,” he said.
+“I presume that Miss Warren and her brother have learned of my trouble
+with their father.”
+
+“Hey? No! you don’t think _that’s_ it.”
+
+“I think there’s no doubt of it.”
+
+“But how?”
+
+“I don’t know how. What I do know is that I should not have come here. I
+felt it and, if you will remember, I said so. I was a fool. Good night,
+Captain.”
+
+Hot and furiously angry at his own indecision which had placed him in
+this humiliating situation, he was striding towards the hall. Captain
+Elisha seized his arm.
+
+“Stay where you are, Jim!” he commanded. “If the trouble’s what you
+think it is, I’m more to blame than anybody else, and you sha’n’t leave
+this house till I’ve done my best to square you.”
+
+“Thank you; but I don’t wish to be ‘squared.’ I’ve done nothing to be
+ashamed of, and I have borne as many insults as I can stand. I’m going.”
+
+“No, you ain’t. Not yet. I want you to stay.”
+
+At that moment Stephen’s voice reached them from the adjoining room.
+
+“I tell you I shall, Caro!” it proclaimed, fiercely. “Do you suppose
+I’m going to permit that fellow to come here again--or to go until he is
+made to understand what we think of him and why? No, by gad! I’m the man
+of this family, and I’ll tell him a few things.”
+
+Pearson’s jaw set grimly.
+
+“You may let go of my wrist, Captain Warren,” he said; “I’ll stay.”
+
+Possibly Stephen’s intense desire to prove his manliness made him
+self-conscious. At any rate, he never appeared more ridiculously boyish
+than when, an instant later, he marched into the library and confronted
+his uncle and Pearson.
+
+“I--I want to say--” he began, majestically; “I want to say--”
+
+He paused, choking, and brandished his fist.
+
+“I want to say--” he began again.
+
+“All right, Stevie,” interrupted the captain, dryly, “then I’d say it if
+I was you. I guess it’s time you did.”
+
+“I want to--to tell that fellow _there_,” with a vicious stab of his
+forefinger in the direction of Pearson, “that I consider him an--an
+ingrate--and a scoundrel--and a miserable--”
+
+“Steady!” Captain Elisha’s interruption was sharp this time. “Steady
+now! Leave out the pet names. What is it you’ve got to tell?”
+
+“I--my sister and I have found out what a scoundrel he is, that’s what!
+We’ve learned of the lies he wrote about father. We know that he was
+responsible for all that cowardly, lying stuff in the _Planet_--all that
+about the Trolley Combine. And we don’t intend that he shall sneak into
+this house again. If he was the least part of a man, he would never have
+come.”
+
+“Mr. Warren--” began Pearson, stepping forward. The captain interrupted.
+
+“Hold on, Jim!” he said. “Just a minute now. You’ve learned somethin’,
+you say, Stevie. The Dunns told you, I s’pose.”
+
+“Never mind who told me!”
+
+“I don’t--much. But I guess we’d better have a clear understandin’, all
+of us. Caroline, will you come in here, please?”
+
+He stepped toward the door. Stephen sprang in front of him.
+
+“My sister doesn’t intend to cheapen herself by entering that man’s
+presence,” he declared, hotly. “I’ll deal with him, myself!”
+
+“All right. But I guess she’d better be here, just the same. Caroline, I
+want you.”
+
+“She sha’n’t come!”
+
+“Yes, she shall. Caroline!”
+
+The boy would have detained him, but he pushed him firmly aside and
+walked toward the door. Before he reached it, however, his niece
+appeared.
+
+“Well?” she said, coldly. “What is it you want of me?”
+
+“I want you to hear Mr. Pearson’s side of this business--and
+mine--before you do anything you’ll be sorry for.”
+
+“I think I’ve heard quite enough of Mr. Pearson already. Nothing he can
+say or do will make me more sorry than I am, or humiliate me more than
+the fact that I have treated him as a friend.”
+
+The icy contempt in her tone was cutting. Pearson’s face was white, but
+he spoke clearly and with deliberation.
+
+“Miss Warren,” he said, “I must insist that you listen for another
+moment. I owe you an apology for--”
+
+“Apology!” broke in Stephen, with a scornful laugh. “Apology! Well, by
+gad! Just hear that, Caro!”
+
+The girl’s lip curled. “I do not wish to hear your apology,” she said.
+
+“But I wish you to hear it. Not for my attitude in the Trolley
+matter, nor for what I published in the _Planet_. Nor for my part in
+the disagreement with your father. I wrote the truth and nothing more. I
+considered it right then--I told your father so--and I have not changed
+my mind. I should act exactly the same under similar circumstances.”
+
+“You blackguard!” shouted Stephen. Pearson ignored him utterly.
+
+“I do owe you an apology,” he continued, “for coming here, as I have
+done, knowing that you were ignorant of the affair. I believe now that
+you are misinformed as to the facts, but that is immaterial. You should
+have been told of my trouble with Mr. Warren. I should have insisted
+upon it. That I did not do so is my fault and I apologize; but for that
+only. Good evening.”
+
+He shook himself free from the captain’s grasp, bowed to the trio, and
+left the room. An instant later the outer door closed behind him.
+
+Caroline turned to her brother. “Come, Steve,” she said.
+
+“Stay right where you are!” Captain Elisha did not request now, he
+commanded. “Stevie, stand still. Caroline, I want to talk to you.”
+
+The girl hesitated. She had never been spoken to in that tone before.
+Her pride had been already deeply wounded by what she had learned that
+afternoon; she was fiercely resentful, angry, and rebellious. She was
+sure she never hated anyone as she did this man who ordered her to stay
+and listen to him. But--she stayed.
+
+“Caroline,” said Captain Elisha, after a moment of silence, “I presume
+likely--of course I don’t know for sartin, but I presume likely it’s
+Mrs. Dunn and that son of hers who’ve told you what you think you know.”
+
+“It doesn’t concern you who told us!” blustered Stephen, pushing
+forward. He might have been a fly buzzing on the wall for all the
+attention his uncle paid him.
+
+“I presume likely the Dunns told you, Caroline,” he repeated, calmly.
+
+His niece met his gaze stubbornly.
+
+“Well,” she answered, “and if they did? Wasn’t it necessary we should
+know it? Oh!” with a shudder of disgust, “I wish I could make you
+understand how ashamed I feel--how _wicked_ and ashamed I feel that
+I--_I_ should have disgraced father’s memory by.... Oh, but there! I
+can’t! Yes; Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm did tell us--many things. Thank God
+that we _have_ friends to tell us the truth!”
+
+“Amen!” quietly. “I’ll say amen to that, Caroline, any time. Only I want
+you to be sure those you call friends are real ones and that the truths
+they tell ain’t like the bait on a fishhook, put on _for_ bait and just
+thick enough to cover the barb.”
+
+“Do you mean to insinuate--” screamed the irrepressible nephew, wild
+at being so completely ignored. His uncle again paid not the slightest
+attention.
+
+“But that ain’t neither here nor there now,” he went on. “Caroline, Mr.
+Pearson just told you that his coming to this house without tellin’ you
+fust of his quarrel with ‘Bije was his fault. That ain’t so. The fault
+was mine altogether. He told me the whole story; told me that he hadn’t
+called since it happened, on that very account. And I took the whole
+responsibility and _asked_ him to come. I did! Do you know why?”
+
+If he expected an answer none was given. Caroline’s lids drooped
+disdainfully. “Steve,” she said, “let us go.”
+
+“Stop! You’ll stay here until I finish. I want to say that I didn’t tell
+you about the Trolley fuss because I wanted you to learn some things for
+yourself. I wanted you to know Mr. Pearson--to find out what sort of man
+he was afore you judged him. Then, when you had known him long enough
+to understand he wasn’t a liar and a blackguard, and all that Steve has
+called him, I was goin’ to tell you the whole truth, not a part of it.
+And, after that, I was goin’ to let you decide for yourself what to do.
+I’m a lot older than you are; I’ve mixed with all sorts of folks; I’m
+past the stage where I can be fooled by--by false hair or soft soap. You
+can’t pour sweet oil over a herrin’ and make me believe it’s a sardine.
+I know the Pearson stock. I’ve sailed over a heap of salt water with
+one of the family. And I’ve kept my eyes open since I’ve run acrost this
+particular member. And I knew your father, too, Caroline Warren. And
+I say to you now that, knowin’ Jim Pearson and ‘Bije Warren--yes, and
+knowin’ the rights and wrongs of that Trolley business quite as well as
+Malcolm Dunn or anybody else--I say to you that, although ‘Bije was my
+brother, I’d bet my life that Jim had all the right on his side. There!
+that’s the truth, and no hook underneath it. And some day you’ll realize
+it, too.”
+
+He had spoken with great vehemence. Now he took a handkerchief from his
+pocket and wiped his forehead. When he again looked at his niece, he
+found her staring intently at him; and her eyes blazed.
+
+“Have you quite finished--now?” she demanded. “Steve, be quiet!”
+
+“Why, yes, I guess so, pretty nigh. I s’pose there ain’t much use to say
+more. If I was to tell you that I’ve tried to do for you and Steve in
+this--same as in everything else since I took this job--as if you
+were my own children, you wouldn’t believe it. If I was to tell you,
+Caroline, that I’d come to think an awful lot of you, you wouldn’t
+believe that, either. I did hope that since our other misunderstandin’
+was cleared up, and you found I wa’n’t what you thought I was, you’d
+come to me and ask questions afore passin’ judgment; but perhaps--”
+
+And now she interrupted, bursting out at him in a blast of scorn which
+took his breath away.
+
+“Oh, stop! stop!” she cried. “Don’t say any more. You have insulted
+father’s memory, and defended the man who slandered him. Isn’t that
+enough? Why must you go on to prove yourself a greater hypocrite? We
+learned, my brother and I, to-day more than the truth concerning your
+_friend_. We learned that you have lied--yes, lied--and--”
+
+“Steady, Caroline! be careful. I wouldn’t say what I might be sorry for
+later.”
+
+“Sorry! Captain Warren, you spoke of my misjudging you. I thought I had,
+and I was sorry. To-day I learned that your attitude in that affair was
+a lie like the rest. _You_ did not pay for Mr. Moriarty’s accident. Mr.
+Dunn’s money paid those bills. And you allowed the family--and me--to
+thank _you_ for your generosity. Oh, I’m ashamed to be near you!”
+
+“There! There! Caroline, be still. I--”
+
+“I shall not be still. I have been still altogether too long. You are
+our guardian. We can’t help that, I suppose. Father asked you to be
+that, for some reason; but did he ask you to _live_ here where you are
+not wanted? To shame us before our friends, ladies and gentlemen so far
+above you in every way? And to try to poison our minds against them and
+sneer at them when they are kind to us and even try to be kind to
+you? No, he did not! Oh, I’m sick of it all! your deceit and your
+hypocritical speeches and your pretended love for us. _Love_! Oh, if I
+could say something that would make you understand how thoroughly we
+despise you, and how your presence, ever since you forced it upon Steve
+and me, has disgraced us! If I only could! I--I--”
+
+She had been near to tears ever since Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, in the
+kindness of her heart, told her the “truth” that afternoon. But pride
+and indignation had prevented her giving way. Now, however, she broke
+down.
+
+“Oh--oh, Steve!” she cried, and, turning to her brother, sobbed
+hysterically on his shoulder. “Oh, Steve, what shall we do?”
+
+Stephen put his arm about her waist. “It’s all right, Sis,” he said
+soothingly. “Don’t cry before _him_! I guess,” with a glance at his
+uncle, “you’ve said enough to make even him understand--at last.”
+
+Captain Elisha looked gravely at the pair. “I guess you have,” he said
+slowly. “I guess you have, Caroline. Anyhow, I can’t think offhand of
+anything you’ve left out. I could explain some things, but what’s the
+use? And,” with a sigh, “you may be right in a way. Perhaps I shouldn’t
+have come here to live. If you’d only told me plain afore just how you
+felt, I’d--maybe I’d--but there! I didn’t know--I didn’t know. You see,
+I thought.... However, I guess that part of your troubles is over. But,”
+ he added, firmly, “wherever I am, or wherever I go, you must understand
+that I’m your guardian, just the same. I considered a long spell afore I
+took the place, and I never abandoned a ship yet, once I took command of
+her. And I’ll stick to this one! Yes, sir! I’ll stick to it in spite of
+the devil--or the Dunns, either. Till you and your brother are of age
+I’m goin’ to look out for you and your interests and your money; and
+nothin’ nor nobody shall stop me. As for forcin’ my company on you,
+though, that well, that’s different. I cal’late you won’t have to worry
+any more. Good night.”
+
+He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked slowly from the library.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+Stephen, the “man of the family,” was the only member of the household,
+servants excepted, who slept soundly that night. Conscious of having
+done his duty in the affair with Pearson and his guardian, and somewhat
+fatigued by the disagreeable task of soothing his hysterical sister, he
+was slumbering peacefully at nine the next morning when awakened by a
+series of raps on his bedroom door.
+
+“Ah! What? Well, what is it?” he demanded, testily opening his eyes.
+“Edwards, is that you? What the devil do you mean by making such a row?”
+
+The voice which answered was not the butler’s, but Caroline’s.
+
+“Steve! Oh, Steve!” she cried. “Do get up and come out! Come, quick!”
+
+“What’s the matter?” inquired the young man, sitting up in bed. “Is the
+house afire?”
+
+“No, no! But do come! I want you. Something has happened.”
+
+“Happened? What is it?”
+
+“I can’t tell you here. Please dress and come to me as quick as you
+can.”
+
+Stephen, wondering and somewhat alarmed, dressed with unusual
+promptitude and obeyed. He found his sister standing by the library
+window, a letter in her hand. She looked troubled and anxious.
+
+“Well, Caro,” observed the boy, “here I am. What in the world’s up now?”
+
+She turned.
+
+“Oh, Steve!” she exclaimed, “he’s gone!”
+
+“Gone? Who?”
+
+“Captain Warren. He’s gone.”
+
+“Gone? Gone where? Caro, you don’t mean he’s--_dead_?”
+
+“No, he’s gone--gone and left us.”
+
+Her brother’s expression changed to incredulous joy.
+
+“What?” he shouted. “You mean he’s quit? Cleared out? Left here for
+good?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Hurrah! Excuse me while I gloat! Hurrah! We got it through his skull
+at last! Is it possible? But--but hold on! Perhaps it’s too good to be
+true. Are you sure? How do you know?”
+
+“He says so. See.”
+
+She handed him the letter. It was addressed to “My dear Caroline” and
+in it Captain Elisha stated his intentions succinctly. After the plain
+speaking of the previous evening he should not, of course, burden them
+with his society any longer. He was leaving that morning, and, as soon
+as he “located permanent moorings somewhere else” would notify his niece
+and nephew of his whereabouts.
+
+    “For,” he added, “as I told you, although I shall not impose
+    my company on you, I am your guardian same as ever. I will
+    see that your allowance comes to you regular, including
+    enough for all household bills and pay for the hired help and
+    so on. If you need any extras at any time let me know and, if
+    they seem to me right and proper, I will send money for them.
+    You will stay where you are, Caroline, and Stevie must go
+    back to college right away. Tell him I say so, and if he does
+    not I shall begin reducing his allowance according as I wrote
+    him. He will understand what I mean. I guess that is all
+    until I send you my address and any other sailing orders that
+    seem necessary to me then. And, Caroline, I want you and
+    Stevie to feel that I am your anchor to windward, and when
+    you get in a tight place, if you ever do, you can depend on
+    me. Last night’s talk has no bearing on that whatever.
+    Good-by, then, until my next.
+
+               “ELISHA WARREN.”
+
+Stephen read this screed to the end, then crumpled it in his fist and
+threw it angrily on the floor.
+
+“The nerve!” he exclaimed. “He seems to think I’m a sailor on one of his
+ships, to be ordered around as he sees fit. I’ll go back to college when
+I’m good and ready--not before.”
+
+Caroline shook her head. “Oh, no!” she said. “You must go to-day. He’s
+right, Steve; it’s the thing for you to do. He and I were agreed as to
+that. And you wouldn’t stay and make it harder for me, would you, dear?”
+
+He growled a reluctant assent. “I suppose I shall have to go,” he said,
+sullenly. “My allowance is too beastly small to have him cutting it; and
+the old shark would do that very thing; he’d take delight in doing it,
+confound him! Well, he knows what we think of him, that’s some comfort.”
+
+She did not answer. He looked at her curiously.
+
+“Why, hang it all, Caro!” he exclaimed in disgust; “what ails you?
+Blessed if I sha’n’t begin to believe you’re sorry he’s gone. You act as
+if you were.”
+
+“No, I’m not. Of course I’m not. I’m--I’m glad. He couldn’t stay, of
+course. But I’m afraid--I can’t help feeling that you and I were too
+harsh last night. We said things--dreadful things--”
+
+“Be hanged! We didn’t say half enough. Oh, don’t be a fool, Caro! I was
+just beginning to be proud of your grit. And now you want to take it all
+back. Honestly, girls are the limit! You don’t know your own minds for
+twelve consecutive hours. Answer me now! _Are_ you sorry he’s gone?”
+
+“No. No, I’m not, really. But I--I feel somehow as if--as if everything
+was on my shoulders. You’re going away, and he’s gone, and--What is it,
+Edwards?”
+
+The butler entered, with a small parcel in his hand.
+
+“I beg your pardon, Miss Caroline,” he said. “I should have given you
+this last evening. It was by your place at the table. I think Captain
+Warren put it there, miss.”
+
+Caroline took the parcel and looked at it wonderingly.
+
+“For me?” she repeated.
+
+“Yes, Miss Caroline. It is marked with your name. And breakfast is
+served, when you and Mr. Stephen are ready.”
+
+He bowed and retired. The girl sat turning the little white box in her
+hands.
+
+“_He_ left it for me,” she said. “What can it be?”
+
+Her brother snatched it impatiently.
+
+“Why don’t you open it and find out?” he demanded. “Perhaps it’s his
+latch key. Here! I’ll do it myself.”
+
+He cut the cord and removed the cover of the little box. Inside was the
+jeweler’s leather case. He took it out and pressed the spring. The cover
+flew up.
+
+“Whew!” he whistled. “It’s a present. And rather a decent one, too, by
+gad! Look, Caro!”
+
+He handed her the open case. She looked at the chain, spread carefully
+on the white satin lining. Inside the cover was fitted a card. She
+turned it over and read: “To my niece, Caroline. With wishes for many
+happy returns, and much love, from her Uncle Elisha Warren.”
+
+She sat gazing at the card. Stephen bent down, read the inscription,
+and then looked up into her face.
+
+“_What_?” he cried. “I believe--You’re not _crying_! Well, I’ll be
+hanged! Sis, you _are_ a fool!”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The weather that morning was fine and clear. James Pearson, standing
+by the window of his rooms at the boarding house, looking out at the
+snow-covered roofs sparkling in the sun, was miserable. When he retired
+the night before it was with a solemn oath to forget Caroline Warren
+altogether; to put her and her father and the young cad, her brother,
+utterly from his mind, never to be thought of again. As a preliminary
+step in this direction, he began, the moment his head touched the
+pillow, to review, for the fiftieth time, the humiliating scene in the
+library, to think of things he should have said, and--worse than all--to
+recall, word for word, the things she had said to him. In this cheerful
+occupation he passed hours before falling asleep. And, when he woke, it
+was to begin all over again.
+
+Why--_why_ had he been so weak as to yield to Captain Elisha’s advice?
+Why had he not acted like a sensible, self-respecting man, done what he
+knew was right, and persisted in his refusal to visit the Warrens? Why?
+Because he was an idiot, of course--a hopeless idiot, who had got
+exactly what he deserved! Which bit of philosophy did not help make his
+reflections less bitter.
+
+He went down to breakfast when the bell rang, but his appetite was
+missing, and he replied only in monosyllables to the remarks addressed
+to him by his fellow boarders. Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, noticed the
+change.
+
+“You not ill, Mr. Pearson, I hope?” she queried. “I do hope you haven’t
+got cold, sleeping with your windows wide open, as you say you do. Fresh
+air is a good thing, in moderation, but one should be careful. Don’t you
+think so, Mr. Carson?”
+
+Mr. Carson was a thin little man, a bachelor, who occupied the smallest
+room on the third story. He was a clerk in a department store, and his
+board was generally in arrears. Therefore, when Mrs. Hepton expressed an
+opinion he made it a point to agree with her. In this instance, however,
+he merely grunted.
+
+“I say fresh air in one’s sleeping room is a good thing in moderation.
+Don’t you think so, Mr. Carson?” repeated the landlady.
+
+Mr. Carson rolled up his napkin and inserted it in the ring. His board,
+as it happened, was paid in full to date. Also, although he had not yet
+declared his intention, he intended changing lodgings at the end of the
+week.
+
+“Humph!” he sniffed, with sarcasm, “it may be. I couldn’t get none in
+_my_ room if I wanted it, so I can’t say sure. Morning.”
+
+He departed hurriedly. Mrs. Hepton looked disconcerted. Mrs. Van Winkle
+Ruggles smiled meaningly across the table at Miss Sherborne, who smiled
+back.
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, quietly observed that he hoped Mr. Pearson
+had not gotten cold. Colds were prevalent at this time of the year.
+“‘These are the days when the Genius of the weather sits in mournful
+meditation on the threshold,’ as Mr. Dickens tells us,” he added. “I
+presume he sits on the sills of open windows, also.”
+
+The wife of the Mr. Dickens there present pricked up her ears.
+
+“When did you write that, ‘C.’ dear?” she asked, turning to her husband.
+“I remember it perfectly, of course, but I have forgotten, for the
+moment, in which of your writings it appears.”
+
+The illustrious one’s mouth being occupied with a section of scorching
+hot waffle, he was spared the necessity of confession.
+
+“Pardon me,” said Mr. Ludlow. “I was not quoting our Mr. Dickens this
+time, but his famous namesake.”
+
+The great “C.” drowned the waffle with a swallow of water.
+
+“Maria,” he snapped, “don’t be so foolish. Ludlow quotes
+from--er--‘Bleak House.’ I have written some things--er--similar, but
+not that. Why don’t you pass the syrup?”
+
+The bookseller, who was under the impression that he had quoted from the
+“Christmas Carol,” merely smiled and remained silent.
+
+“My father, the Senator,” began Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles, “was troubled
+with colds during his political career. I remember his saying that the
+Senate Chamber at the Capitol was extremely draughty. Possibly Mr.
+Pearson’s ailment does come from sleeping in a draught. Not that father
+was accustomed to _sleep_ during the sessions--Oh, dear, no! not that,
+of course. How absurd!”
+
+She laughed gayly. Pearson, who seemed to think it time to say
+something, declared that, so far as he knew, he had no cold or any
+symptoms of one.
+
+“Well,” said Mrs. Hepton, with conviction, “something ails you, I know.
+We can all see it; can’t we?” turning to the rest of the company. “Why,
+you’ve scarcely spoken since you sat down at the table. And you’ve eaten
+next to nothing. Perhaps there is some trouble, something on your mind
+which is worrying you. Oh, I _hope_ not!”
+
+“No doubt it is the preoccupation of genius,” remarked Mrs. Dickens.
+“I’m sure it must be that. When ‘C.’ is engaged with some particularly
+trying literary problem he frequently loses all his appetite and does
+not speak for hours together. Isn’t it so, dear?”
+
+“C.,” who was painfully conscious that he might have made a miscue in
+the matter of the quotation, answered sharply.
+
+“No,” he said. “Not at all. Don’t be silly, Maria.”
+
+Miss Sherborne clasped her hands. “_I_ know!” she exclaimed in mock
+rapture; “Mr. Pearson is in love!”
+
+This suggestion was received with applause and hilarity. Pearson pushed
+back his chair and rose.
+
+“I’m much obliged for this outburst of sympathy,” he observed, dryly.
+“But, as I say, I’m perfectly well, and the other diagnoses are too
+flattering to be true. Good morning.”
+
+Back in his room he seated himself at his desk, took the manuscript of
+his novel from the drawer, and sat moodily staring at it. He was in no
+mood for work. The very sight of the typewritten page disgusted him.
+As he now felt, the months spent on the story were time wasted. It was
+ridiculous for him to attempt such a thing; or to believe that he
+could carry it through successfully; or to dream that he would ever be
+anything better than a literary hack, a cheap edition of “C.” Dickens,
+minus the latter’s colossal self-satisfaction.
+
+He was still sitting there, twirling an idle pencil between his fingers,
+when he heard steps outside his door. Someone knocked.
+
+“Well, what is it?” he asked.
+
+His landlady answered.
+
+“Mr. Pearson,” she said, “may I see you?”
+
+He threw down the pencil and, rising, walked to the door and opened it.
+Mrs. Hepton was waiting in the hall. She seemed excited.
+
+“Mr. Pearson,” she said, “will you step downstairs with me for a moment?
+I have a surprise for you.”
+
+“A surprise? What sort of a surprise?”
+
+“Oh, a pleasant one. At least I think it is going to be pleasant for all
+of us. But I’m not going to tell you what it is. You must come down and
+see for yourself.”
+
+She led the way downstairs, the young man following her, wondering what
+the surprise might be, and fairly certain it, nor anything else, could
+be pleasant on that day.
+
+He supposed, of course, that he must descend to the parlor to reach the
+solution of the mystery, but he was mistaken. On the second floor Mrs.
+Hepton stopped and pointed.
+
+“It’s in there,” she said, pointing.
+
+“There” was the room formerly occupied by Mr. Saks, the long-haired
+artist. Since his departure it had been vacant. Pearson looked at the
+closed door and then at the lady.
+
+“A surprise for me in _there_?” he repeated. “What’s the joke, Mrs.
+Hepton?”
+
+By way of answer she took him by the arm, and, leading him to the door,
+threw the latter open.
+
+“Here he is!” she said.
+
+“Hello, Jim!” hailed Captain Elisha Warren, cheerfully. “Ship ahoy! Glad
+to see you.”
+
+He was standing in the middle of the room, his hat on the table and his
+hands in his pockets.
+
+Pearson was surprised; there was no doubt of that--not so much at the
+sight of his friend--he had expected to see or hear from the captain
+before the day was over--as at seeing him in that room. He could not
+understand what he was doing there.
+
+Captain Elisha noted his bewildered expression, and chuckled.
+
+“Come aboard, Jim!” he commanded. “Come in and inspect. I’ll see you
+later, Mrs. Hepton,” he added, “and give you my final word. I want to
+hold officer’s council with Mr. Pearson here fust.”
+
+The landlady accepted the broad hint and turned to go.
+
+“Very well,” she said, “but I do hope for all our sakes that word will
+be _yes_, Mr. Warren--Excuse me, it is Captain Warren, isn’t it?”
+
+“It used to be, yes, ma’am. And at home it is yet. ‘Round here I’ve
+learned to be like a barroom poll-parrot, ready to answer to most
+everything. There!” as the door closed after her; “now we can be more
+private. Set down, Jim! How are you, anyway?”
+
+Pearson sat down mechanically. “I’m well enough--everything considered,”
+ he replied, slowly. “But what--what are you in here for? I don’t
+understand.”
+
+“You will in a minute. What do you think of this--er--saloon cabin?”
+ with a comprehensive sweep of his arm.
+
+The room was of fair size, furnished in a nondescript, boarding-house
+fashion, and with two windows overlooking the little back yard of
+the house and those of the other adjoining it. Each yard contained an
+assortment of ash cans, and there was an astonishing number of clothes
+lines, each fluttering a variety of garments peculiarly personal to
+their respective owners.
+
+“Pretty snug, ain’t it?” continued the captain. “Not exactly up to that
+I’ve been luxuriatin’ in lately, but more fittin’ to my build and class
+than that was, I shouldn’t wonder. No Corot paintin’s nor five thousand
+dollar tintypes of dory codders; but I can manage to worry along without
+them, if I try hard. Neat but not gaudy, I call it--as the architect
+feller said about his plans for the addition to the county jail at
+Ostable. Hey? Ho! Ho!”
+
+Pearson began to get a clue to the situation.
+
+“Captain Warren,” he demanded, “have you--Do you mean to say you’ve
+taken this room to _live_ in?”
+
+“No, I ain’t said all that yet. I wanted to talk with you a little afore
+I said it. But that was my idea, if you and I agreed on sartin matters.”
+
+“You’ve come here to live! You’ve left your--your niece’s house?”
+
+“Ya-as, I’ve left. That is, I left the way the Irishman left the stable
+where they kept the mule. He said there was all out doors in front of
+him and only two feet behind. That’s about the way ‘twas with me.”
+
+“Have your nephew and niece--”
+
+“Um-hm. They hinted that my room was better than my company, and, take
+it by and large, I guess they was right for the present, anyhow. I set
+up till three o’clock thinkin’ it over, and then I decided to get out
+afore breakfast this mornin’. I didn’t wait for any good-bys. They’d
+been said, or all I cared to hear”--Captain Elisha’s smile disappeared
+for an instant--“last evenin’. The dose was sort of bitter, but it had
+the necessary effect. At any rate, I didn’t hanker for another one. I
+remembered what your landlady told me when I was here afore, about this
+stateroom bein’ vacated, and I come down to look at it. It suits me well
+enough; seems like a decent moorin’s for an old salt water derelict like
+me; the price is reasonable, and I guess likely I’ll take it. I _guess_
+I will.”
+
+“Why do you guess? By George, I hope you will!”
+
+“Do you? I’m much obliged. I didn’t know but after last night, after the
+scrape I got you into, you might feel--well, sort of as if you’d seen
+enough of me.”
+
+The young man smiled bitterly. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “It was
+mine entirely. I’m quite old enough to decide matters for myself, and I
+should have decided as my reason, and not my inclinations, told me. You
+weren’t to blame.”
+
+“Yes, I was. If you’re old enough, I’m _too_ old, I cal’late. But I did
+think--However, there’s no use goin’ over that. I ask your pardon, Jim.
+And you don’t hold any grudge?”
+
+“Indeed I don’t. I may be a fool--I guess I am--but not that kind.”
+
+“Thanks. Well, there’s one objection out of the way, then, only I don’t
+want you to think that I’ve hove overboard that ‘responsibility’ I was
+so easy and fresh about takin’ on my shoulders. It’s there yet; and I’ll
+see you squared with Caroline afore this v’yage is over, if I live.”
+
+His friend frowned.
+
+“You needn’t mind,” he said. “I prefer that you drop the whole miserable
+business.”
+
+“Well, maybe, but--Jim, you’ve taken hold of these electric batteries
+that doctors have sometimes? It’s awful easy to grab the handles of one
+of those contraptions, but when you want to drop ‘em you can’t. They
+don’t drop easy. I took hold of the handles of ‘Bije’s affairs, and,
+though it might be pleasanter to drop ‘em, I can’t--or I won’t.”
+
+“Then you’re leaving your nephew and niece doesn’t mean that you’ve
+given up the guardianship?”
+
+Captain Elisha’s jaw set squarely.
+
+“I don’t remember sayin’ that it did,” he answered, with decision.
+Then, his good-nature returning, he added, “And now, Jim, I’d like your
+opinion of these new quarters that I may take. What do you think of ‘em?
+Come to the window and take a look at the scenery.”
+
+Pearson joined him at the window. The captain waved toward the
+clothes-lines and grinned.
+
+“Looks as if there was some kind of jubilee, don’t it,” he observed.
+“Every craft in sight has strung the colors.”
+
+Pearson laughed. Then he said:
+
+“Captain, I think the room will do. It isn’t palatial, but one can live
+in worse quarters, as I know from experience.”
+
+“Yup. Well, Jim, there’s just one thing more. Have I disgraced you a
+good deal, bein’ around with you and chummin’ in with you the way I
+have? That is, do you _think_ I’ve disgraced you? Are you ashamed of
+me?”
+
+“I? Ashamed of _you_? You’re joking!”
+
+“No, I’m serious. Understand now, I’m not apologizin’. My ways are my
+ways, and I think they’re just as good as the next feller’s, whether
+he’s from South Denboro or--well, Broad Street. I’ve got a habit of
+thinkin’ for myself and actin’ for myself, and when I take off my hat
+it’s to a bigger _man_ than I am and not to a more stylish hat. But,
+since I’ve lived here in New York, I’ve learned that, with a whole lot
+of folks, hats themselves count more than what’s underneath ‘em. I
+haven’t changed mine, and I ain’t goin’ to. Now, with that plain and
+understood, do you want me to live here, in the same house with you? I
+ain’t fishin’ for compliments. I want an honest answer.”
+
+He got it. Pearson looked him squarely in the eye.
+
+“I do,” he said. “I like you, and I don’t care a damn about your hat. Is
+that plain?”
+
+Captain Elisha’s reply was delivered over the balusters in the hall.
+
+“Hi!” he called. “Hi, Mrs. Hepton.”
+
+The landlady had been anxiously waiting. She ran from the dining room to
+the foot of the stairs.
+
+“Yes?” she cried. “What is it?”
+
+“It’s a bargain,” said the captain. “I’m ready to engage passage.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+Thus Captain Elisha entered another of New York’s “circles,” that which
+centered at Mrs. Hepton’s boarding house. Within a week he was as much
+a part of it as if he had lived there for years. At lunch, on the day
+of his arrival, he made his appearance at the table in company with
+Pearson, and when the landlady exultantly announced that he was to be
+“one of our little party” thereafter, he received and replied to the
+welcoming salutations of his fellow boarders with unruffled serenity.
+
+“How could I help it?” he asked. “Human nature’s liable to temptation,
+they tell us. The flavor of that luncheon we had last time I was here
+has been hangin’ ‘round the edges of my mouth and tantalizin’ my memory
+ever since.”
+
+“We had a souffle that noon, if I remember correctly, Captain,” observed
+the flattered Mrs. Hepton.
+
+“Did you? Well, I declare! I’d have sworn ‘twas a biled-dinner hash.
+Knew ‘twas better than any I ever ate afore, but I’d have bet ‘twas
+hash, just the same. Tut! tut! tut! Now, honest, Mrs. Hepton, ain’t
+this--er--whatever-you-call-it a close relation--a sort of hash with its
+city clothes on, hey?”
+
+The landlady admitted that a souffle was something not unlike a hash.
+Captain Elisha nodded.
+
+“I thought so,” he declared. “I was sartin sure I couldn’t be mistaken.
+What is it used to be in the song book? ‘You can smash--you can--’ Well,
+I don’t remember. Somethin’ about your bein’ able to smash the vase if
+you wanted to, but the smell of the posies was there yet.”
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, supplied the quotation.
+
+       “‘You may break, you may shatter
+           The vase if you will,
+         But the scent of the roses
+           Will cling to it still,’”
+
+he said, smiling.
+
+“That’s it. Much obliged. You can warm up and rechristen the hash if you
+will; but the corned beef and cabbage stay right on deck. Ain’t that so,
+Mr. Dickens?”
+
+The illustrious “C.” bowed.
+
+“Moore?” he observed, with dignity.
+
+“Yes. That’s what _I_ said--‘More!’ Said it twice, I believe. Glad you
+agree with me. The hymn says that weakness is sin, but there’s no sin in
+havin’ a weakness for corned-beef hash.”
+
+Miss Sherborne and Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles were at first inclined to
+snub the new boarder, considering him a country boor whose presence in
+their select society was almost an insult. The captain did not seem to
+notice their hints or sneers, although Pearson grew red and wrathful.
+
+“Laura, my dear,” said Mrs. Ruggles, addressing the teacher of vocal
+culture, “don’t you feel quite rural to-day? Almost as if you were
+visiting the country?”
+
+“I do, indeed,” replied Miss Sherborne. “Refreshing, isn’t it? Ha! ha!”
+
+“It is if one cares for such things. I am afraid _I_ don’t appreciate
+them. They may be well enough in their place, but--”
+
+She finished with a shrug of her shoulders. Captain Elisha smiled.
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” he said politely, joining in the conversation; “that’s
+what the boy said about the cooky crumbs in the bed. You don’t care for
+the country, I take it, ma’am.”
+
+“I do _not_!”
+
+“So? Well, it’s a mercy we don’t think alike; even Heaven would be
+crowded if we did--hey? You didn’t come from the country, either?”
+ turning to Miss Sherborne.
+
+The young lady would have liked to answer with an uncompromising
+negative. Truth and the fact that some of those present were acquainted
+with it compelled her to forego this pleasure.
+
+“I was born in a--a small town,” she answered coldly. “But I came to the
+city as soon as I possibly could.”
+
+“Um-hm. Well, I came when I couldn’t possibly stay away. We can agree
+on one thing--we’re all here. Yes, and on another--that that cake
+is fust-rate. I’ll take a second piece, if you’ve no objection, Mrs.
+Hepton.”
+
+When they were alone once more, in the captain’s room, Pearson vented
+his indignation.
+
+“Why didn’t you give them as good as they sent?” he demanded. “Couldn’t
+you see they were doing their best to hurt your feelings?”
+
+“Ya-as. I could see it. Didn’t need any specs to see that.”
+
+“Then why didn’t you answer them as they deserved?”
+
+“Oh, I don’t know. What’s the use? They’ve got troubles of their own.
+One of ‘em’s a used-to-be, and the other’s a never-was. Either disease
+is bad enough without addin’ complications.”
+
+Pearson laughed. “I don’t get the whole of that, Captain,” he said.
+“Mrs. Van is the used-to-be, I suppose. But what is it that Miss
+Sherborne never was?”
+
+“Married,” was the prompt reply. “Old maiditis is creepin’ on her fast.
+You want to be careful, Jim; a certain kind of female gets desperate
+about her stage.”
+
+Pearson laughed again.
+
+“Oh, get out!” he exclaimed, turning to go.
+
+“All right! I will, when you and she are together and you give me the
+signal. But I tell you honest, I’d hate to do it. Judgin’ by the way she
+smiles and looks up under her eye-winkers at you, you’re in danger
+of kidnappin’. So long. I’ll see you again after I get my dunnage
+unpacked.”
+
+The snubbing and sneering came to an abrupt end. Pearson, in
+conversation with Mrs. Ruggles, casually imparted the information that
+Captain Elisha was the brother of A. Rodgers Warren, late society leader
+and wealthy broker. Also, that he had entire charge of the latter’s
+estate. Thereafter Mrs. Ruggles treated the captain as one whose rank
+was equal to her own, and, consequently, higher than anyone’s else
+in the boarding-house. She made it a point to publicly ask his advice
+concerning “securities” and “investments,” and favored him with many
+reminiscences of her distinguished father, the Senator. Miss Sherborne,
+as usual, followed her lead. Captain Elisha, when Pearson joked him on
+the altered behavior of the two ladies, merely grinned.
+
+“You may thank me for that, Captain,” said the young man. “When I told
+Mrs. Ruggles who and what you were she almost broke down and sobbed.
+The fact that she had risked offending one so closely connected with the
+real thing on Fifth Avenue and Wall Street was too dreadful. But she’s
+yours devotedly now. There’s an 18-karat crown on your head.”
+
+“Yup. I suppose so. Well, I ain’t so sot up with pride over wearin’
+that crown. It used to belong to ‘Bije, and I never did care much for
+second-hand things. Rather have a new sou’wester of my own, any day in
+the week. When I buy a sou’wester I know what it’s made of.”
+
+“Mrs. Ruggles knows what the crown is made of--gold, nicely padded with
+bonds and preferred stock.”
+
+“Humph! Sometimes I wonder if the paddin’s waterproof. As for the
+gold--well, you can make consider’ble shine with brass when you’re
+dealin’ with nigh-sighted folks ... and children.”
+
+To this indirect reference to Miss Warren and her brother Pearson made
+no reply. The pair conversed freely on other subjects, but each avoided
+this one. The novel, too, was laid on the shelf for the present. Its
+author had not yet mustered sufficient courage to return to it. Captain
+Elisha once or twice suggested a session with “Cap’n Jim,” but, finding
+his suggestions received with more or less indifference, did not press
+them. His mind was busy with other things. A hint dropped by Sylvester,
+the lawyer, was one of these. It suggested alarming possibilities, and
+his skepticism concerning the intrinsic worth of his inherited “crown”
+ was increased by it.
+
+He paid frequent visits to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves in
+Pine Street. Upon the senior partner, whom he esteemed and trusted not
+only as a business adviser but a friend, he depended for information
+concerning happenings at the Warren apartment.
+
+Caroline sent him regular statements of her weekly expenditures, also
+bills for his approval, but she had written him but once, and then only
+a brief note. The note brought by a messenger, accompanied a
+package containing the chain which he and Pearson selected with such
+deliberation and care at the Fifth Avenue jeweler’s. Under the existing
+circumstances, the girl wrote, she felt that she did not wish to accept
+presents from him and therefore returned this one. He was alone when the
+note and package came and sat by the window of his room, looking out at
+the dismal prospect of back yards and clothes-lines, turning the leather
+case over and over in his hands. Perhaps this was the most miserable
+afternoon he had spent since his arrival in the city. He tried to
+comfort himself by the exercise of his usual philosophy, but it was cold
+comfort. He had no right to expect gratitude, so he told himself, and
+the girl undoubtedly felt that she was justified in her treatment of
+him; but it is hard to be misunderstood and misjudged, even by one whose
+youth is, perhaps, an excuse. He forgave Caroline, but he could not
+forgive those who were responsible for her action.
+
+After Pearson had departed, on the morning when the conversation dealing
+with Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles and her change of attitude took place,
+Captain Elisha put on his hat and coat and started for his lawyer’s
+office. Sylvester was glad to see him and invited him to lunch.
+
+“No, thank you,” replied the captain. “I just run down to ask if there
+was anything new in the offin’. Last time I see you, you hinted you and
+your mates had sighted somethin’ or other through the fog, and it might
+turn out to be a rock or a lighthouse, you couldn’t tell which. Made up
+your mind yet?”
+
+Sylvester shook his head. “No,” he said, slowly; “it is still foggy.
+We’re busy investigating, but we’re not ready to report.”
+
+“Humph! Well, what’s the thing look like? You must be a little nigher to
+it by now.”
+
+The lawyer tapped his desk with a pencil. “I don’t know what it looks
+like,” he answered. “That is to say, I don’t--I can’t believe it is what
+it appears, at this distance, to be. If it is, it is the most--”
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha waited for him to go on and, when he did not
+do so, asked another question.
+
+“The most what?” he demanded. “Is it likely to be very bad?”
+
+“Why--why--well, I can’t say even that yet. But there! as I told you,
+I’m not going to permit it to worry me. And you mustn’t worry, either.
+That’s why I don’t give you any further particulars. There may be
+nothing in it, after all.”
+
+His visitor smiled. “Say, Mr. Sylvester,” he said, “you’re like the
+young-ones used to be when I was a boy. There’d be a gang of ‘em waitin’
+by the schoolhouse steps and when the particular victim hove in sight
+they’d hail him with, ‘Ah, ha! _you’re_ goin’ to get it!’ ‘Wait till
+teacher sees you!’ and so on. Course the victim would want to know what
+it meant. All the satisfaction he got from them was, ‘That’s all right!
+You’ll find out! You just wait!’ And the poor feller put in the time
+afore the bell rung goin’ over all the things he shouldn’t have done and
+had, and wonderin’ which it was this time. You hinted to me a week ago
+that there was a surprisin’ possibility loomin’ up in ‘Bije’s financial
+affairs. And ever since then I’ve been puzzlin’ my brains tryin’ to
+guess what could happen. Ain’t discovered any more of those Cut Short
+bonds, have you?”
+
+The bonds to which he referred were those of a defunct Short Line
+railroad. A large number of these bonds had been discovered among A.
+Rodgers Warren’s effects; part of his “tangled assets,” the captain had
+termed them, differentiating from the “tangible” variety.
+
+“Abbie, my housekeeper, has been writin’ me,” he went on, “about havin’
+the sewin’ room papered. She wants my advice concernin’ the style of
+paper; says it ought to be pretty and out of the common, but not too
+expensive. I judge what she wants is somethin’ that looks like money
+but ain’t really wuth more than ten cents a mile. I’ve been thinkin’
+I’d send her a bale or so of those bonds; they’d fill the bill in those
+respects, wouldn’t they?”
+
+Sylvester laughed. “They certainly would, Captain,” he replied. “No,
+we haven’t unearthed any more of that sort. And, as for this mystery of
+ours, I’ll give you the answer--if it’s worth giving at all, in a very
+short time. Meanwhile, you go home and forget it.”
+
+“Well, I’ll try. But I guess it sticks out on my face, like a four days’
+toothache. But I _won’t_ worry about that. You know best whether to tell
+me now or not, and--well, I’m carryin’ about all the worry my tonnage’ll
+stand, as ‘tis.”
+
+He drew a long breath. Sylvester regarded him sympathetically.
+
+“You mustn’t take your nephew’s and niece’s treatment too much to
+heart,” he said.
+
+“Oh, I don’t. That is, I pretend I don’t. And I do try not to. But I
+keep thinkin’, thinkin’, and wonderin’ if ‘twould have been better if I
+hadn’t gone there to live at all. Hi hum! a man of my age hadn’t ought
+to mind what a twenty-year-old girl says, or does; ‘specially when
+her kind, advisin’ friends have shown her how she’s been deceived and
+hypocrit-ted. By the way, speakin’ of hypocrites, I suppose there’s just
+as much ‘Dunnin’’ as ever goin’ on up there?”
+
+“Yes. A little more, if anything, I’m afraid. Your niece and Mrs. Dunn
+and her precious son are together now so constantly that people are
+expecting--well, you know what they expect.”
+
+“I can guess. I hope they’ll be disapp’inted.”
+
+“So do I, but I must confess I’m fearful. Malcolm himself isn’t so wise,
+but his mother is--”
+
+“A whole Book of Proverbs, hey? I know. She’s an able old frigate. I
+did think I had her guns spiked, but she turned ‘em on me unexpected. I
+thought I had her and her boy in a clove hitch. I knew somethin’ that I
+was sartin sure they wouldn’t want Caroline to know, and she and Malcolm
+knew I knew it. Her tellin’ Caroline of it, _her_ story of it, when I
+wasn’t there to contradict, was as smart a piece of maneuverin’ as ever
+was. It took the wind out of my sails, because, though I’m just as right
+as I ever was, Caroline wouldn’t listen to me, nor believe me, now.”
+
+“She’ll learn by experience.”
+
+“Yup. But learnin’ by experience is a good deal like shippin’ green
+afore the mast; it’ll make an able seaman of you, if it don’t kill you
+fust. When I was a boy there was a man in our town name of Nickerson
+Cummin’s. He was mate of a ship and smart as a red pepper poultice on
+a skinned heel. He was a great churchgoer when he was ashore and always
+preachin’ brotherly love and kindness and pattin’ us little shavers on
+the head, and so on. Most of the grown folks thought he was a sort of
+saint, and I thought he was more than that. I’d have worshiped him,
+I cal’late, if my Methodist trainin’ would have allowed me to worship
+anybody who wa’n’t named in Scriptur’. If there’d been an apostle or a
+prophet christened Nickerson I’d have fell on my knees to this
+Cummin’s man, sure. So, when I went to sea as a cabin boy, a tow-headed
+snub-nosed little chap of fourteen, I was as happy as a clam at
+highwater ‘cause I was goin’ in the ship he was mate of.”
+
+He paused. There was a frown on his face, and his lower jaw was thrust
+forward grimly.
+
+“Well?” inquired Sylvester. “What happened?”
+
+“Hey? Oh, excuse me. When I get to thinkin’ of that v’yage I simmer
+inside, like a teakettle on a hot stove. The second day out--seasick and
+homesick and so miserable I wished I could die all at once instead of
+by lingerin’ spasms--I dropped a dish on the cabin floor and broke it.
+Cummin’s was alone with me, eatin’ his dinner; and he jumped out of
+his chair when I stooped to pick up the pieces and kicked me under the
+table. When I crawled out, he kicked me again and kept it up. When his
+foot got tired he used his fist. ‘There!’ says he between his teeth, ‘I
+cal’late that’ll learn you that crockery costs money.’
+
+“It did. I never broke anything else aboard that ship. Cummin’s was a
+bully and a sneak to everybody but the old man, and a toady to him. He
+never struck me or anybody else when the skipper was around, but there
+was nothin’ too mean for him to do when he thought he had a safe chance.
+And he took pains to let me know that if I ever told a soul at home
+he’d kill me. I’d learned by experience, not only about the price
+of crockery, but other things, things that a youngster ought not to
+learn--how to hate a man so that you can wait years to get even with
+him, for one. I’m sorry I learned that, and,” dryly, “so was Cummin’s,
+later. But I did learn, once and for all, not to take folks on
+trust, nor to size ‘em up by their outside, or the noise they make in
+prayer-meetin’, nor the way they can spread soft soap when they think
+it’s necessary. I’d learned that, and I’d learned it early enough to be
+of use to me, which was a mercy.
+
+“It was a hard lesson for me,” he added, reflectively; “but I managed to
+come out of it without lettin’ it bitter my whole life. I don’t mind so
+much Caroline’s bein’ down on me. She’ll know better some day, I hope;
+and if she don’t--well, I’m only a side-issue in her life, anyhow, hove
+in by accident, like the section of dog collar in the sassage. But I do
+hope her learnin’ by experience won’t come too late to save her from ...
+what she’ll be awful sorry for by and by.”
+
+“It must,” declared the lawyer, with decision. “You must see to it,
+Captain Warren. You are her guardian. She is absolutely under your
+charge. She can do nothing of importance unless you consent.”
+
+“Yup. That’s so--for one more year; just one, remember! Then she’ll
+be of age, and I can’t say ‘Boo!’ And her share of ‘Bije’s money’ll
+be hers, too. And don’t you believe that that fact has slipped Sister
+Dunn’s memory. I ain’t on deck to head her off now; if she puts Malcolm
+up to gettin’ Caroline to give her word, and Caroline gives it--well,
+I know my niece. She’s honorable, and she’ll stick to her promise if it
+runs her on the rocks. And Her Majesty Dunn knows that, too. Therefore,
+the cat bein’ away, she cal’lates now’s the time to make sure of the
+cheese.”
+
+“But the cat can come back. The song says it did, you know.”
+
+“Um-hm. And got another kick, I shouldn’t wonder. However, my claws’ll
+stay sharp for a year or thereabouts, and, if it comes to a shindy,
+there’ll be some tall scratchin’ afore I climb a tree. Keep a weather
+eye on what goes on, won’t you?”
+
+“I will. You can depend on me.”
+
+“I do. And say! for goodness’ sakes put me out of my misery regardin’
+that rock or lighthouse on ‘Bije’s chart, soon’s ever you settle which
+it is.”
+
+“Certainly! And, remember, don’t worry. It may be a lighthouse, or
+nothing at all. At all events, I’ll report very soon.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+But, in spite of his promise, Sylvester did not report during the
+following week or the next. Meanwhile, his client tried his best to
+keep the new mystery from troubling his thoughts, and succeeded only
+partially. The captain’s days and evenings were quiet and monotonous. He
+borrowed a book or two from Mrs. Hepton’s meager library, read, walked
+a good deal, generally along the water front, and wrote daily letters to
+Miss Baker. He and Pearson were together for at least a portion of each
+day. The author, fighting down his dejection and discouragement, set
+himself resolutely to work once more on the novel, and his nautical
+adviser was called in for frequent consultation. The story, however,
+progressed but slowly. There was something lacking. Each knew what that
+something was, but neither named it.
+
+One evening Pearson entered the room tenanted by his friend to find the
+latter seated beside the table, his shoes partially unlaced, and a pair
+of big slippers ready for putting on.
+
+“Captain,” said the visitor, “you look so comfortable I hate to disturb
+you.”
+
+Captain Elisha, red-faced and panting, desisted from the unlacing and
+straightened in his chair.
+
+“Whew!” he puffed. “Jim, your remarks prove that your experience of the
+world ain’t as big as it ought to be. When you get to my age and waist
+measure you’ll realize that stoopin’ over and comfort don’t go together.
+I hope to be comfortable pretty soon; but I sha’n’t be till them boots
+are off. Set down. The agony’ll be over in a minute.”
+
+Pearson declined to sit. “Not yet,” he said. “And you let those shoes
+alone, until you hear what I’ve got to say. A newspaper friend of mine
+has sent me two tickets for the opera to-night. I want you to go with
+me.”
+
+Captain Elisha was surprised.
+
+“To the opera?” he repeated. “Why, that’s a--a sort of singin’ theater
+ain’t it?”
+
+“Yes, you’re fond of music; you told me so. And Aïda is beautiful. Come
+on! it will do us both good.”
+
+“Hum! Well, I don’t know.”
+
+“I do. Get ready.”
+
+The captain looked at his caller’s evening clothes.
+
+“What do you mean by gettin’ ready?” he asked. “You’ve got on your
+regimentals, open front and all. My uniform is the huntin’ case kind;
+fits in better with church sociables and South Denboro no’theasters.
+If I wore one of those vests like yours Abbie’d make me put on a red
+flannel lung-protector to keep from catchin’ pneumonia. And she’d think
+‘twas sinful waste besides, runnin’ the risk of sp’ilin’ a clean biled
+shirt so quick. Won’t I look like an undertaker, sittin’ alongside of
+you?”
+
+“Not a bit. If it will ease your mind I’ll change to a business suit.”
+
+“I don’t care. You know how I feel; we had a little talk about hats a
+spell ago, you remember. If you’re willin’ to take me ‘just as I am,
+without a plea,’ as the hymn-tune says, why, I cal’late I’ll say yes and
+go. Set down and wait while I get on my ceremonials.”
+
+He retired to the curtain alcove, and Pearson heard him rustling about,
+evidently making a hurried change of raiment. During this process he
+talked continuously.
+
+“Jim,” he said, “I ain’t been to the theater but once since I landed in
+New York. Then I went to see a play named ‘The Heart of a Sailor.’ Ha!
+ha! that was a great show! Ever take it in, did you?”
+
+“No. I never did.”
+
+“Well, you’d ought to. It’s a wonder of it’s kind. I learned more
+things about life-savin’ and ‘longshore life from that drayma than you’d
+believe was possible. You’d have got some p’ints for your Cap’n Jim yarn
+from that play; you sartin would! Yes, indeed! Way I happened to go to
+it was on account of seein’ a poster on a fence over nigh where that
+Moriarty tribe lived. The poster pictured a bark ashore, on her beam
+ends, in a sea like those off the Horn. On the beach was a whole parcel
+of life-savers firin’ off rockets and blue lights. Keepin’ the Fourth of
+July, I judged they was, for I couldn’t see any other reason. The bark
+wa’n’t more’n a hundred foot from ‘em, and if all hands on board didn’t
+know they was in trouble by that time, then they deserved to drown.
+Anyhow, they wa’n’t likely to appreciate the celebration. Ho! ho! Well,
+when I run afoul of that poster I felt I hadn’t ought to let anything
+like that get away; so I hunted up the theater--it wa’n’t but a little
+ways off--and got a front seat for that very afternoon.”
+
+“Was it up to the advertising?” asked Pearson.
+
+“_Was_ it? Hi hum! I wish you’d been there. More ‘special I wished some
+of the folks from home had been there, for the whole business was
+supposed to happen on the Cape, and they’d have realized how ignorant we
+are about the place we live in. The hero was a strappin’ six-footer,
+sort of a combination fisherman and parson, seemed so. He wore ileskins
+in fair weather and went around preachin’ or defyin’ folks that provoked
+him and makin’ love to the daughter of a long-haired old relic that
+called himself an inventor.... Oh, consarn it!”
+
+“What’s the matter?”
+
+“Dropped my collar button, as usual. Collar buttons are one of the Old
+Harry’s pet traps. I’ll bet their responsible for ‘most as many lapses
+from grace as tangled fishlines. Where.... Ow!... All right; I found it
+with my bare foot, and edge up, of course.”
+
+A series of grunts and short-breathed exclamations followed, indicating
+that the sufferer was struggling with a tight collar.
+
+“Go on,” commanded Pearson. “Tell me some more about the play.”
+
+“Hey? Oh, the play. Where was I?”
+
+“You were saying that the heroine’s father was an inventor.”
+
+“That’s what _he_ said he was, though he never furnished any proof. His
+daughter helped him with his inventions, but if she’d cut his hair
+once in a while ‘twould have been a better way of puttin’ in the time,
+‘cordin’ to my notion. And there was a rich squire, who made his money
+by speculatin’ in wickedness, and a mortgage, and--I don’t know what
+all. And those Cape Cod folks! and the houses they lived in! and the way
+they talked! Oh, dear! oh, dear! I got my money’s wuth that afternoon.”
+
+“What about the wreck? How did that happen?”
+
+“Don’t know. It happened ‘cause it had to be in the play, I cal’late.
+The mortgage, or an ‘invention’ or somethin’, was on board the bark and
+just naturally took a short cut for home, way I figgered it out.
+But, Jim, you ought to have seen that hero! He peeled off his
+ileskin-slicker--he’d kept it on all through the sunshine, but now, when
+‘twas rainin’ and rainin’ and wreckin’ and thunderin’, he shed it--and
+jumped in and saved all hands and the ship’s cat. ‘Twas great business!
+No wonder the life-savers set off fireworks! And thunder! Why, say, it
+never stopped thunderin’ in that storm except when somebody had to make
+a heroic speech; then it let up and give ‘em a chance. Most considerate
+thunder ever I heard. And the lightnin’! and the way the dust flew from
+the breakers! I was glad I went.... There!” appearing fully dressed from
+behind the curtains. “I’m ready if you are. Did I talk your head off? I
+ask your pardon; but that ‘Heart of a Sailor’ touched mine, I guess. I
+know I was afraid I’d laugh until it stopped beatin’. And all around the
+people were cryin’. It was enough sight damper amongst the seats than in
+those cloth waves.”
+
+The pair walked over to Broadway, boarded a street car, and alighted
+before the Metropolitan Opera House. Pearson’s seats were good ones,
+well down in the orchestra. Captain Elisha turned and surveyed the great
+interior and the brilliantly garbed audience.
+
+“Whew!” he muttered. “This is considerable of a show in itself, Jim.
+They could put our town hall inside here and the folks on the roof
+wouldn’t be so high as those in that main skys’l gallery up aloft there.
+Can they see or hear, do you think?”
+
+“Oh, yes. The accepted idea is that they are the real music lovers.
+_they_ come for the opera itself. Some of the others come because--well,
+because it is the proper thing.”
+
+“Yes, yes; I see. That’s the real article right over our heads, I
+suppose.”
+
+“Yes. That’s the ‘Diamond Horseshoe.’”
+
+“All proper things there, hey?”
+
+“Why--er--yes, I suppose so. What makes you ask?”
+
+“Nothing much. I was thinking ‘twas better Abbie wa’n’t along on this
+cruise. She’d probably want to put an ‘im’ in front of that ‘proper.’
+I envy those women, Jim; _they_ didn’t have to stop to hunt up collar
+buttons, did they.”
+
+He was silent during the first act of the opera. When the curtain fell
+his companion asked how he liked it.
+
+“Good singin’,” he replied; “best I ever heard. Do you understand what
+they say?”
+
+“No. But I’m familiar with the story of Aïda, of course. It’s a favorite
+of mine. And the words don’t really matter.”
+
+“I suppose not. It’s the way they say it. I had an Irishman workin’
+round my barn once, and Tim Bailey drove down from Bayport to see me. I
+was out and Tim and the Irishman run afoul of each other. Tim stuttered
+so that he made a noise when he talked like one of these gasoline
+bicycles goin’ by. He watched Mike sweepin’ out the horse stall and he
+says, ‘You’re a pup--pup ... I say you’re a pup--.’ He didn’t get any
+further ‘cause Mike went for him with the broom. Turned out later that
+he was tryin’ to compliment that Irishman by sayin’ he was a particular
+sort of feller. These folks on the stage might be sayin’ most anythin’,
+and I wouldn’t know it. But I sha’n’t knock ‘em down, for I like the
+way it’s said. When the Almighty give us music he more than made up for
+makin’ us subject to toothache, didn’t he.”
+
+Pearson bought a copy of the libretto, and the captain followed the
+performance of the next two acts with interest.
+
+“Say, Jim,” he whispered, with a broad grin, “it’s a good thing this
+opera idea ain’t carried into real life. If you had to sing every word
+you said ‘twould be sort of distressin’, ‘specially if you was in a
+hurry. A fust-rate solo when you was orderin’ the crew to shorten sail
+would be a high old brimstone anthem, I’ll bet you. And think of the
+dinner table at our boardin’ house! Mrs. Van and C. Dickens both goin’
+at once, and Marm Hepton serenadin’ the waiter girl! Ho! ho! A cat fight
+wouldn’t be a circumstance.”
+
+Between the third and the fourth acts the pair went out into the foyer,
+where, ascending to the next floor, they made the round of the long
+curve behind the boxes, Pearson pointing out to his friend the names of
+the box lessees on the brass plates.
+
+“There!” he observed, as, the half circle completed, they turned and
+strolled back again, “isn’t that an imposing list, Captain? Don’t you
+feel as if you were close to the real thing?”
+
+“Godfreys mighty!” was the solemn reply; “I was just thinkin’ I felt as
+if I’d been readin’ one of those muck-rakin’ yarns in the magazines!”
+
+The foyer had its usual animated crowd, and among them Pearson
+recognized a critic of his acquaintance. He offered to introduce the
+captain, but the latter declined the honor, saying that he cal’lated
+he wouldn’t shove his bows in this time. “You heave ahead and see your
+friend, Jim,” he added. “I’ll come to anchor by this pillar and watch
+the fleet go by. I’ll have to write Abbie about all this; she’ll want to
+know how the female craft was rigged.”
+
+Left alone, he leaned against the pillar and watched the people pass and
+repass just behind him. Two young men paused just behind him. He could
+not help overhearing their conversation.
+
+“I presume you’ve heard the news?” asked one, casually.
+
+“Yes,” replied the other, “I have. That is, if you mean the news
+concerning Mal Dunn. The mater learned it this afternoon and sprung it
+at dinner. No one was greatly surprised. Formal announcement made, and
+all that sort of thing, I believe. Mal’s to be congratulated.”
+
+“His mother is, you mean. She managed the campaign. The old lady is some
+strategist, and I’d back her to win under ordinary circumstances. But
+I understand these were not ordinary; wise owl of a guardian to be
+circumvented, or something of that sort.”
+
+“From what I hear the Dunns haven’t won so much after all. There was
+a big shrinkage when papa died, so they say. Instead of three or four
+millions it panned out to be a good deal less than one. I don’t know
+much about it, because our family and theirs have drifted apart since
+they moved.”
+
+“Humph! I imagine whatever the pan-out it will be welcome. The Dunns are
+dangerously close to the ragged edge; everybody has been on to that for
+some time. And it takes a few ducats to keep Mal going. He’s no Uncle
+Russell when it comes to putting by for the rainy day.”
+
+“Well, on the whole, I’m rather sorry for--the other party. Mal is a
+good enough fellow, and he certainly is a game sport; but--”
+
+They moved on, and Captain Elisha heard no more. But what he had heard
+was quite sufficient. He sat through the remainder of the opera in
+silence and answered all his friend’s questions and remarks curtly and
+absently.
+
+As they stepped into the trolley Pearson bought an evening paper, not
+the _Planet_, but a dignified sheet which shunned sensationalism
+and devoted much space to the doings of the safe, sane, and
+ultra-respectable element. Perceiving that his companion, for some
+reason, did not care to talk, he read as the car moved downtown.
+Suddenly Captain Elisha was awakened from his reverie by hearing his
+friend utter an exclamation. Looking up, the captain saw that he was
+leaning back in the seat, the paper lying unheeded in his lap.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked the older man, anxiously.
+
+Pearson started, glanced quickly at his friend, hesitated, and looked
+down again.
+
+“Nothing--now,” he answered, brusquely. “We get out here. Come.”
+
+He rose, picked up the paper with a hand that shook a little, and led
+the way to the door of the car. Captain Elisha followed, and they
+strode up the deserted side street. Pearson walked so rapidly that
+his companion was hard pushed to keep pace with him. When they stood
+together in the dimly lit hall of the boarding house, the captain spoke
+again.
+
+“Well, Jim,” he asked in a low tone, “what is it? You may as well tell
+me. Maybe I can guess, anyhow.”
+
+The young man reached up and turned the gas full on. In spite of the
+cold from which they had just come, his face was white. He folded the
+paper in his hand, and with his forefinger pointed to its uppermost
+page.
+
+“There it is,” he said. “Read it.”
+
+Captain Elisha took the paper, drew his spectacle case from his pocket,
+adjusted his glasses and read. The item was among those under the head
+of “Personal and Social.” It was what he expected. “The engagement
+is to-day announced of Miss Caroline Warren, daughter of the late A.
+Rodgers Warren, the well-known broker, to Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, of
+Fifth Avenue. Miss Warren, it will be remembered, was one of the most
+charming of our season-before-last’s débutantes and--” etc.
+
+The captain read the brief item through.
+
+“Yes,” he said, slowly, “I see.”
+
+Pearson looked at him in amazement.
+
+“You _see_!” he repeated. “You--Why! _Did you know it_?”
+
+“I’ve been afraid of it for some time. To-night, when you left me alone
+there in the quarter-deck of that opera house, I happened to hear two
+young chaps talkin’ about it. So you might say I knew--Yes.”
+
+“Good heavens! and you can stand there and--What are you going to do
+about it?”
+
+“I don’t know--yet.”
+
+“Are you going to permit her to marry that--_that_ fellow?”
+
+“Well, I ain’t sartin that I can stop her.”
+
+“My God, man! Do you realize--and _she_--your niece--why--”
+
+“There! there! Jim. I realize it all, I cal’late. It’s my business to
+realize it.”
+
+“And it isn’t mine. No, of course it isn’t; you’re right there.”
+
+He turned and strode toward the foot of the stairs.
+
+“Hold on!” commanded the captain. “Hold on, Jim! Don’t you go off ha’f
+cocked. When I said ‘twas my business to realize this thing, I meant
+just that and nothin’ more. I wa’n’t hintin’, and you ought to know it.
+You do know it, don’t you?”
+
+The young man paused. “Yes,” he answered, after an instant’s struggle
+with his feelings; “yes, I do. I beg your pardon, Captain.”
+
+“All right. And here’s somethin’ else; I just told you I wasn’t sartin I
+could stop the marriage. That’s the truth. But I don’t recollect sayin’
+I’d actually hauled down the colors, not yet. Good night.”
+
+“Good night, Captain. I shouldn’t have misunderstood you, of course.
+But, as you know, I respected and admired your niece. And this thing
+has--has--”
+
+“Sort of knocked you on your beam ends, I understand. Well, Jim,” with a
+sigh, “I ain’t exactly on an even keel myself.”
+
+They separated, Pearson going to his room. As Captain Elisha was passing
+through the hall on the second floor, he heard someone calling him by
+name. Turning, he saw his landlady’s head, bristling with curl papers,
+protruding from behind the door at the other end of the passage.
+
+“Captain Warren,” she asked, “is that you?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” replied the captain, turning back.
+
+“Well, I’ve got a message for you. A Mr. Sylvester has ‘phoned you
+twice this evening. He wishes to see you at his office at the earliest
+possible moment. He says it is _very_ important.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+Nine o’clock is an early hour for a New York lawyer of prominence to be
+at his place of business. Yet, when Captain Elisha asked the office boy
+of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves if the senior partner was in, he received
+an affirmative answer.
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Tim, respectfully. His manner toward the captain had
+changed surprisingly since the latter’s first call. “Yes, sir; Mr.
+Sylvester’s in. He expects you. I’ll tell him you’re here. Sit down and
+wait, please.”
+
+Captain Elisha sat down, but he did not have to wait long. The boy
+returned at once and ushered him into the private office. Sylvester
+welcomed him gravely.
+
+“You got my message, then,” he said. “I spent hours last evening chasing
+you by ‘phone. And I was prepared to begin again this morning.”
+
+“So? That’s why you’re on deck so early? Didn’t sleep here, did you?
+Well, I cal’late I know what you want to talk about. You ain’t the only
+one that reads the newspapers.”
+
+“The newspapers? Great heavens! it isn’t in the newspapers, is it? It
+can’t be!”
+
+He seemed much perturbed. Captain Elisha looked puzzled.
+
+“Course it is,” he said. “But I heard it afore I saw it. Perhaps you
+think I take it pretty easy. Maybe I act as if I did. But you expected
+it, and so did I, so we ain’t exactly surprised. And,” seriously, “I
+realize that it’s no joke as well as you do. But we’ve got a year to
+fight in, and now we must plan the campaign. I did cal’late to see
+Caroline this mornin’. Then, if I heard from her own lips that ‘twas
+actually so, I didn’t know’s I wouldn’t drop in and give Sister
+Corcoran-Queen-Victoria-Dunn a few plain facts about it not bein’ a
+healthy investment to hurry matters. You’re wantin’ to see me headed me
+off, and I come here instead.”
+
+The lawyer looked at him in astonishment.
+
+“See here, Captain Warren,” he demanded, “what do you imagine I asked
+you to come here for?”
+
+“Why, to talk about that miserable engagement, sartin. Poor girl! I’ve
+been awake ha’f the night thinkin’ of the mess she’s been led into. And
+she believes she’s happy, I suppose.”
+
+Sylvester shook his head. “I see,” he said, slowly. “You would think it
+that, naturally. No, Captain, it isn’t the engagement. It’s more serious
+than that.”
+
+“More serious than--_more_ serious! Why, what on earth? Hey? Mr.
+Sylvester, has that rock-lighthouse business come to somethin’ after
+all?”
+
+The lawyer nodded. “It has,” he replied.
+
+“I want to know! And I’d almost forgot it, not hearin’ from you. It’s
+a rock, too, I judge, by the looks of your face. Humph!... Is it very
+bad?”
+
+“I’m afraid so.”
+
+The captain pulled his beard. “Well,” he said, wearily, after a moment,
+“I guess likely I can bear it. I’ve had to bear some things in my time.
+Anyhow, I’ll try. Heave ahead and get it over with. I’m ready.”
+
+Instead of answering, Sylvester pushed an electric button on his desk.
+The office boy answered the ring.
+
+“Have Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves arrived?” asked the lawyer.
+
+“Yes, sir. Both of them, sir.”
+
+“Tell them Captain Warren is here, and ask them to join us in the inner
+room. Remind Mr. Graves to bring the papers. And, Tim, remember that
+none of us is to be disturbed. Do you understand?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Tim and departed.
+
+Captain Elisha regarded his friend with some dismay.
+
+“Say!” he exclaimed, “this _must_ be serious, if it takes the skipper
+and both mates to handle it.”
+
+Sylvester did not smile. “It is,” he answered. “Come.”
+
+He led the way into the room opening from the rear of his own. It was
+a large apartment with a long table in the center. Mr. Kuhn, brisk and
+business-like, was already there. He shook hands with his client. As he
+did so, Graves, dignified and precise as ever, entered, carrying a small
+portfolio filled with papers.
+
+“Mornin’, Mr. Graves,” said the captain; “glad to see you, even under
+such distressin’ circumstances, as the undertaker said to the sick man.
+Feelin’ all right again, I hope. No more colds or nothin’ like that?”
+
+“No. Thank you. I am quite well, at present.”
+
+“That’s hearty. If you and me don’t do any more buggy ridin’ in Cape
+Cod typhoons, we’ll last a spell yet, hey? What you got there, the death
+warrant?” referring to the portfolio and its contents.
+
+Mr. Graves evidently did not consider this flippancy worth a reply, for
+he made none.
+
+“Sit down, gentlemen,” said Sylvester.
+
+The four took chairs at the table. Graves untied and opened the
+portfolio. Captain Elisha looked at his solemn companions, and his lips
+twitched.
+
+“You’ll excuse me,” he observed, “but I feel as if I was goin’ to
+be tried for piracy on the high seas. Has the court any objection to
+tobacco smoke? I’m puttin’ the emphasis strong on the ‘tobacco,’” he
+added, “because this is a cigar you give me yourself, Mr. Sylvester,
+last time I was down here.”
+
+“No, indeed,” replied the senior partner. “Smoke, if you wish. No one
+here has any objection, unless it may be Graves.”
+
+“Oh, Mr. Graves ain’t. He and I fired up together that night we fust
+met. Hot smoke tasted grateful after all the cold water we’d had poured
+onto us in that storm. Graves is all right. He’s a sportin’ character,
+like myself. Maybe he’ll jine us. Got another cigar in my pocket.”
+
+But the invitation was declined. The “sporting character” might deign
+to relax amid proper and fitting surroundings, but not in the sacred
+precincts of his office. So the captain smoked alone.
+
+“Well,” he observed, after a few preliminary puffs, “go on! Don’t keep
+me in suspenders, as the feller said. Where did the lightnin’ strike,
+and what’s the damage?”
+
+Sylvester took a card from his pocket and referred to a penciled
+memorandum on its back.
+
+“Captain Warren,” he began, slowly, “as you know, and as directed by
+you, my partners here and I have been engaged for months in carefully
+going over your brother’s effects, estimating values, tabulating and
+sorting his various properties and securities, separating the good from
+the worthless--and there was, as we saw at a glance, a surprising amount
+of the latter--”
+
+“Um-hm,” interrupted the captain, “Cut Short bonds and the like of that.
+I know. Excuse me. Go on.”
+
+“Yes. Precisely. And there were many just as valueless. But we have been
+gradually getting those out of the way and listing and appraising the
+remainder. It was a tangle. Your brother’s business methods, especially
+of late years, were decidedly unsystematic and slipshod. It may have
+been the condition of his health which prevented his attending to them
+as he should. Or,” he hesitated slightly, “it may have been that he was
+secretly in great trouble and mental distress. At all events, the task
+has been a hard one for us. But, largely owing to Graves and his patient
+work, our report was practically ready a month ago.”
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha, who had been listening attentively, nodded.
+
+“Yes,” he said; “you told me ‘twas. What does the whole thing tot up to?
+What’s the final figger, Mr. Graves?”
+
+The junior partner adjusted his eyeglasses to his thin nose.
+
+“I have them here,” he said. “The list of securities, et cetera, is
+rather long, but--”
+
+“Never mind them now, Graves,” interrupted Kuhn. “The amount, roughly
+speaking, is close to over our original estimate, half a million.”
+
+The captain drew a breath of relief. “Well,” he exclaimed, “that’s all
+right then, ain’t it? That’s no poorhouse pension.”
+
+Sylvester answered. “Yes,” he said, “that’s all right, as far as it
+goes.”
+
+“Humph! Well, I cal’late _I_ could make it go to the end of the route;
+and then have enough left for a return ticket. Say!” with another look
+at the solemn faces of the three, “what _is_ the row? If the estate is
+wuth ha’f a million, what’s the matter with it?”
+
+“That is what we are here this morning to discuss, Captain. A month ago,
+as I said, we considered our report practically ready. Then we suddenly
+happened on the trail of something which, upon investigation, upset all
+our calculations. If true, it threatened, not to mention its effect upon
+the estate, to prove so distressing and painful to us, Rodgers Warren’s
+friends and legal advisers, that we decided not to alarm you, his
+brother, by disclosing our suspicions until we were sure there was no
+mistake. I did drop you a hint, you will remember--”
+
+“I remember. _Now_ we’re comin’ to the rock!”
+
+“Yes. Captain Warren, I think perhaps I ought to warn you that what my
+partners and I are about to say will shock and hurt you. I, personally,
+knew your brother well and respected him as an honorable business man. A
+lawyer learns not to put too much trust in human nature, but, I confess,
+this--this--”
+
+He was evidently greatly disturbed. Captain Elisha, regarding him
+intently, nodded.
+
+“I judge it’s sort of hard for you to go on, Mr. Sylvester,” he said.
+“I’ll help you all I can. You and Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves here have
+found out somethin’ that ain’t exactly straight in ‘Bije’s doin’s? Am I
+right?”
+
+“Yes, Captain Warren, you are.”
+
+“Somethin’ that don’t help his character, hey?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Somethin’s he’s, done that’s--well, to speak plain, that’s crooked?”
+
+“I’m afraid there’s no doubt of it.”
+
+“Humph!” The captain frowned. His cigar had gone out, and he idly
+twisted the stump between his fingers. “Well,” he said, with a sigh,
+“our family, gen’rally speakin’, has always held its head pretty high.
+Dad was poor, but he prided himself on bein’ straight as a plumb line.
+And, as for mother, she....” Then, looking up quickly, he asked, “Does
+anybody outside know about this?”
+
+“No one but ourselves--yet.”
+
+“Yet? Is it goin’ to be necessary for anybody else to know it?”
+
+“We hope not. But there is a possibility.”
+
+“I was thinkin’ about the children.”
+
+“Of course. So are we all.”
+
+“Um-hm. Poor Caroline! she put her father on a sort of altar and bowed
+down afore him, as you might say. Any sort of disgrace to his name
+would about kill her. As for me,” with another sigh, “I ain’t so much
+surprised as you might think. I know that sounds tough to say about
+your own brother, but I’ve been afraid all along. You see, ‘Bije always
+steered pretty close to the edge of the channel. He had ideas about
+honesty and fair dealin’ in business that didn’t jibe with mine. We
+split on just that, as I told you, Mr. Graves, when you and I fust met.
+He got some South Denboro folks to invest money along with him; sort of
+savin’s account, they figgered it; but I found out he was usin’ it to
+speculate with. So that’s why we had our row. I took pains to see that
+the money was paid back, but he and I never spoke afterwards. Fur as my
+own money was concerned, I hadn’t any kick, but.... However, I’m talkin’
+too much. Go on, Mr. Sylvester, I’m ready to hear whatever you’ve got to
+say.”
+
+“Thank you, Captain. You make it easier for me. It seems that your
+brother’s first step toward wealth and success was taken about nineteen
+years ago. Then, somehow or other, probably through a combination
+of luck and shrewdness, he obtained a grant, a concession from the
+Brazilian Government, the long term lease of a good-sized tract of land
+on the upper Amazon. It was very valuable because of its rubber trees.”
+
+“Hey?” Captain Elisha leaned forward. “Say that again!” he commanded
+sharply.
+
+Sylvester repeated his statement. “He got the concession by paying
+twenty thousand dollars to the government of Brazil,” he continued. “To
+raise the twenty thousand he formed a stock company of two hundred and
+fifty shares at one hundred dollars each. One hundred of these shares
+were in his own name. Fifty were in the name of one ‘Thomas A. Craven,’
+a clerk at that time in his office. Craven was only a dummy, however. Do
+you understand what I mean by a dummy?”
+
+“I can guess. Sort of a wooden image that moved when ‘Bije pulled the
+strings. Like one of these straw directors that clutter up the insurance
+companies, ‘cordin’ to the papers. Yes, yes; I understand well enough.
+Go ahead! go ahead!”
+
+“That’s it. The fifty shares were in Craven’s name, but they were
+transferred in blank and in Mr. Warren’s safe. Together with his own
+hundred, they gave him control and a voting majority. That much we know
+by the records.”
+
+“I see. But this rubber con--contraption wa’n’t really wuth anything,
+was it?”
+
+“Worth anything! Captain Warren, I give you my word that it was worth
+more than all the rest of the investments that your brother made during
+his lifetime.”
+
+“_No!_” The exclamation was almost a shout.
+
+“Why, yes, decidedly more. Does that surprise you, Captain?”
+
+Captain Elisha did not answer. He was regarding the lawyer with a dazed
+expression. He breathed heavily.
+
+“What’s the matter?” demanded the watchful Kuhn, his gaze fixed upon his
+client’s face. “Do you know anything--”
+
+The captain interrupted him. “Go on!” he commanded. “But tell me this
+fust: What was the name of this rubber concern of ‘Bije’s?”
+
+“The Akrae Rubber Company.”
+
+“I see.... Yes, yes.... Akry, hey!... Well, what about it? Tell me the
+rest.”
+
+“For the first year or two this company did nothing. Then, in March, of
+the third year, the property was released by Mr. Warren to persons in
+Para, who were to develop and operate. The terms of his new lease were
+very advantageous. Royalties were to be paid on a sliding scale, and,
+from the very first, they were large. The Akrae Company paid enormous
+dividends.”
+
+“Did, hey? I want to know!”
+
+“Yes. In fact, for twelve years the company’s royalties averaged $50,000
+yearly.”
+
+“Whe-e-w!” Captain Elisha whistled. “Fifty thousand a year!” he repeated
+slowly. “‘Bije! ‘Bije!”
+
+“Yes. And three years ago the Akrae Company sold its lease, sold out
+completely to the Para people, for seven hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars.”
+
+“Godfreys mighty! Well,” after a moment, “that’s what I’d call a
+middlin’ fair profit on a twenty thousand dollar investment--not to
+mention the dividends.”
+
+“Captain,” Sylvester leaned forward now; “Captain,” he repeated, “it is
+that sale and the dividends which are troubling us. I told you that the
+Akrae Company was organized with two hundred and fifty shares of stock.
+Your brother held one hundred in his own name and fifty transferred to
+him by his dummy, Craven. What I did not tell you was that there were
+another hundred shares, held by someone, someone who paid ten thousand
+dollars for them--we know that--and was, therefore, entitled to
+two-fifths of every dollar earned by the company during its existence,
+and two-fifths of the amount received for the sale of the lease. So far
+as we can find out, this stockholder has never received one cent.”
+
+The effect of this amazing announcement upon the uniniated member of the
+council was not as great as the lawyers expected it to be. “You don’t
+tell me!” was his sole comment.
+
+Graves broke in impatiently: “I think, Captain Warren,” he declared,
+“that you probably do not realize what this means. Besides proving your
+brother dishonest, it means that this stockholder, whoever he may have
+been--”
+
+“Hey? What’s that? Don’t you know who he was?”
+
+“No, we do not. The name upon the stub of the transfer book has been
+scratched out.”
+
+Captain Elisha looked the speaker in the face, then slowly turned his
+look upon the other two faces.
+
+“Scratched out?” he repeated. “Who scratched it out?”
+
+Graves shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Yes, yes,” said the captain. “You don’t know, but we’re all entitled to
+guess, hey?... Humph!”
+
+“If this person is living,” began Sylvester, “it follows that--”
+
+“Hold on a minute! I don’t know much about corporations, of
+course--that’s more in your line than ‘tis in mine--but I want to
+ask one question. You say this what-d’ye-call-it--this Akrae
+thingamajig--was sold out, hull, canvas and riggin’, to a crowd in
+Brazil? It’s gone out of business then? It’s dead?”
+
+“Yes. But--”
+
+“Wait! Ain’t it customary, when a sale like this is made, to turn over
+all the stock, certificates and all? Sometimes you get stock in the new
+company in exchange; I know that. But to complete the trade, wouldn’t
+this extry hundred shares be turned in? Or some sharp questionin’ done
+if ‘twa’n’t?”
+
+He addressed the query to Sylvester. The latter seemed more troubled
+than before.
+
+“That,” he said with some hesitation, “is one of the delicate points in
+this talk of ours, Captain Warren. A certificate for the missing hundred
+shares _was_ turned in. It was dated at the time of the original issue,
+made out in the name of one Edward Bradley, and transferred on the back
+by him to your brother. That is, it was presumably so transferred.”
+
+“Presumably. Pre-sumably? You mean--?”
+
+“I mean that this certificate is--well, let us say, rather queer. To
+begin with, no one knows who this Bradley is, or was. His name appears
+nowhere except on that certificate, unless, of course, it did appear on
+the stub where the scratching has been done; we doubt that, for reasons.
+Nobody ever heard of the man; and his transfer to your brother was made,
+and the certificate signed by him, only three years ago, when the Akrae
+Company sold out. It will take too long to go into details; but thanks
+to the kindness of the Para concern, which has offices in this city--we
+have been able to examine this Bradley certificate. Experts have
+examined it, also. And they tell us--”
+
+He paused.
+
+“Well, what do they tell?” demanded the captain.
+
+“They tell us that--that, in their opinion, the certificate was never
+issued at the time when, by this date, it presumes to have been. It was
+made out no longer ago than five years, probably less. The signature of
+Bradley on the back is--is--well, I hate to say it, Captain Warren, but
+the handwriting on that signature resembles very closely that of your
+brother.”
+
+Captain Elisha was silent for some moments. The others did not speak,
+but waited. Even Graves, between whom and his client there was little in
+common, felt the general sympathy.
+
+At length the captain raised his head.
+
+“Well,” he said slowly, “we ain’t children. We might as well call things
+by their right names. ‘Bije forged that certificate.”
+
+“I’m afraid there is no doubt of it.”
+
+“Dear! dear! dear! Why, they put folks in state’s prison for that!”
+
+“Yes. But a dead man is beyond prisons.”
+
+“That’s so. Then I don’t see--”
+
+“You will. You don’t grasp the full meaning of this affair even yet. If
+the Bradley certificate is a forgery, a fraud from beginning to end,
+then the presumption is that there was never any such person as Bradley.
+But _someone_ paid ten thousand dollars for one hundred Akrae shares
+when the company was formed. _That_ certificate has never been turned
+in. Some person or persons, somewhere, hold one hundred shares of Akrae
+Rubber Company stock. Think, now! Suppose that someone turns up and
+demands all that he has been cheated out of for the past seventeen
+years! Think of that!”
+
+“Well ... I am thinkin’ of it. I got the scent of what you was drivin’
+at five minutes ago. And I don’t see that we need to be afraid. He could
+have put ‘Bije in jail; but ‘Bije is already servin’ a longer sentence
+than he could give him. So that disgrace ain’t bearin’ down on us.
+And, if I understand about such things, his claim is against the Akrae
+Company, and that’s dead--dead as the man that started it. Maybe he
+could put in a keeper, or a receiver, or some such critter, but there’s
+nothin’ left to keep or receive. Ain’t I right?”
+
+“You are. Or you would be, but for one thing, the really inexplicable
+thing in this whole miserable affair. Your brother, Captain Warren, was
+dishonest. He took money that didn’t belong to him, and he forged that
+certificate. But he must have intended to make restitution. He must have
+been conscience-stricken and more to be pitied, perhaps, than condemned.
+No doubt, when he first began to withhold the dividends and use the
+money which was not his, he intended merely to borrow. He was always
+optimistic and always plunging in desperate and sometimes rather shady
+speculations which, he was sure, would turn out favorably. If they
+had--if, for instance, the South Shore Trolley Combine had been put
+through--You knew of that, did you?”
+
+“I’ve been told somethin’ about it. Go on!”
+
+“Well, it was not put through, so his hopes there were frustrated. And
+that was but one of his schemes. However, when the sale of the Company
+was consummated, he did an extraordinary thing. He made out and signed
+his personal note, payable to the Akrae Company, for every cent he had
+misappropriated. And we found that note in his safe after his death.
+That was what first aroused our suspicions. _Now_, Captain Warren, do
+you understand?”
+
+Captain Elisha did not understand, that was evident. His look of
+wondering amazement traveled from one face to the others about the
+table.
+
+“A _note_!” he repeated. “‘Bije put his _note_ in the safe? A note
+promisin’ to pay all he’d stole! And left it there where it could be
+found? Why, that’s pretty nigh unbelievable, Mr. Sylvester! He might
+just as well have confessed his crookedness and be done with it.”
+
+“Yes. It is unbelievable, but it is true. Graves can show you the note.”
+
+The junior partner produced a slip of paper from the portfolio and
+regarded it frowningly.
+
+“Of all the pieces of sheer lunacy,” he observed, “that ever came under
+my observation, this is the worst. Here it is, Captain Warren.”
+
+He extended the paper. Captain Elisha waved it aside.
+
+“I don’t want to see it--not yet,” he protested. “I want to think. I
+want to get at the reason if I can. Why did he do it?”
+
+“That is what we’ve been tryin’ to find--the reason,” remarked Kuhn,
+“and we can only guess. Sylvester has told you the guess. Rodgers Warren
+intended, or hoped, to make restitution before he died.”
+
+“Yes. Knowin’ ‘Bije, I can see that. He was weak, that was his main
+trouble. He didn’t mean to be crooked, but his knees wa’n’t strong
+enough to keep him straight when it come to a hard push. But he made his
+note payable to a Company that was already sold out, so it ain’t good
+for nothin’. Now, why--”
+
+Graves struck the table with his open hand.
+
+“He doesn’t understand at all,” he exclaimed, impatiently. “Captain
+Warren, listen! That note is made payable to the Akrae Company.
+Against that company some unknown stockholder has an apparent claim
+for two-fifths of all dividends ever paid and two-fifths of the seven
+hundred and fifty thousand received for the sale. With accrued interest,
+that claim amounts to over five hundred thousand dollars.”
+
+“Yes, but--”
+
+“That note binds Rodgers Warren’s estate to pay that claim. His own
+personal estate! And that estate is not worth over four hundred and
+sixty thousand dollars! If this stockholder should appear and press his
+claim, _your brother’s children would be, not only penniless, but thirty
+thousand dollars in debt_! There! I think that is plain enough!”
+
+He leaned back, grimly satisfied with the effect of his statement.
+Captain Elisha stared straight before him, unseeingly, the color fading
+from his cheeks. Then he put both elbows on the table and covered his
+face with his hands.
+
+“You see, Captain,” said Sylvester, gently, “how very serious the
+situation is. Graves has put it bluntly, but what he says is literally
+true. If your brother had deliberately planned to hand his children over
+to the mercy of that missing stockholder, he couldn’t have done it more
+completely.”
+
+Slowly the captain raised his head. His expression was a strange one;
+agitated and shocked, but with a curious look of relief, almost of
+triumph.
+
+“At last!” he said, solemnly. “At last! Now it’s _all_ plain!”
+
+“All?” repeated Sylvester. “You mean--?”
+
+“I mean everything, all that’s been puzzlin’ me and troublin’ my head
+since the very beginnin’. All of it! _Now_ I know why! Oh, ‘Bije! ‘Bije!
+‘Bije!”
+
+Kuhn spoke quickly.
+
+“Captain,” he said, “I believe you know who the owner of that one
+hundred shares is. Do you?”
+
+Captain Elisha gravely nodded.
+
+“Yes,” he answered. “I know him.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“You do?”
+
+“Who is it?”
+
+The questions were blurted out together. The captain looked at the three
+excited faces. He hesitated and then, taking the stub of a pencil from
+his pocket, drew toward him a memorandum pad lying on the table and
+wrote a line upon the uppermost sheet. Tearing off the page, he tossed
+it to Sylvester.
+
+“That’s the name,” he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+Two more hours passed before the lawyers and their client rose from
+their seats about the long table. Even then the consultation was not at
+an end. Sylvester and the Captain lunched together at the Central Club
+and sat in the smoking room until after four, talking earnestly. When
+they parted, the attorney was grave and troubled.
+
+“All right, Captain Warren,” he said; “I’ll do it. And you may be right.
+I certainly hope you are. But I must confess I don’t look forward to my
+task with pleasure. I think I’ve got the roughest end.”
+
+“It’ll be rough, there’s no doubt about that. Rough for all hands, I
+guess. And I hope you understand, Mr. Sylvester, that there ain’t many
+men I’d trust to do what I ask you to. I appreciate your doin’ it more’n
+I can tell you. Be as--as gentle as you can, won’t you?”
+
+“I will. You can depend upon that.”
+
+“I do. And I sha’n’t forget it. Good-by, till the next time.”
+
+They shook hands. Captain Elisha returned to the boarding house, where
+he found a letter awaiting him. It was from Caroline, telling him of her
+engagement to Malcolm Dunn. She wrote that, while not recognizing his
+right to interfere in any way, she felt that perhaps he should know
+of her action. He did not go down to supper, and, when Pearson came to
+inquire the reason, excused himself, pleading a late luncheon and no
+appetite. He guessed he would turn in early, so he said. It was a poor
+guess.
+
+Next morning he went uptown. Edwards, opening the door of the Warren
+apartment, was surprised to find who had rung the bell.
+
+“Mornin’, Commodore!” hailed the captain, as casually as if he were
+merely returning from a stroll. “Is Miss Caroline aboard ship?”
+
+“Why--why, I don’t know, sir. I’ll see.”
+
+“That’s all right. She’s aboard or you wouldn’t have to see. You and me
+sailed together quite a spell, so I know your little habits. I’ll wait
+in the library, Commodore. Tell her there’s no particular hurry.”
+
+His niece was expecting him. She had anticipated his visit and was
+prepared for it. From the emotion caused by his departure after the
+eventful birthday, she had entirely recovered, or thought she had. The
+surprise and shock of his leaving and the consequent sense of loneliness
+and responsibility overcame her at the time, but Stephen’s ridicule and
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn’s congratulations on riddance from the “encumbrance”
+ shamed her and stilled the reproaches of her conscience. Mrs. Dunn,
+as always, played the diplomat and mingled just the proper quantity of
+comprehending sympathy with the congratulations.
+
+“I understand exactly how you feel, my dear,” she said. “You have a
+tender heart, and it pains you to hurt anyone’s feelings, no matter how
+much they deserve to be hurt. Every time I dismiss an incompetent
+or dishonest servant I feel that I have done wrong; sometimes I cry,
+actually shed tears, you know, and yet my reason tells me I am right.
+You feel that you may have been too harsh with that guardian of yours.
+You remember what you said to him and forget how hypocritically he
+behaved toward you. I can’t forgive him that. I may forget how he
+misrepresented Malcolm and me to you--that I may even pardon, in
+time--but to deceive his own brother’s children and introduce into their
+society a creature who had slandered and maligned their father--_that_
+I never shall forget or forgive. And--you’ll excuse my frankness,
+dear--you should never forget or forgive it, either. You have nothing
+with which to reproach yourself. You were a brave girl, and if you are
+not proud of yourself, _I_ am proud of you.”
+
+So, when her uncle was announced, Caroline was ready. She entered the
+library and acknowledged his greeting with a distant bow. He regarded
+her kindly, but his manner was grave.
+
+“Well, Caroline,” he began, “I got your letter.”
+
+“Yes, I presumed you did.”
+
+“Um-hm. I got it. It didn’t surprise me, what you wrote, because I’d
+seen the news in the papers; but I was hopin’ you’d tell me yourself,
+and I’m real glad you did. I’m much obliged to you.”
+
+She had not expected him to take this tone, and it embarrassed her.
+
+“I--I gave you my reasons for writing,” she said. “Although I do not
+consider that I am, in any sense, duty bound to refer matters, other
+than financial, to you; and, although my feelings toward you have not
+changed--still, you are my guardian, and--and--”
+
+“I understand. So you’re really engaged?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Engaged to Mr. Dunn?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“And you’re cal’latin’ to marry him?”
+
+“One might almost take that for granted,” impatiently.
+
+“Almost--yes. Not always, but generally, I will give in. You’re goin’ to
+marry Malcolm Dunn. Why?”
+
+“Why?” she repeated the question as if she doubted his sanity.
+
+“Yes. Be as patient with me as you can, Caroline. I ain’t askin’ these
+things without what seems to me a good reason. Why are you goin’ to
+marry him?”
+
+“Why because I choose, I suppose.”
+
+“Um-hm. Are you sure of that?”
+
+“Am I sure?” indignantly. “What do you mean?”
+
+“I mean are you sure that it’s because you choose, or because _he_ does,
+or maybe, because his mother does?”
+
+She turned angrily away. “If you came here to insult me--” she began. He
+interrupted her.
+
+“No, no,” he protested gently. “Insultin’ you is the last thing I want
+to do. But, as your father did put you in my charge, I want you to bear
+with me while we talk this over together. Remember, Caroline, I ain’t
+bothered you a great deal lately. I shouldn’t now if I hadn’t thought
+‘twas necessary. So please don’t get mad, but answer me this: Do you
+care for this man you’ve promised to marry?”
+
+This was a plain question. It should have been answered without the
+slightest hesitation. Moreover, the girl had expected him to ask it.
+Yet, for a moment, she did hesitate.
+
+“I mean,” continued Captain Elisha, “do you care for him _enough_?
+Enough to live with him all your life, and see him every day, and be to
+him what a true wife ought to be? See him, not with his company manners
+on or in his automobile, but at the breakfast table, and when he comes
+home tired and cross, maybe. When you’ve got to be forbearin’ and
+forgivin’ and--”
+
+“He is one of my oldest and best friends--” she interrupted. Her uncle
+went on without waiting for her to end the sentence.
+
+“I know,” he said. “One of the oldest, that’s sure. But friendship,
+‘cordin’ to my notion, is somethin’ so small in comparison that it
+hardly counts in the manifest. Married folks ought to be friends, sartin
+sure; but they ought to be a whole lot more’n that. I’m an old bach, you
+say, and ain’t had no experience. That’s true; but I’ve been young, and
+there was a time when _I_ made plans.... However, she died, and it never
+come to nothin’. But I _know_ what it means to be engaged, the right
+kind of engagement. It means that you don’t count yourself at all, not a
+bit. You’re ready, each of you, to give up all you’ve got--your wishes,
+comfort, money and what it’ll buy, and your life, if it should come to
+that, for that other one. Do you care for Malcolm Dunn like that,
+Caroline?”
+
+She answered defiantly.
+
+“Yes, I do,” she said.
+
+“You do. Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?”
+
+“Yes,” with not quite the same promptness, but still defiantly.
+
+“You feel sartin of it, do you?”
+
+She stamped her foot. “Yes! yes! _Yes_!” she cried. “Oh, _do_ say what
+you came to say, and end it!”
+
+Her uncle rose to his feet.
+
+“Why, I guess likely I’ve said it,” he observed. “When two people care
+for each other like that, they _ought_ to be married, and the sooner the
+better. I knew that you’d been lonesome and troubled, maybe; and some
+of the friends you used to have had kind of dropped away--busy with
+other affairs, which is natural enough--and, you needin’ sympathy and
+companionship, I was sort of worried for fear all this had influenced
+you more’n it ought to, and you’d been led into sayin’ yes without
+realizin’ what it meant. But you tell me that ain’t so; you do realize.
+So all I can say is that I’m awful glad for you. God bless you, my dear!
+I hope you’ll be as happy as the day is long.”
+
+His niece gazed at him, bewildered and incredulous. This she had _not_
+expected.
+
+“Thank you,” she stammered. “I did not know--I thought--”
+
+“Of course you did--of course. Well, then, Caroline, I guess that’s all.
+I won’t trouble you any longer. Good-by.”
+
+He turned toward the door, but stopped, hesitated, and turned back
+again.
+
+“There is just one thing more,” he said solemnly. “I don’t know’s I
+ought to speak, but--I want to--and I’m goin’ to. And I want you to
+believe it! I do want you to!”
+
+He was so earnest, and the look he gave her was so strange, that she
+began to be alarmed.
+
+“What is it?” she demanded.
+
+“Why--why, just this, Caroline. This is a tough old world we live in.
+Things don’t always go on in it as we think they’d ought to. Trouble
+comes to everybody, and when it all looks right sometimes it turns out
+to be all wrong. If--if there should come a time like that to you and
+Steve, I want you to remember that you’ve got me to turn to. No matter
+what you think of me, what folks have made you think of me, just
+remember that I’m waitin’ and ready to help you all I can. Any time I’m
+ready--and glad. Just remember that, won’t you, because.... Well, there!
+Good-by, Good-by!”
+
+He hurried away. She stood gazing after him, astonished, a little
+frightened, and not a little disturbed and touched. His emotion was so
+evident; his attitude toward her engagement was so different from that
+which she had anticipated; and there was something in his manner which
+she could not understand. He had acted as if he pitied her. Why? It
+could not be because she was to marry Malcolm Dunn. If it were that, she
+resented his pity, of course. But it could not be that, because he had
+given her his blessing. What was it? Was there something else; something
+that she did not know and he did? Why was he so kind and forbearing and
+patient?
+
+All her old doubts and questionings returned. She had resolutely kept
+them from her thoughts, but they had been there, in the background,
+always. When, after the long siege, she had at last yielded and said
+yes to Malcolm, she felt that that question, at least, was settled. She
+would marry him. He was one whom she had known all her life, the son of
+the dearest friend she had; he and his mother had been faithful at the
+time when she needed friends. As her husband, he would protect her and
+give her the affection and companionship she craved. He might appear
+careless and indifferent at times, but that was merely his manner. Had
+not Mrs. Dunn told her over and over again what a good son he was, and
+what a kind heart he had, and how he worshiped her? Oh, she ought to be
+a very happy girl! Of course she was happy. But why had her uncle looked
+at her as he did? And what did he mean by hinting that when things
+looked right they sometimes were all wrong? She wished Malcolm was with
+her then; she needed him.
+
+She heard the clang of the elevator door. Then the bell rang furiously.
+She heard Edwards hasten to answer it. Then, to her amazement, she heard
+her brother’s voice.
+
+“Caroline!” demanded Stephen. “Caroline! Where are you?”
+
+He burst into the room, still wearing his coat and hat, and carrying a
+traveling bag in his hand.
+
+“Why, Steve!” she said, going toward him. “Why, Steve! what--”
+
+He was very much excited.
+
+“Oh!” he exclaimed, “you’re all right then! You are all right, aren’t
+you?”
+
+“All right? Why shouldn’t I be all right? What do you mean? And why are
+you here?”
+
+He returned her look of surprise with one of great astonishment.
+
+“Why am I here?” he repeated.
+
+“Yes. Why did you come from New Haven?”
+
+“Why, because I got the telegram, of course! You expected me to come,
+didn’t you?”
+
+“_I_ expected you? Telegram? What telegram?”
+
+“Why, the--Good Lord, Caro! what are you talking about? Didn’t you know
+they telegraphed me to come home at once? I’ve pretty nearly broke my
+neck, and the taxicab man’s, getting here from the station. I thought
+you must be very ill, or something worse.”
+
+“They telegraphed you to come here? Who.... Edwards, you may take Mr.
+Warren’s things to his room.”
+
+“But, Sis--”
+
+“Just a moment, Steve. Give Edwards your coat and hat. Yes, and your
+bag. That will be all, Edwards. We sha’n’t need you.”
+
+When they were alone, she turned again to her brother.
+
+“Now, Steve,” she said, “sit down and tell me what you mean. Who
+telegraphed you?”
+
+“Why, old Sylvester, father’s lawyer. I’ve got the message here
+somewhere. No, never mind! I’ve lost it, I guess. He wired me to come
+home as early as possible this morning. Said it was very important. And
+you didn’t know anything about it?”
+
+“No, not a thing. What can it mean?”
+
+“_I_ don’t know! That’s the bell, isn’t it? Edwards!”
+
+But the butler was already on his way to the door. A moment later he
+returned.
+
+“Mr. Sylvester,” he announced.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Captain Elisha scarcely left his room, except for meals, during the
+remainder of that day and for two days thereafter. He was unusually
+silent at table and avoided conversation even with Pearson, who was
+depressed and gloomy and made no attempt to force his society upon
+his friend. Once, passing the door of the latter’s room, he heard the
+captain pacing back and forth as if he were walking the quarter-deck of
+one of his old ships. As Pearson stood listening the footsteps ceased;
+silence, then a deep sigh, and they began again. The young man sighed
+in sympathy and wearily climbed to his den. The prospect of chimneys
+and roofs across the way was never more desolate or more pregnant with
+discouragement.
+
+Several times Captain Elisha descended to the closet where the telephone
+was fastened to the wall and held long conversations with someone. Mrs.
+Hepton, who knew that her newest boarder was anxious and disturbed, and
+was very curious to learn the reason, made it a point to be busy near
+that closet while these conversations took place; but, as the captain
+was always careful to close the door, she was disappointed. Once the
+mysterious Mr. Sylvester called up and asked for “Captain Warren,” and
+the landlady hastened with the summons.
+
+“I hope it’s nothing serious,” she observed, feelingly.
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” replied the captain, on his way to the stairs. “Much
+obliged.”
+
+“It is the same person who was so very anxious to get you the other
+night,” she continued, making desperate efforts not to be left behind in
+the descent. “I declare he quite frightened me! And--you’ll excuse
+me, Captain Warren, but I take such a real friendly interest in my
+boarders--you have seemed to me rather--rather upset lately, and I _do_
+hope it isn’t bad news.”
+
+“Well, I tell you, ma’am,” was the unsatisfactory answer, given just
+before the closet door closed; “we’ll do the way the poor relation
+did when he got word his uncle had willed him one of his suits of
+clothes--we’ll hope for the best.”
+
+Sylvester had a report to make.
+
+“The other party has been here,” he said. “He has just gone.”
+
+“The other party? Why--you don’t mean--_him_?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Was he alone? Nobody along to look after him?”
+
+“He was alone, for a wonder. He had heard the news, too. Apparently had
+just learned it.”
+
+“He had? I want to know! Who told him?”
+
+“He didn’t say. He was very much agitated. Wouldn’t say anything except
+to ask if it was true. I think we can guess who told him.”
+
+“Maybe. Well, what did you say?”
+
+“Nothing of importance. I refused to discuss my clients’ affairs.”
+
+“Right you are! How did he take that?”
+
+“He went up like a sky-rocket. Said he had a right to know, under the
+circumstances. I admitted it, but said I could tell him nothing--yet. He
+went away frantic, and I called you.”
+
+“Um-hm. Well, Mr. Sylvester, suppose you do see him and his boss. See
+‘em and tell ‘em some of the truth. Don’t tell too much though; not who
+was to blame nor how, but just that it looks pretty bad so fur as the
+estate’s concerned. Then say you want to see ‘em again and will arrange
+another interview. Don’t set any time and place for that until you hear
+from me. Understand?”
+
+“I think so, partially. But--”
+
+“Until you hear from me--that’s the important part. And, if you can,
+convenient, I’d have the fust interview right off; this afternoon, if
+it’s possible.”
+
+“Captain, what have you got up your sleeve? Why don’t you come down here
+and talk it over?”
+
+“‘Cause I’m stickin’ close aboard and waitin’ developments. Maybe there
+won’t be any, but I’m goin’ to wait a spell and see. There ain’t much up
+my sleeve just now but goose-flesh; there’s plenty of that. So long.”
+
+A development came that evening. Mrs. Hepton heralded it.
+
+“Captain,” she said, when he answered her knock, “there’s a young
+gentleman to see you. I think he must be a relative of yours. His name
+is Warren.”
+
+Captain Elisha pulled his beard. “A young _gentleman_?” he repeated.
+
+“Yes. I showed him into the parlor. There will be no one there but you
+and he, and I thought it would be more comfortable.”
+
+“Um-hm. I see. Well, I guess you’d better send him up. This is
+comfortable enough, and there won’t be nobody but him and me here,
+either--and I’ll be more sartin of it.”
+
+The landlady, who considered herself snubbed, flounced away. Captain
+Elisha stepped to the head of the stairs.
+
+“Come right up, Steve!” he called.
+
+Stephen came. His uncle ushered him into the room, closed the door, and
+turned the key.
+
+“Stevie,” he said, kindly, “I’m glad to see you. Take off your things
+and set down.”
+
+The boy accepted the invitation only to the extent of throwing his hat
+on the table. He did not sit or remove his overcoat. He was pale, his
+eyes were swollen and red, his hair was disarranged, and in all respects
+he looked unlike his usual blasé and immaculate self. His forehead was
+wet, showing that he had hurried on his way to the boarding house.
+
+The captain regarded him pityingly.
+
+“Set down, Stevie,” he urged. “You’re all het up and worn out.”
+
+His nephew paid no attention. Instead he asked a question.
+
+“You know about it?” he demanded.
+
+“Yes, Stevie; I know.”
+
+“You do? I--I mean about the--the Akrae Company and--and all?”
+
+“Yes. I know all about all of it. Do set down!”
+
+Stephen struck his closed fist into the palm of his other hand. He wore
+one glove. What had become of the other he could not have told.
+
+“You do?” he shouted. “You do? By gad! Then do you know what it means?”
+
+“Yes, I know that, too. Now, Stevie, be a good boy and set down and keep
+cool. Yes, I want you to.”
+
+He put his hands on his nephew’s shoulders and forced him into a chair.
+
+“Now, just calm yourself,” urged the captain. “There ain’t a mite of
+use workin’ yourself up this way. I know the whole business, and I can’t
+tell you--I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I feel for you. Yet you
+mustn’t give up the ship because--”
+
+“Mustn’t give up!” Stephen was on his feet again. “Why, what are you
+talking about? I thought you said you knew! Do you think that losing
+every cent you’ve got in the world is a _joke_? Do you think that--See
+here, do you know who this shareholder is; this fellow who’s going to
+rob us of all we own? Who is he?”
+
+“Didn’t Mr. Sylvester tell you?”
+
+“He said that there was such a man and that he had the estate cinched.
+He told us about that note and all the rest. But he wouldn’t tell the
+man’s name. Said he had been forbidden to mention it. Do you know him?
+What sort of fellow is he? Don’t you think he could be reasoned with?
+Hasn’t he got any decency--or pity--or--”
+
+He choked, and the tears rushed to his eyes. He wiped them angrily away
+with the back of his glove.
+
+“It’s a crime!” he cried. “Can’t he be held off somehow? Who _is_ he? I
+want to know his name.”
+
+Captain Elisha sadly shook his head. “I’m afraid he can’t, Stevie,” he
+said. “He’s got a legal right to all ‘Bije left, and more, too. It
+may be he won’t be too hard; perhaps he’ll ... but there,” hastily. “I
+mustn’t say that. We’ve got to face the situation as ‘tis. And I
+can’t tell you his name because he don’t want it mentioned unless it’s
+absolutely necessary. And we don’t, either. We don’t want--any of us--to
+have this get into the papers. We mustn’t have any disgrace.”
+
+“Disgrace! Good heavens! Isn’t there disgrace enough already? Isn’t
+it enough to know father was a crook as well as an idiot? I’ve always
+thought he was insane ever since that crazy will of his came to light;
+but to steal! and then to leave a paper proving it, so that we’ve got to
+lose everything! His children! It’s--”
+
+“Now hold on, boy! Your dad didn’t mean to take what didn’t belong to
+him--for good, that is; the note proves that. He did do wrong and used
+another man’s money, but--”
+
+“Then why didn’t he keep it? If you’re going to steal, steal like a man,
+I say!”
+
+“Steve, Steve! steady now!” The captain’s tone was sterner. “Don’t speak
+that way. You’ll be sorry for it later. I tell you I don’t condemn your
+father ha’f so much as I pity him.”
+
+“Oh, shut up! You make me sick. You talk just as Caro does. I’ll never
+forgive him, no matter how much she preaches, and I told her so. Pity!
+Pity him! How about pity for _me_? I--I--”
+
+His over-wrought nerves gave way, and, throwing himself into the chair,
+he broke down completely and, forgetting the manhood of which he was so
+fond of boasting, cried like a baby. Captain Elisha turned away, to hide
+his own emotion.
+
+“It’s hard,” he said slowly. “It’s awfully hard for you, my boy. I hate
+to see you suffer this way.” Then, in a lower tone, he added doubtfully.
+“I wonder if--if--I wonder--”
+
+His nephew heard the word and interrupted.
+
+“You wonder?” he demanded, hysterically; “you wonder what? What are you
+going to do about it? It’s up to you, isn’t it? You’re our guardian,
+aren’t you?”
+
+“Yes, Stevie, I’m your guardian.”
+
+“Yes, you are! But no one would guess it. When we didn’t want you, you
+wouldn’t leave us for a minute. Now, when we need you, when there isn’t
+a soul for us to turn to, you stay away. You haven’t been near us. It’s
+up to you, I say! and what are you going to do about it? What are you
+going to _do_?”
+
+His uncle held up his hand.
+
+“S-shh!” he said. “Don’t raise your voice like that, son! I can hear you
+without that, and we don’t want anybody else to hear. What am I goin’ to
+do? Stevie, I don’t know exactly. I ain’t made up my mind yet.”
+
+“Well, it’s time you did!”
+
+“Yes, I guess likely ‘tis. As for my not comin’ to see you, you know the
+reason for that. I’d have come quick enough, but I wa’n’t sure I’d
+be welcome. And I told your sister only ‘tother day that--by the way,
+Steve, how is she? How is Caroline?”
+
+“She’s a fool!” The boy sprang up again and shook his fist. “She’s the
+one I’ve come here to speak about. If we don’t stop her she’ll ruin us
+altogether. She--she’s a damned fool, I tell you!”
+
+“There! there!” the captain’s tone was sharp and emphatic. “That’s
+enough of that,” he said. “I don’t want to hear you call your sister
+names. What do you mean by it?”
+
+“I mean what I say. She _is_ a fool. Do you know what she’s done? She’s
+written Mal Dunn all about it! I’d have stopped her, but I didn’t know
+until it was too late. She’s told him the whole thing.”
+
+“She has? About ‘Bije?”
+
+“Well, perhaps she didn’t tell him father was a thief, but she did tell
+that the estate was gone--that we were flat broke and worse.”
+
+“Hum!” Captain Elisha seemed more gratified than displeased. “Hum!...
+Well, I kind of expected she would. Knowin’ her, I kind of expected it.”
+
+“You did?” Stephen glared in wrathful amazement. “You expected it?”
+
+“Yes. What of it?”
+
+“What _of_ it? Why, everything! Can’t you see? Mal’s our only chance. If
+she marries him she’ll be looked out for and so will I. She needn’t have
+told him until they were married. The wedding could have been hurried
+along; the Dunns were crazy to have it as soon as possible. Now--”
+
+“Hold on, Steve! Belay! What difference does her tellin’ him make? Maybe
+she hasn’t mentioned it to you, but I had a talk with your sister the
+other mornin’. She thinks the world of Malcolm, and he does of her. She
+told me so herself. Of _course_ she’d go to him in her trouble. And
+he’ll be proud--yes, and glad to know that he can help her. As for the
+weddin’, I don’t see that this’ll have any effect except to hurry it up
+a little more, maybe.”
+
+Steve looked at him suspiciously, but there was no trace of sarcasm in
+the captain’s face or voice. The boy scowled.
+
+“Ugh!” he grunted.
+
+“What’s the ‘ugh’ for? See here, you ain’t hintin’ that young Dunn was
+cal’latin’ to marry Caroline just for her money, are you? Of course you
+ain’t! Why, you and he are the thickest sort of chums. You wouldn’t chum
+with a feller who would play such a trick as that on your own sister.”
+
+Stephen’s scowl deepened. He thrust his hands into his pocket, and
+shifted his feet uneasily.
+
+“You don’t understand,” he said. “People don’t do things here as they do
+where you come from.”
+
+“I understand that, all right,” with dry emphasis. “I’ve been here long
+enough to understand that. But maybe I don’t understand _you_. Heave
+ahead, and make it plain.”
+
+“Well--well, then--I mean this: I don’t know that Mal was after Caro’s
+money, but--but he had a right to expect _some_. If he didn’t, why, then
+her not telling him until after they were married wouldn’t have made
+any difference. And--and if her tellin’ him beforehand _should_ make a
+difference and he wanted to break the engagement, she’s just romantic
+fool enough to let him.”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“_Well?_ If she doesn’t marry him, who’s going to take care of her?
+What’s going to become of _me_? We haven’t a cent. What kind of a
+guardian are you? Do you want us to starve?”
+
+He was shouting again. The captain was calm. “Oh,” he said, “I guess
+it won’t reach to the starvation point. I’m a pretty tough old critter,
+‘cordin’ to your estimate, but I shouldn’t let my brother’s children
+starve. If the wust comes to the wust, there’s always a home and plenty
+to eat for you both at South Denboro.”
+
+This offer did not appear to comfort the young gentleman greatly. His
+disgust was evident.
+
+“South Denboro!” he repeated, scornfully. “Gad!... South Denboro!”
+
+“Yup. But we’ll let South Denboro alone for now and stick to New York.
+What is it you expect me to do? What are you drivin’ at?”
+
+Stephen shook a forefinger in his guardian’s face.
+
+“I expect you to make her stick to her engagement,” he cried. “And make
+her make him stick. She can, can’t she? It’s been announced, hasn’t it?
+Everybody knows of it! She’s got the right--the legal right to hold him,
+hasn’t she?”
+
+His uncle regarded him with a quizzical smile. “Why, ye-es,” he
+answered, “I cal’late she has, maybe. Course, there’s no danger of his
+wantin’ to do such a thing, but if he should I presume likely we could
+make it uncomfortable for him, anyhow. What are you hankerin’ for,
+Steve--a breach-of-promise suit? I’ve always understood those sort of
+cases were kind of unpleasant--for everybody but the newspapers.”
+
+The boy was in deadly earnest. “Pleasant!” he repeated. “Is any of this
+business pleasant? You make her act like a sensible girl! You’re her
+guardian, and you make her! And, after that, if he tries to hedge, you
+tell him a few things. You can hold him! Do it! _Do_ it!”
+
+Captain Elisha turned on his heel and began pacing up and down the room.
+His nephew watched him eagerly.
+
+“Well,” he demanded, after a moment, “what are we going to do? Are we
+going to make him make good?”
+
+The captain paused. “Steve,” he answered, deliberately, “I ain’t sure as
+we are. And, as I’ve said, if he’s got a spark of decency, it won’t be
+necessary for us to try. If it should be--if it should be--”
+
+“Well, _if_ it should be?”
+
+“Then we can try, that’s all. Maybe you run a course a little different
+from me, Stevie; you navigate ‘cordin’ to your ideas, and I do by mine.
+But in some ways we ain’t so fur apart. Son,” with a grim nod, “you rest
+easy on one thing--the Corcoran Dunn fleet is goin’ to show its colors.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Caroline sat by the library window, her chin in her hand, drearily
+watching the sleet as it beat against the panes, and the tops of the
+Park trees lashing in the wind. Below, in the street, the trolleys
+passed in their never-ending procession, the limousines and cabs whizzed
+forlornly by, and the few pedestrians pushed dripping umbrellas against
+the gale. A wet, depressing afternoon, as hopeless as her thoughts, and
+growing darker and more miserable hourly.
+
+Stephen, standing by the fire, kicked the logs together and sent a
+shower of sparks flying.
+
+“Oh, say something, Caro, do!” he snapped testily. “Don’t sit there
+glowering; you give me the horrors.”
+
+She roused from her reverie, turned, and tried to smile.
+
+“What shall I say?” she asked.
+
+“I don’t know. But say something, for heaven’s sake! Talk about the
+weather, if you can’t think of anything more original.”
+
+“The weather isn’t a very bright subject just now.”
+
+“I didn’t say it was; but it’s _a_ subject. I hope to goodness it
+doesn’t prevent Sylvester’s keeping his appointment. He’s late, as it
+is.”
+
+“Is he?” wearily. “I hadn’t noticed.”
+
+“Of course you hadn’t. You don’t notice anything. It doesn’t help
+matters to pull a long face and go moping around wiping your eyes.
+You’ve got to use philosophy in times like this. It’s just as hard for
+me as it is for you; and I try to make the best of it, don’t I?”
+
+She might have reminded him that his philosophy was a very recent
+acquisition. When the news of their poverty first came he was the one
+who raved and sobbed and refused to contemplate anything less direful
+than slow starvation or quick suicide. She had soothed and comforted
+then. Since the previous evening, when he had gone out, in spite of her
+protestations, and left her alone, his manner had changed. He was still
+nervous and irritable, but no longer threatened self-destruction, and
+seemed, for some unexplained reason, more hopeful and less desperate.
+Sylvester had ‘phoned, saying that he would call at the apartment at
+two, and since Stephen had received the message he had been in a state
+of suppressed excitement, scarcely keeping still for five minutes at a
+time.
+
+“It is just as hard for me as it is for you, isn’t it?” he repeated.
+
+“Yes, Steve, I suppose it is.”
+
+“You suppose? Don’t you know? Oh, do quit thinking about Mal Dunn and
+pay attention to me.”
+
+She did not answer. He regarded her with disgust.
+
+“You are thinking of Mal, of course,” he declared. “What’s the use? You
+know what _I_ think: you were a fool to write him that letter.”
+
+“Don’t, Steve; please don’t.”
+
+“Ugh!”
+
+“Don’t you know he didn’t get the letter? I was so nervous and
+over-wrought that I misdirected it.”
+
+“Pooh! Has he ever stayed away from you so long before? Or his precious
+mother, either? Why doesn’t she come to see you? She scarcely missed a
+day before this happened. Nonsense! I guess he got it all right.”
+
+“Steve, stop! stop! Don’t dare speak like that. Do you realize what you
+are insinuating? You don’t believe it! You know you don’t! Shame on you!
+I’m ashamed of my brother! No! not another word of that kind, or I shall
+leave the room.”
+
+She had risen to her feet. He looked at her determined face and turned
+away.
+
+“Oh, well,” he muttered, sullenly, “maybe you’re right. I don’t say
+you’re not. Perhaps he didn’t get the letter. You sent it to his office,
+and he may have been called out of town. But his mother--”
+
+“Mrs. Dunn was not well when I last saw her. She may be ill.”
+
+“Perhaps. But if you’re so sure about them, why not let it go at that?
+What’s the use of fretting?”
+
+“I was not thinking of them--then.”
+
+As a matter of fact, she had been thinking of her uncle, Elisha Warren.
+As the time dragged by, she thought of him more and more--not as the
+uncouth countryman whose unwelcome presence had been forced into her
+life; nor as the hypocrite whose insult to her father’s memory she
+never could forgive or whose double-dealing had been, as she thought,
+revealed; but as the man who, with the choke in his voice and the tears
+in his eyes, bade her remember that, whenever she needed help, he was
+ready and glad to give it.
+
+She did not doubt Malcolm’s loyalty. Her brother’s hints and
+insinuations found no echo in her thoughts. In the note which she had
+written her fiancé she told of the loss of their fortune, though not of
+her father’s shame. That she could not tell; nor did she ask Malcolm to
+come to her--her pride would not permit that. She wrote simply of her
+great trouble and trusted the rest to him. That he had not come was
+due--so she kept repeating to herself--solely to the fact that he had
+not received her letter. She knew that was it--she knew it. And yet--and
+yet he did not come.
+
+So, in her loneliness and misery, her guardian’s words returned again
+and again to her memory: “Sometimes when things look all right they turn
+out to be all wrong. If ever there comes a time like that to you and
+Steve, remember you’ve got me to turn to.” The time had come when she
+must turn to someone.
+
+She would never go to him; she vowed it. She would not accept his help
+if he came to her. But, if he was sincere, if he meant what he said,
+why did he not come again to proffer it? Because he was not sincere,
+of course. That had been proven long before. She despised him. But
+his face, as she last saw it, refused to be banished from her mind.
+It looked so strong, and yet gentle and loving, like the face of a
+protector, one to be trusted through good times and bad. Oh, this
+wicked, wicked world, and the shams and sorrows in it! “Malcolm, why
+don’t you come to me?”
+
+Stephen uttered an exclamation. Looking up, she saw him hurrying toward
+the hall.
+
+“Someone’s at the door,” he explained. “It’s Sylvester, of course. I’ll
+let him in.”
+
+It was not the lawyer but a messenger boy with a note. Stephen returned
+to the library with the missive in his hand.
+
+“He couldn’t get here, Caro,” he said, excitedly. “Wants us to come
+right down to his office. Hurry up! Get your things on. The cab’s
+waiting. Come! Rush! It may be important.”
+
+The cab, an electric vehicle, made good time, and they soon reached the
+Pine Street offices, where they were ushered at once into the senior
+partner’s presence.
+
+“Step into the other room,” said Mr. Sylvester, “and wait there, please.
+I’ll join you shortly.”
+
+The room was the large one where the momentous conference between
+Captain Elisha and the three lawyers had so recently taken place.
+Caroline seated herself in one of the chairs. Stephen walked the floor.
+
+“Hope he doesn’t keep us waiting long,” he fumed. “I thought of course
+he was ready or he wouldn’t have sent for us.”
+
+“Ready?” his sister looked at him, questioningly. “Ready for what?” she
+repeated, with sudden suspicion. “Steve, do you know what Mr. Sylvester
+wishes to see us about?”
+
+Her brother colored and seemed a bit disconcerted. “How should I know?”
+ he muttered.
+
+“Is it something new about the estate or that man who owns it? You do
+know something! I can see it in your face. What is it?”
+
+“Nothing. How should I know what it is?”
+
+“But you do. I believe you do. Look at me! What does Mr. Sylvester want
+of us?”
+
+The boy hesitated; then whirled and faced her. “See here, Caro,” he
+said, “maybe I do know something--or I can guess. Now, whatever happens,
+you’ve got to be a sensible girl. Certain things have to be dealt
+with in a practical way, and we’re practical people. Sentiment--and
+pride--and all that sort of stuff, are well enough, but business is
+business and an engagement is an engagement. Now it’s right up to you
+and--”
+
+“Steve, what are you talking about?”
+
+“That’s all right. I know what I’m talking about. Somebody in the
+family must use common sense, and when it comes to holding a person to a
+promise, then--Confound it, Sis, we can’t starve, can we?”
+
+“What do you mean?” She rose and advanced toward him. “What do you mean
+by a promise? What have you been doing?”
+
+His confusion increased. He avoided her eyes and moved sullenly toward
+the other side of the table.
+
+“I haven’t done anything,” he grumbled, “that is, I’ve done what any
+reasonable fellow would do. I’m not the only one who thinks.... Look
+here! We’ve got a guardian, haven’t we?”
+
+“A guardian! a _guardian_! Stephen Warren, have you been to him? Have
+you--Was _that_ where you were last night?”
+
+“Well, I--”
+
+“Answer me!”
+
+“What if I have? Whom else am I to go to? Isn’t he--”
+
+“But why did you go to him? What did you say?”
+
+“I said--I said--Never mind what I said. He agrees with me, I can tell
+you that. You’ll thank your stars I did go, before very long. I....
+S-sh! Here’s Sylvester.”
+
+The door of the room opened. The person who entered, however, was not
+the lawyer, but the very man of whom they had been speaking, Captain
+Elisha himself. He closed the door behind him.
+
+“Hello, Stevie,” he said, with a nod to the boy. Then, turning to his
+niece, he stepped forward and held out his hand. “Caroline,” he began,
+“I don’t doubt you’re some surprised to see me here; but I.... Why,
+what’s the matter?”
+
+The faces of the pair led him to ask the question. Stephen’s was red and
+he looked embarrassed and guilty. Caroline’s was white, and she glanced
+from her brother to her guardian and back again, with flashing eyes.
+
+“What’s the matter?” repeated the captain. “Steve,” sharply, “have you
+been making a fool of yourself again? What is it?”
+
+“Nothing,” was the sulky answer; “nothing of consequence. Caro is--well,
+I happened to mention that I called on you last night and--and she
+doesn’t seem to like it, that’s all. As I told her, somebody in the
+family had to use common sense, and you were our guardian and naturally,
+under the circumstances.... Why, I’ll leave it to anyone!” with a burst
+of righteous indignation. “You _are_ our guardian.”
+
+He proclaimed it as if he expected a denial. Captain Elisha frowned.
+“Humph!” he grunted. “That ain’t exactly news, is it, Steve? Seems to me
+we’ve taken up that p’int afore; though, as I remember, you didn’t used
+to be sot on all hands knowin’ it,” with dry sarcasm. “I don’t need even
+your common sense to remind me of it just at this minute. Caroline, your
+brother did come to see me last night. I was glad he did.”
+
+She ignored him. “Steve,” she demanded, still facing the young man, “was
+this, too, a part of your plan? Did you bring me here to meet--him?”
+
+“No, I didn’t. Sylvester was to come to see us. You know that; he
+telephoned. I didn’t know--”
+
+The captain interrupted. “There, there, son!” he exclaimed, “let me say
+a word. No, Caroline, Stevie didn’t know I was to meet you here. But
+I thought it was necessary that I should. Set down, please. I know you
+must be worn out, poor girl.”
+
+“I don’t wish to sit. I want to know what my brother called to see you
+about.”
+
+“Well, there was some matters he wanted to talk over.”
+
+“What were they? Concerning the estate?”
+
+“Partly that.”
+
+“Partly? What else? Captain Warren, my brother has hinted--he has
+said--What does he mean by holding someone to a promise? Answer me
+truthfully.”
+
+“I shouldn’t answer you any other way, Caroline. Steve seems to be
+worried about--now you mustn’t mind my speakin’ plain, Caroline; the
+time’s come when I’ve got to--Steve seems to be worried about the young
+man you’re engaged to. He seems to cal’late that Mr. Dunn may want to
+slip out of that engagement.”
+
+His niece looked at him. Then she turned to her brother. “You went to
+_him_ and.... Oh, how _could_ you!”
+
+Stephen would not meet her gaze. “Well,” he muttered rebelliously, “why
+wouldn’t I? You know yourself that Mal hasn’t been near you since it
+happened. If he wasn’t after--if he was straight, he would have come,
+wouldn’t he? Mind, I don’t say he isn’t--perhaps he doesn’t know. But,
+at any rate, something must be done. We had to face possibilities, and
+you wouldn’t listen to me. I tried--”
+
+“Stop!” she cut him short, imperiously. “Don’t make me hate you. And
+you,” turning to her uncle, “did _you_ listen and believe such things?
+Did you encourage him to believe them? Oh, I know what you think of my
+friends! I heard it from your own lips. And I know why you think it.
+Because they know what you are; because they exposed you and--”
+
+“There, there! Caroline, you needn’t go on. I’ve heard your opinion
+of my character afore. Never mind me for the minute. And, if you’ll
+remember, _I_ ain’t said that I doubted your young man. You told me
+that you thought the world and all of him and that he did of you. That’s
+enough--or ought to be. But your brother says you wrote him two days ago
+and he ain’t been near you.”
+
+“I misdirected the letter. He didn’t receive it.”
+
+“Um-hm. I see. That would explain.”
+
+“Of course it would. That _must_ be the reason.”
+
+“Yes, seem’s if it must.”
+
+“It is. What right have you to doubt it? Oh, how can you think such
+things? Can you suppose the man I am to marry is so despicable--so
+_mean_ as to--as to--I’m ashamed to say it. Why do you presume that
+money has any part in our engagement? Such trouble as mine only makes it
+more binding. Do you suppose if _he_ were poor as--as I am, that I would
+desert _him_? You know I wouldn’t. I should be glad--yes, almost happy,
+because then I could show him--could--”
+
+Her voice failed her. She put her handkerchief to her eyes for an
+instant and then snatched it away and faced them, her head erect. The
+pride in her face was reflected in Captain Elisha’s as he regarded her.
+
+“No, no,” he said gently, “I never supposed you’d act but in one way,
+Caroline. I knew _you_. And, as Steve’ll tell you, I said to him almost
+the same words you’ve been sayin’. If Malcolm’s what he’d ought to be,
+I said, he’ll be glad of the chance to prove how much he cares for your
+sister. But Steve appeared to have some misgivin’s, and so--”
+
+He paused, turned toward the door, and seemed to be listening. Caroline
+flashed an indignant glance at her brother.
+
+“And so?” she asked, scornfully.
+
+“And so,” continued the captain, with a slight change in his tone, “it
+seemed to me that his doubts ought to be settled. And,” rising, as there
+came a tap at the door, “I cal’late they’re goin’ to be.”
+
+He walked briskly over and opened the door. Sylvester was standing
+without.
+
+“Come, have they?” inquired Captain Elisha.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Fetch ‘em right in here. Steve, stand over nigher that corner. This
+way, Caroline, if you please.”
+
+He took his niece by the arm and led her to the side of the room not
+visible from the doorway. She was too astonished to resist, but asked an
+agitated question.
+
+“What is it?” she cried. “Who is coming?”
+
+“Some friends of yours,” was the quiet reply. “Nothin’ to be frightened
+about. Steve, stay where you are.”
+
+The boy was greatly excited. “Is it they?” he demanded. “Is it? By gad!
+Now, Sis, be a sensible girl. If he should try to hedge, you hold him.
+Hold him! Understand?”
+
+“Steve, be quiet,” ordered the captain.... “Ah, Mrs. Dunn, good
+afternoon, ma’am. Mr. Dunn, good afternoon, sir.”
+
+For the pair who, followed by Sylvester, now entered the room were Mrs.
+Corcoran Dunn and Malcolm.
+
+They were past the sill before Captain Elisha’s greeting caused them to
+turn and see the three already there. Mrs. Dunn, who was in the lead,
+stopped short in her majestic though creaking march of entrance, and her
+florid face turned a brighter crimson. Her son, strolling languidly at
+her heels, started violently and dropped his hat. The lawyer, bringing
+up in the rear, closed the door and remained standing near it. Caroline
+uttered an exclamation of surprise. Her brother drew himself haughtily
+erect. Captain Elisha remained unperturbed and smiling.
+
+“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he repeated. “It’s been some time since you and
+I run across each other. I hope you’re feelin’ pretty smart.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn had faced some unpleasant situations in her life and
+had proved equal to them. Usually, however, she had been prepared
+beforehand. For this she had not been prepared--as yet. She had come
+to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, at the senior partner’s
+request, to be told, as she supposed, the full and final details of
+the financial disaster threatening the Warren family. If those details
+should prove the disaster as overwhelming as it appeared, then--well,
+then, certain disagreeable duties must be performed. But to meet the
+girl to whom her son was engaged, and whom she and he had carefully
+avoided meeting until the lawyers should acquaint them with the whole
+truth--to meet this girl, and her brother, and her guardian, thus
+unexpectedly and unprepared, was enough to shake the composure and nerve
+of even such a veteran campaigner as Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn.
+
+But of the three to whom the meeting was an absolute
+surprise,--Caroline, Malcolm and herself--she was characteristically the
+first to regain outward serenity. For a moment she stood nonplused and
+speechless, but only for a moment. Then she hastened, with outstretched
+arms, to Caroline and clasped her in affectionate embrace.
+
+“My dear child!” she cried; “my dear girl! I’m _so_ glad to see you!
+I’ve thought of you so much! And I pity you so. Poor Malcolm
+has--Malcolm,” sharply, “come here! Don’t you see Caroline?”
+
+Malcolm was groping nervously for his hat. He picked it up and obeyed
+his mother’s summons, though with no great eagerness.
+
+“How d’ye do, Caroline,” he stammered, confusedly. “I--I--It’s a deuce
+of a surprise to see you down here. The mater and I didn’t expect--that
+is, we scarcely hoped to meet anyone but Sylvester. He sent for us, you
+know.”
+
+He extended his hand. She did not take it.
+
+“Did you get my letter?” she asked, quickly. Mrs. Dunn answered for him.
+
+“Yes, dear, he got it,” she said. “The poor fellow was almost crazy. I
+began to fear for his sanity; I did, indeed. I did not dare trust him
+out of my sight. Oh, if you could but know how we feel for you and pity
+you!”
+
+Pity was not what Caroline wanted just then. The word jarred upon her.
+She avoided the lady’s embrace and once more faced the embarrassed
+Malcolm.
+
+“You got my letter?” she cried. “You _did_?”
+
+“Yes--er--yes, I got it, Caroline. I--by Jove, you know--”
+
+He hesitated, stammered, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. His mother
+regarded him wrathfully.
+
+“Well,” she snapped, “why don’t you go on? Caroline, dear, you really
+must excuse him. The dear boy is quite overcome.”
+
+Captain Elisha stepped forward.
+
+“Excuse me for interruptin’, ma’am,” he said, addressing the ruffled
+matron; “but I know you’re sort of surprised to see us all here and
+maybe I’d better explain. Mr. Sylvester told me you and your son had an
+appointment with him for this afternoon. Now there was something we--or
+I, anyhow--wanted to talk with you about, so I thought we might as well
+make one job of it. Sylvester’s a pretty busy man, and I know he has
+other things to attend to; so why not let him go ahead and tell you what
+you come to hear, and then we can take up the other part by ourselves.
+He’s told me what you wanted to see him about, and it’s somethin’ we’re
+all interested in, bein’ as we’re one family--or goin’ to be pretty
+soon. So suppose he just tells you now. Ain’t that a good idea?”
+
+Mrs. Dunn looked at the speaker, and then at the lawyer, and seemed to
+have caught some of her son’s embarrassment.
+
+“I--we did have an appointment with Mr. Sylvester,” she admitted,
+reluctantly; “but the business was not important. And,” haughtily, “I do
+not care to discuss it here.”
+
+The captain opened his eyes. “Hey?” he exclaimed. “Not important? You
+surprise me, ma’am. I judged ‘twas mighty important. ‘Twas about the
+real size of your father’s estate, Caroline,” turning to the girl. “I
+thought Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Malcolm must think ‘twas important, for I
+understand they’ve been telephonin’ and askin’ for appointments for the
+last two days. Why, yes! and they come way down here in all this storm
+on purpose to talk it over with him. Am I wrong? Ain’t that so, ma’am?”
+
+It was so, and Mrs. Dunn could not well deny it. Therefore, she took
+refuge in a contemptuous silence. The captain nodded.
+
+“As to discussin’ it here,” he went on with bland innocence, “why, we’re
+all family folks, same as I said, and there ain’t any secrets between us
+on _that_ subject. So suppose we all listen while Mr. Sylvester tells
+just what he’d have told you and Mr. Malcolm. It’s pretty hard to hear;
+but bad news is soon told. Heave ahead, Mr. Sylvester.”
+
+Mrs. Dunn made one more attempt to avoid the crisis she saw was
+approaching.
+
+“Surely, Caroline,” she said testily, “you don’t wish your private
+affairs treated in this public manner. Come, let us go.”
+
+She laid a hand on the girl’s arm. Captain Elisha quietly interposed.
+
+“No, no,” he said. “We’ll all stay here. There’s nothin’ public about
+it.”
+
+Caroline, crimson with mortification, protested indignantly.
+
+“Mr. Sylvester,” she said, “it is not necessary to--”
+
+“Excuse me;” her uncle’s tone was sharper and more stern; “I think it
+is. Go on, Sylvester.”
+
+The lawyer looked far from comfortable, but he spoke at once and to the
+point.
+
+“I should have told you and your son just this, Mrs. Dunn,” he said.
+“I intimated it before, and Miss Warren had already written you the
+essential facts. A new and unexpected development, the nature of which I
+am not at liberty to disclose now or later, makes Abijah Warren’s estate
+absolutely bankrupt. Not only that, but many thousand dollars in debt.
+His heirs are left penniless. That is the plain truth, I’m very sorry
+to say. There is no hope of anything better. You’ll forgive me, Miss
+Warren, I hope, for putting it so bluntly; but I thought it best to
+avoid every possible misunderstanding.”
+
+It was blunt, beyond doubt. Even Captain Elisha winced at the word
+“penniless.” Stephen muttered under his breath and turned his back.
+Caroline, swaying, put a hand on the table to steady herself. The Dunns
+looked at each other.
+
+“Thank you, Mr. Sylvester,” said the captain, quietly. “I’ll see you
+again in a few moments.”
+
+The lawyer bowed and left the room, evidently glad to escape. Captain
+Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn.
+
+“And now, ma’am,” he observed, “that part of the business is over. The
+next part’s even more in the family, so I thought we didn’t need legal
+advice. You see just how matters stand. My niece is a poor girl. She
+needs somebody to support her and look out for her. She’s got that
+somebody, we’re all thankful to say. She’s engaged to Mr. Malcolm here.
+And, as you’re his ma, Mrs. Dunn, and I’m Caroline’s guardian, us old
+folks’ll take our affairs in hand; they needn’t listen, if they don’t
+want to. I understand from Steve that Malcolm’s been mighty anxious to
+have the weddin’ day hurried along. I can’t say as I blame him. And _I_
+think the sooner they’re married the better. Now, how soon can we make
+it, Mrs. Dunn?”
+
+This unexpected and matter-of-fact query was variously received. Mrs.
+Dunn frowned and flushed. Malcolm frowned, also. Steve nodded emphatic
+approval. As for Caroline, she gazed at her guardian in horrified
+amazement.
+
+“Why!” she cried. “You--you--What do you mean by such--”
+
+“Don’t be an idiot, Caro!” cut in her brother. “I told you to be
+sensible. Captain Warren’s dead right.”
+
+“Stevie, you stay out of this.” There was no misunderstanding the
+captain’s tone. “When I want your opinion I’ll ask for it. And,
+Caroline, I want you to stay out, too. This is my trick at the wheel.
+Mrs. Dunn, what d’you say? Never mind the young folks. You and me know
+that marriage is business, same as everything else. How soon can we have
+the weddin’?”
+
+Mrs. Dunn had, apparently, nothing to say--to him. She addressed her
+next remark to Caroline.
+
+“My dear,” she said, in great agitation, “this is really too dreadful.
+This--er--guardian of yours appears to think he is in some barbarous
+country--ordering the savages about. Come! Malcolm, take her away.”
+
+“No,” Captain Elisha stepped in front of the door. “She ain’t goin’; and
+I’d rather you wouldn’t go yet. Let’s settle this up now. I ain’t askin’
+anything unreasonable. Caroline’s under my charge, and I’ve got to plan
+for her. Your boy’s just crazy to marry her; he’s been beggin’ for her
+to name the day. Let’s name it. It needn’t be to-morrow. I cal’late
+you’ll want to get out invitations and such. It needn’t be next week.
+But just say about when it can be; then I’ll know how to plan. That
+ain’t much to ask, sartin.”
+
+Much or little, neither Mrs. Dunn nor her son appeared ready to answer.
+Malcolm fidgeted with his hat and gloves; his mother fanned herself with
+her handkerchief. Caroline, frantic with humiliation and shame, would
+have protested again, but her guardian’s stern shake of the head
+silenced her.
+
+“Well, Mr. Dunn,” turning to the groom-to-be; “you’re one of the
+interested parties--what do you say?”
+
+Malcolm ground his heel into the rug. “I don’t consider it your
+business,” he declared. “You’re butting in where--”
+
+“No, no, I ain’t. It’s my business, and business is just _what_ it is.
+Your ma knows that. She and I had a real confidential up and down talk
+on love and marriage, and she’s the one that proved to me that marryin’
+in high society, like yours and the kind Caroline’s been circulatin’ in,
+was business and mighty little else. There’s a business contract between
+you and my niece. We want to know how soon it can be carried out, that’s
+all.”
+
+The young man looked desperately at the door; but the captain’s broad
+shoulders blocked the way towards it. He hesitated, scowled, and then,
+with a shrug of his shoulders, surrendered.
+
+“How can I marry?” he demanded sullenly. “Confound it! my salary isn’t
+large enough to pay my own way, decently.”
+
+“Malcolm!” cried his mother, warningly.
+
+“Well, Mater, what the devil’s the use of all this? You know.... By
+Jove! you _ought_ to!”
+
+“Hold on, young feller! I don’t understand. Your wages ain’t large
+enough, you say? What do you mean? You was _goin’_ to be married, wasn’t
+you?”
+
+Mrs. Dunn plunged to the rescue, a forlorn hope, but desperate, and
+fighting to the end.
+
+“An outrage!” she blurted. “Malcolm, I forbid you to continue this
+disgusting conversation. Caroline, my poor child, I don’t blame you for
+this, but I call on you to stop it at once. My dear, I--”
+
+She advanced toward the girl with outstretched arms. Caroline recoiled.
+
+“Don’t! don’t!” she gasped. Captain Elisha spoke up sharp and stern.
+
+“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said, “but I’ll be obliged if you’ll wait a
+minute. Caroline, don’t you say a word. You say--you--” addressing
+Malcolm, “that you can’t support a wife on your wages. You surprise me
+some, considerin’ the swath you’ve been cuttin’ on ‘em--but never mind
+that. Maybe they won’t keep automobiles and--er--other things I’ve heard
+you was interested in, but if you cut them out and economize a little,
+same as young married folks I’ve known have been glad to do, you could
+scrape along, couldn’t you? Hey? Couldn’t you?”
+
+Malcolm’s answer was another scornful shrug. “You belong on Cape Cod,”
+ he sneered. “Mater, let’s get out of this.”
+
+“Wait! Put it plain now. Do I understand that you cal’late to break the
+engagement because my niece has lost her money? Is that it?”
+
+Mrs. Dunn realized that the inevitable was upon them. After all, it
+might as well be faced now as later.
+
+“This is ridiculous,” she proclaimed. “Every sane person knows--though
+_barbarians_ may not--” with a venomous glare at the captain--“that,
+in engagements of the kind in which my son shared, a certain amount
+of--er--financial--er--that is, the bride is supposed to have some
+money. It is expected. Of course it is! Love in a cottage is--well--a
+bit _passé_. My son and I pity your niece from the bottom of our hearts,
+but--there! under the circumstances the whole affair becomes impossible.
+Caroline, my dear, I’m dreadfully sorry, dreadfully! I love you like my
+own child. And poor Malcolm will be heartbroken--but--you _see_.”
+
+She extended her hand in a gesture of utter helplessness. Stephen,
+who had been fuming and repressing his rage with difficulty during the
+scene, leaped forward with brandished fist.
+
+“By gad!” he shouted. “Mal Dunn, you cad--”
+
+His uncle pushed him back with a sweep of his arm.
+
+“Steve,” he ordered, “I’m runnin’ this ship.” He gave a quick glance at
+his niece, and then added, speaking rapidly and addressing the head of
+the Dunn family, “I see, ma’am. Yes, yes, I see. Well, you’ve forgot one
+thing, I guess. Caroline’s lived in high society, too. And I’ve been in
+it a spell, myself. And Steve’s a boy, but he’s got a business head. If
+there’s nothin’ in marriage but business, then an engagement is what I
+just called it, a business contract, and it can’t be broke without the
+consent of both sides. You wanted Caroline’s money; maybe she wants
+yours now. If she does, and there’s such a thing as law, why, perhaps
+she can get it.”
+
+“That’s the talk!” cried Stephen exultingly.
+
+“Yup; perhaps she can. She may be a business woman, too, you know. If
+money and style and social position’s what counts and she wants to force
+you to keep your promise, why, I’m her guardian and she can count on me
+to back her up. What do you say, Caroline? I’m at your service. I--”
+
+But Caroline interrupted him.
+
+“Stop!” she cried wildly. “Oh, stop! Do you think--do you suppose I
+would marry him now? _Now_, after I’ve seen what he is? Oh,” with a
+shudder of disgust, “when I think what I might have done, I.... Thank
+God that the money has gone! I’m glad I’m poor! I’m _glad_!”
+
+“Caro, you fool!” shrieked Stephen. She did not heed him.
+
+“Let me go!” she cried. “Let me get away from him; from this room! I
+never want to see him or think of him again. Please! _Please_ let me go!
+Oh, take me home! Captain Warren, _please_ let me go home!”
+
+Her uncle was at her side in a moment. “Yes, yes, dearie,” he said,
+“I’ll take you home. Don’t give way now! I’ll--”
+
+He would have taken her arm, but she shrank from him.
+
+“Not you!” she begged. “Steve!”
+
+The captain’s face clouded, but he answered promptly.
+
+“Of course--Steve,” he agreed. “Steve, take your sister home. Mr.
+Sylvester’s got a carriage waitin’, and he’ll go with you, I don’t
+doubt. Do as I tell you, boy--and behave yourself. Don’t wait; go!”
+
+He held the door open until the hysterical girl and her brother had
+departed. Then he turned to the Dunns.
+
+“Well, ma’am,” he said, dryly. “I don’t know’s there’s anything more to
+be said. All the questions seem to be settled. Our acquaintance wa’n’t
+so awful long, but it was interestin’. Knowin’ you has been, as the
+feller said, a liberal education. Don’t let me keep you any longer. Good
+afternoon.”
+
+He stepped away from the door. Malcolm and his mother remained standing,
+for an instant, where they were when Caroline left.
+
+The young man looked as if he would enjoy choking someone, the captain
+preferably, but said nothing. Then Mrs. Dunn bethought herself of a way
+to make their exit less awkward and embarrassing.
+
+“My heart!” she said, gasping, and with a clutch at her breast. “My
+poor heart! I--I fear I’m going to have one of my attacks. Malcolm, your
+arm--quick!”
+
+With an expression of intense but patient suffering, and leaning heavily
+upon her son’s arm, she moved past Captain Elisha and from the room.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening the captain stood in the lower hall of the apartment house
+at Central Park West, undecided what to do next. He wished more than
+anything else in the world to go to his niece. He would have gone to her
+before--had been dying to go, to soothe, to comfort, to tell her of his
+love--but he was afraid. His conscience troubled him. Perhaps he had
+been too brutal. Perhaps he shouldn’t have acted as he did. Maybe
+forcing the Dunn fleet to show its colors could have been done more
+diplomatically. He had wanted her to see those colors for herself, to
+actually see them. But he might have overdone it. He remembered how she
+shrank from him and turned to her brother. She might hate him more than
+ever now. If so, then the whole scheme under which he was working fell
+to pieces.
+
+He was worried about Steve, too. That young man would, naturally,
+be furious with his sister for what he would consider her romantic
+foolishness. He had been warned to behave himself; but would he? Captain
+Elisha paced up and down the marble floor before the elevator cage and
+wondered whether his visiting the apartment would be a wise move or a
+foolish one.
+
+The elevator descended, the door of the cage opened, and Stephen himself
+darted out. His face was red, he was scowling fiercely, and he strode
+toward the street without looking in his guardian’s direction.
+
+The captain caught him as he passed.
+
+“Here, boy!” he exclaimed; “where’s the fire? Where are you bound?”
+
+His nephew, brought thus unexpectedly to a halt, stared at him.
+
+“Oh, it’s you!” he exclaimed. “Humph! I’m bound--I don’t know where I’m
+bound!”
+
+“You don’t, hey? Well, you can cruise a long ways on a v’yage like that.
+What do you mean?”
+
+“Aw, let me alone! I’m going to the club, I guess, or somewhere. Anyhow,
+I won’t stay with her. I told her so. Silly little idiot! By gad, she
+understands what I think of her conduct. I’ll never speak to her again.
+I told her so. She--”
+
+“Here! Belay! Stop! Who are you talking about?”
+
+“Caro, of course. She--”
+
+“You’ve run off and left her alone--to-night? Where is she?”
+
+“Upstairs--and crying, I suppose. She doesn’t do anything else. It’s all
+she’s good for. Selfish, romantic--”
+
+He got no further, for Captain Elisha sent him reeling with a push and
+ran to the elevator.
+
+“Eighth floor,” he commanded.
+
+The door of the apartment was not latched. Stephen, in his rage and
+hurry, had neglected such trifles. The captain opened it quietly and
+walked in. He entered the library. Caroline was lying on the couch,
+her head buried in the pillows. She did not hear him cross the room. He
+leaned over and touched her shoulder. She started, looked, and sat up,
+gazing at him as though not certain whether he was a dream or reality.
+
+And he looked at her, at her pretty face, now so white and careworn, at
+her eyes, at the tear-stains on her cheeks, and his whole heart went out
+to her.
+
+“Caroline, dearie,” he faltered, “forgive me for comin’ here, won’t you?
+I had to come. I couldn’t leave you alone; I couldn’t rest, thinkin’ of
+you alone in your trouble. I know you must feel harder than ever towards
+me for this afternoon’s doin’s, but I meant it for the best. I _had_ to
+show you--don’t you see? Can you forgive me? Won’t you try to forgive
+the old feller that loves you more’n all the world? Won’t you try?”
+
+She looked at him, wide-eyed, clasping and unclasping her hands.
+
+“_I_ forgive _you_?” she repeated, incredulously.
+
+“Yes. Try to, dearie. Oh, if you would only believe I meant it for your
+good, and nothin’ else! If you could only just trust me and come to me
+and let me help you. I want you, my girl, I want you!”
+
+She leaned forward. “Do you really mean it?” she cried. “How can you?
+after all I’ve done? after the way I’ve treated you? and the things I’ve
+said? You must _hate_ me! Everyone does. I hate myself! You can’t
+forgive me! You can’t!”
+
+His answer was to hold out his arms. Another moment and she was in them,
+clinging to his wet coat, sobbing, holding him fast, and begging him not
+to leave her, to take her away, that she would work, that she would not
+be a burden to him--only take her with him and try to forgive her, for
+he was real and honest and the only friend she had.
+
+And Captain Elisha, soothing her, stroking her hair, and murmuring words
+of love and tenderness, realized that his labor and sacrifice had
+not been in vain, that here was his recompense; she would never
+misunderstand him again; she was his at last.
+
+And yet, in the midst of his joy, his conscience troubled him more than
+ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+It was April; and May was close at hand. The weather was all that late
+April weather should be, and so often is not. Trees, bushes, and vines
+were in bud; the green of the new grass was showing everywhere above the
+dead brown of the old; a pair of bluebirds were inspecting the hollow of
+the old apple tree, with an eye toward spring housekeeping; the sun was
+warm and bright, and the water of the Sound sparkled in the distance.
+Caroline, sitting by the living-room window, was waiting for her uncle
+to return from the city.
+
+In the kitchen Annie Moriarty was preparing dinner. Annie was now cook
+as well as chamber-maid, for, of all the Warren servants, she was the
+only one remaining. Edwards, the “Commodore,” had been dismissed, had
+departed, not without reluctance but philosophically, to seek other
+employment. “Yes, miss,” observed Edwards, when notified that his
+services were no longer required; “I understand. I’ve been expecting
+it. I was in a family before that met with financial difficulties, and
+I know the signs. All I can say is that I hope you and Mr. Stephen will
+get on all right, miss. If there’s anything I can do to help you, by way
+of friendship, please let me know. I’d be glad, for old times’ sake. And
+the cook wanted me to tell you that, being as she’s got another job in
+sight and was paid up to date, she wouldn’t wait for notice, but was
+leaving immediate. She’s gone already, miss.”
+
+The second maid went also. But Annie, Irish and grateful, refused to go.
+Her mother came to back her in the refusal.
+
+“Indeed she’ll not leave you, Miss Caroline--you nor Captain Warren
+neither. Lord love him! Sure, d’ye think we’ll ever forget what you and
+him done for me and my Pat and the childer? You’ve got to have somebody,
+ain’t you? And Annie’s cookin’ ain’t so bad that it’ll kill yez; and
+I’ll learn her more. Never mind what the wages is, they’re big enough.
+She’ll stay! If she didn’t, I’d break her back.”
+
+So, when the apartment was given up, and Captain Elisha and his wards
+moved to the little house in Westchester County, Annie came with them.
+And her cooking, though not by any means equal to that at Delmonico’s,
+had not killed them yet. Mrs. Moriarty came once a week to do the
+laundry work. Caroline acted as a sort of inexperienced but willing
+supervising housekeeper.
+
+The house itself had been procured through the kind interest of
+Sylvester. Keeping the apartment was, under the circumstances, out of
+the question, and Caroline hated it and was only too anxious to give it
+up. She had no suggestions to make. She would go anywhere, anywhere
+that her guardian deemed best; but might they not please go at once? She
+expected that he would suggest South Denboro, and she would have gone
+there without a complaint. To get away from the place where she had been
+so miserable was her sole wish. And trusting and believing in her uncle
+as she now did, realizing that he had been right always and had worked
+for her interest throughout, and having been shown the falseness and
+insincerity of the others whom she had once trusted implicitly, she
+clung to him with an appeal almost piteous. Her pride was, for the
+time, broken. She was humble and grateful. She surrendered to him
+unconditionally, and hoped only for his forgiveness and love.
+
+The captain did not suggest South Denboro. He did, however, tell
+Sylvester that he believed a little place out of the city would be the
+better refuge for the present.
+
+“Poor Caroline’s switched clear around,” he said to the lawyer, “and you
+can’t blame her much. She cal’lates New York’s nothin’ but a sham from
+stern to stern, manned by liars and swindlers and hypocrites and
+officered by thieves. ‘Tain’t no use to tell her ‘tain’t, though she
+might pretend to believe it, if _I_ told her, for just now the poor girl
+thinks I’m Solomon and Saint Peter rolled into one. The way she agrees
+to whatever I say and the way she looks at me and sort of holds on to
+me, as if I was her only anchor in a gale, I declare it makes me feel
+meaner than poorhouse tea--and that’s made of blackberry leaves steeped
+in memories of better things, so I’ve heard say. _Am_ I a low down
+scamp, playin’ a dirty mean trick on a couple of orphans? What do you
+think, Sylvester?”
+
+“You know what I think, Captain Warren,” replied the lawyer. “You’re
+handling the whole matter better than any other man could handle it. No
+one else would have thought of it, to begin with; and the results so far
+prove that you’re right.”
+
+“Yup. Maybe. I wish you was around to say that to me when I wake up
+nights and get to thinkin’. However, as I said, Caroline believes New
+York is like a sailors’ dance hall, a place for decent folks to steer
+clear of. And when the feller you’ve been engaged to is shown up as a
+sneak and your own dad as a crook--well, you can’t blame a green hand
+for holdin’ prejudice against the town that raised ‘em. She’ll get over
+it; but just now I cal’late some little flat, or, better still, a
+little home out where the back yards ain’t made of concrete, would be
+a first-class port for us to make for. Don’t know of such a place at a
+reasonable rent, do you?”
+
+“I might find one. And you may be right; your niece might like it
+better, though it will be somewhat of a change. But how about your
+nephew? He has no objection to the metropolis, I should judge. What will
+he say?”
+
+“Nothin’, I guess--unless he says it to himself. Steve’s goin’ back to
+New Haven with things on his mind. He and I had a mornin’ service, and
+I was the parson. He listened, because when you ain’t got a cent except
+what the society allows you, it ain’t good orthodoxy to dodge the
+charity sermon. Steve’ll behave, and what he don’t like he’ll lump. If
+he starts to open his mouth his ear’ll ache, I cal’late. I talked turkey
+to that young man. Ye-es,” with a slight smile, “I’m sort of afraid I
+lost patience with Stevie.”
+
+When Caroline first saw the little house, with its shingled sides, the
+dead vines over the porch, and the dry stalks of last year’s flowers in
+the yard, her heart sank. With the wind blowing and the bare branches
+of the old apple tree scraping the roof and whining dolefully, it looked
+bleak and forsaken. It was so different, so unhomelike, and so, to her
+eyes, small and poverty-stricken. She made believe that she liked it,
+exclaimed over the view--which, on the particular day, was desolate
+enough--and declared the Dutch front door was “old-fashioned and dear.”
+ But Captain Elisha, watching her closely, knew that she was only waiting
+to be alone to give way to wretchedness and tears. He understood,
+had expected that she would feel thus, but he was disappointed,
+nevertheless. However, after the front door was passed and they were
+inside the house, Caroline looked about her in delighted amazement. The
+living room was small, but bright and warm and cheery. On its walls,
+hiding the rather vivid paper, were hung some of the best of Rodgers
+Warren’s pictures--the Corot, the codfisher, and others. The furniture
+and rugs were those which had been in the library of the apartment,
+those she had been familiar with all her life. The books, many of them,
+were there, also. And the dining room, except for size, looked like
+home. So did the bedrooms; and, in the kitchen, Annie grinned a welcome.
+
+“But how could you?” asked Caroline. “How could you keep all these
+things, Uncle Elisha? I thought, of course, they must all be sold. I
+cried when they took them away that day when we were leaving to go to
+the hotel. I was sure I should never see them again. And here they all
+are! How could you do it?”
+
+The captain’s grin was as wide as Annie’s. “Oh,” he explained, “I
+couldn’t let ‘em all go. Never intended to. That five thousand dollar
+codder up there seemed like own folks, pretty nigh. I’d have kept
+_him_, if we had to live in one room and a trunk. And we ain’t got to
+that--yet. I tell you, dearie, I thought they’d make you feel more to
+home. And they do, don’t they?”
+
+The look she gave him was answer sufficient.
+
+“But the creditors?” she asked. “That man who--they belong to him, don’t
+they? I supposed of course they must go with the rest.”
+
+Captain Elisha winked. “There’s times,” he answered, “when I believe in
+cheatin’ my creditors. This is one of ‘em. Never you mind that feller
+you mentioned. He’s got enough, confound him! He didn’t have the face to
+ask for any more. Sylvester looked out for that. Five hundred thousand,
+droppin’ in, as you might say, unexpected, ought to soften anybody’s
+heart; and I judge even that feller’s got some bowels of mercy.”
+
+He changed the subject hastily, but Caroline asked no more questions.
+She never alluded to the lost estate, never expressed any regrets,
+nor asked to know who it was that had seized her all. The captain had
+expected her to ask, had been ready with the same answer he had given
+Stephen, but when he hinted she herself had forbade his continuing.
+“Don’t tell me about it,” she begged. “I don’t want to know any more.
+Father did wrong, but--but I know he did not mean to. He was a good,
+kind father to me, and I loved him. This man whose money he took had a
+right to it, and now it is his. He doesn’t wish us to know who he is, so
+Steve says, and I’m glad. I don’t want to know, because if I did I
+might hate him. And,” with a shudder, “I am trying so hard not to hate
+anybody.”
+
+Her make-believe liking for the little home became more and more real
+as spring drew near. She began to take an interest in it, in the flower
+garden, in the beds beside the porch, where the peonies and daffodils
+were beginning to show green heads above the loam, and in the household
+affairs. And she had plans of her own, not connected with these. She
+broached them to her uncle, and they surprised and delighted him,
+although he would not give his consent to them entirely.
+
+“You mustn’t think,” she said, “that, because I have been willing to
+live on your money since mine went, that I mean to continue doing it. I
+don’t. I’ve been thinking a great deal, and I realize that I must earn
+my own way just as soon as I can. I’m not fitted for anything now; but
+I can be and I shall. I’ve thought perhaps I might learn stenography
+or--or something like that. Girls do.”
+
+He looked at her serious face and choked back his laugh.
+
+“Why, yes,” he admitted, “they do, that’s a fact. About four hundred
+thousand of ‘em do, and four hundred thousand more try to and then try
+to make business men think that they have. I heard Sylvester sputterin’
+about a couple in his office t’other day; said they was no good and not
+worth the seven dollars a week he paid ‘em.”
+
+“Seven dollars a _week_!” she repeated.
+
+“Yes. Course some make three times that and more; but they’re the
+experienced ones, the good ones. And there’s heaps that don’t. What
+makes you so sot on earnin’ a livin’, Caroline? Ain’t you satisfied with
+the kind I’m tryin’ to give you?”
+
+She regarded him reproachfully. “Please don’t say that,” she protested.
+“You always treat your kindness as a joke, but to me it--it--”
+
+“There! there!” quickly. “Don’t let’s talk foolish. I see what you
+mean, dearie. It ain’t the livin’ but because I’m givin’ it to you that
+troubles you. I know. Well, _I_ ain’t complainin’ but I understand your
+feelin’s and respect ‘em. However, I shouldn’t study type-writin’, if
+I was you. There’s too much competition in it to be comfortable, as the
+fat man said about runnin’ races. I’ve got a suggestion, if you want to
+listen to it.”
+
+“I do, indeed. What is it?”
+
+“Why, just this. I’ve been about everythin’ aboard ship, but I’ve never
+been a steward. Now I’ll say this much for Annie, she tried hard. She
+tumbled into general housekeepin’ the way Asa Foster said he fell into
+the cucumber frame--with a jolt and a jingle; and she’s doin’ her best
+accordin’ to her lights. But sometimes her lights need ile or trimmin’
+or somethin’. I’ve had the feelin’ that we need a good housekeeper
+here. If Annie’s intelligence was as broad and liberal as her shoes, we
+wouldn’t; as ‘tis, we do. I’ll hire you, Caroline, for that job, if you
+say so.”
+
+“I? Uncle Elisha, you’re joking!”
+
+“No, I ain’t. Course I realize you ain’t had much experience in runnin’
+a house, and I hope you understand I don’t want to hire you as a cook.
+But I’ve had a scheme in the back of my head for a fortni’t or more.
+Somethin’ Sylvester said about a young lady cousin of his made me
+think of it. Seems over here at the female college--you know where I
+mean--they’re teachin’ a new course that they’ve christened Domestic
+Science. Nigh’s I can find out it is about what our great gran’marms
+larned at home; that, with up-to-date trimmin’s. All about runnin’ a
+house, it is; how to superintend servants, and what kind of things
+to have to eat, and how they ought to be cooked, and takin’ care of
+children--Humph! we don’t need that, do we?--and, well, everything
+that a home woman, rich or poor, ought to know. At least, she ought to
+‘cordin’ to my old-fashioned notions. Sylvester’s cousin goes there, and
+likes it; and I judge she ain’t figgerin’ to be anybody’s hired help,
+either. My idea was about this: If you’d like to take this course,
+Caroline, you could do it afternoons. Mornin’s and the days you had off,
+you could apply your science here at home, on Annie. Truly it would
+save me hirin’ somebody else, and--well, maybe you’d enjoy it, you can’t
+tell.”
+
+His niece seemed interested.
+
+“I know of the Domestic Science course,” she said. “Several of my
+friends--my former friends, were studying it. But I’m afraid, Uncle,
+that I don’t see where earning my living has any part in it. It seems to
+me that it means your spending more money for me, paying my tuition.”
+
+“No more’n I’d spend for a competent housekeeper. Honest, Caroline, I’d
+like to do it. You think it over a spell.”
+
+She did, visiting the University and making inquiries. What she was told
+there decided her. She took up the course and enjoyed it. It occupied
+her mind and prevented her brooding over the past. She might have made
+many friends among the other students, but she was careful to treat
+them only as acquaintances. Her recent experience with “friends” was too
+fresh in her mind. She studied hard and applied her knowledge at home.
+She and Annie made some odd and funny mistakes at first, but they were
+not made twice, and Captain Elisha noticed a great improvement in the
+housekeeping. Also, Caroline’s spirits improved, though more slowly.
+
+Most evenings they spent together in the living room. She read aloud to
+her uncle, who smoked his cigar and listened, commenting on the doings
+of the story folk with characteristic originality and aptitude. Each
+night, after the reading was over, he wrote his customary note to Abbie
+Baker at South Denboro. He made one flying trip to that village: “Just
+to prove to ‘em that I’m still alive,” as he explained it. “Some of
+those folks down there at the postoffice must have pretty nigh forgot
+to gossip about me by this time. They’ve had me eloped and married and
+a millionaire and a pauper long ago, I don’t doubt. And now they’ve
+probably forgot me altogether. I’ll just run down and stir ‘em up. Good
+subjects for yarns are scurce at that postoffice, and they ought to be
+thankful.”
+
+On his return he told his niece that he found everything much as usual.
+“Thoph Kenney’s raised a beard ‘cause shavin’s so expensive; and the
+Come-Outer minister called the place the other denominations are bound
+for ‘Hades,’ and his congregation are thinkin’ of firin’ him for turnin’
+Free-Thinker. That’s about all the sensations,” he said. “I couldn’t
+get around town much on account of Abbie. She kept me in bed most of the
+time, while she sewed on buttons and mended. Said she never saw a body’s
+clothes in such a state in _her_ life.”
+
+A few of the neighbors called occasionally. And there were other
+callers. Captain Elisha’s unexpected departure from Mrs. Hepton’s
+boarding house had caused a sensation and much regret to that select
+establishment. The landlady, aided and abetted by Mrs. Van Winkle
+Ruggles, would have given a farewell tea in his honor, but he declined.
+“Don’t you do it,” he said. “I like my tea pretty strong, and farewells
+are watery sort of things, the best of ‘em. And this ain’t a real
+farewell, anyhow.”
+
+“‘Say _au revoir_, but not good-by,’” sang Miss Sherborne sentimentally.
+
+“That’s it. Everybody knows what good-by means. We’ll say the other
+thing--as well as we can--and change it to ‘Hello’ the very first time
+any of you come out to see us.”
+
+They were curious to know his reason for leaving. He explained that his
+niece was sort of lonesome and needed country air; he was going to live
+with her, for the present. Consequently Mrs. Ruggles, on the trail of
+aristocracy, was the first to call. Hers was a stately and ceremonious
+visit. They were glad when it was over. Lawton, the bookseller and his
+wife, came and were persuaded to remain and dine. Caroline liked them at
+sight. The most impressive call, however, was that of Mr. and Mrs. “C.”
+ Dickens. The great man made it a point to dress in the style of bygone
+years, and his conversation was a treat. His literary labors were
+fatiguing and confining, he admitted, and the “little breath of rural
+ozone” which this trip to Westchester County gave him, was like a
+tonic--yes, as one might say, a tonic prescribed and administered by
+Dame Nature herself.
+
+“I formerly resided in the country,” he told Caroline.
+
+“Yes,” put in his wife, “we used to live at Bayonne, New Jersey. We
+had such a pretty house there, that is, half a house; you see it was a
+double one, and--”
+
+“Maria,” her husband waved his hand, “why trouble our friends with
+unnecessary details.”
+
+“But it _was_ a pretty house, ‘C.,’ dear,” with a pathetic little sigh.
+“I’ve missed it a great deal since, Miss Warren. ‘C.’ had a joke about
+it--he’s such a joker! He used to call it ‘Gad’s Hill, Junior.’”
+
+“Named after some of David B.’s folks?” asked Captain Elisha innocently.
+The answer, delivered by Mr. Dickens, was condescending and explanatory.
+
+Caroline laughed, actually laughed aloud, when the visit was over. Her
+uncle was immensely pleased.
+
+“Hooray!” he cried. “I’ll invite ‘em up to stay a week. That’s the fust
+time I’ve heard you laugh for I don’t know when.”
+
+She laughed again. “I can’t help it,” she said; “they are so funny.”
+
+The captain chuckled. “Yes,” he said, “and they don’t know it. I
+cal’late a person’s skull has got room for just about so much in it and
+no more. Cornelius Charles’s head is so jammed with self-satisfaction
+that his sense of humor was crowded out of door long ago.”
+
+One boarder at Mrs. Hepton’s did not call, nor did Captain Elisha allude
+to him. Caroline noticed the latter fact and understood the reason.
+Also, when the captain went to the city, as he frequently did, and
+remained longer than usual, she noticed that his explanations of the
+way in which he spent his time were sometimes vague and hurried. She
+understood and was troubled. Yet she thought a great deal on the subject
+before she mentioned it.
+
+On the April afternoon when Caroline sat at the window of the living
+room awaiting her uncle’s return she was thinking of that subject.
+But, at last, her mind was made up. It was a hard thing to do; it was
+humiliating, in a way; it might--though she sincerely hoped not--be
+misconstrued as to motive; but it was right. Captain Elisha had been
+so unselfish, so glad to give up every personal inclination in order to
+please her, that she would no longer permit her pride to stand in the
+way of his gratification, even in little things. At least, she would
+speak to him on the matter.
+
+He came on a later than his usual train, and at dinner, when she asked
+where he had been, replied, “Oh, to see Sylvester, and--er--around.” She
+asked him no more, but, when they were together in the living room, she
+moved her chair over beside his and said without looking at him:
+
+“Uncle Elisha, I know where you’ve been this afternoon. You’ve been to
+see Mr. Pearson.”
+
+“Hey?” He started, leaned back and regarded her with astonishment and
+some alarm.
+
+“You’ve been to see Mr. Pearson,” she repeated, “haven’t you?”
+
+“Why--why, yes, Caroline, I have--to tell you the truth. I don’t see how
+you knew, but,” nervously, “I hope you don’t feel bad ‘cause I did. I
+go to see him pretty often. You see, I think a good deal of him--a whole
+lot of him. _I_ think he’s a fine young feller. Course I know you don’t,
+and so I never mention him to you. But I do hope you ain’t goin’ to ask
+me not to see him.”
+
+She shook her head. “No,” she said. “I would have no right to ask that,
+even if I wished to. And I do not wish it. Uncle Elisha, if you were
+alone here, he would come to see you; I know he would. Invite him to
+come, please.”
+
+His astonishment was greater than ever.
+
+“Invite him to come _here_?” he asked. “To see you?”
+
+“No,” hastily; “to see you. This is your home. I have no right to keep
+your friends from visiting it. I know you would sacrifice everything
+for me, even them; but I will not be so selfish as to allow it. Ask him
+here, please. I really want you to.”
+
+He pulled his beard. “Caroline,” he answered slowly, “I’m much obliged
+to you. I understand why you’re doin’ this, and I thank you. But it
+ain’t likely that I’ll say yes, is it? And do you suppose Jim would come
+if I did ask him? He knows you believe he’s a--well, all that’s bad. You
+told him so, and you sent him away. I will give in that I’d like to have
+him here. He’s one of the few men friends I’ve made since I landed
+in New York. But, under the circumstances--you feelin’ as you do--I
+couldn’t ask him, and he wouldn’t come if I did.”
+
+She remained silent for a time. Then she said: “Uncle, I want you to
+tell me the truth about Mr. Pearson and father--just why they
+quarreled and the real truth of the whole affair. Don’t spare my
+feelings; tell me what you believe is the true story. I know you think
+Mr. Pearson was right, for you said so.”
+
+The captain was much troubled.
+
+“I--I don’t know’s I’d better, dearie,” he answered. “I think I do know
+the truth, but you might think I was hard on ‘Bije--on your father. I
+ain’t. And I sympathize with the way he felt, too. But Jim did right, as
+I see it. He acted just as I’d want a son of mine to do. And.... Well, I
+cal’late we’d better not rake up old times, had we?”
+
+“I want you to tell me. Please do.”
+
+“I don’t know’s I’d better. You have been told the story different,
+and--”
+
+“I know I have. That is the reason why I ask you to tell it. Oh,” with
+a flash of scorn, “I was told many stories, and I want to forget them.
+And,” sadly, “I can bear whatever you may tell me, even about father.
+Since I learned that he was a--a--”
+
+“S-sh, Caroline; don’t!”
+
+“After that, I can bear anything, I think. This cannot be worse.”
+
+“Worse! No, not! This ain’t very bad. I will tell you, dearie. This is
+just what happened.”
+
+He told her the exact truth concerning the Trolley Combine, his
+brother’s part in it, and Pearson’s. She listened without comment.
+
+“I see,” she said when he had finished. “I think I see. Mr. Pearson felt
+that, as a newspaper man, an honest one, he must go on. He knew that the
+thing was wrong and that innocent people might lose money in it. It was
+his duty to expose it, and he did it, even though it meant the loss of
+influence and of father’s friendship. I see.”
+
+“That was about it, Caroline. I think the hardest part for him was when
+‘Bije called him ungrateful. ‘Bije had been mighty kind to him, that’s a
+fact.”
+
+“Yes. Father was kind; I know that better than anyone else. But Mr.
+Pearson was right. Yes, he was right, and brave.”
+
+“So I size it up. And I do sympathize with your father, too. This wa’n’t
+such an awful lot worse than a good many stock deals. And poor ‘Bije was
+perfectly desp’rate, I guess. If it had gone through he’d have been able
+to square accounts with the Rubber Company; and just think what that
+would have meant to him. Poor feller! poor feller!” He sighed. She
+reached for his hand and stroked it gently with her own.
+
+After another interval she said: “How I insulted and wronged him! How he
+must despise me!”
+
+“Who? Jim? No, no! he don’t do any such thing. He knows you didn’t
+understand, and who was responsible. Jim’s got sense, lots of it.”
+
+“But it is my misunderstanding and my insulting treatment of him which
+have kept you two apart--here, at any rate.”
+
+“Don’t let that worry you, Caroline. I see him every once in a while, up
+to the city.”
+
+“It does worry me; and it will, until it is made right. And,” in a lower
+tone, but with decision, “it shall be.”
+
+She rose and, bending over, kissed him on the forehead. “Good night,
+Uncle,” she said.
+
+Captain Elisha was disappointed. “What!” he exclaimed. “Goin’ aloft so
+soon? We ain’t had our readin’ yet. Pretty early to turn in, seems to
+me. Stay a little longer, do.”
+
+“Not to-night, dear. I’m going to my room. Please excuse me this time.”
+ She turned to go and then, turning back again, asked a final question.
+
+“You’re sure,” she said, hesitatingly; “you’re quite sure he will not
+come here--to you--if you tell him I understand, and--and you ask him?”
+
+“Well, Caroline, I don’t know. You see, I was responsible for his comin’
+before. He had some scruples against it then, but I talked him down.
+He’s sort of proud, Jim is, and he might--might not want to--to--”
+
+“I see. Good night, Uncle.”
+
+The next morning, after breakfast, she came to him again.
+
+“Uncle Elisha,” she said, “I have written him.”
+
+“What? You’ve written? Written who?”
+
+“Mr. Pearson. I wrote him, telling him I had learned the true story of
+his disagreement with father and that he was right and I was wrong. I
+apologized for my behavior toward him. Now, I think, perhaps, if you ask
+him, he will come.”
+
+The captain looked at her. He realized the sacrifice of her pride which
+writing that letter must have meant, and that she had done it for him.
+He was touched and almost sorry she had done it. He took both her hands
+in his.
+
+“Dearie,” he said, “you shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t expect you
+to. I know you did it just for my sake. I won’t say I ain’t glad; I am,
+in one way. But ‘twa’n’t necessary, and ‘twas too much, too hard for you
+altogether.”
+
+“Don’t say that,” she begged. “Too much! I never can do enough. Compared
+to what you have done for me it--it.... Oh, please let me do what little
+I can. But, Uncle Elisha, promise me one thing; promise that you will
+not ask me to meet him, if he should come. That I couldn’t do, even for
+you.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+Promises of that kind are easier to make than to keep. The captain
+promised promptly enough, but the Fates were against him. He made it his
+business to go to town the very next day and called upon his friend. He
+found the young man in a curiously excited and optimistic frame of mind,
+radically different from that of the past few months. The manuscript of
+the novel was before him on the desk, also plenty of blank paper.
+His fountain-pen was in his hand, although apparently, he had written
+nothing that morning. But he was going to--oh, yes, he was going to! He
+was feeling just in the mood. He had read his manuscript, and it was not
+so bad; by George, some of the stuff was pretty good! And the end
+was not so far off. Five or six chapters more and the thing would be
+finished. He would have to secure a publisher, of course, but two had
+already expressed an interest; and so on.
+
+Captain Elisha drew his own conclusions. He judged that his niece’s
+letter had reached its destination. He did not mention it, however, nor
+did Pearson. But when the captain hinted at the latter’s running out to
+the house to see him some time or other, the invitation was accepted.
+
+“That’s fine, Jim,” declared the visitor. “Come any time. I want you
+to see what a nice little place I’ve got out there. Don’t stand on
+ceremony, come--er--next week, say.” Then, mindful of his promise, he
+added, “You and I’ll have it all to ourselves. I’ve been cal’latin’ to
+hire a sail-boat for the summer; got my eye on a capable little sloop
+belongin’ to a feller on the Sound shore. If all goes well I’ll close
+the deal in a few days. I’ll meet you at the depot and we’ll have a sail
+and get dinner at a hotel or somewheres, and then we’ll come up to the
+house and take a whack at Cap’n Jim’s doin’s in the new chapters. Just
+you and I together in the settin’ room; hey?”
+
+Pearson did not seem so enthusiastic over this programme, although he
+admitted that it sounded tip-top.
+
+“How is Miss Warren?” he asked, mentioning the name with a nonchalance
+remarkable, considering that he had not done so before for weeks. “She
+is well, I hope?”
+
+“Yes, she’s fust-rate, thank you. Very well, everything considered. She
+keeps to herself a good deal. Don’t care to meet many folks, and you
+can’t hardly blame her.”
+
+Pearson admitted that, and the remainder of the call was largely a
+monologue by Captain Elisha.
+
+“Well, then, Jim,” said the latter, when he rose to go, “you come up
+Monday or Tuesday of next week. Will you?”
+
+“Yes. I--I think so.”
+
+“Don’t think, do it. Let me know what train you’re comin’ on, and I’ll
+meet you at the depot.”
+
+This last remark was what upset calculations. Pearson came on Monday,
+having written the day before. He did not mail the note himself, but
+trusted it to Mrs. Hepton, who was going out to attend evening service.
+She forgot it until the next day. So it happened that when he alighted
+from the train at the suburban station the captain was not there to
+meet him. He waited a while, and then, inquiring the way of the station
+agent, walked up to the house by himself. As he turned in at the front
+walk, Caroline came out of the door. They met, face to face.
+
+It was a most embarrassing situation, particularly for Caroline; yet,
+with feminine resourcefulness, she dissembled her embarrassment to some
+extent and acknowledged his stammered, “Good afternoon, Miss Warren,”
+ with a cool, almost cold, “How do you do, Mr. Pearson?” which chilled
+his pleasure at seeing her and made him wish devoutly that he had not
+been such a fool as to come. However, there he was, and he hastily
+explained his presence by telling her of the captain’s invitation for
+that day, how he had expected to meet him at the station, and, not
+meeting him, had walked up to the house.
+
+“Is he in?” he asked.
+
+No, Captain Elisha was not in. He had gone to see the sail-boat man. Not
+hearing from his friend, he concluded the latter would not come until
+the next day.
+
+“He will be so sorry,” said Caroline.
+
+Pearson was rather thankful than otherwise. The captain’s absence
+afforded him an opportunity to escape from a place where he was plainly
+unwelcome.
+
+“Oh, never mind,” he said. “It is not important. I can run out
+another day. Just tell him I called, Miss Warren, please; that I wrote
+yesterday, but my letter must have gone astray. Good afternoon.”
+
+He was turning to go, but she stopped him. She had fully made up her
+mind that, when he came, she would not meet him--remembering how she had
+treated him on the evening of her birthday, she would be ashamed to
+look him in the face. Besides, she could not meet him after writing that
+letter; it would be too brazen; he would think--all sorts of things.
+When he visited her uncle she would remain in her room, or go to the
+city or somewhere.
+
+But now she had met him. And he had come in response to her uncle’s
+invitation, given because she herself had pleaded that it should be. To
+let him go away would be rude and ridiculous; and how could she explain
+to the captain?
+
+“You mustn’t go, Mr. Pearson,” she said. “You must come in and wait;
+Captain Warren will be back soon, I’m sure.”
+
+“Thank you; but I think I won’t wait. I can come another time.”
+
+“But you must wait. I insist. Uncle Elisha will be dreadfully
+disappointed if you don’t. There isn’t a train for an hour, and he will
+return before that, I am sure. Please come in.”
+
+Pearson was reluctant, but he could think of no reasonable excuse. So he
+entered the house, removed his overcoat and hat, and seated himself in
+the living room to await the captain’s return. Caroline excused herself,
+saying that she had an errand at the shop in the village. She made that
+errand as long as she could, but when she returned he was still there,
+and Captain Elisha had not appeared.
+
+The conversation was forced, for a time. Each felt the embarrassment,
+and Pearson was still resentful of the manner in which she had greeted
+him on his arrival. But, as he looked at her, the resentment vanished,
+and the other feeling, that which he had determined to forget, returned.
+Captain Elisha had told him how brave she had been through it all, and,
+contrasting the little house with the former home, remembering the loss
+of friends and fortune, to say nothing of the unmasking of those whom
+she believed were her nearest and dearest, he wondered and admired more
+than ever. He understood how very hard it must have been for her to
+write that letter to him, a letter in which she justified his course
+at the cost of her own father’s honor. He longed to tell her that he
+understood and appreciated.
+
+At last he could not resist the temptation.
+
+“Miss Warren,” he said, “please excuse my speaking of this, but I must;
+I must thank you for writing me as you did. It was not necessary, it
+was too much to expect, too hard a thing for you to do. It makes me feel
+guilty. I--”
+
+“Please don’t!” she interrupted. “Don’t speak in that way. It was right.
+It was what I should have done long ago.”
+
+“But it was not necessary; I understood. I knew you had heard another
+version of the story and that you felt I had been ungrateful and mean,
+to say the least, in my conduct toward your father. I knew that; I have
+never blamed you. And you writing as you did--”
+
+“I did it for my uncle’s sake,” she broke in, quickly. “You are his
+closest friend.”
+
+“I know, but I appreciate it, nevertheless. I--I wish you would consider
+me your friend as well as his. I do, sincerely.”
+
+“Thank you. I need friends, I know. I have few now, which is not
+strange,” rather bitterly.
+
+He protested earnestly. “I did not mean it in that way,” he said. “It
+is an honor and a great privilege to be one of your friends. I had that
+honor and privilege once. May I have it again?”
+
+“Thank you, Mr. Pearson.... Now tell me about your novel. I remember
+it all so well. And I am very much interested. You must have it nearly
+completed. Tell me about it, please.”
+
+They were deep in the discussion of the novel when Captain Elisha walked
+into the living room. He was surprised, stating his feelings at their
+mildest, to find them together, but he did not express his astonishment.
+Instead, he hailed Pearson delightedly, demanded to know if they had
+dared tackle Cap’n Jim without the “head doctor’s” being on the scene;
+and insisted upon the author’s admitting him to the “clinic” forthwith.
+Pearson did not take the next train, nor the next. Instead, he stayed
+for dinner and well into the evening, and when he did go it was after a
+prompt acceptance of the captain’s invitation to “come again in a mighty
+little while.”
+
+Caroline, when she and her uncle were alone after their visitor’s
+departure, made no protest against the invitation having been given.
+She did not speak of Pearson at all. Captain Elisha also talked of other
+things, principally about the sail-boat, the summer lease of which he
+had arranged that afternoon. He declared the sloop to be an “able craft
+of her tonnage” and that they would have some good times aboard her or
+he missed his guess. In his own room, when ready for bed, he favored his
+reflection in the glass with a broad smile and a satisfied wink, from
+which proceeding it may be surmised that the day had not been a bad one,
+according to his estimate.
+
+Pearson came again a week later, and thereafter frequently. The sessions
+with Cap’n Jim and his associates were once more regular happenings
+to be looked forward to and enjoyed by the three. As the weather grew
+warmer, the sloop--Captain Elisha had the name she formerly bore painted
+out and Caroline substituted--proved to be as great a source of pleasure
+as her new skipper had prophesied. He and his niece--and occasionally
+Pearson--sailed and picnicked on the Sound, and Caroline’s pallor
+disappeared under the influence of breeze and sunshine. Her health
+improved, and her spirits, also. She seemed, at times, almost happy,
+and her uncle seldom saw her, as after the removal to the suburb he
+so frequently used, with tears in her eyes and the sadness of bitter
+memories in her expression and manner. Her work at the University grew
+steadily more difficult, but she enjoyed it thoroughly and declared that
+she would not give it up for worlds.
+
+In June two very important events took place. The novel was finished,
+and Stephen, his Sophomore year at an end, came home from college. He
+had been invited by some classmates to spend a part of his vacation with
+them on the Maine coast, and his guardian had consented to his doing so;
+but the boy himself had something else to propose. On an evening soon
+after his return, when, his sister having retired, he was alone with the
+captain, he broached the idea.
+
+“Say,” he said, “I’ve been thinking a good deal while I’ve been away
+this last time.”
+
+“Glad to hear it, I’m sure,” replied his uncle, dryly.
+
+“Yes. I’ve been thinking--about a good many things. I’m flat broke; down
+and out, so far as money is concerned. That’s so, isn’t it?”
+
+Captain Elisha looked at him keenly for an instant. Then:
+
+“It appears that way, I’m afraid,” he answered. “What made you ask?”
+
+“Nothing. I wasn’t asking, really; I was just stating the case. Now, the
+way I look at it, this college course of mine isn’t worth while. You’re
+putting up for it, and I ought to be much obliged; I am, of course.”
+
+“You’re welcome, Stevie.”
+
+“I know; but what’s the use of it? I’ve got to go to work when it’s
+over. And the kind of work I want to do doesn’t need university
+training. I’m just wasting time; that’s what I’m doing.”
+
+“Humph! I ain’t so sure about that. But what sort of work do you want to
+do?”
+
+“I want to be down on the Street, as the governor was. If this Rubber
+Company business hadn’t knocked us out, I intended, as soon as I was of
+age, to take that seat of his and start in for myself. Well, that chance
+has gone, but I mean to get in some way, though I have to start at the
+foot of the ladder. Now why can’t I leave college and start now? It will
+be two years gained, won’t it?”
+
+Captain Elisha seemed pleased, but he shook his head.
+
+“How do you know you’d like it?” he asked. “You’ve never tried.”
+
+“No, I never have; but I’ll like it all right. I know I shall. It’s what
+I’ve wanted to do ever since I was old enough to think of such things.
+Just let me start in now, right away, and I’ll show you. I’ll make good;
+you see if I don’t.”
+
+He was very earnest. The captain deliberated before answering.
+
+“Stevie,” he said, doubtfully, “I rather like to hear you talk that
+way; I own up it pleases me. But, as to your givin’ up college--that’s
+different. Let me think it over for a day or two; that is, if you can
+put off the Maine trip so long as that.”
+
+“Hang the Maine trip! You let me get into business, the business I want
+to get into, and I won’t ask for a vacation; you can bet on that!”
+
+“All right then. I’ll think, and do some questionin’ around, and report
+soon’s I’ve decided what’s best.”
+
+He laid the stump of his cigar in the ash receiver and rose from his
+chair. But his nephew had not finished.
+
+“There was something else I intended to say,” he announced, but with
+less eagerness.
+
+“That so? What?”
+
+“Why--why, just this.” He fidgeted with his watch chain, colored and
+was evidently uneasy. “I guess--” he hesitated--“I guess that I haven’t
+treated you as I ought.”
+
+“I want to know! You guess that, hey? Why?”
+
+“Oh, you know why. I’ve been thinking since I went back to New Haven.
+I’ve had a chance to think. Some of the fellows in the set I used to be
+thick with up there have learned that I’m broke, and they--they aren’t
+as friendly as they were. Not all of them, of course, but some. And
+I wouldn’t chase after them; not much! If they wanted to drop me they
+could. You bet I didn’t try to hang on! I was pretty sore for a while
+and kept to myself and--well, I did a lot of thinking. I guess Caro is
+right; you’ve been mighty decent to her and me.”
+
+He paused, but Captain Elisha made no comment.
+
+“I guess you have,” continued Stephen, soberly. “When you first came,
+you know, Caroline and I couldn’t understand. We thought you were
+butting in and weren’t our sort, and--and--”
+
+“And a hayseed nuisance generally; I know. Heave ahead, son; you
+interest me.”
+
+“Well, we didn’t like it. And Mal Dunn and his mother were always
+sympathizing and insinuating, and we believed they were our best
+friends, and all that. So we didn’t try to understand you or--or even
+make it livable for you. Then, after the news came that the money had
+gone, I acted like a kid, I guess. That business of making Mal stick
+to the engagement was pretty silly. I was nearly desperate, you see,
+and--and--you knew it was silly. You never took any stock in it, did
+you?”
+
+The captain smiled.
+
+“Not a heap,” he admitted.
+
+“No. All you wanted was to show them up. Well, you did it, and I’m glad
+you did. But Caro and I have talked it over since I’ve been home, and
+we agree that you’ve been a great deal better to us than we deserve. You
+didn’t _have_ to take care of us at all, any more, after the money went.
+By gad! considering how we treated you, I don’t see why you did. _I_
+wouldn’t. But you did--and you are. You’ve given us a home, and you’re
+putting me through college and--and--”
+
+“That’s all right, son. Good night.”
+
+“Just a minute. I--I--well, if you let me, I’d like to thank you
+and--and ask your pardon.”
+
+“Granted, my boy. And never mind the thanks, either. Just keep on
+thinkin’ and actin’ as you have to-night, and I’ll be satisfied. I want
+to see my nephew makin’ a man of himself--a real man; and, Steve, you
+talk more like a man to-night than I’ve ever heard you. Stick to it, and
+you’ll do yet. As for goin’ to work, you let me chew on that for a few
+days.”
+
+The next morning he called on Sylvester, who in turn took him to a
+friend of his, a broker--employing a good-sized staff of clerks. The
+three had a consultation, followed, the day after, by another. That
+evening the captain made a definite proposal to Stephen. It was,
+briefly, that, while not consenting to the latter’s leaving college, he
+did consider that a trial of the work in a broker’s office might be
+a good thing. Therefore, if the young man wished, he could enter the
+employ of Sylvester’s friend and remain during July and August.
+
+“You’ll leave about the first of September, Steve,” he said, “and
+that’ll give you time for the two weeks vacation that you ought to have.
+Then you can go back to Yale and pitch in till the next summer, when the
+same job’ll be ready for you. After you’re through college for good, if
+what you’ve learned about brokerin’ ain’t cured you of your likin’ for
+it--if you still want to go ahead with it for your life job, then--well,
+then we’ll see. What do you say?”
+
+Stephen had a good deal to say, principally in the line of objection to
+continuing his studies. Finding these objections unavailing, he agreed
+to his guardian’s proposition.
+
+“All right,” said the captain; “then you can go to work next Monday. But
+you’ll _have_ to work, and be just the same as any other beginner, no
+better and no worse. There’ll be no favoritism, and, if you’re really
+wuth your salt, you won’t want any. Show ‘em, and me, that you’re wuth
+it.”
+
+The novel, the wonderful tale which Captain Elisha was certain would
+make its author famous, was finished that very day in June when Stephen
+came back from New Haven. The question of title remained, and the
+“clinic,” now reënforced by Steve--whose dislike for Pearson
+had apparently vanished with others of his former likes and
+dislikes--considered that at several sessions. At last “The Man at the
+Wheel” was selected, as indicating something of the hero’s profession
+and implying, perhaps, a hint of his character. Then came the
+fateful task of securing a publisher. And the first to whom it was
+submitted--one of the two firms which had already expressed a desire to
+read the manuscript--accepted it, at what, for a first novel, were
+very fair terms. During the summer there was proof to be read and
+illustrations to be criticized. Captain Elisha did not wholly approve of
+the artist’s productions.
+
+“Jerushy!” he exclaimed, “look at that mainmast! Look at the rake of it!
+More like a yacht than a deep-water bark, she is enough sight. And the
+fust mate’s got a uniform cap on, like a purser on a steamboat. Make
+that artist feller take that cap off him, Jim. He’s got to. I wish he
+could have seen some of my mates. They wa’n’t Cunarder dudes, but they
+could make a crew hop ‘round like a sand-flea in a clam bake.”
+
+Or, when the picture happened to be a shore view:
+
+“What kind of a house is that? Did you ever see a house like that
+Down-East? I’ll leave it to anybody if it don’t look like a sugar man’s
+plantation I used to know down Mobile way. All that feller standin’
+by the door needs is to have his face blacked; then he’d start singin’
+‘S’wanee River.’ This ain’t ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’ Bah!”
+
+The advance copy, the first one, was ready early in September, and the
+author, of course, brought it immediately to his friends. They found
+the dedication especially interesting: “To C. W. and E. W., consulting
+specialists at the literary clinics, with grateful acknowledgments.”
+ Probably Captain Elisha was never prouder of anything, even his first
+command, than of that dedication.
+
+And the story, when at last it appeared for sale, was almost from the
+beginning a success. The reviewers praised it, the reading public--that
+final court of appeal which makes or unmakes novels--took kindly to it,
+and discussed and recommended it; and, most important of all, perhaps,
+it sold and continued to sell. There was something in it, its humanity,
+its simplicity, its clearly marked characters, which made a hit. Pearson
+no longer needed to seek publishers; they sought him. His short stories
+were bid for by the magazines, and his prices climbed and climbed.
+He found himself suddenly planted in the middle of the highway to
+prosperity, with a clear road ahead of him, provided he continued to do
+his best.
+
+In September Stephen gave up his work at the broker’s office, spent the
+weeks with his friends in Maine, and then returned to Yale. He gave up
+the position on the Street with reluctance. He was sure he liked it
+now, he declared. It was what he was fitted for, and he meant, more than
+ever, to take it up permanently as soon as he was free. And his employer
+told Captain Elisha that the youngster was bright, clever, and apt. “A
+little conceited, needs taking down occasionally, but that is the only
+trouble. He has been spoiled, I should imagine,” he said.
+
+“Yup,” replied the captain, with emphasis; “your imagination’s a good
+one. It don’t need cultivatin’ any.”
+
+The novel being out of the way, and its successor not yet far enough
+advanced in plot or general plan for much discussion, the “literary
+clinics” were no longer as frequent. But Pearson’s visits to the Warren
+house were not discontinued. All summer long he had been coming out,
+once, and usually twice, a week. Captain Elisha had told him not to
+stand on formality, to come any time, and he did. On most of these
+occasions he found the captain at home; but, if only Caroline was there,
+he seemed quite contented. She did not remark on the frequency of his
+visits. In fact, she mentioned him less and less in conversation with
+her uncle. But, as the autumn came and moved towards its prime she
+seemed, to the captain’s noticing eye, a trifle more grave, a little
+more desirous of being by herself. Sometimes he found her sitting by
+the open fire--pleasant in the cool October evenings--and gazing very
+soberly at the blaze. She had been in good spirits, more merry and
+light-hearted than he had ever seen her, during the latter part of
+the summer; now her old sadness seemed to be returning. It would have
+troubled him, this change in her mood, if he had not believed he knew
+the cause.
+
+He was planning a glorious Thanksgiving. At least, it would be glorious
+to him, for he intended spending the day, and several days, at his own
+home in South Denboro. Abbie Baker had made him promise to do it, and he
+had agreed. He would not leave Caroline, of course; she was going with
+him. Steve would be there, though he would not come until Thanksgiving
+Day itself. Sylvester, also, would be of the party; he seemed delighted
+at the opportunity.
+
+“I’m curious to see the place where they raise fellows like you,” the
+lawyer said. “It must be worth looking at.”
+
+“Graves don’t think so,” chuckled the captain. “I invited him, and
+he said, ‘No, thank you’ so quick that the words was all telescoped
+together. And he shivered, too, when he said it; just as if he felt
+that sou’west gale whistlin’ between his bones even now. I told him
+I’d pretty nigh guarantee that no more trees would fall on him, but it
+didn’t have any effect.”
+
+Pearson was asked and had accepted. His going was so far a settled thing
+that he had commissioned Captain Elisha to purchase a stateroom for him
+on the Fall River boat; for of course the captain would not consider
+their traveling the entire distance by train. At an interview in the
+young man’s room in the boarding house, only three days before the date
+set for the start, he had been almost as enthusiastic as the Cape Codder
+himself. The pair had planned several side excursions, time and weather
+permitting, among them a trip across the Sound to Setuckit Point, with
+the possibility of some late sea-fowl shooting and a long tramp to one
+of the life-saving stations, where Pearson hoped to pick up material for
+his new book. He was all anticipation and enthusiasm when the captain
+left him, and said he would run out to the house the following day, to
+make final arrangements.
+
+That day Sylvester ‘phoned, asking Captain Elisha to come to his office
+on a matter of business. When, having done so, the captain, returning,
+alighted at his home station, he was surprised to see Pearson standing
+on the platform.
+
+“Why, hello, Jim!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Just come,
+have you?”
+
+His friend shook his head. “No, Captain Warren,” he said; “I’m just
+going.”
+
+“Goin’? What for? Been up to the house, of course? Caroline told you
+where I’d gone and that I was cal’latin’ to hurry back, didn’t she?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Well, then, course you ain’t goin’! You’re goin’ to stay to dinner.
+I’ve got some things to tell you about that life-savin’ station cruise.
+I’ve been thinkin’ that I know the cap’n and most of the crew on the
+lightship off back of the Point. How’d you like to go aboard of her? You
+could get some yarns from those fellers that might be wuth hearin’.”
+
+“I have no doubt I should. But I’m afraid I can’t go. The fact is,
+Captain, I’ve decided not to spend Thanksgiving with you, after all.”
+
+“Hey?” Captain Elisha could scarcely believe he had heard correctly.
+“You can’t go--to South Denboro?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Why not, for the land sakes?”
+
+“Well, I’ve decided--I’ve decided not to.”
+
+“But, Jim! Why, I can’t have it so! I’m dreadful disappointed. I’ve
+counted on your goin’. So has Abbie. She’s read your book, and she says
+she’s crazy to see the feller that wrote it. She’s told the minister
+and a whole lot more, and they’re all comin’ in to look at you. ‘Tain’t
+often we have a celebrated character in our town. You’ve _got_ to go.”
+
+“Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the invitation and your kindness,
+but,” with decision, “I can’t accept.”
+
+“Can’t you come later? Say Thanksgivin’ mornin’? Or even the day after?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“But why not? What’s the matter with you all of a sudden? Come here! let
+me look at you.”
+
+He took the young man by the arm and led him, almost by main strength,
+close to the lighted window of the station. It was late, and the
+afternoon was gloomy. Here, by the lamplight streaming through the
+window, he could see his face more clearly. He looked at it.
+
+“Humph!” he grunted, after a moment’s scrutiny. “You’ve made up your
+mind; I can see that. Have you told Caroline? Does she know?”
+
+“Yes. You’ll have to excuse me, Captain Warren; my train is coming.”
+
+“What did she say?”
+
+Pearson smiled, but there was little mirth in the smile. “I think she
+agrees with me that it is best,” he observed.
+
+“Humph! She does, hey? I want to know! Look here, Jim! have you and
+she--”
+
+He got no further, for Pearson broke away, and, with a hurried “Good
+night,” strode up the platform to meet the city-bound train. Captain
+Elisha watched it go and then walked slowly homeward, his hands in his
+pockets, troubled and wondering.
+
+He entered the house by the back door, a remnant of South Denboro habit,
+and found Annie in the kitchen.
+
+“Where’s Caroline?” he asked.
+
+“She’s in the living room, sir, I think. Mr. Pearson has been here and
+just gone.”
+
+“Um-hm. So I heard. Say, Annie, you needn’t hurry dinner; I ain’t ready
+for it yet awhile.”
+
+He hung his coat and hat in the back hall and quietly entered the living
+room. The lamp was not lighted, and the room was dark, but he saw his
+niece, a shadowy figure, seated by the window. He crossed to her side.
+
+“Well, Caroline,” he said, cheerfully, “I’m home again.”
+
+She turned. “I see you are,” she answered.
+
+“Humph! your eyes must be better than mine then. I can’t see anything in
+here. It’s darker than a nigger’s pocket. Suppose we turn on the glim.”
+
+He struck a match as he said it. By its light he saw her face. The match
+burned down to his finger tips and then he extinguished it.
+
+“I don’t know but the dark is just as good and more economical,” he
+observed. “No use of encouragin’ the graspin’ ile trust unless it’s
+necessary. Let’s you and me sit here in the dark and talk. No objection
+to talkin’ to your back country relation, have you?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“That’s good. Well, Caroline, I’m goin’ to talk plain again. You can
+order me to close my hatch any time you feel like it; that’s skipper’s
+privilege, and you’re boss of this craft, you know. Dearie, I just met
+Jim Pearson. He tells me he’s decided not to go on this Cape cruise of
+ours. He said you agreed with him ‘twas best he shouldn’t go. Do you
+mind tellin’ me why?”
+
+She did not answer. He waited a minute and then continued.
+
+“Course, I know I ain’t got any real right to ask,” he went on; “but I
+think more of you and Jim than I do of anybody else, and so maybe you’ll
+excuse me. Have you and he had a fallin’ out?”
+
+Still she was silent. He sighed. “Well,” he observed, “I see you have,
+and I don’t blame you for not wantin’ to talk about it. I’m awful sorry.
+I’d begun to hope that.... However, we’ll change the subject. Or we
+won’t talk at all, if you’d rather not.”
+
+Another pause. Then she laid her hand on his.
+
+“Uncle,” she said, “you know I always want to talk to you. And, as for
+the right to ask, you have the right to ask anything of me at any time.
+And I should have told you, of my own accord, by and by. Mr. Pearson and
+I have not quarreled; but I think--I think it best that I should not see
+him again.”
+
+“You do? Not see him--any more--at all? Why, Caroline!”
+
+“Not for a long, long time, at least. It would only make it harder--for
+him; and it’s of no use.”
+
+Captain Elisha sighed again. “I guess I understand, Caroline. I presume
+likely I do. He--he asked somethin’ of you--and you couldn’t say yes to
+him. That was it, I suppose. Needn’t tell me unless you really want to,
+you understand,” he added, hastily.
+
+“But I do. I ought to tell you. I should have told you before, and
+perhaps, if I had, he would not have ... Uncle Elisha, Mr. Pearson asked
+me to be his wife.”
+
+The captain gave no evidence of surprise.
+
+“Yes,” he replied, gravely, “I judged that was it. And you told him you
+couldn’t, I suppose. Well, dearie, that’s a question nobody ought to
+answer but the one. She’s the only one that knows what that answer
+should be, and, when other folks interfere and try to influence, it
+generally means trouble. I’m kind of disappointed; I’ll own up to that.
+I think Jim is a fine, honest, able young man, and he’d make a good
+husband, I’m sure. And, so far as his business, or profession, or
+whatever you call it, goes, he’s doin’ pretty well and sartin to do
+better. Of course, ‘twa’n’t that that kept you from--”
+
+“Uncle Elisha! Am _I_ so rich that I should--”
+
+“There! there, my girl! I know ‘twa’n’t that, of course. I was only
+thinkin’ out loud, that’s all--tryin’ to find reasons. You didn’t care
+for him enough, I suppose. Caroline, you don’t care for anybody else, do
+you? You don’t still care for that other feller, that--”
+
+“Uncle!” she sprang up, hurt and indignant. “How can you?” she cried.
+“How could you ask that? What must you think of me?”
+
+“Please, Caroline,” he protested; “please don’t. I beg your pardon. I
+was a fool! I knew better. Don’t go. Tell me the real reason. Sit down
+again and let’s talk this out. Do sit down! that’s it. Now tell me; was
+it that you couldn’t care for Jim enough?”
+
+She hesitated.
+
+“Was it?” he repeated.
+
+“I--I like Mr. Pearson very much. I respect and admire him.”
+
+“But you don’t love him. I see. Well,” sadly, “there’s another one of my
+dreams gone to smash. However, you did just right, dearie. Feelin’ that
+way, you couldn’t marry him, of course.”
+
+He would have risen now, and she detained him.
+
+“That was not the reason,” she said, in a low tone.
+
+“Hey?” he bent toward her. “What?” he cried. “That wa’n’t the reason,
+you say? You do care for him?”
+
+She was silent.
+
+“Do you?” he repeated, gently. “And yet you sent him away. Why?”
+
+She faltered, tried to speak, and then turned away. He put his arm about
+her and stroked her hair.
+
+“Don’t you cry, dearie,” he begged. “I won’t bother you any more. You
+can tell me some other time--if you want to. Or you needn’t tell me
+at all. It’s all right; only don’t cry. ‘Cause if you do,” with sudden
+determination, “I shall cry, too; and, bein’ as I ain’t used to the
+exercise, I may raise such a row that Annie’ll send for the constable.
+You wouldn’t want that to happen, I know.”
+
+This unexpected announcement had the desired effect; Caroline laughed
+hysterically and freed herself from his arm.
+
+“I mustn’t be so silly,” she said. “I had made up my mind to tell you
+everything, and I shall. My not caring for Mr. Pearson was not my reason
+for refusing him. The reasons were two--you and Steve.”
+
+“Me and Steve? What in the world have we got to do with it?”
+
+“Everything. He would marry me, poor as I am; and perhaps I--perhaps
+I should say yes if things were different. Oh, there is no use my
+deceiving you, or trying to deceive myself! I know I should say yes, and
+be very, very happy. But I can’t! and I won’t! I _won’t_!”
+
+“But why? And where, for mercy’s sake, do Steve and I come in?”
+
+“Uncle Elisha, I suppose you think I have been perfectly satisfied to
+let you take care of me and of my brother, and give us a home and all
+that we needed and more. No doubt you thought me selfish enough to be
+contented with that and go on as I am--as we are--living on your bounty.
+You had reason to think so. But I have not been contented with that, nor
+has Steve. He and I have made our plans, and we shall carry them out. He
+will leave college in two years and go to work in earnest. Before that
+time I shall be ready to teach. I have been studying with just that idea
+in view.”
+
+“Good land! Why, no, you ain’t! You’ve been studyin’ to help me and
+Annie run this house.”
+
+“That was only part of it--the smallest part. I haven’t told you before,
+Uncle, but one of the Domestic Science teachers at the University is a
+girl I used to know slightly. She is going to be married next year, and,
+if all goes well, I may be appointed to her position when she leaves. I
+have a conditional promise already. If I am, why, then, you see, I shall
+really be earning my own living; you will not have to give up your own
+home and all your interests there to make me comfortable: you can--”
+
+“Here! here!” Captain Elisha put in, desperately; “don’t talk so
+ridiculous, Caroline. I ain’t givin’ up anything. I never was more happy
+than I’ve been right here with you this summer. I’m satisfied.”
+
+“I know, but I am not. And neither is Steve. He and I have planned it
+all. His salary at first will be small, and so will mine. But together
+we can earn enough to live somehow and, later on, when he earns more,
+perhaps we may be able to repay a little of all that you have given us.
+We shall try. _I_ shall insist upon it.”
+
+“Caroline Warren, is _that_ the reason you sent Jim away? Did you tell
+him that? Did you tell him you wouldn’t marry him on account of me?”
+
+“No, of course I did not,” indignantly. “I told him--I said I must not
+think of marriage; it was impossible. And it is! You _know_ it is, Uncle
+Elisha!”
+
+“I don’t know any such thing. If you want to make me happy, Caroline,
+you couldn’t find a better way than to be Jim Pearson’s wife. And you
+would be happy, too; you said so.”
+
+“But I am not thinking of happiness. It is my duty--to you and to my own
+self-respect. And not only that, but to Steve. Someone must provide a
+home for him. Neither he nor I will permit you to do it a day longer
+than is necessary. I am his sister and I shall not leave him.”
+
+“But you won’t have to leave him. Steve’s future’s all fixed. I’ve
+provided for Steve.”
+
+“What do you mean?”
+
+“What I say.” The captain was very much excited and, for once,
+completely off his guard. “I’ve had plans for Steve all along. He’s
+doin’ fust-rate in that broker’s office, learnin’ the trade. Next summer
+he’ll have another whack at it and learn more. When he’s out of college
+I’m goin’ to turn over your dad’s seat on the Stock Exchange to him. Not
+give it to him, you know--not right off--but let him try; and then, if
+he makes a good fist at it, he’ll have it permanent. Steve’s got the
+best chance in the world. He couldn’t ask much better, seems to me. You
+ain’t got to fret yourself about Steve.”
+
+He paused, almost out of breath. He had been speaking rapidly so as to
+prevent interruption. Caroline’s astonishment was too great for words,
+just then. Her uncle anxiously awaited her reply.
+
+“You see, don’t you?” he asked. “You understand. Steve’s goin’ to have
+the chance to make a good livin’ at the very thing he declares he’s set
+on doin’. I ain’t told him, and I don’t want you to, but it’s what I’ve
+planned for him and--”
+
+“Wait! wait, Uncle, please! The Stock Exchange seat? Father’s seat? I
+don’t see.... I don’t understand.”
+
+“Yes, yes!” eagerly; “your pa’s seat. I’ve meant it for Steve. There’s
+been chances enough to sell it, but I wouldn’t do that. ‘Twas for him,
+Caroline; and he’s goin’ to have it.”
+
+“But I don’t see how.... Why, I thought--”
+
+The door of the dining room opened. Annie appeared on the threshold.
+
+“Dinner is served,” she announced.
+
+“Be right there, Annie. Now you see that you ain’t got to worry about
+Steve, don’t you, Caroline?”
+
+His niece did not answer. By the light from the doorway he saw that she
+was gazing at him with a strange expression. She looked as if she was
+about to ask another question. He waited, but she did not ask it.
+
+“Well,” he said, rising, “we won’t talk any more just now. Annie’s
+soup’s gettin’ cold, and she’ll be in our wool if we don’t have dinner.
+Afterwards we can have another session. Come, Caroline.”
+
+She also rose, but hesitated. “Uncle Elisha,” she said, “will you excuse
+me if I don’t talk any more to-night? And, if you don’t mind, I won’t
+dine with you. I’m not hungry and--and my head aches. I’ll go to my
+room, I think.”
+
+“Yes, yes,” he said, hastily, “of course. I’m afraid I’ve talked too
+much as ‘tis. You go up and lie down, and Annie can fetch you some toast
+and tea or somethin’ by and by. But do just answer me this, Caroline, if
+you can: When you told Jim marryin’ was out of the question for you, did
+he take that as final? Was he contented with that? Didn’t he say he was
+willin’ to wait for you, or anything?”
+
+“Yes, he said he would wait, always. But I told him he must not. And I
+told him he must go and not see me again. I couldn’t see him as I have
+been doing; Uncle, I couldn’t!”
+
+“I know, dearie, I know. But didn’t you say anything more? Didn’t you
+give him _any_ hope?”
+
+“I said,” she hesitated, and added in a whisper, “I said if I should
+ever need him or--or change my mind, I would send for him. I shouldn’t
+have said it. It was weak and wicked of me, but I said it. Please let me
+go now, Uncle dear. Good night.”
+
+She kissed him and hurried away. He ate his lonely dinner
+absent-mindedly and with little appetite. After it was finished he sat
+in the living room, the lamp still unlighted, smoking and thinking.
+
+And in her chamber Caroline, too, sat thinking--not altogether of the
+man she loved and who loved her. She thought of him, of course; but
+there was something else, an idea, a suspicion, which over and over
+again she dismissed as an utter impossibility, but which returned as
+often.
+
+The Stock Exchange seat had been a part of her father’s estate, a
+part of her own and Steve’s inheritance. Sylvester had told her so,
+distinctly. And such a seat was valuable; she remembered her brother
+reading in the paper that one had recently sold for ninety thousand
+dollars. How could Captain Warren have retained such a costly part of
+the forfeited estate in his possession? For it was in his possession;
+he was going to give it to her brother when the latter left college. But
+how could he have obtained it? Not by purchase; for, as she knew, he was
+not worth half of ninety thousand dollars. Surely the creditor, the man
+who had, as was his right, seized all Rodgers Warren’s effects, would
+not have left that and taken the rest. Not unless he was a curiously
+philanthropic and eccentric person. Who was he? Who was this mysterious
+man her father had defrauded? She had never wished to know before; now
+she did. And the more she pondered, the more plausible her suspicion
+became. It was almost incredible, it seemed preposterous; but, as she
+went back, in memory, over the events since her father’s death and the
+disclosure of his astonishing will, little bits of evidence, little
+happenings and details came to light, trifles in themselves, but all
+fitting in together, like pieces of an inscription in mosaic, to spell
+the truth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+November weather on Cape Cod is what Captain Elisha described as
+“considerable chancey.” “The feller that can guess it two days ahead
+of time,” he declared, “is wastin’ his talents; he could make a livin’
+prophesyin’ most anything, even the market price of cranberries.” When
+Caroline, Sylvester, and the captain reached South Denboro after what
+seemed, to the two unused to the leisurely winter schedule of the
+railroad, an interminable journey from Fall River, the girl thought
+she had never seen a more gloomy sky or a more forbidding scene.
+Gray clouds, gray sea, brown bare fields; the village of white or
+gray-shingled houses set, for the most part, along the winding main
+street; the elms and silver-leaf poplars waving bare branches in the
+cutting wind; a picture of the fag end of loneliness and desolation, so
+it looked to her. She remembered Mr. Graves’s opinion of the place, as
+jokingly reported by Sylvester, and she sympathized with the dignified
+junior partner.
+
+But she kept her feelings hidden on her uncle’s account. The captain
+was probably the happiest individual in the state of Massachusetts that
+morning. He hailed the train’s approach to Sandwich as the entrance to
+Ostable County, the promised land, and, from that station on, excitedly
+pointed out familiar landmarks and bits of scenery and buildings with
+the gusto and enthusiasm of a school boy.
+
+“That’s Ostable court-house,” he cried, pointing. “And see--see that
+red-roofed house right over there, just past that white church? That’s
+where Judge Baxter lives; a mighty good friend of mine, the Judge is. I
+stopped to his house to dinner the night Graves came.”
+
+A little further on he added, “‘Twas about here that I spoke to Graves
+fust. I noticed him sittin’ right across the aisle from me, with a face
+on him sour as a sasser of green tamarind preserves, and I thought I’d
+be sociable. ‘Tough night,’ I says. ‘Umph,’ says he. ‘Twa’n’t a remark
+cal’lated to encourage conversation, so I didn’t try again--not till his
+umbrella turned inside out on the Denboro platform. Ho! ho! I wish you’d
+have seen his face _then_.”
+
+At Denboro he pointed out Pete Shattuck’s livery stable, where the horse
+and buggy came from which had been the means of transporting Graves and
+himself to South Denboro.
+
+“See!” he cried. “See that feller holdin’ up the corner of the depot
+with his back! the one that’s so broad in the beam he has to draw in his
+breath afore he can button his coat. That’s Pete. You’d think he was too
+sleepy to care whether ‘twas to-day or next week, wouldn’t you? Well, if
+you was a summer boarder and wanted to hire a team, you’d find Pete was
+awake and got up early. If a ten-cent piece fell off the shelf in the
+middle of the night he’d hear it, though I’ve known him to sleep while
+the minister’s barn burned down. The parson had been preachin’ against
+horse-tradin’; maybe that sermon was responsible for some of the
+morphine influence.”
+
+Sylvester was enjoying himself hugely. Captain Elisha’s exuberant
+comments were great fun for him. “This is what I came for,” he confided
+to Caroline. “I don’t care if it rains or snows. I could sit and listen
+to your uncle for a year and never tire. He’s a wonder. And I’m crazy to
+see that housekeeper of his. If she lives up to her reputation there’ll
+be no disappointment in my Thanksgiving celebration.”
+
+Dan, the captain’s hired man, met them with the carriage at the station,
+and Miss Baker met them at the door of the Warren home. The exterior
+of the big, old-fashioned, rambling house was inviting and homelike,
+in spite of the gloomy weather, and Caroline cheered up a bit when they
+turned in at the gate. Five minutes of Miss Abigail’s society, and all
+gloom disappeared. One could not be gloomy where Miss Abbie was. Her
+smile of welcome was so broad that, as her employer said, “it took in
+all outdoor and some of Punkhorn Neck,” a place which, he hastened to
+add, “was forgot durin’ creation and has sort of happened of itself
+since.”
+
+Abbie conducted Caroline to her room--old-fashioned, like the rest of
+the house, but cozy, warm, and cheery--and, after helping in the removal
+of her wraps, seized her by both hands and took a long look at her face.
+
+“You’ll excuse my bein’ so familiar on short acquaintance, dearie,” she
+said, “but I’ve heard so much about you that I feel’s if I knew you like
+own folks. And you are own folks, ain’t you? Course you are! Everyone of
+‘Lisha’s letters have had four pages of you to one of anything else. I
+begun to think New York was nothin’ but you and a whole lot of ten-story
+houses. He thinks so much of you that I’d be jealous, if I had that
+kind of disposition and the time to spare. So I must have a good look at
+you.... I declare! you’re almost prettier than he said. May I kiss you?
+I’d like to.”
+
+[Illustration: “‘I declare! you’re almost prettier than he said. May I
+kiss you?’”]
+
+She did, and they were friends at once.
+
+The rest of that day and evening were busy times. Captain Elisha showed
+his visitors about the place, the barn, the cows, the pigpen--the pig
+himself had gone to fulfill the unhappy destiny of pigs, but they would
+meet him by sections later on, so the captain assured them. The house
+and buildings were spotless in paint and whitewash; the yard was raked
+clean of every dead leaf and twig; the whole establishment was so neat
+that Caroline remarked upon it.
+
+“It looks as if it had been scoured,” she said.
+
+“Um-hm,” observed her uncle, with a gratified nod; “that’s Abbie. She
+hates dirt worse than she does laziness, and that ain’t sayin’ a little.
+I tell her she’d sand-soap the weather vane if she could climb up to
+it; as ‘tis, she stays below and superintends Dan while he does it. If
+godliness wants to stay next to cleanliness when she’s around it has
+to keep on the jump. I always buy shirts two degrees heavier’n I need,
+‘cause I know she’ll have ‘em scrubbed thin in a fortni’t. When it comes
+to _real_ Domestic Science, Caroline, Abbie ain’t in the back row of the
+primer class, now I tell you.”
+
+Miss Baker had planned that her young guest should sit in state, with
+folded hands, in the parlor. She seemed to consider that the proper
+conduct for a former member of New York’s best society. She was shocked
+when the girl volunteered to help her about the house.
+
+“Course I sha’n’t let you,” she said. “The idea--and you company! Got
+more help than I know what to do with, as ‘tis. ‘Lisha was determined
+that I should hire a girl to wash dishes and things while you was here.
+Nothin’ would do but that. So I got Annabel Haven’s daughter, Etta G.
+There’s fourteen in that family, and the land knows ‘twas an act of
+charity takin’ one appetite out of the house. Pay her fifty cents a day,
+I do, and she’s out in the kitchen makin’ believe wash windows. They
+don’t need washin’, but she was lookin’ out of ‘em most of the time, so
+I thought she might as well combine business with pleasure.”
+
+But Caroline refused to sit in the parlor and be “company.” She insisted
+upon helping. Miss Baker protested and declared there was nothing on
+earth to be done; but her guest insisted that, if there was not, she
+herself must sit. As Abbie would have as soon thought of attending
+church without wearing her jet earrings as she would of sitting down
+before dinner, she gave in, after a while, and permitted Caroline to
+help in arranging the table.
+
+“Why, you do fust-rate!” she exclaimed, in surprise. “You know where
+everything ought to go, just as if you’d been settin’ table all your
+life. And you ain’t, because ‘Lisha wrote you used to keep hired help,
+two or three of ‘em, all the time.”
+
+Caroline laughed.
+
+“I’ve been studying housekeeping for almost a year,” she said.
+
+“Studyin’ it! Why, yes, now I remember ‘Lisha wrote you’d been studyin’
+some kind of science at college. ‘Twa’n’t settin’ table science, I
+guess, though. Ha! ha!”
+
+“That was part of it.” She explained the course briefly. Abigail
+listened in amazement.
+
+“And they teach that--at school?” she demanded. “And take money for it?
+And call it _science_? My land! I guess I was brought up in a scientific
+household, then. I was the only girl in the family, and mother died when
+I was ten years old.”
+
+After dinner she consented to sit for a time, though not until she had
+donned her Sunday best, earrings and all. Captain Elisha and Sylvester
+sat with them, and the big fireplace in the sitting room blazed and
+roared as it had not since its owner left for his long sojourn in the
+city. In the evening callers came, the Congregational minister and
+his wife, and some of the neighbors. The latter were pleasant country
+people, another retired sea captain among them, and they all seemed to
+have great respect and liking for Captain Elisha and to be very glad to
+welcome him home. The two captains spun salt water yarns, and the lawyer
+again decided that he was getting just what he had come for. They left
+a little after nine, and Caroline said good night and went to her room.
+She was tired, mentally and physically.
+
+But she did not fall asleep at once. Her mind was still busy with the
+suspicion which her uncle’s words concerning his future plans for Steve
+had aroused. She had thought of little else since she heard them. The
+captain did not mention the subject again; possibly, on reflection,
+he decided that he had already said too much. And she asked no more
+questions. She determined not to question him--yet. She must think
+first, and then ask someone else--Sylvester. He knew the truth and, if
+taken by surprise, might be driven into confession, if there should be
+anything to confess. She was waiting for an opportunity to be alone with
+him, and that opportunity had not yet presented itself.
+
+The captain would have spoken further with her concerning James Pearson.
+He was eager to do that. But her mind was made up; she had sent her
+lover away, and it was best for both. She must forget him, if she could.
+So, when her uncle would have spoken on that subject, she begged him not
+to; and he, respecting her feelings and believing that to urge would be
+bad policy, refrained.
+
+But to forget, she found, was an impossibility. In the excitement of the
+journey and the arrival amid new surroundings, she had managed to
+keep up a show of good spirits, but now alone once more, with the wind
+singing mournfully about the gables and rattling the windows, she was
+sad and so lonely. She thought what her life had once promised to be and
+what it had become. She did not regret the old life, that life she had
+known before her father died; she had been happy in it while he lived,
+but miserable after his death. As for happiness, she had been happy
+that summer, happy with her uncle and with--him. And with him now, even
+though they would be poor, as she was used to reckoning poverty, she
+knew she could be very happy. She wondered what he was doing then; if he
+was thinking of her. She ought to hope that he was not, because it was
+useless; but she wished that he might be, nevertheless. Then she told
+herself that all this was wicked; she had made up her mind; she must be
+true to the task she had set, duty to her brother and uncle.
+
+Her uncle! why had her uncle done all this for her? And why had her
+father made him their guardian? These were old questions, but now she
+asked them with a new significance. If that strange suspicion of hers
+was true it would explain so much; it would explain almost everything.
+But it could not be true; if it was, why had he not told her when the
+discovery of her father’s dishonesty and of the note forfeiting the
+estate was made? Why had he not told her then? That was what troubled
+her most. It did not seem like him to do such a thing--not like his
+character at all. Therefore, it could not be true. Yet she must know.
+She resolved to question Sylvester the next day, if possible. And, so
+resolving, she at last fell asleep.
+
+Her opportunity came the following morning, the day before Thanksgiving.
+After breakfast Captain Elisha went downtown to call on some
+acquaintances. He invited Caroline and the lawyer to accompany him, but
+they refused, the latter because he judged his, a stranger’s, presence
+during the calls would be something of a hindrance to good fellowship
+and the discussion of town affairs which the captain was counting on,
+and Caroline because she saw her chance for the interview she so much
+desired.
+
+After the captain had gone, Sylvester sat down before the fire in the
+sitting room to read the Boston _Transcript_. As he sat there, Caroline
+entered and closed the door behind her. Miss Abigail was in the kitchen,
+busy with preparations for the morrow’s plum pudding.
+
+The girl took the chair next that occupied by the lawyer. He put down
+his paper and turned to her.
+
+“Well,” he asked, “how does this Cape Cod air effect your appetite,
+Caroline? I’m ashamed of mine. I’m rather glad to-morrow is
+Thanksgiving; on that day, I believe, it is permissible, even
+commendable, to eat three times more than a self-respecting person
+ordinarily should.”
+
+She smiled, but her answer was in the form of another question, and
+quite irrelevant.
+
+“Mr. Sylvester,” she said, “I wish you would tell me something about the
+value of a seat on the Stock Exchange. What is the price of one?”
+
+The lawyer looked at her in surprise.
+
+“The value of a seat on the Stock Exchange?” he repeated.
+
+“Yes; what does it cost to buy one?”
+
+He hesitated, wondering why she should be interested in that subject.
+Captain Elisha had not told him a word of the interview following
+Pearson’s last visit. He wondered, and then surmised a reason--Stephen,
+of course. Steve’s ambition was to be a broker, and his sister was,
+doubtless, with sisterly solicitude and feminine ignorance of high
+prices, planning for his future.
+
+“Well,” he replied, smiling, “they’re pretty expensive, I’m afraid,
+Caroline.”
+
+“Are they?” innocently.
+
+“Yes. I think the last sale was at a figure between ninety and one
+hundred thousand dollars.”
+
+“Indeed! Was father’s seat worth as much as that?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“But,” with a sigh, “that, I suppose, went with the rest of the estate.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Into the hands of the man who took it all?”
+
+“Yes; the same hands,” with a sly smile at his own private joke.
+
+“Then how does it happen that my uncle has it in his possession?”
+
+The lawyer smiled no more. He turned in his chair and gazed quickly and
+keenly at the young lady beside him. And her gaze was just as keen as
+his own.
+
+“What did you say?” he asked.
+
+“I asked you how it happened that my uncle now has father’s Stock
+Exchange seat in his possession.”
+
+“Why!... Has he?”
+
+“Yes. And I think you know he has, Mr. Sylvester. I know it, because he
+told me so himself. _Didn’t_ you know it?”
+
+This was a line shot from directly in front and a hard one to dodge.
+A lie was the only guard, and he was not in the habit of lying, even
+professionally.
+
+“I--I cannot answer these questions,” he declared. “They involve
+professional secrets and--”
+
+“I don’t see that this is a secret. My uncle has already told me. What
+I could not understand was how he obtained the seat from the man to whom
+it was given as a part of father’s debt. Do you know how he obtained
+it?”
+
+“Er--well--er--probably an arrangement was made. I cannot go into
+details, because--well, for obvious reasons. You must excuse me,
+Caroline.”
+
+He rose to go.
+
+“One moment more,” she said, “and one more question. Mr. Sylvester, who
+_is_ this mysterious person--this stockholder whom father defrauded,
+this person who wishes his name kept a secret, but who does such queer
+things? Who is he?”
+
+“Caroline, I tell you I cannot answer these questions. He does wish to
+remain unknown, as I told you and your brother when we first learned of
+him and his claim. If I were to tell you I should break my faith with
+him.... You must excuse me; you really must.”
+
+“Mr. Sylvester, perhaps you don’t need to tell me. Perhaps I can guess.
+Isn’t he my--”
+
+“Caroline, I cannot--”
+
+“_Isn’t he my uncle, Elisha Warren?_”
+
+Sylvester was half way to the door, but she was in his path and looking
+him directly in the face. He hesitated.
+
+“I thought so,” she said. “You needn’t answer, Mr. Sylvester; your face
+is answer enough. He is.”
+
+She turned away, and, walking slowly to the chair from which she had
+arisen, sank into it.
+
+“He is,” she repeated. “I knew it. I wonder that I didn’t know it from
+the very first. How could I have been so blind!”
+
+The lawyer, nervous, chagrined, and greatly troubled, remained standing
+by the door. He did not know whether to go or stay. He took his
+handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead.
+
+“Whew!” he exclaimed. “Well, by--_George_!”
+
+She paid no attention to him, but went on, speaking, apparently, to
+herself.
+
+“It explains everything,” she said. “He was father’s brother; and
+father, in some way, took and used his money. But father knew what sort
+of man he was, and so he asked him to be our guardian. Father thought he
+would be kind to us, I suppose. And he has been kind--he has. But why
+did he keep it a secret? Why did he.... I don’t understand that. Of
+course the money was his; all we had was his, by right. But to say
+nothing ... and to let us believe.... It does not seem like him at all.
+It....”
+
+Sylvester interrupted quickly. “Caroline! Caroline!” he said, “don’t
+make any mistake. Don’t misjudge your uncle again. He is a good man; one
+of the best men I ever knew. Yes, and one of the wisest. Don’t say
+or think anything for which you may be sorry. I am speaking as your
+friend.”
+
+She turned toward him once more, the distressed, puzzled look still on
+her face. “But I don’t understand,” she cried. “He.... Oh, Mr.
+Sylvester, please, now that I do know--now that you have told me so
+much--won’t you tell me the rest; the reason and--all of it? Please!”
+
+The lawyer shook his head, regarding her with an expression of annoyance
+and reluctant admiration.
+
+“Now that _I’ve_ told you!” he repeated. “I don’t remember that I’ve
+told you anything.”
+
+“But you have. Not in words, perhaps, but you have told me. I know.
+Please go on and tell me all. If you don’t,” with determination, “I
+shall make Uncle Elisha tell me as soon as he comes. I shall!”
+
+Sylvester sighed. “Well, by George!” he repeated, feelingly. “I’ll tell
+you one thing, young woman, you’re wasting your talents. You should be
+a member of the bar. Anyone who can lead a battle-scarred veteran of
+cross-examination like myself into a trap and then spring it on him, as
+you have done, is gifted by Providence.”
+
+“But will you tell me?”
+
+He hesitated, perplexed and doubtful.
+
+“I ought not to say another word on the subject,” he declared,
+emphatically. “What Captain Warren will say to me when he finds this
+out is unpleasant to consider. But.... But yet, I don’t know. It may
+be better for you to learn the real truth than to know a part and
+guess wrongly at the rest. I.... What is it you want me to tell you?”
+
+“Everything. I want you to sit down here by me and tell me the whole
+story, from the beginning. Please.”
+
+He hesitated a moment longer and, then, his mind made up, returned to
+his chair, crossed his legs and began. “Here it is,” he said.
+
+“Caroline, about twenty years ago, or such matter, your father was a
+comparatively poor man--poor, I mean, compared to what he afterward
+became. But he was a clever man, an able business man, one who saw
+opportunities and grasped them. At that time he obtained a grant in
+South America for--”
+
+“I know,” she interrupted; “the Akrae Rubber Company was formed. You
+told Steve and me all about that. What I want to know is--”
+
+“Wait. I did not tell you all about it. I said that another man invested
+ten thousand dollars with your father to form that company. That man, so
+we now know, was your uncle, Captain Elisha Warren.”
+
+“I guessed that. Of course it must have been he.”
+
+“It was. The captain was older than your father, had lived carefully,
+and had saved some money. Also, at that time, he idolized his brother
+and believed in his shrewdness and capability. He invested this ten
+thousand on Rodgers Warren’s word that the investment was likely to be a
+good one. That, and to help the latter in business. For a few years
+the company did nothing; during that time your father and uncle
+disagreed--concerning another matter, quite unconnected with this
+one--and they did not see each other again while Rodgers lived. In that
+long period the Akrae Company made millions. But Elisha supposed it
+to be bankrupt and worthless; because--well, to be frank, because his
+brother wrote him to that effect.”
+
+He paused, fearful of the effect which this announcement might have upon
+the girl. But she had guessed this part of her father’s dishonor and was
+prepared for it. She made no comment, and he continued.
+
+“Now we come to the will. Your father, Caroline, was not a bad man at
+heart. I knew him well, and I believe that may be said truthfully. He
+realized what he had done, how he had defrauded the brother who had been
+so kind to him, and he meant, he kept promising himself, to some day
+repay the money he had taken. To insure that, he put that note with the
+other papers of the Company. If he did repay, it could be destroyed. If
+he did not, if he should die, it would be there to prove--what it did
+prove. But always in his mind was the thought of you and Steve, the
+children he loved. He had quarreled with his brother it is true; he had
+cheated him, but restitution for that cheat he had provided. But
+what would become of you, left--in case he died without making
+restitution--penniless? He knew his brother, as I said; knew his
+character, respected his honesty, and believed in his conscientiousness
+and his big heart. So he made his will, and in it, as you know, he
+appointed Elisha your guardian. He threw his children and their future
+upon the mercy and generosity of the brother he had wronged. That is his
+reason, as we surmise it, for making that will.”
+
+He paused again. Caroline did not speak for a moment. Then she asked:
+
+“And no one knew--you or my uncle or anyone--of all this until last
+March?”
+
+“No. Graves had, with his usual care and patience, pieced together the
+evidence and investigated until we were sure that a stockholder in the
+Akrae Company existed and that all of your father’s estate belonged
+to him. Who that stockholder was we did not know until that day of the
+meeting at our office. Then Captain Warren told us.”
+
+“But he did not know, either?”
+
+“Not until then. He supposed his Akrae stock worthless, and had
+practically forgotten it. When we told him of its value, of the note,
+and of the missing shareholder, he knew, of course.”
+
+“What did he say?”
+
+“Say? Caroline, he was the most distressed and conscience-stricken man
+in the city. One would have thought he was the wrongdoer and not the
+wronged. He would have gone straight to you and asked your pardon, if we
+would have permitted it.”
+
+“But, Mr. Sylvester, now we are coming to the part I cannot understand.
+Of course the estate belonged to him, I know that. It is his. But why
+didn’t he tell Steve and me the truth then, at once? Why did he let us
+believe, and employ you to lead us to believe, that it was not he but
+someone else? Did he think we would blame him? Why has he--”
+
+“Caroline! Caroline! don’t you understand yet? Do you imagine for one
+moment that your uncle intends keeping that money?”
+
+She stared at him in utter amazement.
+
+“Keeping it?” she repeated. “Why not? It is his. It belongs to him.”
+
+“Caroline, I’m afraid you don’t know him, even yet. He was for going to
+you at once and destroying the note in your presence. He would have done
+it, but we persuaded him to wait and think it over for a day or two. He
+did think and then decided to wait a little longer, for your sake.”
+
+“For my sake? For mine?” she passed her hand in a bewildered way across
+her forehead. “Mr. Sylvester, I don’t seem to understand even now. I--”
+
+“For your sake, Caroline. Remember, at that time you were engaged to
+Malcolm Dunn.”
+
+Her intent gaze wavered. She drew a long breath. “I see,” she said,
+slowly. “Oh.... I see.”
+
+“Yes. Captain Warren is one of the best judges of character I ever met.
+The Dunns did not deceive him for one moment. He was certain Malcolm
+intended marrying you because of your money; for that matter, so was I.
+But his was the plan entirely which showed them to you as they were. He
+knew you were too honest and straightforward to believe such things of
+the man to whom you were engaged if they were told you; you must see the
+proof with your own eyes. And he showed it to you.”
+
+“But then,” she begged, distractedly, “why couldn’t he tell me after
+that? I--I am so stupid, I suppose--but, Mr. Sylvester, all this
+is--is--”
+
+“He might have told you then, but he did not think it best. Caroline,
+your uncle has always believed in you. Even when you sent him from your
+home he did not blame you; he said you were deceived, that was all.
+But, too, he has always declared that you had been, as he expressed it,
+‘brought up wrong.’ Your money had, in a way, warped your estimate of
+people and things. He believed that, if you were given the opportunity,
+you would learn that wealth does not, of itself, mean happiness. So
+he decided not to tell you, not to give you back your share of your
+father’s money--he refuses to consider it his--until another year, until
+you were of age, at least. And there was Steve. You know, Caroline, that
+money and what it brought was spoiling Steve. He has never been so much
+a man as during the past year, when he thought himself poor. But your
+uncle has planned for him as well as for you and, when he believes the
+time has come, he--”
+
+“Please,” she interrupted, falteringly; “please don’t say any more. Let
+me think. Oh, please let me think, Mr. Sylvester.... You say that Uncle
+Elisha intends giving us all that father took from him? All of it?”
+
+“Yes, all. He considers himself merely your guardian still and will
+accept only his expenses from the estate.”
+
+“But--but it is wonderful!”
+
+“Yes, it is. But I have learned to think him a wonderful man.”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“It is wonderful!” she repeated, brokenly. “Even though we cannot take
+it, it is wonderful.”
+
+“What? Cannot take it?”
+
+“Of course not! Do you suppose that either my brother or I will take the
+fortune that our father stole--yes, _stole_ from him? After he has been
+living almost in poverty all these years and we in luxury--on _his_
+money? Of course we shall not take it!”
+
+“But, Caroline, I imagine you will have to take it. I understand your
+feelings, but I think he will compel you to take it.”
+
+“I shall _not_!” she sprang to her feet. “Of course I shall not! Never!
+never!”
+
+“What’s that you’re never goin’ to take, Caroline? Measles? or another
+trip down in these parts? I hope ‘tain’t the last, ‘cause I’ve been
+cal’latin’ you’d like it well enough to come again.”
+
+Caroline turned. So did Sylvester. Captain Elisha was standing in the
+doorway, his hand on the knob. He was smiling broadly, but as he looked
+at the two by the fire he ceased to smile.
+
+“What’s all this?” he asked, suspiciously. “Caroline, what--Sylvester,
+what have you been tellin’ her?”
+
+Neither answered at once. The captain looked from one to the other.
+
+“Well, what’s up?” he demanded. “What’s the matter?”
+
+The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“What’s up?” he repeated. “Humph! well, I should say the jig was up. The
+murder’s out. The cat is no longer in the bag. That’s about the size of
+it.”
+
+“Sylvester!” Caroline had never seen her uncle thoroughly angry before;
+“Sylvester,” he cried, “have you--Have you dast to tell her what you
+shouldn’t? Didn’t you promise me? If you told that girl, I’ll--I’ll--”
+
+His niece stepped forward. “Hush, Uncle Elisha,” she said. “He didn’t
+tell me until I knew already. I guessed it. Then I asked for the whole
+truth, and he told me.”
+
+“The whole truth? _Caroline!_”
+
+He wrung his hands.
+
+“Yes, Uncle, the whole truth. I know you now. I thought I knew you
+before; but I didn’t--not half. I do now.”
+
+“Oh, Caroline!” he stepped toward her and then stopped, frantic and
+despairing. “Caroline! Caroline!” he cried again, “can you ever forgive
+me? You know--you must know I ain’t ever meant to keep it. It’s all
+yours. I just didn’t give it to you right off because ... because....
+Oh, Sylvester, tell her I never meant to keep it! Tell her!”
+
+The lawyer shook his head. “I did tell her,” he said, with another
+shrug, “and she tells me she won’t accept it.”
+
+“What?” the captain’s eyes were starting from his head. “What? Won’t
+take it? Why, it’s hers--hers and Steve’s! It always has been! Do you
+cal’late I’d rob my own brother’s children? _Don’t_ talk so foolish!
+I won’t hear such talk!”
+
+Caroline was close to tears, but she was firm.
+
+“It isn’t ours,” she said. “It is yours. Our father kept it from you all
+these years. Do you suppose we will keep it any longer?”
+
+Captain Elisha looked at her determined face; then at the lawyer’s--but
+he found no help there. His chin thrust forward. He nodded slowly.
+
+“All right! all right!” he said, grimly. “Sylvester, is your shop goin’
+to be open to-morrer?”
+
+“Guess not, Captain,” was the puzzled reply. “It’s Thanksgiving. Why?”
+
+“But Graves’ll be to home, won’t he? I could find him at his house?”
+
+“I presume you could.”
+
+“All right, then! Caroline Warren, you listen to me: I’ll give you till
+two o’clock to make up your mind to take the money that belongs to you.
+If you don’t, I swear to the Lord A’mighty I’ll take the fust train, go
+straight to New York, hunt up Graves, make him go down to the office and
+get that note your father made out turnin’ all his property over to that
+Akrae Company. I’ll get that note and I’ll burn it up. Then--_then_
+you’ll have to take the money, because it’ll be yours. Every bit of
+evidence that’ll hold in law is gone, and nobody but you and Steve’ll
+have the shadow of a claim. I’ll do it, so sure as I live! There! now
+you can make up your mind.”
+
+He turned, strode to the door and out of the room. A moment later they
+heard a scream from Miss Baker in the kitchen: “‘Lisha Warren, what ails
+you? Are you crazy?” There was no answer, but the back door closed with
+a tremendous bang.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half an hour after his dramatic exit Captain Elisha was pacing up and
+down the floor of the barn. It was an old refuge of his, a place where
+he was accustomed to go when matters requiring deliberation and thought
+oppressed him. He was alone. Dan had taken the horse to the blacksmith’s
+to be shod.
+
+The captain strode across the floor, turned and strode back again. Every
+few moments he looked at his watch. It was a long way to two o’clock,
+but each additional moment was another weight piled upon his soul. As
+he turned in his stride he saw a shadow move across the sill of the big,
+open door. He caught his breath and stopped.
+
+Caroline entered the barn. She came straight to him and put her hands
+upon the lapels of his coat. Her eyes were wet and shining.
+
+“Caroline?” he faltered, eagerly.
+
+“You good man!” she breathed, softly. “Oh, you _good_ man!”
+
+“Caroline!” his voice shook, but there was hope in it. “Caroline, you’re
+goin’ to take the money?”
+
+“Yes, Uncle Elisha. Mr. Sylvester has shown me that I must. He says you
+will do something desperate if I refuse.”
+
+“I sartin would! And you’ll take it, really?”
+
+“Yes, Uncle Elisha.”
+
+“Glory be! And--and, Caroline, you won’t hold it against me, my makin’
+you think you was poor, and makin’ you live in that little place, and
+get along on just so much, and all that? Can you forgive me for doin’
+that?”
+
+“Forgive you? Can I ever thank you enough? I know I can’t; but I can try
+all my life to prove what--”
+
+“S-s-h-h! s-s-h!... There!” with a great sigh, almost a sob, of relief,
+“I guess this’ll be a real Thanksgivin’, after all.”
+
+But, a few minutes later, another thought came to him.
+
+“Caroline,” he asked, “I wonder if, now that things are as they are,
+you couldn’t do somethin’ else--somethin’ that would please me an
+awful lot?”
+
+“What is it, Uncle?”
+
+“It’s somethin’ perhaps I ain’t got any right to ask. You mustn’t say
+yes if you don’t want to. The other day you told me you cared for Jim
+Pearson, but that you sent him away ‘cause you thought you had to earn
+a livin’ for you and Steve. Now you know that you ain’t got to do that.
+And you said you told him if you ever changed your mind you’d send for
+him. Don’t you s’pose you could send for him now--right off--so he could
+get here for this big Thanksgivin’ of ours? Don’t you think you could,
+Caroline?”
+
+He looked down into her face, and she looked down at the barn floor. But
+he saw the color creep up over her forehead.
+
+“Send for him--now?” she asked, in a low tone.
+
+“Yes. Now--right off. In time for to-morrow!”
+
+“He could not get here,” she whispered.
+
+“Yes, he could. If you send him a telegram with one word in it:
+‘Come’--and sign it ‘Caroline’--he’ll be here on to-morrow mornin’s
+train, or I’ll eat my hat and one of Abbie’s bonnets hove in. Think you
+could, Caroline?”
+
+A moment; then in a whisper, “Yes, Uncle Elisha.”
+
+“Hooray! But--but,” anxiously, “hold on, Caroline. Tell me truly now.
+You ain’t doin’ this just to please me? You mustn’t do that, not for the
+world and all. You mustn’t send for him on my account. Only just for one
+reason--because _you_ want him.”
+
+He waited for his answer. Then she looked up, blushing still, but with a
+smile trembling on her lips.
+
+“Yes, Uncle Elisha,” she said, “because _I_ want him.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The clouds blew away that night, and Thanksgiving day dawned clear
+and cold. The gray sea was now blue; the white paint of the houses and
+fences glistened in the sun; the groves of pitchpine were brilliant
+green blotches spread like rugs here and there on the brown hills. South
+Denboro had thrown off its gloomy raiment and was “all dolled up for
+Thanksgivin’,” so Captain Elisha said.
+
+The captain and Sylvester were leaning on the fence by the gate, looking
+up the road and waiting for Dan and the “two-seater” to heave in sight
+around the bend. The hired man had harnessed early and driven to the
+station at least thirty minutes before train time. Captain Elisha
+was responsible for the early start. Steve was coming on that train;
+possibly someone else was coming. The captain did not mean they should
+find no welcome or vehicle at the station.
+
+The whistle had sounded ten minutes before. It was time for Dan to
+appear at the bend.
+
+“I hope to thunder Jim got that telegram,” observed the captain for the
+twentieth time, at least, since breakfast.
+
+“So do I,” replied his friend. “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t, is
+there?”
+
+“No, no sensible one; but I’ve scared up no less than a couple of
+hundred of the other kind. If he shouldn’t come--my, my! she’d be
+disappointed.”
+
+“You wouldn’t feel any disappointment yourself, of course,” said the
+lawyer, with sarcasm.
+
+“Who? Me? Oh, I’d be sorer’n a scalded wharf rat in a barrel of pepper.
+But I don’t count. There’s the real one up there.”
+
+He motioned with his head toward the window of Caroline’s room.
+Sylvester nodded. “Yes,” he said, “I suppose so. Captain, I’m somewhat
+surprised that you should be willing to trust that niece of yours
+to another man. She’s a pretty precious article, according to your
+estimate.”
+
+“Well, ain’t she accordin’ to yours?”
+
+“Yes. Pretty precious and precious pretty. Look at her now.”
+
+They turned in time to catch a glimpse of the girl as she parted the
+curtains and looked out on the road. She saw them looking at her,
+smiled, blushed, and disappeared. Both men smoked in silence for a
+moment. Then the captain said:
+
+“Waitin’. Hi hum! nothin’ like it, when you’re waitin’ for _the_ one,
+is there?”
+
+“No, nothing.”
+
+“Yup. Well, for a pair of old single hulks our age, strikes me we’re
+gettin’ pretty sentimental. You say you wonder I’d trust Caroline to
+another man; I wouldn’t to the average one. But Jim Pearson’s all right.
+You’ll say so, too, when you know him as well as I do.”
+
+“I’ll trust your judgment, any time. So you won’t tell Steve yet awhile
+that he’s not broke?”
+
+“No. And Caroline won’t tell him, either. Steve’s doin’ fust-rate as
+he is. He’s in the pickle tub and ‘twill do him good to season a
+spell longer. But I think he’s goin’ to be all right by and by. Say,
+Sylvester, this New York cruise of mine turned out pretty good, after
+all, didn’t it?”
+
+“Decidedly good. It was the making of your niece and nephew. Caroline
+realizes it now; and so will Steve later on.”
+
+“Hope so. It didn’t do _me_ any harm,” with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t have
+missed that little beat up the bay with Marm Dunn for a good deal. For
+a spell there we was bows abreast, and ‘twas hard to tell who’d turn the
+mark first. Heard from the Dunns lately?”
+
+“No. Why, yes, I did hear that they were in a tighter box than ever,
+financially. The smash will come pretty soon.”
+
+“I’m sorry. The old lady’ll go down with colors nailed to the mast, I’ll
+bet; and she’ll leave a lot of suds where she sank. Do you know, I never
+blamed her so much. She was built that way. She’s consider’ble like
+old Mrs. Patience Blodgett, who used to live up here to the Neck; like
+her--only there never was two people more different. Pashy was the
+craziest blue-ribboner you ever saw. Her one idea in life was gettin’
+folks to sign the pledge. She married Tim Blodgett, who was the wust
+soak in the county--he’d have figgered out, if you analyzed him, about
+like a bottle of patent medicine, seventy-two per cent alcohol. Well,
+Pashy married him to reform him, and she made her brags that she’d get
+him to sign the pledge. And she did, but only by puttin’ it in front of
+him when he was too drunk to read it.”
+
+The lawyer laughed heartily. “So you think Mrs. Corcoran Dunn resembles
+her, do you,” he observed.
+
+“In one way--yes. Both of ‘em sacrifice everything else to one idea.
+Pashy’s was gettin’ that pledge signed, and never mind ways and means.
+Mrs. Dunn’s is money and position--never mind how they come. See what
+I’m drivin’ at?”
+
+Sylvester laughed again. “I guess so,” he said. “Captain Warren, I never
+saw you in better spirits. Do you know what I think? I think that, for
+a chap who has just given away half of a good-sized fortune and intends
+giving away the other half, you’re the most cheerful specimen I ever
+saw.”
+
+The captain laughed, too. “I am, ain’t I,” he said. “Well, I can say
+truthful what I never expected to say in my life--that _once_ I was
+wuth ha’f a million dollars. As for the rest of it, I’m like that
+millionaire--that.... Hi! Look! There comes Dan! See him!”
+
+They peered eagerly over the fence. The Warren “two-seater” had rounded
+the bend in the road. Dan was driving. Beside him sat a young fellow who
+waved his hand.
+
+“Steve!” cried the captain, excitedly. “There’s Steve! And--and--yes,
+there’s somebody on the back seat. It’s Jim! He’s come! Hooray!”
+
+He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.
+
+“Wait,” he cried. “I don’t want to lose the rest of that sentence. You
+said you were like some millionaire. Who?”
+
+“Don’t bother me,” cried Captain Elisha. “Who? Why, I was goin’ to say
+I was like that millionaire chap who passes out a library every time he
+wakes up and happens to think of it. You know who I mean.... Ahoy there,
+Jim! Ahoy, Steve!”
+
+He was waving his hand to the passengers in the approaching vehicle.
+
+“Yes,” prompted his friend, hastily, “I know who you mean--Carnegie.”
+
+“That’s the feller. I’ve come to feel about the way he says he
+does--that ‘twould be a crime for me to die rich.”
+
+                         THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg’s Cap’n Warren’s Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cap'n Warren's Wards
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 11, 2009 [EBook #3280]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson and D. A. Alexander
+
+
+
+
+
+ CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+
+ By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+ Author of "The Depot Master," "The Woman Haters,"
+ "The Postmaster," "Cap'n Erie,"
+ "Mr. Pratt," etc.
+
+ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
+ BY EDMUND FREDERICK
+
+ A. L. BURT COMPANY
+ PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT 1911, BY
+ D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+
+ _Published October, 1911_
+
+ Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was facing
+her." [Page 48]]
+
+
+
+
+CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"Ostable!" screamed the brakeman, opening the car door and yelling his
+loudest, so as to be heard above the rattle of the train and the shriek
+of the wind; "Ostable!"
+
+The brakeman's cap was soaked through, his hair was plastered down on
+his forehead, and, in the yellow light from the car lamps, his wet nose
+glistened as if varnished. Over his shoulders the shiny ropes of rain
+whipped and lashed across the space between the cars. The windows
+streamed as each succeeding gust flung its miniature freshet against
+them.
+
+The passengers in the car--there were but four of them--did not seem
+greatly interested in the brakeman's announcement. The red-faced person
+in the seat nearest the rear slept soundly, as he had done for the
+last hour and a half. He had boarded the train at Brockton, and, after
+requesting the conductor not to "lemme me git by Bayport, Bill," at
+first favored his fellow travelers with a song and then sank into
+slumber.
+
+The two elderly men sitting together on the right-hand side of the car
+droned on in their apparently endless Jeremiad concerning the low price
+of cranberries, the scarcity of scallops on the flats, the reasons why
+the fish weirs were a failure nowadays, and similar cheerful topics. And
+in his seat on the left, Mr. Atwood Graves, junior partner in the New
+York firm of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves, lawyers, stirred uneasily on
+the lumpy plush cushion, looked at his watch, then at the time-table in
+his hand, noted that the train was now seventy-two minutes late, and
+for at least the fifteenth time mentally cursed the railway company, the
+whole of Cape Cod from Sandwich to Provincetown, and the fates which had
+brought him there.
+
+The train slowed down, in a jerky, hiccoughy sort of way, and crept
+on till the car in which Mr. Graves was seated was abreast the lighted
+windows of a small station, where it stopped. Peering through the
+water-streaked pane at the end of his seat, the lawyer saw dim
+silhouettes of uncertain outline moving about. They moved with provoking
+slowness. He felt that it would be joy unspeakable to rush out there and
+thump them into animation. The fact that the stately Atwood Graves even
+thought of such an undignified proceeding is sufficient indication of
+his frame of mind.
+
+Then, behind the door which the brakeman, after announcing the station,
+had closed again, sounded a big laugh. The heartiness of it grated on
+Mr. Graves's nerves. What idiot could laugh on such a night as this
+aboard a train over an hour late?
+
+The laugh was repeated. Then the door was flung briskly open, and a
+man entered the car. He was a big man, broad-shouldered, inclined to
+stoutness, wearing a cloth cap with a visor, and a heavy ulster, the
+collar of which was turned up. Through the gap between the open ends of
+the collar bristled a short, grayish beard. The face above the beard and
+below the visor was sunburned, with little wrinkles about the eyes and
+curving lines from the nostrils to the corners of the mouth. The upper
+lip was shaved, and the eyebrows were heavy and grayish black. Cap,
+face, and ulster were dripping with water.
+
+The newcomer paused in the doorway for an instant, evidently to add the
+finishing touch to a conversation previously begun.
+
+"Well, I tell you, Ezra," he called, over his shoulder, "if it's too
+deep to wade, maybe I can swim. Fat floats, they tell me, and Abbie says
+I'm gettin' fleshier every day. So long."
+
+He closed the door and, smiling broadly, swung down the aisle. The pair
+of calamity prophets broke off their lament over the declining fisheries
+and greeted him almost jovially.
+
+"Hello, Cap'n!" cried one. "What's the south shore doin' over here in
+this flood?"
+
+"What's the matter, Cap'n?" demanded the other. "Broke loose from your
+moorin's, have you? Did you ever see such a night in your life?"
+
+The man in the ulster shook hands with each of his questioners, removing
+a pair of wet, heavy leather gloves as he did so.
+
+"Don't know's I ever did, Dan," he answered. "Couldn't see much of this
+one but its color--and that's black. I come over this mornin' to
+attend to some business at the court-house--deeds to some cranberry bog
+property I just bought--and Judge Baxter made me go home with him to
+dinner. Stayed at his house all the afternoon, and then his man, Ezra
+Hallett, undertook to drive me up here to the depot. Talk about blind
+pilotin'! Whew! The Judge's horse was a new one, not used to the roads,
+Ezra's near-sighted, and I couldn't use my glasses 'count of the rain.
+Let alone that, 'twas darker'n the fore-hold of Noah's ark. Ho, ho!
+Sometimes we was in the ruts and sometimes we was in the bushes. I told
+Ez we'd ought to have fetched along a dipsy lead, then maybe we could
+get our bearin's by soundin's. 'Couldn't see 'em if we did get 'em,'
+says he. 'No,' says I, 'but we could taste 'em. Man that's driven
+through as much Ostable mud as you have ought to know the taste of every
+road in town.'"
+
+"Well, you caught the train, anyhow," observed Dan.
+
+"Yup. If we'd been crippled as _well_ as blind we could have done that."
+He seated himself just in front of the pair and glanced across the aisle
+at Mr. Graves, to find the latter looking intently at him.
+
+"Pretty tough night," he remarked, nodding.
+
+"Yes," replied the lawyer briefly. He did not encourage conversation
+with casual acquaintances. The latest arrival had caught his attention
+because there was something familiar about him. It seemed to Graves that
+he must have seen him before; and yet that was very improbable. This
+was the attorney's first visit to Cape Cod, and he had already vowed
+devoutly that it should be his last. He turned a chilling shoulder to
+the trio opposite and again consulted the time-table. Denboro was the
+next station; then--thank the Lord--South Denboro, his destination.
+
+Conversation across the aisle was brisk, and its subjects were many and
+varied. Mr. Graves became aware, more or less against his will, that
+the person called "Cap'n" was, if not a leader in politics and local
+affairs, still one whose opinions counted. Some of those opinions, as
+given, were pointed and dryly descriptive; as, for instance, when a
+certain town-meeting candidate was compared to a sculpin--"with a big
+head that sort of impresses you, till you get close enough to realize it
+_has_ to be big to make room for so much mouth." Graves, who was fond
+of salt water fishing, knew what a sculpin was, and appreciated the
+comparison.
+
+The conductor entered the car and stopped to collect a ticket from his
+new passenger. It was evident that he, too, was acquainted with the
+latter.
+
+"Evening, Cap'n," he said, politely. "Train's a little late to-night."
+
+"It is--for to-night's train," was the prompt response, "but if it keeps
+on at the rate it's travelin' now, it'll be a little early for to-morrow
+mornin's, won't it?"
+
+The conductor laughed. "Guess you're right," he said. "This is about as
+wet a storm as I've run through since I've been on the road. If we get
+to Provincetown without a washout we'll be lucky.... Well, we've made
+another hitch. So far, so good."
+
+The brakeman swung open the door to shout, "Denboro! Denboro!" the
+conductor picked up his lantern and hurried away, the locomotive
+whistled hoarsely, and the train hiccoughed alongside another little
+station. Mr. Graves, peering through his window, imagined that here
+the silhouettes on the platform moved more briskly. They seemed almost
+excited. He inferred that Denboro was a bigger and more wide-awake
+village than Ostable.
+
+But he was mistaken. The reason for the excitement was made plain by the
+conductor a moment afterwards. That official entered the car, removed
+his uniform cap, and rubbed a wet forehead with a wetter hand.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said, "I've been expecting it, and here it is.
+Mark me down as a good prophet, will you? There's a washout a mile
+further on, and a telegraph pole across the track. It's blowing great
+guns and raining pitchforks. It'll be out of the question for us to go
+forward before daylight, if then. Darn a railroad man's job anyhow!"
+
+Five minutes later Mr. Graves descended the steps of the car, his
+traveling bag in one hand and an umbrella in the other. As soon as
+both feet were securely planted on the platform, he put down the bag
+to wrestle with the umbrella and the hurricane, which was apparently
+blowing from four directions at once. Feeling his hat leaving his head,
+he became aware that the umbrella had turned inside out. He threw the
+wreck violently under the train and stooped to pick up the bag. The bag
+was no longer there.
+
+"It's all right," said a calm voice behind him. "I've got your satchel,
+neighbor. Better beat for harbor, hadn't we? Here! this way."
+
+The bewildered New Yorker felt his arm seized in a firm grip, and he was
+rushed across the platform, through a deluge of wind-driven water, and
+into a small, hot, close-smelling waiting room. When he pushed his hat
+clear of his eyes he saw that his rescuer was the big man who boarded
+the train at Ostable. He was holding the missing bag and smiling.
+
+"Dirty weather, hey?" he observed, pleasantly. "Sorry your umbrella had
+to go by the board. I see you was carryin' too much canvas and tried to
+run alongside in time to give you a tow; but you was dismasted just as I
+got there. Here's your dunnage, all safe and sound."
+
+He extended the traveling bag at arm's length. Mr. Graves accepted his
+property and murmured thanks, not too cordially. His dignity and temper
+had gone overboard with the umbrella, and he had not yet recovered them.
+
+"Well," went on his companion, "here we are! And I, for one, wanted to
+be somewheres else. Caleb," turning to the station master, who came in
+at that moment, "any way of my gettin' home to-night?"
+
+"'Fraid not, Cap'n," was the answer. "I don't know of any. Guess you'll
+have to put up at the hotel and wait till mornin'."
+
+"That's right," agreed the passenger called "Dan," who was standing
+near. "That's what Jerry and I are goin' to do."
+
+"Yes, but you and Jerry are bound for Orham. I'm booked for South
+Denboro, and that's only seven miles off. I'd _swim_ the whole seven
+rather than put up at Sim Titcomb's hotel. I've been there afore, thank
+you! Look here, Caleb, can't I hire a team and drive over?"
+
+"Well, I don't know. S'pose you might ring up Pete Shattuck and ask him.
+He's pretty particular about his horses, though, and I cal'late he--"
+
+"All right. I'll ring him up. Pete ought to get over some of his
+particularness to oblige me. I've helped _him_ once or twice."
+
+He was on his way to the ticket office, where the telephone hung on the
+wall. But Mr. Graves stepped forward and spoke to him.
+
+"Excuse me, sir," said the lawyer. "Did I understand you to say you were
+going to South Denboro?"
+
+"Yes. I am, if the powers--and Pete Shattuck--'ll let me."
+
+"You were going to drive over? May I go with you? I'm very anxious to
+get to South Denboro to-night. I have some very important business
+there, and I want to complete it and get away to-morrow. I must be back
+in New York by the morning following."
+
+The captain looked his questioner over. There was a doubtful look on his
+face, and he smiled quizzically.
+
+"Well, I don't know, Mr.--"
+
+"Graves is my name."
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Graves. This ain't goin' to be a pleasure cruise
+exactly. You might get pretty wet."
+
+"I don't care. I can get dry again when I get there. Of course I shall
+share the expense of the livery. I shall be greatly obliged if I may go
+with you. If not, I must try for a rig myself."
+
+"Oh, if you feel that way about it, why, come ahead and welcome. I was
+only warnin' you, that's all. However, with me aboard for ballast, I
+guess we won't blow away. Wait a jiffy till I get after Pete."
+
+He entered the ticket office and raised a big hand to the little crank
+of the telephone bell.
+
+"Let's see, Caleb," he called; "what's Shattuck's number?"
+
+"Four long and two short," answered the station master.
+
+Graves, wondering vaguely what sort of telephone system was in use on
+Cape Cod, heard his prospective pilot ring the instrument for a full two
+seconds, repeating the ring four times altogether. This he followed with
+two sharp tinkles. Then came a series of shouted "Hellos!" and, at last,
+fragments of one-half of a dialogue.
+
+"That you, Shattuck? Know who this is, don't you? Yes, that's right....
+Say, how many folks listen every time a bell rings on this line? I've
+heard no less'n eight receivers come down so far.... Two of 'em went up
+then, did you hear 'em?... Sartin.... I want to hire a team to go over
+home with.... To-night--Sartin.... I don't care.... Yes, you will,
+too.... _Yes_, you _will_... Send my man back with it to-morrow... I
+don't care _what_ it is, so it's got four legs and wheels...."
+
+And so on for at least five minutes. Then the captain hung up the
+receiver and came back to the waiting room.
+
+"Bargain's made, Mr. Graves," he announced. "Pete'll have some sort of
+a turn-out alongside soon's he can get it harnessed. If you've got any
+extra storm duds in that satchel of yours, I'd advise you to put 'em on.
+We're goin' to have a rough passage."
+
+Just how rough it was likely to be, Graves realized when he emerged from
+the station to board the Shattuck buggy. "Pete" himself had driven the
+equipage over from the livery stable.
+
+"I wouldn't do this for anybody but you, Cap'n," he vouchsafed, in what
+might be called a reproachful shout. Shouting was necessary, owing to
+the noise of the storm.
+
+"Wouldn't do what?" replied the captain, looking first at the ancient
+horse and then at the battered buggy.
+
+"Let this horse out a night like this."
+
+"Humph! I should think night would be the only time you would let him
+out.... There! there! never mind. Get aboard, Mr. Graves. Put your
+satchel on the floor between your feet. Here, let me h'ist that boot for
+you."
+
+The "boot" was a rubber curtain buttoned across the front of the buggy,
+extending from the dashboard to just below the level of the driver's
+eyes. The lawyer clambered in behind it, the captain followed, the end
+of the reins was passed through a slit in the boot, Mr. Shattuck, after
+inquiring if they were "all taut," gave the command, "Gid-dap!" and
+horse and buggy moved around the corner of the station, out into
+darkness.
+
+Of the next hour Graves's memories are keen but monotonous,--a strong
+smell of stable, arising from the laprobe which had evidently been
+recently used as a horse blanket; the sound of hoofs, in an interminable
+"jog, jog--splash, splash," never hurrying; a series of exasperated
+howls from the captain, who was doing his best to make them hurry; the
+thunderous roar of rain on the buggy top and the shrieking gale which
+rocked the vehicle on its springs and sent showers of fine spray driving
+in at every crack and crevice between the curtains.
+
+The view ahead, over the boot, was blackness, bordered by spidery trees
+and branches whipping in the wind. Occasionally they passed houses
+sitting well back from the road, a lighted window gleaming cozily. And
+ever, as they moved, the storm seemed to gather force.
+
+Graves noticed this and, at length, when his nervousness had reached
+the breaking point, screamed a question in his companion's ear. They
+had attempted no conversation during the ride, the lawyer, whose
+contemptuous opinion of the locality and all its inhabitants was now a
+conviction, feeling that the result would not be worth the effort, and
+the captain busy with his driving.
+
+"It is blowing worse than ever, isn't it?" yelled the nervous Graves.
+
+"Hey? No, just about the same. It's dead sou'west and we're getting out
+of the woods, that's all. Up on those bare hills we catch the full force
+of it right off the Sound. Be there pretty soon now, if this Old Hundred
+of a horse would quit walkin' in his sleep and really move. Them lights
+ahead are South Denboro."
+
+The lights were clustered at the foot of a long and rather steep hill.
+Down the declivity bounced and rocked the buggy. The horse's hoofs
+sounded hollow on the planks of a bridge. The road narrowed and became
+a village street, bordered and arched by tall trees which groaned and
+threshed in the hurricane. The rain, as it beat in over the boot, had,
+so the lawyer fancied, a salty taste.
+
+The captain bent down. "Say, Mister," he shouted, "where was it you
+wanted to stop? Who is it you're lookin' for?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"I say--Heavens to Betsy! how that wind does screech!--I say where'bouts
+shall I land you. This is South Denboro. Whose house do you want to go
+to?"
+
+"I'm looking for one of your leading citizens. Elisha Warren is his
+name."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Elisha Warren. I--"
+
+He was interrupted. There was a sharp crack overhead, followed by a
+tremendous rattle and crash. Then down upon the buggy descended what,
+to Graves, appeared to be an avalanche of scratching, tearing twigs
+and branches. They ripped away the boot and laprobe and jammed him back
+against the seat, their sharp points against his breast. The buggy was
+jerked forward a few feet and stopped short.
+
+He heard the clatter of hoofs and shouts of "Whoa!" and "Stand
+still!" He tried to rise, but the tangle of twigs before him seemed
+impenetrable, so he gave it up and remained where he was. Then, after an
+interval, came a hail from the darkness.
+
+"Hi, there! Mr. Graves, ahoy! Hurt, be you?"
+
+"No," the lawyer's tone was doubtful. "No--o, I--I guess not. That you,
+Captain?"
+
+"Yes, it's me. Stand still, you foolhead! Quit your hoppin' up and
+down!" These commands were evidently addressed to the horse. "Glad you
+ain't hurt. Better get out, hadn't you?"
+
+"I--I'm not sure that I can get out. What on earth has happened?"
+
+"Tree limb carried away. Lucky for us we got the brush end, 'stead of
+the butt. Scooch down and see if you can't wriggle out underneath. I
+did."
+
+Mr. Graves obediently "scooched." After a struggle he managed to slide
+under the tangle of branches and, at length, stood on his feet in the
+road beside the buggy. The great limb had fallen across the street, its
+heavy end near the walk. As the captain had said, it was fortunate for
+the travelers that the "brush" only had struck the carriage.
+
+Graves found his companion standing at the horse's head, holding the
+frightened animal by the bridle. The rain was descending in a flood.
+
+"Well!" gasped the agitated New Yorker. "I'll be hanged if this isn't--"
+
+"Ain't it? But say, Mr. Graves, _who_ did you say you was comin' to
+see?"
+
+"Oh, a person named Elisha Warren. He lives in this forsaken hole
+somewhere, I believe. If I had known what an experience I must go
+through to reach him, I'd have seen him at the devil."
+
+From the bulky figure at the horse's head came a chuckle.
+
+"Humph! Well, Mr. Graves, if the butt of that limb had fetched us,
+instead of t'other end, I don't know but you _might_ have seen him
+there. I'm Elisha Warren, and that's my house over yonder where the
+lights are."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"This is your room, Mr. Graves," said Miss Abigail Baker, placing
+the lighted lamp on the bureau. "And here's a pair of socks and some
+slippers. They belong to Elisha--Cap'n Warren, that is--but he's got
+more. Cold water and towels and soap are on the washstand over yonder;
+but I guess you've had enough _cold_ water for one night. There's plenty
+hot in the bathroom at the end of the hall. After you change your wet
+things, just leave 'em spread out on the floor. I'll come fetch 'em by
+and by and hang 'em to dry in the kitchen. Come right downstairs when
+you're ready. Anything else you want? No? All right then. You needn't
+hurry. Supper's waited an hour 'n' a half as 'tis. 'Twon't hurt it to
+wait a spell longer."
+
+She went away, closing the door after her. The bewildered, wet and
+shivering New Yorker stared about the room, which, to his surprise, was
+warm and cozy. The warmth was furnished, so he presently discovered,
+by a steam radiator in the corner. Radiators and a bathroom! These were
+modern luxuries he would have taken for granted, had Elisha Warren been
+the sort of man he expected to find, the country magnate, the leading
+citizen, fitting brother to the late A. Rodgers Warren, of Fifth Avenue
+and Wall Street.
+
+But the Captain Warren who had driven him to South Denboro in the rain
+was not that kind of man at all. His manner and his language were as far
+removed from those of the late A. Rodgers as the latter's brown stone
+residence was from this big rambling house, with its deep stairs and
+narrow halls, its antiquated pictures and hideous, old-fashioned wall
+paper; as far removed as Miss Baker, whom the captain had hurriedly
+introduced as "my second cousin keepin' house for me," was from the
+dignified butler at the mansion on Fifth Avenue. Patchwork comforters
+and feather beds were not, in the lawyer's scheme of things, fit
+associates for radiators and up-to-date bathrooms. And certainly this
+particular Warren was not fitted to be elder brother to the New York
+broker who had been Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves' client.
+
+It could not be, it _could_ not. There must be some mistake. In country
+towns there were likely to be several of the same name. There must be
+another Elisha Warren. Comforted by this thought, Mr. Graves opened his
+valise, extracted therefrom other and drier articles of wearing apparel,
+and proceeded to change his clothes.
+
+Meanwhile, Miss Abigail had descended the stairs to the sitting room.
+Before a driftwood fire in a big brick fireplace sat Captain Warren in
+his shirt-sleeves, a pair of mammoth carpet slippers on his feet, and
+the said feet stretched luxuriously out toward the blaze.
+
+"Abbie," observed the captain, "this is solid comfort. Every time I go
+away from home I get into trouble, don't I? Last trip I took to Boston,
+I lost thirty dollars, and--"
+
+"Lost it!" interrupted Miss Baker, tartly. "Gave it away, you mean."
+
+"I didn't _give_ it away. I lent it. Abbie, you ought to know the
+difference between a gift and a loan."
+
+"I do--when there is any difference. But if lendin' Tim Foster ain't
+givin' it away, then I miss my guess."
+
+"Well," with another chuckle, "Tim don't feel that way. He swore right
+up and down that he wouldn't take a cent--as a gift. I offered to make
+him a present of ten dollars, but he looked so shocked that I apologized
+afore he could say no."
+
+"Yes, and then _lent_ him that thirty. Shocked! The only thing that
+would shock that good-for-nothin' is bein' set to work. What possessed
+you to be such a soft-head, _I_ don't know. When you get back a copper
+of that money I'll believe the millennium's struck, that's all."
+
+"Hum! Well, I'll help you believe it--that is, if I have time afore I
+drop dead of heart disease. Abbie, you'd make a good lawyer; you can get
+up an argument out of a perfect agreement. I said the thirty dollars
+was lost, to begin with. But I knew Tim Foster's mother when she used
+to think that boy of hers was the eighth wonder of the world. And I
+promised her I'd do what I could for him long's I lived.... But it seems
+to me we've drifted some off the course, ain't we? What I started to say
+was that every time I go away from home I get into trouble. Up to Boston
+'twas Tim and his 'loan.' To-night it's about as healthy a sou'wester
+as I've ever been out in. Dan fetched in the team, has he?"
+
+"Yes. It's in the stable. He says the buggy dash is pretty well
+scratched up, and that it's a wonder you and that Graves man wa'n't
+killed. Who is he, anyhow?"
+
+"Land knows, I don't."
+
+"You don't know! Then what's he doin' here?"
+
+"Changin' his duds, I guess. That's what I'd do if I looked as much like
+a drowned rat as he did."
+
+"'Lisha Warren! if you ain't the most _provoking'_ thing! Don't be so
+unlikely. You know what I mean. What's he come here, to this house,
+for?"
+
+"Don't know, Abbie. I didn't know he _was_ comin' here till just as we
+got down yonder by Emery's corner. I asked him who he was lookin' for,
+he said 'Elisha Warren,' and then the tree caved in on us."
+
+"'Lisha, you--you don't s'pose 'twas a--_sign_, do you?"
+
+"Sign?"
+
+"Yes, a sign, a prophecy-like, a warnin' that somethin' is goin' to
+happen."
+
+The captain put back his head and laughed.
+
+"Sign somethin' _had_ happened, I should think," he answered. "What's
+_goin'_ to happen is that Pete Shattuck'll get his buggy painted
+free-for-nothin', at my expense. How's supper gettin' along? Is it
+ready?"
+
+"Ready? It's been ready for so long that it'll have to be got ready
+all over again if.... Oh! Come right in, Mr. Graves! I hope you're drier
+now."
+
+Captain Warren sprang from the chair to greet his visitor, who was
+standing in the doorway.
+
+"Yes, come right in, Mr. Graves," he urged, cordially. "Set down by the
+fire and make yourself comf'table. Abbie'll have somethin' for us to eat
+in a jiffy. Pull up a chair."
+
+The lawyer came forward hesitatingly. The doubts which had troubled him
+ever since he entered the house were still in his mind.
+
+"Thank you, Captain," he said. "But before I accept more of your
+hospitality I feel I should be sure there is no mistake. I have come on
+important business, and--"
+
+"Hold on!" The captain held up a big hand. "Don't you say another word,"
+he commanded. "There's just one business that interests me this minute,
+and that's supper. There's no mistake about _that_, anyhow. Did you say
+'Come ahead,' Abbie? or was you just going to? Good! Right into the
+dinin' room, Mr. Graves."
+
+The dining room was long and low. The woodwork was white, the floor
+green painted boards, with braided rag mats scattered over them.
+There were old-fashioned pictures on the walls, pictures which brought
+shudders to the artistic soul of Atwood Graves. A broad bay window
+filled one side of the apartment, and in this window, on shelves and in
+wire baskets, were Miss Baker's cherished and carefully tended plants.
+As for the dining table, it was dark, old-fashioned walnut, as were the
+chairs.
+
+"Set right down here, Mr. Graves," ordered the captain. "I'll try
+to keep you supplied with solid cargo, and Abbie'll 'tend to the
+moistenin'. Hope that teapot is full up, Abbie. Hot tea tastes good
+after you've swallered as much cold rain as Mr. Graves and I have...
+Father-we-thank-thee-for-these-mercies-set-before-us-Amen.... How's
+your appetite when it comes to clam pie, Mr. Graves?"
+
+Mr. Graves's appetite was good, and the clam pie was good. So, too,
+were the hot biscuits and the tea and homemade preserves and cake.
+Conversation during the meal was, for the most part, a monologue by the
+captain. He gave Miss Baker a detailed and exaggerated account of his
+adventures in Ostable, on board the train, and during the drive home.
+The housekeeper listened, fidgeting in her chair.
+
+"'Lisha Warren," she interrupted, "how you do talk! Rainin' so hard you
+had to hold the reins taut to keep the horse's head out of water so he
+wouldn't drown! The idea!"
+
+"Fact," asserted Captain Warren, with a wink at his guest. "And that
+wa'n't the worst of it. 'Twas so dark I had to keep feelin' the buggy
+with my foot to be sure I was in it. Ain't that so, Mr. Graves?... Here!
+Abbie won't like to have you set lookin' at that empty plate. She's
+always afraid folks'll notice the gilt's wearin' off. Pass it over
+quick, and let me cover it with some more pie."
+
+"Yes, and have some more tea," urged Miss Abbie. "You mustn't pay
+attention to what he says, Mr. Graves," she went on. "Some day he'll
+tell the truth by accident, and then I'll know it's time to send for the
+doctor."
+
+Several times the lawyer attempted to mention the business which had
+brought him to the Cape, and the probability of his having made a
+mistake. But neither host nor housekeeper would listen.
+
+"When you've been in South Denboro as long as I have," declared the
+former, "you'll understand that the time to talk business is when you
+can't think of anything else. Wait till we get into the settin' room.
+Abbie, those six or eight biscuits I've ate are gettin' lonesome. I'll
+take another for sociability, thank you."
+
+But, at last, when all the biscuits but one were gone, and the cake
+plate looked like the Desert of Sahara, the captain pushed back his
+chair, rose, and led the way into the next room. Miss Baker remained to
+clear the table.
+
+"Set down by the fire, Mr. Graves," urged the captain. "Nothin' like
+burnin' wood to look hot and comf'table, is there? It don't always make
+you feel that way--that's why I put in hot water heat--but for looks and
+sociableness you can't beat a log fire. Smoke, do you?"
+
+"Yes. Occasionally. But, Captain Warren--"
+
+"Here, try that. It's a cigar the Judge gave me over to Ostable. He
+smokes that kind reg'lar, but if you don't like it, throw it away.
+He ain't here to see you do it, so you won't be fined for contempt of
+court. I'll stick to a pipe, if you don't mind. Now we're shipshape
+and all taut, I cal'late. Let's see, you wanted to talk business, I
+believe."
+
+"Yes, I did. But before I begin I should like to be sure you are the
+Elisha Warren I came from New York to interview. Is there another of
+that name in Denboro?"
+
+"Um-hm. There's Warrens a-plenty all through this section of the Cape.
+Our family blew ashore here a hundred and fifty years ago, or such
+matter. My dad's name was Elisha; so was my grandfather's. Both sea
+cap'ns, and both dead. There's another Elisha livin' over on the shore
+lane."
+
+"Indeed. Then perhaps it is he I want."
+
+"P'raps. He's keeper of the town poorhouse. I can tell you better if you
+give me an idea what your business is."
+
+"I am an attorney. And now let me ask another question, please. Have
+you--had you a brother in business in New York?"
+
+"Hey?" The captain turned and looked his guest squarely in the eye. His
+brows drew together.
+
+"I've got a brother in New York," he answered, slowly. "Did _he_ send
+you here?"
+
+"Was your brother's name A. Rodgers Warren?"
+
+"'A. Rodgers'? No. His name is Abijah Warren, and--Wait! His middle name
+is Rodgers, though. Did 'Bije send you to me?"
+
+"A moment, Captain. Was your brother a broker?"
+
+"Yes. His office is--or used to be on Broad Street. What--"
+
+"You have not heard from him for some time?"
+
+"Not for eighteen years. He and I didn't agree as well as we might.
+Maybe 'twas my fault, maybe 'twas his. I have my own ideas on that. If
+you're lookin' for 'Bije Warren's brother, Mr. Graves, I guess you've
+come to the right place. But _what_ he sent you to me for, or what
+he wants--for he wants somethin', or he wouldn't have sent--I don't
+understand."
+
+"Why do you think he wanted something?"
+
+"Because he's 'Bije Warren, and I was brought up with him. When we was
+young ones together, he went to school and I went to work. He got the
+frostin' on the cake, and I got the burnt part next to the pan. He went
+to college, and I went to sea. He.... However, you mustn't think I find
+fault with him for that. I sp'iled him as much as anybody, I guess.
+'Twas later on that we.... Well, never mind that, either. What is it he
+wants of me, after eighteen years?"
+
+"He wants a good deal of you, Captain Warren. Or _did_ want it."
+
+"Did? Don't he want it now?"
+
+"I don't know. Captain, I'm surprised that you haven't heard. It seems
+that I am the bearer of bad news. Your brother--"
+
+"Is 'Bije _dead_?"
+
+"He died ten days ago very suddenly. In a way it was a great shock to us
+all, yet we have known that his heart was weak. He realized it, too."
+
+"So 'Bije is dead, hey?" Captain Elisha's face was very grave, and he
+spoke slowly. "Dead! Well, well, well!"
+
+He paused and looked into the fire. Graves saw again that vague
+resemblance he had caught on the train, but had forgotten. He knew now
+why he noticed it. Unlike as the two brothers were, unlike in almost
+every way, the trace of family likeness was there. This sunburned,
+retired captain _was_ the New York financier's elder brother. And this
+certainty made Mr. Graves's errand more difficult, and the cause of it
+more inexplicable.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat.
+
+"Well, well!" he sighed. "So 'Bije has gone. I s'pose you think it's
+odd, maybe," he went on, "that I ain't more struck down by the news. In
+a way, I am, and, in a way, I'm mighty sorry, too. But, to speak truth,
+he and I have been so apart, and have had nothin' to do with each other
+for so long that--that, well, I've come to feel as if I didn't have a
+brother. And I know he felt that way. Yes, and _wanted_ to feel so--I
+know that."
+
+"I wouldn't say that, if I were you," observed the lawyer, gently. "I
+think you're mistaken there."
+
+"I ain't mistaken. Why, look here, Mr. Graves! There was a time when
+I'd have got down on my knees and crawled from here to New York to help
+'Bije Warren. I lent him money to start in business. Later on him and I
+went into partnership together on a--a fool South American speculation
+that didn't pan out for nothin'. I didn't care for that. I took my
+chance same as he did, we formed a stock company all amongst ourselves,
+and I've got my share of the stock somewhere yet. It may come in handy
+if I ever want to paper the barn. But 'twa'n't business deals of that
+kind that parted us, 'twas another matter. Somethin' that he did to
+other folks who'd trusted us and.... Humph! this don't interest you, of
+course.... Well, 'Bije was well off, I know. His wife died way back
+in the nineties. She was one of them fashionable women, and a hayseed
+salt-herrin' of a bachelor brother-in-law stuck down here in the
+sandheaps didn't interest her much--except as somethin' to forget, I
+s'pose. I used to see her name in the Boston papers occasionally, givin'
+parties at Newport and one thing a'nother. I never envied 'em that kind
+of life. I'm as well fixed as I want to be. Got some money put by for
+a rainy spell, comf'table house and land, best town on earth to live in
+and work for; I'm satisfied and always have been. I wouldn't change for
+nothin'. But I'm nine year older than 'Bije was--and yet I'm left alive.
+Hum!"
+
+"Your brother had two children by his marriage," said Graves, after a
+moment of silence.
+
+"Hey? Two children? Why, yes, I remember he did. Boy and girl, wa'n't
+they? I never saw em. They've growed up by this time, of course."
+
+"Yes, the eldest, Caroline, is nearly twenty. The boy, Stephen, is a
+year younger. It is concerning those children, Captain Warren, that I
+have come to you."
+
+Captain Elisha turned in his chair. "Hey?" he queried. "The children?
+You've come to me about 'Bije's children?"
+
+Graves nodded. "Yes," he answered, solemnly. "That is what I meant by
+saying your brother had not forgotten you or wished to forget you. In
+spite of the estrangement, it is evident that his confidence in your
+judgment and integrity was supreme. His children were his idols, Captain
+Warren, and he has left them in your charge."
+
+The captain's pipe fell to the hearth.
+
+"_What_?" he shouted. "Left his children to--to _me_! Mr. Graves,
+you're--you're out of your head--or I am!"
+
+"No, I'm perfectly sane. I have a copy of the will here, and--"
+
+He was interrupted by Miss Baker, who appeared at the door of the dining
+room. "Did you want me, 'Lisha?" she asked.
+
+Her employer stared at her in a dazed, uncomprehending way.
+
+"Want you?" he repeated. "Want you?"
+
+"Yes; I heard you holler, and I thought p'raps you was callin' me."
+
+"Hey? No, I don't want you, Abbie.... Holler! I shouldn't wonder! If
+all I did was holler, I'm surprised at myself. No, no! Run along out and
+shut the door. Yes, shut it.... Now, Mr. Graves, say that over again and
+say it slow."
+
+"I say that your brother has left his two children in your care until
+the youngest shall become of age--twenty-one. I have a copy of his will
+here, and--"
+
+"Wait, wait! let me think. Left his children to me!... to _me_. Mr.
+Graves, had 'Bije lost all his money?"
+
+"No. He was not the millionaire that many thought him. Miss Warren and
+her brother will be obliged to economize somewhat in their manner
+of living. But, with care _and_ economy, their income should be quite
+sufficient, without touching the principal, to--"
+
+"Hold on again; the income, you say. What is that income?"
+
+"Roughly speaking, a mere estimate, about twenty to twenty-five thousand
+yearly."
+
+Captain Elisha had stooped to pick up the pipe he had dropped. His
+fingers touched it, but they did not close. Instead he straightened up
+in his chair as if suffering from an electric shock.
+
+"Mr. Graves," he began; "Mr. Graves, are you cra--. No, I asked you that
+before. But--but twenty _thousand_ a--a year! For mercy sakes, what's
+the principal?"
+
+"In the neighborhood of five hundred thousand, I believe. Of course, we
+had no authority to investigate thoroughly. That will be a part of your
+duties, but--"
+
+"S-shh! Let me soak this into my brains a little at a time. 'Bije leaves
+his children five hundred thousand, half a million, and--and they've got
+to _economize_! And I'm.... Would you mind readin' me that will?"
+
+The attorney drew a long envelope from his pocket, extracted therefrom a
+folded document, donned a pair of gold-mounted eyeglasses, and began to
+read aloud.
+
+The will was short and very concise. "'I, Abijah Rodgers Warren, being
+of sound mind--'"
+
+"You're sartin that part's true, are you?" broke in the captain.
+
+Graves nodded, rather impatiently, and continued. "'Of sound mind,
+memory and understanding, do make, publish and declare this to be my
+last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say:--
+
+"'First:--I direct my executor hereinafter named to pay my just debts
+and funeral expenses as soon as maybe convenient after my decease.'"
+
+"Did he owe much, think likely?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"Apparently not. Very little beyond the usual bills of a household."
+
+"Yes, yes. Grocer and butcher and baker and suchlike. Well, I guess they
+won't have to put in a keeper. Heave ahead."
+
+"'Second:--I give, devise and bequeath all my estate, both real and
+personal, to my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive--'"
+
+The captain gasped. "To me?" he cried, in utter amazement. "He leaves
+it to _me_? 'Bije leaves--say, Mr. Graves, there's some mistake here
+somewhere, sure! And besides, you said--"
+
+"Just a minute, Captain Warren, if you please. If you'll be patient and
+not interrupt, I'll try to make the whole matter plain."
+
+"Well, if you can do _that_, you'll have King Solomon and all his wisdom
+beat a mile, that's all I've got to say. Go on."
+
+"'To my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive me, _in trust_,
+nevertheless, for the following purpose, to wit:--
+
+"'To invest the same and to use the income thereof for the education and
+maintenance of my two children, Caroline Edgecombe Warren--'"
+
+"Edgecombe? Named for some of his wife's folks, I presume likely. Excuse
+me for puttin' my oar in again. Go on."
+
+"'And Stephen Cole Warren--'"
+
+"_That's_ his wife, sartin. She was a Cole. I swan, I beg your pardon."
+
+"'Until the elder, Caroline Edgecombe Warren, shall have reached her
+twenty-first birthday, when one-half of the principal of said estate,
+together with one-half of the accumulated interest, shall be given to
+her, and the trust continued for the education and maintenance of my
+son, Stephen Cole Warren, until he shall have reached his twenty-first
+birthday, when I direct that the remainder be given to him.
+
+"'Third:--I appoint as testamentary guardian of my said children my said
+brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+"'Fourth:--I appoint as sole executor of this, my last will and
+testament, my said brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+"'Fifth:--Imposing implicit trust and confidence in Elisha Warren,
+my brother, I direct that he be not required to give bond for the
+performance of any of the affairs or trusts to which he has been herein
+appointed.'
+
+"The remainder," concluded Graves, refolding the will, "is purely
+formal. It is dated May 15th, three years ago. Your brother, Captain
+Warren, evidently realized, although no one else seems to have done
+so, the precarious state of his health, and prepared, as every careful
+person should, for the great emergency."
+
+The attorney removed his eyeglasses and rubbed them with his
+handkerchief. Captain Elisha sat silent, staring at the fire. After an
+interval, Graves spoke again.
+
+"Of course, Captain," he went on, "my errand is now plain. I come to
+acquaint you with your brother's last wishes and to ascertain whether or
+not you are willing to accept the trust and responsibility he has laid
+upon you. As you doubtless know, the state provides a legal rate of
+reimbursement for such services as yours will--or may--be. Ahem!"
+
+"May be? You mean I ain't got to do this thing unless I want to?"
+
+"Certainly. You have the right to renounce the various appointments, in
+which case another executor, trustee, and guardian will be appointed.
+I realize, and I'm sure that your brother's children will realize, your
+hesitance in assuming such a responsibility over persons whom you have
+never even met."
+
+"Yes, I guess we'll all realize it; you needn't worry about that. Look
+here, do the children know I'm elected?"
+
+"Yes. Of course, the will has been read to them."
+
+"Hum! I s'pose likely they was overcome with joy, wa'n't they?"
+
+Graves bit his lip. Remembering the comments of Miss Caroline and
+her brother when they learned of their uncle's appointment, he had
+difficulty in repressing a smile.
+
+"Well," he replied, slowly, "of course, one could scarcely expect them
+to rejoice. They have never seen you. In fact, I doubt if either of them
+knew their father had a brother, living."
+
+"Y-e-e-s. That part don't surprise me. But the rest of it does. By the
+miracles of the prophets! the rest of it does! That 'Bije--'Bije--should
+leave his children and their money to _me_ to take care of is passin'
+human belief, as our old minister used to say--.... Humph! I s'pose
+likely, Mr. Graves, you'd like to have me say yes or no to the thing
+while you're here, hey?"
+
+Graves nodded. "It would be well to do so," he said. "The settlement
+of the estate must be taken in hand as soon as possible. The law so
+directs."
+
+"Yes, I see that. Well, what would you advise my doin'?"
+
+To this direct question the lawyer returned a noncommittal answer.
+
+"I'm afraid that must be answered by yourself alone, Captain Warren," he
+said. "Of course, the acceptance of the trust will necessarily involve
+much trouble and inconvenience, especially to one of your--er--settled
+and--er--conservative--I judge merely from what you have said--your
+conservative habits. The estate is large, the investments are,
+doubtless, many and varied, and the labor of looking into and
+investigating them may require some technical skill and knowledge of
+finance. Yes."
+
+"Um-hm.... Well, I judge that that kind of skill and knowledge could be
+hired, if a feller felt like payin' fair wages; hey?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes. Any good lawyer could attend to that, under the
+supervision of the executor, certainly. But there are other
+inconveniences to a--a--"
+
+"Country jay like me. I understand. Go ahead."
+
+"I mean that you would probably be required to spend much, or all, of
+the next two or three years in New York."
+
+"Would, hey? I didn't know but bein' as a guardian has entire charge of
+the children and their money and all--I understand that's what he does
+have--he could direct the children fetched down to where _he_ lived, if
+he wanted to. Am I wrong?"
+
+"No," the lawyer's hesitancy and annoyance was plainly evident. "No-o.
+Of course, that _might_ be done. Still, I--"
+
+"You think that wouldn't cause no more rejoicin' than some other things
+have? Yes, yes; I cal'late I understand, Mr. Graves. Well, I guess
+you'll have to give me to-night to chew over this. I guess you will.
+It's come on me so sudden, 'Bije's death and all, that I want to be by
+myself and think. I don't want to seem unsociable or lackin' in
+hospitality. The whole house is yours. Help yourself to it. But when I'm
+caught in a clove hitch, I just have to set down and think myself out of
+it. I _have_ to. I was built and launched that way, I guess, and maybe
+you'll excuse me."
+
+"Certainly, Captain Warren. You're quite right in wishing to deliberate
+on so important a matter. And, if you will excuse me in return, I
+believe I will go to my room. I've had a rather wearing day."
+
+"And a damp evenin'. Yes, I'll excuse and sympathize with you, too. I'll
+see you to your room, and I'll hope you'll have consider'ble more sleep
+than I'm likely to get. Abbie!... Abbie!... Fetch Mr. Graves's lamp,
+won't you, please?"
+
+It was after two the next morning before Captain Elisha rose from his
+chair by the fire and entered his bed chamber. Yet, when Atwood Graves
+came down to breakfast, he found his host in the sitting room awaiting
+him.
+
+"Afore we tackle Abbie's pancakes and fishballs, Mr. Graves," said the
+captain, "let's get the rest of that will business off our minds. Then
+we can have the pancakes to take the taste out of our mouths, as you
+might say. And let me ask you one more question. This--er--er--Caroline
+and Stephen, they're used to livin' pretty well--fashionable society,
+and the like of that, hey?"
+
+"Yes. Their home was on Fifth Avenue, and the family moved in the best
+circles."
+
+"Hum! I should imagine life on twenty-odd thousand a year must be
+pretty much all circles, one everlastin' 'turn your partners.' Well, Mr.
+Graves, my circles down here are consider'ble smaller, but they suit me.
+I'm worth twenty-odd thousand myself, not in a year, but in a lifetime.
+I'm selectman and director in the bank and trustee of the church. When I
+holler 'Boo,' the South Denboro folks--some of them, anyhow--set up and
+take notice. I can lead the grand march down in this neighborhood once
+in a while, and I cal'late I'm prettier leadin' it than I would be doin'
+a solitaire jig for two years on the outside edge of New York's best
+circles. And I'm mighty sure I'm more welcome. Now my eyesight's strong
+enough to see through a two-foot hole after the plug's out, and I can
+see that you and 'Bije's children won't shed tears if I say no to that
+will. No offense meant, you know; just common sense, that's all."
+
+This was plain speaking. Mr. Graves colored, though he didn't mean to,
+and for once could not answer offhand.
+
+"So," continued the captain, "I'll ease your and their minds by sayin'
+that, the way I feel now, I probably sha'n't accept the trust. I
+_probably_ sha'n't. But I won't say sure I won't, because--well, because
+'Bije was my brother; he was that, no matter what our diff'rences may
+have been. And I know--I _know_ that there must be some reason bigger
+than 'implicit trust' and the other May-baskets for his appointin' me in
+his will. What that reason is I _don't_ know--yet."
+
+"Then you intend--?"
+
+"I don't know what I intend--in the end. But for a beginnin', I cal'late
+to run down to New York some time durin' the next week, take a cruise
+'round, and sort of look things over."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+"It's a box of a place, though, isn't it," declared Mr. Stephen Warren,
+contemptuously glancing about the library of the apartment. "A box, by
+George! I think it's a blooming shame that we have to put up with it,
+Sis."
+
+Mr. Warren sprawled in the most comfortable chair in the room, was
+looking out through the window, across the wind-swept width of Central
+Park West, over the knolls and valleys of the Park itself, now bare of
+foliage and sprinkled with patches of snow. There was a discontented
+look on his face, and his hands were jammed deep in his trousers
+pockets.
+
+His sister, Caroline, sat opposite to him, also looking out at the
+December landscape. She, too, was discontented and unhappy, though she
+tried not to show it.
+
+"Why don't you say something," snapped Stephen, after a moment of
+silence. "_Isn't_ it a box of a place? Now come."
+
+"Yes," replied the young lady, without looking at her brother. "Yes,
+Steve, I suppose it is. But you must remember that we must make the
+best of it. I always wondered how people could live in apartments. Now I
+suppose I shall have to find out."
+
+"Well, I maintain that we don't have to. We aren't paupers, even though
+father wasn't so well fixed as everyone thought. With management and
+care, we could have stayed in the old house, I believe, and kept up
+appearances, at least. What's the use of advertising that we're broke?"
+
+"But, Steve, you know Mr. Graves said--"
+
+"Oh, yes, I know. You swallowed every word Graves said, Caro, as if
+he was the whole book of Proverbs. By George, _I_ don't; I'm from
+Missouri."
+
+Mr. Warren, being in the Sophomore class at Yale, was of the age when
+one is constitutionally "from Missouri." Probably King Solomon, at
+sixty, had doubts concerning the scope and depth of his wisdom; at
+eighteen he would have admitted its all-embracing infallibility without
+a blush.
+
+"I tell you," continued Stephen, "there's no sense in it, Sis. You and I
+know plenty of people whose incomes are no larger than ours. Do they
+'economize,' as Graves is continually preaching? They do not, publicly
+at least. They may save a bit, here and there, but they do it where it
+doesn't show and nobody knows. Take the Blaisdells, for instance. When
+the Sodality Bank went up, and old Blaisdell died, everybody said the
+family was down and out. They must have lost millions. But did _they_
+move into 'apartments' and put up a placard, 'Home of the Dead-Brokes.
+Walk in and Sympathize?' I guess they didn't! They went into mourning,
+of course, and that let them out of entertaining and all that, but they
+stayed where they were and kept up the bluff. That's the thing that
+counts in this world--keeping up the bluff."
+
+"Yes, but everyone knows they are--bluffing, as you call it."
+
+"What of it? They don't really know, they only suspect. And I met Jim
+Blaisdell yesterday and he shook my hand, after I had held it in front
+of his eyes where he couldn't help seeing it, and had the nerve to tell
+me he hoped things weren't as bad with us as he had heard."
+
+"I never liked the Blaisdells," declared Caroline, indignantly.
+
+"Neither did I. Neither do most people. But Jim is just as much in the
+swim as he ever was, and he's got his governor's place on the board of
+directors at the bank, now that it's reorganized, and an office down
+town, and he's hand and glove with Von Blarcom and all the rest.
+They think he's a promising, plucky young man. They'll help his bluff
+through. And are his mother and sister dropped by the people in their
+set? I haven't noticed it."
+
+"Well, Mrs. Corcoran Dunn told me that everyone was talking about
+the Blaisdells and wondering how long they could keep it up. And the
+newspapers have been printing all sorts of things, and hinting that
+young Mr. Blaisdell's appointment as director, after his father wrecked
+the bank, was a scandal. At least, we haven't _that_ to bear up under.
+Father was honest, if he wasn't rich."
+
+"Who cares for the newspapers? They're all run by demagogues hunting
+sensations. What makes me feel the worst about all this is that Stock
+Exchange seat of father's. If I were only of age, so that I could go
+down there on the floor, I tell you it wouldn't be long before you and I
+were back where we belong, Sis. But, no, I'm a kid, so Graves thinks, in
+charge of a guardian--a _guardian_, by gad!"
+
+He snorted, in manly indignation. Caroline, her pretty face troubled,
+rose and walked slowly across the room. It was a large room, in spite of
+the fact that it was one of a suite in an apartment hotel, and furnished
+richly. A. Rodgers Warren spent his money with taste, and spent it
+freely while he lived. The furniture, the paintings, and bric-a-brac
+were of the very best, chosen with care, here and abroad.
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed the girl. "I do hope Mr. Graves will be well enough
+to call to-day. He expected to. Except for the telephone message telling
+us that that _man_ at Denboro--"
+
+"Our dear Uncle Elisha," put in Stephen, with sarcasm. "Uncle ''Lish!'
+Heavens! what a name!"
+
+"Hush! He can't help his name. And father's was worse yet--Abijah! Think
+of it!"
+
+"I don't want to think of it. Neither did the governor; that's why
+he dropped it, I suppose. Just what did Graves say? Give me his exact
+words."
+
+"His partner, Mr. Kuhn, telephoned. He said that Mr. Graves had a bad
+cold, having been wet through in a dreadful storm down there in the
+country. The doctor forbade his leaving the house for a day or two, but
+he would call on Tuesday--to-day--if he was sufficiently recovered. And
+Mr. Kuhn said that everything was satisfactory. This Captain Warren--a
+ship captain, I suppose he is--would, in all probability, refuse to
+accept the guardianship and the rest of it--"
+
+"Refuse? I should think so. I'm just as certain father was insane when
+he made that will as I am that I'm alive. If I thought he wasn't, I'd
+never forgive him."
+
+"Hush, Steve. You promised me you wouldn't speak in that way."
+
+"Well, all right, I won't. But, Caro, he _must_ have been insane. If he
+wasn't, do you suppose he would have put us and the estate in the care
+of a Down-East jay? It's inconceivable! It's ridiculous! Think of it.
+Suppose this uncle of ours had accepted. Suppose he had come to town
+here and any of our friends had met him. 'This is our guardian, Captain
+Warren, of Punkin Centre.' 'Please to meet ye,' says Uncle 'Lish. 'How's
+taters?' Horrors! Say, Caro, you haven't told anyone, Malcolm or his
+mother, or anyone, have you?"
+
+"Of course not, Steve. You know I wouldn't."
+
+"Well, don't. They needn't know it, now or at any other time. Graves
+will probably get himself appointed, and he's respectable if he is an
+old fogy. We'll worry along till I'm twenty-one, and then--well, then
+I'll handle our business myself."
+
+Evidently there was no question in his mind as to his ability to handle
+this or any business, no matter how involved. He rose from his chair and
+yawned.
+
+"It's deadly dull," he complained. "You don't need me, do you, Caro? I
+believe I'll go out for a while. That is, unless you really care."
+
+His sister hesitated before replying. When she spoke, there was
+disappointment in her tone.
+
+"Why, Steve," she said, "I did hope you might be here when Mr. Graves
+came. He will wish to speak of important matters, and it seems to me
+that both of us should hear what he has to say."
+
+Young Warren, who had started for the door, stopped and kicked
+impatiently at the corners of the rug.
+
+"Oh, _well_!" he observed, "if you want me of course I'll stay. But why
+doesn't old Graves come, if he is coming. Maybe he's under the weather
+yet," he added, hopefully. "Perhaps he isn't coming at all to-day. I
+believe I'll call up Kuhn on the 'phone and find out."
+
+He was on his way to the telephone when the doorbell buzzed.
+
+"Gad! there he is now," he exclaimed. "Now I suppose I'll have to stay.
+We'll hear about dear Uncle 'Lish, won't we? Oh, joy!"
+
+But the staid butler, when he entered the library, did not announce the
+lawyer's name.
+
+"Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and Mr. Malcolm," he said. "Will you see them, Miss
+Caroline?"
+
+The young lady's face lit up.
+
+"Certainly, Edwards," she said. "Show them--Oh, Mrs. Dunn, I'm so glad
+to see you! It was _ever_ so good of you to come. And Malcolm."
+
+Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn was tall and, in South Denboro, would have been
+called "fleshy," in spite of her own and the dressmaker's efforts to
+conceal the fact. She was elaborately gowned and furred, and something
+about her creaked when she walked. She rushed into the room, at the
+butler's heels, and, greeting Caroline with outstretched hands, kissed
+her effusively on the cheek.
+
+"My dear child," she cried, "how could I stay away? We have spoken of
+you and Stephen _so_ often this morning. We know how lonely you must be,
+and Malcolm and I decided we _must_ run in on you after lunch. Didn't
+we, Malcolm?"
+
+Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, her son, was a blond young man, with a rather
+indolent manner.
+
+"Sure, Mater!" he said, calmly. "How d'ye do, Caroline? 'Lo, Steve!"
+
+The quartette shook hands. Mrs. Dunn sank creakingly into a chair and
+gazed about the room. Malcolm strolled to the window and looked out.
+Stephen followed and stood beside him.
+
+"My dear," said Mrs. Dunn, addressing Caroline, "how are you getting on?
+How are your nerves? Is all the dreadful 'settling' over?"
+
+"Very nearly, thank goodness."
+
+"That's a mercy. I should certainly have been here yesterday to help you
+in superintending and arranging and so on, but I was suffering from one
+of my 'hearts,' and you know what _they_ are."
+
+Everyone who knew Mrs. Corcoran Dunn was acquainted with her "hearts."
+The attacks came, so she was accustomed to explain, from an impaired
+valve, and "some day"--she usually completed the sentence with upturned
+eyes and a resigned upward wave of the hand.
+
+Her son turned from the window.
+
+"I say, Mother," he explained, wearily, "I do wish you wouldn't speak of
+your vital organs in the plural. Anyone would imagine you were a sort
+of freak, like the two-headed boy at the circus. It's positively
+distressing."
+
+Stephen laughed. He admired young Dunn immensely. Mrs. Dunn sighed.
+
+"Don't, Malcolm, dear," she pleaded. "You sound so unfeeling. One not
+acquainted with your real kindness of heart--"
+
+"Oh, drop it," interrupted Malcolm. "Let's omit the heart interest.
+This isn't a clinic. I say, Steve, how do you like the new flat? It is a
+flat, isn't it?"
+
+Stephen turned red. His sister colored and bit her lip. Mrs. Dunn
+hastened to the rescue.
+
+"Horrors!" she exclaimed. "Malcolm, you really are insufferable. Flat!
+Caroline, dear, you mustn't mind him. He will have his joke. Malcolm,
+apologize."
+
+The command was sharp, and her son obeyed it.
+
+"Beg your pardon, Steve," he said. "Yours, too, Caroline. I was only
+joking. There's a little beast of a bookkeeper down at the office who
+is forever talking of his 'nice flat in the Bronx.' It's a standing
+guy, you know. So far as I can see, these are pretty snug quarters. And
+attractively arranged, too. Your taste, Caroline, I'm betting."
+
+Miss Warren, slightly mollified, bowed assent.
+
+"I thought so," continued Malcolm. "No one but you would have known
+exactly the right spot for everything. Show us through, won't you?"
+
+But Mrs. Dunn had other plans.
+
+"Not now, Malcolm," she put in. "Caroline is tired out, I'm sure. A
+little fresh air will do her good. I was going to suggest that you and
+she and Stephen go for a short ride. Yes, really you must, my dear," she
+added, turning to the girl beside her. "Our car is at the door, it's not
+at all a bad afternoon, and the outing will be just what you need."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Dunn," said Caroline, gratefully. "I should like to.
+Indeed, I should. But we have been expecting a business call from Mr.
+Graves, father's lawyer, and--"
+
+"Oh, come on, Sis!" interrupted Stephen. "I'm dying to get out of this
+jail. Let old Graves wait, if he comes. We won't be long; and, besides,
+it's not certain that he is coming to-day. Come on!"
+
+"I'm afraid I ought not, Steve. Mr. Graves may come, and--and it seems
+too bad to trouble our friends--"
+
+"It's not trouble, it's pleasure," urged Mrs. Dunn. "Malcolm will be
+delighted. It was his idea. Wasn't it?" turning to her son.
+
+"Oh, yes! certainly," replied the young gentleman. "Hope you'll come,
+Caroline. And you, of course, Steve. The blessed machine's been off its
+feed for a week or more, but Peter says he thinks it's all right again.
+We'll give it a try-out on the Drive. Hope we have better luck than my
+last," with a laugh. "They nabbed us for speeding, and I had to promise
+to be a good boy or to be fined. Said we were hitting it at fifty an
+hour. We _were_ going some, that's a fact. Ha! ha!"
+
+"But he won't be reckless when you're with him, Caroline," put in his
+mother. "You will go? That's so nice! As for Mr. Graves, I'll explain
+if he comes. Oh, no! _I'm_ not going! I shall remain here in this
+comfortable chair and rest until you return. It's exactly what my
+physician orders, and for once I'm going to obey him. My heart, you
+know, my poor heart--"
+
+She waved her hand and raised her eyes. Miss Warren expostulated, but to
+no purpose. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn would _not_ go, but the others must. So,
+at last, they did. When Caroline and her brother had gone for their
+wraps, Mrs. Dunn laid a hand on her son's arm.
+
+"Now mind," she whispered, "see if you can find out anything during the
+ride. Something more explicit about the size of their estate and who the
+guardian is to be. There are all sorts of stories, you know, and we
+_must_ learn the truth very soon. Don't appear curious, but merely
+friendly. You understand?"
+
+"Sure, Mater," was the careless answer. "I'll pump."
+
+The two departed, leaving their lady visitor ensconced in the
+comfortable chair. She remained in it for perhaps five minutes. Then she
+rose and sauntered about the room. She drifted into the drawing-room,
+returning a moment later and sauntering casually toward the open desk by
+the fireplace. There were papers and letters scattered about this desk,
+and these she turned over, glancing toward the door to be sure no one
+was coming. The letters were, for the most part, messages of sympathy
+from friends of the Warren family. Hearing an approaching step, she
+hastily returned to the chair.
+
+Edwards, the butler, entered the library and replenished the fire. Mrs.
+Dunn languidly accosted him.
+
+"Ah--er--Edwards," she said, "you are--er--growing familiar with your
+new home?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Edwards, politely.
+
+"It must seem--er--small compared to the other."
+
+"Smaller; yes, ma'am."
+
+"But very snug and comfortable."
+
+"Yes, ma 'am."
+
+"It is fortunate that Miss Warren and her brother have the aid of such
+a--an old servant of the family."
+
+"Thank you, ma'am."
+
+"Is Miss Caroline managing her own affairs?"
+
+"Apparently so. Yes, ma'am."
+
+"I presume, however, a guardian has been appointed? With an estate such
+as the late Mr. Warren _must_ have left, some responsible person would
+be, of course, necessary."
+
+She paused. Edwards, having arranged the logs to his liking, brushed the
+dust from his hands.
+
+"I don't know, ma'am, I'm sure," he said. "Neither Miss Caroline nor Mr.
+Stephen have spoken with me concerning the family affairs."
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn straightened, with hauteur.
+
+"I think that was the doorbell," she remarked, a trifle sharply. "If it
+should be Mr. Graves, the attorney, you may show him into the library
+here."
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Edwards once more, and departed.
+
+The lady visitor heard voices in the passage. She listened, but could
+hear nothing understandable. Evidently the butler was having an argument
+with someone. It could not be Graves.
+
+Edwards reappeared, looking troubled.
+
+"It's a--a gentleman to see Miss Caroline," he said. "He won't give his
+name, ma'am, but says she's expecting him."
+
+"Expecting him?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am. I told him she was out, but he said he was intending
+to stay a while anyway, and would wait. I asked his business, but he
+wouldn't tell it."
+
+"That's odd." Mrs. Dunn was slightly interested. "A tradesman, perhaps;
+or an agent of the landlord."
+
+"No-o, ma'am. I don't think he's either of them, ma'am."
+
+"What sort of a person is he, Edwards?"
+
+The butler's face twitched for an instant with a troubled smile. Then it
+resumed its customary respectful calm.
+
+"I hardly know, ma'am. He's an oddish man. He--I think he's from the
+country."
+
+From behind him came a quiet chuckle.
+
+"You're right, Commodore," said a man's voice; "I'm from the country.
+You guessed it."
+
+Edwards jumped, startled out of his respectable wits. Mrs. Dunn rose
+indignantly from her chair.
+
+"I beg your pardon, ma'am," said the intruder, appearing in the doorway.
+"You mustn't think I'm forcin' my way where I ain't wanted. But it
+seemed to take so long to make the Admiral here understand that I was
+goin' to wait until Caroline came back that I thought I'd save time and
+breath by provin' it to him. I didn't know there was any company. Excuse
+me, ma'am, I won't bother you. I'll just come to anchor out here in the
+entry. Don't mind me."
+
+He bowed politely, picked up the large suit-case, plainly bran-new,
+which he had momentarily placed on the rug at his feet, and, with it
+in one hand and a big soft felt hat in the other, stepped back into the
+hall out of sight. The astonished Mrs. Dunn and the paralyzed Edwards
+heard a chair crack as if a heavy weight had descended upon it.
+Evidently he had "come to anchor."
+
+The lady was the first to recover the power of speech.
+
+"Why!" she exclaimed, in an alarmed whisper. "Why! I never heard of
+such brazen impertinence in my life. He must be insane. He is a lunatic,
+isn't he, Edwards?"
+
+The butler shook his head. "I--I don't know, ma'am," he stammered.
+
+"I believe he is." Mrs. Dunn's presence of mind was returning, and with
+it her courage. Her florid cheeks flamed a more vivid red, and her eyes
+snapped. "But whether he is or not, he sha'n't bulldoze me."
+
+She strode majestically to the door. The visitor was seated in the hall,
+calmly reading a newspaper. Hat and suit-case were on the floor beside
+him.
+
+"What do you mean by this?" demanded the lady. "Who are you? If you have
+any business here, state it at once."
+
+The man glanced at her, over his spectacles, rose and stood looking down
+at her. His expression was pleasant, and he was remarkably cool.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he said, gravely. "I'll be glad to tell you who I am,
+if you'd like to have me. I'd have done it before, but I thought there
+weren't any use troublin' you with my affairs. But, just a minute--"
+he hesitated--"I haven't made any mistake, have I? I understood your
+steward--the feller with the brass buttons, to say that Abijah Warren's
+children lived here. That's so, ain't it? If not, then I _am_ mistaken."
+
+Mrs. Dunn regarded him with indignation. "You are," she said coldly.
+"The family of the late Mr. Rodgers Warren lives here. I presume the
+slight resemblance in names misled you. Edwards, show the gentleman
+out."
+
+"Just one moment more, ma'am. It was Rodgers Warren's children I was
+lookin' for. A. Rodgers Warren he called himself, didn't he? Yes. Well,
+the A stood for Abijah; that was his Christian name. And he left
+two children, Caroline and Stephen? Good! I thought for a jiffy I'd
+blundered in where I had no business, but it's all right. You see,
+ma'am, I'm their uncle from South Denboro, Massachusetts. My name is
+Elisha Warren."
+
+Mrs. Dunn gasped. Edwards, peering over her shoulder, breathed heavily.
+
+"You are--their _uncle_?" repeated the lady.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. I'm 'Bije's brother. Oh, don't worry. It's all right. And
+don't fret yourself about me, either. I'll set right down out here
+and read my paper and wait till Caroline or Stephen get home. They're
+expectin' me. Mr. Graves, the lawyer, told 'em I was comin'."
+
+He calmly seated himself and adjusted his spectacles. Mrs. Dunn stared
+at him, then at Edwards. After an instant's indecision, she stepped
+back into the library and walked to the window. She beckoned, with an
+agitated finger, to the butler, who joined her.
+
+"Edwards," she whispered, "did you hear what he said?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Edwards, wide-eyed and wondering.
+
+"Is it true?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Did Mr. Warren have a brother?"
+
+"I didn't know that he had, ma'am."
+
+"Do you--do you think it likely that he would have a brother like--like
+_that_?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Was Miss Caroline expecting him?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am. She--"
+
+"Oh, you don't know anything! You're impossible. Go away!"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Edwards thankfully; and went. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn
+stood for some minutes by the window, thinking, or trying to think a way
+to the truth in this astounding development. Of course the man _might_
+be a lunatic who had gained his information concerning the Warren family
+from the papers; but he did not look like a lunatic. On the other hand,
+he certainly did not look as one would have expected a brother of
+Rodgers Warren's to look. Oddest of all, if he was such a brother, why
+had neither Caroline or Stephen mentioned his existence? According to
+his story, Graves, the Warren lawyer, had warned the children of his
+coming. Caroline had been very reticent concerning her father's will,
+the amount of his estate, and the like. And Mrs. Dunn had repeatedly,
+though discreetly, endeavored to find out these important details.
+Neither hints nor questions had resulted satisfactorily. Was it possible
+that this was the reason, this country uncle? If so--well, if so, here
+was a Heaven-sent opportunity for a little genteel and perfectly safe
+detective work. Mrs. Dunn creakingly crossed the room and spoke.
+
+"Mr. Warren," she said, "I feel guilty in keeping you out there. Won't
+you come into the library?"
+
+"Why, thank you, ma'am, I'm all right. Don't you trouble about me. Go
+right on with your readin' or sewin' or knittin' or whatever you was
+doin' and--"
+
+"I was not reading," replied Mrs. Dunn, with a slight shudder. "Come in,
+please. I wish you to."
+
+Captain Elisha folded his paper and put it in his pocket. Entering the
+library, he stood quietly waiting.
+
+"Won't you sit down?" asked his impromptu hostess, trying hard to be
+gracious.
+
+"Thank you," said the captain. He sank into an armchair and looked
+curiously about him.
+
+"So you are the late Mr. Warren's brother?" asked the lady, making her
+first lead in the game.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. His older brother. 'Bije was ten year younger'n I am,
+Mrs.--er--"
+
+"Dunn. I am an old friend of the family."
+
+"That's good. I'm glad to hear they've got friends. When you're in
+sickness or trouble or sorrer, friendship counts for consider'ble. How
+are the young folks--Caroline and Stephen--pretty smart, hey?"
+
+"_Smart_? Why, they are intelligent, naturally. I--"
+
+"No, no. I mean are they pretty well?"
+
+"Very well, indeed, considering the shock of their recent bereavement."
+
+"Yes, yes. Of course. And they've moved, too. Movin's an awful job. They
+say three movin's are as bad as a fire, but I cal'late I'd rather burn
+up a set of carpets than _pull_ 'em up, 'specially if they was insured.
+'Tain't half so much strain on your religion. I remember the last time
+we took up our carpets at home, Abbie--she's my second cousin, keepin'
+house for me--said if gettin' down on my knees has that effect on me
+she'd never ask me to go to prayer-meetin' again. Ho! ho!"
+
+He chuckled. Mrs. Dunn elevated her nose and looked out of the window.
+Then she led another small trump.
+
+"You say that Miss Caroline and her brother expect you," she said. "You
+surprise me. Are you sure?"
+
+"Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm sure. When Mr. Graves came down to see me, last
+week 'twas, I told him to say I'd be up pretty soon to look the ground
+over. This is a pretty fine place the young folks have got here," he
+added, gazing admiringly at the paintings and bookcases.
+
+"Yes," assented the lady, condescendingly. "For an apartment it is
+really quite livable."
+
+"Livable!" Captain Elisha's astonishment got the better of his
+politeness for the moment. "Um! Yes, I should say a body _might_ manage
+to worry along in it. Was the place where they used to live any finer
+than this?"
+
+"Certainly!"
+
+"You don't tell me! No wonder they talked about economi--Humph!"
+
+"What were you about to say, Mr. Warren?"
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'! Talkin' to myself is a habit I've got. Abbie--my
+second cousin; I guess I told you about her--says it's a sure sign that
+a person's rich or out of his head, one or t'other. I ain't rich, so--"
+He chuckled once more.
+
+"Mr. Graves came to see you at your home, did he?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am. At South Denboro. And he certainly did have a rough
+passage. Ho! ho! Probably you heard about it, bein' so friendly with the
+family."
+
+"Ahem! Doubtless he would have mentioned it, but he has been ill."
+
+"Sho! I'm sorry to hear that. I was afraid he'd catch cold."
+
+"Yes. I hope Mr. Graves's errand was successful?"
+
+"Well, sort of so-so."
+
+"Yes. He came to see you in connection with your brother's estate--some
+legacy, perhaps?"
+
+She did not look at the captain when she asked this question. Therefore,
+she did not notice the glance which he gave her. When he answered, it
+was in the same deliberate, provokingly deliberate, manner.
+
+"Um-hm. Somethin' of that kind, Mrs. Dunn. I can't help thinkin'," he
+went on, "how nice it is that Caroline and Steve have such a good friend
+as you to help 'em. Your husband and 'Bije was chums, I s'pose?"
+
+"No, not exactly. The friendship was on my side of the family."
+
+"So? Want to know! Your husband dead, ma'am?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn changed the subject. Her husband, Mr. Corcoran Dunn--once Mike
+Dunn, contractor and Tammany politician--was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
+She mourned him, after a fashion, but she preferred not to talk about
+him.
+
+"Yes," she answered shortly. "It--it looks as if it might snow, doesn't
+it?"
+
+"I shouldn't wonder. Have you any children, ma'am?"
+
+"One--a son." The widow's tone was frigid.
+
+"So? He must be a comfort to you. I s'pose likely he's a friend of my
+nephew and niece, too."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"That's good. Young folks ought to have young friends. You live in this
+neighborhood, ma'am?"
+
+The lady did not answer. She gazed haughtily at the trees in the Park.
+Captain Elisha rubbed a smile from his lips with his hand and remained
+silent. The tall clock ticked loud.
+
+There came the sound of laughter from the passage outside. The hall
+door opened. A moment later, Caroline, followed by her brother and young
+Dunn, entered the library.
+
+The girl's cheeks were rosy from the cold wind. Her hair, beneath the
+fur auto cap, had blown in brown, rippled disorder across her forehead.
+She was smiling.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Dunn!" she cried. "I'm so glad I accepted
+your--Malcolm's--invitation. We had a glorious ride! I--"
+
+She stopped short. Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was
+facing her. Mrs. Dunn also rose.
+
+"Caroline," she said, nervously, "this"--pausing on the word--"gentleman
+is here to see you. He says he is--"
+
+The captain interrupted her. Stepping forward he seized his niece's
+hands in his. "Well, well!" he exclaimed admiringly. "'Bije's girl, that
+I ain't seen since you was a little mite of a baby! Caroline, I'm your
+Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Good _Lord_!" groaned Stephen Warren.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+If the captain heard Stephen's fervent ejaculation, he paid no attention
+to it. Dropping his niece's hand, he extended his own toward his nephew.
+
+"And this is Stephen?" he said. "Well, Steve, you and me have never met
+afore, I b'lieve. But that's our misfortune, not our fault, hey? How are
+you? Pretty smart?"
+
+The boy's face was flaming. He mumbled something to the effect that he
+was all right enough, and turned away without accepting the proffered
+hand. Captain Elisha glanced quickly at him, then at his sister.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he said, pleasantly, "I s'pose you've been expectin'
+me. Mr. Graves told you I was comin', didn't he?"
+
+Miss Warren, also, was flushed with embarrassment and mortified
+surprise.
+
+"No," she stammered. "He has been ill."
+
+"Sho! you don't say! Mrs. Dunn--your friend here--said he was laid up
+with a cold, but I didn't realize 'twas as bad as that. So you didn't
+know I was comin' at all."
+
+"No. We--we have not heard from you since he returned."
+
+"That's too bad. I hope I sha'n't put you out any, droppin' in on
+you this way. You mustn't treat me as comp'ny, you know. If 'tain't
+convenient, if your spare room ain't ready so soon after movin', or
+anything of that kind, I can go to a hotel somewheres for a day or so.
+Hadn't I better, don't you think?"
+
+Caroline hesitated. If only they might have been spared this public
+humiliation. If the Dunns had not been there. It was bad enough to
+have this dreadful country uncle come at all; but to have him come now,
+before they were prepared, before any explanations had been made! What
+should she do?
+
+Her brother, fidgeting at her elbow, not daring to look at Malcolm
+Dunn, who, he knew, was thoroughly enjoying the scene, could stand it no
+longer.
+
+"Caro," he snapped, "what are you waiting for? Don't you _know_ that the
+rooms are not ready? Of course they're not! We're sorry, and all that,
+but Graves didn't tell us and we weren't prepared. Certainly he'll have
+to go to the hotel, for--for the present."
+
+He ventured to raise his eyes and glare indignantly at the captain.
+Finding the latter looking intently at him, he dropped them again and
+jammed his clenched fists into his pockets.
+
+Captain Elisha pulled thoughtfully at his beard.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted. "Humph! then I cal'late maybe--" He took a step
+toward the door, stopped, turned back, and said, with calm decision, "I
+guess I'd better stay. You won't mind me, Caroline--you and Stephen. You
+_mustn't_. As I said, I ain't comp'ny. I'm one of the family, your pa's
+brother, and I've come some consider'ble ways to see you two young folks
+and talk with you. I've come because your pa asked me to. I'm used to
+roughin' it, been to sea a good many v'yages, and if a feather bed ain't
+handy I can get my forty winks on the floor. So that's settled, and you
+mustn't have me on your conscience. That's sense, ain't it, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn did not deign a reply. Caroline answered for her.
+
+"Very well," she said, coldly. Stepping to the desk she rang a bell. The
+butler appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Edwards," said Miss Warren, "this gentleman," indicating the captain,
+"is to be our guest, for the present. You may show him to his room--the
+blue room, I think. If it is not ready, see that it is made so."
+
+"Yes, Miss Caroline," replied Edwards. Retiring to the hall, he returned
+with the suit-case.
+
+"Will you wish to go to your room at once, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Why, I guess I might as well, Commodore," answered Captain Elisha,
+smiling. "Little soap and water won't do no harm. Fact is, I feel's if
+'twas a prescription to be recommended. You needn't tote that valise,
+though," he added. "'Tain't heavy, and I've lugged it so fur already
+sence I got off the car that I feel kind of lonesome without it."
+
+The butler, not knowing exactly how to answer, grinned sheepishly.
+Captain Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn and her son.
+
+"Well, good afternoon, ma'am," he said. "I'm real glad to have made your
+acquaintance. Yours, too, sir," with a nod toward Malcolm. "Your mother
+told me what a friend of the young folks you was, and, as I'm sort
+of actin' pilot for 'em just now, in a way of speakin', any friend of
+theirs ought to be a friend of mine. Hope to see you often, Mr. Dunn."
+
+The young man addressed smiled, with amusement not at all concealed, and
+languidly admitted that he was "charmed."
+
+"Your first visit to the city?" he inquired, in a tone which caused
+Stephen to writhe inwardly.
+
+"No-o. No, not exactly. I used to come here pretty frequent, back in
+my sea-goin' days, when my ship was in port. I sailed for Osgood and
+Colton, down on South Street, for a spell. They were my owners. You
+don't remember the firm, I s'pose?"
+
+"No. The privilege has been denied me. You find some changes in
+New York, don't you--er--Captain? You are a captain, or a bos'n, or
+admiral--something of that sort, I presume?"
+
+"Malcolm!" said his mother, sharply.
+
+"Oh, no offense intended. My sea terms are rather mixed. The captain
+will excuse me."
+
+"Sartin! Cap'n's what they all call me, mostly. Your son ain't ever been
+to sea, except as passenger, I cal'late, ma'am?"
+
+"Certainly not," snapped Mrs. Dunn.
+
+"Of course, of course. Well, 'tain't a life I'd want a boy of mine
+to take up, nowadays. But it did have some advantages. I don't know
+anything better than a v'yage afore the mast to learn a young feller
+what's healthy for him to unlearn. Good day, ma'am. Good day, Mr. Dunn.
+I mustn't keep the Commodore waitin' here with that valise. I'll be
+out pretty soon, Caroline; just as soon as I've got the upper layer
+of railroad dust off my face and hands. You'll be surprised to see how
+light-complected I really am when that's over. All right! Heave ahead,
+Commodore!"
+
+He departed, preceded by Edwards and the suit-case. Stephen Warren threw
+himself violently into a chair by the window. Young Dunn laughed aloud.
+His mother flashed an indignant glance at him, and then hurried to
+Caroline.
+
+"You poor dear!" she exclaimed, putting an arm about the girl's
+shoulder. "Don't mind us, please don't! Malcolm and I understand. That
+is, we know how you feel and--"
+
+"Oh, but you _don't_ know, Mrs. Dunn," cried Caroline, almost in tears.
+"You don't understand! It's so much worse than you think. I--I--Oh, why
+did father do it? How could he be so inconsiderate?"
+
+"There! there!" purred the friend of the family. "You mustn't, you know.
+You really mustn't. Who is this man? This uncle? Where does he come
+from? Why does he force himself upon you in this way? I didn't know your
+poor father had a brother."
+
+"Neither did we," growled Stephen, savagely. Malcolm laughed again.
+
+"What does it all mean, dear?" begged Mrs. Dunn. "You are in trouble,
+I'm sure. Don't you think we--Malcolm and I--might be able to help you?
+We should so love to do it. If you feel that you _can_ confide in us;
+if it isn't a secret--"
+
+She paused expectantly, patting the girl's shoulder. But Caroline had
+heard young Dunn's laugh, and was offended and hurt. Her eyes flashed as
+she answered.
+
+"It's nothing," she said. "He has come to see us on a matter of
+business, I believe. I am nervous and--foolish, I suppose. Mr. Graves
+will see us soon, and then everything will be arranged. Thank you for
+calling, Mrs. Dunn, and for the ride."
+
+It was a very plain hint, but Mrs. Dunn did not choose to understand it
+as such.
+
+"You're sure you hadn't better tell me the whole story, dear?" she
+urged. "I am old enough, almost, to be your mother, and perhaps my
+advice might.... No? Very well. You know best but--You understand that
+it is something other than mere curiosity which leads me to ask."
+
+"Of course, I understand," said the girl hastily. "Thank you very much.
+Perhaps, by and by, I can tell you everything. But we must see Mr.
+Graves first. I--oh, _don't_ ask me more now, Mrs. Dunn."
+
+The widow of so astute a politician as Mike Dunn had been in his day
+could have scarcely failed to profit by his teachings. Moreover, she
+possessed talent of her own. With a final pat and a kiss, she prepared
+for departure.
+
+"Good-by, then," she said, "or rather, _au revoir_. We shall look in
+to-morrow. Come, Malcolm."
+
+"I say, Mal!" cried Stephen, rising hurriedly. "You won't tell anyone
+about--"
+
+"Steve!" interrupted his sister.
+
+Malcolm, about to utter a languid sarcasm, caught his mother's look, and
+remained silent. Another meaning glance, and his manner changed.
+
+"All right, Steve, old man," he said. "Good-by and good luck. Caroline,
+awfully glad we had the spin this afternoon. We must have more. Just
+what you and Steve need. At your service any time. If there is anything
+I can do in any way to--er--you understand--call on me, won't you?
+Ready, Mater?"
+
+The pair were shown out by Edwards. On the way home in the car Mrs.
+Corcoran Dunn lectured her son severely.
+
+"Have you no common sense?" she demanded. "Couldn't you see that the
+girl would have told me everything if you hadn't laughed, like an
+idiot?"
+
+The young man laughed again.
+
+"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "it was enough to make a wooden Indian laugh.
+The old jay with the barnacles telling us about the advantages of a
+sailor's life. And Steve's face! Ho! ho!"
+
+His mother snorted disgust. "If you had brains," she declared, "you
+would have understood what he meant by saying that the sea was the place
+to learn what to unlearn. He was hitting at you. Was it necessary to
+insult him the first time you and he exchanged a word?"
+
+"Insult him? _Him?_ Ha, ha! Why, Mater, what's the matter with you? Do
+you imagine that a hayseed like that would recognize an insult without
+an introduction? And, besides, what difference does it make? You don't
+intend putting him on your calling list, do you?"
+
+"I intend cultivating him for the present."
+
+"_Cultivating_ him?"
+
+"Yes--for the present. He is Rodgers Warren's brother. That lawyer,
+Graves, traveled miles to see him. What does that mean? That, in some
+important way, he is connected with the estate and those two children.
+If the estate is worth anything, and we have reason to believe it is,
+you and I must know it. If it isn't, it is even more important that we
+should know, before we waste more time. If Caroline is an heiress, if
+she inherits even a moderate fortune--"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders by way of finish to the sentence.
+
+Malcolm whistled.
+
+"But to think of that old Down-Easter being related to the Warren
+family!" he mused. "It seems impossible."
+
+"Nothing is impossible," observed his mother. Then, with a shudder, "You
+never met your father's relatives. I have."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Captain Elisha emerged from his room, after a wash and a change
+of linen, he found the library untenanted. He strolled about, his hands
+behind him, inspecting the pictures with critical interest. Caroline,
+dressed for dinner, found him thus engaged. He turned at the sound of
+her step.
+
+"Why, hello!" he cried, with hearty enthusiasm. "All rigged up for
+inspection, ain't you?"
+
+"Inspection?"
+
+"Oh, that's just sailor's lingo. Means you've got your Sunday uniform
+on, that's all. My! my! how nice you look! But ain't black pretty old
+for such a young girl?"
+
+"I am in mourning," replied his niece, coldly.
+
+"There! there! of course you are. Tut! tut! How could I forget it. You
+see, I've been so many years feelin' as if I didn't have a brother that
+I've sort of got used to his bein' gone."
+
+"I have not." Her eyes filled as she said it. The captain was greatly
+moved.
+
+"I'm a blunderin' old fool, my dear," he said. "I beg your pardon. Do
+try to forgive me, won't you? And, perhaps--perhaps I can make up your
+loss to you, just a little mite. I'd like to. I'll try to, if--"
+
+He laid a hand on her shoulder. She avoided him and, moving away, seated
+herself in a chair at the opposite side of the desk. The avoidance was
+so obvious as to be almost brutal. Captain Elisha looked very grave for
+an instant. Then he changed the subject.
+
+"I was lookin' at your oil paintin's," he said. "They're pretty fine,
+ain't they? Any of them your work, Caroline?"
+
+"_My_ work?" The girl's astonishment was so great that she turned to
+stare at her questioner. "_My_ work?" she repeated. "Are you joking? You
+can't think that I painted them."
+
+"I didn't know but you might. That one over there, with the trees and
+folks dancin'--sort of picnic scene, I judge--that looks as if you might
+have done it."
+
+"That is a Corot."
+
+"'Tis, hey? I want to know! A--a--what did you call it?"
+
+"A Corot. He was a famous French artist. That was father's favorite
+picture."
+
+"Sho! Well, I like it fust-rate myself. Did 'Bije--did your father know
+this Mr. Corot well?"
+
+"Know him? Certainly not. Why should you think such a thing as that?"
+
+"Well, he bought the picture of him, and so I s'pose likely he knew him.
+There was a young feller come to South Denboro three or four year
+ago and offered to paint a picture of our place for fifteen dollars.
+Abbie--that's Abbie Baker, she's one of our folks, you know, your third
+cousin, Caroline; keepin' house for me, she is--Abbie wanted me to have
+him do the job, but I wa'n't very particular about it, so it never come
+to nothin'. He done two or three places, though, and I swan 'twas nice
+work! He painted Sam Cahoon's old ramshackle house and barn, and you'd
+hardly know it, 'twas so fixed up and fine, in the picture. White paint
+and green grass and everything just like real. He left out the places
+where the pickets was off the fence and the blinds hangin' on one hinge.
+I told Abbie, I says, 'Abbie, that painter's made Sam's place look
+almost respectable, and if that ain't a miracle, I don't know what is.
+I would think Sam would blush every time he sees that picture.' Ho, ho!
+Abbie seemed to cal'late that Sam Cahoon's blushin' would be the biggest
+miracle of the two. Ho! ho! You'd like Abbie; she's got lots of common
+sense."
+
+He chuckled at the reminiscence and rubbed his knee. His niece made no
+reply. Captain Elisha glanced at the Corot once more and asked another
+question.
+
+"I presume likely," he said, "that that picture cost consider'ble more
+than fifteen, hey?"
+
+"Father paid twenty-two thousand dollars for it," was the crushing
+answer.
+
+The captain looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, shut it again,
+and, rising, walked across the room. Adjusting his glasses, he inspected
+the Corot in silence for a few minutes. Then he drew a long breath.
+
+"Well!" he sighed. "_Well_." Then, after an interval, "Was this the only
+one he ever painted?"
+
+"The only one? The only picture Corot painted? Of course not! There are
+many more."
+
+"Did--did this Corot feller get as much for every job as he did for
+this?"
+
+"I presume so. I know father considered this one a bargain."
+
+"Did, hey? Humph! I ought to know enough by this time not to believe all
+I hear, but I kind of had an idea that picture paintin' was starvation
+work. I've read about artists committin' suicide, and livin' in attics,
+and such. Whew! About two such bargain sale jobs as this, and
+I'd guarantee not to starve--and to live as nigh the ground as a
+second-floor bedroom anyhow. How about this next one? This feller in a
+dory--coddin', I guess he is. Did--did Mr. Corot do him?"
+
+"No. That is by a well-known American artist. It is a good piece of
+work, but not like the other. It is worth much less. Perhaps five
+thousand."
+
+"So? Well, even for that I'd undertake to buy consider'ble many dories,
+and hire fellers to fish from 'em, too. Humph! I guess I'm out of
+soundin's. When I thought fifteen dollars was a high price for paintin'
+a view of a house I was slightly mistaken. Next time I'll offer the
+paintin' feller the house and ask him what he considers a fair boot,
+besides. Sam Cahoon's a better speculator than I thought he was. Hello,
+Commodore! what's worryin' you now?"
+
+Edwards appeared to announce that dinner was served. Caroline rose
+and led the way to the dining room. Captain Elisha followed, looking
+curiously about him as he did so. Stephen, who had been sulkily dressing
+in his own room, entered immediately after.
+
+The captain surveyed the dining room with interest. Like the others
+of the suite, it was sumptuously and tastefully furnished. He took the
+chair indicated by the solemn Edwards, and the meal began.
+
+The butler's sense of humor was not acute, but it was with considerable
+difficulty that he restrained his smiles during the next half hour. A
+more appreciative observer would have noticed and enjoyed the subtler
+points. Stephen's glare of disgust at his uncle when the latter tucked
+his napkin in the opening of his waistcoat; Caroline's embarrassment
+when the captain complimented the soup, declaring that it was almost
+as good as one of Abbie's chowders; the visitor's obvious uneasiness at
+being waited upon attentively, and the like. These Edwards missed, but
+he could not help appreciating Captain Elisha's conversation.
+
+Caroline said little during dinner. Her brother glowered at his plate
+and was silent. But the captain talked and talked.
+
+"Maybe you think I didn't have a time findin' your new lodgin's,"
+he said. "I come over on the cars, somethin' I don't usually do when
+there's anything afloat to carry me. But I had an errand or two to do
+in Boston, so I stopped over night at the hotel there and got the nine
+o'clock train. I landed here in New York all shipshape and on time, and
+started in to hunt you up."
+
+"How did you get our address?" asked his niece. "Mr. Graves couldn't
+have given it to you, for we only decided on this apartment a few days
+ago."
+
+"Ho! ho!" chuckled Captain Elisha, rolling in his chair, like a ship in
+a cross sea. "Ho! ho! You remind me of Abbie, Caroline. That's what she
+said. 'I never heard of such a crazy cruise,' she says. 'Startin' off
+to visit folks when you haven't the least idea where they live!' 'Oh,
+yes, I have,' I says, 'I know where they live; they live in New York.'
+Well, you ought to have seen her face. Abbie's a good woman--none
+better--but she generally don't notice a joke until she trips over it.
+I get consider'ble fun out of Abbie, take her by the large. 'New York!'
+she says. 'Did anybody ever hear the beat of that? Do you cal'late New
+York's like South Denboro, where everybody knows everybody else? What
+are you plannin' to do? run up the fust man, woman or child you meet and
+ask 'em to tell you where 'Bijah Warren lives? Or are you goin' to trot
+from Dan to Beersheby, trustin' to meet your nephew and niece on the
+way? I never in my born days!'
+
+"Well," went on the captain, "I told her that the last suggestion
+weren't such a bad one, but there was one little objection to it.
+Considerin' that I hadn't ever laid eyes on Steve and that I hadn't seen
+you since you was a baby, the chances was against my recognizin' you
+if we did meet. Ho, ho, ho! Finally I hinted that I might look in the
+directory, and she got more reconciled to my startin'. Honest, I do
+believe she'd have insisted on takin' me by the hand and leadin' me to
+you, if I hadn't told her that.
+
+[Illustration: "The captain talked and talked."]
+
+"So I did look in the directory and got the number on Fifth Avenue where
+you used to be. I asked a policeman the nighest way to get there, and
+he said take a bus. Last time I was in New York I rode in one of those
+Fifth Avenue omnibuses, and I never got such a jouncin' in my life.
+The pavement then was round cobble stones, like some of the roads
+in Nantucket. I remember I tried to ask a feller that set next to me
+somethin' or other, and I swan to man I couldn't get nothin' out of my
+mouth but rattles. 'Metropolitan Museum,' sounded like puttin' in a ton
+of coal. I thought I was comin' apart, or my works was out of order, or
+somethin', but when the feller tried to answer he rattled just as bad,
+so I realized 'twas the reg'lar disease and felt some better. I never
+shall forget a fleshy woman--somethin' like that Mrs. Dunn friend of
+yours, Caroline--that set opposite me. It give me the crawls to look at
+her, her chins shook around so. Ho! ho! she had no less'n three of 'em,
+and they all shook different ways. Ho! ho! ho! If I'd been in the habit
+of wearin' false hair or teeth or anything that wa'n't growed to or
+buttoned on me I'd never have risked a trip in one of those omnibuses.
+
+"So when the police officer prescribed one for me this v'yage, I was
+some dubious. I'm older'n I was ten year ago, and I wa'n't sure that I'd
+hold together. I cal'lated walkin' was better for my health. So I found
+Fifth Avenue and started to walk. And the farther I walked the heavier
+that blessed satchel of mine got. It weighed maybe ten or twelve pounds
+at the corner of 42nd Street, but when I got as far as the open square
+where the gilt woman is hurryin' to keep from bein' run over by Gen'ral
+Sherman on horseback--that statue, you know--I wouldn't have let that
+blessed bag go for less'n two ton, if I was sellin' it by weight. So
+I leaned up against an electric light pole to rest and sort of get my
+bearin's. Then I noticed what I'd ought to have seen afore, that the
+street wa'n't paved with cobbles, as it used to be, but was smooth as
+a stretch of state road down home. So I figgered that a bus was a safe
+risk, after all. I waited ten minutes or more for one to come, and
+finally I asked a woman who was in tow of an astrakhan-trimmed dog at
+the end of a chain, if the omnibuses had stopped runnin'. When I fust
+see the dog leadin' her I thought she was blind, but I guess she
+was deef and dumb instead. Anyhow, all she said was 'Ugh!' not very
+enthusiastic, at that, and went along. Ho! ho! So then I asked a man,
+and he pointed to a bus right in front of me. You see, I was lookin' for
+the horses, same as they used to be, and this was an automobile.
+
+"I blushed, I guess, just to show that there was some red underneath
+the green, and climbed aboard the omnibus. I rode along for a spell,
+admirin' as much of the scenery as I could see between the women's hats,
+then I told the skipper of the thing that I wanted to make port at 82nd
+Street. He said 'Ugh,' apparently suff'rin' from the same complaint the
+dog woman had, and we went on and on. At last I got kind of anxious and
+asked him again.
+
+"'Eighty-second!' says he, ugly. 'This is Ninety-first.'
+
+"'Good land!' says I. 'I wanted Eighty-second.'
+
+"'Why didn't you say so?' says he, lookin' as if I'd stole his mother's
+spoons.
+
+"'I did,' says I.
+
+"'You _did_?' he snarls. 'You did not! If you did, wouldn't I have heard
+you?'
+
+"Well, any answer I'd be likely to make to that would have meant more
+argument, and the bus was sailin' right along at the time, so I piled
+out and did some more walkin', the other way. At last I reached your old
+number, Stevie, and--Hey? Did you speak?"
+
+"Don't call me 'Stevie,'" growled his nephew, rebelliously.
+
+"Beg your pardon. I keep forgettin' that you're almost grown up. Well,
+as I was sayin', I got to the house where you used to live, and 'twas
+shut tight. Nobody there. Ho! ho! I felt a good deal like old Beriah
+Doane must have on his last 'vacation.' You see, Beriah is one of our
+South Denboro notorieties; he's famous in his way. He works and loafs
+by spells until cranberry pickin' time in the fall; then he picks steady
+and earns thirty or forty dollars all at once. Soon's he's paid off, he
+starts for Boston on a 'vacation,' an alcoholic one. Well, last fall
+his married sister was visitin' him, and she, bein' strong for good
+Templarism, was determined he shouldn't vacate in his regular way. So
+she telegraphed her husband's brother in Brockton to meet Beriah there,
+go with him to Boston, and see that he behaved himself and stayed sober.
+Beriah heard of it, and when his train gets as far as Tremont what does
+he do but get off quiet and change cars for New Bedford. He hadn't been
+there for nine years, but he had pleasant memories of his last visit.
+And when he does get to New Bedford, chucklin' over the way he's
+befooled his sister and her folks, I'm blessed if he didn't find that
+the town had gone no-license, and every saloon was shut up! Ho! ho! ho!
+Well, I felt about the way he did, I guess, when I stood on the steps
+of your Fifth Avenue house and realized you'd gone away. I wouldn't have
+had Abbie see me there for somethin'. Ho! ho!"
+
+He leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud. Caroline smiled faintly.
+Stephen threw down his napkin and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Sis," he cried, "I'm going to my room. By gad! I can't--"
+
+Catching a warning glance from his sister, he did not finish his
+sentence, but stood sulkily beside his chair. Captain Elisha looked at
+him, then at the girl, and stopped laughing. He folded his napkin with
+care, and rose.
+
+"That's about all of it," he said, shortly. "I asked around at two or
+three of the neighbors' houses, and the last one I asked knew where
+you'd moved and told me how to get here."
+
+When the trio were again in the library, the captain spoke once more.
+
+"I'm 'fraid I've talked too much," he said, gravely. "I didn't realize
+how I was runnin' on. Thought I was home, I guess, with the fellers of
+my own age down at the postoffice, instead of bein' an old countryman,
+tirin' out you two young city folks with my yarns. I beg your pardon.
+Now you mustn't mind me. I see you're expectin' company or goin' callin'
+somewheres, so I'll just go to my bedroom and write Abbie a line. She'll
+be kind of anxious to know if I got here safe and sound and found you.
+Don't worry about me, I'll be comf'table and busy."
+
+He turned to go. Caroline looked at him in surprise. "We are not
+expecting callers," she said. "And certainly we are not going out
+to-night. Why should you think such a thing?"
+
+It was her uncle's turn to show surprise.
+
+"Why," he said, with a glance at Stephen, "I see that you're all dressed
+up, and so I thought, naturally--"
+
+He paused.
+
+Young Warren grunted contemptuously.
+
+"We dressed for dinner, that is all," said Caroline.
+
+"You--you mean you put these clothes on every night?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+Captain Elisha was plainly very much astonished.
+
+"Well," he observed, slowly. "I--guess I've made another mistake. Hum!
+Good night."
+
+"Good night," said Stephen, quickly. Caroline, however, seemed
+embarrassed.
+
+"Captain Warren," she said, "I thought possibly you might wish to talk
+business with my brother and me. We--we understand that you have come
+on business connected with father's will. It seems to me that the sooner
+we--we--"
+
+"Get it over the better, hey? Well, maybe you're right. It's an odd
+business for an old salt like me to be mixed up in, that's a fact. If it
+hadn't been so odd, if I hadn't thought there must be some reason, some
+partic'lar reason, I--well, I guess I'd have stayed to home where I
+belong. You mustn't think," he added, seriously, "that I don't realize
+I'm as out of place amongst you and your rich friends as a live fish in
+a barrel of sawdust. That's all right; you needn't trouble to say no.
+But you must understand that, realizin' it, I'm not exactly imposin'
+myself on you for pleasure or--well, from choice. I'm so built that I
+can't shirk when my conscience tells me I shouldn't, that's all. I'm
+kind of tired to-night, and I guess you are. To-morrow mornin', if it's
+agreeable to all hands, we will have a little business talk. I'll have
+to see Lawyer Graves pretty soon, and have a gen'ral look at your pa's
+affairs. Then, if everything is all right and I feel my duty's done,
+I'll probably go back to the Cape and leave you to him, or somebody else
+able to look out for you. Until then I'm afraid," with a smile which had
+a trace of bitterness in it; "I'm afraid you'll have to do the best you
+can with me. I'll try to be no more of a nuisance than I can help. Good
+night."
+
+When the two young people were left alone, Caroline turned to her
+brother.
+
+"Steve," she said, "I'm afraid you were a little rude. I'm afraid you
+hurt his feelings."
+
+The boy stared at her in wonder. "Hurt his feelings!" he exclaimed.
+"_His_ feelings! Well, by Jove! Caro, you're a wonder! Did you expect me
+to throw my arms around his neck? If he had had any feelings at all, if
+he was the slightest part of a gentleman, do you suppose he would come
+here and disgrace us as he is doing? Who invited him? Did we? I guess
+not!"
+
+"But he is father's brother, and father asked him to come."
+
+"No, he didn't. He asked him--heaven knows why--to look out for our
+money affairs. That's bad enough; but he didn't ask him to _live_ with
+us. He sha'n't! by gad, he sha'n't! _You_ may be as sweet to him as you
+like, but I'll make it my business to give him the cold shoulder every
+chance I get. I'll freeze him out, that's what I'll do--freeze him out.
+Why, Caro! be sensible. Think what his staying here means. Can we take
+him about with us? Can our friends meet _him_ as--as our uncle? He's got
+to be made to go. Hasn't he now? Hasn't he?"
+
+The girl was silent for a moment. Then she covered her face with her
+hands. "Oh, yes!" she sobbed. "Oh, yes, he must! he _Must_! _Why_ did
+father do it?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The Warren breakfast hour was nine o'clock. At a quarter to nine
+Caroline, entering the library, found Stephen seated by the fire reading
+the morning paper.
+
+"Good morning," she said. Then, looking about the room, asked, "Has--has
+_he_ been here?"
+
+Her brother shook his head. "You mean Uncle 'Lish?" he asked,
+cheerfully. "No, he hasn't. At least, I haven't seen him and I haven't
+made any inquiries. I shall manage to survive if he never appears. Let
+sleeping relatives lie, that's my motto."
+
+He laughed at his own joke and turned the page of the paper. The butler
+entered.
+
+"Breakfast is served, Miss Caroline," he announced.
+
+"Has Captain Warren come from his room?" asked the young lady.
+
+"No, Miss Caroline. That is, I haven't seen him."
+
+Stephen tossed the paper on the floor and rose.
+
+"I wonder--" he began. Then, with a broad grin, "A sudden thought
+strikes me, Sis. He has undoubtedly blown out the gas."
+
+"Steve! How can you!"
+
+"Perfectly simple. Absolutely reasonable. Just what might have been
+expected. 'He has gone, but we shall miss him.' Come on, Caro; I'm
+hungry. Let the old hayseed sleep. You and I can have a meal in peace.
+Heavens! you don't care for another experience like last night's, do
+you?"
+
+"Edwards," said Caroline, "you may knock at Captain Warren's door and
+tell him breakfast is served."
+
+"Yes," commanded Stephen, "and tell him not to hurry on our account.
+Come, Caro, come! You're not pining for his society. Well, wait then!
+_I_ won't!"
+
+He marched angrily out of the room. His sister hesitated, her wish
+to follow complicated by a feeling of duty to a guest, no matter how
+unwelcome. The butler reappeared, looking puzzled.
+
+"He's not there, miss?" he said.
+
+"Not there? Not in his room?"
+
+"No, Miss Caroline. I knocked, and he didn't answer, so I looked in and
+he wasn't there. His bed's been slept in, but he's gone."
+
+"Gone? And you haven't seen him?"
+
+"No, miss. I've been up and about since half past seven, and I can't
+understand where he could have got to."
+
+The door of the hall opened and shut. Edwards darted from the library.
+A moment afterwards Captain Elisha strolled in. He was wearing his
+overcoat, and his hat was in his hand.
+
+"Good mornin', Caroline," he hailed, in his big voice. "Surprised to see
+me, are you? Ho! ho! So was the Commodore. He couldn't understand how
+I got in without ringin'. Well, you see, I'm used to turnin' out pretty
+early, and when it got to be most seven o'clock, I couldn't lay to bed
+any longer, so I got up, dressed, and went for a walk. I fixed the door
+latch so's I could come in quiet. You haven't waited breakfast for me, I
+hope."
+
+"No; it is ready now, however."
+
+"Ready now," the captain looked at his watch. "Yes, I should think so.
+It's way into the forenoon. You _have_ waited for me, haven't you? I'm
+awfully sorry."
+
+"No, we have not waited. Our breakfast hour is nine. Pardon me for
+neglecting to tell you that last evening."
+
+"Oh, that's all right. Now you trot right out and eat. I've had mine."
+
+"Had your breakfast?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. When I'm home, Abbie and I usually eat about seven, so I
+get sort of sharp-set if I wait after that. I cal'lated you city folks
+was late sleepers, and I wouldn't want to make any trouble, so I found
+a little eatin' house down below here a ways and had a cup of coffee and
+some bread and butter and mush. Then I went cruisin' round in Central
+Park a spell. This _is_ Central Park over across here, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes." The girl was too astonished to say more.
+
+"I thought 'twas. I'd been through part of it afore, but 'twas years
+ago, and it's such a big place and the paths run so criss-cross I got
+sort of mixed up, and it took me longer to get out than it did to get
+in. I had the gen'ral points of the compass, and I guess I could have
+made a pretty average straight run for home, but every time I wanted to
+cut across lots there was a policeman lookin' at me, so I had to stick
+to the channel. That's what made me so late. Now do go and eat your
+breakfast. I won't feel easy till I see you start."
+
+Caroline departed, and the captain, after a visit to his own room, where
+he left his coat and hat, returned to the library, picked up the paper
+which his nephew had dropped, and began reading.
+
+After breakfast came the "business talk." It was a brief one. Captain
+Elisha soon discovered that his brother's children knew very little
+concerning their father's affairs. They had always plenty of money, had
+been indulged in practically every wish, and had never had to think or
+plan for themselves. As to the size of the estate, they knew nothing
+more than Mr. Graves had told them, which was that, instead of the
+several millions which rumor had credited A. Rodgers Warren with
+possessing, five hundred thousand dollars would probably be the extent
+of their inheritance, and that, therefore, they must live economically.
+As a first step in that direction, they had given up their former home
+and moved to the apartment.
+
+"Yes, yes," mused the captain, "I see. Mr. Graves didn't know about your
+movin', then? You did it on your own hook, so to speak?"
+
+Stephen answered promptly.
+
+"Of course we did," he declared. "Why not?"
+
+"No reason in the world. A good sensible thing to do, I should say.
+Didn't anybody advise you where to go?"
+
+"Why should we need advice?" Again it was Stephen who replied. "We
+aren't kids. We're old enough to decide some things for ourselves, I
+should think."
+
+"Yes. Sartin. That's right. But I didn't know but p'raps some of your
+friends might have helped along. This Mrs. Dunn now, she kind of hinted
+to me that she'd--well, done what she could to make you comf'table."
+
+"She has," avowed Caroline, warmly. "Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm have proved
+their friendship in a thousand ways. We never can repay them, Stephen
+and I, never!"
+
+"No. There's some things you can't ever pay, I know that. Mrs. Dunn
+found this nice place for you, did she?"
+
+"Why, yes. She and I found it together."
+
+"So? That was lucky, wa'n't it? Advertised in the newspaper, was it; or
+was there a 'To Let' placard up in the window?"
+
+"No, certainly not. Mrs. Dunn knew that we had decided to move, and she
+has a cousin who is interested in New York property. She asked him, and
+he mentioned this apartment."
+
+"One of his own, was it?"
+
+"I believe so. Why are you so particular? Don't you like it?"
+
+Her tone was sharp. Stephen, who resented his uncle's questions as
+impertinent intrusions upon the family affairs, added one of his own.
+
+"Isn't it as good as those in--what do you call it--South Denboro?" he
+asked, maliciously.
+
+Captain Elisha laughed heartily.
+
+"Pretty nigh as good," he said. "I didn't notice any better on the way
+to the depot as I drove up. And I doubt if there's many new ones built
+since I left. It's a mighty fine lot of rooms, I think. What's the rent?
+You'll excuse my askin', things bein' as they are."
+
+"Twenty-two hundred a year," answered his niece, coldly.
+
+The captain looked at her, whistled, broke off the whistle in the
+middle, and did a little mental arithmetic.
+
+"Twenty-two hundred a year!" he repeated. "That's one hundred and
+eighty odd a month. Say, that cousin of Mrs. Dunn's must want to get his
+investment back. You mean for just these ten rooms?"
+
+Stephen laughed scornfully.
+
+"Our guardian has been counting, Caro," he remarked.
+
+"Yes. Yes, I counted this mornin' when I got up. I was interested,
+naturally."
+
+"Sure! Naturally, of course," sneered the boy. "Did you think the
+twenty-two hundred was the rent of the entire building?"
+
+"Well, I didn't know. I--"
+
+"The rent," interrupted Caroline, with dignity, "was twenty-four
+hundred, but, thanks to Mrs. Dunn, who explained to her cousin that we
+were friends of hers, it was reduced."
+
+"We being in reduced circumstances," observed her brother in supreme
+disgust. "Pity the poor orphans! By gad!"
+
+"That was real nice of Mrs. Dunn," declared Captain Elisha, heartily.
+"She's pretty well-off herself, I s'pose--hey, Caroline?"
+
+"I presume so."
+
+"Yes, yes. About how much is she wuth, think?"
+
+"I don't know. I never inquired."
+
+"No. Well, down our way," with a chuckle, "we don't have to inquire. Ask
+anybody you meet what his next door neighbor's wuth, and he'll tell you
+within a hundred, and how he got it, and how much he owes, and how he
+gets along with his wife. Ho! ho! Speakin' of wives, is this Mr. Dunn
+married?"
+
+He looked at his niece as he asked the question. There was no reason why
+Caroline should blush; she knew it, and hated herself for doing it.
+
+"No," she answered, resentfully, "he is not."
+
+"Um-hm. What's his business?"
+
+"He is connected with a produce exchange house, I believe."
+
+"One of the firm?"
+
+"I don't know. In New York we are not as well posted, or as curious,
+concerning our friends' private affairs as your townspeople seem to be."
+
+"I guess that's so. I imagine New Yorkers are too busy gettin' it
+themselves to bother whether their neighbors have got it or not. Well,"
+he went on, rising, "I guess I've kept you young folks from your work
+or--or play, or whatever you was going to do, long enough for this once.
+I think I'll go out for a spell. I've got an errand or two I want to do.
+What time do you have dinner?"
+
+"We lunch at half past one," answered Caroline.
+
+"We dine at seven."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes! I keep forgettin' that supper's dinner. Well, I presume
+likely I'll be back for luncheon. If I ain't, don't wait for me. I'll be
+home afore supper--there I go again!--afore dinner, anyhow. Good-by."
+
+Five minutes later he was at the street corner, inquiring of a policeman
+"the handiest way to get to Pine Street." Following the directions
+given, he boarded a train at the nearest subway station, emerged at Wall
+Street, inquired once more, located the street he was looking for, and,
+consulting a card which he took from a big stained leather pocket-book,
+walked on, peering at the numbers of the buildings he passed.
+
+The offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, were on the sixteenth floor
+of a new and gorgeously appointed sky-scraper. When Captain Elisha
+entered the firm's reception room, he was accosted by a wide-awake and
+extremely self-possessed office boy.
+
+"Who'd you want to see?" asked the boy, briskly.
+
+The captain removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his
+handkerchief.
+
+"Hold on a jiffy, Sonny," he panted. "Just give me a minute to sort of
+get myself together, as you might say. I rode up in one of those express
+elevators of yours, and I kind of feel as if my boots had got tangled up
+with my necktie. When that elevator feller cast off from the cellar, I
+begun to shut up like a spyglass. Whew! Say, Son, is Mr. Graves in?"
+
+"No," replied the boy, grinning.
+
+"Hum! Still in the sick bay, is he--hey?"
+
+"He's to home. Got a cold."
+
+"Yup. It's too bad. Mr.--er--Sylvester, is he in?"
+
+"Naw, he ain't. And Mr. Kuhn's busy. Won't one of the clerks do? What do
+you want to see the firm about?"
+
+"Well, Son, I had reasons of my own. However, I guess I won't disturb
+Mr. Kuhn, if he's busy's you say. Here! you tell him, or Mr. Sylvester
+when he comes, that Cap'n Warren, Cap'n Elisha Warren of South
+Denboro--better write it down--called and will be back about half past
+twelve or thereabouts. Got it, have you? Hum! is that Elisha? You don't
+tell me! I've been spellin' it for sixty years, more or less, and never
+realized it had such possibilities. Lend me your pencil. There! you give
+Mr. Sylvester that and tell him I'll see him later. So long, Son."
+
+He departed, smiling. The indignant office boy threw the card on the
+table.
+
+Captain Elisha strolled down Pine Street, looking about him with
+interest. It had been years since he visited this locality, and the
+changes were many. Soon, however, he began to recognize familiar
+landmarks. He was approaching the water front, and there were fewer new
+buildings. When he reached South Street he was thoroughly at home.
+
+The docks were crowded. The river was alive with small craft of all
+kinds. Steamers and schooners were plenty, but the captain missed the
+old square-riggers, the clipper ships and barks, such as he had sailed
+in as cabin boy, as foremast hand, and, later, commanded on many seas.
+
+At length, however, he saw four masts towering above the roof of a
+freight house. They were not schooner rigged, those masts. The yards
+were set square across, and along them were furled royals and upper
+topsails. Here, at last, was a craft worth looking at. Captain Elisha
+crossed the street, hurried past the covered freight house, and saw a
+magnificent great ship lying beside a broad open wharf. Down the wharf
+he walked, joyfully, as one who greets an old friend.
+
+The wharf was practically deserted. An ancient watchman was dozing in
+a sort of sentry box, but he did not wake. There was a pile of
+foreign-looking crates and boxes at the further end of the pier,
+evidently the last bit of cargo waiting to be carted away. The captain
+inspected the pile, recognized the goods as Chinese and Japanese, then
+read the name on the big ship's stern. She was the _Empress of the
+Ocean_, and her home port was Liverpool.
+
+Captain Elisha, as a free-born Yankee skipper, had an inherited and
+cherished contempt for British "lime-juicers," but he could not help
+admiring this one. To begin with, her size and tonnage were enormous.
+Also, she was four-masted, instead of the usual three, and her hull and
+lower spars were of steel instead of wood. A steel sailing vessel was
+something of a novelty to the captain, and he was seized with a desire
+to go aboard and inspect.
+
+The ladder from ship to wharf was down, of course, and getting on board
+was an easy matter. When he reached the deck and looked about him, the
+great size of the ship was still more apparent. The bulwarks were as
+high as a short man's head. She was decked over aft, and, as the captain
+said afterwards, "her cabins had nigh as many stories as a house."
+From the roof of the "first story," level with the bulwarks, extended
+a series of bridges, which could be hoisted or lowered, and by means of
+which her officers could walk from stern to bow without descending to
+the deck. There was a good-sized engine house forward, beyond the galley
+and forecastle. Evidently the work of hoisting anchors and canvas was
+done by steam.
+
+The captain strolled about, looking her over. The number of improvements
+since his seagoing days was astonishing. He was standing by the wheel,
+near the companion way, wishing that he might inspect the officers'
+quarters, but not liking to do so without an invitation, when two men
+emerged from the cabin.
+
+One of the pair was evidently the Japanese steward of the ship. The
+other was a tall, clean-cut young fellow, whose general appearance and
+lack of sunburn showed quite plainly that he was not a seafaring man
+by profession. The steward caught sight of Captain Elisha, and, walking
+over, accosted him.
+
+"Want to see skipper, sir?" he asked, in broken English. "He ashore."
+
+"No, Doctor," replied the captain, cheerfully. "I don't want to see
+him. I've got no business aboard. It's been some time since I trod the
+quarter-deck of a square-rigger, and I couldn't resist the temptation
+of tryin' how the planks felt under my feet. This is consider'ble of a
+clipper you've got here," he added.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the steward grinning.
+
+"Where you from?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"Singapore, sir."
+
+"Cargo all out?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Waitin' for another one?"
+
+"Yes, sir. We load for Manila bimeby."
+
+"Manila, hey? Have a good passage across?"
+
+"Yes, sir. She good ship."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder. How d'ye do, sir," to the young man, who was standing
+near. "Hope you won't think I'm crowdin' in where I don't belong. I was
+just tellin' the doctor here that it had been some time since I trod a
+quarter-deck, and I thought I'd see if I'd forgot the feel."
+
+"Have you?" asked the young man, smiling.
+
+"Guess not. Seems kind of nat'ral. I never handled such a whale of a
+craft as this, though. Didn't have many of 'em in my day. Come over in
+her, did you?"
+
+"No," with a shake of the head. "No such luck. I'm a land lubber, just
+scouting round, that's all. She's a bully vessel, isn't she?"
+
+"Looks so. Tell you better after I've seen what she could do in a
+full-sail breeze. All hands ashore, Doctor?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the steward.
+
+"Crew paid off and spendin' their money, I s'pose. Well, if it ain't
+against orders, I'd kind of like to look around a little mite. May I?"
+
+The steward merely grinned. His companion answered for him.
+
+"Certainly you may," he said. "I'm a friend of one of the consignees,
+and I'd be glad to show you the ship, if you like. Shall we begin with
+the cabins?"
+
+Captain Elisha, delighted with the opportunity, expressed his thanks,
+and the tour of inspection began. The steward remained on deck, but the
+captain and his new acquaintance strolled through the officers' quarters
+together.
+
+"Jerushy!" exclaimed the former, as he viewed the main cabin. "Say, you
+could pretty nigh have a dance here, couldn't you? A small one. This
+reminds me of the cabin aboard the _Sea Gull_, first vessel I went mate
+of--it's so diff'rent. Aboard her we had to walk sittin' down. There
+wa'n't room in the cabin for more'n one to stand up at a time. But she
+could sail, just the same--and carry it, too. I've seen her off the Horn
+with studdin' sails set, when craft twice her length and tonnage had
+everything furled above the tops'l yard. Hi hum! you mustn't mind an old
+salt runnin' on this way. I've been out of the pickle tub a good while,
+but I cal'late the brine ain't all out of my system."
+
+His guide's eyes snapped.
+
+"I understand," he said, laughing. "I've never been at sea, on a long
+voyage, in my life, but I can understand just how you feel. It's in
+my blood, I guess. I come of a salt water line. My people were from
+Belfast, Maine, and every man of them went to sea."
+
+"Belfast, hey? They turned out some A No. 1 sailors in Belfast. I sailed
+under a Cap'n Pearson from there once--James Pearson, his name was."
+
+"He was my great uncle. I was named for him. My name is James Pearson,
+also."
+
+"_What_?" Captain Elisha was hugely delighted. "Mr. Pearson, shake
+hands. I want to tell you that your Uncle Jim was a seaman of the kind
+you dream about, but seldom meet. I was his second mate three v'yages.
+My name's Elisha Warren."
+
+Mr. Pearson shook hands and laughed, good-humoredly.
+
+"Glad to meet you, Captain Warren," he said. "And I'm glad you knew
+Uncle Jim. As a youngster, he was my idol. He could spin yarns that were
+worth listening to."
+
+"I bet you! He'd seen things wuth yarnin' about. So you ain't a sailor,
+hey? Livin' in New York?"
+
+The young man nodded. "Yes," he said. Then, with a dry smile, "If you
+call occupying a hall bedroom and eating at a third-rate boarding-house
+table living. However, it's my own fault. I've been a newspaper man
+since I left college. But I threw up my job six months ago. Since then
+I've been free-lancing."
+
+"Have, hey?" The captain was too polite to ask further questions, but he
+had not the slightest idea what "free-lancing" might be. Pearson divined
+his perplexity and explained.
+
+"I've had a feeling," he said, "that I might write magazine articles and
+stories--yes, possibly a novel or two. It's a serious disease, but
+the only way to find out whether it's chronic or not is to experiment.
+That's what I'm doing now. The thing I'm at work on may turn out to be
+a sea story. So I spend some time around the wharves and aboard the few
+sailing ships in port, picking up material."
+
+Captain Elisha patted him on the back.
+
+"Now don't you get discouraged," he said. "I used to have an idea that
+novel writin' and picture paintin' was poverty jobs for men with healthy
+appetites, but I've changed my mind. I don't know's you'll believe it,
+but I've just found out, for a fact, that some painters get twenty-two
+thousand dollars for one picture. For _one_, mind you. And a little mite
+of a thing, too, that couldn't have cost scarcely anything to paint.
+Maybe novels sell for just as much. _I_ don't know."
+
+His companion laughed heartily. "I'm afraid not, Captain," he said.
+"Few, at any rate. I should be satisfied with considerably less, to
+begin with. Are you living here in town?"
+
+"Well--we-ll, I don't know. I ain't exactly livin', and I ain't exactly
+boardin', but--Say! ain't that the doctor callin' you?"
+
+It was the steward, and there was an anxious ring in his voice. Pearson
+excused himself and hurried out of the cabin. Captain Elisha lingered
+for a final look about. Then he followed leisurely, becoming aware, as
+he reached the open air, of loud voices in angry dialogue.
+
+Entrances to the _Empress of the Ocean's_ cabins were on the main deck,
+and also on the raised half-deck at the stern, near the wheel, the
+binnacle and the officers' corned-beef tubs, swinging in their frames.
+From this upper deck two flights of steps led down to the main deck
+below. At the top of one of these flights stood young Pearson, cool and
+alert. Behind him half crouched the Japanese steward, evidently very
+much frightened. At the foot of the steps were grouped three rough
+looking men, foreigners and sailors without doubt, and partially
+intoxicated. The three men were an ugly lot, and they were all yelling
+and jabbering together in a foreign lingo. As the captain emerged
+from the passage to the open deck, he heard Pearson reply in the same
+language.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked.
+
+Pearson answered without turning his head.
+
+"Drunken sailors," he explained. "Part of the crew here. They've been
+uptown, got full, and come back to square a grudge they seem to have
+against the steward. I'm telling them they'd better give up and go
+ashore, if they know when they're well off."
+
+The three fellows by the ladder's foot were consulting together. On the
+wharf were half a dozen loungers, collected by the prospect of a row.
+
+"If I can hold them off for a few minutes," went on Pearson, "we'll be
+all right. The wharf watchman has gone for the police. Here! drop it!
+What are you up to?"
+
+One of the sailors had drawn a knife. The other two reached for their
+belts behind, evidently intending to follow suit. From the loafers on
+the wharf came shouts of encouragement.
+
+"Do the dude up, Pedro! Give him what's comin' to him."
+
+The trio formed for a rush. The steward, with a shrill scream, fled to
+the cabin. Pearson did not move; he even smiled. The next moment he was
+pushed to one side, and Captain Elisha stood at the top of the steps.
+
+"Here!" he said, sternly. "What's all this?"
+
+The three sailors, astonished at this unexpected addition to their
+enemies forces, hesitated. Pearson laid his hand on the captain's arm.
+
+"Be careful," he said. "They're dangerous."
+
+"Dangerous? Them? I've seen their kind afore. Here, you!" turning to the
+three below. "What do you mean by this? Put down that knife, you lubber!
+Do you want to be put in irons? Over the side with you, you swabs! Git!"
+
+He began descending the ladder. Whether the sailors were merely too
+surprised to resist, or because they recognized the authority of the
+deep sea in Captain Elisha's voice and face is a question. At any rate,
+as he descended they backed away.
+
+"Mutiny on board a ship of mine?" roared the captain. "What do you mean
+by it? Why, I'll have you tied up and put on bread and water. Over the
+side with you! Mutiny on board of _me_! Lively! Tumble up there!"
+
+With every order came a stride forward and a correspondingly backward
+movement on the part of the three. The performance would have been
+ridiculous if Pearson had not feared that it might become tragic. He was
+descending the steps to his new acquaintance's aid, when there rose a
+chorus of shouts from the wharf.
+
+"The cops! the cops! Look out!"
+
+That was the finishing touch. The next moment the three "mutineers" were
+over the side and running as fast as their alcoholic condition would
+permit down the wharf.
+
+"Well, by George!" exclaimed Pearson.
+
+Captain Elisha seemed to be coming out of a dream. He stood still, drew
+his hand across his forehead, and then began to laugh.
+
+"Well!" he stammered. "Well, I snum! I--I--Mr. Pearson, I wonder what on
+earth you must think of me. I declare the sight of that gang set me back
+about twenty years. They--they must have thought I was the new skipper!
+Did you hear me tell 'em they couldn't mutiny aboard of me? Ho! ho!
+Well, I am an old idiot!"
+
+Pearson stuck his fist into the palm of his other hand. "I've got it!"
+he cried. "I knew your name was familiar. Why, you're the mate that
+handled the mutinous crew aboard Uncle Jim's bark, the _Pacer_, off
+Mauritius, in the typhoon, when he was hurt and in the cabin. I've heard
+him tell it a dozen times. Well, this _is_ a lucky day for me!"
+
+Captain Elisha was evidently pleased. "So he told you that, did he?" he
+began. "That _was_ a time and a half, I--"
+
+He was interrupted. Over the rail appeared a blue helmet, and an instant
+later a big and very pompous police officer leaped to the deck. He was
+followed by the wharf watchman, who looked frightened.
+
+"Where's the other one of them?" demanded the policeman. "Oh, it's you,
+is it? Well, you're too old to be gettin' drunk and fightin'. Come along
+now, peaceable, and let's have no words about it."
+
+He advanced and laid a hand on the captain's arm.
+
+"You're under arrest," he announced. "Will you come along quiet?"
+
+"I'm under arrest?" repeated Captain Elisha. "Under--My soul and body!
+Why, I ain't done anything."
+
+"Yes, I know. Nobody's done nothin'. Come on, or shall I--Hello, Mr.
+Pearson, sir! How d'you do?"
+
+Pearson had stepped forward.
+
+"Slattery," he said, "you've made a mistake. Let me tell you about
+it." He drew the officer aside and whispered in his ear. After a rather
+lengthy conversation, the guardian of the peace turned to the watchman.
+
+"What d'you mean by tellin' all them lies?" he demanded.
+
+"Lies?" repeated the astonished watchman. "I never told no lies."
+
+"You did. You said this gentleman," indicating the nervous and
+apprehensive Captain Elisha, "was fightin' and murderin'. I ask your
+pardon, sir. 'Twas this bloke's foolishness. G'wan ashore! You make me
+sick. Good day, Mr. Pearson."
+
+He departed, driving his new victim before him and tongue-lashing him
+all the way. The captain drew a long breath.
+
+"Say, Mr. Pearson," he declared, "a minute or so ago you said this was
+a lucky day for you. I cal'late it's a luckier one for me. If it hadn't
+been for you I'd been took up. Yes, sir, took up and carted off to the
+lockup. Whew! that would have looked well in the papers, wouldn't it?
+And my niece and nephew.... Jerushy! I'm mightily obliged to you. How
+did you handle that policeman so easily?"
+
+Pearson laughed. "Oh," he replied, "a newspaper training and
+acquaintance has its advantages. Slattery knows me, and I know him."
+
+"Well, I thank you, I do so."
+
+"You needn't. I wouldn't have missed meeting you and seeing you handle
+those fellows for a good deal. And besides, you're not going to escape
+so easy. You must lunch with me."
+
+The captain started, hastily pulled out his watch, and looked at it.
+
+"Quarter to one!" he cried. "And I said I'd be back at that lawyer's
+office at half-past twelve. No, no, Mr. Pearson, I can't go to lunch
+with you, but I do wish you'd come and see me some time. My address
+for--for a spell, anyhow--is Central Park West," giving the number, "and
+the name is Warren, same as mine. Will you come some evenin'? I'd be
+tickled to death to see you."
+
+The young man was evidently delighted.
+
+"Will I?" he exclaimed. "Indeed I will. I warn you, Captain Warren, that
+I shall probably keep you busy spinning sea yarns."
+
+"Nothin' I like better, though I'm afraid my yarns'll be pretty dull
+alongside of your Uncle Jim's."
+
+"I'll risk it. Good-by and good luck. I shall see you very soon."
+
+"That's right; do. So long."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The boy, Captain Elisha's acquaintance of the morning, was out, regaling
+himself with crullers and milk at a pushcart on Broad Street, when the
+captain returned to the officers of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves. The
+clerk who had taken his place was very respectful.
+
+"Captain Warren," he said, "Mr. Sylvester was sorry to miss you. He
+waited until half past twelve and left word for us to telephone if you
+came. Our Mr. Graves is still ill, and the matter of your brother's
+estate must be discussed without further delay. Please sit down and I
+will telephone."
+
+The captain seated himself on the leather-covered bench, and the clerk
+entered the inner office. He returned, a few moments later, to say:
+
+"Mr. Sylvester is at the Central Club. He wished me to ask if you could
+conveniently join him there."
+
+Captain Elisha pondered. "Why, yes," he replied, slowly, "I s'pose I
+could. I don't know why I couldn't. Where is this--er--club of his?"
+
+"On Fifth Avenue, near Fifty-second Street. I'll send one of our boys
+with you if you like."
+
+"No, no! I can pilot myself, I guess. I ain't so old I can't ask my
+way. Though--" with a reminiscent chuckle--"if the folks I ask are all
+sufferin' from that 'Ugh' disease, I sha'n't make much headway."
+
+"What disease?" asked the puzzled clerk.
+
+"Oh, nothin'. I was just thinkin' out loud, that's all. Mr. Sylvester
+wants to see me right off, does he?"
+
+"Yes, he said he would wait if I 'phoned him you were coming."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, you can tell him I've left the dock, bound in his
+direction. Say, that young chap that was here when I called the fust
+time--studyin' to be a lawyer, is he?"
+
+"Who? Tim? No, indeed. He's only the office boy. Why did you ask?"
+
+"Oh, I was just wonderin'. I had a notion he might be in trainin' for a
+judgeship, he was so high and mighty. Ho! ho! He's got talent, that boy
+has. Nobody but a born genius could have made as many mistakes in one
+name as he did when he undertook to spell Elisha. Well, sir, I'm much
+obliged to you. Good day."
+
+The Central Club is a ponderous institution occupying a becomingly
+gorgeous building on the Avenue. The captain found his way to its door
+without much trouble. A brass-buttoned attendant answered his ring and
+superciliously inquired his business. Captain Elisha, not being greatly
+in awe of either buttons or brief authority, calmly hailed the attendant
+as "Gen'ral" and informed him that he was there to see Mr. Sylvester, if
+the latter was "on deck anywheres."
+
+"Tell him it's Cap'n Warren, Major," he added cheerfully; "he's
+expectin' me."
+
+The attendant brusquely ushered the visitor into a leather-upholstered
+reception room and left him. The captain amused himself by looking at
+the prints and framed letters and autographs on the walls. Then a round,
+red, pleasant-faced man entered.
+
+"Pardon me," he said, "is this Captain Warren?"
+
+"Yes, sir," was the reply. "That's my name. This is Mr. Sylvester, ain't
+it? Glad to know you, sir."
+
+"Thanks. Sorry to have made you travel way up here, Captain. I waited
+until twelve-thirty, but as you didn't come then, I gave you up. Hope I
+haven't inconvenienced you."
+
+"No, no. Not a mite. Might just as well be here as anywhere. Don't think
+another thing about it."
+
+"Have you lunched, Captain Warren?"
+
+"No, come to think of it, I ain't. I've been kind of busy this forenoon,
+and a little thing like dinner--luncheon, I mean--slipped my mind.
+Though 'tain't often I have those slips, I'm free to say. Ho! ho!
+Abbie--she's my second cousin, my housekeeper--says I'm an unsartin
+critter, but there's two things about me she can always count on, one's
+that my clothes have always got a button loose somewheres, and t'other's
+my appetite."
+
+He laughed, and Sylvester laughed with him.
+
+"Well," observed the lawyer, "I'm not sure that I couldn't qualify on
+both of those counts. At any rate I'm sure of my appetite. I had a lunch
+engagement with an acquaintance of mine, but he hasn't appeared, so you
+must take his place. We'll lunch together."
+
+"Well, now, I'd like to fust-rate, and it's real kind of you, Mr.
+Sylvester; but I don't know's I'd better. Your friend may heave in
+sight, after all, and I'd be in the way."
+
+"Not a bit of it. And I said 'acquaintance,' not 'friend.' Of course you
+will! You must. We can talk business while we're eating, if you like."
+
+"All right. And I'm ever so much obliged to you. Is there an eatin'
+house near here?"
+
+"Oh, we'll eat right here at the club. Come."
+
+He led the way, and Captain Elisha followed. The Central Club has a
+large, exclusive, and wealthy membership, and its quarters correspond.
+The captain gazed about him at the marble floors and pillars, the
+paintings and busts, with interest. After checking his hat and coat, as
+they entered the elevator he asked a question.
+
+"Which floor is your club on, Mr. Sylvester?" he asked.
+
+"Floor? Why, the dining room is on the fourth, if that's what you mean."
+
+"No, I meant how many rooms do you rent?"
+
+"We occupy the entire building. It is our own, and a comparatively new
+one. We built it three years ago."
+
+"You mean this whole shebang is just one _club_?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Hum! I see. Well, I--"
+
+"What were you going to say?"
+
+"Nothin'. I was wonderin' what fool thing I'd ask next. I'm more used to
+lodge rooms than I am to clubs, I guess. I'd like to take home a picture
+of this place to Theophilus Kenney. Theoph's been raisin' hob because
+the Odd Fellows built on to their buildin'. He said one room was enough
+for any society. 'Twould be, if we was all his kind of society. Theoph's
+so small he could keep house in a closet. He's always hollerin'
+in meetin' about his soul. I asked the minister if it didn't seem
+ridic'lous for Kenney to make such a big noise over such a little thing.
+This where we get off?"
+
+The dining room was a large and ornate apartment. Captain Elisha, when
+he first entered it, seemed about to ask another question, but choked
+it off and remained silent. Sylvester chose a table in a retired corner,
+and they sat down.
+
+"Now, Captain Warren," said the host, "what will you eat?"
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head.
+
+"You do the orderin'," he replied dryly; "I'll just set and be thankful,
+like the hen that found the china doorknob. Anything that suits you will
+do me, I guess."
+
+The lawyer, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his companion, gave
+his orders, and the waiter brought first a bit of caviar on toast. If
+Sylvester expected this delicacy to produce astonished comments, he was
+disappointed.
+
+"Well, well!" exclaimed Captain Elisha. "I declare, you take me back a
+long ways, Mr. Sylvester. Caviar! Well, well! Why, I haven't ate this
+since I used to go to Cronstadt. At the American consul's house there we
+had it often enough. Has a kind of homey taste even yet. That consul was
+a good feller. He and I were great friends.
+
+"I met him a long spell after that, when I was down in Mexico," he
+went on. "He'd made money and was down on a vacation. My ship was at
+Acapulco, and he and I used to go gunnin' together, after wild geese
+and such. Ho! ho! I remember there was a big, pompous critter of an
+Englishman there. Mind you, I'm not talkin' against the English. Some of
+the best men I ever met were English, and I've stood back to back with
+a British mate on a Genoa wharf when half of Italy was hoppin' around
+makin' proclamations that they was goin' to swallow us alive. And,
+somehow or 'nother, they didn't. Took with prophetic indigestion, maybe.
+
+"However, this Englishman at Acapulco was diff'rent. He was so swelled
+with importance that his back hollered in like Cape Cod Bay on the map.
+His front bent out to correspond, though, so I cal'late he averaged up
+all right. Well, he heard about what a good--that I was pretty lucky
+when it come to shootin' wild geese, and I'm blessed if he didn't send
+me orders to get him one for a dinner he was goin' to give. Didn't
+ask--_ordered_ me to do it, you understand. And him nothin' but a
+consignee, with no more control over me than the average female
+Sunday-school teacher has over a class of boys. Not so much, because
+she's supposed to have official authority, and he wa'n't. _And_ he
+didn't invite me to the dinner.
+
+"Well, the next time my friend, the ex-consul, and I went out gunnin',
+I told him of the Englishman's 'orders.' He was mad. 'What are you goin'
+to do about it?' he asks. 'Don't know yet,' says I, 'we'll see.' By and
+by we come in sight of one of them long-legged cranes, big birds you
+know, standin' fishin' at the edge of some reeds. I up with my gun and
+shot it. The consul chap looked at me as if I was crazy. 'What in the
+world did you kill that fish-basket on stilts for?' he says. 'Son,'
+says I, 'your eyesight is bad. That's a British-American goose. Chop off
+about three feet of neck and a couple of fathom of hind legs and pick
+and clean what's left, and I shouldn't wonder if 'twould make a good
+dinner for a mutual friend of ours--good _enough_, anyhow.' Well, sir!
+that ex-consul set plump down in the mud and laughed and laughed. Ho,
+ho! Oh, dear me!"
+
+"Did you send it to the Englishman?" asked Sylvester.
+
+"Oh, yes, I sent it. And, after a good while and in a roundabout way, I
+heard that the whole dinner party vowed 'twas the best wild goose
+they ever ate. So I ain't sure just who the joke was on. However, I'm
+satisfied with my end. Well, there! I guess you must think I'm pretty
+talky on short acquaintance, Mr. Sylvester. You'll have to excuse me;
+that caviar set me to thinkin' about old times."
+
+His host was shaking all over. "Go ahead, Captain," he cried. "Got any
+more as good as that?"
+
+But Captain Elisha merely smiled and shook his head.
+
+"Don't get me started on Mexico," he observed. "I'm liable to yarn
+all the rest of the afternoon. Let's see, we was goin' to talk over my
+brother's business a little mite, wa'n't we?"
+
+"Why, yes, we should. Now, Captain Warren, just how much do you know
+about your late brother's affairs?"
+
+"Except what Mr. Graves told me, nothin' of importance. And, afore we go
+any further, let me ask a question. Do _you_ know why 'Bije made me his
+executor and guardian and all the rest of it?"
+
+"I do not. Graves drew his will, and so, of course, we knew of your
+existence and your appointment. Your brother forbade our mentioning it,
+but we did not know, until after his death, that his own children were
+unaware they had an uncle. It seems strange, doesn't it?"
+
+"It does to me; _so_ strange that I can't see two lengths ahead. I
+cal'late Mr. Graves told you how I felt about it?"
+
+"Yes. That is, he said you were very much surprised."
+
+"That's puttin' it mild enough. And did he tell you that 'Bije and I
+hadn't seen each other, or even written, in eighteen years?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, when you consider _that_, can you wonder I was set all
+aback? And the more I think of it, the foggier it gets. Why, Mr.
+Sylvester, it's one of them situations that are impossible, that you
+can prove fifty ways _can't_ happen. And yet, it has--it sartinly has.
+Now tell me: Are you, or your firm, well acquainted with my brother's
+affairs?"
+
+"Not well, no. The late Mr. Warren was a close-mouthed man, rather
+secretive, in fact."
+
+"Humph! that bein' one of the p'ints where he was different from his
+nighest relation, hey?"
+
+"I'm not so sure. Have you questioned the children?"
+
+"Caroline and Steve? Yes, I've questioned 'em more than they think I
+have, maybe. And they know--well, leavin' out about the price of oil
+paintin's and the way to dress and that it's more or less of a disgrace
+to economize on twenty thousand a year, their worldly knowledge ain't
+too extensive."
+
+"Do you like them?"
+
+"I guess so. Just now ain't the fairest time to judge 'em. You see
+they're sufferin' from the joyful shock of their country relation
+droppin' in, and--"
+
+He paused and rubbed his chin. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were
+not. Sylvester noted their expression, and guessed many things.
+
+"They haven't been disagreeable, I hope?" he asked.
+
+"No-o. No, I wouldn't want to say that. They're young and--and, well,
+I ain't the kind they've been used to. Caroline's a nice girl. She is,
+sure. All she needs is to grow a little older and have the right kind of
+advice and--and friends."
+
+"How about the boy?" Mr. Sylvester had met young Warren, and his eyes
+twinkled as he spoke.
+
+"Steve? Well," there was an answering twinkle in Captain Elisha's eye;
+"well, Steve needs to grow, too; though I wouldn't presume to tell him
+so. When a feller's undertakin' to give advice to one of the seven wise
+men, he has to be diplomatic, as you might say."
+
+The lawyer put back his head and laughed uproariously.
+
+"Ha! ha!" he crowed. "That's good! Then, from your questioning of the
+children, you've learned--?"
+
+"Not such an awful lot. I think I've learned that--hum! that a good
+guardian might be a handy thing to have in the house. A reg'lar legal
+guardian, I mean. Otherwise--"
+
+"Otherwise?"
+
+"Otherwise there might be too many disinterested volunteer substitutes
+for the job. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it."
+
+"Have you made up your mind to be that guardian?"
+
+"Not yet. I haven't made up my mind to anything yet. Now, Mr. Sylvester,
+while we're waitin' for what comes next--you've ordered enough grub
+to victual a ship--s'pose you just run over what your firm knows about
+'Bije. That is, if I ain't askin' too much."
+
+"Not at all. That's what I'm here for. You have a right to know. But I
+warn you my information isn't worth much."
+
+He went on, briefly and with the conciseness of the legal mind, to tell
+of A. Rodgers Warren, his business and his estate. He had been a broker
+with a seat on the Stock Exchange.
+
+"That seat is worth consider'ble, ain't it?" interrupted the captain.
+
+"Between eighty and one hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Yup. Well, it reminds me of a picture I saw once in one of the comic
+papers. An old feller from the backwoods somewheres--good deal like me,
+he was, and just about as green--was pictured standin' along with
+his city nephew in the gallery of the Exchange. And the nephew says,
+'Uncle,' says he, 'do you realize that a seat down there's wuth
+seventy-five thousand dollars?' 'Gosh!' says the old man, 'no wonder
+most of 'em are standin' up.' Ho! ho! Is that seat of 'Bije's part of
+the five hundred thousand you figger he's left?"
+
+"Yes, in a way it is. To be truthful, Captain Warren, we're not sure as
+to the amount of your brother's tangible assets. Graves made a hurried
+examination of the stocks, bonds, and memoranda, and estimated the
+total, that's all."
+
+"I see. Well, heave ahead."
+
+The lawyer went on. The dead broker's office had been on Broad Street.
+A small office, with but two clerks. One of the clerks was retained,
+and the office, having been leased for a year by its former tenant,
+was still open pending the settlement of the estate. A. Rodgers Warren
+personally was a man who looked older than he really was, a good liver,
+and popular among his companions.
+
+"What sort of fellers were his companions?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"You mean his friends in society, or his companions downtown in Wall
+Street?"
+
+"The Wall Street ones. I guess I can find out something about the
+society ones. Anyhow, I can try. These Wall Streeters that 'Bije chummed
+with--a quiet lot, was they?"
+
+Sylvester hesitated. "Why--why--not particularly so," he admitted.
+"Nothing crooked about them, of course. You see, a stock-broker's life
+is a nerve-racking, rather exciting one, and--"
+
+"And 'Bije and his chums were excited, too, hey? All right, you needn't
+go any further. He was a good husband while his wife lived, wa'n't he?"
+
+"Yes. Frankly, Captain Warren, so far as I know, your brother's personal
+habits were good. There was nothing against his character."
+
+"I'm mighty glad to hear it. Mighty glad. Is there anything else you can
+tell me?"
+
+"No. Our next move, provided you decide to accept the trust, the
+executorship, and the rest, is to get together--you and Graves, if he is
+well enough; you and I if he is not--and begin a careful examination of
+the stocks, bonds, assets, and debts of the estate. This must be done
+first of all."
+
+"Graves hinted there wa'n't any debts, to amount to anything."
+
+"So far as we can see, there are none, except a few trifling bills."
+
+"Yes, yes. Hum!" Captain Elisha put down his coffee spoon and seemed to
+be thinking. He shook his head.
+
+"You appear to be puzzled about something," observed the lawyer, who was
+watching him intently.
+
+"I am. I was puzzled afore I left home, and I'm just as puzzled now."
+
+"What puzzles you? if I may ask."
+
+"Everything. And, if you'll excuse my sayin' so, Mr. Sylvester, I guess
+it puzzles you, too."
+
+He returned his host's look. The latter pushed back his chair,
+preparatory to rising.
+
+"It is all so perfectly simple, on the face of it, Captain Warren," he
+said. "Your brother realized that he must die, that his children and
+their money must be taken care of; you were his nearest relative;
+his trust in your honesty and judgment caused him to overlook the
+estrangement between you. That's the case, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes. That's the case, on the face of it, as you say. But you've forgot
+to mention one item."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"'Bije himself. You knew him pretty well, I can see that. So did I. And
+I guess that's why we're both puzzled."
+
+Captain Elisha folded his napkin with care and stood up. Sylvester rose,
+also.
+
+"Come downstairs," he said. "We can enjoy our cigars more comfortably
+there, and go on with our talk. That is, unless you're in a great
+hurry."
+
+"No, I ain't in any special hurry. So I get up to Caroline's in season
+for supper--er, dinner, I mean--I don't care. But I don't want to keep
+you. You're a busy man."
+
+"This is business. This way, Captain."
+
+The big lounging room of the club, on the first floor, Fifth Avenue
+side, was almost empty when they entered it. The lawyer drew two big
+chairs near the open fire, rang the bell, and ordered cigars. After
+the cigars were lighted and the fragrant clouds of tobacco smoke were
+rising, he reopened the conversation. And now, in an easy, diplomatic
+way, he took his turn at questioning.
+
+It was pretty thorough pumping, managed with the skill of an experienced
+cross-examiner. Captain Elisha, without realizing that he was doing so,
+told of his boyhood, his life at sea, his home at South Denboro, his
+position in the village, his work as selectman, as member of the school
+committee, and as director in the bank. The tone of the questioner
+expressed nothing--he was too well trained for that--but every item of
+information was tabulated and appraised.
+
+The tall mahogany-cased clock struck three, then four. The lawyer
+finished his cigar and lit another. He offered a fresh one to his guest,
+but the offer was declined.
+
+"No, thank you," observed the captain. "I've been yarnin' away so
+fast that my breath's been too busy to keep this one goin'. There's
+consider'ble left yet. This is a better smoke than I'm used to
+gettin' at the store down home. I tell Ryder--he's our storekeeper and
+postmaster--that he must buy his cigars on the reel and cut 'em off with
+the scissors. When the gang of us all got a-goin' mail times, it smells
+like a rope-walk burnin' down. Ho! ho! It does, for a fact. Yet I kind
+of enjoy one of his five-centers, after all. You can get used to most
+anything. Maybe it's the home flavor or the society. P'raps they'd taste
+better still if they was made of seaweed. I'll trouble you for a match,
+Mr. Sylvester. Two of 'em, if you don't mind."
+
+He whittled one match to a point with his pocket knife, impaled the
+cigar stump upon it, and relit with the other.
+
+Meanwhile the room had been filling up. Around each of the big windows
+overlooking the Avenue were gathered groups of men, young and old,
+smoking, chatting, and gazing idly out. Captain Elisha regarded them
+curiously.
+
+"This ain't a holiday, is it?" he asked, after a while.
+
+"No. Why?"
+
+"I was just wonderin' if all those fellers hadn't any work to do, that's
+all."
+
+"Who? That crowd?" The lawyer laughed. "Oh, they're doing their regular
+stunt. You'll find most of them here every afternoon about this time."
+
+"You don't say. Pay 'em wages for it, do you?"
+
+"Not that I know of. Some of them are brokers, who come up after the
+Exchange closes. Others are business men, active or retired. Some don't
+have any business--except what they're doing now."
+
+"I want to know! Humph! They remind me of the gang in the billiard-room
+back home. The billiard-roomers--the chronic ones--don't have any
+business, either, except to keep the dust from collectin' on the chairs.
+That and talkin' about hard times. These chaps don't seem to be
+sufferin' from hard times, much."
+
+"No. Most of the younger set have rich fathers or have inherited money."
+
+"I see. They let the old man do the worryin'. That's philosophy, anyhow.
+What are they so interested in outside? Parade goin' by?"
+
+"No. I imagine an unusually pretty girl passed just then."
+
+"Is that so? Well, well! Say, Mr. Sylvester, the longer I stay in
+New York the more I see that the main difference between it and South
+Denboro is size. The billiard-room gang acts just the same way when the
+downstairs school teacher goes past. Hello!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"That young chap by the mizzen window looks sort of familiar to me. The
+one that stood up to shake a day-day to whoever was passin'. Hum! He's
+made a hit, ain't he? I expect some unprotected female's heart broke at
+that signal. I cal'late I know him."
+
+"Who? Which one? Oh, that's young Corcoran Dunn. He is a lady-killer, in
+his own estimation. How d'ye do, Dunn."
+
+The young man turning grinning from the window, caught a glimpse of the
+lawyer as the latter rose to identify him. He strolled over to the fire.
+
+"Hello, Sylvester," he hailed, carelessly. "That was a peach. You should
+have seen her. What? Why, it's the Admiral!"
+
+"How d'ye do, Mr. Dunn," said Captain Elisha.
+
+"Have you two met before?" asked Sylvester in astonishment.
+
+"Yes. I had the pleasure of assisting in the welcoming salute when our
+seafarin' friend come aboard. How was that, Captain? Some nautical class
+to that remark?"
+
+"Yup. You done fust rate, considerin' how recent you shipped."
+
+"Thanks. Overwhelmed, I'm sure." Then, with a look of languid amusement
+at the pair, "What is this--a meeting of the Board of Naval Affairs?
+Have you bought a yacht, Sylvester?"
+
+"No." The lawyer's tone was sharp.
+
+"Humph! Well, take my advice and don't. Yachts are all right, to have
+a good time on, but they cost like the devil to keep up. An auto is bad
+enough. By the way, Sylvester, did you hear about my running over the
+Irishman this morning?"
+
+"Running over?" repeated the captain, aghast. "You didn't run over
+nobody, I hope."
+
+"Well, I came devilish near it. Ha! ha! You see, the old tarrier
+was crossing Saint Nicholas Avenue, with a big market basket full
+of provisions--the family dinner, I suppose. By Jove, the household
+appetites must be good ones. It was slippery as the mischief, I was
+running the car, and I tried to go between the fellow and the curb.
+It would have been a decent bit of steering if I'd made it. But--ha!
+ha!--by Jove, you know, I didn't. I skidded. The man himself managed
+to hop out of the way, but his foot slipped, and down he went. Most
+ridiculous thing you ever saw. And the street! 'Pon my word it was paved
+with eatables."
+
+Sylvester, plainly annoyed, did not reply. But Captain Elisha's concern
+was evident.
+
+"The poor critter!" he exclaimed. "What did you do?"
+
+"The last I saw of him he was sitting in the mud, looking at the upset.
+I didn't linger. Peters took the wheel, and we beat it. Lucky the cop
+didn't spot the license number. Might have cost me fifty. They've had me
+up for speeding twice before. What are you and the Admiral discussing,
+Sylvester?"
+
+"We were discussing a business matter," answered the lawyer, with
+significant emphasis.
+
+"Business? Why, sure! I forgot that you were Graves's partner. Settling
+the family affairs, hey? Well, I won't butt in. Ta, ta! See you later,
+Captain. You must go for a spin in that car of mine. I'll call for you
+some day. I'll show you something they don't do on Cape Cod. Regards to
+Caro and Steve."
+
+He moved off, feeling that his invitation would have met with his
+mother's approval. She had announced that the country uncle was to be
+"cultivated."
+
+Captain Elisha's cigar had gone out. He did not attempt to relight it.
+
+"Whew!" he whistled. "Well, when I go for a 'spin,' as he calls it, with
+_him_, I cal'late my head'll be spinnin' so I won't be responsible for
+my actions. Whew!"
+
+Sylvester looked curiously at him.
+
+"So you met him before?" he asked.
+
+"Yes. He was at the rooms when I fust landed. Or his mother was there
+then. He came a little later with Caroline and Stephen."
+
+"I see."
+
+"Yes. Know him and his ma pretty well, do you?"
+
+"Slightly. I've met them, at mutual acquaintances' homes and about
+town."
+
+"Pretty well fixed, I s'pose, ain't they?"
+
+"I presume so. I don't know."
+
+"Um. He's a sociable young feller, ain't he? Don't stand on any
+ceremony, hey? Caro and Steve think a lot of him and his mother."
+
+"Yes. Graves has told me the Dunns were very intimate with the Warrens.
+In fact, just before your brother's death, I remember hearing a rumor
+that the two families might be even closer connected."
+
+"You mean--er--Caroline and--er--him?"
+
+"There was such a rumor. Probably nothing in it. There is no engagement,
+I am very sure."
+
+"Yes, yes, I see. Well, Mr. Sylvester, I must be trottin' on. I'll
+think the whole business over for another day or so and then give you my
+decision, one way or the other."
+
+"You can't give it now?"
+
+"No-o. I guess I'd better not. However, I think--"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I think I may take the job. Take it on trial, anyhow."
+
+"Good! I'm glad of it."
+
+"You _are_?"
+
+"I certainly am. And I'm very glad indeed to have made your
+acquaintance, Captain Warren. Good afternoon. I shall hope to see you
+again soon."
+
+Captain Elisha left the Central Club in a surprised frame of mind. What
+surprised him was that a man of such thorough city training and habits
+as the senior partner of the law firm should express pleasure at the
+idea of his accepting the charge of A. Rodgers Warren's heirs and
+estate. Mr. Graves had shown no such feeling.
+
+If he had heard Sylvester's report to Kuhn, at the office next day, he
+might have been even more surprised and pleased.
+
+"He's a brick, Kuhn," declared the senior partner. "A countryman, of
+course, but a keen, able, honest man, and, I think, a mighty good judge
+of character. If I was as sure of his ability to judge investments and
+financial affairs, I should be certain the Warren children couldn't be
+in better hands. And no doubt we can help him when it comes to that.
+He'll probably handle the girl and boy in his own way, and his outside
+greenness may jar them a little. But it'll do them good to be jarred at
+their age. He's all right, and I hope he accepts the whole trust."
+
+"Well," exclaimed Mr. Kuhn; "you surprise me. Graves seemed to be--"
+
+"Graves suffers from the absolute lack of a sense of humor. His path
+through life is about three feet wide and bordered with rock-ribbed
+conventionality. If a man has a joke in his system, Graves doesn't
+understand it and is suspicious. I tell, you, Kuhn, there's more honest
+common sense and ability in the right hand of this Down-East salt than
+there ever was in Rodgers Warren's whole body."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+During the next day Caroline Warren and her brother saw little of their
+uncle. Not that they complained of this or sought his society. The
+policy of avoidance and what Stephen called "freezing out" had begun,
+and the young people kept to themselves as much as possible. At
+breakfast Caroline was coldly polite, and her brother cold, although
+his politeness was not overdone. However, Captain Elisha did not seem to
+notice. He was preoccupied, said but little, and spent the forenoon in
+writing a second letter to Miss Abigail. In it he told of his experience
+on board the _Empress of the Ocean_ and of the luncheon at the Central
+Club. But he said nothing concerning his nephew and niece further than
+the statement that he was still getting acquainted, and that Caroline
+was a real nice looking girl.
+
+"I suppose you wonder what I've decided about taking the guardianship,"
+he added, just at the close. "Well, Abbie, I'm about in the position of
+Luther Sylvester when he fell off the dock at Orham. The tide was out,
+and he went into the soft mud, all under. When the folks who saw him
+tumble got to the edge and looked over, they saw a round, black thing
+sticking out of the mire, and, judging 'twas Lute's head, they asked him
+how he felt. 'I don't know yet,' sputters Lute, 'whether I'm drowned or
+smothered, but I'm somewheres betwixt and between.' That's me, Abbie, on
+that guardian business. I'm still betwixt and between. But before this
+day's over I'll be drowned or smothered, and I'll let you know which
+next time I write."
+
+After lunch he took a stroll in the Park and passed up and down the
+paths, thinking, thinking. Returning, he found that Caroline and Stephen
+had gone for an auto ride with the Dunns and would not be home for
+dinner. So he ate that meal in solitary state, waited upon by Edwards.
+
+That evening, as he sat smoking in the library, the butler appeared to
+announce a caller.
+
+"Someone to see you, sir," said Edwards. "Here's his card, sir."
+
+"Eh? Someone to see _me_? Guess you've made a mistake, haven't you,
+Commodore? I don't know anybody who'd be likely to come visitin' me here
+in New York. Why, yes! Well, I declare! Tell him to walk right in. Mr.
+Pearson, I'm glad to see you. This is real neighborly."
+
+The caller was young Pearson, the captain's acquaintance of the previous
+forenoon. They shook hands heartily.
+
+"Perhaps you didn't think I should accept that invitation of yours,
+Captain Warren," observed Pearson. "I told you I meant it when I said
+yes. And calling within thirty-six hours is pretty good proof, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Suits me fust-rate. I'm mighty glad you came. Set right down. Lonesome
+at the boardin' house, was it?"
+
+Pearson made a grimace. "Lonesome!" he repeated. "Ugh! Let's talk of
+something else. Were you in time for your appointment yesterday noon?"
+
+"Why, yes; I was and I wasn't. Say, won't you have a cigar? That's
+right. And I s'pose, bein' as this is New York, I'd ought to ask you to
+take somethin' to lay the dust, hey? I ain't made any inquiries myself,
+but I shouldn't wonder if the Commodore--the feller that let you
+in--could find somethin' in the spare room closet or somewheres, if I
+ask him."
+
+The young man laughed. "If you mean a drink," he said, "I don't care for
+it, thank you."
+
+"What? You ain't a teetotaler, are you?"
+
+"No, not exactly. But--"
+
+"But you can get along without it, hey? So can I; generally do, fur's
+that goes. But _I'm_ from South Denboro. I thought here in New York--"
+
+"Oh, there are many people, even here in New York, who are not convinced
+that alcohol is a food."
+
+"You don't tell me! Well, I'm livin' and learnin' every day. Judgin'
+from stories and the yarns in the Boston newspapers, folks up our way
+have the idea that this town is a sort of annex to the bad place. All
+right, then we won't trouble the Commodore. I notice you're lookin' over
+my quarters. What do you think of 'em?"
+
+Pearson had, in spite of himself, been glancing about the room. Its
+luxury and the evident signs of taste and wealth surprised him greatly.
+
+"Astonish you to find me livin' in a place like this, hey?"
+
+"Why, why, yes, it does, somewhat. I didn't realize you were such an
+aristocrat, Captain Warren. If I had, I might have been a little more
+careful of my dress in making my first call."
+
+"Dress? Oh, you mean you'd have put on your Sunday clothes. Well, I'm
+glad you didn't. You see, _I_ haven't got on my regimentals, and if
+you'd been on dress parade I might have felt bashful. Ho, ho! I don't
+wonder you are surprised. This is a pretty swell neighborhood, ain't
+it?"
+
+"Yes, it is."
+
+"These--er--apartments, now. 'Bout as good as any in town, are they?"
+
+"Pretty nearly. There are few better--much better."
+
+"I thought so. You wouldn't call livin' in 'em economizin' to any
+consider'ble extent, would you?"
+
+"No," with a laugh; "no, _I_ shouldn't, but my ideas of economy
+are--well, different. They have to be. Are you ecomomizing, Captain?"
+
+Captain Elisha laughed and rubbed his knee.
+
+"No," he chuckled, "_I_ ain't, but my nephew and niece are. These are
+their rooms."
+
+"Oh, you're visiting?"
+
+"No, I don't know's you'd call it visitin'. I don't know what you would
+call it. I'm here, that's about all you can say."
+
+He paused and remained silent. His friend was silent, also, not knowing
+exactly what remark to make.
+
+"How's the novel comin' on?" asked the captain, a minute later.
+
+"Oh, slowly. I'm not at all sure it will ever be finished. I get
+discouraged sometimes."
+
+"No use in doin' that. What sort of a yarn is it goin' to be? Give me a
+gen'ral idea of the course you're tryin' to steer. That is, if it ain't
+a secret."
+
+"It isn't. But there's mighty little worth telling. When I began I
+thought I had a good scheme, but it seems pretty weak and dish-watery
+now."
+
+"Most things do while their bein' done, if you really care about doin'
+'em well. Heave ahead! You said 'twas a sea yarn, and I'm a sort of
+specialist when it comes to salt water. Maybe I might prescribe just the
+right tonic, though 'tain't very likely."
+
+Pearson began to outline the plot of his novel, speaking slowly at
+first, but becoming more interested as he continued. Captain Elisha
+listened meditatively, puffing solemnly at his cigar, and interrupting
+but seldom.
+
+"I think that's a pretty good idea," he observed, at length. "Yes,
+sir, that sounds promisin', to me. This cap'n of yours now, he's a good
+feller. Don't get him too good, though; that wouldn't be natural. And
+don't get him too bad, neither. I know it's the fashion, judgin' by the
+sea yarns I've read lately, to have a Yankee skipper sort of a cross
+between a prize fighter and a murderer. Fust day out of port he begins
+by pickin' out the most sickly fo'mast hand aboard, mashes him up, and
+then takes the next invalid. I got a book about that kind of a skipper
+out of our library down home a spell ago, and the librarian said 'twas
+awful popular. A strong story, she said, and true to life. Well, 'twas
+strong--you could pretty nigh smell it--but as for bein' true to life,
+I had my doubts. I've been to sea, command of a vessel, for a good many
+years, and sometimes I'd go weeks, whole weeks, without jumpin' up and
+down on a single sailor. Fact! Got my exercise other ways, I presume
+likely.
+
+"I tell you," he went on, "the main trouble with that tale of yours, as
+I see it, is that you're talkin' about things you ain't ever seen. Now
+there's plenty you have seen, I wouldn't wonder. Let's see, you was born
+in Belfast, you said. Live there long, did you?"
+
+"Yes, until I went away to school."
+
+"Your father, he went to sea, did he?"
+
+"Yes. But his ship was lost, with all hands, when I was a baby."
+
+"But your Uncle Jim wa'n't lost. You remember him well; you said so.
+Tell me something you remember."
+
+Before the young man was aware of it, he was telling of his Uncle
+Jim, of the latter's return from voyages, of his own home life, of his
+mother, and of the village where he spent his boyhood. Then, led on by
+the captain's questioning, he continued with his years at college, his
+experiences as reporter and city editor. Without being conscious that
+he was doing so, he gave his host a pretty full sketch of himself, his
+story, and his ambitions.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," said Captain Elisha, earnestly, "don't you worry about
+that yarn of yours. If you'll take the advice of an old feller who knows
+absolutely nothin' about such things, keep on rememberin' about your
+Uncle Jim. He was a man, every inch of him, and a seaman, too. Put lots
+of him into this hero of yours, and you won't go fur wrong. And when it
+comes to handlin' a ship, why--well, if you _want_ to come to me, I'll
+try and help you out best I can."
+
+Pearson was delighted.
+
+"You _will_?" he cried. "Splendid! It's mighty good of you. May I spring
+some of my stuff on you as I write it?"
+
+"Sartin you may. Any time, I'll be tickled to death. I'll be tickled to
+have you call, too; that is, if callin' on an old salt like me won't be
+too tirin'."
+
+The answer was emphatic and reassuring.
+
+"Thank you," said Captain Elisha. "I'm much obliged. Come often, do.
+I--well, the fact is, I'm likely to get sort of lonesome myself, I'm
+afraid. Yes, I shouldn't wonder if I did."
+
+He sighed, tossed away the stump of his cigar, and added,
+
+"Now, I want to ask you somethin'. You newspaper fellers are supposed to
+know about all there is to know of everything under the sun. Do you know
+much about the Stock Exchange?"
+
+Pearson smiled.
+
+"All I can afford to know," he said.
+
+"Humph! That's a pretty good answer. Knowledge is power, they say,
+but--but I cal'late knowledge of the Stock Exchange is poverty, with a
+good many folks."
+
+"I think you're right, Captain. It's none of my business, but--were you
+planning to tackle Wall Street?"
+
+Captain Elisha glanced, under his brows, at his new friend, and his eyes
+twinkled.
+
+"Didn't know but I might," he replied, solemnly. "Ain't got
+any--er--tips, any sure things you want to put me on to, have you?"
+
+"I have not. My experience of Wall Street 'sure things' leads me to
+believe that they're sure--but only for the other fellow."
+
+"Hum! I know a chap down home that made money in stocks. He made it so
+easy that, as the boys say, 'twas almost a shame to take the money. And
+'twas the makin' of him, too."
+
+Pearson was embarrassed and troubled. If this big-hearted, simple-minded
+countryman had come to New York to buck the stock market, it was time
+to sound a warning. But had he, on such short acquaintance, the right to
+warn? The captain was shrewd in his own way. Might not the warning seem
+presumptuous?
+
+"So--this--this friend of yours was a successful speculator, was he?" he
+asked. "He was lucky."
+
+"Think so? Well, maybe. His name was Elkanah Chase, and his dad was old
+man 'Rastus Chase, who made consider'ble in cranberries and one thing
+or 'nother. The old man brought Elkanah up to be what he called a
+gentleman. Ho! ho! Hi hum! I ain't sure what 'Rastus's idea of
+a gentleman was, but if he cal'lated to have his son a tramp in
+go-to-meetin' clothes, he got his wish. When the old man died, he willed
+the boy fifteen thousand dollars. Well, fifteen thousand dollars is a
+fortune to some folks--if they ain't economizin' in New York--but to
+Elkanah 'twas just about enough to make him realize his poverty. So,
+to make it bigger, he got one of them 'tips' from a college friend down
+here in Wall Street, and put the heft of ten thousand into it. _And_, I
+swan, if it didn't double his money!"
+
+Captain Elisha's visitor shook his head. He did not even smile.
+
+"He was extremely fortunate," he said. "I give you my word, Captain
+Warren, that the majority of first speculators don't turn out that way.
+I hope he was wise enough to keep his profits."
+
+The captain rubbed his chin.
+
+"Jim--" he began. "Excuse me, I should have said Mr. Pearson, but I've
+got sort of in the habit of callin' folks by their first names. Livin'
+where you know everybody so well gets you into those habits."
+
+"Jim suits me. I hope you'll cultivate the habit."
+
+"Do you? Well, I will. Now, Jim, referrin' to what I was goin' to say,
+you, bein' a newspaper man, ought to know everything, but it's pretty
+plain you don't know Elkanah Chase. Keep his profits! Why, when a feller
+is all but convinced that he knows it all, one little bit of evidence
+like that speculation settles it for him conclusive. Elkanah, realizin'
+that Wall Street was his apple pie, opened his mouth to swaller it at
+one gulp. He put his profits and every other cent he had into another
+sure thing tip."
+
+"And won again?"
+
+"No. He lost all that and some more that he borrowed."
+
+"But I thought you said it was the making of him!"
+
+"It was. He had to take a job over at the overalls factory in Ostable.
+As a fifteen thousand dollar gentleman, he was pretty average of a mess,
+but they tell me he makes middlin' good overalls. Elkanah convinced me
+that Wall Street has its good points."
+
+He chuckled. Pearson, relieved, laughed in sympathy. "Has he paid back
+the money he borrowed?" he inquired.
+
+"No-o! I guess the creditors'll have to take it out in overalls.
+However, it's a satisfaction to some of 'em to watch Chase really work.
+I know that gives me _my_ money's worth."
+
+"Oh, ho! You are one of the creditors! Captain Warren, I'm surprised. I
+sized you up as a shrewder judge of investments."
+
+Captain Elisha colored. "I judged that one correct," he answered. "If
+I hadn't thought 'twould have turned out that way I never would have
+plunged. You see, old man Chase was a friend of mine, and--However," he
+added, hastily changing the subject, "we've strayed some off the course.
+When I mentioned the Stock Exchange I did it because my brother was a
+member of it, and I cal'late you might have known him."
+
+Pearson was astonished. "Your brother was a member of the Exchange?" he
+repeated.
+
+"Um-hm. Never would have guessed it, would you? I s'pose you cal'late
+all the stock I knew about was on the hoof. Well, I have been acquainted
+with other breeds in my time. My brother's name was Abijah Warren--A.
+Rodgers Warren, he called himself."
+
+The effect of this announcement was instantaneous and electric. The
+young man sat back in his chair.
+
+"A. Rodgers Warren was your brother?" he cried.
+
+"Um-hm. Seems to stagger you some. Contrast between us as big as all
+that comes to?"
+
+"But--but, Captain Warren--Your brother--Tell me, is Miss Caroline
+Warren your niece?"
+
+"She is. And Steve is my nephew. 'Tain't possible you're acquainted with
+them?"
+
+Pearson rose to his feet. "Is--They used to live on the Avenue," he
+said. "But you said you were visiting. Captain Warren, is this your
+niece's apartment?"
+
+"Yes, hers and Steve's. Why, what's the matter? Ain't goin', are you?"
+
+"I think perhaps I had better. It is getting late."
+
+"Late! It's only the shank of the evenin'. Jim, I ain't so blind that I
+can't see through an open window. It ain't the lateness that makes you
+want to leave so sudden. Is there some trouble between you and Caroline?
+Course, it's none of my business, and you needn't tell me unless you
+want to."
+
+The answer was prompt enough.
+
+"No," replied Pearson. "No. I assure you there is nothing of that kind.
+I--I met Miss Warren. In fact, at one time we were well acquainted. I
+have the very highest opinion of her. But I think it is best to--"
+
+"Just a minute now. No trouble with Steve? He's a boy and at an age when
+he's pretty well satisfied with himself and you have to make allowance."
+
+"No. Steve and I were quite friendly. I'm sorry to cut my visit short,
+but it is late and I _must_ go."
+
+He was moving toward the door. Captain Elisha looked at him intently.
+
+"Well, if you must," he said. "But I hope you'll come again soon. Will
+you?"
+
+"I hope I may. I give you my word, Captain, that I appreciate your
+invitation, and I do want to know you better."
+
+"Same here. I don't often take sudden fancies, Jim, but I knew your
+uncle, and I'd bet consider'ble on any member of his family. And I _was_
+kind of interested in that novel of yours. You haven't said you'd come
+again. Will you?"
+
+Pearson was much embarrassed.
+
+"I should like to come, immensely," he said, with an earnestness
+unmistakable; "but--but, to be honest, Captain Warren, there is a
+reason, one which I may tell you sometime, but can't now--neither Miss
+Warren nor her brother have any part in it--which makes me reluctant to
+visit you here. Won't you come and see me at the boarding house? Here's
+the address. _Will_ you come?"
+
+"Sartin! I figured on doin' it, if you gave me the chance."
+
+"Thank you, you'll be welcome. Of course it is _only_ a boarding house,
+and not a very good one. My own room is--well, different from this."
+
+"Yup. Maybe that's why I expect to feel at home in it. Good night, Jim.
+Thank you for callin'. Shall I ring for the Commodore to pilot you out?"
+
+"No, I can find my way. I--Someone is coming."
+
+From the hall came the clang of the elevator door and the sound of
+voices. Before the captain or his friend could move, Caroline, Stephen,
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, and Malcolm entered. Caroline was the first to reach
+the library. Her entrance brought her face to face with Pearson.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she began. "I did not know there was anyone here."
+
+"It's only a friend of mine, Caroline," explained her uncle, quickly.
+"Just callin' on me, he was."
+
+"Good evening, Miss Warren," said Pearson, quietly.
+
+The girl looked at him for an instant. Then her expression changed, and,
+with a smile, she extended her hand.
+
+"Why, Mr. Pearson!" she exclaimed. "I'm very glad to see you. You must
+excuse me for not recognizing you at once. Steve, you remember Mr.
+Pearson."
+
+Stephen also extended a hand.
+
+"Sure!" he said. "Glad to see you again, Pearson. Haven't met you for an
+age. How are you?"
+
+Pearson shook both the hands. He was embarrassed and hesitated in his
+reply.
+
+"It _has_ been some time since we met," he said. "This is an unexpected
+pleasure. Ah, Mr. Dunn, good evening."
+
+"It is Mr. Pearson, the financial writer of the _Planet_, Malcolm,"
+said Caroline. "You used to know him, I think."
+
+"Don't remember, I'm sure. Yes, I do. Met you at the University Club,
+didn't I?"
+
+"Yes. I was formerly a member."
+
+"And let me present you to Mrs. Corcoran Dunn," went on the girl. "Mr.
+Pearson used to know father well."
+
+Mrs. Dunn inspected the visitor through her lorgnette, and condescended
+to admit that she was "delighted."
+
+"I'm very glad you called," continued Caroline. "We were just in time,
+weren't we? Do sit down. And if you will wait a minute until we remove
+our wraps--Steve ring for Edwards, please."
+
+"I'm afraid I can't wait, Miss Warren. I dropped in to see your uncle,
+at his invitation, and, as a matter of fact, I didn't know--"
+
+"To see our _uncle_!" interrupted Stephen, in amazement. "Who?"
+
+"Your uncle, Captain Warren here," explained Pearson, surprised in his
+turn. "He and I made each other's acquaintance yesterday, and he asked
+me to call."
+
+"You--you called to see _him_?" repeated Stephen. "Why, what in the
+world--?"
+
+"I took the liberty of askin' him, Caroline," observed Captain Elisha
+quietly, and ignoring the last speaker. "I didn't know you knew him,
+and I used to sail along with _his_ uncle, so he seemed almost like own
+folks."
+
+"Oh!" Caroline's manner changed. "I presume it was a business call," she
+said slowly. "I beg pardon for interrupting. We had not seen you since
+father's death, Mr. Pearson, and I assumed that you had called upon my
+brother and me. Excuse me. Mrs. Dunn, we will go into the drawing-room."
+
+She led the way toward the apartment. Captain Elisha was about to speak.
+Pearson, however, explained for him.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "if by a business call you mean one in the
+interest of the _Planet_, I assure you that you are mistaken. I am no
+longer connected with any paper. I met Captain Warren, under rather
+unusual circumstances. We discovered that we had mutual friends and
+mutual interests. He asked me to call on him, and I did so. I did not
+know, until five minutes ago, that he was your uncle or that you and
+your brother lived here. I beg you won't leave the room on my account. I
+was about to go when you came. Good evening."
+
+He bowed and stepped toward the hall. Captain Elisha laid a hand on his
+arm and detained him.
+
+"Just a minute," he said. "Caroline, I want you and Steve to know that
+what Mr. Pearson says is exactly true. I ain't the kind to talk to the
+newspapers about the private affairs of my relations, and, if I'm
+any judge of character, Mr. Pearson, knowin' you as it seems he does,
+wouldn't be the kind to listen. That's all. Now, Jim, if you must go."
+
+He and his guest were at the door. Caroline and Mrs. Dunn were at the
+opposite side of the room. Suddenly the girl halted, turned, and, moving
+across to where her uncle and the young man were standing, once more
+extended her hand.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, impulsively, "again I ask your pardon. I should
+have known. I am very sorry I spoke as I did. Will you forgive me?"
+
+Pearson colored. His embarrassment was more evident than before.
+
+"There is no occasion for apology, Miss Warren," he said. "I don't
+wonder you thought I had come in my former capacity as reporter."
+
+"Yes, you do. You _must_ have wondered. I am very glad you called to see
+my--my guardian, and I hope you will continue to do so. Father used to
+speak so highly of you, and I'm sure he valued your friendship. Stephen
+and I wish to consider his friends ours. Please believe that you are
+welcome here at any time."
+
+Pearson's reply was brief.
+
+"Thank you, Miss Warren," he said. "You are very kind. Good evening."
+
+In the hall, as they waited for the elevator, Captain Elisha, happier
+than at any time since his arrival in New York, clapped his friend on
+the shoulder.
+
+"Jim," he said, "I was beginnin' to doubt my judgment of things and
+folks. Now I feel better. That niece of mine has got the right stuff in
+her. After _that_ invitation, you will come and see us once in a while.
+That makes it easier, hey?"
+
+Pearson shook his head. "I'm not sure, Captain," he observed, slowly,
+"that it doesn't make it harder. I shall look for you at the boarding
+house very soon. Don't disappoint me. Good night."
+
+The captain's last remark that evening was made to Edwards, whom he met
+just outside the door of his bedroom.
+
+"Commodore," he said, "a barn full of rats is a nuisance, ain't it?"
+
+"Sir?" stammered the astonished butler.
+
+"I say a barn full of rats is a nuisance."
+
+"Why--why, yes, sir. I should think it might be, sir."
+
+"Yup. Well, I know a worse one. It's a house full of mysteries. By, by,
+Son. Pleasant dreams."
+
+He sat up until late, meditating profoundly. Then, taking from its
+envelope the letter yet unsealed, which he had written to Miss Abigail
+Baker, he added this postscript:
+
+    "Eleven o'clock. I have decided, Abbie, to accept the
+    guardianship and the rest of it, for a spell, anyhow. Shall
+    notify the lawyers in the morning. Necessity is one thing,
+    and pleasure is another. I doubt if I find the job pleasant,
+    but I guess it is necessary. Anyhow, it looks that way to
+    me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Announcement of Captain Elisha's decision followed quickly. Sylvester,
+Kuhn, and Graves received the telephone message stating it, and
+the senior partner was unqualifiedly delighted. Kuhn accepted his
+associate's opinion with some reservation. "It is an odd piece of
+business, the whole of it," he declared. "I shall be curious to see how
+it works out." As for Mr. Graves, when the information was conveyed
+to him by messenger, he expressed disgust and dismay. "Ridiculous!" he
+said. "Doctor, I simply must be up and about within the next few days.
+It is necessary that a sane, conservative man be at the office. Far
+be it from me to say a word against Sylvester, as a lawyer, but he is
+subject to impressions. I imagine this Cape Codder made him laugh, and,
+therefore, in his opinion, is all right. I'm glad I'm not a joker."
+
+The captain said that he would be down later on to talk things over.
+Meanwhile, if the "papers and such" could be gotten together, it would
+"sort of help along." Sylvester explained that there were certain legal
+and formal ceremonies pertaining to the acceptance of the trust to be
+gone through with, and these must have precedence. "All right," answered
+the captain. "Let's have 'em all out at once and get the ache and agony
+over. I'll see you by and by."
+
+When Mrs. Corcoran Dunn made her daily visit to the Warren apartment
+that afternoon, she found Caroline alone and almost in tears. Captain
+Elisha had broken the news at the table during luncheon, after which
+he went downtown. Stephen, having raved, protested, and made himself
+generally disagreeable and his sister correspondingly miserable, had
+departed for the club. It was a time for confidences, and the wily Mrs.
+Dunn realized that fact. She soothed, comforted, and within half an
+hour, had learned the whole story. Caroline told her all, the strange
+will, the disclosure concerning the country uncle, and the inexplicable
+clauses begging the latter to accept the executorship, the trust, and
+the charge of her brother and herself. Incidentally she mentioned that
+a possible five hundred thousand was the extreme limit of the family's
+pecuniary resources.
+
+"Now you know everything," sobbed Caroline. "Oh, Mrs. Dunn, _you_ won't
+desert us, will you?"
+
+The widow's reply was a triumph, of its kind. In it were expressed
+sorrow, indignation, pity, and unswerving loyalty. Desert them? Desert
+the young people, toward whom she had come to feel almost like a mother?
+Never!
+
+"You may depend on Malcolm and me, my dear," she declared. "We are not
+fair-weather friends. And, after all, it is not so very bad. Affairs
+might be very much worse."
+
+"Worse! Oh, Mrs. Dunn, how could they be? Think of it! Stephen and I are
+dependent upon him for everything. We must ask him for every penny. And
+whatever he says to do we _must_ do. We're obliged to. Just think! if he
+decides to take us back with him to--South Denboro, or whatever dreadful
+place he comes from, we shall have to go--and live there."
+
+"But he won't, my dear. He won't. It will take some time to settle your
+father's affairs, and the business will have to be transacted here in
+New York."
+
+"I know. I suppose that's true. But that doesn't make it any easier.
+If he stops here he will stay with us. And what shall we do? We can't
+introduce him to our friends, or, at least, to any except our best, our
+understanding friends, like you and Malcolm."
+
+"Why, I'm not sure. He is rather--well--er--countryfied, but I believe
+he has a good heart. He is not rude or unkind or anything of that sort,
+is he?"
+
+"No. No-o. He's not that, at all. In fact, he means to be kind in his
+way. But it's such a different way from ours. He is not used to society;
+he wouldn't understand that certain things and ways were absolutely
+essential. I suppose it isn't his fault exactly, but that doesn't help.
+And how can we tell him?"
+
+"I don't know that you can tell him, but you might hint. Diplomacy, my
+dear, is one of the necessary elements of life. Whatever else you
+do remember to be diplomatic. My poor husband used to have a pet
+proverb--he was interested in politics, my dear, and some of his sayings
+were a trifle grotesque but very much to the point. He used to say that
+one could get rid of more flies with molasses than with a club. And I
+think he was right. Now let me consider. Let's look the situation right
+in the face. Of course your guardian, as a companion, as an associate
+for us, for our kind of people, is, to be quite frank, impossible."
+
+"Yes. Yes, I'm sure he is."
+
+"Yes. But he _is_ your guardian. Therefore, we can't get rid of him
+with--well, with a club. He must be endured and made as endurable as
+possible. And it certainly will not do to offend him."
+
+"Steve says we must do what he calls freezing him out--make him feel
+that we do not want him here."
+
+"Hum! Well, Stephen is a nice boy--Malcolm adores him--but he isn't a
+diplomat. If we should--what is it?--freeze out your uncle--"
+
+"Please call him something else."
+
+"Well, we'll call him the encumbrance on the estate; that's legal,
+I believe, and expresses it nicely. If we should freeze out the
+encumbrance, we _might_ freeze him to his village, and he _might_ insist
+on your going with him, which wouldn't do at _all_, my dear. For one
+thing, Malcolm would probably insist on going, also, and I, for one,
+don't yearn for rural simplicity. Ha! ha! Oh, you mustn't mind me. I'm
+only a doting mamma, dearie, and I have my air castles like everyone
+else. So, freezing out won't do. No, you and Steve must be polite to our
+encumbrance."
+
+"I shall not get on my knees to him and beg. That I sha'n't do."
+
+"No one expects you to. If anyone begs it should be he. Condescend to
+just a little. Make him feel his place. Correct him when he goes too far
+wrong, and ignore him when he gets assertive. As for getting rid of him
+at times when it may be necessary--well, I think you may safely leave
+that to me."
+
+"To you? Oh, Mrs. Dunn, we couldn't think of dragging you into it. It is
+bad enough that we should be disgraced; but you must not be."
+
+"My dear child, I _think_ my position in society is sufficiently
+established to warrant a risk or two. If _I_ am seen in company
+with--with the encumbrance, people will merely say, 'Oh, it's another
+of her eccentricities!' that's all. Now, don't worry, and don't fret all
+that pretty color from your cheeks. Always remember this: it is but
+for a year or a trifle over. Then you will be of age and can send your
+encumbrance to the right-about in a hurry."
+
+Caroline, under the spell of this convincing eloquence, began to cheer
+up. She even smiled.
+
+"Well," she said, "I will try to be diplomatic. I really will. But
+Stephen--I'm not sure what dreadful thing _he_ will do."
+
+"He will return to college soon. I will take upon myself the convincing
+of the encumbrance to that effect. And while he is at home, Malcolm will
+take charge of him. He will be delighted to do it."
+
+"Mrs. Dunn, how can we ever thank you sufficiently? What should we do
+without you and Malcolm?"
+
+"I _hope_, my dear, that you will never have to do without me; not for
+many years, at any rate. Of course, there is always my poor heart,
+but--we won't worry, will we?"
+
+So, with a kiss and an embrace, this affecting interview ended.
+
+There was another that evening between Mrs. Dunn and her son, which was
+not devoid of interest. Malcolm listened to the information which his
+mother gave him, and commented upon it in characteristic fashion.
+
+"Humph!" he observed, "two hundred and fifty thousand, instead of the
+two million you figured on, Mater! Two hundred and fifty thousand isn't
+so much, in these days."
+
+"No," replied his parent, sharply, "it isn't so much, but it isn't so
+little, either."
+
+"I suppose one can get along on it."
+
+"Yes, one can. In fact, I know of two who are managing with a good deal
+less. Don't be any more of a fool than you can help, Malcolm. The sum
+itself isn't small, and, besides, the Warrens are a family of standing.
+To be connected with them is worth a good deal. There are infinite
+possibilities in it. Oh, if only I might live to see the day when
+tradespeople meant something other than nuisances to be dodged, I
+_think_ I could die contented."
+
+"Caro's a decent sort of a girl," commented Malcolm, reflectively.
+
+"She's a bright girl and an attractive one. Just now she is in a mood to
+turn to us, to you. But, for Heaven's sake, be careful! She is delicate
+and sensitive and requires managing. She likes you. If only you weren't
+such a blunderer!"
+
+"Much obliged, Mater. You're free with your compliments this evening.
+What's the trouble? Another 'heart'?"
+
+"No. My heart I can trust, up to certain limits. But I'm afraid of your
+head, just as I always was of your father's. And here's one more bit of
+advice: Be careful how you treat that country uncle."
+
+"The Admiral! Ho! ho! He's a card."
+
+"He may be the trump that will lose us the trick. Treat him civilly;
+yes, even cordially, if you can. And _don't_ insult him as you did the
+first time you and he met."
+
+The young man crossed his legs, and grunted in resignation.
+
+"Well," he said, "it's going to be a confounded bore, but, at the very
+longest, it'll last but a year. Then Caro will be her own mistress."
+
+"Yes. But there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year;
+remember that."
+
+"All right, Mater. You can bet on me. The old hayseed and I will be
+bosom pals. Wait and see."
+
+The formalities at the lawyers' took some time. Captain Elisha was
+absent from the apartment the better part of the following two days. The
+evenings, however, he spent with his niece and nephew, and, if at all
+sensitive to sudden changes of the temperature, he must have noticed
+that the atmosphere of the library was less frigid. Caroline was not
+communicative, did not make conversation, nor was she in the least
+familiar; but she answered his questions, did not leave the room when he
+entered, and seemed inclined to accept his society with resignation,
+if not with enthusiasm. Even Stephen was less sarcastic and bitter. At
+times, when his new guardian did or said something which offended his
+highly cultivated sense of the proprieties, he seemed inclined to burst
+out with a sneer; but a quick "ahem!" or a warning glance from his
+sister caused him to remain silent and vent his indignation by kicking
+a footstool or barking a violent order at the unresisting Edwards.
+Caroline and her brother had had a heart to heart talk, and, as a
+result, the all-wise young gentleman promised to make no more trouble
+than he could help.
+
+"Though, by gad, Caro," he declared, "it's only for you I do it! If I
+had my way the old butt-in should understand exactly what I think of
+him."
+
+On Thursday, after luncheon, as Captain Elisha sat in his own room,
+reading a book he had taken from the library, there came a knock at the
+door.
+
+"Come ahead in!" ordered the captain. Caroline entered. Her uncle rose
+and put down the book.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, "is it you? Excuse me. I thought 'twas the
+Commodore--Edwards, I mean. If I'd known you was comin' callin',
+Caroline, I shouldn't have been quite so bossy. Guess I'd have opened
+the door for you, instead of lettin' you do it yourself."
+
+"Thank you," answered his niece. "I came to see you on--I suppose you
+might call it business. At any rate, it is a financial matter. I sha'n't
+detain you long."
+
+Captain Elisha was a trifle disappointed.
+
+"Oh," he said, "on business, was it? I hoped--I didn't know but you'd
+come just out of sociability. However, I'm mighty glad to see you,
+Caroline, no matter what it's for. That's a real becomin' dress you've
+got on," he added, inspecting her admiringly. "I declare, you look
+prettier every time I see you. You favor your pa consider'ble; I can see
+it more and more. 'Bije had about all the good looks there was in our
+family," with a chuckle. "Set down, do."
+
+The girl seated herself in a rocker, and looked at him for a moment
+without speaking. She seemed to have something on her mind, and not to
+know exactly how to express it.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began, "I--I came to ask a favor. I am obliged
+to ask it, because you are our--" she almost choked over the hated
+word--"our guardian, and I can no longer act on my own responsibility. I
+wish to ask you for some money."
+
+Captain Elisha nodded gravely.
+
+"I see," he said. "Well, Caroline, I don't believe you'll find me very
+close-fisted. I think I told you and Steve that you was to do just as
+you'd been in the habit of doin'. Of course I _am_ your guardian now,
+and I shall be held responsible for whatever expense comes to the
+estate. Itvis quite a responsibility, and I so understand it. As I said
+to you when I told you I'd decided to take the job on trial, _while_ I
+have it it'll be my pride to see that you or your brother don't lose
+anything. I intend, if the Almighty spares me so long and I keep on with
+the trust, to turn over, when my term's out, at least as much to you and
+Steve as your father left. That's all. Excuse me for mentioning it
+again. Now, how much do you want? Is your reg'lar allowance too small?
+Remember, I don't know much about such things here in New York, and you
+must be frank and aboveboard and tell me if you have any complaints."
+
+"I have no complaints. My allowance is sufficient. It is the same that
+father used to give me, and it is all I need. But this is a matter
+outside my personal needs."
+
+"Um-hm. Somethin' to do with the household expenses, hey?"
+
+"No. It is--is a matter of--well, of charity. It may amount to several
+hundred dollars."
+
+"Yes, yes. I see. Charity, hey? Church?"
+
+"No. One of the maids, Annie, has trouble at home, and I wanted to help
+her."
+
+The captain nodded once more.
+
+"Annie," he repeated, "that's the rosy-faced one? The Irish one?"
+
+"Yes. Her father was seriously injured the other day and cannot work.
+His hip is broken, and the doctor's bill will be large. They are very
+poor, and I thought perhaps--" She hesitated, faltered, and then said
+haughtily: "Father was very sympathetic and liked to have me do such
+things."
+
+"Sho! sho! Sartin! Course he did. I like it, too. I'm glad you came to
+me just as you did, Caroline. How much do you want to start with?"
+
+"I don't know, exactly. I thought I might ask our own doctor to attend
+to the case, and might send them some delicacies and food."
+
+"Good idea! Go right ahead, Caroline."
+
+"Thank you. I have been over to see them, and they need help--they
+really do."
+
+"I presume likely. How'd the accident happen? Anybody's fault, was it?"
+
+Caroline's eyes snapped. "Indeed it was!" she said, indignantly. "It
+was a wet morning, after a rain, and the pavement was slippery. Mr.
+Moriarty, Annie's father, was not working that day--they were making
+some repairs at the factory where he is employed, I believe--and he had
+gone out to do the family marketing. He was crossing the street when an
+automobile, recklessly driven, so everyone says, drove directly down on
+him. He tried to jump out of the way and succeeded--otherwise he might
+have been killed; but he fell and broke his hip. He is an old man, and
+the case is serious."
+
+"Dear! dear! you don't tell me! Poor old chap! The auto feller--did he
+help? Seems to me he ought to be the one to be spendin' the money. 'Twas
+his fault."
+
+"Help! Indeed he didn't! He and the man with him merely laughed, as
+if it was a good joke, put on speed, and disappeared as quickly as
+possible."
+
+"Why, the mean swab! Did this Mr. Moriarty or the folks around get the
+license number of the auto?"
+
+"No. All they know is that it was a big yellow car with two men in it."
+
+"Hey? A yellow car?"
+
+"Yes. Somewhat similar to the one Malcolm--Mr. Dunn drives."
+
+"So, so! Hum! Where did it happen?"
+
+"On Saint Nicholas Avenue, near One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Street."
+
+"Eh? Saint Nicholas Avenue, you say?"
+
+"Yes." Caroline rose and turned to go. "Thank you, Captain Warren," she
+said. "I will tell Doctor Henry to take the case at once."
+
+The captain did not answer immediately. With his chin in his hand he was
+gazing at the floor.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Caroline.
+
+Her uncle looked up.
+
+"Er--Wait just a minute, Caroline," he said. "I guess maybe, if you
+don't mind, I'd like to think this over a little afore you go too far.
+You have your doctor go right ahead and see to the old man, and you
+order the things to eat and whatever's necessary. But afore you give
+Annie or her father any money, I'd kind of like to figger a little
+mite."
+
+His niece stopped short, turned and stared at him.
+
+"Oh!" she said, slowly and icily, "I see. Please don't trouble yourself.
+I should have known. However, my allowance is my own, and I presume I am
+permitted to do what I please with that."
+
+"Caroline, don't be hasty. I ain't sayin' no about the money. Far from
+it. I only--"
+
+"I understand--thoroughly. Don't trouble to 'figure,' as you call it.
+Oh! _Why_ did I humiliate myself? I should have known!"
+
+"Caroline, please--"
+
+But the girl had gone, closing the door after her. Captain Elisha shook
+his head, heaved a deep sigh, and then, sinking back into his chair,
+relapsed into meditation. Soon afterward he put on his hat and coat and
+went out.
+
+Half an hour later he entered the office of a firm of commission brokers
+on lower Broad Street, and inquired if a gentleman by the name of Mr.
+Malcolm Dunn was connected with that establishment. On being answered in
+the affirmative, he asked if Mr. Dunn were in. Yes, he was.
+
+"Well," said Captain Elisha, "I'd like to speak to him a minute or so.
+Just tell him my name's Warren, if you don't mind, young feller."
+
+The clerk objected to being addressed as "young feller," and showed his
+disapproval by the haughty and indifferent manner in which he departed
+on the errand. However, he did so depart, and returned followed by
+Malcolm himself. The latter, who had been misled by the name into
+supposing his caller to be Stephen Warren, was much astonished when he
+saw the captain seated outside the railing.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Captain Elisha, rising and extending his hand:
+"How are you to-day, sir? Pretty smart?"
+
+The young man answered briefly that he was all right. He added he was
+glad to see his visitor, a statement more polite than truthful.
+
+"Well, what's up?" he inquired, condescendingly. "Nothing wrong with
+Caro or Steve, I hope."
+
+"No, they're fust-rate, thank you."
+
+"What's doing, then? Is it pleasure or business?"
+
+"Well, a little of both, maybe. It's always a pleasure to see you, of
+course; and I have got a little mite of business on hand."
+
+Malcolm smiled, in his languid fashion. If he suspected sarcasm in
+the first part of the captain's reply, it did not trouble him. His
+self-sufficiency was proof against anything of that sort.
+
+"Business," he repeated. "Well, that's what I'm here for. Thinking of
+cornering the--er--potato market, were you?"
+
+"No-o. Cranberries would be more in my line, and I cal'late you fellers
+don't deal in that kind of sass. I had a private matter I wanted to talk
+over with you, Mr. Dunn; that is, if you ain't too busy."
+
+Malcolm looked at him with an amused curiosity. As he had expressed it
+in the conversation with his mother, this old fellow certainly was a
+"card." He seated himself on the arm of the oak settle from which the
+captain had risen and, lazily swinging a polished shoe, admitted that he
+was always busy but never too busy to oblige.
+
+"What's on your mind, Captain?" he drawled.
+
+Captain Elisha glanced about him somewhat uneasily.
+
+"I--I don't know as I made it quite clear," he said, "that it was sort
+of private; somethin' just between us, you understand."
+
+Malcolm hesitated. Sliding from the settle, and impatiently commanding
+the clerk to open the gate in the railing, he led his caller through the
+main office and into a small room beyond. On the glass pane of the door
+was lettered, "Mr. Dunn--Private." A roll-top desk in the corner and
+three chairs were the furniture. Malcolm, after closing the door,
+sprawled in the swing chair before the desk, threw one leg over a
+drawer, which he pulled out for that purpose, and motioned his companion
+to occupy one of the other chairs.
+
+Captain Elisha took the offered chair and dropped his hat on the floor
+beside it. Then he inspected the room and its furnishings with interest.
+Dunn drew out a pocket case, extracted a cigarette, lit it, and waited
+for him to speak.
+
+"Well," observed the young man, after a moment, "what's the trouble,
+Admiral? Better get it off your chest, hadn't you? We're private enough
+here."
+
+The captain answered the last question. "Yes," he said, "this is nice
+and private. Got a stateroom all to yourself; name on the door, and
+everything complete. You must be one of the officers of the craft."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Um-hm. I sort of expected to find your name on the door outside, but
+there 'twas, 'Smith, Haynes & Co.' I presume likely you're the 'Co.'"
+
+"_I_ 'presume likely,'" with mocking impatience. "What about that
+private matter?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not appear to hear him. His eyes were fixed on
+several photographs stuck in the rail of Mr. Dunn's desk. The photos
+were those of young ladies.
+
+"Friends of yours?" inquired the captain, nodding toward the
+photographs.
+
+"No." Dunn took the photos from the rack and threw them into a pigeon
+hole. "Look here," he said, pointedly, "I wouldn't hurry you for the
+world, but--"
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha did not take the hint. His mind was evidently
+still busy with the vanished photographs.
+
+"Just fancy pictures, I s'pose, hey?" he commented.
+
+"Doubtless. Any other little points I can give you?"
+
+"I guess not. I thought they was fancy; looked so to me. Well, about
+that private matter. Mr. Dunn, I come to see you about an automobile."
+
+"An automobile!" The young man was so astonished that he actually
+removed his feet from the desk. Then he burst into a laugh. "An
+automobile?" he repeated. "Captain, has the influence of the metropolis
+made you a sport already? Do you want to buy a car?"
+
+"Buy one?" It was Captain Elisha's turn to show irritation. "Buy one
+of them things? Me? I wouldn't buy one of 'em, or run one of 'em, for
+somethin', _I_ tell you! No, I don't want to buy one."
+
+"Why not? Sell you mine for a price."
+
+"Not if I see you fust, thank you. No, Mr. Dunn, 'tain't that. But
+one of the hired help up to our place--Caroline's place, I mean--is in
+trouble on account of one of the dratted machines. They're poor folks,
+of course, and they need money to help 'em through the doctorin' and
+nursin' and while the old man's out of work. Caroline was for givin' it
+to 'em right off, she's a good-hearted girl; but I said--that is, I kind
+of coaxed her out of it. I thought I'd ask some questions first."
+
+"So you came to me to ask them?" Malcolm smiled contentedly. Evidently
+the cares and complications of guardianship were already proving too
+intricate for the unsophisticated countryman. He wished advice, and
+had come to him for it, possibly at Caroline's suggestion. Affairs
+were shaping themselves well. Here was an opportunity to act the
+disinterested friend, as per maternal instructions.
+
+"So you wanted to ask questions, did you, Captain?" he repeated. "Well,
+fire away. Anything I can do to help you or Caroline will be a pleasure,
+of course. Smoke?"
+
+He offered the cigarette case. The captain eyed it dubiously and shook
+his head.
+
+"No," he said; "no, thank you, I commenced smokin' at the butt end,
+I guess. Begun with a pipe, and them things would seem sort of
+kindergarten, I'm afraid. No offense meant, you understand. It's all
+accordin' to what you've been used to. Well, about the questions. Here's
+the first one: Don't it seem to you that the right one to pay for the
+doctorin' and nursin' and such of Mr. Moriarty--that's Annie's pa--ought
+to be the feller who hurt him? That feller, instead of Caroline?"
+
+"Sure thing! If you know who did it, he's your mark."
+
+"He could be held responsible, couldn't he?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Um-hm. So I thought. And if he was a right-minded chap, he'd be glad to
+help the poor critter, providin' he knew what damage he'd done; wouldn't
+you think so?"
+
+Malcolm nodded sagely, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it
+again. A sudden recollection came to him, an alarming recollection. He
+turned in his chair and looked at his visitor. Captain Elisha met his
+gaze frankly.
+
+"Where did this accident happen?" asked Mr. Dunn, his condescending
+smile absent.
+
+"At the corner of Saint Nicholas Avenue and One Hundred and
+Twenty-Eighth Street. It happened last Friday mornin', a week ago.
+And the car that hit him was a yellow one."
+
+Malcolm did not answer. His pale face grew paler, and then flushed a
+brilliant red. The captain seemed to feel sorry for him.
+
+"Naturally," he went on, "when I heard about it, I remembered what you
+told Mr. Sylvester and me at the club that afternoon. I understand how
+'twas, of course. You never thought you'd done any real harm and just
+went on, thinkin' 'twas a good joke, much as anything. If you'd known
+you'd really hurt the poor old man, you'd have stopped to see him. I
+understand that. But--"
+
+"Look here!" interrupted Dunn, sharply, "did Caroline send you to me?"
+
+"Caroline? No, no! She don't know 'twas your automobile at all. I never
+said a word to her, 'tain't likely. But afore she spent any of her
+money, I thought you'd ought to know, because I was sure you wouldn't
+let her. That's the way I'd feel, and I felt 'twas no more'n honest to
+give you the chance. I come on my own hook; she didn't know anything
+about it."
+
+Malcolm drummed on the desk with nervous fingers. The flush remained on
+his face, his cigarette had gone out, and he threw the stump savagely
+into the wastepaper basket. Captain Elisha remained silent. At length
+the young man spoke.
+
+"Well," he growled, pettishly, "how much will it take to square things
+with the gang? How much damages do they want?"
+
+"Damages? Oh, there won't be any claim for damages, I guess. That is, no
+lawsuit, or anything of that kind. The Moriartys don't know you did it,
+and there's no reason why they should. I thought maybe I'd see to 'em
+and do whatever was necessary; then you could settle with me, and the
+whole business would be just between us two. Outside the doctor's bills
+and food and nursin' and such, all the extry will be just the old man's
+wages for the time he's away from the factory. 'Twon't be very heavy."
+
+More reflection and finger tattoo by his companion. Then:
+
+"All right! I'm in it, I can see that; and it's up to me to get out as
+easy as I can. I don't want any newspaper publicity. Go ahead! I'll pay
+the freight."
+
+Captain Elisha arose and picked up his hat.
+
+"That's fust-rate," he said, with emphasis. "I felt sure you'd see it
+just as I did. There's one thing I would like to say," he added: "that
+is, that you mustn't think I was stingy about helpin' 'em myself. But it
+wa'n't really my affair; and when Caroline spoke of spendin' her money
+and Steve's, I didn't feel I'd ought to let her. You see, I don't know
+as you know it yet, Mr. Dunn, but my brother 'Bije left me in charge of
+his whole estate, and, now that I've decided to take the responsibility,
+I've got a sort of pride in not wastin' any of his children's
+inheritance. Good day, Mr. Dunn. I'm much obliged to you."
+
+He opened the office door. Malcolm, frowning heavily, suddenly asked a
+final question.
+
+"Say!" he demanded, "you'll not tell Caroline or Steve a word of this,
+mind!"
+
+The captain seemed surprised.
+
+"I guess you didn't catch what I said, Mr. Dunn," he observed, mildly.
+"I told you this whole business would be just between you and me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Captain Elisha was very far from considering himself a Solomon. As he
+would have said he had lived long enough with himself to know what a lot
+he didn't know. Nevertheless, deep down in his inner consciousness, he
+cherished a belief in his judgment of human nature. This judgment was
+not of the snap variety; he took his time in forming it. People and
+their habits, their opinions and characters, were to him interesting
+problems. He liked to study them and to reach conclusions founded upon
+reason, observation, and common sense. Having reached such a conclusion,
+it disturbed him when the subjects of the problem suddenly upset the
+whole process of reasoning and apparently proved him wrong by behavior
+exactly contrary to that which he had expected.
+
+He had been pretty well satisfied with the result of his visit to
+young Dunn at the latter's office. Malcolm had surrendered, perhaps
+not gracefully or unconditionally, but he had surrendered, and the
+condition--secrecy--was one which the captain himself had suggested.
+Captain Elisha's mental attitude toward the son of the late Tammany
+leader had been a sort of good-natured but alert tolerance. He judged
+the young man to be a product of rearing and environment. He had known
+spoiled youths at the Cape and, in their surroundings, they behaved much
+as Malcolm did in his. The same disrespect to their elders, the same
+cock-sureness, and the same careless indifference concerning the effect
+which their actions might have upon other people--these were natural and
+nothing but years and the hard knocks of experience could bring about a
+change. Elkanah Chase, country swell and pampered heir to the cranberry
+grower's few thousands, and Malcolm Dunn, idol of his set at the
+Metropolitan Club, were not so very different, except in externals. The
+similarity confirmed his opinion that New York was merely South Denboro
+many thousand times magnified.
+
+He knew how young Chase had behaved after an interview not unlike that
+just described. In Elkanah's case several broken windows and property
+destroyed on a revel the night before the Fourth had caused the trouble.
+In Malcolm's it was an automobile. Both had listened to reason and had
+knuckled under rather than face possible lawsuits and certain publicity.
+Chase, however, had sulkily refused to speak to him for a month, and
+regained affability merely because he wished to borrow money. According
+to the captain's deduction, Dunn should have acted in similar fashion.
+But he didn't; that was the odd part of it.
+
+For Malcolm, when he next called, in company with his mother, at the
+Warren apartment, was not in the least sulky. Neither was he over
+effusive, which would have argued fear and a desire to conciliate.
+Possibly there was a bit more respect in his greeting of the new
+guardian and a trifle less condescension, but not much. He still hailed
+Captain Elisha as "Admiral," and was as mockingly careless as ever in
+his remarks concerning the latter's newness in the big city. In fact, he
+was so little changed that the captain was perplexed. A chap who could
+take a licking when he deserved it, and not hold malice, must have good
+in him, unless, of course, he was hiding the malice for a purpose. And
+if that purpose was the wish to appear friendly, then the manner of
+hiding it proved Malcolm Dunn to possess more brains than Captain Elisha
+had given him credit for.
+
+One thing seemed sure, the Dunns were not openly hostile. And Caroline
+was. Since the interview in the library, when the girl had, as she
+considered it, humiliated herself by asking her guardian for money to
+help the Moriartys, she had scarcely spoken to him. Stephen, taking his
+cue from his sister, was morose and silent, also. Captain Elisha found
+it hard to forgive his dead brother for bringing all this trouble upon
+him.
+
+His lawyers, so Sylvester informed him, were setting about getting
+Rodgers Warren's tangible assets together. The task was likely to be a
+long one. The late broker's affairs were in a muddled state, the books
+were anything but clear, some of the investments were foreign, and, at
+the very earliest, months must elapse before the executor and trustee
+could know, for certain, just how large a property he was in charge of.
+
+He found some solace and forgetfulness of the unpleasant life he was
+leading in helping the stricken Moriarty family. Annie, the maid at the
+apartment, he swore to secrecy. She must not tell Miss Caroline of his
+visits to her parents' home. Doctor Henry, also, though he could not
+understand why, promised silence. Caroline herself had engaged his
+services in the case, and he was faithful. But the patient was more
+seriously hurt than at first appeared, and consultations with a
+specialist were necessary.
+
+"Goin' to be a pretty expensive job, ain't it, Doctor?" asked the
+captain of the physician.
+
+"Rather, I'm afraid."
+
+"All right. If expense is necessary, don't be afraid of it. You do just
+what you'd ought to, and send the bill to me."
+
+"But Miss Warren insisted upon my sending it to her. She said it was a
+private matter, and one with which you, as her guardian, had nothing to
+do."
+
+"I know. Caroline intends to use her own allowance, I s'pose. Well,
+let her think she will, if 'twill please her. But when it comes to
+the settlement, call on me. Give her any reason you want to; say
+a--er--wealthy friend of the family come to life all at once and
+couldn't sleep nights unless he paid the costs."
+
+"But there isn't any such friend, is there, Captain Warren? Other than
+yourself, I mean?"
+
+Captain Elisha grinned in appreciation of a private joke. "There is
+somebody else," he admitted, "who'll pay a share, anyhow. I don't
+know's he's what you call a bosom friend, and, as for his sleepin'
+nights--well, I never heard he couldn't do that, after he went to bed.
+But, anyhow, you saw wood, or bones, or whatever you have to do, and
+leave the rest to me. And don't tell Caroline or anybody else a word."
+
+The Moriartys lived in a four-room flat on the East Side, uptown, and
+his visits there gave the captain a glimpse of another sort of New
+York life, as different from that of Central Park West as could well be
+imagined. The old man, Patrick, his wife, Margaret, the unmarried son,
+Dennis, who worked in the gas house, and five other children of various
+ages were hived somehow in those four small rooms and Captain Elisha
+marveled greatly thereat.
+
+"For the land sakes, ma'am," he asked of the nurse, "how do they do it?
+Where do they put 'em nights? That--that closet in there's the pantry
+and woodshed and kitchen and dinin' room; and that one's the settin'
+room and parlor; and them two dry-goods boxes with doors to 'em are
+bedrooms. There's eight livin' critters to stow away when it's time to
+turn in, and one whole bed's took up by the patient. _Where_ do they
+put the rest? Hang 'em up on nails?"
+
+The nurse laughed. "Goodness knows!" she said. "He should have been
+taken to the hospital. In fact, the doctor and I at first insisted upon
+his removal there. He would have been much better off. But neither he
+nor his wife would hear of it. She said he would die sure without his
+home comforts."
+
+"Humph! I should think more likely he'd die with 'em, or under 'em. I
+watch that fleshy wife of his with fear and tremblin'. Every time she
+goes nigh the bed I expect her to trip over a young one and fall. And if
+she fell on that poor rack-o'-bones," with a wave of the hand toward the
+invalid, "'twould be the final smash--like a brick chimney fallin' on a
+lath hencoop."
+
+At that moment the "brick chimney" herself entered the rooms and the
+nurse accosted her.
+
+"Captain Warren here," she said, "was asking where you all found
+sleeping quarters."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty smiled broadly. "Sure, 'tis aisy," she explained. "When
+the ould man is laid up we're all happy to be a bit uncomfortable. Not
+that we are, neither. You see, sor, me and Nora and Rosy sleep in the
+other bed; and Dinnie has a bit of a shakedown in the parlor; and Honora
+is in the kitchen; and--"
+
+"There! there!" Captain Elisha interrupted hastily, "don't tell me any
+more. I'd rather _guess_ that the baby bunks in the cookstove oven than
+know it for sartin. How did the grapes I sent you go?" turning to the
+sick man.
+
+"Aw, sor! they were foine. God bless you, sor! Mary be kind to you, sor!
+Sure the angels'll watch over you every day you live and breathe!"
+
+Captain Elisha bolted for the parlor, the sufferer firing a gatling
+fusillade of blessings after him. Mrs. Moriarty continued the
+bombardment, as she escorted him to the door of the flat.
+
+"There! there!" protested the captain. "Just belay! cut it short,
+there's a good woman! I'll admit I'm a saint and would wear a halo
+instead of a hat if 'twa'n't so unfashionable. Good day. If you need
+anything you ain't got, tell the nurse."
+
+The grateful Irish woman did not intend to let him escape so easily.
+
+"Aw, sor," she went on, "it's all right for you to make fun. I'm the
+jokin' kind, sor, meself. Whin the flats where we used to be got afire
+and Pat had to lug me down the fire escape in his arms, they tell me
+I was laughin' fit to kill; that is, when I wasn't screechin' for fear
+he'd drop me. And him, poor soul, never seein' the joke, but puffin' and
+groanin' that his back was in two pieces. Ha, ha! Oh, dear! And him
+in two pieces now for sure and all! Aw, sor, it's all right for you to
+laugh it off, but what would we do without you? You and Miss Caroline,
+God bless her!"
+
+"Caroline? She doesn't come here, does she?"
+
+"Indade she does. Sure, she's the perfect little lady! Hardly a day
+passes--or a week, anyhow--that she doesn't drop in to see how the ould
+man's gettin' on."
+
+"Humph! Well, see that you don't tell her about me."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty held up both hands in righteous protestation. _She_ tell?
+Might the tongue of her wither between her teeth before it let slip a
+word, and so on. Captain Elisha waved her to silence.
+
+"All right! all right!" he exclaimed. "So long! Take good care of your
+husband, and, and--for Heaven's sake, walk careful and don't step on any
+of the children."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty's tongue did not wither; at all events, it was lively
+enough when he next met her. The captain's secret was not divulged, and
+he continued his visits to the flat, taking care, however, to ascertain
+his niece's whereabouts beforehand. It was not altogether a desire to
+avoid making his charitable deeds public which influenced him. He had a
+habit of not letting his right hand know what his left was about in
+such cases, and he detested a Pharisaical philanthropist. But there
+was another reason why Caroline must not learn of his interest in the
+Moriartys. If she did learn it, she would believe him to be helping them
+on his own responsibility; or, if not, that he was using money belonging
+to the estate. Of course he would, and honestly must, deny the latter
+charge, and, therefore, the first would, to her mind, be proven. He
+intended that Malcolm Dunn should pay the larger share of the bills, as
+was right and proper. But he could not tell Caroline that, because she
+must not know of the young man's responsibility for the accident. He
+could not give Malcolm the credit, and he felt that he ought not to take
+it himself. It was a delicate situation.
+
+He was lonely, and the days seemed long. Reading the paper, walking in
+the park, occasionally dropping in at the lawyers' offices, or visiting
+the shops and other places of interest about town made up the monotonous
+routine. He breakfasted early, waited upon by Edwards, got lunch at the
+restaurant nearest to wherever he happened to be at noon, and returned
+to the apartment for dinner. His niece and nephew dined with him, but
+when he attempted conversation they answered in monosyllables or not at
+all. Every evening he wrote a letter to Abbie, and the mail each morning
+brought him one from her. The Dunns came frequently and seemed disposed
+to be friendly, but he kept out of their way as much as possible.
+
+Pearson he had not seen since the latter's call. This was a
+disappointment, for he fancied the young fellow and believed he should
+like him even better on closer acquaintance. He would have returned the
+visit, but somehow or other the card with the boarding-house street and
+number had been lost or mislaid, and the long list of "James Pearsons"
+in the directory discouraged him. He speculated much concerning
+the mystery at which the would-be novelist hinted as preventing his
+accepting Caroline's invitation. Evidently Pearson had once known
+Rodgers Warren well, and had been esteemed and respected by the latter.
+Caroline, too, had known him, and was frankly pleased to meet him again.
+Whatever the trouble might be, she, evidently, was ignorant of it. The
+captain wondered and pondered, but reached no satisfactory conclusion.
+It seemed the irony of fate that the one congenial person--Sylvester
+excepted--whom he had met during his stay in the big city should be
+scratched from his small list of acquaintances.
+
+With Sylvester he held many familiar and enjoyable chats. The
+good-natured, democratic senior member of the law firm liked to have
+Captain Elisha drop in for advice or to spin yarns. Graves, who was
+well again, regarded the new guardian with respect of a kind, but with
+distinct disapproval. The captain was, in his opinion, altogether too
+flippant and jolly. There was nothing humorous in the situation, as
+Graves saw it, and to laugh when one's brother's estate is in a tangle,
+indicated unfitness, if nothing worse. Kuhn was a sharp, quick-moving
+man, who had no time for frivolity if it delayed business.
+
+It was after a long interview with Sylvester that Captain Elisha decided
+to send Stephen back to college. When he broke the news there was
+rebellion, brief but lively. Stephen had no desire to continue his
+studies; he wished to become a stock broker at once, and, as soon as he
+was of age, take his father's seat on the Exchange.
+
+"Stevie," said Captain Elisha, "one of these days, when you get to be
+as old as I am or before, you'll realize that an education is worth
+somethin'."
+
+"Ugh!" grunted the boy, in supreme disgust. "What do you know about
+that?"
+
+"Why, not much, maybe, but enough."
+
+"Yes?" sarcastically. "What college did you attend?"
+
+"Me? Why, none, more's the pity. What learnin' there was in our family
+your dad had. Maybe that's why he was what he was, so fur as money and
+position and society and so on went, and I'm what _I_ am."
+
+"Oh, rubbish! What difference does it make to Malcolm Dunn--now--his
+going through college?"
+
+"Well, he went, didn't he?"
+
+Stephen grinned. Malcolm had told him some particulars concerning his
+university career and its termination.
+
+"He went--part way," he answered.
+
+"Ya-as. Well, you've gone part way, so fur. And now you'll go the rest."
+
+"I'd like to know why."
+
+"For one reason, because I'm your guardian and I say so."
+
+Stephen was furiously angry. His father's indulgence and his sister's
+tolerance had, in most cases, made his will law in the household. To be
+ordered about in this way by an ignorant interloper, as he considered
+his uncle, was too much.
+
+"By gad," he shouted, "we'll see!"
+
+"No, we've seen. You run along now and pack your trunk. And take
+my advice and study hard. You'll be behindhand in your work, so Mr.
+Sylvester tells me, but you're smart, and you can catch up. Make us
+proud of you; that's what you can do."
+
+His nephew glanced at him. Captain Elisha was smiling kindly, but there
+was no sign of change of purpose in his look.
+
+Stephen ground his teeth.
+
+"Oh," he snarled, "if it wasn't for the disgrace! If things weren't as
+they are, I'd--"
+
+"S-s-s-h! I know; but they are. Maybe I wish they wa'n't 'most as much
+as you do, but they are. I don't blame you for feelin' mad now; but I'm
+right and I know it. And some day you'll know it, and thank me."
+
+"When I do, I'll be insane."
+
+"No, you'll be older, that's all. Now pack your trunk--or get the
+Commodore to pack it for you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+News from the Moriarty sick room continued favorable for a time. Then,
+with alarming suddenness, a change came. The broken hip was mending
+slowly, but poor Pat's age was against him, and the shock and long
+illness were too much for his system to fight. Dr. Henry shook his
+head dubiously when the captain asked questions. And, one morning at
+breakfast, Edwards informed him that the old man was dead. Annie had
+been summoned by telephone at midnight and had gone home.
+
+Captain Elisha, though not greatly surprised, was shocked and grieved.
+It seemed such a needless tragedy, almost like murder, although there
+was no malice in it. And the thought of the fatherless children and the
+poverty of the stricken family made him shudder. Death at any time, amid
+any surroundings, is terrible; when the dead hands have earned the bread
+for many mouths it is appalling.
+
+The captain dreaded visiting the flat, but because he felt it to be a
+duty he went immediately. And the misery and wailing and dismay he found
+there were worse than his anticipations. He did his best to comfort and
+cheer. Mrs. Moriarty alternately called upon the saints to bless him and
+begged to know what she would do now that they were all sure to starve.
+Luckily, the family priest, a kind-hearted, quiet man who faced similar
+scenes almost every day of his life, was there, and Captain Elisha had a
+long talk with him. With Dennis, the oldest son, and Annie, the maid
+at the Warrens', he also consulted. Money for their immediate needs,
+he told them, he would provide. And the funeral expenses must not
+worry them. Afterward--well, plans for the future could be discussed at
+another time. But upon Dennis and Annie he tried to impress a sense of
+their responsibility.
+
+"It's up to you, Boy," he said to the former. "Annie's job's sure, I
+guess, as long as she wants it, and she can give her mother somethin'
+every month. But you're the man of the house now, and you've got to
+steer the ship and keep it afloat. That means work, and hard work,
+lots of it, too. You can do it, if you've got the grit. If I can find
+a better place and more pay for you, I will, but you mustn't depend on
+that. It's up to you, I tell you, and you've got to show what's in you.
+If you get stuck and need advice, come to me."
+
+He handed the priest a sum of money to cover immediate contingencies,
+and departed. His letter to Abbie that afternoon was so blue that the
+housekeeper felt sure he was "coming down" with some disease or other.
+He had been riding in that awful subway, where the air--so the papers
+said--was not fit to breathe, and just as like as not he'd caught
+consumption. His great-uncle on his mother's side died of it, so it "run
+in the family." Either he must come home or she should come to him, one
+or the other.
+
+But before evening his blueness had disappeared. He had just returned
+to his room, after stepping into the hall to drop his letter in the mail
+chute, when his niece knocked at the door. He was surprised to see her,
+for she had not spoken to him, except in brief reply to questions, since
+their misunderstanding in that very room. He looked at her wonderingly,
+not knowing what to say or what to expect; but she spoke first.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began, hurriedly, "the last time I came to
+you--the last time I came here, I came to ask a favor, and you--I
+thought you--"
+
+She was evidently embarrassed and confused. Her guardian was
+embarrassed, also, but he tried to be hospitable.
+
+"Yes, Caroline," he said, gravely, "I know what you mean. Won't
+you--won't you sit down?"
+
+To his surprise, she accepted the invitation, taking the same chair she
+had taken on the occasion of their former interview. But there was a
+look in her eyes he had never seen there before; at least, not when she
+was addressing him.
+
+She went on, speaking hastily, as though determined to head off any
+questioning on his part.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began once more, "the time I came to you in this
+room you were, so I thought, unreasonable and unkind. I asked you for
+money to help a poor family in trouble, and you refused to give it to
+me."
+
+"No, Caroline," he interrupted, "I didn't refuse, you only thought I
+did."
+
+She held up her hand. "Please let me go on," she begged. "I thought you
+refused, and I couldn't understand why. I was hurt and angry. I knew
+that father never would have refused me under such circumstances, and
+you were his brother. But since then, only to-day, I have learned that I
+was wrong. I have learned--"
+
+She paused. The captain was silent. He was beginning to hope, to believe
+once more in his judgment of character; and yet, with his hope and
+growing joy, there was a trifle of anxiety.
+
+"I have learned," went on his niece, "that I was mistaken. I can't
+understand yet why you wished to wait before saying yes, but I do know
+that it must have been neither because you were unkind nor ungenerous.
+I have just come from those poor people, and they have told me
+everything."
+
+Captain Elisha started. "What did they tell you?" he asked, quickly.
+"Who told you?"
+
+"Annie and her mother. They told me what you had done and were doing for
+them. How kind you had been all through the illness and to-day. Oh, I
+know you made them promise not to tell me; and you made the doctor and
+nurse promise, too. But I knew _someone_ had helped, and Annie dropped
+a hint. Then I suspected, and now I know. Those poor people!"
+
+The captain, who had been looking at the floor, and frowning a bit,
+suddenly glanced up to find his niece's eyes fixed upon him, and they
+were filled with tears.
+
+"Will you forgive me?" she asked, rising from her chair, and coming
+impulsively toward him. "I'm sorry I misjudged you and treated you so.
+You must be a very good man. Please forgive me."
+
+He took her hand, which was swallowed up in his big one. His eyes were
+moist, also.
+
+"Lord love you, dearie," he said, "there's nothin' to forgive. I
+realized that I must have seemed like a mean, stingy old scamp. Yet I
+didn't mean to be. I only wanted to look into this thing just a little.
+Just as a matter of business, you know. And I.... Caroline, did that
+doctor tell you anything more?"
+
+"Any more?" she repeated in bewilderment. "He told me that you were the
+kindest man he had ever seen."
+
+"Yes, yes. Well, maybe his eyesight's poor. What I mean is did he tell
+you anything about anybody else bein' in this with me?"
+
+"Anybody else? What do you mean?"
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'. I joked with him a spell ago about a wealthy
+relation of the Moriarty tribe turnin' up. 'Twas only a joke, of course.
+And yet, Caroline, I--I think I'd ought to say--"
+
+He hesitated. What could he say? Even a hint might lead to embarrassing
+questions and he had promised Dunn.
+
+"What ought you to say?" asked his niece.
+
+"Why, nothin', I guess. I'm glad you understand matters a little better
+and I don't intend for the estate nor you to pay these Moriarty bills.
+Just get 'em off your mind. Forget 'em. I'll see that everything's
+attended to. And, later on, if you and me can, by puttin' our heads
+together, help those folks to earnin' a better livin', why, we will,
+hey?"
+
+The girl smiled up at him. "I think," she said, "that you must be one
+who likes to hide his light under a bushel."
+
+"I guess likely a two-quart measure'd be plenty big enough to hide mine.
+There! there! We won't have any more misunderstandin's, will we? I'm a
+pretty green vegetable and about as out of place here as a lobster in
+a balloon, but, as I said to you and Steve once before, if you'll
+just remember I _am_ green and sort of rough, and maybe make allowances
+accordin', this cruise of ours may not be so unpleasant. Now you
+run along and get ready for dinner, or the Commodore'll petrify from
+standin' so long behind your chair."
+
+She laughed, as she turned to go. "I should hate to have him do that,"
+she said. "He would make a depressing statue. I shall see you again in a
+few minutes, at dinner. Thank you--Uncle."
+
+She left Captain Elisha in a curious state of mind. Against his will he
+had been forced to accept thanks and credit which, he believed, did not
+rightfully belong to him. It was the only thing to do, and yet it seemed
+almost like disloyalty to Malcolm Dunn. This troubled him, but the
+trouble was, just then, a mere pinhead of blackness against the radiance
+of his spirit.
+
+His brother's daughter had, for the first time, called him uncle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+"Captain Warren," asked Caroline, as they were seated at the breakfast
+table next morning, "what are your plans for to-day?"
+
+Captain Elisha put down his coffee cup and pulled his beard
+reflectively. Contrary to his usual desire since he came to the
+apartment to live, he was in no hurry to finish the meal. This breakfast
+and the dinner of the previous evening had been really pleasant. He had
+enjoyed them. His niece had not called him uncle again, it is true, and
+perhaps that was too much to be expected as yet, but she was cheerful
+and even familiar. They talked as they ate, and he had not been made to
+feel that he was the death's head at the feast. The change was marked
+and very welcome. The bright winter sunshine streaming through the
+window indicated that the conditions outside were also just what they
+should be.
+
+"Well," he replied, with a smile, "I don't know, Caroline, as I've made
+any definite plans. Let's see, to-day's Sunday, ain't it? Last letter I
+got from Abbie she sailed into me because, as she said, I seemed to
+have been 'most everywheres except to meetin'. She figgers New York's a
+heathen place, anyhow, and she cal'lates I'm gettin' to be a backslider
+like the rest. I didn't know but I might go to church."
+
+Caroline nodded. "I wondered if you wouldn't like to go," she said. "I
+am going, and I thought perhaps you would go with me."
+
+Her uncle had again raised his cup to his lips. Now he set it down with
+a suddenness which caused the statuesque Edwards to bend forward in
+anticipation of a smash. The captain started to speak, thought better of
+it, and stared at his niece so intently that she colored and dropped her
+eyes.
+
+"I know," she faltered, "that I haven't asked you before, but--but--"
+then, with the impulsiveness which was one of her characteristics, and
+to her guardian her great charm, she looked him full in the face and
+added, "but I hoped you would understand that--that _I_ understood a
+little better. I should like to have your company very much."
+
+Captain Elisha drew a long breath.
+
+"Thank you, Caroline," he answered. "I appreciate your askin' me, I
+sartinly do. And I'd rather go with you than anybody else on earth.
+But I was cal'latin' to hunt up some little round-the-corner chapel, or
+Bethel, where I'd feel a little bit at home. I guess likely your church
+is a pretty big one, ain't it?"
+
+"We attend Saint Denis. It IS a large church, but we have always been
+connected with it. Stephen and I were christened there. But, of course,
+if you had rather go somewhere else--"
+
+"No, no! I hadn't anywhere in particular to go. I'm a Congregationalist
+to home, but Abbie says I've spread my creed so wide that it ain't
+more'n an inch deep anywhere, and she shouldn't think 'twould keep me
+afloat. I tell her I'd rather navigate a broad and shallow channel,
+where everybody stands by to keep his neighbor off the shoals, than I
+would a narrow and crooked one with self-righteousness off both beams
+and perdition underneath.
+
+"You see," he added, reflectively, "the way I look at it, it's a pretty
+uncertain cruise at the best. Course there's all sorts of charts, and
+every fleet is sartin it's got the only right one. But I don't know.
+We're afloat--that much we are sure of--but the port we left and the
+harbor we're bound for, they're always out of sight in the fog astern
+and ahead. I know lots of folks who claim to see the harbor, and see it
+plain; but they don't exactly agree as to what they see. As for me, I've
+come to the conclusion that we must steer as straight a course as we
+can, and when we meet a craft in distress, why, do our best to help
+her. The rest of it I guess we must leave to the Owner, to the One that
+launched us. I.... Good land!" he exclaimed, coming out of his
+meditation with a start, "I'm preachin' a sermon ahead of time. And
+the Commodore's goin' to sleep over it, I do believe."
+
+The butler, who had been staring vacantly out of the window during the
+captain's soliloquy, straightened at the sound of his nickname, and
+asked hastily, "Yes, sir? What will you have, sir?" Captain Elisha
+laughed in huge enjoyment, and his niece joined him.
+
+"Well," she said, "will you go with me?"
+
+"I'd like to fust-rate--if you won't be too much ashamed of me."
+
+"Then it's settled, isn't it? The service begins at a quarter to eleven.
+We will leave here at half-past ten."
+
+The captain shaved with extra care that morning, donned spotless linen,
+including a "stand-up" collar--which he detested--brushed his frock-coat
+and his hair with great particularity, and gave Edwards his shoes to
+clean. He would have shined them himself, as he always did at home, but
+on a former occasion when he asked for the "blackin' kit," the
+butler's shocked and pained expression led to questions and consequent
+enlightenment.
+
+He was ready by a quarter after ten, but when his niece knocked at his
+door she bore a message which surprised and troubled him.
+
+"Mrs. Dunn called," she said, "to ask me to go to church with her. I
+told her I had invited you to accompany me. Would you mind if she joined
+us?"
+
+Her guardian hesitated. "I guess," he answered, slowly, "it ain't so
+much a question of my mindin' her as she mindin' me. Does _she_ want me
+to go along?"
+
+"She said she should be delighted."
+
+"I want to know! Now, Caroline, don't you think I'd be sort of in the
+way? Don't you believe she'd manage to live down her disappointment if
+I didn't tag on? You mustn't feel that you've got to be bothered with me
+because you suggested my goin', you know."
+
+"If I had considered it a bother I should not have invited you. If you
+don't wish Mrs. Dunn's company, then you and I will go alone."
+
+"Oh, land sakes! I wouldn't have you do that for the world! All right,
+I'll be out in a jiffy."
+
+He gave his hair a final brush, straightened his tie, turned around once
+more before the mirror, and walked fearfully forth to meet the visitor.
+For him, the anticipated pleasure of the forenoon had been replaced by
+uneasy foreboding.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, as she rose creakingly to greet him, was
+extremely gracious. She was gowned and furred and hatted in a manner
+which caused the captain to make hasty mental estimate as to cost, but
+she extended a plump hand, buttoned in a very tight glove, and murmured
+her gratification.
+
+"I'm so glad you are to accompany us, Captain Warren," she gushed. "It
+is a charming winter morning, isn't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha touched the plump glove with his own big finger tips,
+and admitted that the morning was "fust-rate." He was relieved from the
+embarrassment of further conversation just then by Caroline's appearance
+in the library. She, too, was richly dressed.
+
+"Are we all ready?" she asked, brightly. "Then we may as well start."
+
+"I'm afraid we're a trifle early, my dear," said Mrs. Dunn, "but we can
+stroll about a bit before we go in."
+
+The captain looked at the library clock. The time was a quarter to
+eleven.
+
+"Early?" he exclaimed, involuntarily. "Why, I thought Caroline said--"
+
+He stopped, suddenly, realizing that he had spoken aloud. His niece
+divined his thought and laughed merrily.
+
+"The service does begin now," she said, "but no one is ever on time."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated her uncle, and did not speak again until they were at
+the door of the church. Then Caroline asked him what he was thinking.
+
+"Nothin' much," he answered, gazing at the fashionably garbed throng
+pouring under the carved stone arch of the entrance; "I was just
+reorganizin' my ideas, that's all. I've always sort of thought a plug
+hat looked lonesome. Now I've decided that I'm wearin' the lonesome
+kind."
+
+He marched behind his niece and Mrs. Dunn up the center aisle to the
+Warren pew. He wrote his housekeeper afterwards that he estimated
+that aisle to be "upwards of two mile long. And my Sunday shoes had a
+separate squeak for every inch," he added.
+
+Once seated, however, and no longer so conspicuous, his common sense
+and Yankee independence came to his rescue. He had been in much bigger
+churches than this one, while abroad during his seagoing years. He knew
+that his clothes were not fashionably cut, and that, to the people about
+him, he must appear odd and, perhaps, even ridiculous. But he remembered
+how odd certain city people appeared while summering at South Denboro.
+Recollections of pointed comments made by boatmen who had taken these
+summer sojourners on fishing excursions came to his mind. Well, he
+had one advantage over such people, at any rate, he knew when he was
+ridiculous, and they apparently did not.
+
+So, saved from humiliation by his sense of humor, he looked about him
+with interest. When the procession of choir boys came up the aisle,
+and Mrs. Dunn explained in a condescending whisper what they were, his
+answer surprised her a trifle. "Yes," whispered the captain in reply, "I
+know. I've seen the choir in Saint Peter's at Rome."
+
+Only once did he appear greatly astonished. That was when the offering
+was taken and a certain dignified magnate, whose fame as a king of
+finance is world-wide, officiated as one of the collectors.
+
+"Heavens and earth!" murmured Captain Elisha, staring wide-eyed at
+the unmistakable features so often pictured and cartooned in the daily
+papers; "Caroline--Caroline, am I seein' things or is that--is that--"
+
+"That is Mr. ----," whispered his niece. "He is one of the vestrymen
+here."
+
+"My soul!" still gazing after the Emperor of Wall Street; "_Him_ passin'
+the plate! Well," with a grim smile, "whoever picked him out for the job
+has got judgment. If _he_ can't make a body shell out, nobody can."
+
+He listened to the sermon, the text of which was from the Beatitudes,
+with outward solemnity, but with a twinkle in his eye. After the
+benediction, when Caroline asked how he enjoyed it, the cause of the
+twinkle became apparent.
+
+"Fine!" he declared, with enthusiasm. "He's a smart preacher, ain't he!
+And he knew his congregation. You might not guess they was meek perhaps,
+but they certainly did look as if they'd inherited the earth."
+
+He drew a breath of relief as the trio emerged into the open air. He had
+enjoyed the novel experience, in a way, but now he felt rather like one
+let out of jail. The quiet luncheon at home with Caroline was a pleasant
+anticipation.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn smashed his anticipation at a blow. She insisted
+that he and his niece lunch with her.
+
+"You really must, you know," she declared. "It will be delightful. Just
+a little family party."
+
+Captain Elisha looked distressed. "Thank you, ma'am," he stammered;
+"it's awful kind of you, but I wouldn't feel right to go puttin' you
+to all that trouble. Just as much obliged, but I--I've got a letter to
+write, you see."
+
+Mrs. Dunn bore his refusal bravely.
+
+"Very well," she said, "but Caroline _must_ come with me. I told Malcolm
+I should bring her."
+
+"Sure! Sartin! Caroline can go, of course."
+
+But Caroline also declined. Having misjudged her guardian in the matter
+of the Moriarty family, she was in a repentant mood, and had marked that
+day on her calendar as one of self-sacrifice.
+
+"No, Captain Warren," she said, "I shall not go unless you do."
+
+"Then the captain will come, of course," declared Mrs. Dunn, with
+decision. "I'm sure he will not be so selfish as to deprive me--and
+Malcolm--of your company."
+
+So, because he did not wish to appear selfish, Captain Elisha admitted
+that his letter might be written later in the afternoon, accepted the
+invitation, and braced his spirit for further martyrdom.
+
+It was not as bad as he expected. The Dunns occupied a small,
+brown-stone house on Fifth Avenue, somewhat old-fashioned, but eminently
+respectable. The paintings and bronzes were as numerous as those in the
+Warren apartment, and if the taste shown in their selection was not that
+of Rodgers Warren, the connoisseur, they made quite as much show, and
+the effect upon Captain Elisha was the same. The various mortgages on
+the property were not visible, and the tradesmen's bills were securely
+locked in Mrs. Dunn's desk.
+
+The luncheon itself was elaborate, and there was a butler whose majestic
+dignity and importance made even Edwards seem plebeian by comparison.
+
+Malcolm was at home when they arrived, irreproachably dressed and
+languidly non-effusive, as usual. Captain Elisha, as he often said,
+did not "set much store" by clothes; but there was something about this
+young man which always made him conscious that his own trousers were a
+little too short, or his boots too heavy, or something. "I wouldn't
+_wear_ a necktie like his," he wrote Abbie, after his first meeting with
+Malcolm, "but blessed if I don't wish I could _if_ I would!"
+
+Caroline, in the course of conversation during the luncheon, mentioned
+the Moriartys and their sorrow. The captain tried to head her off and
+to change the subject, but with little success. He was uncomfortable
+and kept glancing under his brows at Malcolm, with whom, under the
+circumstances, he could not help sympathizing to an extent. But his
+sympathy was wasted. The young man did not appear in the slightest
+degree nervous. The memory of his recent interview with Captain Elisha
+did not embarrass him, outwardly at least, half as much as it did the
+captain. He declared that old Pat's death was beastly hard luck, but
+accidents were bound to happen. It was a shame, and all that. "If
+there's anything the mater and I can do, Caroline, call on us, of
+course."
+
+"Yes, do, Caroline," concurred his mother. "However, one must be
+philosophic in such cases. It is a mercy that people in their station do
+not feel grief and loss as we do. Providence, in its wisdom, has limited
+their susceptibilities as it has their intelligence. Don't you agree
+with me, Captain Warren?"
+
+"Sartin!" was the prompt reply. "It's always a comfort to me, when I go
+fishin', to know that the fish ain't got so much brains as I have. The
+hook hurts, I presume likely, but they ain't got the sense to realize
+what a mean trick's been played on 'em. The one that's caught's dead,
+and them that are left are too busy hustlin' for the next meal to waste
+much time grievin'. That eases my conscience consider'ble."
+
+Caroline seemed to be the only one who appreciated the sarcasm in this
+observation. She frowned slightly. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn tolerantly smiled,
+and her son laughed aloud.
+
+"Say, Admiral," he commented, "when it comes to philosophy you go some
+yourself, don't you?"
+
+"Um-hm. I can be as philosophical about other folk's troubles as anybody
+I ever see." Then, with an involuntary chuckle of admiration at the
+young gentleman's coolness, he added, "That is, anybody I ever see afore
+I come to New York."
+
+Malcolm opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. The captain,
+noticing his change of purpose and following the direction of his look,
+saw Mrs. Dunn shake her head in sharp disapproval. He ate the remainder
+of his salad in silence, but he thought a good deal.
+
+"And now," said Mrs. Dunn, rising and leading the way to the
+drawing-room, "we must all go for a motor ride. Everyone rides on Sunday
+afternoon," she explained, turning to her male guest.
+
+The distressed look returned to Captain Elisha's face. His niece saw it,
+understood, and came to his rescue.
+
+"I think Captain Warren prefers to be excused," she said, smiling. "He
+has a prejudice against automobiles."
+
+"No!" drawled Malcolm, the irrepressible. "Not really? Admiral, I'm
+surprised! In these days, you know!"
+
+"It ain't so much the automobiles," snapped Captain Elisha, irritation
+getting the better of his discretion, "as 'tis the devilish fools
+that--"
+
+"Yes? Oh, all right, Mater."
+
+"That are careless enough to get in the way of them," finished the
+captain, with surprising presence of mind. "Still, if Caroline wants to
+go--"
+
+"I have it!" exclaimed Mrs. Dunn. "The young people shall go, and the
+others remain at home. Malcolm shall take you for a spin, Caroline, and
+Captain Warren and I will stay here and wait until you return. We'll
+have a family chat, Captain, won't we? Because," with a gay laugh, "in a
+way we _are_ like one family, you see."
+
+And, somewhat to Miss Warren's surprise, her uncle agreed to this
+proposition. He did not answer immediately, but, when he did, it was
+with heartiness.
+
+"Why, yes," he said, "that's a good idea. That's fust-rate. You young
+folks go, and Mrs. Dunn and I'll wait here till you come back. That's
+the way of the world--young folks on the go, and the old folks at home
+by the fire, hey, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+The lady addressed did not relish being numbered with "old folks," but
+she smiled sweetly, and said she supposed it was. Malcolm telephoned to
+the garage and to Edwards at the Warren apartment, ordering the butler
+to deliver his mistress's auto cap and cloak to the chauffeur, who would
+call for them. A few minutes later the yellow car rolled up to the door.
+
+In the hall Mrs. Dunn whispered a reassuring word to her departing
+guest.
+
+"Now enjoy yourself, dear," she whispered. "Have a nice ride and
+don't worry about me. If he--if our encumbrance bores me too much I
+shall--well, I shall plead a headache and leave him to his own devices.
+Besides, he isn't so _very_ dreadful, is he?"
+
+Caroline shook her head. "No," she answered, "he is a good man. I
+understand him better than I did and--yes, I like him better, too."
+
+"Oh!... Indeed! Well, good-by, dear. Good-by."
+
+The yellow car roared as the chauffeur cranked it, then moved off up
+the crowded avenue. Mrs. Dunn watched it until it was out of sight.
+Her brows were drawn together, and she seemed puzzled and just a bit
+disconcerted. However, when she returned to the drawing-room, her
+gracious smile had returned, and her bland condescension was again in
+evidence.
+
+Captain Elisha had been standing by the window. She begged him to be
+seated. He thanked her, but looked dubiously at the Louis XVI chair
+indicated. She noticed the look.
+
+"Suppose we go into the library," she said. "It is much less formal. And
+there is a fire--for us _old_ folks," with a slight accent on the word.
+
+The library was more homelike. Not as many books as at the Warrens', but
+a great deal of gilt in the bindings and much carving on the cases. The
+fire was cheery, and the pair sat down before it in big easy chairs.
+Mrs. Dunn looked intently at the glowing coals.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat. Mrs. Dunn leaned forward expectantly.
+The captain coughed and sank back in his chair.
+
+"Yes?" purred the lady. "You were about to say?"
+
+"Me? Oh, no, I didn't say anything."
+
+Another period of silence. Mrs. Dunn's foot tapped the rug impatiently.
+She wished him to begin the conversation, and he would not. At length,
+in desperation, she began it herself.
+
+"I suppose you find New York rather different from--er--North--er--"
+
+"From South Denboro? Yes, ma'am."
+
+"Do you like the city life?"
+
+"Well, I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Not as well as you do that of the country, doubtless."
+
+"Well, you see, I ain't had so much of it."
+
+"No, of course not. It does so depend upon what one is accustomed to.
+Now I fancy I should be perfectly desperate in your village."
+
+One corner of Captain Elisha's mouth curled upward.
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised," he admitted.
+
+"Desperately lonely, I mean."
+
+"Yes'm. I judged that was what you meant. Still, folks can be lonesome
+in New York."
+
+"Perhaps. But really I don't see how. With all the whirl and the crowds
+and the glorious excitement. The feeling that one is at the very heart,
+the center of everything!"
+
+"Yes. If you belong to the machinery, I s'pose it's all right. But
+if you've been leanin' over the rail, lookin' on, and get pushed in
+unexpected, maybe you don't care so much about bein' nigh the center."
+
+"Then why stay there? Why not get out?"
+
+"If you're caught in the wheels, gettin' out's somethin' of a job."
+
+"But, as I understand it, Captain Warren--I may be misinformed, for, of
+course, I haven't been unduly curious concerning your family affairs--as
+_I_ understand it, you were not obliged to remain among the--among
+the wheels, as you call them. You could have gotten out quite easily,
+couldn't you?"
+
+"I presume likely I could. But, you see, ma'am, I had a feelin' that I'd
+ought to stay."
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed lightly. "Ah me!" she exclaimed; "you felt it your
+duty, I suppose. Oh, you New England Puritans!"
+
+She shook her head in playful mockery. Then she added, "But, at all
+events, it cannot be so very disagreeable--now. I have no doubt it
+was--well, not comfortable for you at first. Steve and Caroline were
+quite impossible--really quite furious. Your sudden appearance in the
+capacity of guardian was too much for them. They were sure you must be
+a perfect ogre, Captain. I had to use all my eloquence to convince them
+they would not be devoured alive. But now--what a change! Why, already
+Caroline accepts you as--well, almost like an old friend, like myself.
+In the last few days this change in her attitude is quite marked. What
+_have_ you done? Are you a wizard? Do tell me!"
+
+This appeal, delivered with eloquence and most engaging play of brow and
+eye, should have been irresistible. Unfortunately the captain did not
+appear to have heard it. Leaning forward, his hands clasped between his
+knees, he was gazing into the fire. And when he spoke, it was as if he
+were thinking aloud.
+
+"I s'pose 'tis a sort of disease, this duty business," he mused. "And
+most diseases ain't cheerful visitations. Still a feller ought not to
+growl about it in public. I always did hate for a man to be goin' about
+forever complainin' of his sufferin's--whether they was from duty or
+rheumatiz."
+
+Mrs. Dunn's lips snapped shut. She pressed them together impatiently.
+Evidently her questions, and their diplomatic prelude, had been
+unheard and wasted. However, she did not intend to be sidetracked or
+discouraged.
+
+"One should not prate of one's duty, of course," she agreed. "Not that
+you do--far from it. But, as I was saying, our dear Caroline has--"
+
+"Thank you, ma'am. I hope I don't groan too loud. Do you know, I believe
+climate has a bearin' on duty, same as it has on rheumatics. I s'pose
+you city folks"--and there was almost contempt in the words--"are sort
+of Christian Science, and figger it's an 'error'--hey? Somethin' to be
+forgot."
+
+The lady resented the interruption, and the contempt nettled her.
+
+"Not at all!" she retorted. "We city dwellers have our duties, also."
+
+"Is that a fact? I want to know!"
+
+"Certainly it is a fact," tartly. "I have my duties and many of them."
+
+"Um! So? Well, I s'pose you do feel you must dress just so, and live
+just so, and do just such and such things. If you call those duties,
+why--"
+
+"I do. What else are they, pray?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn was finding it difficult to keep her temper. To be catechised
+in this contemptuously lofty manner by one to whom she considered
+herself so immensely superior, was too much. She forgot the careful plan
+of campaign which she had intended to follow in this interview, and now
+interrupted in her turn. And Captain Elisha, who also was something of a
+strategist, smiled at the fire.
+
+"We do have our social duties, our duties to society," snapped the
+widow, hotly. "They are necessary ones. Having been born--or risen to--a
+certain circle, we recognize the responsibilities attached to it. We
+_are_ careful with whom we associate; we have to be. As for dress, we
+dress as others of our friends do."
+
+"And maybe a little better, if you can, hey?"
+
+"If we can--yes. I presume--" with crushing irony--"dress in South
+Denboro counts but little."
+
+"You wouldn't say that if you ever went to sewin' circle," with a
+chuckle. "Still, compared to the folks at your meetin'-house this
+morning, our congregation would look like a flock of blackbirds
+alongside of a cage full of Birds of Paradise. But most of us--the women
+folks especial--dress as well as we can."
+
+"As well as you can!" triumphantly. "There! you see? And you live as
+well as you can, don't you?"
+
+"If you mean style, why, we don't set as much store by it as you do."
+
+"Nonsense! We are obliged to be," with a slight shudder at the
+vulgarism, "_stylish_. If we should lapse, if we should become shabby
+and behind the fashion or live in that way, people would wonder and
+believe it was because we could not afford to do otherwise."
+
+"Well, s'pose they did, you'd know better yourselves. Can't you be
+independent?"
+
+"No. Not unless you are very, very rich; then it might be considered an
+eccentricity. Independence is a costly luxury, and few can afford it."
+
+"But suppose you can't afford the other thing?"
+
+"Then we must pretend we can. Oh, you _don't_ understand! So _much_
+depends upon a proper appearance. Everything depends upon it--one's
+future, one's children's future--everything."
+
+"Humph!" with the same irritating smile, "I should think that might mean
+some plannin'. And plans, the best of 'em, are likely to go wrong. You
+talk about the children in your--in what you call your 'circle.' How can
+you plan what they'll do? You might when they was little, perhaps; but
+when they grow up it's different."
+
+"It is not. It _can't_ be! And, if they have been properly reared and
+understand their responsibilities, they plan with you."
+
+"Land sakes! You mean--why, s'pose they take a notion to get married?
+I'm an old bach, of course, but the average young girl or feller is
+subject to that sort of ailment, 'cordin' to the records. S'pose one
+of your circle's daughters gets to keepin' company with a chap who's
+outside the ring? A promisin', nice boy enough, but poor, and a rank
+outsider? Mean to say she sha'n't marry him if she wants to."
+
+"Certainly! That sort of marriage is never a happy one, unless, of
+course, the girl is wealthy enough not to care. And even then it is not
+advisable. All their customs and habits of thought are different. No!
+Emphatically, no! And the girl, if she is sensible and well reared, as I
+have said, will understand it is impossible."
+
+"My soul and body! Then you mean to tell me that she _must_ look out for
+some chap in her crowd? If she ain't got but just enough to keep inside
+the circle--this grand whirlamagig you're tellin' me about--if she's
+pretendin' up to the limit of her income or over, then it's her duty,
+and her ma and pa's duty, to set her cap for a man who's nigher the
+center pole in the tent and go right after him? Do you tell me that?
+That's a note, I must say!"
+
+Mrs. Dunn's foot beat a lively tattoo on the rug. "I don't know what you
+mean by a 'note,'" she commented, with majestic indignation. "I have
+not lived in South Denboro, and perhaps my understanding of English
+is defective. But marriages among cultivated people, _society_ people,
+intelligent, ambitious people are, or should be, the result of thought
+and planning. Others are impossible!"
+
+"How about this thing we read so much about in novels?--Love, I believe
+they call it."
+
+"Love! Love is well enough, but it does not, of itself, pay for proper
+clothes, or a proper establishment, or seats at the opera, or any of
+the practical, necessary things of modern life. You can't keep up a
+presentable appearance on _love_! If I had a daughter who lacked the
+brains to understand what I had taught her, that is, her duty as a
+member of good society, and talked of making a love match, I would....
+But there! You can't understand, I suppose."
+
+She rose and shook the wrinkles from her gown. Captain Elisha
+straightened in his chair. "Why, yes, ma'am," he drawled, quietly; "yes,
+ma'am, I guess I understand fust-rate."
+
+And suddenly Mrs. Dunn also understood. Her face, which had grown almost
+too red for one attached to a member of polite society, grew redder
+still. She turned away and walked to the window.
+
+"What nonsense we've been talking!" she said, after a moment's silence.
+"I don't see what led us into this silly discussion. Malcolm and your
+niece must be having a delightful ride. I almost wish I had gone with
+them."
+
+She did wish it, devoutly. Captain Elisha still remained by the fire.
+
+"Automobiles are great things for hustlin' around in," he observed.
+"Pity they're such dangerous playthings. Yet I s'pose they're one of the
+necessities of up-to-date folks, same as you said, Mrs. Dunn."
+
+"Surely," she asked coldly, "you don't condemn automobiles, Captain
+Warren? What would you--return to stage coaches?"
+
+"Not a mite! But I was thinkin' of that poor Moriarty man."
+
+"His death was due to an accident. And accidents," she turned and looked
+directly at him, "when they involve financial damages, may be paid for."
+
+The captain nodded. "Yes," he said.
+
+"And when arrangements for such payment is made, _honorable_ people--at
+least, in the circle of which you and I have been speaking--consider the
+matter settled and do not refer to it again, either among themselves--or
+elsewhere."
+
+"Yes, ma'am." He nodded again. She did know; Malcolm, evidently, had
+told her. "Yes, ma'am. That's the way any decent person would feel--and
+act--if such a thing happened--even if they hailed from South Denboro."
+
+He pushed back his chair and stood up. She continued to look him over,
+much as if she were taking a mental inventory of his character, or
+revising an old one.
+
+"I hope," she said, lightly, but with deliberation, "our little argument
+and--er--slight disagreement concerning--er--duty will not make us
+enemies, Captain Warren."
+
+"Enemies! Land sakes, no! I respect anybody's havin' opinions and not
+bein' afraid to give 'em. And I think I can understand some of how you
+feel. Maybe if I was anchored here on Fifth Avenue, same as you are,
+instead of bein' blown in by an unexpected no'theaster, I'd be feelin'
+the same way. It's all accordin', as I've said so often. Enemies? No,
+indeed!"
+
+She laughed again. "I'm so glad!" she said. "Malcolm declares he'd
+be quite afraid of me--as an enemy. He seems to think I possess
+some mysterious and quite diabolical talent for making my un-friends
+uncomfortable, and declares he would compromise rather than fight me
+at any time. Of course it's ridiculous--just one of his jokes--and I'm
+really harmless and very much afraid. That's why I want you and me to be
+friends, Captain Warren."
+
+"Sure!" Captain Elisha nodded emphatically. "That's what I want, too."
+
+But that evening, immediately after his return to the apartment,
+when--Caroline having gone to her own room to remove her wraps--he and
+the butler were alone, he characteristically unburdened his mind.
+
+"Mr. Warren, sir," said Edwards, "a young gentleman left a note here for
+you this afternoon. The elevator man gave it to me, sir. It's on your
+dressing table, sir."
+
+The captain's answer had nothing whatever to do with the note. He had
+been thinking of other things.
+
+"Commodore," he said, "I've got the answer."
+
+"To the note? Already, sir? I didn't know you'd seen it."
+
+"I ain't. I've got the answer to the conundrum. It's Mother!"
+
+"Mother, sir? I--I don't know what you mean."
+
+"I do. The answer's Mother. Sonny don't count, though he may think he
+does. But Mother's the whole team and the dog under the wagon. And,
+Commodore, we've got to trot some if we want to keep ahead of that team!
+Don't you forget it!"
+
+He went to his room, leaving the bewildered butler to retire to the
+kitchen, where he informed the cook that the old man was off his head
+worse than common to-night.
+
+"Blessed if he don't think he's a trotting horse!" said Edwards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The note on the dining room table proved, to the captain's delight, to
+be from James Pearson. It was brief and to the point.
+
+"Why don't you come and see me?" wrote the young man. "I've been
+expecting you, and you promised to come. Have you forgotten my address?
+If so, here it is. I expect to be in all day to-morrow."
+
+The consequence of this was that eleven o'clock the next day found
+Captain Elisha pulling the bell at a brick house in a long brick block
+on a West Side street. The block had evidently been, in its time, the
+homes of well-to-do people, but now it was rather dingy and gone to
+seed. Across the street the first floors were, for the most part, small
+shops, and in the windows above them doctors' signs alternated with
+those of modistes, manicure artists, and milliners.
+
+The captain had come a roundabout way, stopping in at the Moriarty
+flat, where he found Mrs. Moriarty in a curious state of woe and tearful
+pride. "Oh, what will I do, sir?" she moaned. "When I think he's gone,
+it seems as if I'd die, too. But, thanks to you and Miss Warren--Mary
+make it up to her!--my Pat'll have the finest funeral since the Guinny
+saloon man was buried. Ah, if he could have lived to see it, he'd have
+died content!"
+
+The pull at the boarding-house bell was answered by a rather slatternly
+maid, who informed the visitor that she guessed Mr. Pearson was in;
+he 'most always was around lunch time. So Captain Elisha waited in a
+typical boarding-house parlor, before a grate with no fire in it and
+surrounded by walnut and plush furniture, until Pearson himself came
+hurrying downstairs.
+
+"Say, you're a brick, Captain Warren!" he declared, as they shook hands.
+"I hoped you'd come to-day. Why haven't you before?"
+
+The captain explained his having mislaid the address.
+
+"Oh, was that it? Then I'm glad I reminded you. Rather a cheeky thing to
+do, but I've been a reporter, and nerve is necessary in that profession.
+I began to be afraid living among the blue-bloods had had its effect,
+and you were getting finicky as to your acquaintances."
+
+"You didn't believe any such thing."
+
+"Didn't I? Well, perhaps I didn't. Come up to my room. I think we can
+just about squeeze in, if you don't mind sitting close."
+
+Pearson's room was on the third flight, at the front of the house.
+Through the window one saw the upper half of the buildings opposite, and
+above them a stretch of sky. The bed was a small brass and iron affair,
+but the rest of the furniture was of good quality, the chairs were
+easy and comfortable, and the walls were thickly hung with photographs,
+framed drawings, and prints.
+
+"I put those up to cover the wall paper," explained the host. "I don't
+offer them as an art collection, but as a screen. Sit down. Put your
+coat on the bed. Shall I close the window? I usually keep the upper
+half open to let out the pipe smoke. Otherwise I might not be able to
+navigate without fog signals."
+
+His visitor chuckled, followed directions with his coat and hat, and sat
+down. Pearson took the chair by the small flat-topped desk.
+
+"How about that window?" he asked. "Shall I shut it?"
+
+"No, no! We'll be warm enough, I guess. You've got steam heat, I see."
+
+"You mean you hear. Those pipes make noise enough to wake the dead. At
+first I thought I couldn't sleep because of the racket they made. Now I
+doubt if I could without it. Would you consider a cigar, Captain?"
+
+"Hum! I don't usually stop to consider. But I tell you, Jim--just now
+you said something about a pipe. I've got mine aboard, but I ain't dared
+to smoke it since I left South Denboro. If you wouldn't mind--"
+
+"Not a bit. Tobacco in this jar on the desk. I keep a temporary supply
+in my jacket pocket. Matches? Here you are! What do you think of
+my--er--stateroom?"
+
+"Think it makes nice, snug quarters," was the prompt answer.
+
+"Humph! Snug is a good word. Much like living in an omnibus, but it
+answers the purpose. I furnished it myself, except for the bed. The
+original bureau had pictures of cauliflowers painted on each drawer
+front. Mrs. Hepton--my landlady--was convinced that they were roses. I
+told her she might be right, but, at all events, looking at them made
+me hungry. Perhaps she noticed the effect on my appetite and was willing
+for me to substitute."
+
+The captain laughed. Then, pointing, he asked: "What's that handbill?"
+
+The "handbill" was a fair-sized poster announcing the production at the
+"Eureka Opera House" of the "Thrilling Comedy-Drama, The Golden Gods."
+Pearson looked at it, made a face, and shook his head.
+
+"That," he said, "is my combined crusher and comforter. It is the
+announcement of the first, and next to the last, performance of a play
+I wrote in my calf days. The 'Eureka Opera House' is--or was, if the
+'gods' weren't too much for it--located at Daybury, Illinois. I keep
+that bill to prevent my conceit getting away with me. Also, when I get
+discouraged over my novel, it reminds me that, however bad the yarn may
+turn out to be, I have committed worse crimes."
+
+This led to the captain's asking about the novel and how it was
+progressing. His companion admitted having made some progress, more
+in the line of revision than anything else. He had remodeled his hero
+somewhat, in accordance with his new friend's suggestions during their
+interview at the Warren apartment, and had introduced other characters,
+portrait sketches from memory of persons whom he had known in his
+boyhood days in the Maine town. He read a few chapters aloud, and
+Captain Elisha waxed almost enthusiastic over them.
+
+Then followed a long discussion over a point of seamanship, the handling
+of a bark in a gale. It developed that the young author's knowledge
+of saltwater strategy was extensive and correct in the main, though
+somewhat theoretical. That of his critic was based upon practice and
+hard experience. He cited this skipper and that as examples, and carried
+them through no'theasters off Hatteras and typhoons in the Indian Ocean.
+The room, in spite of the open window, grew thick with pipe smoke, and
+the argument was punctuated by thumps on the desk and chair arms, and
+illustrated by diagrams drawn by the captain's forefinger on the side
+of the dresser. The effects of oil on breaking rollers, the use of a
+"sea-anchor" over the side to "hold her to it," whether or not a man
+was justified in abandoning his ship under certain given circumstances,
+these were debated pro and con. Always Pearson's "Uncle Jim" was held
+up as the final authority, the paragon of sea captains, by the visitor,
+and, while his host pretended to agree, with modest reservations, in
+this estimate of his relative, he was more and more certain that
+his hero was bound to become a youthful edition of Elisha Warren
+himself--and he thanked the fates which had brought this fine, able,
+old-school mariner to his door.
+
+At length, Captain Elisha, having worked "Uncle Jim" into a safe harbor
+after a hundred mile cruise under jury jig, with all hands watch and
+watch at the pumps, leaned forward in triumph to refill his pipe. Having
+done so, his eyes remained fixed upon a photograph standing, partially
+hidden by a leather collar box, upon the dresser. He looked at it
+intently, then rose and took it in his hand.
+
+"Well, I swan!" he exclaimed. "Either what my head's been the fullest
+of lately has struck to my eyesight, or else--why, say, Jim, that's
+Caroline, ain't it?"
+
+Pearson colored and seemed embarrassed. "Yes," he answered, "that is
+Miss Warren."
+
+"Humph! Good likeness, too! But what kind of rig has she got on? I've
+seen her wear a good many dresses--seems to have a different one for
+every day, pretty nigh--but I never saw her in anything like that.
+Looks sort of outlandish; like one of them foreign girls at Geneva--or
+Leghorn, say."
+
+"Yes. That is an Italian peasant costume. Miss Warren wore it at a fancy
+dress ball a year ago."
+
+"Want to know! I-talian peasant, hey! Fifth Avenue peasant with diamonds
+in her hair. Becomin' to her, ain't it."
+
+"I thought so."
+
+"Yup. She looks pretty _enough_! But she don't need diamonds nor
+hand-organ clothes to make her pretty."
+
+Then, looking up from the photograph, he asked, "Give you this picture,
+did she?"
+
+His friend's embarrassment increased. "No," he answered shortly. Then,
+after an instant's hesitation. "That ball was given by the Astorbilts
+and was one of the most swagger affairs of the season. The _Planet_--the
+paper with which I was connected--issues a Sunday supplement of
+half-tone reproductions of photographs. One page was given up to
+pictures of the ball and the costumes worn there."
+
+"I see. Astonishin' how folks do like to get their faces into print.
+I used to know an old woman--Aunt Hepsibah Tucker, her name was--she's
+dead now. The pride of Aunt Hepsy's heart was that she took nineteen
+bottles of 'Balm of Burdock Tea' and the tea folks printed her picture
+as a testimonial that she lived through it. Ho, ho! And society big-bugs
+appear to have the same cravin'."
+
+"Some of them do. But that of your niece was obtained by our society
+reporter from the photographer who took it. Bribery and corruption, of
+course. Miss Warren would have been at least surprised to see it in
+our supplement. I fancied she might not care for so much publicity and
+suppressed it."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, I guess you did right. I'll thank you for her. By the
+way, I told Caroline where I was cal'latin' to go this mornin', and she
+wished to be remembered to you."
+
+Pearson seemed pleased, but he made no comment. Captain Elisha blew a
+smoke ring from his pipe.
+
+"And say, Jim," he added, embarrassed in his turn, "I hope you won't
+think I'm interferin' in your affairs, but are you still set against
+comin' up to where I live? I know you said you had a reason, but are you
+sure it's a good one?"
+
+He waited for an answer but none came. Pearson was gazing out of the
+window. The captain looked at his watch and rose.
+
+"I guess I'll have to be goin'," he said. "It's after twelve now."
+
+His host swung around in his chair. "Sit down, Captain," he said. "I've
+been doing a lot of thinking since I saw you, and I'm not sure about
+that reason. I believe I'll ask your advice. It is a delicate matter,
+and it involves your brother. You may see it as he did, and, if so, our
+friendship ends, I suppose. But I'm going to risk it.
+
+"Mr. Rodgers Warren and I," he went on, "were well acquainted during
+the latter part of my newspaper work. I was financial man on the
+_Planet_, and some articles I wrote took your brother's fancy. At all
+events, he wrote me concerning them in highly complimentary terms and
+asked me to call and see him at his office. I did so and--well, we
+became very friendly, so much so that he invited me to his house. I
+dined there several times, was invited to call often, and--I enjoyed
+it. You see, I had few friends in the city, outside my journalistic
+acquaintances, and I suppose I was flattered by Mr. Warren's kindness
+and the fancy he seemed to have taken to me. And I liked Miss
+Warren--no one could help that--and I believed she liked me."
+
+"She does like you," interrupted his companion, with surprise.
+"Caroline's a good girl."
+
+"Yes, she is. However, she isn't in this story, except as a side-issue.
+At this time my ambitions were for a newspaper career, and I thought I
+was succeeding. And her father's marked interest and the things he said
+to me promised more than an ordinary success. He was a well known man on
+the street, and influential. So my head began to swell, and I dreamed--a
+lot of foolishness. And then--"
+
+He paused, put down his empty pipe, and sighed.
+
+"Well, then," he continued, "came the upset. I judged from what you
+said at our previous conversation, Captain, that you were well enough
+acquainted with Wall Street to know that queer operations take place
+there. Did you read about the South Shore Trolley business?"
+
+Captain Elisha considered. "Why, yes," he said, slowly, "seem's if I
+did. One of those consolidations with 'holdin' companies' and franchises
+and extensions and water by the hogshead. Wa'n't that it? I remember
+now; the Boston papers had considerable about it, and I presume likely
+the New York ones had more. One of those all-accordin'-to-law swindles
+that sprout same as toadstools in a dark place, but die out if the
+light's turned on too sudden. This one didn't come to nothin' but a bad
+smell, if I remember right."
+
+"You do. And I suppose I'm responsible for the smell. I got wind of
+the thing, investigated, found out something of what was going on, and
+printed a preliminary story in the _Planet_. It caused a sensation."
+
+He paused once more. Captain Elisha, for the sake of saying something,
+observed, "I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"It certainly did. And the morning on which it appeared, Mr. Rodgers
+Warren 'phoned me. He wished to see me at once. I went down to his
+office. Captain, I dislike to tell you this. Mr. Warren was your
+brother."
+
+"I know he was. And I'm his executor. Both those reasons make me
+'specially anxious to have you tell me the truth. Heave ahead now, to
+oblige me."
+
+"Well, I found him very polite and cordial, at first. He said that a
+ridiculous and sensational story concerning the Trolley Combine had
+appeared in the _Planet_, and he would like to have me contradict it and
+suppress further falsehoods of the kind. I told him I couldn't do that,
+because the story was true. I had written it myself. He was angry, and I
+could see that he was holding himself in by main strength. I went on to
+explain that it was the duty of an honest paper, as I saw it, to expose
+such trespass upon the people's rights. He asked me if I knew who was
+behind the scheme. I said I knew some of the backers. They were pretty
+big men, too. Then he informed me that he himself was deeply interested.
+
+"I was knocked off my feet by that, you can imagine. And, to be frank,
+Captain, if I had known it at first I'm not sure that I, personally,
+would have taken the matter up. Yet I might; I can't tell. But now that
+I had done it and discovered what I had, I couldn't give it up. I must
+go on and learn more. And I knew enough already to be certain that the
+more I learned the more I should write and have published. It was one of
+those things which had to be made public--if a fellow had a conscience
+about him and a pride in the decency of his profession.
+
+"All this was going through my head as I sat there in his private
+office. And he took my surprise and hesitation as symptoms of wavering
+and went at me, hard. Of course I knew, he said, that the operation was
+absolutely within the law. I did, but that didn't make it more honest or
+moral or just. He went on to say that in large financial deals of this
+nature petty scruples must be lost sight of. Good of the business,
+rights of stockholders, all that sort of stuff; he rang the changes. All
+the papers cared for was sensation; to imperil the fortune of widows and
+orphans whose savings were invested in the South Shore Stock, for the
+sake of sensation, was a crime. He should have known better than to say
+that to me; it is such an ancient, worn-out platitude."
+
+"I know. I've been to political meetin's. The widows and orphans
+are always hangin' on the success of the Republican party--or the
+Democratic, whichever way you vote. The amount of tears shed over their
+investments by fellers you wouldn't trust with a brass five-cent piece,
+is somethin' amazin'. Go on; I didn't mean to interrupt."
+
+"Then he switched to a more personal appeal. He said he had taken a
+fancy to me; had liked me from the very beginning. He recognized my
+unusual genius at first sight and had gone as far as to make plans
+bearing directly on my future. He was associated with men of wealth and
+business sagacity. Large deals, of which the Trolley Combine was but
+one, were on foot. He and his friends needed a representative on the
+press--a publicity agent, so to speak. Some of the greatest corporations
+employed men of that kind, and the salaries paid were large and the
+opportunities afforded greater still. Well, that's true enough. I know
+writers who are doing just that thing and getting rich at it. I suppose
+they've squared their consciences somehow and are willing to write lies
+and misleading articles for what there is in it. I can't, that's all;
+I'm not built that way, and I told him so.
+
+"It ended in an open break. He reminded me of the favors he had done me.
+He had treated me almost like a son, had introduced me to his family,
+entertaining me at his table. Where was my gratitude? That was another
+bad break on his part, for it made me mad. I told him I had not asked to
+be adopted or fed by him; if I had supposed his kindness had an ulterior
+motive, I would have seen him at the devil before I accepted a favor. My
+career as a financial visitor was ended. Get out of his office! I got.
+But the Trolley Combine did not go through. The _Planet_ and the other
+papers kept up the fight and--and the widows and orphans are bankrupt, I
+presume."
+
+Captain Elisha's pipe had gone out long since. He absently rubbed the
+warm bowl between his palms.
+
+"Humph!" he muttered. "So 'Bije was deep in that business, was he?"
+
+"He was. Very deep indeed, I found out afterwards. And, I declare, I
+almost pitied him at the time. He acted as if his whole fortune was
+staked on the gamble. His hands shook, and the perspiration stood on his
+forehead as he talked. I felt as if I had been the means of ruining
+him. But of course, I hadn't. He lived for some time after that, and, I
+understand, died a rich man."
+
+"Yes. He left what I'd call a heap of money. My nephew and niece don't
+seem to think so, but I do."
+
+"So you see, Captain, why I stopped calling on the Warrens, and why I
+did not accept Miss Warren's invitation."
+
+"I see.... I see.... And yet I don't know. 'Bije may have took to you
+for business reasons, but the children didn't. They liked you for
+yourself. Caroline as much as said so. And their father never told 'em a
+word about the row, neither. Of course you couldn't have called when he
+was alive, but he's gone, and I'm--well, I'm sort of temporary skipper
+there now. And _I_ want you to come."
+
+"But if Miss Warren did know? She should know, I think."
+
+"I ain't sure that she should. I guess there's consider'ble in her pa's
+life she ain't acquainted with. And she's as straight and honest and
+upright as a schooner's fo'mast. You did nothin' to be 'shamed of. It's
+the other way 'round, 'cordin' to my notion. But leave her out of
+it now. I've sacrificed some few things to take the job I've got at
+present, but I can't afford to sacrifice my friends. I count on you as a
+friend, and I want you to come and see _me_. Will you?"
+
+"I don't know, Captain Warren. I must think it over a while, I guess."
+
+"All right--think. But the invitation stands--_my_ invitation. And, if
+you want to shift responsibility, shift it on to me. Some day, if it'll
+make you feel better, I'll tell Caroline and Stevie the whole story. But
+I want them to know you and the world--and me--a little better first.
+'Cordin' to my notion, they need education just along that line. They've
+got teachers in other branches, but.... There! I've _got_ to be goin'.
+There's the dinner bell now."
+
+The string of Japanese gongs, hung in the lower hall, sounded
+sonorously. Captain Elisha reached for his coat and hat, but Pearson
+caught his arm.
+
+"No, you don't!" he declared. "You're going to stay and have lunch with
+me--here. If you say no, I shall believe it is because you are afraid of
+a boarding-house meal."
+
+His guest protested, but the protests were overruled, and he and
+his host went down to the dining room. The captain whispered as they
+entered, "Land sakes, Jim, this takes me back home. It's pretty nigh a
+twin to the dinin' room at the Centre House in South Denboro."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All boarding-house dining rooms bear a family likeness, so the comment
+was not far wrong. A long table, rows of chairs on each side, ancient
+and honorable pictures on the walls, the landlady presiding majestically
+over the teapot, the boarders' napkins in rings--all the familiar
+landmarks were present.
+
+Most of the male "regulars" were in business about the city and
+therefore lunched elsewhere, but the females were in evidence. Pearson
+introduced his guest. The captain met Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, plump,
+gray-haired, and graciously hospitable. She did not look at all like
+a business woman, but appearances are not always to be trusted; Mrs.
+Hepton had learned not to trust them--also delinquent boarders, too far.
+He met Miss Sherborne, whose coiffure did not match in spots, but whose
+voice, so he learned afterward, had been "cultivated abroad." Miss
+Sherborne gave music lessons. Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles also claimed his
+attention and held it, principally because of the faded richness of her
+apparel. Mrs. Ruggles was a widow, suffering from financial reverses;
+the contrast between her present mode of living and the grandeur of the
+past formed her principal topic of conversation.
+
+There were half a dozen others, including an artist whose aversion to
+barbers was proclaimed by the luxuriant length of his locks, a quiet old
+gentleman who kept the second-hand book store two doors below; his wife,
+a neat, trim little body; and Mr. and Mrs. C. Dickens, no less.
+
+Mr. Dickens was bald, an affliction which he tried to conceal by
+brushing the hair at the sides of his head across the desert at the
+top. He shaved his cheeks and wore a beard and mustache. Mrs. Dickens
+addressed him as "C.," and handed him the sauce bottle, the bread, or
+whatever she imagined he desired, as if she were offering sacrifice to
+an idol.
+
+She sat next to Captain Elisha and imparted information concerning her
+lord and master in whispers, during the intervals between offerings.
+
+"My husband will be pleased to meet you, Captain Warren," she murmured.
+"Any friend of Mr. Pearson is certain to be an acquisition. Mr. Pearson
+and my husband are congenial spirits; they are members of the same
+profession."
+
+"I want to know, ma'am."
+
+"Yes. What is it, 'C.' dear? Oh, the butter! Margaret--" to the
+waitress--"Mr. Dickens wishes another butter-ball. Yes, Captain Warren,
+Mr. Dickens is an author. Haven't you noticed the--er--resemblance? It
+is considered quite remarkable."
+
+Captain Elisha looked puzzled. "Why," he said, "I hadn't noticed it
+'special. Jim's--Mr. Pearson's--eyes and his are some the same color,
+but--"
+
+"Oh, no! not the resemblance to Mr. Pearson. I didn't mean _that_. The
+resemblance to his more famous namesake. Surely you notice it _now_."
+
+The captain shook his head. "I--I'm afraid I'm thick-headed, ma'am," he
+admitted. "I'm out of soundin's."
+
+"But the nose, and his beard, and his manner. Don't they remind you of
+the English Dickens?"
+
+"O-oh!" Captain Elisha inspected the great man with interest. He had
+a vague memory of a portrait in a volume of "Pickwick" at home. "Oh, I
+see! Yes, yes."
+
+"Of course you see! Everyone does. Mr. Dickens often says--it is one of
+his favorite jokes--that while other men must choose a profession, his
+was chosen for him by fate. How, with such a name, could he do anything
+except write?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am. But names are risky pilots, ain't they? I've run
+against a consider'ble number of Solomons, but there wa'n't one of 'em
+that carried more'n a deckload of wisdom. They christened me Elisha, but
+I can't even prophesy the weather with sartinty enough to bet. However,
+I daresay in your husband's case it's all right."
+
+The lady had turned away, and he was afraid he might have offended her.
+The fear was groundless; she was merely offering another sacrifice, the
+sugar this time.
+
+"Yes?" she asked, turning, "you were saying--"
+
+"Why--er--nothin' of account. I cal'late the C. stands for Charles,
+then."
+
+"No-o. Mr. Dickens's Christian name is Cornelius; but don't mention it
+before him, he is very sensitive on that point."
+
+The Dickenses "tickled" the captain exceedingly, and, after the meal was
+over, he spoke of them to Pearson.
+
+"Say," he said, "you're in notorious company, ain't you, Jim? What has
+Cornelius Charles turned out so far, in the way of masterpieces?"
+
+Pearson laughed. "I believe he is employed by a subscription house,"
+he replied. "Doing hack work on an encyclopedia. A great collection of
+freaks, aren't they, Captain Warren?"
+
+"Kind of. But that old book-shop man and his wife seem nice folks. And,
+as for freaks, the average boardin' house, city or country, seems
+to draw 'em like flies. I guess most anybody would get queer if they
+boarded all the time."
+
+"Perhaps so. Or, if they weren't queer, they wouldn't board permanently
+from choice. There are two or three good fellows who dine and breakfast
+here. The food isn't bad, considering the price."
+
+"No, it ain't. Tasted more like home than any meal I've had for a good
+while. I'm afraid I never was cut out for swell livin'."
+
+Mrs. Hepton approached them as they stood in the hall. She wished to
+know if Mr. Pearson's friend was thinking of finding lodgings. Because
+Mr. Saks--the artist's name--was giving up the second floor back in a
+fortnight, and it was a very pleasant room. "We should be delighted to
+add you to our little circle, Captain Warren."
+
+Pearson told her that his companion was already lodged, and she said
+good-by and left them. The captain smiled broadly.
+
+"Everything in New York seems to be circles," he declared. "Well, Jim,
+you come up and circulate with me, first chance you get. I'm dependin'
+on you to call, remember."
+
+The young man was still doubtful.
+
+"I'll see," he said. "I can't promise yet--perhaps I will."
+
+"You will--after you've thought it out to a finish. And come soon. I'm
+gettin' interested in that second edition of your Uncle Jim, and I want
+to keep along with him as fast as you write. Good-by. Much obliged for
+the dinner--there I go again!--luncheon, I mean."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Pearson called. He appeared at the apartment a week after the luncheon
+at the boarding house and was welcomed by the Captain Elisha, who,
+hearing his voice, strode into the hall, sent the shocked Edwards to the
+right-about in a hurry, seized his friend's hand, and ushered him into
+the library. Pearson said nothing concerning his change of mind, the
+course of reasoning which led him to make the visit, and the captain
+asked no questions. He took it for granted that the young fellow's
+common sense had turned the trick, and, the result being what it was,
+that was sufficient.
+
+They spent a pleasant afternoon together. Caroline was out, and they had
+the library to themselves. The newest chapters of the novel were read
+and discussed, and the salty flavor of the talk was as pronounced as
+ever. Pearson left early, but promised to come again very soon.
+
+When Caroline returned her uncle told her of his visitor. She seemed
+unfeignedly pleased, but regretted that she had not been there. "He was
+such a friend of father's," she said, "that seeing him here would be
+almost like the old days. And so many of those whom we thought were his
+friends and ours have left us."
+
+This was true. Rodgers Warren and his children had had many
+acquaintances, had been active in church and charitable work, and their
+former home was a center of entertainment and gayety while he lived. But
+his death and the rumors of shrinkage in the family fortune, the giving
+up of the Fifth Avenue residence, the period of mourning which forbade
+social functions, all these helped to bring about forgetfulness on the
+part of the many; and Caroline's supersensitiveness and her firm resolve
+not to force her society where it might be unwelcome had been the causes
+of misunderstanding in others, whose liking and sympathy were genuine.
+"I don't see what has come over Caroline Warren," declared a former girl
+friend, "she isn't a bit as she used to be. Well, I've done my part. If
+she doesn't wish to return my call, she needn't. _I_ sha'n't annoy her
+again. But I'm sorry, for she was the sweetest girl I knew."
+
+Stephen had never been very popular, and his absence at college still
+further reduced the number of young people who might be inclined to
+call. Their not calling confirmed Caroline's belief that she and
+her brother were deliberately shunned because of their change in
+circumstances, and she grew more sensitive and proudly resentful in
+consequence. Naturally she turned for comfort to those who remained
+faithful, the Dunns in particular. They were loyal to her. Therefore,
+with the intensity of her nature, she became doubly loyal to them. The
+rector of St. Denis dropped in frequently, and others occasionally, but
+she was lonely. She craved the society of those nearer her own age.
+
+Pearson's coming, then, was psychologically apt. When he made his next
+call upon Captain Elisha, to find the latter out but his niece at home,
+she welcomed him cordially and insisted upon his waiting until her
+guardian returned. The conversation was, at first, embarrassing for the
+ex-reporter; she spoke of her father, and Pearson--the memory of his
+last interview with the latter fresh in his mind, and painfully aware
+that she knew nothing of it--felt guilty and like a hypocrite. But soon
+the subject changed, and when the captain entered the library he found
+the pair laughing and chatting like old acquaintances, as, of course,
+they were.
+
+Captain Elisha, paying no attention to his friend's shakes of the head,
+invited his niece to be present at the reading of the latest addition to
+what he called "mine and Jim's record-breakin' sea yarn."
+
+"It's really mine, you understand, Caroline," he observed, with a wink.
+"I'm silent partner in the firm--if you can call the one that does all
+the talkin' silent--and Jim don't do nothin' but make it up and write it
+and get the profits. Course, you mustn't mention this to him, 'cause he
+thinks he's the author, and 'twould hurt his feelin's."
+
+"He's quite right," declared Pearson, emphatically. "If the thing is
+ever finished and published he will deserve all the credit. His advice
+had already remade it. This uncle of yours, Miss Warren," he added,
+turning to her, "is like the admiral Kipling wrote about--he has 'lived
+more stories' than ever I could invent."
+
+The captain, fearful that his niece might take the statement seriously,
+hastened to protest.
+
+"He's just foolin', Caroline," he said. "All I've done is set and talk
+and talk and talk. I've used up more of his time and the surroundin' air
+than you'd believe was possible. When I get next to salt water, even in
+print, it's time to muzzle me, same as a dog in July. The yarn is Jim's
+altogether, and it's mighty interestin'--to me anyhow."
+
+"I'm sure it will be to me, also," declared the young lady. "Captain
+Warren has told me all about it, Mr. Pearson, and I'm very eager to hear
+the new portion."
+
+"There!" Captain Elisha slapped his knee. "There, Jim!" he exclaimed,
+"you hear that? Now you've _got_ to read it. Anchor's apeak! Heave ahead
+and get under way."
+
+So, because he could not well refuse, the author reluctantly began
+to read. And, as usual, his nautical friend to interrupt and comment.
+Caroline listened, her eyes twinkling. When the reading and the
+arguments were at an end, she declared it was all splendid; "Just like
+being at sea one's self," she said. "I positively refuse to permit
+another installment to be submitted unless I am--on deck. That's the
+proper phrase, isn't it, Captain?"
+
+"Aye, aye, ma'am! Jim, we've shipped a new second mate, and she's goin'
+to be wuth her salt. You hear _me_!"
+
+She proved to be worth all of that, at least in Pearson's opinion. His
+calls and the readings and discussions became more and more frequent.
+Each of the trio enjoyed them greatly, Caroline quite as much as the
+others. Here was something new and fresh, something to furnish a real
+interest. The story advanced rapidly, the character of the nautical hero
+shaped itself better and better, and the heroine, also, heretofore a
+somewhat shadowy and vague young woman, began to live and breathe.
+She changed surprisingly, not only in mental but in physical
+characteristics.
+
+Captain Elisha was first to notice the latter peculiarity.
+
+"Say, Jim!" he interrupted, one afternoon, "what was that you just read
+about Mary? Her hat blowin' off to leeward and her brown hair blowin'
+after it? Or somethin' of that sort?"
+
+Caroline laughed merrily. The author turned to the passage mentioned.
+
+"Not exactly, Captain," he replied, smiling. "I said her hat had blown
+away, and her brown curls tossed in the wind. What's wrong with that?
+Hats do blow away in a sou'wester; I've seen them."
+
+"Perhaps he thinks she should have been more careful in pinning it on,"
+suggested the feminine member of the advisory board.
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head. "No," he observed calmly, "but why was
+she wearin' that kind of hair? She's pretty young to use a switch, ain't
+she?"
+
+"Switch?" repeated "Mary's" creator, with some indignation. "What are
+you talking about? When I first described her, I said that her hair was
+luxuriant and one of her chief beauties."
+
+"That's a fact! So you did. What made her dye it?"
+
+"Dye it? What do you think she is--a chorus girl?"
+
+"If I remember right she's a postmaster's daughter. But why is she
+wearin' brown hair, if it ain't neither false or dyed? Back in the third
+chapter 'twas _black_, like her eyes."
+
+Caroline burst into another laugh. Pearson blushed to his forehead.
+"Well, by George!" he admitted, "you're right. I believe I did have it
+black, at first."
+
+"You sartin did! I ain't got any objections to either color, only it
+ought to stay put, hadn't it? In a town of the size she's livin' in, a
+girl with changeable hair is likely to be kind of conspicuous. I tell
+you! maybe it bleached out in the sun. Ho, ho!"
+
+The writer made a note on the margin of his manuscript and declared
+that his heroine's tresses and eyes should be made to correspond at
+all stages. They did, but they remained brown. Captain Elisha chuckled
+inwardly, but offered no further comments. Caroline, whose own hair and
+eyes were brown, did not refer to the matter at all.
+
+She and the young man became better acquainted at each succeeding
+"literary clinic," as the latter called them. When Rodgers Warren first
+introduced him at their former home he had impressed her favorably,
+largely because of her desire to like anyone whom her father fancied.
+She worshiped the dead broker, and his memory to her was sacred. She
+would have forgiven and did forgive any wrong he might have done her,
+even his brother's appointment as guardian, though that she could not
+understand. Unlike Stephen, who fiercely resented the whole affair and
+said bitter things concerning his parent, she believed he had done what
+he considered right. Her feeling against Captain Elisha had been based
+upon the latter's acceptance of that appointment when he should have
+realized his unfitness. And his living with them and disgracing them in
+the eyes of their friends by his uncouth, country ways, made her blind
+to his good qualities. The Moriarty matter touched her conscience,
+and she saw more clearly. But she was very far from considering him
+an equal, or other than what Mrs. Corcoran Dunn termed him, an
+"encumbrance," even yet. She forced herself to be kind and tolerant and
+gave him more of her society, though the church-going experience was
+not repeated, nor did she accompany him on his walks or out-of-door
+excursions.
+
+If Pearson's introductions had been wholly as a friend of her
+guardian, her feeling toward him might have been tinged with the same
+condescension or aversion, even. But, hallowed as he was by association
+with her father, she welcomed him for the latter's sake. And, as she
+became interested in the novel and found that her suggestions concerning
+it were considered valuable, she looked forward to his visits and was
+disappointed if, for any reason, they were deferred. Without being aware
+of it, she began to like the young author, not alone because he wrote
+entertainingly and flattered her by listening respectfully to her
+criticisms, or because her father had liked him, but for himself.
+
+Captain Elisha was much pleased.
+
+"I told you, Jim!" he said. "She's just as glad to see you as I am. Now
+don't you see how foolish it was to stay away 'cause you and 'Bije had
+a spat? Think of all the good times we'd have missed! And we needed a
+female aboard your Uncle Jim's craft, to help with 'Mary' and the rest."
+
+His friend nodded. "She has been a great help, certainly," he answered.
+"But I can't help feeling guilty every time I come here. It is too much
+like obtaining her friendship under false pretenses. She should know the
+whole thing, I believe."
+
+"She shall know it, when I think it's time for her to. But I want her to
+know you first. Then she'll be able to judge without so much prejudice.
+I told you I'd take the responsibility. You leave the ship in my charge
+for a spell."
+
+In spite of this confident assertion, the captain also felt a trifle
+guilty. He realized that selfishness was involved in his keeping
+Pearson's secret from his niece. He was thoroughly enjoying himself with
+these two, and he could not bear to risk the breaking up which might
+follow disclosure.
+
+One evening, while a "clinic" was in progress and the three were deep
+in consultation, Edwards entered to announce Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and
+Mr. Malcolm. The butler's giving the lady precedence in his announcing
+showed that he, too, realized who was ranking officer in that family,
+even though the captain's "conundrum" had puzzled him. Mrs. Dunn and her
+son entered at his heels.
+
+[Illustration: "She and the young man became better acquainted at each
+succeeding 'literary clinic.'"]
+
+The lady took in the group by the table at a glance: Pearson, with
+the manuscript in his hands; Captain Elisha leaning back in his chair,
+frowning at the interruption; Caroline rising to welcome the guests, and
+coloring slightly as she did so. All these details Mrs. Dunn noted, made
+an entry in her mental memorandum-book, and underscored it for future
+reference.
+
+If she discerned unpleasant possibilities in the situation, she did
+not allow them to disturb her outward serenity. She kissed Caroline and
+called her "dear child" as fondly as usual, shook hands graciously with
+Captain Elisha, and bowed condescending recognition of Pearson.
+
+"And how is the novel coming on? Do tell me!" she begged. "I'm sure we
+interrupted a reading. It's too bad of us, really! But Malcolm insisted
+upon coming. He has been very busy of late--some dreadful 'corner' or
+other on the exchange--and has neglected his friends--or thinks he has.
+I told him I had explained it all to you, Caroline, but he _would_ come
+to-night. It is the first call he has made in weeks; so you _see_! But
+there! he doesn't consider running in here a call."
+
+Call or not, it spoiled the evening for at least two of the company.
+Pearson left early. Captain Elisha excused himself soon after and went
+to his room, leaving the Dunns to chat with Caroline for an hour or
+more. Malcolm joked and was languid and cynical. His mother asked a few
+carefully guarded questions.
+
+"Quite a clever person, this young author friend of yours seems to be,
+Caroline," she observed. "Almost brilliant, really."
+
+"He isn't a friend of mine, exactly," replied the girl. "He and Captain
+Warren are friendly, and father used to know and like him, as I have
+told you. The novel is great fun, though! The people in it are coming to
+seem almost real to me."
+
+"I daresay! I was a great reader myself once, before my health--my
+heart, you know--began to trouble me. The doctors now forbid my reading
+anything the least bit exciting. Has this--er--Mr. Pearson means?"
+
+"I know very little of him, personally, but I think not. He used to be
+connected with the _Planet_, and wrote things about Wall Street. That
+was how father came to know him."
+
+"Live in an attic, does he?" inquired Malcolm. "That's what all authors
+do, isn't it? Put up in attics and sleep on pallets--whatever they
+are--and eat crusts, don't they? Jolly life--if you like it! I prefer
+bucking wheat corners, myself."
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed, and Caroline joined her, though not as heartily.
+
+"How ridiculous you are, Malcolm!" exclaimed his mother. "Mr. Pearson
+isn't that kind of an author, I'm sure. But where does he live,
+Caroline?"
+
+"Somewhere on West 18th Street, I believe. He has rooms there, I think."
+
+"Oh! Really? And how is this wonderful novel of his progressing? When
+does he expect to favor us with it?"
+
+"I don't know. But it is progressing very well at present. He has
+written three chapters since last Wednesday. He was reading them to us
+when you came."
+
+"Indeed! Since last Wednesday? How interesting!"
+
+Malcolm did not seem to find the topic interesting, for he smothered a
+yawn. His mother changed the subject. On their way home, however, she
+again referred to it.
+
+"You must make it a point to see her every day," she declared. "No
+matter what happens, you must do it."
+
+"Oh, Lord!" groaned her son, "I can't. There's the deuce and all on
+'Change just now, and the billiard tournament's begun at the Club. My
+days and nights are full up. Once a week is all she should expect, I
+think."
+
+"No matter what you think or what she expects, you must do as I say."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I don't like the looks of things."
+
+"Oh, rubbish! You're always seeing bugaboos. Uncle Hayseed is pacified,
+isn't he? I've paid the Moriarty crowd off. Beastly big bills they were,
+too!"
+
+"Humph! Uncle Hayseed, as you call him, is anything but a fool. But he
+isn't the particular trouble at present. He and I understand each other,
+I believe, and he will be reasonable. But--there is this Pearson. I
+don't like his calling so frequently."
+
+Malcolm laughed in huge scorn. "Pearson!" he sneered. "Why, he's
+nothing but a penny-a-liner, without the penny. Surely you're not afraid
+Caroline will take a fancy to him. She isn't an idiot."
+
+"She's a young girl, and more romantic than I wish she was. At her age
+girls do silly things, sometimes. He called on Wednesday--you heard her
+say so--and was there again to-night. I don't like it, I tell you."
+
+"Her uncle is responsible for--"
+
+"It is more than that. She knew him long before she knew her uncle
+existed. Her father introduced him--her _father_. And to her mind,
+whatever her father did was right."
+
+"Witness his brilliant selection of an executor. Oh, Mater, you weary
+me! I used to know this Pearson when he was a reporter downtown,
+and.... Humph!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Why, nothing, I guess. It seemed as if I remember Warren and Pearson in
+some sort of mix-up. Some.... Humph! I wonder."
+
+He was silent, thinking. His mother pressed his arm excitedly.
+
+"If you remember anything that occurred between Rodgers Warren and
+this man, anything to this Pearson's disadvantage, it may pay us to
+investigate. What was it?"
+
+"I don't know. But it seemed as if I remembered Warren's ... or a friend
+of his telling me ... saying something ... but it couldn't be of
+importance, because Caroline doesn't know it."
+
+"I'm not so sure that it may not be important. And, if you recall, on
+that day when we first met him at Caroline's, she seemed hurt because he
+had not visited them since her father died. Perhaps there _was_ a
+reason. At any rate, I should look into the matter."
+
+"All right, Mater, just as you say. Really you ought to join a Don't
+Worry Club."
+
+"One member in the family is quite sufficient. And I expect you to
+devote yourself to Caroline from now on. That girl is lonely, and
+when you get the combination of a lonely romantic young girl and a
+good-looking and interesting young fellow, even though he is as poor
+as a church mouse, _anything_ may happen. Add to that the influence of
+an unpractical but sharp old Yankee relative and guardian--then the
+situation is positively dangerous."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+An important event was about to take place. At least, it seemed
+important to Captain Elisha, although the person most intimately
+concerned appeared to have forgotten it entirely. He ventured to remind
+her of it.
+
+"Caroline," he said, "Sunday is your birthday, ain't it?"
+
+His niece looked at him in surprise. "Yes," she answered, "it is. How
+did you know?"
+
+"Why, I remembered, that's all. Graves, the lawyer man, told me how
+old you and Stevie were, fust time I met him. And his partner, Mr.
+Sylvester, gave me the date one day when he was goin' over your pa's
+will. You'll be twenty years old Sunday, won't you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+It was late in the afternoon, and she had been out since ten o'clock
+shopping with Mrs. Dunn, lunching downtown with the latter and Malcolm,
+and motoring for an hour or two. The weather for the season was mild and
+sunny, and the crisp air had brightened her cheeks, her eyes sparkled,
+her fur coat and cap were very becoming, and Captain Elisha inspected
+her admiringly before making another remark.
+
+"My! My!" he exclaimed, after an instant's pause. "Twenty years old!
+Think of it! 'Bije's girl's a young woman now, ain't she? I cal'late he
+was proud of you, too. He ought to have been. I presume likely _he_
+didn't forget your birthday."
+
+He rose to help her with the heavy coat. As he lifted it from her
+shoulders, he bent forward and caught a glimpse of her face.
+
+"There! there!" he said, hastily. "Don't feel bad, dearie. I didn't mean
+to hurt your feelin's. Excuse me; I was thinkin' out loud, sort of."
+
+She did not answer at once, but turned away to remove her cap. Then she
+answered, without looking at him.
+
+"He never forgot them," she said.
+
+"Course he didn't. Well, you see I didn't forget, either."
+
+It was an unfortunate remark, inasmuch as it drew, in her mind,
+a comparison between her handsome, dignified father and his rude,
+uncultured brother. The contrast was ever present in her thoughts, and
+she did not need to be reminded of it. She made no reply.
+
+"I was thinkin'," continued the captain, conscious of having made a
+mistake, "that maybe we might celebrate somehow, in a quiet way."
+
+"No. I am not in the mood for--celebrations."
+
+"Oh, I didn't mean fireworks and the town band. I just thought--"
+
+"Please don't. I remember other birthdays too well." They had been great
+occasions, those birthdays of hers, ever since she was a little girl. On
+the eighteenth she made her d�but in society, and the gown she wore on
+that memorable evening was laid away upstairs, a cherished memento, to
+be kept as long as she lived. Each year Rodgers Warren took infinite
+pains to please and surprise his idolized daughter. She could not bear
+to think of another birthday, now that he had been taken from her.
+
+Her guardian pulled his beard. "Well," he observed ruefully, "then my
+weak head's put my foot in it again, as the feller said. If I ain't
+careful I'll be like poor cracked Philander Baker, who lives with
+his sister over at Denboro Centre. The doctor told Philander he was
+threatened with softenin' of the brain, and the sister thanked him for
+the compliment. You see, Caroline, I wrote on my own hook and asked
+Stevie to come home Saturday and stay till Monday. I kind of thought
+you'd like to have him here."
+
+"Oh, I should like _that_! But will he come? Has he written you?"
+
+"Hey? Yes, I cal'late he'll be on deck. He's--er--yes, he's written me."
+
+He smiled as he answered. As a matter of fact, the correspondence
+between Stephen and himself had been lengthy and voluminous on the part
+of the former, and brief and business-like on his own. The boy, on his
+return to college, had found "conditions" awaiting him, and the amount
+of hard work involved in their clearance was not at all to his taste.
+He wrote his guardian before the first week was over, asserting that the
+whole business was foolishness and a waste of time. He should come
+home at once, he said, and he notified the captain that such was his
+intention. Captain Elisha replied with promptness and decision. If he
+came home he would be sent back, that was all. "I realize you've got a
+job ahead of you, Son," wrote the captain, "but you can do it, if you
+will. Fact is, I guess you've got to. So sail in and show us what you're
+made of."
+
+Stephen's answer was a five page declaration of independence. He refused
+to be bullied by any living man. He had made arrangements to come to New
+York on the following Monday, and he was coming. As to being sent back,
+he wished his uncle to understand that it was one thing to order and
+another to enforce obedience. To which he received the following note:
+
+    "I can't stop you from coming, Steve, except by going to New
+    Haven and holding you by main strength. That I don't propose
+    to do, for two reasons: first, that it is too much trouble,
+    and second that it ain't necessary. You can come home once in
+    a while to see your sister, but you mustn't do it till I say
+    the word. If you do, I shall take the carfare out of your
+    allowance, likewise board while you are here, and stop that
+    allowance for a month as a sort of fine for mutiny. So you
+    better think it over a spell. And, if I was you, I wouldn't
+    write Caroline that I was coming, or thinking of coming, till
+    I had my mind made up. She believes you are working hard at
+    your lessons. I shouldn't disappoint her, especially as it
+    wouldn't be any use.
+
+               "Your affectionate uncle,
+                    "ELISHA WARREN."
+
+The result of all this was that Stephen, whose finances were already in
+a precarious condition, did think it over and decided not to take the
+risk. Also, conscious that his sister sided with their guardian to the
+extent of believing the university the best place for him at present, he
+tore up the long letter of grievance which he had written her, and, in
+that which took its place, mentioned merely that he was "grinding like
+blazes," and the only satisfaction he got from it was his removal from
+the society of the "old tyrant from Cape Cod."
+
+He accepted the tyrant's invitation to return for the week-end and
+his sister's birthday with no hesitation whatever; and his letter of
+acceptance was so politic as to be almost humble.
+
+He arrived on an early train Saturday morning. Caroline met him at the
+station, and the Dunns' car conveyed them to the latter's residence,
+where they were to spend the day. The Dunns and Caroline had been
+together almost constantly since the evening when Malcolm and his mother
+interrupted the reading of the novel. The former, while professing to be
+harassed by business cares, sacrificed them to the extent of devoting at
+least a part of each twenty-four hours to the young lady's society.
+She was rarely allowed to be alone with her uncle, a circumstance which
+troubled her much less than it did him. He missed the evenings which he
+had enjoyed so much, and the next consultation over the adventures
+of Pearson's "Uncle Jim" and his "Mary" seemed flat and uninteresting
+without criticism and advice.
+
+The author himself noticed the difference.
+
+"Rot!" he exclaimed, throwing the manuscript aside in disgust. "It's
+rot, isn't it! If I can't turn out better stuff than that, I'd better
+quit. And I thought it was pretty decent, too, until to-night."
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head. "It don't seem quite so shipshape,
+somehow," he admitted, "but I guess likely it's 'cause my head's full
+of other things just now. I'm puzzled 'most to death to know what to get
+for Caroline's birthday. I want to get her somethin' she'll like, and
+she's got pretty nigh everything under the sun. Say, Jim, you've been
+workin' too hard, yourself. Why don't you take to-morrow off and cruise
+around the stores helpin' me pick out a present. Come ahead--do!"
+
+They spent the next afternoon in that "cruise," visiting department
+stores, jewelers, and art shops innumerable. Captain Elisha was hard to
+please, and his comments characteristic.
+
+"I guess you're right, Jim," he said, "there's no use lookin' at
+pictures. Let alone that the walls are so covered with 'em now a fly
+can't scarcely light without steppin' on some kind of scenery--let
+alone that, my judgment on pictures ain't any good. I cal'late that's
+considered pretty fine, ain't it?" pointing to a painting in the gallery
+where they then were.
+
+"Yes," replied the dealer, much amused. "That is a good specimen of the
+modern impressionist school."
+
+"Humph! Cookin' school, I shouldn't wonder. I'd call it a portrait of a
+plate of scrambled eggs, if 'twa'n't for that green thing that's either
+a cow or a church in the offin'. Out of soundin's again, I am! But I
+knew she liked pictures, and so.... However, let's set sail for a
+jewelry store."
+
+The sixth shop of this variety which they visited happened to be one of
+the largest and most fashionable in the city. Here the captain's fancy
+was taken by a gold chain for the neck, set with tiny emeralds.
+
+"That's pretty--sort of--ain't it, Jim?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied his companion, with emphasis, "it is. And I think you'll
+find it is expensive, also."
+
+"That so? How much?" turning to the salesman.
+
+The latter gave the price of the chain. Captain Elisha whistled.
+
+"Whew! Jerushy!" he exclaimed. "And it wouldn't much more than go around
+my wrist, at that. All the same size, are they?"
+
+"No. Some are longer. The longer ones are higher priced, of course."
+
+"Sartin! They're for fleshy folks, I s'pose. Mrs. Thoph Kenney down
+home, she'd have to splice three of 'em together to make the round trip.
+Thoph's always scared he won't get his money's wuth in a trade, but he
+couldn't kick when he got her. To give the minister a dollar and walk
+off with two hundred and eighty pounds of wife is showin' some business
+sagacity, hey? To do him justice, I will say that _he_ seems to be
+satisfied; she's the one that does the complainin'. I guess this is the
+most expensive counter in the store, ain't it, Mister?"
+
+The clerk laughed. "No, indeed," he said. "These are all moderate priced
+goods. I wonder," turning to Pearson, "if your friend wouldn't like to
+see some of our choice pieces. It is a quiet day here, and I shall be
+glad to show them."
+
+He led the way to a set of show cases near the door on the Fifth Avenue
+side. There before Captain Elisha's dazzled eyes were displayed diamond
+necklaces and aigrettes, tiaras and brooches, the figures on their price
+tags running high into the thousands. Pearson and the good-natured clerk
+enjoyed themselves hugely.
+
+"Jim," said the captain after a little of this, "is there a police
+officer lookin' this way?"
+
+Pearson laughed. "I guess not," he answered. "Why? The temptation isn't
+getting too much for your honesty, is it?"
+
+"No," with a sigh, "but I'm carryin' a forty dollar watch and wearin' a
+ring that cost fifteen. I thought they was some punkins till I begun
+to look at this stuff. Now they make me feel so mean and poverty-struck
+that I expect to be took up for a tramp any minute. Mister," to the
+clerk, "you run right along and wrap up that chain I was lookin' at.
+Hurry! or I'll be ashamed to carry anything so cheap."
+
+"Think she'll like it, do you, Jim?" he asked, when they were once more
+out of doors with the purchase in his inside pocket.
+
+"She ought, certainly," replied Pearson. "It's a beautiful thing."
+
+"Yes. Well, you see," apologetically, "I wanted to give her somethin'
+pretty good. 'Bije always did, and I didn't want to fall too fur behind.
+But," with a chuckle, "you needn't mention the price to anybody. If
+Abbie--my second cousin keepin' house for me, she is--if Abbie heard
+of it she'd be for puttin' me in an asylum. Abbie's got a hair
+breastpin and a tortoise shell comb, but she only wears 'em to the
+Congregationalist meetin'-house, where she's reasonably sure there ain't
+likely to be any sneak-thieves. She went to a Unitarian sociable once,
+but she carried 'em in a bag inside her dress."
+
+Captain Elisha planned to surprise his niece with the gift at breakfast
+on the morning of her birthday, but, after reflection, decided to
+postpone the presentation until dinner time. The inevitable Dunns had
+taken upon themselves the duty of caring for the girl and her brother
+during the major part of the day. The yellow car appeared at the door
+at ten o'clock and bore the two away. Caroline assured her guardian,
+however, that they would return in season for the evening meal.
+
+The captain spent lonely but busy hours until dinner time came. He had
+done some scheming on his own hook and, after a long argument with
+the cook, re�nforced by a small sum in cash, had prevailed upon that
+haughty domestic to fashion a birthday cake of imposing exterior and
+indigestible make-up. Superintending the icing of this masterpiece
+occupied some time. He then worried Edwards into a respectful but
+stubborn fury by suggesting novelties in the way of table arrangement.
+Another bestowal of small change quelled the disturbance. Then came,
+by messenger, a dozen American Beauty roses with Mr. Pearson's card
+attached. These the captain decided should be placed in the center of
+the festive board. As a center piece had been previously provided, there
+was more argument. The cook took the butler's side in the debate, and
+the pair yielded only when Captain Elisha again dived into his pocket.
+
+"But I warn you, all hands," he observed, "that this is the last time.
+My right fist's got a cramp in it this minute, and you couldn't open it
+again with a cold chisel."
+
+At last, however, everything was as it should be, and he sat down in the
+library to await the coming of the young people. The gold chain in its
+handsome leather case, the latter enclosed in the jeweler's box, was
+carefully laid beside Caroline's place at the table. The dinner was
+ready, the cake, candles and all--the captain had insisted upon twenty
+candles--was ready, also. There was nothing to do but wait--and he
+waited.
+
+Six-thirty was the usual dinner hour. It passed. Seven o'clock struck,
+then eight, and still Captain Elisha sat alone in the library. The cook
+sent word that the dinner was ruined. Edwards respectfully asked, "What
+shall I do, sir?" twice, the second time being sent flying with an order
+to "Go for'ard and keep your hatches closed!" The nautical phraseology
+was lost upon the butler, but the tone and manner of delivery were quite
+understandable.
+
+Several times the captain rose from his chair to telephone the Dunn
+house and ask the reason for delay. Each time he decided not to do so.
+No doubt there were good reasons; Caroline and her brother had been
+detained; perhaps the automobile had broken down--the things were always
+breaking down just at the most inconvenient times; perhaps.... Well, at
+any rate, he would not 'phone just yet; he would wait a little longer.
+
+At last the bell rang. Captain Elisha sprang up, smiling, his impatience
+and worry forgotten, and, pushing the butler aside, hurried to open
+the door himself. He did so and faced, not his niece and nephew, but
+Pearson.
+
+"Good evening, Captain," hailed the young man, cheerily. "Didn't expect
+me, did you? I dropped in for a moment to shake hands with you and to
+offer congratulations to Miss Warren." Then, noticing the expression on
+his friend's face, he added, "What's the matter? Anything wrong? Am I
+intruding?"
+
+"No, no! Course not. You're as welcome as another egg in a poor man's
+hen-house. Come right in and take off your things. I'm glad to see you.
+Only--well, the fact is I thought 'twas Caroline comin' home. She and
+Stevie was to be here over two hours ago, and I can't imagine what's
+keepin' 'em."
+
+He insisted upon his visitor's remaining, although the latter, when he
+understood the situation, was reluctant to do so.
+
+"Caroline'll be real glad to see you, Jim, I know," the captain said.
+"And I want you to stay for my sake. Between pacifyin' the Commodore
+and frettin' over what couldn't possibly happen, I was half dead of the
+fidgets. Stay and cheer me up, there's a good feller. I'd just about
+reached the stage where I had the girl and boy stove to flinders under
+that pesky auto. I'd even begun to figger on notifyin' the undertaker.
+Tell me I'm an old fool and then talk about somethin' else. They'll be
+here any minute."
+
+But a good many minutes passed, and still they did not come. Pearson,
+aware of his companion's growing anxiety, chatted of the novel, of the
+people at the boarding house, of anything and everything he could think
+of likely to divert attention from the one important topic. The answers
+he received were more and more brief and absent. At last, when Edwards
+again appeared, appealingly mute, at the entrance to the dining room,
+Captain Elisha, with a sigh which was almost a groan, surrendered.
+
+"I guess," he said, reluctantly, "I guess, Jim, there ain't any use
+waitin' any longer. Somethin's kept 'em, and they won't be here for
+dinner. You and I'll set down and eat--though I ain't got the appetite I
+cal'lated to have."
+
+Pearson had dined hours before, but he followed his friend, resolved to
+please the latter by going through the form of pretending to eat.
+
+They sat down together. Captain Elisha, with a rueful smile, pointed to
+the floral centerpiece.
+
+"There's your posies, Jim," he observed. "Look pretty, don't they. She
+ain't seen 'em yet, but she'll like 'em when she does. And that over
+there, is her present from me. Stevie gave her a box of gloves, and I
+expect, from what Mrs. Dunn hinted, that she and that son of hers gave
+her somethin' fine. She'll show us when she gets here. What's this,
+Commodore? Oysters, hey? Well, they ought to taste like home. They're
+'Cape Cods'; I wouldn't have anything else."
+
+"We won't touch the birthday cake, Jim," he added, a little later.
+"She's got to cut that herself."
+
+The soup was only lukewarm, but neither of them commented on the fact.
+The captain had scarcely tasted of his, when he paused, his spoon in
+air.
+
+"Hey?" he exclaimed. "Listen! What's that? By the everlastin', it _is_.
+Here they are, at _last_!"
+
+He sprang up with such enthusiasm that his chair tipped backwards
+against the butler's devoted shins. Pearson, almost as much pleased,
+also rose.
+
+Captain Elisha paid scant attention to the chair incident.
+
+"What are you waitin' for?" he demanded, whirling on Edwards, who was
+righting the chair with one hand and rubbing his knee with the other.
+"Don't you hear 'em at the door? Let 'em in!"
+
+He reached the library first, his friend following more leisurely.
+Caroline and Stephen had just entered.
+
+"Well!" he cried, in his quarter-deck voice, his face beaming with
+relief and delight, "you _are_ here, ain't you! I begun to think....
+Why, what's the matter?"
+
+The question was addressed to Stephen, who stood nearest to him. The boy
+did not deign to reply. With a contemptuous grunt, he turned scornfully
+away from his guardian.
+
+"What is it, Caroline?" demanded Captain Elisha. "_Has_ anything
+happened?"
+
+The girl looked coldly at him. A new brooch--Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's
+birthday gift--sparkled at her throat.
+
+"No accident has happened, if that is what you mean," she said.
+
+"But--why, yes, that was what I meant. You was so awful late, and you
+know you said you'd be home for dinner, so--"
+
+"I changed my mind. Come, Steve."
+
+She turned to leave the room. Pearson, at that moment, entered it.
+Stephen saw him first.
+
+"_What_?" he cried. "Well, of all the nerve! Look, Caro!"
+
+"Jim--Mr. Pearson, I mean--ran in a few minutes ago," explained Captain
+Elisha, bewildered and stammering. "He thought of course we'd had dinner
+and--and--he just wanted to wish you many happy returns, Caroline."
+
+Pearson had extended his hand and a "Good evening" was on his lips.
+Stephen's strange behavior and language caused him to halt. He flushed,
+awkward, surprised, and indignant.
+
+Caroline turned and saw him. She started, and her cheeks also grew
+crimson. Then, recovering, she looked him full in the face, and
+deliberately and disdainfully turned her back.
+
+"Come, Steve!" she said again, and walked from the room.
+
+Her brother hesitated, glared at Pearson, and then stalked haughtily
+after her.
+
+Captain Elisha's bewilderment was supreme. He stared, open-mouthed,
+after his nephew and niece, and then turned slowly to his friend.
+
+"What on earth, Jim," he stammered. "What's it _mean_?"
+
+Pearson shrugged his shoulders. "I think I know what it means," he said.
+"I presume that Miss Warren and her brother have learned of my trouble
+with their father."
+
+"Hey? No! you don't think _that's_ it."
+
+"I think there's no doubt of it."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"I don't know how. What I do know is that I should not have come here. I
+felt it and, if you will remember, I said so. I was a fool. Good night,
+Captain."
+
+Hot and furiously angry at his own indecision which had placed him in
+this humiliating situation, he was striding towards the hall. Captain
+Elisha seized his arm.
+
+"Stay where you are, Jim!" he commanded. "If the trouble's what you
+think it is, I'm more to blame than anybody else, and you sha'n't leave
+this house till I've done my best to square you."
+
+"Thank you; but I don't wish to be 'squared.' I've done nothing to be
+ashamed of, and I have borne as many insults as I can stand. I'm going."
+
+"No, you ain't. Not yet. I want you to stay."
+
+At that moment Stephen's voice reached them from the adjoining room.
+
+"I tell you I shall, Caro!" it proclaimed, fiercely. "Do you suppose
+I'm going to permit that fellow to come here again--or to go until he is
+made to understand what we think of him and why? No, by gad! I'm the man
+of this family, and I'll tell him a few things."
+
+Pearson's jaw set grimly.
+
+"You may let go of my wrist, Captain Warren," he said; "I'll stay."
+
+Possibly Stephen's intense desire to prove his manliness made him
+self-conscious. At any rate, he never appeared more ridiculously boyish
+than when, an instant later, he marched into the library and confronted
+his uncle and Pearson.
+
+"I--I want to say--" he began, majestically; "I want to say--"
+
+He paused, choking, and brandished his fist.
+
+"I want to say--" he began again.
+
+"All right, Stevie," interrupted the captain, dryly, "then I'd say it if
+I was you. I guess it's time you did."
+
+"I want to--to tell that fellow _there_," with a vicious stab of his
+forefinger in the direction of Pearson, "that I consider him an--an
+ingrate--and a scoundrel--and a miserable--"
+
+"Steady!" Captain Elisha's interruption was sharp this time. "Steady
+now! Leave out the pet names. What is it you've got to tell?"
+
+"I--my sister and I have found out what a scoundrel he is, that's what!
+We've learned of the lies he wrote about father. We know that he was
+responsible for all that cowardly, lying stuff in the _Planet_--all that
+about the Trolley Combine. And we don't intend that he shall sneak into
+this house again. If he was the least part of a man, he would never have
+come."
+
+"Mr. Warren--" began Pearson, stepping forward. The captain interrupted.
+
+"Hold on, Jim!" he said. "Just a minute now. You've learned somethin',
+you say, Stevie. The Dunns told you, I s'pose."
+
+"Never mind who told me!"
+
+"I don't--much. But I guess we'd better have a clear understandin', all
+of us. Caroline, will you come in here, please?"
+
+He stepped toward the door. Stephen sprang in front of him.
+
+"My sister doesn't intend to cheapen herself by entering that man's
+presence," he declared, hotly. "I'll deal with him, myself!"
+
+"All right. But I guess she'd better be here, just the same. Caroline, I
+want you."
+
+"She sha'n't come!"
+
+"Yes, she shall. Caroline!"
+
+The boy would have detained him, but he pushed him firmly aside and
+walked toward the door. Before he reached it, however, his niece
+appeared.
+
+"Well?" she said, coldly. "What is it you want of me?"
+
+"I want you to hear Mr. Pearson's side of this business--and
+mine--before you do anything you'll be sorry for."
+
+"I think I've heard quite enough of Mr. Pearson already. Nothing he can
+say or do will make me more sorry than I am, or humiliate me more than
+the fact that I have treated him as a friend."
+
+The icy contempt in her tone was cutting. Pearson's face was white, but
+he spoke clearly and with deliberation.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "I must insist that you listen for another
+moment. I owe you an apology for--"
+
+"Apology!" broke in Stephen, with a scornful laugh. "Apology! Well, by
+gad! Just hear that, Caro!"
+
+The girl's lip curled. "I do not wish to hear your apology," she said.
+
+"But I wish you to hear it. Not for my attitude in the Trolley
+matter, nor for what I published in the _Planet_. Nor for my part in
+the disagreement with your father. I wrote the truth and nothing more. I
+considered it right then--I told your father so--and I have not changed
+my mind. I should act exactly the same under similar circumstances."
+
+"You blackguard!" shouted Stephen. Pearson ignored him utterly.
+
+"I do owe you an apology," he continued, "for coming here, as I have
+done, knowing that you were ignorant of the affair. I believe now that
+you are misinformed as to the facts, but that is immaterial. You should
+have been told of my trouble with Mr. Warren. I should have insisted
+upon it. That I did not do so is my fault and I apologize; but for that
+only. Good evening."
+
+He shook himself free from the captain's grasp, bowed to the trio, and
+left the room. An instant later the outer door closed behind him.
+
+Caroline turned to her brother. "Come, Steve," she said.
+
+"Stay right where you are!" Captain Elisha did not request now, he
+commanded. "Stevie, stand still. Caroline, I want to talk to you."
+
+The girl hesitated. She had never been spoken to in that tone before.
+Her pride had been already deeply wounded by what she had learned that
+afternoon; she was fiercely resentful, angry, and rebellious. She was
+sure she never hated anyone as she did this man who ordered her to stay
+and listen to him. But--she stayed.
+
+"Caroline," said Captain Elisha, after a moment of silence, "I presume
+likely--of course I don't know for sartin, but I presume likely it's
+Mrs. Dunn and that son of hers who've told you what you think you know."
+
+"It doesn't concern you who told us!" blustered Stephen, pushing
+forward. He might have been a fly buzzing on the wall for all the
+attention his uncle paid him.
+
+"I presume likely the Dunns told you, Caroline," he repeated, calmly.
+
+His niece met his gaze stubbornly.
+
+"Well," she answered, "and if they did? Wasn't it necessary we should
+know it? Oh!" with a shudder of disgust, "I wish I could make you
+understand how ashamed I feel--how _wicked_ and ashamed I feel that
+I--_I_ should have disgraced father's memory by.... Oh, but there! I
+can't! Yes; Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm did tell us--many things. Thank God
+that we _have_ friends to tell us the truth!"
+
+"Amen!" quietly. "I'll say amen to that, Caroline, any time. Only I want
+you to be sure those you call friends are real ones and that the truths
+they tell ain't like the bait on a fishhook, put on _for_ bait and just
+thick enough to cover the barb."
+
+"Do you mean to insinuate--" screamed the irrepressible nephew, wild
+at being so completely ignored. His uncle again paid not the slightest
+attention.
+
+"But that ain't neither here nor there now," he went on. "Caroline, Mr.
+Pearson just told you that his coming to this house without tellin' you
+fust of his quarrel with 'Bije was his fault. That ain't so. The fault
+was mine altogether. He told me the whole story; told me that he hadn't
+called since it happened, on that very account. And I took the whole
+responsibility and _asked_ him to come. I did! Do you know why?"
+
+If he expected an answer none was given. Caroline's lids drooped
+disdainfully. "Steve," she said, "let us go."
+
+"Stop! You'll stay here until I finish. I want to say that I didn't tell
+you about the Trolley fuss because I wanted you to learn some things for
+yourself. I wanted you to know Mr. Pearson--to find out what sort of man
+he was afore you judged him. Then, when you had known him long enough
+to understand he wasn't a liar and a blackguard, and all that Steve has
+called him, I was goin' to tell you the whole truth, not a part of it.
+And, after that, I was goin' to let you decide for yourself what to do.
+I'm a lot older than you are; I've mixed with all sorts of folks; I'm
+past the stage where I can be fooled by--by false hair or soft soap. You
+can't pour sweet oil over a herrin' and make me believe it's a sardine.
+I know the Pearson stock. I've sailed over a heap of salt water with
+one of the family. And I've kept my eyes open since I've run acrost this
+particular member. And I knew your father, too, Caroline Warren. And
+I say to you now that, knowin' Jim Pearson and 'Bije Warren--yes, and
+knowin' the rights and wrongs of that Trolley business quite as well as
+Malcolm Dunn or anybody else--I say to you that, although 'Bije was my
+brother, I'd bet my life that Jim had all the right on his side. There!
+that's the truth, and no hook underneath it. And some day you'll realize
+it, too."
+
+He had spoken with great vehemence. Now he took a handkerchief from his
+pocket and wiped his forehead. When he again looked at his niece, he
+found her staring intently at him; and her eyes blazed.
+
+"Have you quite finished--now?" she demanded. "Steve, be quiet!"
+
+"Why, yes, I guess so, pretty nigh. I s'pose there ain't much use to say
+more. If I was to tell you that I've tried to do for you and Steve in
+this--same as in everything else since I took this job--as if you
+were my own children, you wouldn't believe it. If I was to tell you,
+Caroline, that I'd come to think an awful lot of you, you wouldn't
+believe that, either. I did hope that since our other misunderstandin'
+was cleared up, and you found I wa'n't what you thought I was, you'd
+come to me and ask questions afore passin' judgment; but perhaps--"
+
+And now she interrupted, bursting out at him in a blast of scorn which
+took his breath away.
+
+"Oh, stop! stop!" she cried. "Don't say any more. You have insulted
+father's memory, and defended the man who slandered him. Isn't that
+enough? Why must you go on to prove yourself a greater hypocrite? We
+learned, my brother and I, to-day more than the truth concerning your
+_friend_. We learned that you have lied--yes, lied--and--"
+
+"Steady, Caroline! be careful. I wouldn't say what I might be sorry for
+later."
+
+"Sorry! Captain Warren, you spoke of my misjudging you. I thought I had,
+and I was sorry. To-day I learned that your attitude in that affair was
+a lie like the rest. _You_ did not pay for Mr. Moriarty's accident. Mr.
+Dunn's money paid those bills. And you allowed the family--and me--to
+thank _you_ for your generosity. Oh, I'm ashamed to be near you!"
+
+"There! There! Caroline, be still. I--"
+
+"I shall not be still. I have been still altogether too long. You are
+our guardian. We can't help that, I suppose. Father asked you to be
+that, for some reason; but did he ask you to _live_ here where you are
+not wanted? To shame us before our friends, ladies and gentlemen so far
+above you in every way? And to try to poison our minds against them and
+sneer at them when they are kind to us and even try to be kind to
+you? No, he did not! Oh, I'm sick of it all! your deceit and your
+hypocritical speeches and your pretended love for us. _Love_! Oh, if I
+could say something that would make you understand how thoroughly we
+despise you, and how your presence, ever since you forced it upon Steve
+and me, has disgraced us! If I only could! I--I--"
+
+She had been near to tears ever since Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, in the
+kindness of her heart, told her the "truth" that afternoon. But pride
+and indignation had prevented her giving way. Now, however, she broke
+down.
+
+"Oh--oh, Steve!" she cried, and, turning to her brother, sobbed
+hysterically on his shoulder. "Oh, Steve, what shall we do?"
+
+Stephen put his arm about her waist. "It's all right, Sis," he said
+soothingly. "Don't cry before _him_! I guess," with a glance at his
+uncle, "you've said enough to make even him understand--at last."
+
+Captain Elisha looked gravely at the pair. "I guess you have," he said
+slowly. "I guess you have, Caroline. Anyhow, I can't think offhand of
+anything you've left out. I could explain some things, but what's the
+use? And," with a sigh, "you may be right in a way. Perhaps I shouldn't
+have come here to live. If you'd only told me plain afore just how you
+felt, I'd--maybe I'd--but there! I didn't know--I didn't know. You see,
+I thought.... However, I guess that part of your troubles is over. But,"
+he added, firmly, "wherever I am, or wherever I go, you must understand
+that I'm your guardian, just the same. I considered a long spell afore I
+took the place, and I never abandoned a ship yet, once I took command of
+her. And I'll stick to this one! Yes, sir! I'll stick to it in spite of
+the devil--or the Dunns, either. Till you and your brother are of age
+I'm goin' to look out for you and your interests and your money; and
+nothin' nor nobody shall stop me. As for forcin' my company on you,
+though, that well, that's different. I cal'late you won't have to worry
+any more. Good night."
+
+He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked slowly from the library.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+Stephen, the "man of the family," was the only member of the household,
+servants excepted, who slept soundly that night. Conscious of having
+done his duty in the affair with Pearson and his guardian, and somewhat
+fatigued by the disagreeable task of soothing his hysterical sister, he
+was slumbering peacefully at nine the next morning when awakened by a
+series of raps on his bedroom door.
+
+"Ah! What? Well, what is it?" he demanded, testily opening his eyes.
+"Edwards, is that you? What the devil do you mean by making such a row?"
+
+The voice which answered was not the butler's, but Caroline's.
+
+"Steve! Oh, Steve!" she cried. "Do get up and come out! Come, quick!"
+
+"What's the matter?" inquired the young man, sitting up in bed. "Is the
+house afire?"
+
+"No, no! But do come! I want you. Something has happened."
+
+"Happened? What is it?"
+
+"I can't tell you here. Please dress and come to me as quick as you
+can."
+
+Stephen, wondering and somewhat alarmed, dressed with unusual
+promptitude and obeyed. He found his sister standing by the library
+window, a letter in her hand. She looked troubled and anxious.
+
+"Well, Caro," observed the boy, "here I am. What in the world's up now?"
+
+She turned.
+
+"Oh, Steve!" she exclaimed, "he's gone!"
+
+"Gone? Who?"
+
+"Captain Warren. He's gone."
+
+"Gone? Gone where? Caro, you don't mean he's--_dead_?"
+
+"No, he's gone--gone and left us."
+
+Her brother's expression changed to incredulous joy.
+
+"What?" he shouted. "You mean he's quit? Cleared out? Left here for
+good?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hurrah! Excuse me while I gloat! Hurrah! We got it through his skull
+at last! Is it possible? But--but hold on! Perhaps it's too good to be
+true. Are you sure? How do you know?"
+
+"He says so. See."
+
+She handed him the letter. It was addressed to "My dear Caroline" and
+in it Captain Elisha stated his intentions succinctly. After the plain
+speaking of the previous evening he should not, of course, burden them
+with his society any longer. He was leaving that morning, and, as soon
+as he "located permanent moorings somewhere else" would notify his niece
+and nephew of his whereabouts.
+
+    "For," he added, "as I told you, although I shall not impose
+    my company on you, I am your guardian same as ever. I will
+    see that your allowance comes to you regular, including
+    enough for all household bills and pay for the hired help and
+    so on. If you need any extras at any time let me know and, if
+    they seem to me right and proper, I will send money for them.
+    You will stay where you are, Caroline, and Stevie must go
+    back to college right away. Tell him I say so, and if he does
+    not I shall begin reducing his allowance according as I wrote
+    him. He will understand what I mean. I guess that is all
+    until I send you my address and any other sailing orders that
+    seem necessary to me then. And, Caroline, I want you and
+    Stevie to feel that I am your anchor to windward, and when
+    you get in a tight place, if you ever do, you can depend on
+    me. Last night's talk has no bearing on that whatever.
+    Good-by, then, until my next.
+
+               "ELISHA WARREN."
+
+Stephen read this screed to the end, then crumpled it in his fist and
+threw it angrily on the floor.
+
+"The nerve!" he exclaimed. "He seems to think I'm a sailor on one of his
+ships, to be ordered around as he sees fit. I'll go back to college when
+I'm good and ready--not before."
+
+Caroline shook her head. "Oh, no!" she said. "You must go to-day. He's
+right, Steve; it's the thing for you to do. He and I were agreed as to
+that. And you wouldn't stay and make it harder for me, would you, dear?"
+
+He growled a reluctant assent. "I suppose I shall have to go," he said,
+sullenly. "My allowance is too beastly small to have him cutting it; and
+the old shark would do that very thing; he'd take delight in doing it,
+confound him! Well, he knows what we think of him, that's some comfort."
+
+She did not answer. He looked at her curiously.
+
+"Why, hang it all, Caro!" he exclaimed in disgust; "what ails you?
+Blessed if I sha'n't begin to believe you're sorry he's gone. You act as
+if you were."
+
+"No, I'm not. Of course I'm not. I'm--I'm glad. He couldn't stay, of
+course. But I'm afraid--I can't help feeling that you and I were too
+harsh last night. We said things--dreadful things--"
+
+"Be hanged! We didn't say half enough. Oh, don't be a fool, Caro! I was
+just beginning to be proud of your grit. And now you want to take it all
+back. Honestly, girls are the limit! You don't know your own minds for
+twelve consecutive hours. Answer me now! _Are_ you sorry he's gone?"
+
+"No. No, I'm not, really. But I--I feel somehow as if--as if everything
+was on my shoulders. You're going away, and he's gone, and--What is it,
+Edwards?"
+
+The butler entered, with a small parcel in his hand.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Caroline," he said. "I should have given you
+this last evening. It was by your place at the table. I think Captain
+Warren put it there, miss."
+
+Caroline took the parcel and looked at it wonderingly.
+
+"For me?" she repeated.
+
+"Yes, Miss Caroline. It is marked with your name. And breakfast is
+served, when you and Mr. Stephen are ready."
+
+He bowed and retired. The girl sat turning the little white box in her
+hands.
+
+"_He_ left it for me," she said. "What can it be?"
+
+Her brother snatched it impatiently.
+
+"Why don't you open it and find out?" he demanded. "Perhaps it's his
+latch key. Here! I'll do it myself."
+
+He cut the cord and removed the cover of the little box. Inside was the
+jeweler's leather case. He took it out and pressed the spring. The cover
+flew up.
+
+"Whew!" he whistled. "It's a present. And rather a decent one, too, by
+gad! Look, Caro!"
+
+He handed her the open case. She looked at the chain, spread carefully
+on the white satin lining. Inside the cover was fitted a card. She
+turned it over and read: "To my niece, Caroline. With wishes for many
+happy returns, and much love, from her Uncle Elisha Warren."
+
+She sat gazing at the card. Stephen bent down, read the inscription,
+and then looked up into her face.
+
+"_What_?" he cried. "I believe--You're not _crying_! Well, I'll be
+hanged! Sis, you _are_ a fool!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The weather that morning was fine and clear. James Pearson, standing
+by the window of his rooms at the boarding house, looking out at the
+snow-covered roofs sparkling in the sun, was miserable. When he retired
+the night before it was with a solemn oath to forget Caroline Warren
+altogether; to put her and her father and the young cad, her brother,
+utterly from his mind, never to be thought of again. As a preliminary
+step in this direction, he began, the moment his head touched the
+pillow, to review, for the fiftieth time, the humiliating scene in the
+library, to think of things he should have said, and--worse than all--to
+recall, word for word, the things she had said to him. In this cheerful
+occupation he passed hours before falling asleep. And, when he woke, it
+was to begin all over again.
+
+Why--_why_ had he been so weak as to yield to Captain Elisha's advice?
+Why had he not acted like a sensible, self-respecting man, done what he
+knew was right, and persisted in his refusal to visit the Warrens? Why?
+Because he was an idiot, of course--a hopeless idiot, who had got
+exactly what he deserved! Which bit of philosophy did not help make his
+reflections less bitter.
+
+He went down to breakfast when the bell rang, but his appetite was
+missing, and he replied only in monosyllables to the remarks addressed
+to him by his fellow boarders. Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, noticed the
+change.
+
+"You not ill, Mr. Pearson, I hope?" she queried. "I do hope you haven't
+got cold, sleeping with your windows wide open, as you say you do. Fresh
+air is a good thing, in moderation, but one should be careful. Don't you
+think so, Mr. Carson?"
+
+Mr. Carson was a thin little man, a bachelor, who occupied the smallest
+room on the third story. He was a clerk in a department store, and his
+board was generally in arrears. Therefore, when Mrs. Hepton expressed an
+opinion he made it a point to agree with her. In this instance, however,
+he merely grunted.
+
+"I say fresh air in one's sleeping room is a good thing in moderation.
+Don't you think so, Mr. Carson?" repeated the landlady.
+
+Mr. Carson rolled up his napkin and inserted it in the ring. His board,
+as it happened, was paid in full to date. Also, although he had not yet
+declared his intention, he intended changing lodgings at the end of the
+week.
+
+"Humph!" he sniffed, with sarcasm, "it may be. I couldn't get none in
+_my_ room if I wanted it, so I can't say sure. Morning."
+
+He departed hurriedly. Mrs. Hepton looked disconcerted. Mrs. Van Winkle
+Ruggles smiled meaningly across the table at Miss Sherborne, who smiled
+back.
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, quietly observed that he hoped Mr. Pearson
+had not gotten cold. Colds were prevalent at this time of the year.
+"'These are the days when the Genius of the weather sits in mournful
+meditation on the threshold,' as Mr. Dickens tells us," he added. "I
+presume he sits on the sills of open windows, also."
+
+The wife of the Mr. Dickens there present pricked up her ears.
+
+"When did you write that, 'C.' dear?" she asked, turning to her husband.
+"I remember it perfectly, of course, but I have forgotten, for the
+moment, in which of your writings it appears."
+
+The illustrious one's mouth being occupied with a section of scorching
+hot waffle, he was spared the necessity of confession.
+
+"Pardon me," said Mr. Ludlow. "I was not quoting our Mr. Dickens this
+time, but his famous namesake."
+
+The great "C." drowned the waffle with a swallow of water.
+
+"Maria," he snapped, "don't be so foolish. Ludlow quotes
+from--er--'Bleak House.' I have written some things--er--similar, but
+not that. Why don't you pass the syrup?"
+
+The bookseller, who was under the impression that he had quoted from the
+"Christmas Carol," merely smiled and remained silent.
+
+"My father, the Senator," began Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles, "was troubled
+with colds during his political career. I remember his saying that the
+Senate Chamber at the Capitol was extremely draughty. Possibly Mr.
+Pearson's ailment does come from sleeping in a draught. Not that father
+was accustomed to _sleep_ during the sessions--Oh, dear, no! not that,
+of course. How absurd!"
+
+She laughed gayly. Pearson, who seemed to think it time to say
+something, declared that, so far as he knew, he had no cold or any
+symptoms of one.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Hepton, with conviction, "something ails you, I know.
+We can all see it; can't we?" turning to the rest of the company. "Why,
+you've scarcely spoken since you sat down at the table. And you've eaten
+next to nothing. Perhaps there is some trouble, something on your mind
+which is worrying you. Oh, I _hope_ not!"
+
+"No doubt it is the preoccupation of genius," remarked Mrs. Dickens.
+"I'm sure it must be that. When 'C.' is engaged with some particularly
+trying literary problem he frequently loses all his appetite and does
+not speak for hours together. Isn't it so, dear?"
+
+"C.," who was painfully conscious that he might have made a miscue in
+the matter of the quotation, answered sharply.
+
+"No," he said. "Not at all. Don't be silly, Maria."
+
+Miss Sherborne clasped her hands. "_I_ know!" she exclaimed in mock
+rapture; "Mr. Pearson is in love!"
+
+This suggestion was received with applause and hilarity. Pearson pushed
+back his chair and rose.
+
+"I'm much obliged for this outburst of sympathy," he observed, dryly.
+"But, as I say, I'm perfectly well, and the other diagnoses are too
+flattering to be true. Good morning."
+
+Back in his room he seated himself at his desk, took the manuscript of
+his novel from the drawer, and sat moodily staring at it. He was in no
+mood for work. The very sight of the typewritten page disgusted him.
+As he now felt, the months spent on the story were time wasted. It was
+ridiculous for him to attempt such a thing; or to believe that he
+could carry it through successfully; or to dream that he would ever be
+anything better than a literary hack, a cheap edition of "C." Dickens,
+minus the latter's colossal self-satisfaction.
+
+He was still sitting there, twirling an idle pencil between his fingers,
+when he heard steps outside his door. Someone knocked.
+
+"Well, what is it?" he asked.
+
+His landlady answered.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, "may I see you?"
+
+He threw down the pencil and, rising, walked to the door and opened it.
+Mrs. Hepton was waiting in the hall. She seemed excited.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, "will you step downstairs with me for a moment?
+I have a surprise for you."
+
+"A surprise? What sort of a surprise?"
+
+"Oh, a pleasant one. At least I think it is going to be pleasant for all
+of us. But I'm not going to tell you what it is. You must come down and
+see for yourself."
+
+She led the way downstairs, the young man following her, wondering what
+the surprise might be, and fairly certain it, nor anything else, could
+be pleasant on that day.
+
+He supposed, of course, that he must descend to the parlor to reach the
+solution of the mystery, but he was mistaken. On the second floor Mrs.
+Hepton stopped and pointed.
+
+"It's in there," she said, pointing.
+
+"There" was the room formerly occupied by Mr. Saks, the long-haired
+artist. Since his departure it had been vacant. Pearson looked at the
+closed door and then at the lady.
+
+"A surprise for me in _there_?" he repeated. "What's the joke, Mrs.
+Hepton?"
+
+By way of answer she took him by the arm, and, leading him to the door,
+threw the latter open.
+
+"Here he is!" she said.
+
+"Hello, Jim!" hailed Captain Elisha Warren, cheerfully. "Ship ahoy! Glad
+to see you."
+
+He was standing in the middle of the room, his hat on the table and his
+hands in his pockets.
+
+Pearson was surprised; there was no doubt of that--not so much at the
+sight of his friend--he had expected to see or hear from the captain
+before the day was over--as at seeing him in that room. He could not
+understand what he was doing there.
+
+Captain Elisha noted his bewildered expression, and chuckled.
+
+"Come aboard, Jim!" he commanded. "Come in and inspect. I'll see you
+later, Mrs. Hepton," he added, "and give you my final word. I want to
+hold officer's council with Mr. Pearson here fust."
+
+The landlady accepted the broad hint and turned to go.
+
+"Very well," she said, "but I do hope for all our sakes that word will
+be _yes_, Mr. Warren--Excuse me, it is Captain Warren, isn't it?"
+
+"It used to be, yes, ma'am. And at home it is yet. 'Round here I've
+learned to be like a barroom poll-parrot, ready to answer to most
+everything. There!" as the door closed after her; "now we can be more
+private. Set down, Jim! How are you, anyway?"
+
+Pearson sat down mechanically. "I'm well enough--everything considered,"
+he replied, slowly. "But what--what are you in here for? I don't
+understand."
+
+"You will in a minute. What do you think of this--er--saloon cabin?"
+with a comprehensive sweep of his arm.
+
+The room was of fair size, furnished in a nondescript, boarding-house
+fashion, and with two windows overlooking the little back yard of
+the house and those of the other adjoining it. Each yard contained an
+assortment of ash cans, and there was an astonishing number of clothes
+lines, each fluttering a variety of garments peculiarly personal to
+their respective owners.
+
+"Pretty snug, ain't it?" continued the captain. "Not exactly up to that
+I've been luxuriatin' in lately, but more fittin' to my build and class
+than that was, I shouldn't wonder. No Corot paintin's nor five thousand
+dollar tintypes of dory codders; but I can manage to worry along without
+them, if I try hard. Neat but not gaudy, I call it--as the architect
+feller said about his plans for the addition to the county jail at
+Ostable. Hey? Ho! Ho!"
+
+Pearson began to get a clue to the situation.
+
+"Captain Warren," he demanded, "have you--Do you mean to say you've
+taken this room to _live_ in?"
+
+"No, I ain't said all that yet. I wanted to talk with you a little afore
+I said it. But that was my idea, if you and I agreed on sartin matters."
+
+"You've come here to live! You've left your--your niece's house?"
+
+"Ya-as, I've left. That is, I left the way the Irishman left the stable
+where they kept the mule. He said there was all out doors in front of
+him and only two feet behind. That's about the way 'twas with me."
+
+"Have your nephew and niece--"
+
+"Um-hm. They hinted that my room was better than my company, and, take
+it by and large, I guess they was right for the present, anyhow. I set
+up till three o'clock thinkin' it over, and then I decided to get out
+afore breakfast this mornin'. I didn't wait for any good-bys. They'd
+been said, or all I cared to hear"--Captain Elisha's smile disappeared
+for an instant--"last evenin'. The dose was sort of bitter, but it had
+the necessary effect. At any rate, I didn't hanker for another one. I
+remembered what your landlady told me when I was here afore, about this
+stateroom bein' vacated, and I come down to look at it. It suits me well
+enough; seems like a decent moorin's for an old salt water derelict like
+me; the price is reasonable, and I guess likely I'll take it. I _guess_
+I will."
+
+"Why do you guess? By George, I hope you will!"
+
+"Do you? I'm much obliged. I didn't know but after last night, after the
+scrape I got you into, you might feel--well, sort of as if you'd seen
+enough of me."
+
+The young man smiled bitterly. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "It was
+mine entirely. I'm quite old enough to decide matters for myself, and I
+should have decided as my reason, and not my inclinations, told me. You
+weren't to blame."
+
+"Yes, I was. If you're old enough, I'm _too_ old, I cal'late. But I did
+think--However, there's no use goin' over that. I ask your pardon, Jim.
+And you don't hold any grudge?"
+
+"Indeed I don't. I may be a fool--I guess I am--but not that kind."
+
+"Thanks. Well, there's one objection out of the way, then, only I don't
+want you to think that I've hove overboard that 'responsibility' I was
+so easy and fresh about takin' on my shoulders. It's there yet; and I'll
+see you squared with Caroline afore this v'yage is over, if I live."
+
+His friend frowned.
+
+"You needn't mind," he said. "I prefer that you drop the whole miserable
+business."
+
+"Well, maybe, but--Jim, you've taken hold of these electric batteries
+that doctors have sometimes? It's awful easy to grab the handles of one
+of those contraptions, but when you want to drop 'em you can't. They
+don't drop easy. I took hold of the handles of 'Bije's affairs, and,
+though it might be pleasanter to drop 'em, I can't--or I won't."
+
+"Then you're leaving your nephew and niece doesn't mean that you've
+given up the guardianship?"
+
+Captain Elisha's jaw set squarely.
+
+"I don't remember sayin' that it did," he answered, with decision.
+Then, his good-nature returning, he added, "And now, Jim, I'd like your
+opinion of these new quarters that I may take. What do you think of 'em?
+Come to the window and take a look at the scenery."
+
+Pearson joined him at the window. The captain waved toward the
+clothes-lines and grinned.
+
+"Looks as if there was some kind of jubilee, don't it," he observed.
+"Every craft in sight has strung the colors."
+
+Pearson laughed. Then he said:
+
+"Captain, I think the room will do. It isn't palatial, but one can live
+in worse quarters, as I know from experience."
+
+"Yup. Well, Jim, there's just one thing more. Have I disgraced you a
+good deal, bein' around with you and chummin' in with you the way I
+have? That is, do you _think_ I've disgraced you? Are you ashamed of
+me?"
+
+"I? Ashamed of _you_? You're joking!"
+
+"No, I'm serious. Understand now, I'm not apologizin'. My ways are my
+ways, and I think they're just as good as the next feller's, whether
+he's from South Denboro or--well, Broad Street. I've got a habit of
+thinkin' for myself and actin' for myself, and when I take off my hat
+it's to a bigger _man_ than I am and not to a more stylish hat. But,
+since I've lived here in New York, I've learned that, with a whole lot
+of folks, hats themselves count more than what's underneath 'em. I
+haven't changed mine, and I ain't goin' to. Now, with that plain and
+understood, do you want me to live here, in the same house with you? I
+ain't fishin' for compliments. I want an honest answer."
+
+He got it. Pearson looked him squarely in the eye.
+
+"I do," he said. "I like you, and I don't care a damn about your hat. Is
+that plain?"
+
+Captain Elisha's reply was delivered over the balusters in the hall.
+
+"Hi!" he called. "Hi, Mrs. Hepton."
+
+The landlady had been anxiously waiting. She ran from the dining room to
+the foot of the stairs.
+
+"Yes?" she cried. "What is it?"
+
+"It's a bargain," said the captain. "I'm ready to engage passage."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+Thus Captain Elisha entered another of New York's "circles," that which
+centered at Mrs. Hepton's boarding house. Within a week he was as much
+a part of it as if he had lived there for years. At lunch, on the day
+of his arrival, he made his appearance at the table in company with
+Pearson, and when the landlady exultantly announced that he was to be
+"one of our little party" thereafter, he received and replied to the
+welcoming salutations of his fellow boarders with unruffled serenity.
+
+"How could I help it?" he asked. "Human nature's liable to temptation,
+they tell us. The flavor of that luncheon we had last time I was here
+has been hangin' 'round the edges of my mouth and tantalizin' my memory
+ever since."
+
+"We had a souffle that noon, if I remember correctly, Captain," observed
+the flattered Mrs. Hepton.
+
+"Did you? Well, I declare! I'd have sworn 'twas a biled-dinner hash.
+Knew 'twas better than any I ever ate afore, but I'd have bet 'twas
+hash, just the same. Tut! tut! tut! Now, honest, Mrs. Hepton, ain't
+this--er--whatever-you-call-it a close relation--a sort of hash with its
+city clothes on, hey?"
+
+The landlady admitted that a souffle was something not unlike a hash.
+Captain Elisha nodded.
+
+"I thought so," he declared. "I was sartin sure I couldn't be mistaken.
+What is it used to be in the song book? 'You can smash--you can--' Well,
+I don't remember. Somethin' about your bein' able to smash the vase if
+you wanted to, but the smell of the posies was there yet."
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, supplied the quotation.
+
+       "'You may break, you may shatter
+           The vase if you will,
+         But the scent of the roses
+           Will cling to it still,'"
+
+he said, smiling.
+
+"That's it. Much obliged. You can warm up and rechristen the hash if you
+will; but the corned beef and cabbage stay right on deck. Ain't that so,
+Mr. Dickens?"
+
+The illustrious "C." bowed.
+
+"Moore?" he observed, with dignity.
+
+"Yes. That's what _I_ said--'More!' Said it twice, I believe. Glad you
+agree with me. The hymn says that weakness is sin, but there's no sin in
+havin' a weakness for corned-beef hash."
+
+Miss Sherborne and Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles were at first inclined to
+snub the new boarder, considering him a country boor whose presence in
+their select society was almost an insult. The captain did not seem to
+notice their hints or sneers, although Pearson grew red and wrathful.
+
+"Laura, my dear," said Mrs. Ruggles, addressing the teacher of vocal
+culture, "don't you feel quite rural to-day? Almost as if you were
+visiting the country?"
+
+"I do, indeed," replied Miss Sherborne. "Refreshing, isn't it? Ha! ha!"
+
+"It is if one cares for such things. I am afraid _I_ don't appreciate
+them. They may be well enough in their place, but--"
+
+She finished with a shrug of her shoulders. Captain Elisha smiled.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he said politely, joining in the conversation; "that's
+what the boy said about the cooky crumbs in the bed. You don't care for
+the country, I take it, ma'am."
+
+"I do _not_!"
+
+"So? Well, it's a mercy we don't think alike; even Heaven would be
+crowded if we did--hey? You didn't come from the country, either?"
+turning to Miss Sherborne.
+
+The young lady would have liked to answer with an uncompromising
+negative. Truth and the fact that some of those present were acquainted
+with it compelled her to forego this pleasure.
+
+"I was born in a--a small town," she answered coldly. "But I came to the
+city as soon as I possibly could."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, I came when I couldn't possibly stay away. We can agree
+on one thing--we're all here. Yes, and on another--that that cake
+is fust-rate. I'll take a second piece, if you've no objection, Mrs.
+Hepton."
+
+When they were alone once more, in the captain's room, Pearson vented
+his indignation.
+
+"Why didn't you give them as good as they sent?" he demanded. "Couldn't
+you see they were doing their best to hurt your feelings?"
+
+"Ya-as. I could see it. Didn't need any specs to see that."
+
+"Then why didn't you answer them as they deserved?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. What's the use? They've got troubles of their own.
+One of 'em's a used-to-be, and the other's a never-was. Either disease
+is bad enough without addin' complications."
+
+Pearson laughed. "I don't get the whole of that, Captain," he said.
+"Mrs. Van is the used-to-be, I suppose. But what is it that Miss
+Sherborne never was?"
+
+"Married," was the prompt reply. "Old maiditis is creepin' on her fast.
+You want to be careful, Jim; a certain kind of female gets desperate
+about her stage."
+
+Pearson laughed again.
+
+"Oh, get out!" he exclaimed, turning to go.
+
+"All right! I will, when you and she are together and you give me the
+signal. But I tell you honest, I'd hate to do it. Judgin' by the way she
+smiles and looks up under her eye-winkers at you, you're in danger
+of kidnappin'. So long. I'll see you again after I get my dunnage
+unpacked."
+
+The snubbing and sneering came to an abrupt end. Pearson, in
+conversation with Mrs. Ruggles, casually imparted the information that
+Captain Elisha was the brother of A. Rodgers Warren, late society leader
+and wealthy broker. Also, that he had entire charge of the latter's
+estate. Thereafter Mrs. Ruggles treated the captain as one whose rank
+was equal to her own, and, consequently, higher than anyone's else
+in the boarding-house. She made it a point to publicly ask his advice
+concerning "securities" and "investments," and favored him with many
+reminiscences of her distinguished father, the Senator. Miss Sherborne,
+as usual, followed her lead. Captain Elisha, when Pearson joked him on
+the altered behavior of the two ladies, merely grinned.
+
+"You may thank me for that, Captain," said the young man. "When I told
+Mrs. Ruggles who and what you were she almost broke down and sobbed.
+The fact that she had risked offending one so closely connected with the
+real thing on Fifth Avenue and Wall Street was too dreadful. But she's
+yours devotedly now. There's an 18-karat crown on your head."
+
+"Yup. I suppose so. Well, I ain't so sot up with pride over wearin'
+that crown. It used to belong to 'Bije, and I never did care much for
+second-hand things. Rather have a new sou'wester of my own, any day in
+the week. When I buy a sou'wester I know what it's made of."
+
+"Mrs. Ruggles knows what the crown is made of--gold, nicely padded with
+bonds and preferred stock."
+
+"Humph! Sometimes I wonder if the paddin's waterproof. As for the
+gold--well, you can make consider'ble shine with brass when you're
+dealin' with nigh-sighted folks ... and children."
+
+To this indirect reference to Miss Warren and her brother Pearson made
+no reply. The pair conversed freely on other subjects, but each avoided
+this one. The novel, too, was laid on the shelf for the present. Its
+author had not yet mustered sufficient courage to return to it. Captain
+Elisha once or twice suggested a session with "Cap'n Jim," but, finding
+his suggestions received with more or less indifference, did not press
+them. His mind was busy with other things. A hint dropped by Sylvester,
+the lawyer, was one of these. It suggested alarming possibilities, and
+his skepticism concerning the intrinsic worth of his inherited "crown"
+was increased by it.
+
+He paid frequent visits to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves in
+Pine Street. Upon the senior partner, whom he esteemed and trusted not
+only as a business adviser but a friend, he depended for information
+concerning happenings at the Warren apartment.
+
+Caroline sent him regular statements of her weekly expenditures, also
+bills for his approval, but she had written him but once, and then only
+a brief note. The note brought by a messenger, accompanied a
+package containing the chain which he and Pearson selected with such
+deliberation and care at the Fifth Avenue jeweler's. Under the existing
+circumstances, the girl wrote, she felt that she did not wish to accept
+presents from him and therefore returned this one. He was alone when the
+note and package came and sat by the window of his room, looking out at
+the dismal prospect of back yards and clothes-lines, turning the leather
+case over and over in his hands. Perhaps this was the most miserable
+afternoon he had spent since his arrival in the city. He tried to
+comfort himself by the exercise of his usual philosophy, but it was cold
+comfort. He had no right to expect gratitude, so he told himself, and
+the girl undoubtedly felt that she was justified in her treatment of
+him; but it is hard to be misunderstood and misjudged, even by one whose
+youth is, perhaps, an excuse. He forgave Caroline, but he could not
+forgive those who were responsible for her action.
+
+After Pearson had departed, on the morning when the conversation dealing
+with Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles and her change of attitude took place,
+Captain Elisha put on his hat and coat and started for his lawyer's
+office. Sylvester was glad to see him and invited him to lunch.
+
+"No, thank you," replied the captain. "I just run down to ask if there
+was anything new in the offin'. Last time I see you, you hinted you and
+your mates had sighted somethin' or other through the fog, and it might
+turn out to be a rock or a lighthouse, you couldn't tell which. Made up
+your mind yet?"
+
+Sylvester shook his head. "No," he said, slowly; "it is still foggy.
+We're busy investigating, but we're not ready to report."
+
+"Humph! Well, what's the thing look like? You must be a little nigher to
+it by now."
+
+The lawyer tapped his desk with a pencil. "I don't know what it looks
+like," he answered. "That is to say, I don't--I can't believe it is what
+it appears, at this distance, to be. If it is, it is the most--"
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha waited for him to go on and, when he did not
+do so, asked another question.
+
+"The most what?" he demanded. "Is it likely to be very bad?"
+
+"Why--why--well, I can't say even that yet. But there! as I told you,
+I'm not going to permit it to worry me. And you mustn't worry, either.
+That's why I don't give you any further particulars. There may be
+nothing in it, after all."
+
+His visitor smiled. "Say, Mr. Sylvester," he said, "you're like the
+young-ones used to be when I was a boy. There'd be a gang of 'em waitin'
+by the schoolhouse steps and when the particular victim hove in sight
+they'd hail him with, 'Ah, ha! _you're_ goin' to get it!' 'Wait till
+teacher sees you!' and so on. Course the victim would want to know what
+it meant. All the satisfaction he got from them was, 'That's all right!
+You'll find out! You just wait!' And the poor feller put in the time
+afore the bell rung goin' over all the things he shouldn't have done and
+had, and wonderin' which it was this time. You hinted to me a week ago
+that there was a surprisin' possibility loomin' up in 'Bije's financial
+affairs. And ever since then I've been puzzlin' my brains tryin' to
+guess what could happen. Ain't discovered any more of those Cut Short
+bonds, have you?"
+
+The bonds to which he referred were those of a defunct Short Line
+railroad. A large number of these bonds had been discovered among A.
+Rodgers Warren's effects; part of his "tangled assets," the captain had
+termed them, differentiating from the "tangible" variety.
+
+"Abbie, my housekeeper, has been writin' me," he went on, "about havin'
+the sewin' room papered. She wants my advice concernin' the style of
+paper; says it ought to be pretty and out of the common, but not too
+expensive. I judge what she wants is somethin' that looks like money
+but ain't really wuth more than ten cents a mile. I've been thinkin'
+I'd send her a bale or so of those bonds; they'd fill the bill in those
+respects, wouldn't they?"
+
+Sylvester laughed. "They certainly would, Captain," he replied. "No,
+we haven't unearthed any more of that sort. And, as for this mystery of
+ours, I'll give you the answer--if it's worth giving at all, in a very
+short time. Meanwhile, you go home and forget it."
+
+"Well, I'll try. But I guess it sticks out on my face, like a four days'
+toothache. But I _won't_ worry about that. You know best whether to tell
+me now or not, and--well, I'm carryin' about all the worry my tonnage'll
+stand, as 'tis."
+
+He drew a long breath. Sylvester regarded him sympathetically.
+
+"You mustn't take your nephew's and niece's treatment too much to
+heart," he said.
+
+"Oh, I don't. That is, I pretend I don't. And I do try not to. But I
+keep thinkin', thinkin', and wonderin' if 'twould have been better if I
+hadn't gone there to live at all. Hi hum! a man of my age hadn't ought
+to mind what a twenty-year-old girl says, or does; 'specially when
+her kind, advisin' friends have shown her how she's been deceived and
+hypocrit-ted. By the way, speakin' of hypocrites, I suppose there's just
+as much 'Dunnin'' as ever goin' on up there?"
+
+"Yes. A little more, if anything, I'm afraid. Your niece and Mrs. Dunn
+and her precious son are together now so constantly that people are
+expecting--well, you know what they expect."
+
+"I can guess. I hope they'll be disapp'inted."
+
+"So do I, but I must confess I'm fearful. Malcolm himself isn't so wise,
+but his mother is--"
+
+"A whole Book of Proverbs, hey? I know. She's an able old frigate. I
+did think I had her guns spiked, but she turned 'em on me unexpected. I
+thought I had her and her boy in a clove hitch. I knew somethin' that I
+was sartin sure they wouldn't want Caroline to know, and she and Malcolm
+knew I knew it. Her tellin' Caroline of it, _her_ story of it, when I
+wasn't there to contradict, was as smart a piece of maneuverin' as ever
+was. It took the wind out of my sails, because, though I'm just as right
+as I ever was, Caroline wouldn't listen to me, nor believe me, now."
+
+"She'll learn by experience."
+
+"Yup. But learnin' by experience is a good deal like shippin' green
+afore the mast; it'll make an able seaman of you, if it don't kill you
+fust. When I was a boy there was a man in our town name of Nickerson
+Cummin's. He was mate of a ship and smart as a red pepper poultice on
+a skinned heel. He was a great churchgoer when he was ashore and always
+preachin' brotherly love and kindness and pattin' us little shavers on
+the head, and so on. Most of the grown folks thought he was a sort of
+saint, and I thought he was more than that. I'd have worshiped him,
+I cal'late, if my Methodist trainin' would have allowed me to worship
+anybody who wa'n't named in Scriptur'. If there'd been an apostle or a
+prophet christened Nickerson I'd have fell on my knees to this
+Cummin's man, sure. So, when I went to sea as a cabin boy, a tow-headed
+snub-nosed little chap of fourteen, I was as happy as a clam at
+highwater 'cause I was goin' in the ship he was mate of."
+
+He paused. There was a frown on his face, and his lower jaw was thrust
+forward grimly.
+
+"Well?" inquired Sylvester. "What happened?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, excuse me. When I get to thinkin' of that v'yage I simmer
+inside, like a teakettle on a hot stove. The second day out--seasick and
+homesick and so miserable I wished I could die all at once instead of
+by lingerin' spasms--I dropped a dish on the cabin floor and broke it.
+Cummin's was alone with me, eatin' his dinner; and he jumped out of
+his chair when I stooped to pick up the pieces and kicked me under the
+table. When I crawled out, he kicked me again and kept it up. When his
+foot got tired he used his fist. 'There!' says he between his teeth, 'I
+cal'late that'll learn you that crockery costs money.'
+
+"It did. I never broke anything else aboard that ship. Cummin's was a
+bully and a sneak to everybody but the old man, and a toady to him. He
+never struck me or anybody else when the skipper was around, but there
+was nothin' too mean for him to do when he thought he had a safe chance.
+And he took pains to let me know that if I ever told a soul at home
+he'd kill me. I'd learned by experience, not only about the price
+of crockery, but other things, things that a youngster ought not to
+learn--how to hate a man so that you can wait years to get even with
+him, for one. I'm sorry I learned that, and," dryly, "so was Cummin's,
+later. But I did learn, once and for all, not to take folks on
+trust, nor to size 'em up by their outside, or the noise they make in
+prayer-meetin', nor the way they can spread soft soap when they think
+it's necessary. I'd learned that, and I'd learned it early enough to be
+of use to me, which was a mercy.
+
+"It was a hard lesson for me," he added, reflectively; "but I managed to
+come out of it without lettin' it bitter my whole life. I don't mind so
+much Caroline's bein' down on me. She'll know better some day, I hope;
+and if she don't--well, I'm only a side-issue in her life, anyhow, hove
+in by accident, like the section of dog collar in the sassage. But I do
+hope her learnin' by experience won't come too late to save her from ...
+what she'll be awful sorry for by and by."
+
+"It must," declared the lawyer, with decision. "You must see to it,
+Captain Warren. You are her guardian. She is absolutely under your
+charge. She can do nothing of importance unless you consent."
+
+"Yup. That's so--for one more year; just one, remember! Then she'll
+be of age, and I can't say 'Boo!' And her share of 'Bije's money'll
+be hers, too. And don't you believe that that fact has slipped Sister
+Dunn's memory. I ain't on deck to head her off now; if she puts Malcolm
+up to gettin' Caroline to give her word, and Caroline gives it--well,
+I know my niece. She's honorable, and she'll stick to her promise if it
+runs her on the rocks. And Her Majesty Dunn knows that, too. Therefore,
+the cat bein' away, she cal'lates now's the time to make sure of the
+cheese."
+
+"But the cat can come back. The song says it did, you know."
+
+"Um-hm. And got another kick, I shouldn't wonder. However, my claws'll
+stay sharp for a year or thereabouts, and, if it comes to a shindy,
+there'll be some tall scratchin' afore I climb a tree. Keep a weather
+eye on what goes on, won't you?"
+
+"I will. You can depend on me."
+
+"I do. And say! for goodness' sakes put me out of my misery regardin'
+that rock or lighthouse on 'Bije's chart, soon's ever you settle which
+it is."
+
+"Certainly! And, remember, don't worry. It may be a lighthouse, or
+nothing at all. At all events, I'll report very soon."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+But, in spite of his promise, Sylvester did not report during the
+following week or the next. Meanwhile, his client tried his best to
+keep the new mystery from troubling his thoughts, and succeeded only
+partially. The captain's days and evenings were quiet and monotonous. He
+borrowed a book or two from Mrs. Hepton's meager library, read, walked
+a good deal, generally along the water front, and wrote daily letters to
+Miss Baker. He and Pearson were together for at least a portion of each
+day. The author, fighting down his dejection and discouragement, set
+himself resolutely to work once more on the novel, and his nautical
+adviser was called in for frequent consultation. The story, however,
+progressed but slowly. There was something lacking. Each knew what that
+something was, but neither named it.
+
+One evening Pearson entered the room tenanted by his friend to find the
+latter seated beside the table, his shoes partially unlaced, and a pair
+of big slippers ready for putting on.
+
+"Captain," said the visitor, "you look so comfortable I hate to disturb
+you."
+
+Captain Elisha, red-faced and panting, desisted from the unlacing and
+straightened in his chair.
+
+"Whew!" he puffed. "Jim, your remarks prove that your experience of the
+world ain't as big as it ought to be. When you get to my age and waist
+measure you'll realize that stoopin' over and comfort don't go together.
+I hope to be comfortable pretty soon; but I sha'n't be till them boots
+are off. Set down. The agony'll be over in a minute."
+
+Pearson declined to sit. "Not yet," he said. "And you let those shoes
+alone, until you hear what I've got to say. A newspaper friend of mine
+has sent me two tickets for the opera to-night. I want you to go with
+me."
+
+Captain Elisha was surprised.
+
+"To the opera?" he repeated. "Why, that's a--a sort of singin' theater
+ain't it?"
+
+"Yes, you're fond of music; you told me so. And A�da is beautiful. Come
+on! it will do us both good."
+
+"Hum! Well, I don't know."
+
+"I do. Get ready."
+
+The captain looked at his caller's evening clothes.
+
+"What do you mean by gettin' ready?" he asked. "You've got on your
+regimentals, open front and all. My uniform is the huntin' case kind;
+fits in better with church sociables and South Denboro no'theasters.
+If I wore one of those vests like yours Abbie'd make me put on a red
+flannel lung-protector to keep from catchin' pneumonia. And she'd think
+'twas sinful waste besides, runnin' the risk of sp'ilin' a clean biled
+shirt so quick. Won't I look like an undertaker, sittin' alongside of
+you?"
+
+"Not a bit. If it will ease your mind I'll change to a business suit."
+
+"I don't care. You know how I feel; we had a little talk about hats a
+spell ago, you remember. If you're willin' to take me 'just as I am,
+without a plea,' as the hymn-tune says, why, I cal'late I'll say yes and
+go. Set down and wait while I get on my ceremonials."
+
+He retired to the curtain alcove, and Pearson heard him rustling about,
+evidently making a hurried change of raiment. During this process he
+talked continuously.
+
+"Jim," he said, "I ain't been to the theater but once since I landed in
+New York. Then I went to see a play named 'The Heart of a Sailor.' Ha!
+ha! that was a great show! Ever take it in, did you?"
+
+"No. I never did."
+
+"Well, you'd ought to. It's a wonder of it's kind. I learned more
+things about life-savin' and 'longshore life from that drayma than you'd
+believe was possible. You'd have got some p'ints for your Cap'n Jim yarn
+from that play; you sartin would! Yes, indeed! Way I happened to go to
+it was on account of seein' a poster on a fence over nigh where that
+Moriarty tribe lived. The poster pictured a bark ashore, on her beam
+ends, in a sea like those off the Horn. On the beach was a whole parcel
+of life-savers firin' off rockets and blue lights. Keepin' the Fourth of
+July, I judged they was, for I couldn't see any other reason. The bark
+wa'n't more'n a hundred foot from 'em, and if all hands on board didn't
+know they was in trouble by that time, then they deserved to drown.
+Anyhow, they wa'n't likely to appreciate the celebration. Ho! ho! Well,
+when I run afoul of that poster I felt I hadn't ought to let anything
+like that get away; so I hunted up the theater--it wa'n't but a little
+ways off--and got a front seat for that very afternoon."
+
+"Was it up to the advertising?" asked Pearson.
+
+"_Was_ it? Hi hum! I wish you'd been there. More 'special I wished some
+of the folks from home had been there, for the whole business was
+supposed to happen on the Cape, and they'd have realized how ignorant we
+are about the place we live in. The hero was a strappin' six-footer,
+sort of a combination fisherman and parson, seemed so. He wore ileskins
+in fair weather and went around preachin' or defyin' folks that provoked
+him and makin' love to the daughter of a long-haired old relic that
+called himself an inventor.... Oh, consarn it!"
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Dropped my collar button, as usual. Collar buttons are one of the Old
+Harry's pet traps. I'll bet their responsible for 'most as many lapses
+from grace as tangled fishlines. Where.... Ow!... All right; I found it
+with my bare foot, and edge up, of course."
+
+A series of grunts and short-breathed exclamations followed, indicating
+that the sufferer was struggling with a tight collar.
+
+"Go on," commanded Pearson. "Tell me some more about the play."
+
+"Hey? Oh, the play. Where was I?"
+
+"You were saying that the heroine's father was an inventor."
+
+"That's what _he_ said he was, though he never furnished any proof. His
+daughter helped him with his inventions, but if she'd cut his hair
+once in a while 'twould have been a better way of puttin' in the time,
+'cordin' to my notion. And there was a rich squire, who made his money
+by speculatin' in wickedness, and a mortgage, and--I don't know what
+all. And those Cape Cod folks! and the houses they lived in! and the way
+they talked! Oh, dear! oh, dear! I got my money's wuth that afternoon."
+
+"What about the wreck? How did that happen?"
+
+"Don't know. It happened 'cause it had to be in the play, I cal'late.
+The mortgage, or an 'invention' or somethin', was on board the bark and
+just naturally took a short cut for home, way I figgered it out.
+But, Jim, you ought to have seen that hero! He peeled off his
+ileskin-slicker--he'd kept it on all through the sunshine, but now, when
+'twas rainin' and rainin' and wreckin' and thunderin', he shed it--and
+jumped in and saved all hands and the ship's cat. 'Twas great business!
+No wonder the life-savers set off fireworks! And thunder! Why, say, it
+never stopped thunderin' in that storm except when somebody had to make
+a heroic speech; then it let up and give 'em a chance. Most considerate
+thunder ever I heard. And the lightnin'! and the way the dust flew from
+the breakers! I was glad I went.... There!" appearing fully dressed from
+behind the curtains. "I'm ready if you are. Did I talk your head off? I
+ask your pardon; but that 'Heart of a Sailor' touched mine, I guess. I
+know I was afraid I'd laugh until it stopped beatin'. And all around the
+people were cryin'. It was enough sight damper amongst the seats than in
+those cloth waves."
+
+The pair walked over to Broadway, boarded a street car, and alighted
+before the Metropolitan Opera House. Pearson's seats were good ones,
+well down in the orchestra. Captain Elisha turned and surveyed the great
+interior and the brilliantly garbed audience.
+
+"Whew!" he muttered. "This is considerable of a show in itself, Jim.
+They could put our town hall inside here and the folks on the roof
+wouldn't be so high as those in that main skys'l gallery up aloft there.
+Can they see or hear, do you think?"
+
+"Oh, yes. The accepted idea is that they are the real music lovers.
+_they_ come for the opera itself. Some of the others come because--well,
+because it is the proper thing."
+
+"Yes, yes; I see. That's the real article right over our heads, I
+suppose."
+
+"Yes. That's the 'Diamond Horseshoe.'"
+
+"All proper things there, hey?"
+
+"Why--er--yes, I suppose so. What makes you ask?"
+
+"Nothing much. I was thinking 'twas better Abbie wa'n't along on this
+cruise. She'd probably want to put an 'im' in front of that 'proper.'
+I envy those women, Jim; _they_ didn't have to stop to hunt up collar
+buttons, did they."
+
+He was silent during the first act of the opera. When the curtain fell
+his companion asked how he liked it.
+
+"Good singin'," he replied; "best I ever heard. Do you understand what
+they say?"
+
+"No. But I'm familiar with the story of A�da, of course. It's a favorite
+of mine. And the words don't really matter."
+
+"I suppose not. It's the way they say it. I had an Irishman workin'
+round my barn once, and Tim Bailey drove down from Bayport to see me. I
+was out and Tim and the Irishman run afoul of each other. Tim stuttered
+so that he made a noise when he talked like one of these gasoline
+bicycles goin' by. He watched Mike sweepin' out the horse stall and he
+says, 'You're a pup--pup ... I say you're a pup--.' He didn't get any
+further 'cause Mike went for him with the broom. Turned out later that
+he was tryin' to compliment that Irishman by sayin' he was a particular
+sort of feller. These folks on the stage might be sayin' most anythin',
+and I wouldn't know it. But I sha'n't knock 'em down, for I like the
+way it's said. When the Almighty give us music he more than made up for
+makin' us subject to toothache, didn't he."
+
+Pearson bought a copy of the libretto, and the captain followed the
+performance of the next two acts with interest.
+
+"Say, Jim," he whispered, with a broad grin, "it's a good thing this
+opera idea ain't carried into real life. If you had to sing every word
+you said 'twould be sort of distressin', 'specially if you was in a
+hurry. A fust-rate solo when you was orderin' the crew to shorten sail
+would be a high old brimstone anthem, I'll bet you. And think of the
+dinner table at our boardin' house! Mrs. Van and C. Dickens both goin'
+at once, and Marm Hepton serenadin' the waiter girl! Ho! ho! A cat fight
+wouldn't be a circumstance."
+
+Between the third and the fourth acts the pair went out into the foyer,
+where, ascending to the next floor, they made the round of the long
+curve behind the boxes, Pearson pointing out to his friend the names of
+the box lessees on the brass plates.
+
+"There!" he observed, as, the half circle completed, they turned and
+strolled back again, "isn't that an imposing list, Captain? Don't you
+feel as if you were close to the real thing?"
+
+"Godfreys mighty!" was the solemn reply; "I was just thinkin' I felt as
+if I'd been readin' one of those muck-rakin' yarns in the magazines!"
+
+The foyer had its usual animated crowd, and among them Pearson
+recognized a critic of his acquaintance. He offered to introduce the
+captain, but the latter declined the honor, saying that he cal'lated
+he wouldn't shove his bows in this time. "You heave ahead and see your
+friend, Jim," he added. "I'll come to anchor by this pillar and watch
+the fleet go by. I'll have to write Abbie about all this; she'll want to
+know how the female craft was rigged."
+
+Left alone, he leaned against the pillar and watched the people pass and
+repass just behind him. Two young men paused just behind him. He could
+not help overhearing their conversation.
+
+"I presume you've heard the news?" asked one, casually.
+
+"Yes," replied the other, "I have. That is, if you mean the news
+concerning Mal Dunn. The mater learned it this afternoon and sprung it
+at dinner. No one was greatly surprised. Formal announcement made, and
+all that sort of thing, I believe. Mal's to be congratulated."
+
+"His mother is, you mean. She managed the campaign. The old lady is some
+strategist, and I'd back her to win under ordinary circumstances. But
+I understand these were not ordinary; wise owl of a guardian to be
+circumvented, or something of that sort."
+
+"From what I hear the Dunns haven't won so much after all. There was
+a big shrinkage when papa died, so they say. Instead of three or four
+millions it panned out to be a good deal less than one. I don't know
+much about it, because our family and theirs have drifted apart since
+they moved."
+
+"Humph! I imagine whatever the pan-out it will be welcome. The Dunns are
+dangerously close to the ragged edge; everybody has been on to that for
+some time. And it takes a few ducats to keep Mal going. He's no Uncle
+Russell when it comes to putting by for the rainy day."
+
+"Well, on the whole, I'm rather sorry for--the other party. Mal is a
+good enough fellow, and he certainly is a game sport; but--"
+
+They moved on, and Captain Elisha heard no more. But what he had heard
+was quite sufficient. He sat through the remainder of the opera in
+silence and answered all his friend's questions and remarks curtly and
+absently.
+
+As they stepped into the trolley Pearson bought an evening paper, not
+the _Planet_, but a dignified sheet which shunned sensationalism
+and devoted much space to the doings of the safe, sane, and
+ultra-respectable element. Perceiving that his companion, for some
+reason, did not care to talk, he read as the car moved downtown.
+Suddenly Captain Elisha was awakened from his reverie by hearing his
+friend utter an exclamation. Looking up, the captain saw that he was
+leaning back in the seat, the paper lying unheeded in his lap.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the older man, anxiously.
+
+Pearson started, glanced quickly at his friend, hesitated, and looked
+down again.
+
+"Nothing--now," he answered, brusquely. "We get out here. Come."
+
+He rose, picked up the paper with a hand that shook a little, and led
+the way to the door of the car. Captain Elisha followed, and they
+strode up the deserted side street. Pearson walked so rapidly that
+his companion was hard pushed to keep pace with him. When they stood
+together in the dimly lit hall of the boarding house, the captain spoke
+again.
+
+"Well, Jim," he asked in a low tone, "what is it? You may as well tell
+me. Maybe I can guess, anyhow."
+
+The young man reached up and turned the gas full on. In spite of the
+cold from which they had just come, his face was white. He folded the
+paper in his hand, and with his forefinger pointed to its uppermost
+page.
+
+"There it is," he said. "Read it."
+
+Captain Elisha took the paper, drew his spectacle case from his pocket,
+adjusted his glasses and read. The item was among those under the head
+of "Personal and Social." It was what he expected. "The engagement
+is to-day announced of Miss Caroline Warren, daughter of the late A.
+Rodgers Warren, the well-known broker, to Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, of
+Fifth Avenue. Miss Warren, it will be remembered, was one of the most
+charming of our season-before-last's d�butantes and--" etc.
+
+The captain read the brief item through.
+
+"Yes," he said, slowly, "I see."
+
+Pearson looked at him in amazement.
+
+"You _see_!" he repeated. "You--Why! _Did you know it_?"
+
+"I've been afraid of it for some time. To-night, when you left me alone
+there in the quarter-deck of that opera house, I happened to hear two
+young chaps talkin' about it. So you might say I knew--Yes."
+
+"Good heavens! and you can stand there and--What are you going to do
+about it?"
+
+"I don't know--yet."
+
+"Are you going to permit her to marry that--_that_ fellow?"
+
+"Well, I ain't sartin that I can stop her."
+
+"My God, man! Do you realize--and _she_--your niece--why--"
+
+"There! there! Jim. I realize it all, I cal'late. It's my business to
+realize it."
+
+"And it isn't mine. No, of course it isn't; you're right there."
+
+He turned and strode toward the foot of the stairs.
+
+"Hold on!" commanded the captain. "Hold on, Jim! Don't you go off ha'f
+cocked. When I said 'twas my business to realize this thing, I meant
+just that and nothin' more. I wa'n't hintin', and you ought to know it.
+You do know it, don't you?"
+
+The young man paused. "Yes," he answered, after an instant's struggle
+with his feelings; "yes, I do. I beg your pardon, Captain."
+
+"All right. And here's somethin' else; I just told you I wasn't sartin I
+could stop the marriage. That's the truth. But I don't recollect sayin'
+I'd actually hauled down the colors, not yet. Good night."
+
+"Good night, Captain. I shouldn't have misunderstood you, of course.
+But, as you know, I respected and admired your niece. And this thing
+has--has--"
+
+"Sort of knocked you on your beam ends, I understand. Well, Jim," with a
+sigh, "I ain't exactly on an even keel myself."
+
+They separated, Pearson going to his room. As Captain Elisha was passing
+through the hall on the second floor, he heard someone calling him by
+name. Turning, he saw his landlady's head, bristling with curl papers,
+protruding from behind the door at the other end of the passage.
+
+"Captain Warren," she asked, "is that you?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied the captain, turning back.
+
+"Well, I've got a message for you. A Mr. Sylvester has 'phoned you
+twice this evening. He wishes to see you at his office at the earliest
+possible moment. He says it is _very_ important."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+Nine o'clock is an early hour for a New York lawyer of prominence to be
+at his place of business. Yet, when Captain Elisha asked the office boy
+of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves if the senior partner was in, he received
+an affirmative answer.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tim, respectfully. His manner toward the captain had
+changed surprisingly since the latter's first call. "Yes, sir; Mr.
+Sylvester's in. He expects you. I'll tell him you're here. Sit down and
+wait, please."
+
+Captain Elisha sat down, but he did not have to wait long. The boy
+returned at once and ushered him into the private office. Sylvester
+welcomed him gravely.
+
+"You got my message, then," he said. "I spent hours last evening chasing
+you by 'phone. And I was prepared to begin again this morning."
+
+"So? That's why you're on deck so early? Didn't sleep here, did you?
+Well, I cal'late I know what you want to talk about. You ain't the only
+one that reads the newspapers."
+
+"The newspapers? Great heavens! it isn't in the newspapers, is it? It
+can't be!"
+
+He seemed much perturbed. Captain Elisha looked puzzled.
+
+"Course it is," he said. "But I heard it afore I saw it. Perhaps you
+think I take it pretty easy. Maybe I act as if I did. But you expected
+it, and so did I, so we ain't exactly surprised. And," seriously, "I
+realize that it's no joke as well as you do. But we've got a year to
+fight in, and now we must plan the campaign. I did cal'late to see
+Caroline this mornin'. Then, if I heard from her own lips that 'twas
+actually so, I didn't know's I wouldn't drop in and give Sister
+Corcoran-Queen-Victoria-Dunn a few plain facts about it not bein' a
+healthy investment to hurry matters. You're wantin' to see me headed me
+off, and I come here instead."
+
+The lawyer looked at him in astonishment.
+
+"See here, Captain Warren," he demanded, "what do you imagine I asked
+you to come here for?"
+
+"Why, to talk about that miserable engagement, sartin. Poor girl! I've
+been awake ha'f the night thinkin' of the mess she's been led into. And
+she believes she's happy, I suppose."
+
+Sylvester shook his head. "I see," he said, slowly. "You would think it
+that, naturally. No, Captain, it isn't the engagement. It's more serious
+than that."
+
+"More serious than--_more_ serious! Why, what on earth? Hey? Mr.
+Sylvester, has that rock-lighthouse business come to somethin' after
+all?"
+
+The lawyer nodded. "It has," he replied.
+
+"I want to know! And I'd almost forgot it, not hearin' from you. It's
+a rock, too, I judge, by the looks of your face. Humph!... Is it very
+bad?"
+
+"I'm afraid so."
+
+The captain pulled his beard. "Well," he said, wearily, after a moment,
+"I guess likely I can bear it. I've had to bear some things in my time.
+Anyhow, I'll try. Heave ahead and get it over with. I'm ready."
+
+Instead of answering, Sylvester pushed an electric button on his desk.
+The office boy answered the ring.
+
+"Have Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves arrived?" asked the lawyer.
+
+"Yes, sir. Both of them, sir."
+
+"Tell them Captain Warren is here, and ask them to join us in the inner
+room. Remind Mr. Graves to bring the papers. And, Tim, remember that
+none of us is to be disturbed. Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tim and departed.
+
+Captain Elisha regarded his friend with some dismay.
+
+"Say!" he exclaimed, "this _must_ be serious, if it takes the skipper
+and both mates to handle it."
+
+Sylvester did not smile. "It is," he answered. "Come."
+
+He led the way into the room opening from the rear of his own. It was
+a large apartment with a long table in the center. Mr. Kuhn, brisk and
+business-like, was already there. He shook hands with his client. As he
+did so, Graves, dignified and precise as ever, entered, carrying a small
+portfolio filled with papers.
+
+"Mornin', Mr. Graves," said the captain; "glad to see you, even under
+such distressin' circumstances, as the undertaker said to the sick man.
+Feelin' all right again, I hope. No more colds or nothin' like that?"
+
+"No. Thank you. I am quite well, at present."
+
+"That's hearty. If you and me don't do any more buggy ridin' in Cape
+Cod typhoons, we'll last a spell yet, hey? What you got there, the death
+warrant?" referring to the portfolio and its contents.
+
+Mr. Graves evidently did not consider this flippancy worth a reply, for
+he made none.
+
+"Sit down, gentlemen," said Sylvester.
+
+The four took chairs at the table. Graves untied and opened the
+portfolio. Captain Elisha looked at his solemn companions, and his lips
+twitched.
+
+"You'll excuse me," he observed, "but I feel as if I was goin' to
+be tried for piracy on the high seas. Has the court any objection to
+tobacco smoke? I'm puttin' the emphasis strong on the 'tobacco,'" he
+added, "because this is a cigar you give me yourself, Mr. Sylvester,
+last time I was down here."
+
+"No, indeed," replied the senior partner. "Smoke, if you wish. No one
+here has any objection, unless it may be Graves."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Graves ain't. He and I fired up together that night we fust
+met. Hot smoke tasted grateful after all the cold water we'd had poured
+onto us in that storm. Graves is all right. He's a sportin' character,
+like myself. Maybe he'll jine us. Got another cigar in my pocket."
+
+But the invitation was declined. The "sporting character" might deign
+to relax amid proper and fitting surroundings, but not in the sacred
+precincts of his office. So the captain smoked alone.
+
+"Well," he observed, after a few preliminary puffs, "go on! Don't keep
+me in suspenders, as the feller said. Where did the lightnin' strike,
+and what's the damage?"
+
+Sylvester took a card from his pocket and referred to a penciled
+memorandum on its back.
+
+"Captain Warren," he began, slowly, "as you know, and as directed by
+you, my partners here and I have been engaged for months in carefully
+going over your brother's effects, estimating values, tabulating and
+sorting his various properties and securities, separating the good from
+the worthless--and there was, as we saw at a glance, a surprising amount
+of the latter--"
+
+"Um-hm," interrupted the captain, "Cut Short bonds and the like of that.
+I know. Excuse me. Go on."
+
+"Yes. Precisely. And there were many just as valueless. But we have been
+gradually getting those out of the way and listing and appraising the
+remainder. It was a tangle. Your brother's business methods, especially
+of late years, were decidedly unsystematic and slipshod. It may have
+been the condition of his health which prevented his attending to them
+as he should. Or," he hesitated slightly, "it may have been that he was
+secretly in great trouble and mental distress. At all events, the task
+has been a hard one for us. But, largely owing to Graves and his patient
+work, our report was practically ready a month ago."
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha, who had been listening attentively, nodded.
+
+"Yes," he said; "you told me 'twas. What does the whole thing tot up to?
+What's the final figger, Mr. Graves?"
+
+The junior partner adjusted his eyeglasses to his thin nose.
+
+"I have them here," he said. "The list of securities, et cetera, is
+rather long, but--"
+
+"Never mind them now, Graves," interrupted Kuhn. "The amount, roughly
+speaking, is close to over our original estimate, half a million."
+
+The captain drew a breath of relief. "Well," he exclaimed, "that's all
+right then, ain't it? That's no poorhouse pension."
+
+Sylvester answered. "Yes," he said, "that's all right, as far as it
+goes."
+
+"Humph! Well, I cal'late _I_ could make it go to the end of the route;
+and then have enough left for a return ticket. Say!" with another look
+at the solemn faces of the three, "what _is_ the row? If the estate is
+wuth ha'f a million, what's the matter with it?"
+
+"That is what we are here this morning to discuss, Captain. A month ago,
+as I said, we considered our report practically ready. Then we suddenly
+happened on the trail of something which, upon investigation, upset all
+our calculations. If true, it threatened, not to mention its effect upon
+the estate, to prove so distressing and painful to us, Rodgers Warren's
+friends and legal advisers, that we decided not to alarm you, his
+brother, by disclosing our suspicions until we were sure there was no
+mistake. I did drop you a hint, you will remember--"
+
+"I remember. _Now_ we're comin' to the rock!"
+
+"Yes. Captain Warren, I think perhaps I ought to warn you that what my
+partners and I are about to say will shock and hurt you. I, personally,
+knew your brother well and respected him as an honorable business man. A
+lawyer learns not to put too much trust in human nature, but, I confess,
+this--this--"
+
+He was evidently greatly disturbed. Captain Elisha, regarding him
+intently, nodded.
+
+"I judge it's sort of hard for you to go on, Mr. Sylvester," he said.
+"I'll help you all I can. You and Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves here have
+found out somethin' that ain't exactly straight in 'Bije's doin's? Am I
+right?"
+
+"Yes, Captain Warren, you are."
+
+"Somethin' that don't help his character, hey?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Somethin's he's, done that's--well, to speak plain, that's crooked?"
+
+"I'm afraid there's no doubt of it."
+
+"Humph!" The captain frowned. His cigar had gone out, and he idly
+twisted the stump between his fingers. "Well," he said, with a sigh,
+"our family, gen'rally speakin', has always held its head pretty high.
+Dad was poor, but he prided himself on bein' straight as a plumb line.
+And, as for mother, she...." Then, looking up quickly, he asked, "Does
+anybody outside know about this?"
+
+"No one but ourselves--yet."
+
+"Yet? Is it goin' to be necessary for anybody else to know it?"
+
+"We hope not. But there is a possibility."
+
+"I was thinkin' about the children."
+
+"Of course. So are we all."
+
+"Um-hm. Poor Caroline! she put her father on a sort of altar and bowed
+down afore him, as you might say. Any sort of disgrace to his name
+would about kill her. As for me," with another sigh, "I ain't so much
+surprised as you might think. I know that sounds tough to say about
+your own brother, but I've been afraid all along. You see, 'Bije always
+steered pretty close to the edge of the channel. He had ideas about
+honesty and fair dealin' in business that didn't jibe with mine. We
+split on just that, as I told you, Mr. Graves, when you and I fust met.
+He got some South Denboro folks to invest money along with him; sort of
+savin's account, they figgered it; but I found out he was usin' it to
+speculate with. So that's why we had our row. I took pains to see that
+the money was paid back, but he and I never spoke afterwards. Fur as my
+own money was concerned, I hadn't any kick, but.... However, I'm talkin'
+too much. Go on, Mr. Sylvester, I'm ready to hear whatever you've got to
+say."
+
+"Thank you, Captain. You make it easier for me. It seems that your
+brother's first step toward wealth and success was taken about nineteen
+years ago. Then, somehow or other, probably through a combination
+of luck and shrewdness, he obtained a grant, a concession from the
+Brazilian Government, the long term lease of a good-sized tract of land
+on the upper Amazon. It was very valuable because of its rubber trees."
+
+"Hey?" Captain Elisha leaned forward. "Say that again!" he commanded
+sharply.
+
+Sylvester repeated his statement. "He got the concession by paying
+twenty thousand dollars to the government of Brazil," he continued. "To
+raise the twenty thousand he formed a stock company of two hundred and
+fifty shares at one hundred dollars each. One hundred of these shares
+were in his own name. Fifty were in the name of one 'Thomas A. Craven,'
+a clerk at that time in his office. Craven was only a dummy, however. Do
+you understand what I mean by a dummy?"
+
+"I can guess. Sort of a wooden image that moved when 'Bije pulled the
+strings. Like one of these straw directors that clutter up the insurance
+companies, 'cordin' to the papers. Yes, yes; I understand well enough.
+Go ahead! go ahead!"
+
+"That's it. The fifty shares were in Craven's name, but they were
+transferred in blank and in Mr. Warren's safe. Together with his own
+hundred, they gave him control and a voting majority. That much we know
+by the records."
+
+"I see. But this rubber con--contraption wa'n't really wuth anything,
+was it?"
+
+"Worth anything! Captain Warren, I give you my word that it was worth
+more than all the rest of the investments that your brother made during
+his lifetime."
+
+"_No!_" The exclamation was almost a shout.
+
+"Why, yes, decidedly more. Does that surprise you, Captain?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not answer. He was regarding the lawyer with a dazed
+expression. He breathed heavily.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded the watchful Kuhn, his gaze fixed upon his
+client's face. "Do you know anything--"
+
+The captain interrupted him. "Go on!" he commanded. "But tell me this
+fust: What was the name of this rubber concern of 'Bije's?"
+
+"The Akrae Rubber Company."
+
+"I see.... Yes, yes.... Akry, hey!... Well, what about it? Tell me the
+rest."
+
+"For the first year or two this company did nothing. Then, in March, of
+the third year, the property was released by Mr. Warren to persons in
+Para, who were to develop and operate. The terms of his new lease were
+very advantageous. Royalties were to be paid on a sliding scale, and,
+from the very first, they were large. The Akrae Company paid enormous
+dividends."
+
+"Did, hey? I want to know!"
+
+"Yes. In fact, for twelve years the company's royalties averaged $50,000
+yearly."
+
+"Whe-e-w!" Captain Elisha whistled. "Fifty thousand a year!" he repeated
+slowly. "'Bije! 'Bije!"
+
+"Yes. And three years ago the Akrae Company sold its lease, sold out
+completely to the Para people, for seven hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars."
+
+"Godfreys mighty! Well," after a moment, "that's what I'd call a
+middlin' fair profit on a twenty thousand dollar investment--not to
+mention the dividends."
+
+"Captain," Sylvester leaned forward now; "Captain," he repeated, "it is
+that sale and the dividends which are troubling us. I told you that the
+Akrae Company was organized with two hundred and fifty shares of stock.
+Your brother held one hundred in his own name and fifty transferred to
+him by his dummy, Craven. What I did not tell you was that there were
+another hundred shares, held by someone, someone who paid ten thousand
+dollars for them--we know that--and was, therefore, entitled to
+two-fifths of every dollar earned by the company during its existence,
+and two-fifths of the amount received for the sale of the lease. So far
+as we can find out, this stockholder has never received one cent."
+
+The effect of this amazing announcement upon the uniniated member of the
+council was not as great as the lawyers expected it to be. "You don't
+tell me!" was his sole comment.
+
+Graves broke in impatiently: "I think, Captain Warren," he declared,
+"that you probably do not realize what this means. Besides proving your
+brother dishonest, it means that this stockholder, whoever he may have
+been--"
+
+"Hey? What's that? Don't you know who he was?"
+
+"No, we do not. The name upon the stub of the transfer book has been
+scratched out."
+
+Captain Elisha looked the speaker in the face, then slowly turned his
+look upon the other two faces.
+
+"Scratched out?" he repeated. "Who scratched it out?"
+
+Graves shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the captain. "You don't know, but we're all entitled to
+guess, hey?... Humph!"
+
+"If this person is living," began Sylvester, "it follows that--"
+
+"Hold on a minute! I don't know much about corporations, of
+course--that's more in your line than 'tis in mine--but I want to
+ask one question. You say this what-d'ye-call-it--this Akrae
+thingamajig--was sold out, hull, canvas and riggin', to a crowd in
+Brazil? It's gone out of business then? It's dead?"
+
+"Yes. But--"
+
+"Wait! Ain't it customary, when a sale like this is made, to turn over
+all the stock, certificates and all? Sometimes you get stock in the new
+company in exchange; I know that. But to complete the trade, wouldn't
+this extry hundred shares be turned in? Or some sharp questionin' done
+if 'twa'n't?"
+
+He addressed the query to Sylvester. The latter seemed more troubled
+than before.
+
+"That," he said with some hesitation, "is one of the delicate points in
+this talk of ours, Captain Warren. A certificate for the missing hundred
+shares _was_ turned in. It was dated at the time of the original issue,
+made out in the name of one Edward Bradley, and transferred on the back
+by him to your brother. That is, it was presumably so transferred."
+
+"Presumably. Pre-sumably? You mean--?"
+
+"I mean that this certificate is--well, let us say, rather queer. To
+begin with, no one knows who this Bradley is, or was. His name appears
+nowhere except on that certificate, unless, of course, it did appear on
+the stub where the scratching has been done; we doubt that, for reasons.
+Nobody ever heard of the man; and his transfer to your brother was made,
+and the certificate signed by him, only three years ago, when the Akrae
+Company sold out. It will take too long to go into details; but thanks
+to the kindness of the Para concern, which has offices in this city--we
+have been able to examine this Bradley certificate. Experts have
+examined it, also. And they tell us--"
+
+He paused.
+
+"Well, what do they tell?" demanded the captain.
+
+"They tell us that--that, in their opinion, the certificate was never
+issued at the time when, by this date, it presumes to have been. It was
+made out no longer ago than five years, probably less. The signature of
+Bradley on the back is--is--well, I hate to say it, Captain Warren, but
+the handwriting on that signature resembles very closely that of your
+brother."
+
+Captain Elisha was silent for some moments. The others did not speak,
+but waited. Even Graves, between whom and his client there was little in
+common, felt the general sympathy.
+
+At length the captain raised his head.
+
+"Well," he said slowly, "we ain't children. We might as well call things
+by their right names. 'Bije forged that certificate."
+
+"I'm afraid there is no doubt of it."
+
+"Dear! dear! dear! Why, they put folks in state's prison for that!"
+
+"Yes. But a dead man is beyond prisons."
+
+"That's so. Then I don't see--"
+
+"You will. You don't grasp the full meaning of this affair even yet. If
+the Bradley certificate is a forgery, a fraud from beginning to end,
+then the presumption is that there was never any such person as Bradley.
+But _someone_ paid ten thousand dollars for one hundred Akrae shares
+when the company was formed. _That_ certificate has never been turned
+in. Some person or persons, somewhere, hold one hundred shares of Akrae
+Rubber Company stock. Think, now! Suppose that someone turns up and
+demands all that he has been cheated out of for the past seventeen
+years! Think of that!"
+
+"Well ... I am thinkin' of it. I got the scent of what you was drivin'
+at five minutes ago. And I don't see that we need to be afraid. He could
+have put 'Bije in jail; but 'Bije is already servin' a longer sentence
+than he could give him. So that disgrace ain't bearin' down on us.
+And, if I understand about such things, his claim is against the Akrae
+Company, and that's dead--dead as the man that started it. Maybe he
+could put in a keeper, or a receiver, or some such critter, but there's
+nothin' left to keep or receive. Ain't I right?"
+
+"You are. Or you would be, but for one thing, the really inexplicable
+thing in this whole miserable affair. Your brother, Captain Warren, was
+dishonest. He took money that didn't belong to him, and he forged that
+certificate. But he must have intended to make restitution. He must have
+been conscience-stricken and more to be pitied, perhaps, than condemned.
+No doubt, when he first began to withhold the dividends and use the
+money which was not his, he intended merely to borrow. He was always
+optimistic and always plunging in desperate and sometimes rather shady
+speculations which, he was sure, would turn out favorably. If they
+had--if, for instance, the South Shore Trolley Combine had been put
+through--You knew of that, did you?"
+
+"I've been told somethin' about it. Go on!"
+
+"Well, it was not put through, so his hopes there were frustrated. And
+that was but one of his schemes. However, when the sale of the Company
+was consummated, he did an extraordinary thing. He made out and signed
+his personal note, payable to the Akrae Company, for every cent he had
+misappropriated. And we found that note in his safe after his death.
+That was what first aroused our suspicions. _Now_, Captain Warren, do
+you understand?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not understand, that was evident. His look of
+wondering amazement traveled from one face to the others about the
+table.
+
+"A _note_!" he repeated. "'Bije put his _note_ in the safe? A note
+promisin' to pay all he'd stole! And left it there where it could be
+found? Why, that's pretty nigh unbelievable, Mr. Sylvester! He might
+just as well have confessed his crookedness and be done with it."
+
+"Yes. It is unbelievable, but it is true. Graves can show you the note."
+
+The junior partner produced a slip of paper from the portfolio and
+regarded it frowningly.
+
+"Of all the pieces of sheer lunacy," he observed, "that ever came under
+my observation, this is the worst. Here it is, Captain Warren."
+
+He extended the paper. Captain Elisha waved it aside.
+
+"I don't want to see it--not yet," he protested. "I want to think. I
+want to get at the reason if I can. Why did he do it?"
+
+"That is what we've been tryin' to find--the reason," remarked Kuhn,
+"and we can only guess. Sylvester has told you the guess. Rodgers Warren
+intended, or hoped, to make restitution before he died."
+
+"Yes. Knowin' 'Bije, I can see that. He was weak, that was his main
+trouble. He didn't mean to be crooked, but his knees wa'n't strong
+enough to keep him straight when it come to a hard push. But he made his
+note payable to a Company that was already sold out, so it ain't good
+for nothin'. Now, why--"
+
+Graves struck the table with his open hand.
+
+"He doesn't understand at all," he exclaimed, impatiently. "Captain
+Warren, listen! That note is made payable to the Akrae Company.
+Against that company some unknown stockholder has an apparent claim
+for two-fifths of all dividends ever paid and two-fifths of the seven
+hundred and fifty thousand received for the sale. With accrued interest,
+that claim amounts to over five hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"That note binds Rodgers Warren's estate to pay that claim. His own
+personal estate! And that estate is not worth over four hundred and
+sixty thousand dollars! If this stockholder should appear and press his
+claim, _your brother's children would be, not only penniless, but thirty
+thousand dollars in debt_! There! I think that is plain enough!"
+
+He leaned back, grimly satisfied with the effect of his statement.
+Captain Elisha stared straight before him, unseeingly, the color fading
+from his cheeks. Then he put both elbows on the table and covered his
+face with his hands.
+
+"You see, Captain," said Sylvester, gently, "how very serious the
+situation is. Graves has put it bluntly, but what he says is literally
+true. If your brother had deliberately planned to hand his children over
+to the mercy of that missing stockholder, he couldn't have done it more
+completely."
+
+Slowly the captain raised his head. His expression was a strange one;
+agitated and shocked, but with a curious look of relief, almost of
+triumph.
+
+"At last!" he said, solemnly. "At last! Now it's _all_ plain!"
+
+"All?" repeated Sylvester. "You mean--?"
+
+"I mean everything, all that's been puzzlin' me and troublin' my head
+since the very beginnin'. All of it! _Now_ I know why! Oh, 'Bije! 'Bije!
+'Bije!"
+
+Kuhn spoke quickly.
+
+"Captain," he said, "I believe you know who the owner of that one
+hundred shares is. Do you?"
+
+Captain Elisha gravely nodded.
+
+"Yes," he answered. "I know him."
+
+"What?"
+
+"You do?"
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+The questions were blurted out together. The captain looked at the three
+excited faces. He hesitated and then, taking the stub of a pencil from
+his pocket, drew toward him a memorandum pad lying on the table and
+wrote a line upon the uppermost sheet. Tearing off the page, he tossed
+it to Sylvester.
+
+"That's the name," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+Two more hours passed before the lawyers and their client rose from
+their seats about the long table. Even then the consultation was not at
+an end. Sylvester and the Captain lunched together at the Central Club
+and sat in the smoking room until after four, talking earnestly. When
+they parted, the attorney was grave and troubled.
+
+"All right, Captain Warren," he said; "I'll do it. And you may be right.
+I certainly hope you are. But I must confess I don't look forward to my
+task with pleasure. I think I've got the roughest end."
+
+"It'll be rough, there's no doubt about that. Rough for all hands, I
+guess. And I hope you understand, Mr. Sylvester, that there ain't many
+men I'd trust to do what I ask you to. I appreciate your doin' it more'n
+I can tell you. Be as--as gentle as you can, won't you?"
+
+"I will. You can depend upon that."
+
+"I do. And I sha'n't forget it. Good-by, till the next time."
+
+They shook hands. Captain Elisha returned to the boarding house, where
+he found a letter awaiting him. It was from Caroline, telling him of her
+engagement to Malcolm Dunn. She wrote that, while not recognizing his
+right to interfere in any way, she felt that perhaps he should know
+of her action. He did not go down to supper, and, when Pearson came to
+inquire the reason, excused himself, pleading a late luncheon and no
+appetite. He guessed he would turn in early, so he said. It was a poor
+guess.
+
+Next morning he went uptown. Edwards, opening the door of the Warren
+apartment, was surprised to find who had rung the bell.
+
+"Mornin', Commodore!" hailed the captain, as casually as if he were
+merely returning from a stroll. "Is Miss Caroline aboard ship?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know, sir. I'll see."
+
+"That's all right. She's aboard or you wouldn't have to see. You and me
+sailed together quite a spell, so I know your little habits. I'll wait
+in the library, Commodore. Tell her there's no particular hurry."
+
+His niece was expecting him. She had anticipated his visit and was
+prepared for it. From the emotion caused by his departure after the
+eventful birthday, she had entirely recovered, or thought she had. The
+surprise and shock of his leaving and the consequent sense of loneliness
+and responsibility overcame her at the time, but Stephen's ridicule and
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's congratulations on riddance from the "encumbrance"
+shamed her and stilled the reproaches of her conscience. Mrs. Dunn,
+as always, played the diplomat and mingled just the proper quantity of
+comprehending sympathy with the congratulations.
+
+"I understand exactly how you feel, my dear," she said. "You have a
+tender heart, and it pains you to hurt anyone's feelings, no matter how
+much they deserve to be hurt. Every time I dismiss an incompetent
+or dishonest servant I feel that I have done wrong; sometimes I cry,
+actually shed tears, you know, and yet my reason tells me I am right.
+You feel that you may have been too harsh with that guardian of yours.
+You remember what you said to him and forget how hypocritically he
+behaved toward you. I can't forgive him that. I may forget how he
+misrepresented Malcolm and me to you--that I may even pardon, in
+time--but to deceive his own brother's children and introduce into their
+society a creature who had slandered and maligned their father--_that_
+I never shall forget or forgive. And--you'll excuse my frankness,
+dear--you should never forget or forgive it, either. You have nothing
+with which to reproach yourself. You were a brave girl, and if you are
+not proud of yourself, _I_ am proud of you."
+
+So, when her uncle was announced, Caroline was ready. She entered the
+library and acknowledged his greeting with a distant bow. He regarded
+her kindly, but his manner was grave.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he began, "I got your letter."
+
+"Yes, I presumed you did."
+
+"Um-hm. I got it. It didn't surprise me, what you wrote, because I'd
+seen the news in the papers; but I was hopin' you'd tell me yourself,
+and I'm real glad you did. I'm much obliged to you."
+
+She had not expected him to take this tone, and it embarrassed her.
+
+"I--I gave you my reasons for writing," she said. "Although I do not
+consider that I am, in any sense, duty bound to refer matters, other
+than financial, to you; and, although my feelings toward you have not
+changed--still, you are my guardian, and--and--"
+
+"I understand. So you're really engaged?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Engaged to Mr. Dunn?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you're cal'latin' to marry him?"
+
+"One might almost take that for granted," impatiently.
+
+"Almost--yes. Not always, but generally, I will give in. You're goin' to
+marry Malcolm Dunn. Why?"
+
+"Why?" she repeated the question as if she doubted his sanity.
+
+"Yes. Be as patient with me as you can, Caroline. I ain't askin' these
+things without what seems to me a good reason. Why are you goin' to
+marry him?"
+
+"Why because I choose, I suppose."
+
+"Um-hm. Are you sure of that?"
+
+"Am I sure?" indignantly. "What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean are you sure that it's because you choose, or because _he_ does,
+or maybe, because his mother does?"
+
+She turned angrily away. "If you came here to insult me--" she began. He
+interrupted her.
+
+"No, no," he protested gently. "Insultin' you is the last thing I want
+to do. But, as your father did put you in my charge, I want you to bear
+with me while we talk this over together. Remember, Caroline, I ain't
+bothered you a great deal lately. I shouldn't now if I hadn't thought
+'twas necessary. So please don't get mad, but answer me this: Do you
+care for this man you've promised to marry?"
+
+This was a plain question. It should have been answered without the
+slightest hesitation. Moreover, the girl had expected him to ask it.
+Yet, for a moment, she did hesitate.
+
+"I mean," continued Captain Elisha, "do you care for him _enough_?
+Enough to live with him all your life, and see him every day, and be to
+him what a true wife ought to be? See him, not with his company manners
+on or in his automobile, but at the breakfast table, and when he comes
+home tired and cross, maybe. When you've got to be forbearin' and
+forgivin' and--"
+
+"He is one of my oldest and best friends--" she interrupted. Her uncle
+went on without waiting for her to end the sentence.
+
+"I know," he said. "One of the oldest, that's sure. But friendship,
+'cordin' to my notion, is somethin' so small in comparison that it
+hardly counts in the manifest. Married folks ought to be friends, sartin
+sure; but they ought to be a whole lot more'n that. I'm an old bach, you
+say, and ain't had no experience. That's true; but I've been young, and
+there was a time when _I_ made plans.... However, she died, and it never
+come to nothin'. But I _know_ what it means to be engaged, the right
+kind of engagement. It means that you don't count yourself at all, not a
+bit. You're ready, each of you, to give up all you've got--your wishes,
+comfort, money and what it'll buy, and your life, if it should come to
+that, for that other one. Do you care for Malcolm Dunn like that,
+Caroline?"
+
+She answered defiantly.
+
+"Yes, I do," she said.
+
+"You do. Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?"
+
+"Yes," with not quite the same promptness, but still defiantly.
+
+"You feel sartin of it, do you?"
+
+She stamped her foot. "Yes! yes! _Yes_!" she cried. "Oh, _do_ say what
+you came to say, and end it!"
+
+Her uncle rose to his feet.
+
+"Why, I guess likely I've said it," he observed. "When two people care
+for each other like that, they _ought_ to be married, and the sooner the
+better. I knew that you'd been lonesome and troubled, maybe; and some
+of the friends you used to have had kind of dropped away--busy with
+other affairs, which is natural enough--and, you needin' sympathy and
+companionship, I was sort of worried for fear all this had influenced
+you more'n it ought to, and you'd been led into sayin' yes without
+realizin' what it meant. But you tell me that ain't so; you do realize.
+So all I can say is that I'm awful glad for you. God bless you, my dear!
+I hope you'll be as happy as the day is long."
+
+His niece gazed at him, bewildered and incredulous. This she had _not_
+expected.
+
+"Thank you," she stammered. "I did not know--I thought--"
+
+"Of course you did--of course. Well, then, Caroline, I guess that's all.
+I won't trouble you any longer. Good-by."
+
+He turned toward the door, but stopped, hesitated, and turned back
+again.
+
+"There is just one thing more," he said solemnly. "I don't know's I
+ought to speak, but--I want to--and I'm goin' to. And I want you to
+believe it! I do want you to!"
+
+He was so earnest, and the look he gave her was so strange, that she
+began to be alarmed.
+
+"What is it?" she demanded.
+
+"Why--why, just this, Caroline. This is a tough old world we live in.
+Things don't always go on in it as we think they'd ought to. Trouble
+comes to everybody, and when it all looks right sometimes it turns out
+to be all wrong. If--if there should come a time like that to you and
+Steve, I want you to remember that you've got me to turn to. No matter
+what you think of me, what folks have made you think of me, just
+remember that I'm waitin' and ready to help you all I can. Any time I'm
+ready--and glad. Just remember that, won't you, because.... Well, there!
+Good-by, Good-by!"
+
+He hurried away. She stood gazing after him, astonished, a little
+frightened, and not a little disturbed and touched. His emotion was so
+evident; his attitude toward her engagement was so different from that
+which she had anticipated; and there was something in his manner which
+she could not understand. He had acted as if he pitied her. Why? It
+could not be because she was to marry Malcolm Dunn. If it were that, she
+resented his pity, of course. But it could not be that, because he had
+given her his blessing. What was it? Was there something else; something
+that she did not know and he did? Why was he so kind and forbearing and
+patient?
+
+All her old doubts and questionings returned. She had resolutely kept
+them from her thoughts, but they had been there, in the background,
+always. When, after the long siege, she had at last yielded and said
+yes to Malcolm, she felt that that question, at least, was settled. She
+would marry him. He was one whom she had known all her life, the son of
+the dearest friend she had; he and his mother had been faithful at the
+time when she needed friends. As her husband, he would protect her and
+give her the affection and companionship she craved. He might appear
+careless and indifferent at times, but that was merely his manner. Had
+not Mrs. Dunn told her over and over again what a good son he was, and
+what a kind heart he had, and how he worshiped her? Oh, she ought to be
+a very happy girl! Of course she was happy. But why had her uncle looked
+at her as he did? And what did he mean by hinting that when things
+looked right they sometimes were all wrong? She wished Malcolm was with
+her then; she needed him.
+
+She heard the clang of the elevator door. Then the bell rang furiously.
+She heard Edwards hasten to answer it. Then, to her amazement, she heard
+her brother's voice.
+
+"Caroline!" demanded Stephen. "Caroline! Where are you?"
+
+He burst into the room, still wearing his coat and hat, and carrying a
+traveling bag in his hand.
+
+"Why, Steve!" she said, going toward him. "Why, Steve! what--"
+
+He was very much excited.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, "you're all right then! You are all right, aren't
+you?"
+
+"All right? Why shouldn't I be all right? What do you mean? And why are
+you here?"
+
+He returned her look of surprise with one of great astonishment.
+
+"Why am I here?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes. Why did you come from New Haven?"
+
+"Why, because I got the telegram, of course! You expected me to come,
+didn't you?"
+
+"_I_ expected you? Telegram? What telegram?"
+
+"Why, the--Good Lord, Caro! what are you talking about? Didn't you know
+they telegraphed me to come home at once? I've pretty nearly broke my
+neck, and the taxicab man's, getting here from the station. I thought
+you must be very ill, or something worse."
+
+"They telegraphed you to come here? Who.... Edwards, you may take Mr.
+Warren's things to his room."
+
+"But, Sis--"
+
+"Just a moment, Steve. Give Edwards your coat and hat. Yes, and your
+bag. That will be all, Edwards. We sha'n't need you."
+
+When they were alone, she turned again to her brother.
+
+"Now, Steve," she said, "sit down and tell me what you mean. Who
+telegraphed you?"
+
+"Why, old Sylvester, father's lawyer. I've got the message here
+somewhere. No, never mind! I've lost it, I guess. He wired me to come
+home as early as possible this morning. Said it was very important. And
+you didn't know anything about it?"
+
+"No, not a thing. What can it mean?"
+
+"_I_ don't know! That's the bell, isn't it? Edwards!"
+
+But the butler was already on his way to the door. A moment later he
+returned.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," he announced.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Captain Elisha scarcely left his room, except for meals, during the
+remainder of that day and for two days thereafter. He was unusually
+silent at table and avoided conversation even with Pearson, who was
+depressed and gloomy and made no attempt to force his society upon
+his friend. Once, passing the door of the latter's room, he heard the
+captain pacing back and forth as if he were walking the quarter-deck of
+one of his old ships. As Pearson stood listening the footsteps ceased;
+silence, then a deep sigh, and they began again. The young man sighed
+in sympathy and wearily climbed to his den. The prospect of chimneys
+and roofs across the way was never more desolate or more pregnant with
+discouragement.
+
+Several times Captain Elisha descended to the closet where the telephone
+was fastened to the wall and held long conversations with someone. Mrs.
+Hepton, who knew that her newest boarder was anxious and disturbed, and
+was very curious to learn the reason, made it a point to be busy near
+that closet while these conversations took place; but, as the captain
+was always careful to close the door, she was disappointed. Once the
+mysterious Mr. Sylvester called up and asked for "Captain Warren," and
+the landlady hastened with the summons.
+
+"I hope it's nothing serious," she observed, feelingly.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied the captain, on his way to the stairs. "Much
+obliged."
+
+"It is the same person who was so very anxious to get you the other
+night," she continued, making desperate efforts not to be left behind in
+the descent. "I declare he quite frightened me! And--you'll excuse
+me, Captain Warren, but I take such a real friendly interest in my
+boarders--you have seemed to me rather--rather upset lately, and I _do_
+hope it isn't bad news."
+
+"Well, I tell you, ma'am," was the unsatisfactory answer, given just
+before the closet door closed; "we'll do the way the poor relation
+did when he got word his uncle had willed him one of his suits of
+clothes--we'll hope for the best."
+
+Sylvester had a report to make.
+
+"The other party has been here," he said. "He has just gone."
+
+"The other party? Why--you don't mean--_him_?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Was he alone? Nobody along to look after him?"
+
+"He was alone, for a wonder. He had heard the news, too. Apparently had
+just learned it."
+
+"He had? I want to know! Who told him?"
+
+"He didn't say. He was very much agitated. Wouldn't say anything except
+to ask if it was true. I think we can guess who told him."
+
+"Maybe. Well, what did you say?"
+
+"Nothing of importance. I refused to discuss my clients' affairs."
+
+"Right you are! How did he take that?"
+
+"He went up like a sky-rocket. Said he had a right to know, under the
+circumstances. I admitted it, but said I could tell him nothing--yet. He
+went away frantic, and I called you."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, Mr. Sylvester, suppose you do see him and his boss. See
+'em and tell 'em some of the truth. Don't tell too much though; not who
+was to blame nor how, but just that it looks pretty bad so fur as the
+estate's concerned. Then say you want to see 'em again and will arrange
+another interview. Don't set any time and place for that until you hear
+from me. Understand?"
+
+"I think so, partially. But--"
+
+"Until you hear from me--that's the important part. And, if you can,
+convenient, I'd have the fust interview right off; this afternoon, if
+it's possible."
+
+"Captain, what have you got up your sleeve? Why don't you come down here
+and talk it over?"
+
+"'Cause I'm stickin' close aboard and waitin' developments. Maybe there
+won't be any, but I'm goin' to wait a spell and see. There ain't much up
+my sleeve just now but goose-flesh; there's plenty of that. So long."
+
+A development came that evening. Mrs. Hepton heralded it.
+
+"Captain," she said, when he answered her knock, "there's a young
+gentleman to see you. I think he must be a relative of yours. His name
+is Warren."
+
+Captain Elisha pulled his beard. "A young _gentleman_?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes. I showed him into the parlor. There will be no one there but you
+and he, and I thought it would be more comfortable."
+
+"Um-hm. I see. Well, I guess you'd better send him up. This is
+comfortable enough, and there won't be nobody but him and me here,
+either--and I'll be more sartin of it."
+
+The landlady, who considered herself snubbed, flounced away. Captain
+Elisha stepped to the head of the stairs.
+
+"Come right up, Steve!" he called.
+
+Stephen came. His uncle ushered him into the room, closed the door, and
+turned the key.
+
+"Stevie," he said, kindly, "I'm glad to see you. Take off your things
+and set down."
+
+The boy accepted the invitation only to the extent of throwing his hat
+on the table. He did not sit or remove his overcoat. He was pale, his
+eyes were swollen and red, his hair was disarranged, and in all respects
+he looked unlike his usual blas� and immaculate self. His forehead was
+wet, showing that he had hurried on his way to the boarding house.
+
+The captain regarded him pityingly.
+
+"Set down, Stevie," he urged. "You're all het up and worn out."
+
+His nephew paid no attention. Instead he asked a question.
+
+"You know about it?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes, Stevie; I know."
+
+"You do? I--I mean about the--the Akrae Company and--and all?"
+
+"Yes. I know all about all of it. Do set down!"
+
+Stephen struck his closed fist into the palm of his other hand. He wore
+one glove. What had become of the other he could not have told.
+
+"You do?" he shouted. "You do? By gad! Then do you know what it means?"
+
+"Yes, I know that, too. Now, Stevie, be a good boy and set down and keep
+cool. Yes, I want you to."
+
+He put his hands on his nephew's shoulders and forced him into a chair.
+
+"Now, just calm yourself," urged the captain. "There ain't a mite of
+use workin' yourself up this way. I know the whole business, and I can't
+tell you--I can't begin to tell you how sorry I feel for you. Yet you
+mustn't give up the ship because--"
+
+"Mustn't give up!" Stephen was on his feet again. "Why, what are you
+talking about? I thought you said you knew! Do you think that losing
+every cent you've got in the world is a _joke_? Do you think that--See
+here, do you know who this shareholder is; this fellow who's going to
+rob us of all we own? Who is he?"
+
+"Didn't Mr. Sylvester tell you?"
+
+"He said that there was such a man and that he had the estate cinched.
+He told us about that note and all the rest. But he wouldn't tell the
+man's name. Said he had been forbidden to mention it. Do you know him?
+What sort of fellow is he? Don't you think he could be reasoned with?
+Hasn't he got any decency--or pity--or--"
+
+He choked, and the tears rushed to his eyes. He wiped them angrily away
+with the back of his glove.
+
+"It's a crime!" he cried. "Can't he be held off somehow? Who _is_ he? I
+want to know his name."
+
+Captain Elisha sadly shook his head. "I'm afraid he can't, Stevie," he
+said. "He's got a legal right to all 'Bije left, and more, too. It
+may be he won't be too hard; perhaps he'll ... but there," hastily. "I
+mustn't say that. We've got to face the situation as 'tis. And I
+can't tell you his name because he don't want it mentioned unless it's
+absolutely necessary. And we don't, either. We don't want--any of us--to
+have this get into the papers. We mustn't have any disgrace."
+
+"Disgrace! Good heavens! Isn't there disgrace enough already? Isn't
+it enough to know father was a crook as well as an idiot? I've always
+thought he was insane ever since that crazy will of his came to light;
+but to steal! and then to leave a paper proving it, so that we've got to
+lose everything! His children! It's--"
+
+"Now hold on, boy! Your dad didn't mean to take what didn't belong to
+him--for good, that is; the note proves that. He did do wrong and used
+another man's money, but--"
+
+"Then why didn't he keep it? If you're going to steal, steal like a man,
+I say!"
+
+"Steve, Steve! steady now!" The captain's tone was sterner. "Don't speak
+that way. You'll be sorry for it later. I tell you I don't condemn your
+father ha'f so much as I pity him."
+
+"Oh, shut up! You make me sick. You talk just as Caro does. I'll never
+forgive him, no matter how much she preaches, and I told her so. Pity!
+Pity him! How about pity for _me_? I--I--"
+
+His over-wrought nerves gave way, and, throwing himself into the chair,
+he broke down completely and, forgetting the manhood of which he was so
+fond of boasting, cried like a baby. Captain Elisha turned away, to hide
+his own emotion.
+
+"It's hard," he said slowly. "It's awfully hard for you, my boy. I hate
+to see you suffer this way." Then, in a lower tone, he added doubtfully.
+"I wonder if--if--I wonder--"
+
+His nephew heard the word and interrupted.
+
+"You wonder?" he demanded, hysterically; "you wonder what? What are you
+going to do about it? It's up to you, isn't it? You're our guardian,
+aren't you?"
+
+"Yes, Stevie, I'm your guardian."
+
+"Yes, you are! But no one would guess it. When we didn't want you, you
+wouldn't leave us for a minute. Now, when we need you, when there isn't
+a soul for us to turn to, you stay away. You haven't been near us. It's
+up to you, I say! and what are you going to do about it? What are you
+going to _do_?"
+
+His uncle held up his hand.
+
+"S-shh!" he said. "Don't raise your voice like that, son! I can hear you
+without that, and we don't want anybody else to hear. What am I goin' to
+do? Stevie, I don't know exactly. I ain't made up my mind yet."
+
+"Well, it's time you did!"
+
+"Yes, I guess likely 'tis. As for my not comin' to see you, you know the
+reason for that. I'd have come quick enough, but I wa'n't sure I'd
+be welcome. And I told your sister only 'tother day that--by the way,
+Steve, how is she? How is Caroline?"
+
+"She's a fool!" The boy sprang up again and shook his fist. "She's the
+one I've come here to speak about. If we don't stop her she'll ruin us
+altogether. She--she's a damned fool, I tell you!"
+
+"There! there!" the captain's tone was sharp and emphatic. "That's
+enough of that," he said. "I don't want to hear you call your sister
+names. What do you mean by it?"
+
+"I mean what I say. She _is_ a fool. Do you know what she's done? She's
+written Mal Dunn all about it! I'd have stopped her, but I didn't know
+until it was too late. She's told him the whole thing."
+
+"She has? About 'Bije?"
+
+"Well, perhaps she didn't tell him father was a thief, but she did tell
+that the estate was gone--that we were flat broke and worse."
+
+"Hum!" Captain Elisha seemed more gratified than displeased. "Hum!...
+Well, I kind of expected she would. Knowin' her, I kind of expected it."
+
+"You did?" Stephen glared in wrathful amazement. "You expected it?"
+
+"Yes. What of it?"
+
+"What _of_ it? Why, everything! Can't you see? Mal's our only chance. If
+she marries him she'll be looked out for and so will I. She needn't have
+told him until they were married. The wedding could have been hurried
+along; the Dunns were crazy to have it as soon as possible. Now--"
+
+"Hold on, Steve! Belay! What difference does her tellin' him make? Maybe
+she hasn't mentioned it to you, but I had a talk with your sister the
+other mornin'. She thinks the world of Malcolm, and he does of her. She
+told me so herself. Of _course_ she'd go to him in her trouble. And
+he'll be proud--yes, and glad to know that he can help her. As for the
+weddin', I don't see that this'll have any effect except to hurry it up
+a little more, maybe."
+
+Steve looked at him suspiciously, but there was no trace of sarcasm in
+the captain's face or voice. The boy scowled.
+
+"Ugh!" he grunted.
+
+"What's the 'ugh' for? See here, you ain't hintin' that young Dunn was
+cal'latin' to marry Caroline just for her money, are you? Of course you
+ain't! Why, you and he are the thickest sort of chums. You wouldn't chum
+with a feller who would play such a trick as that on your own sister."
+
+Stephen's scowl deepened. He thrust his hands into his pocket, and
+shifted his feet uneasily.
+
+"You don't understand," he said. "People don't do things here as they do
+where you come from."
+
+"I understand that, all right," with dry emphasis. "I've been here long
+enough to understand that. But maybe I don't understand _you_. Heave
+ahead, and make it plain."
+
+"Well--well, then--I mean this: I don't know that Mal was after Caro's
+money, but--but he had a right to expect _some_. If he didn't, why, then
+her not telling him until after they were married wouldn't have made
+any difference. And--and if her tellin' him beforehand _should_ make a
+difference and he wanted to break the engagement, she's just romantic
+fool enough to let him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"_Well?_ If she doesn't marry him, who's going to take care of her?
+What's going to become of _me_? We haven't a cent. What kind of a
+guardian are you? Do you want us to starve?"
+
+He was shouting again. The captain was calm. "Oh," he said, "I guess
+it won't reach to the starvation point. I'm a pretty tough old critter,
+'cordin' to your estimate, but I shouldn't let my brother's children
+starve. If the wust comes to the wust, there's always a home and plenty
+to eat for you both at South Denboro."
+
+This offer did not appear to comfort the young gentleman greatly. His
+disgust was evident.
+
+"South Denboro!" he repeated, scornfully. "Gad!... South Denboro!"
+
+"Yup. But we'll let South Denboro alone for now and stick to New York.
+What is it you expect me to do? What are you drivin' at?"
+
+Stephen shook a forefinger in his guardian's face.
+
+"I expect you to make her stick to her engagement," he cried. "And make
+her make him stick. She can, can't she? It's been announced, hasn't it?
+Everybody knows of it! She's got the right--the legal right to hold him,
+hasn't she?"
+
+His uncle regarded him with a quizzical smile. "Why, ye-es," he
+answered, "I cal'late she has, maybe. Course, there's no danger of his
+wantin' to do such a thing, but if he should I presume likely we could
+make it uncomfortable for him, anyhow. What are you hankerin' for,
+Steve--a breach-of-promise suit? I've always understood those sort of
+cases were kind of unpleasant--for everybody but the newspapers."
+
+The boy was in deadly earnest. "Pleasant!" he repeated. "Is any of this
+business pleasant? You make her act like a sensible girl! You're her
+guardian, and you make her! And, after that, if he tries to hedge, you
+tell him a few things. You can hold him! Do it! _Do_ it!"
+
+Captain Elisha turned on his heel and began pacing up and down the room.
+His nephew watched him eagerly.
+
+"Well," he demanded, after a moment, "what are we going to do? Are we
+going to make him make good?"
+
+The captain paused. "Steve," he answered, deliberately, "I ain't sure as
+we are. And, as I've said, if he's got a spark of decency, it won't be
+necessary for us to try. If it should be--if it should be--"
+
+"Well, _if_ it should be?"
+
+"Then we can try, that's all. Maybe you run a course a little different
+from me, Stevie; you navigate 'cordin' to your ideas, and I do by mine.
+But in some ways we ain't so fur apart. Son," with a grim nod, "you rest
+easy on one thing--the Corcoran Dunn fleet is goin' to show its colors."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Caroline sat by the library window, her chin in her hand, drearily
+watching the sleet as it beat against the panes, and the tops of the
+Park trees lashing in the wind. Below, in the street, the trolleys
+passed in their never-ending procession, the limousines and cabs whizzed
+forlornly by, and the few pedestrians pushed dripping umbrellas against
+the gale. A wet, depressing afternoon, as hopeless as her thoughts, and
+growing darker and more miserable hourly.
+
+Stephen, standing by the fire, kicked the logs together and sent a
+shower of sparks flying.
+
+"Oh, say something, Caro, do!" he snapped testily. "Don't sit there
+glowering; you give me the horrors."
+
+She roused from her reverie, turned, and tried to smile.
+
+"What shall I say?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know. But say something, for heaven's sake! Talk about the
+weather, if you can't think of anything more original."
+
+"The weather isn't a very bright subject just now."
+
+"I didn't say it was; but it's _a_ subject. I hope to goodness it
+doesn't prevent Sylvester's keeping his appointment. He's late, as it
+is."
+
+"Is he?" wearily. "I hadn't noticed."
+
+"Of course you hadn't. You don't notice anything. It doesn't help
+matters to pull a long face and go moping around wiping your eyes.
+You've got to use philosophy in times like this. It's just as hard for
+me as it is for you; and I try to make the best of it, don't I?"
+
+She might have reminded him that his philosophy was a very recent
+acquisition. When the news of their poverty first came he was the one
+who raved and sobbed and refused to contemplate anything less direful
+than slow starvation or quick suicide. She had soothed and comforted
+then. Since the previous evening, when he had gone out, in spite of her
+protestations, and left her alone, his manner had changed. He was still
+nervous and irritable, but no longer threatened self-destruction, and
+seemed, for some unexplained reason, more hopeful and less desperate.
+Sylvester had 'phoned, saying that he would call at the apartment at
+two, and since Stephen had received the message he had been in a state
+of suppressed excitement, scarcely keeping still for five minutes at a
+time.
+
+"It is just as hard for me as it is for you, isn't it?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, Steve, I suppose it is."
+
+"You suppose? Don't you know? Oh, do quit thinking about Mal Dunn and
+pay attention to me."
+
+She did not answer. He regarded her with disgust.
+
+"You are thinking of Mal, of course," he declared. "What's the use? You
+know what _I_ think: you were a fool to write him that letter."
+
+"Don't, Steve; please don't."
+
+"Ugh!"
+
+"Don't you know he didn't get the letter? I was so nervous and
+over-wrought that I misdirected it."
+
+"Pooh! Has he ever stayed away from you so long before? Or his precious
+mother, either? Why doesn't she come to see you? She scarcely missed a
+day before this happened. Nonsense! I guess he got it all right."
+
+"Steve, stop! stop! Don't dare speak like that. Do you realize what you
+are insinuating? You don't believe it! You know you don't! Shame on you!
+I'm ashamed of my brother! No! not another word of that kind, or I shall
+leave the room."
+
+She had risen to her feet. He looked at her determined face and turned
+away.
+
+"Oh, well," he muttered, sullenly, "maybe you're right. I don't say
+you're not. Perhaps he didn't get the letter. You sent it to his office,
+and he may have been called out of town. But his mother--"
+
+"Mrs. Dunn was not well when I last saw her. She may be ill."
+
+"Perhaps. But if you're so sure about them, why not let it go at that?
+What's the use of fretting?"
+
+"I was not thinking of them--then."
+
+As a matter of fact, she had been thinking of her uncle, Elisha Warren.
+As the time dragged by, she thought of him more and more--not as the
+uncouth countryman whose unwelcome presence had been forced into her
+life; nor as the hypocrite whose insult to her father's memory she
+never could forgive or whose double-dealing had been, as she thought,
+revealed; but as the man who, with the choke in his voice and the tears
+in his eyes, bade her remember that, whenever she needed help, he was
+ready and glad to give it.
+
+She did not doubt Malcolm's loyalty. Her brother's hints and
+insinuations found no echo in her thoughts. In the note which she had
+written her fianc� she told of the loss of their fortune, though not of
+her father's shame. That she could not tell; nor did she ask Malcolm to
+come to her--her pride would not permit that. She wrote simply of her
+great trouble and trusted the rest to him. That he had not come was
+due--so she kept repeating to herself--solely to the fact that he had
+not received her letter. She knew that was it--she knew it. And yet--and
+yet he did not come.
+
+So, in her loneliness and misery, her guardian's words returned again
+and again to her memory: "Sometimes when things look all right they turn
+out to be all wrong. If ever there comes a time like that to you and
+Steve, remember you've got me to turn to." The time had come when she
+must turn to someone.
+
+She would never go to him; she vowed it. She would not accept his help
+if he came to her. But, if he was sincere, if he meant what he said,
+why did he not come again to proffer it? Because he was not sincere,
+of course. That had been proven long before. She despised him. But
+his face, as she last saw it, refused to be banished from her mind.
+It looked so strong, and yet gentle and loving, like the face of a
+protector, one to be trusted through good times and bad. Oh, this
+wicked, wicked world, and the shams and sorrows in it! "Malcolm, why
+don't you come to me?"
+
+Stephen uttered an exclamation. Looking up, she saw him hurrying toward
+the hall.
+
+"Someone's at the door," he explained. "It's Sylvester, of course. I'll
+let him in."
+
+It was not the lawyer but a messenger boy with a note. Stephen returned
+to the library with the missive in his hand.
+
+"He couldn't get here, Caro," he said, excitedly. "Wants us to come
+right down to his office. Hurry up! Get your things on. The cab's
+waiting. Come! Rush! It may be important."
+
+The cab, an electric vehicle, made good time, and they soon reached the
+Pine Street offices, where they were ushered at once into the senior
+partner's presence.
+
+"Step into the other room," said Mr. Sylvester, "and wait there, please.
+I'll join you shortly."
+
+The room was the large one where the momentous conference between
+Captain Elisha and the three lawyers had so recently taken place.
+Caroline seated herself in one of the chairs. Stephen walked the floor.
+
+"Hope he doesn't keep us waiting long," he fumed. "I thought of course
+he was ready or he wouldn't have sent for us."
+
+"Ready?" his sister looked at him, questioningly. "Ready for what?" she
+repeated, with sudden suspicion. "Steve, do you know what Mr. Sylvester
+wishes to see us about?"
+
+Her brother colored and seemed a bit disconcerted. "How should I know?"
+he muttered.
+
+"Is it something new about the estate or that man who owns it? You do
+know something! I can see it in your face. What is it?"
+
+"Nothing. How should I know what it is?"
+
+"But you do. I believe you do. Look at me! What does Mr. Sylvester want
+of us?"
+
+The boy hesitated; then whirled and faced her. "See here, Caro," he
+said, "maybe I do know something--or I can guess. Now, whatever happens,
+you've got to be a sensible girl. Certain things have to be dealt
+with in a practical way, and we're practical people. Sentiment--and
+pride--and all that sort of stuff, are well enough, but business is
+business and an engagement is an engagement. Now it's right up to you
+and--"
+
+"Steve, what are you talking about?"
+
+"That's all right. I know what I'm talking about. Somebody in the
+family must use common sense, and when it comes to holding a person to a
+promise, then--Confound it, Sis, we can't starve, can we?"
+
+"What do you mean?" She rose and advanced toward him. "What do you mean
+by a promise? What have you been doing?"
+
+His confusion increased. He avoided her eyes and moved sullenly toward
+the other side of the table.
+
+"I haven't done anything," he grumbled, "that is, I've done what any
+reasonable fellow would do. I'm not the only one who thinks.... Look
+here! We've got a guardian, haven't we?"
+
+"A guardian! a _guardian_! Stephen Warren, have you been to him? Have
+you--Was _that_ where you were last night?"
+
+"Well, I--"
+
+"Answer me!"
+
+"What if I have? Whom else am I to go to? Isn't he--"
+
+"But why did you go to him? What did you say?"
+
+"I said--I said--Never mind what I said. He agrees with me, I can tell
+you that. You'll thank your stars I did go, before very long. I....
+S-sh! Here's Sylvester."
+
+The door of the room opened. The person who entered, however, was not
+the lawyer, but the very man of whom they had been speaking, Captain
+Elisha himself. He closed the door behind him.
+
+"Hello, Stevie," he said, with a nod to the boy. Then, turning to his
+niece, he stepped forward and held out his hand. "Caroline," he began,
+"I don't doubt you're some surprised to see me here; but I.... Why,
+what's the matter?"
+
+The faces of the pair led him to ask the question. Stephen's was red and
+he looked embarrassed and guilty. Caroline's was white, and she glanced
+from her brother to her guardian and back again, with flashing eyes.
+
+"What's the matter?" repeated the captain. "Steve," sharply, "have you
+been making a fool of yourself again? What is it?"
+
+"Nothing," was the sulky answer; "nothing of consequence. Caro is--well,
+I happened to mention that I called on you last night and--and she
+doesn't seem to like it, that's all. As I told her, somebody in the
+family had to use common sense, and you were our guardian and naturally,
+under the circumstances.... Why, I'll leave it to anyone!" with a burst
+of righteous indignation. "You _are_ our guardian."
+
+He proclaimed it as if he expected a denial. Captain Elisha frowned.
+"Humph!" he grunted. "That ain't exactly news, is it, Steve? Seems to me
+we've taken up that p'int afore; though, as I remember, you didn't used
+to be sot on all hands knowin' it," with dry sarcasm. "I don't need even
+your common sense to remind me of it just at this minute. Caroline, your
+brother did come to see me last night. I was glad he did."
+
+She ignored him. "Steve," she demanded, still facing the young man, "was
+this, too, a part of your plan? Did you bring me here to meet--him?"
+
+"No, I didn't. Sylvester was to come to see us. You know that; he
+telephoned. I didn't know--"
+
+The captain interrupted. "There, there, son!" he exclaimed, "let me say
+a word. No, Caroline, Stevie didn't know I was to meet you here. But
+I thought it was necessary that I should. Set down, please. I know you
+must be worn out, poor girl."
+
+"I don't wish to sit. I want to know what my brother called to see you
+about."
+
+"Well, there was some matters he wanted to talk over."
+
+"What were they? Concerning the estate?"
+
+"Partly that."
+
+"Partly? What else? Captain Warren, my brother has hinted--he has
+said--What does he mean by holding someone to a promise? Answer me
+truthfully."
+
+"I shouldn't answer you any other way, Caroline. Steve seems to be
+worried about--now you mustn't mind my speakin' plain, Caroline; the
+time's come when I've got to--Steve seems to be worried about the young
+man you're engaged to. He seems to cal'late that Mr. Dunn may want to
+slip out of that engagement."
+
+His niece looked at him. Then she turned to her brother. "You went to
+_him_ and.... Oh, how _could_ you!"
+
+Stephen would not meet her gaze. "Well," he muttered rebelliously, "why
+wouldn't I? You know yourself that Mal hasn't been near you since it
+happened. If he wasn't after--if he was straight, he would have come,
+wouldn't he? Mind, I don't say he isn't--perhaps he doesn't know. But,
+at any rate, something must be done. We had to face possibilities, and
+you wouldn't listen to me. I tried--"
+
+"Stop!" she cut him short, imperiously. "Don't make me hate you. And
+you," turning to her uncle, "did _you_ listen and believe such things?
+Did you encourage him to believe them? Oh, I know what you think of my
+friends! I heard it from your own lips. And I know why you think it.
+Because they know what you are; because they exposed you and--"
+
+"There, there! Caroline, you needn't go on. I've heard your opinion
+of my character afore. Never mind me for the minute. And, if you'll
+remember, _I_ ain't said that I doubted your young man. You told me
+that you thought the world and all of him and that he did of you. That's
+enough--or ought to be. But your brother says you wrote him two days ago
+and he ain't been near you."
+
+"I misdirected the letter. He didn't receive it."
+
+"Um-hm. I see. That would explain."
+
+"Of course it would. That _must_ be the reason."
+
+"Yes, seem's if it must."
+
+"It is. What right have you to doubt it? Oh, how can you think such
+things? Can you suppose the man I am to marry is so despicable--so
+_mean_ as to--as to--I'm ashamed to say it. Why do you presume that
+money has any part in our engagement? Such trouble as mine only makes it
+more binding. Do you suppose if _he_ were poor as--as I am, that I would
+desert _him_? You know I wouldn't. I should be glad--yes, almost happy,
+because then I could show him--could--"
+
+Her voice failed her. She put her handkerchief to her eyes for an
+instant and then snatched it away and faced them, her head erect. The
+pride in her face was reflected in Captain Elisha's as he regarded her.
+
+"No, no," he said gently, "I never supposed you'd act but in one way,
+Caroline. I knew _you_. And, as Steve'll tell you, I said to him almost
+the same words you've been sayin'. If Malcolm's what he'd ought to be,
+I said, he'll be glad of the chance to prove how much he cares for your
+sister. But Steve appeared to have some misgivin's, and so--"
+
+He paused, turned toward the door, and seemed to be listening. Caroline
+flashed an indignant glance at her brother.
+
+"And so?" she asked, scornfully.
+
+"And so," continued the captain, with a slight change in his tone, "it
+seemed to me that his doubts ought to be settled. And," rising, as there
+came a tap at the door, "I cal'late they're goin' to be."
+
+He walked briskly over and opened the door. Sylvester was standing
+without.
+
+"Come, have they?" inquired Captain Elisha.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Fetch 'em right in here. Steve, stand over nigher that corner. This
+way, Caroline, if you please."
+
+He took his niece by the arm and led her to the side of the room not
+visible from the doorway. She was too astonished to resist, but asked an
+agitated question.
+
+"What is it?" she cried. "Who is coming?"
+
+"Some friends of yours," was the quiet reply. "Nothin' to be frightened
+about. Steve, stay where you are."
+
+The boy was greatly excited. "Is it they?" he demanded. "Is it? By gad!
+Now, Sis, be a sensible girl. If he should try to hedge, you hold him.
+Hold him! Understand?"
+
+"Steve, be quiet," ordered the captain.... "Ah, Mrs. Dunn, good
+afternoon, ma'am. Mr. Dunn, good afternoon, sir."
+
+For the pair who, followed by Sylvester, now entered the room were Mrs.
+Corcoran Dunn and Malcolm.
+
+They were past the sill before Captain Elisha's greeting caused them to
+turn and see the three already there. Mrs. Dunn, who was in the lead,
+stopped short in her majestic though creaking march of entrance, and her
+florid face turned a brighter crimson. Her son, strolling languidly at
+her heels, started violently and dropped his hat. The lawyer, bringing
+up in the rear, closed the door and remained standing near it. Caroline
+uttered an exclamation of surprise. Her brother drew himself haughtily
+erect. Captain Elisha remained unperturbed and smiling.
+
+"Good afternoon, ma'am," he repeated. "It's been some time since you and
+I run across each other. I hope you're feelin' pretty smart."
+
+Mrs. Dunn had faced some unpleasant situations in her life and
+had proved equal to them. Usually, however, she had been prepared
+beforehand. For this she had not been prepared--as yet. She had come
+to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, at the senior partner's
+request, to be told, as she supposed, the full and final details of
+the financial disaster threatening the Warren family. If those details
+should prove the disaster as overwhelming as it appeared, then--well,
+then, certain disagreeable duties must be performed. But to meet the
+girl to whom her son was engaged, and whom she and he had carefully
+avoided meeting until the lawyers should acquaint them with the whole
+truth--to meet this girl, and her brother, and her guardian, thus
+unexpectedly and unprepared, was enough to shake the composure and nerve
+of even such a veteran campaigner as Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn.
+
+But of the three to whom the meeting was an absolute
+surprise,--Caroline, Malcolm and herself--she was characteristically the
+first to regain outward serenity. For a moment she stood nonplused and
+speechless, but only for a moment. Then she hastened, with outstretched
+arms, to Caroline and clasped her in affectionate embrace.
+
+"My dear child!" she cried; "my dear girl! I'm _so_ glad to see you!
+I've thought of you so much! And I pity you so. Poor Malcolm
+has--Malcolm," sharply, "come here! Don't you see Caroline?"
+
+Malcolm was groping nervously for his hat. He picked it up and obeyed
+his mother's summons, though with no great eagerness.
+
+"How d'ye do, Caroline," he stammered, confusedly. "I--I--It's a deuce
+of a surprise to see you down here. The mater and I didn't expect--that
+is, we scarcely hoped to meet anyone but Sylvester. He sent for us, you
+know."
+
+He extended his hand. She did not take it.
+
+"Did you get my letter?" she asked, quickly. Mrs. Dunn answered for him.
+
+"Yes, dear, he got it," she said. "The poor fellow was almost crazy. I
+began to fear for his sanity; I did, indeed. I did not dare trust him
+out of my sight. Oh, if you could but know how we feel for you and pity
+you!"
+
+Pity was not what Caroline wanted just then. The word jarred upon her.
+She avoided the lady's embrace and once more faced the embarrassed
+Malcolm.
+
+"You got my letter?" she cried. "You _did_?"
+
+"Yes--er--yes, I got it, Caroline. I--by Jove, you know--"
+
+He hesitated, stammered, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. His mother
+regarded him wrathfully.
+
+"Well," she snapped, "why don't you go on? Caroline, dear, you really
+must excuse him. The dear boy is quite overcome."
+
+Captain Elisha stepped forward.
+
+"Excuse me for interruptin', ma'am," he said, addressing the ruffled
+matron; "but I know you're sort of surprised to see us all here and
+maybe I'd better explain. Mr. Sylvester told me you and your son had an
+appointment with him for this afternoon. Now there was something we--or
+I, anyhow--wanted to talk with you about, so I thought we might as well
+make one job of it. Sylvester's a pretty busy man, and I know he has
+other things to attend to; so why not let him go ahead and tell you what
+you come to hear, and then we can take up the other part by ourselves.
+He's told me what you wanted to see him about, and it's somethin' we're
+all interested in, bein' as we're one family--or goin' to be pretty
+soon. So suppose he just tells you now. Ain't that a good idea?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn looked at the speaker, and then at the lawyer, and seemed to
+have caught some of her son's embarrassment.
+
+"I--we did have an appointment with Mr. Sylvester," she admitted,
+reluctantly; "but the business was not important. And," haughtily, "I do
+not care to discuss it here."
+
+The captain opened his eyes. "Hey?" he exclaimed. "Not important? You
+surprise me, ma'am. I judged 'twas mighty important. 'Twas about the
+real size of your father's estate, Caroline," turning to the girl. "I
+thought Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Malcolm must think 'twas important, for I
+understand they've been telephonin' and askin' for appointments for the
+last two days. Why, yes! and they come way down here in all this storm
+on purpose to talk it over with him. Am I wrong? Ain't that so, ma'am?"
+
+It was so, and Mrs. Dunn could not well deny it. Therefore, she took
+refuge in a contemptuous silence. The captain nodded.
+
+"As to discussin' it here," he went on with bland innocence, "why, we're
+all family folks, same as I said, and there ain't any secrets between us
+on _that_ subject. So suppose we all listen while Mr. Sylvester tells
+just what he'd have told you and Mr. Malcolm. It's pretty hard to hear;
+but bad news is soon told. Heave ahead, Mr. Sylvester."
+
+Mrs. Dunn made one more attempt to avoid the crisis she saw was
+approaching.
+
+"Surely, Caroline," she said testily, "you don't wish your private
+affairs treated in this public manner. Come, let us go."
+
+She laid a hand on the girl's arm. Captain Elisha quietly interposed.
+
+"No, no," he said. "We'll all stay here. There's nothin' public about
+it."
+
+Caroline, crimson with mortification, protested indignantly.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," she said, "it is not necessary to--"
+
+"Excuse me;" her uncle's tone was sharper and more stern; "I think it
+is. Go on, Sylvester."
+
+The lawyer looked far from comfortable, but he spoke at once and to the
+point.
+
+"I should have told you and your son just this, Mrs. Dunn," he said.
+"I intimated it before, and Miss Warren had already written you the
+essential facts. A new and unexpected development, the nature of which I
+am not at liberty to disclose now or later, makes Abijah Warren's estate
+absolutely bankrupt. Not only that, but many thousand dollars in debt.
+His heirs are left penniless. That is the plain truth, I'm very sorry
+to say. There is no hope of anything better. You'll forgive me, Miss
+Warren, I hope, for putting it so bluntly; but I thought it best to
+avoid every possible misunderstanding."
+
+It was blunt, beyond doubt. Even Captain Elisha winced at the word
+"penniless." Stephen muttered under his breath and turned his back.
+Caroline, swaying, put a hand on the table to steady herself. The Dunns
+looked at each other.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Sylvester," said the captain, quietly. "I'll see you
+again in a few moments."
+
+The lawyer bowed and left the room, evidently glad to escape. Captain
+Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn.
+
+"And now, ma'am," he observed, "that part of the business is over. The
+next part's even more in the family, so I thought we didn't need legal
+advice. You see just how matters stand. My niece is a poor girl. She
+needs somebody to support her and look out for her. She's got that
+somebody, we're all thankful to say. She's engaged to Mr. Malcolm here.
+And, as you're his ma, Mrs. Dunn, and I'm Caroline's guardian, us old
+folks'll take our affairs in hand; they needn't listen, if they don't
+want to. I understand from Steve that Malcolm's been mighty anxious to
+have the weddin' day hurried along. I can't say as I blame him. And _I_
+think the sooner they're married the better. Now, how soon can we make
+it, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+This unexpected and matter-of-fact query was variously received. Mrs.
+Dunn frowned and flushed. Malcolm frowned, also. Steve nodded emphatic
+approval. As for Caroline, she gazed at her guardian in horrified
+amazement.
+
+"Why!" she cried. "You--you--What do you mean by such--"
+
+"Don't be an idiot, Caro!" cut in her brother. "I told you to be
+sensible. Captain Warren's dead right."
+
+"Stevie, you stay out of this." There was no misunderstanding the
+captain's tone. "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it. And,
+Caroline, I want you to stay out, too. This is my trick at the wheel.
+Mrs. Dunn, what d'you say? Never mind the young folks. You and me know
+that marriage is business, same as everything else. How soon can we have
+the weddin'?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn had, apparently, nothing to say--to him. She addressed her
+next remark to Caroline.
+
+"My dear," she said, in great agitation, "this is really too dreadful.
+This--er--guardian of yours appears to think he is in some barbarous
+country--ordering the savages about. Come! Malcolm, take her away."
+
+"No," Captain Elisha stepped in front of the door. "She ain't goin'; and
+I'd rather you wouldn't go yet. Let's settle this up now. I ain't askin'
+anything unreasonable. Caroline's under my charge, and I've got to plan
+for her. Your boy's just crazy to marry her; he's been beggin' for her
+to name the day. Let's name it. It needn't be to-morrow. I cal'late
+you'll want to get out invitations and such. It needn't be next week.
+But just say about when it can be; then I'll know how to plan. That
+ain't much to ask, sartin."
+
+Much or little, neither Mrs. Dunn nor her son appeared ready to answer.
+Malcolm fidgeted with his hat and gloves; his mother fanned herself with
+her handkerchief. Caroline, frantic with humiliation and shame, would
+have protested again, but her guardian's stern shake of the head
+silenced her.
+
+"Well, Mr. Dunn," turning to the groom-to-be; "you're one of the
+interested parties--what do you say?"
+
+Malcolm ground his heel into the rug. "I don't consider it your
+business," he declared. "You're butting in where--"
+
+"No, no, I ain't. It's my business, and business is just _what_ it is.
+Your ma knows that. She and I had a real confidential up and down talk
+on love and marriage, and she's the one that proved to me that marryin'
+in high society, like yours and the kind Caroline's been circulatin' in,
+was business and mighty little else. There's a business contract between
+you and my niece. We want to know how soon it can be carried out, that's
+all."
+
+The young man looked desperately at the door; but the captain's broad
+shoulders blocked the way towards it. He hesitated, scowled, and then,
+with a shrug of his shoulders, surrendered.
+
+"How can I marry?" he demanded sullenly. "Confound it! my salary isn't
+large enough to pay my own way, decently."
+
+"Malcolm!" cried his mother, warningly.
+
+"Well, Mater, what the devil's the use of all this? You know.... By
+Jove! you _ought_ to!"
+
+"Hold on, young feller! I don't understand. Your wages ain't large
+enough, you say? What do you mean? You was _goin'_ to be married, wasn't
+you?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn plunged to the rescue, a forlorn hope, but desperate, and
+fighting to the end.
+
+"An outrage!" she blurted. "Malcolm, I forbid you to continue this
+disgusting conversation. Caroline, my poor child, I don't blame you for
+this, but I call on you to stop it at once. My dear, I--"
+
+She advanced toward the girl with outstretched arms. Caroline recoiled.
+
+"Don't! don't!" she gasped. Captain Elisha spoke up sharp and stern.
+
+"Excuse me, ma'am," he said, "but I'll be obliged if you'll wait a
+minute. Caroline, don't you say a word. You say--you--" addressing
+Malcolm, "that you can't support a wife on your wages. You surprise me
+some, considerin' the swath you've been cuttin' on 'em--but never mind
+that. Maybe they won't keep automobiles and--er--other things I've heard
+you was interested in, but if you cut them out and economize a little,
+same as young married folks I've known have been glad to do, you could
+scrape along, couldn't you? Hey? Couldn't you?"
+
+Malcolm's answer was another scornful shrug. "You belong on Cape Cod,"
+he sneered. "Mater, let's get out of this."
+
+"Wait! Put it plain now. Do I understand that you cal'late to break the
+engagement because my niece has lost her money? Is that it?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn realized that the inevitable was upon them. After all, it
+might as well be faced now as later.
+
+"This is ridiculous," she proclaimed. "Every sane person knows--though
+_barbarians_ may not--" with a venomous glare at the captain--"that,
+in engagements of the kind in which my son shared, a certain amount
+of--er--financial--er--that is, the bride is supposed to have some
+money. It is expected. Of course it is! Love in a cottage is--well--a
+bit _pass�_. My son and I pity your niece from the bottom of our hearts,
+but--there! under the circumstances the whole affair becomes impossible.
+Caroline, my dear, I'm dreadfully sorry, dreadfully! I love you like my
+own child. And poor Malcolm will be heartbroken--but--you _see_."
+
+She extended her hand in a gesture of utter helplessness. Stephen,
+who had been fuming and repressing his rage with difficulty during the
+scene, leaped forward with brandished fist.
+
+"By gad!" he shouted. "Mal Dunn, you cad--"
+
+His uncle pushed him back with a sweep of his arm.
+
+"Steve," he ordered, "I'm runnin' this ship." He gave a quick glance at
+his niece, and then added, speaking rapidly and addressing the head of
+the Dunn family, "I see, ma'am. Yes, yes, I see. Well, you've forgot one
+thing, I guess. Caroline's lived in high society, too. And I've been in
+it a spell, myself. And Steve's a boy, but he's got a business head. If
+there's nothin' in marriage but business, then an engagement is what I
+just called it, a business contract, and it can't be broke without the
+consent of both sides. You wanted Caroline's money; maybe she wants
+yours now. If she does, and there's such a thing as law, why, perhaps
+she can get it."
+
+"That's the talk!" cried Stephen exultingly.
+
+"Yup; perhaps she can. She may be a business woman, too, you know. If
+money and style and social position's what counts and she wants to force
+you to keep your promise, why, I'm her guardian and she can count on me
+to back her up. What do you say, Caroline? I'm at your service. I--"
+
+But Caroline interrupted him.
+
+"Stop!" she cried wildly. "Oh, stop! Do you think--do you suppose I
+would marry him now? _Now_, after I've seen what he is? Oh," with a
+shudder of disgust, "when I think what I might have done, I.... Thank
+God that the money has gone! I'm glad I'm poor! I'm _glad_!"
+
+"Caro, you fool!" shrieked Stephen. She did not heed him.
+
+"Let me go!" she cried. "Let me get away from him; from this room! I
+never want to see him or think of him again. Please! _Please_ let me go!
+Oh, take me home! Captain Warren, _please_ let me go home!"
+
+Her uncle was at her side in a moment. "Yes, yes, dearie," he said,
+"I'll take you home. Don't give way now! I'll--"
+
+He would have taken her arm, but she shrank from him.
+
+"Not you!" she begged. "Steve!"
+
+The captain's face clouded, but he answered promptly.
+
+"Of course--Steve," he agreed. "Steve, take your sister home. Mr.
+Sylvester's got a carriage waitin', and he'll go with you, I don't
+doubt. Do as I tell you, boy--and behave yourself. Don't wait; go!"
+
+He held the door open until the hysterical girl and her brother had
+departed. Then he turned to the Dunns.
+
+"Well, ma'am," he said, dryly. "I don't know's there's anything more to
+be said. All the questions seem to be settled. Our acquaintance wa'n't
+so awful long, but it was interestin'. Knowin' you has been, as the
+feller said, a liberal education. Don't let me keep you any longer. Good
+afternoon."
+
+He stepped away from the door. Malcolm and his mother remained standing,
+for an instant, where they were when Caroline left.
+
+The young man looked as if he would enjoy choking someone, the captain
+preferably, but said nothing. Then Mrs. Dunn bethought herself of a way
+to make their exit less awkward and embarrassing.
+
+"My heart!" she said, gasping, and with a clutch at her breast. "My
+poor heart! I--I fear I'm going to have one of my attacks. Malcolm, your
+arm--quick!"
+
+With an expression of intense but patient suffering, and leaning heavily
+upon her son's arm, she moved past Captain Elisha and from the room.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening the captain stood in the lower hall of the apartment house
+at Central Park West, undecided what to do next. He wished more than
+anything else in the world to go to his niece. He would have gone to her
+before--had been dying to go, to soothe, to comfort, to tell her of his
+love--but he was afraid. His conscience troubled him. Perhaps he had
+been too brutal. Perhaps he shouldn't have acted as he did. Maybe
+forcing the Dunn fleet to show its colors could have been done more
+diplomatically. He had wanted her to see those colors for herself, to
+actually see them. But he might have overdone it. He remembered how she
+shrank from him and turned to her brother. She might hate him more than
+ever now. If so, then the whole scheme under which he was working fell
+to pieces.
+
+He was worried about Steve, too. That young man would, naturally,
+be furious with his sister for what he would consider her romantic
+foolishness. He had been warned to behave himself; but would he? Captain
+Elisha paced up and down the marble floor before the elevator cage and
+wondered whether his visiting the apartment would be a wise move or a
+foolish one.
+
+The elevator descended, the door of the cage opened, and Stephen himself
+darted out. His face was red, he was scowling fiercely, and he strode
+toward the street without looking in his guardian's direction.
+
+The captain caught him as he passed.
+
+"Here, boy!" he exclaimed; "where's the fire? Where are you bound?"
+
+His nephew, brought thus unexpectedly to a halt, stared at him.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" he exclaimed. "Humph! I'm bound--I don't know where I'm
+bound!"
+
+"You don't, hey? Well, you can cruise a long ways on a v'yage like that.
+What do you mean?"
+
+"Aw, let me alone! I'm going to the club, I guess, or somewhere. Anyhow,
+I won't stay with her. I told her so. Silly little idiot! By gad, she
+understands what I think of her conduct. I'll never speak to her again.
+I told her so. She--"
+
+"Here! Belay! Stop! Who are you talking about?"
+
+"Caro, of course. She--"
+
+"You've run off and left her alone--to-night? Where is she?"
+
+"Upstairs--and crying, I suppose. She doesn't do anything else. It's all
+she's good for. Selfish, romantic--"
+
+He got no further, for Captain Elisha sent him reeling with a push and
+ran to the elevator.
+
+"Eighth floor," he commanded.
+
+The door of the apartment was not latched. Stephen, in his rage and
+hurry, had neglected such trifles. The captain opened it quietly and
+walked in. He entered the library. Caroline was lying on the couch,
+her head buried in the pillows. She did not hear him cross the room. He
+leaned over and touched her shoulder. She started, looked, and sat up,
+gazing at him as though not certain whether he was a dream or reality.
+
+And he looked at her, at her pretty face, now so white and careworn, at
+her eyes, at the tear-stains on her cheeks, and his whole heart went out
+to her.
+
+"Caroline, dearie," he faltered, "forgive me for comin' here, won't you?
+I had to come. I couldn't leave you alone; I couldn't rest, thinkin' of
+you alone in your trouble. I know you must feel harder than ever towards
+me for this afternoon's doin's, but I meant it for the best. I _had_ to
+show you--don't you see? Can you forgive me? Won't you try to forgive
+the old feller that loves you more'n all the world? Won't you try?"
+
+She looked at him, wide-eyed, clasping and unclasping her hands.
+
+"_I_ forgive _you_?" she repeated, incredulously.
+
+"Yes. Try to, dearie. Oh, if you would only believe I meant it for your
+good, and nothin' else! If you could only just trust me and come to me
+and let me help you. I want you, my girl, I want you!"
+
+She leaned forward. "Do you really mean it?" she cried. "How can you?
+after all I've done? after the way I've treated you? and the things I've
+said? You must _hate_ me! Everyone does. I hate myself! You can't
+forgive me! You can't!"
+
+His answer was to hold out his arms. Another moment and she was in them,
+clinging to his wet coat, sobbing, holding him fast, and begging him not
+to leave her, to take her away, that she would work, that she would not
+be a burden to him--only take her with him and try to forgive her, for
+he was real and honest and the only friend she had.
+
+And Captain Elisha, soothing her, stroking her hair, and murmuring words
+of love and tenderness, realized that his labor and sacrifice had
+not been in vain, that here was his recompense; she would never
+misunderstand him again; she was his at last.
+
+And yet, in the midst of his joy, his conscience troubled him more than
+ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+It was April; and May was close at hand. The weather was all that late
+April weather should be, and so often is not. Trees, bushes, and vines
+were in bud; the green of the new grass was showing everywhere above the
+dead brown of the old; a pair of bluebirds were inspecting the hollow of
+the old apple tree, with an eye toward spring housekeeping; the sun was
+warm and bright, and the water of the Sound sparkled in the distance.
+Caroline, sitting by the living-room window, was waiting for her uncle
+to return from the city.
+
+In the kitchen Annie Moriarty was preparing dinner. Annie was now cook
+as well as chamber-maid, for, of all the Warren servants, she was the
+only one remaining. Edwards, the "Commodore," had been dismissed, had
+departed, not without reluctance but philosophically, to seek other
+employment. "Yes, miss," observed Edwards, when notified that his
+services were no longer required; "I understand. I've been expecting
+it. I was in a family before that met with financial difficulties, and
+I know the signs. All I can say is that I hope you and Mr. Stephen will
+get on all right, miss. If there's anything I can do to help you, by way
+of friendship, please let me know. I'd be glad, for old times' sake. And
+the cook wanted me to tell you that, being as she's got another job in
+sight and was paid up to date, she wouldn't wait for notice, but was
+leaving immediate. She's gone already, miss."
+
+The second maid went also. But Annie, Irish and grateful, refused to go.
+Her mother came to back her in the refusal.
+
+"Indeed she'll not leave you, Miss Caroline--you nor Captain Warren
+neither. Lord love him! Sure, d'ye think we'll ever forget what you and
+him done for me and my Pat and the childer? You've got to have somebody,
+ain't you? And Annie's cookin' ain't so bad that it'll kill yez; and
+I'll learn her more. Never mind what the wages is, they're big enough.
+She'll stay! If she didn't, I'd break her back."
+
+So, when the apartment was given up, and Captain Elisha and his wards
+moved to the little house in Westchester County, Annie came with them.
+And her cooking, though not by any means equal to that at Delmonico's,
+had not killed them yet. Mrs. Moriarty came once a week to do the
+laundry work. Caroline acted as a sort of inexperienced but willing
+supervising housekeeper.
+
+The house itself had been procured through the kind interest of
+Sylvester. Keeping the apartment was, under the circumstances, out of
+the question, and Caroline hated it and was only too anxious to give it
+up. She had no suggestions to make. She would go anywhere, anywhere
+that her guardian deemed best; but might they not please go at once? She
+expected that he would suggest South Denboro, and she would have gone
+there without a complaint. To get away from the place where she had been
+so miserable was her sole wish. And trusting and believing in her uncle
+as she now did, realizing that he had been right always and had worked
+for her interest throughout, and having been shown the falseness and
+insincerity of the others whom she had once trusted implicitly, she
+clung to him with an appeal almost piteous. Her pride was, for the
+time, broken. She was humble and grateful. She surrendered to him
+unconditionally, and hoped only for his forgiveness and love.
+
+The captain did not suggest South Denboro. He did, however, tell
+Sylvester that he believed a little place out of the city would be the
+better refuge for the present.
+
+"Poor Caroline's switched clear around," he said to the lawyer, "and you
+can't blame her much. She cal'lates New York's nothin' but a sham from
+stern to stern, manned by liars and swindlers and hypocrites and
+officered by thieves. 'Tain't no use to tell her 'tain't, though she
+might pretend to believe it, if _I_ told her, for just now the poor girl
+thinks I'm Solomon and Saint Peter rolled into one. The way she agrees
+to whatever I say and the way she looks at me and sort of holds on to
+me, as if I was her only anchor in a gale, I declare it makes me feel
+meaner than poorhouse tea--and that's made of blackberry leaves steeped
+in memories of better things, so I've heard say. _Am_ I a low down
+scamp, playin' a dirty mean trick on a couple of orphans? What do you
+think, Sylvester?"
+
+"You know what I think, Captain Warren," replied the lawyer. "You're
+handling the whole matter better than any other man could handle it. No
+one else would have thought of it, to begin with; and the results so far
+prove that you're right."
+
+"Yup. Maybe. I wish you was around to say that to me when I wake up
+nights and get to thinkin'. However, as I said, Caroline believes New
+York is like a sailors' dance hall, a place for decent folks to steer
+clear of. And when the feller you've been engaged to is shown up as a
+sneak and your own dad as a crook--well, you can't blame a green hand
+for holdin' prejudice against the town that raised 'em. She'll get over
+it; but just now I cal'late some little flat, or, better still, a
+little home out where the back yards ain't made of concrete, would be
+a first-class port for us to make for. Don't know of such a place at a
+reasonable rent, do you?"
+
+"I might find one. And you may be right; your niece might like it
+better, though it will be somewhat of a change. But how about your
+nephew? He has no objection to the metropolis, I should judge. What will
+he say?"
+
+"Nothin', I guess--unless he says it to himself. Steve's goin' back to
+New Haven with things on his mind. He and I had a mornin' service, and
+I was the parson. He listened, because when you ain't got a cent except
+what the society allows you, it ain't good orthodoxy to dodge the
+charity sermon. Steve'll behave, and what he don't like he'll lump. If
+he starts to open his mouth his ear'll ache, I cal'late. I talked turkey
+to that young man. Ye-es," with a slight smile, "I'm sort of afraid I
+lost patience with Stevie."
+
+When Caroline first saw the little house, with its shingled sides, the
+dead vines over the porch, and the dry stalks of last year's flowers in
+the yard, her heart sank. With the wind blowing and the bare branches
+of the old apple tree scraping the roof and whining dolefully, it looked
+bleak and forsaken. It was so different, so unhomelike, and so, to her
+eyes, small and poverty-stricken. She made believe that she liked it,
+exclaimed over the view--which, on the particular day, was desolate
+enough--and declared the Dutch front door was "old-fashioned and dear."
+But Captain Elisha, watching her closely, knew that she was only waiting
+to be alone to give way to wretchedness and tears. He understood,
+had expected that she would feel thus, but he was disappointed,
+nevertheless. However, after the front door was passed and they were
+inside the house, Caroline looked about her in delighted amazement. The
+living room was small, but bright and warm and cheery. On its walls,
+hiding the rather vivid paper, were hung some of the best of Rodgers
+Warren's pictures--the Corot, the codfisher, and others. The furniture
+and rugs were those which had been in the library of the apartment,
+those she had been familiar with all her life. The books, many of them,
+were there, also. And the dining room, except for size, looked like
+home. So did the bedrooms; and, in the kitchen, Annie grinned a welcome.
+
+"But how could you?" asked Caroline. "How could you keep all these
+things, Uncle Elisha? I thought, of course, they must all be sold. I
+cried when they took them away that day when we were leaving to go to
+the hotel. I was sure I should never see them again. And here they all
+are! How could you do it?"
+
+The captain's grin was as wide as Annie's. "Oh," he explained, "I
+couldn't let 'em all go. Never intended to. That five thousand dollar
+codder up there seemed like own folks, pretty nigh. I'd have kept
+_him_, if we had to live in one room and a trunk. And we ain't got to
+that--yet. I tell you, dearie, I thought they'd make you feel more to
+home. And they do, don't they?"
+
+The look she gave him was answer sufficient.
+
+"But the creditors?" she asked. "That man who--they belong to him, don't
+they? I supposed of course they must go with the rest."
+
+Captain Elisha winked. "There's times," he answered, "when I believe in
+cheatin' my creditors. This is one of 'em. Never you mind that feller
+you mentioned. He's got enough, confound him! He didn't have the face to
+ask for any more. Sylvester looked out for that. Five hundred thousand,
+droppin' in, as you might say, unexpected, ought to soften anybody's
+heart; and I judge even that feller's got some bowels of mercy."
+
+He changed the subject hastily, but Caroline asked no more questions.
+She never alluded to the lost estate, never expressed any regrets,
+nor asked to know who it was that had seized her all. The captain had
+expected her to ask, had been ready with the same answer he had given
+Stephen, but when he hinted she herself had forbade his continuing.
+"Don't tell me about it," she begged. "I don't want to know any more.
+Father did wrong, but--but I know he did not mean to. He was a good,
+kind father to me, and I loved him. This man whose money he took had a
+right to it, and now it is his. He doesn't wish us to know who he is, so
+Steve says, and I'm glad. I don't want to know, because if I did I
+might hate him. And," with a shudder, "I am trying so hard not to hate
+anybody."
+
+Her make-believe liking for the little home became more and more real
+as spring drew near. She began to take an interest in it, in the flower
+garden, in the beds beside the porch, where the peonies and daffodils
+were beginning to show green heads above the loam, and in the household
+affairs. And she had plans of her own, not connected with these. She
+broached them to her uncle, and they surprised and delighted him,
+although he would not give his consent to them entirely.
+
+"You mustn't think," she said, "that, because I have been willing to
+live on your money since mine went, that I mean to continue doing it. I
+don't. I've been thinking a great deal, and I realize that I must earn
+my own way just as soon as I can. I'm not fitted for anything now; but
+I can be and I shall. I've thought perhaps I might learn stenography
+or--or something like that. Girls do."
+
+He looked at her serious face and choked back his laugh.
+
+"Why, yes," he admitted, "they do, that's a fact. About four hundred
+thousand of 'em do, and four hundred thousand more try to and then try
+to make business men think that they have. I heard Sylvester sputterin'
+about a couple in his office t'other day; said they was no good and not
+worth the seven dollars a week he paid 'em."
+
+"Seven dollars a _week_!" she repeated.
+
+"Yes. Course some make three times that and more; but they're the
+experienced ones, the good ones. And there's heaps that don't. What
+makes you so sot on earnin' a livin', Caroline? Ain't you satisfied with
+the kind I'm tryin' to give you?"
+
+She regarded him reproachfully. "Please don't say that," she protested.
+"You always treat your kindness as a joke, but to me it--it--"
+
+"There! there!" quickly. "Don't let's talk foolish. I see what you
+mean, dearie. It ain't the livin' but because I'm givin' it to you that
+troubles you. I know. Well, _I_ ain't complainin' but I understand your
+feelin's and respect 'em. However, I shouldn't study type-writin', if
+I was you. There's too much competition in it to be comfortable, as the
+fat man said about runnin' races. I've got a suggestion, if you want to
+listen to it."
+
+"I do, indeed. What is it?"
+
+"Why, just this. I've been about everythin' aboard ship, but I've never
+been a steward. Now I'll say this much for Annie, she tried hard. She
+tumbled into general housekeepin' the way Asa Foster said he fell into
+the cucumber frame--with a jolt and a jingle; and she's doin' her best
+accordin' to her lights. But sometimes her lights need ile or trimmin'
+or somethin'. I've had the feelin' that we need a good housekeeper
+here. If Annie's intelligence was as broad and liberal as her shoes, we
+wouldn't; as 'tis, we do. I'll hire you, Caroline, for that job, if you
+say so."
+
+"I? Uncle Elisha, you're joking!"
+
+"No, I ain't. Course I realize you ain't had much experience in runnin'
+a house, and I hope you understand I don't want to hire you as a cook.
+But I've had a scheme in the back of my head for a fortni't or more.
+Somethin' Sylvester said about a young lady cousin of his made me
+think of it. Seems over here at the female college--you know where I
+mean--they're teachin' a new course that they've christened Domestic
+Science. Nigh's I can find out it is about what our great gran'marms
+larned at home; that, with up-to-date trimmin's. All about runnin' a
+house, it is; how to superintend servants, and what kind of things
+to have to eat, and how they ought to be cooked, and takin' care of
+children--Humph! we don't need that, do we?--and, well, everything
+that a home woman, rich or poor, ought to know. At least, she ought to
+'cordin' to my old-fashioned notions. Sylvester's cousin goes there, and
+likes it; and I judge she ain't figgerin' to be anybody's hired help,
+either. My idea was about this: If you'd like to take this course,
+Caroline, you could do it afternoons. Mornin's and the days you had off,
+you could apply your science here at home, on Annie. Truly it would
+save me hirin' somebody else, and--well, maybe you'd enjoy it, you can't
+tell."
+
+His niece seemed interested.
+
+"I know of the Domestic Science course," she said. "Several of my
+friends--my former friends, were studying it. But I'm afraid, Uncle,
+that I don't see where earning my living has any part in it. It seems to
+me that it means your spending more money for me, paying my tuition."
+
+"No more'n I'd spend for a competent housekeeper. Honest, Caroline, I'd
+like to do it. You think it over a spell."
+
+She did, visiting the University and making inquiries. What she was told
+there decided her. She took up the course and enjoyed it. It occupied
+her mind and prevented her brooding over the past. She might have made
+many friends among the other students, but she was careful to treat
+them only as acquaintances. Her recent experience with "friends" was too
+fresh in her mind. She studied hard and applied her knowledge at home.
+She and Annie made some odd and funny mistakes at first, but they were
+not made twice, and Captain Elisha noticed a great improvement in the
+housekeeping. Also, Caroline's spirits improved, though more slowly.
+
+Most evenings they spent together in the living room. She read aloud to
+her uncle, who smoked his cigar and listened, commenting on the doings
+of the story folk with characteristic originality and aptitude. Each
+night, after the reading was over, he wrote his customary note to Abbie
+Baker at South Denboro. He made one flying trip to that village: "Just
+to prove to 'em that I'm still alive," as he explained it. "Some of
+those folks down there at the postoffice must have pretty nigh forgot
+to gossip about me by this time. They've had me eloped and married and
+a millionaire and a pauper long ago, I don't doubt. And now they've
+probably forgot me altogether. I'll just run down and stir 'em up. Good
+subjects for yarns are scurce at that postoffice, and they ought to be
+thankful."
+
+On his return he told his niece that he found everything much as usual.
+"Thoph Kenney's raised a beard 'cause shavin's so expensive; and the
+Come-Outer minister called the place the other denominations are bound
+for 'Hades,' and his congregation are thinkin' of firin' him for turnin'
+Free-Thinker. That's about all the sensations," he said. "I couldn't
+get around town much on account of Abbie. She kept me in bed most of the
+time, while she sewed on buttons and mended. Said she never saw a body's
+clothes in such a state in _her_ life."
+
+A few of the neighbors called occasionally. And there were other
+callers. Captain Elisha's unexpected departure from Mrs. Hepton's
+boarding house had caused a sensation and much regret to that select
+establishment. The landlady, aided and abetted by Mrs. Van Winkle
+Ruggles, would have given a farewell tea in his honor, but he declined.
+"Don't you do it," he said. "I like my tea pretty strong, and farewells
+are watery sort of things, the best of 'em. And this ain't a real
+farewell, anyhow."
+
+"'Say _au revoir_, but not good-by,'" sang Miss Sherborne sentimentally.
+
+"That's it. Everybody knows what good-by means. We'll say the other
+thing--as well as we can--and change it to 'Hello' the very first time
+any of you come out to see us."
+
+They were curious to know his reason for leaving. He explained that his
+niece was sort of lonesome and needed country air; he was going to live
+with her, for the present. Consequently Mrs. Ruggles, on the trail of
+aristocracy, was the first to call. Hers was a stately and ceremonious
+visit. They were glad when it was over. Lawton, the bookseller and his
+wife, came and were persuaded to remain and dine. Caroline liked them at
+sight. The most impressive call, however, was that of Mr. and Mrs. "C."
+Dickens. The great man made it a point to dress in the style of bygone
+years, and his conversation was a treat. His literary labors were
+fatiguing and confining, he admitted, and the "little breath of rural
+ozone" which this trip to Westchester County gave him, was like a
+tonic--yes, as one might say, a tonic prescribed and administered by
+Dame Nature herself.
+
+"I formerly resided in the country," he told Caroline.
+
+"Yes," put in his wife, "we used to live at Bayonne, New Jersey. We
+had such a pretty house there, that is, half a house; you see it was a
+double one, and--"
+
+"Maria," her husband waved his hand, "why trouble our friends with
+unnecessary details."
+
+"But it _was_ a pretty house, 'C.,' dear," with a pathetic little sigh.
+"I've missed it a great deal since, Miss Warren. 'C.' had a joke about
+it--he's such a joker! He used to call it 'Gad's Hill, Junior.'"
+
+"Named after some of David B.'s folks?" asked Captain Elisha innocently.
+The answer, delivered by Mr. Dickens, was condescending and explanatory.
+
+Caroline laughed, actually laughed aloud, when the visit was over. Her
+uncle was immensely pleased.
+
+"Hooray!" he cried. "I'll invite 'em up to stay a week. That's the fust
+time I've heard you laugh for I don't know when."
+
+She laughed again. "I can't help it," she said; "they are so funny."
+
+The captain chuckled. "Yes," he said, "and they don't know it. I
+cal'late a person's skull has got room for just about so much in it and
+no more. Cornelius Charles's head is so jammed with self-satisfaction
+that his sense of humor was crowded out of door long ago."
+
+One boarder at Mrs. Hepton's did not call, nor did Captain Elisha allude
+to him. Caroline noticed the latter fact and understood the reason.
+Also, when the captain went to the city, as he frequently did, and
+remained longer than usual, she noticed that his explanations of the
+way in which he spent his time were sometimes vague and hurried. She
+understood and was troubled. Yet she thought a great deal on the subject
+before she mentioned it.
+
+On the April afternoon when Caroline sat at the window of the living
+room awaiting her uncle's return she was thinking of that subject.
+But, at last, her mind was made up. It was a hard thing to do; it was
+humiliating, in a way; it might--though she sincerely hoped not--be
+misconstrued as to motive; but it was right. Captain Elisha had been
+so unselfish, so glad to give up every personal inclination in order to
+please her, that she would no longer permit her pride to stand in the
+way of his gratification, even in little things. At least, she would
+speak to him on the matter.
+
+He came on a later than his usual train, and at dinner, when she asked
+where he had been, replied, "Oh, to see Sylvester, and--er--around." She
+asked him no more, but, when they were together in the living room, she
+moved her chair over beside his and said without looking at him:
+
+"Uncle Elisha, I know where you've been this afternoon. You've been to
+see Mr. Pearson."
+
+"Hey?" He started, leaned back and regarded her with astonishment and
+some alarm.
+
+"You've been to see Mr. Pearson," she repeated, "haven't you?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, Caroline, I have--to tell you the truth. I don't see how
+you knew, but," nervously, "I hope you don't feel bad 'cause I did. I
+go to see him pretty often. You see, I think a good deal of him--a whole
+lot of him. _I_ think he's a fine young feller. Course I know you don't,
+and so I never mention him to you. But I do hope you ain't goin' to ask
+me not to see him."
+
+She shook her head. "No," she said. "I would have no right to ask that,
+even if I wished to. And I do not wish it. Uncle Elisha, if you were
+alone here, he would come to see you; I know he would. Invite him to
+come, please."
+
+His astonishment was greater than ever.
+
+"Invite him to come _here_?" he asked. "To see you?"
+
+"No," hastily; "to see you. This is your home. I have no right to keep
+your friends from visiting it. I know you would sacrifice everything
+for me, even them; but I will not be so selfish as to allow it. Ask him
+here, please. I really want you to."
+
+He pulled his beard. "Caroline," he answered slowly, "I'm much obliged
+to you. I understand why you're doin' this, and I thank you. But it
+ain't likely that I'll say yes, is it? And do you suppose Jim would come
+if I did ask him? He knows you believe he's a--well, all that's bad. You
+told him so, and you sent him away. I will give in that I'd like to have
+him here. He's one of the few men friends I've made since I landed
+in New York. But, under the circumstances--you feelin' as you do--I
+couldn't ask him, and he wouldn't come if I did."
+
+She remained silent for a time. Then she said: "Uncle, I want you to
+tell me the truth about Mr. Pearson and father--just why they
+quarreled and the real truth of the whole affair. Don't spare my
+feelings; tell me what you believe is the true story. I know you think
+Mr. Pearson was right, for you said so."
+
+The captain was much troubled.
+
+"I--I don't know's I'd better, dearie," he answered. "I think I do know
+the truth, but you might think I was hard on 'Bije--on your father. I
+ain't. And I sympathize with the way he felt, too. But Jim did right, as
+I see it. He acted just as I'd want a son of mine to do. And.... Well, I
+cal'late we'd better not rake up old times, had we?"
+
+"I want you to tell me. Please do."
+
+"I don't know's I'd better. You have been told the story different,
+and--"
+
+"I know I have. That is the reason why I ask you to tell it. Oh," with
+a flash of scorn, "I was told many stories, and I want to forget them.
+And," sadly, "I can bear whatever you may tell me, even about father.
+Since I learned that he was a--a--"
+
+"S-sh, Caroline; don't!"
+
+"After that, I can bear anything, I think. This cannot be worse."
+
+"Worse! No, not! This ain't very bad. I will tell you, dearie. This is
+just what happened."
+
+He told her the exact truth concerning the Trolley Combine, his
+brother's part in it, and Pearson's. She listened without comment.
+
+"I see," she said when he had finished. "I think I see. Mr. Pearson felt
+that, as a newspaper man, an honest one, he must go on. He knew that the
+thing was wrong and that innocent people might lose money in it. It was
+his duty to expose it, and he did it, even though it meant the loss of
+influence and of father's friendship. I see."
+
+"That was about it, Caroline. I think the hardest part for him was when
+'Bije called him ungrateful. 'Bije had been mighty kind to him, that's a
+fact."
+
+"Yes. Father was kind; I know that better than anyone else. But Mr.
+Pearson was right. Yes, he was right, and brave."
+
+"So I size it up. And I do sympathize with your father, too. This wa'n't
+such an awful lot worse than a good many stock deals. And poor 'Bije was
+perfectly desp'rate, I guess. If it had gone through he'd have been able
+to square accounts with the Rubber Company; and just think what that
+would have meant to him. Poor feller! poor feller!" He sighed. She
+reached for his hand and stroked it gently with her own.
+
+After another interval she said: "How I insulted and wronged him! How he
+must despise me!"
+
+"Who? Jim? No, no! he don't do any such thing. He knows you didn't
+understand, and who was responsible. Jim's got sense, lots of it."
+
+"But it is my misunderstanding and my insulting treatment of him which
+have kept you two apart--here, at any rate."
+
+"Don't let that worry you, Caroline. I see him every once in a while, up
+to the city."
+
+"It does worry me; and it will, until it is made right. And," in a lower
+tone, but with decision, "it shall be."
+
+She rose and, bending over, kissed him on the forehead. "Good night,
+Uncle," she said.
+
+Captain Elisha was disappointed. "What!" he exclaimed. "Goin' aloft so
+soon? We ain't had our readin' yet. Pretty early to turn in, seems to
+me. Stay a little longer, do."
+
+"Not to-night, dear. I'm going to my room. Please excuse me this time."
+She turned to go and then, turning back again, asked a final question.
+
+"You're sure," she said, hesitatingly; "you're quite sure he will not
+come here--to you--if you tell him I understand, and--and you ask him?"
+
+"Well, Caroline, I don't know. You see, I was responsible for his comin'
+before. He had some scruples against it then, but I talked him down.
+He's sort of proud, Jim is, and he might--might not want to--to--"
+
+"I see. Good night, Uncle."
+
+The next morning, after breakfast, she came to him again.
+
+"Uncle Elisha," she said, "I have written him."
+
+"What? You've written? Written who?"
+
+"Mr. Pearson. I wrote him, telling him I had learned the true story of
+his disagreement with father and that he was right and I was wrong. I
+apologized for my behavior toward him. Now, I think, perhaps, if you ask
+him, he will come."
+
+The captain looked at her. He realized the sacrifice of her pride which
+writing that letter must have meant, and that she had done it for him.
+He was touched and almost sorry she had done it. He took both her hands
+in his.
+
+"Dearie," he said, "you shouldn't have done that. I didn't expect you
+to. I know you did it just for my sake. I won't say I ain't glad; I am,
+in one way. But 'twa'n't necessary, and 'twas too much, too hard for you
+altogether."
+
+"Don't say that," she begged. "Too much! I never can do enough. Compared
+to what you have done for me it--it.... Oh, please let me do what little
+I can. But, Uncle Elisha, promise me one thing; promise that you will
+not ask me to meet him, if he should come. That I couldn't do, even for
+you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+Promises of that kind are easier to make than to keep. The captain
+promised promptly enough, but the Fates were against him. He made it his
+business to go to town the very next day and called upon his friend. He
+found the young man in a curiously excited and optimistic frame of mind,
+radically different from that of the past few months. The manuscript of
+the novel was before him on the desk, also plenty of blank paper.
+His fountain-pen was in his hand, although apparently, he had written
+nothing that morning. But he was going to--oh, yes, he was going to! He
+was feeling just in the mood. He had read his manuscript, and it was not
+so bad; by George, some of the stuff was pretty good! And the end
+was not so far off. Five or six chapters more and the thing would be
+finished. He would have to secure a publisher, of course, but two had
+already expressed an interest; and so on.
+
+Captain Elisha drew his own conclusions. He judged that his niece's
+letter had reached its destination. He did not mention it, however, nor
+did Pearson. But when the captain hinted at the latter's running out to
+the house to see him some time or other, the invitation was accepted.
+
+"That's fine, Jim," declared the visitor. "Come any time. I want you
+to see what a nice little place I've got out there. Don't stand on
+ceremony, come--er--next week, say." Then, mindful of his promise, he
+added, "You and I'll have it all to ourselves. I've been cal'latin' to
+hire a sail-boat for the summer; got my eye on a capable little sloop
+belongin' to a feller on the Sound shore. If all goes well I'll close
+the deal in a few days. I'll meet you at the depot and we'll have a sail
+and get dinner at a hotel or somewheres, and then we'll come up to the
+house and take a whack at Cap'n Jim's doin's in the new chapters. Just
+you and I together in the settin' room; hey?"
+
+Pearson did not seem so enthusiastic over this programme, although he
+admitted that it sounded tip-top.
+
+"How is Miss Warren?" he asked, mentioning the name with a nonchalance
+remarkable, considering that he had not done so before for weeks. "She
+is well, I hope?"
+
+"Yes, she's fust-rate, thank you. Very well, everything considered. She
+keeps to herself a good deal. Don't care to meet many folks, and you
+can't hardly blame her."
+
+Pearson admitted that, and the remainder of the call was largely a
+monologue by Captain Elisha.
+
+"Well, then, Jim," said the latter, when he rose to go, "you come up
+Monday or Tuesday of next week. Will you?"
+
+"Yes. I--I think so."
+
+"Don't think, do it. Let me know what train you're comin' on, and I'll
+meet you at the depot."
+
+This last remark was what upset calculations. Pearson came on Monday,
+having written the day before. He did not mail the note himself, but
+trusted it to Mrs. Hepton, who was going out to attend evening service.
+She forgot it until the next day. So it happened that when he alighted
+from the train at the suburban station the captain was not there to
+meet him. He waited a while, and then, inquiring the way of the station
+agent, walked up to the house by himself. As he turned in at the front
+walk, Caroline came out of the door. They met, face to face.
+
+It was a most embarrassing situation, particularly for Caroline; yet,
+with feminine resourcefulness, she dissembled her embarrassment to some
+extent and acknowledged his stammered, "Good afternoon, Miss Warren,"
+with a cool, almost cold, "How do you do, Mr. Pearson?" which chilled
+his pleasure at seeing her and made him wish devoutly that he had not
+been such a fool as to come. However, there he was, and he hastily
+explained his presence by telling her of the captain's invitation for
+that day, how he had expected to meet him at the station, and, not
+meeting him, had walked up to the house.
+
+"Is he in?" he asked.
+
+No, Captain Elisha was not in. He had gone to see the sail-boat man. Not
+hearing from his friend, he concluded the latter would not come until
+the next day.
+
+"He will be so sorry," said Caroline.
+
+Pearson was rather thankful than otherwise. The captain's absence
+afforded him an opportunity to escape from a place where he was plainly
+unwelcome.
+
+"Oh, never mind," he said. "It is not important. I can run out
+another day. Just tell him I called, Miss Warren, please; that I wrote
+yesterday, but my letter must have gone astray. Good afternoon."
+
+He was turning to go, but she stopped him. She had fully made up her
+mind that, when he came, she would not meet him--remembering how she had
+treated him on the evening of her birthday, she would be ashamed to
+look him in the face. Besides, she could not meet him after writing that
+letter; it would be too brazen; he would think--all sorts of things.
+When he visited her uncle she would remain in her room, or go to the
+city or somewhere.
+
+But now she had met him. And he had come in response to her uncle's
+invitation, given because she herself had pleaded that it should be. To
+let him go away would be rude and ridiculous; and how could she explain
+to the captain?
+
+"You mustn't go, Mr. Pearson," she said. "You must come in and wait;
+Captain Warren will be back soon, I'm sure."
+
+"Thank you; but I think I won't wait. I can come another time."
+
+"But you must wait. I insist. Uncle Elisha will be dreadfully
+disappointed if you don't. There isn't a train for an hour, and he will
+return before that, I am sure. Please come in."
+
+Pearson was reluctant, but he could think of no reasonable excuse. So he
+entered the house, removed his overcoat and hat, and seated himself in
+the living room to await the captain's return. Caroline excused herself,
+saying that she had an errand at the shop in the village. She made that
+errand as long as she could, but when she returned he was still there,
+and Captain Elisha had not appeared.
+
+The conversation was forced, for a time. Each felt the embarrassment,
+and Pearson was still resentful of the manner in which she had greeted
+him on his arrival. But, as he looked at her, the resentment vanished,
+and the other feeling, that which he had determined to forget, returned.
+Captain Elisha had told him how brave she had been through it all, and,
+contrasting the little house with the former home, remembering the loss
+of friends and fortune, to say nothing of the unmasking of those whom
+she believed were her nearest and dearest, he wondered and admired more
+than ever. He understood how very hard it must have been for her to
+write that letter to him, a letter in which she justified his course
+at the cost of her own father's honor. He longed to tell her that he
+understood and appreciated.
+
+At last he could not resist the temptation.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "please excuse my speaking of this, but I must;
+I must thank you for writing me as you did. It was not necessary, it
+was too much to expect, too hard a thing for you to do. It makes me feel
+guilty. I--"
+
+"Please don't!" she interrupted. "Don't speak in that way. It was right.
+It was what I should have done long ago."
+
+"But it was not necessary; I understood. I knew you had heard another
+version of the story and that you felt I had been ungrateful and mean,
+to say the least, in my conduct toward your father. I knew that; I have
+never blamed you. And you writing as you did--"
+
+"I did it for my uncle's sake," she broke in, quickly. "You are his
+closest friend."
+
+"I know, but I appreciate it, nevertheless. I--I wish you would consider
+me your friend as well as his. I do, sincerely."
+
+"Thank you. I need friends, I know. I have few now, which is not
+strange," rather bitterly.
+
+He protested earnestly. "I did not mean it in that way," he said. "It
+is an honor and a great privilege to be one of your friends. I had that
+honor and privilege once. May I have it again?"
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Pearson.... Now tell me about your novel. I remember
+it all so well. And I am very much interested. You must have it nearly
+completed. Tell me about it, please."
+
+They were deep in the discussion of the novel when Captain Elisha walked
+into the living room. He was surprised, stating his feelings at their
+mildest, to find them together, but he did not express his astonishment.
+Instead, he hailed Pearson delightedly, demanded to know if they had
+dared tackle Cap'n Jim without the "head doctor's" being on the scene;
+and insisted upon the author's admitting him to the "clinic" forthwith.
+Pearson did not take the next train, nor the next. Instead, he stayed
+for dinner and well into the evening, and when he did go it was after a
+prompt acceptance of the captain's invitation to "come again in a mighty
+little while."
+
+Caroline, when she and her uncle were alone after their visitor's
+departure, made no protest against the invitation having been given.
+She did not speak of Pearson at all. Captain Elisha also talked of other
+things, principally about the sail-boat, the summer lease of which he
+had arranged that afternoon. He declared the sloop to be an "able craft
+of her tonnage" and that they would have some good times aboard her or
+he missed his guess. In his own room, when ready for bed, he favored his
+reflection in the glass with a broad smile and a satisfied wink, from
+which proceeding it may be surmised that the day had not been a bad one,
+according to his estimate.
+
+Pearson came again a week later, and thereafter frequently. The sessions
+with Cap'n Jim and his associates were once more regular happenings
+to be looked forward to and enjoyed by the three. As the weather grew
+warmer, the sloop--Captain Elisha had the name she formerly bore painted
+out and Caroline substituted--proved to be as great a source of pleasure
+as her new skipper had prophesied. He and his niece--and occasionally
+Pearson--sailed and picnicked on the Sound, and Caroline's pallor
+disappeared under the influence of breeze and sunshine. Her health
+improved, and her spirits, also. She seemed, at times, almost happy,
+and her uncle seldom saw her, as after the removal to the suburb he
+so frequently used, with tears in her eyes and the sadness of bitter
+memories in her expression and manner. Her work at the University grew
+steadily more difficult, but she enjoyed it thoroughly and declared that
+she would not give it up for worlds.
+
+In June two very important events took place. The novel was finished,
+and Stephen, his Sophomore year at an end, came home from college. He
+had been invited by some classmates to spend a part of his vacation with
+them on the Maine coast, and his guardian had consented to his doing so;
+but the boy himself had something else to propose. On an evening soon
+after his return, when, his sister having retired, he was alone with the
+captain, he broached the idea.
+
+"Say," he said, "I've been thinking a good deal while I've been away
+this last time."
+
+"Glad to hear it, I'm sure," replied his uncle, dryly.
+
+"Yes. I've been thinking--about a good many things. I'm flat broke; down
+and out, so far as money is concerned. That's so, isn't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha looked at him keenly for an instant. Then:
+
+"It appears that way, I'm afraid," he answered. "What made you ask?"
+
+"Nothing. I wasn't asking, really; I was just stating the case. Now, the
+way I look at it, this college course of mine isn't worth while. You're
+putting up for it, and I ought to be much obliged; I am, of course."
+
+"You're welcome, Stevie."
+
+"I know; but what's the use of it? I've got to go to work when it's
+over. And the kind of work I want to do doesn't need university
+training. I'm just wasting time; that's what I'm doing."
+
+"Humph! I ain't so sure about that. But what sort of work do you want to
+do?"
+
+"I want to be down on the Street, as the governor was. If this Rubber
+Company business hadn't knocked us out, I intended, as soon as I was of
+age, to take that seat of his and start in for myself. Well, that chance
+has gone, but I mean to get in some way, though I have to start at the
+foot of the ladder. Now why can't I leave college and start now? It will
+be two years gained, won't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha seemed pleased, but he shook his head.
+
+"How do you know you'd like it?" he asked. "You've never tried."
+
+"No, I never have; but I'll like it all right. I know I shall. It's what
+I've wanted to do ever since I was old enough to think of such things.
+Just let me start in now, right away, and I'll show you. I'll make good;
+you see if I don't."
+
+He was very earnest. The captain deliberated before answering.
+
+"Stevie," he said, doubtfully, "I rather like to hear you talk that
+way; I own up it pleases me. But, as to your givin' up college--that's
+different. Let me think it over for a day or two; that is, if you can
+put off the Maine trip so long as that."
+
+"Hang the Maine trip! You let me get into business, the business I want
+to get into, and I won't ask for a vacation; you can bet on that!"
+
+"All right then. I'll think, and do some questionin' around, and report
+soon's I've decided what's best."
+
+He laid the stump of his cigar in the ash receiver and rose from his
+chair. But his nephew had not finished.
+
+"There was something else I intended to say," he announced, but with
+less eagerness.
+
+"That so? What?"
+
+"Why--why, just this." He fidgeted with his watch chain, colored and
+was evidently uneasy. "I guess--" he hesitated--"I guess that I haven't
+treated you as I ought."
+
+"I want to know! You guess that, hey? Why?"
+
+"Oh, you know why. I've been thinking since I went back to New Haven.
+I've had a chance to think. Some of the fellows in the set I used to be
+thick with up there have learned that I'm broke, and they--they aren't
+as friendly as they were. Not all of them, of course, but some. And
+I wouldn't chase after them; not much! If they wanted to drop me they
+could. You bet I didn't try to hang on! I was pretty sore for a while
+and kept to myself and--well, I did a lot of thinking. I guess Caro is
+right; you've been mighty decent to her and me."
+
+He paused, but Captain Elisha made no comment.
+
+"I guess you have," continued Stephen, soberly. "When you first came,
+you know, Caroline and I couldn't understand. We thought you were
+butting in and weren't our sort, and--and--"
+
+"And a hayseed nuisance generally; I know. Heave ahead, son; you
+interest me."
+
+"Well, we didn't like it. And Mal Dunn and his mother were always
+sympathizing and insinuating, and we believed they were our best
+friends, and all that. So we didn't try to understand you or--or even
+make it livable for you. Then, after the news came that the money had
+gone, I acted like a kid, I guess. That business of making Mal stick
+to the engagement was pretty silly. I was nearly desperate, you see,
+and--and--you knew it was silly. You never took any stock in it, did
+you?"
+
+The captain smiled.
+
+"Not a heap," he admitted.
+
+"No. All you wanted was to show them up. Well, you did it, and I'm glad
+you did. But Caro and I have talked it over since I've been home, and
+we agree that you've been a great deal better to us than we deserve. You
+didn't _have_ to take care of us at all, any more, after the money went.
+By gad! considering how we treated you, I don't see why you did. _I_
+wouldn't. But you did--and you are. You've given us a home, and you're
+putting me through college and--and--"
+
+"That's all right, son. Good night."
+
+"Just a minute. I--I--well, if you let me, I'd like to thank you
+and--and ask your pardon."
+
+"Granted, my boy. And never mind the thanks, either. Just keep on
+thinkin' and actin' as you have to-night, and I'll be satisfied. I want
+to see my nephew makin' a man of himself--a real man; and, Steve, you
+talk more like a man to-night than I've ever heard you. Stick to it, and
+you'll do yet. As for goin' to work, you let me chew on that for a few
+days."
+
+The next morning he called on Sylvester, who in turn took him to a
+friend of his, a broker--employing a good-sized staff of clerks. The
+three had a consultation, followed, the day after, by another. That
+evening the captain made a definite proposal to Stephen. It was,
+briefly, that, while not consenting to the latter's leaving college, he
+did consider that a trial of the work in a broker's office might be
+a good thing. Therefore, if the young man wished, he could enter the
+employ of Sylvester's friend and remain during July and August.
+
+"You'll leave about the first of September, Steve," he said, "and
+that'll give you time for the two weeks vacation that you ought to have.
+Then you can go back to Yale and pitch in till the next summer, when the
+same job'll be ready for you. After you're through college for good, if
+what you've learned about brokerin' ain't cured you of your likin' for
+it--if you still want to go ahead with it for your life job, then--well,
+then we'll see. What do you say?"
+
+Stephen had a good deal to say, principally in the line of objection to
+continuing his studies. Finding these objections unavailing, he agreed
+to his guardian's proposition.
+
+"All right," said the captain; "then you can go to work next Monday. But
+you'll _have_ to work, and be just the same as any other beginner, no
+better and no worse. There'll be no favoritism, and, if you're really
+wuth your salt, you won't want any. Show 'em, and me, that you're wuth
+it."
+
+The novel, the wonderful tale which Captain Elisha was certain would
+make its author famous, was finished that very day in June when Stephen
+came back from New Haven. The question of title remained, and the
+"clinic," now re�nforced by Steve--whose dislike for Pearson
+had apparently vanished with others of his former likes and
+dislikes--considered that at several sessions. At last "The Man at the
+Wheel" was selected, as indicating something of the hero's profession
+and implying, perhaps, a hint of his character. Then came the
+fateful task of securing a publisher. And the first to whom it was
+submitted--one of the two firms which had already expressed a desire to
+read the manuscript--accepted it, at what, for a first novel, were
+very fair terms. During the summer there was proof to be read and
+illustrations to be criticized. Captain Elisha did not wholly approve of
+the artist's productions.
+
+"Jerushy!" he exclaimed, "look at that mainmast! Look at the rake of it!
+More like a yacht than a deep-water bark, she is enough sight. And the
+fust mate's got a uniform cap on, like a purser on a steamboat. Make
+that artist feller take that cap off him, Jim. He's got to. I wish he
+could have seen some of my mates. They wa'n't Cunarder dudes, but they
+could make a crew hop 'round like a sand-flea in a clam bake."
+
+Or, when the picture happened to be a shore view:
+
+"What kind of a house is that? Did you ever see a house like that
+Down-East? I'll leave it to anybody if it don't look like a sugar man's
+plantation I used to know down Mobile way. All that feller standin'
+by the door needs is to have his face blacked; then he'd start singin'
+'S'wanee River.' This ain't 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' Bah!"
+
+The advance copy, the first one, was ready early in September, and the
+author, of course, brought it immediately to his friends. They found
+the dedication especially interesting: "To C. W. and E. W., consulting
+specialists at the literary clinics, with grateful acknowledgments."
+Probably Captain Elisha was never prouder of anything, even his first
+command, than of that dedication.
+
+And the story, when at last it appeared for sale, was almost from the
+beginning a success. The reviewers praised it, the reading public--that
+final court of appeal which makes or unmakes novels--took kindly to it,
+and discussed and recommended it; and, most important of all, perhaps,
+it sold and continued to sell. There was something in it, its humanity,
+its simplicity, its clearly marked characters, which made a hit. Pearson
+no longer needed to seek publishers; they sought him. His short stories
+were bid for by the magazines, and his prices climbed and climbed.
+He found himself suddenly planted in the middle of the highway to
+prosperity, with a clear road ahead of him, provided he continued to do
+his best.
+
+In September Stephen gave up his work at the broker's office, spent the
+weeks with his friends in Maine, and then returned to Yale. He gave up
+the position on the Street with reluctance. He was sure he liked it
+now, he declared. It was what he was fitted for, and he meant, more than
+ever, to take it up permanently as soon as he was free. And his employer
+told Captain Elisha that the youngster was bright, clever, and apt. "A
+little conceited, needs taking down occasionally, but that is the only
+trouble. He has been spoiled, I should imagine," he said.
+
+"Yup," replied the captain, with emphasis; "your imagination's a good
+one. It don't need cultivatin' any."
+
+The novel being out of the way, and its successor not yet far enough
+advanced in plot or general plan for much discussion, the "literary
+clinics" were no longer as frequent. But Pearson's visits to the Warren
+house were not discontinued. All summer long he had been coming out,
+once, and usually twice, a week. Captain Elisha had told him not to
+stand on formality, to come any time, and he did. On most of these
+occasions he found the captain at home; but, if only Caroline was there,
+he seemed quite contented. She did not remark on the frequency of his
+visits. In fact, she mentioned him less and less in conversation with
+her uncle. But, as the autumn came and moved towards its prime she
+seemed, to the captain's noticing eye, a trifle more grave, a little
+more desirous of being by herself. Sometimes he found her sitting by
+the open fire--pleasant in the cool October evenings--and gazing very
+soberly at the blaze. She had been in good spirits, more merry and
+light-hearted than he had ever seen her, during the latter part of
+the summer; now her old sadness seemed to be returning. It would have
+troubled him, this change in her mood, if he had not believed he knew
+the cause.
+
+He was planning a glorious Thanksgiving. At least, it would be glorious
+to him, for he intended spending the day, and several days, at his own
+home in South Denboro. Abbie Baker had made him promise to do it, and he
+had agreed. He would not leave Caroline, of course; she was going with
+him. Steve would be there, though he would not come until Thanksgiving
+Day itself. Sylvester, also, would be of the party; he seemed delighted
+at the opportunity.
+
+"I'm curious to see the place where they raise fellows like you," the
+lawyer said. "It must be worth looking at."
+
+"Graves don't think so," chuckled the captain. "I invited him, and
+he said, 'No, thank you' so quick that the words was all telescoped
+together. And he shivered, too, when he said it; just as if he felt
+that sou'west gale whistlin' between his bones even now. I told him
+I'd pretty nigh guarantee that no more trees would fall on him, but it
+didn't have any effect."
+
+Pearson was asked and had accepted. His going was so far a settled thing
+that he had commissioned Captain Elisha to purchase a stateroom for him
+on the Fall River boat; for of course the captain would not consider
+their traveling the entire distance by train. At an interview in the
+young man's room in the boarding house, only three days before the date
+set for the start, he had been almost as enthusiastic as the Cape Codder
+himself. The pair had planned several side excursions, time and weather
+permitting, among them a trip across the Sound to Setuckit Point, with
+the possibility of some late sea-fowl shooting and a long tramp to one
+of the life-saving stations, where Pearson hoped to pick up material for
+his new book. He was all anticipation and enthusiasm when the captain
+left him, and said he would run out to the house the following day, to
+make final arrangements.
+
+That day Sylvester 'phoned, asking Captain Elisha to come to his office
+on a matter of business. When, having done so, the captain, returning,
+alighted at his home station, he was surprised to see Pearson standing
+on the platform.
+
+"Why, hello, Jim!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Just come,
+have you?"
+
+His friend shook his head. "No, Captain Warren," he said; "I'm just
+going."
+
+"Goin'? What for? Been up to the house, of course? Caroline told you
+where I'd gone and that I was cal'latin' to hurry back, didn't she?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, then, course you ain't goin'! You're goin' to stay to dinner.
+I've got some things to tell you about that life-savin' station cruise.
+I've been thinkin' that I know the cap'n and most of the crew on the
+lightship off back of the Point. How'd you like to go aboard of her? You
+could get some yarns from those fellers that might be wuth hearin'."
+
+"I have no doubt I should. But I'm afraid I can't go. The fact is,
+Captain, I've decided not to spend Thanksgiving with you, after all."
+
+"Hey?" Captain Elisha could scarcely believe he had heard correctly.
+"You can't go--to South Denboro?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Why not, for the land sakes?"
+
+"Well, I've decided--I've decided not to."
+
+"But, Jim! Why, I can't have it so! I'm dreadful disappointed. I've
+counted on your goin'. So has Abbie. She's read your book, and she says
+she's crazy to see the feller that wrote it. She's told the minister
+and a whole lot more, and they're all comin' in to look at you. 'Tain't
+often we have a celebrated character in our town. You've _got_ to go."
+
+"Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the invitation and your kindness,
+but," with decision, "I can't accept."
+
+"Can't you come later? Say Thanksgivin' mornin'? Or even the day after?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But why not? What's the matter with you all of a sudden? Come here! let
+me look at you."
+
+He took the young man by the arm and led him, almost by main strength,
+close to the lighted window of the station. It was late, and the
+afternoon was gloomy. Here, by the lamplight streaming through the
+window, he could see his face more clearly. He looked at it.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted, after a moment's scrutiny. "You've made up your
+mind; I can see that. Have you told Caroline? Does she know?"
+
+"Yes. You'll have to excuse me, Captain Warren; my train is coming."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+Pearson smiled, but there was little mirth in the smile. "I think she
+agrees with me that it is best," he observed.
+
+"Humph! She does, hey? I want to know! Look here, Jim! have you and
+she--"
+
+He got no further, for Pearson broke away, and, with a hurried "Good
+night," strode up the platform to meet the city-bound train. Captain
+Elisha watched it go and then walked slowly homeward, his hands in his
+pockets, troubled and wondering.
+
+He entered the house by the back door, a remnant of South Denboro habit,
+and found Annie in the kitchen.
+
+"Where's Caroline?" he asked.
+
+"She's in the living room, sir, I think. Mr. Pearson has been here and
+just gone."
+
+"Um-hm. So I heard. Say, Annie, you needn't hurry dinner; I ain't ready
+for it yet awhile."
+
+He hung his coat and hat in the back hall and quietly entered the living
+room. The lamp was not lighted, and the room was dark, but he saw his
+niece, a shadowy figure, seated by the window. He crossed to her side.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he said, cheerfully, "I'm home again."
+
+She turned. "I see you are," she answered.
+
+"Humph! your eyes must be better than mine then. I can't see anything in
+here. It's darker than a nigger's pocket. Suppose we turn on the glim."
+
+He struck a match as he said it. By its light he saw her face. The match
+burned down to his finger tips and then he extinguished it.
+
+"I don't know but the dark is just as good and more economical," he
+observed. "No use of encouragin' the graspin' ile trust unless it's
+necessary. Let's you and me sit here in the dark and talk. No objection
+to talkin' to your back country relation, have you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"That's good. Well, Caroline, I'm goin' to talk plain again. You can
+order me to close my hatch any time you feel like it; that's skipper's
+privilege, and you're boss of this craft, you know. Dearie, I just met
+Jim Pearson. He tells me he's decided not to go on this Cape cruise of
+ours. He said you agreed with him 'twas best he shouldn't go. Do you
+mind tellin' me why?"
+
+She did not answer. He waited a minute and then continued.
+
+"Course, I know I ain't got any real right to ask," he went on; "but I
+think more of you and Jim than I do of anybody else, and so maybe you'll
+excuse me. Have you and he had a fallin' out?"
+
+Still she was silent. He sighed. "Well," he observed, "I see you have,
+and I don't blame you for not wantin' to talk about it. I'm awful sorry.
+I'd begun to hope that.... However, we'll change the subject. Or we
+won't talk at all, if you'd rather not."
+
+Another pause. Then she laid her hand on his.
+
+"Uncle," she said, "you know I always want to talk to you. And, as for
+the right to ask, you have the right to ask anything of me at any time.
+And I should have told you, of my own accord, by and by. Mr. Pearson and
+I have not quarreled; but I think--I think it best that I should not see
+him again."
+
+"You do? Not see him--any more--at all? Why, Caroline!"
+
+"Not for a long, long time, at least. It would only make it harder--for
+him; and it's of no use."
+
+Captain Elisha sighed again. "I guess I understand, Caroline. I presume
+likely I do. He--he asked somethin' of you--and you couldn't say yes to
+him. That was it, I suppose. Needn't tell me unless you really want to,
+you understand," he added, hastily.
+
+"But I do. I ought to tell you. I should have told you before, and
+perhaps, if I had, he would not have ... Uncle Elisha, Mr. Pearson asked
+me to be his wife."
+
+The captain gave no evidence of surprise.
+
+"Yes," he replied, gravely, "I judged that was it. And you told him you
+couldn't, I suppose. Well, dearie, that's a question nobody ought to
+answer but the one. She's the only one that knows what that answer
+should be, and, when other folks interfere and try to influence, it
+generally means trouble. I'm kind of disappointed; I'll own up to that.
+I think Jim is a fine, honest, able young man, and he'd make a good
+husband, I'm sure. And, so far as his business, or profession, or
+whatever you call it, goes, he's doin' pretty well and sartin to do
+better. Of course, 'twa'n't that that kept you from--"
+
+"Uncle Elisha! Am _I_ so rich that I should--"
+
+"There! there, my girl! I know 'twa'n't that, of course. I was only
+thinkin' out loud, that's all--tryin' to find reasons. You didn't care
+for him enough, I suppose. Caroline, you don't care for anybody else, do
+you? You don't still care for that other feller, that--"
+
+"Uncle!" she sprang up, hurt and indignant. "How can you?" she cried.
+"How could you ask that? What must you think of me?"
+
+"Please, Caroline," he protested; "please don't. I beg your pardon. I
+was a fool! I knew better. Don't go. Tell me the real reason. Sit down
+again and let's talk this out. Do sit down! that's it. Now tell me; was
+it that you couldn't care for Jim enough?"
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"Was it?" he repeated.
+
+"I--I like Mr. Pearson very much. I respect and admire him."
+
+"But you don't love him. I see. Well," sadly, "there's another one of my
+dreams gone to smash. However, you did just right, dearie. Feelin' that
+way, you couldn't marry him, of course."
+
+He would have risen now, and she detained him.
+
+"That was not the reason," she said, in a low tone.
+
+"Hey?" he bent toward her. "What?" he cried. "That wa'n't the reason,
+you say? You do care for him?"
+
+She was silent.
+
+"Do you?" he repeated, gently. "And yet you sent him away. Why?"
+
+She faltered, tried to speak, and then turned away. He put his arm about
+her and stroked her hair.
+
+"Don't you cry, dearie," he begged. "I won't bother you any more. You
+can tell me some other time--if you want to. Or you needn't tell me
+at all. It's all right; only don't cry. 'Cause if you do," with sudden
+determination, "I shall cry, too; and, bein' as I ain't used to the
+exercise, I may raise such a row that Annie'll send for the constable.
+You wouldn't want that to happen, I know."
+
+This unexpected announcement had the desired effect; Caroline laughed
+hysterically and freed herself from his arm.
+
+"I mustn't be so silly," she said. "I had made up my mind to tell you
+everything, and I shall. My not caring for Mr. Pearson was not my reason
+for refusing him. The reasons were two--you and Steve."
+
+"Me and Steve? What in the world have we got to do with it?"
+
+"Everything. He would marry me, poor as I am; and perhaps I--perhaps
+I should say yes if things were different. Oh, there is no use my
+deceiving you, or trying to deceive myself! I know I should say yes, and
+be very, very happy. But I can't! and I won't! I _won't_!"
+
+"But why? And where, for mercy's sake, do Steve and I come in?"
+
+"Uncle Elisha, I suppose you think I have been perfectly satisfied to
+let you take care of me and of my brother, and give us a home and all
+that we needed and more. No doubt you thought me selfish enough to be
+contented with that and go on as I am--as we are--living on your bounty.
+You had reason to think so. But I have not been contented with that, nor
+has Steve. He and I have made our plans, and we shall carry them out. He
+will leave college in two years and go to work in earnest. Before that
+time I shall be ready to teach. I have been studying with just that idea
+in view."
+
+"Good land! Why, no, you ain't! You've been studyin' to help me and
+Annie run this house."
+
+"That was only part of it--the smallest part. I haven't told you before,
+Uncle, but one of the Domestic Science teachers at the University is a
+girl I used to know slightly. She is going to be married next year, and,
+if all goes well, I may be appointed to her position when she leaves. I
+have a conditional promise already. If I am, why, then, you see, I shall
+really be earning my own living; you will not have to give up your own
+home and all your interests there to make me comfortable: you can--"
+
+"Here! here!" Captain Elisha put in, desperately; "don't talk so
+ridiculous, Caroline. I ain't givin' up anything. I never was more happy
+than I've been right here with you this summer. I'm satisfied."
+
+"I know, but I am not. And neither is Steve. He and I have planned it
+all. His salary at first will be small, and so will mine. But together
+we can earn enough to live somehow and, later on, when he earns more,
+perhaps we may be able to repay a little of all that you have given us.
+We shall try. _I_ shall insist upon it."
+
+"Caroline Warren, is _that_ the reason you sent Jim away? Did you tell
+him that? Did you tell him you wouldn't marry him on account of me?"
+
+"No, of course I did not," indignantly. "I told him--I said I must not
+think of marriage; it was impossible. And it is! You _know_ it is, Uncle
+Elisha!"
+
+"I don't know any such thing. If you want to make me happy, Caroline,
+you couldn't find a better way than to be Jim Pearson's wife. And you
+would be happy, too; you said so."
+
+"But I am not thinking of happiness. It is my duty--to you and to my own
+self-respect. And not only that, but to Steve. Someone must provide a
+home for him. Neither he nor I will permit you to do it a day longer
+than is necessary. I am his sister and I shall not leave him."
+
+"But you won't have to leave him. Steve's future's all fixed. I've
+provided for Steve."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"What I say." The captain was very much excited and, for once,
+completely off his guard. "I've had plans for Steve all along. He's
+doin' fust-rate in that broker's office, learnin' the trade. Next summer
+he'll have another whack at it and learn more. When he's out of college
+I'm goin' to turn over your dad's seat on the Stock Exchange to him. Not
+give it to him, you know--not right off--but let him try; and then, if
+he makes a good fist at it, he'll have it permanent. Steve's got the
+best chance in the world. He couldn't ask much better, seems to me. You
+ain't got to fret yourself about Steve."
+
+He paused, almost out of breath. He had been speaking rapidly so as to
+prevent interruption. Caroline's astonishment was too great for words,
+just then. Her uncle anxiously awaited her reply.
+
+"You see, don't you?" he asked. "You understand. Steve's goin' to have
+the chance to make a good livin' at the very thing he declares he's set
+on doin'. I ain't told him, and I don't want you to, but it's what I've
+planned for him and--"
+
+"Wait! wait, Uncle, please! The Stock Exchange seat? Father's seat? I
+don't see.... I don't understand."
+
+"Yes, yes!" eagerly; "your pa's seat. I've meant it for Steve. There's
+been chances enough to sell it, but I wouldn't do that. 'Twas for him,
+Caroline; and he's goin' to have it."
+
+"But I don't see how.... Why, I thought--"
+
+The door of the dining room opened. Annie appeared on the threshold.
+
+"Dinner is served," she announced.
+
+"Be right there, Annie. Now you see that you ain't got to worry about
+Steve, don't you, Caroline?"
+
+His niece did not answer. By the light from the doorway he saw that she
+was gazing at him with a strange expression. She looked as if she was
+about to ask another question. He waited, but she did not ask it.
+
+"Well," he said, rising, "we won't talk any more just now. Annie's
+soup's gettin' cold, and she'll be in our wool if we don't have dinner.
+Afterwards we can have another session. Come, Caroline."
+
+She also rose, but hesitated. "Uncle Elisha," she said, "will you excuse
+me if I don't talk any more to-night? And, if you don't mind, I won't
+dine with you. I'm not hungry and--and my head aches. I'll go to my
+room, I think."
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, hastily, "of course. I'm afraid I've talked too
+much as 'tis. You go up and lie down, and Annie can fetch you some toast
+and tea or somethin' by and by. But do just answer me this, Caroline, if
+you can: When you told Jim marryin' was out of the question for you, did
+he take that as final? Was he contented with that? Didn't he say he was
+willin' to wait for you, or anything?"
+
+"Yes, he said he would wait, always. But I told him he must not. And I
+told him he must go and not see me again. I couldn't see him as I have
+been doing; Uncle, I couldn't!"
+
+"I know, dearie, I know. But didn't you say anything more? Didn't you
+give him _any_ hope?"
+
+"I said," she hesitated, and added in a whisper, "I said if I should
+ever need him or--or change my mind, I would send for him. I shouldn't
+have said it. It was weak and wicked of me, but I said it. Please let me
+go now, Uncle dear. Good night."
+
+She kissed him and hurried away. He ate his lonely dinner
+absent-mindedly and with little appetite. After it was finished he sat
+in the living room, the lamp still unlighted, smoking and thinking.
+
+And in her chamber Caroline, too, sat thinking--not altogether of the
+man she loved and who loved her. She thought of him, of course; but
+there was something else, an idea, a suspicion, which over and over
+again she dismissed as an utter impossibility, but which returned as
+often.
+
+The Stock Exchange seat had been a part of her father's estate, a
+part of her own and Steve's inheritance. Sylvester had told her so,
+distinctly. And such a seat was valuable; she remembered her brother
+reading in the paper that one had recently sold for ninety thousand
+dollars. How could Captain Warren have retained such a costly part of
+the forfeited estate in his possession? For it was in his possession;
+he was going to give it to her brother when the latter left college. But
+how could he have obtained it? Not by purchase; for, as she knew, he was
+not worth half of ninety thousand dollars. Surely the creditor, the man
+who had, as was his right, seized all Rodgers Warren's effects, would
+not have left that and taken the rest. Not unless he was a curiously
+philanthropic and eccentric person. Who was he? Who was this mysterious
+man her father had defrauded? She had never wished to know before; now
+she did. And the more she pondered, the more plausible her suspicion
+became. It was almost incredible, it seemed preposterous; but, as she
+went back, in memory, over the events since her father's death and the
+disclosure of his astonishing will, little bits of evidence, little
+happenings and details came to light, trifles in themselves, but all
+fitting in together, like pieces of an inscription in mosaic, to spell
+the truth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+November weather on Cape Cod is what Captain Elisha described as
+"considerable chancey." "The feller that can guess it two days ahead
+of time," he declared, "is wastin' his talents; he could make a livin'
+prophesyin' most anything, even the market price of cranberries." When
+Caroline, Sylvester, and the captain reached South Denboro after what
+seemed, to the two unused to the leisurely winter schedule of the
+railroad, an interminable journey from Fall River, the girl thought
+she had never seen a more gloomy sky or a more forbidding scene.
+Gray clouds, gray sea, brown bare fields; the village of white or
+gray-shingled houses set, for the most part, along the winding main
+street; the elms and silver-leaf poplars waving bare branches in the
+cutting wind; a picture of the fag end of loneliness and desolation, so
+it looked to her. She remembered Mr. Graves's opinion of the place, as
+jokingly reported by Sylvester, and she sympathized with the dignified
+junior partner.
+
+But she kept her feelings hidden on her uncle's account. The captain
+was probably the happiest individual in the state of Massachusetts that
+morning. He hailed the train's approach to Sandwich as the entrance to
+Ostable County, the promised land, and, from that station on, excitedly
+pointed out familiar landmarks and bits of scenery and buildings with
+the gusto and enthusiasm of a school boy.
+
+"That's Ostable court-house," he cried, pointing. "And see--see that
+red-roofed house right over there, just past that white church? That's
+where Judge Baxter lives; a mighty good friend of mine, the Judge is. I
+stopped to his house to dinner the night Graves came."
+
+A little further on he added, "'Twas about here that I spoke to Graves
+fust. I noticed him sittin' right across the aisle from me, with a face
+on him sour as a sasser of green tamarind preserves, and I thought I'd
+be sociable. 'Tough night,' I says. 'Umph,' says he. 'Twa'n't a remark
+cal'lated to encourage conversation, so I didn't try again--not till his
+umbrella turned inside out on the Denboro platform. Ho! ho! I wish you'd
+have seen his face _then_."
+
+At Denboro he pointed out Pete Shattuck's livery stable, where the horse
+and buggy came from which had been the means of transporting Graves and
+himself to South Denboro.
+
+"See!" he cried. "See that feller holdin' up the corner of the depot
+with his back! the one that's so broad in the beam he has to draw in his
+breath afore he can button his coat. That's Pete. You'd think he was too
+sleepy to care whether 'twas to-day or next week, wouldn't you? Well, if
+you was a summer boarder and wanted to hire a team, you'd find Pete was
+awake and got up early. If a ten-cent piece fell off the shelf in the
+middle of the night he'd hear it, though I've known him to sleep while
+the minister's barn burned down. The parson had been preachin' against
+horse-tradin'; maybe that sermon was responsible for some of the
+morphine influence."
+
+Sylvester was enjoying himself hugely. Captain Elisha's exuberant
+comments were great fun for him. "This is what I came for," he confided
+to Caroline. "I don't care if it rains or snows. I could sit and listen
+to your uncle for a year and never tire. He's a wonder. And I'm crazy to
+see that housekeeper of his. If she lives up to her reputation there'll
+be no disappointment in my Thanksgiving celebration."
+
+Dan, the captain's hired man, met them with the carriage at the station,
+and Miss Baker met them at the door of the Warren home. The exterior
+of the big, old-fashioned, rambling house was inviting and homelike,
+in spite of the gloomy weather, and Caroline cheered up a bit when they
+turned in at the gate. Five minutes of Miss Abigail's society, and all
+gloom disappeared. One could not be gloomy where Miss Abbie was. Her
+smile of welcome was so broad that, as her employer said, "it took in
+all outdoor and some of Punkhorn Neck," a place which, he hastened to
+add, "was forgot durin' creation and has sort of happened of itself
+since."
+
+Abbie conducted Caroline to her room--old-fashioned, like the rest of
+the house, but cozy, warm, and cheery--and, after helping in the removal
+of her wraps, seized her by both hands and took a long look at her face.
+
+"You'll excuse my bein' so familiar on short acquaintance, dearie," she
+said, "but I've heard so much about you that I feel's if I knew you like
+own folks. And you are own folks, ain't you? Course you are! Everyone of
+'Lisha's letters have had four pages of you to one of anything else. I
+begun to think New York was nothin' but you and a whole lot of ten-story
+houses. He thinks so much of you that I'd be jealous, if I had that
+kind of disposition and the time to spare. So I must have a good look at
+you.... I declare! you're almost prettier than he said. May I kiss you?
+I'd like to."
+
+[Illustration: "'I declare! you're almost prettier than he said. May I
+kiss you?'"]
+
+She did, and they were friends at once.
+
+The rest of that day and evening were busy times. Captain Elisha showed
+his visitors about the place, the barn, the cows, the pigpen--the pig
+himself had gone to fulfill the unhappy destiny of pigs, but they would
+meet him by sections later on, so the captain assured them. The house
+and buildings were spotless in paint and whitewash; the yard was raked
+clean of every dead leaf and twig; the whole establishment was so neat
+that Caroline remarked upon it.
+
+"It looks as if it had been scoured," she said.
+
+"Um-hm," observed her uncle, with a gratified nod; "that's Abbie. She
+hates dirt worse than she does laziness, and that ain't sayin' a little.
+I tell her she'd sand-soap the weather vane if she could climb up to
+it; as 'tis, she stays below and superintends Dan while he does it. If
+godliness wants to stay next to cleanliness when she's around it has
+to keep on the jump. I always buy shirts two degrees heavier'n I need,
+'cause I know she'll have 'em scrubbed thin in a fortni't. When it comes
+to _real_ Domestic Science, Caroline, Abbie ain't in the back row of the
+primer class, now I tell you."
+
+Miss Baker had planned that her young guest should sit in state, with
+folded hands, in the parlor. She seemed to consider that the proper
+conduct for a former member of New York's best society. She was shocked
+when the girl volunteered to help her about the house.
+
+"Course I sha'n't let you," she said. "The idea--and you company! Got
+more help than I know what to do with, as 'tis. 'Lisha was determined
+that I should hire a girl to wash dishes and things while you was here.
+Nothin' would do but that. So I got Annabel Haven's daughter, Etta G.
+There's fourteen in that family, and the land knows 'twas an act of
+charity takin' one appetite out of the house. Pay her fifty cents a day,
+I do, and she's out in the kitchen makin' believe wash windows. They
+don't need washin', but she was lookin' out of 'em most of the time, so
+I thought she might as well combine business with pleasure."
+
+But Caroline refused to sit in the parlor and be "company." She insisted
+upon helping. Miss Baker protested and declared there was nothing on
+earth to be done; but her guest insisted that, if there was not, she
+herself must sit. As Abbie would have as soon thought of attending
+church without wearing her jet earrings as she would of sitting down
+before dinner, she gave in, after a while, and permitted Caroline to
+help in arranging the table.
+
+"Why, you do fust-rate!" she exclaimed, in surprise. "You know where
+everything ought to go, just as if you'd been settin' table all your
+life. And you ain't, because 'Lisha wrote you used to keep hired help,
+two or three of 'em, all the time."
+
+Caroline laughed.
+
+"I've been studying housekeeping for almost a year," she said.
+
+"Studyin' it! Why, yes, now I remember 'Lisha wrote you'd been studyin'
+some kind of science at college. 'Twa'n't settin' table science, I
+guess, though. Ha! ha!"
+
+"That was part of it." She explained the course briefly. Abigail
+listened in amazement.
+
+"And they teach that--at school?" she demanded. "And take money for it?
+And call it _science_? My land! I guess I was brought up in a scientific
+household, then. I was the only girl in the family, and mother died when
+I was ten years old."
+
+After dinner she consented to sit for a time, though not until she had
+donned her Sunday best, earrings and all. Captain Elisha and Sylvester
+sat with them, and the big fireplace in the sitting room blazed and
+roared as it had not since its owner left for his long sojourn in the
+city. In the evening callers came, the Congregational minister and
+his wife, and some of the neighbors. The latter were pleasant country
+people, another retired sea captain among them, and they all seemed to
+have great respect and liking for Captain Elisha and to be very glad to
+welcome him home. The two captains spun salt water yarns, and the lawyer
+again decided that he was getting just what he had come for. They left
+a little after nine, and Caroline said good night and went to her room.
+She was tired, mentally and physically.
+
+But she did not fall asleep at once. Her mind was still busy with the
+suspicion which her uncle's words concerning his future plans for Steve
+had aroused. She had thought of little else since she heard them. The
+captain did not mention the subject again; possibly, on reflection,
+he decided that he had already said too much. And she asked no more
+questions. She determined not to question him--yet. She must think
+first, and then ask someone else--Sylvester. He knew the truth and, if
+taken by surprise, might be driven into confession, if there should be
+anything to confess. She was waiting for an opportunity to be alone with
+him, and that opportunity had not yet presented itself.
+
+The captain would have spoken further with her concerning James Pearson.
+He was eager to do that. But her mind was made up; she had sent her
+lover away, and it was best for both. She must forget him, if she could.
+So, when her uncle would have spoken on that subject, she begged him not
+to; and he, respecting her feelings and believing that to urge would be
+bad policy, refrained.
+
+But to forget, she found, was an impossibility. In the excitement of the
+journey and the arrival amid new surroundings, she had managed to
+keep up a show of good spirits, but now alone once more, with the wind
+singing mournfully about the gables and rattling the windows, she was
+sad and so lonely. She thought what her life had once promised to be and
+what it had become. She did not regret the old life, that life she had
+known before her father died; she had been happy in it while he lived,
+but miserable after his death. As for happiness, she had been happy
+that summer, happy with her uncle and with--him. And with him now, even
+though they would be poor, as she was used to reckoning poverty, she
+knew she could be very happy. She wondered what he was doing then; if he
+was thinking of her. She ought to hope that he was not, because it was
+useless; but she wished that he might be, nevertheless. Then she told
+herself that all this was wicked; she had made up her mind; she must be
+true to the task she had set, duty to her brother and uncle.
+
+Her uncle! why had her uncle done all this for her? And why had her
+father made him their guardian? These were old questions, but now she
+asked them with a new significance. If that strange suspicion of hers
+was true it would explain so much; it would explain almost everything.
+But it could not be true; if it was, why had he not told her when the
+discovery of her father's dishonesty and of the note forfeiting the
+estate was made? Why had he not told her then? That was what troubled
+her most. It did not seem like him to do such a thing--not like his
+character at all. Therefore, it could not be true. Yet she must know.
+She resolved to question Sylvester the next day, if possible. And, so
+resolving, she at last fell asleep.
+
+Her opportunity came the following morning, the day before Thanksgiving.
+After breakfast Captain Elisha went downtown to call on some
+acquaintances. He invited Caroline and the lawyer to accompany him, but
+they refused, the latter because he judged his, a stranger's, presence
+during the calls would be something of a hindrance to good fellowship
+and the discussion of town affairs which the captain was counting on,
+and Caroline because she saw her chance for the interview she so much
+desired.
+
+After the captain had gone, Sylvester sat down before the fire in the
+sitting room to read the Boston _Transcript_. As he sat there, Caroline
+entered and closed the door behind her. Miss Abigail was in the kitchen,
+busy with preparations for the morrow's plum pudding.
+
+The girl took the chair next that occupied by the lawyer. He put down
+his paper and turned to her.
+
+"Well," he asked, "how does this Cape Cod air effect your appetite,
+Caroline? I'm ashamed of mine. I'm rather glad to-morrow is
+Thanksgiving; on that day, I believe, it is permissible, even
+commendable, to eat three times more than a self-respecting person
+ordinarily should."
+
+She smiled, but her answer was in the form of another question, and
+quite irrelevant.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," she said, "I wish you would tell me something about the
+value of a seat on the Stock Exchange. What is the price of one?"
+
+The lawyer looked at her in surprise.
+
+"The value of a seat on the Stock Exchange?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes; what does it cost to buy one?"
+
+He hesitated, wondering why she should be interested in that subject.
+Captain Elisha had not told him a word of the interview following
+Pearson's last visit. He wondered, and then surmised a reason--Stephen,
+of course. Steve's ambition was to be a broker, and his sister was,
+doubtless, with sisterly solicitude and feminine ignorance of high
+prices, planning for his future.
+
+"Well," he replied, smiling, "they're pretty expensive, I'm afraid,
+Caroline."
+
+"Are they?" innocently.
+
+"Yes. I think the last sale was at a figure between ninety and one
+hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Indeed! Was father's seat worth as much as that?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But," with a sigh, "that, I suppose, went with the rest of the estate."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Into the hands of the man who took it all?"
+
+"Yes; the same hands," with a sly smile at his own private joke.
+
+"Then how does it happen that my uncle has it in his possession?"
+
+The lawyer smiled no more. He turned in his chair and gazed quickly and
+keenly at the young lady beside him. And her gaze was just as keen as
+his own.
+
+"What did you say?" he asked.
+
+"I asked you how it happened that my uncle now has father's Stock
+Exchange seat in his possession."
+
+"Why!... Has he?"
+
+"Yes. And I think you know he has, Mr. Sylvester. I know it, because he
+told me so himself. _Didn't_ you know it?"
+
+This was a line shot from directly in front and a hard one to dodge.
+A lie was the only guard, and he was not in the habit of lying, even
+professionally.
+
+"I--I cannot answer these questions," he declared. "They involve
+professional secrets and--"
+
+"I don't see that this is a secret. My uncle has already told me. What
+I could not understand was how he obtained the seat from the man to whom
+it was given as a part of father's debt. Do you know how he obtained
+it?"
+
+"Er--well--er--probably an arrangement was made. I cannot go into
+details, because--well, for obvious reasons. You must excuse me,
+Caroline."
+
+He rose to go.
+
+"One moment more," she said, "and one more question. Mr. Sylvester, who
+_is_ this mysterious person--this stockholder whom father defrauded,
+this person who wishes his name kept a secret, but who does such queer
+things? Who is he?"
+
+"Caroline, I tell you I cannot answer these questions. He does wish to
+remain unknown, as I told you and your brother when we first learned of
+him and his claim. If I were to tell you I should break my faith with
+him.... You must excuse me; you really must."
+
+"Mr. Sylvester, perhaps you don't need to tell me. Perhaps I can guess.
+Isn't he my--"
+
+"Caroline, I cannot--"
+
+"_Isn't he my uncle, Elisha Warren?_"
+
+Sylvester was half way to the door, but she was in his path and looking
+him directly in the face. He hesitated.
+
+"I thought so," she said. "You needn't answer, Mr. Sylvester; your face
+is answer enough. He is."
+
+She turned away, and, walking slowly to the chair from which she had
+arisen, sank into it.
+
+"He is," she repeated. "I knew it. I wonder that I didn't know it from
+the very first. How could I have been so blind!"
+
+The lawyer, nervous, chagrined, and greatly troubled, remained standing
+by the door. He did not know whether to go or stay. He took his
+handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead.
+
+"Whew!" he exclaimed. "Well, by--_George_!"
+
+She paid no attention to him, but went on, speaking, apparently, to
+herself.
+
+"It explains everything," she said. "He was father's brother; and
+father, in some way, took and used his money. But father knew what sort
+of man he was, and so he asked him to be our guardian. Father thought he
+would be kind to us, I suppose. And he has been kind--he has. But why
+did he keep it a secret? Why did he.... I don't understand that. Of
+course the money was his; all we had was his, by right. But to say
+nothing ... and to let us believe.... It does not seem like him at all.
+It...."
+
+Sylvester interrupted quickly. "Caroline! Caroline!" he said, "don't
+make any mistake. Don't misjudge your uncle again. He is a good man; one
+of the best men I ever knew. Yes, and one of the wisest. Don't say
+or think anything for which you may be sorry. I am speaking as your
+friend."
+
+She turned toward him once more, the distressed, puzzled look still on
+her face. "But I don't understand," she cried. "He.... Oh, Mr.
+Sylvester, please, now that I do know--now that you have told me so
+much--won't you tell me the rest; the reason and--all of it? Please!"
+
+The lawyer shook his head, regarding her with an expression of annoyance
+and reluctant admiration.
+
+"Now that _I've_ told you!" he repeated. "I don't remember that I've
+told you anything."
+
+"But you have. Not in words, perhaps, but you have told me. I know.
+Please go on and tell me all. If you don't," with determination, "I
+shall make Uncle Elisha tell me as soon as he comes. I shall!"
+
+Sylvester sighed. "Well, by George!" he repeated, feelingly. "I'll tell
+you one thing, young woman, you're wasting your talents. You should be
+a member of the bar. Anyone who can lead a battle-scarred veteran of
+cross-examination like myself into a trap and then spring it on him, as
+you have done, is gifted by Providence."
+
+"But will you tell me?"
+
+He hesitated, perplexed and doubtful.
+
+"I ought not to say another word on the subject," he declared,
+emphatically. "What Captain Warren will say to me when he finds this
+out is unpleasant to consider. But.... But yet, I don't know. It may
+be better for you to learn the real truth than to know a part and
+guess wrongly at the rest. I.... What is it you want me to tell you?"
+
+"Everything. I want you to sit down here by me and tell me the whole
+story, from the beginning. Please."
+
+He hesitated a moment longer and, then, his mind made up, returned to
+his chair, crossed his legs and began. "Here it is," he said.
+
+"Caroline, about twenty years ago, or such matter, your father was a
+comparatively poor man--poor, I mean, compared to what he afterward
+became. But he was a clever man, an able business man, one who saw
+opportunities and grasped them. At that time he obtained a grant in
+South America for--"
+
+"I know," she interrupted; "the Akrae Rubber Company was formed. You
+told Steve and me all about that. What I want to know is--"
+
+"Wait. I did not tell you all about it. I said that another man invested
+ten thousand dollars with your father to form that company. That man, so
+we now know, was your uncle, Captain Elisha Warren."
+
+"I guessed that. Of course it must have been he."
+
+"It was. The captain was older than your father, had lived carefully,
+and had saved some money. Also, at that time, he idolized his brother
+and believed in his shrewdness and capability. He invested this ten
+thousand on Rodgers Warren's word that the investment was likely to be a
+good one. That, and to help the latter in business. For a few years
+the company did nothing; during that time your father and uncle
+disagreed--concerning another matter, quite unconnected with this
+one--and they did not see each other again while Rodgers lived. In that
+long period the Akrae Company made millions. But Elisha supposed it
+to be bankrupt and worthless; because--well, to be frank, because his
+brother wrote him to that effect."
+
+He paused, fearful of the effect which this announcement might have upon
+the girl. But she had guessed this part of her father's dishonor and was
+prepared for it. She made no comment, and he continued.
+
+"Now we come to the will. Your father, Caroline, was not a bad man at
+heart. I knew him well, and I believe that may be said truthfully. He
+realized what he had done, how he had defrauded the brother who had been
+so kind to him, and he meant, he kept promising himself, to some day
+repay the money he had taken. To insure that, he put that note with the
+other papers of the Company. If he did repay, it could be destroyed. If
+he did not, if he should die, it would be there to prove--what it did
+prove. But always in his mind was the thought of you and Steve, the
+children he loved. He had quarreled with his brother it is true; he had
+cheated him, but restitution for that cheat he had provided. But
+what would become of you, left--in case he died without making
+restitution--penniless? He knew his brother, as I said; knew his
+character, respected his honesty, and believed in his conscientiousness
+and his big heart. So he made his will, and in it, as you know, he
+appointed Elisha your guardian. He threw his children and their future
+upon the mercy and generosity of the brother he had wronged. That is his
+reason, as we surmise it, for making that will."
+
+He paused again. Caroline did not speak for a moment. Then she asked:
+
+"And no one knew--you or my uncle or anyone--of all this until last
+March?"
+
+"No. Graves had, with his usual care and patience, pieced together the
+evidence and investigated until we were sure that a stockholder in the
+Akrae Company existed and that all of your father's estate belonged
+to him. Who that stockholder was we did not know until that day of the
+meeting at our office. Then Captain Warren told us."
+
+"But he did not know, either?"
+
+"Not until then. He supposed his Akrae stock worthless, and had
+practically forgotten it. When we told him of its value, of the note,
+and of the missing shareholder, he knew, of course."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"Say? Caroline, he was the most distressed and conscience-stricken man
+in the city. One would have thought he was the wrongdoer and not the
+wronged. He would have gone straight to you and asked your pardon, if we
+would have permitted it."
+
+"But, Mr. Sylvester, now we are coming to the part I cannot understand.
+Of course the estate belonged to him, I know that. It is his. But why
+didn't he tell Steve and me the truth then, at once? Why did he let us
+believe, and employ you to lead us to believe, that it was not he but
+someone else? Did he think we would blame him? Why has he--"
+
+"Caroline! Caroline! don't you understand yet? Do you imagine for one
+moment that your uncle intends keeping that money?"
+
+She stared at him in utter amazement.
+
+"Keeping it?" she repeated. "Why not? It is his. It belongs to him."
+
+"Caroline, I'm afraid you don't know him, even yet. He was for going to
+you at once and destroying the note in your presence. He would have done
+it, but we persuaded him to wait and think it over for a day or two. He
+did think and then decided to wait a little longer, for your sake."
+
+"For my sake? For mine?" she passed her hand in a bewildered way across
+her forehead. "Mr. Sylvester, I don't seem to understand even now. I--"
+
+"For your sake, Caroline. Remember, at that time you were engaged to
+Malcolm Dunn."
+
+Her intent gaze wavered. She drew a long breath. "I see," she said,
+slowly. "Oh.... I see."
+
+"Yes. Captain Warren is one of the best judges of character I ever met.
+The Dunns did not deceive him for one moment. He was certain Malcolm
+intended marrying you because of your money; for that matter, so was I.
+But his was the plan entirely which showed them to you as they were. He
+knew you were too honest and straightforward to believe such things of
+the man to whom you were engaged if they were told you; you must see the
+proof with your own eyes. And he showed it to you."
+
+"But then," she begged, distractedly, "why couldn't he tell me after
+that? I--I am so stupid, I suppose--but, Mr. Sylvester, all this
+is--is--"
+
+"He might have told you then, but he did not think it best. Caroline,
+your uncle has always believed in you. Even when you sent him from your
+home he did not blame you; he said you were deceived, that was all.
+But, too, he has always declared that you had been, as he expressed it,
+'brought up wrong.' Your money had, in a way, warped your estimate of
+people and things. He believed that, if you were given the opportunity,
+you would learn that wealth does not, of itself, mean happiness. So
+he decided not to tell you, not to give you back your share of your
+father's money--he refuses to consider it his--until another year, until
+you were of age, at least. And there was Steve. You know, Caroline, that
+money and what it brought was spoiling Steve. He has never been so much
+a man as during the past year, when he thought himself poor. But your
+uncle has planned for him as well as for you and, when he believes the
+time has come, he--"
+
+"Please," she interrupted, falteringly; "please don't say any more. Let
+me think. Oh, please let me think, Mr. Sylvester.... You say that Uncle
+Elisha intends giving us all that father took from him? All of it?"
+
+"Yes, all. He considers himself merely your guardian still and will
+accept only his expenses from the estate."
+
+"But--but it is wonderful!"
+
+"Yes, it is. But I have learned to think him a wonderful man."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is wonderful!" she repeated, brokenly. "Even though we cannot take
+it, it is wonderful."
+
+"What? Cannot take it?"
+
+"Of course not! Do you suppose that either my brother or I will take the
+fortune that our father stole--yes, _stole_ from him? After he has been
+living almost in poverty all these years and we in luxury--on _his_
+money? Of course we shall not take it!"
+
+"But, Caroline, I imagine you will have to take it. I understand your
+feelings, but I think he will compel you to take it."
+
+"I shall _not_!" she sprang to her feet. "Of course I shall not! Never!
+never!"
+
+"What's that you're never goin' to take, Caroline? Measles? or another
+trip down in these parts? I hope 'tain't the last, 'cause I've been
+cal'latin' you'd like it well enough to come again."
+
+Caroline turned. So did Sylvester. Captain Elisha was standing in the
+doorway, his hand on the knob. He was smiling broadly, but as he looked
+at the two by the fire he ceased to smile.
+
+"What's all this?" he asked, suspiciously. "Caroline, what--Sylvester,
+what have you been tellin' her?"
+
+Neither answered at once. The captain looked from one to the other.
+
+"Well, what's up?" he demanded. "What's the matter?"
+
+The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"What's up?" he repeated. "Humph! well, I should say the jig was up. The
+murder's out. The cat is no longer in the bag. That's about the size of
+it."
+
+"Sylvester!" Caroline had never seen her uncle thoroughly angry before;
+"Sylvester," he cried, "have you--Have you dast to tell her what you
+shouldn't? Didn't you promise me? If you told that girl, I'll--I'll--"
+
+His niece stepped forward. "Hush, Uncle Elisha," she said. "He didn't
+tell me until I knew already. I guessed it. Then I asked for the whole
+truth, and he told me."
+
+"The whole truth? _Caroline!_"
+
+He wrung his hands.
+
+"Yes, Uncle, the whole truth. I know you now. I thought I knew you
+before; but I didn't--not half. I do now."
+
+"Oh, Caroline!" he stepped toward her and then stopped, frantic and
+despairing. "Caroline! Caroline!" he cried again, "can you ever forgive
+me? You know--you must know I ain't ever meant to keep it. It's all
+yours. I just didn't give it to you right off because ... because....
+Oh, Sylvester, tell her I never meant to keep it! Tell her!"
+
+The lawyer shook his head. "I did tell her," he said, with another
+shrug, "and she tells me she won't accept it."
+
+"What?" the captain's eyes were starting from his head. "What? Won't
+take it? Why, it's hers--hers and Steve's! It always has been! Do you
+cal'late I'd rob my own brother's children? _Don't_ talk so foolish!
+I won't hear such talk!"
+
+Caroline was close to tears, but she was firm.
+
+"It isn't ours," she said. "It is yours. Our father kept it from you all
+these years. Do you suppose we will keep it any longer?"
+
+Captain Elisha looked at her determined face; then at the lawyer's--but
+he found no help there. His chin thrust forward. He nodded slowly.
+
+"All right! all right!" he said, grimly. "Sylvester, is your shop goin'
+to be open to-morrer?"
+
+"Guess not, Captain," was the puzzled reply. "It's Thanksgiving. Why?"
+
+"But Graves'll be to home, won't he? I could find him at his house?"
+
+"I presume you could."
+
+"All right, then! Caroline Warren, you listen to me: I'll give you till
+two o'clock to make up your mind to take the money that belongs to you.
+If you don't, I swear to the Lord A'mighty I'll take the fust train, go
+straight to New York, hunt up Graves, make him go down to the office and
+get that note your father made out turnin' all his property over to that
+Akrae Company. I'll get that note and I'll burn it up. Then--_then_
+you'll have to take the money, because it'll be yours. Every bit of
+evidence that'll hold in law is gone, and nobody but you and Steve'll
+have the shadow of a claim. I'll do it, so sure as I live! There! now
+you can make up your mind."
+
+He turned, strode to the door and out of the room. A moment later they
+heard a scream from Miss Baker in the kitchen: "'Lisha Warren, what ails
+you? Are you crazy?" There was no answer, but the back door closed with
+a tremendous bang.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half an hour after his dramatic exit Captain Elisha was pacing up and
+down the floor of the barn. It was an old refuge of his, a place where
+he was accustomed to go when matters requiring deliberation and thought
+oppressed him. He was alone. Dan had taken the horse to the blacksmith's
+to be shod.
+
+The captain strode across the floor, turned and strode back again. Every
+few moments he looked at his watch. It was a long way to two o'clock,
+but each additional moment was another weight piled upon his soul. As
+he turned in his stride he saw a shadow move across the sill of the big,
+open door. He caught his breath and stopped.
+
+Caroline entered the barn. She came straight to him and put her hands
+upon the lapels of his coat. Her eyes were wet and shining.
+
+"Caroline?" he faltered, eagerly.
+
+"You good man!" she breathed, softly. "Oh, you _good_ man!"
+
+"Caroline!" his voice shook, but there was hope in it. "Caroline, you're
+goin' to take the money?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha. Mr. Sylvester has shown me that I must. He says you
+will do something desperate if I refuse."
+
+"I sartin would! And you'll take it, really?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Glory be! And--and, Caroline, you won't hold it against me, my makin'
+you think you was poor, and makin' you live in that little place, and
+get along on just so much, and all that? Can you forgive me for doin'
+that?"
+
+"Forgive you? Can I ever thank you enough? I know I can't; but I can try
+all my life to prove what--"
+
+"S-s-h-h! s-s-h!... There!" with a great sigh, almost a sob, of relief,
+"I guess this'll be a real Thanksgivin', after all."
+
+But, a few minutes later, another thought came to him.
+
+"Caroline," he asked, "I wonder if, now that things are as they are,
+you couldn't do somethin' else--somethin' that would please me an
+awful lot?"
+
+"What is it, Uncle?"
+
+"It's somethin' perhaps I ain't got any right to ask. You mustn't say
+yes if you don't want to. The other day you told me you cared for Jim
+Pearson, but that you sent him away 'cause you thought you had to earn
+a livin' for you and Steve. Now you know that you ain't got to do that.
+And you said you told him if you ever changed your mind you'd send for
+him. Don't you s'pose you could send for him now--right off--so he could
+get here for this big Thanksgivin' of ours? Don't you think you could,
+Caroline?"
+
+He looked down into her face, and she looked down at the barn floor. But
+he saw the color creep up over her forehead.
+
+"Send for him--now?" she asked, in a low tone.
+
+"Yes. Now--right off. In time for to-morrow!"
+
+"He could not get here," she whispered.
+
+"Yes, he could. If you send him a telegram with one word in it:
+'Come'--and sign it 'Caroline'--he'll be here on to-morrow mornin's
+train, or I'll eat my hat and one of Abbie's bonnets hove in. Think you
+could, Caroline?"
+
+A moment; then in a whisper, "Yes, Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Hooray! But--but," anxiously, "hold on, Caroline. Tell me truly now.
+You ain't doin' this just to please me? You mustn't do that, not for the
+world and all. You mustn't send for him on my account. Only just for one
+reason--because _you_ want him."
+
+He waited for his answer. Then she looked up, blushing still, but with a
+smile trembling on her lips.
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha," she said, "because _I_ want him."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The clouds blew away that night, and Thanksgiving day dawned clear
+and cold. The gray sea was now blue; the white paint of the houses and
+fences glistened in the sun; the groves of pitchpine were brilliant
+green blotches spread like rugs here and there on the brown hills. South
+Denboro had thrown off its gloomy raiment and was "all dolled up for
+Thanksgivin'," so Captain Elisha said.
+
+The captain and Sylvester were leaning on the fence by the gate, looking
+up the road and waiting for Dan and the "two-seater" to heave in sight
+around the bend. The hired man had harnessed early and driven to the
+station at least thirty minutes before train time. Captain Elisha
+was responsible for the early start. Steve was coming on that train;
+possibly someone else was coming. The captain did not mean they should
+find no welcome or vehicle at the station.
+
+The whistle had sounded ten minutes before. It was time for Dan to
+appear at the bend.
+
+"I hope to thunder Jim got that telegram," observed the captain for the
+twentieth time, at least, since breakfast.
+
+"So do I," replied his friend. "There's no reason why he shouldn't, is
+there?"
+
+"No, no sensible one; but I've scared up no less than a couple of
+hundred of the other kind. If he shouldn't come--my, my! she'd be
+disappointed."
+
+"You wouldn't feel any disappointment yourself, of course," said the
+lawyer, with sarcasm.
+
+"Who? Me? Oh, I'd be sorer'n a scalded wharf rat in a barrel of pepper.
+But I don't count. There's the real one up there."
+
+He motioned with his head toward the window of Caroline's room.
+Sylvester nodded. "Yes," he said, "I suppose so. Captain, I'm somewhat
+surprised that you should be willing to trust that niece of yours
+to another man. She's a pretty precious article, according to your
+estimate."
+
+"Well, ain't she accordin' to yours?"
+
+"Yes. Pretty precious and precious pretty. Look at her now."
+
+They turned in time to catch a glimpse of the girl as she parted the
+curtains and looked out on the road. She saw them looking at her,
+smiled, blushed, and disappeared. Both men smoked in silence for a
+moment. Then the captain said:
+
+"Waitin'. Hi hum! nothin' like it, when you're waitin' for _the_ one,
+is there?"
+
+"No, nothing."
+
+"Yup. Well, for a pair of old single hulks our age, strikes me we're
+gettin' pretty sentimental. You say you wonder I'd trust Caroline to
+another man; I wouldn't to the average one. But Jim Pearson's all right.
+You'll say so, too, when you know him as well as I do."
+
+"I'll trust your judgment, any time. So you won't tell Steve yet awhile
+that he's not broke?"
+
+"No. And Caroline won't tell him, either. Steve's doin' fust-rate as
+he is. He's in the pickle tub and 'twill do him good to season a
+spell longer. But I think he's goin' to be all right by and by. Say,
+Sylvester, this New York cruise of mine turned out pretty good, after
+all, didn't it?"
+
+"Decidedly good. It was the making of your niece and nephew. Caroline
+realizes it now; and so will Steve later on."
+
+"Hope so. It didn't do _me_ any harm," with a chuckle. "I wouldn't have
+missed that little beat up the bay with Marm Dunn for a good deal. For
+a spell there we was bows abreast, and 'twas hard to tell who'd turn the
+mark first. Heard from the Dunns lately?"
+
+"No. Why, yes, I did hear that they were in a tighter box than ever,
+financially. The smash will come pretty soon."
+
+"I'm sorry. The old lady'll go down with colors nailed to the mast, I'll
+bet; and she'll leave a lot of suds where she sank. Do you know, I never
+blamed her so much. She was built that way. She's consider'ble like
+old Mrs. Patience Blodgett, who used to live up here to the Neck; like
+her--only there never was two people more different. Pashy was the
+craziest blue-ribboner you ever saw. Her one idea in life was gettin'
+folks to sign the pledge. She married Tim Blodgett, who was the wust
+soak in the county--he'd have figgered out, if you analyzed him, about
+like a bottle of patent medicine, seventy-two per cent alcohol. Well,
+Pashy married him to reform him, and she made her brags that she'd get
+him to sign the pledge. And she did, but only by puttin' it in front of
+him when he was too drunk to read it."
+
+The lawyer laughed heartily. "So you think Mrs. Corcoran Dunn resembles
+her, do you," he observed.
+
+"In one way--yes. Both of 'em sacrifice everything else to one idea.
+Pashy's was gettin' that pledge signed, and never mind ways and means.
+Mrs. Dunn's is money and position--never mind how they come. See what
+I'm drivin' at?"
+
+Sylvester laughed again. "I guess so," he said. "Captain Warren, I never
+saw you in better spirits. Do you know what I think? I think that, for
+a chap who has just given away half of a good-sized fortune and intends
+giving away the other half, you're the most cheerful specimen I ever
+saw."
+
+The captain laughed, too. "I am, ain't I," he said. "Well, I can say
+truthful what I never expected to say in my life--that _once_ I was
+wuth ha'f a million dollars. As for the rest of it, I'm like that
+millionaire--that.... Hi! Look! There comes Dan! See him!"
+
+They peered eagerly over the fence. The Warren "two-seater" had rounded
+the bend in the road. Dan was driving. Beside him sat a young fellow who
+waved his hand.
+
+"Steve!" cried the captain, excitedly. "There's Steve! And--and--yes,
+there's somebody on the back seat. It's Jim! He's come! Hooray!"
+
+He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.
+
+"Wait," he cried. "I don't want to lose the rest of that sentence. You
+said you were like some millionaire. Who?"
+
+"Don't bother me," cried Captain Elisha. "Who? Why, I was goin' to say
+I was like that millionaire chap who passes out a library every time he
+wakes up and happens to think of it. You know who I mean.... Ahoy there,
+Jim! Ahoy, Steve!"
+
+He was waving his hand to the passengers in the approaching vehicle.
+
+"Yes," prompted his friend, hastily, "I know who you mean--Carnegie."
+
+"That's the feller. I've come to feel about the way he says he
+does--that 'twould be a crime for me to die rich."
+
+                         THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln.
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+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cap'n Warren's Wards
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 11, 2009 [EBook #3280]
+Last Updated: September 27, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson and D. A. Alexander
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <div class="figcenter" style="width: 319px;">
+      <img src="images/icover.jpg" width="319" height="500" alt="" title="" />
+    </div>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <div class="centerbox bbox">
+      <h1>
+        CAP&#8217;N WARREN&#8217;S<br /> WARDS
+      </h1>
+      <hr class="full" />
+      <hr class="full" />
+      <h2>
+        By Joseph C. Lincoln
+      </h2>
+      <hr class="full" />
+      <p class="center">
+        Author of &#8220;The Depot Master,&#8221; &#8220;The Woman Haters,&#8221;<br />
+        &#8220;The Postmaster,&#8221; &#8220;Cap&#8217;n Erie,&#8221;<br />
+        &#8220;Mr. Pratt,&#8221; etc.
+      </p>
+      <div class="figcenter" style="width: 79px;">
+        <img src="images/i001.jpg" width="79" height="80" alt="" title="" />
+      </div>
+      <h4>
+        With Illustrations
+      </h4>
+      <h3>
+        <span class="smcap">By</span> EDMUND FREDERICK
+      </h3>
+      <hr class="full" />
+      <hr class="full" />
+      <h2>
+        A. L. BURT COMPANY
+      </h2>
+      <h3>
+        Publishers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; New York
+      </h3>
+    </div>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p class="smallgap">
+      &nbsp;
+    </p>
+    <p class="center">
+      <span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1911, <span class="smcap">by</span><br />
+      D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+    </p>
+    <p class="center">
+      <i>Published October, 1911</i>
+    </p>
+    <p class="center">
+      Printed in the United States of America
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <div class="figcenter" style="width: 306px;">
+      <img src="images/i003.jpg" class="smallgap" width="306" height="500"
+      alt="&#8220;Captain Warren has risen from his chair and was facing her.&#8221; [Page 48."
+      title="" /> <span class="caption">&#8220;Captain Warren has risen from his
+      chair and was facing her.&#8221; [Page <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.]</span>
+    </div>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <h2>
+      CONTENTS
+    </h2>
+    <div class="centered">
+      <table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS">
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER I.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_1">1</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER II.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_13">13</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER III.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_31">31</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER IV.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_49">49</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER V.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_67">67</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER VI.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_85">85</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER VII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_103">103</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER VIII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_118">118</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER IX.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_136">136</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER X.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_151">151</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XI.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_171">171</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_188">188</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XIII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_200">200</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XIV.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_221">221</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XV.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_235">235</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XVI.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_247">247</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XVII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_258">258</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XVIII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_274">274</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XIX.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_292">292</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XX.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_315">315</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XXI.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_331">331</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td align="left">
+            CHAPTER XXII.
+          </td>
+          <td align="right">
+            <a href="#Page_356">356</a>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+      </table>
+    </div>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      CAP&#8217;N WARREN&#8217;S WARDS
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h3>
+    <p style="float: left; font-size: 100%; line-height: 80%; margin-top: 0;">
+      &#8220;
+    </p>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span>stable!&#8221;
+      screamed the brakeman,opening the car door and yelling his loudest, so as
+      to be heard above the rattle of the train and the shriek of the wind;
+      &#8220;Ostable!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The brakeman&#8217;s cap was soaked through, his hair was plastered down
+      on his forehead, and, in the yellow light from the car lamps, his wet nose
+      glistened as if varnished. Over his shoulders the shiny ropes of rain
+      whipped and lashed across the space between the cars. The windows streamed
+      as each succeeding gust flung its miniature freshet against them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The passengers in the car&mdash;there were but four of them&mdash;did not
+      seem greatly interested in the brakeman&#8217;s announcement. The
+      red-faced person in the seat nearest the rear slept soundly, as he had
+      done for the last hour and a half. He had boarded the train at Brockton,
+      and, after requesting the conductor not to &#8220;lemme me git by Bayport,
+      Bill,&#8221; at first favored his fellow travelers with a song and then
+      sank into slumber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two elderly men sitting together on the right-hand side of the car
+      droned on in their apparently endless Jeremiad concerning the low price of
+      cranberries, the scarcity of scallops on the flats, the reasons why the
+      fish weirs were a failure nowadays, and<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> similar cheerful topics. And
+      in his seat on the left, Mr. Atwood Graves, junior partner in the New York
+      firm of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves, lawyers, stirred uneasily on the lumpy
+      plush cushion, looked at his watch, then at the time-table in his hand,
+      noted that the train was now seventy-two minutes late, and for at least
+      the fifteenth time mentally cursed the railway company, the whole of Cape
+      Cod from Sandwich to Provincetown, and the fates which had brought him
+      there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The train slowed down, in a jerky, hiccoughy sort of way, and crept on
+      till the car in which Mr. Graves was seated was abreast the lighted
+      windows of a small station, where it stopped. Peering through the
+      water-streaked pane at the end of his seat, the lawyer saw dim silhouettes
+      of uncertain outline moving about. They moved with provoking slowness. He
+      felt that it would be joy unspeakable to rush out there and thump them
+      into animation. The fact that the stately Atwood Graves even thought of
+      such an undignified proceeding is sufficient indication of his frame of
+      mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, behind the door which the brakeman, after announcing the station,
+      had closed again, sounded a big laugh. The heartiness of it grated on Mr.
+      Graves&#8217;s nerves. What idiot could laugh on such a night as this
+      aboard a train over an hour late?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The laugh was repeated. Then the door was flung briskly open, and a man
+      entered the car. He was a big man, broad-shouldered, inclined to
+      stoutness, wearing a cloth cap with a visor, and a heavy ulster, the
+      collar of which was turned up. Through the gap between the open ends of
+      the collar bristled a short, grayish beard. The face above the beard and
+      below the visor was sunburned, with little wrinkles about the eyes and
+      curving lines from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg
+      3]</a></span> nostrils to the corners of the mouth. The upper lip was
+      shaved, and the eyebrows were heavy and grayish black. Cap, face, and
+      ulster were dripping with water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The newcomer paused in the doorway for an instant, evidently to add the
+      finishing touch to a conversation previously begun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I tell you, Ezra,&#8221; he called, over his shoulder,
+      &#8220;if it&#8217;s too deep to wade, maybe I can swim. Fat floats, they
+      tell me, and Abbie says I&#8217;m gettin&#8217; fleshier every day. So
+      long.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He closed the door and, smiling broadly, swung down the aisle. The pair of
+      calamity prophets broke off their lament over the declining fisheries and
+      greeted him almost jovially.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hello, Cap&#8217;n!&#8221; cried one. &#8220;What&#8217;s the south
+      shore doin&#8217; over here in this flood?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter, Cap&#8217;n?&#8221; demanded the other.
+      &#8220;Broke loose from your moorin&#8217;s, have you? Did you ever see
+      such a night in your life?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man in the ulster shook hands with each of his questioners, removing a
+      pair of wet, heavy leather gloves as he did so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t know&#8217;s I ever did, Dan,&#8221; he answered.
+      &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t see much of this one but its color&mdash;and that&#8217;s
+      black. I come over this mornin&#8217; to attend to some business at the
+      court-house&mdash;deeds to some cranberry bog property I just bought&mdash;and
+      Judge Baxter made me go home with him to dinner. Stayed at his house all
+      the afternoon, and then his man, Ezra Hallett, undertook to drive me up
+      here to the depot. Talk about blind pilotin&#8217;! Whew! The Judge&#8217;s
+      horse was a new one, not used to the roads, Ezra&#8217;s near-sighted, and
+      I couldn&#8217;t use my glasses &#8217;count of the rain. Let alone that,
+      &#8217;twas darker&#8217;n the fore-hold of Noah&#8217;s ark. Ho, ho!
+      Sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+      we was in the ruts and sometimes we was in the bushes. I told Ez we&#8217;d
+      ought to have fetched along a dipsy lead, then maybe we could get our
+      bearin&#8217;s by soundin&#8217;s. &#8216;Couldn&#8217;t see &#8217;em if
+      we did get &#8217;em,&#8217;&#8217; says he. &#8216;No,&#8217; says I,
+      &#8216;but we could taste &#8217;em. Man that&#8217;s driven through as
+      much Ostable mud as you have ought to know the taste of every road in
+      town.&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, you caught the train, anyhow,&#8221; observed Dan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. If we&#8217;d been crippled as <i>well</i> as blind we could
+      have done that.&#8221; He seated himself just in front of the pair and
+      glanced across the aisle at Mr. Graves, to find the latter looking
+      intently at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pretty tough night,&#8221; he remarked, nodding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied the lawyer briefly. He did not encourage
+      conversation with casual acquaintances. The latest arrival had caught his
+      attention because there was something familiar about him. It seemed to
+      Graves that he must have seen him before; and yet that was very
+      improbable. This was the attorney&#8217;s first visit to Cape Cod, and he
+      had already vowed devoutly that it should be his last. He turned a
+      chilling shoulder to the trio opposite and again consulted the time-table.
+      Denboro was the next station; then&mdash;thank the Lord&mdash;South
+      Denboro, his destination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Conversation across the aisle was brisk, and its subjects were many and
+      varied. Mr. Graves became aware, more or less against his will, that the
+      person called &#8220;Cap&#8217;n&#8221; was, if not a leader in politics
+      and local affairs, still one whose opinions counted. Some of those
+      opinions, as given, were pointed and dryly descriptive; as, for instance,
+      when a certain town-meeting candidate was compared to a sculpin&mdash;&#8220;with
+      a big head that sort of impresses you, till you get close enough to
+      realize it <i>has</i> to be big to make room for so much mouth.&#8221;<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Graves, who
+      was fond of salt water fishing, knew what a sculpin was, and appreciated
+      the comparison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conductor entered the car and stopped to collect a ticket from his new
+      passenger. It was evident that he, too, was acquainted with the latter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Evening, Cap&#8217;n,&#8221; he said, politely. &#8220;Train&#8217;s
+      a little late to-night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is&mdash;for to-night&#8217;s train,&#8221; was the prompt
+      response, &#8220;but if it keeps on at the rate it&#8217;s travelin&#8217;
+      now, it&#8217;ll be a little early for to-morrow mornin&#8217;s, won&#8217;t
+      it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conductor laughed. &#8220;Guess you&#8217;re right,&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;This is about as wet a storm as I&#8217;ve run through since I&#8217;ve
+      been on the road. If we get to Provincetown without a washout we&#8217;ll
+      be lucky.... Well, we&#8217;ve made another hitch. So far, so good.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The brakeman swung open the door to shout, &#8220;Denboro! Denboro!&#8221;
+      the conductor picked up his lantern and hurried away, the locomotive
+      whistled hoarsely, and the train hiccoughed alongside another little
+      station. Mr. Graves, peering through his window, imagined that here the
+      silhouettes on the platform moved more briskly. They seemed almost
+      excited. He inferred that Denboro was a bigger and more wide-awake village
+      than Ostable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But he was mistaken. The reason for the excitement was made plain by the
+      conductor a moment afterwards. That official entered the car, removed his
+      uniform cap, and rubbed a wet forehead with a wetter hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, gentlemen,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been expecting
+      it, and here it is. Mark me down as a good prophet, will you? There&#8217;s
+      a washout a mile further on, and a telegraph pole across the track. It&#8217;s
+      blowing great guns and raining pitchforks. It&#8217;ll be out of the
+      question for us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+      to go forward before daylight, if then. Darn a railroad man&#8217;s job
+      anyhow!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five minutes later Mr. Graves descended the steps of the car, his
+      traveling bag in one hand and an umbrella in the other. As soon as both
+      feet were securely planted on the platform, he put down the bag to wrestle
+      with the umbrella and the hurricane, which was apparently blowing from
+      four directions at once. Feeling his hat leaving his head, he became aware
+      that the umbrella had turned inside out. He threw the wreck violently
+      under the train and stooped to pick up the bag. The bag was no longer
+      there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said a calm voice behind him. &#8220;I&#8217;ve
+      got your satchel, neighbor. Better beat for harbor, hadn&#8217;t we? Here!
+      this way.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bewildered New Yorker felt his arm seized in a firm grip, and he was
+      rushed across the platform, through a deluge of wind-driven water, and
+      into a small, hot, close-smelling waiting room. When he pushed his hat
+      clear of his eyes he saw that his rescuer was the big man who boarded the
+      train at Ostable. He was holding the missing bag and smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dirty weather, hey?&#8221; he observed, pleasantly. &#8220;Sorry
+      your umbrella had to go by the board. I see you was carryin&#8217; too
+      much canvas and tried to run alongside in time to give you a tow; but you
+      was dismasted just as I got there. Here&#8217;s your dunnage, all safe and
+      sound.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He extended the traveling bag at arm&#8217;s length. Mr. Graves accepted
+      his property and murmured thanks, not too cordially. His dignity and
+      temper had gone overboard with the umbrella, and he had not yet recovered
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; went on his companion, &#8220;here we are! And<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> I, for one,
+      wanted to be somewheres else. Caleb,&#8221; turning to the station master,
+      who came in at that moment, &#8220;any way of my gettin&#8217; home
+      to-night?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8217;Fraid not, Cap&#8217;n,&#8221; was the answer. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+      know of any. Guess you&#8217;ll have to put up at the hotel and wait till
+      mornin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; agreed the passenger called &#8220;Dan,&#8221;
+      who was standing near. &#8220;That&#8217;s what Jerry and I are goin&#8217;
+      to do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, but you and Jerry are bound for Orham. I&#8217;m booked for
+      South Denboro, and that&#8217;s only seven miles off. I&#8217;d <i>swim</i>
+      the whole seven rather than put up at Sim Titcomb&#8217;s hotel. I&#8217;ve
+      been there afore, thank you! Look here, Caleb, can&#8217;t I hire a team
+      and drive over?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t know. S&#8217;pose you might ring up Pete
+      Shattuck and ask him. He&#8217;s pretty particular about his horses,
+      though, and I cal&#8217;late he&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right. I&#8217;ll ring him up. Pete ought to get over some of
+      his particularness to oblige me. I&#8217;ve helped <i>him</i> once or
+      twice.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was on his way to the ticket office, where the telephone hung on the
+      wall. But Mr. Graves stepped forward and spoke to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Excuse me, sir,&#8221; said the lawyer. &#8220;Did I understand you
+      to say you were going to South Denboro?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I am, if the powers&mdash;and Pete Shattuck&mdash;&#8217;ll
+      let me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You were going to drive over? May I go with you? I&#8217;m very
+      anxious to get to South Denboro to-night. I have some very important
+      business there, and I want to complete it and get away to-morrow. I must
+      be back in New York by the morning following.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked his questioner over. There was a doubtful look on his
+      face, and he smiled quizzically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>&#8220;Well,
+      I don&#8217;t know, Mr.&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Graves is my name.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, Mr. Graves. This ain&#8217;t goin&#8217; to be
+      a pleasure cruise exactly. You might get pretty wet.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t care. I can get dry again when I get there. Of course
+      I shall share the expense of the livery. I shall be greatly obliged if I
+      may go with you. If not, I must try for a rig myself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, if you feel that way about it, why, come ahead and welcome. I
+      was only warnin&#8217; you, that&#8217;s all. However, with me aboard for
+      ballast, I guess we won&#8217;t blow away. Wait a jiffy till I get after
+      Pete.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the ticket office and raised a big hand to the little crank of
+      the telephone bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Let&#8217;s see, Caleb,&#8221; he called; &#8220;what&#8217;s
+      Shattuck&#8217;s number?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Four long and two short,&#8221; answered the station master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves, wondering vaguely what sort of telephone system was in use on Cape
+      Cod, heard his prospective pilot ring the instrument for a full two
+      seconds, repeating the ring four times altogether. This he followed with
+      two sharp tinkles. Then came a series of shouted &#8220;Hellos!&#8221;
+      and, at last, fragments of one-half of a dialogue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That you, Shattuck? Know who this is, don&#8217;t you? Yes, that&#8217;s
+      right.... Say, how many folks listen every time a bell rings on this line?
+      I&#8217;ve heard no less&#8217;n eight receivers come down so far.... Two
+      of &#8217;em went up then, did you hear &#8217;em?... Sartin ... I want to
+      hire a team to go over home with... To-night&mdash;Sartin ... I don&#8217;t
+      care.... Yes, you will, too... <i>Yes</i>, you <i>will</i>.... Send my man
+      back with it to-morrow....<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9"
+      id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> I don&#8217;t care <i>what</i> it is, so it&#8217;s
+      got four legs and wheels....&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so on for at least five minutes. Then the captain hung up the receiver
+      and came back to the waiting room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Bargain&#8217;s made, Mr. Graves,&#8221; he announced. &#8220;Pete&#8217;ll
+      have some sort of a turn-out alongside soon&#8217;s he can get it
+      harnessed. If you&#8217;ve got any extra storm duds in that satchel of
+      yours, I&#8217;d advise you to put &#8217;em on. We&#8217;re goin&#8217;
+      to have a rough passage.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just how rough it was likely to be, Graves realized when he emerged from
+      the station to board the Shattuck buggy. &#8220;Pete&#8221; himself had
+      driven the equipage over from the livery stable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t do this for anybody but you, Cap&#8217;n,&#8221;
+      he vouchsafed, in what might be called a reproachful shout. Shouting was
+      necessary, owing to the noise of the storm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t do what?&#8221; replied the captain, looking first
+      at the ancient horse and then at the battered buggy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Let this horse out a night like this.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! I should think night would be the only time you would let
+      him out.... There! there! never mind. Get aboard, Mr. Graves. Put your
+      satchel on the floor between your feet. Here, let me h&#8217;ist that boot
+      for you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &#8220;boot&#8221; was a rubber curtain buttoned across the front of
+      the buggy, extending from the dashboard to just below the level of the
+      driver&#8217;s eyes. The lawyer clambered in behind it, the captain
+      followed, the end of the reins was passed through a slit in the boot, Mr.
+      Shattuck, after inquiring if they were &#8220;all taut,&#8221; gave the
+      command, &#8220;Gid-dap!&#8221; and horse and buggy moved around the
+      corner of the station, out into darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg10]</a></span>Of
+      the next hour Graves&#8217;s memories are keen but monotonous,&mdash;a
+      strong smell of stable, arising from the laprobe which had evidently been
+      recently used as a horse blanket; the sound of hoofs, in an interminable
+      &#8220;jog, jog&mdash;splash, splash,&#8221; never hurrying; a series of
+      exasperated howls from the captain, who was doing his best to make them
+      hurry; the thunderous roar of rain on the buggy top and the shrieking gale
+      which rocked the vehicle on its springs and sent showers of fine spray
+      driving in at every crack and crevice between the curtains.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The view ahead, over the boot, was blackness, bordered by spidery trees
+      and branches whipping in the wind. Occasionally they passed houses sitting
+      well back from the road, a lighted window gleaming cozily. And ever, as
+      they moved, the storm seemed to gather force.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves noticed this and, at length, when his nervousness had reached the
+      breaking point, screamed a question in his companion&#8217;s ear. They had
+      attempted no conversation during the ride, the lawyer, whose contemptuous
+      opinion of the locality and all its inhabitants was now a conviction,
+      feeling that the result would not be worth the effort, and the captain
+      busy with his driving.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is blowing worse than ever, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; yelled the
+      nervous Graves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? No, just about the same. It&#8217;s dead sou&#8217;-west and
+      we&#8217;re getting out of the woods, that&#8217;s all. Up on those bare
+      hills we catch the full force of it right off the Sound. Be there pretty
+      soon now, if this Old Hundred of a horse would quit walkin in his &#8217;sleep
+      and really move. Them lights ahead are South Denboro.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lights were clustered at the foot of a long and rather steep hill.
+      Down the declivity bounced and rocked<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> the buggy. The horse&#8217;s
+      hoofs sounded hollow on the planks of a bridge. The road narrowed and
+      became a village street, bordered and arched by tall trees which groaned
+      and threshed in the hurricane. The rain, as it beat in over the boot, had,
+      so the lawyer fancied, a salty taste.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain bent down. &#8220;Say, Mister,&#8221; he shouted, &#8220;where
+      was it you wanted to stop? Who is it you&#8217;re lookin&#8217; for?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I say&mdash;Heavens to Betsy! how that wind does screech!&mdash;I
+      say where&#8217;bouts shall I land you. This is South Denboro. Whose house
+      do you want to go to?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m looking for one of your leading citizens. Elisha Warren
+      is his name.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Elisha Warren. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was interrupted. There was a sharp crack overhead, followed by a
+      tremendous rattle and crash. Then down upon the buggy descended what, to
+      Graves, appeared to be an avalanche of scratching, tearing twigs and
+      branches. They ripped away the boot and laprobe and jammed him back
+      against the seat, their sharp points against his breast. The buggy was
+      jerked forward a few feet and stopped short.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He heard the clatter of hoofs and shouts of &#8220;Whoa!&#8221; and
+      &#8220;Stand still!&#8221; He tried to rise, but the tangle of twigs
+      before him seemed impenetrable, so he gave it up and remained where he
+      was. Then, after an interval, came a hail from the darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hi, there! Mr. Graves, ahoy! Hurt, be you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; the lawyer&#8217;s tone was doubtful. &#8220;No&mdash;o,
+      I&mdash;I guess not. That you, Captain?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      it&#8217;s me. Stand still, you foolhead! Quit your hoppin&#8217; up and
+      down!&#8221; These commands were evidently addressed to the horse. &#8220;Glad
+      you ain&#8217;t hurt. Better get out, hadn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I&#8217;m not sure that I can get out. What on earth has
+      happened?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Tree limb carried away. Lucky for us we got the brush end, &#8217;stead
+      of the butt. Scooch down and see if you can&#8217;t wriggle out
+      underneath. I did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Graves obediently &#8220;scooched.&#8221; After a struggle he managed
+      to slide under the tangle of branches and, at length, stood on his feet in
+      the road beside the buggy. The great limb had fallen across the street,
+      its heavy end near the walk. As the captain had said, it was fortunate for
+      the travelers that the &#8220;brush&#8221; only had struck the carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves found his companion standing at the horse&#8217;s head, holding the
+      frightened animal by the bridle. The rain was descending in a flood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well!&#8221; gasped the agitated New Yorker. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be
+      hanged if this isn&#8217;t&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ain&#8217;t it? But say, Mr. Graves, <i>who</i> did you say you was
+      comin&#8217; to see?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, a person named Elisha Warren. He lives in this forsaken hole
+      somewhere, I believe. If I had known what an experience I must go through
+      to reach him, I&#8217;d have seen him at the devil.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the bulky figure at the horse&#8217;s head came a chuckle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Well, Mr. Graves, if the butt of that limb had fetched us,
+      instead of t&#8217;other end, I don&#8217;t know but you <i>might</i> have
+      seen him there. I&#8217;m Elisha Warren, and that&#8217;s my house over
+      yonder where the lights are.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h3>
+    <p style="float: left; font-size: 100%; line-height: 80%; margin-top: 0;">
+      &#8220;
+    </p>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span>his
+      is your room, Mr. Graves,&#8221; said Miss Abigail Baker, placing the
+      lighted lamp on the bureau. &#8220;And here&#8217;s a pair of socks and
+      some slippers. They belong to Elisha&mdash;Cap&#8217;n Warren, that is&mdash;but
+      he&#8217;s got more. Cold water and towels and soap are on the washstand
+      over yonder; but I guess you&#8217;ve had enough <i>cold</i> water for one
+      night. There&#8217;s plenty hot in the bathroom at the end of the hall.
+      After you change your wet things, just leave &#8217;em spread out on the
+      floor. I&#8217;ll come fetch &#8217;em by and by and hang &#8217;em to dry
+      in the kitchen. Come right downstairs when you&#8217;re ready. Anything
+      else you want? No? All right then. You needn&#8217;t hurry. Supper&#8217;s
+      waited an hour &#8217;n&#8217; a half as &#8217;tis. &#8217;Twon&#8217;t
+      hurt it to wait a spell longer.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She went away, closing the door after her. The bewildered, wet and
+      shivering New Yorker stared about the room, which, to his surprise, was
+      warm and cozy. The warmth was furnished, so he presently discovered, by a
+      steam radiator in the corner. Radiators and a bathroom! These were modern
+      luxuries he would have taken for granted, had Elisha Warren been the sort
+      of man he expected to find, the country magnate, the leading citizen,
+      fitting brother to the late A. Rodgers Warren, of Fifth Avenue and Wall
+      Street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Captain Warren who had driven him to South Denboro in the rain was
+      not that kind of man at all. His manner and his language were as far
+      removed from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+      those of the late A. Rodgers as the latter&#8217;s brown stone residence
+      was from this big rambling house, with its deep stairs and narrow halls,
+      its antiquated pictures and hideous, old-fashioned wall paper; as far
+      removed as Miss Baker, whom the captain had hurriedly introduced as
+      &#8220;my second cousin keepin&#8217; house for me,&#8221; was from the dignified
+      butler at the mansion on Fifth Avenue. Patchwork comforters and feather
+      beds were not, in the lawyer&#8217;s scheme of things, fit associates for
+      radiators and up-to-date bathrooms. And certainly this particular Warren
+      was not fitted to be elder brother to the New York broker who had been
+      Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves&#8217; client.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It could not be, it <i>could</i> not. There must be some mistake. In
+      country towns there were likely to be several of the same name. There must
+      be another Elisha Warren. Comforted by this thought, Mr. Graves opened his
+      valise, extracted therefrom other and drier articles of wearing apparel,
+      and proceeded to change his clothes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile, Miss Abigail had descended the stairs to the sitting room.
+      Before a driftwood fire in a big brick fireplace sat Captain Warren in his
+      shirt-sleeves, a pair of mammoth carpet slippers on his feet, and the said
+      feet stretched luxuriously out toward the blaze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Abbie,&#8221; observed the captain, &#8220;this is solid comfort.
+      Every time I go away from home I get into trouble, don&#8217;t I? Last
+      trip I took to Boston, I lost thirty dollars, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Lost it!&#8221; interrupted Miss Baker, tartly. &#8220;Gave it
+      away, you mean.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I didn&#8217;t <i>give</i> it away. I lent it. Abbie, you ought to
+      know the difference between a gift and a loan.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do&mdash;when there is any difference. But if lendin&#8217;<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> Tim
+      Foster ain&#8217;t givin&#8217; it away, then I miss my guess.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; with another chuckle, &#8220;Tim don&#8217;t feel that
+      way. He swore right up and down that he wouldn&#8217;t take a cent&mdash;as
+      a gift. I offered to make him a present of ten dollars, but he looked so
+      shocked that I apologized afore he could say no.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, and then <i>lent</i> him that thirty. Shocked! The only thing
+      that would shock that good-for-nothin&#8217; is bein&#8217; set to work.
+      What possessed you to be such a soft-head, <i>I</i> don&#8217;t know. When
+      you get back a copper of that money I&#8217;ll believe the millennium&#8217;s
+      struck, that&#8217;s all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! Well, I&#8217;ll help you believe it&mdash;that is, if I have
+      time afore I drop dead of heart disease. Abbie, you&#8217;d make a good
+      lawyer; you can get up an argument out of a perfect agreement. I said the
+      thirty dollars was lost, to begin with. But I knew Tim Foster&#8217;s
+      mother when she used to think that boy of hers was the eighth wonder of
+      the world. And I promised her I&#8217;d do what I could for him long&#8217;s
+      I lived.... But it seems to me we&#8217;ve drifted some off the course,
+      ain&#8217;t we? What I started to say was that every time I go away from
+      home I get into trouble. Up to Boston &#8217;twas Tim and his &#8216;loan.&#8217;
+      To-night it&#8217;s about as healthy a sou&#8217;-wester as I&#8217;ve
+      ever been out in. Dan fetched in the team, has he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. It&#8217;s in the stable. He says the buggy dash is pretty
+      well scratched up, and that it&#8217;s a wonder you and that Graves man wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      killed. Who is he, anyhow?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Land knows, I don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You don&#8217;t know! Then what&#8217;s he doin&#8217; here?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Changin&#8217; his duds, I guess. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;d do if
+      I looked as much like a drowned rat as he did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>&#8220;&#8217;Lisha
+      Warren! if you ain&#8217;t the most <i>provokin&#8217;</i> thing! Don&#8217;t
+      be so unlikely. You know what I mean. What&#8217;s he come here, to this
+      house, for?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t know, Abbie. I didn&#8217;t know he <i>was</i> comin&#8217;
+      here till just as we got down yonder by Emery&#8217;s corner. I asked him
+      who he was lookin&#8217; for, he said &#8216;Elisha Warren,&#8217; and
+      then the tree caved in on us.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8217;Lisha, you&mdash;you don&#8217;t s&#8217;pose &#8217;twas a&mdash;<i>sign</i>,
+      do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sign?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, a sign, a prophecy-like, a warnin&#8217; that somethin&#8217;
+      is goin&#8217; to happen.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain put back his head and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sign somethin&#8217; <i>had</i> happened, I should think,&#8221; he
+      answered. &#8220;What&#8217;s <i>goin&#8217;</i> to happen is that Pete
+      Shattuck&#8217;ll get his buggy painted free-for-nothin&#8217;, at my
+      expense. How&#8217;s supper gettin&#8217; along? Is it ready?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ready? It&#8217;s been ready for so long that it&#8217;ll have to
+      be got ready all over again if.... Oh! Come right in, Mr. Graves! I hope
+      you&#8217;re drier now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Warren sprang from the chair to greet his visitor, who was
+      standing in the doorway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, come right in, Mr. Graves,&#8221; he urged, cordially. &#8220;Set
+      down by the fire and make yourself comf&#8217;table. Abbie&#8217;ll have
+      somethin&#8217; for us to eat in a jiffy. Pull up a chair.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer came forward hesitatingly. The doubts which had troubled him
+      ever since he entered the house were still in his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Captain,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But before I accept more
+      of your hospitality I feel I should be sure there is no mistake. I have
+      come on important business, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>&#8220;Hold
+      on!&#8221; The captain held up a big hand. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you say
+      another word,&#8221; he commanded. &#8220;There&#8217;s just one business
+      that interests me this minute, and that&#8217;s supper. There&#8217;s no
+      mistake about <i>that</i>, anyhow. Did you say &#8216;Come ahead,&#8217;
+      Abbie? or was you just going to? Good! Right into the dinin&#8217; room,
+      Mr. Graves.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dining room was long and low. The woodwork was white, the floor green
+      painted boards, with braided rag mats scattered over them. There were
+      old-fashioned pictures on the walls, pictures which brought shudders to
+      the artistic soul of Atwood Graves. A broad bay window filled one side of
+      the apartment, and in this window, on shelves and in wire baskets, were
+      Miss Baker&#8217;s cherished and carefully tended plants. As for the
+      dining table, it was dark, old-fashioned walnut, as were the chairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Set right down here, Mr. Graves,&#8221; ordered the captain.
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ll try to keep you supplied with solid cargo, and Abbie&#8217;ll
+      &#8217;tend to the moistenin&#8217;. Hope that teapot is full up, Abbie.
+      Hot tea tastes good after you&#8217;ve swallered as much cold rain as Mr.
+      Graves and I have....
+      Father-we-thank-thee-for-these-mercies-set-before-us-Amen.... How&#8217;s
+      your appetite when it comes to clam pie, Mr. Graves?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Graves&#8217;s appetite was good, and the clam pie was good. So, too,
+      were the hot biscuits and the tea and homemade preserves and cake.
+      Conversation during the meal was, for the most part, a monologue by the
+      captain. He gave Miss Baker a detailed and exaggerated account of his
+      adventures in Ostable, on board the train, and during the drive home. The
+      housekeeper listened, fidgeting in her chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8217;Lisha Warren,&#8221; she interrupted, &#8220;how you do
+      talk! Rainin&#8217; so hard you had to hold the reins taut to keep<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> the
+      horse&#8217;s head out of water so he wouldn&#8217;t drown! The idea!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Fact,&#8221; asserted Captain Warren, with a wink at his guest.
+      &#8220;And that wa&#8217;n&#8217;t the worst of it. &#8217;Twas so dark I
+      had to keep feelin&#8217; the buggy with my foot to be sure I was in it.
+      Ain&#8217;t that so, Mr. Graves?... Here! Abbie won&#8217;t like to have
+      you set lookin&#8217; at that empty plate. She&#8217;s always afraid folks&#8217;ll
+      notice the gilt&#8217;s wearin&#8217; off. Pass it over quick, and let me
+      cover it with some more pie.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, and have some more tea,&#8221; urged Miss Abbie. &#8220;You
+      mustn&#8217;t pay attention to what he says, Mr. Graves,&#8221; she went
+      on. &#8220;Some day he&#8217;ll tell the truth by accident, and then I&#8217;ll
+      know it&#8217;s time to send for the doctor.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several times the lawyer attempted to mention the business which had
+      brought him to the Cape, and the probability of his having made a mistake.
+      But neither host nor housekeeper would listen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;When you&#8217;ve been in South Denboro as long as I have,&#8221;
+      declared the former, &#8220;you&#8217;ll understand that the time to talk
+      business is when you can&#8217;t think of anything else. Wait till we get
+      into the settin&#8217; room. Abbie, those six or eight biscuits I&#8217;ve
+      ate are gettin&#8217; lonesome. I&#8217;ll take another for sociability,
+      thank you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, at last, when all the biscuits but one were gone, and the cake plate
+      looked like the Desert of Sahara, the captain pushed back his chair, rose,
+      and led the way into the next room. Miss Baker remained to clear the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Set down by the fire, Mr. Graves,&#8221; urged the captain. &#8220;Nothin&#8217;
+      like burnin&#8217; wood to look hot and comf&#8217;table, is there? It don&#8217;t
+      always make you feel that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19"
+      id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> way&mdash;that&#8217;s why I put in hot
+      water heat&mdash;but for looks and sociableness you can&#8217;t beat a log
+      fire. Smoke, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Occasionally. But, Captain Warren&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Here, try that. It&#8217;s a cigar the Judge gave me over to
+      Ostable. He smokes that kind reg&#8217;lar, but if you don&#8217;t like
+      it, throw it away. He ain&#8217;t here to see you do it, so you won&#8217;t
+      be fined for contempt of court. I&#8217;ll stick to a pipe, if you don&#8217;t
+      mind. Now we&#8217;re shipshape and all taut, I cal&#8217;late. Let&#8217;s
+      see, you wanted to talk business, I believe.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I did. But before I begin I should like to be sure you are the
+      Elisha Warren I came from New York to interview. Is there another of that
+      name in Denboro?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. There&#8217;s Warrens a-plenty all through this section of
+      the Cape. Our family blew ashore here a hundred and fifty years ago, or
+      such matter. My dad&#8217;s name was Elisha; so was my grandfather&#8217;s.
+      Both sea cap&#8217;ns, and both dead. There&#8217;s another Elisha livin&#8217;
+      over on the shore lane.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Indeed. Then perhaps it is he I want.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;P&#8217;raps. He&#8217;s keeper of the town poorhouse. I can tell
+      you better if you give me an idea what your business is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I am an attorney. And now let me ask another question, please. Have
+      you&mdash;had you a brother in business in New York?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey?&#8221; The captain turned and looked his guest squarely in the
+      eye. His brows drew together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ve got a brother in New York,&#8221; he answered, slowly.
+      &#8220;Did <i>he</i> send you here?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Was your brother&#8217;s name A. Rodgers Warren?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;A. Rodgers&#8217;? No. His name is Abijah Warren,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> and&mdash;Wait!
+      His middle name is Rodgers, though. Did &#8217;Bije send you to me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A moment, Captain. Was your brother a broker?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. His office is&mdash;or used to be on Broad Street. What&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You have not heard from him for some time?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not for eighteen years. He and I didn&#8217;t agree as well as we
+      might. Maybe &#8217;twas my fault, maybe &#8217;twas his. I have my own
+      ideas on that. If you&#8217;re lookin&#8217; for &#8217;Bije Warren&#8217;s
+      brother, Mr. Graves, I guess you&#8217;ve come to the right place. But <i>what</i>
+      he sent you to me for, or what he wants&mdash;for he wants somethin&#8217;,
+      or he wouldn&#8217;t have sent&mdash;I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why do you think he wanted something?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Because he&#8217;s &#8217;Bije Warren, and I was brought up with
+      him. When we was young ones together, he went to school and I went to
+      work. He got the frostin&#8217; on the cake, and I got the burnt part next
+      to the pan. He went to college, and I went to sea. He.... However, you
+      mustn&#8217;t think I find fault with him for that. I sp&#8217;iled him as
+      much as anybody, I guess. &#8217;Twas later on that we.... Well, never
+      mind that, either. What is it he wants of me, after eighteen years?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He wants a good deal of you, Captain Warren. Or <i>did</i> want it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did? Don&#8217;t he want it now?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Captain, I&#8217;m surprised that you haven&#8217;t
+      heard. It seems that I am the bearer of bad news. Your brother&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is &#8217;Bije <i>dead</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He died ten days ago very suddenly. In a way it was a great shock
+      to us all, yet we have known that his heart was weak. He realized it, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>&#8220;So
+      &#8217;Bije is dead, hey?&#8221; Captain Elisha&#8217;s face was very
+      grave, and he spoke slowly. &#8220;Dead! Well, well, well!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and looked into the fire. Graves saw again that vague
+      resemblance he had caught on the train, but had forgotten. He knew now why
+      he noticed it. Unlike as the two brothers were, unlike in almost every
+      way, the trace of family likeness was there. This sunburned, retired
+      captain <i>was</i> the New York financier&#8217;s elder brother. And this
+      certainty made Mr. Graves&#8217;s errand more difficult, and the cause of
+      it more inexplicable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha cleared his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, well!&#8221; he sighed. &#8220;So &#8217;Bije has gone. I s&#8217;pose
+      you think it&#8217;s odd, maybe,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;that I ain&#8217;t
+      more struck down by the news. In a way, I am, and, in a way, I&#8217;m
+      mighty sorry, too. But, to speak truth, he and I have been so apart, and
+      have had nothin&#8217; to do with each other for so long that&mdash;that,
+      well, I&#8217;ve come to feel as if I didn&#8217;t have a brother. And I
+      know he felt that way. Yes, and <i>wanted</i> to feel so&mdash;I know
+      that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t say that, if I were you,&#8221; observed the
+      lawyer, gently. &#8220;I think you&#8217;re mistaken there.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I ain&#8217;t mistaken. Why, look here, Mr. Graves! There was a
+      time when I&#8217;d have got down on my knees and crawled from here to New
+      York to help &#8217;Bije Warren. I lent him money to start in business.
+      Later on him and I went into partnership together on a&mdash;a fool South
+      American speculation that didn&#8217;t pan out for nothin&#8217;. I didn&#8217;t
+      care for that. I took my chance same as he did, we formed a stock company
+      all amongst ourselves, and I&#8217;ve got my share of the stock somewhere
+      yet. It may come in handy if I ever want to paper the <span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>barn. But &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      business deals of that kind that parted us, &#8217;twas another matter.
+      Somethin&#8217; that he did to other folks who&#8217;d trusted us and....
+      Humph! this don&#8217;t interest you, of course.... Well, &#8217;Bije was
+      well off, I know. His wife died way back in the nineties. She was one of
+      them fashionable women, and a hayseed salt-herrin&#8217; of a bachelor
+      brother-in-law stuck down here in the sandheaps didn&#8217;t interest her
+      much&mdash;except as somethin&#8217; to forget, I s&#8217;pose. I used to
+      see her name in the Boston papers occasionally, givin&#8217; parties at
+      Newport and one thing a&#8217;nother. I never envied &#8217;em that kind
+      of life. I&#8217;m as well fixed as I want to be. Got some money put by
+      for a rainy spell, comf&#8217;table house and land, best town on earth to
+      live in and work for; I&#8217;m satisfied and always have been. I wouldn&#8217;t
+      change for nothin&#8217;. But I&#8217;m nine year older than &#8217;Bije
+      was&mdash;and yet I&#8217;m left alive. Hum!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Your brother had two children by his marriage,&#8221; said Graves,
+      after a moment of silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? Two children? Why, yes, I remember he did. Boy and girl, wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      they? I never saw em. They&#8217;ve growed up by this time, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, the eldest, Caroline, is nearly twenty. The boy, Stephen, is a
+      year younger. It is concerning those children, Captain Warren, that I have
+      come to you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha turned in his chair. &#8220;Hey?&#8221; he queried. &#8220;The
+      children? You&#8217;ve come to me about &#8217;Bije&#8217;s children?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves nodded. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he answered, solemnly. &#8220;That is
+      what I meant by saying your brother had not forgotten you or wished to
+      forget you. In spite of the estrangement, it is evident that his
+      confidence in your judgment and integrity was supreme. His children<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> were his
+      idols, Captain Warren, and he has left them in your charge.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain&#8217;s pipe fell to the hearth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>What</i>?&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;Left his children to&mdash;to
+      <i>me</i>! Mr. Graves, you&#8217;re&mdash;you&#8217;re out of your head&mdash;or
+      I am!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I&#8217;m perfectly sane. I have a copy of the will here, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was interrupted by Miss Baker, who appeared at the door of the dining
+      room. &#8220;Did you want me, &#8217;Lisha?&#8221; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her employer stared at her in a dazed, uncomprehending way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Want you?&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Want you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes; I heard you holler, and I thought p&#8217;raps you was callin&#8217;
+      me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? No, I don&#8217;t want you, Abbie.... Holler! I shouldn&#8217;t
+      wonder! If all I did was holler, I&#8217;m surprised at myself. No, no!
+      Run along out and shut the door. Yes, shut it.... Now, Mr. Graves, say
+      that over again and say it slow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I say that your brother has left his two children in your care
+      until the youngest shall become of age&mdash;twenty-one. I have a copy of
+      his will here, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wait, wait! let me think. Left his children to me!... to <i>me</i>.
+      Mr. Graves, had &#8217;Bije lost all his money?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. He was not the millionaire that many thought him. Miss Warren
+      and her brother will be obliged to economize somewhat in their manner of
+      living. But, with care <i>and</i> economy, their income should be quite
+      sufficient, without touching the principal, to&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on again; the income, you say. What is that income?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>&#8220;Roughly
+      speaking, a mere estimate, about twenty to twenty-five thousand yearly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha had stooped to pick up the pipe he had dropped. His fingers
+      touched it, but they did not close. Instead he straightened up in his
+      chair as if suffering from an electric shock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Graves,&#8221; he began; &#8220;Mr. Graves, are you cra&mdash;.
+      No, I asked you that before. But&mdash;but twenty <i>thousand</i> a&mdash;a
+      year! For mercy sakes, what&#8217;s the principal?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;In the neighborhood of five hundred thousand, I believe. Of course,
+      we had no authority to investigate thoroughly. That will be a part of your
+      duties, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;S-shh! Let me soak this into my brains a little at a time. &#8217;Bije
+      leaves his children five hundred thousand, half a million, and&mdash;and
+      they&#8217;ve got to <i>economize</i>! And I&#8217;m.... Would you mind
+      readin&#8217; me that will?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The attorney drew a long envelope from his pocket, extracted therefrom a
+      folded document, donned a pair of gold-mounted eyeglasses, and began to
+      read aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The will was short and very concise. &#8220;&#8216;I, Abijah Rodgers
+      Warren, being of sound mind&mdash;&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;re sartin that part&#8217;s true, are you?&#8221; broke
+      in the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves nodded, rather impatiently, and continued. &#8220;&#8216;Of sound
+      mind, memory and understanding, do make, publish and declare this to be my
+      last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;First:&mdash;I direct my executor hereinafter named to pay
+      my just debts and funeral expenses as soon as maybe convenient after my
+      decease.&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did he owe much, think likely?&#8221; asked Captain Elisha.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>&#8220;Apparently
+      not. Very little beyond the usual bills of a household.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes. Grocer and butcher and baker and suchlike. Well, I guess
+      they won&#8217;t have to put in a keeper. Heave ahead.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Second:&mdash;I give, devise and bequeath all my estate,
+      both real and personal, to my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive&mdash;&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain gasped. &#8220;To me?&#8221; he cried, in utter amazement.
+      &#8220;He leaves it to <i>me</i>? &#8217;Bije leaves&mdash;say, Mr.
+      Graves, there&#8217;s some mistake here somewhere, sure! And besides, you
+      said&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just a minute, Captain Warren, if you please. If you&#8217;ll be
+      patient and not interrupt, I&#8217;ll try to make the whole matter plain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, if you can do <i>that</i>, you&#8217;ll have King Solomon and
+      all his wisdom beat a mile, that&#8217;s all I&#8217;ve got to say. Go on.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;To my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive me, <i>in trust</i>,
+      nevertheless, for the following purpose, to wit:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;To invest the same and to use the income thereof for the
+      education and maintenance of my two children, Caroline Edgecombe Warren&mdash;&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Edgecombe? Named for some of his wife&#8217;s folks, I presume
+      likely. Excuse me for puttin&#8217; my oar in again. Go on.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;And Stephen Cole Warren&mdash;&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>That&#8217;s</i> his wife, sartin. She was a Cole. I swan, I beg
+      your pardon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Until the elder, Caroline Edgecombe Warren, shall have
+      reached her twenty-first birthday, when one-half of the principal of said
+      estate, together with one-half of the accumulated interest, shall be given
+      to her, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+      trust continued for the education and maintenance of my son, Stephen Cole
+      Warren, until he shall have reached his twenty-first birthday, when I
+      direct that the remainder be given to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Third:&mdash;I appoint as testamentary guardian of my said
+      children my said brother, Elisha Warren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Fourth:&mdash;I appoint as sole executor of this, my last
+      will and testament, my said brother, Elisha Warren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Fifth:&mdash;Imposing implicit trust and confidence in
+      Elisha Warren, my brother, I direct that he be not required to give bond
+      for the performance of any of the affairs or trusts to which he has been
+      herein appointed.&#8217;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The remainder,&#8221; concluded Graves, refolding the will, &#8220;is
+      purely formal. It is dated May 15th, three years ago. Your brother,
+      Captain Warren, evidently realized, although no one else seems to have
+      done so, the precarious state of his health, and prepared, as every
+      careful person should, for the great emergency.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The attorney removed his eyeglasses and rubbed them with his handkerchief.
+      Captain Elisha sat silent, staring at the fire. After an interval, Graves
+      spoke again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course, Captain,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;my errand is now
+      plain. I come to acquaint you with your brother&#8217;s last wishes and to
+      ascertain whether or not you are willing to accept the trust and
+      responsibility he has laid upon you. As you doubtless know, the state
+      provides a legal rate of reimbursement for such services as yours will&mdash;or
+      may&mdash;be. Ahem!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;May be? You mean I ain&#8217;t got to do this thing unless I want
+      to?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly. You have the right to renounce the various appointments,
+      in which case another executor, trustee, and guardian will be appointed. I
+      realize, and I&#8217;m sure that your brother&#8217;s children will
+      realize, your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+      hesitance in assuming such a responsibility over persons whom you have
+      never even met.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I guess we&#8217;ll all realize it; you needn&#8217;t worry
+      about that. Look here, do the children know I&#8217;m elected?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Of course, the will has been read to them.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! I s&#8217;pose likely they was overcome with joy, wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves bit his lip. Remembering the comments of Miss Caroline and her
+      brother when they learned of their uncle&#8217;s appointment, he had
+      difficulty in repressing a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he replied, slowly, &#8220;of course, one could
+      scarcely expect them to rejoice. They have never seen you. In fact, I
+      doubt if either of them knew their father had a brother, living.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Y-e-e-s. That part don&#8217;t surprise me. But the rest of it
+      does. By the miracles of the prophets! the rest of it does! That &#8217;Bije&mdash;&#8217;Bije&mdash;should
+      leave his children and their money to <i>me</i> to take care of is passin&#8217;
+      human belief, as our old minister used to say&mdash;....Humph! I s&#8217;pose
+      likely, Mr. Graves, you&#8217;d like to have me say yes or no to the thing
+      while you&#8217;re here, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves nodded. &#8220;It would be well to do so,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The
+      settlement of the estate must be taken in hand as soon as possible. The
+      law so directs.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I see that. Well, what would you advise my doin&#8217;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To this direct question the lawyer returned a noncommittal answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid that must be answered by yourself alone, Captain
+      Warren,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Of course, the acceptance of the trust will
+      necessarily involve much trouble and inconvenience,<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> especially to one of your&mdash;er&mdash;settled
+      and&mdash;er&mdash;conservative&mdash;I judge merely from what you have
+      said&mdash;your conservative habits. The estate is large, the investments
+      are, doubtless, many and varied, and the labor of looking into and
+      investigating them may require some technical skill and knowledge of
+      finance. Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm.... Well, I judge that that kind of skill and knowledge could
+      be hired, if a feller felt like payin&#8217; fair wages; hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes, yes. Any good lawyer could attend to that, under the
+      supervision of the executor, certainly. But there are other inconveniences
+      to a&mdash;a&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Country jay like me. I understand. Go ahead.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mean that you would probably be required to spend much, or all,
+      of the next two or three years in New York.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Would, hey? I didn&#8217;t know but bein&#8217; as a guardian has
+      entire charge of the children and their money and all&mdash;I understand
+      that&#8217;s what he does have&mdash;he could direct the children fetched
+      down to where <i>he</i> lived, if he wanted to. Am I wrong?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; the lawyer&#8217;s hesitancy and annoyance was plainly
+      evident. &#8220;No-o. Of course, that <i>might</i> be done. Still, I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You think that wouldn&#8217;t cause no more rejoicin&#8217; than
+      some other things have? Yes, yes; I cal&#8217;late I understand, Mr.
+      Graves. Well, I guess you&#8217;ll have to give me to-night to chew over
+      this. I guess you will. It&#8217;s come on me so sudden, &#8217;Bije&#8217;s
+      death and all, that I want to be by myself and think. I don&#8217;t want
+      to seem unsociable or lackin&#8217; in hospitality. The whole house is
+      yours. Help yourself to it. But when I&#8217;m caught in a clove hitch, I
+      just have to set down and think myself out of it.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> I <i>have</i> to. I was
+      built and launched that way, I guess, and maybe you&#8217;ll excuse me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly, Captain Warren. You&#8217;re quite right in wishing to
+      deliberate on so important a matter. And, if you will excuse me in return,
+      I believe I will go to my room. I&#8217;ve had a rather wearing day.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And a damp evenin&#8217;. Yes, I&#8217;ll excuse and sympathize
+      with you, too. I&#8217;ll see you to your room, and I&#8217;ll hope you&#8217;ll
+      have consider&#8217;ble more sleep than I&#8217;m likely to get. Abbie!...
+      Abbie!... Fetch Mr. Graves&#8217;s lamp, won&#8217;t you, please?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after two the next morning before Captain Elisha rose from his
+      chair by the fire and entered his bed chamber. Yet, when Atwood Graves
+      came down to breakfast, he found his host in the sitting room awaiting
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Afore we tackle Abbie&#8217;s pancakes and fishballs, Mr. Graves,&#8221;
+      said the captain, &#8220;let&#8217;s get the rest of that will business
+      off our minds. Then we can have the pancakes to take the taste out of our
+      mouths, as you might say. And let me ask you one more question. This&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;Caroline
+      and Stephen, they&#8217;re used to livin&#8217; pretty well&mdash;fashionable
+      society, and the like of that, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Their home was on Fifth Avenue, and the family moved in the
+      best circles.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! I should imagine life on twenty-odd thousand a year must be
+      pretty much all circles, one everlastin&#8217; &#8216;turn your partners.&#8217;
+      Well, Mr. Graves, my circles down here are consider&#8217;ble smaller, but
+      they suit me. I&#8217;m worth twenty-odd thousand myself, not in a year,
+      but in a lifetime. I&#8217;m selectman and director in the bank and
+      trustee of the church. When I holler &#8216;Boo,&#8217; the South Denboro
+      folks&mdash;some of them, anyhow&mdash;set up and take notice. I can lead
+      the grand march down in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30"
+      id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> neighborhood once in a while, and I cal&#8217;late
+      I&#8217;m prettier leadin&#8217; it than I would be doin&#8217; a
+      solitaire jig for two years on the outside edge of New York&#8217;s best
+      circles. And I&#8217;m mighty sure I&#8217;m more welcome. Now my eyesight&#8217;s
+      strong enough to see through a two-foot hole after the plug&#8217;s out,
+      and I can see that you and &#8217;Bije&#8217;s children won&#8217;t shed
+      tears if I say no to that will. No offense meant, you know; just common
+      sense, that&#8217;s all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was plain speaking. Mr. Graves colored, though he didn&#8217;t mean
+      to, and for once could not answer offhand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So,&#8221; continued the captain, &#8220;I&#8217;ll ease your and
+      their minds by sayin&#8217; that, the way I feel now, I probably sha&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      accept the trust. I <i>probably</i> sha&#8217;n&#8217;t. But I won&#8217;t
+      say sure I won&#8217;t, because&mdash;well, because &#8217;Bije was my
+      brother; he was that, no matter what our diff&#8217;rences may have been.
+      And I know&mdash;I <i>know</i> that there must be some reason bigger than
+      &#8216;implicit trust&#8217; and the other May-baskets for his appointin&#8217;
+      me in his will. What that reason is I <i>don&#8217;t</i> know&mdash;yet.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then you intend&mdash;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what I intend&mdash;in the end. But for a
+      beginnin&#8217;, I cal&#8217;late to run down to New York some time durin&#8217;
+      the next week, take a cruise &#8217;round, and sort of look things over.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h3>
+    <p style="float: left; font-size: 100%; line-height: 80%; margin-top: 0;">
+      &#8220;
+    </p>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span>t&#8217;s
+      a box of a place, though, isn&#8217;t it,&#8221; declared Mr. Stephen
+      Warren, contemptuously glancing about the library of the apartment.
+      &#8220;A box, by George! I think it&#8217;s a blooming shame that we have
+      to put up with it, Sis.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Warren sprawled in the most comfortable chair in the room, was looking
+      out through the window, across the wind-swept width of Central Park West,
+      over the knolls and valleys of the Park itself, now bare of foliage and
+      sprinkled with patches of snow. There was a discontented look on his face,
+      and his hands were jammed deep in his trousers pockets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His sister, Caroline, sat opposite to him, also looking out at the
+      December landscape. She, too, was discontented and unhappy, though she
+      tried not to show it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you say something,&#8221; snapped Stephen, after a
+      moment of silence. &#8220;<i>Isn&#8217;t</i> it a box of a place? Now
+      come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied the young lady, without looking at her brother.
+      &#8220;Yes, Steve, I suppose it is. But you must remember that we must
+      make the best of it. I always wondered how people could live in
+      apartments. Now I suppose I shall have to find out.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I maintain that we don&#8217;t have to. We aren&#8217;t
+      paupers, even though father wasn&#8217;t so well fixed as everyone
+      thought. With management and care, we could have stayed in the old house,
+      I believe, and kept up appearances,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32"
+      id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> at least. What&#8217;s the use of
+      advertising that we&#8217;re broke?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But, Steve, you know Mr. Graves said&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes, I know. You swallowed every word Graves said, Caro, as if
+      he was the whole book of Proverbs. By George, <i>I</i> don&#8217;t; I&#8217;m
+      from Missouri.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Warren, being in the Sophomore class at Yale, was of the age when one
+      is constitutionally &#8220;from Missouri.&#8221; Probably King Solomon, at
+      sixty, had doubts concerning the scope and depth of his wisdom; at
+      eighteen he would have admitted its all-embracing infallibility without a
+      blush.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I tell you,&#8221; continued Stephen, &#8220;there&#8217;s no sense
+      in it, Sis. You and I know plenty of people whose incomes are no larger
+      than ours. Do they &#8216;economize,&#8217; as Graves is continually
+      preaching? They do not, publicly at least. They may save a bit, here and
+      there, but they do it where it doesn&#8217;t show and nobody knows. Take
+      the Blaisdells, for instance. When the Sodality Bank went up, and old
+      Blaisdell died, everybody said the family was down and out. They must have
+      lost millions. But did <i>they</i> move into &#8216;apartments&#8217; and
+      put up a placard, &#8216;Home of the Dead-Brokes. Walk in and Sympathize?&#8217;
+      I guess they didn&#8217;t! They went into mourning, of course, and that
+      let them out of entertaining and all that, but they stayed where they were
+      and kept up the bluff. That&#8217;s the thing that counts in this world&mdash;keeping
+      up the bluff.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, but everyone knows they are&mdash;bluffing, as you call it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What of it? They don&#8217;t really know, they only suspect. And I
+      met Jim Blaisdell yesterday and he shook my hand, after I had held it in
+      front of his eyes where he couldn&#8217;t help seeing it, and had the
+      nerve to tell me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg
+      33]</a></span> he hoped things weren&#8217;t as bad with us as he had
+      heard.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I never liked the Blaisdells,&#8221; declared Caroline,
+      indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Neither did I. Neither do most people. But Jim is just as much in
+      the swim as he ever was, and he&#8217;s got his governor&#8217;s place on
+      the board of directors at the bank, now that it&#8217;s reorganized, and
+      an office down town, and he&#8217;s hand and glove with Von Blarcom and
+      all the rest. They think he&#8217;s a promising, plucky young man. They&#8217;ll
+      help his bluff through. And are his mother and sister dropped by the
+      people in their set? I haven&#8217;t noticed it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Mrs. Corcoran Dunn told me that everyone was talking about
+      the Blaisdells and wondering how long they could keep it up. And the
+      newspapers have been printing all sorts of things, and hinting that young
+      Mr. Blaisdell&#8217;s appointment as director, after his father wrecked
+      the bank, was a scandal. At least, we haven&#8217;t <i>that</i> to bear up
+      under. Father was honest, if he wasn&#8217;t rich.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who cares for the newspapers? They&#8217;re all run by demagogues
+      hunting sensations. What makes me feel the worst about all this is that
+      Stock Exchange seat of father&#8217;s. If I were only of age, so that I
+      could go down there on the floor, I tell you it wouldn&#8217;t be long
+      before you and I were back where we belong, Sis. But, no, I&#8217;m a kid,
+      so Graves thinks, in charge of a guardian&mdash;a <i>guardian</i>, by gad!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He snorted, in manly indignation. Caroline, her pretty face troubled, rose
+      and walked slowly across the room. It was a large room, in spite of the
+      fact that it was one of a suite in an apartment hotel, and furnished
+      richly. A. Rodgers Warren spent his money with taste,<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> and spent it freely while
+      he lived. The furniture, the paintings, and bric-a-brac were of the very
+      best, chosen with care, here and abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, dear!&#8221; sighed the girl. &#8220;I do hope Mr. Graves will
+      be well enough to call to-day. He expected to. Except for the telephone
+      message telling us that that <i>man</i> at Denboro&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Our dear Uncle Elisha,&#8221; put in Stephen, with sarcasm. &#8220;Uncle
+      &#8216;&#8217;Lish!&#8217; Heavens! what a name!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hush! He can&#8217;t help his name. And father&#8217;s was worse
+      yet&mdash;Abijah! Think of it!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to think of it. Neither did the governor; that&#8217;s
+      why he dropped it, I suppose. Just what did Graves say? Give me his exact
+      words.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;His partner, Mr. Kuhn, telephoned. He said that Mr. Graves had a
+      bad cold, having been wet through in a dreadful storm down there in the
+      country. The doctor forbade his leaving the house for a day or two, but he
+      would call on Tuesday&mdash;to-day&mdash;if he was sufficiently recovered.
+      And Mr. Kuhn said that everything was satisfactory. This Captain Warren&mdash;a
+      ship captain, I suppose he is&mdash;would, in all probability, refuse to
+      accept the guardianship and the rest of it&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Refuse? I should think so. I&#8217;m just as certain father was
+      insane when he made that will as I am that I&#8217;m alive. If I thought
+      he wasn&#8217;t, I&#8217;d never forgive him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hush, Steve. You promised me you wouldn&#8217;t speak in that way.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, all right, I won&#8217;t. But, Caro, he <i>must</i> have been
+      insane. If he wasn&#8217;t, do you suppose he would have put us and the
+      estate in the care of a Down-East jay? It&#8217;s inconceivable! It&#8217;s
+      ridiculous! Think of it. Suppose this uncle of ours had accepted. Suppose
+      he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+      had come to town here and any of our friends had met him. &#8216;This is
+      our guardian, Captain Warren, of Punkin Centre.&#8217; &#8216;Please to
+      meet ye,&#8217; says Uncle &#8217;Lish. &#8216;How&#8217;s taters?&#8217;
+      Horrors! Say, Caro, you haven&#8217;t told anyone, Malcolm or his mother,
+      or anyone, have you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course not, Steve. You know I wouldn&#8217;t.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, don&#8217;t. They needn&#8217;t know it, now or at any other
+      time. Graves will probably get himself appointed, and he&#8217;s
+      respectable if he is an old fogy. We&#8217;ll worry along till I&#8217;m
+      twenty-one, and then&mdash;well, then I&#8217;ll handle our business
+      myself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Evidently there was no question in his mind as to his ability to handle
+      this or any business, no matter how involved. He rose from his chair and
+      yawned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s deadly dull,&#8221; he complained. &#8220;You don&#8217;t
+      need me, do you, Caro? I believe I&#8217;ll go out for a while. That is,
+      unless you really care.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His sister hesitated before replying. When she spoke, there was
+      disappointment in her tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, Steve,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I did hope you might be here
+      when Mr. Graves came. He will wish to speak of important matters, and it
+      seems to me that both of us should hear what he has to say.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Young Warren, who had started for the door, stopped and kicked impatiently
+      at the corners of the rug.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, <i>well</i>!&#8221; he observed, &#8220;if you want me of
+      course I&#8217;ll stay. But why doesn&#8217;t old Graves come, if he is
+      coming. Maybe he&#8217;s under the weather yet,&#8221; he added,
+      hopefully. &#8220;Perhaps he isn&#8217;t coming at all to-day. I believe I&#8217;ll
+      call up Kuhn on the &#8217;phone and find out.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was on his way to the telephone when the doorbell buzzed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Gad! there he is now,&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Now I suppose<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> I&#8217;ll
+      have to stay. We&#8217;ll hear about dear Uncle &#8217;Lish, won&#8217;t
+      we? Oh, joy!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the staid butler, when he entered the library, did not announce the
+      lawyer&#8217;s name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and Mr. Malcolm,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Will you
+      see them, Miss Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young lady&#8217;s face lit up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly, Edwards,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Show them&mdash;Oh,
+      Mrs. Dunn, I&#8217;m so glad to see you! It was <i>ever</i> so good of you
+      to come. And Malcolm.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn was tall and, in South Denboro, would have been
+      called &#8220;fleshy,&#8221; in spite of her own and the dressmaker&#8217;s
+      efforts to conceal the fact. She was elaborately gowned and furred, and
+      something about her creaked when she walked. She rushed into the room, at
+      the butler&#8217;s heels, and, greeting Caroline with outstretched hands,
+      kissed her effusively on the cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My dear child,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;how could I stay away? We
+      have spoken of you and Stephen <i>so</i> often this morning. We know how
+      lonely you must be, and Malcolm and I decided we <i>must</i> run in on you
+      after lunch. Didn&#8217;t we, Malcolm?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, her son, was a blond young man, with a rather
+      indolent manner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure, Mater!&#8221; he said, calmly. &#8220;How d&#8217;ye do,
+      Caroline? &#8217;Lo, Steve!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The quartette shook hands. Mrs. Dunn sank creakingly into a chair and
+      gazed about the room. Malcolm strolled to the window and looked out.
+      Stephen followed and stood beside him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Dunn, addressing Caroline, &#8220;how are
+      you getting on? How are your nerves? Is all the dreadful &#8216;settling&#8217;
+      over?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Very nearly, thank goodness.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>&#8220;That&#8217;s
+      a mercy. I should certainly have been here yesterday to help you in
+      superintending and arranging and so on, but I was suffering from one of my
+      &#8216;hearts,&#8217; and you know what <i>they</i> are.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Everyone who knew Mrs. Corcoran Dunn was acquainted with her &#8220;hearts.&#8221;
+      The attacks came, so she was accustomed to explain, from an impaired
+      valve, and &#8220;some day&#8221;&mdash;she usually completed the sentence
+      with upturned eyes and a resigned upward wave of the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her son turned from the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I say, Mother,&#8221; he explained, wearily, &#8220;I do wish you
+      wouldn&#8217;t speak of your vital organs in the plural. Anyone would
+      imagine you were a sort of freak, like the two-headed boy at the circus.
+      It&#8217;s positively distressing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen laughed. He admired young Dunn immensely. Mrs. Dunn sighed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t, Malcolm, dear,&#8221; she pleaded. &#8220;You sound so
+      unfeeling. One not acquainted with your real kindness of heart&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, drop it,&#8221; interrupted Malcolm. &#8220;Let&#8217;s omit
+      the heart interest. This isn&#8217;t a clinic. I say, Steve, how do you
+      like the new flat? It is a flat, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen turned red. His sister colored and bit her lip. Mrs. Dunn hastened
+      to the rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Horrors!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Malcolm, you really are
+      insufferable. Flat! Caroline, dear, you mustn&#8217;t mind him. He will
+      have his joke. Malcolm, apologize.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The command was sharp, and her son obeyed it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Beg your pardon, Steve,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Yours, too,
+      Caroline. I was only joking. There&#8217;s a little beast of a bookkeeper
+      down at the office who is forever talking of his &#8216;nice flat in the
+      Bronx.&#8217; It&#8217;s a standing guy, you know. So far as I can see,
+      these are pretty snug<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg
+      38]</a></span> quarters. And attractively arranged, too. Your taste,
+      Caroline, I&#8217;m betting.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Warren, slightly mollified, bowed assent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I thought so,&#8221; continued Malcolm. &#8220;No one but you would
+      have known exactly the right spot for everything. Show us through, won&#8217;t
+      you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mrs. Dunn had other plans.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not now, Malcolm,&#8221; she put in. &#8220;Caroline is tired out,
+      I&#8217;m sure. A little fresh air will do her good. I was going to
+      suggest that you and she and Stephen go for a short ride. Yes, really you
+      must, my dear,&#8221; she added, turning to the girl beside her. &#8220;Our
+      car is at the door, it&#8217;s not at all a bad afternoon, and the outing
+      will be just what you need.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Mrs. Dunn,&#8221; said Caroline, gratefully. &#8220;I
+      should like to. Indeed, I should. But we have been expecting a business
+      call from Mr. Graves, father&#8217;s lawyer, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, come on, Sis!&#8221; interrupted Stephen. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+      dying to get out of this jail. Let old Graves wait, if he comes. We won&#8217;t
+      be long; and, besides, it&#8217;s not certain that he is coming to-day.
+      Come on!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I ought not, Steve. Mr. Graves may come, and&mdash;and
+      it seems too bad to trouble our friends&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s not trouble, it&#8217;s pleasure,&#8221; urged Mrs.
+      Dunn. &#8220;Malcolm will be delighted. It was his idea. Wasn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+      turning to her son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes! certainly,&#8221; replied the young gentleman. &#8220;Hope
+      you&#8217;ll come, Caroline. And you, of course, Steve. The blessed
+      machine&#8217;s been off its feed for a week or more, but Peter says he
+      thinks it&#8217;s all right again. We&#8217;ll give it a try-out on the
+      Drive. Hope we have better luck than my last,&#8221; with a laugh. &#8220;They<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> nabbed
+      us for speeding, and I had to promise to be a good boy or to be fined.
+      Said we were hitting it at fifty an hour. We <i>were</i> going some, that&#8217;s
+      a fact. Ha! ha!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But he won&#8217;t be reckless when you&#8217;re with him,
+      Caroline,&#8221; put in his mother. &#8220;You will go? That&#8217;s so
+      nice! As for Mr. Graves, I&#8217;ll explain if he comes. Oh, no! <i>I&#8217;m</i>
+      not going! I shall remain here in this comfortable chair and rest until
+      you return. It&#8217;s exactly what my physician orders, and for once I&#8217;m
+      going to obey him. My heart, you know, my poor heart&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She waved her hand and raised her eyes. Miss Warren expostulated, but to
+      no purpose. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn would <i>not</i> go, but the others must.
+      So, at last, they did. When Caroline and her brother had gone for their
+      wraps, Mrs. Dunn laid a hand on her son&#8217;s arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now mind,&#8221; she whispered, &#8220;see if you can find out
+      anything during the ride. Something more explicit about the size of their
+      estate and who the guardian is to be. There are all sorts of stories, you
+      know, and we <i>must</i> learn the truth very soon. Don&#8217;t appear
+      curious, but merely friendly. You understand?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure, Mater,&#8221; was the careless answer. &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+      pump.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two departed, leaving their lady visitor ensconced in the comfortable
+      chair. She remained in it for perhaps five minutes. Then she rose and
+      sauntered about the room. She drifted into the drawing-room, returning a
+      moment later and sauntering casually toward the open desk by the
+      fireplace. There were papers and letters scattered about this desk, and
+      these she turned over, glancing toward the door to be sure no one was
+      coming. The letters were, for the most part, messages of sympathy from
+      friends of the Warren family. Hearing an approaching step, she hastily
+      returned to the chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+      Edwards, the butler, entered the library and replenished the fire. Mrs.
+      Dunn languidly accosted him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ah&mdash;er&mdash;Edwards,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you are&mdash;er&mdash;growing
+      familiar with your new home?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; replied Edwards, politely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It must seem&mdash;er&mdash;small compared to the other.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Smaller; yes, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But very snug and comfortable.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma &#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is fortunate that Miss Warren and her brother have the aid of
+      such a&mdash;an old servant of the family.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is Miss Caroline managing her own affairs?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Apparently so. Yes, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume, however, a guardian has been appointed? With an estate
+      such as the late Mr. Warren <i>must</i> have left, some responsible person
+      would be, of course, necessary.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused. Edwards, having arranged the logs to his liking, brushed the
+      dust from his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am, I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;Neither Miss Caroline nor Mr. Stephen have spoken with me
+      concerning the family affairs.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Corcoran Dunn straightened, with hauteur.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think that was the doorbell,&#8221; she remarked, a trifle
+      sharply. &#8220;If it should be Mr. Graves, the attorney, you may show him
+      into the library here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said Edwards once more, and departed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady visitor heard voices in the passage. She listened, but could hear
+      nothing understandable. Evidently the butler was having an argument with
+      someone. It could not be Graves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Edwards reappeared, looking troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s a&mdash;a gentleman to see Miss Caroline,&#8221; he
+      said. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>&#8220;He
+      won&#8217;t give his name, ma&#8217;am, but says she&#8217;s expecting
+      him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Expecting him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am. I told him she was out, but he said he was
+      intending to stay a while anyway, and would wait. I asked his business,
+      but he wouldn&#8217;t tell it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s odd.&#8221; Mrs. Dunn was slightly interested. &#8220;A
+      tradesman, perhaps; or an agent of the landlord.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No-o, ma&#8217;am. I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s either of them,
+      ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What sort of a person is he, Edwards?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The butler&#8217;s face twitched for an instant with a troubled smile.
+      Then it resumed its customary respectful calm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I hardly know, ma&#8217;am. He&#8217;s an oddish man. He&mdash;I
+      think he&#8217;s from the country.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From behind him came a quiet chuckle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;re right, Commodore,&#8221; said a man&#8217;s voice;
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m from the country. You guessed it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Edwards jumped, startled out of his respectable wits. Mrs. Dunn rose
+      indignantly from her chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I beg your pardon, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said the intruder, appearing
+      in the doorway. &#8220;You mustn&#8217;t think I&#8217;m forcin&#8217; my
+      way where I ain&#8217;t wanted. But it seemed to take so long to make the
+      Admiral here understand that I was goin&#8217; to wait until Caroline came
+      back that I thought I&#8217;d save time and breath by provin&#8217; it to
+      him. I didn&#8217;t know there was any company. Excuse me, ma&#8217;am, I
+      won&#8217;t bother you. I&#8217;ll just come to anchor out here in the
+      entry. Don&#8217;t mind me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He bowed politely, picked up the large suit-case, plainly bran-new, which
+      he had momentarily placed on the rug at his feet, and, with it in one hand
+      and a big soft felt hat in the other, stepped back into the hall out of
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>sight.
+      The astonished Mrs. Dunn and the paralyzed Edwards heard a chair crack as
+      if a heavy weight had descended upon it. Evidently he had &#8220;come to
+      anchor.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady was the first to recover the power of speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why!&#8221; she exclaimed, in an alarmed whisper. &#8220;Why! I
+      never heard of such brazen impertinence in my life. He must be insane. He
+      is a lunatic, isn&#8217;t he, Edwards?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The butler shook his head. &#8220;I&mdash;I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am,&#8221;
+      he stammered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I believe he is.&#8221; Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s presence of mind was
+      returning, and with it her courage. Her florid cheeks flamed a more vivid
+      red, and her eyes snapped. &#8220;But whether he is or not, he sha&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      bulldoze me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She strode majestically to the door. The visitor was seated in the hall,
+      calmly reading a newspaper. Hat and suit-case were on the floor beside
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What do you mean by this?&#8221; demanded the lady. &#8220;Who are
+      you? If you have any business here, state it at once.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man glanced at her, over his spectacles, rose and stood looking down
+      at her. His expression was pleasant, and he was remarkably cool.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he said, gravely. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be
+      glad to tell you who I am, if you&#8217;d like to have me. I&#8217;d have
+      done it before, but I thought there weren&#8217;t any use troublin&#8217;
+      you with my affairs. But, just a minute&mdash;&#8221; he hesitated&mdash;&#8220;I
+      haven&#8217;t made any mistake, have I? I understood your steward&mdash;the
+      feller with the brass buttons, to say that Abijah Warren&#8217;s children
+      lived here. That&#8217;s so, ain&#8217;t it? If not, then I <i>am</i>
+      mistaken.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn regarded him with indignation. &#8220;You are,&#8221; she said
+      coldly. &#8220;The family of the late<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Mr. Rodgers Warren lives
+      here. I presume the slight resemblance in names misled you. Edwards, show
+      the gentleman out.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just one moment more, ma&#8217;am. It was Rodgers Warren&#8217;s
+      children I was lookin&#8217; for. A. Rodgers Warren he called himself,
+      didn&#8217;t he? Yes. Well, the A stood for Abijah; that was his Christian
+      name. And he left two children, Caroline and Stephen? Good! I thought for
+      a jiffy I&#8217;d blundered in where I had no business, but it&#8217;s all
+      right. You see, ma&#8217;am, I&#8217;m their uncle from South Denboro,
+      Massachusetts. My name is Elisha Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn gasped. Edwards, peering over her shoulder, breathed heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You are&mdash;their <i>uncle</i>?&#8221; repeated the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am. I&#8217;m &#8217;Bije&#8217;s brother. Oh, don&#8217;t
+      worry. It&#8217;s all right. And don&#8217;t fret yourself about me,
+      either. I&#8217;ll set right down out here and read my paper and wait till
+      Caroline or Stephen get home. They&#8217;re expectin&#8217; me. Mr.
+      Graves, the lawyer, told &#8217;em I was comin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He calmly seated himself and adjusted his spectacles. Mrs. Dunn stared at
+      him, then at Edwards. After an instant&#8217;s indecision, she stepped
+      back into the library and walked to the window. She beckoned, with an
+      agitated finger, to the butler, who joined her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Edwards,&#8221; she whispered, &#8220;did you hear what he said?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; replied Edwards, wide-eyed and wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is it true?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did Mr. Warren have a brother?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that he had, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>&#8220;Do
+      you&mdash;do you think it likely that he would have a brother like&mdash;like
+      <i>that</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Was Miss Caroline expecting him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am. She&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, you don&#8217;t know anything! You&#8217;re impossible. Go
+      away!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said Edwards thankfully; and went. Mrs.
+      Corcoran Dunn stood for some minutes by the window, thinking, or trying to
+      think a way to the truth in this astounding development. Of course the man
+      <i>might</i> be a lunatic who had gained his information concerning the
+      Warren family from the papers; but he did not look like a lunatic. On the
+      other hand, he certainly did not look as one would have expected a brother
+      of Rodgers Warren&#8217;s to look. Oddest of all, if he was such a
+      brother, why had neither Caroline or Stephen mentioned his existence?
+      According to his story, Graves, the Warren lawyer, had warned the children
+      of his coming. Caroline had been very reticent concerning her father&#8217;s
+      will, the amount of his estate, and the like. And Mrs. Dunn had
+      repeatedly, though discreetly, endeavored to find out these important
+      details. Neither hints nor questions had resulted satisfactorily. Was it
+      possible that this was the reason, this country uncle? If so&mdash;well,
+      if so, here was a Heaven-sent opportunity for a little genteel and
+      perfectly safe detective work. Mrs. Dunn creakingly crossed the room and
+      spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Warren,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I feel guilty in keeping you
+      out there. Won&#8217;t you come into the library?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, thank you, ma&#8217;am, I&#8217;m all right. Don&#8217;t you
+      trouble about me. Go right on with your readin&#8217; or sewin&#8217; or
+      knittin&#8217; or whatever you was doin&#8217; and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>&#8220;I
+      was not reading,&#8221; replied Mrs. Dunn, with a slight shudder. &#8220;Come
+      in, please. I wish you to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha folded his paper and put it in his pocket. Entering the
+      library, he stood quietly waiting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Won&#8217;t you sit down?&#8221; asked his impromptu hostess,
+      trying hard to be gracious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said the captain. He sank into an armchair and
+      looked curiously about him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So you are the late Mr. Warren&#8217;s brother?&#8221; asked the
+      lady, making her first lead in the game.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am. His older brother. &#8217;Bije was ten year
+      younger&#8217;n I am, Mrs.&mdash;er&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dunn. I am an old friend of the family.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s good. I&#8217;m glad to hear they&#8217;ve got
+      friends. When you&#8217;re in sickness or trouble or sorrer, friendship
+      counts for consider&#8217;ble. How are the young folks&mdash;Caroline and
+      Stephen&mdash;pretty smart, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>Smart</i>? Why, they are intelligent, naturally. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no. I mean are they pretty well?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Very well, indeed, considering the shock of their recent
+      bereavement.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes. Of course. And they&#8217;ve moved, too. Movin&#8217;s an
+      awful job. They say three movin&#8217;s are as bad as a fire, but I cal&#8217;late
+      I&#8217;d rather burn up a set of carpets than <i>pull</i> &#8217;em up,
+      &#8217;specially if they was insured. &#8217;Tain&#8217;t half so much
+      strain on your religion. I remember the last time we took up our carpets
+      at home, Abbie&mdash;she&#8217;s my second cousin, keepin&#8217; house for
+      me&mdash;said if gettin&#8217; down on my knees has that effect on me she&#8217;d
+      never ask me to go to prayer-meetin&#8217; again. Ho! ho!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He chuckled. Mrs. Dunn elevated her nose and looked out of the window.
+      Then she led another small trump.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>&#8220;You
+      say that Miss Caroline and her brother expect you,&#8221; she said.
+      &#8220;You surprise me. Are you sure?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes, ma&#8217;am. I&#8217;m sure. When Mr. Graves came down to
+      see me, last week &#8217;twas, I told him to say I&#8217;d be up pretty
+      soon to look the ground over. This is a pretty fine place the young folks
+      have got here,&#8221; he added, gazing admiringly at the paintings and
+      bookcases.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; assented the lady, condescendingly. &#8220;For an
+      apartment it is really quite livable.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Livable!&#8221; Captain Elisha&#8217;s astonishment got the better
+      of his politeness for the moment. &#8220;Um! Yes, I should say a body <i>might</i>
+      manage to worry along in it. Was the place where they used to live any
+      finer than this?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You don&#8217;t tell me! No wonder they talked about economi&mdash;Humph!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What were you about to say, Mr. Warren?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, nothin&#8217;, nothin&#8217;! Talkin&#8217; to myself is a
+      habit I&#8217;ve got. Abbie&mdash;my second cousin; I guess I told you
+      about her&mdash;says it&#8217;s a sure sign that a person&#8217;s rich or
+      out of his head, one or t&#8217;other. I ain&#8217;t rich, so&mdash;&#8221;
+      He chuckled once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Graves came to see you at your home, did he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am. At South Denboro. And he certainly did have a
+      rough passage. Ho! ho! Probably you heard about it, bein&#8217; so
+      friendly with the family.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ahem! Doubtless he would have mentioned it, but he has been ill.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sho! I&#8217;m sorry to hear that. I was afraid he&#8217;d catch
+      cold.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I hope Mr. Graves&#8217;s errand was successful?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, sort of so-so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>&#8220;Yes.
+      He came to see you in connection with your brother&#8217;s estate&mdash;some
+      legacy, perhaps?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not look at the captain when she asked this question. Therefore,
+      she did not notice the glance which he gave her. When he answered, it was
+      in the same deliberate, provokingly deliberate, manner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Somethin&#8217; of that kind, Mrs. Dunn. I can&#8217;t help
+      thinkin&#8217;,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;how nice it is that Caroline and
+      Steve have such a good friend as you to help &#8217;em. Your husband and
+      &#8217;Bije was chums, I s&#8217;pose?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, not exactly. The friendship was on my side of the family.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So? Want to know! Your husband dead, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn changed the subject. Her husband, Mr. Corcoran Dunn&mdash;once
+      Mike Dunn, contractor and Tammany politician&mdash;was buried in Calvary
+      Cemetery. She mourned him, after a fashion, but she preferred not to talk
+      about him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; she answered shortly. &#8220;It&mdash;it looks as if it
+      might snow, doesn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t wonder. Have you any children, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;One&mdash;a son.&#8221; The widow&#8217;s tone was frigid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So? He must be a comfort to you. I s&#8217;pose likely he&#8217;s a
+      friend of my nephew and niece, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s good. Young folks ought to have young friends. You
+      live in this neighborhood, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady did not answer. She gazed haughtily at the trees in the Park.
+      Captain Elisha rubbed a smile from his lips with his hand and remained
+      silent. The tall clock ticked loud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There came the sound of laughter from the passage<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> outside. The hall door
+      opened. A moment later, Caroline, followed by her brother and young Dunn,
+      entered the library.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl&#8217;s cheeks were rosy from the cold wind. Her hair, beneath
+      the fur auto cap, had blown in brown, rippled disorder across her
+      forehead. She was smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, Mrs. Dunn!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;I&#8217;m so glad I
+      accepted your&mdash;Malcolm&#8217;s&mdash;invitation. We had a glorious
+      ride! I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She stopped short. Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was facing
+      her. Mrs. Dunn also rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline,&#8221; she said, nervously, &#8220;this&#8221;&mdash;pausing
+      on the word&mdash;&#8220;gentleman is here to see you. He says he is&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain interrupted her. Stepping forward he seized his niece&#8217;s
+      hands in his. &#8220;Well, well!&#8221; he exclaimed admiringly. &#8220;&#8217;Bije&#8217;s
+      girl, that I ain&#8217;t seen since you was a little mite of a baby!
+      Caroline, I&#8217;m your Uncle Elisha.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good <i>Lord</i>!&#8221; groaned Stephen Warren.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span>f
+      the captain heard Stephen&#8217;s fervent ejaculation, he paid no
+      attention to it. Dropping his niece&#8217;s hand, he extended his own
+      toward his nephew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And this is Stephen?&#8221; he said. &#8220;Well, Steve, you and me
+      have never met afore, I b&#8217;lieve. But that&#8217;s our misfortune,
+      not our fault, hey? How are you? Pretty smart?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy&#8217;s face was flaming. He mumbled something to the effect that
+      he was all right enough, and turned away without accepting the proffered
+      hand. Captain Elisha glanced quickly at him, then at his sister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Caroline,&#8221; he said, pleasantly, &#8220;I s&#8217;pose
+      you&#8217;ve been expectin&#8217; me. Mr. Graves told you I was comin&#8217;,
+      didn&#8217;t he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Warren, also, was flushed with embarrassment and mortified surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; she stammered. &#8220;He has been ill.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sho! you don&#8217;t say! Mrs. Dunn&mdash;your friend here&mdash;said
+      he was laid up with a cold, but I didn&#8217;t realize &#8217;twas as bad
+      as that. So you didn&#8217;t know I was comin&#8217; at all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. We&mdash;we have not heard from you since he returned.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s too bad. I hope I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t put you out any,
+      droppin&#8217; in on you this way. You mustn&#8217;t treat me as comp&#8217;ny,
+      you know. If &#8217;tain&#8217;t convenient, if your spare room ain&#8217;t
+      ready so soon after movin&#8217;, or anything of<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> that kind, I can go to a
+      hotel somewheres for a day or so. Hadn&#8217;t I better, don&#8217;t you
+      think?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline hesitated. If only they might have been spared this public
+      humiliation. If the Dunns had not been there. It was bad enough to have
+      this dreadful country uncle come at all; but to have him come now, before
+      they were prepared, before any explanations had been made! What should she
+      do?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her brother, fidgeting at her elbow, not daring to look at Malcolm Dunn,
+      who, he knew, was thoroughly enjoying the scene, could stand it no longer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caro,&#8221; he snapped, &#8220;what are you waiting for? Don&#8217;t
+      you <i>know</i> that the rooms are not ready? Of course they&#8217;re not!
+      We&#8217;re sorry, and all that, but Graves didn&#8217;t tell us and we
+      weren&#8217;t prepared. Certainly he&#8217;ll have to go to the hotel, for&mdash;for
+      the present.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ventured to raise his eyes and glare indignantly at the captain.
+      Finding the latter looking intently at him, he dropped them again and
+      jammed his clenched fists into his pockets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha pulled thoughtfully at his beard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; he grunted. &#8220;Humph! then I cal&#8217;late maybe&mdash;&#8221;
+      He took a step toward the door, stopped, turned back, and said, with calm
+      decision, &#8220;I guess I&#8217;d better stay. You won&#8217;t mind me,
+      Caroline&mdash;you and Stephen. You <i>mustn&#8217;t</i>. As I said, I ain&#8217;t
+      comp&#8217;ny. I&#8217;m one of the family, your pa&#8217;s brother, and I&#8217;ve
+      come some consider&#8217;ble ways to see you two young folks and talk with
+      you. I&#8217;ve come because your pa asked me to. I&#8217;m used to
+      roughin&#8217; it, been to sea a good many v&#8217;yages, and if a feather
+      bed ain&#8217;t handy I can get my forty winks on the floor. So that&#8217;s
+      settled, and you mustn&#8217;t have me on your conscience. That&#8217;s
+      sense, ain&#8217;t it, Mrs. Dunn?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>Mrs.
+      Corcoran Dunn did not deign a reply. Caroline answered for her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Very well,&#8221; she said, coldly. Stepping to the desk she rang a
+      bell. The butler appeared in the doorway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Edwards,&#8221; said Miss Warren, &#8220;this gentleman,&#8221;
+      indicating the captain, &#8220;is to be our guest, for the present. You
+      may show him to his room&mdash;the blue room, I think. If it is not ready,
+      see that it is made so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Miss Caroline,&#8221; replied Edwards. Retiring to the hall,
+      he returned with the suit-case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Will you wish to go to your room at once, sir?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, I guess I might as well, Commodore,&#8221; answered Captain
+      Elisha, smiling. &#8220;Little soap and water won&#8217;t do no harm. Fact
+      is, I feel&#8217;s if &#8217;twas a prescription to be recommended. You
+      needn&#8217;t tote that valise, though,&#8221; he added. &#8220;&#8217;Tain&#8217;t
+      heavy, and I&#8217;ve lugged it so fur already sence I got off the car
+      that I feel kind of lonesome without it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The butler, not knowing exactly how to answer, grinned sheepishly. Captain
+      Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn and her son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, good afternoon, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+      real glad to have made your acquaintance. Yours, too, sir,&#8221; with a
+      nod toward Malcolm. &#8220;Your mother told me what a friend of the young
+      folks you was, and, as I&#8217;m sort of actin&#8217; pilot for &#8217;em
+      just now, in a way of speakin&#8217;, any friend of theirs ought to be a
+      friend of mine. Hope to see you often, Mr. Dunn.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man addressed smiled, with amusement not at all concealed, and
+      languidly admitted that he was &#8220;charmed.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Your first visit to the city?&#8221; he inquired, in a tone which
+      caused Stephen to writhe inwardly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>&#8220;No-o.
+      No, not exactly. I used to come here pretty frequent, back in my sea-goin&#8217;
+      days, when my ship was in port. I sailed for Osgood and Colton, down on
+      South Street, for a spell. They were my owners. You don&#8217;t remember
+      the firm, I s&#8217;pose?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. The privilege has been denied me. You find some changes in New
+      York, don&#8217;t you&mdash;er&mdash;Captain? You are a captain, or a bos&#8217;n,
+      or admiral&mdash;something of that sort, I presume?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Malcolm!&#8221; said his mother, sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, no offense intended. My sea terms are rather mixed. The captain
+      will excuse me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sartin! Cap&#8217;n&#8217;s what they all call me, mostly. Your son
+      ain&#8217;t ever been to sea, except as passenger, I cal&#8217;late, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly not,&#8221; snapped Mrs. Dunn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course, of course. Well, &#8217;tain&#8217;t a life I&#8217;d
+      want a boy of mine to take up, nowadays. But it did have some advantages.
+      I don&#8217;t know anything better than a v&#8217;yage afore the mast to
+      learn a young feller what&#8217;s healthy for him to unlearn. Good day, ma&#8217;am.
+      Good day, Mr. Dunn. I mustn&#8217;t keep the Commodore waitin&#8217; here
+      with that valise. I&#8217;ll be out pretty soon, Caroline; just as soon as
+      I&#8217;ve got the upper layer of railroad dust off my face and hands. You&#8217;ll
+      be surprised to see how light-complected I really am when that&#8217;s
+      over. All right! Heave ahead, Commodore!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed, preceded by Edwards and the suit-case. Stephen Warren threw
+      himself violently into a chair by the window. Young Dunn laughed aloud.
+      His mother flashed an indignant glance at him, and then hurried to
+      Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You poor dear!&#8221; she exclaimed, putting an arm about the girl&#8217;s
+      shoulder. &#8220;Don&#8217;t mind us, please don&#8217;t!<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> Malcolm
+      and I understand. That is, we know how you feel and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, but you <i>don&#8217;t</i> know, Mrs. Dunn,&#8221; cried
+      Caroline, almost in tears. &#8220;You don&#8217;t understand! It&#8217;s
+      so much worse than you think. I&mdash;I&mdash;Oh, why did father do it?
+      How could he be so inconsiderate?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there!&#8221; purred the friend of the family. &#8220;You
+      mustn&#8217;t, you know. You really mustn&#8217;t. Who is this man? This
+      uncle? Where does he come from? Why does he force himself upon you in this
+      way? I didn&#8217;t know your poor father had a brother.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Neither did we,&#8221; growled Stephen, savagely. Malcolm laughed
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What does it all mean, dear?&#8221; begged Mrs. Dunn. &#8220;You
+      are in trouble, I&#8217;m sure. Don&#8217;t you think we&mdash;Malcolm and
+      I&mdash;might be able to help you? We should so love to do it. If you feel
+      that you <i>can</i> confide in us; if it isn&#8217;t a secret&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused expectantly, patting the girl&#8217;s shoulder. But Caroline
+      had heard young Dunn&#8217;s laugh, and was offended and hurt. Her eyes
+      flashed as she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s nothing,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He has come to see us
+      on a matter of business, I believe. I am nervous and&mdash;foolish, I
+      suppose. Mr. Graves will see us soon, and then everything will be
+      arranged. Thank you for calling, Mrs. Dunn, and for the ride.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a very plain hint, but Mrs. Dunn did not choose to understand it as
+      such.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;re sure you hadn&#8217;t better tell me the whole story,
+      dear?&#8221; she urged. &#8220;I am old enough, almost, to be your mother,
+      and perhaps my advice might.... No? Very well. You know best but&mdash;You
+      understand that it is something other than mere curiosity which leads me
+      to ask.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>&#8220;Of
+      course, I understand,&#8221; said the girl hastily. &#8220;Thank you very
+      much. Perhaps, by and by, I can tell you everything. But we must see Mr.
+      Graves first. I&mdash;oh, <i>don&#8217;t</i> ask me more now, Mrs. Dunn.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The widow of so astute a politician as Mike Dunn had been in his day could
+      have scarcely failed to profit by his teachings. Moreover, she possessed
+      talent of her own. With a final pat and a kiss, she prepared for
+      departure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good-by, then,&#8221; she said, &#8220;or rather, <i>au revoir</i>.
+      We shall look in to-morrow. Come, Malcolm.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I say, Mal!&#8221; cried Stephen, rising hurriedly. &#8220;You won&#8217;t
+      tell anyone about&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve!&#8221; interrupted his sister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm, about to utter a languid sarcasm, caught his mother&#8217;s look,
+      and remained silent. Another meaning glance, and his manner changed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right, Steve, old man,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Good-by and good
+      luck. Caroline, awfully glad we had the spin this afternoon. We must have
+      more. Just what you and Steve need. At your service any time. If there is
+      anything I can do in any way to&mdash;er&mdash;you understand&mdash;call
+      on me, won&#8217;t you? Ready, Mater?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The pair were shown out by Edwards. On the way home in the car Mrs.
+      Corcoran Dunn lectured her son severely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have you no common sense?&#8221; she demanded. &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t
+      you see that the girl would have told me everything if you hadn&#8217;t
+      laughed, like an idiot?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man laughed again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;By Jove!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;it was enough to make a wooden
+      Indian laugh. The old jay with the barnacles telling us about the
+      advantages of a sailor&#8217;s life. And Steve&#8217;s face! Ho! ho!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His mother snorted disgust. &#8220;If you had brains,&#8221; she<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+      declared, &#8220;you would have understood what he meant by saying that
+      the sea was the place to learn what to unlearn. He was hitting at you. Was
+      it necessary to insult him the first time you and he exchanged a word?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Insult him? <i>Him</i>? Ha, ha! Why, Mater, what&#8217;s the matter
+      with you? Do you imagine that a hayseed like that would recognize an
+      insult without an introduction? And, besides, what difference does it
+      make? You don&#8217;t intend putting him on your calling list, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I intend cultivating him for the present.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>Cultivating</i> him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes&mdash;for the present. He is Rodgers Warren&#8217;s brother.
+      That lawyer, Graves, traveled miles to see him. What does that mean? That,
+      in some important way, he is connected with the estate and those two
+      children. If the estate is worth anything, and we have reason to believe
+      it is, you and I must know it. If it isn&#8217;t, it is even more
+      important that we should know, before we waste more time. If Caroline is
+      an heiress, if she inherits even a moderate fortune&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She shrugged her shoulders by way of finish to the sentence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm whistled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But to think of that old Down-Easter being related to the Warren
+      family!&#8221; he mused. &#8220;It seems impossible.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing is impossible,&#8221; observed his mother. Then, with a
+      shudder, &#8220;You never met your father&#8217;s relatives. I have.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      When Captain Elisha emerged from his room, after a wash and a change of
+      linen, he found the library untenanted. He strolled about, his hands
+      behind him, inspecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg
+      56]</a></span> the pictures with critical interest. Caroline, dressed for
+      dinner, found him thus engaged. He turned at the sound of her step.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, hello!&#8221; he cried, with hearty enthusiasm. &#8220;All
+      rigged up for inspection, ain&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Inspection?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s just sailor&#8217;s lingo. Means you&#8217;ve got
+      your Sunday uniform on, that&#8217;s all. My! my! how nice you look! But
+      ain&#8217;t black pretty old for such a young girl?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I am in mourning,&#8221; replied his niece, coldly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there! of course you are. Tut! tut! How could I forget it.
+      You see, I&#8217;ve been so many years feelin&#8217; as if I didn&#8217;t
+      have a brother that I&#8217;ve sort of got used to his bein&#8217; gone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have not.&#8221; Her eyes filled as she said it. The captain was
+      greatly moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m a blunderin&#8217; old fool, my dear,&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;I beg your pardon. Do try to forgive me, won&#8217;t you? And,
+      perhaps&mdash;perhaps I can make up your loss to you, just a little mite.
+      I&#8217;d like to. I&#8217;ll try to, if&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He laid a hand on her shoulder. She avoided him and, moving away, seated
+      herself in a chair at the opposite side of the desk. The avoidance was so
+      obvious as to be almost brutal. Captain Elisha looked very grave for an
+      instant. Then he changed the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was lookin&#8217; at your oil paintin&#8217;s,&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;They&#8217;re pretty fine, ain&#8217;t they? Any of them your work,
+      Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>My</i> work?&#8221; The girl&#8217;s astonishment was so great
+      that she turned to stare at her questioner. &#8220;<i>My</i> work?&#8221;
+      she repeated. &#8220;Are you joking? You can&#8217;t think that I painted
+      them.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know but you might. That one over there,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> with the
+      trees and folks dancin&#8217;&mdash;sort of picnic scene, I judge&mdash;that
+      looks as if you might have done it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That is a Corot.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8217;Tis, hey? I want to know! A&mdash;a&mdash;what did you call
+      it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A Corot. He was a famous French artist. That was father&#8217;s
+      favorite picture.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sho! Well, I like it fust-rate myself. Did &#8217;Bije&mdash;did
+      your father know this Mr. Corot well?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Know him? Certainly not. Why should you think such a thing as that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, he bought the picture of him, and so I s&#8217;pose likely he
+      knew him. There was a young feller come to South Denboro three or four
+      year ago and offered to paint a picture of our place for fifteen dollars.
+      Abbie&mdash;that&#8217;s Abbie Baker, she&#8217;s one of our folks, you
+      know, your third cousin, Caroline; keepin&#8217; house for me, she is&mdash;Abbie
+      wanted me to have him do the job, but I wa&#8217;n&#8217;t very particular
+      about it, so it never come to nothin&#8217;. He done two or three places,
+      though, and I swan &#8217;twas nice work! He painted Sam Cahoon&#8217;s
+      old ramshackle house and barn, and you&#8217;d hardly know it, &#8217;twas
+      so fixed up and fine, in the picture. White paint and green grass and
+      everything just like real. He left out the places where the pickets was
+      off the fence and the blinds hangin&#8217; on one hinge. I told Abbie, I
+      says, &#8216;Abbie, that painter&#8217;s made Sam&#8217;s place look
+      almost respectable, and if that ain&#8217;t a miracle, I don&#8217;t know
+      what is. I would think Sam would blush every time he sees that picture.&#8217;
+      Ho, ho! Abbie seemed to cal&#8217;late that Sam Cahoon&#8217;s blushin&#8217;
+      would be the biggest miracle of the two. Ho! ho! You&#8217;d like Abbie;
+      she&#8217;s got lots of common sense.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He chuckled at the reminiscence and rubbed his knee.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> His niece made no reply.
+      Captain Elisha glanced at the Corot once more and asked another question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume likely,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that that picture cost
+      consider&#8217;ble more than fifteen, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Father paid twenty-two thousand dollars for it,&#8221; was the
+      crushing answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, shut it again, and,
+      rising, walked across the room. Adjusting his glasses, he inspected the
+      Corot in silence for a few minutes. Then he drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well!&#8221; he sighed. &#8220;<i>Well</i>.&#8221; Then, after an
+      interval, &#8220;Was this the only one he ever painted?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The only one? The only picture Corot painted? Of course not! There
+      are many more.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did&mdash;did this Corot feller get as much for every job as he did
+      for this?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume so. I know father considered this one a bargain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did, hey? Humph! I ought to know enough by this time not to believe
+      all I hear, but I kind of had an idea that picture paintin&#8217; was
+      starvation work. I&#8217;ve read about artists committin&#8217; suicide,
+      and livin&#8217; in attics, and such. Whew! About two such bargain sale
+      jobs as this, and I&#8217;d guarantee not to starve&mdash;and to live as
+      nigh the ground as a second-floor bedroom anyhow. How about this next one?
+      This feller in a dory&mdash;coddin&#8217;, I guess he is. Did&mdash;did
+      Mr. Corot do him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. That is by a well-known American artist. It is a good piece of
+      work, but not like the other. It is worth much less. Perhaps five
+      thousand.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So? Well, even for that I&#8217;d undertake to buy consider&#8217;ble
+      many dories, and hire fellers to fish from &#8217;em, too. Humph! I guess
+      I&#8217;m out of soundin&#8217;s. When I thought fifteen dollars was a
+      high price for paintin&#8217; a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59"
+      id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> view of a house I was slightly mistaken.
+      Next time I&#8217;ll offer the paintin&#8217; feller the house and ask him
+      what he considers a fair boot, besides. Sam Cahoon&#8217;s a better
+      speculator than I thought he was. Hello, Commodore! what&#8217;s worryin&#8217;
+      you now?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Edwards appeared to announce that dinner was served. Caroline rose and led
+      the way to the dining room. Captain Elisha followed, looking curiously
+      about him as he did so. Stephen, who had been sulkily dressing in his own
+      room, entered immediately after.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain surveyed the dining room with interest. Like the others of the
+      suite, it was sumptuously and tastefully furnished. He took the chair
+      indicated by the solemn Edwards, and the meal began.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The butler&#8217;s sense of humor was not acute, but it was with
+      considerable difficulty that he restrained his smiles during the next half
+      hour. A more appreciative observer would have noticed and enjoyed the
+      subtler points. Stephen&#8217;s glare of disgust at his uncle when the
+      latter tucked his napkin in the opening of his waistcoat; Caroline&#8217;s
+      embarrassment when the captain complimented the soup, declaring that it
+      was almost as good as one of Abbie&#8217;s chowders; the visitor&#8217;s
+      obvious uneasiness at being waited upon attentively, and the like. These
+      Edwards missed, but he could not help appreciating Captain Elisha&#8217;s
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline said little during dinner. Her brother glowered at his plate and
+      was silent. But the captain talked and talked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Maybe you think I didn&#8217;t have a time findin&#8217; your new
+      lodgin&#8217;s,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I come over on the cars, somethin&#8217;
+      I don&#8217;t usually do when there&#8217;s anything afloat to carry me.
+      But I had an errand or two to do in Boston, so I stopped over night at the
+      hotel there and got the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg
+      60]</a></span> nine o&#8217;clock train. I landed here in New York all
+      shipshape and on time, and started in to hunt you up.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How did you get our address?&#8221; asked his niece. &#8220;Mr.
+      Graves couldn&#8217;t have given it to you, for we only decided on this
+      apartment a few days ago.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ho! ho!&#8221; chuckled Captain Elisha, rolling in his chair, like
+      a ship in a cross sea. &#8220;Ho! ho! You remind me of Abbie, Caroline.
+      That&#8217;s what she said. &#8216;I never heard of such a crazy cruise,&#8217;
+      she says. &#8216;Startin&#8217; off to visit folks when you haven&#8217;t
+      the least idea where they live!&#8217; &#8216;Oh, yes, I have,&#8217; I
+      says, &#8216;I know where they live; they live in New York.&#8217; Well,
+      you ought to have seen her face. Abbie&#8217;s a good woman&mdash;none
+      better&mdash;but she generally don&#8217;t notice a joke until she trips
+      over it. I get consider&#8217;ble fun out of Abbie, take her by the large.
+      &#8216;New York!&#8217; she says. &#8216;Did anybody ever hear the beat of
+      that? Do you cal&#8217;late New York&#8217;s like South Denboro, where
+      everybody knows everybody else? What are you plannin&#8217; to do? run up
+      the fust man, woman or child you meet and ask &#8217;em to tell you where
+      &#8217;Bijah Warren lives? Or are you goin&#8217; to trot from Dan to
+      Beersheby, trustin&#8217; to meet your nephew and niece on the way? I
+      never in my born days!&#8217;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; went on the captain, &#8220;I told her that the last
+      suggestion weren&#8217;t such a bad one, but there was one little
+      objection to it. Considerin&#8217; that I hadn&#8217;t ever laid eyes on
+      Steve and that I hadn&#8217;t seen you since you was a baby, the chances
+      was against my recognizin&#8217; you if we did meet. Ho, ho, ho! Finally I
+      hinted that I might look in the directory, and she got more reconciled to
+      my startin&#8217;. Honest, I do believe she&#8217;d have insisted on takin&#8217;
+      me by the hand and leadin&#8217; me to you, if I hadn&#8217;t told her
+      that.
+    </p>
+    <div class="figcenter" style="width: 310px;">
+      <img src="images/i60.jpg" class="smallgap" width="310" height="500"
+      alt="&#8220;The captain talked and talked.&#8221;" title="" /> <span
+      class="caption">&#8220;The captain talked and talked.&#8221;</span>
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>&#8220;So
+      I did look in the directory and got the number on Fifth Avenue where you
+      used to be. I asked a policeman the nighest way to get there, and he said
+      take a bus. Last time I was in New York I rode in one of those Fifth
+      Avenue omnibuses, and I never got such a jouncin&#8217; in my life. The
+      pavement then was round cobble stones, like some of the roads in
+      Nantucket. I remember I tried to ask a feller that set next to me somethin&#8217;
+      or other, and I swan to man I couldn&#8217;t get nothin&#8217; out of my
+      mouth but rattles. &#8216;Metropolitan Museum,&#8217; sounded like puttin&#8217;
+      in a ton of coal. I thought I was comin&#8217; apart, or my works was out
+      of order, or somethin&#8217;, but when the feller tried to answer he
+      rattled just as bad, so I realized &#8217;twas the reg&#8217;lar disease
+      and felt some better. I never shall forget a fleshy woman&mdash;somethin&#8217;
+      like that Mrs. Dunn friend of yours, Caroline&mdash;that set opposite me.
+      It give me the crawls to look at her, her chins shook around so. Ho! ho!
+      she had no less&#8217;n three of &#8217;em, and they all shook different
+      ways. Ho! ho! ho! If I&#8217;d been in the habit of wearin&#8217; false
+      hair or teeth or anything that wa&#8217;n&#8217;t growed to or buttoned on
+      me I&#8217;d never have risked a trip in one of those omnibuses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So when the police officer prescribed one for me this v&#8217;yage,
+      I was some dubious. I&#8217;m older&#8217;n I was ten year ago, and I wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      sure that I&#8217;d hold together. I cal&#8217;lated walkin&#8217; was
+      better for my health. So I found Fifth Avenue and started to walk. And the
+      farther I walked the heavier that blessed satchel of mine got. It weighed
+      maybe ten or twelve pounds at the corner of 42nd Street, but when I got as
+      far as the open square where the gilt woman is hurryin&#8217; to keep from
+      bein&#8217; run over by Gen&#8217;ral Sherman on horseback&mdash;that
+      statue, you know&mdash;I wouldn&#8217;t have let that blessed bag go for
+      less&#8217;n<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+      two ton, if I was sellin&#8217; it by weight. So I leaned up against an
+      electric light pole to rest and sort of get my bearin&#8217;s. Then I
+      noticed what I&#8217;d ought to have seen afore, that the street wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      paved with cobbles, as it used to be, but was smooth as a stretch of state
+      road down home. So I figgered that a bus was a safe risk, after all. I
+      waited ten minutes or more for one to come, and finally I asked a woman
+      who was in tow of an astrakhan-trimmed dog at the end of a chain, if the
+      omnibuses had stopped runnin&#8217;. When I fust see the dog leadin&#8217;
+      her I thought she was blind, but I guess she was deef and dumb instead.
+      Anyhow, all she said was &#8216;Ugh!&#8217; not very enthusiastic, at
+      that, and went along. Ho! ho! So then I asked a man, and he pointed to a
+      bus right in front of me. You see, I was lookin&#8217; for the horses,
+      same as they used to be, and this was an automobile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I blushed, I guess, just to show that there was some red underneath
+      the green, and climbed aboard the omnibus. I rode along for a spell,
+      admirin&#8217; as much of the scenery as I could see between the women&#8217;s
+      hats, then I told the skipper of the thing that I wanted to make port at
+      82nd Street. He said &#8216;Ugh,&#8217; apparently suff&#8217;rin&#8217;
+      from the same complaint the dog woman had, and we went on and on. At last
+      I got kind of anxious and asked him again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Eighty-second!&#8217; says he, ugly. &#8216;This is
+      Ninety-first.&#8217;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Good land!&#8217; says I. &#8216;I wanted Eighty-second.&#8217;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Why didn&#8217;t you say so?&#8217; says he, lookin&#8217;
+      as if I&#8217;d stole his mother&#8217;s spoons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;I did,&#8217; says I.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;You <i>did</i>?&#8217; he snarls. &#8216;You did not! If you
+      did, wouldn&#8217;t I have heard you?&#8217;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>&#8220;Well,
+      any answer I&#8217;d be likely to make to that would have meant more
+      argument, and the bus was sailin&#8217; right along at the time, so I
+      piled out and did some more walkin&#8217;, the other way. At last I
+      reached your old number, Stevie, and&mdash;Hey? Did you speak?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t call me &#8216;Stevie,&#8217;&#8221; growled his
+      nephew, rebelliously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Beg your pardon. I keep forgettin&#8217; that you&#8217;re almost
+      grown up. Well, as I was sayin&#8217;, I got to the house where you used
+      to live, and &#8217;twas shut tight. Nobody there. Ho! ho! I felt a good
+      deal like old Beriah Doane must have on his last &#8216;vacation.&#8217;
+      You see, Beriah is one of our South Denboro notorieties; he&#8217;s famous
+      in his way. He works and loafs by spells until cranberry pickin&#8217;
+      time in the fall; then he picks steady and earns thirty or forty dollars
+      all at once. Soon&#8217;s he&#8217;s paid off, he starts for Boston on a
+      &#8216;vacation,&#8217; an alcoholic one. Well, last fall his married
+      sister was visitin&#8217; him, and she, bein&#8217; strong for good
+      Templarism, was determined he shouldn&#8217;t vacate in his regular way.
+      So she telegraphed her husband&#8217;s brother in Brockton to meet Beriah
+      there, go with him to Boston, and see that he behaved himself and stayed
+      sober. Beriah heard of it, and when his train gets as far as Tremont what
+      does he do but get off quiet and change cars for New Bedford. He hadn&#8217;t
+      been there for nine years, but he had pleasant memories of his last visit.
+      And when he does get to New Bedford, chucklin&#8217; over the way he&#8217;s
+      befooled his sister and her folks, I&#8217;m blessed if he didn&#8217;t
+      find that the town had gone no-license, and every saloon was shut up! Ho!
+      ho! ho! Well, I felt about the way he did, I guess, when I stood on the
+      steps of your Fifth Avenue house and realized you&#8217;d gone away. I
+      wouldn&#8217;t have had Abbie see me there for somethin&#8217;. Ho! ho!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>He
+      leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud. Caroline smiled faintly.
+      Stephen threw down his napkin and sprang to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sis,&#8221; he cried, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to my room. By gad! I
+      can&#8217;t&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Catching a warning glance from his sister, he did not finish his sentence,
+      but stood sulkily beside his chair. Captain Elisha looked at him, then at
+      the girl, and stopped laughing. He folded his napkin with care, and rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s about all of it,&#8221; he said, shortly. &#8220;I
+      asked around at two or three of the neighbors&#8217; houses, and the last
+      one I asked knew where you&#8217;d moved and told me how to get here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the trio were again in the library, the captain spoke once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m &#8217;fraid I&#8217;ve talked too much,&#8221; he said,
+      gravely. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t realize how I was runnin&#8217; on. Thought
+      I was home, I guess, with the fellers of my own age down at the
+      postoffice, instead of bein&#8217; an old countryman, tirin&#8217; out you
+      two young city folks with my yarns. I beg your pardon. Now you mustn&#8217;t
+      mind me. I see you&#8217;re expectin&#8217; company or goin&#8217; callin&#8217;
+      somewheres, so I&#8217;ll just go to my bedroom and write Abbie a line.
+      She&#8217;ll be kind of anxious to know if I got here safe and sound and
+      found you. Don&#8217;t worry about me, I&#8217;ll be comf&#8217;table and
+      busy.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned to go. Caroline looked at him in surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We are not expecting callers,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And certainly
+      we are not going out to-night. Why should you think such a thing?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was her uncle&#8217;s turn to show surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why,&#8221; he said, with a glance at Stephen, &#8220;I see that
+      you&#8217;re all dressed up, and so I thought, naturally&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>He
+      paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Young Warren grunted contemptuously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We dressed for dinner, that is all,&#8221; said Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&mdash;you mean you put these clothes on every night?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was plainly very much astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he observed, slowly. &#8220;I&mdash;guess I&#8217;ve
+      made another mistake. Hum! Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good night,&#8221; said Stephen, quickly. Caroline, however, seemed
+      embarrassed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I thought possibly you
+      might wish to talk business with my brother and me. We&mdash;we understand
+      that you have come on business connected with father&#8217;s will. It
+      seems to me that the sooner we&mdash;we&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Get it over the better, hey? Well, maybe you&#8217;re right. It&#8217;s
+      an odd business for an old salt like me to be mixed up in, that&#8217;s a
+      fact. If it hadn&#8217;t been so odd, if I hadn&#8217;t thought there must
+      be some reason, some partic&#8217;lar reason, I&mdash;well, I guess I&#8217;d
+      have stayed to home where I belong. You mustn&#8217;t think,&#8221; he
+      added, seriously, &#8220;that I don&#8217;t realize I&#8217;m as out of
+      place amongst you and your rich friends as a live fish in a barrel of
+      sawdust. That&#8217;s all right; you needn&#8217;t trouble to say no. But
+      you must understand that, realizin&#8217; it, I&#8217;m not exactly
+      imposin&#8217; myself on you for pleasure or&mdash;well, from choice. I&#8217;m
+      so built that I can&#8217;t shirk when my conscience tells me I shouldn&#8217;t,
+      that&#8217;s all. I&#8217;m kind of tired to-night, and I guess you are.
+      To-morrow mornin&#8217;, if it&#8217;s agreeable to all hands, we will
+      have a little business talk. I&#8217;ll have to see Lawyer Graves pretty
+      soon, and have a gen&#8217;ral look at your pa&#8217;s affairs. Then, if
+      everything is all right and I feel my duty&#8217;s done, I&#8217;ll<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> probably
+      go back to the Cape and leave you to him, or somebody else able to look
+      out for you. Until then I&#8217;m afraid,&#8221; with a smile which had a
+      trace of bitterness in it; &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid you&#8217;ll have to do
+      the best you can with me. I&#8217;ll try to be no more of a nuisance than
+      I can help. Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the two young people were left alone, Caroline turned to her brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid you were a little
+      rude. I&#8217;m afraid you hurt his feelings.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy stared at her in wonder. &#8220;Hurt his feelings!&#8221; he
+      exclaimed. &#8220;<i>His</i> feelings! Well, by Jove! Caro, you&#8217;re a
+      wonder! Did you expect me to throw my arms around his neck? If he had had
+      any feelings at all, if he was the slightest part of a gentleman, do you
+      suppose he would come here and disgrace us as he is doing? Who invited
+      him? Did we? I guess not!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But he is father&#8217;s brother, and father asked him to come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, he didn&#8217;t. He asked him&mdash;heaven knows why&mdash;to
+      look out for our money affairs. That&#8217;s bad enough; but he didn&#8217;t
+      ask him to <i>live</i> with us. He sha&#8217;n&#8217;t! by gad, he sha&#8217;n&#8217;t!
+      <i>You</i> may be as sweet to him as you like, but I&#8217;ll make it my
+      business to give him the cold shoulder every chance I get. I&#8217;ll
+      freeze him out, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ll do&mdash;freeze him out. Why,
+      Caro! be sensible. Think what his staying here means. Can we take him
+      about with us? Can our friends meet <i>him</i> as&mdash;as our uncle? He&#8217;s
+      got to be made to go. Hasn&#8217;t he now? Hasn&#8217;t he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl was silent for a moment. Then she covered her face with her
+      hands. &#8220;Oh, yes!&#8221; she sobbed. &#8220;Oh, yes, he must! he <i>must</i>!
+      <i>Why</i> did father do it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span>he
+      Warren breakfast hour was nine o&#8217;clock. At a quarter to nine
+      Caroline, entering the library, found Stephen seated by the fire reading
+      the morning paper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good morning,&#8221; she said. Then, looking about the room, asked,
+      &#8220;Has&mdash;has <i>he</i> been here?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her brother shook his head. &#8220;You mean Uncle &#8217;Lish?&#8221; he
+      asked, cheerfully. &#8220;No, he hasn&#8217;t. At least, I haven&#8217;t
+      seen him and I haven&#8217;t made any inquiries. I shall manage to survive
+      if he never appears. Let sleeping relatives lie, that&#8217;s my motto.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He laughed at his own joke and turned the page of the paper. The butler
+      entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Breakfast is served, Miss Caroline,&#8221; he announced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Has Captain Warren come from his room?&#8221; asked the young lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, Miss Caroline. That is, I haven&#8217;t seen him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen tossed the paper on the floor and rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I wonder&mdash;&#8221; he began. Then, with a broad grin, &#8220;A
+      sudden thought strikes me, Sis. He has undoubtedly blown out the gas.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve! How can you!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Perfectly simple. Absolutely reasonable. Just what might have been
+      expected. &#8216;He has gone, but we shall miss him.&#8217; Come on, Caro;
+      I&#8217;m hungry. Let the old hayseed sleep. You and I can have a meal in
+      peace. Heavens! you don&#8217;t care for another experience like last
+      night&#8217;s, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>&#8220;Edwards,&#8221;
+      said Caroline, &#8220;you may knock at Captain Warren&#8217;s door and
+      tell him breakfast is served.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; commanded Stephen, &#8220;and tell him not to hurry on
+      our account. Come, Caro, come! You&#8217;re not pining for his society.
+      Well, wait then! <i>I</i> won&#8217;t!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He marched angrily out of the room. His sister hesitated, her wish to
+      follow complicated by a feeling of duty to a guest, no matter how
+      unwelcome. The butler reappeared, looking puzzled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He&#8217;s not there, miss?&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not there? Not in his room?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, Miss Caroline. I knocked, and he didn&#8217;t answer, so I
+      looked in and he wasn&#8217;t there. His bed&#8217;s been slept in, but he&#8217;s
+      gone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Gone? And you haven&#8217;t seen him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, miss. I&#8217;ve been up and about since half past seven, and I
+      can&#8217;t understand where he could have got to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door of the hall opened and shut. Edwards darted from the library. A
+      moment afterwards Captain Elisha strolled in. He was wearing his overcoat,
+      and his hat was in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good mornin&#8217;, Caroline,&#8221; he hailed, in his big voice.
+      &#8220;Surprised to see me, are you? Ho! ho! So was the Commodore. He
+      couldn&#8217;t understand how I got in without ringin&#8217;. Well, you
+      see, I&#8217;m used to turnin&#8217; out pretty early, and when it got to
+      be most seven o&#8217;clock, I couldn&#8217;t lay to bed any longer, so I
+      got up, dressed, and went for a walk. I fixed the door latch so&#8217;s I
+      could come in quiet. You haven&#8217;t waited breakfast for me, I hope.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No; it is ready now, however.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ready now,&#8221; the captain looked at his watch.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> &#8220;Yes,
+      I should think so. It&#8217;s way into the forenoon. You <i>have</i>
+      waited for me, haven&#8217;t you? I&#8217;m awfully sorry.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, we have not waited. Our breakfast hour is nine. Pardon me for
+      neglecting to tell you that last evening.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s all right. Now you trot right out and eat. I&#8217;ve
+      had mine.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Had your breakfast?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, indeed. When I&#8217;m home, Abbie and I usually eat about
+      seven, so I get sort of sharp-set if I wait after that. I cal&#8217;lated
+      you city folks was late sleepers, and I wouldn&#8217;t want to make any
+      trouble, so I found a little eatin&#8217; house down below here a ways and
+      had a cup of coffee and some bread and butter and mush. Then I went
+      cruisin&#8217; round in Central Park a spell. This <i>is</i> Central Park
+      over across here, ain&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221; The girl was too astonished to say more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I thought &#8217;twas. I&#8217;d been through part of it afore, but
+      &#8217;twas years ago, and it&#8217;s such a big place and the paths run
+      so criss-cross I got sort of mixed up, and it took me longer to get out
+      than it did to get in. I had the gen&#8217;ral points of the compass, and
+      I guess I could have made a pretty average straight run for home, but
+      every time I wanted to cut across lots there was a policeman lookin&#8217;
+      at me, so I had to stick to the channel. That&#8217;s what made me so
+      late. Now do go and eat your breakfast. I won&#8217;t feel easy till I see
+      you start.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline departed, and the captain, after a visit to his own room, where
+      he left his coat and hat, returned to the library, picked up the paper
+      which his nephew had dropped, and began reading.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After breakfast came the &#8220;business talk.&#8221; It was a brief one.
+      Captain Elisha soon discovered that his<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> brother&#8217;s children
+      knew very little concerning their father&#8217;s affairs. They had always
+      plenty of money, had been indulged in practically every wish, and had
+      never had to think or plan for themselves. As to the size of the estate,
+      they knew nothing more than Mr. Graves had told them, which was that,
+      instead of the several millions which rumor had credited A. Rodgers Warren
+      with possessing, five hundred thousand dollars would probably be the
+      extent of their inheritance, and that, therefore, they must live
+      economically. As a first step in that direction, they had given up their
+      former home and moved to the apartment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; mused the captain, &#8220;I see. Mr. Graves didn&#8217;t
+      know about your movin&#8217;, then? You did it on your own hook, so to
+      speak?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen answered promptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course we did,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;Why not?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No reason in the world. A good sensible thing to do, I should say.
+      Didn&#8217;t anybody advise you where to go?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why should we need advice?&#8221; Again it was Stephen who replied.
+      &#8220;We aren&#8217;t kids. We&#8217;re old enough to decide some things
+      for ourselves, I should think.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Sartin. That&#8217;s right. But I didn&#8217;t know but p&#8217;raps
+      some of your friends might have helped along. This Mrs. Dunn now, she kind
+      of hinted to me that she&#8217;d&mdash;well, done what she could to make
+      you comf&#8217;table.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She has,&#8221; avowed Caroline, warmly. &#8220;Mrs. Dunn and
+      Malcolm have proved their friendship in a thousand ways. We never can
+      repay them, Stephen and I, never!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. There&#8217;s some things you can&#8217;t ever pay, I<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> know
+      that. Mrs. Dunn found this nice place for you, did she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes. She and I found it together.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So? That was lucky, wa&#8217;n&#8217;t it? Advertised in the
+      newspaper, was it; or was there a &#8216;To Let&#8217; placard up in the
+      window?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, certainly not. Mrs. Dunn knew that we had decided to move, and
+      she has a cousin who is interested in New York property. She asked him,
+      and he mentioned this apartment.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;One of his own, was it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I believe so. Why are you so particular? Don&#8217;t you like it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her tone was sharp. Stephen, who resented his uncle&#8217;s questions as
+      impertinent intrusions upon the family affairs, added one of his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Isn&#8217;t it as good as those in&mdash;what do you call it&mdash;South
+      Denboro?&#8221; he asked, maliciously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha laughed heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pretty nigh as good,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t notice
+      any better on the way to the depot as I drove up. And I doubt if there&#8217;s
+      many new ones built since I left. It&#8217;s a mighty fine lot of rooms, I
+      think. What&#8217;s the rent? You&#8217;ll excuse my askin&#8217;, things
+      bein&#8217; as they are.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Twenty-two hundred a year,&#8221; answered his niece, coldly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at her, whistled, broke off the whistle in the middle,
+      and did a little mental arithmetic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Twenty-two hundred a year!&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;That&#8217;s
+      one hundred and eighty odd a month. Say, that cousin of Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s
+      must want to get his investment back. You mean for just these ten rooms?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen laughed scornfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Our guardian has been counting, Caro,&#8221; he remarked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>&#8220;Yes.
+      Yes, I counted this mornin&#8217; when I got up. I was interested,
+      naturally.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure! Naturally, of course,&#8221; sneered the boy. &#8220;Did you
+      think the twenty-two hundred was the rent of the entire building?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I didn&#8217;t know. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The rent,&#8221; interrupted Caroline, with dignity, &#8220;was
+      twenty-four hundred, but, thanks to Mrs. Dunn, who explained to her cousin
+      that we were friends of hers, it was reduced.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We being in reduced circumstances,&#8221; observed her brother in
+      supreme disgust. &#8220;Pity the poor orphans! By gad!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That was real nice of Mrs. Dunn,&#8221; declared Captain Elisha,
+      heartily. &#8220;She&#8217;s pretty well-off herself, I s&#8217;pose&mdash;hey,
+      Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes. About how much is she wuth, think?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. I never inquired.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Well, down our way,&#8221; with a chuckle, &#8220;we don&#8217;t
+      have to inquire. Ask anybody you meet what his next door neighbor&#8217;s
+      wuth, and he&#8217;ll tell you within a hundred, and how he got it, and
+      how much he owes, and how he gets along with his wife. Ho! ho! Speakin&#8217;
+      of wives, is this Mr. Dunn married?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at his niece as he asked the question. There was no reason why
+      Caroline should blush; she knew it, and hated herself for doing it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, resentfully, &#8220;he is not.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. What&#8217;s his business?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He is connected with a produce exchange house, I believe.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;One of the firm?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. In New York we are not as well<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> posted,
+      or as curious, concerning our friends&#8217; private affairs as your
+      townspeople seem to be.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess that&#8217;s so. I imagine New Yorkers are too busy gettin&#8217;
+      it themselves to bother whether their neighbors have got it or not. Well,&#8221;
+      he went on, rising, &#8220;I guess I&#8217;ve kept you young folks from
+      your work or&mdash;or play, or whatever you was going to do, long enough
+      for this once. I think I&#8217;ll go out for a spell. I&#8217;ve got an
+      errand or two I want to do. What time do you have dinner?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We lunch at half past one,&#8221; answered Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We dine at seven.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes, yes! I keep forgettin&#8217; that supper&#8217;s dinner.
+      Well, I presume likely I&#8217;ll be back for luncheon. If I ain&#8217;t,
+      don&#8217;t wait for me. I&#8217;ll be home afore supper&mdash;there I go
+      again!&mdash;afore dinner, anyhow. Good-by.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five minutes later he was at the street corner, inquiring of a policeman
+      &#8220;the handiest way to get to Pine Street.&#8221; Following the
+      directions given, he boarded a train at the nearest subway station,
+      emerged at Wall Street, inquired once more, located the street he was
+      looking for, and, consulting a card which he took from a big stained
+      leather pocket-book, walked on, peering at the numbers of the buildings he
+      passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, were on the sixteenth floor of
+      a new and gorgeously appointed sky-scraper. When Captain Elisha entered
+      the firm&#8217;s reception room, he was accosted by a wide-awake and
+      extremely self-possessed office boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who&#8217;d you want to see?&#8221; asked the boy, briskly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on a jiffy, Sonny,&#8221; he panted. &#8220;Just give me<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> a minute
+      to sort of get myself together, as you might say. I rode up in one of
+      those express elevators of yours, and I kind of feel as if my boots had
+      got tangled up with my necktie. When that elevator feller cast off from
+      the cellar, I begun to shut up like a spyglass. Whew! Say, Son, is Mr.
+      Graves in?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; replied the boy, grinning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! Still in the sick bay, is he&mdash;hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He&#8217;s to home. Got a cold.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. It&#8217;s too bad. Mr.&mdash;er&mdash;Sylvester, is he in?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Naw, he ain&#8217;t. And Mr. Kuhn&#8217;s busy. Won&#8217;t one of
+      the clerks do? What do you want to see the firm about?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Son, I had reasons of my own. However, I guess I won&#8217;t
+      disturb Mr. Kuhn, if he&#8217;s busy&#8217;s you say. Here! you tell him,
+      or Mr. Sylvester when he comes, that Cap&#8217;n Warren, Cap&#8217;n
+      Elisha Warren of South Denboro&mdash;better write it down&mdash;called and
+      will be back about half past twelve or thereabouts. Got it, have you? Hum!
+      is that Elisha? You don&#8217;t tell me! I&#8217;ve been spellin&#8217; it
+      for sixty years, more or less, and never realized it had such
+      possibilities. Lend me your pencil. There! you give Mr. Sylvester that and
+      tell him I&#8217;ll see him later. So long, Son.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed, smiling. The indignant office boy threw the card on the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha strolled down Pine Street, looking about him with interest.
+      It had been years since he visited this locality, and the changes were
+      many. Soon, however, he began to recognize familiar landmarks. He was
+      approaching the water front, and there were fewer new buildings. When he
+      reached South Street he was thoroughly at home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>The
+      docks were crowded. The river was alive with small craft of all kinds.
+      Steamers and schooners were plenty, but the captain missed the old
+      square-riggers, the clipper ships and barks, such as he had sailed in as
+      cabin boy, as foremast hand, and, later, commanded on many seas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, however, he saw four masts towering above the roof of a freight
+      house. They were not schooner rigged, those masts. The yards were set
+      square across, and along them were furled royals and upper topsails. Here,
+      at last, was a craft worth looking at. Captain Elisha crossed the street,
+      hurried past the covered freight house, and saw a magnificent great ship
+      lying beside a broad open wharf. Down the wharf he walked, joyfully, as
+      one who greets an old friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wharf was practically deserted. An ancient watchman was dozing in a
+      sort of sentry box, but he did not wake. There was a pile of
+      foreign-looking crates and boxes at the further end of the pier, evidently
+      the last bit of cargo waiting to be carted away. The captain inspected the
+      pile, recognized the goods as Chinese and Japanese, then read the name on
+      the big ship&#8217;s stern. She was the <i>Empress of the Ocean</i>, and
+      her home port was Liverpool.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha, as a free-born Yankee skipper, had an inherited and
+      cherished contempt for British &#8220;lime-juicers,&#8221; but he could
+      not help admiring this one. To begin with, her size and tonnage were
+      enormous. Also, she was four-masted, instead of the usual three, and her
+      hull and lower spars were of steel instead of wood. A steel sailing vessel
+      was something of a novelty to the captain, and he was seized with a desire
+      to go aboard and inspect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladder from ship to wharf was down, of course,<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> and getting on board was an
+      easy matter. When he reached the deck and looked about him, the great size
+      of the ship was still more apparent. The bulwarks were as high as a short
+      man&#8217;s head. She was decked over aft, and, as the captain said
+      afterwards, &#8220;her cabins had nigh as many stories as a house.&#8221;
+      From the roof of the &#8220;first story,&#8221; level with the bulwarks,
+      extended a series of bridges, which could be hoisted or lowered, and by
+      means of which her officers could walk from stern to bow without
+      descending to the deck. There was a good-sized engine house forward,
+      beyond the galley and forecastle. Evidently the work of hoisting anchors
+      and canvas was done by steam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain strolled about, looking her over. The number of improvements
+      since his seagoing days was astonishing. He was standing by the wheel,
+      near the companion way, wishing that he might inspect the officers&#8217;
+      quarters, but not liking to do so without an invitation, when two men
+      emerged from the cabin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the pair was evidently the Japanese steward of the ship. The other
+      was a tall, clean-cut young fellow, whose general appearance and lack of
+      sunburn showed quite plainly that he was not a seafaring man by
+      profession. The steward caught sight of Captain Elisha, and, walking over,
+      accosted him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Want to see skipper, sir?&#8221; he asked, in broken English.
+      &#8220;He ashore.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, Doctor,&#8221; replied the captain, cheerfully. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+      want to see him. I&#8217;ve got no business aboard. It&#8217;s been some
+      time since I trod the quarter-deck of a square-rigger, and I couldn&#8217;t
+      resist the temptation of tryin&#8217; how the planks felt under my feet.
+      This is consider&#8217;ble of a clipper you&#8217;ve got here,&#8221; he
+      added.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; replied the steward grinning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>&#8220;Where
+      you from?&#8221; asked Captain Elisha.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Singapore, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Cargo all out?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Waitin&#8217; for another one?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir. We load for Manila bimeby.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Manila, hey? Have a good passage across?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir. She good ship.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Shouldn&#8217;t wonder. How d&#8217;ye do, sir,&#8221; to the young
+      man, who was standing near. &#8220;Hope you won&#8217;t think I&#8217;m
+      crowdin&#8217; in where I don&#8217;t belong. I was just tellin&#8217; the
+      doctor here that it had been some time since I trod a quarter-deck, and I
+      thought I&#8217;d see if I&#8217;d forgot the feel.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have you?&#8221; asked the young man, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Guess not. Seems kind of nat&#8217;ral. I never handled such a
+      whale of a craft as this, though. Didn&#8217;t have many of &#8217;em in
+      my day. Come over in her, did you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; with a shake of the head. &#8220;No such luck. I&#8217;m
+      a land lubber, just scouting round, that&#8217;s all. She&#8217;s a bully
+      vessel, isn&#8217;t she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Looks so. Tell you better after I&#8217;ve seen what she could do
+      in a full-sail breeze. All hands ashore, Doctor?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; replied the steward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Crew paid off and spendin&#8217; their money, I s&#8217;pose. Well,
+      if it ain&#8217;t against orders, I&#8217;d kind of like to look around a
+      little mite. May I?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The steward merely grinned. His companion answered for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly you may,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m a friend of one
+      of the consignees, and I&#8217;d be glad to show you the ship, if you
+      like. Shall we begin with the cabins?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha, delighted with the opportunity, expressed his thanks, and
+      the tour of inspection began.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78"
+      id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> The steward remained on deck, but the
+      captain and his new acquaintance strolled through the officers&#8217;
+      quarters together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jerushy!&#8221; exclaimed the former, as he viewed the main cabin.
+      &#8220;Say, you could pretty nigh have a dance here, couldn&#8217;t you? A
+      small one. This reminds me of the cabin aboard the <i>Sea Gull</i>, first
+      vessel I went mate of&mdash;it&#8217;s so diff&#8217;rent. Aboard her we
+      had to walk sittin&#8217; down. There wa&#8217;n&#8217;t room in the cabin
+      for more&#8217;n one to stand up at a time. But she could sail, just the
+      same&mdash;and carry it, too. I&#8217;ve seen her off the Horn with
+      studdin&#8217; sails set, when craft twice her length and tonnage had
+      everything furled above the tops&#8217;l yard. Hi hum! you mustn&#8217;t
+      mind an old salt runnin&#8217; on this way. I&#8217;ve been out of the
+      pickle tub a good while, but I cal&#8217;late the brine ain&#8217;t all
+      out of my system.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His guide&#8217;s eyes snapped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I understand,&#8221; he said, laughing. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never
+      been at sea, on a long voyage, in my life, but I can understand just how
+      you feel. It&#8217;s in my blood, I guess. I come of a salt water line. My
+      people were from Belfast, Maine, and every man of them went to sea.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Belfast, hey? They turned out some A No.1 sailors in Belfast. I
+      sailed under a Cap&#8217;n Pearson from there once&mdash;James Pearson,
+      his name was.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He was my great uncle. I was named for him. My name is James
+      Pearson, also.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>What</i>?&#8221; Captain Elisha was hugely delighted. &#8220;Mr.
+      Pearson, shake hands. I want to tell you that your Uncle Jim was a seaman
+      of the kind you dream about, but seldom meet. I was his second mate three
+      v&#8217;yages. My name&#8217;s Elisha Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Pearson shook hands and laughed, good-humoredly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>&#8220;Glad
+      to meet you, Captain Warren,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And I&#8217;m glad you
+      knew Uncle Jim. As a youngster, he was my idol. He could spin yarns that
+      were worth listening to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I bet you! He&#8217;d seen things wuth yarnin&#8217; about. So you
+      ain&#8217;t a sailor, hey? Livin&#8217; in New York?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man nodded. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said. Then, with a dry smile,
+      &#8220;If you call occupying a hall bedroom and eating at a third-rate
+      boarding-house table living. However, it&#8217;s my own fault. I&#8217;ve
+      been a newspaper man since I left college. But I threw up my job six
+      months ago. Since then I&#8217;ve been free-lancing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have, hey?&#8221; The captain was too polite to ask further
+      questions, but he had not the slightest idea what &#8220;free-lancing&#8221;
+      might be. Pearson divined his perplexity and explained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ve had a feeling,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that I might write
+      magazine articles and stories&mdash;yes, possibly a novel or two. It&#8217;s
+      a serious disease, but the only way to find out whether it&#8217;s chronic
+      or not is to experiment. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m doing now. The thing
+      I&#8217;m at work on may turn out to be a sea story. So I spend some time
+      around the wharves and aboard the few sailing ships in port, picking up
+      material.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha patted him on the back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now don&#8217;t you get discouraged,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I used
+      to have an idea that novel writin&#8217; and picture paintin&#8217; was
+      poverty jobs for men with healthy appetites, but I&#8217;ve changed my
+      mind. I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s you&#8217;ll believe it, but I&#8217;ve
+      just found out, for a fact, that some painters get twenty-two thousand
+      dollars for one picture. For <i>one</i>, mind you. And a little mite of a
+      thing, too, that couldn&#8217;t have cost scarcely anything to paint.
+      Maybe novels sell for just as much. <i>I</i> don&#8217;t know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>His
+      companion laughed heartily. &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid not, Captain,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;Few, at any rate. I should be satisfied with considerably
+      less, to begin with. Are you living here in town?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well&mdash;we-ll, I don&#8217;t know. I ain&#8217;t exactly livin&#8217;,
+      and I ain&#8217;t exactly boardin&#8217;, but&mdash;Say! ain&#8217;t that
+      the doctor callin&#8217; you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the steward, and there was an anxious ring in his voice. Pearson
+      excused himself and hurried out of the cabin. Captain Elisha lingered for
+      a final look about. Then he followed leisurely, becoming aware, as he
+      reached the open air, of loud voices in angry dialogue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Entrances to the <i>Empress of the Ocean&#8217;s</i> cabins were on the
+      main deck, and also on the raised half-deck at the stern, near the wheel,
+      the binnacle and the officers&#8217; corned-beef tubs, swinging in their
+      frames. From this upper deck two flights of steps led down to the main
+      deck below. At the top of one of these flights stood young Pearson, cool
+      and alert. Behind him half crouched the Japanese steward, evidently very
+      much frightened. At the foot of the steps were grouped three rough looking
+      men, foreigners and sailors without doubt, and partially intoxicated. The
+      three men were an ugly lot, and they were all yelling and jabbering
+      together in a foreign lingo. As the captain emerged from the passage to
+      the open deck, he heard Pearson reply in the same language.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson answered without turning his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Drunken sailors,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Part of the crew here.
+      They&#8217;ve been uptown, got full, and come back to square a grudge they
+      seem to have against the steward. I&#8217;m telling them they&#8217;d
+      better give up and go ashore, if they know when they&#8217;re well off.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The three fellows by the ladder&#8217;s foot were consulting<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+      together. On the wharf were half a dozen loungers, collected by the
+      prospect of a row.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If I can hold them off for a few minutes,&#8221; went on Pearson,
+      &#8220;we&#8217;ll be all right. The wharf watchman has gone for the
+      police. Here! drop it! What are you up to?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the sailors had drawn a knife. The other two reached for their
+      belts behind, evidently intending to follow suit. From the loafers on the
+      wharf came shouts of encouragement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do the dude up, Pedro! Give him what&#8217;s comin&#8217; to him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trio formed for a rush. The steward, with a shrill scream, fled to the
+      cabin. Pearson did not move; he even smiled. The next moment he was pushed
+      to one side, and Captain Elisha stood at the top of the steps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Here!&#8221; he said, sternly. &#8220;What&#8217;s all this?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The three sailors, astonished at this unexpected addition to their enemies
+      forces, hesitated. Pearson laid his hand on the captain&#8217;s arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Be careful,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They&#8217;re dangerous.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dangerous? Them? I&#8217;ve seen their kind afore. Here, you!&#8221;
+      turning to the three below. &#8220;What do you mean by this? Put down that
+      knife, you lubber! Do you want to be put in irons? Over the side with you,
+      you swabs! Git!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He began descending the ladder. Whether the sailors were merely too
+      surprised to resist, or because they recognized the authority of the deep
+      sea in Captain Elisha&#8217;s voice and face is a question. At any rate,
+      as he descended they backed away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mutiny on board a ship of mine?&#8221; roared the captain. &#8220;What
+      do you mean by it? Why, I&#8217;ll have you tied up and put on bread and
+      water. Over the side with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82"
+      id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> you! Mutiny on board of <i>me</i>! Lively!
+      Tumble up there!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With every order came a stride forward and a correspondingly backward
+      movement on the part of the three. The performance would have been
+      ridiculous if Pearson had not feared that it might become tragic. He was
+      descending the steps to his new acquaintance&#8217;s aid, when there rose
+      a chorus of shouts from the wharf.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The cops! the cops! Look out!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That was the finishing touch. The next moment the three &#8220;mutineers&#8221;
+      were over the side and running as fast as their alcoholic condition would
+      permit down the wharf.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, by George!&#8221; exclaimed Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha seemed to be coming out of a dream. He stood still, drew
+      his hand across his forehead, and then began to laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well!&#8221; he stammered. &#8220;Well, I snum! I&mdash;I&mdash;Mr.
+      Pearson, I wonder what on earth you must think of me. I declare the sight
+      of that gang set me back about twenty years. They&mdash;they must have
+      thought I was the new skipper! Did you hear me tell &#8217;em they couldn&#8217;t
+      mutiny aboard of me? Ho! ho! Well, I am an old idiot!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson stuck his fist into the palm of his other hand. &#8220;I&#8217;ve
+      got it!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I knew your name was familiar. Why, you&#8217;re
+      the mate that handled the mutinous crew aboard Uncle Jim&#8217;s bark, the
+      <i>Pacer</i>, off Mauritius, in the typhoon, when he was hurt and in the
+      cabin. I&#8217;ve heard him tell it a dozen times. Well, this <i>is</i> a
+      lucky day for me!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was evidently pleased. &#8220;So he told you that, did he?&#8221;
+      he began. &#8220;That <i>was</i> a time and a half, I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was interrupted. Over the rail appeared a blue<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> helmet, and an instant
+      later a big and very pompous police officer leaped to the deck. He was
+      followed by the wharf watchman, who looked frightened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Where&#8217;s the other one of them?&#8221; demanded the policeman.
+      &#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s you, is it? Well, you&#8217;re too old to be gettin&#8217;
+      drunk and fightin&#8217;. Come along now, peaceable, and let&#8217;s have
+      no words about it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He advanced and laid a hand on the captain&#8217;s arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;re under arrest,&#8221; he announced. &#8220;Will you
+      come along quiet?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m under arrest?&#8221; repeated Captain Elisha. &#8220;Under&mdash;My
+      soul and body! Why, I ain&#8217;t done anything.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I know. Nobody&#8217;s done nothin&#8217;. Come on, or shall I&mdash;Hello,
+      Mr. Pearson, sir! How d&#8217;you do?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson had stepped forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Slattery,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you&#8217;ve made a mistake. Let
+      me tell you about it.&#8221; He drew the officer aside and whispered in
+      his ear. After a rather lengthy conversation, the guardian of the peace
+      turned to the watchman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What d&#8217;you mean by tellin&#8217; all them lies?&#8221; he
+      demanded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Lies?&#8221; repeated the astonished watchman. &#8220;I never told
+      no lies.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You did. You said this gentleman,&#8221; indicating the nervous and
+      apprehensive Captain Elisha, &#8220;was fightin&#8217; and murderin&#8217;.
+      I ask your pardon, sir. &#8217;Twas this bloke&#8217;s foolishness. G&#8217;wan
+      ashore! You make me sick. Good day, Mr. Pearson.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed, driving his new victim before him and tongue-lashing him all
+      the way. The captain drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say, Mr. Pearson,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;a minute or so ago you
+      said this was a lucky day for you. I cal&#8217;late it&#8217;s a luckier
+      one for me. If it hadn&#8217;t been for you I&#8217;d been<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> took up.
+      Yes, sir, took up and carted off to the lockup. Whew! that would have
+      looked well in the papers, wouldn&#8217;t it? And my niece and nephew....
+      Jerushy! I&#8217;m mightily obliged to you. How did you handle that
+      policeman so easily?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson laughed. &#8220;Oh,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;a newspaper training
+      and acquaintance has its advantages. Slattery knows me, and I know him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I thank you, I do so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You needn&#8217;t. I wouldn&#8217;t have missed meeting you and
+      seeing you handle those fellows for a good deal. And besides, you&#8217;re
+      not going to escape so easy. You must lunch with me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain started, hastily pulled out his watch, and looked at it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Quarter to one!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;And I said I&#8217;d be
+      back at that lawyer&#8217;s office at half-past twelve. No, no, Mr.
+      Pearson, I can&#8217;t go to lunch with you, but I do wish you&#8217;d
+      come and see me some time. My address for&mdash;for a spell, anyhow&mdash;is
+      Central Park West,&#8221; giving the number, &#8220;and the name is
+      Warren, same as mine. Will you come some evenin&#8217;? I&#8217;d be
+      tickled to death to see you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man was evidently delighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Will I?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Indeed I will. I warn you,
+      Captain Warren, that I shall probably keep you busy spinning sea yarns.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothin&#8217; I like better, though I&#8217;m afraid my yarns&#8217;ll
+      be pretty dull alongside of your Uncle Jim&#8217;s.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ll risk it. Good-by and good luck. I shall see you very
+      soon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s right; do. So long.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span>he
+      boy, Captain Elisha&#8217;s acquaintance of the morning, was out, regaling
+      himself with crullers and milk at a pushcart on Broad Street, when the
+      captain returned to the officers of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves. The clerk
+      who had taken his place was very respectful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; he said, &#8220;Mr. Sylvester was sorry to
+      miss you. He waited until half past twelve and left word for us to
+      telephone if you came. Our Mr. Graves is still ill, and the matter of your
+      brother&#8217;s estate must be discussed without further delay. Please sit
+      down and I will telephone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain seated himself on the leather-covered bench, and the clerk
+      entered the inner office. He returned, a few moments later, to say:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Sylvester is at the Central Club. He wished me to ask if you
+      could conveniently join him there.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha pondered. &#8220;Why, yes,&#8221; he replied, slowly,
+      &#8220;I s&#8217;pose I could. I don&#8217;t know why I couldn&#8217;t.
+      Where is this&mdash;er&mdash;club of his?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;On Fifth Avenue, near Fifty-second Street. I&#8217;ll send one of
+      our boys with you if you like.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no! I can pilot myself, I guess. I ain&#8217;t so old I can&#8217;t
+      ask my way. Though&mdash;&#8221; with a reminiscent chuckle&mdash;&#8220;if
+      the folks I ask are all sufferin&#8217; from that &#8216;Ugh&#8217;
+      disease, I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t make much headway.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What disease?&#8221; asked the puzzled clerk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>&#8220;Oh,
+      nothin&#8217;. I was just thinkin&#8217; out loud, that&#8217;s all. Mr.
+      Sylvester wants to see me right off, does he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, he said he would wait if I &#8217;phoned him you were coming.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Well, you can tell him I&#8217;ve left the dock, bound in
+      his direction. Say, that young chap that was here when I called the fust
+      time&mdash;studyin&#8217; to be a lawyer, is he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who? Tim? No, indeed. He&#8217;s only the office boy. Why did you
+      ask?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, I was just wonderin&#8217;. I had a notion he might be in
+      trainin&#8217; for a judgeship, he was so high and mighty. Ho! ho! He&#8217;s
+      got talent, that boy has. Nobody but a born genius could have made as many
+      mistakes in one name as he did when he undertook to spell Elisha. Well,
+      sir, I&#8217;m much obliged to you. Good day.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Central Club is a ponderous institution occupying a becomingly
+      gorgeous building on the Avenue. The captain found his way to its door
+      without much trouble. A brass-buttoned attendant answered his ring and
+      superciliously inquired his business. Captain Elisha, not being greatly in
+      awe of either buttons or brief authority, calmly hailed the attendant as
+      &#8220;Gen&#8217;ral&#8221; and informed him that he was there to see Mr.
+      Sylvester, if the latter was &#8220;on deck anywheres.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Tell him it&#8217;s Cap&#8217;n Warren, Major,&#8221; he added
+      cheerfully; &#8220;he&#8217;s expectin&#8217; me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The attendant brusquely ushered the visitor into a leather-upholstered
+      reception room and left him. The captain amused himself by looking at the
+      prints and framed letters and autographs on the walls. Then a round, red,
+      pleasant-faced man entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pardon me,&#8221; he said, &#8220;is this Captain Warren?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      sir,&#8221; was the reply. &#8220;That&#8217;s my name. This is Mr.
+      Sylvester, ain&#8217;t it? Glad to know you, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thanks. Sorry to have made you travel way up here, Captain. I
+      waited until twelve-thirty, but as you didn&#8217;t come then, I gave you
+      up. Hope I haven&#8217;t inconvenienced you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no. Not a mite. Might just as well be here as anywhere. Don&#8217;t
+      think another thing about it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have you lunched, Captain Warren?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, come to think of it, I ain&#8217;t. I&#8217;ve been kind of
+      busy this forenoon, and a little thing like dinner&mdash;luncheon, I mean&mdash;slipped
+      my mind. Though &#8217;tain&#8217;t often I have those slips, I&#8217;m
+      free to say. Ho! ho! Abbie&mdash;she&#8217;s my second cousin, my
+      housekeeper&mdash;says I&#8217;m an unsartin critter, but there&#8217;s
+      two things about me she can always count on, one&#8217;s that my clothes
+      have always got a button loose somewheres, and t&#8217;other&#8217;s my
+      appetite.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He laughed, and Sylvester laughed with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; observed the lawyer, &#8220;I&#8217;m not sure that I
+      couldn&#8217;t qualify on both of those counts. At any rate I&#8217;m sure
+      of my appetite. I had a lunch engagement with an acquaintance of mine, but
+      he hasn&#8217;t appeared, so you must take his place. We&#8217;ll lunch
+      together.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, now, I&#8217;d like to fust-rate, and it&#8217;s real kind of
+      you, Mr. Sylvester; but I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s I&#8217;d better. Your
+      friend may heave in sight, after all, and I&#8217;d be in the way.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not a bit of it. And I said &#8216;acquaintance,&#8217; not &#8216;friend.&#8217;
+      Of course you will! You must. We can talk business while we&#8217;re
+      eating, if you like.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right. And I&#8217;m ever so much obliged to you. Is there an
+      eatin&#8217; house near here?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, we&#8217;ll eat right here at the club. Come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>He
+      led the way, and Captain Elisha followed. The Central Club has a large,
+      exclusive, and wealthy membership, and its quarters correspond. The
+      captain gazed about him at the marble floors and pillars, the paintings
+      and busts, with interest. After checking his hat and coat, as they entered
+      the elevator he asked a question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Which floor is your club on, Mr. Sylvester?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Floor? Why, the dining room is on the fourth, if that&#8217;s what
+      you mean.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I meant how many rooms do you rent?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We occupy the entire building. It is our own, and a comparatively
+      new one. We built it three years ago.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mean this whole shebang is just one <i>club</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! I see. Well, I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What were you going to say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothin&#8217;. I was wonderin&#8217; what fool thing I&#8217;d ask
+      next. I&#8217;m more used to lodge rooms than I am to clubs, I guess. I&#8217;d
+      like to take home a picture of this place to Theophilus Kenney. Theoph&#8217;s
+      been raisin&#8217; hob because the Odd Fellows built on to their buildin&#8217;.
+      He said one room was enough for any society. &#8217;Twould be, if we was
+      all his kind of society. Theoph&#8217;s so small he could keep house in a
+      closet. He&#8217;s always hollerin&#8217; in meetin&#8217; about his soul.
+      I asked the minister if it didn&#8217;t seem ridic&#8217;lous for Kenney
+      to make such a big noise over such a little thing. This where we get off?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dining room was a large and ornate apartment. Captain Elisha, when he
+      first entered it, seemed about to ask another question, but choked it off
+      and remained silent. Sylvester chose a table in a retired corner, and they
+      sat down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>&#8220;Now,
+      Captain Warren,&#8221; said the host, &#8220;what will you eat?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do the orderin&#8217;,&#8221; he replied dryly; &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+      just set and be thankful, like the hen that found the china doorknob.
+      Anything that suits you will do me, I guess.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his companion, gave his
+      orders, and the waiter brought first a bit of caviar on toast. If
+      Sylvester expected this delicacy to produce astonished comments, he was
+      disappointed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, well!&#8221; exclaimed Captain Elisha. &#8220;I declare, you
+      take me back a long ways, Mr. Sylvester. Caviar! Well, well! Why, I haven&#8217;t
+      ate this since I used to go to Cronstadt. At the American consul&#8217;s
+      house there we had it often enough. Has a kind of homey taste even yet.
+      That consul was a good feller. He and I were great friends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I met him a long spell after that, when I was down in Mexico,&#8221;
+      he went on. &#8220;He&#8217;d made money and was down on a vacation. My
+      ship was at Acapulco, and he and I used to go gunnin&#8217; together,
+      after wild geese and such. Ho! ho! I remember there was a big, pompous
+      critter of an Englishman there. Mind you, I&#8217;m not talkin&#8217;
+      against the English. Some of the best men I ever met were English, and I&#8217;ve
+      stood back to back with a British mate on a Genoa wharf when half of Italy
+      was hoppin&#8217; around makin&#8217; proclamations that they was goin&#8217;
+      to swallow us alive. And, somehow or &#8217;nother, they didn&#8217;t.
+      Took with prophetic indigestion, maybe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;However, this Englishman at Acapulco was diff&#8217;rent. He was so
+      swelled with importance that his back hollered in like Cape Cod Bay on the
+      map. His front bent out to correspond, though, so I cal&#8217;late he
+      averaged up all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+      right. Well, he heard about what a good&mdash;that I was pretty lucky when
+      it come to shootin&#8217; wild geese, and I&#8217;m blessed if he didn&#8217;t
+      send me orders to get him one for a dinner he was goin&#8217; to give.
+      Didn&#8217;t ask&mdash;<i>ordered</i> me to do it, you understand. And him
+      nothin&#8217; but a consignee, with no more control over me than the
+      average female Sunday-school teacher has over a class of boys. Not so
+      much, because she&#8217;s supposed to have official authority, and he wa&#8217;n&#8217;t.
+      <i>And</i> he didn&#8217;t invite me to the dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, the next time my friend, the ex-consul, and I went out gunnin&#8217;,
+      I told him of the Englishman&#8217;s &#8216;orders.&#8217; He was mad.
+      &#8216;What are you goin&#8217; to do about it?&#8217; he asks. &#8216;Don&#8217;t
+      know yet,&#8217; says I, &#8216;we&#8217;ll see.&#8217; By and by we come
+      in sight of one of them long-legged cranes, big birds you know, standin&#8217;
+      fishin&#8217; at the edge of some reeds. I up with my gun and shot it. The
+      consul chap looked at me as if I was crazy. &#8216;What in the world did
+      you kill that fish-basket on stilts for?&#8217; he says. &#8216;Son,&#8217;
+      says I, &#8216;your eyesight is bad. That&#8217;s a British-American
+      goose. Chop off about three feet of neck and a couple of fathom of hind
+      legs and pick and clean what&#8217;s left, and I shouldn&#8217;t wonder if
+      &#8217;twould make a good dinner for a mutual friend of ours&mdash;good <i>enough</i>,
+      anyhow.&#8217; Well, sir! that ex-consul set plump down in the mud and
+      laughed and laughed. Ho, ho! Oh, dear me!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did you send it to the Englishman?&#8221; asked Sylvester.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes, I sent it. And, after a good while and in a roundabout
+      way, I heard that the whole dinner party vowed &#8217;twas the best wild
+      goose they ever ate. So I ain&#8217;t sure just who the joke was on.
+      However, I&#8217;m satisfied with my end. Well, there! I guess you must
+      think I&#8217;m pretty talky on short acquaintance, Mr. Sylvester.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> You&#8217;ll
+      have to excuse me; that caviar set me to thinkin&#8217; about old times.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His host was shaking all over. &#8220;Go ahead, Captain,&#8221; he cried.
+      &#8220;Got any more as good as that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Captain Elisha merely smiled and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t get me started on Mexico,&#8221; he observed. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+      liable to yarn all the rest of the afternoon. Let&#8217;s see, we was goin&#8217;
+      to talk over my brother&#8217;s business a little mite, wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      we?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes, we should. Now, Captain Warren, just how much do you know
+      about your late brother&#8217;s affairs?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Except what Mr. Graves told me, nothin&#8217; of importance. And,
+      afore we go any further, let me ask a question. Do <i>you</i> know why
+      &#8217;Bije made me his executor and guardian and all the rest of it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do not. Graves drew his will, and so, of course, we knew of your
+      existence and your appointment. Your brother forbade our mentioning it,
+      but we did not know, until after his death, that his own children were
+      unaware they had an uncle. It seems strange, doesn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It does to me; <i>so</i> strange that I can&#8217;t see two lengths
+      ahead. I cal&#8217;late Mr. Graves told you how I felt about it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. That is, he said you were very much surprised.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s puttin&#8217; it mild enough. And did he tell you that
+      &#8217;Bije and I hadn&#8217;t seen each other, or even written, in
+      eighteen years?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Well, when you consider <i>that</i>, can you wonder I was
+      set all aback? And the more I think of it, the foggier it gets. Why, Mr.
+      Sylvester, it&#8217;s one of them situations that are impossible, that you
+      can prove<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+      fifty ways <i>can&#8217;t</i> happen. And yet, it has&mdash;it sartinly
+      has. Now tell me: Are you, or your firm, well acquainted with my brother&#8217;s
+      affairs?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not well, no. The late Mr. Warren was a close-mouthed man, rather
+      secretive, in fact.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! that bein&#8217; one of the p&#8217;ints where he was
+      different from his nighest relation, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m not so sure. Have you questioned the children?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline and Steve? Yes, I&#8217;ve questioned &#8217;em more than
+      they think I have, maybe. And they know&mdash;well, leavin&#8217; out
+      about the price of oil paintin&#8217;s and the way to dress and that it&#8217;s
+      more or less of a disgrace to economize on twenty thousand a year, their
+      worldly knowledge ain&#8217;t too extensive.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do you like them?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess so. Just now ain&#8217;t the fairest time to judge &#8217;em.
+      You see they&#8217;re sufferin&#8217; from the joyful shock of their
+      country relation droppin&#8217; in, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and rubbed his chin. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were
+      not. Sylvester noted their expression, and guessed many things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;They haven&#8217;t been disagreeable, I hope?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No-o. No, I wouldn&#8217;t want to say that. They&#8217;re young
+      and&mdash;and, well, I ain&#8217;t the kind they&#8217;ve been used to.
+      Caroline&#8217;s a nice girl. She is, sure. All she needs is to grow a
+      little older and have the right kind of advice and&mdash;and friends.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How about the boy?&#8221; Mr. Sylvester had met young Warren, and
+      his eyes twinkled as he spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve? Well,&#8221; there was an answering twinkle in Captain
+      Elisha&#8217;s eye; &#8220;well, Steve needs to grow, too; though I wouldn&#8217;t
+      presume to tell him so. When a feller&#8217;s undertakin&#8217; to give
+      advice to one of the seven wise men, he has to be diplomatic, as you might
+      say.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>The
+      lawyer put back his head and laughed uproariously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ha! ha!&#8221; he crowed. &#8220;That&#8217;s good! Then, from your
+      questioning of the children, you&#8217;ve learned&mdash;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not such an awful lot. I think I&#8217;ve learned that&mdash;hum!
+      that a good guardian might be a handy thing to have in the house. A reg&#8217;lar
+      legal guardian, I mean. Otherwise&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Otherwise?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Otherwise there might be too many disinterested volunteer
+      substitutes for the job. Maybe I&#8217;m wrong, but I doubt it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have you made up your mind to be that guardian?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not yet. I haven&#8217;t made up my mind to anything yet. Now, Mr.
+      Sylvester, while we&#8217;re waitin&#8217; for what comes next&mdash;you&#8217;ve
+      ordered enough grub to victual a ship&mdash;s&#8217;pose you just run over
+      what your firm knows about &#8217;Bije. That is, if I ain&#8217;t askin&#8217;
+      too much.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not at all. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m here for. You have a right
+      to know. But I warn you my information isn&#8217;t worth much.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went on, briefly and with the conciseness of the legal mind, to tell of
+      A. Rodgers Warren, his business and his estate. He had been a broker with
+      a seat on the Stock Exchange.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That seat is worth consider&#8217;ble, ain&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+      interrupted the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Between eighty and one hundred thousand dollars.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. Well, it reminds me of a picture I saw once in one of the
+      comic papers. An old feller from the backwoods somewheres&mdash;good deal
+      like me, he was, and just about as green&mdash;was pictured standin&#8217;
+      along with his city nephew in the gallery of the Exchange. And the nephew
+      says, &#8216;Uncle,&#8217; says he, &#8216;do you realize that a seat<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> down
+      there&#8217;s wuth seventy-five thousand dollars?&#8217; &#8216;Gosh!&#8217;
+      says the old man, &#8216;no wonder most of &#8217;em are standin&#8217;
+      up.&#8217; Ho! ho! Is that seat of &#8217;Bije&#8217;s part of the five
+      hundred thousand you figger he&#8217;s left?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, in a way it is. To be truthful, Captain Warren, we&#8217;re
+      not sure as to the amount of your brother&#8217;s tangible assets. Graves
+      made a hurried examination of the stocks, bonds, and memoranda, and
+      estimated the total, that&#8217;s all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see. Well, heave ahead.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer went on. The dead broker&#8217;s office had been on Broad
+      Street. A small office, with but two clerks. One of the clerks was
+      retained, and the office, having been leased for a year by its former
+      tenant, was still open pending the settlement of the estate. A. Rodgers
+      Warren personally was a man who looked older than he really was, a good
+      liver, and popular among his companions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What sort of fellers were his companions?&#8221; asked Captain
+      Elisha.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mean his friends in society, or his companions downtown in Wall
+      Street?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The Wall Street ones. I guess I can find out something about the
+      society ones. Anyhow, I can try. These Wall Streeters that &#8217;Bije
+      chummed with&mdash;a quiet lot, was they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester hesitated. &#8220;Why&mdash;why&mdash;not particularly so,&#8221;
+      he admitted. &#8220;Nothing crooked about them, of course. You see, a
+      stock-broker&#8217;s life is a nerve-racking, rather exciting one, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And &#8217;Bije and his chums were excited, too, hey? All right,
+      you needn&#8217;t go any further. He was a good husband while his wife
+      lived, wa&#8217;n&#8217;t he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Frankly, Captain Warren, so far as I know,<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> your brother&#8217;s
+      personal habits were good. There was nothing against his character.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m mighty glad to hear it. Mighty glad. Is there anything
+      else you can tell me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Our next move, provided you decide to accept the trust, the
+      executorship, and the rest, is to get together&mdash;you and Graves, if he
+      is well enough; you and I if he is not&mdash;and begin a careful
+      examination of the stocks, bonds, assets, and debts of the estate. This
+      must be done first of all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Graves hinted there wa&#8217;n&#8217;t any debts, to amount to
+      anything.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So far as we can see, there are none, except a few trifling bills.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes. Hum!&#8221; Captain Elisha put down his coffee spoon and
+      seemed to be thinking. He shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You appear to be puzzled about something,&#8221; observed the
+      lawyer, who was watching him intently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I am. I was puzzled afore I left home, and I&#8217;m just as
+      puzzled now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What puzzles you? if I may ask.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Everything. And, if you&#8217;ll excuse my sayin&#8217; so, Mr.
+      Sylvester, I guess it puzzles you, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He returned his host&#8217;s look. The latter pushed back his chair,
+      preparatory to rising.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is all so perfectly simple, on the face of it, Captain Warren,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;Your brother realized that he must die, that his children
+      and their money must be taken care of; you were his nearest relative; his
+      trust in your honesty and judgment caused him to overlook the estrangement
+      between you. That&#8217;s the case, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. That&#8217;s the case, on the face of it, as you say. But you&#8217;ve
+      forgot to mention one item.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>&#8220;What&#8217;s
+      that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8217;Bije himself. You knew him pretty well, I can see that. So
+      did I. And I guess that&#8217;s why we&#8217;re both puzzled.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha folded his napkin with care and stood up. Sylvester rose,
+      also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Come downstairs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We can enjoy our cigars
+      more comfortably there, and go on with our talk. That is, unless you&#8217;re
+      in a great hurry.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I ain&#8217;t in any special hurry. So I get up to Caroline&#8217;s
+      in season for supper&mdash;er, dinner, I mean&mdash;I don&#8217;t care.
+      But I don&#8217;t want to keep you. You&#8217;re a busy man.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;This is business. This way, Captain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The big lounging room of the club, on the first floor, Fifth Avenue side,
+      was almost empty when they entered it. The lawyer drew two big chairs near
+      the open fire, rang the bell, and ordered cigars. After the cigars were
+      lighted and the fragrant clouds of tobacco smoke were rising, he reopened
+      the conversation. And now, in an easy, diplomatic way, he took his turn at
+      questioning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was pretty thorough pumping, managed with the skill of an experienced
+      cross-examiner. Captain Elisha, without realizing that he was doing so,
+      told of his boyhood, his life at sea, his home at South Denboro, his
+      position in the village, his work as selectman, as member of the school
+      committee, and as director in the bank. The tone of the questioner
+      expressed nothing&mdash;he was too well trained for that&mdash;but every
+      item of information was tabulated and appraised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The tall mahogany-cased clock struck three, then four. The lawyer finished
+      his cigar and lit another. He offered a fresh one to his guest, but the
+      offer was declined.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, thank you,&#8221; observed the captain. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> yarnin&#8217;
+      away so fast that my breath&#8217;s been too busy to keep this one goin&#8217;.
+      There&#8217;s consider&#8217;ble left yet. This is a better smoke than I&#8217;m
+      used to gettin&#8217; at the store down home. I tell Ryder&mdash;he&#8217;s
+      our storekeeper and postmaster&mdash;that he must buy his cigars on the
+      reel and cut &#8217;em off with the scissors. When the gang of us all got
+      a-goin&#8217; mail times, it smells like a rope-walk burnin&#8217; down.
+      Ho! ho! It does, for a fact. Yet I kind of enjoy one of his five-centers,
+      after all. You can get used to most anything. Maybe it&#8217;s the home
+      flavor or the society. P&#8217;raps they&#8217;d taste better still if
+      they was made of seaweed. I&#8217;ll trouble you for a match, Mr.
+      Sylvester. Two of &#8217;em, if you don&#8217;t mind.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He whittled one match to a point with his pocket knife, impaled the cigar
+      stump upon it, and relit with the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile the room had been filling up. Around each of the big windows
+      overlooking the Avenue were gathered groups of men, young and old,
+      smoking, chatting, and gazing idly out. Captain Elisha regarded them
+      curiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;This ain&#8217;t a holiday, is it?&#8221; he asked, after a while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was just wonderin&#8217; if all those fellers hadn&#8217;t any
+      work to do, that&#8217;s all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who? That crowd?&#8221; The lawyer laughed. &#8220;Oh, they&#8217;re
+      doing their regular stunt. You&#8217;ll find most of them here every
+      afternoon about this time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You don&#8217;t say. Pay &#8217;em wages for it, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not that I know of. Some of them are brokers, who come up after the
+      Exchange closes. Others are business men, active or retired. Some don&#8217;t
+      have any business&mdash;except what they&#8217;re doing now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to know! Humph! They remind me of the gang in the
+      billiard-room back home. The billiard-roomers&mdash;the<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> chronic
+      ones&mdash;don&#8217;t have any business, either, except to keep the dust
+      from collectin&#8217; on the chairs. That and talkin&#8217; about hard
+      times. These chaps don&#8217;t seem to be sufferin&#8217; from hard times,
+      much.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Most of the younger set have rich fathers or have inherited
+      money.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see. They let the old man do the worryin&#8217;. That&#8217;s
+      philosophy, anyhow. What are they so interested in outside? Parade goin&#8217;
+      by?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. I imagine an unusually pretty girl passed just then.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is that so? Well, well! Say, Mr. Sylvester, the longer I stay in
+      New York the more I see that the main difference between it and South
+      Denboro is size. The billiard-room gang acts just the same way when the
+      downstairs school teacher goes past. Hello!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That young chap by the mizzen window looks sort of familiar to me.
+      The one that stood up to shake a day-day to whoever was passin&#8217;.
+      Hum! He&#8217;s made a hit, ain&#8217;t he? I expect some unprotected
+      female&#8217;s heart broke at that signal. I cal&#8217;late I know him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who? Which one? Oh, that&#8217;s young Corcoran Dunn. He is a
+      lady-killer, in his own estimation. How d&#8217;ye do, Dunn.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man turning grinning from the window, caught a glimpse of the
+      lawyer as the latter rose to identify him. He strolled over to the fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hello, Sylvester,&#8221; he hailed, carelessly. &#8220;That was a
+      peach. You should have seen her. What? Why, it&#8217;s the Admiral!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How d&#8217;ye do, Mr. Dunn,&#8221; said Captain Elisha.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have you two met before?&#8221; asked Sylvester in astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>&#8220;Yes.
+      I had the pleasure of assisting in the welcoming salute when our seafarin&#8217;
+      friend come aboard. How was that, Captain? Some nautical class to that
+      remark?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. You done fust rate, considerin&#8217; how recent you shipped.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thanks. Overwhelmed, I&#8217;m sure.&#8221; Then, with a look of
+      languid amusement at the pair, &#8220;What is this&mdash;a meeting of the
+      Board of Naval Affairs? Have you bought a yacht, Sylvester?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No.&#8221; The lawyer&#8217;s tone was sharp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Well, take my advice and don&#8217;t. Yachts are all right,
+      to have a good time on, but they cost like the devil to keep up. An auto
+      is bad enough. By the way, Sylvester, did you hear about my running over
+      the Irishman this morning?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Running over?&#8221; repeated the captain, aghast. &#8220;You didn&#8217;t
+      run over nobody, I hope.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I came devilish near it. Ha! ha! You see, the old tarrier was
+      crossing Saint Nicholas Avenue, with a big market basket full of
+      provisions&mdash;the family dinner, I suppose. By Jove, the household
+      appetites must be good ones. It was slippery as the mischief, I was
+      running the car, and I tried to go between the fellow and the curb. It
+      would have been a decent bit of steering if I&#8217;d made it. But&mdash;ha!
+      ha!&mdash;by Jove, you know, I didn&#8217;t. I skidded. The man himself
+      managed to hop out of the way, but his foot slipped, and down he went.
+      Most ridiculous thing you ever saw. And the street! &#8217;Pon my word it
+      was paved with eatables.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester, plainly annoyed, did not reply. But Captain Elisha&#8217;s
+      concern was evident.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The poor critter!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;What did you do?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>&#8220;The
+      last I saw of him he was sitting in the mud, looking at the upset. I didn&#8217;t
+      linger. Peters took the wheel, and we beat it. Lucky the cop didn&#8217;t
+      spot the license number. Might have cost me fifty. They&#8217;ve had me up
+      for speeding twice before. What are you and the Admiral discussing,
+      Sylvester?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We were discussing a business matter,&#8221; answered the lawyer,
+      with significant emphasis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Business? Why, sure! I forgot that you were Graves&#8217;s partner.
+      Settling the family affairs, hey? Well, I won&#8217;t butt in. Ta, ta! See
+      you later, Captain. You must go for a spin in that car of mine. I&#8217;ll
+      call for you some day. I&#8217;ll show you something they don&#8217;t do
+      on Cape Cod. Regards to Caro and Steve.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He moved off, feeling that his invitation would have met with his mother&#8217;s
+      approval. She had announced that the country uncle was to be &#8220;cultivated.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s cigar had gone out. He did not attempt to relight
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whew!&#8221; he whistled. &#8220;Well, when I go for a &#8216;spin,&#8217;
+      as he calls it, with <i>him</i>, I cal&#8217;late my head&#8217;ll be
+      spinnin&#8217; so I won&#8217;t be responsible for my actions. Whew!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester looked curiously at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So you met him before?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. He was at the rooms when I fust landed. Or his mother was
+      there then. He came a little later with Caroline and Stephen.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Know him and his ma pretty well, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Slightly. I&#8217;ve met them, at mutual acquaintances&#8217; homes
+      and about town.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pretty well fixed, I s&#8217;pose, ain&#8217;t they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume so. I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>&#8220;Um.
+      He&#8217;s a sociable young feller, ain&#8217;t he? Don&#8217;t stand on
+      any ceremony, hey? Caro and Steve think a lot of him and his mother.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Graves has told me the Dunns were very intimate with the
+      Warrens. In fact, just before your brother&#8217;s death, I remember
+      hearing a rumor that the two families might be even closer connected.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mean&mdash;er&mdash;Caroline and&mdash;er&mdash;him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There was such a rumor. Probably nothing in it. There is no
+      engagement, I am very sure.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes, I see. Well, Mr. Sylvester, I must be trottin&#8217; on.
+      I&#8217;ll think the whole business over for another day or so and then
+      give you my decision, one way or the other.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You can&#8217;t give it now?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No-o. I guess I&#8217;d better not. However, I think&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I think I may take the job. Take it on trial, anyhow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good! I&#8217;m glad of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You <i>are</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I certainly am. And I&#8217;m very glad indeed to have made your
+      acquaintance, Captain Warren. Good afternoon. I shall hope to see you
+      again soon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha left the Central Club in a surprised frame of mind. What
+      surprised him was that a man of such thorough city training and habits as
+      the senior partner of the law firm should express pleasure at the idea of
+      his accepting the charge of A. Rodgers Warren&#8217;s heirs and estate.
+      Mr. Graves had shown no such feeling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If he had heard Sylvester&#8217;s report to Kuhn, at the office next day,
+      he might have been even more surprised and pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He&#8217;s a brick, Kuhn,&#8221; declared the senior partner.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+      &#8220;A countryman, of course, but a keen, able, honest man, and, I
+      think, a mighty good judge of character. If I was as sure of his ability
+      to judge investments and financial affairs, I should be certain the Warren
+      children couldn&#8217;t be in better hands. And no doubt we can help him
+      when it comes to that. He&#8217;ll probably handle the girl and boy in his
+      own way, and his outside greenness may jar them a little. But it&#8217;ll
+      do them good to be jarred at their age. He&#8217;s all right, and I hope
+      he accepts the whole trust.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Kuhn; &#8220;you surprise me. Graves
+      seemed to be&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Graves suffers from the absolute lack of a sense of humor. His path
+      through life is about three feet wide and bordered with rock-ribbed
+      conventionality. If a man has a joke in his system, Graves doesn&#8217;t
+      understand it and is suspicious. I tell, you, Kuhn, there&#8217;s more
+      honest common sense and ability in the right hand of this Down-East salt
+      than there ever was in Rodgers Warren&#8217;s whole body.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">D</span>uring
+      the next day Caroline Warren and her brother saw little of their uncle.
+      Not that they complained of this or sought his society. The policy of
+      avoidance and what Stephen called &#8220;freezing out&#8221; had begun,
+      and the young people kept to themselves as much as possible. At breakfast
+      Caroline was coldly polite, and her brother cold, although his politeness
+      was not overdone. However, Captain Elisha did not seem to notice. He was
+      preoccupied, said but little, and spent the forenoon in writing a second
+      letter to Miss Abigail. In it he told of his experience on board the <i>Empress
+      of the Ocean</i> and of the luncheon at the Central Club. But he said
+      nothing concerning his nephew and niece further than the statement that he
+      was still getting acquainted, and that Caroline was a real nice looking
+      girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I suppose you wonder what I&#8217;ve decided about taking the
+      guardianship,&#8221; he added, just at the close. &#8220;Well, Abbie, I&#8217;m
+      about in the position of Luther Sylvester when he fell off the dock at
+      Orham. The tide was out, and he went into the soft mud, all under. When
+      the folks who saw him tumble got to the edge and looked over, they saw a
+      round, black thing sticking out of the mire, and, judging &#8217;twas Lute&#8217;s
+      head, they asked him how he felt. &#8216;I don&#8217;t know yet,&#8217;
+      sputters Lute, &#8216;whether I&#8217;m drowned or smothered, but I&#8217;m
+      somewheres betwixt and between.&#8217; That&#8217;s me, Abbie, on that
+      guardian business. I&#8217;m still betwixt and between. But<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+      before this day&#8217;s over I&#8217;ll be drowned or smothered, and I&#8217;ll
+      let you know which next time I write.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After lunch he took a stroll in the Park and passed up and down the paths,
+      thinking, thinking. Returning, he found that Caroline and Stephen had gone
+      for an auto ride with the Dunns and would not be home for dinner. So he
+      ate that meal in solitary state, waited upon by Edwards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That evening, as he sat smoking in the library, the butler appeared to
+      announce a caller.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Someone to see you, sir,&#8221; said Edwards. &#8220;Here&#8217;s
+      his card, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Eh? Someone to see <i>me</i>? Guess you&#8217;ve made a mistake,
+      haven&#8217;t you, Commodore? I don&#8217;t know anybody who&#8217;d be
+      likely to come visitin&#8217; me here in New York. Why, yes! Well, I
+      declare! Tell him to walk right in. Mr. Pearson, I&#8217;m glad to see
+      you. This is real neighborly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The caller was young Pearson, the captain&#8217;s acquaintance of the
+      previous forenoon. They shook hands heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Perhaps you didn&#8217;t think I should accept that invitation of
+      yours, Captain Warren,&#8221; observed Pearson. &#8220;I told you I meant
+      it when I said yes. And calling within thirty-six hours is pretty good
+      proof, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Suits me fust-rate. I&#8217;m mighty glad you came. Set right down.
+      Lonesome at the boardin&#8217; house, was it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson made a grimace. &#8220;Lonesome!&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Ugh!
+      Let&#8217;s talk of something else. Were you in time for your appointment
+      yesterday noon?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes; I was and I wasn&#8217;t. Say, won&#8217;t you have a
+      cigar? That&#8217;s right. And I s&#8217;pose, bein&#8217; as this is New
+      York, I&#8217;d ought to ask you to take somethin&#8217; to lay the dust,
+      hey? I ain&#8217;t made any inquiries myself, but I<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> shouldn&#8217;t wonder
+      if the Commodore&mdash;the feller that let you in&mdash;could find
+      somethin&#8217; in the spare room closet or somewheres, if I ask him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man laughed. &#8220;If you mean a drink,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I
+      don&#8217;t care for it, thank you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What? You ain&#8217;t a teetotaler, are you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, not exactly. But&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But you can get along without it, hey? So can I; generally do, fur&#8217;s
+      that goes. But <i>I&#8217;m</i> from South Denboro. I thought here in New
+      York&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, there are many people, even here in New York, who are not
+      convinced that alcohol is a food.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You don&#8217;t tell me! Well, I&#8217;m livin&#8217; and learnin&#8217;
+      every day. Judgin&#8217; from stories and the yarns in the Boston
+      newspapers, folks up our way have the idea that this town is a sort of
+      annex to the bad place. All right, then we won&#8217;t trouble the
+      Commodore. I notice you&#8217;re lookin&#8217; over my quarters. What do
+      you think of &#8217;em?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson had, in spite of himself, been glancing about the room. Its luxury
+      and the evident signs of taste and wealth surprised him greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Astonish you to find me livin&#8217; in a place like this, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, why, yes, it does, somewhat. I didn&#8217;t realize you were
+      such an aristocrat, Captain Warren. If I had, I might have been a little
+      more careful of my dress in making my first call.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dress? Oh, you mean you&#8217;d have put on your Sunday clothes.
+      Well, I&#8217;m glad you didn&#8217;t. You see, <i>I</i> haven&#8217;t got
+      on my regimentals, and if you&#8217;d been on dress parade I might have
+      felt bashful. Ho, ho! I don&#8217;t wonder you are surprised. This is a
+      pretty swell neighborhood, ain&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, it is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>&#8220;These&mdash;er&mdash;apartments,
+      now. &#8217;Bout as good as any in town, are they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pretty nearly. There are few better&mdash;much better.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I thought so. You wouldn&#8217;t call livin&#8217; in &#8217;em
+      economizin&#8217; to any consider&#8217;ble extent, would you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; with a laugh; &#8220;no, <i>I</i> shouldn&#8217;t, but
+      my ideas of economy are&mdash;well, different. They have to be. Are you
+      ecomomizing, Captain?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha laughed and rubbed his knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; he chuckled, &#8220;<i>I</i> ain&#8217;t, but my nephew
+      and niece are. These are their rooms.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, you&#8217;re visiting?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s you&#8217;d call it visitin&#8217;.
+      I don&#8217;t know what you would call it. I&#8217;m here, that&#8217;s
+      about all you can say.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and remained silent. His friend was silent, also, not knowing
+      exactly what remark to make.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How&#8217;s the novel comin&#8217; on?&#8221; asked the captain, a
+      minute later.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, slowly. I&#8217;m not at all sure it will ever be finished. I
+      get discouraged sometimes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No use in doin&#8217; that. What sort of a yarn is it goin&#8217;
+      to be? Give me a gen&#8217;ral idea of the course you&#8217;re tryin&#8217;
+      to steer. That is, if it ain&#8217;t a secret.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It isn&#8217;t. But there&#8217;s mighty little worth telling. When
+      I began I thought I had a good scheme, but it seems pretty weak and
+      dish-watery now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Most things do while their bein&#8217; done, if you really care
+      about doin&#8217; &#8217;em well. Heave ahead! You said &#8217;twas a sea
+      yarn, and I&#8217;m a sort of specialist when it comes to salt water.
+      Maybe I might prescribe just the right tonic, though &#8217;tain&#8217;t
+      very likely.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson began to outline the plot of his novel, speaking<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+      slowly at first, but becoming more interested as he continued. Captain
+      Elisha listened meditatively, puffing solemnly at his cigar, and
+      interrupting but seldom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think that&#8217;s a pretty good idea,&#8221; he observed, at
+      length. &#8220;Yes, sir, that sounds promisin&#8217;, to me. This cap&#8217;n
+      of yours now, he&#8217;s a good feller. Don&#8217;t get him too good,
+      though; that wouldn&#8217;t be natural. And don&#8217;t get him too bad,
+      neither. I know it&#8217;s the fashion, judgin&#8217; by the sea yarns I&#8217;ve
+      read lately, to have a Yankee skipper sort of a cross between a prize
+      fighter and a murderer. Fust day out of port he begins by pickin&#8217;
+      out the most sickly fo&#8217;mast hand aboard, mashes him up, and then
+      takes the next invalid. I got a book about that kind of a skipper out of
+      our library down home a spell ago, and the librarian said &#8217;twas
+      awful popular. A strong story, she said, and true to life. Well, &#8217;twas
+      strong&mdash;you could pretty nigh smell it&mdash;but as for bein&#8217;
+      true to life, I had my doubts. I&#8217;ve been to sea, command of a
+      vessel, for a good many years, and sometimes I&#8217;d go weeks, whole
+      weeks, without jumpin&#8217; up and down on a single sailor. Fact! Got my
+      exercise other ways, I presume likely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I tell you,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;the main trouble with that
+      tale of yours, as I see it, is that you&#8217;re talkin&#8217; about
+      things you ain&#8217;t ever seen. Now there&#8217;s plenty you have seen,
+      I wouldn&#8217;t wonder. Let&#8217;s see, you was born in Belfast, you
+      said. Live there long, did you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, until I went away to school.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Your father, he went to sea, did he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. But his ship was lost, with all hands, when I was a baby.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But your Uncle Jim wa&#8217;n&#8217;t lost. You remember him well;
+      you said so. Tell me something you remember.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>Before
+      the young man was aware of it, he was telling of his Uncle Jim, of the
+      latter&#8217;s return from voyages, of his own home life, of his mother,
+      and of the village where he spent his boyhood. Then, led on by the captain&#8217;s
+      questioning, he continued with his years at college, his experiences as
+      reporter and city editor. Without being conscious that he was doing so, he
+      gave his host a pretty full sketch of himself, his story, and his
+      ambitions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Pearson,&#8221; said Captain Elisha, earnestly, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+      you worry about that yarn of yours. If you&#8217;ll take the advice of an
+      old feller who knows absolutely nothin&#8217; about such things, keep on
+      rememberin&#8217; about your Uncle Jim. He was a man, every inch of him,
+      and a seaman, too. Put lots of him into this hero of yours, and you won&#8217;t
+      go fur wrong. And when it comes to handlin&#8217; a ship, why&mdash;well,
+      if you <i>want</i> to come to me, I&#8217;ll try and help you out best I
+      can.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was delighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You <i>will</i>?&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Splendid! It&#8217;s
+      mighty good of you. May I spring some of my stuff on you as I write it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sartin you may. Any time, I&#8217;ll be tickled to death. I&#8217;ll
+      be tickled to have you call, too; that is, if callin&#8217; on an old salt
+      like me won&#8217;t be too tirin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The answer was emphatic and reassuring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Captain Elisha. &#8220;I&#8217;m much
+      obliged. Come often, do. I&mdash;well, the fact is, I&#8217;m likely to
+      get sort of lonesome myself, I&#8217;m afraid. Yes, I shouldn&#8217;t
+      wonder if I did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He sighed, tossed away the stump of his cigar, and added,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now, I want to ask you somethin&#8217;. You newspaper fellers are
+      supposed to know about all there is to know<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> of everything under the
+      sun. Do you know much about the Stock Exchange?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All I can afford to know,&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! That&#8217;s a pretty good answer. Knowledge is power, they
+      say, but&mdash;but I cal&#8217;late knowledge of the Stock Exchange is
+      poverty, with a good many folks.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think you&#8217;re right, Captain. It&#8217;s none of my
+      business, but&mdash;were you planning to tackle Wall Street?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha glanced, under his brows, at his new friend, and his eyes
+      twinkled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Didn&#8217;t know but I might,&#8221; he replied, solemnly. &#8220;Ain&#8217;t
+      got any&mdash;er&mdash;tips, any sure things you want to put me on to,
+      have you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have not. My experience of Wall Street &#8216;sure things&#8217;
+      leads me to believe that they&#8217;re sure&mdash;but only for the other
+      fellow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! I know a chap down home that made money in stocks. He made it
+      so easy that, as the boys say, &#8217;twas almost a shame to take the
+      money. And &#8217;twas the makin&#8217; of him, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was embarrassed and troubled. If this big-hearted, simple-minded
+      countryman had come to New York to buck the stock market, it was time to
+      sound a warning. But had he, on such short acquaintance, the right to
+      warn? The captain was shrewd in his own way. Might not the warning seem
+      presumptuous?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So&mdash;this&mdash;this friend of yours was a successful
+      speculator, was he?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;He was lucky.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Think so? Well, maybe. His name was Elkanah Chase, and his dad was
+      old man &#8217;Rastus Chase, who made consider&#8217;ble in cranberries
+      and one thing or &#8217;nother. The old man brought Elkanah up to be what
+      he called a gentleman. Ho! ho! Hi hum! I ain&#8217;t sure what<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+      &#8217;Rastus&#8217;s idea of a gentleman was, but if he cal&#8217;lated
+      to have his son a tramp in go-to-meetin&#8217; clothes, he got his wish.
+      When the old man died, he willed the boy fifteen thousand dollars. Well,
+      fifteen thousand dollars is a fortune to some folks&mdash;if they ain&#8217;t
+      economizin&#8217; in New York&mdash;but to Elkanah &#8217;twas just about
+      enough to make him realize his poverty. So, to make it bigger, he got one
+      of them &#8216;tips&#8217; from a college friend down here in Wall Street,
+      and put the heft of ten thousand into it. <i>And</i>, I swan, if it didn&#8217;t
+      double his money!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s visitor shook his head. He did not even smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He was extremely fortunate,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I give you my
+      word, Captain Warren, that the majority of first speculators don&#8217;t
+      turn out that way. I hope he was wise enough to keep his profits.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain rubbed his chin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jim&mdash;&#8221; he began. &#8220;Excuse me, I should have said
+      Mr. Pearson, but I&#8217;ve got sort of in the habit of callin&#8217;
+      folks by their first names. Livin&#8217; where you know everybody so well
+      gets you into those habits.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jim suits me. I hope you&#8217;ll cultivate the habit.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do you? Well, I will. Now, Jim, referrin&#8217; to what I was goin&#8217;
+      to say, you, bein&#8217; a newspaper man, ought to know everything, but it&#8217;s
+      pretty plain you don&#8217;t know Elkanah Chase. Keep his profits! Why,
+      when a feller is all but convinced that he knows it all, one little bit of
+      evidence like that speculation settles it for him conclusive. Elkanah,
+      realizin&#8217; that Wall Street was his apple pie, opened his mouth to
+      swaller it at one gulp. He put his profits and every other cent he had
+      into another sure thing tip.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And won again?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>&#8220;No.
+      He lost all that and some more that he borrowed.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But I thought you said it was the making of him!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It was. He had to take a job over at the overalls factory in
+      Ostable. As a fifteen thousand dollar gentleman, he was pretty average of
+      a mess, but they tell me he makes middlin&#8217; good overalls. Elkanah
+      convinced me that Wall Street has its good points.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He chuckled. Pearson, relieved, laughed in sympathy. &#8220;Has he paid
+      back the money he borrowed?&#8221; he inquired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No-o! I guess the creditors&#8217;ll have to take it out in
+      overalls. However, it&#8217;s a satisfaction to some of &#8217;em to watch
+      Chase really work. I know that gives me <i>my</i> money&#8217;s worth.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, ho! You are one of the creditors! Captain Warren, I&#8217;m
+      surprised. I sized you up as a shrewder judge of investments.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha colored. &#8220;I judged that one correct,&#8221; he
+      answered. &#8220;If I hadn&#8217;t thought &#8217;twould have turned out
+      that way I never would have plunged. You see, old man Chase was a friend
+      of mine, and&mdash;However,&#8221; he added, hastily changing the subject,
+      &#8220;we&#8217;ve strayed some off the course. When I mentioned the Stock
+      Exchange I did it because my brother was a member of it, and I cal&#8217;late
+      you might have known him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was astonished. &#8220;Your brother was a member of the Exchange?&#8221;
+      he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Never would have guessed it, would you? I s&#8217;pose you
+      cal&#8217;late all the stock I knew about was on the hoof. Well, I have
+      been acquainted with other breeds in my time. My brother&#8217;s name was
+      Abijah Warren&mdash;A. Rodgers Warren, he called himself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>The
+      effect of this announcement was instantaneous and electric. The young man
+      sat back in his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A. Rodgers Warren was your brother?&#8221; he cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Seems to stagger you some. Contrast between us as big as all
+      that comes to?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But&mdash;but, Captain Warren&mdash;Your brother&mdash;Tell me, is
+      Miss Caroline Warren your niece?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She is. And Steve is my nephew. &#8217;Tain&#8217;t possible you&#8217;re
+      acquainted with them?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson rose to his feet. &#8220;Is&mdash;They used to live on the Avenue,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;But you said you were visiting. Captain Warren, is this
+      your niece&#8217;s apartment?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, hers and Steve&#8217;s. Why, what&#8217;s the matter? Ain&#8217;t
+      goin&#8217;, are you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think perhaps I had better. It is getting late.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Late! It&#8217;s only the shank of the evenin&#8217;. Jim, I ain&#8217;t
+      so blind that I can&#8217;t see through an open window. It ain&#8217;t the
+      lateness that makes you want to leave so sudden. Is there some trouble
+      between you and Caroline? Course, it&#8217;s none of my business, and you
+      needn&#8217;t tell me unless you want to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The answer was prompt enough.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; replied Pearson. &#8220;No. I assure you there is
+      nothing of that kind. I&mdash;I met Miss Warren. In fact, at one time we
+      were well acquainted. I have the very highest opinion of her. But I think
+      it is best to&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just a minute now. No trouble with Steve? He&#8217;s a boy and at
+      an age when he&#8217;s pretty well satisfied with himself and you have to
+      make allowance.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Steve and I were quite friendly. I&#8217;m sorry to cut my
+      visit short, but it is late and I <i>must</i> go.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was moving toward the door. Captain Elisha looked at him intently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>&#8220;Well,
+      if you must,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I hope you&#8217;ll come again
+      soon. Will you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I hope I may. I give you my word, Captain, that I appreciate your
+      invitation, and I do want to know you better.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Same here. I don&#8217;t often take sudden fancies, Jim, but I knew
+      your uncle, and I&#8217;d bet consider&#8217;ble on any member of his
+      family. And I <i>was</i> kind of interested in that novel of yours. You
+      haven&#8217;t said you&#8217;d come again. Will you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was much embarrassed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I should like to come, immensely,&#8221; he said, with an
+      earnestness unmistakable; &#8220;but&mdash;but, to be honest, Captain
+      Warren, there is a reason, one which I may tell you sometime, but can&#8217;t
+      now&mdash;neither Miss Warren nor her brother have any part in it&mdash;which
+      makes me reluctant to visit you here. Won&#8217;t you come and see me at
+      the boarding house? Here&#8217;s the address. <i>Will</i> you come?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sartin! I figured on doin&#8217; it, if you gave me the chance.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, you&#8217;ll be welcome. Of course it is <i>only</i> a
+      boarding house, and not a very good one. My own room is&mdash;well,
+      different from this.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. Maybe that&#8217;s why I expect to feel at home in it. Good
+      night, Jim. Thank you for callin&#8217;. Shall I ring for the Commodore to
+      pilot you out?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I can find my way. I&mdash;Someone is coming.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the hall came the clang of the elevator door and the sound of voices.
+      Before the captain or his friend could move, Caroline, Stephen, Mrs.
+      Corcoran Dunn, and Malcolm entered. Caroline was the first to reach the
+      library. Her entrance brought her face to face with Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>&#8220;I
+      beg your pardon,&#8221; she began. &#8220;I did not know there was anyone
+      here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s only a friend of mine, Caroline,&#8221; explained her
+      uncle, quickly. &#8220;Just callin&#8217; on me, he was.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good evening, Miss Warren,&#8221; said Pearson, quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl looked at him for an instant. Then her expression changed, and,
+      with a smile, she extended her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, Mr. Pearson!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I&#8217;m very glad
+      to see you. You must excuse me for not recognizing you at once. Steve, you
+      remember Mr. Pearson.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen also extended a hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure!&#8221; he said. &#8220;Glad to see you again, Pearson. Haven&#8217;t
+      met you for an age. How are you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson shook both the hands. He was embarrassed and hesitated in his
+      reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It <i>has</i> been some time since we met,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This
+      is an unexpected pleasure. Ah, Mr. Dunn, good evening.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is Mr. Pearson, the financial writer of the <i>Planet</i>,
+      Malcolm,&#8221; said Caroline. &#8220;You used to know him, I think.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t remember, I&#8217;m sure. Yes, I do. Met you at the
+      University Club, didn&#8217;t I?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I was formerly a member.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And let me present you to Mrs. Corcoran Dunn,&#8221; went on the
+      girl. &#8220;Mr. Pearson used to know father well.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn inspected the visitor through her lorgnette, and condescended to
+      admit that she was &#8220;delighted.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m very glad you called,&#8221; continued Caroline. &#8220;We
+      were just in time, weren&#8217;t we? Do sit down. And if you will wait a
+      minute until we remove our wraps&mdash;Steve ring for Edwards, please.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>&#8220;I&#8217;m
+      afraid I can&#8217;t wait, Miss Warren. I dropped in to see your uncle, at
+      his invitation, and, as a matter of fact, I didn&#8217;t know&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;To see our <i>uncle</i>!&#8221; interrupted Stephen, in amazement.
+      &#8220;Who?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Your uncle, Captain Warren here,&#8221; explained Pearson,
+      surprised in his turn. &#8220;He and I made each other&#8217;s
+      acquaintance yesterday, and he asked me to call.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&mdash;you called to see <i>him</i>?&#8221; repeated Stephen.
+      &#8220;Why, what in the world&mdash;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I took the liberty of askin&#8217; him, Caroline,&#8221; observed
+      Captain Elisha quietly, and ignoring the last speaker. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t
+      know you knew him, and I used to sail along with <i>his</i> uncle, so he
+      seemed almost like own folks.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh!&#8221; Caroline&#8217;s manner changed. &#8220;I presume it was
+      a business call,&#8221; she said slowly. &#8220;I beg pardon for
+      interrupting. We had not seen you since father&#8217;s death, Mr. Pearson,
+      and I assumed that you had called upon my brother and me. Excuse me. Mrs.
+      Dunn, we will go into the drawing-room.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She led the way toward the apartment. Captain Elisha was about to speak.
+      Pearson, however, explained for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Miss Warren,&#8221; he said, &#8220;if by a business call you mean
+      one in the interest of the <i>Planet</i>, I assure you that you are
+      mistaken. I am no longer connected with any paper. I met Captain Warren,
+      under rather unusual circumstances. We discovered that we had mutual
+      friends and mutual interests. He asked me to call on him, and I did so. I
+      did not know, until five minutes ago, that he was your uncle or that you
+      and your brother lived here. I beg you won&#8217;t leave the room on my
+      account. I was about to go when you came. Good evening.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+      He bowed and stepped toward the hall. Captain Elisha laid a hand on his
+      arm and detained him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just a minute,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Caroline, I want you and
+      Steve to know that what Mr. Pearson says is exactly true. I ain&#8217;t
+      the kind to talk to the newspapers about the private affairs of my
+      relations, and, if I&#8217;m any judge of character, Mr. Pearson, knowin&#8217;
+      you as it seems he does, wouldn&#8217;t be the kind to listen. That&#8217;s
+      all. Now, Jim, if you must go.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He and his guest were at the door. Caroline and Mrs. Dunn were at the
+      opposite side of the room. Suddenly the girl halted, turned, and, moving
+      across to where her uncle and the young man were standing, once more
+      extended her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Pearson,&#8221; she said, impulsively, &#8220;again I ask your
+      pardon. I should have known. I am very sorry I spoke as I did. Will you
+      forgive me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson colored. His embarrassment was more evident than before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There is no occasion for apology, Miss Warren,&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t wonder you thought I had come in my former capacity
+      as reporter.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, you do. You <i>must</i> have wondered. I am very glad you
+      called to see my&mdash;my guardian, and I hope you will continue to do so.
+      Father used to speak so highly of you, and I&#8217;m sure he valued your
+      friendship. Stephen and I wish to consider his friends ours. Please
+      believe that you are welcome here at any time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson&#8217;s reply was brief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Miss Warren,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You are very kind.
+      Good evening.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the hall, as they waited for the elevator, Captain Elisha, happier than
+      at any time since his arrival in New York, clapped his friend on the
+      shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>&#8220;Jim,&#8221;
+      he said, &#8220;I was beginnin&#8217; to doubt my judgment of things and
+      folks. Now I feel better. That niece of mine has got the right stuff in
+      her. After <i>that</i> invitation, you will come and see us once in a
+      while. That makes it easier, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson shook his head. &#8220;I&#8217;m not sure, Captain,&#8221; he
+      observed, slowly, &#8220;that it doesn&#8217;t make it harder. I shall
+      look for you at the boarding house very soon. Don&#8217;t disappoint me.
+      Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain&#8217;s last remark that evening was made to Edwards, whom he
+      met just outside the door of his bedroom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Commodore,&#8221; he said, &#8220;a barn full of rats is a
+      nuisance, ain&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sir?&#8221; stammered the astonished butler.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I say a barn full of rats is a nuisance.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;why, yes, sir. I should think it might be, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. Well, I know a worse one. It&#8217;s a house full of
+      mysteries. By, by, Son. Pleasant dreams.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat up until late, meditating profoundly. Then, taking from its
+      envelope the letter yet unsealed, which he had written to Miss Abigail
+      Baker, he added this postscript:
+    </p>
+    <div class="blockquot">
+      <p>
+        &#8220;Eleven o&#8217;clock. I have decided, Abbie, to accept the
+        guardianship and the rest of it, for a spell, anyhow. Shall notify the
+        lawyers in the morning. Necessity is one thing, and pleasure is another.
+        I doubt if I find the job pleasant, but I guess it is necessary. Anyhow,
+        it looks that way to me.&#8221;
+      </p>
+    </div>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span>nnouncement
+      of Captain Elisha&#8217;s decision followed quickly. Sylvester, Kuhn, and
+      Graves received the telephone message stating it, and the senior partner
+      was unqualifiedly delighted. Kuhn accepted his associate&#8217;s opinion
+      with some reservation. &#8220;It is an odd piece of business, the whole of
+      it,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I shall be curious to see how it works out.&#8221;
+      As for Mr. Graves, when the information was conveyed to him by messenger,
+      he expressed disgust and dismay. &#8220;Ridiculous!&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;Doctor, I simply must be up and about within the next few days. It
+      is necessary that a sane, conservative man be at the office. Far be it
+      from me to say a word against Sylvester, as a lawyer, but he is subject to
+      impressions. I imagine this Cape Codder made him laugh, and, therefore, in
+      his opinion, is all right. I&#8217;m glad I&#8217;m not a joker.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain said that he would be down later on to talk things over.
+      Meanwhile, if the &#8220;papers and such&#8221; could be gotten together,
+      it would &#8220;sort of help along.&#8221; Sylvester explained that there
+      were certain legal and formal ceremonies pertaining to the acceptance of
+      the trust to be gone through with, and these must have precedence. &#8220;All
+      right,&#8221; answered the captain. &#8220;Let&#8217;s have &#8217;em all
+      out at once and get the ache and agony over. I&#8217;ll see you by and by.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Mrs. Corcoran Dunn made her daily visit to the Warren apartment that
+      afternoon, she found Caroline<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119"
+      id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> alone and almost in tears. Captain
+      Elisha had broken the news at the table during luncheon, after which he
+      went downtown. Stephen, having raved, protested, and made himself
+      generally disagreeable and his sister correspondingly miserable, had
+      departed for the club. It was a time for confidences, and the wily Mrs.
+      Dunn realized that fact. She soothed, comforted, and within half an hour,
+      had learned the whole story. Caroline told her all, the strange will, the
+      disclosure concerning the country uncle, and the inexplicable clauses
+      begging the latter to accept the executorship, the trust, and the charge
+      of her brother and herself. Incidentally she mentioned that a possible
+      five hundred thousand was the extreme limit of the family&#8217;s
+      pecuniary resources.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now you know everything,&#8221; sobbed Caroline. &#8220;Oh, Mrs.
+      Dunn, <i>you</i> won&#8217;t desert us, will you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The widow&#8217;s reply was a triumph, of its kind. In it were expressed
+      sorrow, indignation, pity, and unswerving loyalty. Desert them? Desert the
+      young people, toward whom she had come to feel almost like a mother?
+      Never!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You may depend on Malcolm and me, my dear,&#8221; she declared.
+      &#8220;We are not fair-weather friends. And, after all, it is not so very
+      bad. Affairs might be very much worse.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Worse! Oh, Mrs. Dunn, how could they be? Think of it! Stephen and I
+      are dependent upon him for everything. We must ask him for every penny.
+      And whatever he says to do we <i>must</i> do. We&#8217;re obliged to. Just
+      think! if he decides to take us back with him to&mdash;South Denboro, or
+      whatever dreadful place he comes from, we shall have to go&mdash;and live
+      there.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+      &#8220;But he won&#8217;t, my dear. He won&#8217;t. It will take some time
+      to settle your father&#8217;s affairs, and the business will have to be
+      transacted here in New York.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know. I suppose that&#8217;s true. But that doesn&#8217;t make it
+      any easier. If he stops here he will stay with us. And what shall we do?
+      We can&#8217;t introduce him to our friends, or, at least, to any except
+      our best, our understanding friends, like you and Malcolm.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, I&#8217;m not sure. He is rather&mdash;well&mdash;er&mdash;countryfied,
+      but I believe he has a good heart. He is not rude or unkind or anything of
+      that sort, is he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. No-o. He&#8217;s not that, at all. In fact, he means to be kind
+      in his way. But it&#8217;s such a different way from ours. He is not used
+      to society; he wouldn&#8217;t understand that certain things and ways were
+      absolutely essential. I suppose it isn&#8217;t his fault exactly, but that
+      doesn&#8217;t help. And how can we tell him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know that you can tell him, but you might hint.
+      Diplomacy, my dear, is one of the necessary elements of life. Whatever
+      else you do remember to be diplomatic. My poor husband used to have a pet
+      proverb&mdash;he was interested in politics, my dear, and some of his
+      sayings were a trifle grotesque but very much to the point. He used to say
+      that one could get rid of more flies with molasses than with a club. And I
+      think he was right. Now let me consider. Let&#8217;s look the situation
+      right in the face. Of course your guardian, as a companion, as an
+      associate for us, for our kind of people, is, to be quite frank,
+      impossible.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Yes, I&#8217;m sure he is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. But he <i>is</i> your guardian. Therefore, we can&#8217;t get
+      rid of him with&mdash;well, with a club. He must be endured and made as
+      endurable as possible. And it certainly will not do to offend him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>&#8220;Steve
+      says we must do what he calls freezing him out&mdash;make him feel that we
+      do not want him here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! Well, Stephen is a nice boy&mdash;Malcolm adores him&mdash;but
+      he isn&#8217;t a diplomat. If we should&mdash;what is it?&mdash;freeze out
+      your uncle&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Please call him something else.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, we&#8217;ll call him the encumbrance on the estate; that&#8217;s
+      legal, I believe, and expresses it nicely. If we should freeze out the
+      encumbrance, we <i>might</i> freeze him to his village, and he <i>might</i>
+      insist on your going with him, which wouldn&#8217;t do at <i>all</i>, my
+      dear. For one thing, Malcolm would probably insist on going, also, and I,
+      for one, don&#8217;t yearn for rural simplicity. Ha! ha! Oh, you mustn&#8217;t
+      mind me. I&#8217;m only a doting mamma, dearie, and I have my air castles
+      like everyone else. So, freezing out won&#8217;t do. No, you and Steve
+      must be polite to our encumbrance.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I shall not get on my knees to him and beg. That I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No one expects you to. If anyone begs it should be he. Condescend
+      to just a little. Make him feel his place. Correct him when he goes too
+      far wrong, and ignore him when he gets assertive. As for getting rid of
+      him at times when it may be necessary&mdash;well, I think you may safely
+      leave that to me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;To you? Oh, Mrs. Dunn, we couldn&#8217;t think of dragging you into
+      it. It is bad enough that we should be disgraced; but you must not be.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My dear child, I <i>think</i> my position in society is
+      sufficiently established to warrant a risk or two. If <i>I</i> am seen in
+      company with&mdash;with the encumbrance, people will merely say, &#8216;Oh,
+      it&#8217;s another of her eccentricities!&#8217; that&#8217;s all. Now,
+      don&#8217;t worry, and don&#8217;t fret all that pretty color from your
+      cheeks. Always remember<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122"
+      id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> this: it is but for a year or a trifle
+      over. Then you will be of age and can send your encumbrance to the
+      right-about in a hurry.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline, under the spell of this convincing eloquence, began to cheer up.
+      She even smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I will try to be diplomatic. I really
+      will. But Stephen&mdash;I&#8217;m not sure what dreadful thing <i>he</i>
+      will do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He will return to college soon. I will take upon myself the
+      convincing of the encumbrance to that effect. And while he is at home,
+      Malcolm will take charge of him. He will be delighted to do it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mrs. Dunn, how can we ever thank you sufficiently? What should we
+      do without you and Malcolm?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I <i>hope</i>, my dear, that you will never have to do without me;
+      not for many years, at any rate. Of course, there is always my poor heart,
+      but&mdash;we won&#8217;t worry, will we?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, with a kiss and an embrace, this affecting interview ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was another that evening between Mrs. Dunn and her son, which was
+      not devoid of interest. Malcolm listened to the information which his
+      mother gave him, and commented upon it in characteristic fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; he observed, &#8220;two hundred and fifty thousand,
+      instead of the two million you figured on, Mater! Two hundred and fifty
+      thousand isn&#8217;t so much, in these days.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; replied his parent, sharply, &#8220;it isn&#8217;t so
+      much, but it isn&#8217;t so little, either.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I suppose one can get along on it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, one can. In fact, I know of two who are managing with a good
+      deal less. Don&#8217;t be any more of a fool than you can help, Malcolm.
+      The sum itself isn&#8217;t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123"
+      id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> small, and, besides, the Warrens are a
+      family of standing. To be connected with them is worth a good deal. There
+      are infinite possibilities in it. Oh, if only I might live to see the day
+      when tradespeople meant something other than nuisances to be dodged, I <i>think</i>
+      I could die contented.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caro&#8217;s a decent sort of a girl,&#8221; commented Malcolm,
+      reflectively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She&#8217;s a bright girl and an attractive one. Just now she is in
+      a mood to turn to us, to you. But, for Heaven&#8217;s sake, be careful!
+      She is delicate and sensitive and requires managing. She likes you. If
+      only you weren&#8217;t such a blunderer!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Much obliged, Mater. You&#8217;re free with your compliments this
+      evening. What&#8217;s the trouble? Another &#8216;heart&#8217;?&#8221;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. My heart I can trust, up to certain limits. But I&#8217;m
+      afraid of your head, just as I always was of your father&#8217;s. And here&#8217;s
+      one more bit of advice: Be careful how you treat that country uncle.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The Admiral! Ho! ho! He&#8217;s a card.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He may be the trump that will lose us the trick. Treat him civilly;
+      yes, even cordially, if you can. And <i>don&#8217;t</i> insult him as you
+      did the first time you and he met.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man crossed his legs, and grunted in resignation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;it&#8217;s going to be a confounded
+      bore, but, at the very longest, it&#8217;ll last but a year. Then Caro
+      will be her own mistress.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. But there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year;
+      remember that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right, Mater. You can bet on me. The old hayseed and I will be
+      bosom pals. Wait and see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>The
+      formalities at the lawyers&#8217; took some time. Captain Elisha was
+      absent from the apartment the better part of the following two days. The
+      evenings, however, he spent with his niece and nephew, and, if at all
+      sensitive to sudden changes of the temperature, he must have noticed that
+      the atmosphere of the library was less frigid. Caroline was not
+      communicative, did not make conversation, nor was she in the least
+      familiar; but she answered his questions, did not leave the room when he
+      entered, and seemed inclined to accept his society with resignation, if
+      not with enthusiasm. Even Stephen was less sarcastic and bitter. At times,
+      when his new guardian did or said something which offended his highly
+      cultivated sense of the proprieties, he seemed inclined to burst out with
+      a sneer; but a quick &#8220;ahem!&#8221; or a warning glance from his
+      sister caused him to remain silent and vent his indignation by kicking a
+      footstool or barking a violent order at the unresisting Edwards. Caroline
+      and her brother had had a heart to heart talk, and, as a result, the
+      all-wise young gentleman promised to make no more trouble than he could
+      help.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Though, by gad, Caro,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;it&#8217;s only
+      for you I do it! If I had my way the old butt-in should understand exactly
+      what I think of him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On Thursday, after luncheon, as Captain Elisha sat in his own room,
+      reading a book he had taken from the library, there came a knock at the
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Come ahead in!&#8221; ordered the captain. Caroline entered. Her
+      uncle rose and put down the book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;is it you? Excuse me. I thought
+      &#8217;twas the Commodore&mdash;Edwards, I mean. If I&#8217;d known you
+      was comin&#8217; callin&#8217;, Caroline, I shouldn&#8217;t have been
+      quite so bossy. Guess I&#8217;d have opened the door for you, instead of
+      lettin&#8217; you do it yourself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>&#8220;Thank
+      you,&#8221; answered his niece. &#8220;I came to see you on&mdash;I
+      suppose you might call it business. At any rate, it is a financial matter.
+      I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t detain you long.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was a trifle disappointed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh,&#8221; he said, &#8220;on business, was it? I hoped&mdash;I
+      didn&#8217;t know but you&#8217;d come just out of sociability. However, I&#8217;m
+      mighty glad to see you, Caroline, no matter what it&#8217;s for. That&#8217;s
+      a real becomin&#8217; dress you&#8217;ve got on,&#8221; he added,
+      inspecting her admiringly. &#8220;I declare, you look prettier every time
+      I see you. You favor your pa consider&#8217;ble; I can see it more and
+      more. &#8217;Bije had about all the good looks there was in our family,&#8221;
+      with a chuckle. &#8220;Set down, do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl seated herself in a rocker, and looked at him for a moment
+      without speaking. She seemed to have something on her mind, and not to
+      know exactly how to express it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; she began, &#8220;I&mdash;I came to ask a
+      favor. I am obliged to ask it, because you are our&mdash;&#8221; she
+      almost choked over the hated word&mdash;&#8220;our guardian, and I can no
+      longer act on my own responsibility. I wish to ask you for some money.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha nodded gravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Well, Caroline, I don&#8217;t believe
+      you&#8217;ll find me very close-fisted. I think I told you and Steve that
+      you was to do just as you&#8217;d been in the habit of doin&#8217;. Of
+      course I <i>am</i> your guardian now, and I shall be held responsible for
+      whatever expense comes to the estate. It is quite a responsibility, and I
+      so understand it. As I said to you when I told you I&#8217;d decided to
+      take the job on trial, <i>while</i> I have it it&#8217;ll be my pride to
+      see that you or your brother don&#8217;t lose anything. I intend, if the
+      Almighty spares me so long and I keep on with the trust, to turn over,
+      when my term&#8217;s out, at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126"
+      id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> as much to you and Steve as your father
+      left. That&#8217;s all. Excuse me for mentioning it again. Now, how much
+      do you want? Is your reg&#8217;lar allowance too small? Remember, I don&#8217;t
+      know much about such things here in New York, and you must be frank and
+      aboveboard and tell me if you have any complaints.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have no complaints. My allowance is sufficient. It is the same
+      that father used to give me, and it is all I need. But this is a matter
+      outside my personal needs.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Somethin&#8217; to do with the household expenses, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. It is&mdash;is a matter of&mdash;well, of charity. It may
+      amount to several hundred dollars.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes. I see. Charity, hey? Church?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. One of the maids, Annie, has trouble at home, and I wanted to
+      help her.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain nodded once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Annie,&#8221; he repeated, &#8220;that&#8217;s the rosy-faced one?
+      The Irish one?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Her father was seriously injured the other day and cannot
+      work. His hip is broken, and the doctor&#8217;s bill will be large. They
+      are very poor, and I thought perhaps&mdash;&#8221; She hesitated,
+      faltered, and then said haughtily: &#8220;Father was very sympathetic and
+      liked to have me do such things.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sho! sho! Sartin! Course he did. I like it, too. I&#8217;m glad you
+      came to me just as you did, Caroline. How much do you want to start with?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, exactly. I thought I might ask our own doctor
+      to attend to the case, and might send them some delicacies and food.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good idea! Go right ahead, Caroline.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you. I have been over to see them, and they need help&mdash;they
+      really do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+      &#8220;I presume likely. How&#8217;d the accident happen? Anybody&#8217;s
+      fault, was it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline&#8217;s eyes snapped. &#8220;Indeed it was!&#8221; she said,
+      indignantly. &#8220;It was a wet morning, after a rain, and the pavement
+      was slippery. Mr. Moriarty, Annie&#8217;s father, was not working that day&mdash;they
+      were making some repairs at the factory where he is employed, I believe&mdash;and
+      he had gone out to do the family marketing. He was crossing the street
+      when an automobile, recklessly driven, so everyone says, drove directly
+      down on him. He tried to jump out of the way and succeeded&mdash;otherwise
+      he might have been killed; but he fell and broke his hip. He is an old
+      man, and the case is serious.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dear! dear! you don&#8217;t tell me! Poor old chap! The auto feller&mdash;did
+      he help? Seems to me he ought to be the one to be spendin&#8217; the
+      money. &#8217;Twas his fault.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Help! Indeed he didn&#8217;t! He and the man with him merely
+      laughed, as if it was a good joke, put on speed, and disappeared as
+      quickly as possible.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, the mean swab! Did this Mr. Moriarty or the folks around get
+      the license number of the auto?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. All they know is that it was a big yellow car with two men in
+      it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? A yellow car?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Somewhat similar to the one Malcolm&mdash;Mr. Dunn drives.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So, so! Hum! Where did it happen?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;On Saint Nicholas Avenue, near One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth
+      Street.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Eh? Saint Nicholas Avenue, you say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221; Caroline rose and turned to go. &#8220;Thank you,
+      Captain Warren,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I will tell Doctor Henry to take
+      the case at once.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+      The captain did not answer immediately. With his chin in his hand he was
+      gazing at the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good afternoon,&#8221; said Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her uncle looked up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Er&mdash;Wait just a minute, Caroline,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I
+      guess maybe, if you don&#8217;t mind, I&#8217;d like to think this over a
+      little afore you go too far. You have your doctor go right ahead and see
+      to the old man, and you order the things to eat and whatever&#8217;s
+      necessary. But afore you give Annie or her father any money, I&#8217;d
+      kind of like to figger a little mite.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece stopped short, turned and stared at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh!&#8221; she said, slowly and icily, &#8220;I see. Please don&#8217;t
+      trouble yourself. I should have known. However, my allowance is my own,
+      and I presume I am permitted to do what I please with that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, don&#8217;t be hasty. I ain&#8217;t sayin&#8217; no about
+      the money. Far from it. I only&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I understand&mdash;thoroughly. Don&#8217;t trouble to &#8216;figure,&#8217;
+      as you call it. Oh! <i>why</i> did I humiliate myself? I should have
+      known!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, please&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the girl had gone, closing the door after her. Captain Elisha shook
+      his head, heaved a deep sigh, and then, sinking back into his chair,
+      relapsed into meditation. Soon afterward he put on his hat and coat and
+      went out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half an hour later he entered the office of a firm of commission brokers
+      on lower Broad Street, and inquired if a gentleman by the name of Mr.
+      Malcolm Dunn was connected with that establishment. On being answered in
+      the affirmative, he asked if Mr. Dunn were in. Yes, he was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; said Captain Elisha, &#8220;I&#8217;d like to speak to<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> him a
+      minute or so. Just tell him my name&#8217;s Warren, if you don&#8217;t
+      mind, young feller.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk objected to being addressed as &#8220;young feller,&#8221; and
+      showed his disapproval by the haughty and indifferent manner in which he
+      departed on the errand. However, he did so depart, and returned followed
+      by Malcolm himself. The latter, who had been misled by the name into
+      supposing his caller to be Stephen Warren, was much astonished when he saw
+      the captain seated outside the railing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good afternoon,&#8221; said Captain Elisha, rising and extending
+      his hand: &#8220;How are you to-day, sir? Pretty smart?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man answered briefly that he was all right. He added he was glad
+      to see his visitor, a statement more polite than truthful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, what&#8217;s up?&#8221; he inquired, condescendingly. &#8220;Nothing
+      wrong with Caro or Steve, I hope.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, they&#8217;re fust-rate, thank you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s doing, then? Is it pleasure or business?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, a little of both, maybe. It&#8217;s always a pleasure to see
+      you, of course; and I have got a little mite of business on hand.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm smiled, in his languid fashion. If he suspected sarcasm in the
+      first part of the captain&#8217;s reply, it did not trouble him. His
+      self-sufficiency was proof against anything of that sort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Business,&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Well, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m
+      here for. Thinking of cornering the&mdash;er&mdash;potato market, were
+      you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No-o. Cranberries would be more in my line, and I cal&#8217;late
+      you fellers don&#8217;t deal in that kind of sass. I had a private matter
+      I wanted to talk over with you, Mr. Dunn; that is, if you ain&#8217;t too
+      busy.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>Malcolm
+      looked at him with an amused curiosity. As he had expressed it in the
+      conversation with his mother, this old fellow certainly was a &#8220;card.&#8221;
+      He seated himself on the arm of the oak settle from which the captain had
+      risen and, lazily swinging a polished shoe, admitted that he was always
+      busy but never too busy to oblige.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s on your mind, Captain?&#8221; he drawled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha glanced about him somewhat uneasily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I don&#8217;t know as I made it quite clear,&#8221; he
+      said, &#8220;that it was sort of private; somethin&#8217; just between us,
+      you understand.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm hesitated. Sliding from the settle, and impatiently commanding the
+      clerk to open the gate in the railing, he led his caller through the main
+      office and into a small room beyond. On the glass pane of the door was
+      lettered, &#8220;Mr. Dunn&mdash;Private.&#8221; A roll-top desk in the
+      corner and three chairs were the furniture. Malcolm, after closing the
+      door, sprawled in the swing chair before the desk, threw one leg over a
+      drawer, which he pulled out for that purpose, and motioned his companion
+      to occupy one of the other chairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha took the offered chair and dropped his hat on the floor
+      beside it. Then he inspected the room and its furnishings with interest.
+      Dunn drew out a pocket case, extracted a cigarette, lit it, and waited for
+      him to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; observed the young man, after a moment, &#8220;what&#8217;s
+      the trouble, Admiral? Better get it off your chest, hadn&#8217;t you? We&#8217;re
+      private enough here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain answered the last question. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said,
+      &#8220;this is nice and private. Got a stateroom all to yourself; name on
+      the door, and everything complete. You must be one of the officers of the
+      craft.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>&#8220;Um-hm.
+      I sort of expected to find your name on the door outside, but there
+      &#8217;twas, &#8216;Smith, Haynes &amp; Co.&#8217; I presume likely you&#8217;re
+      the &#8216;Co.&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>I</i> &#8216;presume likely,&#8217;&#8221; with mocking
+      impatience. &#8220;What about that private matter?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha did not appear to hear him. His eyes were fixed on several
+      photographs stuck in the rail of Mr. Dunn&#8217;s desk. The photos were
+      those of young ladies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Friends of yours?&#8221; inquired the captain, nodding toward the
+      photographs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No.&#8221; Dunn took the photos from the rack and threw them into a
+      pigeon hole. &#8220;Look here,&#8221; he said, pointedly, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t
+      hurry you for the world, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Captain Elisha did not take the hint. His mind was evidently
+      still busy with the vanished photographs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just fancy pictures, I s&#8217;pose, hey?&#8221; he commented.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Doubtless. Any other little points I can give you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess not. I thought they was fancy; looked so to me. Well, about
+      that private matter. Mr. Dunn, I come to see you about an automobile.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;An automobile!&#8221; The young man was so astonished that he
+      actually removed his feet from the desk. Then he burst into a laugh.
+      &#8220;An automobile?&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Captain, has the
+      influence of the metropolis made you a sport already? Do you want to buy a
+      car?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Buy one?&#8221; It was Captain Elisha&#8217;s turn to show
+      irritation. &#8220;Buy one of them things? Me? I wouldn&#8217;t buy one of
+      &#8217;em, or run one of &#8217;em, for somethin&#8217;, <i>I</i> tell
+      you! No, I don&#8217;t want to buy one.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why not? Sell you mine for a price.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not if I see you fust, thank you. No, Mr. Dunn, &#8217;tain&#8217;t
+      that. But one of the hired help up to our place&mdash;Caroline&#8217;s<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+      place, I mean&mdash;is in trouble on account of one of the dratted
+      machines. They&#8217;re poor folks, of course, and they need money to help
+      &#8217;em through the doctorin&#8217; and nursin&#8217; and while the old
+      man&#8217;s out of work. Caroline was for givin&#8217; it to &#8217;em
+      right off, she&#8217;s a good-hearted girl; but I said&mdash;that is, I
+      kind of coaxed her out of it. I thought I&#8217;d ask some questions
+      first.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So you came to me to ask them?&#8221; Malcolm smiled contentedly.
+      Evidently the cares and complications of guardianship were already proving
+      too intricate for the unsophisticated countryman. He wished advice, and
+      had come to him for it, possibly at Caroline&#8217;s suggestion. Affairs
+      were shaping themselves well. Here was an opportunity to act the
+      disinterested friend, as per maternal instructions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So you wanted to ask questions, did you, Captain?&#8221; he
+      repeated. &#8220;Well, fire away. Anything I can do to help you or
+      Caroline will be a pleasure, of course. Smoke?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He offered the cigarette case. The captain eyed it dubiously and shook his
+      head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; he said; &#8220;no, thank you, I commenced smokin&#8217;
+      at the butt end, I guess. Begun with a pipe, and them things would seem
+      sort of kindergarten, I&#8217;m afraid. No offense meant, you understand.
+      It&#8217;s all accordin&#8217; to what you&#8217;ve been used to. Well,
+      about the questions. Here&#8217;s the first one: Don&#8217;t it seem to
+      you that the right one to pay for the doctorin&#8217; and nursin&#8217;
+      and such of Mr. Moriarty&mdash;that&#8217;s Annie&#8217;s pa&mdash;ought
+      to be the feller who hurt him? That feller, instead of Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure thing! If you know who did it, he&#8217;s your mark.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>&#8220;He
+      could be held responsible, couldn&#8217;t he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. So I thought. And if he was a right-minded chap, he&#8217;d
+      be glad to help the poor critter, providin&#8217; he knew what damage he&#8217;d
+      done; wouldn&#8217;t you think so?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm nodded sagely, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it
+      again. A sudden recollection came to him, an alarming recollection. He
+      turned in his chair and looked at his visitor. Captain Elisha met his gaze
+      frankly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Where did this accident happen?&#8221; asked Mr. Dunn, his
+      condescending smile absent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;At the corner of Saint Nicholas Avenue and One Hundred and
+      Twenty-Eighth Street. It happened last Friday mornin&#8217;, a week ago.
+      And the car that hit him was a yellow one.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm did not answer. His pale face grew paler, and then flushed a
+      brilliant red. The captain seemed to feel sorry for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Naturally,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;when I heard about it, I
+      remembered what you told Mr. Sylvester and me at the club that afternoon.
+      I understand how &#8217;twas, of course. You never thought you&#8217;d
+      done any real harm and just went on, thinkin&#8217; &#8217;twas a good
+      joke, much as anything. If you&#8217;d known you&#8217;d really hurt the
+      poor old man, you&#8217;d have stopped to see him. I understand that. But&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Look here!&#8221; interrupted Dunn, sharply, &#8220;did Caroline
+      send you to me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline? No, no! She don&#8217;t know &#8217;twas your automobile
+      at all. I never said a word to her, &#8217;tain&#8217;t likely. But afore
+      she spent any of her money, I thought you&#8217;d ought to know, because I
+      was sure you wouldn&#8217;t <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134"
+      id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>let her. That&#8217;s the way I&#8217;d
+      feel, and I felt &#8217;twas no more&#8217;n honest to give you the
+      chance. I come on my own hook; she didn&#8217;t know anything about it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm drummed on the desk with nervous fingers. The flush remained on
+      his face, his cigarette had gone out, and he threw the stump savagely into
+      the wastepaper basket. Captain Elisha remained silent. At length the young
+      man spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he growled, pettishly, &#8220;how much will it take to
+      square things with the gang? How much damages do they want?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Damages? Oh, there won&#8217;t be any claim for damages, I guess.
+      That is, no lawsuit, or anything of that kind. The Moriartys don&#8217;t
+      know you did it, and there&#8217;s no reason why they should. I thought
+      maybe I&#8217;d see to &#8217;em and do whatever was necessary; then you
+      could settle with me, and the whole business would be just between us two.
+      Outside the doctor&#8217;s bills and food and nursin&#8217; and such, all
+      the extry will be just the old man&#8217;s wages for the time he&#8217;s
+      away from the factory. &#8217;Twon&#8217;t be very heavy.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      More reflection and finger tattoo by his companion. Then:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right! I&#8217;m in it, I can see that; and it&#8217;s up to me
+      to get out as easy as I can. I don&#8217;t want any newspaper publicity.
+      Go ahead! I&#8217;ll pay the freight.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha arose and picked up his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s fust-rate,&#8221; he said, with emphasis. &#8220;I
+      felt sure you&#8217;d see it just as I did. There&#8217;s one thing I
+      would like to say,&#8221; he added: &#8220;that is, that you mustn&#8217;t
+      think I was stingy about helpin&#8217; &#8217;em myself. But it wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      really my affair; and when Caroline spoke of spendin&#8217; her money and
+      Steve&#8217;s, I didn&#8217;t feel I&#8217;d ought to let her. You see, I
+      don&#8217;t know as you know it yet,<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> Mr. Dunn, but my brother
+      &#8217;Bije left me in charge of his whole estate, and, now that I&#8217;ve
+      decided to take the responsibility, I&#8217;ve got a sort of pride in not
+      wastin&#8217; any of his children&#8217;s inheritance. Good day, Mr. Dunn.
+      I&#8217;m much obliged to you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He opened the office door. Malcolm, frowning heavily, suddenly asked a
+      final question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say!&#8221; he demanded, &#8220;you&#8217;ll not tell Caroline or
+      Steve a word of this, mind!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain seemed surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess you didn&#8217;t catch what I said, Mr. Dunn,&#8221; he
+      observed, mildly. &#8220;I told you this whole business would be just
+      between you and me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">C</span>aptain
+      Elisha was very far from considering himself a Solomon. As he would have
+      said he had lived long enough with himself to know what a lot he didn&#8217;t
+      know. Nevertheless, deep down in his inner consciousness, he cherished a
+      belief in his judgment of human nature. This judgment was not of the snap
+      variety; he took his time in forming it. People and their habits, their
+      opinions and characters, were to him interesting problems. He liked to
+      study them and to reach conclusions founded upon reason, observation, and
+      common sense. Having reached such a conclusion, it disturbed him when the
+      subjects of the problem suddenly upset the whole process of reasoning and
+      apparently proved him wrong by behavior exactly contrary to that which he
+      had expected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been pretty well satisfied with the result of his visit to young
+      Dunn at the latter&#8217;s office. Malcolm had surrendered, perhaps not
+      gracefully or unconditionally, but he had surrendered, and the condition&mdash;secrecy&mdash;was
+      one which the captain himself had suggested. Captain Elisha&#8217;s mental
+      attitude toward the son of the late Tammany leader had been a sort of
+      good-natured but alert tolerance. He judged the young man to be a product
+      of rearing and environment. He had known spoiled youths at the Cape and,
+      in their surroundings, they behaved much as Malcolm did in his. The same
+      disrespect to their elders, the same cock-sureness, and the same careless
+      indifference concerning the effect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137"
+      id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> which their actions might have upon
+      other people&mdash;these were natural and nothing but years and the hard
+      knocks of experience could bring about a change. Elkanah Chase, country
+      swell and pampered heir to the cranberry grower&#8217;s few thousands, and
+      Malcolm Dunn, idol of his set at the Metropolitan Club, were not so very
+      different, except in externals. The similarity confirmed his opinion that
+      New York was merely South Denboro many thousand times magnified.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He knew how young Chase had behaved after an interview not unlike that
+      just described. In Elkanah&#8217;s case several broken windows and
+      property destroyed on a revel the night before the Fourth had caused the
+      trouble. In Malcolm&#8217;s it was an automobile. Both had listened to
+      reason and had knuckled under rather than face possible lawsuits and
+      certain publicity. Chase, however, had sulkily refused to speak to him for
+      a month, and regained affability merely because he wished to borrow money.
+      According to the captain&#8217;s deduction, Dunn should have acted in
+      similar fashion. But he didn&#8217;t; that was the odd part of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For Malcolm, when he next called, in company with his mother, at the
+      Warren apartment, was not in the least sulky. Neither was he over
+      effusive, which would have argued fear and a desire to conciliate.
+      Possibly there was a bit more respect in his greeting of the new guardian
+      and a trifle less condescension, but not much. He still hailed Captain
+      Elisha as &#8220;Admiral,&#8221; and was as mockingly careless as ever in
+      his remarks concerning the latter&#8217;s newness in the big city. In
+      fact, he was so little changed that the captain was perplexed. A chap who
+      could take a licking when he deserved it, and not hold malice, must have
+      good in him, unless, of course, he was hiding the malice for a purpose.
+      And if that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+      purpose was the wish to appear friendly, then the manner of hiding it
+      proved Malcolm Dunn to possess more brains than Captain Elisha had given
+      him credit for.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One thing seemed sure, the Dunns were not openly hostile. And Caroline
+      was. Since the interview in the library, when the girl had, as she
+      considered it, humiliated herself by asking her guardian for money to help
+      the Moriartys, she had scarcely spoken to him. Stephen, taking his cue
+      from his sister, was morose and silent, also. Captain Elisha found it hard
+      to forgive his dead brother for bringing all this trouble upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His lawyers, so Sylvester informed him, were setting about getting Rodgers
+      Warren&#8217;s tangible assets together. The task was likely to be a long
+      one. The late broker&#8217;s affairs were in a muddled state, the books
+      were anything but clear, some of the investments were foreign, and, at the
+      very earliest, months must elapse before the executor and trustee could
+      know, for certain, just how large a property he was in charge of.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He found some solace and forgetfulness of the unpleasant life he was
+      leading in helping the stricken Moriarty family. Annie, the maid at the
+      apartment, he swore to secrecy. She must not tell Miss Caroline of his
+      visits to her parents&#8217; home. Doctor Henry, also, though he could not
+      understand why, promised silence. Caroline herself had engaged his
+      services in the case, and he was faithful. But the patient was more
+      seriously hurt than at first appeared, and consultations with a specialist
+      were necessary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Goin&#8217; to be a pretty expensive job, ain&#8217;t it, Doctor?&#8221;
+      asked the captain of the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Rather, I&#8217;m afraid.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right. If expense is necessary, don&#8217;t be afraid<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> of
+      it. You do just what you&#8217;d ought to, and send the bill to me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But Miss Warren insisted upon my sending it to her. She said it was
+      a private matter, and one with which you, as her guardian, had nothing to
+      do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know. Caroline intends to use her own allowance, I s&#8217;pose.
+      Well, let her think she will, if &#8217;twill please her. But when it
+      comes to the settlement, call on me. Give her any reason you want to; say
+      a&mdash;er&mdash;wealthy friend of the family come to life all at once and
+      couldn&#8217;t sleep nights unless he paid the costs.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But there isn&#8217;t any such friend, is there, Captain Warren?
+      Other than yourself, I mean?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha grinned in appreciation of a private joke. &#8220;There is
+      somebody else,&#8221; he admitted, &#8220;who&#8217;ll pay a share,
+      anyhow. I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s he&#8217;s what you call a bosom
+      friend, and, as for his sleepin&#8217; nights&mdash;well, I never heard he
+      couldn&#8217;t do that, after he went to bed. But, anyhow, you saw wood,
+      or bones, or whatever you have to do, and leave the rest to me. And don&#8217;t
+      tell Caroline or anybody else a word.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Moriartys lived in a four-room flat on the East Side, uptown, and his
+      visits there gave the captain a glimpse of another sort of New York life,
+      as different from that of Central Park West as could well be imagined. The
+      old man, Patrick, his wife, Margaret, the unmarried son, Dennis, who
+      worked in the gas house, and five other children of various ages were
+      hived somehow in those four small rooms and Captain Elisha marveled
+      greatly thereat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;For the land sakes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he asked of the nurse,
+      &#8220;how do they do it? Where do they put &#8217;em nights? That&mdash;that
+      closet in there&#8217;s the pantry and woodshed and kitchen and dinin&#8217;
+      room; and that one&#8217;s the settin&#8217; <span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>room and parlor; and them
+      two dry-goods boxes with doors to &#8217;em are bedrooms. There&#8217;s
+      eight livin&#8217; critters to stow away when it&#8217;s time to turn in,
+      and one whole bed&#8217;s took up by the patient. <i>Where</i> do they put
+      the rest? Hang &#8217;em up on nails?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The nurse laughed. &#8220;Goodness knows!&#8221; she said. &#8220;He
+      should have been taken to the hospital. In fact, the doctor and I at first
+      insisted upon his removal there. He would have been much better off. But
+      neither he nor his wife would hear of it. She said he would die sure
+      without his home comforts.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! I should think more likely he&#8217;d die with &#8217;em, or
+      under &#8217;em. I watch that fleshy wife of his with fear and tremblin&#8217;.
+      Every time she goes nigh the bed I expect her to trip over a young one and
+      fall. And if she fell on that poor rack-o&#8217;-bones,&#8221; with a wave
+      of the hand toward the invalid, &#8220;&#8217;twould be the final smash&mdash;like
+      a brick chimney fallin&#8217; on a lath hencoop.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At that moment the &#8220;brick chimney&#8221; herself entered the rooms
+      and the nurse accosted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren here,&#8221; she said, &#8220;was asking where you
+      all found sleeping quarters.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Moriarty smiled broadly. &#8220;Sure, &#8217;tis aisy,&#8221; she
+      explained. &#8220;When the ould man is laid up we&#8217;re all happy to be
+      a bit uncomfortable. Not that we are, neither. You see, sor, me and Nora
+      and Rosy sleep in the other bed; and Dinnie has a bit of a shakedown in
+      the parlor; and Honora is in the kitchen; and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there!&#8221; Captain Elisha interrupted hastily, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+      tell me any more. I&#8217;d rather <i>guess</i> that the baby bunks in the
+      cookstove oven than know it for sartin. How did the grapes I sent you go?&#8221;
+      turning to the sick man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Aw, sor! they were foine. God bless you, sor!<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> Mary be kind to you,
+      sor! Sure the angels&#8217;ll watch over you every day you live and
+      breathe!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha bolted for the parlor, the sufferer firing a gatling
+      fusillade of blessings after him. Mrs. Moriarty continued the bombardment,
+      as she escorted him to the door of the flat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there!&#8221; protested the captain. &#8220;Just belay! cut
+      it short, there&#8217;s a good woman! I&#8217;ll admit I&#8217;m a saint
+      and would wear a halo instead of a hat if &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t so
+      unfashionable. Good day. If you need anything you ain&#8217;t got, tell
+      the nurse.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The grateful Irish woman did not intend to let him escape so easily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Aw, sor,&#8221; she went on, &#8220;it&#8217;s all right for you to
+      make fun. I&#8217;m the jokin&#8217; kind, sor, meself. Whin the flats
+      where we used to be got afire and Pat had to lug me down the fire escape
+      in his arms, they tell me I was laughin&#8217; fit to kill; that is, when
+      I wasn&#8217;t screechin&#8217; for fear he&#8217;d drop me. And him, poor
+      soul, never seein&#8217; the joke, but puffin&#8217; and groanin&#8217;
+      that his back was in two pieces. Ha, ha! Oh, dear! And him in two pieces
+      now for sure and all! Aw, sor, it&#8217;s all right for you to laugh it
+      off, but what would we do without you? You and Miss Caroline, God bless
+      her!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline? She doesn&#8217;t come here, does she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Indade she does. Sure, she&#8217;s the perfect little lady! Hardly
+      a day passes&mdash;or a week, anyhow&mdash;that she doesn&#8217;t drop in
+      to see how the ould man&#8217;s gettin&#8217; on.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Well, see that you don&#8217;t tell her about me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Moriarty held up both hands in righteous protestation. <i>She</i>
+      tell? Might the tongue of her wither between her teeth before it let slip
+      a word, and so on. Captain Elisha waved her to silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+      &#8220;All right! all right!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;So long! Take
+      good care of your husband, and, and&mdash;for Heaven&#8217;s sake, walk
+      careful and don&#8217;t step on any of the children.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Moriarty&#8217;s tongue did not wither; at all events, it was lively
+      enough when he next met her. The captain&#8217;s secret was not divulged,
+      and he continued his visits to the flat, taking care, however, to
+      ascertain his niece&#8217;s whereabouts beforehand. It was not altogether
+      a desire to avoid making his charitable deeds public which influenced him.
+      He had a habit of not letting his right hand know what his left was about
+      in such cases, and he detested a Pharisaical philanthropist. But there was
+      another reason why Caroline must not learn of his interest in the
+      Moriartys. If she did learn it, she would believe him to be helping them
+      on his own responsibility; or, if not, that he was using money belonging
+      to the estate. Of course he would, and honestly must, deny the latter
+      charge, and, therefore, the first would, to her mind, be proven. He
+      intended that Malcolm Dunn should pay the larger share of the bills, as
+      was right and proper. But he could not tell Caroline that, because she
+      must not know of the young man&#8217;s responsibility for the accident. He
+      could not give Malcolm the credit, and he felt that he ought not to take
+      it himself. It was a delicate situation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was lonely, and the days seemed long. Reading the paper, walking in the
+      park, occasionally dropping in at the lawyers&#8217; offices, or visiting
+      the shops and other places of interest about town made up the monotonous
+      routine. He breakfasted early, waited upon by Edwards, got lunch at the
+      restaurant nearest to wherever he happened to be at noon, and returned to
+      the apartment for dinner. His niece and nephew dined with him, but<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> when
+      he attempted conversation they answered in monosyllables or not at all.
+      Every evening he wrote a letter to Abbie, and the mail each morning
+      brought him one from her. The Dunns came frequently and seemed disposed to
+      be friendly, but he kept out of their way as much as possible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson he had not seen since the latter&#8217;s call. This was a
+      disappointment, for he fancied the young fellow and believed he should
+      like him even better on closer acquaintance. He would have returned the
+      visit, but somehow or other the card with the boarding-house street and
+      number had been lost or mislaid, and the long list of &#8220;James
+      Pearsons&#8221; in the directory discouraged him. He speculated much
+      concerning the mystery at which the would-be novelist hinted as preventing
+      his accepting Caroline&#8217;s invitation. Evidently Pearson had once
+      known Rodgers Warren well, and had been esteemed and respected by the
+      latter. Caroline, too, had known him, and was frankly pleased to meet him
+      again. Whatever the trouble might be, she, evidently, was ignorant of it.
+      The captain wondered and pondered, but reached no satisfactory conclusion.
+      It seemed the irony of fate that the one congenial person&mdash;Sylvester
+      excepted&mdash;whom he had met during his stay in the big city should be
+      scratched from his small list of acquaintances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With Sylvester he held many familiar and enjoyable chats. The
+      good-natured, democratic senior member of the law firm liked to have
+      Captain Elisha drop in for advice or to spin yarns. Graves, who was well
+      again, regarded the new guardian with respect of a kind, but with distinct
+      disapproval. The captain was, in his opinion, altogether too flippant and
+      jolly. There was nothing humorous in the situation, as Graves saw it, and
+      to laugh when one&#8217;s brother&#8217;s estate is in a tangle, indicated
+      unfitness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+      if nothing worse. Kuhn was a sharp, quick-moving man, who had no time for
+      frivolity if it delayed business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after a long interview with Sylvester that Captain Elisha decided
+      to send Stephen back to college. When he broke the news there was
+      rebellion, brief but lively. Stephen had no desire to continue his
+      studies; he wished to become a stock broker at once, and, as soon as he
+      was of age, take his father&#8217;s seat on the Exchange.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stevie,&#8221; said Captain Elisha, &#8220;one of these days, when
+      you get to be as old as I am or before, you&#8217;ll realize that an
+      education is worth somethin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ugh!&#8221; grunted the boy, in supreme disgust. &#8220;What do you
+      know about that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, not much, maybe, but enough.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes?&#8221; sarcastically. &#8220;What college did you attend?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Me? Why, none, more&#8217;s the pity. What learnin&#8217; there was
+      in our family your dad had. Maybe that&#8217;s why he was what he was, so
+      fur as money and position and society and so on went, and I&#8217;m what
+      <i>I</i> am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, rubbish! What difference does it make to Malcolm Dunn&mdash;now&mdash;his
+      going through college?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, he went, didn&#8217;t he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen grinned. Malcolm had told him some particulars concerning his
+      university career and its termination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He went&mdash;part way,&#8221; he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ya-as. Well, you&#8217;ve gone part way, so fur. And now you&#8217;ll
+      go the rest.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;d like to know why.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;For one reason, because I&#8217;m your guardian and I say so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+      Stephen was furiously angry. His father&#8217;s indulgence and his sister&#8217;s
+      tolerance had, in most cases, made his will law in the household. To be
+      ordered about in this way by an ignorant interloper, as he considered his
+      uncle, was too much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;By gad,&#8221; he shouted, &#8220;we&#8217;ll see!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, we&#8217;ve seen. You run along now and pack your trunk. And
+      take my advice and study hard. You&#8217;ll be behindhand in your work, so
+      Mr. Sylvester tells me, but you&#8217;re smart, and you can catch up. Make
+      us proud of you; that&#8217;s what you can do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His nephew glanced at him. Captain Elisha was smiling kindly, but there
+      was no sign of change of purpose in his look.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen ground his teeth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh,&#8221; he snarled, &#8220;if it wasn&#8217;t for the disgrace!
+      If things weren&#8217;t as they are, I&#8217;d&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;S-s-s-h! I know; but they are. Maybe I wish they wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      &#8217;most as much as you do, but they are. I don&#8217;t blame you for
+      feelin&#8217; mad now; but I&#8217;m right and I know it. And some day you&#8217;ll
+      know it, and thank me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;When I do, I&#8217;ll be insane.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, you&#8217;ll be older, that&#8217;s all. Now pack your trunk&mdash;or
+      get the Commodore to pack it for you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      News from the Moriarty sick room continued favorable for a time. Then,
+      with alarming suddenness, a change came. The broken hip was mending
+      slowly, but poor Pat&#8217;s age was against him, and the shock and long
+      illness were too much for his system to fight. Dr. Henry shook his head
+      dubiously when the captain asked questions. And, one morning at breakfast,
+      Edwards informed him that the old man was dead. Annie had <span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>been
+      summoned by telephone at midnight and had gone home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha, though not greatly surprised, was shocked and grieved. It
+      seemed such a needless tragedy, almost like murder, although there was no
+      malice in it. And the thought of the fatherless children and the poverty
+      of the stricken family made him shudder. Death at any time, amid any
+      surroundings, is terrible; when the dead hands have earned the bread for
+      many mouths it is appalling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain dreaded visiting the flat, but because he felt it to be a duty
+      he went immediately. And the misery and wailing and dismay he found there
+      were worse than his anticipations. He did his best to comfort and cheer.
+      Mrs. Moriarty alternately called upon the saints to bless him and begged
+      to know what she would do now that they were all sure to starve. Luckily,
+      the family priest, a kind-hearted, quiet man who faced similar scenes
+      almost every day of his life, was there, and Captain Elisha had a long
+      talk with him. With Dennis, the oldest son, and Annie, the maid at the
+      Warrens&#8217;, he also consulted. Money for their immediate needs, he
+      told them, he would provide. And the funeral expenses must not worry them.
+      Afterward&mdash;well, plans for the future could be discussed at another
+      time. But upon Dennis and Annie he tried to impress a sense of their
+      responsibility.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s up to you, Boy,&#8221; he said to the former. &#8220;Annie&#8217;s
+      job&#8217;s sure, I guess, as long as she wants it, and she can give her
+      mother somethin&#8217; every month. But you&#8217;re the man of the house
+      now, and you&#8217;ve got to steer the ship and keep it afloat. That means
+      work, and hard work, lots of it, too. You can do it, if you&#8217;ve got
+      the grit. If I can find a better place and more pay for you,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> I
+      will, but you mustn&#8217;t depend on that. It&#8217;s up to you, I tell
+      you, and you&#8217;ve got to show what&#8217;s in you. If you get stuck
+      and need advice, come to me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He handed the priest a sum of money to cover immediate contingencies, and
+      departed. His letter to Abbie that afternoon was so blue that the
+      housekeeper felt sure he was &#8220;coming down&#8221; with some disease
+      or other. He had been riding in that awful subway, where the air&mdash;so
+      the papers said&mdash;was not fit to breathe, and just as like as not he&#8217;d
+      caught consumption. His great-uncle on his mother&#8217;s side died of it,
+      so it &#8220;run in the family.&#8221; Either he must come home or she
+      should come to him, one or the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But before evening his blueness had disappeared. He had just returned to
+      his room, after stepping into the hall to drop his letter in the mail
+      chute, when his niece knocked at the door. He was surprised to see her,
+      for she had not spoken to him, except in brief reply to questions, since
+      their misunderstanding in that very room. He looked at her wonderingly,
+      not knowing what to say or what to expect; but she spoke first.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; she began, hurriedly, &#8220;the last time I
+      came to you&mdash;the last time I came here, I came to ask a favor, and
+      you&mdash;I thought you&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was evidently embarrassed and confused. Her guardian was embarrassed,
+      also, but he tried to be hospitable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Caroline,&#8221; he said, gravely, &#8220;I know what you
+      mean. Won&#8217;t you&mdash;won&#8217;t you sit down?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To his surprise, she accepted the invitation, taking the same chair she
+      had taken on the occasion of their former interview. But there was a look
+      in her eyes he had never seen there before; at least, not when she was
+      addressing him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+      She went on, speaking hastily, as though determined to head off any
+      questioning on his part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; she began once more, &#8220;the time I came
+      to you in this room you were, so I thought, unreasonable and unkind. I
+      asked you for money to help a poor family in trouble, and you refused to
+      give it to me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, Caroline,&#8221; he interrupted, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t refuse,
+      you only thought I did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She held up her hand. &#8220;Please let me go on,&#8221; she begged.
+      &#8220;I thought you refused, and I couldn&#8217;t understand why. I was
+      hurt and angry. I knew that father never would have refused me under such
+      circumstances, and you were his brother. But since then, only to-day, I
+      have learned that I was wrong. I have learned&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused. The captain was silent. He was beginning to hope, to believe
+      once more in his judgment of character; and yet, with his hope and growing
+      joy, there was a trifle of anxiety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have learned,&#8221; went on his niece, &#8220;that I was
+      mistaken. I can&#8217;t understand yet why you wished to wait before
+      saying yes, but I do know that it must have been neither because you were
+      unkind nor ungenerous. I have just come from those poor people, and they
+      have told me everything.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha started. &#8220;What did they tell you?&#8221; he asked,
+      quickly. &#8220;Who told you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Annie and her mother. They told me what you had done and were doing
+      for them. How kind you had been all through the illness and to-day. Oh, I
+      know you made them promise not to tell me; and you made the doctor and
+      nurse promise, too. But I knew <i>someone</i> had helped, and Annie
+      dropped a hint. Then I suspected, and now I know. Those poor people!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>The
+      captain, who had been looking at the floor, and frowning a bit, suddenly
+      glanced up to find his niece&#8217;s eyes fixed upon him, and they were
+      filled with tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Will you forgive me?&#8221; she asked, rising from her chair, and
+      coming impulsively toward him. &#8220;I&#8217;m sorry I misjudged you and
+      treated you so. You must be a very good man. Please forgive me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took her hand, which was swallowed up in his big one. His eyes were
+      moist, also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Lord love you, dearie,&#8221; he said, &#8220;there&#8217;s nothin&#8217;
+      to forgive. I realized that I must have seemed like a mean, stingy old
+      scamp. Yet I didn&#8217;t mean to be. I only wanted to look into this
+      thing just a little. Just as a matter of business, you know. And I....
+      Caroline, did that doctor tell you anything more?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Any more?&#8221; she repeated in bewilderment. &#8220;He told me
+      that you were the kindest man he had ever seen.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes. Well, maybe his eyesight&#8217;s poor. What I mean is did
+      he tell you anything about anybody else bein&#8217; in this with me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Anybody else? What do you mean?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, nothin&#8217;, nothin&#8217;. I joked with him a spell ago
+      about a wealthy relation of the Moriarty tribe turnin&#8217; up. &#8217;Twas
+      only a joke, of course. And yet, Caroline, I&mdash;I think I&#8217;d ought
+      to say&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated. What could he say? Even a hint might lead to embarrassing
+      questions and he had promised Dunn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What ought you to say?&#8221; asked his niece.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, nothin&#8217;, I guess. I&#8217;m glad you understand matters
+      a little better and I don&#8217;t intend for the estate nor you to pay
+      these Moriarty bills. Just get &#8217;em off your mind. Forget &#8217;em.
+      I&#8217;ll see that everything&#8217;s attended<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> to. And, later on, if
+      you and me can, by puttin&#8217; our heads together, help those folks to
+      earnin&#8217; a better livin&#8217;, why, we will, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl smiled up at him. &#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that
+      you must be one who likes to hide his light under a bushel.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess likely a two-quart measure&#8217;d be plenty big enough to
+      hide mine. There! there! We won&#8217;t have any more misunderstandin&#8217;s,
+      will we? I&#8217;m a pretty green vegetable and about as out of place here
+      as a lobster in a balloon, but, as I said to you and Steve once before, if
+      you&#8217;ll just remember I <i>am</i> green and sort of rough, and maybe
+      make allowances accordin&#8217;, this cruise of ours may not be so
+      unpleasant. Now you run along and get ready for dinner, or the Commodore&#8217;ll
+      petrify from standin&#8217; so long behind your chair.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed, as she turned to go. &#8220;I should hate to have him do
+      that,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He would make a depressing statue. I shall
+      see you again in a few minutes, at dinner. Thank you&mdash;Uncle.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She left Captain Elisha in a curious state of mind. Against his will he
+      had been forced to accept thanks and credit which, he believed, did not
+      rightfully belong to him. It was the only thing to do, and yet it seemed
+      almost like disloyalty to Malcolm Dunn. This troubled him, but the trouble
+      was, just then, a mere pinhead of blackness against the radiance of his
+      spirit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His brother&#8217;s daughter had, for the first time, called him uncle.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h3>
+    <p style="float: left; font-size: 100%; line-height: 80%; margin-top: 0;">
+      &#8220;
+    </p>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">C</span>aptain
+      Warren,&#8221; asked Caroline, as they were seated at the breakfast table
+      next morning, &#8220;what are your plans for to-day?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha put down his coffee cup and pulled his beard reflectively.
+      Contrary to his usual desire since he came to the apartment to live, he
+      was in no hurry to finish the meal. This breakfast and the dinner of the
+      previous evening had been really pleasant. He had enjoyed them. His niece
+      had not called him uncle again, it is true, and perhaps that was too much
+      to be expected as yet, but she was cheerful and even familiar. They talked
+      as they ate, and he had not been made to feel that he was the death&#8217;s
+      head at the feast. The change was marked and very welcome. The bright
+      winter sunshine streaming through the window indicated that the conditions
+      outside were also just what they should be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he replied, with a smile, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know,
+      Caroline, as I&#8217;ve made any definite plans. Let&#8217;s see, to-day&#8217;s
+      Sunday, ain&#8217;t it? Last letter I got from Abbie she sailed into me
+      because, as she said, I seemed to have been &#8217;most everywheres except
+      to meetin&#8217;. She figgers New York&#8217;s a heathen place, anyhow,
+      and she cal&#8217;lates I&#8217;m gettin&#8217; to be a backslider like
+      the rest. I didn&#8217;t know but I might go to church.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline nodded. &#8220;I wondered if you wouldn&#8217;t like to go,&#8221;
+      she said. &#8220;I am going, and I thought perhaps you would go with me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her uncle had again raised his cup to his lips. Now<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> he set it down with a
+      suddenness which caused the statuesque Edwards to bend forward in
+      anticipation of a smash. The captain started to speak, thought better of
+      it, and stared at his niece so intently that she colored and dropped her
+      eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know,&#8221; she faltered, &#8220;that I haven&#8217;t asked you
+      before, but&mdash;but&mdash;&#8221; then, with the impulsiveness which was
+      one of her characteristics, and to her guardian her great charm, she
+      looked him full in the face and added, &#8220;but I hoped you would
+      understand that&mdash;that <i>I</i> understood a little better. I should
+      like to have your company very much.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Caroline,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I appreciate your
+      askin&#8217; me, I sartinly do. And I&#8217;d rather go with you than
+      anybody else on earth. But I was cal&#8217;latin&#8217; to hunt up some
+      little round-the-corner chapel, or Bethel, where I&#8217;d feel a little
+      bit at home. I guess likely your church is a pretty big one, ain&#8217;t
+      it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We attend Saint Denis. It <i>is</i> a large church, but we have
+      always been connected with it. Stephen and I were christened there. But,
+      of course, if you had rather go somewhere else&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no! I hadn&#8217;t anywhere in particular to go. I&#8217;m a
+      Congregationalist to home, but Abbie says I&#8217;ve spread my creed so
+      wide that it ain&#8217;t more&#8217;n an inch deep anywhere, and she
+      shouldn&#8217;t think &#8217;twould keep me afloat. I tell her I&#8217;d
+      rather navigate a broad and shallow channel, where everybody stands by to
+      keep his neighbor off the shoals, than I would a narrow and crooked one
+      with self-righteousness off both beams and perdition underneath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You see,&#8221; he added, reflectively, &#8220;the way I look at
+      it, it&#8217;s a pretty uncertain cruise at the best. Course<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> there&#8217;s
+      all sorts of charts, and every fleet is sartin it&#8217;s got the only
+      right one. But I don&#8217;t know. We&#8217;re afloat&mdash;that much we
+      are sure of&mdash;but the port we left and the harbor we&#8217;re bound
+      for, they&#8217;re always out of sight in the fog astern and ahead. I know
+      lots of folks who claim to see the harbor, and see it plain; but they don&#8217;t
+      exactly agree as to what they see. As for me, I&#8217;ve come to the
+      conclusion that we must steer as straight a course as we can, and when we
+      meet a craft in distress, why, do our best to help her. The rest of it I
+      guess we must leave to the Owner, to the One that launched us. I.... Good
+      land!&#8221; he exclaimed, coming out of his meditation with a start,
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m preachin&#8217; a sermon ahead of time. And the Commodore&#8217;s
+      goin&#8217; to sleep over it, I do believe.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The butler, who had been staring vacantly out of the window during the
+      captain&#8217;s soliloquy, straightened at the sound of his nickname, and
+      asked hastily, &#8220;Yes, sir? What will you have, sir?&#8221; Captain
+      Elisha laughed in huge enjoyment, and his niece joined him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;will you go with me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;d like to fust-rate&mdash;if you won&#8217;t be too much
+      ashamed of me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then it&#8217;s settled, isn&#8217;t it? The service begins at a
+      quarter to eleven. We will leave here at half-past ten.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain shaved with extra care that morning, donned spotless linen,
+      including a &#8220;stand-up&#8221; collar&mdash;which he detested&mdash;brushed
+      his frock-coat and his hair with great particularity, and gave Edwards his
+      shoes to clean. He would have shined them himself, as he always did at
+      home, but on a former occasion when he asked for the &#8220;blackin&#8217;
+      kit,&#8221; the butler&#8217;s shocked and pained expression led to
+      questions and consequent enlightenment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>He
+      was ready by a quarter after ten, but when his niece knocked at his door
+      she bore a message which surprised and troubled him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mrs. Dunn called,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to ask me to go to church
+      with her. I told her I had invited you to accompany me. Would you mind if
+      she joined us?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her guardian hesitated. &#8220;I guess,&#8221; he answered, slowly,
+      &#8220;it ain&#8217;t so much a question of my mindin&#8217; her as she
+      mindin&#8217; me. Does <i>she</i> want me to go along?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She said she should be delighted.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to know! Now, Caroline, don&#8217;t you think I&#8217;d be
+      sort of in the way? Don&#8217;t you believe she&#8217;d manage to live
+      down her disappointment if I didn&#8217;t tag on? You mustn&#8217;t feel
+      that you&#8217;ve got to be bothered with me because you suggested my goin&#8217;,
+      you know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If I had considered it a bother I should not have invited you. If
+      you don&#8217;t wish Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s company, then you and I will go
+      alone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, land sakes! I wouldn&#8217;t have you do that for the world!
+      All right, I&#8217;ll be out in a jiffy.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He gave his hair a final brush, straightened his tie, turned around once
+      more before the mirror, and walked fearfully forth to meet the visitor.
+      For him, the anticipated pleasure of the forenoon had been replaced by
+      uneasy foreboding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, as she rose creakingly to greet him, was extremely
+      gracious. She was gowned and furred and hatted in a manner which caused
+      the captain to make hasty mental estimate as to cost, but she extended a
+      plump hand, buttoned in a very tight glove, and murmured her
+      gratification.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m so glad you are to accompany us, Captain Warren,&#8221;
+      she gushed. &#8220;It is a charming winter morning, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>Captain
+      Elisha touched the plump glove with his own big finger tips, and admitted
+      that the morning was &#8220;fust-rate.&#8221; He was relieved from the
+      embarrassment of further conversation just then by Caroline&#8217;s
+      appearance in the library. She, too, was richly dressed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Are we all ready?&#8221; she asked, brightly. &#8220;Then we may as
+      well start.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid we&#8217;re a trifle early, my dear,&#8221; said
+      Mrs. Dunn, &#8220;but we can stroll about a bit before we go in.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at the library clock. The time was a quarter to eleven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Early?&#8221; he exclaimed, involuntarily. &#8220;Why, I thought
+      Caroline said&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped, suddenly, realizing that he had spoken aloud. His niece
+      divined his thought and laughed merrily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The service does begin now,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but no one is
+      ever on time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh!&#8221; ejaculated her uncle, and did not speak again until they
+      were at the door of the church. Then Caroline asked him what he was
+      thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothin&#8217; much,&#8221; he answered, gazing at the fashionably
+      garbed throng pouring under the carved stone arch of the entrance; &#8220;I
+      was just reorganizin&#8217; my ideas, that&#8217;s all. I&#8217;ve always
+      sort of thought a plug hat looked lonesome. Now I&#8217;ve decided that I&#8217;m
+      wearin&#8217; the lonesome kind.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He marched behind his niece and Mrs. Dunn up the center aisle to the
+      Warren pew. He wrote his housekeeper afterwards that he estimated that
+      aisle to be &#8220;upwards of two mile long. And my Sunday shoes had a
+      separate squeak for every inch,&#8221; he added.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once seated, however, and no longer so conspicuous, his common sense and
+      Yankee independence came to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156"
+      id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> rescue. He had been in much bigger
+      churches than this one, while abroad during his seagoing years. He knew
+      that his clothes were not fashionably cut, and that, to the people about
+      him, he must appear odd and, perhaps, even ridiculous. But he remembered
+      how odd certain city people appeared while summering at South Denboro.
+      Recollections of pointed comments made by boatmen who had taken these
+      summer sojourners on fishing excursions came to his mind. Well, he had one
+      advantage over such people, at any rate, he knew when he was ridiculous,
+      and they apparently did not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, saved from humiliation by his sense of humor, he looked about him with
+      interest. When the procession of choir boys came up the aisle, and Mrs.
+      Dunn explained in a condescending whisper what they were, his answer
+      surprised her a trifle. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; whispered the captain in reply,
+      &#8220;I know. I&#8217;ve seen the choir in Saint Peter&#8217;s at Rome.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only once did he appear greatly astonished. That was when the offering was
+      taken and a certain dignified magnate, whose fame as a king of finance is
+      world-wide, officiated as one of the collectors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Heavens and earth!&#8221; murmured Captain Elisha, staring
+      wide-eyed at the unmistakable features so often pictured and cartooned in
+      the daily papers; &#8220;Caroline&mdash;Caroline, am I seein&#8217; things
+      or is that&mdash;is that&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That is Mr. &mdash;&mdash;,&#8221; whispered his niece. &#8220;He
+      is one of the vestrymen here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My soul!&#8221; still gazing after the Emperor of Wall Street;
+      &#8220;<i>him</i> passin&#8217; the plate! Well,&#8221; with a grim smile,
+      &#8220;whoever picked him out for the job has got judgment. If <i>he</i>
+      can&#8217;t make a body shell out, nobody can.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He listened to the sermon, the text of which was from<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> the Beatitudes, with
+      outward solemnity, but with a twinkle in his eye. After the benediction,
+      when Caroline asked how he enjoyed it, the cause of the twinkle became
+      apparent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Fine!&#8221; he declared, with enthusiasm. &#8220;He&#8217;s a
+      smart preacher, ain&#8217;t he! And he knew his congregation. You might
+      not guess they was meek perhaps, but they certainly did look as if they&#8217;d
+      inherited the earth.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He drew a breath of relief as the trio emerged into the open air. He had
+      enjoyed the novel experience, in a way, but now he felt rather like one
+      let out of jail. The quiet luncheon at home with Caroline was a pleasant
+      anticipation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn smashed his anticipation at a blow. She insisted
+      that he and his niece lunch with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You really must, you know,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;It will be
+      delightful. Just a little family party.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha looked distressed. &#8220;Thank you, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he
+      stammered; &#8220;it&#8217;s awful kind of you, but I wouldn&#8217;t feel
+      right to go puttin&#8217; you to all that trouble. Just as much obliged,
+      but I&mdash;I&#8217;ve got a letter to write, you see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn bore his refusal bravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Very well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but Caroline <i>must</i> come
+      with me. I told Malcolm I should bring her.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure! Sartin! Caroline can go, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Caroline also declined. Having misjudged her guardian in the matter of
+      the Moriarty family, she was in a repentant mood, and had marked that day
+      on her calendar as one of self-sacrifice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, Captain Warren,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I shall not go unless
+      you do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>&#8220;Then
+      the captain will come, of course,&#8221; declared Mrs. Dunn, with
+      decision. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure he will not be so selfish as to deprive me&mdash;and
+      Malcolm&mdash;of your company.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, because he did not wish to appear selfish, Captain Elisha admitted
+      that his letter might be written later in the afternoon, accepted the
+      invitation, and braced his spirit for further martyrdom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not as bad as he expected. The Dunns occupied a small, brown-stone
+      house on Fifth Avenue, somewhat old-fashioned, but eminently respectable.
+      The paintings and bronzes were as numerous as those in the Warren
+      apartment, and if the taste shown in their selection was not that of
+      Rodgers Warren, the connoisseur, they made quite as much show, and the
+      effect upon Captain Elisha was the same. The various mortgages on the
+      property were not visible, and the tradesmen&#8217;s bills were securely
+      locked in Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s desk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The luncheon itself was elaborate, and there was a butler whose majestic
+      dignity and importance made even Edwards seem plebeian by comparison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm was at home when they arrived, irreproachably dressed and
+      languidly non-effusive, as usual. Captain Elisha, as he often said, did
+      not &#8220;set much store&#8221; by clothes; but there was something about
+      this young man which always made him conscious that his own trousers were
+      a little too short, or his boots too heavy, or something. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t
+      <i>wear</i> a necktie like his,&#8221; he wrote Abbie, after his first
+      meeting with Malcolm, &#8220;but blessed if I don&#8217;t wish I could <i>if</i>
+      I would!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline, in the course of conversation during the luncheon, mentioned the
+      Moriartys and their sorrow. The captain tried to head her off and to
+      change the subject, but with little success. He was uncomfortable and<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> kept
+      glancing under his brows at Malcolm, with whom, under the circumstances,
+      he could not help sympathizing to an extent. But his sympathy was wasted.
+      The young man did not appear in the slightest degree nervous. The memory
+      of his recent interview with Captain Elisha did not embarrass him,
+      outwardly at least, half as much as it did the captain. He declared that
+      old Pat&#8217;s death was beastly hard luck, but accidents were bound to
+      happen. It was a shame, and all that. &#8220;If there&#8217;s anything the
+      mater and I can do, Caroline, call on us, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, do, Caroline,&#8221; concurred his mother. &#8220;However, one
+      must be philosophic in such cases. It is a mercy that people in their
+      station do not feel grief and loss as we do. Providence, in its wisdom,
+      has limited their susceptibilities as it has their intelligence. Don&#8217;t
+      you agree with me, Captain Warren?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sartin!&#8221; was the prompt reply. &#8220;It&#8217;s always a
+      comfort to me, when I go fishin&#8217;, to know that the fish ain&#8217;t
+      got so much brains as I have. The hook hurts, I presume likely, but they
+      ain&#8217;t got the sense to realize what a mean trick&#8217;s been played
+      on &#8217;em. The one that&#8217;s caught&#8217;s dead, and them that are
+      left are too busy hustlin&#8217; for the next meal to waste much time
+      grievin&#8217;. That eases my conscience consider&#8217;ble.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline seemed to be the only one who appreciated the sarcasm in this
+      observation. She frowned slightly. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn tolerantly smiled,
+      and her son laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say, Admiral,&#8221; he commented, &#8220;when it comes to
+      philosophy you go some yourself, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. I can be as philosophical about other folk&#8217;s troubles
+      as anybody I ever see.&#8221; Then, with an involuntary chuckle of
+      admiration at the young gentleman&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> coolness, he added,
+      &#8220;That is, anybody I ever see afore I come to New York.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. The captain,
+      noticing his change of purpose and following the direction of his look,
+      saw Mrs. Dunn shake her head in sharp disapproval. He ate the remainder of
+      his salad in silence, but he thought a good deal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And now,&#8221; said Mrs. Dunn, rising and leading the way to the
+      drawing-room, &#8220;we must all go for a motor ride. Everyone rides on
+      Sunday afternoon,&#8221; she explained, turning to her male guest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The distressed look returned to Captain Elisha&#8217;s face. His niece saw
+      it, understood, and came to his rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think Captain Warren prefers to be excused,&#8221; she said,
+      smiling. &#8220;He has a prejudice against automobiles.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No!&#8221; drawled Malcolm, the irrepressible. &#8220;Not really?
+      Admiral, I&#8217;m surprised! In these days, you know!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It ain&#8217;t so much the automobiles,&#8221; snapped Captain
+      Elisha, irritation getting the better of his discretion, &#8220;as &#8217;tis
+      the devilish fools that&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes? Oh, all right, Mater.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That are careless enough to get in the way of them,&#8221; finished
+      the captain, with surprising presence of mind. &#8220;Still, if Caroline
+      wants to go&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have it!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Dunn. &#8220;The young people
+      shall go, and the others remain at home. Malcolm shall take you for a
+      spin, Caroline, and Captain Warren and I will stay here and wait until you
+      return. We&#8217;ll have a family chat, Captain, won&#8217;t we? Because,&#8221;
+      with a gay laugh, &#8220;in a way we <i>are</i> like one family, you see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, somewhat to Miss Warren&#8217;s surprise, her uncle<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+      agreed to this proposition. He did not answer immediately, but, when he
+      did, it was with heartiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that&#8217;s a good idea. That&#8217;s
+      fust-rate. You young folks go, and Mrs. Dunn and I&#8217;ll wait here till
+      you come back. That&#8217;s the way of the world&mdash;young folks on the
+      go, and the old folks at home by the fire, hey, Mrs. Dunn?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady addressed did not relish being numbered with &#8220;old folks,&#8221;
+      but she smiled sweetly, and said she supposed it was. Malcolm telephoned
+      to the garage and to Edwards at the Warren apartment, ordering the butler
+      to deliver his mistress&#8217;s auto cap and cloak to the chauffeur, who
+      would call for them. A few minutes later the yellow car rolled up to the
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the hall Mrs. Dunn whispered a reassuring word to her departing guest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now enjoy yourself, dear,&#8221; she whispered. &#8220;Have a nice
+      ride and don&#8217;t worry about me. If he&mdash;if our encumbrance bores
+      me too much I shall&mdash;well, I shall plead a headache and leave him to
+      his own devices. Besides, he isn&#8217;t so <i>very</i> dreadful, is he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline shook her head. &#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;he is a
+      good man. I understand him better than I did and&mdash;yes, I like him
+      better, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh!... Indeed! Well, good-by, dear. Good-by.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The yellow car roared as the chauffeur cranked it, then moved off up the
+      crowded avenue. Mrs. Dunn watched it until it was out of sight. Her brows
+      were drawn together, and she seemed puzzled and just a bit disconcerted.
+      However, when she returned to the drawing-room, her gracious smile had
+      returned, and her bland condescension was again in evidence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha had been standing by the window.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> She begged him to be
+      seated. He thanked her, but looked dubiously at the Louis XVI chair
+      indicated. She noticed the look.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Suppose we go into the library,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is much
+      less formal. And there is a fire&mdash;for us <i>old</i> folks,&#8221;
+      with a slight accent on the word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The library was more homelike. Not as many books as at the Warrens&#8217;,
+      but a great deal of gilt in the bindings and much carving on the cases.
+      The fire was cheery, and the pair sat down before it in big easy chairs.
+      Mrs. Dunn looked intently at the glowing coals.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha cleared his throat. Mrs. Dunn leaned forward expectantly.
+      The captain coughed and sank back in his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes?&#8221; purred the lady. &#8220;You were about to say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Me? Oh, no, I didn&#8217;t say anything.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another period of silence. Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s foot tapped the rug
+      impatiently. She wished him to begin the conversation, and he would not.
+      At length, in desperation, she began it herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I suppose you find New York rather different from&mdash;er&mdash;North&mdash;er&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;From South Denboro? Yes, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do you like the city life?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not as well as you do that of the country, doubtless.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, you see, I ain&#8217;t had so much of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, of course not. It does so depend upon what one is accustomed
+      to. Now I fancy I should be perfectly desperate in your village.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One corner of Captain Elisha&#8217;s mouth curled upward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t be surprised,&#8221; he admitted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Desperately lonely, I mean.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>&#8220;Yes&#8217;m.
+      I judged that was what you meant. Still, folks can be lonesome in New
+      York.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Perhaps. But really I don&#8217;t see how. With all the whirl and
+      the crowds and the glorious excitement. The feeling that one is at the
+      very heart, the center of everything!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. If you belong to the machinery, I s&#8217;pose it&#8217;s all
+      right. But if you&#8217;ve been leanin&#8217; over the rail, lookin&#8217;
+      on, and get pushed in unexpected, maybe you don&#8217;t care so much about
+      bein&#8217; nigh the center.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then why stay there? Why not get out?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If you&#8217;re caught in the wheels, gettin&#8217; out&#8217;s
+      somethin&#8217; of a job.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But, as I understand it, Captain Warren&mdash;I may be misinformed,
+      for, of course, I haven&#8217;t been unduly curious concerning your family
+      affairs&mdash;as <i>I</i> understand it, you were not obliged to remain
+      among the&mdash;among the wheels, as you call them. You could have gotten
+      out quite easily, couldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume likely I could. But, you see, ma&#8217;am, I had a feelin&#8217;
+      that I&#8217;d ought to stay.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn laughed lightly. &#8220;Ah me!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;you
+      felt it your duty, I suppose. Oh, you New England Puritans!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She shook her head in playful mockery. Then she added, &#8220;But, at all
+      events, it cannot be so very disagreeable&mdash;now. I have no doubt it
+      was&mdash;well, not comfortable for you at first. Steve and Caroline were
+      quite impossible&mdash;really quite furious. Your sudden appearance in the
+      capacity of guardian was too much for them. They were sure you must be a
+      perfect ogre, Captain. I had to use all my eloquence to convince them they
+      would not be devoured alive. But now&mdash;what a change! Why, already
+      Caroline accepts you as&mdash;well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164"
+      id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> almost like an old friend, like myself.
+      In the last few days this change in her attitude is quite marked. What <i>have</i>
+      you done? Are you a wizard? Do tell me!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This appeal, delivered with eloquence and most engaging play of brow and
+      eye, should have been irresistible. Unfortunately the captain did not
+      appear to have heard it. Leaning forward, his hands clasped between his
+      knees, he was gazing into the fire. And when he spoke, it was as if he
+      were thinking aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I s&#8217;pose &#8217;tis a sort of disease, this duty business,&#8221;
+      he mused. &#8220;And most diseases ain&#8217;t cheerful visitations. Still
+      a feller ought not to growl about it in public. I always did hate for a
+      man to be goin&#8217; about forever complainin&#8217; of his sufferin&#8217;s&mdash;whether
+      they was from duty or rheumatiz.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s lips snapped shut. She pressed them together
+      impatiently. Evidently her questions, and their diplomatic prelude, had
+      been unheard and wasted. However, she did not intend to be sidetracked or
+      discouraged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;One should not prate of one&#8217;s duty, of course,&#8221; she
+      agreed. &#8220;Not that you do&mdash;far from it. But, as I was saying,
+      our dear Caroline has&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, ma&#8217;am. I hope I don&#8217;t groan too loud. Do you
+      know, I believe climate has a bearin&#8217; on duty, same as it has on
+      rheumatics. I s&#8217;pose you city folks&#8221;&mdash;and there was
+      almost contempt in the words&mdash;&#8220;are sort of Christian Science,
+      and figger it&#8217;s an &#8216;error&#8217;&mdash;hey? Somethin&#8217; to
+      be forgot.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady resented the interruption, and the contempt nettled her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not at all!&#8221; she retorted. &#8220;We city dwellers have our
+      duties, also.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is that a fact? I want to know!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>&#8220;Certainly
+      it is a fact,&#8221; tartly. &#8220;I have my duties and many of them.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um! So? Well, I s&#8217;pose you do feel you must dress just so,
+      and live just so, and do just such and such things. If you call those
+      duties, why&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do. What else are they, pray?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn was finding it difficult to keep her temper. To be catechised in
+      this contemptuously lofty manner by one to whom she considered herself so
+      immensely superior, was too much. She forgot the careful plan of campaign
+      which she had intended to follow in this interview, and now interrupted in
+      her turn. And Captain Elisha, who also was something of a strategist,
+      smiled at the fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We do have our social duties, our duties to society,&#8221; snapped
+      the widow, hotly. &#8220;They are necessary ones. Having been born&mdash;or
+      risen to&mdash;a certain circle, we recognize the responsibilities
+      attached to it. We <i>are</i> careful with whom we associate; we have to
+      be. As for dress, we dress as others of our friends do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And maybe a little better, if you can, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If we can&mdash;yes. I presume&mdash;&#8221; with crushing irony&mdash;&#8220;dress
+      in South Denboro counts but little.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t say that if you ever went to sewin&#8217;
+      circle,&#8221; with a chuckle. &#8220;Still, compared to the folks at your
+      meetin&#8217;-house this morning, our congregation would look like a flock
+      of blackbirds alongside of a cage full of Birds of Paradise. But most of
+      us&mdash;the women folks especial&mdash;dress as well as we can.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;As well as you can!&#8221; triumphantly. &#8220;There! you see? And
+      you live as well as you can, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If you mean style, why, we don&#8217;t set as much store by it as
+      you do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nonsense! We are obliged to be,&#8221; with a slight<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+      shudder at the vulgarism, &#8220;<i>stylish</i>. If we should lapse, if we
+      should become shabby and behind the fashion or live in that way, people
+      would wonder and believe it was because we could not afford to do
+      otherwise.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, s&#8217;pose they did, you&#8217;d know better yourselves.
+      Can&#8217;t you be independent?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Not unless you are very, very rich; then it might be considered
+      an eccentricity. Independence is a costly luxury, and few can afford it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But suppose you can&#8217;t afford the other thing?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then we must pretend we can. Oh, you <i>don&#8217;t</i> understand!
+      So <i>much</i> depends upon a proper appearance. Everything depends upon
+      it&mdash;one&#8217;s future, one&#8217;s children&#8217;s future&mdash;everything.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; with the same irritating smile, &#8220;I should think
+      that might mean some plannin&#8217;. And plans, the best of &#8217;em, are
+      likely to go wrong. You talk about the children in your&mdash;in what you
+      call your &#8216;circle.&#8217; How can you plan what they&#8217;ll do?
+      You might when they was little, perhaps; but when they grow up it&#8217;s
+      different.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is not. It <i>can&#8217;t</i> be! And, if they have been
+      properly reared and understand their responsibilities, they plan with you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Land sakes! You mean&mdash;why, s&#8217;pose they take a notion to
+      get married? I&#8217;m an old bach, of course, but the average young girl
+      or feller is subject to that sort of ailment, &#8217;cordin&#8217; to the
+      records. S&#8217;pose one of your circle&#8217;s daughters gets to keepin&#8217;
+      company with a chap who&#8217;s outside the ring? A promisin&#8217;, nice
+      boy enough, but poor, and a rank outsider? Mean to say she sha&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      marry him if she wants to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly! That sort of marriage is never a happy one, unless, of
+      course, the girl is wealthy enough not to care. And even then it is not
+      advisable. All their customs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167"
+      id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> and habits of thought are different. No!
+      Emphatically, no! And the girl, if she is sensible and well reared, as I
+      have said, will understand it is impossible.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My soul and body! Then you mean to tell me that she <i>must</i>
+      look out for some chap in her crowd? If she ain&#8217;t got but just
+      enough to keep inside the circle&mdash;this grand whirlamagig you&#8217;re
+      tellin&#8217; me about&mdash;if she&#8217;s pretendin&#8217; up to the
+      limit of her income or over, then it&#8217;s her duty, and her ma and pa&#8217;s
+      duty, to set her cap for a man who&#8217;s nigher the center pole in the
+      tent and go right after him? Do you tell me that? That&#8217;s a note, I
+      must say!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s foot beat a lively tattoo on the rug. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+      know what you mean by a &#8216;note,&#8217;&#8221; she commented, with
+      majestic indignation. &#8220;I have not lived in South Denboro, and
+      perhaps my understanding of English is defective. But marriages among
+      cultivated people, <i>society</i> people, intelligent, ambitious people
+      are, or should be, the result of thought and planning. Others are
+      impossible!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How about this thing we read so much about in novels?&mdash;Love, I
+      believe they call it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Love! Love is well enough, but it does not, of itself, pay for
+      proper clothes, or a proper establishment, or seats at the opera, or any
+      of the practical, necessary things of modern life. You can&#8217;t keep up
+      a presentable appearance on <i>love</i>! If I had a daughter who lacked
+      the brains to understand what I had taught her, that is, her duty as a
+      member of good society, and talked of making a love match, I would.... But
+      there! You can&#8217;t understand, I suppose.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose and shook the wrinkles from her gown. Captain Elisha straightened
+      in his chair. &#8220;Why, yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he drawled, quietly;
+      &#8220;yes, ma&#8217;am, I guess I understand fust-rate.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>And
+      suddenly Mrs. Dunn also understood. Her face, which had grown almost too
+      red for one attached to a member of polite society, grew redder still. She
+      turned away and walked to the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What nonsense we&#8217;ve been talking!&#8221; she said, after a
+      moment&#8217;s silence. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see what led us into this
+      silly discussion. Malcolm and your niece must be having a delightful ride.
+      I almost wish I had gone with them.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did wish it, devoutly. Captain Elisha still remained by the fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Automobiles are great things for hustlin&#8217; around in,&#8221;
+      he observed. &#8220;Pity they&#8217;re such dangerous playthings. Yet I s&#8217;pose
+      they&#8217;re one of the necessities of up-to-date folks, same as you
+      said, Mrs. Dunn.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Surely,&#8221; she asked coldly, &#8220;you don&#8217;t condemn
+      automobiles, Captain Warren? What would you&mdash;return to stage coaches?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not a mite! But I was thinkin&#8217; of that poor Moriarty man.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;His death was due to an accident. And accidents,&#8221; she turned
+      and looked directly at him, &#8220;when they involve financial damages,
+      may be paid for.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain nodded. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And when arrangements for such payment is made, <i>honorable</i>
+      people&mdash;at least, in the circle of which you and I have been speaking&mdash;consider
+      the matter settled and do not refer to it again, either among themselves&mdash;or
+      elsewhere.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am.&#8221; He nodded again. She did know; Malcolm,
+      evidently, had told her. &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am. That&#8217;s the way any
+      decent person would feel&mdash;and act&mdash;if such a thing happened&mdash;even
+      if they hailed from South Denboro.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He pushed back his chair and stood up. She continued<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> to look him over, much
+      as if she were taking a mental inventory of his character, or revising an
+      old one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I hope,&#8221; she said, lightly, but with deliberation, &#8220;our
+      little argument and&mdash;er&mdash;slight disagreement concerning&mdash;er&mdash;duty
+      will not make us enemies, Captain Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Enemies! Land sakes, no! I respect anybody&#8217;s havin&#8217;
+      opinions and not bein&#8217; afraid to give &#8217;em. And I think I can
+      understand some of how you feel. Maybe if I was anchored here on Fifth
+      Avenue, same as you are, instead of bein&#8217; blown in by an unexpected
+      no&#8217;theaster, I&#8217;d be feelin&#8217; the same way. It&#8217;s all
+      accordin&#8217;, as I&#8217;ve said so often. Enemies? No, indeed!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed again. &#8220;I&#8217;m so glad!&#8221; she said. &#8220;Malcolm
+      declares he&#8217;d be quite afraid of me&mdash;as an enemy. He seems to
+      think I possess some mysterious and quite diabolical talent for making my
+      un-friends uncomfortable, and declares he would compromise rather than
+      fight me at any time. Of course it&#8217;s ridiculous&mdash;just one of
+      his jokes&mdash;and I&#8217;m really harmless and very much afraid. That&#8217;s
+      why I want you and me to be friends, Captain Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sure!&#8221; Captain Elisha nodded emphatically. &#8220;That&#8217;s
+      what I want, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But that evening, immediately after his return to the apartment, when&mdash;Caroline
+      having gone to her own room to remove her wraps&mdash;he and the butler
+      were alone, he characteristically unburdened his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Warren, sir,&#8221; said Edwards, &#8220;a young gentleman left
+      a note here for you this afternoon. The elevator man gave it to me, sir.
+      It&#8217;s on your dressing table, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain&#8217;s answer had nothing whatever to do with the note. He
+      had been thinking of other things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>&#8220;Commodore,&#8221;
+      he said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve got the answer.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;To the note? Already, sir? I didn&#8217;t know you&#8217;d seen it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I ain&#8217;t. I&#8217;ve got the answer to the conundrum. It&#8217;s
+      Mother!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mother, sir? I&mdash;I don&#8217;t know what you mean.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do. The answer&#8217;s Mother. Sonny don&#8217;t count, though he
+      may think he does. But Mother&#8217;s the whole team and the dog under the
+      wagon. And, Commodore, we&#8217;ve got to trot some if we want to keep
+      ahead of that team! Don&#8217;t you forget it!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went to his room, leaving the bewildered butler to retire to the
+      kitchen, where he informed the cook that the old man was off his head
+      worse than common to-night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Blessed if he don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s a trotting horse!&#8221;
+      said Edwards.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span>he
+      note on the dining room table proved, to the captain&#8217;s delight, to
+      be from James Pearson. It was brief and to the point.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you come and see me?&#8221; wrote the young man.
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ve been expecting you, and you promised to come. Have you
+      forgotten my address? If so, here it is. I expect to be in all day
+      to-morrow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The consequence of this was that eleven o&#8217;clock the next day found
+      Captain Elisha pulling the bell at a brick house in a long brick block on
+      a West Side street. The block had evidently been, in its time, the homes
+      of well-to-do people, but now it was rather dingy and gone to seed. Across
+      the street the first floors were, for the most part, small shops, and in
+      the windows above them doctors&#8217; signs alternated with those of
+      modistes, manicure artists, and milliners.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain had come a roundabout way, stopping in at the Moriarty flat,
+      where he found Mrs. Moriarty in a curious state of woe and tearful pride.
+      &#8220;Oh, what will I do, sir?&#8221; she moaned. &#8220;When I think he&#8217;s
+      gone, it seems as if I&#8217;d die, too. But, thanks to you and Miss
+      Warren&mdash;Mary make it up to her!&mdash;my Pat&#8217;ll have the finest
+      funeral since the Guinny saloon man was buried. Ah, if he could have lived
+      to see it, he&#8217;d have died content!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The pull at the boarding-house bell was answered by a rather slatternly
+      maid, who informed the visitor that she guessed Mr. Pearson was in; he
+      &#8217;most always was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172"
+      id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> around lunch time. So Captain Elisha
+      waited in a typical boarding-house parlor, before a grate with no fire in
+      it and surrounded by walnut and plush furniture, until Pearson himself
+      came hurrying downstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say, you&#8217;re a brick, Captain Warren!&#8221; he declared, as
+      they shook hands. &#8220;I hoped you&#8217;d come to-day. Why haven&#8217;t
+      you before?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain explained his having mislaid the address.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, was that it? Then I&#8217;m glad I reminded you. Rather a
+      cheeky thing to do, but I&#8217;ve been a reporter, and nerve is necessary
+      in that profession. I began to be afraid living among the blue-bloods had
+      had its effect, and you were getting finicky as to your acquaintances.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You didn&#8217;t believe any such thing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Didn&#8217;t I? Well, perhaps I didn&#8217;t. Come up to my room. I
+      think we can just about squeeze in, if you don&#8217;t mind sitting close.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson&#8217;s room was on the third flight, at the front of the house.
+      Through the window one saw the upper half of the buildings opposite, and
+      above them a stretch of sky. The bed was a small brass and iron affair,
+      but the rest of the furniture was of good quality, the chairs were easy
+      and comfortable, and the walls were thickly hung with photographs, framed
+      drawings, and prints.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I put those up to cover the wall paper,&#8221; explained the host.
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t offer them as an art collection, but as a screen. Sit
+      down. Put your coat on the bed. Shall I close the window? I usually keep
+      the upper half open to let out the pipe smoke. Otherwise I might not be
+      able to navigate without fog signals.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His visitor chuckled, followed directions with his coat and hat, and sat
+      down. Pearson took the chair by the small flat-topped desk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>&#8220;How
+      about that window?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Shall I shut it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no! We&#8217;ll be warm enough, I guess. You&#8217;ve got steam
+      heat, I see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mean you hear. Those pipes make noise enough to wake the dead.
+      At first I thought I couldn&#8217;t sleep because of the racket they made.
+      Now I doubt if I could without it. Would you consider a cigar, Captain?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! I don&#8217;t usually stop to consider. But I tell you, Jim&mdash;just
+      now you said something about a pipe. I&#8217;ve got mine aboard, but I ain&#8217;t
+      dared to smoke it since I left South Denboro. If you wouldn&#8217;t mind&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not a bit. Tobacco in this jar on the desk. I keep a temporary
+      supply in my jacket pocket. Matches? Here you are! What do you think of my&mdash;er&mdash;stateroom?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Think it makes nice, snug quarters,&#8221; was the prompt answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Snug is a good word. Much like living in an omnibus, but it
+      answers the purpose. I furnished it myself, except for the bed. The
+      original bureau had pictures of cauliflowers painted on each drawer front.
+      Mrs. Hepton&mdash;my landlady&mdash;was convinced that they were roses. I
+      told her she might be right, but, at all events, looking at them made me
+      hungry. Perhaps she noticed the effect on my appetite and was willing for
+      me to substitute.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain laughed. Then, pointing, he asked: &#8220;What&#8217;s that
+      handbill?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &#8220;handbill&#8221; was a fair-sized poster announcing the
+      production at the &#8220;Eureka Opera House&#8221; of the &#8220;Thrilling
+      Comedy-Drama, The Golden Gods.&#8221; Pearson looked at it, made a face,
+      and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>&#8220;That,&#8221;
+      he said, &#8220;is my combined crusher and comforter. It is the
+      announcement of the first, and next to the last, performance of a play I
+      wrote in my calf days. The &#8216;Eureka Opera House&#8217; is&mdash;or
+      was, if the &#8216;gods&#8217; weren&#8217;t too much for it&mdash;located
+      at Daybury, Illinois. I keep that bill to prevent my conceit getting away
+      with me. Also, when I get discouraged over my novel, it reminds me that,
+      however bad the yarn may turn out to be, I have committed worse crimes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This led to the captain&#8217;s asking about the novel and how it was
+      progressing. His companion admitted having made some progress, more in the
+      line of revision than anything else. He had remodeled his hero somewhat,
+      in accordance with his new friend&#8217;s suggestions during their
+      interview at the Warren apartment, and had introduced other characters,
+      portrait sketches from memory of persons whom he had known in his boyhood
+      days in the Maine town. He read a few chapters aloud, and Captain Elisha
+      waxed almost enthusiastic over them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then followed a long discussion over a point of seamanship, the handling
+      of a bark in a gale. It developed that the young author&#8217;s knowledge
+      of saltwater strategy was extensive and correct in the main, though
+      somewhat theoretical. That of his critic was based upon practice and hard
+      experience. He cited this skipper and that as examples, and carried them
+      through no&#8217;theasters off Hatteras and typhoons in the Indian Ocean.
+      The room, in spite of the open window, grew thick with pipe smoke, and the
+      argument was punctuated by thumps on the desk and chair arms, and
+      illustrated by diagrams drawn by the captain&#8217;s forefinger on the
+      side of the dresser. The effects of oil on breaking rollers, the use of a
+      &#8220;sea-anchor&#8221; over the side to &#8220;hold<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> her to it,&#8221;
+      whether or not a man was justified in abandoning his ship under certain
+      given circumstances, these were debated pro and con. Always Pearson&#8217;s
+      &#8220;Uncle Jim&#8221; was held up as the final authority, the paragon of
+      sea captains, by the visitor, and, while his host pretended to agree, with
+      modest reservations, in this estimate of his relative, he was more and
+      more certain that his hero was bound to become a youthful edition of
+      Elisha Warren himself&mdash;and he thanked the fates which had brought
+      this fine, able, old-school mariner to his door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, Captain Elisha, having worked &#8220;Uncle Jim&#8221; into a
+      safe harbor after a hundred mile cruise under jury jig, with all hands
+      watch and watch at the pumps, leaned forward in triumph to refill his
+      pipe. Having done so, his eyes remained fixed upon a photograph standing,
+      partially hidden by a leather collar box, upon the dresser. He looked at
+      it intently, then rose and took it in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I swan!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Either what my head&#8217;s
+      been the fullest of lately has struck to my eyesight, or else&mdash;why,
+      say, Jim, that&#8217;s Caroline, ain&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson colored and seemed embarrassed. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he answered,
+      &#8220;that is Miss Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Good likeness, too! But what kind of rig has she got on? I&#8217;ve
+      seen her wear a good many dresses&mdash;seems to have a different one for
+      every day, pretty nigh&mdash;but I never saw her in anything like that.
+      Looks sort of outlandish; like one of them foreign girls at Geneva&mdash;or
+      Leghorn, say.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. That is an Italian peasant costume. Miss Warren wore it at a
+      fancy dress ball a year ago.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Want to know! I-talian peasant, hey! Fifth Avenue<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+      peasant with diamonds in her hair. Becomin&#8217; to her, ain&#8217;t it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I thought so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. She looks pretty <i>enough</i>! But she don&#8217;t need
+      diamonds nor hand-organ clothes to make her pretty.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, looking up from the photograph, he asked, &#8220;Give you this
+      picture, did she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend&#8217;s embarrassment increased. &#8220;No,&#8221; he answered
+      shortly. Then, after an instant&#8217;s hesitation. &#8220;That ball was
+      given by the Astorbilts and was one of the most swagger affairs of the
+      season. The <i>Planet</i>&mdash;the paper with which I was connected&mdash;issues
+      a Sunday supplement of half-tone reproductions of photographs. One page
+      was given up to pictures of the ball and the costumes worn there.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see. Astonishin&#8217; how folks do like to get their faces into
+      print. I used to know an old woman&mdash;Aunt Hepsibah Tucker, her name
+      was&mdash;she&#8217;s dead now. The pride of Aunt Hepsy&#8217;s heart was
+      that she took nineteen bottles of &#8216;Balm of Burdock Tea&#8217; and
+      the tea folks printed her picture as a testimonial that she lived through
+      it. Ho, ho! And society big-bugs appear to have the same cravin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Some of them do. But that of your niece was obtained by our society
+      reporter from the photographer who took it. Bribery and corruption, of
+      course. Miss Warren would have been at least surprised to see it in our
+      supplement. I fancied she might not care for so much publicity and
+      suppressed it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Well, I guess you did right. I&#8217;ll thank you for her.
+      By the way, I told Caroline where I was cal&#8217;latin&#8217; to go this
+      mornin&#8217;, and she wished to be remembered to you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>Pearson
+      seemed pleased, but he made no comment. Captain Elisha blew a smoke ring
+      from his pipe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And say, Jim,&#8221; he added, embarrassed in his turn, &#8220;I
+      hope you won&#8217;t think I&#8217;m interferin&#8217; in your affairs,
+      but are you still set against comin&#8217; up to where I live? I know you
+      said you had a reason, but are you sure it&#8217;s a good one?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He waited for an answer but none came. Pearson was gazing out of the
+      window. The captain looked at his watch and rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess I&#8217;ll have to be goin&#8217;,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+      after twelve now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His host swung around in his chair. &#8220;Sit down, Captain,&#8221; he
+      said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been doing a lot of thinking since I saw you, and
+      I&#8217;m not sure about that reason. I believe I&#8217;ll ask your
+      advice. It is a delicate matter, and it involves your brother. You may see
+      it as he did, and, if so, our friendship ends, I suppose. But I&#8217;m
+      going to risk it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Rodgers Warren and I,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;were well
+      acquainted during the latter part of my newspaper work. I was financial
+      man on the <i>Planet</i>, and some articles I wrote took your brother&#8217;s
+      fancy. At all events, he wrote me concerning them in highly complimentary
+      terms and asked me to call and see him at his office. I did so and&mdash;well,
+      we became very friendly, so much so that he invited me to his house. I
+      dined there several times, was invited to call often, and&mdash;I enjoyed
+      it. You see, I had few friends in the city, outside my journalistic
+      acquaintances, and I suppose I was flattered by Mr. Warren&#8217;s
+      kindness and the fancy he seemed to have taken to me. And I liked Miss
+      Warren&mdash;no one could help that&mdash;and I believed she liked me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>&#8220;She
+      does like you,&#8221; interrupted his companion, with surprise. &#8220;Caroline&#8217;s
+      a good girl.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, she is. However, she isn&#8217;t in this story, except as a
+      side-issue. At this time my ambitions were for a newspaper career, and I
+      thought I was succeeding. And her father&#8217;s marked interest and the
+      things he said to me promised more than an ordinary success. He was a well
+      known man on the street, and influential. So my head began to swell, and I
+      dreamed&mdash;a lot of foolishness. And then&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, put down his empty pipe, and sighed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, then,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;came the upset. I judged
+      from what you said at our previous conversation, Captain, that you were
+      well enough acquainted with Wall Street to know that queer operations take
+      place there. Did you read about the South Shore Trolley business?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha considered. &#8220;Why, yes,&#8221; he said, slowly,
+      &#8220;seem&#8217;s if I did. One of those consolidations with &#8216;holdin&#8217;
+      companies&#8217; and franchises and extensions and water by the hogshead.
+      Wa&#8217;n&#8217;t that it? I remember now; the Boston papers had
+      considerable about it, and I presume likely the New York ones had more.
+      One of those all-accordin&#8217;-to-law swindles that sprout same as
+      toadstools in a dark place, but die out if the light&#8217;s turned on too
+      sudden. This one didn&#8217;t come to nothin&#8217; but a bad smell, if I
+      remember right.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do. And I suppose I&#8217;m responsible for the smell. I got
+      wind of the thing, investigated, found out something of what was going on,
+      and printed a preliminary story in the <i>Planet</i>. It caused a
+      sensation.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused once more. Captain Elisha, for the sake of saying something,
+      observed, &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t wonder.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It certainly did. And the morning on which it appeared,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> Mr.
+      Rodgers Warren &#8217;phoned me. He wished to see me at once. I went down
+      to his office. Captain, I dislike to tell you this. Mr. Warren was your
+      brother.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know he was. And I&#8217;m his executor. Both those reasons make
+      me &#8217;specially anxious to have you tell me the truth. Heave ahead
+      now, to oblige me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I found him very polite and cordial, at first. He said that a
+      ridiculous and sensational story concerning the Trolley Combine had
+      appeared in the <i>Planet</i>, and he would like to have me contradict it
+      and suppress further falsehoods of the kind. I told him I couldn&#8217;t
+      do that, because the story was true. I had written it myself. He was
+      angry, and I could see that he was holding himself in by main strength. I
+      went on to explain that it was the duty of an honest paper, as I saw it,
+      to expose such trespass upon the people&#8217;s rights. He asked me if I
+      knew who was behind the scheme. I said I knew some of the backers. They
+      were pretty big men, too. Then he informed me that he himself was deeply
+      interested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was knocked off my feet by that, you can imagine. And, to be
+      frank, Captain, if I had known it at first I&#8217;m not sure that I,
+      personally, would have taken the matter up. Yet I might; I can&#8217;t
+      tell. But now that I had done it and discovered what I had, I couldn&#8217;t
+      give it up. I must go on and learn more. And I knew enough already to be
+      certain that the more I learned the more I should write and have
+      published. It was one of those things which had to be made public&mdash;if
+      a fellow had a conscience about him and a pride in the decency of his
+      profession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All this was going through my head as I sat there in his private
+      office. And he took my surprise and hesitation<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> as symptoms of wavering
+      and went at me, hard. Of course I knew, he said, that the operation was
+      absolutely within the law. I did, but that didn&#8217;t make it more
+      honest or moral or just. He went on to say that in large financial deals
+      of this nature petty scruples must be lost sight of. Good of the business,
+      rights of stockholders, all that sort of stuff; he rang the changes. All
+      the papers cared for was sensation; to imperil the fortune of widows and
+      orphans whose savings were invested in the South Shore Stock, for the sake
+      of sensation, was a crime. He should have known better than to say that to
+      me; it is such an ancient, worn-out platitude.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know. I&#8217;ve been to political meetin&#8217;s. The widows and
+      orphans are always hangin&#8217; on the success of the Republican party&mdash;or
+      the Democratic, whichever way you vote. The amount of tears shed over
+      their investments by fellers you wouldn&#8217;t trust with a brass
+      five-cent piece, is somethin&#8217; amazin&#8217;. Go on; I didn&#8217;t
+      mean to interrupt.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then he switched to a more personal appeal. He said he had taken a
+      fancy to me; had liked me from the very beginning. He recognized my
+      unusual genius at first sight and had gone as far as to make plans bearing
+      directly on my future. He was associated with men of wealth and business
+      sagacity. Large deals, of which the Trolley Combine was but one, were on
+      foot. He and his friends needed a representative on the press&mdash;a
+      publicity agent, so to speak. Some of the greatest corporations employed
+      men of that kind, and the salaries paid were large and the opportunities
+      afforded greater still. Well, that&#8217;s true enough. I know writers who
+      are doing just that thing and getting rich at it. I suppose they&#8217;ve
+      squared their consciences somehow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181"
+      id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> and are willing to write lies and
+      misleading articles for what there is in it. I can&#8217;t, that&#8217;s
+      all; I&#8217;m not built that way, and I told him so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It ended in an open break. He reminded me of the favors he had done
+      me. He had treated me almost like a son, had introduced me to his family,
+      entertaining me at his table. Where was my gratitude? That was another bad
+      break on his part, for it made me mad. I told him I had not asked to be
+      adopted or fed by him; if I had supposed his kindness had an ulterior
+      motive, I would have seen him at the devil before I accepted a favor. My
+      career as a financial visitor was ended. Get out of his office! I got. But
+      the Trolley Combine did not go through. The <i>Planet</i> and the other
+      papers kept up the fight and&mdash;and the widows and orphans are
+      bankrupt, I presume.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s pipe had gone out long since. He absently rubbed
+      the warm bowl between his palms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;So &#8217;Bije was deep in that
+      business, was he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He was. Very deep indeed, I found out afterwards. And, I declare, I
+      almost pitied him at the time. He acted as if his whole fortune was staked
+      on the gamble. His hands shook, and the perspiration stood on his forehead
+      as he talked. I felt as if I had been the means of ruining him. But of
+      course, I hadn&#8217;t. He lived for some time after that, and, I
+      understand, died a rich man.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. He left what I&#8217;d call a heap of money. My nephew and
+      niece don&#8217;t seem to think so, but I do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So you see, Captain, why I stopped calling on the Warrens, and why
+      I did not accept Miss Warren&#8217;s invitation.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see.... I see.... And yet I don&#8217;t<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> know. &#8217;Bije may
+      have took to you for business reasons, but the children didn&#8217;t. They
+      liked you for yourself. Caroline as much as said so. And their father
+      never told &#8217;em a word about the row, neither. Of course you couldn&#8217;t
+      have called when he was alive, but he&#8217;s gone, and I&#8217;m&mdash;well,
+      I&#8217;m sort of temporary skipper there now. And <i>I</i> want you to
+      come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But if Miss Warren did know? She should know, I think.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I ain&#8217;t sure that she should. I guess there&#8217;s consider&#8217;ble
+      in her pa&#8217;s life she ain&#8217;t acquainted with. And she&#8217;s as
+      straight and honest and upright as a schooner&#8217;s fo&#8217;mast. You
+      did nothin&#8217; to be &#8217;shamed of. It&#8217;s the other way &#8217;round,
+      &#8217;cordin&#8217; to my notion. But leave her out of it now. I&#8217;ve
+      sacrificed some few things to take the job I&#8217;ve got at present, but
+      I can&#8217;t afford to sacrifice my friends. I count on you as a friend,
+      and I want you to come and see <i>me</i>. Will you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, Captain Warren. I must think it over a while, I
+      guess.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right&mdash;think. But the invitation stands&mdash;<i>my</i>
+      invitation. And, if you want to shift responsibility, shift it on to me.
+      Some day, if it&#8217;ll make you feel better, I&#8217;ll tell Caroline
+      and Stevie the whole story. But I want them to know you and the world&mdash;and
+      me&mdash;a little better first. &#8217;Cordin&#8217; to my notion, they
+      need education just along that line. They&#8217;ve got teachers in other
+      branches, but.... There! I&#8217;ve <i>got</i> to be goin&#8217;. There&#8217;s
+      the dinner bell now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The string of Japanese gongs, hung in the lower hall, sounded sonorously.
+      Captain Elisha reached for his coat and hat, but Pearson caught his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, you don&#8217;t!&#8221; he declared. &#8220;You&#8217;re going
+      to stay and have lunch with me&mdash;here. If you say no, I<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> shall
+      believe it is because you are afraid of a boarding-house meal.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His guest protested, but the protests were overruled, and he and his host
+      went down to the dining room. The captain whispered as they entered,
+      &#8220;Land sakes, Jim, this takes me back home. It&#8217;s pretty nigh a
+      twin to the dinin&#8217; room at the Centre House in South Denboro.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      All boarding-house dining rooms bear a family likeness, so the comment was
+      not far wrong. A long table, rows of chairs on each side, ancient and
+      honorable pictures on the walls, the landlady presiding majestically over
+      the teapot, the boarders&#8217; napkins in rings&mdash;all the familiar
+      landmarks were present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Most of the male &#8220;regulars&#8221; were in business about the city
+      and therefore lunched elsewhere, but the females were in evidence. Pearson
+      introduced his guest. The captain met Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, plump,
+      gray-haired, and graciously hospitable. She did not look at all like a
+      business woman, but appearances are not always to be trusted; Mrs. Hepton
+      had learned not to trust them&mdash;also delinquent boarders, too far. He
+      met Miss Sherborne, whose coiffure did not match in spots, but whose
+      voice, so he learned afterward, had been &#8220;cultivated abroad.&#8221;
+      Miss Sherborne gave music lessons. Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles also claimed
+      his attention and held it, principally because of the faded richness of
+      her apparel. Mrs. Ruggles was a widow, suffering from financial reverses;
+      the contrast between her present mode of living and the grandeur of the
+      past formed her principal topic of conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There were half a dozen others, including an artist whose aversion to
+      barbers was proclaimed by the luxuriant<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> length of his locks, a
+      quiet old gentleman who kept the second-hand book store two doors below;
+      his wife, a neat, trim little body; and Mr. and Mrs. C. Dickens, no less.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Dickens was bald, an affliction which he tried to conceal by brushing
+      the hair at the sides of his head across the desert at the top. He shaved
+      his cheeks and wore a beard and mustache. Mrs. Dickens addressed him as
+      &#8220;C.,&#8221; and handed him the sauce bottle, the bread, or whatever
+      she imagined he desired, as if she were offering sacrifice to an idol.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sat next to Captain Elisha and imparted information concerning her
+      lord and master in whispers, during the intervals between offerings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My husband will be pleased to meet you, Captain Warren,&#8221; she
+      murmured. &#8220;Any friend of Mr. Pearson is certain to be an
+      acquisition. Mr. Pearson and my husband are congenial spirits; they are
+      members of the same profession.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to know, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. What is it, &#8216;C.&#8217; dear? Oh, the butter! Margaret&mdash;&#8221;
+      to the waitress&mdash;&#8220;Mr. Dickens wishes another butter-ball. Yes,
+      Captain Warren, Mr. Dickens is an author. Haven&#8217;t you noticed the&mdash;er&mdash;resemblance?
+      It is considered quite remarkable.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha looked puzzled. &#8220;Why,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I hadn&#8217;t
+      noticed it &#8217;special. Jim&#8217;s&mdash;Mr. Pearson&#8217;s&mdash;eyes
+      and his are some the same color, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, no! not the resemblance to Mr. Pearson. I didn&#8217;t mean <i>that</i>.
+      The resemblance to his more famous namesake. Surely you notice it <i>now</i>.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain shook his head. &#8220;I&mdash;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m
+      thick-headed, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;I&#8217;m out of
+      soundin&#8217;s.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>&#8220;But
+      the nose, and his beard, and his manner. Don&#8217;t they remind you of
+      the English Dickens?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;O-oh!&#8221; Captain Elisha inspected the great man with interest.
+      He had a vague memory of a portrait in a volume of &#8220;Pickwick&#8221;
+      at home. &#8220;Oh, I see! Yes, yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course you see! Everyone does. Mr. Dickens often says&mdash;it
+      is one of his favorite jokes&mdash;that while other men must choose a
+      profession, his was chosen for him by fate. How, with such a name, could
+      he do anything except write?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, ma&#8217;am. But names are risky pilots, ain&#8217;t
+      they? I&#8217;ve run against a consider&#8217;ble number of Solomons, but
+      there wa&#8217;n&#8217;t one of &#8217;em that carried more&#8217;n a
+      deckload of wisdom. They christened me Elisha, but I can&#8217;t even
+      prophesy the weather with sartinty enough to bet. However, I daresay in
+      your husband&#8217;s case it&#8217;s all right.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady had turned away, and he was afraid he might have offended her.
+      The fear was groundless; she was merely offering another sacrifice, the
+      sugar this time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes?&#8221; she asked, turning, &#8220;you were saying&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;er&mdash;nothin&#8217; of account. I cal&#8217;late the
+      C. stands for Charles, then.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No-o. Mr. Dickens&#8217;s Christian name is Cornelius; but don&#8217;t
+      mention it before him, he is very sensitive on that point.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Dickenses &#8220;tickled&#8221; the captain exceedingly, and, after
+      the meal was over, he spoke of them to Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you&#8217;re in notorious company, ain&#8217;t
+      you, Jim? What has Cornelius Charles turned out so far, in the way of
+      masterpieces?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson laughed. &#8220;I believe he is employed by a<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> subscription house,&#8221;
+      he replied. &#8220;Doing hack work on an encyclopedia. A great collection
+      of freaks, aren&#8217;t they, Captain Warren?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Kind of. But that old book-shop man and his wife seem nice folks.
+      And, as for freaks, the average boardin&#8217; house, city or country,
+      seems to draw &#8217;em like flies. I guess most anybody would get queer
+      if they boarded all the time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Perhaps so. Or, if they weren&#8217;t queer, they wouldn&#8217;t
+      board permanently from choice. There are two or three good fellows who
+      dine and breakfast here. The food isn&#8217;t bad, considering the price.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, it ain&#8217;t. Tasted more like home than any meal I&#8217;ve
+      had for a good while. I&#8217;m afraid I never was cut out for swell livin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Hepton approached them as they stood in the hall. She wished to know
+      if Mr. Pearson&#8217;s friend was thinking of finding lodgings. Because
+      Mr. Saks&mdash;the artist&#8217;s name&mdash;was giving up the second
+      floor back in a fortnight, and it was a very pleasant room. &#8220;We
+      should be delighted to add you to our little circle, Captain Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson told her that his companion was already lodged, and she said
+      good-by and left them. The captain smiled broadly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Everything in New York seems to be circles,&#8221; he declared.
+      &#8220;Well, Jim, you come up and circulate with me, first chance you get.
+      I&#8217;m dependin&#8217; on you to call, remember.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man was still doubtful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ll see,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t promise yet&mdash;perhaps
+      I will.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You will&mdash;after you&#8217;ve thought it out to a finish. And
+      come soon. I&#8217;m gettin&#8217; interested in that second<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+      edition of your Uncle Jim, and I want to keep along with him as fast as
+      you write. Good-by. Much obliged for the dinner&mdash;there I go again!&mdash;luncheon,
+      I mean.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">P</span>earson
+      called. He appeared at the apartment a week after the luncheon at the
+      boarding house and was welcomed by the Captain Elisha, who, hearing his
+      voice, strode into the hall, sent the shocked Edwards to the right-about
+      in a hurry, seized his friend&#8217;s hand, and ushered him into the
+      library. Pearson said nothing concerning his change of mind, the course of
+      reasoning which led him to make the visit, and the captain asked no
+      questions. He took it for granted that the young fellow&#8217;s common
+      sense had turned the trick, and, the result being what it was, that was
+      sufficient.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They spent a pleasant afternoon together. Caroline was out, and they had
+      the library to themselves. The newest chapters of the novel were read and
+      discussed, and the salty flavor of the talk was as pronounced as ever.
+      Pearson left early, but promised to come again very soon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Caroline returned her uncle told her of his visitor. She seemed
+      unfeignedly pleased, but regretted that she had not been there. &#8220;He
+      was such a friend of father&#8217;s,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that seeing
+      him here would be almost like the old days. And so many of those whom we
+      thought were his friends and ours have left us.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was true. Rodgers Warren and his children had had many acquaintances,
+      had been active in church and charitable work, and their former home was a
+      center of entertainment and gayety while he lived.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> But his death and the
+      rumors of shrinkage in the family fortune, the giving up of the Fifth
+      Avenue residence, the period of mourning which forbade social functions,
+      all these helped to bring about forgetfulness on the part of the many; and
+      Caroline&#8217;s supersensitiveness and her firm resolve not to force her
+      society where it might be unwelcome had been the causes of
+      misunderstanding in others, whose liking and sympathy were genuine.
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t see what has come over Caroline Warren,&#8221;
+      declared a former girl friend, &#8220;she isn&#8217;t a bit as she used to
+      be. Well, I&#8217;ve done my part. If she doesn&#8217;t wish to return my
+      call, she needn&#8217;t. <i>I</i> sha&#8217;n&#8217;t annoy her again. But
+      I&#8217;m sorry, for she was the sweetest girl I knew.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen had never been very popular, and his absence at college still
+      further reduced the number of young people who might be inclined to call.
+      Their not calling confirmed Caroline&#8217;s belief that she and her
+      brother were deliberately shunned because of their change in
+      circumstances, and she grew more sensitive and proudly resentful in
+      consequence. Naturally she turned for comfort to those who remained
+      faithful, the Dunns in particular. They were loyal to her. Therefore, with
+      the intensity of her nature, she became doubly loyal to them. The rector
+      of St. Denis dropped in frequently, and others occasionally, but she was
+      lonely. She craved the society of those nearer her own age.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson&#8217;s coming, then, was psychologically apt. When he made his
+      next call upon Captain Elisha, to find the latter out but his niece at
+      home, she welcomed him cordially and insisted upon his waiting until her
+      guardian returned. The conversation was, at first, embarrassing for the
+      ex-reporter; she spoke of her father, and Pearson&mdash;the memory of his
+      last interview with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg
+      190]</a></span> the latter fresh in his mind, and painfully aware that she
+      knew nothing of it&mdash;felt guilty and like a hypocrite. But soon the
+      subject changed, and when the captain entered the library he found the
+      pair laughing and chatting like old acquaintances, as, of course, they
+      were.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha, paying no attention to his friend&#8217;s shakes of the
+      head, invited his niece to be present at the reading of the latest
+      addition to what he called &#8220;mine and Jim&#8217;s record-breakin&#8217;
+      sea yarn.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s really mine, you understand, Caroline,&#8221; he
+      observed, with a wink. &#8220;I&#8217;m silent partner in the firm&mdash;if
+      you can call the one that does all the talkin&#8217; silent&mdash;and Jim
+      don&#8217;t do nothin&#8217; but make it up and write it and get the
+      profits. Course, you mustn&#8217;t mention this to him, &#8217;cause he
+      thinks he&#8217;s the author, and &#8217;twould hurt his feelin&#8217;s.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He&#8217;s quite right,&#8221; declared Pearson, emphatically.
+      &#8220;If the thing is ever finished and published he will deserve all the
+      credit. His advice had already remade it. This uncle of yours, Miss
+      Warren,&#8221; he added, turning to her, &#8220;is like the admiral
+      Kipling wrote about&mdash;he has &#8216;lived more stories&#8217; than
+      ever I could invent.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain, fearful that his niece might take the statement seriously,
+      hastened to protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He&#8217;s just foolin&#8217;, Caroline,&#8221; he said. &#8220;All
+      I&#8217;ve done is set and talk and talk and talk. I&#8217;ve used up more
+      of his time and the surroundin&#8217; air than you&#8217;d believe was
+      possible. When I get next to salt water, even in print, it&#8217;s time to
+      muzzle me, same as a dog in July. The yarn is Jim&#8217;s altogether, and
+      it&#8217;s mighty interestin&#8217;&mdash;to me anyhow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m sure it will be to me, also,&#8221; declared the young
+      lady. &#8220;Captain Warren has told me all about it, Mr.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+      Pearson, and I&#8217;m very eager to hear the new portion.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There!&#8221; Captain Elisha slapped his knee. &#8220;There, Jim!&#8221;
+      he exclaimed, &#8220;you hear that? Now you&#8217;ve <i>got</i> to read
+      it. Anchor&#8217;s apeak! Heave ahead and get under way.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, because he could not well refuse, the author reluctantly began to
+      read. And, as usual, his nautical friend to interrupt and comment.
+      Caroline listened, her eyes twinkling. When the reading and the arguments
+      were at an end, she declared it was all splendid; &#8220;Just like being
+      at sea one&#8217;s self,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I positively refuse to
+      permit another installment to be submitted unless I am&mdash;on deck. That&#8217;s
+      the proper phrase, isn&#8217;t it, Captain?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Aye, aye, ma&#8217;am! Jim, we&#8217;ve shipped a new second mate,
+      and she&#8217;s goin&#8217; to be wuth her salt. You hear <i>me</i>!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She proved to be worth all of that, at least in Pearson&#8217;s opinion.
+      His calls and the readings and discussions became more and more frequent.
+      Each of the trio enjoyed them greatly, Caroline quite as much as the
+      others. Here was something new and fresh, something to furnish a real
+      interest. The story advanced rapidly, the character of the nautical hero
+      shaped itself better and better, and the heroine, also, heretofore a
+      somewhat shadowy and vague young woman, began to live and breathe. She
+      changed surprisingly, not only in mental but in physical characteristics.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was first to notice the latter peculiarity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say, Jim!&#8221; he interrupted, one afternoon, &#8220;what was
+      that you just read about Mary? Her hat blowin&#8217; off to leeward and
+      her brown hair blowin&#8217; after it? Or somethin&#8217; of that sort?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Caroline
+      laughed merrily. The author turned to the passage mentioned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not exactly, Captain,&#8221; he replied, smiling. &#8220;I said her
+      hat had blown away, and her brown curls tossed in the wind. What&#8217;s
+      wrong with that? Hats do blow away in a sou&#8217;wester; I&#8217;ve seen
+      them.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Perhaps he thinks she should have been more careful in pinning it
+      on,&#8221; suggested the feminine member of the advisory board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha shook his head. &#8220;No,&#8221; he observed calmly,
+      &#8220;but why was she wearin&#8217; that kind of hair? She&#8217;s pretty
+      young to use a switch, ain&#8217;t she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Switch?&#8221; repeated &#8220;Mary&#8217;s&#8221; creator, with
+      some indignation. &#8220;What are you talking about? When I first
+      described her, I said that her hair was luxuriant and one of her chief
+      beauties.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s a fact! So you did. What made her dye it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dye it? What do you think she is&mdash;a chorus girl?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If I remember right she&#8217;s a postmaster&#8217;s daughter. But
+      why is she wearin&#8217; brown hair, if it ain&#8217;t neither false or
+      dyed? Back in the third chapter &#8217;twas <i>black</i>, like her eyes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline burst into another laugh. Pearson blushed to his forehead.
+      &#8220;Well, by George!&#8221; he admitted, &#8220;you&#8217;re right. I
+      believe I did have it black, at first.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You sartin did! I ain&#8217;t got any objections to either color,
+      only it ought to stay put, hadn&#8217;t it? In a town of the size she&#8217;s
+      livin&#8217; in, a girl with changeable hair is likely to be kind of
+      conspicuous. I tell you! maybe it bleached out in the sun. Ho, ho!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The writer made a note on the margin of his manuscript and declared that
+      his heroine&#8217;s tresses and eyes<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> should be made to
+      correspond at all stages. They did, but they remained brown. Captain
+      Elisha chuckled inwardly, but offered no further comments. Caroline, whose
+      own hair and eyes were brown, did not refer to the matter at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She and the young man became better acquainted at each succeeding &#8220;literary
+      clinic,&#8221; as the latter called them. When Rodgers Warren first
+      introduced him at their former home he had impressed her favorably,
+      largely because of her desire to like anyone whom her father fancied. She
+      worshiped the dead broker, and his memory to her was sacred. She would
+      have forgiven and did forgive any wrong he might have done her, even his
+      brother&#8217;s appointment as guardian, though that she could not
+      understand. Unlike Stephen, who fiercely resented the whole affair and
+      said bitter things concerning his parent, she believed he had done what he
+      considered right. Her feeling against Captain Elisha had been based upon
+      the latter&#8217;s acceptance of that appointment when he should have
+      realized his unfitness. And his living with them and disgracing them in
+      the eyes of their friends by his uncouth, country ways, made her blind to
+      his good qualities. The Moriarty matter touched her conscience, and she
+      saw more clearly. But she was very far from considering him an equal, or
+      other than what Mrs. Corcoran Dunn termed him, an &#8220;encumbrance,&#8221;
+      even yet. She forced herself to be kind and tolerant and gave him more of
+      her society, though the church-going experience was not repeated, nor did
+      she accompany him on his walks or out-of-door excursions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If Pearson&#8217;s introductions had been wholly as a friend of her
+      guardian, her feeling toward him might have been tinged with the same
+      condescension or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg
+      194]</a></span> aversion, even. But, hallowed as he was by association
+      with her father, she welcomed him for the latter&#8217;s sake. And, as she
+      became interested in the novel and found that her suggestions concerning
+      it were considered valuable, she looked forward to his visits and was
+      disappointed if, for any reason, they were deferred. Without being aware
+      of it, she began to like the young author, not alone because he wrote
+      entertainingly and flattered her by listening respectfully to her
+      criticisms, or because her father had liked him, but for himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was much pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I told you, Jim!&#8221; he said. &#8220;She&#8217;s just as glad to
+      see you as I am. Now don&#8217;t you see how foolish it was to stay away
+      &#8217;cause you and &#8217;Bije had a spat? Think of all the good times
+      we&#8217;d have missed! And we needed a female aboard your Uncle Jim&#8217;s
+      craft, to help with &#8216;Mary&#8217; and the rest.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend nodded. &#8220;She has been a great help, certainly,&#8221; he
+      answered. &#8220;But I can&#8217;t help feeling guilty every time I come
+      here. It is too much like obtaining her friendship under false pretenses.
+      She should know the whole thing, I believe.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She shall know it, when I think it&#8217;s time for her to. But I
+      want her to know you first. Then she&#8217;ll be able to judge without so
+      much prejudice. I told you I&#8217;d take the responsibility. You leave
+      the ship in my charge for a spell.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In spite of this confident assertion, the captain also felt a trifle
+      guilty. He realized that selfishness was involved in his keeping Pearson&#8217;s
+      secret from his niece. He was thoroughly enjoying himself with these two,
+      and he could not bear to risk the breaking up which might follow
+      disclosure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening, while a &#8220;clinic&#8221; was in progress and<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> the
+      three were deep in consultation, Edwards entered to announce Mrs. Corcoran
+      Dunn and Mr. Malcolm. The butler&#8217;s giving the lady precedence in his
+      announcing showed that he, too, realized who was ranking officer in that
+      family, even though the captain&#8217;s &#8220;conundrum&#8221; had
+      puzzled him. Mrs. Dunn and her son entered at his heels.
+    </p>
+    <div class="figcenter" style="width: 336px;">
+      <img src="images/i194.jpg" class="smallgap" width="336" height="500"
+      alt="&#8220;She and the young man became better aquainted at each succeeding &#8216;literary clinic.&#8217;&#8221;"
+      title="" /> <span class="caption">&#8220;She and the young man became
+      better aquainted at each succeeding &#8216;literary clinic.&#8217;&#8221;</span>
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      The lady took in the group by the table at a glance: Pearson, with the
+      manuscript in his hands; Captain Elisha leaning back in his chair,
+      frowning at the interruption; Caroline rising to welcome the guests, and
+      coloring slightly as she did so. All these details Mrs. Dunn noted, made
+      an entry in her mental memorandum-book, and underscored it for future
+      reference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If she discerned unpleasant possibilities in the situation, she did not
+      allow them to disturb her outward serenity. She kissed Caroline and called
+      her &#8220;dear child&#8221; as fondly as usual, shook hands graciously
+      with Captain Elisha, and bowed condescending recognition of Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And how is the novel coming on? Do tell me!&#8221; she begged.
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m sure we interrupted a reading. It&#8217;s too bad of us,
+      really! But Malcolm insisted upon coming. He has been very busy of late&mdash;some
+      dreadful &#8216;corner&#8217; or other on the exchange&mdash;and has
+      neglected his friends&mdash;or thinks he has. I told him I had explained
+      it all to you, Caroline, but he <i>would</i> come to-night. It is the
+      first call he has made in weeks; so you <i>see</i>! But there! he doesn&#8217;t
+      consider running in here a call.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Call or not, it spoiled the evening for at least two of the company.
+      Pearson left early. Captain Elisha excused himself soon after and went to
+      his room, leaving the Dunns to chat with Caroline for an hour or<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> more.
+      Malcolm joked and was languid and cynical. His mother asked a few
+      carefully guarded questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Quite a clever person, this young author friend of yours seems to
+      be, Caroline,&#8221; she observed. &#8220;Almost brilliant, really.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He isn&#8217;t a friend of mine, exactly,&#8221; replied the girl.
+      &#8220;He and Captain Warren are friendly, and father used to know and
+      like him, as I have told you. The novel is great fun, though! The people
+      in it are coming to seem almost real to me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I daresay! I was a great reader myself once, before my health&mdash;my
+      heart, you know&mdash;began to trouble me. The doctors now forbid my
+      reading anything the least bit exciting. Has this&mdash;er&mdash;Mr.
+      Pearson means?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know very little of him, personally, but I think not. He used to
+      be connected with the <i>Planet</i>, and wrote things about Wall Street.
+      That was how father came to know him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Live in an attic, does he?&#8221; inquired Malcolm. &#8220;That&#8217;s
+      what all authors do, isn&#8217;t it? Put up in attics and sleep on pallets&mdash;whatever
+      they are&mdash;and eat crusts, don&#8217;t they? Jolly life&mdash;if you
+      like it! I prefer bucking wheat corners, myself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn laughed, and Caroline joined her, though not as heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How ridiculous you are, Malcolm!&#8221; exclaimed his mother.
+      &#8220;Mr. Pearson isn&#8217;t that kind of an author, I&#8217;m sure. But
+      where does he live, Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Somewhere on West 18th Street, I believe. He has rooms there, I
+      think.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh! Really? And how is this wonderful novel of his progressing?
+      When does he expect to favor us with it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>&#8220;I
+      don&#8217;t know. But it is progressing very well at present. He has
+      written three chapters since last Wednesday. He was reading them to us
+      when you came.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Indeed! Since last Wednesday? How interesting!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm did not seem to find the topic interesting, for he smothered a
+      yawn. His mother changed the subject. On their way home, however, she
+      again referred to it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You must make it a point to see her every day,&#8221; she declared.
+      &#8220;No matter what happens, you must do it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, Lord!&#8221; groaned her son, &#8220;I can&#8217;t. There&#8217;s
+      the deuce and all on &#8217;Change just now, and the billiard tournament&#8217;s
+      begun at the Club. My days and nights are full up. Once a week is all she
+      should expect, I think.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No matter what you think or what she expects, you must do as I say.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Because I don&#8217;t like the looks of things.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, rubbish! You&#8217;re always seeing bugaboos. Uncle Hayseed is
+      pacified, isn&#8217;t he? I&#8217;ve paid the Moriarty crowd off. Beastly
+      big bills they were, too!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Uncle Hayseed, as you call him, is anything but a fool. But
+      he isn&#8217;t the particular trouble at present. He and I understand each
+      other, I believe, and he will be reasonable. But&mdash;there is this
+      Pearson. I don&#8217;t like his calling so frequently.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm laughed in huge scorn. &#8220;Pearson!&#8221; he sneered. &#8220;Why,
+      he&#8217;s nothing but a penny-a-liner, without the penny. Surely you&#8217;re
+      not afraid Caroline will take a fancy to him. She isn&#8217;t an idiot.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>&#8220;She&#8217;s
+      a young girl, and more romantic than I wish she was. At her age girls do
+      silly things, sometimes. He called on Wednesday&mdash;you heard her say so&mdash;and
+      was there again to-night. I don&#8217;t like it, I tell you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Her uncle is responsible for&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is more than that. She knew him long before she knew her uncle
+      existed. Her father introduced him&mdash;her <i>father</i>. And to her
+      mind, whatever her father did was right.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Witness his brilliant selection of an executor. Oh, Mater, you
+      weary me! I used to know this Pearson when he was a reporter downtown,
+      and.... Humph!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, nothing, I guess. It seemed as if I remember Warren and
+      Pearson in some sort of mix-up. Some.... Humph! I wonder.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was silent, thinking. His mother pressed his arm excitedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If you remember anything that occurred between Rodgers Warren and
+      this man, anything to this Pearson&#8217;s disadvantage, it may pay us to
+      investigate. What was it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. But it seemed as if I remembered Warren&#8217;s
+      ... or a friend of his telling me ... saying something ... but it couldn&#8217;t
+      be of importance, because Caroline doesn&#8217;t know it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m not so sure that it may not be important. And, if you
+      recall, on that day when we first met him at Caroline&#8217;s, she seemed
+      hurt because he had not visited them since her father died. Perhaps there
+      <i>was</i> a reason. At any rate, I should look into the matter.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right, Mater, just as you say. Really you ought to join a Don&#8217;t
+      Worry Club.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>&#8220;One
+      member in the family is quite sufficient. And I expect you to devote
+      yourself to Caroline from now on. That girl is lonely, and when you get
+      the combination of a lonely romantic young girl and a good-looking and
+      interesting young fellow, even though he is as poor as a church mouse, <i>anything</i>
+      may happen. Add to that the influence of an unpractical but sharp old
+      Yankee relative and guardian&mdash;then the situation is positively
+      dangerous.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span>n
+      important event was about to take place. At least, it seemed important to
+      Captain Elisha, although the person most intimately concerned appeared to
+      have forgotten it entirely. He ventured to remind her of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline,&#8221; he said, &#8220;Sunday is your birthday, ain&#8217;t
+      it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece looked at him in surprise. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; she answered,
+      &#8220;it is. How did you know?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, I remembered, that&#8217;s all. Graves, the lawyer man, told
+      me how old you and Stevie were, fust time I met him. And his partner, Mr.
+      Sylvester, gave me the date one day when he was goin&#8217; over your pa&#8217;s
+      will. You&#8217;ll be twenty years old Sunday, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was late in the afternoon, and she had been out since ten o&#8217;clock
+      shopping with Mrs. Dunn, lunching downtown with the latter and Malcolm,
+      and motoring for an hour or two. The weather for the season was mild and
+      sunny, and the crisp air had brightened her cheeks, her eyes sparkled, her
+      fur coat and cap were very becoming, and Captain Elisha inspected her
+      admiringly before making another remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My! My!&#8221; he exclaimed, after an instant&#8217;s pause.
+      &#8220;Twenty years old! Think of it! &#8217;Bije&#8217;s girl&#8217;s a
+      young woman now, ain&#8217;t she? I cal&#8217;late he was proud of you,
+      too. He ought to have been. I presume likely <i>he</i> didn&#8217;t forget
+      your birthday.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>He
+      rose to help her with the heavy coat. As he lifted it from her shoulders,
+      he bent forward and caught a glimpse of her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there!&#8221; he said, hastily. &#8220;Don&#8217;t feel bad,
+      dearie. I didn&#8217;t mean to hurt your feelin&#8217;s. Excuse me; I was
+      thinkin&#8217; out loud, sort of.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not answer at once, but turned away to remove her cap. Then she
+      answered, without looking at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He never forgot them,&#8221; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Course he didn&#8217;t. Well, you see I didn&#8217;t forget,
+      either.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was an unfortunate remark, inasmuch as it drew, in her mind, a
+      comparison between her handsome, dignified father and his rude, uncultured
+      brother. The contrast was ever present in her thoughts, and she did not
+      need to be reminded of it. She made no reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was thinkin&#8217;,&#8221; continued the captain, conscious of
+      having made a mistake, &#8220;that maybe we might celebrate somehow, in a
+      quiet way.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. I am not in the mood for&mdash;celebrations.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, I didn&#8217;t mean fireworks and the town band. I just thought&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Please don&#8217;t. I remember other birthdays too well.&#8221;
+      They had been great occasions, those birthdays of hers, ever since she was
+      a little girl. On the eighteenth she made her d&eacute;but in society, and
+      the gown she wore on that memorable evening was laid away upstairs, a
+      cherished memento, to be kept as long as she lived. Each year Rodgers
+      Warren took infinite pains to please and surprise his idolized daughter.
+      She could not bear to think of another birthday, now that he had been
+      taken from her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her guardian pulled his beard. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he observed<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+      ruefully, &#8220;then my weak head&#8217;s put my foot in it again, as the
+      feller said. If I ain&#8217;t careful I&#8217;ll be like poor cracked
+      Philander Baker, who lives with his sister over at Denboro Centre. The
+      doctor told Philander he was threatened with softenin&#8217; of the brain,
+      and the sister thanked him for the compliment. You see, Caroline, I wrote
+      on my own hook and asked Stevie to come home Saturday and stay till
+      Monday. I kind of thought you&#8217;d like to have him here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, I should like <i>that</i>! But will he come? Has he written
+      you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? Yes, I cal&#8217;late he&#8217;ll be on deck. He&#8217;s&mdash;er&mdash;yes,
+      he&#8217;s written me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He smiled as he answered. As a matter of fact, the correspondence between
+      Stephen and himself had been lengthy and voluminous on the part of the
+      former, and brief and business-like on his own. The boy, on his return to
+      college, had found &#8220;conditions&#8221; awaiting him, and the amount
+      of hard work involved in their clearance was not at all to his taste. He
+      wrote his guardian before the first week was over, asserting that the
+      whole business was foolishness and a waste of time. He should come home at
+      once, he said, and he notified the captain that such was his intention.
+      Captain Elisha replied with promptness and decision. If he came home he
+      would be sent back, that was all. &#8220;I realize you&#8217;ve got a job
+      ahead of you, Son,&#8221; wrote the captain, &#8220;but you can do it, if
+      you will. Fact is, I guess you&#8217;ve got to. So sail in and show us
+      what you&#8217;re made of.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen&#8217;s answer was a five page declaration of independence. He
+      refused to be bullied by any living man. He had made arrangements to come
+      to New York on the following Monday, and he was coming. As to being<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> sent
+      back, he wished his uncle to understand that it was one thing to order and
+      another to enforce obedience. To which he received the following note:
+    </p>
+    <div class="blockquot">
+      <p>
+        &#8220;I can&#8217;t stop you from coming, Steve, except by going to New
+        Haven and holding you by main strength. That I don&#8217;t propose to
+        do, for two reasons: first, that it is too much trouble, and second that
+        it ain&#8217;t necessary. You can come home once in a while to see your
+        sister, but you mustn&#8217;t do it till I say the word. If you do, I
+        shall take the carfare out of your allowance, likewise board while you
+        are here, and stop that allowance for a month as a sort of fine for
+        mutiny. So you better think it over a spell. And, if I was you, I wouldn&#8217;t
+        write Caroline that I was coming, or thinking of coming, till I had my
+        mind made up. She believes you are working hard at your lessons. I
+        shouldn&#8217;t disappoint her, especially as it wouldn&#8217;t be any
+        use.
+      </p>
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <span class="right">&#8220;Your affectionate uncle,</span><br /> <span
+      class="right2">&#8220;<span class="smcap">ELISHA WARREN</span>.&#8221;</span>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The result of all this was that Stephen, whose finances were already in a
+      precarious condition, did think it over and decided not to take the risk.
+      Also, conscious that his sister sided with their guardian to the extent of
+      believing the university the best place for him at present, he tore up the
+      long letter of grievance which he had written her, and, in that which took
+      its place, mentioned merely that he was &#8220;grinding like blazes,&#8221;
+      and the only satisfaction he got from it was his removal from the society
+      of the &#8220;old tyrant from Cape Cod.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He accepted the tyrant&#8217;s invitation to return for the week-end and
+      his sister&#8217;s birthday with no hesitation<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> whatever; and his letter
+      of acceptance was so politic as to be almost humble.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He arrived on an early train Saturday morning. Caroline met him at the
+      station, and the Dunns&#8217; car conveyed them to the latter&#8217;s
+      residence, where they were to spend the day. The Dunns and Caroline had
+      been together almost constantly since the evening when Malcolm and his
+      mother interrupted the reading of the novel. The former, while professing
+      to be harassed by business cares, sacrificed them to the extent of
+      devoting at least a part of each twenty-four hours to the young lady&#8217;s
+      society. She was rarely allowed to be alone with her uncle, a circumstance
+      which troubled her much less than it did him. He missed the evenings which
+      he had enjoyed so much, and the next consultation over the adventures of
+      Pearson&#8217;s &#8220;Uncle Jim&#8221; and his &#8220;Mary&#8221; seemed
+      flat and uninteresting without criticism and advice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The author himself noticed the difference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Rot!&#8221; he exclaimed, throwing the manuscript aside in disgust.
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s rot, isn&#8217;t it! If I can&#8217;t turn out better
+      stuff than that, I&#8217;d better quit. And I thought it was pretty
+      decent, too, until to-night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha shook his head. &#8220;It don&#8217;t seem quite so
+      shipshape, somehow,&#8221; he admitted, &#8220;but I guess likely it&#8217;s
+      &#8217;cause my head&#8217;s full of other things just now. I&#8217;m
+      puzzled &#8217;most to death to know what to get for Caroline&#8217;s
+      birthday. I want to get her somethin&#8217; she&#8217;ll like, and she&#8217;s
+      got pretty nigh everything under the sun. Say, Jim, you&#8217;ve been
+      workin&#8217; too hard, yourself. Why don&#8217;t you take to-morrow off
+      and cruise around the stores helpin&#8217; me pick out a present. Come
+      ahead&mdash;do!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They spent the next afternoon in that &#8220;cruise,&#8221; visiting<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+      department stores, jewelers, and art shops innumerable. Captain Elisha was
+      hard to please, and his comments characteristic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess you&#8217;re right, Jim,&#8221; he said, &#8220;there&#8217;s
+      no use lookin&#8217; at pictures. Let alone that the walls are so covered
+      with &#8217;em now a fly can&#8217;t scarcely light without steppin&#8217;
+      on some kind of scenery&mdash;let alone that, my judgment on pictures ain&#8217;t
+      any good. I cal&#8217;late that&#8217;s considered pretty fine, ain&#8217;t
+      it?&#8221; pointing to a painting in the gallery where they then were.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied the dealer, much amused. &#8220;That is a good
+      specimen of the modern impressionist school.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Cookin&#8217; school, I shouldn&#8217;t wonder. I&#8217;d
+      call it a portrait of a plate of scrambled eggs, if &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      for that green thing that&#8217;s either a cow or a church in the offin&#8217;.
+      Out of soundin&#8217;s again, I am! But I knew she liked pictures, and
+      so.... However, let&#8217;s set sail for a jewelry store.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sixth shop of this variety which they visited happened to be one of
+      the largest and most fashionable in the city. Here the captain&#8217;s
+      fancy was taken by a gold chain for the neck, set with tiny emeralds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s pretty&mdash;sort of&mdash;ain&#8217;t it, Jim?&#8221;
+      he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied his companion, with emphasis, &#8220;it is. And
+      I think you&#8217;ll find it is expensive, also.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That so? How much?&#8221; turning to the salesman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter gave the price of the chain. Captain Elisha whistled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whew! Jerushy!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;And it wouldn&#8217;t
+      much more than go around my wrist, at that. All the same size, are they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Some are longer. The longer ones are higher priced, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sartin! They&#8217;re for fleshy folks, I s&#8217;pose. Mrs.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> Thoph
+      Kenney down home, she&#8217;d have to splice three of &#8217;em together
+      to make the round trip. Thoph&#8217;s always scared he won&#8217;t get his
+      money&#8217;s wuth in a trade, but he couldn&#8217;t kick when he got her.
+      To give the minister a dollar and walk off with two hundred and eighty
+      pounds of wife is showin&#8217; some business sagacity, hey? To do him
+      justice, I will say that <i>he</i> seems to be satisfied; she&#8217;s the
+      one that does the complainin&#8217;. I guess this is the most expensive
+      counter in the store, ain&#8217;t it, Mister?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk laughed. &#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These are all
+      moderate priced goods. I wonder,&#8221; turning to Pearson, &#8220;if your
+      friend wouldn&#8217;t like to see some of our choice pieces. It is a quiet
+      day here, and I shall be glad to show them.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He led the way to a set of show cases near the door on the Fifth Avenue
+      side. There before Captain Elisha&#8217;s dazzled eyes were displayed
+      diamond necklaces and aigrettes, tiaras and brooches, the figures on their
+      price tags running high into the thousands. Pearson and the good-natured
+      clerk enjoyed themselves hugely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jim,&#8221; said the captain after a little of this, &#8220;is
+      there a police officer lookin&#8217; this way?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson laughed. &#8220;I guess not,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Why? The
+      temptation isn&#8217;t getting too much for your honesty, is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; with a sigh, &#8220;but I&#8217;m carryin&#8217; a forty
+      dollar watch and wearin&#8217; a ring that cost fifteen. I thought they
+      was some punkins till I begun to look at this stuff. Now they make me feel
+      so mean and poverty-struck that I expect to be took up for a tramp any
+      minute. Mister,&#8221; to the clerk, &#8220;you run right along and wrap
+      up that chain I was lookin&#8217; at. Hurry! or I&#8217;ll be ashamed to
+      carry anything so cheap.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>&#8220;Think
+      she&#8217;ll like it, do you, Jim?&#8221; he asked, when they were once
+      more out of doors with the purchase in his inside pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She ought, certainly,&#8221; replied Pearson. &#8220;It&#8217;s a
+      beautiful thing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Well, you see,&#8221; apologetically, &#8220;I wanted to give
+      her somethin&#8217; pretty good. &#8217;Bije always did, and I didn&#8217;t
+      want to fall too fur behind. But,&#8221; with a chuckle, &#8220;you needn&#8217;t
+      mention the price to anybody. If Abbie&mdash;my second cousin keepin&#8217;
+      house for me, she is&mdash;if Abbie heard of it she&#8217;d be for puttin&#8217;
+      me in an asylum. Abbie&#8217;s got a hair breastpin and a tortoise shell
+      comb, but she only wears &#8217;em to the Congregationalist meetin&#8217;-house,
+      where she&#8217;s reasonably sure there ain&#8217;t likely to be any
+      sneak-thieves. She went to a Unitarian sociable once, but she carried
+      &#8217;em in a bag inside her dress.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha planned to surprise his niece with the gift at breakfast on
+      the morning of her birthday, but, after reflection, decided to postpone
+      the presentation until dinner time. The inevitable Dunns had taken upon
+      themselves the duty of caring for the girl and her brother during the
+      major part of the day. The yellow car appeared at the door at ten o&#8217;clock
+      and bore the two away. Caroline assured her guardian, however, that they
+      would return in season for the evening meal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain spent lonely but busy hours until dinner time came. He had
+      done some scheming on his own hook and, after a long argument with the
+      cook, re&euml;nforced by a small sum in cash, had prevailed upon that
+      haughty domestic to fashion a birthday cake of imposing exterior and
+      indigestible make-up. Superintending the icing of this masterpiece
+      occupied some time. He then worried Edwards into a respectful but stubborn<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> fury
+      by suggesting novelties in the way of table arrangement. Another bestowal
+      of small change quelled the disturbance. Then came, by messenger, a dozen
+      American Beauty roses with Mr. Pearson&#8217;s card attached. These the
+      captain decided should be placed in the center of the festive board. As a
+      center piece had been previously provided, there was more argument. The
+      cook took the butler&#8217;s side in the debate, and the pair yielded only
+      when Captain Elisha again dived into his pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But I warn you, all hands,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;that this is
+      the last time. My right fist&#8217;s got a cramp in it this minute, and
+      you couldn&#8217;t open it again with a cold chisel.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last, however, everything was as it should be, and he sat down in the
+      library to await the coming of the young people. The gold chain in its
+      handsome leather case, the latter enclosed in the jeweler&#8217;s box, was
+      carefully laid beside Caroline&#8217;s place at the table. The dinner was
+      ready, the cake, candles and all&mdash;the captain had insisted upon
+      twenty candles&mdash;was ready, also. There was nothing to do but wait&mdash;and
+      he waited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Six-thirty was the usual dinner hour. It passed. Seven o&#8217;clock
+      struck, then eight, and still Captain Elisha sat alone in the library. The
+      cook sent word that the dinner was ruined. Edwards respectfully asked,
+      &#8220;What shall I do, sir?&#8221; twice, the second time being sent
+      flying with an order to &#8220;Go for&#8217;ard and keep your hatches
+      closed!&#8221; The nautical phraseology was lost upon the butler, but the
+      tone and manner of delivery were quite understandable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several times the captain rose from his chair to telephone the Dunn house
+      and ask the reason for delay. Each time he decided not to do so. No doubt
+      there were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+      good reasons; Caroline and her brother had been detained; perhaps the
+      automobile had broken down&mdash;the things were always breaking down just
+      at the most inconvenient times; perhaps.... Well, at any rate, he would
+      not &#8217;phone just yet; he would wait a little longer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last the bell rang. Captain Elisha sprang up, smiling, his impatience
+      and worry forgotten, and, pushing the butler aside, hurried to open the
+      door himself. He did so and faced, not his niece and nephew, but Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good evening, Captain,&#8221; hailed the young man, cheerily.
+      &#8220;Didn&#8217;t expect me, did you? I dropped in for a moment to shake
+      hands with you and to offer congratulations to Miss Warren.&#8221; Then,
+      noticing the expression on his friend&#8217;s face, he added, &#8220;What&#8217;s
+      the matter? Anything wrong? Am I intruding?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no! Course not. You&#8217;re as welcome as another egg in a
+      poor man&#8217;s hen-house. Come right in and take off your things. I&#8217;m
+      glad to see you. Only&mdash;well, the fact is I thought &#8217;twas
+      Caroline comin&#8217; home. She and Stevie was to be here over two hours
+      ago, and I can&#8217;t imagine what&#8217;s keepin&#8217; &#8217;em.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He insisted upon his visitor&#8217;s remaining, although the latter, when
+      he understood the situation, was reluctant to do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline&#8217;ll be real glad to see you, Jim, I know,&#8221; the
+      captain said. &#8220;And I want you to stay for my sake. Between pacifyin&#8217;
+      the Commodore and frettin&#8217; over what couldn&#8217;t possibly happen,
+      I was half dead of the fidgets. Stay and cheer me up, there&#8217;s a good
+      feller. I&#8217;d just about reached the stage where I had the girl and
+      boy stove to flinders under that pesky auto. I&#8217;d even begun to
+      figger on notifyin&#8217; the undertaker. Tell me<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> I&#8217;m an old fool
+      and then talk about somethin&#8217; else. They&#8217;ll be here any
+      minute.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But a good many minutes passed, and still they did not come. Pearson,
+      aware of his companion&#8217;s growing anxiety, chatted of the novel, of
+      the people at the boarding house, of anything and everything he could
+      think of likely to divert attention from the one important topic. The
+      answers he received were more and more brief and absent. At last, when
+      Edwards again appeared, appealingly mute, at the entrance to the dining
+      room, Captain Elisha, with a sigh which was almost a groan, surrendered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess,&#8221; he said, reluctantly, &#8220;I guess, Jim, there
+      ain&#8217;t any use waitin&#8217; any longer. Somethin&#8217;s kept
+      &#8217;em, and they won&#8217;t be here for dinner. You and I&#8217;ll set
+      down and eat&mdash;though I ain&#8217;t got the appetite I cal&#8217;lated
+      to have.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson had dined hours before, but he followed his friend, resolved to
+      please the latter by going through the form of pretending to eat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They sat down together. Captain Elisha, with a rueful smile, pointed to
+      the floral centerpiece.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There&#8217;s your posies, Jim,&#8221; he observed. &#8220;Look
+      pretty, don&#8217;t they. She ain&#8217;t seen &#8217;em yet, but she&#8217;ll
+      like &#8217;em when she does. And that over there, is her present from me.
+      Stevie gave her a box of gloves, and I expect, from what Mrs. Dunn hinted,
+      that she and that son of hers gave her somethin&#8217; fine. She&#8217;ll
+      show us when she gets here. What&#8217;s this, Commodore? Oysters, hey?
+      Well, they ought to taste like home. They&#8217;re &#8216;Cape Cods&#8217;;
+      I wouldn&#8217;t have anything else.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We won&#8217;t touch the birthday cake, Jim,&#8221; he added, a
+      little later. &#8220;She&#8217;s got to cut that herself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The soup was only lukewarm, but neither of them<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> commented on the fact.
+      The captain had scarcely tasted of his, when he paused, his spoon in air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Listen! What&#8217;s that? By the
+      everlastin&#8217;, it <i>is</i>. Here they are, at <i>last</i>!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He sprang up with such enthusiasm that his chair tipped backwards against
+      the butler&#8217;s devoted shins. Pearson, almost as much pleased, also
+      rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha paid scant attention to the chair incident.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What are you waitin&#8217; for?&#8221; he demanded, whirling on
+      Edwards, who was righting the chair with one hand and rubbing his knee
+      with the other. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you hear &#8217;em at the door? Let
+      &#8217;em in!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He reached the library first, his friend following more leisurely.
+      Caroline and Stephen had just entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well!&#8221; he cried, in his quarter-deck voice, his face beaming
+      with relief and delight, &#8220;you <i>are</i> here, ain&#8217;t you! I
+      begun to think.... Why, what&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The question was addressed to Stephen, who stood nearest to him. The boy
+      did not deign to reply. With a contemptuous grunt, he turned scornfully
+      away from his guardian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What is it, Caroline?&#8221; demanded Captain Elisha. &#8220;<i>Has</i>
+      anything happened?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl looked coldly at him. A new brooch&mdash;Mrs. Corcoran Dunn&#8217;s
+      birthday gift&mdash;sparkled at her throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No accident has happened, if that is what you mean,&#8221; she
+      said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But&mdash;why, yes, that was what I meant. You was so awful late,
+      and you know you said you&#8217;d be home for dinner, so&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I changed my mind. Come, Steve.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>She
+      turned to leave the room. Pearson, at that moment, entered it. Stephen saw
+      him first.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>What</i>?&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Well, of all the nerve! Look,
+      Caro!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jim&mdash;Mr. Pearson, I mean&mdash;ran in a few minutes ago,&#8221;
+      explained Captain Elisha, bewildered and stammering. &#8220;He thought of
+      course we&#8217;d had dinner and&mdash;and&mdash;he just wanted to wish
+      you many happy returns, Caroline.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson had extended his hand and a &#8220;Good evening&#8221; was on his
+      lips. Stephen&#8217;s strange behavior and language caused him to halt. He
+      flushed, awkward, surprised, and indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline turned and saw him. She started, and her cheeks also grew
+      crimson. Then, recovering, she looked him full in the face, and
+      deliberately and disdainfully turned her back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Come, Steve!&#8221; she said again, and walked from the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her brother hesitated, glared at Pearson, and then stalked haughtily after
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s bewilderment was supreme. He stared, open-mouthed,
+      after his nephew and niece, and then turned slowly to his friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What on earth, Jim,&#8221; he stammered. &#8220;What&#8217;s it <i>mean</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson shrugged his shoulders. &#8220;I think I know what it means,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;I presume that Miss Warren and her brother have learned of
+      my trouble with their father.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? No! you don&#8217;t think <i>that&#8217;s</i> it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think there&#8217;s no doubt of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But how?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how. What I do know is that I should<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> not
+      have come here. I felt it and, if you will remember, I said so. I was a
+      fool. Good night, Captain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hot and furiously angry at his own indecision which had placed him in this
+      humiliating situation, he was striding towards the hall. Captain Elisha
+      seized his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stay where you are, Jim!&#8221; he commanded. &#8220;If the trouble&#8217;s
+      what you think it is, I&#8217;m more to blame than anybody else, and you
+      sha&#8217;n&#8217;t leave this house till I&#8217;ve done my best to
+      square you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you; but I don&#8217;t wish to be &#8216;squared.&#8217; I&#8217;ve
+      done nothing to be ashamed of, and I have borne as many insults as I can
+      stand. I&#8217;m going.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, you ain&#8217;t. Not yet. I want you to stay.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At that moment Stephen&#8217;s voice reached them from the adjoining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I tell you I shall, Caro!&#8221; it proclaimed, fiercely. &#8220;Do
+      you suppose I&#8217;m going to permit that fellow to come here again&mdash;or
+      to go until he is made to understand what we think of him and why? No, by
+      gad! I&#8217;m the man of this family, and I&#8217;ll tell him a few
+      things.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson&#8217;s jaw set grimly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You may let go of my wrist, Captain Warren,&#8221; he said; &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+      stay.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Possibly Stephen&#8217;s intense desire to prove his manliness made him
+      self-conscious. At any rate, he never appeared more ridiculously boyish
+      than when, an instant later, he marched into the library and confronted
+      his uncle and Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I want to say&mdash;&#8221; he began, majestically; &#8220;I
+      want to say&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, choking, and brandished his fist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to say&mdash;&#8221; he began again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>&#8220;All
+      right, Stevie,&#8221; interrupted the captain, dryly, &#8220;then I&#8217;d
+      say it if I was you. I guess it&#8217;s time you did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to&mdash;to tell that fellow <i>there</i>,&#8221; with a
+      vicious stab of his forefinger in the direction of Pearson, &#8220;that I
+      consider him an&mdash;an ingrate&mdash;and a scoundrel&mdash;and a
+      miserable&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steady!&#8221; Captain Elisha&#8217;s interruption was sharp this
+      time. &#8220;Steady now! Leave out the pet names. What is it you&#8217;ve
+      got to tell?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;my sister and I have found out what a scoundrel he is, that&#8217;s
+      what! We&#8217;ve learned of the lies he wrote about father. We know that
+      he was responsible for all that cowardly, lying stuff in the <i>Planet</i>&mdash;all
+      that about the Trolley Combine. And we don&#8217;t intend that he shall
+      sneak into this house again. If he was the least part of a man, he would
+      never have come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Warren&mdash;&#8221; began Pearson, stepping forward. The
+      captain interrupted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on, Jim!&#8221; he said. &#8220;Just a minute now. You&#8217;ve
+      learned somethin&#8217;, you say, Stevie. The Dunns told you, I s&#8217;pose.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Never mind who told me!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t&mdash;much. But I guess we&#8217;d better have a
+      clear understandin&#8217;, all of us. Caroline, will you come in here,
+      please?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stepped toward the door. Stephen sprang in front of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My sister doesn&#8217;t intend to cheapen herself by entering that
+      man&#8217;s presence,&#8221; he declared, hotly. &#8220;I&#8217;ll deal
+      with him, myself!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right. But I guess she&#8217;d better be here, just the same.
+      Caroline, I want you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She sha&#8217;n&#8217;t come!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      she shall. Caroline!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy would have detained him, but he pushed him firmly aside and walked
+      toward the door. Before he reached it, however, his niece appeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well?&#8221; she said, coldly. &#8220;What is it you want of me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want you to hear Mr. Pearson&#8217;s side of this business&mdash;and
+      mine&mdash;before you do anything you&#8217;ll be sorry for.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think I&#8217;ve heard quite enough of Mr. Pearson already.
+      Nothing he can say or do will make me more sorry than I am, or humiliate
+      me more than the fact that I have treated him as a friend.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The icy contempt in her tone was cutting. Pearson&#8217;s face was white,
+      but he spoke clearly and with deliberation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Miss Warren,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I must insist that you listen
+      for another moment. I owe you an apology for&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Apology!&#8221; broke in Stephen, with a scornful laugh. &#8220;Apology!
+      Well, by gad! Just hear that, Caro!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl&#8217;s lip curled. &#8220;I do not wish to hear your apology,&#8221;
+      she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But I wish you to hear it. Not for my attitude in the Trolley
+      matter, nor for what I published in the <i>Planet</i>. Nor for my part in
+      the disagreement with your father. I wrote the truth and nothing more. I
+      considered it right then&mdash;I told your father so&mdash;and I have not
+      changed my mind. I should act exactly the same under similar
+      circumstances.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You blackguard!&#8221; shouted Stephen. Pearson ignored him
+      utterly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do owe you an apology,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;for coming
+      here, as I have done, knowing that you were ignorant of the affair. I
+      believe now that you are misinformed<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> as to the facts, but
+      that is immaterial. You should have been told of my trouble with Mr.
+      Warren. I should have insisted upon it. That I did not do so is my fault
+      and I apologize; but for that only. Good evening.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook himself free from the captain&#8217;s grasp, bowed to the trio,
+      and left the room. An instant later the outer door closed behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline turned to her brother. &#8220;Come, Steve,&#8221; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stay right where you are!&#8221; Captain Elisha did not request
+      now, he commanded. &#8220;Stevie, stand still. Caroline, I want to talk to
+      you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl hesitated. She had never been spoken to in that tone before. Her
+      pride had been already deeply wounded by what she had learned that
+      afternoon; she was fiercely resentful, angry, and rebellious. She was sure
+      she never hated anyone as she did this man who ordered her to stay and
+      listen to him. But&mdash;she stayed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline,&#8221; said Captain Elisha, after a moment of silence,
+      &#8220;I presume likely&mdash;of course I don&#8217;t know for sartin, but
+      I presume likely it&#8217;s Mrs. Dunn and that son of hers who&#8217;ve
+      told you what you think you know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t concern you who told us!&#8221; blustered Stephen,
+      pushing forward. He might have been a fly buzzing on the wall for all the
+      attention his uncle paid him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume likely the Dunns told you, Caroline,&#8221; he repeated,
+      calmly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece met his gaze stubbornly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;and if they did? Wasn&#8217;t it
+      necessary we should know it? Oh!&#8221; with a shudder of disgust, &#8220;I
+      wish I could make you understand how ashamed I feel&mdash;how <i>wicked</i>
+      and ashamed I feel that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217"
+      id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> I&mdash;<i>I</i> should have disgraced
+      father&#8217;s memory by.... Oh, but there! I can&#8217;t! Yes; Mrs. Dunn
+      and Malcolm did tell us&mdash;many things. Thank God that we <i>have</i>
+      friends to tell us the truth!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Amen!&#8221; quietly. &#8220;I&#8217;ll say amen to that, Caroline,
+      any time. Only I want you to be sure those you call friends are real ones
+      and that the truths they tell ain&#8217;t like the bait on a fishhook, put
+      on <i>for</i> bait and just thick enough to cover the barb.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do you mean to insinuate&mdash;&#8221; screamed the irrepressible
+      nephew, wild at being so completely ignored. His uncle again paid not the
+      slightest attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But that ain&#8217;t neither here nor there now,&#8221; he went on.
+      &#8220;Caroline, Mr. Pearson just told you that his coming to this house
+      without tellin&#8217; you fust of his quarrel with &#8217;Bije was his
+      fault. That ain&#8217;t so. The fault was mine altogether. He told me the
+      whole story; told me that he hadn&#8217;t called since it happened, on
+      that very account. And I took the whole responsibility and <i>asked</i>
+      him to come. I did! Do you know why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If he expected an answer none was given. Caroline&#8217;s lids drooped
+      disdainfully. &#8220;Steve,&#8221; she said, &#8220;let us go.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stop! You&#8217;ll stay here until I finish. I want to say that I
+      didn&#8217;t tell you about the Trolley fuss because I wanted you to learn
+      some things for yourself. I wanted you to know Mr. Pearson&mdash;to find
+      out what sort of man he was afore you judged him. Then, when you had known
+      him long enough to understand he wasn&#8217;t a liar and a blackguard, and
+      all that Steve has called him, I was goin&#8217; to tell you the whole
+      truth, not a part of it. And, after that, I was goin&#8217; to let you
+      decide for yourself what to do. I&#8217;m a lot older than you are; I&#8217;ve
+      mixed with all sorts of folks; I&#8217;m past the stage where<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> I can
+      be fooled by&mdash;by false hair or soft soap. You can&#8217;t pour sweet
+      oil over a herrin&#8217; and make me believe it&#8217;s a sardine. I know
+      the Pearson stock. I&#8217;ve sailed over a heap of salt water with one of
+      the family. And I&#8217;ve kept my eyes open since I&#8217;ve run acrost
+      this particular member. And I knew your father, too, Caroline Warren. And
+      I say to you now that, knowin&#8217; Jim Pearson and &#8217;Bije Warren&mdash;yes,
+      and knowin&#8217; the rights and wrongs of that Trolley business quite as
+      well as Malcolm Dunn or anybody else&mdash;I say to you that, although
+      &#8217;Bije was my brother, I&#8217;d bet my life that Jim had all the
+      right on his side. There! that&#8217;s the truth, and no hook underneath
+      it. And some day you&#8217;ll realize it, too.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had spoken with great vehemence. Now he took a handkerchief from his
+      pocket and wiped his forehead. When he again looked at his niece, he found
+      her staring intently at him; and her eyes blazed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have you quite finished&mdash;now?&#8221; she demanded. &#8220;Steve,
+      be quiet!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes, I guess so, pretty nigh. I s&#8217;pose there ain&#8217;t
+      much use to say more. If I was to tell you that I&#8217;ve tried to do for
+      you and Steve in this&mdash;same as in everything else since I took this
+      job&mdash;as if you were my own children, you wouldn&#8217;t believe it.
+      If I was to tell you, Caroline, that I&#8217;d come to think an awful lot
+      of you, you wouldn&#8217;t believe that, either. I did hope that since our
+      other misunderstandin&#8217; was cleared up, and you found I wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      what you thought I was, you&#8217;d come to me and ask questions afore
+      passin&#8217; judgment; but perhaps&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now she interrupted, bursting out at him in a blast of scorn which
+      took his breath away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, stop! stop!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;Don&#8217;t say any more.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> You
+      have insulted father&#8217;s memory, and defended the man who slandered
+      him. Isn&#8217;t that enough? Why must you go on to prove yourself a
+      greater hypocrite? We learned, my brother and I, to-day more than the
+      truth concerning your <i>friend</i>. We learned that you have lied&mdash;yes,
+      lied&mdash;and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steady, Caroline! be careful. I wouldn&#8217;t say what I might be
+      sorry for later.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sorry! Captain Warren, you spoke of my misjudging you. I thought I
+      had, and I was sorry. To-day I learned that your attitude in that affair
+      was a lie like the rest. <i>You</i> did not pay for Mr. Moriarty&#8217;s
+      accident. Mr. Dunn&#8217;s money paid those bills. And you allowed the
+      family&mdash;and me&mdash;to thank <i>you</i> for your generosity. Oh, I&#8217;m
+      ashamed to be near you!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! There! Caroline, be still. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I shall not be still. I have been still altogether too long. You
+      are our guardian. We can&#8217;t help that, I suppose. Father asked you to
+      be that, for some reason; but did he ask you to <i>live</i> here where you
+      are not wanted? To shame us before our friends, ladies and gentlemen so
+      far above you in every way? And to try to poison our minds against them
+      and sneer at them when they are kind to us and even try to be kind to you?
+      No, he did not! Oh, I&#8217;m sick of it all! your deceit and your
+      hypocritical speeches and your pretended love for us. <i>Love</i>! Oh, if
+      I could say something that would make you understand how thoroughly we
+      despise you, and how your presence, ever since you forced it upon Steve
+      and me, has disgraced us! If I only could! I&mdash;I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She had been near to tears ever since Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, in the kindness
+      of her heart, told her the &#8220;truth&#8221; that afternoon. But pride
+      and indignation had prevented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220"
+      id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> her giving way. Now, however, she broke
+      down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh&mdash;oh, Steve!&#8221; she cried, and, turning to her brother,
+      sobbed hysterically on his shoulder. &#8220;Oh, Steve, what shall we do?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen put his arm about her waist. &#8220;It&#8217;s all right, Sis,&#8221;
+      he said soothingly. &#8220;Don&#8217;t cry before <i>him</i>! I guess,&#8221;
+      with a glance at his uncle, &#8220;you&#8217;ve said enough to make even
+      him understand&mdash;at last.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha looked gravely at the pair. &#8220;I guess you have,&#8221;
+      he said slowly. &#8220;I guess you have, Caroline. Anyhow, I can&#8217;t
+      think offhand of anything you&#8217;ve left out. I could explain some
+      things, but what&#8217;s the use? And,&#8221; with a sigh, &#8220;you may
+      be right in a way. Perhaps I shouldn&#8217;t have come here to live. If
+      you&#8217;d only told me plain afore just how you felt, I&#8217;d&mdash;maybe
+      I&#8217;d&mdash;but there! I didn&#8217;t know&mdash;I didn&#8217;t know.
+      You see, I thought.... However, I guess that part of your troubles is
+      over. But,&#8221; he added, firmly, &#8220;wherever I am, or wherever I
+      go, you must understand that I&#8217;m your guardian, just the same. I
+      considered a long spell afore I took the place, and I never abandoned a
+      ship yet, once I took command of her. And I&#8217;ll stick to this one!
+      Yes, sir! I&#8217;ll stick to it in spite of the devil&mdash;or the Dunns,
+      either. Till you and your brother are of age I&#8217;m goin&#8217; to look
+      out for you and your interests and your money; and nothin&#8217; nor
+      nobody shall stop me. As for forcin&#8217; my company on you, though, that
+      well, that&#8217;s different. I cal&#8217;late you won&#8217;t have to
+      worry any more. Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked slowly from the library.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">S</span>tephen,
+      the &#8220;man of the family,&#8221; was the only member of the household,
+      servants excepted, who slept soundly that night. Conscious of having done
+      his duty in the affair with Pearson and his guardian, and somewhat
+      fatigued by the disagreeable task of soothing his hysterical sister, he
+      was slumbering peacefully at nine the next morning when awakened by a
+      series of raps on his bedroom door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ah! What? Well, what is it?&#8221; he demanded, testily opening his
+      eyes. &#8220;Edwards, is that you? What the devil do you mean by making
+      such a row?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The voice which answered was not the butler&#8217;s, but Caroline&#8217;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve! Oh, Steve!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;Do get up and come out!
+      Come, quick!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; inquired the young man, sitting up
+      in bed. &#8220;Is the house afire?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no! But do come! I want you. Something has happened.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Happened? What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I can&#8217;t tell you here. Please dress and come to me as quick
+      as you can.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen, wondering and somewhat alarmed, dressed with unusual promptitude
+      and obeyed. He found his sister standing by the library window, a letter
+      in her hand. She looked troubled and anxious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Caro,&#8221; observed the boy, &#8220;here I am. What in the
+      world&#8217;s up now?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>She
+      turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, Steve!&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;he&#8217;s gone!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Gone? Who?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren. He&#8217;s gone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Gone? Gone where? Caro, you don&#8217;t mean he&#8217;s&mdash;<i>dead</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, he&#8217;s gone&mdash;gone and left us.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her brother&#8217;s expression changed to incredulous joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What?&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;You mean he&#8217;s quit? Cleared
+      out? Left here for good?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hurrah! Excuse me while I gloat! Hurrah! We got it through his
+      skull at last! Is it possible? But&mdash;but hold on! Perhaps it&#8217;s
+      too good to be true. Are you sure? How do you know?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He says so. See.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She handed him the letter. It was addressed to &#8220;My dear Caroline&#8221;
+      and in it Captain Elisha stated his intentions succinctly. After the plain
+      speaking of the previous evening he should not, of course, burden them
+      with his society any longer. He was leaving that morning, and, as soon as
+      he &#8220;located permanent moorings somewhere else&#8221; would notify
+      his niece and nephew of his whereabouts.
+    </p>
+    <div class="blockquot">
+      <p>
+        &#8220;For,&#8221; he added, &#8220;as I told you, although I shall not
+        impose my company on you, I am your guardian same as ever. I will see
+        that your allowance comes to you regular, including enough for all
+        household bills and pay for the hired help and so on. If you need any
+        extras at any time let me know and, if they seem to me right and proper,
+        I will send money for them. You will stay where you are, Caroline, and
+        Stevie must go back to college right away. Tell him I say so, and if he
+        does not I shall begin reducing his allowance according as I wrote<span
+        class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+        him. He will understand what I mean. I guess that is all until I send
+        you my address and any other sailing orders that seem necessary to me
+        then. And, Caroline, I want you and Stevie to feel that I am your anchor
+        to windward, and when you get in a tight place, if you ever do, you can
+        depend on me. Last night&#8217;s talk has no bearing on that whatever.
+        Good-by, then, until my next.
+      </p>
+    </div>
+    <p class="right">
+      &#8220;<span class="smcap">ELISHA WARREN</span>.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen read this screed to the end, then crumpled it in his fist and
+      threw it angrily on the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The nerve!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;He seems to think I&#8217;m
+      a sailor on one of his ships, to be ordered around as he sees fit. I&#8217;ll
+      go back to college when I&#8217;m good and ready&mdash;not before.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline shook her head. &#8220;Oh, no!&#8221; she said. &#8220;You must
+      go to-day. He&#8217;s right, Steve; it&#8217;s the thing for you to do. He
+      and I were agreed as to that. And you wouldn&#8217;t stay and make it
+      harder for me, would you, dear?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He growled a reluctant assent. &#8220;I suppose I shall have to go,&#8221;
+      he said, sullenly. &#8220;My allowance is too beastly small to have him
+      cutting it; and the old shark would do that very thing; he&#8217;d take
+      delight in doing it, confound him! Well, he knows what we think of him,
+      that&#8217;s some comfort.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not answer. He looked at her curiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, hang it all, Caro!&#8221; he exclaimed in disgust; &#8220;what
+      ails you? Blessed if I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t begin to believe you&#8217;re
+      sorry he&#8217;s gone. You act as if you were.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I&#8217;m not. Of course I&#8217;m not. I&#8217;m&mdash;I&#8217;m
+      glad. He couldn&#8217;t stay, of course. But I&#8217;m afraid&mdash;I can&#8217;t
+      help feeling that you and I were too harsh last night. We said things&mdash;dreadful
+      things&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>&#8220;Be
+      hanged! We didn&#8217;t say half enough. Oh, don&#8217;t be a fool, Caro!
+      I was just beginning to be proud of your grit. And now you want to take it
+      all back. Honestly, girls are the limit! You don&#8217;t know your own
+      minds for twelve consecutive hours. Answer me now! <i>Are</i> you sorry he&#8217;s
+      gone?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. No, I&#8217;m not, really. But I&mdash;I feel somehow as if&mdash;as
+      if everything was on my shoulders. You&#8217;re going away, and he&#8217;s
+      gone, and&mdash;What is it, Edwards?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The butler entered, with a small parcel in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I beg your pardon, Miss Caroline,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I should
+      have given you this last evening. It was by your place at the table. I
+      think Captain Warren put it there, miss.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline took the parcel and looked at it wonderingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;For me?&#8221; she repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Miss Caroline. It is marked with your name. And breakfast is
+      served, when you and Mr. Stephen are ready.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He bowed and retired. The girl sat turning the little white box in her
+      hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>He</i> left it for me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;What can it be?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her brother snatched it impatiently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you open it and find out?&#8221; he demanded.
+      &#8220;Perhaps it&#8217;s his latch key. Here! I&#8217;ll do it myself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He cut the cord and removed the cover of the little box. Inside was the
+      jeweler&#8217;s leather case. He took it out and pressed the spring. The
+      cover flew up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whew!&#8221; he whistled. &#8220;It&#8217;s a present. And rather a
+      decent one, too, by gad! Look, Caro!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He handed her the open case. She looked at the chain, spread carefully on
+      the white satin lining. Inside the cover was fitted a card. She turned it
+      over and read: &#8220;To my niece, Caroline. With wishes for many<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> happy
+      returns, and much love, from her Uncle Elisha Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sat gazing at the card. Stephen bent down, read the inscription, and
+      then looked up into her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>What</i>?&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I believe&mdash;You&#8217;re
+      not <i>crying</i> Well, I&#8217;ll be hanged! Sis, you <i>are</i> a fool!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      The weather that morning was fine and clear. James Pearson, standing by
+      the window of his rooms at the boarding house, looking out at the
+      snow-covered roofs sparkling in the sun, was miserable. When he retired
+      the night before it was with a solemn oath to forget Caroline Warren
+      altogether; to put her and her father and the young cad, her brother,
+      utterly from his mind, never to be thought of again. As a preliminary step
+      in this direction, he began, the moment his head touched the pillow, to
+      review, for the fiftieth time, the humiliating scene in the library, to
+      think of things he should have said, and&mdash;worse than all&mdash;to
+      recall, word for word, the things she had said to him. In this cheerful
+      occupation he passed hours before falling asleep. And, when he woke, it
+      was to begin all over again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Why&mdash;<i>why</i> had he been so weak as to yield to Captain Elisha&#8217;s
+      advice? Why had he not acted like a sensible, self-respecting man, done
+      what he knew was right, and persisted in his refusal to visit the Warrens?
+      Why? Because he was an idiot, of course&mdash;a hopeless idiot, who had
+      got exactly what he deserved! Which bit of philosophy did not help make
+      his reflections less bitter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went down to breakfast when the bell rang, but his appetite was
+      missing, and he replied only in monosyllables to the remarks addressed to
+      him by his fellow boarders. Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, noticed the change.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>&#8220;You
+      not ill, Mr. Pearson, I hope?&#8221; she queried. &#8220;I do hope you
+      haven&#8217;t got cold, sleeping with your windows wide open, as you say
+      you do. Fresh air is a good thing, in moderation, but one should be
+      careful. Don&#8217;t you think so, Mr. Carson?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Carson was a thin little man, a bachelor, who occupied the smallest
+      room on the third story. He was a clerk in a department store, and his
+      board was generally in arrears. Therefore, when Mrs. Hepton expressed an
+      opinion he made it a point to agree with her. In this instance, however,
+      he merely grunted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I say fresh air in one&#8217;s sleeping room is a good thing in
+      moderation. Don&#8217;t you think so, Mr. Carson?&#8221; repeated the
+      landlady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Carson rolled up his napkin and inserted it in the ring. His board, as
+      it happened, was paid in full to date. Also, although he had not yet
+      declared his intention, he intended changing lodgings at the end of the
+      week.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; he sniffed, with sarcasm, &#8220;it may be. I couldn&#8217;t
+      get none in <i>my</i> room if I wanted it, so I can&#8217;t say sure.
+      Morning.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed hurriedly. Mrs. Hepton looked disconcerted. Mrs. Van Winkle
+      Ruggles smiled meaningly across the table at Miss Sherborne, who smiled
+      back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, quietly observed that he hoped Mr. Pearson had
+      not gotten cold. Colds were prevalent at this time of the year. &#8220;&#8216;These
+      are the days when the Genius of the weather sits in mournful meditation on
+      the threshold,&#8217; as Mr. Dickens tells us,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I
+      presume he sits on the sills of open windows, also.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wife of the Mr. Dickens there present pricked up her ears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>&#8220;When
+      did you write that, &#8216;C.&#8217; dear?&#8221; she asked, turning to
+      her husband. &#8220;I remember it perfectly, of course, but I have
+      forgotten, for the moment, in which of your writings it appears.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The illustrious one&#8217;s mouth being occupied with a section of
+      scorching hot waffle, he was spared the necessity of confession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pardon me,&#8221; said Mr. Ludlow. &#8220;I was not quoting our Mr.
+      Dickens this time, but his famous namesake.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great &#8220;C.&#8221; drowned the waffle with a swallow of water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Maria,&#8221; he snapped, &#8220;don&#8217;t be so foolish. Ludlow
+      quotes from&mdash;er&mdash;&#8216;Bleak House.&#8217; I have written some
+      things&mdash;er&mdash;similar, but not that. Why don&#8217;t you pass the
+      syrup?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bookseller, who was under the impression that he had quoted from the
+      &#8220;Christmas Carol,&#8221; merely smiled and remained silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My father, the Senator,&#8221; began Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles,
+      &#8220;was troubled with colds during his political career. I remember his
+      saying that the Senate Chamber at the Capitol was extremely draughty.
+      Possibly Mr. Pearson&#8217;s ailment does come from sleeping in a draught.
+      Not that father was accustomed to <i>sleep</i> during the sessions&mdash;Oh,
+      dear, no! not that, of course. How absurd!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed gayly. Pearson, who seemed to think it time to say something,
+      declared that, so far as he knew, he had no cold or any symptoms of one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mrs. Hepton, with conviction, &#8220;something
+      ails you, I know. We can all see it; can&#8217;t we?&#8221; turning to the
+      rest of the company. &#8220;Why, you&#8217;ve scarcely spoken since you
+      sat down at the table. And you&#8217;ve eaten next to nothing. Perhaps
+      there is some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg
+      228]</a></span> trouble, something on your mind which is worrying you. Oh,
+      I <i>hope</i> not!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No doubt it is the preoccupation of genius,&#8221; remarked Mrs.
+      Dickens. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure it must be that. When &#8216;C.&#8217; is
+      engaged with some particularly trying literary problem he frequently loses
+      all his appetite and does not speak for hours together. Isn&#8217;t it so,
+      dear?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;C.,&#8221; who was painfully conscious that he might have made a
+      miscue in the matter of the quotation, answered sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Not at all. Don&#8217;t be silly, Maria.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Sherborne clasped her hands. &#8220;<i>I</i> know!&#8221; she
+      exclaimed in mock rapture; &#8220;Mr. Pearson is in love!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This suggestion was received with applause and hilarity. Pearson pushed
+      back his chair and rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m much obliged for this outburst of sympathy,&#8221; he
+      observed, dryly. &#8220;But, as I say, I&#8217;m perfectly well, and the
+      other diagnoses are too flattering to be true. Good morning.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Back in his room he seated himself at his desk, took the manuscript of his
+      novel from the drawer, and sat moodily staring at it. He was in no mood
+      for work. The very sight of the typewritten page disgusted him. As he now
+      felt, the months spent on the story were time wasted. It was ridiculous
+      for him to attempt such a thing; or to believe that he could carry it
+      through successfully; or to dream that he would ever be anything better
+      than a literary hack, a cheap edition of &#8220;C.&#8221; Dickens, minus
+      the latter&#8217;s colossal self-satisfaction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was still sitting there, twirling an idle pencil between his fingers,
+      when he heard steps outside his door. Someone knocked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, what is it?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His landlady answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>&#8220;Mr.
+      Pearson,&#8221; she said, &#8220;may I see you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw down the pencil and, rising, walked to the door and opened it.
+      Mrs. Hepton was waiting in the hall. She seemed excited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Pearson,&#8221; she said, &#8220;will you step downstairs with
+      me for a moment? I have a surprise for you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A surprise? What sort of a surprise?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, a pleasant one. At least I think it is going to be pleasant for
+      all of us. But I&#8217;m not going to tell you what it is. You must come
+      down and see for yourself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She led the way downstairs, the young man following her, wondering what
+      the surprise might be, and fairly certain it, nor anything else, could be
+      pleasant on that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He supposed, of course, that he must descend to the parlor to reach the
+      solution of the mystery, but he was mistaken. On the second floor Mrs.
+      Hepton stopped and pointed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s in there,&#8221; she said, pointing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There&#8221; was the room formerly occupied by Mr. Saks, the
+      long-haired artist. Since his departure it had been vacant. Pearson looked
+      at the closed door and then at the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A surprise for me in <i>there</i>?&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;What&#8217;s
+      the joke, Mrs. Hepton?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By way of answer she took him by the arm, and, leading him to the door,
+      threw the latter open.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Here he is!&#8221; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hello, Jim!&#8221; hailed Captain Elisha Warren, cheerfully.
+      &#8220;Ship ahoy! Glad to see you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was standing in the middle of the room, his hat on the table and his
+      hands in his pockets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was surprised; there was no doubt of that&mdash;not<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> so
+      much at the sight of his friend&mdash;he had expected to see or hear from
+      the captain before the day was over&mdash;as at seeing him in that room.
+      He could not understand what he was doing there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha noted his bewildered expression, and chuckled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Come aboard, Jim!&#8221; he commanded. &#8220;Come in and inspect.
+      I&#8217;ll see you later, Mrs. Hepton,&#8221; he added, &#8220;and give
+      you my final word. I want to hold officer&#8217;s council with Mr. Pearson
+      here fust.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlady accepted the broad hint and turned to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Very well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I do hope for all our sakes
+      that word will be <i>yes</i>, Mr. Warren&mdash;Excuse me, it is Captain
+      Warren, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It used to be, yes, ma&#8217;am. And at home it is yet. &#8217;Round
+      here I&#8217;ve learned to be like a barroom poll-parrot, ready to answer
+      to most everything. There!&#8221; as the door closed after her; &#8220;now
+      we can be more private. Set down, Jim! How are you, anyway?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson sat down mechanically. &#8220;I&#8217;m well enough&mdash;everything
+      considered,&#8221; he replied, slowly. &#8220;But what&mdash;what are you
+      in here for? I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You will in a minute. What do you think of this&mdash;er&mdash;saloon
+      cabin?&#8221; with a comprehensive sweep of his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The room was of fair size, furnished in a nondescript, boarding-house
+      fashion, and with two windows overlooking the little back yard of the
+      house and those of the other adjoining it. Each yard contained an
+      assortment of ash cans, and there was an astonishing number of clothes
+      lines, each fluttering a variety of garments peculiarly personal to their
+      respective owners.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pretty snug, ain&#8217;t it?&#8221; continued the captain.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+      &#8220;Not exactly up to that I&#8217;ve been luxuriatin&#8217; in lately,
+      but more fittin&#8217; to my build and class than that was, I shouldn&#8217;t
+      wonder. No Corot paintin&#8217;s nor five thousand dollar tintypes of dory
+      codders; but I can manage to worry along without them, if I try hard. Neat
+      but not gaudy, I call it&mdash;as the architect feller said about his
+      plans for the addition to the county jail at Ostable. Hey? Ho! Ho!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson began to get a clue to the situation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; he demanded, &#8220;have you&mdash;Do you
+      mean to say you&#8217;ve taken this room to <i>live</i> in?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I ain&#8217;t said all that yet. I wanted to talk with you a
+      little afore I said it. But that was my idea, if you and I agreed on
+      sartin matters.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;ve come here to live! You&#8217;ve left your&mdash;your
+      niece&#8217;s house?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ya-as, I&#8217;ve left. That is, I left the way the Irishman left
+      the stable where they kept the mule. He said there was all out doors in
+      front of him and only two feet behind. That&#8217;s about the way &#8217;twas
+      with me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have your nephew and niece&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. They hinted that my room was better than my company, and,
+      take it by and large, I guess they was right for the present, anyhow. I
+      set up till three o&#8217;clock thinkin&#8217; it over, and then I decided
+      to get out afore breakfast this mornin&#8217;. I didn&#8217;t wait for any
+      good-bys. They&#8217;d been said, or all I cared to hear&#8221;&mdash;Captain
+      Elisha&#8217;s smile disappeared for an instant&mdash;&#8220;last evenin&#8217;.
+      The dose was sort of bitter, but it had the necessary effect. At any rate,
+      I didn&#8217;t hanker for another one. I remembered what your landlady
+      told me when I was here afore, about this stateroom bein&#8217; vacated,
+      and I come down to look at it. It suits me well enough; seems like a
+      decent moorin&#8217;s for an old salt<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> water derelict like me;
+      the price is reasonable, and I guess likely I&#8217;ll take it. I <i>guess</i>
+      I will.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why do you guess? By George, I hope you will!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do you? I&#8217;m much obliged. I didn&#8217;t know but after last
+      night, after the scrape I got you into, you might feel&mdash;well, sort of
+      as if you&#8217;d seen enough of me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man smiled bitterly. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t your fault,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;It was mine entirely. I&#8217;m quite old enough to decide
+      matters for myself, and I should have decided as my reason, and not my
+      inclinations, told me. You weren&#8217;t to blame.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I was. If you&#8217;re old enough, I&#8217;m <i>too</i> old, I
+      cal&#8217;late. But I did think&mdash;However, there&#8217;s no use goin&#8217;
+      over that. I ask your pardon, Jim. And you don&#8217;t hold any grudge?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Indeed I don&#8217;t. I may be a fool&mdash;I guess I am&mdash;but
+      not that kind.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thanks. Well, there&#8217;s one objection out of the way, then,
+      only I don&#8217;t want you to think that I&#8217;ve hove overboard that
+      &#8216;responsibility&#8217; I was so easy and fresh about takin&#8217; on
+      my shoulders. It&#8217;s there yet; and I&#8217;ll see you squared with
+      Caroline afore this v&#8217;yage is over, if I live.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend frowned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You needn&#8217;t mind,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I prefer that you
+      drop the whole miserable business.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, maybe, but&mdash;Jim, you&#8217;ve taken hold of these
+      electric batteries that doctors have sometimes? It&#8217;s awful easy to
+      grab the handles of one of those contraptions, but when you want to drop
+      &#8217;em you can&#8217;t. They don&#8217;t drop easy. I took hold of the
+      handles of &#8217;Bije&#8217;s affairs, and, though it might be pleasanter
+      to drop &#8217;em, I can&#8217;t&mdash;or I won&#8217;t.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>&#8220;Then
+      you&#8217;re leaving your nephew and niece doesn&#8217;t mean that you&#8217;ve
+      given up the guardianship?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s jaw set squarely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t remember sayin&#8217; that it did,&#8221; he
+      answered, with decision. Then, his good-nature returning, he added,
+      &#8220;And now, Jim, I&#8217;d like your opinion of these new quarters
+      that I may take. What do you think of &#8217;em? Come to the window and
+      take a look at the scenery.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson joined him at the window. The captain waved toward the
+      clothes-lines and grinned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Looks as if there was some kind of jubilee, don&#8217;t it,&#8221;
+      he observed. &#8220;Every craft in sight has strung the colors.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson laughed. Then he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain, I think the room will do. It isn&#8217;t palatial, but one
+      can live in worse quarters, as I know from experience.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. Well, Jim, there&#8217;s just one thing more. Have I disgraced
+      you a good deal, bein&#8217; around with you and chummin&#8217; in with
+      you the way I have? That is, do you <i>think</i> I&#8217;ve disgraced you?
+      Are you ashamed of me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I? Ashamed of <i>you</i>? You&#8217;re joking!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I&#8217;m serious. Understand now, I&#8217;m not apologizin&#8217;.
+      My ways are my ways, and I think they&#8217;re just as good as the next
+      feller&#8217;s, whether he&#8217;s from South Denboro or&mdash;well, Broad
+      Street. I&#8217;ve got a habit of thinkin&#8217; for myself and actin&#8217;
+      for myself, and when I take off my hat it&#8217;s to a bigger <i>man</i>
+      than I am and not to a more stylish hat. But, since I&#8217;ve lived here
+      in New York, I&#8217;ve learned that, with a whole lot of folks, hats
+      themselves count more than what&#8217;s underneath &#8217;em. I haven&#8217;t
+      changed mine, and I ain&#8217;t goin&#8217; to. Now, with that plain and
+      understood, do you want me to live here,<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> in the same house with
+      you? I ain&#8217;t fishin&#8217; for compliments. I want an honest answer.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He got it. Pearson looked him squarely in the eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I like you, and I don&#8217;t care a
+      damn about your hat. Is that plain?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s reply was delivered over the balusters in the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hi!&#8221; he called. &#8220;Hi, Mrs. Hepton.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlady had been anxiously waiting. She ran from the dining room to
+      the foot of the stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes?&#8221; she cried. &#8220;What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s a bargain,&#8221; said the captain. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+      ready to engage passage.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span>hus
+      Captain Elisha entered another of New York&#8217;s &#8220;circles,&#8221;
+      that which centered at Mrs. Hepton&#8217;s boarding house. Within a week
+      he was as much a part of it as if he had lived there for years. At lunch,
+      on the day of his arrival, he made his appearance at the table in company
+      with Pearson, and when the landlady exultantly announced that he was to be
+      &#8220;one of our little party&#8221; thereafter, he received and replied
+      to the welcoming salutations of his fellow boarders with unruffled
+      serenity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How could I help it?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Human nature&#8217;s
+      liable to temptation, they tell us. The flavor of that luncheon we had
+      last time I was here has been hangin&#8217; &#8217;round the edges of my
+      mouth and tantalizin&#8217; my memory ever since.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We had a souffle that noon, if I remember correctly, Captain,&#8221;
+      observed the flattered Mrs. Hepton.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did you? Well, I declare! I&#8217;d have sworn &#8217;twas a
+      biled-dinner hash. Knew &#8217;twas better than any I ever ate afore, but
+      I&#8217;d have bet &#8217;twas hash, just the same. Tut! tut! tut! Now,
+      honest, Mrs. Hepton, ain&#8217;t this&mdash;er&mdash;whatever-you-call-it
+      a close relation&mdash;a sort of hash with its city clothes on, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlady admitted that a souffle was something not unlike a hash.
+      Captain Elisha nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I thought so,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I was sartin sure I couldn&#8217;t
+      be mistaken. What is it used to be in the song book? &#8216;You can smash&mdash;you
+      can&mdash;&#8217; Well, I don&#8217;t remember.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Somethin&#8217; about
+      your bein&#8217; able to smash the vase if you wanted to, but the smell of
+      the posies was there yet.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, supplied the quotation.
+    </p>
+    <div class="poem">
+      <div class="stanza">
+        <span class="i4">&#8220;&#8216;You may break, you may shatter</span><br />
+        <span class="i6">The vase if you will,</span><br /> <span class="i4">But
+        the scent of the roses</span><br /> <span class="i6">Will cling to it
+        still,&#8217;&#8221;</span>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      he said, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s it. Much obliged. You can warm up and rechristen the
+      hash if you will; but the corned beef and cabbage stay right on deck. Ain&#8217;t
+      that so, Mr. Dickens?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The illustrious &#8220;C.&#8221; bowed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Moore?&#8221; he observed, with dignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. That&#8217;s what <i>I</i> said&mdash;&#8216;More!&#8217; Said
+      it twice, I believe. Glad you agree with me. The hymn says that weakness
+      is sin, but there&#8217;s no sin in havin&#8217; a weakness for
+      corned-beef hash.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Sherborne and Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles were at first inclined to snub
+      the new boarder, considering him a country boor whose presence in their
+      select society was almost an insult. The captain did not seem to notice
+      their hints or sneers, although Pearson grew red and wrathful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Laura, my dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Ruggles, addressing the teacher of
+      vocal culture, &#8220;don&#8217;t you feel quite rural to-day? Almost as
+      if you were visiting the country?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do, indeed,&#8221; replied Miss Sherborne. &#8220;Refreshing, isn&#8217;t
+      it? Ha! ha!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is if one cares for such things. I am afraid <i>I</i> don&#8217;t
+      appreciate them. They may be well enough in their place, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>She
+      finished with a shrug of her shoulders. Captain Elisha smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he said politely, joining in the
+      conversation; &#8220;that&#8217;s what the boy said about the cooky crumbs
+      in the bed. You don&#8217;t care for the country, I take it, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do <i>not</i>!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So? Well, it&#8217;s a mercy we don&#8217;t think alike; even
+      Heaven would be crowded if we did&mdash;hey? You didn&#8217;t come from
+      the country, either?&#8221; turning to Miss Sherborne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young lady would have liked to answer with an uncompromising negative.
+      Truth and the fact that some of those present were acquainted with it
+      compelled her to forego this pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was born in a&mdash;a small town,&#8221; she answered coldly.
+      &#8220;But I came to the city as soon as I possibly could.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Well, I came when I couldn&#8217;t possibly stay away. We
+      can agree on one thing&mdash;we&#8217;re all here. Yes, and on another&mdash;that
+      that cake is fust-rate. I&#8217;ll take a second piece, if you&#8217;ve no
+      objection, Mrs. Hepton.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they were alone once more, in the captain&#8217;s room, Pearson
+      vented his indignation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you give them as good as they sent?&#8221; he
+      demanded. &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t you see they were doing their best to hurt
+      your feelings?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ya-as. I could see it. Didn&#8217;t need any specs to see that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then why didn&#8217;t you answer them as they deserved?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, I don&#8217;t know. What&#8217;s the use? They&#8217;ve got
+      troubles of their own. One of &#8217;em&#8217;s a used-to-be, and<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> the
+      other&#8217;s a never-was. Either disease is bad enough without addin&#8217;
+      complications.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson laughed. &#8220;I don&#8217;t get the whole of that, Captain,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;Mrs. Van is the used-to-be, I suppose. But what is it that
+      Miss Sherborne never was?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Married,&#8221; was the prompt reply. &#8220;Old maiditis is
+      creepin&#8217; on her fast. You want to be careful, Jim; a certain kind of
+      female gets desperate about her stage.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson laughed again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, get out!&#8221; he exclaimed, turning to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right! I will, when you and she are together and you give me
+      the signal. But I tell you honest, I&#8217;d hate to do it. Judgin&#8217;
+      by the way she smiles and looks up under her eye-winkers at you, you&#8217;re
+      in danger of kidnappin&#8217;. So long. I&#8217;ll see you again after I
+      get my dunnage unpacked.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The snubbing and sneering came to an abrupt end. Pearson, in conversation
+      with Mrs. Ruggles, casually imparted the information that Captain Elisha
+      was the brother of A. Rodgers Warren, late society leader and wealthy
+      broker. Also, that he had entire charge of the latter&#8217;s estate.
+      Thereafter Mrs. Ruggles treated the captain as one whose rank was equal to
+      her own, and, consequently, higher than anyone&#8217;s else in the
+      boarding-house. She made it a point to publicly ask his advice concerning
+      &#8220;securities&#8221; and &#8220;investments,&#8221; and favored him
+      with many reminiscences of her distinguished father, the Senator. Miss
+      Sherborne, as usual, followed her lead. Captain Elisha, when Pearson joked
+      him on the altered behavior of the two ladies, merely grinned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You may thank me for that, Captain,&#8221; said the young man.
+      &#8220;When I told Mrs. Ruggles who and what you were she almost broke
+      down and sobbed. The fact that she had risked offending one so closely
+      connected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+      with the real thing on Fifth Avenue and Wall Street was too dreadful. But
+      she&#8217;s yours devotedly now. There&#8217;s an 18-karat crown on your
+      head.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. I suppose so. Well, I ain&#8217;t so sot up with pride over
+      wearin&#8217; that crown. It used to belong to &#8217;Bije, and I never
+      did care much for second-hand things. Rather have a new sou&#8217;wester
+      of my own, any day in the week. When I buy a sou&#8217;wester I know what
+      it&#8217;s made of.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mrs. Ruggles knows what the crown is made of&mdash;gold, nicely
+      padded with bonds and preferred stock.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Sometimes I wonder if the paddin&#8217;s waterproof. As for
+      the gold&mdash;well, you can make consider&#8217;ble shine with brass when
+      you&#8217;re dealin&#8217; with nigh-sighted folks ... and children.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To this indirect reference to Miss Warren and her brother Pearson made no
+      reply. The pair conversed freely on other subjects, but each avoided this
+      one. The novel, too, was laid on the shelf for the present. Its author had
+      not yet mustered sufficient courage to return to it. Captain Elisha once
+      or twice suggested a session with &#8220;Cap&#8217;n Jim,&#8221; but,
+      finding his suggestions received with more or less indifference, did not
+      press them. His mind was busy with other things. A hint dropped by
+      Sylvester, the lawyer, was one of these. It suggested alarming
+      possibilities, and his skepticism concerning the intrinsic worth of his
+      inherited &#8220;crown&#8221; was increased by it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paid frequent visits to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves in
+      Pine Street. Upon the senior partner, whom he esteemed and trusted not
+      only as a business adviser but a friend, he depended for information
+      concerning happenings at the Warren apartment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline sent him regular statements of her weekly<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> expenditures, also bills
+      for his approval, but she had written him but once, and then only a brief
+      note. The note brought by a messenger, accompanied a package containing
+      the chain which he and Pearson selected with such deliberation and care at
+      the Fifth Avenue jeweler&#8217;s. Under the existing circumstances, the
+      girl wrote, she felt that she did not wish to accept presents from him and
+      therefore returned this one. He was alone when the note and package came
+      and sat by the window of his room, looking out at the dismal prospect of
+      back yards and clothes-lines, turning the leather case over and over in
+      his hands. Perhaps this was the most miserable afternoon he had spent
+      since his arrival in the city. He tried to comfort himself by the exercise
+      of his usual philosophy, but it was cold comfort. He had no right to
+      expect gratitude, so he told himself, and the girl undoubtedly felt that
+      she was justified in her treatment of him; but it is hard to be
+      misunderstood and misjudged, even by one whose youth is, perhaps, an
+      excuse. He forgave Caroline, but he could not forgive those who were
+      responsible for her action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After Pearson had departed, on the morning when the conversation dealing
+      with Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles and her change of attitude took place,
+      Captain Elisha put on his hat and coat and started for his lawyer&#8217;s
+      office. Sylvester was glad to see him and invited him to lunch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, thank you,&#8221; replied the captain. &#8220;I just run down
+      to ask if there was anything new in the offin&#8217;. Last time I see you,
+      you hinted you and your mates had sighted somethin&#8217; or other through
+      the fog, and it might turn out to be a rock or a lighthouse, you couldn&#8217;t
+      tell which. Made up your mind yet?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester shook his head. &#8220;No,&#8221; he said, slowly;<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+      &#8220;it is still foggy. We&#8217;re busy investigating, but we&#8217;re
+      not ready to report.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Well, what&#8217;s the thing look like? You must be a little
+      nigher to it by now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer tapped his desk with a pencil. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what
+      it looks like,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;That is to say, I don&#8217;t&mdash;I
+      can&#8217;t believe it is what it appears, at this distance, to be. If it
+      is, it is the most&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Captain Elisha waited for him to go on and, when he did not do
+      so, asked another question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The most what?&#8221; he demanded. &#8220;Is it likely to be very
+      bad?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;why&mdash;well, I can&#8217;t say even that yet. But
+      there! as I told you, I&#8217;m not going to permit it to worry me. And
+      you mustn&#8217;t worry, either. That&#8217;s why I don&#8217;t give you
+      any further particulars. There may be nothing in it, after all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His visitor smiled. &#8220;Say, Mr. Sylvester,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you&#8217;re
+      like the young-ones used to be when I was a boy. There&#8217;d be a gang
+      of &#8217;em waitin&#8217; by the schoolhouse steps and when the
+      particular victim hove in sight they&#8217;d hail him with, &#8216;Ah, ha!
+      <i>you&#8217;re</i> goin&#8217; to get it!&#8217; &#8216;Wait till teacher
+      sees you!&#8217; and so on. Course the victim would want to know what it
+      meant. All the satisfaction he got from them was, &#8216;That&#8217;s all
+      right! You&#8217;ll find out! You just wait!&#8217; And the poor feller
+      put in the time afore the bell rung goin&#8217; over all the things he
+      shouldn&#8217;t have done and had, and wonderin&#8217; which it was this
+      time. You hinted to me a week ago that there was a surprisin&#8217;
+      possibility loomin&#8217; up in &#8217;Bije&#8217;s financial affairs. And
+      ever since then I&#8217;ve been puzzlin&#8217; my brains tryin&#8217; to
+      guess what could happen. Ain&#8217;t discovered any more of those Cut
+      Short bonds, have you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bonds to which he referred were those of a defunct<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> Short Line railroad. A
+      large number of these bonds had been discovered among A. Rodgers Warren&#8217;s
+      effects; part of his &#8220;tangled assets,&#8221; the captain had termed
+      them, differentiating from the &#8220;tangible&#8221; variety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Abbie, my housekeeper, has been writin&#8217; me,&#8221; he went
+      on, &#8220;about havin&#8217; the sewin&#8217; room papered. She wants my
+      advice concernin&#8217; the style of paper; says it ought to be pretty and
+      out of the common, but not too expensive. I judge what she wants is
+      somethin&#8217; that looks like money but ain&#8217;t really wuth more
+      than ten cents a mile. I&#8217;ve been thinkin&#8217; I&#8217;d send her a
+      bale or so of those bonds; they&#8217;d fill the bill in those respects,
+      wouldn&#8217;t they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester laughed. &#8220;They certainly would, Captain,&#8221; he
+      replied. &#8220;No, we haven&#8217;t unearthed any more of that sort. And,
+      as for this mystery of ours, I&#8217;ll give you the answer&mdash;if it&#8217;s
+      worth giving at all, in a very short time. Meanwhile, you go home and
+      forget it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll try. But I guess it sticks out on my face, like a
+      four days&#8217; toothache. But I <i>won&#8217;t</i> worry about that. You
+      know best whether to tell me now or not, and&mdash;well, I&#8217;m carryin&#8217;
+      about all the worry my tonnage&#8217;ll stand, as &#8217;tis.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He drew a long breath. Sylvester regarded him sympathetically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mustn&#8217;t take your nephew&#8217;s and niece&#8217;s
+      treatment too much to heart,&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, I don&#8217;t. That is, I pretend I don&#8217;t. And I do try
+      not to. But I keep thinkin&#8217;, thinkin&#8217;, and wonderin&#8217; if
+      &#8217;twould have been better if I hadn&#8217;t gone there to live at
+      all. Hi hum! a man of my age hadn&#8217;t ought to mind what a
+      twenty-year-old girl says, or does; &#8217;specially when her kind,
+      advisin&#8217; friends have shown her how<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> she&#8217;s been
+      deceived and hypocrit-ted. By the way, speakin&#8217; of hypocrites, I
+      suppose there&#8217;s just as much &#8216;Dunnin&#8217;&#8217; as ever
+      goin&#8217; on up there?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. A little more, if anything, I&#8217;m afraid. Your niece and
+      Mrs. Dunn and her precious son are together now so constantly that people
+      are expecting&mdash;well, you know what they expect.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I can guess. I hope they&#8217;ll be disapp&#8217;inted.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So do I, but I must confess I&#8217;m fearful. Malcolm himself isn&#8217;t
+      so wise, but his mother is&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A whole Book of Proverbs, hey? I know. She&#8217;s an able old
+      frigate. I did think I had her guns spiked, but she turned &#8217;em on me
+      unexpected. I thought I had her and her boy in a clove hitch. I knew
+      somethin&#8217; that I was sartin sure they wouldn&#8217;t want Caroline
+      to know, and she and Malcolm knew I knew it. Her tellin&#8217; Caroline of
+      it, <i>her</i> story of it, when I wasn&#8217;t there to contradict, was
+      as smart a piece of maneuverin&#8217; as ever was. It took the wind out of
+      my sails, because, though I&#8217;m just as right as I ever was, Caroline
+      wouldn&#8217;t listen to me, nor believe me, now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She&#8217;ll learn by experience.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. But learnin&#8217; by experience is a good deal like shippin&#8217;
+      green afore the mast; it&#8217;ll make an able seaman of you, if it don&#8217;t
+      kill you fust. When I was a boy there was a man in our town name of
+      Nickerson Cummin&#8217;s. He was mate of a ship and smart as a red pepper
+      poultice on a skinned heel. He was a great churchgoer when he was ashore
+      and always preachin&#8217; brotherly love and kindness and pattin&#8217;
+      us little shavers on the head, and so on. Most of the grown folks thought
+      he was a sort of saint, and I thought he was more than that. I&#8217;d
+      have worshiped him, I cal&#8217;late, if my Methodist trainin&#8217; would
+      have allowed me to worship<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244"
+      id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> anybody who wa&#8217;n&#8217;t named in
+      Scriptur&#8217;. If there&#8217;d been an apostle or a prophet christened
+      Nickerson I&#8217;d have fell on my knees to this Cummin&#8217;s man,
+      sure. So, when I went to sea as a cabin boy, a tow-headed snub-nosed
+      little chap of fourteen, I was as happy as a clam at highwater &#8217;cause
+      I was goin&#8217; in the ship he was mate of.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. There was a frown on his face, and his lower jaw was thrust
+      forward grimly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well?&#8221; inquired Sylvester. &#8220;What happened?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? Oh, excuse me. When I get to thinkin&#8217; of that v&#8217;yage
+      I simmer inside, like a teakettle on a hot stove. The second day out&mdash;seasick
+      and homesick and so miserable I wished I could die all at once instead of
+      by lingerin&#8217; spasms&mdash;I dropped a dish on the cabin floor and
+      broke it. Cummin&#8217;s was alone with me, eatin&#8217; his dinner; and
+      he jumped out of his chair when I stooped to pick up the pieces and kicked
+      me under the table. When I crawled out, he kicked me again and kept it up.
+      When his foot got tired he used his fist. &#8216;There!&#8217; says he
+      between his teeth, &#8216;I cal&#8217;late that&#8217;ll learn you that
+      crockery costs money.&#8217;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It did. I never broke anything else aboard that ship. Cummin&#8217;s
+      was a bully and a sneak to everybody but the old man, and a toady to him.
+      He never struck me or anybody else when the skipper was around, but there
+      was nothin&#8217; too mean for him to do when he thought he had a safe
+      chance. And he took pains to let me know that if I ever told a soul at
+      home he&#8217;d kill me. I&#8217;d learned by experience, not only about
+      the price of crockery, but other things, things that a youngster ought not
+      to learn&mdash;how to hate a man so that you can wait years to get even
+      with him, for one. I&#8217;m sorry I learned that, and,&#8221; dryly,
+      &#8220;so was Cummin&#8217;s, later. But I did learn, once<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> and
+      for all, not to take folks on trust, nor to size &#8217;em up by their
+      outside, or the noise they make in prayer-meetin&#8217;, nor the way they
+      can spread soft soap when they think it&#8217;s necessary. I&#8217;d
+      learned that, and I&#8217;d learned it early enough to be of use to me,
+      which was a mercy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It was a hard lesson for me,&#8221; he added, reflectively; &#8220;but
+      I managed to come out of it without lettin&#8217; it bitter my whole life.
+      I don&#8217;t mind so much Caroline&#8217;s bein&#8217; down on me. She&#8217;ll
+      know better some day, I hope; and if she don&#8217;t&mdash;well, I&#8217;m
+      only a side-issue in her life, anyhow, hove in by accident, like the
+      section of dog collar in the sassage. But I do hope her learnin&#8217; by
+      experience won&#8217;t come too late to save her from ... what she&#8217;ll
+      be awful sorry for by and by.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It must,&#8221; declared the lawyer, with decision. &#8220;You must
+      see to it, Captain Warren. You are her guardian. She is absolutely under
+      your charge. She can do nothing of importance unless you consent.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. That&#8217;s so&mdash;for one more year; just one, remember!
+      Then she&#8217;ll be of age, and I can&#8217;t say &#8216;Boo!&#8217; And
+      her share of &#8217;Bije&#8217;s money&#8217;ll be hers, too. And don&#8217;t
+      you believe that that fact has slipped Sister Dunn&#8217;s memory. I ain&#8217;t
+      on deck to head her off now; if she puts Malcolm up to gettin&#8217;
+      Caroline to give her word, and Caroline gives it&mdash;well, I know my
+      niece. She&#8217;s honorable, and she&#8217;ll stick to her promise if it
+      runs her on the rocks. And Her Majesty Dunn knows that, too. Therefore,
+      the cat bein&#8217; away, she cal&#8217;lates now&#8217;s the time to make
+      sure of the cheese.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But the cat can come back. The song says it did, you know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. And got another kick, I shouldn&#8217;t wonder.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+      However, my claws&#8217;ll stay sharp for a year or thereabouts, and, if
+      it comes to a shindy, there&#8217;ll be some tall scratchin&#8217; afore I
+      climb a tree. Keep a weather eye on what goes on, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I will. You can depend on me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do. And say! for goodness&#8217; sakes put me out of my misery
+      regardin&#8217; that rock or lighthouse on &#8217;Bije&#8217;s chart, soon&#8217;s
+      ever you settle which it is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Certainly! And, remember, don&#8217;t worry. It may be a
+      lighthouse, or nothing at all. At all events, I&#8217;ll report very soon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom: 1px;">B</span>ut,
+      in spite of his promise, Sylvester did not report during the following
+      week or the next. Meanwhile, his client tried his best to keep the new
+      mystery from troubling his thoughts, and succeeded only partially. The
+      captain&#8217;s days and evenings were quiet and monotonous. He borrowed a
+      book or two from Mrs. Hepton&#8217;s meager library, read, walked a good
+      deal, generally along the water front, and wrote daily letters to Miss
+      Baker. He and Pearson were together for at least a portion of each day.
+      The author, fighting down his dejection and discouragement, set himself
+      resolutely to work once more on the novel, and his nautical adviser was
+      called in for frequent consultation. The story, however, progressed but
+      slowly. There was something lacking. Each knew what that something was,
+      but neither named it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening Pearson entered the room tenanted by his friend to find the
+      latter seated beside the table, his shoes partially unlaced, and a pair of
+      big slippers ready for putting on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain,&#8221; said the visitor, &#8220;you look so comfortable I
+      hate to disturb you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha, red-faced and panting, desisted from the unlacing and
+      straightened in his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whew!&#8221; he puffed. &#8220;Jim, your remarks prove that your
+      experience of the world ain&#8217;t as big as it ought to be. When you get
+      to my age and waist measure you&#8217;ll realize that stoopin&#8217; over
+      and comfort don&#8217;t go together.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> I hope to be comfortable
+      pretty soon; but I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t be till them boots are off. Set
+      down. The agony&#8217;ll be over in a minute.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson declined to sit. &#8220;Not yet,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And you
+      let those shoes alone, until you hear what I&#8217;ve got to say. A
+      newspaper friend of mine has sent me two tickets for the opera to-night. I
+      want you to go with me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;To the opera?&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Why, that&#8217;s a&mdash;a
+      sort of singin&#8217; theater ain&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, you&#8217;re fond of music; you told me so. And A&iuml;da is
+      beautiful. Come on! it will do us both good.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum! Well, I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do. Get ready.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at his caller&#8217;s evening clothes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What do you mean by gettin&#8217; ready?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;You&#8217;ve
+      got on your regimentals, open front and all. My uniform is the huntin&#8217;
+      case kind; fits in better with church sociables and South Denboro no&#8217;theasters.
+      If I wore one of those vests like yours Abbie&#8217;d make me put on a red
+      flannel lung-protector to keep from catchin&#8217; pneumonia. And she&#8217;d
+      think &#8217;twas sinful waste besides, runnin&#8217; the risk of sp&#8217;ilin&#8217;
+      a clean biled shirt so quick. Won&#8217;t I look like an undertaker,
+      sittin&#8217; alongside of you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not a bit. If it will ease your mind I&#8217;ll change to a
+      business suit.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t care. You know how I feel; we had a little talk about
+      hats a spell ago, you remember. If you&#8217;re willin&#8217; to take me
+      &#8216;just as I am, without a plea,&#8217; as the hymn-tune says, why, I
+      cal&#8217;late I&#8217;ll say yes and go. Set down and wait while I get on
+      my ceremonials.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He retired to the curtain alcove, and Pearson heard<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> him rustling about,
+      evidently making a hurried change of raiment. During this process he
+      talked continuously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jim,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I ain&#8217;t been to the theater but
+      once since I landed in New York. Then I went to see a play named &#8216;The
+      Heart of a Sailor.&#8217; Ha! ha! that was a great show! Ever take it in,
+      did you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. I never did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, you&#8217;d ought to. It&#8217;s a wonder of it&#8217;s kind.
+      I learned more things about life-savin&#8217; and &#8217;longshore life
+      from that drayma than you&#8217;d believe was possible. You&#8217;d have
+      got some p&#8217;ints for your Cap&#8217;n Jim yarn from that play; you
+      sartin would! Yes, indeed! Way I happened to go to it was on account of
+      seein&#8217; a poster on a fence over nigh where that Moriarty tribe
+      lived. The poster pictured a bark ashore, on her beam ends, in a sea like
+      those off the Horn. On the beach was a whole parcel of life-savers firin&#8217;
+      off rockets and blue lights. Keepin&#8217; the Fourth of July, I judged
+      they was, for I couldn&#8217;t see any other reason. The bark wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      more&#8217;n a hundred foot from &#8217;em, and if all hands on board didn&#8217;t
+      know they was in trouble by that time, then they deserved to drown.
+      Anyhow, they wa&#8217;n&#8217;t likely to appreciate the celebration. Ho!
+      ho! Well, when I run afoul of that poster I felt I hadn&#8217;t ought to
+      let anything like that get away; so I hunted up the theater&mdash;it wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      but a little ways off&mdash;and got a front seat for that very afternoon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Was it up to the advertising?&#8221; asked Pearson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>Was</i> it? Hi hum! I wish you&#8217;d been there. More &#8217;special
+      I wished some of the folks from home had been there, for the whole
+      business was supposed to happen on the Cape, and they&#8217;d have
+      realized how ignorant we are about the place we live in. The hero was a<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+      strappin&#8217; six-footer, sort of a combination fisherman and parson,
+      seemed so. He wore ileskins in fair weather and went around preachin&#8217;
+      or defyin&#8217; folks that provoked him and makin&#8217; love to the
+      daughter of a long-haired old relic that called himself an inventor....
+      Oh, consarn it!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dropped my collar button, as usual. Collar buttons are one of the
+      Old Harry&#8217;s pet traps. I&#8217;ll bet their responsible for &#8217;most
+      as many lapses from grace as tangled fishlines. Where.... Ow!... All
+      right; I found it with my bare foot, and edge up, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A series of grunts and short-breathed exclamations followed, indicating
+      that the sufferer was struggling with a tight collar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Go on,&#8221; commanded Pearson. &#8220;Tell me some more about the
+      play.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? Oh, the play. Where was I?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You were saying that the heroine&#8217;s father was an inventor.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s what <i>he</i> said he was, though he never furnished
+      any proof. His daughter helped him with his inventions, but if she&#8217;d
+      cut his hair once in a while &#8217;twould have been a better way of
+      puttin&#8217; in the time, &#8217;cordin&#8217; to my notion. And there
+      was a rich squire, who made his money by speculatin&#8217; in wickedness,
+      and a mortgage, and&mdash;I don&#8217;t know what all. And those Cape Cod
+      folks! and the houses they lived in! and the way they talked! Oh, dear!
+      oh, dear! I got my money&#8217;s wuth that afternoon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What about the wreck? How did that happen?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t know. It happened &#8217;cause it had to be in the
+      play, I cal&#8217;late. The mortgage, or an &#8216;invention&#8217;<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> or
+      somethin&#8217;, was on board the bark and just naturally took a short cut
+      for home, way I figgered it out. But, Jim, you ought to have seen that
+      hero! He peeled off his ileskin-slicker&mdash;he&#8217;d kept it on all
+      through the sunshine, but now, when &#8217;twas rainin&#8217; and rainin&#8217;
+      and wreckin&#8217; and thunderin&#8217;, he shed it&mdash;and jumped in
+      and saved all hands and the ship&#8217;s cat. &#8217;Twas great business!
+      No wonder the life-savers set off fireworks! And thunder! Why, say, it
+      never stopped thunderin&#8217; in that storm except when somebody had to
+      make a heroic speech; then it let up and give &#8217;em a chance. Most
+      considerate thunder ever I heard. And the lightnin&#8217;! and the way the
+      dust flew from the breakers! I was glad I went.... There!&#8221; appearing
+      fully dressed from behind the curtains. &#8220;I&#8217;m ready if you are.
+      Did I talk your head off? I ask your pardon; but that &#8216;Heart of a
+      Sailor&#8217; touched mine, I guess. I know I was afraid I&#8217;d laugh
+      until it stopped beatin&#8217;. And all around the people were cryin&#8217;.
+      It was enough sight damper amongst the seats than in those cloth waves.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The pair walked over to Broadway, boarded a street car, and alighted
+      before the Metropolitan Opera House. Pearson&#8217;s seats were good ones,
+      well down in the orchestra. Captain Elisha turned and surveyed the great
+      interior and the brilliantly garbed audience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whew!&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;This is considerable of a show in
+      itself, Jim. They could put our town hall inside here and the folks on the
+      roof wouldn&#8217;t be so high as those in that main skys&#8217;l gallery
+      up aloft there. Can they see or hear, do you think?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, yes. The accepted idea is that they are the real music lovers.
+      <i>they</i> come for the opera itself. Some of the others come because&mdash;well,
+      because it is the proper thing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      yes; I see. That&#8217;s the real article right over our heads, I suppose.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. That&#8217;s the &#8216;Diamond Horseshoe.&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All proper things there, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;er&mdash;yes, I suppose so. What makes you ask?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing much. I was thinking &#8217;twas better Abbie wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      along on this cruise. She&#8217;d probably want to put an &#8216;im&#8217;
+      in front of that &#8216;proper.&#8217; I envy those women, Jim; <i>they</i>
+      didn&#8217;t have to stop to hunt up collar buttons, did they.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was silent during the first act of the opera. When the curtain fell his
+      companion asked how he liked it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good singin&#8217;,&#8221; he replied; &#8220;best I ever heard. Do
+      you understand what they say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. But I&#8217;m familiar with the story of A&iuml;da, of course.
+      It&#8217;s a favorite of mine. And the words don&#8217;t really matter.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I suppose not. It&#8217;s the way they say it. I had an Irishman
+      workin&#8217; round my barn once, and Tim Bailey drove down from Bayport
+      to see me. I was out and Tim and the Irishman run afoul of each other. Tim
+      stuttered so that he made a noise when he talked like one of these
+      gasoline bicycles goin&#8217; by. He watched Mike sweepin&#8217; out the
+      horse stall and he says, &#8216;You&#8217;re a pup&mdash;pup ... I say you&#8217;re
+      a pup&mdash;.&#8217; He didn&#8217;t get any further &#8217;cause Mike
+      went for him with the broom. Turned out later that he was tryin&#8217; to
+      compliment that Irishman by sayin&#8217; he was a particular sort of
+      feller. These folks on the stage might be sayin&#8217; most anythin&#8217;,
+      and I wouldn&#8217;t know it. But I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t knock &#8217;em
+      down, for I like the way it&#8217;s said. When the Almighty give us music
+      he more than made up for makin&#8217; us subject to toothache, didn&#8217;t
+      he.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>Pearson
+      bought a copy of the libretto, and the captain followed the performance of
+      the next two acts with interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say, Jim,&#8221; he whispered, with a broad grin, &#8220;it&#8217;s
+      a good thing this opera idea ain&#8217;t carried into real life. If you
+      had to sing every word you said &#8217;twould be sort of distressin&#8217;,
+      &#8217;specially if you was in a hurry. A fust-rate solo when you was
+      orderin&#8217; the crew to shorten sail would be a high old brimstone
+      anthem, I&#8217;ll bet you. And think of the dinner table at our boardin&#8217;
+      house! Mrs. Van and C. Dickens both goin&#8217; at once, and Marm Hepton
+      serenadin&#8217; the waiter girl! Ho! ho! A cat fight wouldn&#8217;t be a
+      circumstance.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Between the third and the fourth acts the pair went out into the foyer,
+      where, ascending to the next floor, they made the round of the long curve
+      behind the boxes, Pearson pointing out to his friend the names of the box
+      lessees on the brass plates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There!&#8221; he observed, as, the half circle completed, they
+      turned and strolled back again, &#8220;isn&#8217;t that an imposing list,
+      Captain? Don&#8217;t you feel as if you were close to the real thing?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Godfreys mighty!&#8221; was the solemn reply; &#8220;I was just
+      thinkin&#8217; I felt as if I&#8217;d been readin&#8217; one of those
+      muck-rakin&#8217; yarns in the magazines!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The foyer had its usual animated crowd, and among them Pearson recognized
+      a critic of his acquaintance. He offered to introduce the captain, but the
+      latter declined the honor, saying that he cal&#8217;lated he wouldn&#8217;t
+      shove his bows in this time. &#8220;You heave ahead and see your friend,
+      Jim,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I&#8217;ll come to anchor by this pillar and
+      watch the fleet go by. I&#8217;ll have to write Abbie about all this; she&#8217;ll
+      want to know how the female craft was rigged.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>Left
+      alone, he leaned against the pillar and watched the people pass and repass
+      just behind him. Two young men paused just behind him. He could not help
+      overhearing their conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume you&#8217;ve heard the news?&#8221; asked one, casually.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied the other, &#8220;I have. That is, if you mean
+      the news concerning Mal Dunn. The mater learned it this afternoon and
+      sprung it at dinner. No one was greatly surprised. Formal announcement
+      made, and all that sort of thing, I believe. Mal&#8217;s to be
+      congratulated.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;His mother is, you mean. She managed the campaign. The old lady is
+      some strategist, and I&#8217;d back her to win under ordinary
+      circumstances. But I understand these were not ordinary; wise owl of a
+      guardian to be circumvented, or something of that sort.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;From what I hear the Dunns haven&#8217;t won so much after all.
+      There was a big shrinkage when papa died, so they say. Instead of three or
+      four millions it panned out to be a good deal less than one. I don&#8217;t
+      know much about it, because our family and theirs have drifted apart since
+      they moved.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! I imagine whatever the pan-out it will be welcome. The Dunns
+      are dangerously close to the ragged edge; everybody has been on to that
+      for some time. And it takes a few ducats to keep Mal going. He&#8217;s no
+      Uncle Russell when it comes to putting by for the rainy day.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, on the whole, I&#8217;m rather sorry for&mdash;the other
+      party. Mal is a good enough fellow, and he certainly is a game sport; but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They moved on, and Captain Elisha heard no more. But what he had heard was
+      quite sufficient. He sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255"
+      id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> through the remainder of the opera in
+      silence and answered all his friend&#8217;s questions and remarks curtly
+      and absently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As they stepped into the trolley Pearson bought an evening paper, not the
+      <i>Planet</i>, but a dignified sheet which shunned sensationalism and
+      devoted much space to the doings of the safe, sane, and ultra-respectable
+      element. Perceiving that his companion, for some reason, did not care to
+      talk, he read as the car moved downtown. Suddenly Captain Elisha was
+      awakened from his reverie by hearing his friend utter an exclamation.
+      Looking up, the captain saw that he was leaning back in the seat, the
+      paper lying unheeded in his lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; asked the older man, anxiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson started, glanced quickly at his friend, hesitated, and looked down
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing&mdash;now,&#8221; he answered, brusquely. &#8220;We get out
+      here. Come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose, picked up the paper with a hand that shook a little, and led the
+      way to the door of the car. Captain Elisha followed, and they strode up
+      the deserted side street. Pearson walked so rapidly that his companion was
+      hard pushed to keep pace with him. When they stood together in the dimly
+      lit hall of the boarding house, the captain spoke again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Jim,&#8221; he asked in a low tone, &#8220;what is it? You
+      may as well tell me. Maybe I can guess, anyhow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man reached up and turned the gas full on. In spite of the cold
+      from which they had just come, his face was white. He folded the paper in
+      his hand, and with his forefinger pointed to its uppermost page.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There it is,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Read it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha took the paper, drew his spectacle case<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> from his pocket,
+      adjusted his glasses and read. The item was among those under the head of
+      &#8220;Personal and Social.&#8221; It was what he expected. &#8220;The
+      engagement is to-day announced of Miss Caroline Warren, daughter of the
+      late A. Rodgers Warren, the well-known broker, to Mr. Malcolm Corcoran
+      Dunn, of Fifth Avenue. Miss Warren, it will be remembered, was one of the
+      most charming of our season-before-last&#8217;s d&eacute;butantes and&mdash;&#8221;
+      etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain read the brief item through.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, slowly, &#8220;I see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson looked at him in amazement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You <i>see</i>!&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;You&mdash;Why! <i>Did
+      you know it</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ve been afraid of it for some time. To-night, when you left
+      me alone there in the quarter-deck of that opera house, I happened to hear
+      two young chaps talkin&#8217; about it. So you might say I knew&mdash;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good heavens! and you can stand there and&mdash;What are you going
+      to do about it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&mdash;yet.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Are you going to permit her to marry that&mdash;<i>that</i> fellow?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I ain&#8217;t sartin that I can stop her.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My God, man! Do you realize&mdash;and <i>she</i>&mdash;your niece&mdash;why&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there! Jim. I realize it all, I cal&#8217;late. It&#8217;s
+      my business to realize it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And it isn&#8217;t mine. No, of course it isn&#8217;t; you&#8217;re
+      right there.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned and strode toward the foot of the stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on!&#8221; commanded the captain. &#8220;Hold on, Jim! Don&#8217;t
+      you go off ha&#8217;f cocked. When I said &#8217;twas my business to
+      realize this thing, I meant just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257"
+      id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> that and nothin&#8217; more. I wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      hintin&#8217;, and you ought to know it. You do know it, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man paused. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he answered, after an instant&#8217;s
+      struggle with his feelings; &#8220;yes, I do. I beg your pardon, Captain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right. And here&#8217;s somethin&#8217; else; I just told you I
+      wasn&#8217;t sartin I could stop the marriage. That&#8217;s the truth. But
+      I don&#8217;t recollect sayin&#8217; I&#8217;d actually hauled down the
+      colors, not yet. Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good night, Captain. I shouldn&#8217;t have misunderstood you, of
+      course. But, as you know, I respected and admired your niece. And this
+      thing has&mdash;has&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sort of knocked you on your beam ends, I understand. Well, Jim,&#8221;
+      with a sigh, &#8220;I ain&#8217;t exactly on an even keel myself.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They separated, Pearson going to his room. As Captain Elisha was passing
+      through the hall on the second floor, he heard someone calling him by
+      name. Turning, he saw his landlady&#8217;s head, bristling with curl
+      papers, protruding from behind the door at the other end of the passage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; she asked, &#8220;is that you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; replied the captain, turning back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I&#8217;ve got a message for you. A Mr. Sylvester has &#8217;phoned
+      you twice this evening. He wishes to see you at his office at the earliest
+      possible moment. He says it is <i>very</i> important.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XVII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">N</span>ine
+      o&#8217;clock is an early hour for a New York lawyer of prominence to be
+      at his place of business. Yet, when Captain Elisha asked the office boy of
+      Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves if the senior partner was in, he received an
+      affirmative answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; said Tim, respectfully. His manner toward the
+      captain had changed surprisingly since the latter&#8217;s first call.
+      &#8220;Yes, sir; Mr. Sylvester&#8217;s in. He expects you. I&#8217;ll tell
+      him you&#8217;re here. Sit down and wait, please.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha sat down, but he did not have to wait long. The boy
+      returned at once and ushered him into the private office. Sylvester
+      welcomed him gravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You got my message, then,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I spent hours last
+      evening chasing you by &#8217;phone. And I was prepared to begin again
+      this morning.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So? That&#8217;s why you&#8217;re on deck so early? Didn&#8217;t
+      sleep here, did you? Well, I cal&#8217;late I know what you want to talk
+      about. You ain&#8217;t the only one that reads the newspapers.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The newspapers? Great heavens! it isn&#8217;t in the newspapers, is
+      it? It can&#8217;t be!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He seemed much perturbed. Captain Elisha looked puzzled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Course it is,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I heard it afore I saw it.
+      Perhaps you think I take it pretty easy. Maybe I act as if I did. But you
+      expected it, and so did I, so we ain&#8217;t exactly surprised. And,&#8221;
+      seriously, &#8220;I realize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259"
+      id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> that it&#8217;s no joke as well as you
+      do. But we&#8217;ve got a year to fight in, and now we must plan the
+      campaign. I did cal&#8217;late to see Caroline this mornin&#8217;. Then,
+      if I heard from her own lips that &#8217;twas actually so, I didn&#8217;t
+      know&#8217;s I wouldn&#8217;t drop in and give Sister
+      Corcoran-Queen-Victoria-Dunn a few plain facts about it not bein&#8217; a
+      healthy investment to hurry matters. You&#8217;re wantin&#8217; to see me
+      headed me off, and I come here instead.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer looked at him in astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;See here, Captain Warren,&#8221; he demanded, &#8220;what do you
+      imagine I asked you to come here for?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, to talk about that miserable engagement, sartin. Poor girl! I&#8217;ve
+      been awake ha&#8217;f the night thinkin&#8217; of the mess she&#8217;s
+      been led into. And she believes she&#8217;s happy, I suppose.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester shook his head. &#8220;I see,&#8221; he said, slowly. &#8220;You
+      would think it that, naturally. No, Captain, it isn&#8217;t the
+      engagement. It&#8217;s more serious than that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;More serious than&mdash;<i>more</i> serious! Why, what on earth?
+      Hey? Mr. Sylvester, has that rock-lighthouse business come to somethin&#8217;
+      after all?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer nodded. &#8220;It has,&#8221; he replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to know! And I&#8217;d almost forgot it, not hearin&#8217;
+      from you. It&#8217;s a rock, too, I judge, by the looks of your face.
+      Humph!... Is it very bad?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain pulled his beard. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, wearily, after
+      a moment, &#8220;I guess likely I can bear it. I&#8217;ve had to bear some
+      things in my time. Anyhow, I&#8217;ll try. Heave ahead and get it over
+      with. I&#8217;m ready.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Instead of answering, Sylvester pushed an electric button on his desk. The
+      office boy answered the ring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Have Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves arrived?&#8221; asked the lawyer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      sir. Both of them, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Tell them Captain Warren is here, and ask them to join us in the
+      inner room. Remind Mr. Graves to bring the papers. And, Tim, remember that
+      none of us is to be disturbed. Do you understand?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; said Tim and departed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha regarded his friend with some dismay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;this <i>must</i> be serious, if it
+      takes the skipper and both mates to handle it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester did not smile. &#8220;It is,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He led the way into the room opening from the rear of his own. It was a
+      large apartment with a long table in the center. Mr. Kuhn, brisk and
+      business-like, was already there. He shook hands with his client. As he
+      did so, Graves, dignified and precise as ever, entered, carrying a small
+      portfolio filled with papers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mornin&#8217;, Mr. Graves,&#8221; said the captain; &#8220;glad to
+      see you, even under such distressin&#8217; circumstances, as the
+      undertaker said to the sick man. Feelin&#8217; all right again, I hope. No
+      more colds or nothin&#8217; like that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Thank you. I am quite well, at present.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s hearty. If you and me don&#8217;t do any more buggy
+      ridin&#8217; in Cape Cod typhoons, we&#8217;ll last a spell yet, hey? What
+      you got there, the death warrant?&#8221; referring to the portfolio and
+      its contents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Graves evidently did not consider this flippancy worth a reply, for he
+      made none.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Sit down, gentlemen,&#8221; said Sylvester.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The four took chairs at the table. Graves untied and opened the portfolio.
+      Captain Elisha looked at his solemn companions, and his lips twitched.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;ll excuse me,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;but I feel as if
+      I was goin&#8217; to be tried for piracy on the high seas. Has<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> the
+      court any objection to tobacco smoke? I&#8217;m puttin&#8217; the emphasis
+      strong on the &#8216;tobacco,&#8217;&#8221; he added, &#8220;because this
+      is a cigar you give me yourself, Mr. Sylvester, last time I was down here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; replied the senior partner. &#8220;Smoke, if you
+      wish. No one here has any objection, unless it may be Graves.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, Mr. Graves ain&#8217;t. He and I fired up together that night
+      we fust met. Hot smoke tasted grateful after all the cold water we&#8217;d
+      had poured onto us in that storm. Graves is all right. He&#8217;s a
+      sportin&#8217; character, like myself. Maybe he&#8217;ll jine us. Got
+      another cigar in my pocket.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the invitation was declined. The &#8220;sporting character&#8221;
+      might deign to relax amid proper and fitting surroundings, but not in the
+      sacred precincts of his office. So the captain smoked alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he observed, after a few preliminary puffs, &#8220;go
+      on! Don&#8217;t keep me in suspenders, as the feller said. Where did the
+      lightnin&#8217; strike, and what&#8217;s the damage?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester took a card from his pocket and referred to a penciled
+      memorandum on its back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221; he began, slowly, &#8220;as you know, and as
+      directed by you, my partners here and I have been engaged for months in
+      carefully going over your brother&#8217;s effects, estimating values,
+      tabulating and sorting his various properties and securities, separating
+      the good from the worthless&mdash;and there was, as we saw at a glance, a
+      surprising amount of the latter&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm,&#8221; interrupted the captain, &#8220;Cut Short bonds and
+      the like of that. I know. Excuse me. Go on.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Precisely. And there were many just as valueless. But we have
+      been gradually getting those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262"
+      id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> out of the way and listing and
+      appraising the remainder. It was a tangle. Your brother&#8217;s business
+      methods, especially of late years, were decidedly unsystematic and
+      slipshod. It may have been the condition of his health which prevented his
+      attending to them as he should. Or,&#8221; he hesitated slightly, &#8220;it
+      may have been that he was secretly in great trouble and mental distress.
+      At all events, the task has been a hard one for us. But, largely owing to
+      Graves and his patient work, our report was practically ready a month ago.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Captain Elisha, who had been listening attentively, nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said; &#8220;you told me &#8217;twas. What does the
+      whole thing tot up to? What&#8217;s the final figger, Mr. Graves?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The junior partner adjusted his eyeglasses to his thin nose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have them here,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The list of securities, et
+      cetera, is rather long, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Never mind them now, Graves,&#8221; interrupted Kuhn. &#8220;The
+      amount, roughly speaking, is close to over our original estimate, half a
+      million.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain drew a breath of relief. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he exclaimed,
+      &#8220;that&#8217;s all right then, ain&#8217;t it? That&#8217;s no
+      poorhouse pension.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester answered. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that&#8217;s all
+      right, as far as it goes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! Well, I cal&#8217;late <i>I</i> could make it go to the end
+      of the route; and then have enough left for a return ticket. Say!&#8221;
+      with another look at the solemn faces of the three, &#8220;what <i>is</i>
+      the row? If the estate is wuth ha&#8217;f a million, what&#8217;s the
+      matter with it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That is what we are here this morning to discuss, Captain. A month
+      ago, as I said, we considered our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263"
+      id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> report practically ready. Then we
+      suddenly happened on the trail of something which, upon investigation,
+      upset all our calculations. If true, it threatened, not to mention its
+      effect upon the estate, to prove so distressing and painful to us, Rodgers
+      Warren&#8217;s friends and legal advisers, that we decided not to alarm
+      you, his brother, by disclosing our suspicions until we were sure there
+      was no mistake. I did drop you a hint, you will remember&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I remember. <i>Now</i> we&#8217;re comin&#8217; to the rock!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Captain Warren, I think perhaps I ought to warn you that what
+      my partners and I are about to say will shock and hurt you. I, personally,
+      knew your brother well and respected him as an honorable business man. A
+      lawyer learns not to put too much trust in human nature, but, I confess,
+      this&mdash;this&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was evidently greatly disturbed. Captain Elisha, regarding him
+      intently, nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I judge it&#8217;s sort of hard for you to go on, Mr. Sylvester,&#8221;
+      he said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll help you all I can. You and Mr. Kuhn and Mr.
+      Graves here have found out somethin&#8217; that ain&#8217;t exactly
+      straight in &#8217;Bije&#8217;s doin&#8217;s? Am I right?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Captain Warren, you are.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Somethin&#8217; that don&#8217;t help his character, hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Somethin&#8217;s he&#8217;s, done that&#8217;s&mdash;well, to speak
+      plain, that&#8217;s crooked?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid there&#8217;s no doubt of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; The captain frowned. His cigar had gone out, and he
+      idly twisted the stump between his fingers. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he said,
+      with a sigh, &#8220;our family, gen&#8217;rally speakin&#8217;, has always
+      held its head pretty high. Dad was poor, but he prided himself on bein&#8217;
+      straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+      as a plumb line. And, as for mother, she....&#8221; Then, looking up
+      quickly, he asked, &#8220;Does anybody outside know about this?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No one but ourselves&mdash;yet.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yet? Is it goin&#8217; to be necessary for anybody else to know it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;We hope not. But there is a possibility.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was thinkin&#8217; about the children.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course. So are we all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Poor Caroline! she put her father on a sort of altar and
+      bowed down afore him, as you might say. Any sort of disgrace to his name
+      would about kill her. As for me,&#8221; with another sigh, &#8220;I ain&#8217;t
+      so much surprised as you might think. I know that sounds tough to say
+      about your own brother, but I&#8217;ve been afraid all along. You see,
+      &#8217;Bije always steered pretty close to the edge of the channel. He had
+      ideas about honesty and fair dealin&#8217; in business that didn&#8217;t
+      jibe with mine. We split on just that, as I told you, Mr. Graves, when you
+      and I fust met. He got some South Denboro folks to invest money along with
+      him; sort of savin&#8217;s account, they figgered it; but I found out he
+      was usin&#8217; it to speculate with. So that&#8217;s why we had our row.
+      I took pains to see that the money was paid back, but he and I never spoke
+      afterwards. Fur as my own money was concerned, I hadn&#8217;t any kick,
+      but.... However, I&#8217;m talkin&#8217; too much. Go on, Mr. Sylvester, I&#8217;m
+      ready to hear whatever you&#8217;ve got to say.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Captain. You make it easier for me. It seems that your
+      brother&#8217;s first step toward wealth and success was taken about
+      nineteen years ago. Then, somehow or other, probably through a combination
+      of luck and shrewdness, he obtained a grant, a concession from the
+      Brazilian Government, the long term lease of<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> a good-sized tract of
+      land on the upper Amazon. It was very valuable because of its rubber
+      trees.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey?&#8221; Captain Elisha leaned forward. &#8220;Say that again!&#8221;
+      he commanded sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester repeated his statement. &#8220;He got the concession by paying
+      twenty thousand dollars to the government of Brazil,&#8221; he continued.
+      &#8220;To raise the twenty thousand he formed a stock company of two
+      hundred and fifty shares at one hundred dollars each. One hundred of these
+      shares were in his own name. Fifty were in the name of one &#8216;Thomas
+      A. Craven,&#8217; a clerk at that time in his office. Craven was only a
+      dummy, however. Do you understand what I mean by a dummy?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I can guess. Sort of a wooden image that moved when &#8217;Bije
+      pulled the strings. Like one of these straw directors that clutter up the
+      insurance companies, &#8217;cordin&#8217; to the papers. Yes, yes; I
+      understand well enough. Go ahead! go ahead!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s it. The fifty shares were in Craven&#8217;s name, but
+      they were transferred in blank and in Mr. Warren&#8217;s safe. Together
+      with his own hundred, they gave him control and a voting majority. That
+      much we know by the records.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see. But this rubber con&mdash;contraption wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      really wuth anything, was it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Worth anything! Captain Warren, I give you my word that it was
+      worth more than all the rest of the investments that your brother made
+      during his lifetime.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>No!</i>&#8221; The exclamation was almost a shout.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes, decidedly more. Does that surprise you, Captain?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha did not answer. He was regarding<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> the lawyer with a dazed
+      expression. He breathed heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; demanded the watchful Kuhn, his
+      gaze fixed upon his client&#8217;s face. &#8220;Do you know anything&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain interrupted him. &#8220;Go on!&#8221; he commanded. &#8220;But
+      tell me this fust: What was the name of this rubber concern of &#8217;Bije&#8217;s?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The Akrae Rubber Company.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see.... Yes, yes.... Akry, hey!... Well, what about it? Tell me
+      the rest.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;For the first year or two this company did nothing. Then, in March,
+      of the third year, the property was released by Mr. Warren to persons in
+      Para, who were to develop and operate. The terms of his new lease were
+      very advantageous. Royalties were to be paid on a sliding scale, and, from
+      the very first, they were large. The Akrae Company paid enormous
+      dividends.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did, hey? I want to know!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. In fact, for twelve years the company&#8217;s royalties
+      averaged $50,000 yearly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whe-e-w!&#8221; Captain Elisha whistled. &#8220;Fifty thousand a
+      year!&#8221; he repeated slowly. &#8220;&#8217;Bije! &#8217;Bije!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. And three years ago the Akrae Company sold its lease, sold out
+      completely to the Para people, for seven hundred and fifty thousand
+      dollars.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Godfreys mighty! Well,&#8221; after a moment, &#8220;that&#8217;s
+      what I&#8217;d call a middlin&#8217; fair profit on a twenty thousand
+      dollar investment&mdash;not to mention the dividends.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain,&#8221; Sylvester leaned forward now; &#8220;Captain,&#8221;
+      he repeated, &#8220;it is that sale and the dividends which are troubling
+      us. I told you that the Akrae Company was organized with two hundred and
+      fifty shares of stock. Your brother held one hundred in his own name and
+      fifty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
+      transferred to him by his dummy, Craven. What I did not tell you was that
+      there were another hundred shares, held by someone, someone who paid ten
+      thousand dollars for them&mdash;we know that&mdash;and was, therefore,
+      entitled to two-fifths of every dollar earned by the company during its
+      existence, and two-fifths of the amount received for the sale of the
+      lease. So far as we can find out, this stockholder has never received one
+      cent.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The effect of this amazing announcement upon the uniniated member of the
+      council was not as great as the lawyers expected it to be. &#8220;You don&#8217;t
+      tell me!&#8221; was his sole comment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves broke in impatiently: &#8220;I think, Captain Warren,&#8221; he
+      declared, &#8220;that you probably do not realize what this means. Besides
+      proving your brother dishonest, it means that this stockholder, whoever he
+      may have been&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey? What&#8217;s that? Don&#8217;t you know who he was?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, we do not. The name upon the stub of the transfer book has been
+      scratched out.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha looked the speaker in the face, then slowly turned his look
+      upon the other two faces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Scratched out?&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Who scratched it out?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves shrugged his shoulders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; said the captain. &#8220;You don&#8217;t know, but
+      we&#8217;re all entitled to guess, hey?... Humph!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;If this person is living,&#8221; began Sylvester, &#8220;it follows
+      that&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on a minute! I don&#8217;t know much about corporations, of
+      course&mdash;that&#8217;s more in your line than &#8217;tis in mine&mdash;but
+      I want to ask one question. You say this what-d&#8217;ye-call-it&mdash;this
+      Akrae thingamajig&mdash;was sold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268"
+      id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> out, hull, canvas and riggin&#8217;, to
+      a crowd in Brazil? It&#8217;s gone out of business then? It&#8217;s dead?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. But&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wait! Ain&#8217;t it customary, when a sale like this is made, to
+      turn over all the stock, certificates and all? Sometimes you get stock in
+      the new company in exchange; I know that. But to complete the trade,
+      wouldn&#8217;t this extry hundred shares be turned in? Or some sharp
+      questionin&#8217; done if &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He addressed the query to Sylvester. The latter seemed more troubled than
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That,&#8221; he said with some hesitation, &#8220;is one of the
+      delicate points in this talk of ours, Captain Warren. A certificate for
+      the missing hundred shares <i>was</i> turned in. It was dated at the time
+      of the original issue, made out in the name of one Edward Bradley, and
+      transferred on the back by him to your brother. That is, it was presumably
+      so transferred.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Presumably. Pre-sumably? You mean&mdash;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mean that this certificate is&mdash;well, let us say, rather
+      queer. To begin with, no one knows who this Bradley is, or was. His name
+      appears nowhere except on that certificate, unless, of course, it did
+      appear on the stub where the scratching has been done; we doubt that, for
+      reasons. Nobody ever heard of the man; and his transfer to your brother
+      was made, and the certificate signed by him, only three years ago, when
+      the Akrae Company sold out. It will take too long to go into details; but
+      thanks to the kindness of the Para concern, which has offices in this city&mdash;we
+      have been able to examine this Bradley certificate. Experts have examined
+      it, also. And they tell us&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, what do they tell?&#8221; demanded the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>&#8220;They
+      tell us that&mdash;that, in their opinion, the certificate was never
+      issued at the time when, by this date, it presumes to have been. It was
+      made out no longer ago than five years, probably less. The signature of
+      Bradley on the back is&mdash;is&mdash;well, I hate to say it, Captain
+      Warren, but the handwriting on that signature resembles very closely that
+      of your brother.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was silent for some moments. The others did not speak, but
+      waited. Even Graves, between whom and his client there was little in
+      common, felt the general sympathy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length the captain raised his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he said slowly, &#8220;we ain&#8217;t children. We
+      might as well call things by their right names. &#8217;Bije forged that
+      certificate.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid there is no doubt of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dear! dear! dear! Why, they put folks in state&#8217;s prison for
+      that!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. But a dead man is beyond prisons.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s so. Then I don&#8217;t see&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You will. You don&#8217;t grasp the full meaning of this affair
+      even yet. If the Bradley certificate is a forgery, a fraud from beginning
+      to end, then the presumption is that there was never any such person as
+      Bradley. But <i>someone</i> paid ten thousand dollars for one hundred
+      Akrae shares when the company was formed. <i>That</i> certificate has
+      never been turned in. Some person or persons, somewhere, hold one hundred
+      shares of Akrae Rubber Company stock. Think, now! Suppose that someone
+      turns up and demands all that he has been cheated out of for the past
+      seventeen years! Think of that!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well ... I am thinkin&#8217; of it. I got the scent of what you was
+      drivin&#8217; at five minutes ago. And I don&#8217;t see that we need to
+      be afraid. He could have put &#8217;Bije<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> in jail; but &#8217;Bije
+      is already servin&#8217; a longer sentence than he could give him. So that
+      disgrace ain&#8217;t bearin&#8217; down on us. And, if I understand about
+      such things, his claim is against the Akrae Company, and that&#8217;s dead&mdash;dead
+      as the man that started it. Maybe he could put in a keeper, or a receiver,
+      or some such critter, but there&#8217;s nothin&#8217; left to keep or
+      receive. Ain&#8217;t I right?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You are. Or you would be, but for one thing, the really
+      inexplicable thing in this whole miserable affair. Your brother, Captain
+      Warren, was dishonest. He took money that didn&#8217;t belong to him, and
+      he forged that certificate. But he must have intended to make restitution.
+      He must have been conscience-stricken and more to be pitied, perhaps, than
+      condemned. No doubt, when he first began to withhold the dividends and use
+      the money which was not his, he intended merely to borrow. He was always
+      optimistic and always plunging in desperate and sometimes rather shady
+      speculations which, he was sure, would turn out favorably. If they had&mdash;if,
+      for instance, the South Shore Trolley Combine had been put through&mdash;You
+      knew of that, did you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ve been told somethin&#8217; about it. Go on!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, it was not put through, so his hopes there were frustrated.
+      And that was but one of his schemes. However, when the sale of the Company
+      was consummated, he did an extraordinary thing. He made out and signed his
+      personal note, payable to the Akrae Company, for every cent he had
+      misappropriated. And we found that note in his safe after his death. That
+      was what first aroused our suspicions. <i>Now</i>, Captain Warren, do you
+      understand?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha did not understand, that was evident. His look of wondering
+      amazement traveled from one face to the others about the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>&#8220;A
+      <i>note</i>!&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;&#8217;Bije put his <i>note</i> in
+      the safe? A note promisin&#8217; to pay all he&#8217;d stole! And left it
+      there where it could be found? Why, that&#8217;s pretty nigh unbelievable,
+      Mr. Sylvester! He might just as well have confessed his crookedness and be
+      done with it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. It is unbelievable, but it is true. Graves can show you the
+      note.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The junior partner produced a slip of paper from the portfolio and
+      regarded it frowningly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of all the pieces of sheer lunacy,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;that
+      ever came under my observation, this is the worst. Here it is, Captain
+      Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He extended the paper. Captain Elisha waved it aside.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to see it&mdash;not yet,&#8221; he protested.
+      &#8220;I want to think. I want to get at the reason if I can. Why did he
+      do it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That is what we&#8217;ve been tryin&#8217; to find&mdash;the
+      reason,&#8221; remarked Kuhn, &#8220;and we can only guess. Sylvester has
+      told you the guess. Rodgers Warren intended, or hoped, to make restitution
+      before he died.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Knowin&#8217; &#8217;Bije, I can see that. He was weak, that
+      was his main trouble. He didn&#8217;t mean to be crooked, but his knees wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      strong enough to keep him straight when it come to a hard push. But he
+      made his note payable to a Company that was already sold out, so it ain&#8217;t
+      good for nothin&#8217;. Now, why&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Graves struck the table with his open hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t understand at all,&#8221; he exclaimed,
+      impatiently. &#8220;Captain Warren, listen! That note is made payable to
+      the Akrae Company. Against that company some unknown stockholder has an
+      apparent claim for two-fifths of all dividends ever paid and two-fifths of
+      the seven hundred and fifty thousand received for the sale.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> With
+      accrued interest, that claim amounts to over five hundred thousand
+      dollars.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That note binds Rodgers Warren&#8217;s estate to pay that claim.
+      His own personal estate! And that estate is not worth over four hundred
+      and sixty thousand dollars! If this stockholder should appear and press
+      his claim, <i>your brother&#8217;s children would be, not only penniless,
+      but thirty thousand dollars in debt</i>! There! I think that is plain
+      enough!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He leaned back, grimly satisfied with the effect of his statement. Captain
+      Elisha stared straight before him, unseeingly, the color fading from his
+      cheeks. Then he put both elbows on the table and covered his face with his
+      hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You see, Captain,&#8221; said Sylvester, gently, &#8220;how very
+      serious the situation is. Graves has put it bluntly, but what he says is
+      literally true. If your brother had deliberately planned to hand his
+      children over to the mercy of that missing stockholder, he couldn&#8217;t
+      have done it more completely.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slowly the captain raised his head. His expression was a strange one;
+      agitated and shocked, but with a curious look of relief, almost of
+      triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;At last!&#8221; he said, solemnly. &#8220;At last! Now it&#8217;s
+      <i>all</i> plain!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All?&#8221; repeated Sylvester. &#8220;You mean&mdash;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mean everything, all that&#8217;s been puzzlin&#8217; me and
+      troublin&#8217; my head since the very beginnin&#8217;. All of it! <i>Now</i>
+      I know why! Oh, &#8217;Bije! &#8217;Bije! &#8217;Bije!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Kuhn spoke quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I believe you know who the owner of
+      that one hundred shares is. Do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha gravely nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,&#8221;
+      he answered. &#8220;I know him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The questions were blurted out together. The captain looked at the three
+      excited faces. He hesitated and then, taking the stub of a pencil from his
+      pocket, drew toward him a memorandum pad lying on the table and wrote a
+      line upon the uppermost sheet. Tearing off the page, he tossed it to
+      Sylvester.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s the name,&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XVIII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span>wo
+      more hours passed before the lawyers and their client rose from their
+      seats about the long table. Even then the consultation was not at an end.
+      Sylvester and the Captain lunched together at the Central Club and sat in
+      the smoking room until after four, talking earnestly. When they parted,
+      the attorney was grave and troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right, Captain Warren,&#8221; he said; &#8220;I&#8217;ll do it.
+      And you may be right. I certainly hope you are. But I must confess I don&#8217;t
+      look forward to my task with pleasure. I think I&#8217;ve got the roughest
+      end.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;ll be rough, there&#8217;s no doubt about that. Rough for
+      all hands, I guess. And I hope you understand, Mr. Sylvester, that there
+      ain&#8217;t many men I&#8217;d trust to do what I ask you to. I appreciate
+      your doin&#8217; it more&#8217;n I can tell you. Be as&mdash;as gentle as
+      you can, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I will. You can depend upon that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do. And I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t forget it. Good-by, till the next
+      time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They shook hands. Captain Elisha returned to the boarding house, where he
+      found a letter awaiting him. It was from Caroline, telling him of her
+      engagement to Malcolm Dunn. She wrote that, while not recognizing his
+      right to interfere in any way, she felt that perhaps he should know of her
+      action. He did not go down to supper, and, when Pearson came to inquire
+      the reason, excused himself, pleading a late luncheon and no appetite.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> He
+      guessed he would turn in early, so he said. It was a poor guess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Next morning he went uptown. Edwards, opening the door of the Warren
+      apartment, was surprised to find who had rung the bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mornin&#8217;, Commodore!&#8221; hailed the captain, as casually as
+      if he were merely returning from a stroll. &#8220;Is Miss Caroline aboard
+      ship?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;why, I don&#8217;t know, sir. I&#8217;ll see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s all right. She&#8217;s aboard or you wouldn&#8217;t
+      have to see. You and me sailed together quite a spell, so I know your
+      little habits. I&#8217;ll wait in the library, Commodore. Tell her there&#8217;s
+      no particular hurry.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece was expecting him. She had anticipated his visit and was
+      prepared for it. From the emotion caused by his departure after the
+      eventful birthday, she had entirely recovered, or thought she had. The
+      surprise and shock of his leaving and the consequent sense of loneliness
+      and responsibility overcame her at the time, but Stephen&#8217;s ridicule
+      and Mrs. Corcoran Dunn&#8217;s congratulations on riddance from the
+      &#8220;encumbrance&#8221; shamed her and stilled the reproaches of her
+      conscience. Mrs. Dunn, as always, played the diplomat and mingled just the
+      proper quantity of comprehending sympathy with the congratulations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I understand exactly how you feel, my dear,&#8221; she said.
+      &#8220;You have a tender heart, and it pains you to hurt anyone&#8217;s
+      feelings, no matter how much they deserve to be hurt. Every time I dismiss
+      an incompetent or dishonest servant I feel that I have done wrong;
+      sometimes I cry, actually shed tears, you know, and yet my reason tells me
+      I am right. You feel that you may have been too harsh with that guardian
+      of yours. You remember what you said to him and forget how hypocritically<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> he
+      behaved toward you. I can&#8217;t forgive him that. I may forget how he
+      misrepresented Malcolm and me to you&mdash;that I may even pardon, in time&mdash;but
+      to deceive his own brother&#8217;s children and introduce into their
+      society a creature who had slandered and maligned their father&mdash;<i>that</i>
+      I never shall forget or forgive. And&mdash;you&#8217;ll excuse my
+      frankness, dear&mdash;you should never forget or forgive it, either. You
+      have nothing with which to reproach yourself. You were a brave girl, and
+      if you are not proud of yourself, <i>I</i> am proud of you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, when her uncle was announced, Caroline was ready. She entered the
+      library and acknowledged his greeting with a distant bow. He regarded her
+      kindly, but his manner was grave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Caroline,&#8221; he began, &#8220;I got your letter.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I presumed you did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. I got it. It didn&#8217;t surprise me, what you wrote,
+      because I&#8217;d seen the news in the papers; but I was hopin&#8217; you&#8217;d
+      tell me yourself, and I&#8217;m real glad you did. I&#8217;m much obliged
+      to you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She had not expected him to take this tone, and it embarrassed her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I gave you my reasons for writing,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Although
+      I do not consider that I am, in any sense, duty bound to refer matters,
+      other than financial, to you; and, although my feelings toward you have
+      not changed&mdash;still, you are my guardian, and&mdash;and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I understand. So you&#8217;re really engaged?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Engaged to Mr. Dunn?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And you&#8217;re cal&#8217;latin&#8217; to marry him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;One might almost take that for granted,&#8221; impatiently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>&#8220;Almost&mdash;yes.
+      Not always, but generally, I will give in. You&#8217;re goin&#8217; to
+      marry Malcolm Dunn. Why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why?&#8221; she repeated the question as if she doubted his sanity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Be as patient with me as you can, Caroline. I ain&#8217;t
+      askin&#8217; these things without what seems to me a good reason. Why are
+      you goin&#8217; to marry him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why because I choose, I suppose.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Are you sure of that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Am I sure?&#8221; indignantly. &#8220;What do you mean?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mean are you sure that it&#8217;s because you choose, or because
+      <i>he</i> does, or maybe, because his mother does?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned angrily away. &#8220;If you came here to insult me&mdash;&#8221;
+      she began. He interrupted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no,&#8221; he protested gently. &#8220;Insultin&#8217; you is
+      the last thing I want to do. But, as your father did put you in my charge,
+      I want you to bear with me while we talk this over together. Remember,
+      Caroline, I ain&#8217;t bothered you a great deal lately. I shouldn&#8217;t
+      now if I hadn&#8217;t thought &#8217;twas necessary. So please don&#8217;t
+      get mad, but answer me this: Do you care for this man you&#8217;ve
+      promised to marry?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a plain question. It should have been answered without the
+      slightest hesitation. Moreover, the girl had expected him to ask it. Yet,
+      for a moment, she did hesitate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mean,&#8221; continued Captain Elisha, &#8220;do you care for him
+      <i>enough</i>? Enough to live with him all your life, and see him every
+      day, and be to him what a true wife ought to be? See him, not with his
+      company manners on or in his automobile, but at the breakfast table, and
+      when he comes home tired and cross, maybe. When you&#8217;ve got to be
+      forbearin&#8217; and forgivin&#8217; and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He is one of my oldest and best friends&mdash;&#8221; she
+      interrupted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+      Her uncle went on without waiting for her to end the sentence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know,&#8221; he said. &#8220;One of the oldest, that&#8217;s
+      sure. But friendship, &#8217;cordin&#8217; to my notion, is somethin&#8217;
+      so small in comparison that it hardly counts in the manifest. Married
+      folks ought to be friends, sartin sure; but they ought to be a whole lot
+      more&#8217;n that. I&#8217;m an old bach, you say, and ain&#8217;t had no
+      experience. That&#8217;s true; but I&#8217;ve been young, and there was a
+      time when <i>I</i> made plans.... However, she died, and it never come to
+      nothin&#8217;. But I <i>know</i> what it means to be engaged, the right
+      kind of engagement. It means that you don&#8217;t count yourself at all,
+      not a bit. You&#8217;re ready, each of you, to give up all you&#8217;ve
+      got&mdash;your wishes, comfort, money and what it&#8217;ll buy, and your
+      life, if it should come to that, for that other one. Do you care for
+      Malcolm Dunn like that, Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She answered defiantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I do,&#8221; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do. Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; with not quite the same promptness, but still
+      defiantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You feel sartin of it, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She stamped her foot. &#8220;Yes! yes! <i>yes</i>!&#8221; she cried.
+      &#8220;Oh, <i>do</i> say what you came to say, and end it!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her uncle rose to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, I guess likely I&#8217;ve said it,&#8221; he observed. &#8220;When
+      two people care for each other like that, they <i>ought</i> to be married,
+      and the sooner the better. I knew that you&#8217;d been lonesome and
+      troubled, maybe; and some of the friends you used to have had kind of
+      dropped away&mdash;busy with other affairs, which is natural enough&mdash;and,
+      you needin&#8217; sympathy and companionship, I was<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> sort of worried for fear
+      all this had influenced you more&#8217;n it ought to, and you&#8217;d been
+      led into sayin&#8217; yes without realizin&#8217; what it meant. But you
+      tell me that ain&#8217;t so; you do realize. So all I can say is that I&#8217;m
+      awful glad for you. God bless you, my dear! I hope you&#8217;ll be as
+      happy as the day is long.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece gazed at him, bewildered and incredulous. This she had <i>not</i>
+      expected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she stammered. &#8220;I did not know&mdash;I
+      thought&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course you did&mdash;of course. Well, then, Caroline, I guess
+      that&#8217;s all. I won&#8217;t trouble you any longer. Good-by.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned toward the door, but stopped, hesitated, and turned back again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There is just one thing more,&#8221; he said solemnly. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+      know&#8217;s I ought to speak, but&mdash;I want to&mdash;and I&#8217;m
+      goin&#8217; to. And I want you to believe it! I do want you to!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was so earnest, and the look he gave her was so strange, that she began
+      to be alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What is it?&#8221; she demanded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;why, just this, Caroline. This is a tough old world we
+      live in. Things don&#8217;t always go on in it as we think they&#8217;d
+      ought to. Trouble comes to everybody, and when it all looks right
+      sometimes it turns out to be all wrong. If&mdash;if there should come a
+      time like that to you and Steve, I want you to remember that you&#8217;ve
+      got me to turn to. No matter what you think of me, what folks have made
+      you think of me, just remember that I&#8217;m waitin&#8217; and ready to
+      help you all I can. Any time I&#8217;m ready&mdash;and glad. Just remember
+      that, won&#8217;t you, because.... Well, there! Good-by, Good-by!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>He
+      hurried away. She stood gazing after him, astonished, a little frightened,
+      and not a little disturbed and touched. His emotion was so evident; his
+      attitude toward her engagement was so different from that which she had
+      anticipated; and there was something in his manner which she could not
+      understand. He had acted as if he pitied her. Why? It could not be because
+      she was to marry Malcolm Dunn. If it were that, she resented his pity, of
+      course. But it could not be that, because he had given her his blessing.
+      What was it? Was there something else; something that she did not know and
+      he did? Why was he so kind and forbearing and patient?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All her old doubts and questionings returned. She had resolutely kept them
+      from her thoughts, but they had been there, in the background, always.
+      When, after the long siege, she had at last yielded and said yes to
+      Malcolm, she felt that that question, at least, was settled. She would
+      marry him. He was one whom she had known all her life, the son of the
+      dearest friend she had; he and his mother had been faithful at the time
+      when she needed friends. As her husband, he would protect her and give her
+      the affection and companionship she craved. He might appear careless and
+      indifferent at times, but that was merely his manner. Had not Mrs. Dunn
+      told her over and over again what a good son he was, and what a kind heart
+      he had, and how he worshiped her? Oh, she ought to be a very happy girl!
+      Of course she was happy. But why had her uncle looked at her as he did?
+      And what did he mean by hinting that when things looked right they
+      sometimes were all wrong? She wished Malcolm was with her then; she needed
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She heard the clang of the elevator door. Then the<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> bell rang furiously. She
+      heard Edwards hasten to answer it. Then, to her amazement, she heard her
+      brother&#8217;s voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline!&#8221; demanded Stephen. &#8220;Caroline! Where are you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He burst into the room, still wearing his coat and hat, and carrying a
+      traveling bag in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, Steve!&#8221; she said, going toward him. &#8220;Why, Steve!
+      what&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was very much excited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;you&#8217;re all right then! You
+      are all right, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right? Why shouldn&#8217;t I be all right? What do you mean?
+      And why are you here?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He returned her look of surprise with one of great astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why am I here?&#8221; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Why did you come from New Haven?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, because I got the telegram, of course! You expected me to
+      come, didn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>I</i> expected you? Telegram? What telegram?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, the&mdash;Good Lord, Caro! what are you talking about? Didn&#8217;t
+      you know they telegraphed me to come home at once? I&#8217;ve pretty
+      nearly broke my neck, and the taxicab man&#8217;s, getting here from the
+      station. I thought you must be very ill, or something worse.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;They telegraphed you to come here? Who.... Edwards, you may take
+      Mr. Warren&#8217;s things to his room.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But, Sis&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just a moment, Steve. Give Edwards your coat and hat. Yes, and your
+      bag. That will be all, Edwards. We sha&#8217;n&#8217;t need you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they were alone, she turned again to her brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>&#8220;Now,
+      Steve,&#8221; she said, &#8220;sit down and tell me what you mean. Who
+      telegraphed you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, old Sylvester, father&#8217;s lawyer. I&#8217;ve got the
+      message here somewhere. No, never mind! I&#8217;ve lost it, I guess. He
+      wired me to come home as early as possible this morning. Said it was very
+      important. And you didn&#8217;t know anything about it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, not a thing. What can it mean?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>I</i> don&#8217;t know! That&#8217;s the bell, isn&#8217;t it?
+      Edwards!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the butler was already on his way to the door. A moment later he
+      returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Sylvester,&#8221; he announced.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha scarcely left his room, except for meals, during the
+      remainder of that day and for two days thereafter. He was unusually silent
+      at table and avoided conversation even with Pearson, who was depressed and
+      gloomy and made no attempt to force his society upon his friend. Once,
+      passing the door of the latter&#8217;s room, he heard the captain pacing
+      back and forth as if he were walking the quarter-deck of one of his old
+      ships. As Pearson stood listening the footsteps ceased; silence, then a
+      deep sigh, and they began again. The young man sighed in sympathy and
+      wearily climbed to his den. The prospect of chimneys and roofs across the
+      way was never more desolate or more pregnant with discouragement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several times Captain Elisha descended to the closet where the telephone
+      was fastened to the wall and held long conversations with someone. Mrs.
+      Hepton, who knew that her newest boarder was anxious and disturbed, and
+      was very curious to learn the reason, made it a point to be busy near that
+      closet while these conversations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283"
+      id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> took place; but, as the captain was
+      always careful to close the door, she was disappointed. Once the
+      mysterious Mr. Sylvester called up and asked for &#8220;Captain Warren,&#8221;
+      and the landlady hastened with the summons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I hope it&#8217;s nothing serious,&#8221; she observed, feelingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; replied the captain, on his way to the
+      stairs. &#8220;Much obliged.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is the same person who was so very anxious to get you the other
+      night,&#8221; she continued, making desperate efforts not to be left
+      behind in the descent. &#8220;I declare he quite frightened me! And&mdash;you&#8217;ll
+      excuse me, Captain Warren, but I take such a real friendly interest in my
+      boarders&mdash;you have seemed to me rather&mdash;rather upset lately, and
+      I <i>do</i> hope it isn&#8217;t bad news.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I tell you, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; was the unsatisfactory
+      answer, given just before the closet door closed; &#8220;we&#8217;ll do
+      the way the poor relation did when he got word his uncle had willed him
+      one of his suits of clothes&mdash;we&#8217;ll hope for the best.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester had a report to make.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The other party has been here,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He has just
+      gone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The other party? Why&mdash;you don&#8217;t mean&mdash;<i>him</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Was he alone? Nobody along to look after him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He was alone, for a wonder. He had heard the news, too. Apparently
+      had just learned it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He had? I want to know! Who told him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He didn&#8217;t say. He was very much agitated. Wouldn&#8217;t say
+      anything except to ask if it was true. I think we can guess who told him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Maybe. Well, what did you say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing of importance. I refused to discuss my clients&#8217;
+      affairs.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>&#8220;Right
+      you are! How did he take that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He went up like a sky-rocket. Said he had a right to know, under
+      the circumstances. I admitted it, but said I could tell him nothing&mdash;yet.
+      He went away frantic, and I called you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. Well, Mr. Sylvester, suppose you do see him and his boss.
+      See &#8217;em and tell &#8217;em some of the truth. Don&#8217;t tell too
+      much though; not who was to blame nor how, but just that it looks pretty
+      bad so fur as the estate&#8217;s concerned. Then say you want to see
+      &#8217;em again and will arrange another interview. Don&#8217;t set any
+      time and place for that until you hear from me. Understand?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I think so, partially. But&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Until you hear from me&mdash;that&#8217;s the important part. And,
+      if you can, convenient, I&#8217;d have the fust interview right off; this
+      afternoon, if it&#8217;s possible.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain, what have you got up your sleeve? Why don&#8217;t you come
+      down here and talk it over?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8217;Cause I&#8217;m stickin&#8217; close aboard and waitin&#8217;
+      developments. Maybe there won&#8217;t be any, but I&#8217;m goin&#8217; to
+      wait a spell and see. There ain&#8217;t much up my sleeve just now but
+      goose-flesh; there&#8217;s plenty of that. So long.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A development came that evening. Mrs. Hepton heralded it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Captain,&#8221; she said, when he answered her knock, &#8220;there&#8217;s
+      a young gentleman to see you. I think he must be a relative of yours. His
+      name is Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha pulled his beard. &#8220;A young <i>gentleman</i>?&#8221;
+      he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I showed him into the parlor. There will be no one there but
+      you and he, and I thought it would be more comfortable.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. I see. Well, I guess you&#8217;d better send him<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> up.
+      This is comfortable enough, and there won&#8217;t be nobody but him and me
+      here, either&mdash;and I&#8217;ll be more sartin of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlady, who considered herself snubbed, flounced away. Captain
+      Elisha stepped to the head of the stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Come right up, Steve!&#8221; he called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen came. His uncle ushered him into the room, closed the door, and
+      turned the key.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stevie,&#8221; he said, kindly, &#8220;I&#8217;m glad to see you.
+      Take off your things and set down.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy accepted the invitation only to the extent of throwing his hat on
+      the table. He did not sit or remove his overcoat. He was pale, his eyes
+      were swollen and red, his hair was disarranged, and in all respects he
+      looked unlike his usual blas&eacute; and immaculate self. His forehead was
+      wet, showing that he had hurried on his way to the boarding house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain regarded him pityingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Set down, Stevie,&#8221; he urged. &#8220;You&#8217;re all het up
+      and worn out.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His nephew paid no attention. Instead he asked a question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You know about it?&#8221; he demanded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Stevie; I know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do? I&mdash;I mean about the&mdash;the Akrae Company and&mdash;and
+      all?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I know all about all of it. Do set down!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen struck his closed fist into the palm of his other hand. He wore
+      one glove. What had become of the other he could not have told.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do?&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;You do? By gad! Then do you know
+      what it means?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I know that, too. Now, Stevie, be a good boy and set down and
+      keep cool. Yes, I want you to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>He
+      put his hands on his nephew&#8217;s shoulders and forced him into a chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now, just calm yourself,&#8221; urged the captain. &#8220;There ain&#8217;t
+      a mite of use workin&#8217; yourself up this way. I know the whole
+      business, and I can&#8217;t tell you&mdash;I can&#8217;t begin to tell you
+      how sorry I feel for you. Yet you mustn&#8217;t give up the ship because&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mustn&#8217;t give up!&#8221; Stephen was on his feet again.
+      &#8220;Why, what are you talking about? I thought you said you knew! Do
+      you think that losing every cent you&#8217;ve got in the world is a <i>joke</i>?
+      Do you think that&mdash;See here, do you know who this shareholder is;
+      this fellow who&#8217;s going to rob us of all we own? Who is he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Didn&#8217;t Mr. Sylvester tell you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He said that there was such a man and that he had the estate
+      cinched. He told us about that note and all the rest. But he wouldn&#8217;t
+      tell the man&#8217;s name. Said he had been forbidden to mention it. Do
+      you know him? What sort of fellow is he? Don&#8217;t you think he could be
+      reasoned with? Hasn&#8217;t he got any decency&mdash;or pity&mdash;or&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He choked, and the tears rushed to his eyes. He wiped them angrily away
+      with the back of his glove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s a crime!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Can&#8217;t he be held
+      off somehow? Who <i>is</i> he? I want to know his name.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha sadly shook his head. &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid he can&#8217;t,
+      Stevie,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He&#8217;s got a legal right to all &#8217;Bije
+      left, and more, too. It may be he won&#8217;t be too hard; perhaps he&#8217;ll
+      ... but there,&#8221; hastily. &#8220;I mustn&#8217;t say that. We&#8217;ve
+      got to face the situation as &#8217;tis. And I can&#8217;t tell you his
+      name because he don&#8217;t want it mentioned unless it&#8217;s absolutely
+      necessary. And we don&#8217;t, either. We don&#8217;t want&mdash;any of us&mdash;to
+      have this get into the papers. We mustn&#8217;t have any disgrace.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>&#8220;Disgrace!
+      Good heavens! Isn&#8217;t there disgrace enough already? Isn&#8217;t it
+      enough to know father was a crook as well as an idiot? I&#8217;ve always
+      thought he was insane ever since that crazy will of his came to light; but
+      to steal! and then to leave a paper proving it, so that we&#8217;ve got to
+      lose everything! His children! It&#8217;s&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now hold on, boy! Your dad didn&#8217;t mean to take what didn&#8217;t
+      belong to him&mdash;for good, that is; the note proves that. He did do
+      wrong and used another man&#8217;s money, but&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then why didn&#8217;t he keep it? If you&#8217;re going to steal,
+      steal like a man, I say!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve, Steve! steady now!&#8221; The captain&#8217;s tone was
+      sterner. &#8220;Don&#8217;t speak that way. You&#8217;ll be sorry for it
+      later. I tell you I don&#8217;t condemn your father ha&#8217;f so much as
+      I pity him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, shut up! You make me sick. You talk just as Caro does. I&#8217;ll
+      never forgive him, no matter how much she preaches, and I told her so.
+      Pity! Pity him! How about pity for <i>me</i>? I&mdash;I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His overwrought nerves gave way, and, throwing himself into the chair, he
+      broke down completely and, forgetting the manhood of which he was so fond
+      of boasting, cried like a baby. Captain Elisha turned away, to hide his
+      own emotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s hard,&#8221; he said slowly. &#8220;It&#8217;s awfully
+      hard for you, my boy. I hate to see you suffer this way.&#8221; Then, in a
+      lower tone, he added doubtfully. &#8220;I wonder if&mdash;if&mdash;I
+      wonder&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His nephew heard the word and interrupted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You wonder?&#8221; he demanded, hysterically; &#8220;you wonder
+      what? What are you going to do about it? It&#8217;s up to you, isn&#8217;t
+      it? You&#8217;re our guardian, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Stevie, I&#8217;m your guardian.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      you are! But no one would guess it. When we didn&#8217;t want you, you
+      wouldn&#8217;t leave us for a minute. Now, when we need you, when there
+      isn&#8217;t a soul for us to turn to, you stay away. You haven&#8217;t
+      been near us. It&#8217;s up to you, I say! and what are you going to do
+      about it? What are you going to <i>do</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His uncle held up his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;S-shh!&#8221; he said. &#8220;Don&#8217;t raise your voice like
+      that, son! I can hear you without that, and we don&#8217;t want anybody
+      else to hear. What am I goin&#8217; to do? Stevie, I don&#8217;t know
+      exactly. I ain&#8217;t made up my mind yet.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, it&#8217;s time you did!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, I guess likely &#8217;tis. As for my not comin&#8217; to see
+      you, you know the reason for that. I&#8217;d have come quick enough, but I
+      wa&#8217;n&#8217;t sure I&#8217;d be welcome. And I told your sister only
+      &#8217;tother day that&mdash;by the way, Steve, how is she? How is
+      Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She&#8217;s a fool!&#8221; The boy sprang up again and shook his
+      fist. &#8220;She&#8217;s the one I&#8217;ve come here to speak about. If
+      we don&#8217;t stop her she&#8217;ll ruin us altogether. She&mdash;she&#8217;s
+      a damned fool, I tell you!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there!&#8221; the captain&#8217;s tone was sharp and
+      emphatic. &#8220;That&#8217;s enough of that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+      want to hear you call your sister names. What do you mean by it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mean what I say. She <i>is</i> a fool. Do you know what she&#8217;s
+      done? She&#8217;s written Mal Dunn all about it! I&#8217;d have stopped
+      her, but I didn&#8217;t know until it was too late. She&#8217;s told him
+      the whole thing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She has? About &#8217;Bije?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, perhaps she didn&#8217;t tell him father was a thief, but she
+      did tell that the estate was gone&mdash;that we were flat broke and worse.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hum!&#8221; Captain Elisha seemed more gratified than<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
+      displeased. &#8220;Hum!... Well, I kind of expected she would. Knowin&#8217;
+      her, I kind of expected it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You did?&#8221; Stephen glared in wrathful amazement. &#8220;You
+      expected it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. What of it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What <i>of</i> it? Why, everything! Can&#8217;t you see? Mal&#8217;s
+      our only chance. If she marries him she&#8217;ll be looked out for and so
+      will I. She needn&#8217;t have told him until they were married. The
+      wedding could have been hurried along; the Dunns were crazy to have it as
+      soon as possible. Now&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on, Steve! Belay! What difference does her tellin&#8217; him
+      make? Maybe she hasn&#8217;t mentioned it to you, but I had a talk with
+      your sister the other mornin&#8217;. She thinks the world of Malcolm, and
+      he does of her. She told me so herself. Of <i>course</i> she&#8217;d go to
+      him in her trouble. And he&#8217;ll be proud&mdash;yes, and glad to know
+      that he can help her. As for the weddin&#8217;, I don&#8217;t see that
+      this&#8217;ll have any effect except to hurry it up a little more, maybe.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Steve looked at him suspiciously, but there was no trace of sarcasm in the
+      captain&#8217;s face or voice. The boy scowled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ugh!&#8221; he grunted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s the &#8216;ugh&#8217; for? See here, you ain&#8217;t
+      hintin&#8217; that young Dunn was cal&#8217;latin&#8217; to marry Caroline
+      just for her money, are you? Of course you ain&#8217;t! Why, you and he
+      are the thickest sort of chums. You wouldn&#8217;t chum with a feller who
+      would play such a trick as that on your own sister.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen&#8217;s scowl deepened. He thrust his hands into his pocket, and
+      shifted his feet uneasily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People don&#8217;t
+      do things here as they do where you come from.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>&#8220;I
+      understand that, all right,&#8221; with dry emphasis. &#8220;I&#8217;ve
+      been here long enough to understand that. But maybe I don&#8217;t
+      understand <i>you</i>. Heave ahead, and make it plain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well&mdash;well, then&mdash;I mean this: I don&#8217;t know that
+      Mal was after Caro&#8217;s money, but&mdash;but he had a right to expect
+      <i>some</i>. If he didn&#8217;t, why, then her not telling him until after
+      they were married wouldn&#8217;t have made any difference. And&mdash;and
+      if her tellin&#8217; him beforehand <i>should</i> make a difference and he
+      wanted to break the engagement, she&#8217;s just romantic fool enough to
+      let him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>Well?</i> If she doesn&#8217;t marry him, who&#8217;s going to
+      take care of her? What&#8217;s going to become of <i>me</i>? We haven&#8217;t
+      a cent. What kind of a guardian are you? Do you want us to starve?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was shouting again. The captain was calm. &#8220;Oh,&#8221; he said,
+      &#8220;I guess it won&#8217;t reach to the starvation point. I&#8217;m a
+      pretty tough old critter, &#8217;cordin&#8217; to your estimate, but I
+      shouldn&#8217;t let my brother&#8217;s children starve. If the wust comes
+      to the wust, there&#8217;s always a home and plenty to eat for you both at
+      South Denboro.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This offer did not appear to comfort the young gentleman greatly. His
+      disgust was evident.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;South Denboro!&#8221; he repeated, scornfully. &#8220;Gad!... South
+      Denboro!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. But we&#8217;ll let South Denboro alone for now and stick to
+      New York. What is it you expect me to do? What are you drivin&#8217; at?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen shook a forefinger in his guardian&#8217;s face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I expect you to make her stick to her engagement,&#8221; he cried.
+      &#8220;And make her make him stick. She can, can&#8217;t she? It&#8217;s
+      been announced, hasn&#8217;t it? Everybody<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> knows of it! She&#8217;s
+      got the right&mdash;the legal right to hold him, hasn&#8217;t she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His uncle regarded him with a quizzical smile. &#8220;Why, ye-es,&#8221;
+      he answered, &#8220;I cal&#8217;late she has, maybe. Course, there&#8217;s
+      no danger of his wantin&#8217; to do such a thing, but if he should I
+      presume likely we could make it uncomfortable for him, anyhow. What are
+      you hankerin&#8217; for, Steve&mdash;a breach-of-promise suit? I&#8217;ve
+      always understood those sort of cases were kind of unpleasant&mdash;for
+      everybody but the newspapers.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy was in deadly earnest. &#8220;Pleasant!&#8221; he repeated.
+      &#8220;Is any of this business pleasant? You make her act like a sensible
+      girl! You&#8217;re her guardian, and you make her! And, after that, if he
+      tries to hedge, you tell him a few things. You can hold him! Do it! <i>Do</i>
+      it!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha turned on his heel and began pacing up and down the room.
+      His nephew watched him eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he demanded, after a moment, &#8220;what are we going
+      to do? Are we going to make him make good?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain paused. &#8220;Steve,&#8221; he answered, deliberately,
+      &#8220;I ain&#8217;t sure as we are. And, as I&#8217;ve said, if he&#8217;s
+      got a spark of decency, it won&#8217;t be necessary for us to try. If it
+      should be&mdash;if it should be&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, <i>if</i> it should be?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then we can try, that&#8217;s all. Maybe you run a course a little
+      different from me, Stevie; you navigate &#8217;cordin&#8217; to your
+      ideas, and I do by mine. But in some ways we ain&#8217;t so fur apart.
+      Son,&#8221; with a grim nod, &#8220;you rest easy on one thing&mdash;the
+      Corcoran Dunn fleet is goin&#8217; to show its colors.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XIX
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">C</span>aroline
+      sat by the library window, her chin in her hand, drearily watching the
+      sleet as it beat against the panes, and the tops of the Park trees lashing
+      in the wind. Below, in the street, the trolleys passed in their
+      never-ending procession, the limousines and cabs whizzed forlornly by, and
+      the few pedestrians pushed dripping umbrellas against the gale. A wet,
+      depressing afternoon, as hopeless as her thoughts, and growing darker and
+      more miserable hourly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen, standing by the fire, kicked the logs together and sent a shower
+      of sparks flying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, say something, Caro, do!&#8221; he snapped testily. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+      sit there glowering; you give me the horrors.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She roused from her reverie, turned, and tried to smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What shall I say?&#8221; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. But say something, for heaven&#8217;s sake!
+      Talk about the weather, if you can&#8217;t think of anything more
+      original.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The weather isn&#8217;t a very bright subject just now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I didn&#8217;t say it was; but it&#8217;s <i>a</i> subject. I hope
+      to goodness it doesn&#8217;t prevent Sylvester&#8217;s keeping his
+      appointment. He&#8217;s late, as it is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is he?&#8221; wearily. &#8220;I hadn&#8217;t noticed.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course you hadn&#8217;t. You don&#8217;t notice anything. It
+      doesn&#8217;t help matters to pull a long face and go moping around wiping
+      your eyes. You&#8217;ve got to use philosophy in times like this. It&#8217;s
+      just as hard for me as it is for you; and I try to make the best of it,
+      don&#8217;t I?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>She
+      might have reminded him that his philosophy was a very recent acquisition.
+      When the news of their poverty first came he was the one who raved and
+      sobbed and refused to contemplate anything less direful than slow
+      starvation or quick suicide. She had soothed and comforted then. Since the
+      previous evening, when he had gone out, in spite of her protestations, and
+      left her alone, his manner had changed. He was still nervous and
+      irritable, but no longer threatened self-destruction, and seemed, for some
+      unexplained reason, more hopeful and less desperate. Sylvester had &#8217;phoned,
+      saying that he would call at the apartment at two, and since Stephen had
+      received the message he had been in a state of suppressed excitement,
+      scarcely keeping still for five minutes at a time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is just as hard for me as it is for you, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+      he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Steve, I suppose it is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You suppose? Don&#8217;t you know? Oh, do quit thinking about Mal
+      Dunn and pay attention to me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not answer. He regarded her with disgust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You are thinking of Mal, of course,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;What&#8217;s
+      the use? You know what <i>I</i> think: you were a fool to write him that
+      letter.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t, Steve; please don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ugh!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t you know he didn&#8217;t get the letter? I was so
+      nervous and over-wrought that I misdirected it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Pooh! Has he ever stayed away from you so long before? Or his
+      precious mother, either? Why doesn&#8217;t she come to see you? She
+      scarcely missed a day before this happened. Nonsense! I guess he got it
+      all right.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve, stop! stop! Don&#8217;t dare speak like that. Do you realize
+      what you are insinuating? You don&#8217;t believe<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> it! You know you don&#8217;t!
+      Shame on you! I&#8217;m ashamed of my brother! No! not another word of
+      that kind, or I shall leave the room.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She had risen to her feet. He looked at her determined face and turned
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; he muttered, sullenly, &#8220;maybe you&#8217;re
+      right. I don&#8217;t say you&#8217;re not. Perhaps he didn&#8217;t get the
+      letter. You sent it to his office, and he may have been called out of
+      town. But his mother&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mrs. Dunn was not well when I last saw her. She may be ill.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Perhaps. But if you&#8217;re so sure about them, why not let it go
+      at that? What&#8217;s the use of fretting?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I was not thinking of them&mdash;then.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As a matter of fact, she had been thinking of her uncle, Elisha Warren. As
+      the time dragged by, she thought of him more and more&mdash;not as the
+      uncouth countryman whose unwelcome presence had been forced into her life;
+      nor as the hypocrite whose insult to her father&#8217;s memory she never
+      could forgive or whose double-dealing had been, as she thought, revealed;
+      but as the man who, with the choke in his voice and the tears in his eyes,
+      bade her remember that, whenever she needed help, he was ready and glad to
+      give it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not doubt Malcolm&#8217;s loyalty. Her brother&#8217;s hints and
+      insinuations found no echo in her thoughts. In the note which she had
+      written her fianc&eacute; she told of the loss of their fortune, though
+      not of her father&#8217;s shame. That she could not tell; nor did she ask
+      Malcolm to come to her&mdash;her pride would not permit that. She wrote
+      simply of her great trouble and trusted the rest to him. That he had not
+      come was due&mdash;so she kept repeating to herself&mdash;solely to the
+      fact that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>
+      had not received her letter. She knew that was it&mdash;she knew it. And
+      yet&mdash;and yet he did not come.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, in her loneliness and misery, her guardian&#8217;s words returned
+      again and again to her memory: &#8220;Sometimes when things look all right
+      they turn out to be all wrong. If ever there comes a time like that to you
+      and Steve, remember you&#8217;ve got me to turn to.&#8221; The time had
+      come when she must turn to someone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She would never go to him; she vowed it. She would not accept his help if
+      he came to her. But, if he was sincere, if he meant what he said, why did
+      he not come again to proffer it? Because he was not sincere, of course.
+      That had been proven long before. She despised him. But his face, as she
+      last saw it, refused to be banished from her mind. It looked so strong,
+      and yet gentle and loving, like the face of a protector, one to be trusted
+      through good times and bad. Oh, this wicked, wicked world, and the shams
+      and sorrows in it! &#8220;Malcolm, why don&#8217;t you come to me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen uttered an exclamation. Looking up, she saw him hurrying toward
+      the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Someone&#8217;s at the door,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+      Sylvester, of course. I&#8217;ll let him in.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not the lawyer but a messenger boy with a note. Stephen returned to
+      the library with the missive in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He couldn&#8217;t get here, Caro,&#8221; he said, excitedly.
+      &#8220;Wants us to come right down to his office. Hurry up! Get your
+      things on. The cab&#8217;s waiting. Come! Rush! It may be important.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cab, an electric vehicle, made good time, and they soon reached the
+      Pine Street offices, where they were ushered at once into the senior
+      partner&#8217;s presence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>&#8220;Step
+      into the other room,&#8221; said Mr. Sylvester, &#8220;and wait there,
+      please. I&#8217;ll join you shortly.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The room was the large one where the momentous conference between Captain
+      Elisha and the three lawyers had so recently taken place. Caroline seated
+      herself in one of the chairs. Stephen walked the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hope he doesn&#8217;t keep us waiting long,&#8221; he fumed.
+      &#8220;I thought of course he was ready or he wouldn&#8217;t have sent for
+      us.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Ready?&#8221; his sister looked at him, questioningly. &#8220;Ready
+      for what?&#8221; she repeated, with sudden suspicion. &#8220;Steve, do you
+      know what Mr. Sylvester wishes to see us about?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her brother colored and seemed a bit disconcerted. &#8220;How should I
+      know?&#8221; he muttered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is it something new about the estate or that man who owns it? You
+      do know something! I can see it in your face. What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing. How should I know what it is?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But you do. I believe you do. Look at me! What does Mr. Sylvester
+      want of us?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy hesitated; then whirled and faced her. &#8220;See here, Caro,&#8221;
+      he said, &#8220;maybe I do know something&mdash;or I can guess. Now,
+      whatever happens, you&#8217;ve got to be a sensible girl. Certain things
+      have to be dealt with in a practical way, and we&#8217;re practical
+      people. Sentiment&mdash;and pride&mdash;and all that sort of stuff, are
+      well enough, but business is business and an engagement is an engagement.
+      Now it&#8217;s right up to you and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve, what are you talking about?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s all right. I know what I&#8217;m talking about.
+      Somebody in the family must use common sense, and when it comes to holding
+      a person to a promise, then&mdash;Confound it, Sis, we can&#8217;t starve,
+      can we?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>&#8220;What
+      do you mean?&#8221; She rose and advanced toward him. &#8220;What do you
+      mean by a promise? What have you been doing?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His confusion increased. He avoided her eyes and moved sullenly toward the
+      other side of the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I haven&#8217;t done anything,&#8221; he grumbled, &#8220;that is,
+      I&#8217;ve done what any reasonable fellow would do. I&#8217;m not the
+      only one who thinks.... Look here! We&#8217;ve got a guardian, haven&#8217;t
+      we?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;A guardian! a <i>guardian</i>! Stephen Warren, have you been to
+      him? Have you&mdash;Was <i>that</i> where you were last night?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Answer me!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What if I have? Whom else am I to go to? Isn&#8217;t he&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But why did you go to him? What did you say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I said&mdash;I said&mdash;Never mind what I said. He agrees with
+      me, I can tell you that. You&#8217;ll thank your stars I did go, before
+      very long. I.... S-sh! Here&#8217;s Sylvester.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door of the room opened. The person who entered, however, was not the
+      lawyer, but the very man of whom they had been speaking, Captain Elisha
+      himself. He closed the door behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hello, Stevie,&#8221; he said, with a nod to the boy. Then, turning
+      to his niece, he stepped forward and held out his hand. &#8220;Caroline,&#8221;
+      he began, &#8220;I don&#8217;t doubt you&#8217;re some surprised to see me
+      here; but I.... Why, what&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The faces of the pair led him to ask the question. Stephen&#8217;s was red
+      and he looked embarrassed and guilty. Caroline&#8217;s was white, and she
+      glanced from her brother to her guardian and back again, with flashing
+      eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>&#8220;What&#8217;s
+      the matter?&#8221; repeated the captain. &#8220;Steve,&#8221; sharply,
+      &#8220;have you been making a fool of yourself again? What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing,&#8221; was the sulky answer; &#8220;nothing of
+      consequence. Caro is&mdash;well, I happened to mention that I called on
+      you last night and&mdash;and she doesn&#8217;t seem to like it, that&#8217;s
+      all. As I told her, somebody in the family had to use common sense, and
+      you were our guardian and naturally, under the circumstances.... Why, I&#8217;ll
+      leave it to anyone!&#8221; with a burst of righteous indignation. &#8220;You
+      <i>are</i> our guardian.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He proclaimed it as if he expected a denial. Captain Elisha frowned.
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; he grunted. &#8220;That ain&#8217;t exactly news, is
+      it, Steve? Seems to me we&#8217;ve taken up that p&#8217;int afore;
+      though, as I remember, you didn&#8217;t used to be sot on all hands knowin&#8217;
+      it,&#8221; with dry sarcasm. &#8220;I don&#8217;t need even your common
+      sense to remind me of it just at this minute. Caroline, your brother did
+      come to see me last night. I was glad he did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She ignored him. &#8220;Steve,&#8221; she demanded, still facing the young
+      man, &#8220;was this, too, a part of your plan? Did you bring me here to
+      meet&mdash;him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I didn&#8217;t. Sylvester was to come to see us. You know that;
+      he telephoned. I didn&#8217;t know&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain interrupted. &#8220;There, there, son!&#8221; he exclaimed,
+      &#8220;let me say a word. No, Caroline, Stevie didn&#8217;t know I was to
+      meet you here. But I thought it was necessary that I should. Set down,
+      please. I know you must be worn out, poor girl.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t wish to sit. I want to know what my brother called to
+      see you about.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, there was some matters he wanted to talk over.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>&#8220;What
+      were they? Concerning the estate?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Partly that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Partly? What else? Captain Warren, my brother has hinted&mdash;he
+      has said&mdash;What does he mean by holding someone to a promise? Answer
+      me truthfully.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t answer you any other way, Caroline. Steve seems
+      to be worried about&mdash;now you mustn&#8217;t mind my speakin&#8217;
+      plain, Caroline; the time&#8217;s come when I&#8217;ve got to&mdash;Steve
+      seems to be worried about the young man you&#8217;re engaged to. He seems
+      to cal&#8217;late that Mr. Dunn may want to slip out of that engagement.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece looked at him. Then she turned to her brother. &#8220;You went
+      to <i>him</i> and.... Oh, how <i>could</i> you!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen would not meet her gaze. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he muttered
+      rebelliously, &#8220;why wouldn&#8217;t I? You know yourself that Mal hasn&#8217;t
+      been near you since it happened. If he wasn&#8217;t after&mdash;if he was
+      straight, he would have come, wouldn&#8217;t he? Mind, I don&#8217;t say
+      he isn&#8217;t&mdash;perhaps he doesn&#8217;t know. But, at any rate,
+      something must be done. We had to face possibilities, and you wouldn&#8217;t
+      listen to me. I tried&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stop!&#8221; she cut him short, imperiously. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+      make me hate you. And you,&#8221; turning to her uncle, &#8220;did <i>you</i>
+      listen and believe such things? Did you encourage him to believe them? Oh,
+      I know what you think of my friends! I heard it from your own lips. And I
+      know why you think it. Because they know what you are; because they
+      exposed you and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There, there! Caroline, you needn&#8217;t go on. I&#8217;ve heard
+      your opinion of my character afore. Never mind me for the minute. And, if
+      you&#8217;ll remember, <i>I</i> ain&#8217;t said that I doubted your young
+      man. You told me that you thought the world and all of him and that he did
+      of you.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>
+      That&#8217;s enough&mdash;or ought to be. But your brother says you wrote
+      him two days ago and he ain&#8217;t been near you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I misdirected the letter. He didn&#8217;t receive it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. I see. That would explain.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course it would. That <i>must</i> be the reason.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, seem&#8217;s if it must.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is. What right have you to doubt it? Oh, how can you think such
+      things? Can you suppose the man I am to marry is so despicable&mdash;so <i>mean</i>
+      as to&mdash;as to&mdash;I&#8217;m ashamed to say it. Why do you presume
+      that money has any part in our engagement? Such trouble as mine only makes
+      it more binding. Do you suppose if <i>he</i> were poor as&mdash;as I am,
+      that I would desert <i>him</i>? You know I wouldn&#8217;t. I should be
+      glad&mdash;yes, almost happy, because then I could show him&mdash;could&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her voice failed her. She put her handkerchief to her eyes for an instant
+      and then snatched it away and faced them, her head erect. The pride in her
+      face was reflected in Captain Elisha&#8217;s as he regarded her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no,&#8221; he said gently, &#8220;I never supposed you&#8217;d
+      act but in one way, Caroline. I knew <i>you</i>. And, as Steve&#8217;ll
+      tell you, I said to him almost the same words you&#8217;ve been sayin&#8217;.
+      If Malcolm&#8217;s what he&#8217;d ought to be, I said, he&#8217;ll be
+      glad of the chance to prove how much he cares for your sister. But Steve
+      appeared to have some misgivin&#8217;s, and so&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, turned toward the door, and seemed to be listening. Caroline
+      flashed an indignant glance at her brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And so?&#8221; she asked, scornfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And so,&#8221; continued the captain, with a slight change in his
+      tone, &#8220;it seemed to me that his doubts ought to be settled. And,&#8221;
+      rising, as there came a tap at the door, &#8220;I cal&#8217;late they&#8217;re
+      goin&#8217; to be.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>He
+      walked briskly over and opened the door. Sylvester was standing without.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Come, have they?&#8221; inquired Captain Elisha.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Fetch &#8217;em right in here. Steve, stand over nigher that
+      corner. This way, Caroline, if you please.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took his niece by the arm and led her to the side of the room not
+      visible from the doorway. She was too astonished to resist, but asked an
+      agitated question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What is it?&#8221; she cried. &#8220;Who is coming?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Some friends of yours,&#8221; was the quiet reply. &#8220;Nothin&#8217;
+      to be frightened about. Steve, stay where you are.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy was greatly excited. &#8220;Is it they?&#8221; he demanded.
+      &#8220;Is it? By gad! Now, Sis, be a sensible girl. If he should try to
+      hedge, you hold him. Hold him! Understand?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve, be quiet,&#8221; ordered the captain.... &#8220;Ah, Mrs.
+      Dunn, good afternoon, ma&#8217;am. Mr. Dunn, good afternoon, sir.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For the pair who, followed by Sylvester, now entered the room were Mrs.
+      Corcoran Dunn and Malcolm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were past the sill before Captain Elisha&#8217;s greeting caused them
+      to turn and see the three already there. Mrs. Dunn, who was in the lead,
+      stopped short in her majestic though creaking march of entrance, and her
+      florid face turned a brighter crimson. Her son, strolling languidly at her
+      heels, started violently and dropped his hat. The lawyer, bringing up in
+      the rear, closed the door and remained standing near it. Caroline uttered
+      an exclamation of surprise. Her brother drew himself haughtily erect.
+      Captain Elisha remained unperturbed and smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good afternoon, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+      been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>
+      some time since you and I run across each other. I hope you&#8217;re
+      feelin&#8217; pretty smart.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn had faced some unpleasant situations in her life and had proved
+      equal to them. Usually, however, she had been prepared beforehand. For
+      this she had not been prepared&mdash;as yet. She had come to the offices
+      of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, at the senior partner&#8217;s request, to
+      be told, as she supposed, the full and final details of the financial
+      disaster threatening the Warren family. If those details should prove the
+      disaster as overwhelming as it appeared, then&mdash;well, then, certain
+      disagreeable duties must be performed. But to meet the girl to whom her
+      son was engaged, and whom she and he had carefully avoided meeting until
+      the lawyers should acquaint them with the whole truth&mdash;to meet this
+      girl, and her brother, and her guardian, thus unexpectedly and unprepared,
+      was enough to shake the composure and nerve of even such a veteran
+      campaigner as Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But of the three to whom the meeting was an absolute surprise,&mdash;Caroline,
+      Malcolm and herself&mdash;she was characteristically the first to regain
+      outward serenity. For a moment she stood nonplused and speechless, but
+      only for a moment. Then she hastened, with outstretched arms, to Caroline
+      and clasped her in affectionate embrace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My dear child!&#8221; she cried; &#8220;my dear girl! I&#8217;m <i>so</i>
+      glad to see you! I&#8217;ve thought of you so much! And I pity you so.
+      Poor Malcolm has&mdash;Malcolm,&#8221; sharply, &#8220;come here! Don&#8217;t
+      you see Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm was groping nervously for his hat. He picked it up and obeyed his
+      mother&#8217;s summons, though with no great eagerness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How d&#8217;ye do, Caroline,&#8221; he stammered, confusedly.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I&mdash;It&#8217;s a deuce of a surprise to see you down
+      here. The mater and I didn&#8217;t expect&mdash;that is, we scarcely hoped
+      to meet anyone but Sylvester. He sent for us, you know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He extended his hand. She did not take it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Did you get my letter?&#8221; she asked, quickly. Mrs. Dunn
+      answered for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, dear, he got it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The poor fellow was
+      almost crazy. I began to fear for his sanity; I did, indeed. I did not
+      dare trust him out of my sight. Oh, if you could but know how we feel for
+      you and pity you!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pity was not what Caroline wanted just then. The word jarred upon her. She
+      avoided the lady&#8217;s embrace and once more faced the embarrassed
+      Malcolm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You got my letter?&#8221; she cried. &#8220;You <i>did</i>?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes&mdash;er&mdash;yes, I got it, Caroline. I&mdash;by Jove, you
+      know&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated, stammered, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. His mother
+      regarded him wrathfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; she snapped, &#8220;why don&#8217;t you go on?
+      Caroline, dear, you really must excuse him. The dear boy is quite
+      overcome.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha stepped forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Excuse me for interruptin&#8217;, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he said,
+      addressing the ruffled matron; &#8220;but I know you&#8217;re sort of
+      surprised to see us all here and maybe I&#8217;d better explain. Mr.
+      Sylvester told me you and your son had an appointment with him for this
+      afternoon. Now there was something we&mdash;or I, anyhow&mdash;wanted to
+      talk with you about, so I thought we might as well make one job of it.
+      Sylvester&#8217;s a pretty busy man, and I know he has other things to
+      attend to; so why not let him go ahead and tell you what you come to hear,
+      and then we can take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg
+      304]</a></span> up the other part by ourselves. He&#8217;s told me what
+      you wanted to see him about, and it&#8217;s somethin&#8217; we&#8217;re
+      all interested in, bein&#8217; as we&#8217;re one family&mdash;or goin&#8217;
+      to be pretty soon. So suppose he just tells you now. Ain&#8217;t that a
+      good idea?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn looked at the speaker, and then at the lawyer, and seemed to
+      have caught some of her son&#8217;s embarrassment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;we did have an appointment with Mr. Sylvester,&#8221; she
+      admitted, reluctantly; &#8220;but the business was not important. And,&#8221;
+      haughtily, &#8220;I do not care to discuss it here.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain opened his eyes. &#8220;Hey?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Not
+      important? You surprise me, ma&#8217;am. I judged &#8217;twas mighty
+      important. &#8217;Twas about the real size of your father&#8217;s estate,
+      Caroline,&#8221; turning to the girl. &#8220;I thought Mrs. Dunn and Mr.
+      Malcolm must think &#8217;twas important, for I understand they&#8217;ve
+      been telephonin&#8217; and askin&#8217; for appointments for the last two
+      days. Why, yes! and they come way down here in all this storm on purpose
+      to talk it over with him. Am I wrong? Ain&#8217;t that so, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was so, and Mrs. Dunn could not well deny it. Therefore, she took
+      refuge in a contemptuous silence. The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;As to discussin&#8217; it here,&#8221; he went on with bland
+      innocence, &#8220;why, we&#8217;re all family folks, same as I said, and
+      there ain&#8217;t any secrets between us on <i>that</i> subject. So
+      suppose we all listen while Mr. Sylvester tells just what he&#8217;d have
+      told you and Mr. Malcolm. It&#8217;s pretty hard to hear; but bad news is
+      soon told. Heave ahead, Mr. Sylvester.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn made one more attempt to avoid the crisis she saw was
+      approaching.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>&#8220;Surely,
+      Caroline,&#8221; she said testily, &#8220;you don&#8217;t wish your
+      private affairs treated in this public manner. Come, let us go.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She laid a hand on the girl&#8217;s arm. Captain Elisha quietly
+      interposed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll all stay here. There&#8217;s
+      nothin&#8217; public about it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline, crimson with mortification, protested indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Sylvester,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it is not necessary to&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Excuse me;&#8221; her uncle&#8217;s tone was sharper and more
+      stern; &#8220;I think it is. Go on, Sylvester.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer looked far from comfortable, but he spoke at once and to the
+      point.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I should have told you and your son just this, Mrs. Dunn,&#8221; he
+      said. &#8220;I intimated it before, and Miss Warren had already written
+      you the essential facts. A new and unexpected development, the nature of
+      which I am not at liberty to disclose now or later, makes Abijah Warren&#8217;s
+      estate absolutely bankrupt. Not only that, but many thousand dollars in
+      debt. His heirs are left penniless. That is the plain truth, I&#8217;m
+      very sorry to say. There is no hope of anything better. You&#8217;ll
+      forgive me, Miss Warren, I hope, for putting it so bluntly; but I thought
+      it best to avoid every possible misunderstanding.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was blunt, beyond doubt. Even Captain Elisha winced at the word &#8220;penniless.&#8221;
+      Stephen muttered under his breath and turned his back. Caroline, swaying,
+      put a hand on the table to steady herself. The Dunns looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Mr. Sylvester,&#8221; said the captain, quietly. &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+      see you again in a few moments.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer bowed and left the room, evidently glad to escape. Captain
+      Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>&#8220;And
+      now, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;that part of the business is
+      over. The next part&#8217;s even more in the family, so I thought we didn&#8217;t
+      need legal advice. You see just how matters stand. My niece is a poor
+      girl. She needs somebody to support her and look out for her. She&#8217;s
+      got that somebody, we&#8217;re all thankful to say. She&#8217;s engaged to
+      Mr. Malcolm here. And, as you&#8217;re his ma, Mrs. Dunn, and I&#8217;m
+      Caroline&#8217;s guardian, us old folks&#8217;ll take our affairs in hand;
+      they needn&#8217;t listen, if they don&#8217;t want to. I understand from
+      Steve that Malcolm&#8217;s been mighty anxious to have the weddin&#8217;
+      day hurried along. I can&#8217;t say as I blame him. And <i>I</i> think
+      the sooner they&#8217;re married the better. Now, how soon can we make it,
+      Mrs. Dunn?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This unexpected and matter-of-fact query was variously received. Mrs. Dunn
+      frowned and flushed. Malcolm frowned, also. Steve nodded emphatic
+      approval. As for Caroline, she gazed at her guardian in horrified
+      amazement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;You&mdash;you&mdash;What do you mean
+      by such&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t be an idiot, Caro!&#8221; cut in her brother. &#8220;I
+      told you to be sensible. Captain Warren&#8217;s dead right.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stevie, you stay out of this.&#8221; There was no misunderstanding
+      the captain&#8217;s tone. &#8220;When I want your opinion I&#8217;ll ask
+      for it. And, Caroline, I want you to stay out, too. This is my trick at
+      the wheel. Mrs. Dunn, what d&#8217;you say? Never mind the young folks.
+      You and me know that marriage is business, same as everything else. How
+      soon can we have the weddin&#8217;?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn had, apparently, nothing to say&mdash;to him. She addressed her
+      next remark to Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My dear,&#8221; she said, in great agitation, &#8220;this is really
+      too dreadful. This&mdash;er&mdash;guardian of yours appears<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> to
+      think he is in some barbarous country&mdash;ordering the savages about.
+      Come! Malcolm, take her away.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; Captain Elisha stepped in front of the door. &#8220;She
+      ain&#8217;t goin&#8217;; and I&#8217;d rather you wouldn&#8217;t go yet.
+      Let&#8217;s settle this up now. I ain&#8217;t askin&#8217; anything
+      unreasonable. Caroline&#8217;s under my charge, and I&#8217;ve got to plan
+      for her. Your boy&#8217;s just crazy to marry her; he&#8217;s been beggin&#8217;
+      for her to name the day. Let&#8217;s name it. It needn&#8217;t be
+      to-morrow. I cal&#8217;late you&#8217;ll want to get out invitations and
+      such. It needn&#8217;t be next week. But just say about when it can be;
+      then I&#8217;ll know how to plan. That ain&#8217;t much to ask, sartin.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Much or little, neither Mrs. Dunn nor her son appeared ready to answer.
+      Malcolm fidgeted with his hat and gloves; his mother fanned herself with
+      her handkerchief. Caroline, frantic with humiliation and shame, would have
+      protested again, but her guardian&#8217;s stern shake of the head silenced
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Mr. Dunn,&#8221; turning to the groom-to-be; &#8220;you&#8217;re
+      one of the interested parties&mdash;what do you say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm ground his heel into the rug. &#8220;I don&#8217;t consider it
+      your business,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;You&#8217;re butting in where&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no, I ain&#8217;t. It&#8217;s my business, and business is just
+      <i>what</i> it is. Your ma knows that. She and I had a real confidential
+      up and down talk on love and marriage, and she&#8217;s the one that proved
+      to me that marryin&#8217; in high society, like yours and the kind
+      Caroline&#8217;s been circulatin&#8217; in, was business and mighty little
+      else. There&#8217;s a business contract between you and my niece. We want
+      to know how soon it can be carried out, that&#8217;s all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man looked desperately at the door; but<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> the captain&#8217;s
+      broad shoulders blocked the way towards it. He hesitated, scowled, and
+      then, with a shrug of his shoulders, surrendered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How can I marry?&#8221; he demanded sullenly. &#8220;Confound it!
+      my salary isn&#8217;t large enough to pay my own way, decently.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Malcolm!&#8221; cried his mother, warningly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Mater, what the devil&#8217;s the use of all this? You
+      know.... By Jove! you <i>ought</i> to!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hold on, young feller! I don&#8217;t understand. Your wages ain&#8217;t
+      large enough, you say? What do you mean? You was <i>goin&#8217;</i> to be
+      married, wasn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn plunged to the rescue, a forlorn hope, but desperate, and
+      fighting to the end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;An outrage!&#8221; she blurted. &#8220;Malcolm, I forbid you to
+      continue this disgusting conversation. Caroline, my poor child, I don&#8217;t
+      blame you for this, but I call on you to stop it at once. My dear, I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She advanced toward the girl with outstretched arms. Caroline recoiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t! don&#8217;t!&#8221; she gasped. Captain Elisha spoke
+      up sharp and stern.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Excuse me, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I&#8217;ll be
+      obliged if you&#8217;ll wait a minute. Caroline, don&#8217;t you say a
+      word. You say&mdash;you&mdash;&#8221; addressing Malcolm, &#8220;that you
+      can&#8217;t support a wife on your wages. You surprise me some, considerin&#8217;
+      the swath you&#8217;ve been cuttin&#8217; on &#8217;em&mdash;but never
+      mind that. Maybe they won&#8217;t keep automobiles and&mdash;er&mdash;other
+      things I&#8217;ve heard you was interested in, but if you cut them out and
+      economize a little, same as young married folks I&#8217;ve known have been
+      glad to do, you could scrape along, couldn&#8217;t you? Hey? Couldn&#8217;t
+      you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Malcolm&#8217;s answer was another scornful shrug. &#8220;You<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>
+      belong on Cape Cod,&#8221; he sneered. &#8220;Mater, let&#8217;s get out
+      of this.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wait! Put it plain now. Do I understand that you cal&#8217;late to
+      break the engagement because my niece has lost her money? Is that it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Dunn realized that the inevitable was upon them. After all, it might
+      as well be faced now as later.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;This is ridiculous,&#8221; she proclaimed. &#8220;Every sane person
+      knows&mdash;though <i>barbarians</i> may not&mdash;&#8221; with a venomous
+      glare at the captain&mdash;&#8220;that, in engagements of the kind in
+      which my son shared, a certain amount of&mdash;er&mdash;financial&mdash;er&mdash;that
+      is, the bride is supposed to have some money. It is expected. Of course it
+      is! Love in a cottage is&mdash;well&mdash;a bit <i>pass&eacute;</i>. My
+      son and I pity your niece from the bottom of our hearts, but&mdash;there!
+      under the circumstances the whole affair becomes impossible. Caroline, my
+      dear, I&#8217;m dreadfully sorry, dreadfully! I love you like my own
+      child. And poor Malcolm will be heartbroken&mdash;but&mdash;you <i>see</i>.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended her hand in a gesture of utter helplessness. Stephen, who had
+      been fuming and repressing his rage with difficulty during the scene,
+      leaped forward with brandished fist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;By gad!&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;Mal Dunn, you cad&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His uncle pushed him back with a sweep of his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve,&#8221; he ordered, &#8220;I&#8217;m runnin&#8217; this ship.&#8221;
+      He gave a quick glance at his niece, and then added, speaking rapidly and
+      addressing the head of the Dunn family, &#8220;I see, ma&#8217;am. Yes,
+      yes, I see. Well, you&#8217;ve forgot one thing, I guess. Caroline&#8217;s
+      lived in high society, too. And I&#8217;ve been in it a spell, myself. And
+      Steve&#8217;s a boy, but he&#8217;s got a business head. If there&#8217;s
+      nothin&#8217; in marriage but business, then an engagement is what I just
+      called it, a business contract, and it can&#8217;t be broke without<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> the
+      consent of both sides. You wanted Caroline&#8217;s money; maybe she wants
+      yours now. If she does, and there&#8217;s such a thing as law, why,
+      perhaps she can get it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s the talk!&#8221; cried Stephen exultingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup; perhaps she can. She may be a business woman, too, you know.
+      If money and style and social position&#8217;s what counts and she wants
+      to force you to keep your promise, why, I&#8217;m her guardian and she can
+      count on me to back her up. What do you say, Caroline? I&#8217;m at your
+      service. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Caroline interrupted him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stop!&#8221; she cried wildly. &#8220;Oh, stop! Do you think&mdash;do
+      you suppose I would marry him now? <i>Now</i>, after I&#8217;ve seen what
+      he is? Oh,&#8221; with a shudder of disgust, &#8220;when I think what I
+      might have done, I.... Thank God that the money has gone! I&#8217;m glad I&#8217;m
+      poor! I&#8217;m <i>glad</i>!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caro, you fool!&#8221; shrieked Stephen. She did not heed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Let me go!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;Let me get away from him; from
+      this room! I never want to see him or think of him again. Please! <i>please</i>
+      let me go! Oh, take me home! Captain Warren, <i>please</i> let me go home!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her uncle was at her side in a moment. &#8220;Yes, yes, dearie,&#8221; he
+      said, &#8220;I&#8217;ll take you home. Don&#8217;t give way now! I&#8217;ll&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He would have taken her arm, but she shrank from him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not you!&#8221; she begged. &#8220;Steve!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain&#8217;s face clouded, but he answered promptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course&mdash;Steve,&#8221; he agreed. &#8220;Steve, take your
+      sister home. Mr. Sylvester&#8217;s got a carriage waitin&#8217;, and he&#8217;ll
+      go with you, I don&#8217;t doubt. Do as I tell you, boy&mdash;and behave
+      yourself. Don&#8217;t wait; go!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>He
+      held the door open until the hysterical girl and her brother had departed.
+      Then he turned to the Dunns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he said, dryly. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s
+      there&#8217;s anything more to be said. All the questions seem to be
+      settled. Our acquaintance wa&#8217;n&#8217;t so awful long, but it was
+      interestin&#8217;. Knowin&#8217; you has been, as the feller said, a
+      liberal education. Don&#8217;t let me keep you any longer. Good afternoon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stepped away from the door. Malcolm and his mother remained standing,
+      for an instant, where they were when Caroline left.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young man looked as if he would enjoy choking someone, the captain
+      preferably, but said nothing. Then Mrs. Dunn bethought herself of a way to
+      make their exit less awkward and embarrassing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;My heart!&#8221; she said, gasping, and with a clutch at her
+      breast. &#8220;My poor heart! I&mdash;I fear I&#8217;m going to have one
+      of my attacks. Malcolm, your arm&mdash;quick!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With an expression of intense but patient suffering, and leaning heavily
+      upon her son&#8217;s arm, she moved past Captain Elisha and from the room.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      That evening the captain stood in the lower hall of the apartment house at
+      Central Park West, undecided what to do next. He wished more than anything
+      else in the world to go to his niece. He would have gone to her before&mdash;had
+      been dying to go, to soothe, to comfort, to tell her of his love&mdash;but
+      he was afraid. His conscience troubled him. Perhaps he had been too
+      brutal. Perhaps he shouldn&#8217;t have acted as he did. Maybe forcing the
+      Dunn fleet to show its colors could have been done more diplomatically. He
+      had wanted her to see those colors for herself, to actually see them. But
+      he might have overdone it. He remembered how she<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> shrank from him and
+      turned to her brother. She might hate him more than ever now. If so, then
+      the whole scheme under which he was working fell to pieces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was worried about Steve, too. That young man would, naturally, be
+      furious with his sister for what he would consider her romantic
+      foolishness. He had been warned to behave himself; but would he? Captain
+      Elisha paced up and down the marble floor before the elevator cage and
+      wondered whether his visiting the apartment would be a wise move or a
+      foolish one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The elevator descended, the door of the cage opened, and Stephen himself
+      darted out. His face was red, he was scowling fiercely, and he strode
+      toward the street without looking in his guardian&#8217;s direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain caught him as he passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Here, boy!&#8221; he exclaimed; &#8220;where&#8217;s the fire?
+      Where are you bound?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His nephew, brought thus unexpectedly to a halt, stared at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s you!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Humph! I&#8217;m
+      bound&mdash;I don&#8217;t know where I&#8217;m bound!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You don&#8217;t, hey? Well, you can cruise a long ways on a v&#8217;yage
+      like that. What do you mean?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Aw, let me alone! I&#8217;m going to the club, I guess, or
+      somewhere. Anyhow, I won&#8217;t stay with her. I told her so. Silly
+      little idiot! By gad, she understands what I think of her conduct. I&#8217;ll
+      never speak to her again. I told her so. She&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Here! Belay! Stop! Who are you talking about?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caro, of course. She&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;ve run off and left her alone&mdash;to-night? Where is
+      she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Upstairs&mdash;and crying, I suppose. She doesn&#8217;t do<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>
+      anything else. It&#8217;s all she&#8217;s good for. Selfish, romantic&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He got no further, for Captain Elisha sent him reeling with a push and ran
+      to the elevator.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Eighth floor,&#8221; he commanded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door of the apartment was not latched. Stephen, in his rage and hurry,
+      had neglected such trifles. The captain opened it quietly and walked in.
+      He entered the library. Caroline was lying on the couch, her head buried
+      in the pillows. She did not hear him cross the room. He leaned over and
+      touched her shoulder. She started, looked, and sat up, gazing at him as
+      though not certain whether he was a dream or reality.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And he looked at her, at her pretty face, now so white and careworn, at
+      her eyes, at the tear-stains on her cheeks, and his whole heart went out
+      to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, dearie,&#8221; he faltered, &#8220;forgive me for comin&#8217;
+      here, won&#8217;t you? I had to come. I couldn&#8217;t leave you alone; I
+      couldn&#8217;t rest, thinkin&#8217; of you alone in your trouble. I know
+      you must feel harder than ever towards me for this afternoon&#8217;s doin&#8217;s,
+      but I meant it for the best. I <i>had</i> to show you&mdash;don&#8217;t
+      you see? Can you forgive me? Won&#8217;t you try to forgive the old feller
+      that loves you more&#8217;n all the world? Won&#8217;t you try?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked at him, wide-eyed, clasping and unclasping her hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>I</i> forgive <i>you</i>?&#8221; she repeated, incredulously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Try to, dearie. Oh, if you would only believe I meant it for
+      your good, and nothin&#8217; else! If you could only just trust me and
+      come to me and let me help you. I want you, my girl, I want you!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She leaned forward. &#8220;Do you really mean it?&#8221; she cried.
+      &#8220;How can you? after all I&#8217;ve done? after the way I&#8217;ve
+      treated you? and the things I&#8217;ve said? You<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> must <i>hate</i> me!
+      Everyone does. I hate myself! You can&#8217;t forgive me! You can&#8217;t!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His answer was to hold out his arms. Another moment and she was in them,
+      clinging to his wet coat, sobbing, holding him fast, and begging him not
+      to leave her, to take her away, that she would work, that she would not be
+      a burden to him&mdash;only take her with him and try to forgive her, for
+      he was real and honest and the only friend she had.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And Captain Elisha, soothing her, stroking her hair, and murmuring words
+      of love and tenderness, realized that his labor and sacrifice had not been
+      in vain, that here was his recompense; she would never misunderstand him
+      again; she was his at last.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And yet, in the midst of his joy, his conscience troubled him more than
+      ever.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XX
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span>t
+      was April; and May was close at hand. The weather was all that late April
+      weather should be, and so often is not. Trees, bushes, and vines were in
+      bud; the green of the new grass was showing everywhere above the dead
+      brown of the old; a pair of bluebirds were inspecting the hollow of the
+      old apple tree, with an eye toward spring housekeeping; the sun was warm
+      and bright, and the water of the Sound sparkled in the distance. Caroline,
+      sitting by the living-room window, was waiting for her uncle to return
+      from the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the kitchen Annie Moriarty was preparing dinner. Annie was now cook as
+      well as chamber-maid, for, of all the Warren servants, she was the only
+      one remaining. Edwards, the &#8220;Commodore,&#8221; had been dismissed,
+      had departed, not without reluctance but philosophically, to seek other
+      employment. &#8220;Yes, miss,&#8221; observed Edwards, when notified that
+      his services were no longer required; &#8220;I understand. I&#8217;ve been
+      expecting it. I was in a family before that met with financial
+      difficulties, and I know the signs. All I can say is that I hope you and
+      Mr. Stephen will get on all right, miss. If there&#8217;s anything I can
+      do to help you, by way of friendship, please let me know. I&#8217;d be
+      glad, for old times&#8217; sake. And the cook wanted me to tell you that,
+      being as she&#8217;s got another job in sight and was paid up to date, she
+      wouldn&#8217;t wait for notice, but was leaving immediate. She&#8217;s
+      gone already, miss.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>The
+      second maid went also. But Annie, Irish and grateful, refused to go. Her
+      mother came to back her in the refusal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Indeed she&#8217;ll not leave you, Miss Caroline&mdash;you nor
+      Captain Warren neither. Lord love him! Sure, d&#8217;ye think we&#8217;ll
+      ever forget what you and him done for me and my Pat and the childer? You&#8217;ve
+      got to have somebody, ain&#8217;t you? And Annie&#8217;s cookin&#8217; ain&#8217;t
+      so bad that it&#8217;ll kill yez; and I&#8217;ll learn her more. Never
+      mind what the wages is, they&#8217;re big enough. She&#8217;ll stay! If
+      she didn&#8217;t, I&#8217;d break her back.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, when the apartment was given up, and Captain Elisha and his wards
+      moved to the little house in Westchester County, Annie came with them. And
+      her cooking, though not by any means equal to that at Delmonico&#8217;s,
+      had not killed them yet. Mrs. Moriarty came once a week to do the laundry
+      work. Caroline acted as a sort of inexperienced but willing supervising
+      housekeeper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The house itself had been procured through the kind interest of Sylvester.
+      Keeping the apartment was, under the circumstances, out of the question,
+      and Caroline hated it and was only too anxious to give it up. She had no
+      suggestions to make. She would go anywhere, anywhere that her guardian
+      deemed best; but might they not please go at once? She expected that he
+      would suggest South Denboro, and she would have gone there without a
+      complaint. To get away from the place where she had been so miserable was
+      her sole wish. And trusting and believing in her uncle as she now did,
+      realizing that he had been right always and had worked for her interest
+      throughout, and having been shown the falseness and insincerity of the
+      others whom she had once trusted implicitly, she clung to him with an
+      appeal almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg
+      317]</a></span> piteous. Her pride was, for the time, broken. She was
+      humble and grateful. She surrendered to him unconditionally, and hoped
+      only for his forgiveness and love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not suggest South Denboro. He did, however, tell Sylvester
+      that he believed a little place out of the city would be the better refuge
+      for the present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Poor Caroline&#8217;s switched clear around,&#8221; he said to the
+      lawyer, &#8220;and you can&#8217;t blame her much. She cal&#8217;lates New
+      York&#8217;s nothin&#8217; but a sham from stern to stern, manned by liars
+      and swindlers and hypocrites and officered by thieves. &#8217;Tain&#8217;t
+      no use to tell her &#8217;tain&#8217;t, though she might pretend to
+      believe it, if <i>I</i> told her, for just now the poor girl thinks I&#8217;m
+      Solomon and Saint Peter rolled into one. The way she agrees to whatever I
+      say and the way she looks at me and sort of holds on to me, as if I was
+      her only anchor in a gale, I declare it makes me feel meaner than
+      poorhouse tea&mdash;and that&#8217;s made of blackberry leaves steeped in
+      memories of better things, so I&#8217;ve heard say. <i>Am</i> I a low down
+      scamp, playin&#8217; a dirty mean trick on a couple of orphans? What do
+      you think, Sylvester?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You know what I think, Captain Warren,&#8221; replied the lawyer.
+      &#8220;You&#8217;re handling the whole matter better than any other man
+      could handle it. No one else would have thought of it, to begin with; and
+      the results so far prove that you&#8217;re right.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. Maybe. I wish you was around to say that to me when I wake up
+      nights and get to thinkin&#8217;. However, as I said, Caroline believes
+      New York is like a sailors&#8217; dance hall, a place for decent folks to
+      steer clear of. And when the feller you&#8217;ve been engaged to is shown
+      up as a sneak and your own dad as a crook&mdash;well, you can&#8217;t
+      blame a green hand for holdin&#8217; prejudice<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> against the town that
+      raised &#8217;em. She&#8217;ll get over it; but just now I cal&#8217;late
+      some little flat, or, better still, a little home out where the back yards
+      ain&#8217;t made of concrete, would be a first-class port for us to make
+      for. Don&#8217;t know of such a place at a reasonable rent, do you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I might find one. And you may be right; your niece might like it
+      better, though it will be somewhat of a change. But how about your nephew?
+      He has no objection to the metropolis, I should judge. What will he say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothin&#8217;, I guess&mdash;unless he says it to himself. Steve&#8217;s
+      goin&#8217; back to New Haven with things on his mind. He and I had a
+      mornin&#8217; service, and I was the parson. He listened, because when you
+      ain&#8217;t got a cent except what the society allows you, it ain&#8217;t
+      good orthodoxy to dodge the charity sermon. Steve&#8217;ll behave, and
+      what he don&#8217;t like he&#8217;ll lump. If he starts to open his mouth
+      his ear&#8217;ll ache, I cal&#8217;late. I talked turkey to that young
+      man. Ye-es,&#8221; with a slight smile, &#8220;I&#8217;m sort of afraid I
+      lost patience with Stevie.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Caroline first saw the little house, with its shingled sides, the
+      dead vines over the porch, and the dry stalks of last year&#8217;s flowers
+      in the yard, her heart sank. With the wind blowing and the bare branches
+      of the old apple tree scraping the roof and whining dolefully, it looked
+      bleak and forsaken. It was so different, so unhomelike, and so, to her
+      eyes, small and poverty-stricken. She made believe that she liked it,
+      exclaimed over the view&mdash;which, on the particular day, was desolate
+      enough&mdash;and declared the Dutch front door was &#8220;old-fashioned
+      and dear.&#8221; But Captain Elisha, watching her closely, knew that she
+      was only waiting to be alone to give way to wretchedness and tears. He
+      understood, had expected that she would feel thus, but he<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> was
+      disappointed, nevertheless. However, after the front door was passed and
+      they were inside the house, Caroline looked about her in delighted
+      amazement. The living room was small, but bright and warm and cheery. On
+      its walls, hiding the rather vivid paper, were hung some of the best of
+      Rodgers Warren&#8217;s pictures&mdash;the Corot, the codfisher, and
+      others. The furniture and rugs were those which had been in the library of
+      the apartment, those she had been familiar with all her life. The books,
+      many of them, were there, also. And the dining room, except for size,
+      looked like home. So did the bedrooms; and, in the kitchen, Annie grinned
+      a welcome.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But how could you?&#8221; asked Caroline. &#8220;How could you keep
+      all these things, Uncle Elisha? I thought, of course, they must all be
+      sold. I cried when they took them away that day when we were leaving to go
+      to the hotel. I was sure I should never see them again. And here they all
+      are! How could you do it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain&#8217;s grin was as wide as Annie&#8217;s. &#8220;Oh,&#8221;
+      he explained, &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t let &#8217;em all go. Never intended
+      to. That five thousand dollar codder up there seemed like own folks,
+      pretty nigh. I&#8217;d have kept <i>him</i>, if we had to live in one room
+      and a trunk. And we ain&#8217;t got to that&mdash;yet. I tell you, dearie,
+      I thought they&#8217;d make you feel more to home. And they do, don&#8217;t
+      they?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The look she gave him was answer sufficient.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But the creditors?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;That man who&mdash;they
+      belong to him, don&#8217;t they? I supposed of course they must go with
+      the rest.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha winked. &#8220;There&#8217;s times,&#8221; he answered,
+      &#8220;when I believe in cheatin&#8217; my creditors. This is one of
+      &#8217;em. Never you mind that feller you mentioned. He&#8217;s got
+      enough, confound him! He didn&#8217;t<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> have the face to ask for
+      any more. Sylvester looked out for that. Five hundred thousand, droppin&#8217;
+      in, as you might say, unexpected, ought to soften anybody&#8217;s heart;
+      and I judge even that feller&#8217;s got some bowels of mercy.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He changed the subject hastily, but Caroline asked no more questions. She
+      never alluded to the lost estate, never expressed any regrets, nor asked
+      to know who it was that had seized her all. The captain had expected her
+      to ask, had been ready with the same answer he had given Stephen, but when
+      he hinted she herself had forbade his continuing. &#8220;Don&#8217;t tell
+      me about it,&#8221; she begged. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to know any
+      more. Father did wrong, but&mdash;but I know he did not mean to. He was a
+      good, kind father to me, and I loved him. This man whose money he took had
+      a right to it, and now it is his. He doesn&#8217;t wish us to know who he
+      is, so Steve says, and I&#8217;m glad. I don&#8217;t want to know, because
+      if I did I might hate him. And,&#8221; with a shudder, &#8220;I am trying
+      so hard not to hate anybody.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her make-believe liking for the little home became more and more real as
+      spring drew near. She began to take an interest in it, in the flower
+      garden, in the beds beside the porch, where the peonies and daffodils were
+      beginning to show green heads above the loam, and in the household
+      affairs. And she had plans of her own, not connected with these. She
+      broached them to her uncle, and they surprised and delighted him, although
+      he would not give his consent to them entirely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mustn&#8217;t think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that, because I
+      have been willing to live on your money since mine went, that I mean to
+      continue doing it. I don&#8217;t. I&#8217;ve been thinking a great deal,
+      and I realize that I must earn my own way just as soon as I can. I&#8217;m
+      not fitted for anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321"
+      id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> now; but I can be and I shall. I&#8217;ve
+      thought perhaps I might learn stenography or&mdash;or something like that.
+      Girls do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at her serious face and choked back his laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, yes,&#8221; he admitted, &#8220;they do, that&#8217;s a fact.
+      About four hundred thousand of &#8217;em do, and four hundred thousand
+      more try to and then try to make business men think that they have. I
+      heard Sylvester sputterin&#8217; about a couple in his office t&#8217;other
+      day; said they was no good and not worth the seven dollars a week he paid
+      &#8217;em.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Seven dollars a <i>week</i>!&#8221; she repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Course some make three times that and more; but they&#8217;re
+      the experienced ones, the good ones. And there&#8217;s heaps that don&#8217;t.
+      What makes you so sot on earnin&#8217; a livin&#8217;, Caroline? Ain&#8217;t
+      you satisfied with the kind I&#8217;m tryin&#8217; to give you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She regarded him reproachfully. &#8220;Please don&#8217;t say that,&#8221;
+      she protested. &#8220;You always treat your kindness as a joke, but to me
+      it&mdash;it&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there!&#8221; quickly. &#8220;Don&#8217;t let&#8217;s talk
+      foolish. I see what you mean, dearie. It ain&#8217;t the livin&#8217; but
+      because I&#8217;m givin&#8217; it to you that troubles you. I know. Well,
+      <i>I</i> ain&#8217;t complainin&#8217; but I understand your feelin&#8217;s
+      and respect &#8217;em. However, I shouldn&#8217;t study type-writin&#8217;,
+      if I was you. There&#8217;s too much competition in it to be comfortable,
+      as the fat man said about runnin&#8217; races. I&#8217;ve got a
+      suggestion, if you want to listen to it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I do, indeed. What is it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, just this. I&#8217;ve been about everythin&#8217; aboard ship,
+      but I&#8217;ve never been a steward. Now I&#8217;ll say this much for
+      Annie, she tried hard. She tumbled into general housekeepin&#8217; the way
+      Asa Foster said he fell into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322"
+      id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> the cucumber frame&mdash;with a jolt and
+      a jingle; and she&#8217;s doin&#8217; her best accordin&#8217; to her
+      lights. But sometimes her lights need ile or trimmin&#8217; or somethin&#8217;.
+      I&#8217;ve had the feelin&#8217; that we need a good housekeeper here. If
+      Annie&#8217;s intelligence was as broad and liberal as her shoes, we
+      wouldn&#8217;t; as &#8217;tis, we do. I&#8217;ll hire you, Caroline, for
+      that job, if you say so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I? Uncle Elisha, you&#8217;re joking!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I ain&#8217;t. Course I realize you ain&#8217;t had much
+      experience in runnin&#8217; a house, and I hope you understand I don&#8217;t
+      want to hire you as a cook. But I&#8217;ve had a scheme in the back of my
+      head for a fortni&#8217;t or more. Somethin&#8217; Sylvester said about a
+      young lady cousin of his made me think of it. Seems over here at the
+      female college&mdash;you know where I mean&mdash;they&#8217;re teachin&#8217;
+      a new course that they&#8217;ve christened Domestic Science. Nigh&#8217;s
+      I can find out it is about what our great gran&#8217;marms larned at home;
+      that, with up-to-date trimmin&#8217;s. All about runnin&#8217; a house, it
+      is; how to superintend servants, and what kind of things to have to eat,
+      and how they ought to be cooked, and takin&#8217; care of children&mdash;Humph!
+      we don&#8217;t need that, do we?&mdash;and, well, everything that a home
+      woman, rich or poor, ought to know. At least, she ought to &#8217;cordin&#8217;
+      to my old-fashioned notions. Sylvester&#8217;s cousin goes there, and
+      likes it; and I judge she ain&#8217;t figgerin&#8217; to be anybody&#8217;s
+      hired help, either. My idea was about this: If you&#8217;d like to take
+      this course, Caroline, you could do it afternoons. Mornin&#8217;s and the
+      days you had off, you could apply your science here at home, on Annie.
+      Truly it would save me hirin&#8217; somebody else, and&mdash;well, maybe
+      you&#8217;d enjoy it, you can&#8217;t tell.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece seemed interested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know of the Domestic Science course,&#8221; she said.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+      &#8220;Several of my friends&mdash;my former friends, were studying it.
+      But I&#8217;m afraid, Uncle, that I don&#8217;t see where earning my
+      living has any part in it. It seems to me that it means your spending more
+      money for me, paying my tuition.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No more&#8217;n I&#8217;d spend for a competent housekeeper.
+      Honest, Caroline, I&#8217;d like to do it. You think it over a spell.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did, visiting the University and making inquiries. What she was told
+      there decided her. She took up the course and enjoyed it. It occupied her
+      mind and prevented her brooding over the past. She might have made many
+      friends among the other students, but she was careful to treat them only
+      as acquaintances. Her recent experience with &#8220;friends&#8221; was too
+      fresh in her mind. She studied hard and applied her knowledge at home. She
+      and Annie made some odd and funny mistakes at first, but they were not
+      made twice, and Captain Elisha noticed a great improvement in the
+      housekeeping. Also, Caroline&#8217;s spirits improved, though more slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Most evenings they spent together in the living room. She read aloud to
+      her uncle, who smoked his cigar and listened, commenting on the doings of
+      the story folk with characteristic originality and aptitude. Each night,
+      after the reading was over, he wrote his customary note to Abbie Baker at
+      South Denboro. He made one flying trip to that village: &#8220;Just to
+      prove to &#8217;em that I&#8217;m still alive,&#8221; as he explained it.
+      &#8220;Some of those folks down there at the postoffice must have pretty
+      nigh forgot to gossip about me by this time. They&#8217;ve had me eloped
+      and married and a millionaire and a pauper long ago, I don&#8217;t doubt.
+      And now they&#8217;ve probably forgot me altogether. I&#8217;ll just run
+      down and stir &#8217;em up. Good subjects<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> for yarns are scurce at
+      that postoffice, and they ought to be thankful.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On his return he told his niece that he found everything much as usual.
+      &#8220;Thoph Kenney&#8217;s raised a beard &#8217;cause shavin&#8217;s so
+      expensive; and the Come-Outer minister called the place the other
+      denominations are bound for &#8216;Hades,&#8217; and his congregation are
+      thinkin&#8217; of firin&#8217; him for turnin&#8217; Free-Thinker. That&#8217;s
+      about all the sensations,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t get
+      around town much on account of Abbie. She kept me in bed most of the time,
+      while she sewed on buttons and mended. Said she never saw a body&#8217;s
+      clothes in such a state in <i>her</i> life.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few of the neighbors called occasionally. And there were other callers.
+      Captain Elisha&#8217;s unexpected departure from Mrs. Hepton&#8217;s
+      boarding house had caused a sensation and much regret to that select
+      establishment. The landlady, aided and abetted by Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles,
+      would have given a farewell tea in his honor, but he declined. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+      you do it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I like my tea pretty strong, and
+      farewells are watery sort of things, the best of &#8217;em. And this ain&#8217;t
+      a real farewell, anyhow.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;&#8216;Say <i>au revoir</i>, but not good-by,&#8217;&#8221; sang
+      Miss Sherborne sentimentally.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s it. Everybody knows what good-by means. We&#8217;ll
+      say the other thing&mdash;as well as we can&mdash;and change it to &#8216;Hello&#8217;
+      the very first time any of you come out to see us.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were curious to know his reason for leaving. He explained that his
+      niece was sort of lonesome and needed country air; he was going to live
+      with her, for the present. Consequently Mrs. Ruggles, on the trail of
+      aristocracy, was the first to call. Hers was a stately and ceremonious
+      visit. They were glad when it was over. Lawton, the bookseller and his
+      wife, came and were persuaded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325"
+      id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> to remain and dine. Caroline liked them
+      at sight. The most impressive call, however, was that of Mr. and Mrs.
+      &#8220;C.&#8221; Dickens. The great man made it a point to dress in the
+      style of bygone years, and his conversation was a treat. His literary
+      labors were fatiguing and confining, he admitted, and the &#8220;little
+      breath of rural ozone&#8221; which this trip to Westchester County gave
+      him, was like a tonic&mdash;yes, as one might say, a tonic prescribed and
+      administered by Dame Nature herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I formerly resided in the country,&#8221; he told Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; put in his wife, &#8220;we used to live at Bayonne, New
+      Jersey. We had such a pretty house there, that is, half a house; you see
+      it was a double one, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Maria,&#8221; her husband waved his hand, &#8220;why trouble our
+      friends with unnecessary details.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But it <i>was</i> a pretty house, &#8216;C.,&#8217; dear,&#8221;
+      with a pathetic little sigh. &#8220;I&#8217;ve missed it a great deal
+      since, Miss Warren. &#8216;C.&#8217; had a joke about it&mdash;he&#8217;s
+      such a joker! He used to call it &#8216;Gad&#8217;s Hill, Junior.&#8217;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Named after some of David B.&#8217;s folks?&#8221; asked Captain
+      Elisha innocently. The answer, delivered by Mr. Dickens, was condescending
+      and explanatory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline laughed, actually laughed aloud, when the visit was over. Her
+      uncle was immensely pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hooray!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I&#8217;ll invite &#8217;em up to
+      stay a week. That&#8217;s the fust time I&#8217;ve heard you laugh for I
+      don&#8217;t know when.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed again. &#8220;I can&#8217;t help it,&#8221; she said; &#8220;they
+      are so funny.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain chuckled. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and they don&#8217;t
+      know it. I cal&#8217;late a person&#8217;s skull has got room for just
+      about so much in it and no more. Cornelius Charles&#8217;s head is so
+      jammed with self-satisfaction that his sense of humor was crowded out of
+      door long ago.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>One
+      boarder at Mrs. Hepton&#8217;s did not call, nor did Captain Elisha allude
+      to him. Caroline noticed the latter fact and understood the reason. Also,
+      when the captain went to the city, as he frequently did, and remained
+      longer than usual, she noticed that his explanations of the way in which
+      he spent his time were sometimes vague and hurried. She understood and was
+      troubled. Yet she thought a great deal on the subject before she mentioned
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the April afternoon when Caroline sat at the window of the living room
+      awaiting her uncle&#8217;s return she was thinking of that subject. But,
+      at last, her mind was made up. It was a hard thing to do; it was
+      humiliating, in a way; it might&mdash;though she sincerely hoped not&mdash;be
+      misconstrued as to motive; but it was right. Captain Elisha had been so
+      unselfish, so glad to give up every personal inclination in order to
+      please her, that she would no longer permit her pride to stand in the way
+      of his gratification, even in little things. At least, she would speak to
+      him on the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He came on a later than his usual train, and at dinner, when she asked
+      where he had been, replied, &#8220;Oh, to see Sylvester, and&mdash;er&mdash;around.&#8221;
+      She asked him no more, but, when they were together in the living room,
+      she moved her chair over beside his and said without looking at him:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Uncle Elisha, I know where you&#8217;ve been this afternoon. You&#8217;ve
+      been to see Mr. Pearson.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey?&#8221; He started, leaned back and regarded her with
+      astonishment and some alarm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;ve been to see Mr. Pearson,&#8221; she repeated, &#8220;haven&#8217;t
+      you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;why, yes, Caroline, I have&mdash;to tell you the truth. I
+      don&#8217;t see how you knew, but,&#8221; nervously, &#8220;I<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> hope
+      you don&#8217;t feel bad &#8217;cause I did. I go to see him pretty often.
+      You see, I think a good deal of him&mdash;a whole lot of him. <i>I</i>
+      think he&#8217;s a fine young feller. Course I know you don&#8217;t, and
+      so I never mention him to you. But I do hope you ain&#8217;t goin&#8217;
+      to ask me not to see him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She shook her head. &#8220;No,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I would have no
+      right to ask that, even if I wished to. And I do not wish it. Uncle
+      Elisha, if you were alone here, he would come to see you; I know he would.
+      Invite him to come, please.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His astonishment was greater than ever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Invite him to come <i>here</i>?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;To see you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No,&#8221; hastily; &#8220;to see you. This is your home. I have no
+      right to keep your friends from visiting it. I know you would sacrifice
+      everything for me, even them; but I will not be so selfish as to allow it.
+      Ask him here, please. I really want you to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He pulled his beard. &#8220;Caroline,&#8221; he answered slowly, &#8220;I&#8217;m
+      much obliged to you. I understand why you&#8217;re doin&#8217; this, and I
+      thank you. But it ain&#8217;t likely that I&#8217;ll say yes, is it? And
+      do you suppose Jim would come if I did ask him? He knows you believe he&#8217;s
+      a&mdash;well, all that&#8217;s bad. You told him so, and you sent him
+      away. I will give in that I&#8217;d like to have him here. He&#8217;s one
+      of the few men friends I&#8217;ve made since I landed in New York. But,
+      under the circumstances&mdash;you feelin&#8217; as you do&mdash;I couldn&#8217;t
+      ask him, and he wouldn&#8217;t come if I did.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She remained silent for a time. Then she said: &#8220;Uncle, I want you to
+      tell me the truth about Mr. Pearson and father&mdash;just why they
+      quarreled and the real truth of the whole affair. Don&#8217;t spare my
+      feelings; tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg
+      328]</a></span> me what you believe is the true story. I know you think
+      Mr. Pearson was right, for you said so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was much troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s I&#8217;d better, dearie,&#8221;
+      he answered. &#8220;I think I do know the truth, but you might think I was
+      hard on &#8217;Bije&mdash;on your father. I ain&#8217;t. And I sympathize
+      with the way he felt, too. But Jim did right, as I see it. He acted just
+      as I&#8217;d want a son of mine to do. And.... Well, I cal&#8217;late we&#8217;d
+      better not rake up old times, had we?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want you to tell me. Please do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&#8217;s I&#8217;d better. You have been told the
+      story different, and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know I have. That is the reason why I ask you to tell it. Oh,&#8221;
+      with a flash of scorn, &#8220;I was told many stories, and I want to
+      forget them. And,&#8221; sadly, &#8220;I can bear whatever you may tell
+      me, even about father. Since I learned that he was a&mdash;a&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;S-sh, Caroline; don&#8217;t!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;After that, I can bear anything, I think. This cannot be worse.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Worse! No, not! This ain&#8217;t very bad. I will tell you, dearie.
+      This is just what happened.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He told her the exact truth concerning the Trolley Combine, his brother&#8217;s
+      part in it, and Pearson&#8217;s. She listened without comment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see,&#8221; she said when he had finished. &#8220;I think I see.
+      Mr. Pearson felt that, as a newspaper man, an honest one, he must go on.
+      He knew that the thing was wrong and that innocent people might lose money
+      in it. It was his duty to expose it, and he did it, even though it meant
+      the loss of influence and of father&#8217;s friendship. I see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That was about it, Caroline. I think the hardest<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> part
+      for him was when &#8217;Bije called him ungrateful. &#8217;Bije had been
+      mighty kind to him, that&#8217;s a fact.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Father was kind; I know that better than anyone else. But Mr.
+      Pearson was right. Yes, he was right, and brave.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So I size it up. And I do sympathize with your father, too. This wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      such an awful lot worse than a good many stock deals. And poor &#8217;Bije
+      was perfectly desp&#8217;rate, I guess. If it had gone through he&#8217;d
+      have been able to square accounts with the Rubber Company; and just think
+      what that would have meant to him. Poor feller! poor feller!&#8221; He
+      sighed. She reached for his hand and stroked it gently with her own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After another interval she said: &#8220;How I insulted and wronged him!
+      How he must despise me!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who? Jim? No, no! he don&#8217;t do any such thing. He knows you
+      didn&#8217;t understand, and who was responsible. Jim&#8217;s got sense,
+      lots of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But it is my misunderstanding and my insulting treatment of him
+      which have kept you two apart&mdash;here, at any rate.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t let that worry you, Caroline. I see him every once in a
+      while, up to the city.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It does worry me; and it will, until it is made right. And,&#8221;
+      in a lower tone, but with decision, &#8220;it shall be.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose and, bending over, kissed him on the forehead. &#8220;Good night,
+      Uncle,&#8221; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha was disappointed. &#8220;What!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Goin&#8217;
+      aloft so soon? We ain&#8217;t had our readin&#8217; yet. Pretty early to
+      turn in, seems to me. Stay a little longer, do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not to-night, dear. I&#8217;m going to my room. Please excuse me
+      this time.&#8221; She turned to go and then, turning back again, asked a
+      final question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>&#8220;You&#8217;re
+      sure,&#8221; she said, hesitatingly; &#8220;you&#8217;re quite sure he
+      will not come here&mdash;to you&mdash;if you tell him I understand, and&mdash;and
+      you ask him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Caroline, I don&#8217;t know. You see, I was responsible for
+      his comin&#8217; before. He had some scruples against it then, but I
+      talked him down. He&#8217;s sort of proud, Jim is, and he might&mdash;might
+      not want to&mdash;to&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I see. Good night, Uncle.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning, after breakfast, she came to him again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Uncle Elisha,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I have written him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What? You&#8217;ve written? Written who?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Pearson. I wrote him, telling him I had learned the true story
+      of his disagreement with father and that he was right and I was wrong. I
+      apologized for my behavior toward him. Now, I think, perhaps, if you ask
+      him, he will come.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at her. He realized the sacrifice of her pride which
+      writing that letter must have meant, and that she had done it for him. He
+      was touched and almost sorry she had done it. He took both her hands in
+      his.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dearie,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you shouldn&#8217;t have done that.
+      I didn&#8217;t expect you to. I know you did it just for my sake. I won&#8217;t
+      say I ain&#8217;t glad; I am, in one way. But &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      necessary, and &#8217;twas too much, too hard for you altogether.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t say that,&#8221; she begged. &#8220;Too much! I never
+      can do enough. Compared to what you have done for me it&mdash;it.... Oh,
+      please let me do what little I can. But, Uncle Elisha, promise me one
+      thing; promise that you will not ask me to meet him, if he should come.
+      That I couldn&#8217;t do, even for you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XXI
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">P</span>romises
+      of that kind are easier to make than to keep. The captain promised
+      promptly enough, but the Fates were against him. He made it his business
+      to go to town the very next day and called upon his friend. He found the
+      young man in a curiously excited and optimistic frame of mind, radically
+      different from that of the past few months. The manuscript of the novel
+      was before him on the desk, also plenty of blank paper. His fountain-pen
+      was in his hand, although apparently, he had written nothing that morning.
+      But he was going to&mdash;oh, yes, he was going to! He was feeling just in
+      the mood. He had read his manuscript, and it was not so bad; by George,
+      some of the stuff was pretty good! And the end was not so far off. Five or
+      six chapters more and the thing would be finished. He would have to secure
+      a publisher, of course, but two had already expressed an interest; and so
+      on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha drew his own conclusions. He judged that his niece&#8217;s
+      letter had reached its destination. He did not mention it, however, nor
+      did Pearson. But when the captain hinted at the latter&#8217;s running out
+      to the house to see him some time or other, the invitation was accepted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s fine, Jim,&#8221; declared the visitor. &#8220;Come
+      any time. I want you to see what a nice little place I&#8217;ve got out
+      there. Don&#8217;t stand on ceremony, come&mdash;er&mdash;next week, say.&#8221;
+      Then, mindful of his promise, he added, &#8220;You and I&#8217;ll have it
+      all to ourselves. I&#8217;ve been cal&#8217;latin&#8217;<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> to
+      hire a sail-boat for the summer; got my eye on a capable little sloop
+      belongin&#8217; to a feller on the Sound shore. If all goes well I&#8217;ll
+      close the deal in a few days. I&#8217;ll meet you at the depot and we&#8217;ll
+      have a sail and get dinner at a hotel or somewheres, and then we&#8217;ll
+      come up to the house and take a whack at Cap&#8217;n Jim&#8217;s doin&#8217;s
+      in the new chapters. Just you and I together in the settin&#8217; room;
+      hey?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson did not seem so enthusiastic over this programme, although he
+      admitted that it sounded tip-top.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How is Miss Warren?&#8221; he asked, mentioning the name with a
+      nonchalance remarkable, considering that he had not done so before for
+      weeks. &#8220;She is well, I hope?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, she&#8217;s fust-rate, thank you. Very well, everything
+      considered. She keeps to herself a good deal. Don&#8217;t care to meet
+      many folks, and you can&#8217;t hardly blame her.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson admitted that, and the remainder of the call was largely a
+      monologue by Captain Elisha.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, then, Jim,&#8221; said the latter, when he rose to go,
+      &#8220;you come up Monday or Tuesday of next week. Will you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I&mdash;I think so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t think, do it. Let me know what train you&#8217;re comin&#8217;
+      on, and I&#8217;ll meet you at the depot.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This last remark was what upset calculations. Pearson came on Monday,
+      having written the day before. He did not mail the note himself, but
+      trusted it to Mrs. Hepton, who was going out to attend evening service.
+      She forgot it until the next day. So it happened that when he alighted
+      from the train at the suburban station the captain was not there to meet
+      him. He waited a while, and then, inquiring the way of the station agent,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>
+      walked up to the house by himself. As he turned in at the front walk,
+      Caroline came out of the door. They met, face to face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a most embarrassing situation, particularly for Caroline; yet, with
+      feminine resourcefulness, she dissembled her embarrassment to some extent
+      and acknowledged his stammered, &#8220;Good afternoon, Miss Warren,&#8221;
+      with a cool, almost cold, &#8220;How do you do, Mr. Pearson?&#8221; which
+      chilled his pleasure at seeing her and made him wish devoutly that he had
+      not been such a fool as to come. However, there he was, and he hastily
+      explained his presence by telling her of the captain&#8217;s invitation
+      for that day, how he had expected to meet him at the station, and, not
+      meeting him, had walked up to the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Is he in?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No, Captain Elisha was not in. He had gone to see the sail-boat man. Not
+      hearing from his friend, he concluded the latter would not come until the
+      next day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He will be so sorry,&#8221; said Caroline.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was rather thankful than otherwise. The captain&#8217;s absence
+      afforded him an opportunity to escape from a place where he was plainly
+      unwelcome.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, never mind,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It is not important. I can
+      run out another day. Just tell him I called, Miss Warren, please; that I
+      wrote yesterday, but my letter must have gone astray. Good afternoon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was turning to go, but she stopped him. She had fully made up her mind
+      that, when he came, she would not meet him&mdash;remembering how she had
+      treated him on the evening of her birthday, she would be ashamed to look
+      him in the face. Besides, she could not meet him after writing that
+      letter; it would be too brazen; he would think&mdash;all sorts of things.
+      When he visited her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg
+      334]</a></span> uncle she would remain in her room, or go to the city or
+      somewhere.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But now she had met him. And he had come in response to her uncle&#8217;s
+      invitation, given because she herself had pleaded that it should be. To
+      let him go away would be rude and ridiculous; and how could she explain to
+      the captain?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You mustn&#8217;t go, Mr. Pearson,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You must
+      come in and wait; Captain Warren will be back soon, I&#8217;m sure.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you; but I think I won&#8217;t wait. I can come another time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But you must wait. I insist. Uncle Elisha will be dreadfully
+      disappointed if you don&#8217;t. There isn&#8217;t a train for an hour,
+      and he will return before that, I am sure. Please come in.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was reluctant, but he could think of no reasonable excuse. So he
+      entered the house, removed his overcoat and hat, and seated himself in the
+      living room to await the captain&#8217;s return. Caroline excused herself,
+      saying that she had an errand at the shop in the village. She made that
+      errand as long as she could, but when she returned he was still there, and
+      Captain Elisha had not appeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation was forced, for a time. Each felt the embarrassment, and
+      Pearson was still resentful of the manner in which she had greeted him on
+      his arrival. But, as he looked at her, the resentment vanished, and the
+      other feeling, that which he had determined to forget, returned. Captain
+      Elisha had told him how brave she had been through it all, and,
+      contrasting the little house with the former home, remembering the loss of
+      friends and fortune, to say nothing of the unmasking of those whom she
+      believed were her nearest and dearest, he<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> wondered and admired
+      more than ever. He understood how very hard it must have been for her to
+      write that letter to him, a letter in which she justified his course at
+      the cost of her own father&#8217;s honor. He longed to tell her that he
+      understood and appreciated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last he could not resist the temptation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Miss Warren,&#8221; he said, &#8220;please excuse my speaking of
+      this, but I must; I must thank you for writing me as you did. It was not
+      necessary, it was too much to expect, too hard a thing for you to do. It
+      makes me feel guilty. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Please don&#8217;t!&#8221; she interrupted. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+      speak in that way. It was right. It was what I should have done long ago.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But it was not necessary; I understood. I knew you had heard
+      another version of the story and that you felt I had been ungrateful and
+      mean, to say the least, in my conduct toward your father. I knew that; I
+      have never blamed you. And you writing as you did&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I did it for my uncle&#8217;s sake,&#8221; she broke in, quickly.
+      &#8220;You are his closest friend.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know, but I appreciate it, nevertheless. I&mdash;I wish you would
+      consider me your friend as well as his. I do, sincerely.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you. I need friends, I know. I have few now, which is not
+      strange,&#8221; rather bitterly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He protested earnestly. &#8220;I did not mean it in that way,&#8221; he
+      said. &#8220;It is an honor and a great privilege to be one of your
+      friends. I had that honor and privilege once. May I have it again?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Mr. Pearson.... Now tell me about your novel. I remember
+      it all so well. And I am very much interested. You must have it nearly
+      completed. Tell me about it, please.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>They
+      were deep in the discussion of the novel when Captain Elisha walked into
+      the living room. He was surprised, stating his feelings at their mildest,
+      to find them together, but he did not express his astonishment. Instead,
+      he hailed Pearson delightedly, demanded to know if they had dared tackle
+      Cap&#8217;n Jim without the &#8220;head doctor&#8217;s&#8221; being on the
+      scene; and insisted upon the author&#8217;s admitting him to the &#8220;clinic&#8221;
+      forthwith. Pearson did not take the next train, nor the next. Instead, he
+      stayed for dinner and well into the evening, and when he did go it was
+      after a prompt acceptance of the captain&#8217;s invitation to &#8220;come
+      again in a mighty little while.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline, when she and her uncle were alone after their visitor&#8217;s
+      departure, made no protest against the invitation having been given. She
+      did not speak of Pearson at all. Captain Elisha also talked of other
+      things, principally about the sail-boat, the summer lease of which he had
+      arranged that afternoon. He declared the sloop to be an &#8220;able craft
+      of her tonnage&#8221; and that they would have some good times aboard her
+      or he missed his guess. In his own room, when ready for bed, he favored
+      his reflection in the glass with a broad smile and a satisfied wink, from
+      which proceeding it may be surmised that the day had not been a bad one,
+      according to his estimate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson came again a week later, and thereafter frequently. The sessions
+      with Cap&#8217;n Jim and his associates were once more regular happenings
+      to be looked forward to and enjoyed by the three. As the weather grew
+      warmer, the sloop&mdash;Captain Elisha had the name she formerly bore
+      painted out and Caroline substituted&mdash;proved to be as great a source
+      of pleasure as her new skipper had prophesied. He and his niece&mdash;and
+      occasionally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>
+      Pearson&mdash;sailed and picnicked on the Sound, and Caroline&#8217;s
+      pallor disappeared under the influence of breeze and sunshine. Her health
+      improved, and her spirits, also. She seemed, at times, almost happy, and
+      her uncle seldom saw her, as after the removal to the suburb he so
+      frequently used, with tears in her eyes and the sadness of bitter memories
+      in her expression and manner. Her work at the University grew steadily
+      more difficult, but she enjoyed it thoroughly and declared that she would
+      not give it up for worlds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In June two very important events took place. The novel was finished, and
+      Stephen, his Sophomore year at an end, came home from college. He had been
+      invited by some classmates to spend a part of his vacation with them on
+      the Maine coast, and his guardian had consented to his doing so; but the
+      boy himself had something else to propose. On an evening soon after his
+      return, when, his sister having retired, he was alone with the captain, he
+      broached the idea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been thinking a good deal
+      while I&#8217;ve been away this last time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Glad to hear it, I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; replied his uncle, dryly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I&#8217;ve been thinking&mdash;about a good many things. I&#8217;m
+      flat broke; down and out, so far as money is concerned. That&#8217;s so,
+      isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha looked at him keenly for an instant. Then:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It appears that way, I&#8217;m afraid,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;What
+      made you ask?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Nothing. I wasn&#8217;t asking, really; I was just stating the
+      case. Now, the way I look at it, this college course of mine isn&#8217;t
+      worth while. You&#8217;re putting up for it, and I ought to be much
+      obliged; I am, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;re welcome, Stevie.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>&#8220;I
+      know; but what&#8217;s the use of it? I&#8217;ve got to go to work when it&#8217;s
+      over. And the kind of work I want to do doesn&#8217;t need university
+      training. I&#8217;m just wasting time; that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m doing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! I ain&#8217;t so sure about that. But what sort of work do
+      you want to do?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to be down on the Street, as the governor was. If this
+      Rubber Company business hadn&#8217;t knocked us out, I intended, as soon
+      as I was of age, to take that seat of his and start in for myself. Well,
+      that chance has gone, but I mean to get in some way, though I have to
+      start at the foot of the ladder. Now why can&#8217;t I leave college and
+      start now? It will be two years gained, won&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha seemed pleased, but he shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;How do you know you&#8217;d like it?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;You&#8217;ve
+      never tried.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, I never have; but I&#8217;ll like it all right. I know I shall.
+      It&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve wanted to do ever since I was old enough to
+      think of such things. Just let me start in now, right away, and I&#8217;ll
+      show you. I&#8217;ll make good; you see if I don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was very earnest. The captain deliberated before answering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Stevie,&#8221; he said, doubtfully, &#8220;I rather like to hear
+      you talk that way; I own up it pleases me. But, as to your givin&#8217; up
+      college&mdash;that&#8217;s different. Let me think it over for a day or
+      two; that is, if you can put off the Maine trip so long as that.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hang the Maine trip! You let me get into business, the business I
+      want to get into, and I won&#8217;t ask for a vacation; you can bet on
+      that!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right then. I&#8217;ll think, and do some questionin&#8217;
+      around, and report soon&#8217;s I&#8217;ve decided what&#8217;s best.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>He
+      laid the stump of his cigar in the ash receiver and rose from his chair.
+      But his nephew had not finished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There was something else I intended to say,&#8221; he announced,
+      but with less eagerness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That so? What?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why&mdash;why, just this.&#8221; He fidgeted with his watch chain,
+      colored and was evidently uneasy. &#8220;I guess&mdash;&#8221; he
+      hesitated&mdash;&#8220;I guess that I haven&#8217;t treated you as I
+      ought.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I want to know! You guess that, hey? Why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, you know why. I&#8217;ve been thinking since I went back to New
+      Haven. I&#8217;ve had a chance to think. Some of the fellows in the set I
+      used to be thick with up there have learned that I&#8217;m broke, and they&mdash;they
+      aren&#8217;t as friendly as they were. Not all of them, of course, but
+      some. And I wouldn&#8217;t chase after them; not much! If they wanted to
+      drop me they could. You bet I didn&#8217;t try to hang on! I was pretty
+      sore for a while and kept to myself and&mdash;well, I did a lot of
+      thinking. I guess Caro is right; you&#8217;ve been mighty decent to her
+      and me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, but Captain Elisha made no comment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guess you have,&#8221; continued Stephen, soberly. &#8220;When
+      you first came, you know, Caroline and I couldn&#8217;t understand. We
+      thought you were butting in and weren&#8217;t our sort, and&mdash;and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And a hayseed nuisance generally; I know. Heave ahead, son; you
+      interest me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, we didn&#8217;t like it. And Mal Dunn and his mother were
+      always sympathizing and insinuating, and we believed they were our best
+      friends, and all that. So we didn&#8217;t try to understand you or&mdash;or
+      even make it livable for you. Then, after the news came that the<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> money
+      had gone, I acted like a kid, I guess. That business of making Mal stick
+      to the engagement was pretty silly. I was nearly desperate, you see, and&mdash;and&mdash;you
+      knew it was silly. You never took any stock in it, did you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not a heap,&#8221; he admitted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. All you wanted was to show them up. Well, you did it, and I&#8217;m
+      glad you did. But Caro and I have talked it over since I&#8217;ve been
+      home, and we agree that you&#8217;ve been a great deal better to us than
+      we deserve. You didn&#8217;t <i>have</i> to take care of us at all, any
+      more, after the money went. By gad! considering how we treated you, I don&#8217;t
+      see why you did. <i>I</i> wouldn&#8217;t. But you did&mdash;and you are.
+      You&#8217;ve given us a home, and you&#8217;re putting me through college
+      and&mdash;and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s all right, son. Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Just a minute. I&mdash;I&mdash;well, if you let me, I&#8217;d like
+      to thank you and&mdash;and ask your pardon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Granted, my boy. And never mind the thanks, either. Just keep on
+      thinkin&#8217; and actin&#8217; as you have to-night, and I&#8217;ll be
+      satisfied. I want to see my nephew makin&#8217; a man of himself&mdash;a
+      real man; and, Steve, you talk more like a man to-night than I&#8217;ve
+      ever heard you. Stick to it, and you&#8217;ll do yet. As for goin&#8217;
+      to work, you let me chew on that for a few days.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning he called on Sylvester, who in turn took him to a friend
+      of his, a broker&mdash;employing a good-sized staff of clerks. The three
+      had a consultation, followed, the day after, by another. That evening the
+      captain made a definite proposal to Stephen. It was, briefly, that, while
+      not consenting to the latter&#8217;s leaving college, he did consider that
+      a trial of the work in a broker&#8217;s office might be a good thing.
+      Therefore, if the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg
+      341]</a></span> young man wished, he could enter the employ of Sylvester&#8217;s
+      friend and remain during July and August.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;ll leave about the first of September, Steve,&#8221; he
+      said, &#8220;and that&#8217;ll give you time for the two weeks vacation
+      that you ought to have. Then you can go back to Yale and pitch in till the
+      next summer, when the same job&#8217;ll be ready for you. After you&#8217;re
+      through college for good, if what you&#8217;ve learned about brokerin&#8217;
+      ain&#8217;t cured you of your likin&#8217; for it&mdash;if you still want
+      to go ahead with it for your life job, then&mdash;well, then we&#8217;ll
+      see. What do you say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen had a good deal to say, principally in the line of objection to
+      continuing his studies. Finding these objections unavailing, he agreed to
+      his guardian&#8217;s proposition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right,&#8221; said the captain; &#8220;then you can go to work
+      next Monday. But you&#8217;ll <i>have</i> to work, and be just the same as
+      any other beginner, no better and no worse. There&#8217;ll be no
+      favoritism, and, if you&#8217;re really wuth your salt, you won&#8217;t
+      want any. Show &#8217;em, and me, that you&#8217;re wuth it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The novel, the wonderful tale which Captain Elisha was certain would make
+      its author famous, was finished that very day in June when Stephen came
+      back from New Haven. The question of title remained, and the &#8220;clinic,&#8221;
+      now re&euml;nforced by Steve&mdash;whose dislike for Pearson had
+      apparently vanished with others of his former likes and dislikes&mdash;considered
+      that at several sessions. At last &#8220;The Man at the Wheel&#8221; was
+      selected, as indicating something of the hero&#8217;s profession and
+      implying, perhaps, a hint of his character. Then came the fateful task of
+      securing a publisher. And the first to whom it was submitted&mdash;one of
+      the two firms which had already expressed a desire to read the manuscript&mdash;accepted<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> it,
+      at what, for a first novel, were very fair terms. During the summer there
+      was proof to be read and illustrations to be criticized. Captain Elisha
+      did not wholly approve of the artist&#8217;s productions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Jerushy!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;look at that mainmast! Look at
+      the rake of it! More like a yacht than a deep-water bark, she is enough
+      sight. And the fust mate&#8217;s got a uniform cap on, like a purser on a
+      steamboat. Make that artist feller take that cap off him, Jim. He&#8217;s
+      got to. I wish he could have seen some of my mates. They wa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      Cunarder dudes, but they could make a crew hop &#8217;round like a
+      sand-flea in a clam bake.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Or, when the picture happened to be a shore view:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What kind of a house is that? Did you ever see a house like that
+      Down-East? I&#8217;ll leave it to anybody if it don&#8217;t look like a
+      sugar man&#8217;s plantation I used to know down Mobile way. All that
+      feller standin&#8217; by the door needs is to have his face blacked; then
+      he&#8217;d start singin&#8217; &#8216;S&#8217;wanee River.&#8217; This ain&#8217;t
+      &#8216;Uncle Tom&#8217;s Cabin.&#8217; Bah!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The advance copy, the first one, was ready early in September, and the
+      author, of course, brought it immediately to his friends. They found the
+      dedication especially interesting: &#8220;To C. W. and E. W., consulting
+      specialists at the literary clinics, with grateful acknowledgments.&#8221;
+      Probably Captain Elisha was never prouder of anything, even his first
+      command, than of that dedication.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the story, when at last it appeared for sale, was almost from the
+      beginning a success. The reviewers praised it, the reading public&mdash;that
+      final court of appeal which makes or unmakes novels&mdash;took kindly to
+      it, and discussed and recommended it; and, most important of all, perhaps,
+      it sold and continued to sell. There was<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> something in it, its
+      humanity, its simplicity, its clearly marked characters, which made a hit.
+      Pearson no longer needed to seek publishers; they sought him. His short
+      stories were bid for by the magazines, and his prices climbed and climbed.
+      He found himself suddenly planted in the middle of the highway to
+      prosperity, with a clear road ahead of him, provided he continued to do
+      his best.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In September Stephen gave up his work at the broker&#8217;s office, spent
+      the weeks with his friends in Maine, and then returned to Yale. He gave up
+      the position on the Street with reluctance. He was sure he liked it now,
+      he declared. It was what he was fitted for, and he meant, more than ever,
+      to take it up permanently as soon as he was free. And his employer told
+      Captain Elisha that the youngster was bright, clever, and apt. &#8220;A
+      little conceited, needs taking down occasionally, but that is the only
+      trouble. He has been spoiled, I should imagine,&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup,&#8221; replied the captain, with emphasis; &#8220;your
+      imagination&#8217;s a good one. It don&#8217;t need cultivatin&#8217; any.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The novel being out of the way, and its successor not yet far enough
+      advanced in plot or general plan for much discussion, the &#8220;literary
+      clinics&#8221; were no longer as frequent. But Pearson&#8217;s visits to
+      the Warren house were not discontinued. All summer long he had been coming
+      out, once, and usually twice, a week. Captain Elisha had told him not to
+      stand on formality, to come any time, and he did. On most of these
+      occasions he found the captain at home; but, if only Caroline was there,
+      he seemed quite contented. She did not remark on the frequency of his
+      visits. In fact, she mentioned him less and less in conversation with her
+      uncle. But,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>
+      as the autumn came and moved towards its prime she seemed, to the captain&#8217;s
+      noticing eye, a trifle more grave, a little more desirous of being by
+      herself. Sometimes he found her sitting by the open fire&mdash;pleasant in
+      the cool October evenings&mdash;and gazing very soberly at the blaze. She
+      had been in good spirits, more merry and light-hearted than he had ever
+      seen her, during the latter part of the summer; now her old sadness seemed
+      to be returning. It would have troubled him, this change in her mood, if
+      he had not believed he knew the cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was planning a glorious Thanksgiving. At least, it would be glorious to
+      him, for he intended spending the day, and several days, at his own home
+      in South Denboro. Abbie Baker had made him promise to do it, and he had
+      agreed. He would not leave Caroline, of course; she was going with him.
+      Steve would be there, though he would not come until Thanksgiving Day
+      itself. Sylvester, also, would be of the party; he seemed delighted at the
+      opportunity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m curious to see the place where they raise fellows like
+      you,&#8221; the lawyer said. &#8220;It must be worth looking at.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Graves don&#8217;t think so,&#8221; chuckled the captain. &#8220;I
+      invited him, and he said, &#8216;No, thank you&#8217; so quick that the
+      words was all telescoped together. And he shivered, too, when he said it;
+      just as if he felt that sou&#8217;west gale whistlin&#8217; between his
+      bones even now. I told him I&#8217;d pretty nigh guarantee that no more
+      trees would fall on him, but it didn&#8217;t have any effect.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson was asked and had accepted. His going was so far a settled thing
+      that he had commissioned Captain Elisha to purchase a stateroom for him on
+      the Fall River boat; for of course the captain would not consider their
+      traveling the entire distance by train. At an interview<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> in
+      the young man&#8217;s room in the boarding house, only three days before
+      the date set for the start, he had been almost as enthusiastic as the Cape
+      Codder himself. The pair had planned several side excursions, time and
+      weather permitting, among them a trip across the Sound to Setuckit Point,
+      with the possibility of some late sea-fowl shooting and a long tramp to
+      one of the life-saving stations, where Pearson hoped to pick up material
+      for his new book. He was all anticipation and enthusiasm when the captain
+      left him, and said he would run out to the house the following day, to
+      make final arrangements.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That day Sylvester &#8217;phoned, asking Captain Elisha to come to his
+      office on a matter of business. When, having done so, the captain,
+      returning, alighted at his home station, he was surprised to see Pearson
+      standing on the platform.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, hello, Jim!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;What are you doing
+      here? Just come, have you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend shook his head. &#8220;No, Captain Warren,&#8221; he said;
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m just going.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Goin&#8217;? What for? Been up to the house, of course? Caroline
+      told you where I&#8217;d gone and that I was cal&#8217;latin&#8217; to
+      hurry back, didn&#8217;t she?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, then, course you ain&#8217;t goin&#8217;! You&#8217;re goin&#8217;
+      to stay to dinner. I&#8217;ve got some things to tell you about that
+      life-savin&#8217; station cruise. I&#8217;ve been thinkin&#8217; that I
+      know the cap&#8217;n and most of the crew on the lightship off back of the
+      Point. How&#8217;d you like to go aboard of her? You could get some yarns
+      from those fellers that might be wuth hearin&#8217;.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I have no doubt I should. But I&#8217;m afraid I can&#8217;t go.
+      The fact is, Captain, I&#8217;ve decided not to spend Thanksgiving with
+      you, after all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>&#8220;Hey?&#8221;
+      Captain Elisha could scarcely believe he had heard correctly. &#8220;You
+      can&#8217;t go&mdash;to South Denboro?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why not, for the land sakes?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, I&#8217;ve decided&mdash;I&#8217;ve decided not to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But, Jim! Why, I can&#8217;t have it so! I&#8217;m dreadful
+      disappointed. I&#8217;ve counted on your goin&#8217;. So has Abbie. She&#8217;s
+      read your book, and she says she&#8217;s crazy to see the feller that
+      wrote it. She&#8217;s told the minister and a whole lot more, and they&#8217;re
+      all comin&#8217; in to look at you. &#8217;Tain&#8217;t often we have a
+      celebrated character in our town. You&#8217;ve <i>got</i> to go.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the invitation and your kindness,
+      but,&#8221; with decision, &#8220;I can&#8217;t accept.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Can&#8217;t you come later? Say Thanksgivin&#8217; mornin&#8217;?
+      Or even the day after?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But why not? What&#8217;s the matter with you all of a sudden? Come
+      here! let me look at you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took the young man by the arm and led him, almost by main strength,
+      close to the lighted window of the station. It was late, and the afternoon
+      was gloomy. Here, by the lamplight streaming through the window, he could
+      see his face more clearly. He looked at it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph!&#8221; he grunted, after a moment&#8217;s scrutiny. &#8220;You&#8217;ve
+      made up your mind; I can see that. Have you told Caroline? Does she know?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. You&#8217;ll have to excuse me, Captain Warren; my train is
+      coming.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What did she say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pearson smiled, but there was little mirth in the smile. &#8220;I think
+      she agrees with me that it is best,&#8221; he observed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! She does, hey? I want to know! Look here, Jim! have you and
+      she&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>He
+      got no further, for Pearson broke away, and, with a hurried &#8220;Good
+      night,&#8221; strode up the platform to meet the city-bound train. Captain
+      Elisha watched it go and then walked slowly homeward, his hands in his
+      pockets, troubled and wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the house by the back door, a remnant of South Denboro habit,
+      and found Annie in the kitchen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Where&#8217;s Caroline?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;She&#8217;s in the living room, sir, I think. Mr. Pearson has been
+      here and just gone.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm. So I heard. Say, Annie, you needn&#8217;t hurry dinner; I
+      ain&#8217;t ready for it yet awhile.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hung his coat and hat in the back hall and quietly entered the living
+      room. The lamp was not lighted, and the room was dark, but he saw his
+      niece, a shadowy figure, seated by the window. He crossed to her side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, Caroline,&#8221; he said, cheerfully, &#8220;I&#8217;m home
+      again.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned. &#8220;I see you are,&#8221; she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Humph! your eyes must be better than mine then. I can&#8217;t see
+      anything in here. It&#8217;s darker than a nigger&#8217;s pocket. Suppose
+      we turn on the glim.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He struck a match as he said it. By its light he saw her face. The match
+      burned down to his finger tips and then he extinguished it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know but the dark is just as good and more
+      economical,&#8221; he observed. &#8220;No use of encouragin&#8217; the
+      graspin&#8217; ile trust unless it&#8217;s necessary. Let&#8217;s you and
+      me sit here in the dark and talk. No objection to talkin&#8217; to your
+      back country relation, have you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s good. Well, Caroline, I&#8217;m goin&#8217; to talk
+      plain again. You can order me to close my hatch any time<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> you
+      feel like it; that&#8217;s skipper&#8217;s privilege, and you&#8217;re
+      boss of this craft, you know. Dearie, I just met Jim Pearson. He tells me
+      he&#8217;s decided not to go on this Cape cruise of ours. He said you
+      agreed with him &#8217;twas best he shouldn&#8217;t go. Do you mind tellin&#8217;
+      me why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not answer. He waited a minute and then continued.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Course, I know I ain&#8217;t got any real right to ask,&#8221; he
+      went on; &#8220;but I think more of you and Jim than I do of anybody else,
+      and so maybe you&#8217;ll excuse me. Have you and he had a fallin&#8217;
+      out?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still she was silent. He sighed. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;I
+      see you have, and I don&#8217;t blame you for not wantin&#8217; to talk
+      about it. I&#8217;m awful sorry. I&#8217;d begun to hope that.... However,
+      we&#8217;ll change the subject. Or we won&#8217;t talk at all, if you&#8217;d
+      rather not.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another pause. Then she laid her hand on his.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Uncle,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you know I always want to talk to
+      you. And, as for the right to ask, you have the right to ask anything of
+      me at any time. And I should have told you, of my own accord, by and by.
+      Mr. Pearson and I have not quarreled; but I think&mdash;I think it best
+      that I should not see him again.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You do? Not see him&mdash;any more&mdash;at all? Why, Caroline!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not for a long, long time, at least. It would only make it harder&mdash;for
+      him; and it&#8217;s of no use.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha sighed again. &#8220;I guess I understand, Caroline. I
+      presume likely I do. He&mdash;he asked somethin&#8217; of you&mdash;and
+      you couldn&#8217;t say yes to him. That was it, I suppose. Needn&#8217;t
+      tell me unless you really want to, you understand,&#8221; he added,
+      hastily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But I do. I ought to tell you. I should have told you before, and
+      perhaps, if I had, he would not have<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> ... Uncle Elisha, Mr.
+      Pearson asked me to be his wife.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain gave no evidence of surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he replied, gravely, &#8220;I judged that was it. And
+      you told him you couldn&#8217;t, I suppose. Well, dearie, that&#8217;s a
+      question nobody ought to answer but the one. She&#8217;s the only one that
+      knows what that answer should be, and, when other folks interfere and try
+      to influence, it generally means trouble. I&#8217;m kind of disappointed;
+      I&#8217;ll own up to that. I think Jim is a fine, honest, able young man,
+      and he&#8217;d make a good husband, I&#8217;m sure. And, so far as his
+      business, or profession, or whatever you call it, goes, he&#8217;s doin&#8217;
+      pretty well and sartin to do better. Of course, &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      that that kept you from&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Uncle Elisha! Am <i>I</i> so rich that I should&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;There! there, my girl! I know &#8217;twa&#8217;n&#8217;t that, of
+      course. I was only thinkin&#8217; out loud, that&#8217;s all&mdash;tryin&#8217;
+      to find reasons. You didn&#8217;t care for him enough, I suppose.
+      Caroline, you don&#8217;t care for anybody else, do you? You don&#8217;t
+      still care for that other feller, that&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Uncle!&#8221; she sprang up, hurt and indignant. &#8220;How can
+      you?&#8221; she cried. &#8220;How could you ask that? What must you think
+      of me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Please, Caroline,&#8221; he protested; &#8220;please don&#8217;t. I
+      beg your pardon. I was a fool! I knew better. Don&#8217;t go. Tell me the
+      real reason. Sit down again and let&#8217;s talk this out. Do sit down!
+      that&#8217;s it. Now tell me; was it that you couldn&#8217;t care for Jim
+      enough?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Was it?&#8221; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I like Mr. Pearson very much. I respect and admire him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But you don&#8217;t love him. I see. Well,&#8221; sadly,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>
+      &#8220;there&#8217;s another one of my dreams gone to smash. However, you
+      did just right, dearie. Feelin&#8217; that way, you couldn&#8217;t marry
+      him, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He would have risen now, and she detained him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That was not the reason,&#8221; she said, in a low tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hey?&#8221; he bent toward her. &#8220;What?&#8221; he cried.
+      &#8220;That wa&#8217;n&#8217;t the reason, you say? You do care for him?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Do you?&#8221; he repeated, gently. &#8220;And yet you sent him
+      away. Why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She faltered, tried to speak, and then turned away. He put his arm about
+      her and stroked her hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t you cry, dearie,&#8221; he begged. &#8220;I won&#8217;t
+      bother you any more. You can tell me some other time&mdash;if you want to.
+      Or you needn&#8217;t tell me at all. It&#8217;s all right; only don&#8217;t
+      cry. &#8217;Cause if you do,&#8221; with sudden determination, &#8220;I
+      shall cry, too; and, bein&#8217; as I ain&#8217;t used to the exercise, I
+      may raise such a row that Annie&#8217;ll send for the constable. You
+      wouldn&#8217;t want that to happen, I know.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This unexpected announcement had the desired effect; Caroline laughed
+      hysterically and freed herself from his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I mustn&#8217;t be so silly,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I had made up
+      my mind to tell you everything, and I shall. My not caring for Mr. Pearson
+      was not my reason for refusing him. The reasons were two&mdash;you and
+      Steve.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Me and Steve? What in the world have we got to do with it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Everything. He would marry me, poor as I am; and perhaps I&mdash;perhaps
+      I should say yes if things were different. Oh, there is no use my
+      deceiving you, or trying to deceive myself! I know I should say yes, and<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> be
+      very, very happy. But I can&#8217;t! and I won&#8217;t! I <i>won&#8217;t</i>!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But why? And where, for mercy&#8217;s sake, do Steve and I come in?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Uncle Elisha, I suppose you think I have been perfectly satisfied
+      to let you take care of me and of my brother, and give us a home and all
+      that we needed and more. No doubt you thought me selfish enough to be
+      contented with that and go on as I am&mdash;as we are&mdash;living on your
+      bounty. You had reason to think so. But I have not been contented with
+      that, nor has Steve. He and I have made our plans, and we shall carry them
+      out. He will leave college in two years and go to work in earnest. Before
+      that time I shall be ready to teach. I have been studying with just that
+      idea in view.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Good land! Why, no, you ain&#8217;t! You&#8217;ve been studyin&#8217;
+      to help me and Annie run this house.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That was only part of it&mdash;the smallest part. I haven&#8217;t
+      told you before, Uncle, but one of the Domestic Science teachers at the
+      University is a girl I used to know slightly. She is going to be married
+      next year, and, if all goes well, I may be appointed to her position when
+      she leaves. I have a conditional promise already. If I am, why, then, you
+      see, I shall really be earning my own living; you will not have to give up
+      your own home and all your interests there to make me comfortable: you can&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Here! here!&#8221; Captain Elisha put in, desperately; &#8220;don&#8217;t
+      talk so ridiculous, Caroline. I ain&#8217;t givin&#8217; up anything. I
+      never was more happy than I&#8217;ve been right here with you this summer.
+      I&#8217;m satisfied.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know, but I am not. And neither is Steve. He and I have planned
+      it all. His salary at first will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352"
+      id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> small, and so will mine. But together we
+      can earn enough to live somehow and, later on, when he earns more, perhaps
+      we may be able to repay a little of all that you have given us. We shall
+      try. <i>I</i> shall insist upon it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline Warren, is <i>that</i> the reason you sent Jim away? Did
+      you tell him that? Did you tell him you wouldn&#8217;t marry him on
+      account of me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, of course I did not,&#8221; indignantly. &#8220;I told him&mdash;I
+      said I must not think of marriage; it was impossible. And it is! You <i>know</i>
+      it is, Uncle Elisha!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t know any such thing. If you want to make me happy,
+      Caroline, you couldn&#8217;t find a better way than to be Jim Pearson&#8217;s
+      wife. And you would be happy, too; you said so.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But I am not thinking of happiness. It is my duty&mdash;to you and
+      to my own self-respect. And not only that, but to Steve. Someone must
+      provide a home for him. Neither he nor I will permit you to do it a day
+      longer than is necessary. I am his sister and I shall not leave him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But you won&#8217;t have to leave him. Steve&#8217;s future&#8217;s
+      all fixed. I&#8217;ve provided for Steve.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What do you mean?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What I say.&#8221; The captain was very much excited and, for once,
+      completely off his guard. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had plans for Steve all along.
+      He&#8217;s doin&#8217; fust-rate in that broker&#8217;s office, learnin&#8217;
+      the trade. Next summer he&#8217;ll have another whack at it and learn
+      more. When he&#8217;s out of college I&#8217;m goin&#8217; to turn over
+      your dad&#8217;s seat on the Stock Exchange to him. Not give it to him,
+      you know&mdash;not right off&mdash;but let him try; and then, if he makes
+      a good fist at it, he&#8217;ll have it permanent. Steve&#8217;s got the
+      best chance in the world. He couldn&#8217;t ask much better,<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> seems
+      to me. You ain&#8217;t got to fret yourself about Steve.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, almost out of breath. He had been speaking rapidly so as to
+      prevent interruption. Caroline&#8217;s astonishment was too great for
+      words, just then. Her uncle anxiously awaited her reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You see, don&#8217;t you?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;You understand.
+      Steve&#8217;s goin&#8217; to have the chance to make a good livin&#8217;
+      at the very thing he declares he&#8217;s set on doin&#8217;. I ain&#8217;t
+      told him, and I don&#8217;t want you to, but it&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve
+      planned for him and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wait! wait, Uncle, please! The Stock Exchange seat? Father&#8217;s
+      seat? I don&#8217;t see.... I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes!&#8221; eagerly; &#8220;your pa&#8217;s seat. I&#8217;ve
+      meant it for Steve. There&#8217;s been chances enough to sell it, but I
+      wouldn&#8217;t do that. &#8217;Twas for him, Caroline; and he&#8217;s goin&#8217;
+      to have it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But I don&#8217;t see how.... Why, I thought&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door of the dining room opened. Annie appeared on the threshold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Dinner is served,&#8221; she announced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Be right there, Annie. Now you see that you ain&#8217;t got to
+      worry about Steve, don&#8217;t you, Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece did not answer. By the light from the doorway he saw that she
+      was gazing at him with a strange expression. She looked as if she was
+      about to ask another question. He waited, but she did not ask it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, rising, &#8220;we won&#8217;t talk any more
+      just now. Annie&#8217;s soup&#8217;s gettin&#8217; cold, and she&#8217;ll
+      be in our wool if we don&#8217;t have dinner. Afterwards we can have
+      another session. Come, Caroline.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She also rose, but hesitated. &#8220;Uncle Elisha,&#8221; she said,
+      &#8220;will you excuse me if I don&#8217;t talk any more to-night?<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> And,
+      if you don&#8217;t mind, I won&#8217;t dine with you. I&#8217;m not hungry
+      and&mdash;and my head aches. I&#8217;ll go to my room, I think.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; he said, hastily, &#8220;of course. I&#8217;m
+      afraid I&#8217;ve talked too much as &#8217;tis. You go up and lie down,
+      and Annie can fetch you some toast and tea or somethin&#8217; by and by.
+      But do just answer me this, Caroline, if you can: When you told Jim
+      marryin&#8217; was out of the question for you, did he take that as final?
+      Was he contented with that? Didn&#8217;t he say he was willin&#8217; to
+      wait for you, or anything?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, he said he would wait, always. But I told him he must not. And
+      I told him he must go and not see me again. I couldn&#8217;t see him as I
+      have been doing; Uncle, I couldn&#8217;t!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I know, dearie, I know. But didn&#8217;t you say anything more?
+      Didn&#8217;t you give him <i>any</i> hope?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I said,&#8221; she hesitated, and added in a whisper, &#8220;I said
+      if I should ever need him or&mdash;or change my mind, I would send for
+      him. I shouldn&#8217;t have said it. It was weak and wicked of me, but I
+      said it. Please let me go now, Uncle dear. Good night.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She kissed him and hurried away. He ate his lonely dinner absent-mindedly
+      and with little appetite. After it was finished he sat in the living room,
+      the lamp still unlighted, smoking and thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in her chamber Caroline, too, sat thinking&mdash;not altogether of the
+      man she loved and who loved her. She thought of him, of course; but there
+      was something else, an idea, a suspicion, which over and over again she
+      dismissed as an utter impossibility, but which returned as often.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Stock Exchange seat had been a part of her father&#8217;s estate, a
+      part of her own and Steve&#8217;s inheritance.<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> Sylvester had told her
+      so, distinctly. And such a seat was valuable; she remembered her brother
+      reading in the paper that one had recently sold for ninety thousand
+      dollars. How could Captain Warren have retained such a costly part of the
+      forfeited estate in his possession? For it was in his possession; he was
+      going to give it to her brother when the latter left college. But how
+      could he have obtained it? Not by purchase; for, as she knew, he was not
+      worth half of ninety thousand dollars. Surely the creditor, the man who
+      had, as was his right, seized all Rodgers Warren&#8217;s effects, would
+      not have left that and taken the rest. Not unless he was a curiously
+      philanthropic and eccentric person. Who was he? Who was this mysterious
+      man her father had defrauded? She had never wished to know before; now she
+      did. And the more she pondered, the more plausible her suspicion became.
+      It was almost incredible, it seemed preposterous; but, as she went back,
+      in memory, over the events since her father&#8217;s death and the
+      disclosure of his astonishing will, little bits of evidence, little
+      happenings and details came to light, trifles in themselves, but all
+      fitting in together, like pieces of an inscription in mosaic, to spell the
+      truth.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      CHAPTER XXII
+    </h3>
+    <p class="n">
+      <span
+      style="float:left;font-size:40px;line-height:25px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">N</span>ovember
+      weather on Cape Cod is what Captain Elisha described as &#8220;considerable
+      chancey.&#8221; &#8220;The feller that can guess it two days ahead of
+      time,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;is wastin&#8217; his talents; he could
+      make a livin&#8217; prophesyin&#8217; most anything, even the market price
+      of cranberries.&#8221; When Caroline, Sylvester, and the captain reached
+      South Denboro after what seemed, to the two unused to the leisurely winter
+      schedule of the railroad, an interminable journey from Fall River, the
+      girl thought she had never seen a more gloomy sky or a more forbidding
+      scene. Gray clouds, gray sea, brown bare fields; the village of white or
+      gray-shingled houses set, for the most part, along the winding main
+      street; the elms and silver-leaf poplars waving bare branches in the
+      cutting wind; a picture of the fag end of loneliness and desolation, so it
+      looked to her. She remembered Mr. Graves&#8217;s opinion of the place, as
+      jokingly reported by Sylvester, and she sympathized with the dignified
+      junior partner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But she kept her feelings hidden on her uncle&#8217;s account. The captain
+      was probably the happiest individual in the state of Massachusetts that
+      morning. He hailed the train&#8217;s approach to Sandwich as the entrance
+      to Ostable County, the promised land, and, from that station on, excitedly
+      pointed out familiar landmarks and bits of scenery and buildings with the
+      gusto and enthusiasm of a school boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8217;s Ostable court-house,&#8221; he cried, pointing.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>
+      &#8220;And see&mdash;see that red-roofed house right over there, just past
+      that white church? That&#8217;s where Judge Baxter lives; a mighty good
+      friend of mine, the Judge is. I stopped to his house to dinner the night
+      Graves came.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little further on he added, &#8220;&#8217;Twas about here that I spoke
+      to Graves fust. I noticed him sittin&#8217; right across the aisle from
+      me, with a face on him sour as a sasser of green tamarind preserves, and I
+      thought I&#8217;d be sociable. &#8216;Tough night,&#8217; I says. &#8216;Umph,&#8217;
+      says he. &#8217;Twa&#8217;n&#8217;t a remark cal&#8217;lated to encourage
+      conversation, so I didn&#8217;t try again&mdash;not till his umbrella
+      turned inside out on the Denboro platform. Ho! ho! I wish you&#8217;d have
+      seen his face <i>then</i>.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At Denboro he pointed out Pete Shattuck&#8217;s livery stable, where the
+      horse and buggy came from which had been the means of transporting Graves
+      and himself to South Denboro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;See!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;See that feller holdin&#8217; up the
+      corner of the depot with his back! the one that&#8217;s so broad in the
+      beam he has to draw in his breath afore he can button his coat. That&#8217;s
+      Pete. You&#8217;d think he was too sleepy to care whether &#8217;twas
+      to-day or next week, wouldn&#8217;t you? Well, if you was a summer boarder
+      and wanted to hire a team, you&#8217;d find Pete was awake and got up
+      early. If a ten-cent piece fell off the shelf in the middle of the night
+      he&#8217;d hear it, though I&#8217;ve known him to sleep while the
+      minister&#8217;s barn burned down. The parson had been preachin&#8217;
+      against horse-tradin&#8217;; maybe that sermon was responsible for some of
+      the morphine influence.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester was enjoying himself hugely. Captain Elisha&#8217;s exuberant
+      comments were great fun for him. &#8220;This is what I came for,&#8221; he
+      confided to Caroline. &#8220;I don&#8217;t care if it rains or snows. I
+      could sit and listen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg
+      358]</a></span> to your uncle for a year and never tire. He&#8217;s a
+      wonder. And I&#8217;m crazy to see that housekeeper of his. If she lives
+      up to her reputation there&#8217;ll be no disappointment in my
+      Thanksgiving celebration.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dan, the captain&#8217;s hired man, met them with the carriage at the
+      station, and Miss Baker met them at the door of the Warren home. The
+      exterior of the big, old-fashioned, rambling house was inviting and
+      homelike, in spite of the gloomy weather, and Caroline cheered up a bit
+      when they turned in at the gate. Five minutes of Miss Abigail&#8217;s
+      society, and all gloom disappeared. One could not be gloomy where Miss
+      Abbie was. Her smile of welcome was so broad that, as her employer said,
+      &#8220;it took in all outdoor and some of Punkhorn Neck,&#8221; a place
+      which, he hastened to add, &#8220;was forgot durin&#8217; creation and has
+      sort of happened of itself since.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Abbie conducted Caroline to her room&mdash;old-fashioned, like the rest of
+      the house, but cozy, warm, and cheery&mdash;and, after helping in the
+      removal of her wraps, seized her by both hands and took a long look at her
+      face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You&#8217;ll excuse my bein&#8217; so familiar on short
+      acquaintance, dearie,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I&#8217;ve heard so much
+      about you that I feel&#8217;s if I knew you like own folks. And you are
+      own folks, ain&#8217;t you? Course you are! Everyone of &#8217;Lisha&#8217;s
+      letters have had four pages of you to one of anything else. I begun to
+      think New York was nothin&#8217; but you and a whole lot of ten-story
+      houses. He thinks so much of you that I&#8217;d be jealous, if I had that
+      kind of disposition and the time to spare. So I must have a good look at
+      you.... I declare! you&#8217;re almost prettier than he said. May I kiss
+      you? I&#8217;d like to.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did, and they were friends at once.
+    </p>
+    <div class="figcenter" style="width: 289px;">
+      <img src="images/i358.jpg" class="smallgap" width="289" height="500"
+      alt="&#8220;&#8216;I declare! you&#8217;re almost prettier than he said. May I kiss you?&#8217;&#8221;"
+      title="" /> <span class="caption">&#8220;&#8216;I declare! you&#8217;re
+      almost prettier than he said. May I kiss you?&#8217;&#8221;</span>
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>The
+      rest of that day and evening were busy times. Captain Elisha showed his
+      visitors about the place, the barn, the cows, the pigpen&mdash;the pig
+      himself had gone to fulfill the unhappy destiny of pigs, but they would
+      meet him by sections later on, so the captain assured them. The house and
+      buildings were spotless in paint and whitewash; the yard was raked clean
+      of every dead leaf and twig; the whole establishment was so neat that
+      Caroline remarked upon it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It looks as if it had been scoured,&#8221; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Um-hm,&#8221; observed her uncle, with a gratified nod; &#8220;that&#8217;s
+      Abbie. She hates dirt worse than she does laziness, and that ain&#8217;t
+      sayin&#8217; a little. I tell her she&#8217;d sand-soap the weather vane
+      if she could climb up to it; as &#8217;tis, she stays below and
+      superintends Dan while he does it. If godliness wants to stay next to
+      cleanliness when she&#8217;s around it has to keep on the jump. I always
+      buy shirts two degrees heavier&#8217;n I need, &#8217;cause I know she&#8217;ll
+      have &#8217;em scrubbed thin in a fortni&#8217;t. When it comes to <i>real</i>
+      Domestic Science, Caroline, Abbie ain&#8217;t in the back row of the
+      primer class, now I tell you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Baker had planned that her young guest should sit in state, with
+      folded hands, in the parlor. She seemed to consider that the proper
+      conduct for a former member of New York&#8217;s best society. She was
+      shocked when the girl volunteered to help her about the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Course I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t let you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The
+      idea&mdash;and you company! Got more help than I know what to do with, as
+      &#8217;tis. &#8217;Lisha was determined that I should hire a girl to wash
+      dishes and things while you was here. Nothin&#8217; would do but that. So
+      I got Annabel Haven&#8217;s daughter, Etta G. There&#8217;s fourteen in
+      that family, and the land knows &#8217;twas an act of charity takin&#8217;
+      one appetite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>
+      out of the house. Pay her fifty cents a day, I do, and she&#8217;s out in
+      the kitchen makin&#8217; believe wash windows. They don&#8217;t need
+      washin&#8217;, but she was lookin&#8217; out of &#8217;em most of the
+      time, so I thought she might as well combine business with pleasure.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Caroline refused to sit in the parlor and be &#8220;company.&#8221;
+      She insisted upon helping. Miss Baker protested and declared there was
+      nothing on earth to be done; but her guest insisted that, if there was
+      not, she herself must sit. As Abbie would have as soon thought of
+      attending church without wearing her jet earrings as she would of sitting
+      down before dinner, she gave in, after a while, and permitted Caroline to
+      help in arranging the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why, you do fust-rate!&#8221; she exclaimed, in surprise. &#8220;You
+      know where everything ought to go, just as if you&#8217;d been settin&#8217;
+      table all your life. And you ain&#8217;t, because &#8217;Lisha wrote you
+      used to keep hired help, two or three of &#8217;em, all the time.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ve been studying housekeeping for almost a year,&#8221; she
+      said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Studyin&#8217; it! Why, yes, now I remember &#8217;Lisha wrote you&#8217;d
+      been studyin&#8217; some kind of science at college. &#8217;Twa&#8217;n&#8217;t
+      settin&#8217; table science, I guess, though. Ha! ha!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That was part of it.&#8221; She explained the course briefly.
+      Abigail listened in amazement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And they teach that&mdash;at school?&#8221; she demanded. &#8220;And
+      take money for it? And call it <i>science</i>? My land! I guess I was
+      brought up in a scientific household, then. I was the only girl in the
+      family, and mother died when I was ten years old.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner she consented to sit for a time, though<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> not until she had donned
+      her Sunday best, earrings and all. Captain Elisha and Sylvester sat with
+      them, and the big fireplace in the sitting room blazed and roared as it
+      had not since its owner left for his long sojourn in the city. In the
+      evening callers came, the Congregational minister and his wife, and some
+      of the neighbors. The latter were pleasant country people, another retired
+      sea captain among them, and they all seemed to have great respect and
+      liking for Captain Elisha and to be very glad to welcome him home. The two
+      captains spun salt water yarns, and the lawyer again decided that he was
+      getting just what he had come for. They left a little after nine, and
+      Caroline said good night and went to her room. She was tired, mentally and
+      physically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But she did not fall asleep at once. Her mind was still busy with the
+      suspicion which her uncle&#8217;s words concerning his future plans for
+      Steve had aroused. She had thought of little else since she heard them.
+      The captain did not mention the subject again; possibly, on reflection, he
+      decided that he had already said too much. And she asked no more
+      questions. She determined not to question him&mdash;yet. She must think
+      first, and then ask someone else&mdash;Sylvester. He knew the truth and,
+      if taken by surprise, might be driven into confession, if there should be
+      anything to confess. She was waiting for an opportunity to be alone with
+      him, and that opportunity had not yet presented itself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain would have spoken further with her concerning James Pearson.
+      He was eager to do that. But her mind was made up; she had sent her lover
+      away, and it was best for both. She must forget him, if she could. So,
+      when her uncle would have spoken on that subject, she begged him not to;
+      and he, respecting her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362"
+      id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> feelings and believing that to urge
+      would be bad policy, refrained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But to forget, she found, was an impossibility. In the excitement of the
+      journey and the arrival amid new surroundings, she had managed to keep up
+      a show of good spirits, but now alone once more, with the wind singing
+      mournfully about the gables and rattling the windows, she was sad and so
+      lonely. She thought what her life had once promised to be and what it had
+      become. She did not regret the old life, that life she had known before
+      her father died; she had been happy in it while he lived, but miserable
+      after his death. As for happiness, she had been happy that summer, happy
+      with her uncle and with&mdash;him. And with him now, even though they
+      would be poor, as she was used to reckoning poverty, she knew she could be
+      very happy. She wondered what he was doing then; if he was thinking of
+      her. She ought to hope that he was not, because it was useless; but she
+      wished that he might be, nevertheless. Then she told herself that all this
+      was wicked; she had made up her mind; she must be true to the task she had
+      set, duty to her brother and uncle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her uncle! why had her uncle done all this for her? And why had her father
+      made him their guardian? These were old questions, but now she asked them
+      with a new significance. If that strange suspicion of hers was true it
+      would explain so much; it would explain almost everything. But it could
+      not be true; if it was, why had he not told her when the discovery of her
+      father&#8217;s dishonesty and of the note forfeiting the estate was made?
+      Why had he not told her then? That was what troubled her most. It did not
+      seem like him to do such a thing&mdash;not like his character at all.
+      Therefore, it could not be true. Yet she must know. She<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>
+      resolved to question Sylvester the next day, if possible. And, so
+      resolving, she at last fell asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her opportunity came the following morning, the day before Thanksgiving.
+      After breakfast Captain Elisha went downtown to call on some
+      acquaintances. He invited Caroline and the lawyer to accompany him, but
+      they refused, the latter because he judged his, a stranger&#8217;s,
+      presence during the calls would be something of a hindrance to good
+      fellowship and the discussion of town affairs which the captain was
+      counting on, and Caroline because she saw her chance for the interview she
+      so much desired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the captain had gone, Sylvester sat down before the fire in the
+      sitting room to read the Boston <i>Transcript</i>. As he sat there,
+      Caroline entered and closed the door behind her. Miss Abigail was in the
+      kitchen, busy with preparations for the morrow&#8217;s plum pudding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl took the chair next that occupied by the lawyer. He put down his
+      paper and turned to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he asked, &#8220;how does this Cape Cod air effect
+      your appetite, Caroline? I&#8217;m ashamed of mine. I&#8217;m rather glad
+      to-morrow is Thanksgiving; on that day, I believe, it is permissible, even
+      commendable, to eat three times more than a self-respecting person
+      ordinarily should.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She smiled, but her answer was in the form of another question, and quite
+      irrelevant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Sylvester,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I wish you would tell me
+      something about the value of a seat on the Stock Exchange. What is the
+      price of one?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer looked at her in surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The value of a seat on the Stock Exchange?&#8221; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes; what does it cost to buy one?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>He
+      hesitated, wondering why she should be interested in that subject. Captain
+      Elisha had not told him a word of the interview following Pearson&#8217;s
+      last visit. He wondered, and then surmised a reason&mdash;Stephen, of
+      course. Steve&#8217;s ambition was to be a broker, and his sister was,
+      doubtless, with sisterly solicitude and feminine ignorance of high prices,
+      planning for his future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well,&#8221; he replied, smiling, &#8220;they&#8217;re pretty
+      expensive, I&#8217;m afraid, Caroline.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Are they?&#8221; innocently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. I think the last sale was at a figure between ninety and one
+      hundred thousand dollars.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Indeed! Was father&#8217;s seat worth as much as that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But,&#8221; with a sigh, &#8220;that, I suppose, went with the rest
+      of the estate.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Into the hands of the man who took it all?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes; the same hands,&#8221; with a sly smile at his own private
+      joke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Then how does it happen that my uncle has it in his possession?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer smiled no more. He turned in his chair and gazed quickly and
+      keenly at the young lady beside him. And her gaze was just as keen as his
+      own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What did you say?&#8221; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I asked you how it happened that my uncle now has father&#8217;s
+      Stock Exchange seat in his possession.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Why!... Has he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. And I think you know he has, Mr. Sylvester. I know it, because
+      he told me so himself. <i>Didn&#8217;t</i> you know it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a line shot from directly in front and a<span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> hard one to dodge. A lie
+      was the only guard, and he was not in the habit of lying, even
+      professionally.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&mdash;I cannot answer these questions,&#8221; he declared.
+      &#8220;They involve professional secrets and&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I don&#8217;t see that this is a secret. My uncle has already told
+      me. What I could not understand was how he obtained the seat from the man
+      to whom it was given as a part of father&#8217;s debt. Do you know how he
+      obtained it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Er&mdash;well&mdash;er&mdash;probably an arrangement was made. I
+      cannot go into details, because&mdash;well, for obvious reasons. You must
+      excuse me, Caroline.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;One moment more,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and one more question. Mr.
+      Sylvester, who <i>is</i> this mysterious person&mdash;this stockholder
+      whom father defrauded, this person who wishes his name kept a secret, but
+      who does such queer things? Who is he?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, I tell you I cannot answer these questions. He does wish
+      to remain unknown, as I told you and your brother when we first learned of
+      him and his claim. If I were to tell you I should break my faith with
+      him.... You must excuse me; you really must.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Mr. Sylvester, perhaps you don&#8217;t need to tell me. Perhaps I
+      can guess. Isn&#8217;t he my&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, I cannot&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;<i>Isn&#8217;t he my uncle, Elisha Warren?</i>&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester was half way to the door, but she was in his path and looking
+      him directly in the face. He hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I thought so,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You needn&#8217;t answer, Mr.
+      Sylvester; your face is answer enough. He is.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned away, and, walking slowly to the chair from which she had
+      arisen, sank into it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>&#8220;He
+      is,&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;I knew it. I wonder that I didn&#8217;t
+      know it from the very first. How could I have been so blind!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer, nervous, chagrined, and greatly troubled, remained standing by
+      the door. He did not know whether to go or stay. He took his handkerchief
+      from his pocket and wiped his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Whew!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Well, by&mdash;<i>George</i>!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She paid no attention to him, but went on, speaking, apparently, to
+      herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It explains everything,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He was father&#8217;s
+      brother; and father, in some way, took and used his money. But father knew
+      what sort of man he was, and so he asked him to be our guardian. Father
+      thought he would be kind to us, I suppose. And he has been kind&mdash;he
+      has. But why did he keep it a secret? Why did he.... I don&#8217;t
+      understand that. Of course the money was his; all we had was his, by
+      right. But to say nothing ... and to let us believe.... It does not seem
+      like him at all. It....&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester interrupted quickly. &#8220;Caroline! Caroline!&#8221; he said,
+      &#8220;don&#8217;t make any mistake. Don&#8217;t misjudge your uncle
+      again. He is a good man; one of the best men I ever knew. Yes, and one of
+      the wisest. Don&#8217;t say or think anything for which you may be sorry.
+      I am speaking as your friend.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned toward him once more, the distressed, puzzled look still on her
+      face. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; she cried. &#8220;He....
+      Oh, Mr. Sylvester, please, now that I do know&mdash;now that you have told
+      me so much&mdash;won&#8217;t you tell me the rest; the reason and&mdash;all
+      of it? Please!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer shook his head, regarding her with an expression of annoyance
+      and reluctant admiration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>&#8220;Now
+      that <i>I&#8217;ve</i> told you!&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+      remember that I&#8217;ve told you anything.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But you have. Not in words, perhaps, but you have told me. I know.
+      Please go on and tell me all. If you don&#8217;t,&#8221; with
+      determination, &#8220;I shall make Uncle Elisha tell me as soon as he
+      comes. I shall!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester sighed. &#8220;Well, by George!&#8221; he repeated, feelingly.
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you one thing, young woman, you&#8217;re wasting
+      your talents. You should be a member of the bar. Anyone who can lead a
+      battle-scarred veteran of cross-examination like myself into a trap and
+      then spring it on him, as you have done, is gifted by Providence.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But will you tell me?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated, perplexed and doubtful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I ought not to say another word on the subject,&#8221; he declared,
+      emphatically. &#8220;What Captain Warren will say to me when he finds this
+      out is unpleasant to consider. But.... But yet, I don&#8217;t know. It may
+      be better for you to learn the real truth than to know a part and guess
+      wrongly at the rest. I.... What is it you want me to tell you?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Everything. I want you to sit down here by me and tell me the whole
+      story, from the beginning. Please.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated a moment longer and, then, his mind made up, returned to his
+      chair, crossed his legs and began. &#8220;Here it is,&#8221; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, about twenty years ago, or such matter, your father was a
+      comparatively poor man&mdash;poor, I mean, compared to what he afterward
+      became. But he was a clever man, an able business man, one who saw
+      opportunities and grasped them. At that time he obtained a grant in South
+      America for&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>&#8220;I
+      know,&#8221; she interrupted; &#8220;the Akrae Rubber Company was formed.
+      You told Steve and me all about that. What I want to know is&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wait. I did not tell you all about it. I said that another man
+      invested ten thousand dollars with your father to form that company. That
+      man, so we now know, was your uncle, Captain Elisha Warren.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I guessed that. Of course it must have been he.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It was. The captain was older than your father, had lived
+      carefully, and had saved some money. Also, at that time, he idolized his
+      brother and believed in his shrewdness and capability. He invested this
+      ten thousand on Rodgers Warren&#8217;s word that the investment was likely
+      to be a good one. That, and to help the latter in business. For a few
+      years the company did nothing; during that time your father and uncle
+      disagreed&mdash;concerning another matter, quite unconnected with this one&mdash;and
+      they did not see each other again while Rodgers lived. In that long period
+      the Akrae Company made millions. But Elisha supposed it to be bankrupt and
+      worthless; because&mdash;well, to be frank, because his brother wrote him
+      to that effect.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, fearful of the effect which this announcement might have upon
+      the girl. But she had guessed this part of her father&#8217;s dishonor and
+      was prepared for it. She made no comment, and he continued.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Now we come to the will. Your father, Caroline, was not a bad man
+      at heart. I knew him well, and I believe that may be said truthfully. He
+      realized what he had done, how he had defrauded the brother who had been
+      so kind to him, and he meant, he kept promising himself, to some day repay
+      the money he had taken. To insure that, he put that note with the other
+      papers of the Company. If he did repay, it could be destroyed.<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> If he
+      did not, if he should die, it would be there to prove&mdash;what it did
+      prove. But always in his mind was the thought of you and Steve, the
+      children he loved. He had quarreled with his brother it is true; he had
+      cheated him, but restitution for that cheat he had provided. But what
+      would become of you, left&mdash;in case he died without making restitution&mdash;penniless?
+      He knew his brother, as I said; knew his character, respected his honesty,
+      and believed in his conscientiousness and his big heart. So he made his
+      will, and in it, as you know, he appointed Elisha your guardian. He threw
+      his children and their future upon the mercy and generosity of the brother
+      he had wronged. That is his reason, as we surmise it, for making that
+      will.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused again. Caroline did not speak for a moment. Then she asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;And no one knew&mdash;you or my uncle or anyone&mdash;of all this
+      until last March?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. Graves had, with his usual care and patience, pieced together
+      the evidence and investigated until we were sure that a stockholder in the
+      Akrae Company existed and that all of your father&#8217;s estate belonged
+      to him. Who that stockholder was we did not know until that day of the
+      meeting at our office. Then Captain Warren told us.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But he did not know, either?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Not until then. He supposed his Akrae stock worthless, and had
+      practically forgotten it. When we told him of its value, of the note, and
+      of the missing shareholder, he knew, of course.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What did he say?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Say? Caroline, he was the most distressed and conscience-stricken
+      man in the city. One would have thought he was the wrongdoer and not the
+      wronged.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>
+      He would have gone straight to you and asked your pardon, if we would have
+      permitted it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But, Mr. Sylvester, now we are coming to the part I cannot
+      understand. Of course the estate belonged to him, I know that. It is his.
+      But why didn&#8217;t he tell Steve and me the truth then, at once? Why did
+      he let us believe, and employ you to lead us to believe, that it was not
+      he but someone else? Did he think we would blame him? Why has he&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline! Caroline! don&#8217;t you understand yet? Do you imagine
+      for one moment that your uncle intends keeping that money?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She stared at him in utter amazement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Keeping it?&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;Why not? It is his. It
+      belongs to him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline, I&#8217;m afraid you don&#8217;t know him, even yet. He
+      was for going to you at once and destroying the note in your presence. He
+      would have done it, but we persuaded him to wait and think it over for a
+      day or two. He did think and then decided to wait a little longer, for
+      your sake.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;For my sake? For mine?&#8221; she passed her hand in a bewildered
+      way across her forehead. &#8220;Mr. Sylvester, I don&#8217;t seem to
+      understand even now. I&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;For your sake, Caroline. Remember, at that time you were engaged to
+      Malcolm Dunn.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her intent gaze wavered. She drew a long breath. &#8220;I see,&#8221; she
+      said, slowly. &#8220;Oh.... I see.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Captain Warren is one of the best judges of character I ever
+      met. The Dunns did not deceive him for one moment. He was certain Malcolm
+      intended marrying you because of your money; for that matter, so was I.
+      But his was the plan entirely which showed them to you as they were. He
+      knew you were too honest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371"
+      id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> and straightforward to believe such
+      things of the man to whom you were engaged if they were told you; you must
+      see the proof with your own eyes. And he showed it to you.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But then,&#8221; she begged, distractedly, &#8220;why couldn&#8217;t
+      he tell me after that? I&mdash;I am so stupid, I suppose&mdash;but, Mr.
+      Sylvester, all this is&mdash;is&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He might have told you then, but he did not think it best.
+      Caroline, your uncle has always believed in you. Even when you sent him
+      from your home he did not blame you; he said you were deceived, that was
+      all. But, too, he has always declared that you had been, as he expressed
+      it, &#8216;brought up wrong.&#8217; Your money had, in a way, warped your
+      estimate of people and things. He believed that, if you were given the
+      opportunity, you would learn that wealth does not, of itself, mean
+      happiness. So he decided not to tell you, not to give you back your share
+      of your father&#8217;s money&mdash;he refuses to consider it his&mdash;until
+      another year, until you were of age, at least. And there was Steve. You
+      know, Caroline, that money and what it brought was spoiling Steve. He has
+      never been so much a man as during the past year, when he thought himself
+      poor. But your uncle has planned for him as well as for you and, when he
+      believes the time has come, he&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Please,&#8221; she interrupted, falteringly; &#8220;please don&#8217;t
+      say any more. Let me think. Oh, please let me think, Mr. Sylvester.... You
+      say that Uncle Elisha intends giving us all that father took from him? All
+      of it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, all. He considers himself merely your guardian still and will
+      accept only his expenses from the estate.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But&mdash;but it is wonderful!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>&#8220;Yes,
+      it is. But I have learned to think him a wonderful man.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It is wonderful!&#8221; she repeated, brokenly. &#8220;Even though
+      we cannot take it, it is wonderful.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What? Cannot take it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Of course not! Do you suppose that either my brother or I will take
+      the fortune that our father stole&mdash;yes, <i>stole</i> from him? After
+      he has been living almost in poverty all these years and we in luxury&mdash;on
+      <i>his</i> money? Of course we shall not take it!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But, Caroline, I imagine you will have to take it. I understand
+      your feelings, but I think he will compel you to take it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I shall <i>not</i>!&#8221; she sprang to her feet. &#8220;Of course
+      I shall not! Never! never!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s that you&#8217;re never goin&#8217; to take, Caroline?
+      Measles? or another trip down in these parts? I hope &#8217;tain&#8217;t
+      the last, &#8217;cause I&#8217;ve been cal&#8217;latin&#8217; you&#8217;d
+      like it well enough to come again.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline turned. So did Sylvester. Captain Elisha was standing in the
+      doorway, his hand on the knob. He was smiling broadly, but as he looked at
+      the two by the fire he ceased to smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s all this?&#8221; he asked, suspiciously. &#8220;Caroline,
+      what&mdash;Sylvester, what have you been tellin&#8217; her?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Neither answered at once. The captain looked from one to the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, what&#8217;s up?&#8221; he demanded. &#8220;What&#8217;s the
+      matter?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What&#8217;s up?&#8221; he repeated. &#8220;Humph! well, I should
+      say the jig was up. The murder&#8217;s out. The cat is no longer in the
+      bag. That&#8217;s about the size of it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>&#8220;Sylvester!&#8221;
+      Caroline had never seen her uncle thoroughly angry before; &#8220;Sylvester,&#8221;
+      he cried, &#8220;have you&mdash;Have you dast to tell her what you shouldn&#8217;t?
+      Didn&#8217;t you promise me? If you told that girl, I&#8217;ll&mdash;I&#8217;ll&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His niece stepped forward. &#8220;Hush, Uncle Elisha,&#8221; she said.
+      &#8220;He didn&#8217;t tell me until I knew already. I guessed it. Then I
+      asked for the whole truth, and he told me.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;The whole truth? <i>Caroline!</i>&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wrung his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Uncle, the whole truth. I know you now. I thought I knew you
+      before; but I didn&#8217;t&mdash;not half. I do now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Oh, Caroline!&#8221; he stepped toward her and then stopped,
+      frantic and despairing. &#8220;Caroline! Caroline!&#8221; he cried again,
+      &#8220;can you ever forgive me? You know&mdash;you must know I ain&#8217;t
+      ever meant to keep it. It&#8217;s all yours. I just didn&#8217;t give it
+      to you right off because ... because.... Oh, Sylvester, tell her I never
+      meant to keep it! Tell her!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer shook his head. &#8220;I did tell her,&#8221; he said, with
+      another shrug, &#8220;and she tells me she won&#8217;t accept it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;What?&#8221; the captain&#8217;s eyes were starting from his head.
+      &#8220;What? Won&#8217;t take it? Why, it&#8217;s hers&mdash;hers and
+      Steve&#8217;s! It always has been! Do you cal&#8217;late I&#8217;d rob my
+      own brother&#8217;s children? <i>Don&#8217;t</i> talk so foolish! I won&#8217;t
+      hear such talk!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline was close to tears, but she was firm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It isn&#8217;t ours,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is yours. Our
+      father kept it from you all these years. Do you suppose we will keep it
+      any longer?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Elisha looked at her determined face; then at <span class="pagenum"><a
+      name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>the lawyer&#8217;s&mdash;but
+      he found no help there. His chin thrust forward. He nodded slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right! all right!&#8221; he said, grimly. &#8220;Sylvester, is
+      your shop goin&#8217; to be open to-morrer?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Guess not, Captain,&#8221; was the puzzled reply. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+      Thanksgiving. Why?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;But Graves&#8217;ll be to home, won&#8217;t he? I could find him at
+      his house?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I presume you could.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;All right, then! Caroline Warren, you listen to me: I&#8217;ll give
+      you till two o&#8217;clock to make up your mind to take the money that
+      belongs to you. If you don&#8217;t, I swear to the Lord A&#8217;mighty I&#8217;ll
+      take the fust train, go straight to New York, hunt up Graves, make him go
+      down to the office and get that note your father made out turnin&#8217;
+      all his property over to that Akrae Company. I&#8217;ll get that note and
+      I&#8217;ll burn it up. Then&mdash;<i>then</i> you&#8217;ll have to take
+      the money, because it&#8217;ll be yours. Every bit of evidence that&#8217;ll
+      hold in law is gone, and nobody but you and Steve&#8217;ll have the shadow
+      of a claim. I&#8217;ll do it, so sure as I live! There! now you can make
+      up your mind.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned, strode to the door and out of the room. A moment later they
+      heard a scream from Miss Baker in the kitchen: &#8220;&#8217;Lisha Warren,
+      what ails you? Are you crazy?&#8221; There was no answer, but the back
+      door closed with a tremendous bang.
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      Half an hour after his dramatic exit Captain Elisha was pacing up and down
+      the floor of the barn. It was an old refuge of his, a place where he was
+      accustomed to go when matters requiring deliberation and thought oppressed
+      him. He was alone. Dan had taken the horse to the blacksmith&#8217;s to be
+      shod.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>The
+      captain strode across the floor, turned and strode back again. Every few
+      moments he looked at his watch. It was a long way to two o&#8217;clock,
+      but each additional moment was another weight piled upon his soul. As he
+      turned in his stride he saw a shadow move across the sill of the big, open
+      door. He caught his breath and stopped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Caroline entered the barn. She came straight to him and put her hands upon
+      the lapels of his coat. Her eyes were wet and shining.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline?&#8221; he faltered, eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You good man!&#8221; she breathed, softly. &#8220;Oh, you <i>good</i>
+      man!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline!&#8221; his voice shook, but there was hope in it. &#8220;Caroline,
+      you&#8217;re goin&#8217; to take the money?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Uncle Elisha. Mr. Sylvester has shown me that I must. He says
+      you will do something desperate if I refuse.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I sartin would! And you&#8217;ll take it, really?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Uncle Elisha.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Glory be! And&mdash;and, Caroline, you won&#8217;t hold it against
+      me, my makin&#8217; you think you was poor, and makin&#8217; you live in
+      that little place, and get along on just so much, and all that? Can you
+      forgive me for doin&#8217; that?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Forgive you? Can I ever thank you enough? I know I can&#8217;t; but
+      I can try all my life to prove what&mdash;&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;S-s-h-h! s-s-h!... There!&#8221; with a great sigh, almost a sob,
+      of relief, &#8220;I guess this&#8217;ll be a real Thanksgivin&#8217;,
+      after all.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, a few minutes later, another thought came to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Caroline,&#8221; he asked, &#8220;I wonder if, now that things are
+      as they are, you couldn&#8217;t do somethin&#8217; else&mdash;somethin&#8217;
+      that would please me an awful lot?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>&#8220;What
+      is it, Uncle?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;It&#8217;s somethin&#8217; perhaps I ain&#8217;t got any right to
+      ask. You mustn&#8217;t say yes if you don&#8217;t want to. The other day
+      you told me you cared for Jim Pearson, but that you sent him away &#8217;cause
+      you thought you had to earn a livin&#8217; for you and Steve. Now you know
+      that you ain&#8217;t got to do that. And you said you told him if you ever
+      changed your mind you&#8217;d send for him. Don&#8217;t you s&#8217;pose
+      you could send for him now&mdash;right off&mdash;so he could get here for
+      this big Thanksgivin&#8217; of ours? Don&#8217;t you think you could,
+      Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked down into her face, and she looked down at the barn floor. But
+      he saw the color creep up over her forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Send for him&mdash;now?&#8221; she asked, in a low tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Now&mdash;right off. In time for to-morrow!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;He could not get here,&#8221; she whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, he could. If you send him a telegram with one word in it:
+      &#8216;Come&#8217;&mdash;and sign it &#8216;Caroline&#8217;&mdash;he&#8217;ll
+      be here on to-morrow mornin&#8217;s train, or I&#8217;ll eat my hat and
+      one of Abbie&#8217;s bonnets hove in. Think you could, Caroline?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A moment; then in a whisper, &#8220;Yes, Uncle Elisha.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hooray! But&mdash;but,&#8221; anxiously, &#8220;hold on, Caroline.
+      Tell me truly now. You ain&#8217;t doin&#8217; this just to please me? You
+      mustn&#8217;t do that, not for the world and all. You mustn&#8217;t send
+      for him on my account. Only just for one reason&mdash;because <i>you</i>
+      want him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He waited for his answer. Then she looked up, blushing still, but with a
+      smile trembling on her lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes, Uncle Elisha,&#8221; she said, &#8220;because <i>I</i> want
+      him.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <hr class="medium" />
+    <p>
+      The clouds blew away that night, and Thanksgiving day dawned clear and
+      cold. The gray sea was now blue;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377"
+      id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> the white paint of the houses and fences
+      glistened in the sun; the groves of pitchpine were brilliant green
+      blotches spread like rugs here and there on the brown hills. South Denboro
+      had thrown off its gloomy raiment and was &#8220;all dolled up for
+      Thanksgivin&#8217;,&#8221; so Captain Elisha said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain and Sylvester were leaning on the fence by the gate, looking
+      up the road and waiting for Dan and the &#8220;two-seater&#8221; to heave
+      in sight around the bend. The hired man had harnessed early and driven to
+      the station at least thirty minutes before train time. Captain Elisha was
+      responsible for the early start. Steve was coming on that train; possibly
+      someone else was coming. The captain did not mean they should find no
+      welcome or vehicle at the station.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The whistle had sounded ten minutes before. It was time for Dan to appear
+      at the bend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I hope to thunder Jim got that telegram,&#8221; observed the
+      captain for the twentieth time, at least, since breakfast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;So do I,&#8221; replied his friend. &#8220;There&#8217;s no reason
+      why he shouldn&#8217;t, is there?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, no sensible one; but I&#8217;ve scared up no less than a couple
+      of hundred of the other kind. If he shouldn&#8217;t come&mdash;my, my! she&#8217;d
+      be disappointed.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t feel any disappointment yourself, of course,&#8221;
+      said the lawyer, with sarcasm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Who? Me? Oh, I&#8217;d be sorer&#8217;n a scalded wharf rat in a
+      barrel of pepper. But I don&#8217;t count. There&#8217;s the real one up
+      there.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He motioned with his head toward the window of Caroline&#8217;s room.
+      Sylvester nodded. &#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I suppose so.
+      Captain, I&#8217;m somewhat surprised that you should be willing to trust
+      that niece of yours to another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378"
+      id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> man. She&#8217;s a pretty precious
+      article, according to your estimate.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Well, ain&#8217;t she accordin&#8217; to yours?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes. Pretty precious and precious pretty. Look at her now.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They turned in time to catch a glimpse of the girl as she parted the
+      curtains and looked out on the road. She saw them looking at her, smiled,
+      blushed, and disappeared. Both men smoked in silence for a moment. Then
+      the captain said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Waitin&#8217;. Hi hum! nothin&#8217; like it, when you&#8217;re
+      waitin&#8217; for <i>the</i> one, is there?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No, nothing.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yup. Well, for a pair of old single hulks our age, strikes me we&#8217;re
+      gettin&#8217; pretty sentimental. You say you wonder I&#8217;d trust
+      Caroline to another man; I wouldn&#8217;t to the average one. But Jim
+      Pearson&#8217;s all right. You&#8217;ll say so, too, when you know him as
+      well as I do.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;ll trust your judgment, any time. So you won&#8217;t tell
+      Steve yet awhile that he&#8217;s not broke?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;No. And Caroline won&#8217;t tell him, either. Steve&#8217;s doin&#8217;
+      fust-rate as he is. He&#8217;s in the pickle tub and &#8217;twill do him
+      good to season a spell longer. But I think he&#8217;s goin&#8217; to be
+      all right by and by. Say, Sylvester, this New York cruise of mine turned
+      out pretty good, after all, didn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Decidedly good. It was the making of your niece and nephew.
+      Caroline realizes it now; and so will Steve later on.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Hope so. It didn&#8217;t do <i>me</i> any harm,&#8221; with a
+      chuckle. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have missed that little beat up the bay
+      with Marm Dunn for a good deal. For a spell there we was bows abreast, and
+      &#8217;twas hard to tell who&#8217;d turn the mark first. Heard from the
+      Dunns lately?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>&#8220;No.
+      Why, yes, I did hear that they were in a tighter box than ever,
+      financially. The smash will come pretty soon.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;I&#8217;m sorry. The old lady&#8217;ll go down with colors nailed
+      to the mast, I&#8217;ll bet; and she&#8217;ll leave a lot of suds where
+      she sank. Do you know, I never blamed her so much. She was built that way.
+      She&#8217;s consider&#8217;ble like old Mrs. Patience Blodgett, who used
+      to live up here to the Neck; like her&mdash;only there never was two
+      people more different. Pashy was the craziest blue-ribboner you ever saw.
+      Her one idea in life was gettin&#8217; folks to sign the pledge. She
+      married Tim Blodgett, who was the wust soak in the county&mdash;he&#8217;d
+      have figgered out, if you analyzed him, about like a bottle of patent
+      medicine, seventy-two per cent alcohol. Well, Pashy married him to reform
+      him, and she made her brags that she&#8217;d get him to sign the pledge.
+      And she did, but only by puttin&#8217; it in front of him when he was too
+      drunk to read it.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer laughed heartily. &#8220;So you think Mrs. Corcoran Dunn
+      resembles her, do you,&#8221; he observed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;In one way&mdash;yes. Both of &#8217;em sacrifice everything else
+      to one idea. Pashy&#8217;s was gettin&#8217; that pledge signed, and never
+      mind ways and means. Mrs. Dunn&#8217;s is money and position&mdash;never
+      mind how they come. See what I&#8217;m drivin&#8217; at?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sylvester laughed again. &#8220;I guess so,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Captain
+      Warren, I never saw you in better spirits. Do you know what I think? I
+      think that, for a chap who has just given away half of a good-sized
+      fortune and intends giving away the other half, you&#8217;re the most
+      cheerful specimen I ever saw.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain laughed, too. &#8220;I am, ain&#8217;t I,&#8221; he said.
+      &#8220;Well, I can say truthful what I never expected to say<span
+      class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> in my
+      life&mdash;that <i>once</i> I was wuth ha&#8217;f a million dollars. As
+      for the rest of it, I&#8217;m like that millionaire&mdash;that.... Hi!
+      Look! There comes Dan! See him!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They peered eagerly over the fence. The Warren &#8220;two-seater&#8221;
+      had rounded the bend in the road. Dan was driving. Beside him sat a young
+      fellow who waved his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Steve!&#8221; cried the captain, excitedly. &#8220;There&#8217;s
+      Steve! And&mdash;and&mdash;yes, there&#8217;s somebody on the back seat.
+      It&#8217;s Jim! He&#8217;s come! Hooray!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Wait,&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to lose the rest
+      of that sentence. You said you were like some millionaire. Who?&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Don&#8217;t bother me,&#8221; cried Captain Elisha. &#8220;Who?
+      Why, I was goin&#8217; to say I was like that millionaire chap who passes
+      out a library every time he wakes up and happens to think of it. You know
+      who I mean.... Ahoy there, Jim! Ahoy, Steve!&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was waving his hand to the passengers in the approaching vehicle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;Yes,&#8221; prompted his friend, hastily, &#8220;I know who you
+      mean&mdash;Carnegie.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &#8220;That&#8216;s the feller. I&#8217;ve come to feel about the way he
+      says he does&mdash;that &#8217;twould be a crime for me to die rich.&#8221;
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      THE END
+    </h3>
+    <hr class="large" />
+    <h3>
+      <span class="smcap">Transcriber&#8217;s Note:</span>
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The original book did not have a Table of Contents; one has been added to
+      this e-text for the reader&#8217;s convenience.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
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+  </body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,13416 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Cap'n Warren's Wards
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 11, 2009 [EBook #3280]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson and D. A. Alexander
+
+
+
+
+
+ CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+
+ By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+ Author of "The Depot Master," "The Woman Haters,"
+ "The Postmaster," "Cap'n Erie,"
+ "Mr. Pratt," etc.
+
+ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
+ BY EDMUND FREDERICK
+
+ A. L. BURT COMPANY
+ PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT 1911, BY
+ D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+
+ _Published October, 1911_
+
+ Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was facing
+her." [Page 48]]
+
+
+
+
+CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"Ostable!" screamed the brakeman, opening the car door and yelling his
+loudest, so as to be heard above the rattle of the train and the shriek
+of the wind; "Ostable!"
+
+The brakeman's cap was soaked through, his hair was plastered down on
+his forehead, and, in the yellow light from the car lamps, his wet nose
+glistened as if varnished. Over his shoulders the shiny ropes of rain
+whipped and lashed across the space between the cars. The windows
+streamed as each succeeding gust flung its miniature freshet against
+them.
+
+The passengers in the car--there were but four of them--did not seem
+greatly interested in the brakeman's announcement. The red-faced person
+in the seat nearest the rear slept soundly, as he had done for the
+last hour and a half. He had boarded the train at Brockton, and, after
+requesting the conductor not to "lemme me git by Bayport, Bill," at
+first favored his fellow travelers with a song and then sank into
+slumber.
+
+The two elderly men sitting together on the right-hand side of the car
+droned on in their apparently endless Jeremiad concerning the low price
+of cranberries, the scarcity of scallops on the flats, the reasons why
+the fish weirs were a failure nowadays, and similar cheerful topics. And
+in his seat on the left, Mr. Atwood Graves, junior partner in the New
+York firm of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves, lawyers, stirred uneasily on
+the lumpy plush cushion, looked at his watch, then at the time-table in
+his hand, noted that the train was now seventy-two minutes late, and
+for at least the fifteenth time mentally cursed the railway company, the
+whole of Cape Cod from Sandwich to Provincetown, and the fates which had
+brought him there.
+
+The train slowed down, in a jerky, hiccoughy sort of way, and crept
+on till the car in which Mr. Graves was seated was abreast the lighted
+windows of a small station, where it stopped. Peering through the
+water-streaked pane at the end of his seat, the lawyer saw dim
+silhouettes of uncertain outline moving about. They moved with provoking
+slowness. He felt that it would be joy unspeakable to rush out there and
+thump them into animation. The fact that the stately Atwood Graves even
+thought of such an undignified proceeding is sufficient indication of
+his frame of mind.
+
+Then, behind the door which the brakeman, after announcing the station,
+had closed again, sounded a big laugh. The heartiness of it grated on
+Mr. Graves's nerves. What idiot could laugh on such a night as this
+aboard a train over an hour late?
+
+The laugh was repeated. Then the door was flung briskly open, and a
+man entered the car. He was a big man, broad-shouldered, inclined to
+stoutness, wearing a cloth cap with a visor, and a heavy ulster, the
+collar of which was turned up. Through the gap between the open ends of
+the collar bristled a short, grayish beard. The face above the beard and
+below the visor was sunburned, with little wrinkles about the eyes and
+curving lines from the nostrils to the corners of the mouth. The upper
+lip was shaved, and the eyebrows were heavy and grayish black. Cap,
+face, and ulster were dripping with water.
+
+The newcomer paused in the doorway for an instant, evidently to add the
+finishing touch to a conversation previously begun.
+
+"Well, I tell you, Ezra," he called, over his shoulder, "if it's too
+deep to wade, maybe I can swim. Fat floats, they tell me, and Abbie says
+I'm gettin' fleshier every day. So long."
+
+He closed the door and, smiling broadly, swung down the aisle. The pair
+of calamity prophets broke off their lament over the declining fisheries
+and greeted him almost jovially.
+
+"Hello, Cap'n!" cried one. "What's the south shore doin' over here in
+this flood?"
+
+"What's the matter, Cap'n?" demanded the other. "Broke loose from your
+moorin's, have you? Did you ever see such a night in your life?"
+
+The man in the ulster shook hands with each of his questioners, removing
+a pair of wet, heavy leather gloves as he did so.
+
+"Don't know's I ever did, Dan," he answered. "Couldn't see much of this
+one but its color--and that's black. I come over this mornin' to
+attend to some business at the court-house--deeds to some cranberry bog
+property I just bought--and Judge Baxter made me go home with him to
+dinner. Stayed at his house all the afternoon, and then his man, Ezra
+Hallett, undertook to drive me up here to the depot. Talk about blind
+pilotin'! Whew! The Judge's horse was a new one, not used to the roads,
+Ezra's near-sighted, and I couldn't use my glasses 'count of the rain.
+Let alone that, 'twas darker'n the fore-hold of Noah's ark. Ho, ho!
+Sometimes we was in the ruts and sometimes we was in the bushes. I told
+Ez we'd ought to have fetched along a dipsy lead, then maybe we could
+get our bearin's by soundin's. 'Couldn't see 'em if we did get 'em,'
+says he. 'No,' says I, 'but we could taste 'em. Man that's driven
+through as much Ostable mud as you have ought to know the taste of every
+road in town.'"
+
+"Well, you caught the train, anyhow," observed Dan.
+
+"Yup. If we'd been crippled as _well_ as blind we could have done that."
+He seated himself just in front of the pair and glanced across the aisle
+at Mr. Graves, to find the latter looking intently at him.
+
+"Pretty tough night," he remarked, nodding.
+
+"Yes," replied the lawyer briefly. He did not encourage conversation
+with casual acquaintances. The latest arrival had caught his attention
+because there was something familiar about him. It seemed to Graves that
+he must have seen him before; and yet that was very improbable. This
+was the attorney's first visit to Cape Cod, and he had already vowed
+devoutly that it should be his last. He turned a chilling shoulder to
+the trio opposite and again consulted the time-table. Denboro was the
+next station; then--thank the Lord--South Denboro, his destination.
+
+Conversation across the aisle was brisk, and its subjects were many and
+varied. Mr. Graves became aware, more or less against his will, that
+the person called "Cap'n" was, if not a leader in politics and local
+affairs, still one whose opinions counted. Some of those opinions, as
+given, were pointed and dryly descriptive; as, for instance, when a
+certain town-meeting candidate was compared to a sculpin--"with a big
+head that sort of impresses you, till you get close enough to realize it
+_has_ to be big to make room for so much mouth." Graves, who was fond
+of salt water fishing, knew what a sculpin was, and appreciated the
+comparison.
+
+The conductor entered the car and stopped to collect a ticket from his
+new passenger. It was evident that he, too, was acquainted with the
+latter.
+
+"Evening, Cap'n," he said, politely. "Train's a little late to-night."
+
+"It is--for to-night's train," was the prompt response, "but if it keeps
+on at the rate it's travelin' now, it'll be a little early for to-morrow
+mornin's, won't it?"
+
+The conductor laughed. "Guess you're right," he said. "This is about as
+wet a storm as I've run through since I've been on the road. If we get
+to Provincetown without a washout we'll be lucky.... Well, we've made
+another hitch. So far, so good."
+
+The brakeman swung open the door to shout, "Denboro! Denboro!" the
+conductor picked up his lantern and hurried away, the locomotive
+whistled hoarsely, and the train hiccoughed alongside another little
+station. Mr. Graves, peering through his window, imagined that here
+the silhouettes on the platform moved more briskly. They seemed almost
+excited. He inferred that Denboro was a bigger and more wide-awake
+village than Ostable.
+
+But he was mistaken. The reason for the excitement was made plain by the
+conductor a moment afterwards. That official entered the car, removed
+his uniform cap, and rubbed a wet forehead with a wetter hand.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said, "I've been expecting it, and here it is.
+Mark me down as a good prophet, will you? There's a washout a mile
+further on, and a telegraph pole across the track. It's blowing great
+guns and raining pitchforks. It'll be out of the question for us to go
+forward before daylight, if then. Darn a railroad man's job anyhow!"
+
+Five minutes later Mr. Graves descended the steps of the car, his
+traveling bag in one hand and an umbrella in the other. As soon as
+both feet were securely planted on the platform, he put down the bag
+to wrestle with the umbrella and the hurricane, which was apparently
+blowing from four directions at once. Feeling his hat leaving his head,
+he became aware that the umbrella had turned inside out. He threw the
+wreck violently under the train and stooped to pick up the bag. The bag
+was no longer there.
+
+"It's all right," said a calm voice behind him. "I've got your satchel,
+neighbor. Better beat for harbor, hadn't we? Here! this way."
+
+The bewildered New Yorker felt his arm seized in a firm grip, and he was
+rushed across the platform, through a deluge of wind-driven water, and
+into a small, hot, close-smelling waiting room. When he pushed his hat
+clear of his eyes he saw that his rescuer was the big man who boarded
+the train at Ostable. He was holding the missing bag and smiling.
+
+"Dirty weather, hey?" he observed, pleasantly. "Sorry your umbrella had
+to go by the board. I see you was carryin' too much canvas and tried to
+run alongside in time to give you a tow; but you was dismasted just as I
+got there. Here's your dunnage, all safe and sound."
+
+He extended the traveling bag at arm's length. Mr. Graves accepted his
+property and murmured thanks, not too cordially. His dignity and temper
+had gone overboard with the umbrella, and he had not yet recovered them.
+
+"Well," went on his companion, "here we are! And I, for one, wanted to
+be somewheres else. Caleb," turning to the station master, who came in
+at that moment, "any way of my gettin' home to-night?"
+
+"'Fraid not, Cap'n," was the answer. "I don't know of any. Guess you'll
+have to put up at the hotel and wait till mornin'."
+
+"That's right," agreed the passenger called "Dan," who was standing
+near. "That's what Jerry and I are goin' to do."
+
+"Yes, but you and Jerry are bound for Orham. I'm booked for South
+Denboro, and that's only seven miles off. I'd _swim_ the whole seven
+rather than put up at Sim Titcomb's hotel. I've been there afore, thank
+you! Look here, Caleb, can't I hire a team and drive over?"
+
+"Well, I don't know. S'pose you might ring up Pete Shattuck and ask him.
+He's pretty particular about his horses, though, and I cal'late he--"
+
+"All right. I'll ring him up. Pete ought to get over some of his
+particularness to oblige me. I've helped _him_ once or twice."
+
+He was on his way to the ticket office, where the telephone hung on the
+wall. But Mr. Graves stepped forward and spoke to him.
+
+"Excuse me, sir," said the lawyer. "Did I understand you to say you were
+going to South Denboro?"
+
+"Yes. I am, if the powers--and Pete Shattuck--'ll let me."
+
+"You were going to drive over? May I go with you? I'm very anxious to
+get to South Denboro to-night. I have some very important business
+there, and I want to complete it and get away to-morrow. I must be back
+in New York by the morning following."
+
+The captain looked his questioner over. There was a doubtful look on his
+face, and he smiled quizzically.
+
+"Well, I don't know, Mr.--"
+
+"Graves is my name."
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Graves. This ain't goin' to be a pleasure cruise
+exactly. You might get pretty wet."
+
+"I don't care. I can get dry again when I get there. Of course I shall
+share the expense of the livery. I shall be greatly obliged if I may go
+with you. If not, I must try for a rig myself."
+
+"Oh, if you feel that way about it, why, come ahead and welcome. I was
+only warnin' you, that's all. However, with me aboard for ballast, I
+guess we won't blow away. Wait a jiffy till I get after Pete."
+
+He entered the ticket office and raised a big hand to the little crank
+of the telephone bell.
+
+"Let's see, Caleb," he called; "what's Shattuck's number?"
+
+"Four long and two short," answered the station master.
+
+Graves, wondering vaguely what sort of telephone system was in use on
+Cape Cod, heard his prospective pilot ring the instrument for a full two
+seconds, repeating the ring four times altogether. This he followed with
+two sharp tinkles. Then came a series of shouted "Hellos!" and, at last,
+fragments of one-half of a dialogue.
+
+"That you, Shattuck? Know who this is, don't you? Yes, that's right....
+Say, how many folks listen every time a bell rings on this line? I've
+heard no less'n eight receivers come down so far.... Two of 'em went up
+then, did you hear 'em?... Sartin.... I want to hire a team to go over
+home with.... To-night--Sartin.... I don't care.... Yes, you will,
+too.... _Yes_, you _will_... Send my man back with it to-morrow... I
+don't care _what_ it is, so it's got four legs and wheels...."
+
+And so on for at least five minutes. Then the captain hung up the
+receiver and came back to the waiting room.
+
+"Bargain's made, Mr. Graves," he announced. "Pete'll have some sort of
+a turn-out alongside soon's he can get it harnessed. If you've got any
+extra storm duds in that satchel of yours, I'd advise you to put 'em on.
+We're goin' to have a rough passage."
+
+Just how rough it was likely to be, Graves realized when he emerged from
+the station to board the Shattuck buggy. "Pete" himself had driven the
+equipage over from the livery stable.
+
+"I wouldn't do this for anybody but you, Cap'n," he vouchsafed, in what
+might be called a reproachful shout. Shouting was necessary, owing to
+the noise of the storm.
+
+"Wouldn't do what?" replied the captain, looking first at the ancient
+horse and then at the battered buggy.
+
+"Let this horse out a night like this."
+
+"Humph! I should think night would be the only time you would let him
+out.... There! there! never mind. Get aboard, Mr. Graves. Put your
+satchel on the floor between your feet. Here, let me h'ist that boot for
+you."
+
+The "boot" was a rubber curtain buttoned across the front of the buggy,
+extending from the dashboard to just below the level of the driver's
+eyes. The lawyer clambered in behind it, the captain followed, the end
+of the reins was passed through a slit in the boot, Mr. Shattuck, after
+inquiring if they were "all taut," gave the command, "Gid-dap!" and
+horse and buggy moved around the corner of the station, out into
+darkness.
+
+Of the next hour Graves's memories are keen but monotonous,--a strong
+smell of stable, arising from the laprobe which had evidently been
+recently used as a horse blanket; the sound of hoofs, in an interminable
+"jog, jog--splash, splash," never hurrying; a series of exasperated
+howls from the captain, who was doing his best to make them hurry; the
+thunderous roar of rain on the buggy top and the shrieking gale which
+rocked the vehicle on its springs and sent showers of fine spray driving
+in at every crack and crevice between the curtains.
+
+The view ahead, over the boot, was blackness, bordered by spidery trees
+and branches whipping in the wind. Occasionally they passed houses
+sitting well back from the road, a lighted window gleaming cozily. And
+ever, as they moved, the storm seemed to gather force.
+
+Graves noticed this and, at length, when his nervousness had reached
+the breaking point, screamed a question in his companion's ear. They
+had attempted no conversation during the ride, the lawyer, whose
+contemptuous opinion of the locality and all its inhabitants was now a
+conviction, feeling that the result would not be worth the effort, and
+the captain busy with his driving.
+
+"It is blowing worse than ever, isn't it?" yelled the nervous Graves.
+
+"Hey? No, just about the same. It's dead sou'west and we're getting out
+of the woods, that's all. Up on those bare hills we catch the full force
+of it right off the Sound. Be there pretty soon now, if this Old Hundred
+of a horse would quit walkin' in his sleep and really move. Them lights
+ahead are South Denboro."
+
+The lights were clustered at the foot of a long and rather steep hill.
+Down the declivity bounced and rocked the buggy. The horse's hoofs
+sounded hollow on the planks of a bridge. The road narrowed and became
+a village street, bordered and arched by tall trees which groaned and
+threshed in the hurricane. The rain, as it beat in over the boot, had,
+so the lawyer fancied, a salty taste.
+
+The captain bent down. "Say, Mister," he shouted, "where was it you
+wanted to stop? Who is it you're lookin' for?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"I say--Heavens to Betsy! how that wind does screech!--I say where'bouts
+shall I land you. This is South Denboro. Whose house do you want to go
+to?"
+
+"I'm looking for one of your leading citizens. Elisha Warren is his
+name."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Elisha Warren. I--"
+
+He was interrupted. There was a sharp crack overhead, followed by a
+tremendous rattle and crash. Then down upon the buggy descended what,
+to Graves, appeared to be an avalanche of scratching, tearing twigs
+and branches. They ripped away the boot and laprobe and jammed him back
+against the seat, their sharp points against his breast. The buggy was
+jerked forward a few feet and stopped short.
+
+He heard the clatter of hoofs and shouts of "Whoa!" and "Stand
+still!" He tried to rise, but the tangle of twigs before him seemed
+impenetrable, so he gave it up and remained where he was. Then, after an
+interval, came a hail from the darkness.
+
+"Hi, there! Mr. Graves, ahoy! Hurt, be you?"
+
+"No," the lawyer's tone was doubtful. "No--o, I--I guess not. That you,
+Captain?"
+
+"Yes, it's me. Stand still, you foolhead! Quit your hoppin' up and
+down!" These commands were evidently addressed to the horse. "Glad you
+ain't hurt. Better get out, hadn't you?"
+
+"I--I'm not sure that I can get out. What on earth has happened?"
+
+"Tree limb carried away. Lucky for us we got the brush end, 'stead of
+the butt. Scooch down and see if you can't wriggle out underneath. I
+did."
+
+Mr. Graves obediently "scooched." After a struggle he managed to slide
+under the tangle of branches and, at length, stood on his feet in the
+road beside the buggy. The great limb had fallen across the street, its
+heavy end near the walk. As the captain had said, it was fortunate for
+the travelers that the "brush" only had struck the carriage.
+
+Graves found his companion standing at the horse's head, holding the
+frightened animal by the bridle. The rain was descending in a flood.
+
+"Well!" gasped the agitated New Yorker. "I'll be hanged if this isn't--"
+
+"Ain't it? But say, Mr. Graves, _who_ did you say you was comin' to
+see?"
+
+"Oh, a person named Elisha Warren. He lives in this forsaken hole
+somewhere, I believe. If I had known what an experience I must go
+through to reach him, I'd have seen him at the devil."
+
+From the bulky figure at the horse's head came a chuckle.
+
+"Humph! Well, Mr. Graves, if the butt of that limb had fetched us,
+instead of t'other end, I don't know but you _might_ have seen him
+there. I'm Elisha Warren, and that's my house over yonder where the
+lights are."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"This is your room, Mr. Graves," said Miss Abigail Baker, placing
+the lighted lamp on the bureau. "And here's a pair of socks and some
+slippers. They belong to Elisha--Cap'n Warren, that is--but he's got
+more. Cold water and towels and soap are on the washstand over yonder;
+but I guess you've had enough _cold_ water for one night. There's plenty
+hot in the bathroom at the end of the hall. After you change your wet
+things, just leave 'em spread out on the floor. I'll come fetch 'em by
+and by and hang 'em to dry in the kitchen. Come right downstairs when
+you're ready. Anything else you want? No? All right then. You needn't
+hurry. Supper's waited an hour 'n' a half as 'tis. 'Twon't hurt it to
+wait a spell longer."
+
+She went away, closing the door after her. The bewildered, wet and
+shivering New Yorker stared about the room, which, to his surprise, was
+warm and cozy. The warmth was furnished, so he presently discovered,
+by a steam radiator in the corner. Radiators and a bathroom! These were
+modern luxuries he would have taken for granted, had Elisha Warren been
+the sort of man he expected to find, the country magnate, the leading
+citizen, fitting brother to the late A. Rodgers Warren, of Fifth Avenue
+and Wall Street.
+
+But the Captain Warren who had driven him to South Denboro in the rain
+was not that kind of man at all. His manner and his language were as far
+removed from those of the late A. Rodgers as the latter's brown stone
+residence was from this big rambling house, with its deep stairs and
+narrow halls, its antiquated pictures and hideous, old-fashioned wall
+paper; as far removed as Miss Baker, whom the captain had hurriedly
+introduced as "my second cousin keepin' house for me," was from the
+dignified butler at the mansion on Fifth Avenue. Patchwork comforters
+and feather beds were not, in the lawyer's scheme of things, fit
+associates for radiators and up-to-date bathrooms. And certainly this
+particular Warren was not fitted to be elder brother to the New York
+broker who had been Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves' client.
+
+It could not be, it _could_ not. There must be some mistake. In country
+towns there were likely to be several of the same name. There must be
+another Elisha Warren. Comforted by this thought, Mr. Graves opened his
+valise, extracted therefrom other and drier articles of wearing apparel,
+and proceeded to change his clothes.
+
+Meanwhile, Miss Abigail had descended the stairs to the sitting room.
+Before a driftwood fire in a big brick fireplace sat Captain Warren in
+his shirt-sleeves, a pair of mammoth carpet slippers on his feet, and
+the said feet stretched luxuriously out toward the blaze.
+
+"Abbie," observed the captain, "this is solid comfort. Every time I go
+away from home I get into trouble, don't I? Last trip I took to Boston,
+I lost thirty dollars, and--"
+
+"Lost it!" interrupted Miss Baker, tartly. "Gave it away, you mean."
+
+"I didn't _give_ it away. I lent it. Abbie, you ought to know the
+difference between a gift and a loan."
+
+"I do--when there is any difference. But if lendin' Tim Foster ain't
+givin' it away, then I miss my guess."
+
+"Well," with another chuckle, "Tim don't feel that way. He swore right
+up and down that he wouldn't take a cent--as a gift. I offered to make
+him a present of ten dollars, but he looked so shocked that I apologized
+afore he could say no."
+
+"Yes, and then _lent_ him that thirty. Shocked! The only thing that
+would shock that good-for-nothin' is bein' set to work. What possessed
+you to be such a soft-head, _I_ don't know. When you get back a copper
+of that money I'll believe the millennium's struck, that's all."
+
+"Hum! Well, I'll help you believe it--that is, if I have time afore I
+drop dead of heart disease. Abbie, you'd make a good lawyer; you can get
+up an argument out of a perfect agreement. I said the thirty dollars
+was lost, to begin with. But I knew Tim Foster's mother when she used
+to think that boy of hers was the eighth wonder of the world. And I
+promised her I'd do what I could for him long's I lived.... But it seems
+to me we've drifted some off the course, ain't we? What I started to say
+was that every time I go away from home I get into trouble. Up to Boston
+'twas Tim and his 'loan.' To-night it's about as healthy a sou'wester
+as I've ever been out in. Dan fetched in the team, has he?"
+
+"Yes. It's in the stable. He says the buggy dash is pretty well
+scratched up, and that it's a wonder you and that Graves man wa'n't
+killed. Who is he, anyhow?"
+
+"Land knows, I don't."
+
+"You don't know! Then what's he doin' here?"
+
+"Changin' his duds, I guess. That's what I'd do if I looked as much like
+a drowned rat as he did."
+
+"'Lisha Warren! if you ain't the most _provoking'_ thing! Don't be so
+unlikely. You know what I mean. What's he come here, to this house,
+for?"
+
+"Don't know, Abbie. I didn't know he _was_ comin' here till just as we
+got down yonder by Emery's corner. I asked him who he was lookin' for,
+he said 'Elisha Warren,' and then the tree caved in on us."
+
+"'Lisha, you--you don't s'pose 'twas a--_sign_, do you?"
+
+"Sign?"
+
+"Yes, a sign, a prophecy-like, a warnin' that somethin' is goin' to
+happen."
+
+The captain put back his head and laughed.
+
+"Sign somethin' _had_ happened, I should think," he answered. "What's
+_goin'_ to happen is that Pete Shattuck'll get his buggy painted
+free-for-nothin', at my expense. How's supper gettin' along? Is it
+ready?"
+
+"Ready? It's been ready for so long that it'll have to be got ready
+all over again if.... Oh! Come right in, Mr. Graves! I hope you're drier
+now."
+
+Captain Warren sprang from the chair to greet his visitor, who was
+standing in the doorway.
+
+"Yes, come right in, Mr. Graves," he urged, cordially. "Set down by the
+fire and make yourself comf'table. Abbie'll have somethin' for us to eat
+in a jiffy. Pull up a chair."
+
+The lawyer came forward hesitatingly. The doubts which had troubled him
+ever since he entered the house were still in his mind.
+
+"Thank you, Captain," he said. "But before I accept more of your
+hospitality I feel I should be sure there is no mistake. I have come on
+important business, and--"
+
+"Hold on!" The captain held up a big hand. "Don't you say another word,"
+he commanded. "There's just one business that interests me this minute,
+and that's supper. There's no mistake about _that_, anyhow. Did you say
+'Come ahead,' Abbie? or was you just going to? Good! Right into the
+dinin' room, Mr. Graves."
+
+The dining room was long and low. The woodwork was white, the floor
+green painted boards, with braided rag mats scattered over them.
+There were old-fashioned pictures on the walls, pictures which brought
+shudders to the artistic soul of Atwood Graves. A broad bay window
+filled one side of the apartment, and in this window, on shelves and in
+wire baskets, were Miss Baker's cherished and carefully tended plants.
+As for the dining table, it was dark, old-fashioned walnut, as were the
+chairs.
+
+"Set right down here, Mr. Graves," ordered the captain. "I'll try
+to keep you supplied with solid cargo, and Abbie'll 'tend to the
+moistenin'. Hope that teapot is full up, Abbie. Hot tea tastes good
+after you've swallered as much cold rain as Mr. Graves and I have...
+Father-we-thank-thee-for-these-mercies-set-before-us-Amen.... How's
+your appetite when it comes to clam pie, Mr. Graves?"
+
+Mr. Graves's appetite was good, and the clam pie was good. So, too,
+were the hot biscuits and the tea and homemade preserves and cake.
+Conversation during the meal was, for the most part, a monologue by the
+captain. He gave Miss Baker a detailed and exaggerated account of his
+adventures in Ostable, on board the train, and during the drive home.
+The housekeeper listened, fidgeting in her chair.
+
+"'Lisha Warren," she interrupted, "how you do talk! Rainin' so hard you
+had to hold the reins taut to keep the horse's head out of water so he
+wouldn't drown! The idea!"
+
+"Fact," asserted Captain Warren, with a wink at his guest. "And that
+wa'n't the worst of it. 'Twas so dark I had to keep feelin' the buggy
+with my foot to be sure I was in it. Ain't that so, Mr. Graves?... Here!
+Abbie won't like to have you set lookin' at that empty plate. She's
+always afraid folks'll notice the gilt's wearin' off. Pass it over
+quick, and let me cover it with some more pie."
+
+"Yes, and have some more tea," urged Miss Abbie. "You mustn't pay
+attention to what he says, Mr. Graves," she went on. "Some day he'll
+tell the truth by accident, and then I'll know it's time to send for the
+doctor."
+
+Several times the lawyer attempted to mention the business which had
+brought him to the Cape, and the probability of his having made a
+mistake. But neither host nor housekeeper would listen.
+
+"When you've been in South Denboro as long as I have," declared the
+former, "you'll understand that the time to talk business is when you
+can't think of anything else. Wait till we get into the settin' room.
+Abbie, those six or eight biscuits I've ate are gettin' lonesome. I'll
+take another for sociability, thank you."
+
+But, at last, when all the biscuits but one were gone, and the cake
+plate looked like the Desert of Sahara, the captain pushed back his
+chair, rose, and led the way into the next room. Miss Baker remained to
+clear the table.
+
+"Set down by the fire, Mr. Graves," urged the captain. "Nothin' like
+burnin' wood to look hot and comf'table, is there? It don't always make
+you feel that way--that's why I put in hot water heat--but for looks and
+sociableness you can't beat a log fire. Smoke, do you?"
+
+"Yes. Occasionally. But, Captain Warren--"
+
+"Here, try that. It's a cigar the Judge gave me over to Ostable. He
+smokes that kind reg'lar, but if you don't like it, throw it away.
+He ain't here to see you do it, so you won't be fined for contempt of
+court. I'll stick to a pipe, if you don't mind. Now we're shipshape
+and all taut, I cal'late. Let's see, you wanted to talk business, I
+believe."
+
+"Yes, I did. But before I begin I should like to be sure you are the
+Elisha Warren I came from New York to interview. Is there another of
+that name in Denboro?"
+
+"Um-hm. There's Warrens a-plenty all through this section of the Cape.
+Our family blew ashore here a hundred and fifty years ago, or such
+matter. My dad's name was Elisha; so was my grandfather's. Both sea
+cap'ns, and both dead. There's another Elisha livin' over on the shore
+lane."
+
+"Indeed. Then perhaps it is he I want."
+
+"P'raps. He's keeper of the town poorhouse. I can tell you better if you
+give me an idea what your business is."
+
+"I am an attorney. And now let me ask another question, please. Have
+you--had you a brother in business in New York?"
+
+"Hey?" The captain turned and looked his guest squarely in the eye. His
+brows drew together.
+
+"I've got a brother in New York," he answered, slowly. "Did _he_ send
+you here?"
+
+"Was your brother's name A. Rodgers Warren?"
+
+"'A. Rodgers'? No. His name is Abijah Warren, and--Wait! His middle name
+is Rodgers, though. Did 'Bije send you to me?"
+
+"A moment, Captain. Was your brother a broker?"
+
+"Yes. His office is--or used to be on Broad Street. What--"
+
+"You have not heard from him for some time?"
+
+"Not for eighteen years. He and I didn't agree as well as we might.
+Maybe 'twas my fault, maybe 'twas his. I have my own ideas on that. If
+you're lookin' for 'Bije Warren's brother, Mr. Graves, I guess you've
+come to the right place. But _what_ he sent you to me for, or what
+he wants--for he wants somethin', or he wouldn't have sent--I don't
+understand."
+
+"Why do you think he wanted something?"
+
+"Because he's 'Bije Warren, and I was brought up with him. When we was
+young ones together, he went to school and I went to work. He got the
+frostin' on the cake, and I got the burnt part next to the pan. He went
+to college, and I went to sea. He.... However, you mustn't think I find
+fault with him for that. I sp'iled him as much as anybody, I guess.
+'Twas later on that we.... Well, never mind that, either. What is it he
+wants of me, after eighteen years?"
+
+"He wants a good deal of you, Captain Warren. Or _did_ want it."
+
+"Did? Don't he want it now?"
+
+"I don't know. Captain, I'm surprised that you haven't heard. It seems
+that I am the bearer of bad news. Your brother--"
+
+"Is 'Bije _dead_?"
+
+"He died ten days ago very suddenly. In a way it was a great shock to us
+all, yet we have known that his heart was weak. He realized it, too."
+
+"So 'Bije is dead, hey?" Captain Elisha's face was very grave, and he
+spoke slowly. "Dead! Well, well, well!"
+
+He paused and looked into the fire. Graves saw again that vague
+resemblance he had caught on the train, but had forgotten. He knew now
+why he noticed it. Unlike as the two brothers were, unlike in almost
+every way, the trace of family likeness was there. This sunburned,
+retired captain _was_ the New York financier's elder brother. And this
+certainty made Mr. Graves's errand more difficult, and the cause of it
+more inexplicable.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat.
+
+"Well, well!" he sighed. "So 'Bije has gone. I s'pose you think it's
+odd, maybe," he went on, "that I ain't more struck down by the news. In
+a way, I am, and, in a way, I'm mighty sorry, too. But, to speak truth,
+he and I have been so apart, and have had nothin' to do with each other
+for so long that--that, well, I've come to feel as if I didn't have a
+brother. And I know he felt that way. Yes, and _wanted_ to feel so--I
+know that."
+
+"I wouldn't say that, if I were you," observed the lawyer, gently. "I
+think you're mistaken there."
+
+"I ain't mistaken. Why, look here, Mr. Graves! There was a time when
+I'd have got down on my knees and crawled from here to New York to help
+'Bije Warren. I lent him money to start in business. Later on him and I
+went into partnership together on a--a fool South American speculation
+that didn't pan out for nothin'. I didn't care for that. I took my
+chance same as he did, we formed a stock company all amongst ourselves,
+and I've got my share of the stock somewhere yet. It may come in handy
+if I ever want to paper the barn. But 'twa'n't business deals of that
+kind that parted us, 'twas another matter. Somethin' that he did to
+other folks who'd trusted us and.... Humph! this don't interest you, of
+course.... Well, 'Bije was well off, I know. His wife died way back
+in the nineties. She was one of them fashionable women, and a hayseed
+salt-herrin' of a bachelor brother-in-law stuck down here in the
+sandheaps didn't interest her much--except as somethin' to forget, I
+s'pose. I used to see her name in the Boston papers occasionally, givin'
+parties at Newport and one thing a'nother. I never envied 'em that kind
+of life. I'm as well fixed as I want to be. Got some money put by for
+a rainy spell, comf'table house and land, best town on earth to live in
+and work for; I'm satisfied and always have been. I wouldn't change for
+nothin'. But I'm nine year older than 'Bije was--and yet I'm left alive.
+Hum!"
+
+"Your brother had two children by his marriage," said Graves, after a
+moment of silence.
+
+"Hey? Two children? Why, yes, I remember he did. Boy and girl, wa'n't
+they? I never saw em. They've growed up by this time, of course."
+
+"Yes, the eldest, Caroline, is nearly twenty. The boy, Stephen, is a
+year younger. It is concerning those children, Captain Warren, that I
+have come to you."
+
+Captain Elisha turned in his chair. "Hey?" he queried. "The children?
+You've come to me about 'Bije's children?"
+
+Graves nodded. "Yes," he answered, solemnly. "That is what I meant by
+saying your brother had not forgotten you or wished to forget you. In
+spite of the estrangement, it is evident that his confidence in your
+judgment and integrity was supreme. His children were his idols, Captain
+Warren, and he has left them in your charge."
+
+The captain's pipe fell to the hearth.
+
+"_What_?" he shouted. "Left his children to--to _me_! Mr. Graves,
+you're--you're out of your head--or I am!"
+
+"No, I'm perfectly sane. I have a copy of the will here, and--"
+
+He was interrupted by Miss Baker, who appeared at the door of the dining
+room. "Did you want me, 'Lisha?" she asked.
+
+Her employer stared at her in a dazed, uncomprehending way.
+
+"Want you?" he repeated. "Want you?"
+
+"Yes; I heard you holler, and I thought p'raps you was callin' me."
+
+"Hey? No, I don't want you, Abbie.... Holler! I shouldn't wonder! If
+all I did was holler, I'm surprised at myself. No, no! Run along out and
+shut the door. Yes, shut it.... Now, Mr. Graves, say that over again and
+say it slow."
+
+"I say that your brother has left his two children in your care until
+the youngest shall become of age--twenty-one. I have a copy of his will
+here, and--"
+
+"Wait, wait! let me think. Left his children to me!... to _me_. Mr.
+Graves, had 'Bije lost all his money?"
+
+"No. He was not the millionaire that many thought him. Miss Warren and
+her brother will be obliged to economize somewhat in their manner
+of living. But, with care _and_ economy, their income should be quite
+sufficient, without touching the principal, to--"
+
+"Hold on again; the income, you say. What is that income?"
+
+"Roughly speaking, a mere estimate, about twenty to twenty-five thousand
+yearly."
+
+Captain Elisha had stooped to pick up the pipe he had dropped. His
+fingers touched it, but they did not close. Instead he straightened up
+in his chair as if suffering from an electric shock.
+
+"Mr. Graves," he began; "Mr. Graves, are you cra--. No, I asked you that
+before. But--but twenty _thousand_ a--a year! For mercy sakes, what's
+the principal?"
+
+"In the neighborhood of five hundred thousand, I believe. Of course, we
+had no authority to investigate thoroughly. That will be a part of your
+duties, but--"
+
+"S-shh! Let me soak this into my brains a little at a time. 'Bije leaves
+his children five hundred thousand, half a million, and--and they've got
+to _economize_! And I'm.... Would you mind readin' me that will?"
+
+The attorney drew a long envelope from his pocket, extracted therefrom a
+folded document, donned a pair of gold-mounted eyeglasses, and began to
+read aloud.
+
+The will was short and very concise. "'I, Abijah Rodgers Warren, being
+of sound mind--'"
+
+"You're sartin that part's true, are you?" broke in the captain.
+
+Graves nodded, rather impatiently, and continued. "'Of sound mind,
+memory and understanding, do make, publish and declare this to be my
+last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say:--
+
+"'First:--I direct my executor hereinafter named to pay my just debts
+and funeral expenses as soon as maybe convenient after my decease.'"
+
+"Did he owe much, think likely?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"Apparently not. Very little beyond the usual bills of a household."
+
+"Yes, yes. Grocer and butcher and baker and suchlike. Well, I guess they
+won't have to put in a keeper. Heave ahead."
+
+"'Second:--I give, devise and bequeath all my estate, both real and
+personal, to my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive--'"
+
+The captain gasped. "To me?" he cried, in utter amazement. "He leaves
+it to _me_? 'Bije leaves--say, Mr. Graves, there's some mistake here
+somewhere, sure! And besides, you said--"
+
+"Just a minute, Captain Warren, if you please. If you'll be patient and
+not interrupt, I'll try to make the whole matter plain."
+
+"Well, if you can do _that_, you'll have King Solomon and all his wisdom
+beat a mile, that's all I've got to say. Go on."
+
+"'To my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive me, _in trust_,
+nevertheless, for the following purpose, to wit:--
+
+"'To invest the same and to use the income thereof for the education and
+maintenance of my two children, Caroline Edgecombe Warren--'"
+
+"Edgecombe? Named for some of his wife's folks, I presume likely. Excuse
+me for puttin' my oar in again. Go on."
+
+"'And Stephen Cole Warren--'"
+
+"_That's_ his wife, sartin. She was a Cole. I swan, I beg your pardon."
+
+"'Until the elder, Caroline Edgecombe Warren, shall have reached her
+twenty-first birthday, when one-half of the principal of said estate,
+together with one-half of the accumulated interest, shall be given to
+her, and the trust continued for the education and maintenance of my
+son, Stephen Cole Warren, until he shall have reached his twenty-first
+birthday, when I direct that the remainder be given to him.
+
+"'Third:--I appoint as testamentary guardian of my said children my said
+brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+"'Fourth:--I appoint as sole executor of this, my last will and
+testament, my said brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+"'Fifth:--Imposing implicit trust and confidence in Elisha Warren,
+my brother, I direct that he be not required to give bond for the
+performance of any of the affairs or trusts to which he has been herein
+appointed.'
+
+"The remainder," concluded Graves, refolding the will, "is purely
+formal. It is dated May 15th, three years ago. Your brother, Captain
+Warren, evidently realized, although no one else seems to have done
+so, the precarious state of his health, and prepared, as every careful
+person should, for the great emergency."
+
+The attorney removed his eyeglasses and rubbed them with his
+handkerchief. Captain Elisha sat silent, staring at the fire. After an
+interval, Graves spoke again.
+
+"Of course, Captain," he went on, "my errand is now plain. I come to
+acquaint you with your brother's last wishes and to ascertain whether or
+not you are willing to accept the trust and responsibility he has laid
+upon you. As you doubtless know, the state provides a legal rate of
+reimbursement for such services as yours will--or may--be. Ahem!"
+
+"May be? You mean I ain't got to do this thing unless I want to?"
+
+"Certainly. You have the right to renounce the various appointments, in
+which case another executor, trustee, and guardian will be appointed.
+I realize, and I'm sure that your brother's children will realize, your
+hesitance in assuming such a responsibility over persons whom you have
+never even met."
+
+"Yes, I guess we'll all realize it; you needn't worry about that. Look
+here, do the children know I'm elected?"
+
+"Yes. Of course, the will has been read to them."
+
+"Hum! I s'pose likely they was overcome with joy, wa'n't they?"
+
+Graves bit his lip. Remembering the comments of Miss Caroline and
+her brother when they learned of their uncle's appointment, he had
+difficulty in repressing a smile.
+
+"Well," he replied, slowly, "of course, one could scarcely expect them
+to rejoice. They have never seen you. In fact, I doubt if either of them
+knew their father had a brother, living."
+
+"Y-e-e-s. That part don't surprise me. But the rest of it does. By the
+miracles of the prophets! the rest of it does! That 'Bije--'Bije--should
+leave his children and their money to _me_ to take care of is passin'
+human belief, as our old minister used to say--.... Humph! I s'pose
+likely, Mr. Graves, you'd like to have me say yes or no to the thing
+while you're here, hey?"
+
+Graves nodded. "It would be well to do so," he said. "The settlement
+of the estate must be taken in hand as soon as possible. The law so
+directs."
+
+"Yes, I see that. Well, what would you advise my doin'?"
+
+To this direct question the lawyer returned a noncommittal answer.
+
+"I'm afraid that must be answered by yourself alone, Captain Warren," he
+said. "Of course, the acceptance of the trust will necessarily involve
+much trouble and inconvenience, especially to one of your--er--settled
+and--er--conservative--I judge merely from what you have said--your
+conservative habits. The estate is large, the investments are,
+doubtless, many and varied, and the labor of looking into and
+investigating them may require some technical skill and knowledge of
+finance. Yes."
+
+"Um-hm.... Well, I judge that that kind of skill and knowledge could be
+hired, if a feller felt like payin' fair wages; hey?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes. Any good lawyer could attend to that, under the
+supervision of the executor, certainly. But there are other
+inconveniences to a--a--"
+
+"Country jay like me. I understand. Go ahead."
+
+"I mean that you would probably be required to spend much, or all, of
+the next two or three years in New York."
+
+"Would, hey? I didn't know but bein' as a guardian has entire charge of
+the children and their money and all--I understand that's what he does
+have--he could direct the children fetched down to where _he_ lived, if
+he wanted to. Am I wrong?"
+
+"No," the lawyer's hesitancy and annoyance was plainly evident. "No-o.
+Of course, that _might_ be done. Still, I--"
+
+"You think that wouldn't cause no more rejoicin' than some other things
+have? Yes, yes; I cal'late I understand, Mr. Graves. Well, I guess
+you'll have to give me to-night to chew over this. I guess you will.
+It's come on me so sudden, 'Bije's death and all, that I want to be by
+myself and think. I don't want to seem unsociable or lackin' in
+hospitality. The whole house is yours. Help yourself to it. But when I'm
+caught in a clove hitch, I just have to set down and think myself out of
+it. I _have_ to. I was built and launched that way, I guess, and maybe
+you'll excuse me."
+
+"Certainly, Captain Warren. You're quite right in wishing to deliberate
+on so important a matter. And, if you will excuse me in return, I
+believe I will go to my room. I've had a rather wearing day."
+
+"And a damp evenin'. Yes, I'll excuse and sympathize with you, too. I'll
+see you to your room, and I'll hope you'll have consider'ble more sleep
+than I'm likely to get. Abbie!... Abbie!... Fetch Mr. Graves's lamp,
+won't you, please?"
+
+It was after two the next morning before Captain Elisha rose from his
+chair by the fire and entered his bed chamber. Yet, when Atwood Graves
+came down to breakfast, he found his host in the sitting room awaiting
+him.
+
+"Afore we tackle Abbie's pancakes and fishballs, Mr. Graves," said the
+captain, "let's get the rest of that will business off our minds. Then
+we can have the pancakes to take the taste out of our mouths, as you
+might say. And let me ask you one more question. This--er--er--Caroline
+and Stephen, they're used to livin' pretty well--fashionable society,
+and the like of that, hey?"
+
+"Yes. Their home was on Fifth Avenue, and the family moved in the best
+circles."
+
+"Hum! I should imagine life on twenty-odd thousand a year must be
+pretty much all circles, one everlastin' 'turn your partners.' Well, Mr.
+Graves, my circles down here are consider'ble smaller, but they suit me.
+I'm worth twenty-odd thousand myself, not in a year, but in a lifetime.
+I'm selectman and director in the bank and trustee of the church. When I
+holler 'Boo,' the South Denboro folks--some of them, anyhow--set up and
+take notice. I can lead the grand march down in this neighborhood once
+in a while, and I cal'late I'm prettier leadin' it than I would be doin'
+a solitaire jig for two years on the outside edge of New York's best
+circles. And I'm mighty sure I'm more welcome. Now my eyesight's strong
+enough to see through a two-foot hole after the plug's out, and I can
+see that you and 'Bije's children won't shed tears if I say no to that
+will. No offense meant, you know; just common sense, that's all."
+
+This was plain speaking. Mr. Graves colored, though he didn't mean to,
+and for once could not answer offhand.
+
+"So," continued the captain, "I'll ease your and their minds by sayin'
+that, the way I feel now, I probably sha'n't accept the trust. I
+_probably_ sha'n't. But I won't say sure I won't, because--well, because
+'Bije was my brother; he was that, no matter what our diff'rences may
+have been. And I know--I _know_ that there must be some reason bigger
+than 'implicit trust' and the other May-baskets for his appointin' me in
+his will. What that reason is I _don't_ know--yet."
+
+"Then you intend--?"
+
+"I don't know what I intend--in the end. But for a beginnin', I cal'late
+to run down to New York some time durin' the next week, take a cruise
+'round, and sort of look things over."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+"It's a box of a place, though, isn't it," declared Mr. Stephen Warren,
+contemptuously glancing about the library of the apartment. "A box, by
+George! I think it's a blooming shame that we have to put up with it,
+Sis."
+
+Mr. Warren sprawled in the most comfortable chair in the room, was
+looking out through the window, across the wind-swept width of Central
+Park West, over the knolls and valleys of the Park itself, now bare of
+foliage and sprinkled with patches of snow. There was a discontented
+look on his face, and his hands were jammed deep in his trousers
+pockets.
+
+His sister, Caroline, sat opposite to him, also looking out at the
+December landscape. She, too, was discontented and unhappy, though she
+tried not to show it.
+
+"Why don't you say something," snapped Stephen, after a moment of
+silence. "_Isn't_ it a box of a place? Now come."
+
+"Yes," replied the young lady, without looking at her brother. "Yes,
+Steve, I suppose it is. But you must remember that we must make the
+best of it. I always wondered how people could live in apartments. Now I
+suppose I shall have to find out."
+
+"Well, I maintain that we don't have to. We aren't paupers, even though
+father wasn't so well fixed as everyone thought. With management and
+care, we could have stayed in the old house, I believe, and kept up
+appearances, at least. What's the use of advertising that we're broke?"
+
+"But, Steve, you know Mr. Graves said--"
+
+"Oh, yes, I know. You swallowed every word Graves said, Caro, as if
+he was the whole book of Proverbs. By George, _I_ don't; I'm from
+Missouri."
+
+Mr. Warren, being in the Sophomore class at Yale, was of the age when
+one is constitutionally "from Missouri." Probably King Solomon, at
+sixty, had doubts concerning the scope and depth of his wisdom; at
+eighteen he would have admitted its all-embracing infallibility without
+a blush.
+
+"I tell you," continued Stephen, "there's no sense in it, Sis. You and I
+know plenty of people whose incomes are no larger than ours. Do they
+'economize,' as Graves is continually preaching? They do not, publicly
+at least. They may save a bit, here and there, but they do it where it
+doesn't show and nobody knows. Take the Blaisdells, for instance. When
+the Sodality Bank went up, and old Blaisdell died, everybody said the
+family was down and out. They must have lost millions. But did _they_
+move into 'apartments' and put up a placard, 'Home of the Dead-Brokes.
+Walk in and Sympathize?' I guess they didn't! They went into mourning,
+of course, and that let them out of entertaining and all that, but they
+stayed where they were and kept up the bluff. That's the thing that
+counts in this world--keeping up the bluff."
+
+"Yes, but everyone knows they are--bluffing, as you call it."
+
+"What of it? They don't really know, they only suspect. And I met Jim
+Blaisdell yesterday and he shook my hand, after I had held it in front
+of his eyes where he couldn't help seeing it, and had the nerve to tell
+me he hoped things weren't as bad with us as he had heard."
+
+"I never liked the Blaisdells," declared Caroline, indignantly.
+
+"Neither did I. Neither do most people. But Jim is just as much in the
+swim as he ever was, and he's got his governor's place on the board of
+directors at the bank, now that it's reorganized, and an office down
+town, and he's hand and glove with Von Blarcom and all the rest.
+They think he's a promising, plucky young man. They'll help his bluff
+through. And are his mother and sister dropped by the people in their
+set? I haven't noticed it."
+
+"Well, Mrs. Corcoran Dunn told me that everyone was talking about
+the Blaisdells and wondering how long they could keep it up. And the
+newspapers have been printing all sorts of things, and hinting that
+young Mr. Blaisdell's appointment as director, after his father wrecked
+the bank, was a scandal. At least, we haven't _that_ to bear up under.
+Father was honest, if he wasn't rich."
+
+"Who cares for the newspapers? They're all run by demagogues hunting
+sensations. What makes me feel the worst about all this is that Stock
+Exchange seat of father's. If I were only of age, so that I could go
+down there on the floor, I tell you it wouldn't be long before you and I
+were back where we belong, Sis. But, no, I'm a kid, so Graves thinks, in
+charge of a guardian--a _guardian_, by gad!"
+
+He snorted, in manly indignation. Caroline, her pretty face troubled,
+rose and walked slowly across the room. It was a large room, in spite of
+the fact that it was one of a suite in an apartment hotel, and furnished
+richly. A. Rodgers Warren spent his money with taste, and spent it
+freely while he lived. The furniture, the paintings, and bric-a-brac
+were of the very best, chosen with care, here and abroad.
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed the girl. "I do hope Mr. Graves will be well enough
+to call to-day. He expected to. Except for the telephone message telling
+us that that _man_ at Denboro--"
+
+"Our dear Uncle Elisha," put in Stephen, with sarcasm. "Uncle ''Lish!'
+Heavens! what a name!"
+
+"Hush! He can't help his name. And father's was worse yet--Abijah! Think
+of it!"
+
+"I don't want to think of it. Neither did the governor; that's why
+he dropped it, I suppose. Just what did Graves say? Give me his exact
+words."
+
+"His partner, Mr. Kuhn, telephoned. He said that Mr. Graves had a bad
+cold, having been wet through in a dreadful storm down there in the
+country. The doctor forbade his leaving the house for a day or two, but
+he would call on Tuesday--to-day--if he was sufficiently recovered. And
+Mr. Kuhn said that everything was satisfactory. This Captain Warren--a
+ship captain, I suppose he is--would, in all probability, refuse to
+accept the guardianship and the rest of it--"
+
+"Refuse? I should think so. I'm just as certain father was insane when
+he made that will as I am that I'm alive. If I thought he wasn't, I'd
+never forgive him."
+
+"Hush, Steve. You promised me you wouldn't speak in that way."
+
+"Well, all right, I won't. But, Caro, he _must_ have been insane. If he
+wasn't, do you suppose he would have put us and the estate in the care
+of a Down-East jay? It's inconceivable! It's ridiculous! Think of it.
+Suppose this uncle of ours had accepted. Suppose he had come to town
+here and any of our friends had met him. 'This is our guardian, Captain
+Warren, of Punkin Centre.' 'Please to meet ye,' says Uncle 'Lish. 'How's
+taters?' Horrors! Say, Caro, you haven't told anyone, Malcolm or his
+mother, or anyone, have you?"
+
+"Of course not, Steve. You know I wouldn't."
+
+"Well, don't. They needn't know it, now or at any other time. Graves
+will probably get himself appointed, and he's respectable if he is an
+old fogy. We'll worry along till I'm twenty-one, and then--well, then
+I'll handle our business myself."
+
+Evidently there was no question in his mind as to his ability to handle
+this or any business, no matter how involved. He rose from his chair and
+yawned.
+
+"It's deadly dull," he complained. "You don't need me, do you, Caro? I
+believe I'll go out for a while. That is, unless you really care."
+
+His sister hesitated before replying. When she spoke, there was
+disappointment in her tone.
+
+"Why, Steve," she said, "I did hope you might be here when Mr. Graves
+came. He will wish to speak of important matters, and it seems to me
+that both of us should hear what he has to say."
+
+Young Warren, who had started for the door, stopped and kicked
+impatiently at the corners of the rug.
+
+"Oh, _well_!" he observed, "if you want me of course I'll stay. But why
+doesn't old Graves come, if he is coming. Maybe he's under the weather
+yet," he added, hopefully. "Perhaps he isn't coming at all to-day. I
+believe I'll call up Kuhn on the 'phone and find out."
+
+He was on his way to the telephone when the doorbell buzzed.
+
+"Gad! there he is now," he exclaimed. "Now I suppose I'll have to stay.
+We'll hear about dear Uncle 'Lish, won't we? Oh, joy!"
+
+But the staid butler, when he entered the library, did not announce the
+lawyer's name.
+
+"Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and Mr. Malcolm," he said. "Will you see them, Miss
+Caroline?"
+
+The young lady's face lit up.
+
+"Certainly, Edwards," she said. "Show them--Oh, Mrs. Dunn, I'm so glad
+to see you! It was _ever_ so good of you to come. And Malcolm."
+
+Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn was tall and, in South Denboro, would have been
+called "fleshy," in spite of her own and the dressmaker's efforts to
+conceal the fact. She was elaborately gowned and furred, and something
+about her creaked when she walked. She rushed into the room, at the
+butler's heels, and, greeting Caroline with outstretched hands, kissed
+her effusively on the cheek.
+
+"My dear child," she cried, "how could I stay away? We have spoken of
+you and Stephen _so_ often this morning. We know how lonely you must be,
+and Malcolm and I decided we _must_ run in on you after lunch. Didn't
+we, Malcolm?"
+
+Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, her son, was a blond young man, with a rather
+indolent manner.
+
+"Sure, Mater!" he said, calmly. "How d'ye do, Caroline? 'Lo, Steve!"
+
+The quartette shook hands. Mrs. Dunn sank creakingly into a chair and
+gazed about the room. Malcolm strolled to the window and looked out.
+Stephen followed and stood beside him.
+
+"My dear," said Mrs. Dunn, addressing Caroline, "how are you getting on?
+How are your nerves? Is all the dreadful 'settling' over?"
+
+"Very nearly, thank goodness."
+
+"That's a mercy. I should certainly have been here yesterday to help you
+in superintending and arranging and so on, but I was suffering from one
+of my 'hearts,' and you know what _they_ are."
+
+Everyone who knew Mrs. Corcoran Dunn was acquainted with her "hearts."
+The attacks came, so she was accustomed to explain, from an impaired
+valve, and "some day"--she usually completed the sentence with upturned
+eyes and a resigned upward wave of the hand.
+
+Her son turned from the window.
+
+"I say, Mother," he explained, wearily, "I do wish you wouldn't speak of
+your vital organs in the plural. Anyone would imagine you were a sort
+of freak, like the two-headed boy at the circus. It's positively
+distressing."
+
+Stephen laughed. He admired young Dunn immensely. Mrs. Dunn sighed.
+
+"Don't, Malcolm, dear," she pleaded. "You sound so unfeeling. One not
+acquainted with your real kindness of heart--"
+
+"Oh, drop it," interrupted Malcolm. "Let's omit the heart interest.
+This isn't a clinic. I say, Steve, how do you like the new flat? It is a
+flat, isn't it?"
+
+Stephen turned red. His sister colored and bit her lip. Mrs. Dunn
+hastened to the rescue.
+
+"Horrors!" she exclaimed. "Malcolm, you really are insufferable. Flat!
+Caroline, dear, you mustn't mind him. He will have his joke. Malcolm,
+apologize."
+
+The command was sharp, and her son obeyed it.
+
+"Beg your pardon, Steve," he said. "Yours, too, Caroline. I was only
+joking. There's a little beast of a bookkeeper down at the office who
+is forever talking of his 'nice flat in the Bronx.' It's a standing
+guy, you know. So far as I can see, these are pretty snug quarters. And
+attractively arranged, too. Your taste, Caroline, I'm betting."
+
+Miss Warren, slightly mollified, bowed assent.
+
+"I thought so," continued Malcolm. "No one but you would have known
+exactly the right spot for everything. Show us through, won't you?"
+
+But Mrs. Dunn had other plans.
+
+"Not now, Malcolm," she put in. "Caroline is tired out, I'm sure. A
+little fresh air will do her good. I was going to suggest that you and
+she and Stephen go for a short ride. Yes, really you must, my dear," she
+added, turning to the girl beside her. "Our car is at the door, it's not
+at all a bad afternoon, and the outing will be just what you need."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Dunn," said Caroline, gratefully. "I should like to.
+Indeed, I should. But we have been expecting a business call from Mr.
+Graves, father's lawyer, and--"
+
+"Oh, come on, Sis!" interrupted Stephen. "I'm dying to get out of this
+jail. Let old Graves wait, if he comes. We won't be long; and, besides,
+it's not certain that he is coming to-day. Come on!"
+
+"I'm afraid I ought not, Steve. Mr. Graves may come, and--and it seems
+too bad to trouble our friends--"
+
+"It's not trouble, it's pleasure," urged Mrs. Dunn. "Malcolm will be
+delighted. It was his idea. Wasn't it?" turning to her son.
+
+"Oh, yes! certainly," replied the young gentleman. "Hope you'll come,
+Caroline. And you, of course, Steve. The blessed machine's been off its
+feed for a week or more, but Peter says he thinks it's all right again.
+We'll give it a try-out on the Drive. Hope we have better luck than my
+last," with a laugh. "They nabbed us for speeding, and I had to promise
+to be a good boy or to be fined. Said we were hitting it at fifty an
+hour. We _were_ going some, that's a fact. Ha! ha!"
+
+"But he won't be reckless when you're with him, Caroline," put in his
+mother. "You will go? That's so nice! As for Mr. Graves, I'll explain
+if he comes. Oh, no! _I'm_ not going! I shall remain here in this
+comfortable chair and rest until you return. It's exactly what my
+physician orders, and for once I'm going to obey him. My heart, you
+know, my poor heart--"
+
+She waved her hand and raised her eyes. Miss Warren expostulated, but to
+no purpose. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn would _not_ go, but the others must. So,
+at last, they did. When Caroline and her brother had gone for their
+wraps, Mrs. Dunn laid a hand on her son's arm.
+
+"Now mind," she whispered, "see if you can find out anything during the
+ride. Something more explicit about the size of their estate and who the
+guardian is to be. There are all sorts of stories, you know, and we
+_must_ learn the truth very soon. Don't appear curious, but merely
+friendly. You understand?"
+
+"Sure, Mater," was the careless answer. "I'll pump."
+
+The two departed, leaving their lady visitor ensconced in the
+comfortable chair. She remained in it for perhaps five minutes. Then she
+rose and sauntered about the room. She drifted into the drawing-room,
+returning a moment later and sauntering casually toward the open desk by
+the fireplace. There were papers and letters scattered about this desk,
+and these she turned over, glancing toward the door to be sure no one
+was coming. The letters were, for the most part, messages of sympathy
+from friends of the Warren family. Hearing an approaching step, she
+hastily returned to the chair.
+
+Edwards, the butler, entered the library and replenished the fire. Mrs.
+Dunn languidly accosted him.
+
+"Ah--er--Edwards," she said, "you are--er--growing familiar with your
+new home?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Edwards, politely.
+
+"It must seem--er--small compared to the other."
+
+"Smaller; yes, ma'am."
+
+"But very snug and comfortable."
+
+"Yes, ma 'am."
+
+"It is fortunate that Miss Warren and her brother have the aid of such
+a--an old servant of the family."
+
+"Thank you, ma'am."
+
+"Is Miss Caroline managing her own affairs?"
+
+"Apparently so. Yes, ma'am."
+
+"I presume, however, a guardian has been appointed? With an estate such
+as the late Mr. Warren _must_ have left, some responsible person would
+be, of course, necessary."
+
+She paused. Edwards, having arranged the logs to his liking, brushed the
+dust from his hands.
+
+"I don't know, ma'am, I'm sure," he said. "Neither Miss Caroline nor Mr.
+Stephen have spoken with me concerning the family affairs."
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn straightened, with hauteur.
+
+"I think that was the doorbell," she remarked, a trifle sharply. "If it
+should be Mr. Graves, the attorney, you may show him into the library
+here."
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Edwards once more, and departed.
+
+The lady visitor heard voices in the passage. She listened, but could
+hear nothing understandable. Evidently the butler was having an argument
+with someone. It could not be Graves.
+
+Edwards reappeared, looking troubled.
+
+"It's a--a gentleman to see Miss Caroline," he said. "He won't give his
+name, ma'am, but says she's expecting him."
+
+"Expecting him?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am. I told him she was out, but he said he was intending
+to stay a while anyway, and would wait. I asked his business, but he
+wouldn't tell it."
+
+"That's odd." Mrs. Dunn was slightly interested. "A tradesman, perhaps;
+or an agent of the landlord."
+
+"No-o, ma'am. I don't think he's either of them, ma'am."
+
+"What sort of a person is he, Edwards?"
+
+The butler's face twitched for an instant with a troubled smile. Then it
+resumed its customary respectful calm.
+
+"I hardly know, ma'am. He's an oddish man. He--I think he's from the
+country."
+
+From behind him came a quiet chuckle.
+
+"You're right, Commodore," said a man's voice; "I'm from the country.
+You guessed it."
+
+Edwards jumped, startled out of his respectable wits. Mrs. Dunn rose
+indignantly from her chair.
+
+"I beg your pardon, ma'am," said the intruder, appearing in the doorway.
+"You mustn't think I'm forcin' my way where I ain't wanted. But it
+seemed to take so long to make the Admiral here understand that I was
+goin' to wait until Caroline came back that I thought I'd save time and
+breath by provin' it to him. I didn't know there was any company. Excuse
+me, ma'am, I won't bother you. I'll just come to anchor out here in the
+entry. Don't mind me."
+
+He bowed politely, picked up the large suit-case, plainly bran-new,
+which he had momentarily placed on the rug at his feet, and, with it
+in one hand and a big soft felt hat in the other, stepped back into the
+hall out of sight. The astonished Mrs. Dunn and the paralyzed Edwards
+heard a chair crack as if a heavy weight had descended upon it.
+Evidently he had "come to anchor."
+
+The lady was the first to recover the power of speech.
+
+"Why!" she exclaimed, in an alarmed whisper. "Why! I never heard of
+such brazen impertinence in my life. He must be insane. He is a lunatic,
+isn't he, Edwards?"
+
+The butler shook his head. "I--I don't know, ma'am," he stammered.
+
+"I believe he is." Mrs. Dunn's presence of mind was returning, and with
+it her courage. Her florid cheeks flamed a more vivid red, and her eyes
+snapped. "But whether he is or not, he sha'n't bulldoze me."
+
+She strode majestically to the door. The visitor was seated in the hall,
+calmly reading a newspaper. Hat and suit-case were on the floor beside
+him.
+
+"What do you mean by this?" demanded the lady. "Who are you? If you have
+any business here, state it at once."
+
+The man glanced at her, over his spectacles, rose and stood looking down
+at her. His expression was pleasant, and he was remarkably cool.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he said, gravely. "I'll be glad to tell you who I am,
+if you'd like to have me. I'd have done it before, but I thought there
+weren't any use troublin' you with my affairs. But, just a minute--"
+he hesitated--"I haven't made any mistake, have I? I understood your
+steward--the feller with the brass buttons, to say that Abijah Warren's
+children lived here. That's so, ain't it? If not, then I _am_ mistaken."
+
+Mrs. Dunn regarded him with indignation. "You are," she said coldly.
+"The family of the late Mr. Rodgers Warren lives here. I presume the
+slight resemblance in names misled you. Edwards, show the gentleman
+out."
+
+"Just one moment more, ma'am. It was Rodgers Warren's children I was
+lookin' for. A. Rodgers Warren he called himself, didn't he? Yes. Well,
+the A stood for Abijah; that was his Christian name. And he left
+two children, Caroline and Stephen? Good! I thought for a jiffy I'd
+blundered in where I had no business, but it's all right. You see,
+ma'am, I'm their uncle from South Denboro, Massachusetts. My name is
+Elisha Warren."
+
+Mrs. Dunn gasped. Edwards, peering over her shoulder, breathed heavily.
+
+"You are--their _uncle_?" repeated the lady.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. I'm 'Bije's brother. Oh, don't worry. It's all right. And
+don't fret yourself about me, either. I'll set right down out here
+and read my paper and wait till Caroline or Stephen get home. They're
+expectin' me. Mr. Graves, the lawyer, told 'em I was comin'."
+
+He calmly seated himself and adjusted his spectacles. Mrs. Dunn stared
+at him, then at Edwards. After an instant's indecision, she stepped
+back into the library and walked to the window. She beckoned, with an
+agitated finger, to the butler, who joined her.
+
+"Edwards," she whispered, "did you hear what he said?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Edwards, wide-eyed and wondering.
+
+"Is it true?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Did Mr. Warren have a brother?"
+
+"I didn't know that he had, ma'am."
+
+"Do you--do you think it likely that he would have a brother like--like
+_that_?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Was Miss Caroline expecting him?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am. She--"
+
+"Oh, you don't know anything! You're impossible. Go away!"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Edwards thankfully; and went. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn
+stood for some minutes by the window, thinking, or trying to think a way
+to the truth in this astounding development. Of course the man _might_
+be a lunatic who had gained his information concerning the Warren family
+from the papers; but he did not look like a lunatic. On the other hand,
+he certainly did not look as one would have expected a brother of
+Rodgers Warren's to look. Oddest of all, if he was such a brother, why
+had neither Caroline or Stephen mentioned his existence? According to
+his story, Graves, the Warren lawyer, had warned the children of his
+coming. Caroline had been very reticent concerning her father's will,
+the amount of his estate, and the like. And Mrs. Dunn had repeatedly,
+though discreetly, endeavored to find out these important details.
+Neither hints nor questions had resulted satisfactorily. Was it possible
+that this was the reason, this country uncle? If so--well, if so, here
+was a Heaven-sent opportunity for a little genteel and perfectly safe
+detective work. Mrs. Dunn creakingly crossed the room and spoke.
+
+"Mr. Warren," she said, "I feel guilty in keeping you out there. Won't
+you come into the library?"
+
+"Why, thank you, ma'am, I'm all right. Don't you trouble about me. Go
+right on with your readin' or sewin' or knittin' or whatever you was
+doin' and--"
+
+"I was not reading," replied Mrs. Dunn, with a slight shudder. "Come in,
+please. I wish you to."
+
+Captain Elisha folded his paper and put it in his pocket. Entering the
+library, he stood quietly waiting.
+
+"Won't you sit down?" asked his impromptu hostess, trying hard to be
+gracious.
+
+"Thank you," said the captain. He sank into an armchair and looked
+curiously about him.
+
+"So you are the late Mr. Warren's brother?" asked the lady, making her
+first lead in the game.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. His older brother. 'Bije was ten year younger'n I am,
+Mrs.--er--"
+
+"Dunn. I am an old friend of the family."
+
+"That's good. I'm glad to hear they've got friends. When you're in
+sickness or trouble or sorrer, friendship counts for consider'ble. How
+are the young folks--Caroline and Stephen--pretty smart, hey?"
+
+"_Smart_? Why, they are intelligent, naturally. I--"
+
+"No, no. I mean are they pretty well?"
+
+"Very well, indeed, considering the shock of their recent bereavement."
+
+"Yes, yes. Of course. And they've moved, too. Movin's an awful job. They
+say three movin's are as bad as a fire, but I cal'late I'd rather burn
+up a set of carpets than _pull_ 'em up, 'specially if they was insured.
+'Tain't half so much strain on your religion. I remember the last time
+we took up our carpets at home, Abbie--she's my second cousin, keepin'
+house for me--said if gettin' down on my knees has that effect on me
+she'd never ask me to go to prayer-meetin' again. Ho! ho!"
+
+He chuckled. Mrs. Dunn elevated her nose and looked out of the window.
+Then she led another small trump.
+
+"You say that Miss Caroline and her brother expect you," she said. "You
+surprise me. Are you sure?"
+
+"Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm sure. When Mr. Graves came down to see me, last
+week 'twas, I told him to say I'd be up pretty soon to look the ground
+over. This is a pretty fine place the young folks have got here," he
+added, gazing admiringly at the paintings and bookcases.
+
+"Yes," assented the lady, condescendingly. "For an apartment it is
+really quite livable."
+
+"Livable!" Captain Elisha's astonishment got the better of his
+politeness for the moment. "Um! Yes, I should say a body _might_ manage
+to worry along in it. Was the place where they used to live any finer
+than this?"
+
+"Certainly!"
+
+"You don't tell me! No wonder they talked about economi--Humph!"
+
+"What were you about to say, Mr. Warren?"
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'! Talkin' to myself is a habit I've got. Abbie--my
+second cousin; I guess I told you about her--says it's a sure sign that
+a person's rich or out of his head, one or t'other. I ain't rich, so--"
+He chuckled once more.
+
+"Mr. Graves came to see you at your home, did he?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am. At South Denboro. And he certainly did have a rough
+passage. Ho! ho! Probably you heard about it, bein' so friendly with the
+family."
+
+"Ahem! Doubtless he would have mentioned it, but he has been ill."
+
+"Sho! I'm sorry to hear that. I was afraid he'd catch cold."
+
+"Yes. I hope Mr. Graves's errand was successful?"
+
+"Well, sort of so-so."
+
+"Yes. He came to see you in connection with your brother's estate--some
+legacy, perhaps?"
+
+She did not look at the captain when she asked this question. Therefore,
+she did not notice the glance which he gave her. When he answered, it
+was in the same deliberate, provokingly deliberate, manner.
+
+"Um-hm. Somethin' of that kind, Mrs. Dunn. I can't help thinkin'," he
+went on, "how nice it is that Caroline and Steve have such a good friend
+as you to help 'em. Your husband and 'Bije was chums, I s'pose?"
+
+"No, not exactly. The friendship was on my side of the family."
+
+"So? Want to know! Your husband dead, ma'am?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn changed the subject. Her husband, Mr. Corcoran Dunn--once Mike
+Dunn, contractor and Tammany politician--was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
+She mourned him, after a fashion, but she preferred not to talk about
+him.
+
+"Yes," she answered shortly. "It--it looks as if it might snow, doesn't
+it?"
+
+"I shouldn't wonder. Have you any children, ma'am?"
+
+"One--a son." The widow's tone was frigid.
+
+"So? He must be a comfort to you. I s'pose likely he's a friend of my
+nephew and niece, too."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"That's good. Young folks ought to have young friends. You live in this
+neighborhood, ma'am?"
+
+The lady did not answer. She gazed haughtily at the trees in the Park.
+Captain Elisha rubbed a smile from his lips with his hand and remained
+silent. The tall clock ticked loud.
+
+There came the sound of laughter from the passage outside. The hall
+door opened. A moment later, Caroline, followed by her brother and young
+Dunn, entered the library.
+
+The girl's cheeks were rosy from the cold wind. Her hair, beneath the
+fur auto cap, had blown in brown, rippled disorder across her forehead.
+She was smiling.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Dunn!" she cried. "I'm so glad I accepted
+your--Malcolm's--invitation. We had a glorious ride! I--"
+
+She stopped short. Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was
+facing her. Mrs. Dunn also rose.
+
+"Caroline," she said, nervously, "this"--pausing on the word--"gentleman
+is here to see you. He says he is--"
+
+The captain interrupted her. Stepping forward he seized his niece's
+hands in his. "Well, well!" he exclaimed admiringly. "'Bije's girl, that
+I ain't seen since you was a little mite of a baby! Caroline, I'm your
+Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Good _Lord_!" groaned Stephen Warren.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+If the captain heard Stephen's fervent ejaculation, he paid no attention
+to it. Dropping his niece's hand, he extended his own toward his nephew.
+
+"And this is Stephen?" he said. "Well, Steve, you and me have never met
+afore, I b'lieve. But that's our misfortune, not our fault, hey? How are
+you? Pretty smart?"
+
+The boy's face was flaming. He mumbled something to the effect that he
+was all right enough, and turned away without accepting the proffered
+hand. Captain Elisha glanced quickly at him, then at his sister.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he said, pleasantly, "I s'pose you've been expectin'
+me. Mr. Graves told you I was comin', didn't he?"
+
+Miss Warren, also, was flushed with embarrassment and mortified
+surprise.
+
+"No," she stammered. "He has been ill."
+
+"Sho! you don't say! Mrs. Dunn--your friend here--said he was laid up
+with a cold, but I didn't realize 'twas as bad as that. So you didn't
+know I was comin' at all."
+
+"No. We--we have not heard from you since he returned."
+
+"That's too bad. I hope I sha'n't put you out any, droppin' in on
+you this way. You mustn't treat me as comp'ny, you know. If 'tain't
+convenient, if your spare room ain't ready so soon after movin', or
+anything of that kind, I can go to a hotel somewheres for a day or so.
+Hadn't I better, don't you think?"
+
+Caroline hesitated. If only they might have been spared this public
+humiliation. If the Dunns had not been there. It was bad enough to
+have this dreadful country uncle come at all; but to have him come now,
+before they were prepared, before any explanations had been made! What
+should she do?
+
+Her brother, fidgeting at her elbow, not daring to look at Malcolm
+Dunn, who, he knew, was thoroughly enjoying the scene, could stand it no
+longer.
+
+"Caro," he snapped, "what are you waiting for? Don't you _know_ that the
+rooms are not ready? Of course they're not! We're sorry, and all that,
+but Graves didn't tell us and we weren't prepared. Certainly he'll have
+to go to the hotel, for--for the present."
+
+He ventured to raise his eyes and glare indignantly at the captain.
+Finding the latter looking intently at him, he dropped them again and
+jammed his clenched fists into his pockets.
+
+Captain Elisha pulled thoughtfully at his beard.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted. "Humph! then I cal'late maybe--" He took a step
+toward the door, stopped, turned back, and said, with calm decision, "I
+guess I'd better stay. You won't mind me, Caroline--you and Stephen. You
+_mustn't_. As I said, I ain't comp'ny. I'm one of the family, your pa's
+brother, and I've come some consider'ble ways to see you two young folks
+and talk with you. I've come because your pa asked me to. I'm used to
+roughin' it, been to sea a good many v'yages, and if a feather bed ain't
+handy I can get my forty winks on the floor. So that's settled, and you
+mustn't have me on your conscience. That's sense, ain't it, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn did not deign a reply. Caroline answered for her.
+
+"Very well," she said, coldly. Stepping to the desk she rang a bell. The
+butler appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Edwards," said Miss Warren, "this gentleman," indicating the captain,
+"is to be our guest, for the present. You may show him to his room--the
+blue room, I think. If it is not ready, see that it is made so."
+
+"Yes, Miss Caroline," replied Edwards. Retiring to the hall, he returned
+with the suit-case.
+
+"Will you wish to go to your room at once, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Why, I guess I might as well, Commodore," answered Captain Elisha,
+smiling. "Little soap and water won't do no harm. Fact is, I feel's if
+'twas a prescription to be recommended. You needn't tote that valise,
+though," he added. "'Tain't heavy, and I've lugged it so fur already
+sence I got off the car that I feel kind of lonesome without it."
+
+The butler, not knowing exactly how to answer, grinned sheepishly.
+Captain Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn and her son.
+
+"Well, good afternoon, ma'am," he said. "I'm real glad to have made your
+acquaintance. Yours, too, sir," with a nod toward Malcolm. "Your mother
+told me what a friend of the young folks you was, and, as I'm sort
+of actin' pilot for 'em just now, in a way of speakin', any friend of
+theirs ought to be a friend of mine. Hope to see you often, Mr. Dunn."
+
+The young man addressed smiled, with amusement not at all concealed, and
+languidly admitted that he was "charmed."
+
+"Your first visit to the city?" he inquired, in a tone which caused
+Stephen to writhe inwardly.
+
+"No-o. No, not exactly. I used to come here pretty frequent, back in
+my sea-goin' days, when my ship was in port. I sailed for Osgood and
+Colton, down on South Street, for a spell. They were my owners. You
+don't remember the firm, I s'pose?"
+
+"No. The privilege has been denied me. You find some changes in
+New York, don't you--er--Captain? You are a captain, or a bos'n, or
+admiral--something of that sort, I presume?"
+
+"Malcolm!" said his mother, sharply.
+
+"Oh, no offense intended. My sea terms are rather mixed. The captain
+will excuse me."
+
+"Sartin! Cap'n's what they all call me, mostly. Your son ain't ever been
+to sea, except as passenger, I cal'late, ma'am?"
+
+"Certainly not," snapped Mrs. Dunn.
+
+"Of course, of course. Well, 'tain't a life I'd want a boy of mine
+to take up, nowadays. But it did have some advantages. I don't know
+anything better than a v'yage afore the mast to learn a young feller
+what's healthy for him to unlearn. Good day, ma'am. Good day, Mr. Dunn.
+I mustn't keep the Commodore waitin' here with that valise. I'll be
+out pretty soon, Caroline; just as soon as I've got the upper layer
+of railroad dust off my face and hands. You'll be surprised to see how
+light-complected I really am when that's over. All right! Heave ahead,
+Commodore!"
+
+He departed, preceded by Edwards and the suit-case. Stephen Warren threw
+himself violently into a chair by the window. Young Dunn laughed aloud.
+His mother flashed an indignant glance at him, and then hurried to
+Caroline.
+
+"You poor dear!" she exclaimed, putting an arm about the girl's
+shoulder. "Don't mind us, please don't! Malcolm and I understand. That
+is, we know how you feel and--"
+
+"Oh, but you _don't_ know, Mrs. Dunn," cried Caroline, almost in tears.
+"You don't understand! It's so much worse than you think. I--I--Oh, why
+did father do it? How could he be so inconsiderate?"
+
+"There! there!" purred the friend of the family. "You mustn't, you know.
+You really mustn't. Who is this man? This uncle? Where does he come
+from? Why does he force himself upon you in this way? I didn't know your
+poor father had a brother."
+
+"Neither did we," growled Stephen, savagely. Malcolm laughed again.
+
+"What does it all mean, dear?" begged Mrs. Dunn. "You are in trouble,
+I'm sure. Don't you think we--Malcolm and I--might be able to help you?
+We should so love to do it. If you feel that you _can_ confide in us;
+if it isn't a secret--"
+
+She paused expectantly, patting the girl's shoulder. But Caroline had
+heard young Dunn's laugh, and was offended and hurt. Her eyes flashed as
+she answered.
+
+"It's nothing," she said. "He has come to see us on a matter of
+business, I believe. I am nervous and--foolish, I suppose. Mr. Graves
+will see us soon, and then everything will be arranged. Thank you for
+calling, Mrs. Dunn, and for the ride."
+
+It was a very plain hint, but Mrs. Dunn did not choose to understand it
+as such.
+
+"You're sure you hadn't better tell me the whole story, dear?" she
+urged. "I am old enough, almost, to be your mother, and perhaps my
+advice might.... No? Very well. You know best but--You understand that
+it is something other than mere curiosity which leads me to ask."
+
+"Of course, I understand," said the girl hastily. "Thank you very much.
+Perhaps, by and by, I can tell you everything. But we must see Mr.
+Graves first. I--oh, _don't_ ask me more now, Mrs. Dunn."
+
+The widow of so astute a politician as Mike Dunn had been in his day
+could have scarcely failed to profit by his teachings. Moreover, she
+possessed talent of her own. With a final pat and a kiss, she prepared
+for departure.
+
+"Good-by, then," she said, "or rather, _au revoir_. We shall look in
+to-morrow. Come, Malcolm."
+
+"I say, Mal!" cried Stephen, rising hurriedly. "You won't tell anyone
+about--"
+
+"Steve!" interrupted his sister.
+
+Malcolm, about to utter a languid sarcasm, caught his mother's look, and
+remained silent. Another meaning glance, and his manner changed.
+
+"All right, Steve, old man," he said. "Good-by and good luck. Caroline,
+awfully glad we had the spin this afternoon. We must have more. Just
+what you and Steve need. At your service any time. If there is anything
+I can do in any way to--er--you understand--call on me, won't you?
+Ready, Mater?"
+
+The pair were shown out by Edwards. On the way home in the car Mrs.
+Corcoran Dunn lectured her son severely.
+
+"Have you no common sense?" she demanded. "Couldn't you see that the
+girl would have told me everything if you hadn't laughed, like an
+idiot?"
+
+The young man laughed again.
+
+"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "it was enough to make a wooden Indian laugh.
+The old jay with the barnacles telling us about the advantages of a
+sailor's life. And Steve's face! Ho! ho!"
+
+His mother snorted disgust. "If you had brains," she declared, "you
+would have understood what he meant by saying that the sea was the place
+to learn what to unlearn. He was hitting at you. Was it necessary to
+insult him the first time you and he exchanged a word?"
+
+"Insult him? _Him?_ Ha, ha! Why, Mater, what's the matter with you? Do
+you imagine that a hayseed like that would recognize an insult without
+an introduction? And, besides, what difference does it make? You don't
+intend putting him on your calling list, do you?"
+
+"I intend cultivating him for the present."
+
+"_Cultivating_ him?"
+
+"Yes--for the present. He is Rodgers Warren's brother. That lawyer,
+Graves, traveled miles to see him. What does that mean? That, in some
+important way, he is connected with the estate and those two children.
+If the estate is worth anything, and we have reason to believe it is,
+you and I must know it. If it isn't, it is even more important that we
+should know, before we waste more time. If Caroline is an heiress, if
+she inherits even a moderate fortune--"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders by way of finish to the sentence.
+
+Malcolm whistled.
+
+"But to think of that old Down-Easter being related to the Warren
+family!" he mused. "It seems impossible."
+
+"Nothing is impossible," observed his mother. Then, with a shudder, "You
+never met your father's relatives. I have."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Captain Elisha emerged from his room, after a wash and a change
+of linen, he found the library untenanted. He strolled about, his hands
+behind him, inspecting the pictures with critical interest. Caroline,
+dressed for dinner, found him thus engaged. He turned at the sound of
+her step.
+
+"Why, hello!" he cried, with hearty enthusiasm. "All rigged up for
+inspection, ain't you?"
+
+"Inspection?"
+
+"Oh, that's just sailor's lingo. Means you've got your Sunday uniform
+on, that's all. My! my! how nice you look! But ain't black pretty old
+for such a young girl?"
+
+"I am in mourning," replied his niece, coldly.
+
+"There! there! of course you are. Tut! tut! How could I forget it. You
+see, I've been so many years feelin' as if I didn't have a brother that
+I've sort of got used to his bein' gone."
+
+"I have not." Her eyes filled as she said it. The captain was greatly
+moved.
+
+"I'm a blunderin' old fool, my dear," he said. "I beg your pardon. Do
+try to forgive me, won't you? And, perhaps--perhaps I can make up your
+loss to you, just a little mite. I'd like to. I'll try to, if--"
+
+He laid a hand on her shoulder. She avoided him and, moving away, seated
+herself in a chair at the opposite side of the desk. The avoidance was
+so obvious as to be almost brutal. Captain Elisha looked very grave for
+an instant. Then he changed the subject.
+
+"I was lookin' at your oil paintin's," he said. "They're pretty fine,
+ain't they? Any of them your work, Caroline?"
+
+"_My_ work?" The girl's astonishment was so great that she turned to
+stare at her questioner. "_My_ work?" she repeated. "Are you joking? You
+can't think that I painted them."
+
+"I didn't know but you might. That one over there, with the trees and
+folks dancin'--sort of picnic scene, I judge--that looks as if you might
+have done it."
+
+"That is a Corot."
+
+"'Tis, hey? I want to know! A--a--what did you call it?"
+
+"A Corot. He was a famous French artist. That was father's favorite
+picture."
+
+"Sho! Well, I like it fust-rate myself. Did 'Bije--did your father know
+this Mr. Corot well?"
+
+"Know him? Certainly not. Why should you think such a thing as that?"
+
+"Well, he bought the picture of him, and so I s'pose likely he knew him.
+There was a young feller come to South Denboro three or four year
+ago and offered to paint a picture of our place for fifteen dollars.
+Abbie--that's Abbie Baker, she's one of our folks, you know, your third
+cousin, Caroline; keepin' house for me, she is--Abbie wanted me to have
+him do the job, but I wa'n't very particular about it, so it never come
+to nothin'. He done two or three places, though, and I swan 'twas nice
+work! He painted Sam Cahoon's old ramshackle house and barn, and you'd
+hardly know it, 'twas so fixed up and fine, in the picture. White paint
+and green grass and everything just like real. He left out the places
+where the pickets was off the fence and the blinds hangin' on one hinge.
+I told Abbie, I says, 'Abbie, that painter's made Sam's place look
+almost respectable, and if that ain't a miracle, I don't know what is.
+I would think Sam would blush every time he sees that picture.' Ho, ho!
+Abbie seemed to cal'late that Sam Cahoon's blushin' would be the biggest
+miracle of the two. Ho! ho! You'd like Abbie; she's got lots of common
+sense."
+
+He chuckled at the reminiscence and rubbed his knee. His niece made no
+reply. Captain Elisha glanced at the Corot once more and asked another
+question.
+
+"I presume likely," he said, "that that picture cost consider'ble more
+than fifteen, hey?"
+
+"Father paid twenty-two thousand dollars for it," was the crushing
+answer.
+
+The captain looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, shut it again,
+and, rising, walked across the room. Adjusting his glasses, he inspected
+the Corot in silence for a few minutes. Then he drew a long breath.
+
+"Well!" he sighed. "_Well_." Then, after an interval, "Was this the only
+one he ever painted?"
+
+"The only one? The only picture Corot painted? Of course not! There are
+many more."
+
+"Did--did this Corot feller get as much for every job as he did for
+this?"
+
+"I presume so. I know father considered this one a bargain."
+
+"Did, hey? Humph! I ought to know enough by this time not to believe all
+I hear, but I kind of had an idea that picture paintin' was starvation
+work. I've read about artists committin' suicide, and livin' in attics,
+and such. Whew! About two such bargain sale jobs as this, and
+I'd guarantee not to starve--and to live as nigh the ground as a
+second-floor bedroom anyhow. How about this next one? This feller in a
+dory--coddin', I guess he is. Did--did Mr. Corot do him?"
+
+"No. That is by a well-known American artist. It is a good piece of
+work, but not like the other. It is worth much less. Perhaps five
+thousand."
+
+"So? Well, even for that I'd undertake to buy consider'ble many dories,
+and hire fellers to fish from 'em, too. Humph! I guess I'm out of
+soundin's. When I thought fifteen dollars was a high price for paintin'
+a view of a house I was slightly mistaken. Next time I'll offer the
+paintin' feller the house and ask him what he considers a fair boot,
+besides. Sam Cahoon's a better speculator than I thought he was. Hello,
+Commodore! what's worryin' you now?"
+
+Edwards appeared to announce that dinner was served. Caroline rose
+and led the way to the dining room. Captain Elisha followed, looking
+curiously about him as he did so. Stephen, who had been sulkily dressing
+in his own room, entered immediately after.
+
+The captain surveyed the dining room with interest. Like the others
+of the suite, it was sumptuously and tastefully furnished. He took the
+chair indicated by the solemn Edwards, and the meal began.
+
+The butler's sense of humor was not acute, but it was with considerable
+difficulty that he restrained his smiles during the next half hour. A
+more appreciative observer would have noticed and enjoyed the subtler
+points. Stephen's glare of disgust at his uncle when the latter tucked
+his napkin in the opening of his waistcoat; Caroline's embarrassment
+when the captain complimented the soup, declaring that it was almost
+as good as one of Abbie's chowders; the visitor's obvious uneasiness at
+being waited upon attentively, and the like. These Edwards missed, but
+he could not help appreciating Captain Elisha's conversation.
+
+Caroline said little during dinner. Her brother glowered at his plate
+and was silent. But the captain talked and talked.
+
+"Maybe you think I didn't have a time findin' your new lodgin's,"
+he said. "I come over on the cars, somethin' I don't usually do when
+there's anything afloat to carry me. But I had an errand or two to do
+in Boston, so I stopped over night at the hotel there and got the nine
+o'clock train. I landed here in New York all shipshape and on time, and
+started in to hunt you up."
+
+"How did you get our address?" asked his niece. "Mr. Graves couldn't
+have given it to you, for we only decided on this apartment a few days
+ago."
+
+"Ho! ho!" chuckled Captain Elisha, rolling in his chair, like a ship in
+a cross sea. "Ho! ho! You remind me of Abbie, Caroline. That's what she
+said. 'I never heard of such a crazy cruise,' she says. 'Startin' off
+to visit folks when you haven't the least idea where they live!' 'Oh,
+yes, I have,' I says, 'I know where they live; they live in New York.'
+Well, you ought to have seen her face. Abbie's a good woman--none
+better--but she generally don't notice a joke until she trips over it.
+I get consider'ble fun out of Abbie, take her by the large. 'New York!'
+she says. 'Did anybody ever hear the beat of that? Do you cal'late New
+York's like South Denboro, where everybody knows everybody else? What
+are you plannin' to do? run up the fust man, woman or child you meet and
+ask 'em to tell you where 'Bijah Warren lives? Or are you goin' to trot
+from Dan to Beersheby, trustin' to meet your nephew and niece on the
+way? I never in my born days!'
+
+"Well," went on the captain, "I told her that the last suggestion
+weren't such a bad one, but there was one little objection to it.
+Considerin' that I hadn't ever laid eyes on Steve and that I hadn't seen
+you since you was a baby, the chances was against my recognizin' you
+if we did meet. Ho, ho, ho! Finally I hinted that I might look in the
+directory, and she got more reconciled to my startin'. Honest, I do
+believe she'd have insisted on takin' me by the hand and leadin' me to
+you, if I hadn't told her that.
+
+[Illustration: "The captain talked and talked."]
+
+"So I did look in the directory and got the number on Fifth Avenue where
+you used to be. I asked a policeman the nighest way to get there, and
+he said take a bus. Last time I was in New York I rode in one of those
+Fifth Avenue omnibuses, and I never got such a jouncin' in my life.
+The pavement then was round cobble stones, like some of the roads
+in Nantucket. I remember I tried to ask a feller that set next to me
+somethin' or other, and I swan to man I couldn't get nothin' out of my
+mouth but rattles. 'Metropolitan Museum,' sounded like puttin' in a ton
+of coal. I thought I was comin' apart, or my works was out of order, or
+somethin', but when the feller tried to answer he rattled just as bad,
+so I realized 'twas the reg'lar disease and felt some better. I never
+shall forget a fleshy woman--somethin' like that Mrs. Dunn friend of
+yours, Caroline--that set opposite me. It give me the crawls to look at
+her, her chins shook around so. Ho! ho! she had no less'n three of 'em,
+and they all shook different ways. Ho! ho! ho! If I'd been in the habit
+of wearin' false hair or teeth or anything that wa'n't growed to or
+buttoned on me I'd never have risked a trip in one of those omnibuses.
+
+"So when the police officer prescribed one for me this v'yage, I was
+some dubious. I'm older'n I was ten year ago, and I wa'n't sure that I'd
+hold together. I cal'lated walkin' was better for my health. So I found
+Fifth Avenue and started to walk. And the farther I walked the heavier
+that blessed satchel of mine got. It weighed maybe ten or twelve pounds
+at the corner of 42nd Street, but when I got as far as the open square
+where the gilt woman is hurryin' to keep from bein' run over by Gen'ral
+Sherman on horseback--that statue, you know--I wouldn't have let that
+blessed bag go for less'n two ton, if I was sellin' it by weight. So
+I leaned up against an electric light pole to rest and sort of get my
+bearin's. Then I noticed what I'd ought to have seen afore, that the
+street wa'n't paved with cobbles, as it used to be, but was smooth as
+a stretch of state road down home. So I figgered that a bus was a safe
+risk, after all. I waited ten minutes or more for one to come, and
+finally I asked a woman who was in tow of an astrakhan-trimmed dog at
+the end of a chain, if the omnibuses had stopped runnin'. When I fust
+see the dog leadin' her I thought she was blind, but I guess she
+was deef and dumb instead. Anyhow, all she said was 'Ugh!' not very
+enthusiastic, at that, and went along. Ho! ho! So then I asked a man,
+and he pointed to a bus right in front of me. You see, I was lookin' for
+the horses, same as they used to be, and this was an automobile.
+
+"I blushed, I guess, just to show that there was some red underneath
+the green, and climbed aboard the omnibus. I rode along for a spell,
+admirin' as much of the scenery as I could see between the women's hats,
+then I told the skipper of the thing that I wanted to make port at 82nd
+Street. He said 'Ugh,' apparently suff'rin' from the same complaint the
+dog woman had, and we went on and on. At last I got kind of anxious and
+asked him again.
+
+"'Eighty-second!' says he, ugly. 'This is Ninety-first.'
+
+"'Good land!' says I. 'I wanted Eighty-second.'
+
+"'Why didn't you say so?' says he, lookin' as if I'd stole his mother's
+spoons.
+
+"'I did,' says I.
+
+"'You _did_?' he snarls. 'You did not! If you did, wouldn't I have heard
+you?'
+
+"Well, any answer I'd be likely to make to that would have meant more
+argument, and the bus was sailin' right along at the time, so I piled
+out and did some more walkin', the other way. At last I reached your old
+number, Stevie, and--Hey? Did you speak?"
+
+"Don't call me 'Stevie,'" growled his nephew, rebelliously.
+
+"Beg your pardon. I keep forgettin' that you're almost grown up. Well,
+as I was sayin', I got to the house where you used to live, and 'twas
+shut tight. Nobody there. Ho! ho! I felt a good deal like old Beriah
+Doane must have on his last 'vacation.' You see, Beriah is one of our
+South Denboro notorieties; he's famous in his way. He works and loafs
+by spells until cranberry pickin' time in the fall; then he picks steady
+and earns thirty or forty dollars all at once. Soon's he's paid off, he
+starts for Boston on a 'vacation,' an alcoholic one. Well, last fall
+his married sister was visitin' him, and she, bein' strong for good
+Templarism, was determined he shouldn't vacate in his regular way. So
+she telegraphed her husband's brother in Brockton to meet Beriah there,
+go with him to Boston, and see that he behaved himself and stayed sober.
+Beriah heard of it, and when his train gets as far as Tremont what does
+he do but get off quiet and change cars for New Bedford. He hadn't been
+there for nine years, but he had pleasant memories of his last visit.
+And when he does get to New Bedford, chucklin' over the way he's
+befooled his sister and her folks, I'm blessed if he didn't find that
+the town had gone no-license, and every saloon was shut up! Ho! ho! ho!
+Well, I felt about the way he did, I guess, when I stood on the steps
+of your Fifth Avenue house and realized you'd gone away. I wouldn't have
+had Abbie see me there for somethin'. Ho! ho!"
+
+He leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud. Caroline smiled faintly.
+Stephen threw down his napkin and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Sis," he cried, "I'm going to my room. By gad! I can't--"
+
+Catching a warning glance from his sister, he did not finish his
+sentence, but stood sulkily beside his chair. Captain Elisha looked at
+him, then at the girl, and stopped laughing. He folded his napkin with
+care, and rose.
+
+"That's about all of it," he said, shortly. "I asked around at two or
+three of the neighbors' houses, and the last one I asked knew where
+you'd moved and told me how to get here."
+
+When the trio were again in the library, the captain spoke once more.
+
+"I'm 'fraid I've talked too much," he said, gravely. "I didn't realize
+how I was runnin' on. Thought I was home, I guess, with the fellers of
+my own age down at the postoffice, instead of bein' an old countryman,
+tirin' out you two young city folks with my yarns. I beg your pardon.
+Now you mustn't mind me. I see you're expectin' company or goin' callin'
+somewheres, so I'll just go to my bedroom and write Abbie a line. She'll
+be kind of anxious to know if I got here safe and sound and found you.
+Don't worry about me, I'll be comf'table and busy."
+
+He turned to go. Caroline looked at him in surprise. "We are not
+expecting callers," she said. "And certainly we are not going out
+to-night. Why should you think such a thing?"
+
+It was her uncle's turn to show surprise.
+
+"Why," he said, with a glance at Stephen, "I see that you're all dressed
+up, and so I thought, naturally--"
+
+He paused.
+
+Young Warren grunted contemptuously.
+
+"We dressed for dinner, that is all," said Caroline.
+
+"You--you mean you put these clothes on every night?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+Captain Elisha was plainly very much astonished.
+
+"Well," he observed, slowly. "I--guess I've made another mistake. Hum!
+Good night."
+
+"Good night," said Stephen, quickly. Caroline, however, seemed
+embarrassed.
+
+"Captain Warren," she said, "I thought possibly you might wish to talk
+business with my brother and me. We--we understand that you have come
+on business connected with father's will. It seems to me that the sooner
+we--we--"
+
+"Get it over the better, hey? Well, maybe you're right. It's an odd
+business for an old salt like me to be mixed up in, that's a fact. If it
+hadn't been so odd, if I hadn't thought there must be some reason, some
+partic'lar reason, I--well, I guess I'd have stayed to home where I
+belong. You mustn't think," he added, seriously, "that I don't realize
+I'm as out of place amongst you and your rich friends as a live fish in
+a barrel of sawdust. That's all right; you needn't trouble to say no.
+But you must understand that, realizin' it, I'm not exactly imposin'
+myself on you for pleasure or--well, from choice. I'm so built that I
+can't shirk when my conscience tells me I shouldn't, that's all. I'm
+kind of tired to-night, and I guess you are. To-morrow mornin', if it's
+agreeable to all hands, we will have a little business talk. I'll have
+to see Lawyer Graves pretty soon, and have a gen'ral look at your pa's
+affairs. Then, if everything is all right and I feel my duty's done,
+I'll probably go back to the Cape and leave you to him, or somebody else
+able to look out for you. Until then I'm afraid," with a smile which had
+a trace of bitterness in it; "I'm afraid you'll have to do the best you
+can with me. I'll try to be no more of a nuisance than I can help. Good
+night."
+
+When the two young people were left alone, Caroline turned to her
+brother.
+
+"Steve," she said, "I'm afraid you were a little rude. I'm afraid you
+hurt his feelings."
+
+The boy stared at her in wonder. "Hurt his feelings!" he exclaimed.
+"_His_ feelings! Well, by Jove! Caro, you're a wonder! Did you expect me
+to throw my arms around his neck? If he had had any feelings at all, if
+he was the slightest part of a gentleman, do you suppose he would come
+here and disgrace us as he is doing? Who invited him? Did we? I guess
+not!"
+
+"But he is father's brother, and father asked him to come."
+
+"No, he didn't. He asked him--heaven knows why--to look out for our
+money affairs. That's bad enough; but he didn't ask him to _live_ with
+us. He sha'n't! by gad, he sha'n't! _You_ may be as sweet to him as you
+like, but I'll make it my business to give him the cold shoulder every
+chance I get. I'll freeze him out, that's what I'll do--freeze him out.
+Why, Caro! be sensible. Think what his staying here means. Can we take
+him about with us? Can our friends meet _him_ as--as our uncle? He's got
+to be made to go. Hasn't he now? Hasn't he?"
+
+The girl was silent for a moment. Then she covered her face with her
+hands. "Oh, yes!" she sobbed. "Oh, yes, he must! he _Must_! _Why_ did
+father do it?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The Warren breakfast hour was nine o'clock. At a quarter to nine
+Caroline, entering the library, found Stephen seated by the fire reading
+the morning paper.
+
+"Good morning," she said. Then, looking about the room, asked, "Has--has
+_he_ been here?"
+
+Her brother shook his head. "You mean Uncle 'Lish?" he asked,
+cheerfully. "No, he hasn't. At least, I haven't seen him and I haven't
+made any inquiries. I shall manage to survive if he never appears. Let
+sleeping relatives lie, that's my motto."
+
+He laughed at his own joke and turned the page of the paper. The butler
+entered.
+
+"Breakfast is served, Miss Caroline," he announced.
+
+"Has Captain Warren come from his room?" asked the young lady.
+
+"No, Miss Caroline. That is, I haven't seen him."
+
+Stephen tossed the paper on the floor and rose.
+
+"I wonder--" he began. Then, with a broad grin, "A sudden thought
+strikes me, Sis. He has undoubtedly blown out the gas."
+
+"Steve! How can you!"
+
+"Perfectly simple. Absolutely reasonable. Just what might have been
+expected. 'He has gone, but we shall miss him.' Come on, Caro; I'm
+hungry. Let the old hayseed sleep. You and I can have a meal in peace.
+Heavens! you don't care for another experience like last night's, do
+you?"
+
+"Edwards," said Caroline, "you may knock at Captain Warren's door and
+tell him breakfast is served."
+
+"Yes," commanded Stephen, "and tell him not to hurry on our account.
+Come, Caro, come! You're not pining for his society. Well, wait then!
+_I_ won't!"
+
+He marched angrily out of the room. His sister hesitated, her wish
+to follow complicated by a feeling of duty to a guest, no matter how
+unwelcome. The butler reappeared, looking puzzled.
+
+"He's not there, miss?" he said.
+
+"Not there? Not in his room?"
+
+"No, Miss Caroline. I knocked, and he didn't answer, so I looked in and
+he wasn't there. His bed's been slept in, but he's gone."
+
+"Gone? And you haven't seen him?"
+
+"No, miss. I've been up and about since half past seven, and I can't
+understand where he could have got to."
+
+The door of the hall opened and shut. Edwards darted from the library.
+A moment afterwards Captain Elisha strolled in. He was wearing his
+overcoat, and his hat was in his hand.
+
+"Good mornin', Caroline," he hailed, in his big voice. "Surprised to see
+me, are you? Ho! ho! So was the Commodore. He couldn't understand how
+I got in without ringin'. Well, you see, I'm used to turnin' out pretty
+early, and when it got to be most seven o'clock, I couldn't lay to bed
+any longer, so I got up, dressed, and went for a walk. I fixed the door
+latch so's I could come in quiet. You haven't waited breakfast for me, I
+hope."
+
+"No; it is ready now, however."
+
+"Ready now," the captain looked at his watch. "Yes, I should think so.
+It's way into the forenoon. You _have_ waited for me, haven't you? I'm
+awfully sorry."
+
+"No, we have not waited. Our breakfast hour is nine. Pardon me for
+neglecting to tell you that last evening."
+
+"Oh, that's all right. Now you trot right out and eat. I've had mine."
+
+"Had your breakfast?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. When I'm home, Abbie and I usually eat about seven, so I
+get sort of sharp-set if I wait after that. I cal'lated you city folks
+was late sleepers, and I wouldn't want to make any trouble, so I found
+a little eatin' house down below here a ways and had a cup of coffee and
+some bread and butter and mush. Then I went cruisin' round in Central
+Park a spell. This _is_ Central Park over across here, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes." The girl was too astonished to say more.
+
+"I thought 'twas. I'd been through part of it afore, but 'twas years
+ago, and it's such a big place and the paths run so criss-cross I got
+sort of mixed up, and it took me longer to get out than it did to get
+in. I had the gen'ral points of the compass, and I guess I could have
+made a pretty average straight run for home, but every time I wanted to
+cut across lots there was a policeman lookin' at me, so I had to stick
+to the channel. That's what made me so late. Now do go and eat your
+breakfast. I won't feel easy till I see you start."
+
+Caroline departed, and the captain, after a visit to his own room, where
+he left his coat and hat, returned to the library, picked up the paper
+which his nephew had dropped, and began reading.
+
+After breakfast came the "business talk." It was a brief one. Captain
+Elisha soon discovered that his brother's children knew very little
+concerning their father's affairs. They had always plenty of money, had
+been indulged in practically every wish, and had never had to think or
+plan for themselves. As to the size of the estate, they knew nothing
+more than Mr. Graves had told them, which was that, instead of the
+several millions which rumor had credited A. Rodgers Warren with
+possessing, five hundred thousand dollars would probably be the extent
+of their inheritance, and that, therefore, they must live economically.
+As a first step in that direction, they had given up their former home
+and moved to the apartment.
+
+"Yes, yes," mused the captain, "I see. Mr. Graves didn't know about your
+movin', then? You did it on your own hook, so to speak?"
+
+Stephen answered promptly.
+
+"Of course we did," he declared. "Why not?"
+
+"No reason in the world. A good sensible thing to do, I should say.
+Didn't anybody advise you where to go?"
+
+"Why should we need advice?" Again it was Stephen who replied. "We
+aren't kids. We're old enough to decide some things for ourselves, I
+should think."
+
+"Yes. Sartin. That's right. But I didn't know but p'raps some of your
+friends might have helped along. This Mrs. Dunn now, she kind of hinted
+to me that she'd--well, done what she could to make you comf'table."
+
+"She has," avowed Caroline, warmly. "Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm have proved
+their friendship in a thousand ways. We never can repay them, Stephen
+and I, never!"
+
+"No. There's some things you can't ever pay, I know that. Mrs. Dunn
+found this nice place for you, did she?"
+
+"Why, yes. She and I found it together."
+
+"So? That was lucky, wa'n't it? Advertised in the newspaper, was it; or
+was there a 'To Let' placard up in the window?"
+
+"No, certainly not. Mrs. Dunn knew that we had decided to move, and she
+has a cousin who is interested in New York property. She asked him, and
+he mentioned this apartment."
+
+"One of his own, was it?"
+
+"I believe so. Why are you so particular? Don't you like it?"
+
+Her tone was sharp. Stephen, who resented his uncle's questions as
+impertinent intrusions upon the family affairs, added one of his own.
+
+"Isn't it as good as those in--what do you call it--South Denboro?" he
+asked, maliciously.
+
+Captain Elisha laughed heartily.
+
+"Pretty nigh as good," he said. "I didn't notice any better on the way
+to the depot as I drove up. And I doubt if there's many new ones built
+since I left. It's a mighty fine lot of rooms, I think. What's the rent?
+You'll excuse my askin', things bein' as they are."
+
+"Twenty-two hundred a year," answered his niece, coldly.
+
+The captain looked at her, whistled, broke off the whistle in the
+middle, and did a little mental arithmetic.
+
+"Twenty-two hundred a year!" he repeated. "That's one hundred and
+eighty odd a month. Say, that cousin of Mrs. Dunn's must want to get his
+investment back. You mean for just these ten rooms?"
+
+Stephen laughed scornfully.
+
+"Our guardian has been counting, Caro," he remarked.
+
+"Yes. Yes, I counted this mornin' when I got up. I was interested,
+naturally."
+
+"Sure! Naturally, of course," sneered the boy. "Did you think the
+twenty-two hundred was the rent of the entire building?"
+
+"Well, I didn't know. I--"
+
+"The rent," interrupted Caroline, with dignity, "was twenty-four
+hundred, but, thanks to Mrs. Dunn, who explained to her cousin that we
+were friends of hers, it was reduced."
+
+"We being in reduced circumstances," observed her brother in supreme
+disgust. "Pity the poor orphans! By gad!"
+
+"That was real nice of Mrs. Dunn," declared Captain Elisha, heartily.
+"She's pretty well-off herself, I s'pose--hey, Caroline?"
+
+"I presume so."
+
+"Yes, yes. About how much is she wuth, think?"
+
+"I don't know. I never inquired."
+
+"No. Well, down our way," with a chuckle, "we don't have to inquire. Ask
+anybody you meet what his next door neighbor's wuth, and he'll tell you
+within a hundred, and how he got it, and how much he owes, and how he
+gets along with his wife. Ho! ho! Speakin' of wives, is this Mr. Dunn
+married?"
+
+He looked at his niece as he asked the question. There was no reason why
+Caroline should blush; she knew it, and hated herself for doing it.
+
+"No," she answered, resentfully, "he is not."
+
+"Um-hm. What's his business?"
+
+"He is connected with a produce exchange house, I believe."
+
+"One of the firm?"
+
+"I don't know. In New York we are not as well posted, or as curious,
+concerning our friends' private affairs as your townspeople seem to be."
+
+"I guess that's so. I imagine New Yorkers are too busy gettin' it
+themselves to bother whether their neighbors have got it or not. Well,"
+he went on, rising, "I guess I've kept you young folks from your work
+or--or play, or whatever you was going to do, long enough for this once.
+I think I'll go out for a spell. I've got an errand or two I want to do.
+What time do you have dinner?"
+
+"We lunch at half past one," answered Caroline.
+
+"We dine at seven."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes! I keep forgettin' that supper's dinner. Well, I presume
+likely I'll be back for luncheon. If I ain't, don't wait for me. I'll be
+home afore supper--there I go again!--afore dinner, anyhow. Good-by."
+
+Five minutes later he was at the street corner, inquiring of a policeman
+"the handiest way to get to Pine Street." Following the directions
+given, he boarded a train at the nearest subway station, emerged at Wall
+Street, inquired once more, located the street he was looking for, and,
+consulting a card which he took from a big stained leather pocket-book,
+walked on, peering at the numbers of the buildings he passed.
+
+The offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, were on the sixteenth floor
+of a new and gorgeously appointed sky-scraper. When Captain Elisha
+entered the firm's reception room, he was accosted by a wide-awake and
+extremely self-possessed office boy.
+
+"Who'd you want to see?" asked the boy, briskly.
+
+The captain removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his
+handkerchief.
+
+"Hold on a jiffy, Sonny," he panted. "Just give me a minute to sort of
+get myself together, as you might say. I rode up in one of those express
+elevators of yours, and I kind of feel as if my boots had got tangled up
+with my necktie. When that elevator feller cast off from the cellar, I
+begun to shut up like a spyglass. Whew! Say, Son, is Mr. Graves in?"
+
+"No," replied the boy, grinning.
+
+"Hum! Still in the sick bay, is he--hey?"
+
+"He's to home. Got a cold."
+
+"Yup. It's too bad. Mr.--er--Sylvester, is he in?"
+
+"Naw, he ain't. And Mr. Kuhn's busy. Won't one of the clerks do? What do
+you want to see the firm about?"
+
+"Well, Son, I had reasons of my own. However, I guess I won't disturb
+Mr. Kuhn, if he's busy's you say. Here! you tell him, or Mr. Sylvester
+when he comes, that Cap'n Warren, Cap'n Elisha Warren of South
+Denboro--better write it down--called and will be back about half past
+twelve or thereabouts. Got it, have you? Hum! is that Elisha? You don't
+tell me! I've been spellin' it for sixty years, more or less, and never
+realized it had such possibilities. Lend me your pencil. There! you give
+Mr. Sylvester that and tell him I'll see him later. So long, Son."
+
+He departed, smiling. The indignant office boy threw the card on the
+table.
+
+Captain Elisha strolled down Pine Street, looking about him with
+interest. It had been years since he visited this locality, and the
+changes were many. Soon, however, he began to recognize familiar
+landmarks. He was approaching the water front, and there were fewer new
+buildings. When he reached South Street he was thoroughly at home.
+
+The docks were crowded. The river was alive with small craft of all
+kinds. Steamers and schooners were plenty, but the captain missed the
+old square-riggers, the clipper ships and barks, such as he had sailed
+in as cabin boy, as foremast hand, and, later, commanded on many seas.
+
+At length, however, he saw four masts towering above the roof of a
+freight house. They were not schooner rigged, those masts. The yards
+were set square across, and along them were furled royals and upper
+topsails. Here, at last, was a craft worth looking at. Captain Elisha
+crossed the street, hurried past the covered freight house, and saw a
+magnificent great ship lying beside a broad open wharf. Down the wharf
+he walked, joyfully, as one who greets an old friend.
+
+The wharf was practically deserted. An ancient watchman was dozing in
+a sort of sentry box, but he did not wake. There was a pile of
+foreign-looking crates and boxes at the further end of the pier,
+evidently the last bit of cargo waiting to be carted away. The captain
+inspected the pile, recognized the goods as Chinese and Japanese, then
+read the name on the big ship's stern. She was the _Empress of the
+Ocean_, and her home port was Liverpool.
+
+Captain Elisha, as a free-born Yankee skipper, had an inherited and
+cherished contempt for British "lime-juicers," but he could not help
+admiring this one. To begin with, her size and tonnage were enormous.
+Also, she was four-masted, instead of the usual three, and her hull and
+lower spars were of steel instead of wood. A steel sailing vessel was
+something of a novelty to the captain, and he was seized with a desire
+to go aboard and inspect.
+
+The ladder from ship to wharf was down, of course, and getting on board
+was an easy matter. When he reached the deck and looked about him, the
+great size of the ship was still more apparent. The bulwarks were as
+high as a short man's head. She was decked over aft, and, as the captain
+said afterwards, "her cabins had nigh as many stories as a house."
+From the roof of the "first story," level with the bulwarks, extended
+a series of bridges, which could be hoisted or lowered, and by means of
+which her officers could walk from stern to bow without descending to
+the deck. There was a good-sized engine house forward, beyond the galley
+and forecastle. Evidently the work of hoisting anchors and canvas was
+done by steam.
+
+The captain strolled about, looking her over. The number of improvements
+since his seagoing days was astonishing. He was standing by the wheel,
+near the companion way, wishing that he might inspect the officers'
+quarters, but not liking to do so without an invitation, when two men
+emerged from the cabin.
+
+One of the pair was evidently the Japanese steward of the ship. The
+other was a tall, clean-cut young fellow, whose general appearance and
+lack of sunburn showed quite plainly that he was not a seafaring man
+by profession. The steward caught sight of Captain Elisha, and, walking
+over, accosted him.
+
+"Want to see skipper, sir?" he asked, in broken English. "He ashore."
+
+"No, Doctor," replied the captain, cheerfully. "I don't want to see
+him. I've got no business aboard. It's been some time since I trod the
+quarter-deck of a square-rigger, and I couldn't resist the temptation
+of tryin' how the planks felt under my feet. This is consider'ble of a
+clipper you've got here," he added.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the steward grinning.
+
+"Where you from?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"Singapore, sir."
+
+"Cargo all out?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Waitin' for another one?"
+
+"Yes, sir. We load for Manila bimeby."
+
+"Manila, hey? Have a good passage across?"
+
+"Yes, sir. She good ship."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder. How d'ye do, sir," to the young man, who was standing
+near. "Hope you won't think I'm crowdin' in where I don't belong. I was
+just tellin' the doctor here that it had been some time since I trod a
+quarter-deck, and I thought I'd see if I'd forgot the feel."
+
+"Have you?" asked the young man, smiling.
+
+"Guess not. Seems kind of nat'ral. I never handled such a whale of a
+craft as this, though. Didn't have many of 'em in my day. Come over in
+her, did you?"
+
+"No," with a shake of the head. "No such luck. I'm a land lubber, just
+scouting round, that's all. She's a bully vessel, isn't she?"
+
+"Looks so. Tell you better after I've seen what she could do in a
+full-sail breeze. All hands ashore, Doctor?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the steward.
+
+"Crew paid off and spendin' their money, I s'pose. Well, if it ain't
+against orders, I'd kind of like to look around a little mite. May I?"
+
+The steward merely grinned. His companion answered for him.
+
+"Certainly you may," he said. "I'm a friend of one of the consignees,
+and I'd be glad to show you the ship, if you like. Shall we begin with
+the cabins?"
+
+Captain Elisha, delighted with the opportunity, expressed his thanks,
+and the tour of inspection began. The steward remained on deck, but the
+captain and his new acquaintance strolled through the officers' quarters
+together.
+
+"Jerushy!" exclaimed the former, as he viewed the main cabin. "Say, you
+could pretty nigh have a dance here, couldn't you? A small one. This
+reminds me of the cabin aboard the _Sea Gull_, first vessel I went mate
+of--it's so diff'rent. Aboard her we had to walk sittin' down. There
+wa'n't room in the cabin for more'n one to stand up at a time. But she
+could sail, just the same--and carry it, too. I've seen her off the Horn
+with studdin' sails set, when craft twice her length and tonnage had
+everything furled above the tops'l yard. Hi hum! you mustn't mind an old
+salt runnin' on this way. I've been out of the pickle tub a good while,
+but I cal'late the brine ain't all out of my system."
+
+His guide's eyes snapped.
+
+"I understand," he said, laughing. "I've never been at sea, on a long
+voyage, in my life, but I can understand just how you feel. It's in
+my blood, I guess. I come of a salt water line. My people were from
+Belfast, Maine, and every man of them went to sea."
+
+"Belfast, hey? They turned out some A No. 1 sailors in Belfast. I sailed
+under a Cap'n Pearson from there once--James Pearson, his name was."
+
+"He was my great uncle. I was named for him. My name is James Pearson,
+also."
+
+"_What_?" Captain Elisha was hugely delighted. "Mr. Pearson, shake
+hands. I want to tell you that your Uncle Jim was a seaman of the kind
+you dream about, but seldom meet. I was his second mate three v'yages.
+My name's Elisha Warren."
+
+Mr. Pearson shook hands and laughed, good-humoredly.
+
+"Glad to meet you, Captain Warren," he said. "And I'm glad you knew
+Uncle Jim. As a youngster, he was my idol. He could spin yarns that were
+worth listening to."
+
+"I bet you! He'd seen things wuth yarnin' about. So you ain't a sailor,
+hey? Livin' in New York?"
+
+The young man nodded. "Yes," he said. Then, with a dry smile, "If you
+call occupying a hall bedroom and eating at a third-rate boarding-house
+table living. However, it's my own fault. I've been a newspaper man
+since I left college. But I threw up my job six months ago. Since then
+I've been free-lancing."
+
+"Have, hey?" The captain was too polite to ask further questions, but he
+had not the slightest idea what "free-lancing" might be. Pearson divined
+his perplexity and explained.
+
+"I've had a feeling," he said, "that I might write magazine articles and
+stories--yes, possibly a novel or two. It's a serious disease, but
+the only way to find out whether it's chronic or not is to experiment.
+That's what I'm doing now. The thing I'm at work on may turn out to be
+a sea story. So I spend some time around the wharves and aboard the few
+sailing ships in port, picking up material."
+
+Captain Elisha patted him on the back.
+
+"Now don't you get discouraged," he said. "I used to have an idea that
+novel writin' and picture paintin' was poverty jobs for men with healthy
+appetites, but I've changed my mind. I don't know's you'll believe it,
+but I've just found out, for a fact, that some painters get twenty-two
+thousand dollars for one picture. For _one_, mind you. And a little mite
+of a thing, too, that couldn't have cost scarcely anything to paint.
+Maybe novels sell for just as much. _I_ don't know."
+
+His companion laughed heartily. "I'm afraid not, Captain," he said.
+"Few, at any rate. I should be satisfied with considerably less, to
+begin with. Are you living here in town?"
+
+"Well--we-ll, I don't know. I ain't exactly livin', and I ain't exactly
+boardin', but--Say! ain't that the doctor callin' you?"
+
+It was the steward, and there was an anxious ring in his voice. Pearson
+excused himself and hurried out of the cabin. Captain Elisha lingered
+for a final look about. Then he followed leisurely, becoming aware, as
+he reached the open air, of loud voices in angry dialogue.
+
+Entrances to the _Empress of the Ocean's_ cabins were on the main deck,
+and also on the raised half-deck at the stern, near the wheel, the
+binnacle and the officers' corned-beef tubs, swinging in their frames.
+From this upper deck two flights of steps led down to the main deck
+below. At the top of one of these flights stood young Pearson, cool and
+alert. Behind him half crouched the Japanese steward, evidently very
+much frightened. At the foot of the steps were grouped three rough
+looking men, foreigners and sailors without doubt, and partially
+intoxicated. The three men were an ugly lot, and they were all yelling
+and jabbering together in a foreign lingo. As the captain emerged
+from the passage to the open deck, he heard Pearson reply in the same
+language.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked.
+
+Pearson answered without turning his head.
+
+"Drunken sailors," he explained. "Part of the crew here. They've been
+uptown, got full, and come back to square a grudge they seem to have
+against the steward. I'm telling them they'd better give up and go
+ashore, if they know when they're well off."
+
+The three fellows by the ladder's foot were consulting together. On the
+wharf were half a dozen loungers, collected by the prospect of a row.
+
+"If I can hold them off for a few minutes," went on Pearson, "we'll be
+all right. The wharf watchman has gone for the police. Here! drop it!
+What are you up to?"
+
+One of the sailors had drawn a knife. The other two reached for their
+belts behind, evidently intending to follow suit. From the loafers on
+the wharf came shouts of encouragement.
+
+"Do the dude up, Pedro! Give him what's comin' to him."
+
+The trio formed for a rush. The steward, with a shrill scream, fled to
+the cabin. Pearson did not move; he even smiled. The next moment he was
+pushed to one side, and Captain Elisha stood at the top of the steps.
+
+"Here!" he said, sternly. "What's all this?"
+
+The three sailors, astonished at this unexpected addition to their
+enemies forces, hesitated. Pearson laid his hand on the captain's arm.
+
+"Be careful," he said. "They're dangerous."
+
+"Dangerous? Them? I've seen their kind afore. Here, you!" turning to the
+three below. "What do you mean by this? Put down that knife, you lubber!
+Do you want to be put in irons? Over the side with you, you swabs! Git!"
+
+He began descending the ladder. Whether the sailors were merely too
+surprised to resist, or because they recognized the authority of the
+deep sea in Captain Elisha's voice and face is a question. At any rate,
+as he descended they backed away.
+
+"Mutiny on board a ship of mine?" roared the captain. "What do you mean
+by it? Why, I'll have you tied up and put on bread and water. Over the
+side with you! Mutiny on board of _me_! Lively! Tumble up there!"
+
+With every order came a stride forward and a correspondingly backward
+movement on the part of the three. The performance would have been
+ridiculous if Pearson had not feared that it might become tragic. He was
+descending the steps to his new acquaintance's aid, when there rose a
+chorus of shouts from the wharf.
+
+"The cops! the cops! Look out!"
+
+That was the finishing touch. The next moment the three "mutineers" were
+over the side and running as fast as their alcoholic condition would
+permit down the wharf.
+
+"Well, by George!" exclaimed Pearson.
+
+Captain Elisha seemed to be coming out of a dream. He stood still, drew
+his hand across his forehead, and then began to laugh.
+
+"Well!" he stammered. "Well, I snum! I--I--Mr. Pearson, I wonder what on
+earth you must think of me. I declare the sight of that gang set me back
+about twenty years. They--they must have thought I was the new skipper!
+Did you hear me tell 'em they couldn't mutiny aboard of me? Ho! ho!
+Well, I am an old idiot!"
+
+Pearson stuck his fist into the palm of his other hand. "I've got it!"
+he cried. "I knew your name was familiar. Why, you're the mate that
+handled the mutinous crew aboard Uncle Jim's bark, the _Pacer_, off
+Mauritius, in the typhoon, when he was hurt and in the cabin. I've heard
+him tell it a dozen times. Well, this _is_ a lucky day for me!"
+
+Captain Elisha was evidently pleased. "So he told you that, did he?" he
+began. "That _was_ a time and a half, I--"
+
+He was interrupted. Over the rail appeared a blue helmet, and an instant
+later a big and very pompous police officer leaped to the deck. He was
+followed by the wharf watchman, who looked frightened.
+
+"Where's the other one of them?" demanded the policeman. "Oh, it's you,
+is it? Well, you're too old to be gettin' drunk and fightin'. Come along
+now, peaceable, and let's have no words about it."
+
+He advanced and laid a hand on the captain's arm.
+
+"You're under arrest," he announced. "Will you come along quiet?"
+
+"I'm under arrest?" repeated Captain Elisha. "Under--My soul and body!
+Why, I ain't done anything."
+
+"Yes, I know. Nobody's done nothin'. Come on, or shall I--Hello, Mr.
+Pearson, sir! How d'you do?"
+
+Pearson had stepped forward.
+
+"Slattery," he said, "you've made a mistake. Let me tell you about
+it." He drew the officer aside and whispered in his ear. After a rather
+lengthy conversation, the guardian of the peace turned to the watchman.
+
+"What d'you mean by tellin' all them lies?" he demanded.
+
+"Lies?" repeated the astonished watchman. "I never told no lies."
+
+"You did. You said this gentleman," indicating the nervous and
+apprehensive Captain Elisha, "was fightin' and murderin'. I ask your
+pardon, sir. 'Twas this bloke's foolishness. G'wan ashore! You make me
+sick. Good day, Mr. Pearson."
+
+He departed, driving his new victim before him and tongue-lashing him
+all the way. The captain drew a long breath.
+
+"Say, Mr. Pearson," he declared, "a minute or so ago you said this was
+a lucky day for you. I cal'late it's a luckier one for me. If it hadn't
+been for you I'd been took up. Yes, sir, took up and carted off to the
+lockup. Whew! that would have looked well in the papers, wouldn't it?
+And my niece and nephew.... Jerushy! I'm mightily obliged to you. How
+did you handle that policeman so easily?"
+
+Pearson laughed. "Oh," he replied, "a newspaper training and
+acquaintance has its advantages. Slattery knows me, and I know him."
+
+"Well, I thank you, I do so."
+
+"You needn't. I wouldn't have missed meeting you and seeing you handle
+those fellows for a good deal. And besides, you're not going to escape
+so easy. You must lunch with me."
+
+The captain started, hastily pulled out his watch, and looked at it.
+
+"Quarter to one!" he cried. "And I said I'd be back at that lawyer's
+office at half-past twelve. No, no, Mr. Pearson, I can't go to lunch
+with you, but I do wish you'd come and see me some time. My address
+for--for a spell, anyhow--is Central Park West," giving the number, "and
+the name is Warren, same as mine. Will you come some evenin'? I'd be
+tickled to death to see you."
+
+The young man was evidently delighted.
+
+"Will I?" he exclaimed. "Indeed I will. I warn you, Captain Warren, that
+I shall probably keep you busy spinning sea yarns."
+
+"Nothin' I like better, though I'm afraid my yarns'll be pretty dull
+alongside of your Uncle Jim's."
+
+"I'll risk it. Good-by and good luck. I shall see you very soon."
+
+"That's right; do. So long."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The boy, Captain Elisha's acquaintance of the morning, was out, regaling
+himself with crullers and milk at a pushcart on Broad Street, when the
+captain returned to the officers of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves. The
+clerk who had taken his place was very respectful.
+
+"Captain Warren," he said, "Mr. Sylvester was sorry to miss you. He
+waited until half past twelve and left word for us to telephone if you
+came. Our Mr. Graves is still ill, and the matter of your brother's
+estate must be discussed without further delay. Please sit down and I
+will telephone."
+
+The captain seated himself on the leather-covered bench, and the clerk
+entered the inner office. He returned, a few moments later, to say:
+
+"Mr. Sylvester is at the Central Club. He wished me to ask if you could
+conveniently join him there."
+
+Captain Elisha pondered. "Why, yes," he replied, slowly, "I s'pose I
+could. I don't know why I couldn't. Where is this--er--club of his?"
+
+"On Fifth Avenue, near Fifty-second Street. I'll send one of our boys
+with you if you like."
+
+"No, no! I can pilot myself, I guess. I ain't so old I can't ask my
+way. Though--" with a reminiscent chuckle--"if the folks I ask are all
+sufferin' from that 'Ugh' disease, I sha'n't make much headway."
+
+"What disease?" asked the puzzled clerk.
+
+"Oh, nothin'. I was just thinkin' out loud, that's all. Mr. Sylvester
+wants to see me right off, does he?"
+
+"Yes, he said he would wait if I 'phoned him you were coming."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, you can tell him I've left the dock, bound in his
+direction. Say, that young chap that was here when I called the fust
+time--studyin' to be a lawyer, is he?"
+
+"Who? Tim? No, indeed. He's only the office boy. Why did you ask?"
+
+"Oh, I was just wonderin'. I had a notion he might be in trainin' for a
+judgeship, he was so high and mighty. Ho! ho! He's got talent, that boy
+has. Nobody but a born genius could have made as many mistakes in one
+name as he did when he undertook to spell Elisha. Well, sir, I'm much
+obliged to you. Good day."
+
+The Central Club is a ponderous institution occupying a becomingly
+gorgeous building on the Avenue. The captain found his way to its door
+without much trouble. A brass-buttoned attendant answered his ring and
+superciliously inquired his business. Captain Elisha, not being greatly
+in awe of either buttons or brief authority, calmly hailed the attendant
+as "Gen'ral" and informed him that he was there to see Mr. Sylvester, if
+the latter was "on deck anywheres."
+
+"Tell him it's Cap'n Warren, Major," he added cheerfully; "he's
+expectin' me."
+
+The attendant brusquely ushered the visitor into a leather-upholstered
+reception room and left him. The captain amused himself by looking at
+the prints and framed letters and autographs on the walls. Then a round,
+red, pleasant-faced man entered.
+
+"Pardon me," he said, "is this Captain Warren?"
+
+"Yes, sir," was the reply. "That's my name. This is Mr. Sylvester, ain't
+it? Glad to know you, sir."
+
+"Thanks. Sorry to have made you travel way up here, Captain. I waited
+until twelve-thirty, but as you didn't come then, I gave you up. Hope I
+haven't inconvenienced you."
+
+"No, no. Not a mite. Might just as well be here as anywhere. Don't think
+another thing about it."
+
+"Have you lunched, Captain Warren?"
+
+"No, come to think of it, I ain't. I've been kind of busy this forenoon,
+and a little thing like dinner--luncheon, I mean--slipped my mind.
+Though 'tain't often I have those slips, I'm free to say. Ho! ho!
+Abbie--she's my second cousin, my housekeeper--says I'm an unsartin
+critter, but there's two things about me she can always count on, one's
+that my clothes have always got a button loose somewheres, and t'other's
+my appetite."
+
+He laughed, and Sylvester laughed with him.
+
+"Well," observed the lawyer, "I'm not sure that I couldn't qualify on
+both of those counts. At any rate I'm sure of my appetite. I had a lunch
+engagement with an acquaintance of mine, but he hasn't appeared, so you
+must take his place. We'll lunch together."
+
+"Well, now, I'd like to fust-rate, and it's real kind of you, Mr.
+Sylvester; but I don't know's I'd better. Your friend may heave in
+sight, after all, and I'd be in the way."
+
+"Not a bit of it. And I said 'acquaintance,' not 'friend.' Of course you
+will! You must. We can talk business while we're eating, if you like."
+
+"All right. And I'm ever so much obliged to you. Is there an eatin'
+house near here?"
+
+"Oh, we'll eat right here at the club. Come."
+
+He led the way, and Captain Elisha followed. The Central Club has a
+large, exclusive, and wealthy membership, and its quarters correspond.
+The captain gazed about him at the marble floors and pillars, the
+paintings and busts, with interest. After checking his hat and coat, as
+they entered the elevator he asked a question.
+
+"Which floor is your club on, Mr. Sylvester?" he asked.
+
+"Floor? Why, the dining room is on the fourth, if that's what you mean."
+
+"No, I meant how many rooms do you rent?"
+
+"We occupy the entire building. It is our own, and a comparatively new
+one. We built it three years ago."
+
+"You mean this whole shebang is just one _club_?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Hum! I see. Well, I--"
+
+"What were you going to say?"
+
+"Nothin'. I was wonderin' what fool thing I'd ask next. I'm more used to
+lodge rooms than I am to clubs, I guess. I'd like to take home a picture
+of this place to Theophilus Kenney. Theoph's been raisin' hob because
+the Odd Fellows built on to their buildin'. He said one room was enough
+for any society. 'Twould be, if we was all his kind of society. Theoph's
+so small he could keep house in a closet. He's always hollerin'
+in meetin' about his soul. I asked the minister if it didn't seem
+ridic'lous for Kenney to make such a big noise over such a little thing.
+This where we get off?"
+
+The dining room was a large and ornate apartment. Captain Elisha, when
+he first entered it, seemed about to ask another question, but choked
+it off and remained silent. Sylvester chose a table in a retired corner,
+and they sat down.
+
+"Now, Captain Warren," said the host, "what will you eat?"
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head.
+
+"You do the orderin'," he replied dryly; "I'll just set and be thankful,
+like the hen that found the china doorknob. Anything that suits you will
+do me, I guess."
+
+The lawyer, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his companion, gave
+his orders, and the waiter brought first a bit of caviar on toast. If
+Sylvester expected this delicacy to produce astonished comments, he was
+disappointed.
+
+"Well, well!" exclaimed Captain Elisha. "I declare, you take me back a
+long ways, Mr. Sylvester. Caviar! Well, well! Why, I haven't ate this
+since I used to go to Cronstadt. At the American consul's house there we
+had it often enough. Has a kind of homey taste even yet. That consul was
+a good feller. He and I were great friends.
+
+"I met him a long spell after that, when I was down in Mexico," he
+went on. "He'd made money and was down on a vacation. My ship was at
+Acapulco, and he and I used to go gunnin' together, after wild geese
+and such. Ho! ho! I remember there was a big, pompous critter of an
+Englishman there. Mind you, I'm not talkin' against the English. Some of
+the best men I ever met were English, and I've stood back to back with
+a British mate on a Genoa wharf when half of Italy was hoppin' around
+makin' proclamations that they was goin' to swallow us alive. And,
+somehow or 'nother, they didn't. Took with prophetic indigestion, maybe.
+
+"However, this Englishman at Acapulco was diff'rent. He was so swelled
+with importance that his back hollered in like Cape Cod Bay on the map.
+His front bent out to correspond, though, so I cal'late he averaged up
+all right. Well, he heard about what a good--that I was pretty lucky
+when it come to shootin' wild geese, and I'm blessed if he didn't send
+me orders to get him one for a dinner he was goin' to give. Didn't
+ask--_ordered_ me to do it, you understand. And him nothin' but a
+consignee, with no more control over me than the average female
+Sunday-school teacher has over a class of boys. Not so much, because
+she's supposed to have official authority, and he wa'n't. _And_ he
+didn't invite me to the dinner.
+
+"Well, the next time my friend, the ex-consul, and I went out gunnin',
+I told him of the Englishman's 'orders.' He was mad. 'What are you goin'
+to do about it?' he asks. 'Don't know yet,' says I, 'we'll see.' By and
+by we come in sight of one of them long-legged cranes, big birds you
+know, standin' fishin' at the edge of some reeds. I up with my gun and
+shot it. The consul chap looked at me as if I was crazy. 'What in the
+world did you kill that fish-basket on stilts for?' he says. 'Son,'
+says I, 'your eyesight is bad. That's a British-American goose. Chop off
+about three feet of neck and a couple of fathom of hind legs and pick
+and clean what's left, and I shouldn't wonder if 'twould make a good
+dinner for a mutual friend of ours--good _enough_, anyhow.' Well, sir!
+that ex-consul set plump down in the mud and laughed and laughed. Ho,
+ho! Oh, dear me!"
+
+"Did you send it to the Englishman?" asked Sylvester.
+
+"Oh, yes, I sent it. And, after a good while and in a roundabout way, I
+heard that the whole dinner party vowed 'twas the best wild goose
+they ever ate. So I ain't sure just who the joke was on. However, I'm
+satisfied with my end. Well, there! I guess you must think I'm pretty
+talky on short acquaintance, Mr. Sylvester. You'll have to excuse me;
+that caviar set me to thinkin' about old times."
+
+His host was shaking all over. "Go ahead, Captain," he cried. "Got any
+more as good as that?"
+
+But Captain Elisha merely smiled and shook his head.
+
+"Don't get me started on Mexico," he observed. "I'm liable to yarn
+all the rest of the afternoon. Let's see, we was goin' to talk over my
+brother's business a little mite, wa'n't we?"
+
+"Why, yes, we should. Now, Captain Warren, just how much do you know
+about your late brother's affairs?"
+
+"Except what Mr. Graves told me, nothin' of importance. And, afore we go
+any further, let me ask a question. Do _you_ know why 'Bije made me his
+executor and guardian and all the rest of it?"
+
+"I do not. Graves drew his will, and so, of course, we knew of your
+existence and your appointment. Your brother forbade our mentioning it,
+but we did not know, until after his death, that his own children were
+unaware they had an uncle. It seems strange, doesn't it?"
+
+"It does to me; _so_ strange that I can't see two lengths ahead. I
+cal'late Mr. Graves told you how I felt about it?"
+
+"Yes. That is, he said you were very much surprised."
+
+"That's puttin' it mild enough. And did he tell you that 'Bije and I
+hadn't seen each other, or even written, in eighteen years?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, when you consider _that_, can you wonder I was set all
+aback? And the more I think of it, the foggier it gets. Why, Mr.
+Sylvester, it's one of them situations that are impossible, that you
+can prove fifty ways _can't_ happen. And yet, it has--it sartinly has.
+Now tell me: Are you, or your firm, well acquainted with my brother's
+affairs?"
+
+"Not well, no. The late Mr. Warren was a close-mouthed man, rather
+secretive, in fact."
+
+"Humph! that bein' one of the p'ints where he was different from his
+nighest relation, hey?"
+
+"I'm not so sure. Have you questioned the children?"
+
+"Caroline and Steve? Yes, I've questioned 'em more than they think I
+have, maybe. And they know--well, leavin' out about the price of oil
+paintin's and the way to dress and that it's more or less of a disgrace
+to economize on twenty thousand a year, their worldly knowledge ain't
+too extensive."
+
+"Do you like them?"
+
+"I guess so. Just now ain't the fairest time to judge 'em. You see
+they're sufferin' from the joyful shock of their country relation
+droppin' in, and--"
+
+He paused and rubbed his chin. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were
+not. Sylvester noted their expression, and guessed many things.
+
+"They haven't been disagreeable, I hope?" he asked.
+
+"No-o. No, I wouldn't want to say that. They're young and--and, well,
+I ain't the kind they've been used to. Caroline's a nice girl. She is,
+sure. All she needs is to grow a little older and have the right kind of
+advice and--and friends."
+
+"How about the boy?" Mr. Sylvester had met young Warren, and his eyes
+twinkled as he spoke.
+
+"Steve? Well," there was an answering twinkle in Captain Elisha's eye;
+"well, Steve needs to grow, too; though I wouldn't presume to tell him
+so. When a feller's undertakin' to give advice to one of the seven wise
+men, he has to be diplomatic, as you might say."
+
+The lawyer put back his head and laughed uproariously.
+
+"Ha! ha!" he crowed. "That's good! Then, from your questioning of the
+children, you've learned--?"
+
+"Not such an awful lot. I think I've learned that--hum! that a good
+guardian might be a handy thing to have in the house. A reg'lar legal
+guardian, I mean. Otherwise--"
+
+"Otherwise?"
+
+"Otherwise there might be too many disinterested volunteer substitutes
+for the job. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it."
+
+"Have you made up your mind to be that guardian?"
+
+"Not yet. I haven't made up my mind to anything yet. Now, Mr. Sylvester,
+while we're waitin' for what comes next--you've ordered enough grub
+to victual a ship--s'pose you just run over what your firm knows about
+'Bije. That is, if I ain't askin' too much."
+
+"Not at all. That's what I'm here for. You have a right to know. But I
+warn you my information isn't worth much."
+
+He went on, briefly and with the conciseness of the legal mind, to tell
+of A. Rodgers Warren, his business and his estate. He had been a broker
+with a seat on the Stock Exchange.
+
+"That seat is worth consider'ble, ain't it?" interrupted the captain.
+
+"Between eighty and one hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Yup. Well, it reminds me of a picture I saw once in one of the comic
+papers. An old feller from the backwoods somewheres--good deal like me,
+he was, and just about as green--was pictured standin' along with
+his city nephew in the gallery of the Exchange. And the nephew says,
+'Uncle,' says he, 'do you realize that a seat down there's wuth
+seventy-five thousand dollars?' 'Gosh!' says the old man, 'no wonder
+most of 'em are standin' up.' Ho! ho! Is that seat of 'Bije's part of
+the five hundred thousand you figger he's left?"
+
+"Yes, in a way it is. To be truthful, Captain Warren, we're not sure as
+to the amount of your brother's tangible assets. Graves made a hurried
+examination of the stocks, bonds, and memoranda, and estimated the
+total, that's all."
+
+"I see. Well, heave ahead."
+
+The lawyer went on. The dead broker's office had been on Broad Street.
+A small office, with but two clerks. One of the clerks was retained,
+and the office, having been leased for a year by its former tenant,
+was still open pending the settlement of the estate. A. Rodgers Warren
+personally was a man who looked older than he really was, a good liver,
+and popular among his companions.
+
+"What sort of fellers were his companions?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"You mean his friends in society, or his companions downtown in Wall
+Street?"
+
+"The Wall Street ones. I guess I can find out something about the
+society ones. Anyhow, I can try. These Wall Streeters that 'Bije chummed
+with--a quiet lot, was they?"
+
+Sylvester hesitated. "Why--why--not particularly so," he admitted.
+"Nothing crooked about them, of course. You see, a stock-broker's life
+is a nerve-racking, rather exciting one, and--"
+
+"And 'Bije and his chums were excited, too, hey? All right, you needn't
+go any further. He was a good husband while his wife lived, wa'n't he?"
+
+"Yes. Frankly, Captain Warren, so far as I know, your brother's personal
+habits were good. There was nothing against his character."
+
+"I'm mighty glad to hear it. Mighty glad. Is there anything else you can
+tell me?"
+
+"No. Our next move, provided you decide to accept the trust, the
+executorship, and the rest, is to get together--you and Graves, if he is
+well enough; you and I if he is not--and begin a careful examination of
+the stocks, bonds, assets, and debts of the estate. This must be done
+first of all."
+
+"Graves hinted there wa'n't any debts, to amount to anything."
+
+"So far as we can see, there are none, except a few trifling bills."
+
+"Yes, yes. Hum!" Captain Elisha put down his coffee spoon and seemed to
+be thinking. He shook his head.
+
+"You appear to be puzzled about something," observed the lawyer, who was
+watching him intently.
+
+"I am. I was puzzled afore I left home, and I'm just as puzzled now."
+
+"What puzzles you? if I may ask."
+
+"Everything. And, if you'll excuse my sayin' so, Mr. Sylvester, I guess
+it puzzles you, too."
+
+He returned his host's look. The latter pushed back his chair,
+preparatory to rising.
+
+"It is all so perfectly simple, on the face of it, Captain Warren," he
+said. "Your brother realized that he must die, that his children and
+their money must be taken care of; you were his nearest relative;
+his trust in your honesty and judgment caused him to overlook the
+estrangement between you. That's the case, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes. That's the case, on the face of it, as you say. But you've forgot
+to mention one item."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"'Bije himself. You knew him pretty well, I can see that. So did I. And
+I guess that's why we're both puzzled."
+
+Captain Elisha folded his napkin with care and stood up. Sylvester rose,
+also.
+
+"Come downstairs," he said. "We can enjoy our cigars more comfortably
+there, and go on with our talk. That is, unless you're in a great
+hurry."
+
+"No, I ain't in any special hurry. So I get up to Caroline's in season
+for supper--er, dinner, I mean--I don't care. But I don't want to keep
+you. You're a busy man."
+
+"This is business. This way, Captain."
+
+The big lounging room of the club, on the first floor, Fifth Avenue
+side, was almost empty when they entered it. The lawyer drew two big
+chairs near the open fire, rang the bell, and ordered cigars. After
+the cigars were lighted and the fragrant clouds of tobacco smoke were
+rising, he reopened the conversation. And now, in an easy, diplomatic
+way, he took his turn at questioning.
+
+It was pretty thorough pumping, managed with the skill of an experienced
+cross-examiner. Captain Elisha, without realizing that he was doing so,
+told of his boyhood, his life at sea, his home at South Denboro, his
+position in the village, his work as selectman, as member of the school
+committee, and as director in the bank. The tone of the questioner
+expressed nothing--he was too well trained for that--but every item of
+information was tabulated and appraised.
+
+The tall mahogany-cased clock struck three, then four. The lawyer
+finished his cigar and lit another. He offered a fresh one to his guest,
+but the offer was declined.
+
+"No, thank you," observed the captain. "I've been yarnin' away so
+fast that my breath's been too busy to keep this one goin'. There's
+consider'ble left yet. This is a better smoke than I'm used to
+gettin' at the store down home. I tell Ryder--he's our storekeeper and
+postmaster--that he must buy his cigars on the reel and cut 'em off with
+the scissors. When the gang of us all got a-goin' mail times, it smells
+like a rope-walk burnin' down. Ho! ho! It does, for a fact. Yet I kind
+of enjoy one of his five-centers, after all. You can get used to most
+anything. Maybe it's the home flavor or the society. P'raps they'd taste
+better still if they was made of seaweed. I'll trouble you for a match,
+Mr. Sylvester. Two of 'em, if you don't mind."
+
+He whittled one match to a point with his pocket knife, impaled the
+cigar stump upon it, and relit with the other.
+
+Meanwhile the room had been filling up. Around each of the big windows
+overlooking the Avenue were gathered groups of men, young and old,
+smoking, chatting, and gazing idly out. Captain Elisha regarded them
+curiously.
+
+"This ain't a holiday, is it?" he asked, after a while.
+
+"No. Why?"
+
+"I was just wonderin' if all those fellers hadn't any work to do, that's
+all."
+
+"Who? That crowd?" The lawyer laughed. "Oh, they're doing their regular
+stunt. You'll find most of them here every afternoon about this time."
+
+"You don't say. Pay 'em wages for it, do you?"
+
+"Not that I know of. Some of them are brokers, who come up after the
+Exchange closes. Others are business men, active or retired. Some don't
+have any business--except what they're doing now."
+
+"I want to know! Humph! They remind me of the gang in the billiard-room
+back home. The billiard-roomers--the chronic ones--don't have any
+business, either, except to keep the dust from collectin' on the chairs.
+That and talkin' about hard times. These chaps don't seem to be
+sufferin' from hard times, much."
+
+"No. Most of the younger set have rich fathers or have inherited money."
+
+"I see. They let the old man do the worryin'. That's philosophy, anyhow.
+What are they so interested in outside? Parade goin' by?"
+
+"No. I imagine an unusually pretty girl passed just then."
+
+"Is that so? Well, well! Say, Mr. Sylvester, the longer I stay in
+New York the more I see that the main difference between it and South
+Denboro is size. The billiard-room gang acts just the same way when the
+downstairs school teacher goes past. Hello!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"That young chap by the mizzen window looks sort of familiar to me. The
+one that stood up to shake a day-day to whoever was passin'. Hum! He's
+made a hit, ain't he? I expect some unprotected female's heart broke at
+that signal. I cal'late I know him."
+
+"Who? Which one? Oh, that's young Corcoran Dunn. He is a lady-killer, in
+his own estimation. How d'ye do, Dunn."
+
+The young man turning grinning from the window, caught a glimpse of the
+lawyer as the latter rose to identify him. He strolled over to the fire.
+
+"Hello, Sylvester," he hailed, carelessly. "That was a peach. You should
+have seen her. What? Why, it's the Admiral!"
+
+"How d'ye do, Mr. Dunn," said Captain Elisha.
+
+"Have you two met before?" asked Sylvester in astonishment.
+
+"Yes. I had the pleasure of assisting in the welcoming salute when our
+seafarin' friend come aboard. How was that, Captain? Some nautical class
+to that remark?"
+
+"Yup. You done fust rate, considerin' how recent you shipped."
+
+"Thanks. Overwhelmed, I'm sure." Then, with a look of languid amusement
+at the pair, "What is this--a meeting of the Board of Naval Affairs?
+Have you bought a yacht, Sylvester?"
+
+"No." The lawyer's tone was sharp.
+
+"Humph! Well, take my advice and don't. Yachts are all right, to have
+a good time on, but they cost like the devil to keep up. An auto is bad
+enough. By the way, Sylvester, did you hear about my running over the
+Irishman this morning?"
+
+"Running over?" repeated the captain, aghast. "You didn't run over
+nobody, I hope."
+
+"Well, I came devilish near it. Ha! ha! You see, the old tarrier
+was crossing Saint Nicholas Avenue, with a big market basket full
+of provisions--the family dinner, I suppose. By Jove, the household
+appetites must be good ones. It was slippery as the mischief, I was
+running the car, and I tried to go between the fellow and the curb.
+It would have been a decent bit of steering if I'd made it. But--ha!
+ha!--by Jove, you know, I didn't. I skidded. The man himself managed
+to hop out of the way, but his foot slipped, and down he went. Most
+ridiculous thing you ever saw. And the street! 'Pon my word it was paved
+with eatables."
+
+Sylvester, plainly annoyed, did not reply. But Captain Elisha's concern
+was evident.
+
+"The poor critter!" he exclaimed. "What did you do?"
+
+"The last I saw of him he was sitting in the mud, looking at the upset.
+I didn't linger. Peters took the wheel, and we beat it. Lucky the cop
+didn't spot the license number. Might have cost me fifty. They've had me
+up for speeding twice before. What are you and the Admiral discussing,
+Sylvester?"
+
+"We were discussing a business matter," answered the lawyer, with
+significant emphasis.
+
+"Business? Why, sure! I forgot that you were Graves's partner. Settling
+the family affairs, hey? Well, I won't butt in. Ta, ta! See you later,
+Captain. You must go for a spin in that car of mine. I'll call for you
+some day. I'll show you something they don't do on Cape Cod. Regards to
+Caro and Steve."
+
+He moved off, feeling that his invitation would have met with his
+mother's approval. She had announced that the country uncle was to be
+"cultivated."
+
+Captain Elisha's cigar had gone out. He did not attempt to relight it.
+
+"Whew!" he whistled. "Well, when I go for a 'spin,' as he calls it, with
+_him_, I cal'late my head'll be spinnin' so I won't be responsible for
+my actions. Whew!"
+
+Sylvester looked curiously at him.
+
+"So you met him before?" he asked.
+
+"Yes. He was at the rooms when I fust landed. Or his mother was there
+then. He came a little later with Caroline and Stephen."
+
+"I see."
+
+"Yes. Know him and his ma pretty well, do you?"
+
+"Slightly. I've met them, at mutual acquaintances' homes and about
+town."
+
+"Pretty well fixed, I s'pose, ain't they?"
+
+"I presume so. I don't know."
+
+"Um. He's a sociable young feller, ain't he? Don't stand on any
+ceremony, hey? Caro and Steve think a lot of him and his mother."
+
+"Yes. Graves has told me the Dunns were very intimate with the Warrens.
+In fact, just before your brother's death, I remember hearing a rumor
+that the two families might be even closer connected."
+
+"You mean--er--Caroline and--er--him?"
+
+"There was such a rumor. Probably nothing in it. There is no engagement,
+I am very sure."
+
+"Yes, yes, I see. Well, Mr. Sylvester, I must be trottin' on. I'll
+think the whole business over for another day or so and then give you my
+decision, one way or the other."
+
+"You can't give it now?"
+
+"No-o. I guess I'd better not. However, I think--"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I think I may take the job. Take it on trial, anyhow."
+
+"Good! I'm glad of it."
+
+"You _are_?"
+
+"I certainly am. And I'm very glad indeed to have made your
+acquaintance, Captain Warren. Good afternoon. I shall hope to see you
+again soon."
+
+Captain Elisha left the Central Club in a surprised frame of mind. What
+surprised him was that a man of such thorough city training and habits
+as the senior partner of the law firm should express pleasure at the
+idea of his accepting the charge of A. Rodgers Warren's heirs and
+estate. Mr. Graves had shown no such feeling.
+
+If he had heard Sylvester's report to Kuhn, at the office next day, he
+might have been even more surprised and pleased.
+
+"He's a brick, Kuhn," declared the senior partner. "A countryman, of
+course, but a keen, able, honest man, and, I think, a mighty good judge
+of character. If I was as sure of his ability to judge investments and
+financial affairs, I should be certain the Warren children couldn't be
+in better hands. And no doubt we can help him when it comes to that.
+He'll probably handle the girl and boy in his own way, and his outside
+greenness may jar them a little. But it'll do them good to be jarred at
+their age. He's all right, and I hope he accepts the whole trust."
+
+"Well," exclaimed Mr. Kuhn; "you surprise me. Graves seemed to be--"
+
+"Graves suffers from the absolute lack of a sense of humor. His path
+through life is about three feet wide and bordered with rock-ribbed
+conventionality. If a man has a joke in his system, Graves doesn't
+understand it and is suspicious. I tell, you, Kuhn, there's more honest
+common sense and ability in the right hand of this Down-East salt than
+there ever was in Rodgers Warren's whole body."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+During the next day Caroline Warren and her brother saw little of their
+uncle. Not that they complained of this or sought his society. The
+policy of avoidance and what Stephen called "freezing out" had begun,
+and the young people kept to themselves as much as possible. At
+breakfast Caroline was coldly polite, and her brother cold, although
+his politeness was not overdone. However, Captain Elisha did not seem to
+notice. He was preoccupied, said but little, and spent the forenoon in
+writing a second letter to Miss Abigail. In it he told of his experience
+on board the _Empress of the Ocean_ and of the luncheon at the Central
+Club. But he said nothing concerning his nephew and niece further than
+the statement that he was still getting acquainted, and that Caroline
+was a real nice looking girl.
+
+"I suppose you wonder what I've decided about taking the guardianship,"
+he added, just at the close. "Well, Abbie, I'm about in the position of
+Luther Sylvester when he fell off the dock at Orham. The tide was out,
+and he went into the soft mud, all under. When the folks who saw him
+tumble got to the edge and looked over, they saw a round, black thing
+sticking out of the mire, and, judging 'twas Lute's head, they asked him
+how he felt. 'I don't know yet,' sputters Lute, 'whether I'm drowned or
+smothered, but I'm somewheres betwixt and between.' That's me, Abbie, on
+that guardian business. I'm still betwixt and between. But before this
+day's over I'll be drowned or smothered, and I'll let you know which
+next time I write."
+
+After lunch he took a stroll in the Park and passed up and down the
+paths, thinking, thinking. Returning, he found that Caroline and Stephen
+had gone for an auto ride with the Dunns and would not be home for
+dinner. So he ate that meal in solitary state, waited upon by Edwards.
+
+That evening, as he sat smoking in the library, the butler appeared to
+announce a caller.
+
+"Someone to see you, sir," said Edwards. "Here's his card, sir."
+
+"Eh? Someone to see _me_? Guess you've made a mistake, haven't you,
+Commodore? I don't know anybody who'd be likely to come visitin' me here
+in New York. Why, yes! Well, I declare! Tell him to walk right in. Mr.
+Pearson, I'm glad to see you. This is real neighborly."
+
+The caller was young Pearson, the captain's acquaintance of the previous
+forenoon. They shook hands heartily.
+
+"Perhaps you didn't think I should accept that invitation of yours,
+Captain Warren," observed Pearson. "I told you I meant it when I said
+yes. And calling within thirty-six hours is pretty good proof, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Suits me fust-rate. I'm mighty glad you came. Set right down. Lonesome
+at the boardin' house, was it?"
+
+Pearson made a grimace. "Lonesome!" he repeated. "Ugh! Let's talk of
+something else. Were you in time for your appointment yesterday noon?"
+
+"Why, yes; I was and I wasn't. Say, won't you have a cigar? That's
+right. And I s'pose, bein' as this is New York, I'd ought to ask you to
+take somethin' to lay the dust, hey? I ain't made any inquiries myself,
+but I shouldn't wonder if the Commodore--the feller that let you
+in--could find somethin' in the spare room closet or somewheres, if I
+ask him."
+
+The young man laughed. "If you mean a drink," he said, "I don't care for
+it, thank you."
+
+"What? You ain't a teetotaler, are you?"
+
+"No, not exactly. But--"
+
+"But you can get along without it, hey? So can I; generally do, fur's
+that goes. But _I'm_ from South Denboro. I thought here in New York--"
+
+"Oh, there are many people, even here in New York, who are not convinced
+that alcohol is a food."
+
+"You don't tell me! Well, I'm livin' and learnin' every day. Judgin'
+from stories and the yarns in the Boston newspapers, folks up our way
+have the idea that this town is a sort of annex to the bad place. All
+right, then we won't trouble the Commodore. I notice you're lookin' over
+my quarters. What do you think of 'em?"
+
+Pearson had, in spite of himself, been glancing about the room. Its
+luxury and the evident signs of taste and wealth surprised him greatly.
+
+"Astonish you to find me livin' in a place like this, hey?"
+
+"Why, why, yes, it does, somewhat. I didn't realize you were such an
+aristocrat, Captain Warren. If I had, I might have been a little more
+careful of my dress in making my first call."
+
+"Dress? Oh, you mean you'd have put on your Sunday clothes. Well, I'm
+glad you didn't. You see, _I_ haven't got on my regimentals, and if
+you'd been on dress parade I might have felt bashful. Ho, ho! I don't
+wonder you are surprised. This is a pretty swell neighborhood, ain't
+it?"
+
+"Yes, it is."
+
+"These--er--apartments, now. 'Bout as good as any in town, are they?"
+
+"Pretty nearly. There are few better--much better."
+
+"I thought so. You wouldn't call livin' in 'em economizin' to any
+consider'ble extent, would you?"
+
+"No," with a laugh; "no, _I_ shouldn't, but my ideas of economy
+are--well, different. They have to be. Are you ecomomizing, Captain?"
+
+Captain Elisha laughed and rubbed his knee.
+
+"No," he chuckled, "_I_ ain't, but my nephew and niece are. These are
+their rooms."
+
+"Oh, you're visiting?"
+
+"No, I don't know's you'd call it visitin'. I don't know what you would
+call it. I'm here, that's about all you can say."
+
+He paused and remained silent. His friend was silent, also, not knowing
+exactly what remark to make.
+
+"How's the novel comin' on?" asked the captain, a minute later.
+
+"Oh, slowly. I'm not at all sure it will ever be finished. I get
+discouraged sometimes."
+
+"No use in doin' that. What sort of a yarn is it goin' to be? Give me a
+gen'ral idea of the course you're tryin' to steer. That is, if it ain't
+a secret."
+
+"It isn't. But there's mighty little worth telling. When I began I
+thought I had a good scheme, but it seems pretty weak and dish-watery
+now."
+
+"Most things do while their bein' done, if you really care about doin'
+'em well. Heave ahead! You said 'twas a sea yarn, and I'm a sort of
+specialist when it comes to salt water. Maybe I might prescribe just the
+right tonic, though 'tain't very likely."
+
+Pearson began to outline the plot of his novel, speaking slowly at
+first, but becoming more interested as he continued. Captain Elisha
+listened meditatively, puffing solemnly at his cigar, and interrupting
+but seldom.
+
+"I think that's a pretty good idea," he observed, at length. "Yes,
+sir, that sounds promisin', to me. This cap'n of yours now, he's a good
+feller. Don't get him too good, though; that wouldn't be natural. And
+don't get him too bad, neither. I know it's the fashion, judgin' by the
+sea yarns I've read lately, to have a Yankee skipper sort of a cross
+between a prize fighter and a murderer. Fust day out of port he begins
+by pickin' out the most sickly fo'mast hand aboard, mashes him up, and
+then takes the next invalid. I got a book about that kind of a skipper
+out of our library down home a spell ago, and the librarian said 'twas
+awful popular. A strong story, she said, and true to life. Well, 'twas
+strong--you could pretty nigh smell it--but as for bein' true to life,
+I had my doubts. I've been to sea, command of a vessel, for a good many
+years, and sometimes I'd go weeks, whole weeks, without jumpin' up and
+down on a single sailor. Fact! Got my exercise other ways, I presume
+likely.
+
+"I tell you," he went on, "the main trouble with that tale of yours, as
+I see it, is that you're talkin' about things you ain't ever seen. Now
+there's plenty you have seen, I wouldn't wonder. Let's see, you was born
+in Belfast, you said. Live there long, did you?"
+
+"Yes, until I went away to school."
+
+"Your father, he went to sea, did he?"
+
+"Yes. But his ship was lost, with all hands, when I was a baby."
+
+"But your Uncle Jim wa'n't lost. You remember him well; you said so.
+Tell me something you remember."
+
+Before the young man was aware of it, he was telling of his Uncle
+Jim, of the latter's return from voyages, of his own home life, of his
+mother, and of the village where he spent his boyhood. Then, led on by
+the captain's questioning, he continued with his years at college, his
+experiences as reporter and city editor. Without being conscious that
+he was doing so, he gave his host a pretty full sketch of himself, his
+story, and his ambitions.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," said Captain Elisha, earnestly, "don't you worry about
+that yarn of yours. If you'll take the advice of an old feller who knows
+absolutely nothin' about such things, keep on rememberin' about your
+Uncle Jim. He was a man, every inch of him, and a seaman, too. Put lots
+of him into this hero of yours, and you won't go fur wrong. And when it
+comes to handlin' a ship, why--well, if you _want_ to come to me, I'll
+try and help you out best I can."
+
+Pearson was delighted.
+
+"You _will_?" he cried. "Splendid! It's mighty good of you. May I spring
+some of my stuff on you as I write it?"
+
+"Sartin you may. Any time, I'll be tickled to death. I'll be tickled to
+have you call, too; that is, if callin' on an old salt like me won't be
+too tirin'."
+
+The answer was emphatic and reassuring.
+
+"Thank you," said Captain Elisha. "I'm much obliged. Come often, do.
+I--well, the fact is, I'm likely to get sort of lonesome myself, I'm
+afraid. Yes, I shouldn't wonder if I did."
+
+He sighed, tossed away the stump of his cigar, and added,
+
+"Now, I want to ask you somethin'. You newspaper fellers are supposed to
+know about all there is to know of everything under the sun. Do you know
+much about the Stock Exchange?"
+
+Pearson smiled.
+
+"All I can afford to know," he said.
+
+"Humph! That's a pretty good answer. Knowledge is power, they say,
+but--but I cal'late knowledge of the Stock Exchange is poverty, with a
+good many folks."
+
+"I think you're right, Captain. It's none of my business, but--were you
+planning to tackle Wall Street?"
+
+Captain Elisha glanced, under his brows, at his new friend, and his eyes
+twinkled.
+
+"Didn't know but I might," he replied, solemnly. "Ain't got
+any--er--tips, any sure things you want to put me on to, have you?"
+
+"I have not. My experience of Wall Street 'sure things' leads me to
+believe that they're sure--but only for the other fellow."
+
+"Hum! I know a chap down home that made money in stocks. He made it so
+easy that, as the boys say, 'twas almost a shame to take the money. And
+'twas the makin' of him, too."
+
+Pearson was embarrassed and troubled. If this big-hearted, simple-minded
+countryman had come to New York to buck the stock market, it was time
+to sound a warning. But had he, on such short acquaintance, the right to
+warn? The captain was shrewd in his own way. Might not the warning seem
+presumptuous?
+
+"So--this--this friend of yours was a successful speculator, was he?" he
+asked. "He was lucky."
+
+"Think so? Well, maybe. His name was Elkanah Chase, and his dad was old
+man 'Rastus Chase, who made consider'ble in cranberries and one thing
+or 'nother. The old man brought Elkanah up to be what he called a
+gentleman. Ho! ho! Hi hum! I ain't sure what 'Rastus's idea of
+a gentleman was, but if he cal'lated to have his son a tramp in
+go-to-meetin' clothes, he got his wish. When the old man died, he willed
+the boy fifteen thousand dollars. Well, fifteen thousand dollars is a
+fortune to some folks--if they ain't economizin' in New York--but to
+Elkanah 'twas just about enough to make him realize his poverty. So,
+to make it bigger, he got one of them 'tips' from a college friend down
+here in Wall Street, and put the heft of ten thousand into it. _And_, I
+swan, if it didn't double his money!"
+
+Captain Elisha's visitor shook his head. He did not even smile.
+
+"He was extremely fortunate," he said. "I give you my word, Captain
+Warren, that the majority of first speculators don't turn out that way.
+I hope he was wise enough to keep his profits."
+
+The captain rubbed his chin.
+
+"Jim--" he began. "Excuse me, I should have said Mr. Pearson, but I've
+got sort of in the habit of callin' folks by their first names. Livin'
+where you know everybody so well gets you into those habits."
+
+"Jim suits me. I hope you'll cultivate the habit."
+
+"Do you? Well, I will. Now, Jim, referrin' to what I was goin' to say,
+you, bein' a newspaper man, ought to know everything, but it's pretty
+plain you don't know Elkanah Chase. Keep his profits! Why, when a feller
+is all but convinced that he knows it all, one little bit of evidence
+like that speculation settles it for him conclusive. Elkanah, realizin'
+that Wall Street was his apple pie, opened his mouth to swaller it at
+one gulp. He put his profits and every other cent he had into another
+sure thing tip."
+
+"And won again?"
+
+"No. He lost all that and some more that he borrowed."
+
+"But I thought you said it was the making of him!"
+
+"It was. He had to take a job over at the overalls factory in Ostable.
+As a fifteen thousand dollar gentleman, he was pretty average of a mess,
+but they tell me he makes middlin' good overalls. Elkanah convinced me
+that Wall Street has its good points."
+
+He chuckled. Pearson, relieved, laughed in sympathy. "Has he paid back
+the money he borrowed?" he inquired.
+
+"No-o! I guess the creditors'll have to take it out in overalls.
+However, it's a satisfaction to some of 'em to watch Chase really work.
+I know that gives me _my_ money's worth."
+
+"Oh, ho! You are one of the creditors! Captain Warren, I'm surprised. I
+sized you up as a shrewder judge of investments."
+
+Captain Elisha colored. "I judged that one correct," he answered. "If
+I hadn't thought 'twould have turned out that way I never would have
+plunged. You see, old man Chase was a friend of mine, and--However," he
+added, hastily changing the subject, "we've strayed some off the course.
+When I mentioned the Stock Exchange I did it because my brother was a
+member of it, and I cal'late you might have known him."
+
+Pearson was astonished. "Your brother was a member of the Exchange?" he
+repeated.
+
+"Um-hm. Never would have guessed it, would you? I s'pose you cal'late
+all the stock I knew about was on the hoof. Well, I have been acquainted
+with other breeds in my time. My brother's name was Abijah Warren--A.
+Rodgers Warren, he called himself."
+
+The effect of this announcement was instantaneous and electric. The
+young man sat back in his chair.
+
+"A. Rodgers Warren was your brother?" he cried.
+
+"Um-hm. Seems to stagger you some. Contrast between us as big as all
+that comes to?"
+
+"But--but, Captain Warren--Your brother--Tell me, is Miss Caroline
+Warren your niece?"
+
+"She is. And Steve is my nephew. 'Tain't possible you're acquainted with
+them?"
+
+Pearson rose to his feet. "Is--They used to live on the Avenue," he
+said. "But you said you were visiting. Captain Warren, is this your
+niece's apartment?"
+
+"Yes, hers and Steve's. Why, what's the matter? Ain't goin', are you?"
+
+"I think perhaps I had better. It is getting late."
+
+"Late! It's only the shank of the evenin'. Jim, I ain't so blind that I
+can't see through an open window. It ain't the lateness that makes you
+want to leave so sudden. Is there some trouble between you and Caroline?
+Course, it's none of my business, and you needn't tell me unless you
+want to."
+
+The answer was prompt enough.
+
+"No," replied Pearson. "No. I assure you there is nothing of that kind.
+I--I met Miss Warren. In fact, at one time we were well acquainted. I
+have the very highest opinion of her. But I think it is best to--"
+
+"Just a minute now. No trouble with Steve? He's a boy and at an age when
+he's pretty well satisfied with himself and you have to make allowance."
+
+"No. Steve and I were quite friendly. I'm sorry to cut my visit short,
+but it is late and I _must_ go."
+
+He was moving toward the door. Captain Elisha looked at him intently.
+
+"Well, if you must," he said. "But I hope you'll come again soon. Will
+you?"
+
+"I hope I may. I give you my word, Captain, that I appreciate your
+invitation, and I do want to know you better."
+
+"Same here. I don't often take sudden fancies, Jim, but I knew your
+uncle, and I'd bet consider'ble on any member of his family. And I _was_
+kind of interested in that novel of yours. You haven't said you'd come
+again. Will you?"
+
+Pearson was much embarrassed.
+
+"I should like to come, immensely," he said, with an earnestness
+unmistakable; "but--but, to be honest, Captain Warren, there is a
+reason, one which I may tell you sometime, but can't now--neither Miss
+Warren nor her brother have any part in it--which makes me reluctant to
+visit you here. Won't you come and see me at the boarding house? Here's
+the address. _Will_ you come?"
+
+"Sartin! I figured on doin' it, if you gave me the chance."
+
+"Thank you, you'll be welcome. Of course it is _only_ a boarding house,
+and not a very good one. My own room is--well, different from this."
+
+"Yup. Maybe that's why I expect to feel at home in it. Good night, Jim.
+Thank you for callin'. Shall I ring for the Commodore to pilot you out?"
+
+"No, I can find my way. I--Someone is coming."
+
+From the hall came the clang of the elevator door and the sound of
+voices. Before the captain or his friend could move, Caroline, Stephen,
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, and Malcolm entered. Caroline was the first to reach
+the library. Her entrance brought her face to face with Pearson.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she began. "I did not know there was anyone here."
+
+"It's only a friend of mine, Caroline," explained her uncle, quickly.
+"Just callin' on me, he was."
+
+"Good evening, Miss Warren," said Pearson, quietly.
+
+The girl looked at him for an instant. Then her expression changed, and,
+with a smile, she extended her hand.
+
+"Why, Mr. Pearson!" she exclaimed. "I'm very glad to see you. You must
+excuse me for not recognizing you at once. Steve, you remember Mr.
+Pearson."
+
+Stephen also extended a hand.
+
+"Sure!" he said. "Glad to see you again, Pearson. Haven't met you for an
+age. How are you?"
+
+Pearson shook both the hands. He was embarrassed and hesitated in his
+reply.
+
+"It _has_ been some time since we met," he said. "This is an unexpected
+pleasure. Ah, Mr. Dunn, good evening."
+
+"It is Mr. Pearson, the financial writer of the _Planet_, Malcolm,"
+said Caroline. "You used to know him, I think."
+
+"Don't remember, I'm sure. Yes, I do. Met you at the University Club,
+didn't I?"
+
+"Yes. I was formerly a member."
+
+"And let me present you to Mrs. Corcoran Dunn," went on the girl. "Mr.
+Pearson used to know father well."
+
+Mrs. Dunn inspected the visitor through her lorgnette, and condescended
+to admit that she was "delighted."
+
+"I'm very glad you called," continued Caroline. "We were just in time,
+weren't we? Do sit down. And if you will wait a minute until we remove
+our wraps--Steve ring for Edwards, please."
+
+"I'm afraid I can't wait, Miss Warren. I dropped in to see your uncle,
+at his invitation, and, as a matter of fact, I didn't know--"
+
+"To see our _uncle_!" interrupted Stephen, in amazement. "Who?"
+
+"Your uncle, Captain Warren here," explained Pearson, surprised in his
+turn. "He and I made each other's acquaintance yesterday, and he asked
+me to call."
+
+"You--you called to see _him_?" repeated Stephen. "Why, what in the
+world--?"
+
+"I took the liberty of askin' him, Caroline," observed Captain Elisha
+quietly, and ignoring the last speaker. "I didn't know you knew him,
+and I used to sail along with _his_ uncle, so he seemed almost like own
+folks."
+
+"Oh!" Caroline's manner changed. "I presume it was a business call," she
+said slowly. "I beg pardon for interrupting. We had not seen you since
+father's death, Mr. Pearson, and I assumed that you had called upon my
+brother and me. Excuse me. Mrs. Dunn, we will go into the drawing-room."
+
+She led the way toward the apartment. Captain Elisha was about to speak.
+Pearson, however, explained for him.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "if by a business call you mean one in the
+interest of the _Planet_, I assure you that you are mistaken. I am no
+longer connected with any paper. I met Captain Warren, under rather
+unusual circumstances. We discovered that we had mutual friends and
+mutual interests. He asked me to call on him, and I did so. I did not
+know, until five minutes ago, that he was your uncle or that you and
+your brother lived here. I beg you won't leave the room on my account. I
+was about to go when you came. Good evening."
+
+He bowed and stepped toward the hall. Captain Elisha laid a hand on his
+arm and detained him.
+
+"Just a minute," he said. "Caroline, I want you and Steve to know that
+what Mr. Pearson says is exactly true. I ain't the kind to talk to the
+newspapers about the private affairs of my relations, and, if I'm
+any judge of character, Mr. Pearson, knowin' you as it seems he does,
+wouldn't be the kind to listen. That's all. Now, Jim, if you must go."
+
+He and his guest were at the door. Caroline and Mrs. Dunn were at the
+opposite side of the room. Suddenly the girl halted, turned, and, moving
+across to where her uncle and the young man were standing, once more
+extended her hand.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, impulsively, "again I ask your pardon. I should
+have known. I am very sorry I spoke as I did. Will you forgive me?"
+
+Pearson colored. His embarrassment was more evident than before.
+
+"There is no occasion for apology, Miss Warren," he said. "I don't
+wonder you thought I had come in my former capacity as reporter."
+
+"Yes, you do. You _must_ have wondered. I am very glad you called to see
+my--my guardian, and I hope you will continue to do so. Father used to
+speak so highly of you, and I'm sure he valued your friendship. Stephen
+and I wish to consider his friends ours. Please believe that you are
+welcome here at any time."
+
+Pearson's reply was brief.
+
+"Thank you, Miss Warren," he said. "You are very kind. Good evening."
+
+In the hall, as they waited for the elevator, Captain Elisha, happier
+than at any time since his arrival in New York, clapped his friend on
+the shoulder.
+
+"Jim," he said, "I was beginnin' to doubt my judgment of things and
+folks. Now I feel better. That niece of mine has got the right stuff in
+her. After _that_ invitation, you will come and see us once in a while.
+That makes it easier, hey?"
+
+Pearson shook his head. "I'm not sure, Captain," he observed, slowly,
+"that it doesn't make it harder. I shall look for you at the boarding
+house very soon. Don't disappoint me. Good night."
+
+The captain's last remark that evening was made to Edwards, whom he met
+just outside the door of his bedroom.
+
+"Commodore," he said, "a barn full of rats is a nuisance, ain't it?"
+
+"Sir?" stammered the astonished butler.
+
+"I say a barn full of rats is a nuisance."
+
+"Why--why, yes, sir. I should think it might be, sir."
+
+"Yup. Well, I know a worse one. It's a house full of mysteries. By, by,
+Son. Pleasant dreams."
+
+He sat up until late, meditating profoundly. Then, taking from its
+envelope the letter yet unsealed, which he had written to Miss Abigail
+Baker, he added this postscript:
+
+    "Eleven o'clock. I have decided, Abbie, to accept the
+    guardianship and the rest of it, for a spell, anyhow. Shall
+    notify the lawyers in the morning. Necessity is one thing,
+    and pleasure is another. I doubt if I find the job pleasant,
+    but I guess it is necessary. Anyhow, it looks that way to
+    me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Announcement of Captain Elisha's decision followed quickly. Sylvester,
+Kuhn, and Graves received the telephone message stating it, and
+the senior partner was unqualifiedly delighted. Kuhn accepted his
+associate's opinion with some reservation. "It is an odd piece of
+business, the whole of it," he declared. "I shall be curious to see how
+it works out." As for Mr. Graves, when the information was conveyed
+to him by messenger, he expressed disgust and dismay. "Ridiculous!" he
+said. "Doctor, I simply must be up and about within the next few days.
+It is necessary that a sane, conservative man be at the office. Far
+be it from me to say a word against Sylvester, as a lawyer, but he is
+subject to impressions. I imagine this Cape Codder made him laugh, and,
+therefore, in his opinion, is all right. I'm glad I'm not a joker."
+
+The captain said that he would be down later on to talk things over.
+Meanwhile, if the "papers and such" could be gotten together, it would
+"sort of help along." Sylvester explained that there were certain legal
+and formal ceremonies pertaining to the acceptance of the trust to be
+gone through with, and these must have precedence. "All right," answered
+the captain. "Let's have 'em all out at once and get the ache and agony
+over. I'll see you by and by."
+
+When Mrs. Corcoran Dunn made her daily visit to the Warren apartment
+that afternoon, she found Caroline alone and almost in tears. Captain
+Elisha had broken the news at the table during luncheon, after which
+he went downtown. Stephen, having raved, protested, and made himself
+generally disagreeable and his sister correspondingly miserable, had
+departed for the club. It was a time for confidences, and the wily Mrs.
+Dunn realized that fact. She soothed, comforted, and within half an
+hour, had learned the whole story. Caroline told her all, the strange
+will, the disclosure concerning the country uncle, and the inexplicable
+clauses begging the latter to accept the executorship, the trust, and
+the charge of her brother and herself. Incidentally she mentioned that
+a possible five hundred thousand was the extreme limit of the family's
+pecuniary resources.
+
+"Now you know everything," sobbed Caroline. "Oh, Mrs. Dunn, _you_ won't
+desert us, will you?"
+
+The widow's reply was a triumph, of its kind. In it were expressed
+sorrow, indignation, pity, and unswerving loyalty. Desert them? Desert
+the young people, toward whom she had come to feel almost like a mother?
+Never!
+
+"You may depend on Malcolm and me, my dear," she declared. "We are not
+fair-weather friends. And, after all, it is not so very bad. Affairs
+might be very much worse."
+
+"Worse! Oh, Mrs. Dunn, how could they be? Think of it! Stephen and I are
+dependent upon him for everything. We must ask him for every penny. And
+whatever he says to do we _must_ do. We're obliged to. Just think! if he
+decides to take us back with him to--South Denboro, or whatever dreadful
+place he comes from, we shall have to go--and live there."
+
+"But he won't, my dear. He won't. It will take some time to settle your
+father's affairs, and the business will have to be transacted here in
+New York."
+
+"I know. I suppose that's true. But that doesn't make it any easier.
+If he stops here he will stay with us. And what shall we do? We can't
+introduce him to our friends, or, at least, to any except our best, our
+understanding friends, like you and Malcolm."
+
+"Why, I'm not sure. He is rather--well--er--countryfied, but I believe
+he has a good heart. He is not rude or unkind or anything of that sort,
+is he?"
+
+"No. No-o. He's not that, at all. In fact, he means to be kind in his
+way. But it's such a different way from ours. He is not used to society;
+he wouldn't understand that certain things and ways were absolutely
+essential. I suppose it isn't his fault exactly, but that doesn't help.
+And how can we tell him?"
+
+"I don't know that you can tell him, but you might hint. Diplomacy, my
+dear, is one of the necessary elements of life. Whatever else you
+do remember to be diplomatic. My poor husband used to have a pet
+proverb--he was interested in politics, my dear, and some of his sayings
+were a trifle grotesque but very much to the point. He used to say that
+one could get rid of more flies with molasses than with a club. And I
+think he was right. Now let me consider. Let's look the situation right
+in the face. Of course your guardian, as a companion, as an associate
+for us, for our kind of people, is, to be quite frank, impossible."
+
+"Yes. Yes, I'm sure he is."
+
+"Yes. But he _is_ your guardian. Therefore, we can't get rid of him
+with--well, with a club. He must be endured and made as endurable as
+possible. And it certainly will not do to offend him."
+
+"Steve says we must do what he calls freezing him out--make him feel
+that we do not want him here."
+
+"Hum! Well, Stephen is a nice boy--Malcolm adores him--but he isn't a
+diplomat. If we should--what is it?--freeze out your uncle--"
+
+"Please call him something else."
+
+"Well, we'll call him the encumbrance on the estate; that's legal,
+I believe, and expresses it nicely. If we should freeze out the
+encumbrance, we _might_ freeze him to his village, and he _might_ insist
+on your going with him, which wouldn't do at _all_, my dear. For one
+thing, Malcolm would probably insist on going, also, and I, for one,
+don't yearn for rural simplicity. Ha! ha! Oh, you mustn't mind me. I'm
+only a doting mamma, dearie, and I have my air castles like everyone
+else. So, freezing out won't do. No, you and Steve must be polite to our
+encumbrance."
+
+"I shall not get on my knees to him and beg. That I sha'n't do."
+
+"No one expects you to. If anyone begs it should be he. Condescend to
+just a little. Make him feel his place. Correct him when he goes too far
+wrong, and ignore him when he gets assertive. As for getting rid of him
+at times when it may be necessary--well, I think you may safely leave
+that to me."
+
+"To you? Oh, Mrs. Dunn, we couldn't think of dragging you into it. It is
+bad enough that we should be disgraced; but you must not be."
+
+"My dear child, I _think_ my position in society is sufficiently
+established to warrant a risk or two. If _I_ am seen in company
+with--with the encumbrance, people will merely say, 'Oh, it's another
+of her eccentricities!' that's all. Now, don't worry, and don't fret all
+that pretty color from your cheeks. Always remember this: it is but
+for a year or a trifle over. Then you will be of age and can send your
+encumbrance to the right-about in a hurry."
+
+Caroline, under the spell of this convincing eloquence, began to cheer
+up. She even smiled.
+
+"Well," she said, "I will try to be diplomatic. I really will. But
+Stephen--I'm not sure what dreadful thing _he_ will do."
+
+"He will return to college soon. I will take upon myself the convincing
+of the encumbrance to that effect. And while he is at home, Malcolm will
+take charge of him. He will be delighted to do it."
+
+"Mrs. Dunn, how can we ever thank you sufficiently? What should we do
+without you and Malcolm?"
+
+"I _hope_, my dear, that you will never have to do without me; not for
+many years, at any rate. Of course, there is always my poor heart,
+but--we won't worry, will we?"
+
+So, with a kiss and an embrace, this affecting interview ended.
+
+There was another that evening between Mrs. Dunn and her son, which was
+not devoid of interest. Malcolm listened to the information which his
+mother gave him, and commented upon it in characteristic fashion.
+
+"Humph!" he observed, "two hundred and fifty thousand, instead of the
+two million you figured on, Mater! Two hundred and fifty thousand isn't
+so much, in these days."
+
+"No," replied his parent, sharply, "it isn't so much, but it isn't so
+little, either."
+
+"I suppose one can get along on it."
+
+"Yes, one can. In fact, I know of two who are managing with a good deal
+less. Don't be any more of a fool than you can help, Malcolm. The sum
+itself isn't small, and, besides, the Warrens are a family of standing.
+To be connected with them is worth a good deal. There are infinite
+possibilities in it. Oh, if only I might live to see the day when
+tradespeople meant something other than nuisances to be dodged, I
+_think_ I could die contented."
+
+"Caro's a decent sort of a girl," commented Malcolm, reflectively.
+
+"She's a bright girl and an attractive one. Just now she is in a mood to
+turn to us, to you. But, for Heaven's sake, be careful! She is delicate
+and sensitive and requires managing. She likes you. If only you weren't
+such a blunderer!"
+
+"Much obliged, Mater. You're free with your compliments this evening.
+What's the trouble? Another 'heart'?"
+
+"No. My heart I can trust, up to certain limits. But I'm afraid of your
+head, just as I always was of your father's. And here's one more bit of
+advice: Be careful how you treat that country uncle."
+
+"The Admiral! Ho! ho! He's a card."
+
+"He may be the trump that will lose us the trick. Treat him civilly;
+yes, even cordially, if you can. And _don't_ insult him as you did the
+first time you and he met."
+
+The young man crossed his legs, and grunted in resignation.
+
+"Well," he said, "it's going to be a confounded bore, but, at the very
+longest, it'll last but a year. Then Caro will be her own mistress."
+
+"Yes. But there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year;
+remember that."
+
+"All right, Mater. You can bet on me. The old hayseed and I will be
+bosom pals. Wait and see."
+
+The formalities at the lawyers' took some time. Captain Elisha was
+absent from the apartment the better part of the following two days. The
+evenings, however, he spent with his niece and nephew, and, if at all
+sensitive to sudden changes of the temperature, he must have noticed
+that the atmosphere of the library was less frigid. Caroline was not
+communicative, did not make conversation, nor was she in the least
+familiar; but she answered his questions, did not leave the room when he
+entered, and seemed inclined to accept his society with resignation,
+if not with enthusiasm. Even Stephen was less sarcastic and bitter. At
+times, when his new guardian did or said something which offended his
+highly cultivated sense of the proprieties, he seemed inclined to burst
+out with a sneer; but a quick "ahem!" or a warning glance from his
+sister caused him to remain silent and vent his indignation by kicking
+a footstool or barking a violent order at the unresisting Edwards.
+Caroline and her brother had had a heart to heart talk, and, as a
+result, the all-wise young gentleman promised to make no more trouble
+than he could help.
+
+"Though, by gad, Caro," he declared, "it's only for you I do it! If I
+had my way the old butt-in should understand exactly what I think of
+him."
+
+On Thursday, after luncheon, as Captain Elisha sat in his own room,
+reading a book he had taken from the library, there came a knock at the
+door.
+
+"Come ahead in!" ordered the captain. Caroline entered. Her uncle rose
+and put down the book.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, "is it you? Excuse me. I thought 'twas the
+Commodore--Edwards, I mean. If I'd known you was comin' callin',
+Caroline, I shouldn't have been quite so bossy. Guess I'd have opened
+the door for you, instead of lettin' you do it yourself."
+
+"Thank you," answered his niece. "I came to see you on--I suppose you
+might call it business. At any rate, it is a financial matter. I sha'n't
+detain you long."
+
+Captain Elisha was a trifle disappointed.
+
+"Oh," he said, "on business, was it? I hoped--I didn't know but you'd
+come just out of sociability. However, I'm mighty glad to see you,
+Caroline, no matter what it's for. That's a real becomin' dress you've
+got on," he added, inspecting her admiringly. "I declare, you look
+prettier every time I see you. You favor your pa consider'ble; I can see
+it more and more. 'Bije had about all the good looks there was in our
+family," with a chuckle. "Set down, do."
+
+The girl seated herself in a rocker, and looked at him for a moment
+without speaking. She seemed to have something on her mind, and not to
+know exactly how to express it.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began, "I--I came to ask a favor. I am obliged
+to ask it, because you are our--" she almost choked over the hated
+word--"our guardian, and I can no longer act on my own responsibility. I
+wish to ask you for some money."
+
+Captain Elisha nodded gravely.
+
+"I see," he said. "Well, Caroline, I don't believe you'll find me very
+close-fisted. I think I told you and Steve that you was to do just as
+you'd been in the habit of doin'. Of course I _am_ your guardian now,
+and I shall be held responsible for whatever expense comes to the
+estate. Itvis quite a responsibility, and I so understand it. As I said
+to you when I told you I'd decided to take the job on trial, _while_ I
+have it it'll be my pride to see that you or your brother don't lose
+anything. I intend, if the Almighty spares me so long and I keep on with
+the trust, to turn over, when my term's out, at least as much to you and
+Steve as your father left. That's all. Excuse me for mentioning it
+again. Now, how much do you want? Is your reg'lar allowance too small?
+Remember, I don't know much about such things here in New York, and you
+must be frank and aboveboard and tell me if you have any complaints."
+
+"I have no complaints. My allowance is sufficient. It is the same that
+father used to give me, and it is all I need. But this is a matter
+outside my personal needs."
+
+"Um-hm. Somethin' to do with the household expenses, hey?"
+
+"No. It is--is a matter of--well, of charity. It may amount to several
+hundred dollars."
+
+"Yes, yes. I see. Charity, hey? Church?"
+
+"No. One of the maids, Annie, has trouble at home, and I wanted to help
+her."
+
+The captain nodded once more.
+
+"Annie," he repeated, "that's the rosy-faced one? The Irish one?"
+
+"Yes. Her father was seriously injured the other day and cannot work.
+His hip is broken, and the doctor's bill will be large. They are very
+poor, and I thought perhaps--" She hesitated, faltered, and then said
+haughtily: "Father was very sympathetic and liked to have me do such
+things."
+
+"Sho! sho! Sartin! Course he did. I like it, too. I'm glad you came to
+me just as you did, Caroline. How much do you want to start with?"
+
+"I don't know, exactly. I thought I might ask our own doctor to attend
+to the case, and might send them some delicacies and food."
+
+"Good idea! Go right ahead, Caroline."
+
+"Thank you. I have been over to see them, and they need help--they
+really do."
+
+"I presume likely. How'd the accident happen? Anybody's fault, was it?"
+
+Caroline's eyes snapped. "Indeed it was!" she said, indignantly. "It
+was a wet morning, after a rain, and the pavement was slippery. Mr.
+Moriarty, Annie's father, was not working that day--they were making
+some repairs at the factory where he is employed, I believe--and he had
+gone out to do the family marketing. He was crossing the street when an
+automobile, recklessly driven, so everyone says, drove directly down on
+him. He tried to jump out of the way and succeeded--otherwise he might
+have been killed; but he fell and broke his hip. He is an old man, and
+the case is serious."
+
+"Dear! dear! you don't tell me! Poor old chap! The auto feller--did he
+help? Seems to me he ought to be the one to be spendin' the money. 'Twas
+his fault."
+
+"Help! Indeed he didn't! He and the man with him merely laughed, as
+if it was a good joke, put on speed, and disappeared as quickly as
+possible."
+
+"Why, the mean swab! Did this Mr. Moriarty or the folks around get the
+license number of the auto?"
+
+"No. All they know is that it was a big yellow car with two men in it."
+
+"Hey? A yellow car?"
+
+"Yes. Somewhat similar to the one Malcolm--Mr. Dunn drives."
+
+"So, so! Hum! Where did it happen?"
+
+"On Saint Nicholas Avenue, near One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Street."
+
+"Eh? Saint Nicholas Avenue, you say?"
+
+"Yes." Caroline rose and turned to go. "Thank you, Captain Warren," she
+said. "I will tell Doctor Henry to take the case at once."
+
+The captain did not answer immediately. With his chin in his hand he was
+gazing at the floor.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Caroline.
+
+Her uncle looked up.
+
+"Er--Wait just a minute, Caroline," he said. "I guess maybe, if you
+don't mind, I'd like to think this over a little afore you go too far.
+You have your doctor go right ahead and see to the old man, and you
+order the things to eat and whatever's necessary. But afore you give
+Annie or her father any money, I'd kind of like to figger a little
+mite."
+
+His niece stopped short, turned and stared at him.
+
+"Oh!" she said, slowly and icily, "I see. Please don't trouble yourself.
+I should have known. However, my allowance is my own, and I presume I am
+permitted to do what I please with that."
+
+"Caroline, don't be hasty. I ain't sayin' no about the money. Far from
+it. I only--"
+
+"I understand--thoroughly. Don't trouble to 'figure,' as you call it.
+Oh! _Why_ did I humiliate myself? I should have known!"
+
+"Caroline, please--"
+
+But the girl had gone, closing the door after her. Captain Elisha shook
+his head, heaved a deep sigh, and then, sinking back into his chair,
+relapsed into meditation. Soon afterward he put on his hat and coat and
+went out.
+
+Half an hour later he entered the office of a firm of commission brokers
+on lower Broad Street, and inquired if a gentleman by the name of Mr.
+Malcolm Dunn was connected with that establishment. On being answered in
+the affirmative, he asked if Mr. Dunn were in. Yes, he was.
+
+"Well," said Captain Elisha, "I'd like to speak to him a minute or so.
+Just tell him my name's Warren, if you don't mind, young feller."
+
+The clerk objected to being addressed as "young feller," and showed his
+disapproval by the haughty and indifferent manner in which he departed
+on the errand. However, he did so depart, and returned followed by
+Malcolm himself. The latter, who had been misled by the name into
+supposing his caller to be Stephen Warren, was much astonished when he
+saw the captain seated outside the railing.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Captain Elisha, rising and extending his hand:
+"How are you to-day, sir? Pretty smart?"
+
+The young man answered briefly that he was all right. He added he was
+glad to see his visitor, a statement more polite than truthful.
+
+"Well, what's up?" he inquired, condescendingly. "Nothing wrong with
+Caro or Steve, I hope."
+
+"No, they're fust-rate, thank you."
+
+"What's doing, then? Is it pleasure or business?"
+
+"Well, a little of both, maybe. It's always a pleasure to see you, of
+course; and I have got a little mite of business on hand."
+
+Malcolm smiled, in his languid fashion. If he suspected sarcasm in
+the first part of the captain's reply, it did not trouble him. His
+self-sufficiency was proof against anything of that sort.
+
+"Business," he repeated. "Well, that's what I'm here for. Thinking of
+cornering the--er--potato market, were you?"
+
+"No-o. Cranberries would be more in my line, and I cal'late you fellers
+don't deal in that kind of sass. I had a private matter I wanted to talk
+over with you, Mr. Dunn; that is, if you ain't too busy."
+
+Malcolm looked at him with an amused curiosity. As he had expressed it
+in the conversation with his mother, this old fellow certainly was a
+"card." He seated himself on the arm of the oak settle from which the
+captain had risen and, lazily swinging a polished shoe, admitted that he
+was always busy but never too busy to oblige.
+
+"What's on your mind, Captain?" he drawled.
+
+Captain Elisha glanced about him somewhat uneasily.
+
+"I--I don't know as I made it quite clear," he said, "that it was sort
+of private; somethin' just between us, you understand."
+
+Malcolm hesitated. Sliding from the settle, and impatiently commanding
+the clerk to open the gate in the railing, he led his caller through the
+main office and into a small room beyond. On the glass pane of the door
+was lettered, "Mr. Dunn--Private." A roll-top desk in the corner and
+three chairs were the furniture. Malcolm, after closing the door,
+sprawled in the swing chair before the desk, threw one leg over a
+drawer, which he pulled out for that purpose, and motioned his companion
+to occupy one of the other chairs.
+
+Captain Elisha took the offered chair and dropped his hat on the floor
+beside it. Then he inspected the room and its furnishings with interest.
+Dunn drew out a pocket case, extracted a cigarette, lit it, and waited
+for him to speak.
+
+"Well," observed the young man, after a moment, "what's the trouble,
+Admiral? Better get it off your chest, hadn't you? We're private enough
+here."
+
+The captain answered the last question. "Yes," he said, "this is nice
+and private. Got a stateroom all to yourself; name on the door, and
+everything complete. You must be one of the officers of the craft."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Um-hm. I sort of expected to find your name on the door outside, but
+there 'twas, 'Smith, Haynes & Co.' I presume likely you're the 'Co.'"
+
+"_I_ 'presume likely,'" with mocking impatience. "What about that
+private matter?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not appear to hear him. His eyes were fixed on
+several photographs stuck in the rail of Mr. Dunn's desk. The photos
+were those of young ladies.
+
+"Friends of yours?" inquired the captain, nodding toward the
+photographs.
+
+"No." Dunn took the photos from the rack and threw them into a pigeon
+hole. "Look here," he said, pointedly, "I wouldn't hurry you for the
+world, but--"
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha did not take the hint. His mind was evidently
+still busy with the vanished photographs.
+
+"Just fancy pictures, I s'pose, hey?" he commented.
+
+"Doubtless. Any other little points I can give you?"
+
+"I guess not. I thought they was fancy; looked so to me. Well, about
+that private matter. Mr. Dunn, I come to see you about an automobile."
+
+"An automobile!" The young man was so astonished that he actually
+removed his feet from the desk. Then he burst into a laugh. "An
+automobile?" he repeated. "Captain, has the influence of the metropolis
+made you a sport already? Do you want to buy a car?"
+
+"Buy one?" It was Captain Elisha's turn to show irritation. "Buy one
+of them things? Me? I wouldn't buy one of 'em, or run one of 'em, for
+somethin', _I_ tell you! No, I don't want to buy one."
+
+"Why not? Sell you mine for a price."
+
+"Not if I see you fust, thank you. No, Mr. Dunn, 'tain't that. But
+one of the hired help up to our place--Caroline's place, I mean--is in
+trouble on account of one of the dratted machines. They're poor folks,
+of course, and they need money to help 'em through the doctorin' and
+nursin' and while the old man's out of work. Caroline was for givin' it
+to 'em right off, she's a good-hearted girl; but I said--that is, I kind
+of coaxed her out of it. I thought I'd ask some questions first."
+
+"So you came to me to ask them?" Malcolm smiled contentedly. Evidently
+the cares and complications of guardianship were already proving too
+intricate for the unsophisticated countryman. He wished advice, and
+had come to him for it, possibly at Caroline's suggestion. Affairs
+were shaping themselves well. Here was an opportunity to act the
+disinterested friend, as per maternal instructions.
+
+"So you wanted to ask questions, did you, Captain?" he repeated. "Well,
+fire away. Anything I can do to help you or Caroline will be a pleasure,
+of course. Smoke?"
+
+He offered the cigarette case. The captain eyed it dubiously and shook
+his head.
+
+"No," he said; "no, thank you, I commenced smokin' at the butt end,
+I guess. Begun with a pipe, and them things would seem sort of
+kindergarten, I'm afraid. No offense meant, you understand. It's all
+accordin' to what you've been used to. Well, about the questions. Here's
+the first one: Don't it seem to you that the right one to pay for the
+doctorin' and nursin' and such of Mr. Moriarty--that's Annie's pa--ought
+to be the feller who hurt him? That feller, instead of Caroline?"
+
+"Sure thing! If you know who did it, he's your mark."
+
+"He could be held responsible, couldn't he?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Um-hm. So I thought. And if he was a right-minded chap, he'd be glad to
+help the poor critter, providin' he knew what damage he'd done; wouldn't
+you think so?"
+
+Malcolm nodded sagely, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it
+again. A sudden recollection came to him, an alarming recollection. He
+turned in his chair and looked at his visitor. Captain Elisha met his
+gaze frankly.
+
+"Where did this accident happen?" asked Mr. Dunn, his condescending
+smile absent.
+
+"At the corner of Saint Nicholas Avenue and One Hundred and
+Twenty-Eighth Street. It happened last Friday mornin', a week ago.
+And the car that hit him was a yellow one."
+
+Malcolm did not answer. His pale face grew paler, and then flushed a
+brilliant red. The captain seemed to feel sorry for him.
+
+"Naturally," he went on, "when I heard about it, I remembered what you
+told Mr. Sylvester and me at the club that afternoon. I understand how
+'twas, of course. You never thought you'd done any real harm and just
+went on, thinkin' 'twas a good joke, much as anything. If you'd known
+you'd really hurt the poor old man, you'd have stopped to see him. I
+understand that. But--"
+
+"Look here!" interrupted Dunn, sharply, "did Caroline send you to me?"
+
+"Caroline? No, no! She don't know 'twas your automobile at all. I never
+said a word to her, 'tain't likely. But afore she spent any of her
+money, I thought you'd ought to know, because I was sure you wouldn't
+let her. That's the way I'd feel, and I felt 'twas no more'n honest to
+give you the chance. I come on my own hook; she didn't know anything
+about it."
+
+Malcolm drummed on the desk with nervous fingers. The flush remained on
+his face, his cigarette had gone out, and he threw the stump savagely
+into the wastepaper basket. Captain Elisha remained silent. At length
+the young man spoke.
+
+"Well," he growled, pettishly, "how much will it take to square things
+with the gang? How much damages do they want?"
+
+"Damages? Oh, there won't be any claim for damages, I guess. That is, no
+lawsuit, or anything of that kind. The Moriartys don't know you did it,
+and there's no reason why they should. I thought maybe I'd see to 'em
+and do whatever was necessary; then you could settle with me, and the
+whole business would be just between us two. Outside the doctor's bills
+and food and nursin' and such, all the extry will be just the old man's
+wages for the time he's away from the factory. 'Twon't be very heavy."
+
+More reflection and finger tattoo by his companion. Then:
+
+"All right! I'm in it, I can see that; and it's up to me to get out as
+easy as I can. I don't want any newspaper publicity. Go ahead! I'll pay
+the freight."
+
+Captain Elisha arose and picked up his hat.
+
+"That's fust-rate," he said, with emphasis. "I felt sure you'd see it
+just as I did. There's one thing I would like to say," he added: "that
+is, that you mustn't think I was stingy about helpin' 'em myself. But it
+wa'n't really my affair; and when Caroline spoke of spendin' her money
+and Steve's, I didn't feel I'd ought to let her. You see, I don't know
+as you know it yet, Mr. Dunn, but my brother 'Bije left me in charge of
+his whole estate, and, now that I've decided to take the responsibility,
+I've got a sort of pride in not wastin' any of his children's
+inheritance. Good day, Mr. Dunn. I'm much obliged to you."
+
+He opened the office door. Malcolm, frowning heavily, suddenly asked a
+final question.
+
+"Say!" he demanded, "you'll not tell Caroline or Steve a word of this,
+mind!"
+
+The captain seemed surprised.
+
+"I guess you didn't catch what I said, Mr. Dunn," he observed, mildly.
+"I told you this whole business would be just between you and me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Captain Elisha was very far from considering himself a Solomon. As he
+would have said he had lived long enough with himself to know what a lot
+he didn't know. Nevertheless, deep down in his inner consciousness, he
+cherished a belief in his judgment of human nature. This judgment was
+not of the snap variety; he took his time in forming it. People and
+their habits, their opinions and characters, were to him interesting
+problems. He liked to study them and to reach conclusions founded upon
+reason, observation, and common sense. Having reached such a conclusion,
+it disturbed him when the subjects of the problem suddenly upset the
+whole process of reasoning and apparently proved him wrong by behavior
+exactly contrary to that which he had expected.
+
+He had been pretty well satisfied with the result of his visit to
+young Dunn at the latter's office. Malcolm had surrendered, perhaps
+not gracefully or unconditionally, but he had surrendered, and the
+condition--secrecy--was one which the captain himself had suggested.
+Captain Elisha's mental attitude toward the son of the late Tammany
+leader had been a sort of good-natured but alert tolerance. He judged
+the young man to be a product of rearing and environment. He had known
+spoiled youths at the Cape and, in their surroundings, they behaved much
+as Malcolm did in his. The same disrespect to their elders, the same
+cock-sureness, and the same careless indifference concerning the effect
+which their actions might have upon other people--these were natural and
+nothing but years and the hard knocks of experience could bring about a
+change. Elkanah Chase, country swell and pampered heir to the cranberry
+grower's few thousands, and Malcolm Dunn, idol of his set at the
+Metropolitan Club, were not so very different, except in externals. The
+similarity confirmed his opinion that New York was merely South Denboro
+many thousand times magnified.
+
+He knew how young Chase had behaved after an interview not unlike that
+just described. In Elkanah's case several broken windows and property
+destroyed on a revel the night before the Fourth had caused the trouble.
+In Malcolm's it was an automobile. Both had listened to reason and had
+knuckled under rather than face possible lawsuits and certain publicity.
+Chase, however, had sulkily refused to speak to him for a month, and
+regained affability merely because he wished to borrow money. According
+to the captain's deduction, Dunn should have acted in similar fashion.
+But he didn't; that was the odd part of it.
+
+For Malcolm, when he next called, in company with his mother, at the
+Warren apartment, was not in the least sulky. Neither was he over
+effusive, which would have argued fear and a desire to conciliate.
+Possibly there was a bit more respect in his greeting of the new
+guardian and a trifle less condescension, but not much. He still hailed
+Captain Elisha as "Admiral," and was as mockingly careless as ever in
+his remarks concerning the latter's newness in the big city. In fact, he
+was so little changed that the captain was perplexed. A chap who could
+take a licking when he deserved it, and not hold malice, must have good
+in him, unless, of course, he was hiding the malice for a purpose. And
+if that purpose was the wish to appear friendly, then the manner of
+hiding it proved Malcolm Dunn to possess more brains than Captain Elisha
+had given him credit for.
+
+One thing seemed sure, the Dunns were not openly hostile. And Caroline
+was. Since the interview in the library, when the girl had, as she
+considered it, humiliated herself by asking her guardian for money to
+help the Moriartys, she had scarcely spoken to him. Stephen, taking his
+cue from his sister, was morose and silent, also. Captain Elisha found
+it hard to forgive his dead brother for bringing all this trouble upon
+him.
+
+His lawyers, so Sylvester informed him, were setting about getting
+Rodgers Warren's tangible assets together. The task was likely to be a
+long one. The late broker's affairs were in a muddled state, the books
+were anything but clear, some of the investments were foreign, and, at
+the very earliest, months must elapse before the executor and trustee
+could know, for certain, just how large a property he was in charge of.
+
+He found some solace and forgetfulness of the unpleasant life he was
+leading in helping the stricken Moriarty family. Annie, the maid at the
+apartment, he swore to secrecy. She must not tell Miss Caroline of his
+visits to her parents' home. Doctor Henry, also, though he could not
+understand why, promised silence. Caroline herself had engaged his
+services in the case, and he was faithful. But the patient was more
+seriously hurt than at first appeared, and consultations with a
+specialist were necessary.
+
+"Goin' to be a pretty expensive job, ain't it, Doctor?" asked the
+captain of the physician.
+
+"Rather, I'm afraid."
+
+"All right. If expense is necessary, don't be afraid of it. You do just
+what you'd ought to, and send the bill to me."
+
+"But Miss Warren insisted upon my sending it to her. She said it was a
+private matter, and one with which you, as her guardian, had nothing to
+do."
+
+"I know. Caroline intends to use her own allowance, I s'pose. Well,
+let her think she will, if 'twill please her. But when it comes to
+the settlement, call on me. Give her any reason you want to; say
+a--er--wealthy friend of the family come to life all at once and
+couldn't sleep nights unless he paid the costs."
+
+"But there isn't any such friend, is there, Captain Warren? Other than
+yourself, I mean?"
+
+Captain Elisha grinned in appreciation of a private joke. "There is
+somebody else," he admitted, "who'll pay a share, anyhow. I don't
+know's he's what you call a bosom friend, and, as for his sleepin'
+nights--well, I never heard he couldn't do that, after he went to bed.
+But, anyhow, you saw wood, or bones, or whatever you have to do, and
+leave the rest to me. And don't tell Caroline or anybody else a word."
+
+The Moriartys lived in a four-room flat on the East Side, uptown, and
+his visits there gave the captain a glimpse of another sort of New
+York life, as different from that of Central Park West as could well be
+imagined. The old man, Patrick, his wife, Margaret, the unmarried son,
+Dennis, who worked in the gas house, and five other children of various
+ages were hived somehow in those four small rooms and Captain Elisha
+marveled greatly thereat.
+
+"For the land sakes, ma'am," he asked of the nurse, "how do they do it?
+Where do they put 'em nights? That--that closet in there's the pantry
+and woodshed and kitchen and dinin' room; and that one's the settin'
+room and parlor; and them two dry-goods boxes with doors to 'em are
+bedrooms. There's eight livin' critters to stow away when it's time to
+turn in, and one whole bed's took up by the patient. _Where_ do they
+put the rest? Hang 'em up on nails?"
+
+The nurse laughed. "Goodness knows!" she said. "He should have been
+taken to the hospital. In fact, the doctor and I at first insisted upon
+his removal there. He would have been much better off. But neither he
+nor his wife would hear of it. She said he would die sure without his
+home comforts."
+
+"Humph! I should think more likely he'd die with 'em, or under 'em. I
+watch that fleshy wife of his with fear and tremblin'. Every time she
+goes nigh the bed I expect her to trip over a young one and fall. And if
+she fell on that poor rack-o'-bones," with a wave of the hand toward the
+invalid, "'twould be the final smash--like a brick chimney fallin' on a
+lath hencoop."
+
+At that moment the "brick chimney" herself entered the rooms and the
+nurse accosted her.
+
+"Captain Warren here," she said, "was asking where you all found
+sleeping quarters."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty smiled broadly. "Sure, 'tis aisy," she explained. "When
+the ould man is laid up we're all happy to be a bit uncomfortable. Not
+that we are, neither. You see, sor, me and Nora and Rosy sleep in the
+other bed; and Dinnie has a bit of a shakedown in the parlor; and Honora
+is in the kitchen; and--"
+
+"There! there!" Captain Elisha interrupted hastily, "don't tell me any
+more. I'd rather _guess_ that the baby bunks in the cookstove oven than
+know it for sartin. How did the grapes I sent you go?" turning to the
+sick man.
+
+"Aw, sor! they were foine. God bless you, sor! Mary be kind to you, sor!
+Sure the angels'll watch over you every day you live and breathe!"
+
+Captain Elisha bolted for the parlor, the sufferer firing a gatling
+fusillade of blessings after him. Mrs. Moriarty continued the
+bombardment, as she escorted him to the door of the flat.
+
+"There! there!" protested the captain. "Just belay! cut it short,
+there's a good woman! I'll admit I'm a saint and would wear a halo
+instead of a hat if 'twa'n't so unfashionable. Good day. If you need
+anything you ain't got, tell the nurse."
+
+The grateful Irish woman did not intend to let him escape so easily.
+
+"Aw, sor," she went on, "it's all right for you to make fun. I'm the
+jokin' kind, sor, meself. Whin the flats where we used to be got afire
+and Pat had to lug me down the fire escape in his arms, they tell me
+I was laughin' fit to kill; that is, when I wasn't screechin' for fear
+he'd drop me. And him, poor soul, never seein' the joke, but puffin' and
+groanin' that his back was in two pieces. Ha, ha! Oh, dear! And him
+in two pieces now for sure and all! Aw, sor, it's all right for you to
+laugh it off, but what would we do without you? You and Miss Caroline,
+God bless her!"
+
+"Caroline? She doesn't come here, does she?"
+
+"Indade she does. Sure, she's the perfect little lady! Hardly a day
+passes--or a week, anyhow--that she doesn't drop in to see how the ould
+man's gettin' on."
+
+"Humph! Well, see that you don't tell her about me."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty held up both hands in righteous protestation. _She_ tell?
+Might the tongue of her wither between her teeth before it let slip a
+word, and so on. Captain Elisha waved her to silence.
+
+"All right! all right!" he exclaimed. "So long! Take good care of your
+husband, and, and--for Heaven's sake, walk careful and don't step on any
+of the children."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty's tongue did not wither; at all events, it was lively
+enough when he next met her. The captain's secret was not divulged, and
+he continued his visits to the flat, taking care, however, to ascertain
+his niece's whereabouts beforehand. It was not altogether a desire to
+avoid making his charitable deeds public which influenced him. He had a
+habit of not letting his right hand know what his left was about in
+such cases, and he detested a Pharisaical philanthropist. But there
+was another reason why Caroline must not learn of his interest in the
+Moriartys. If she did learn it, she would believe him to be helping them
+on his own responsibility; or, if not, that he was using money belonging
+to the estate. Of course he would, and honestly must, deny the latter
+charge, and, therefore, the first would, to her mind, be proven. He
+intended that Malcolm Dunn should pay the larger share of the bills, as
+was right and proper. But he could not tell Caroline that, because she
+must not know of the young man's responsibility for the accident. He
+could not give Malcolm the credit, and he felt that he ought not to take
+it himself. It was a delicate situation.
+
+He was lonely, and the days seemed long. Reading the paper, walking in
+the park, occasionally dropping in at the lawyers' offices, or visiting
+the shops and other places of interest about town made up the monotonous
+routine. He breakfasted early, waited upon by Edwards, got lunch at the
+restaurant nearest to wherever he happened to be at noon, and returned
+to the apartment for dinner. His niece and nephew dined with him, but
+when he attempted conversation they answered in monosyllables or not at
+all. Every evening he wrote a letter to Abbie, and the mail each morning
+brought him one from her. The Dunns came frequently and seemed disposed
+to be friendly, but he kept out of their way as much as possible.
+
+Pearson he had not seen since the latter's call. This was a
+disappointment, for he fancied the young fellow and believed he should
+like him even better on closer acquaintance. He would have returned the
+visit, but somehow or other the card with the boarding-house street and
+number had been lost or mislaid, and the long list of "James Pearsons"
+in the directory discouraged him. He speculated much concerning
+the mystery at which the would-be novelist hinted as preventing his
+accepting Caroline's invitation. Evidently Pearson had once known
+Rodgers Warren well, and had been esteemed and respected by the latter.
+Caroline, too, had known him, and was frankly pleased to meet him again.
+Whatever the trouble might be, she, evidently, was ignorant of it. The
+captain wondered and pondered, but reached no satisfactory conclusion.
+It seemed the irony of fate that the one congenial person--Sylvester
+excepted--whom he had met during his stay in the big city should be
+scratched from his small list of acquaintances.
+
+With Sylvester he held many familiar and enjoyable chats. The
+good-natured, democratic senior member of the law firm liked to have
+Captain Elisha drop in for advice or to spin yarns. Graves, who was
+well again, regarded the new guardian with respect of a kind, but with
+distinct disapproval. The captain was, in his opinion, altogether too
+flippant and jolly. There was nothing humorous in the situation, as
+Graves saw it, and to laugh when one's brother's estate is in a tangle,
+indicated unfitness, if nothing worse. Kuhn was a sharp, quick-moving
+man, who had no time for frivolity if it delayed business.
+
+It was after a long interview with Sylvester that Captain Elisha decided
+to send Stephen back to college. When he broke the news there was
+rebellion, brief but lively. Stephen had no desire to continue his
+studies; he wished to become a stock broker at once, and, as soon as he
+was of age, take his father's seat on the Exchange.
+
+"Stevie," said Captain Elisha, "one of these days, when you get to be
+as old as I am or before, you'll realize that an education is worth
+somethin'."
+
+"Ugh!" grunted the boy, in supreme disgust. "What do you know about
+that?"
+
+"Why, not much, maybe, but enough."
+
+"Yes?" sarcastically. "What college did you attend?"
+
+"Me? Why, none, more's the pity. What learnin' there was in our family
+your dad had. Maybe that's why he was what he was, so fur as money and
+position and society and so on went, and I'm what _I_ am."
+
+"Oh, rubbish! What difference does it make to Malcolm Dunn--now--his
+going through college?"
+
+"Well, he went, didn't he?"
+
+Stephen grinned. Malcolm had told him some particulars concerning his
+university career and its termination.
+
+"He went--part way," he answered.
+
+"Ya-as. Well, you've gone part way, so fur. And now you'll go the rest."
+
+"I'd like to know why."
+
+"For one reason, because I'm your guardian and I say so."
+
+Stephen was furiously angry. His father's indulgence and his sister's
+tolerance had, in most cases, made his will law in the household. To be
+ordered about in this way by an ignorant interloper, as he considered
+his uncle, was too much.
+
+"By gad," he shouted, "we'll see!"
+
+"No, we've seen. You run along now and pack your trunk. And take
+my advice and study hard. You'll be behindhand in your work, so Mr.
+Sylvester tells me, but you're smart, and you can catch up. Make us
+proud of you; that's what you can do."
+
+His nephew glanced at him. Captain Elisha was smiling kindly, but there
+was no sign of change of purpose in his look.
+
+Stephen ground his teeth.
+
+"Oh," he snarled, "if it wasn't for the disgrace! If things weren't as
+they are, I'd--"
+
+"S-s-s-h! I know; but they are. Maybe I wish they wa'n't 'most as much
+as you do, but they are. I don't blame you for feelin' mad now; but I'm
+right and I know it. And some day you'll know it, and thank me."
+
+"When I do, I'll be insane."
+
+"No, you'll be older, that's all. Now pack your trunk--or get the
+Commodore to pack it for you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+News from the Moriarty sick room continued favorable for a time. Then,
+with alarming suddenness, a change came. The broken hip was mending
+slowly, but poor Pat's age was against him, and the shock and long
+illness were too much for his system to fight. Dr. Henry shook his
+head dubiously when the captain asked questions. And, one morning at
+breakfast, Edwards informed him that the old man was dead. Annie had
+been summoned by telephone at midnight and had gone home.
+
+Captain Elisha, though not greatly surprised, was shocked and grieved.
+It seemed such a needless tragedy, almost like murder, although there
+was no malice in it. And the thought of the fatherless children and the
+poverty of the stricken family made him shudder. Death at any time, amid
+any surroundings, is terrible; when the dead hands have earned the bread
+for many mouths it is appalling.
+
+The captain dreaded visiting the flat, but because he felt it to be a
+duty he went immediately. And the misery and wailing and dismay he found
+there were worse than his anticipations. He did his best to comfort and
+cheer. Mrs. Moriarty alternately called upon the saints to bless him and
+begged to know what she would do now that they were all sure to starve.
+Luckily, the family priest, a kind-hearted, quiet man who faced similar
+scenes almost every day of his life, was there, and Captain Elisha had a
+long talk with him. With Dennis, the oldest son, and Annie, the maid
+at the Warrens', he also consulted. Money for their immediate needs,
+he told them, he would provide. And the funeral expenses must not
+worry them. Afterward--well, plans for the future could be discussed at
+another time. But upon Dennis and Annie he tried to impress a sense of
+their responsibility.
+
+"It's up to you, Boy," he said to the former. "Annie's job's sure, I
+guess, as long as she wants it, and she can give her mother somethin'
+every month. But you're the man of the house now, and you've got to
+steer the ship and keep it afloat. That means work, and hard work,
+lots of it, too. You can do it, if you've got the grit. If I can find
+a better place and more pay for you, I will, but you mustn't depend on
+that. It's up to you, I tell you, and you've got to show what's in you.
+If you get stuck and need advice, come to me."
+
+He handed the priest a sum of money to cover immediate contingencies,
+and departed. His letter to Abbie that afternoon was so blue that the
+housekeeper felt sure he was "coming down" with some disease or other.
+He had been riding in that awful subway, where the air--so the papers
+said--was not fit to breathe, and just as like as not he'd caught
+consumption. His great-uncle on his mother's side died of it, so it "run
+in the family." Either he must come home or she should come to him, one
+or the other.
+
+But before evening his blueness had disappeared. He had just returned
+to his room, after stepping into the hall to drop his letter in the mail
+chute, when his niece knocked at the door. He was surprised to see her,
+for she had not spoken to him, except in brief reply to questions, since
+their misunderstanding in that very room. He looked at her wonderingly,
+not knowing what to say or what to expect; but she spoke first.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began, hurriedly, "the last time I came to
+you--the last time I came here, I came to ask a favor, and you--I
+thought you--"
+
+She was evidently embarrassed and confused. Her guardian was
+embarrassed, also, but he tried to be hospitable.
+
+"Yes, Caroline," he said, gravely, "I know what you mean. Won't
+you--won't you sit down?"
+
+To his surprise, she accepted the invitation, taking the same chair she
+had taken on the occasion of their former interview. But there was a
+look in her eyes he had never seen there before; at least, not when she
+was addressing him.
+
+She went on, speaking hastily, as though determined to head off any
+questioning on his part.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began once more, "the time I came to you in this
+room you were, so I thought, unreasonable and unkind. I asked you for
+money to help a poor family in trouble, and you refused to give it to
+me."
+
+"No, Caroline," he interrupted, "I didn't refuse, you only thought I
+did."
+
+She held up her hand. "Please let me go on," she begged. "I thought you
+refused, and I couldn't understand why. I was hurt and angry. I knew
+that father never would have refused me under such circumstances, and
+you were his brother. But since then, only to-day, I have learned that I
+was wrong. I have learned--"
+
+She paused. The captain was silent. He was beginning to hope, to believe
+once more in his judgment of character; and yet, with his hope and
+growing joy, there was a trifle of anxiety.
+
+"I have learned," went on his niece, "that I was mistaken. I can't
+understand yet why you wished to wait before saying yes, but I do know
+that it must have been neither because you were unkind nor ungenerous.
+I have just come from those poor people, and they have told me
+everything."
+
+Captain Elisha started. "What did they tell you?" he asked, quickly.
+"Who told you?"
+
+"Annie and her mother. They told me what you had done and were doing for
+them. How kind you had been all through the illness and to-day. Oh, I
+know you made them promise not to tell me; and you made the doctor and
+nurse promise, too. But I knew _someone_ had helped, and Annie dropped
+a hint. Then I suspected, and now I know. Those poor people!"
+
+The captain, who had been looking at the floor, and frowning a bit,
+suddenly glanced up to find his niece's eyes fixed upon him, and they
+were filled with tears.
+
+"Will you forgive me?" she asked, rising from her chair, and coming
+impulsively toward him. "I'm sorry I misjudged you and treated you so.
+You must be a very good man. Please forgive me."
+
+He took her hand, which was swallowed up in his big one. His eyes were
+moist, also.
+
+"Lord love you, dearie," he said, "there's nothin' to forgive. I
+realized that I must have seemed like a mean, stingy old scamp. Yet I
+didn't mean to be. I only wanted to look into this thing just a little.
+Just as a matter of business, you know. And I.... Caroline, did that
+doctor tell you anything more?"
+
+"Any more?" she repeated in bewilderment. "He told me that you were the
+kindest man he had ever seen."
+
+"Yes, yes. Well, maybe his eyesight's poor. What I mean is did he tell
+you anything about anybody else bein' in this with me?"
+
+"Anybody else? What do you mean?"
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'. I joked with him a spell ago about a wealthy
+relation of the Moriarty tribe turnin' up. 'Twas only a joke, of course.
+And yet, Caroline, I--I think I'd ought to say--"
+
+He hesitated. What could he say? Even a hint might lead to embarrassing
+questions and he had promised Dunn.
+
+"What ought you to say?" asked his niece.
+
+"Why, nothin', I guess. I'm glad you understand matters a little better
+and I don't intend for the estate nor you to pay these Moriarty bills.
+Just get 'em off your mind. Forget 'em. I'll see that everything's
+attended to. And, later on, if you and me can, by puttin' our heads
+together, help those folks to earnin' a better livin', why, we will,
+hey?"
+
+The girl smiled up at him. "I think," she said, "that you must be one
+who likes to hide his light under a bushel."
+
+"I guess likely a two-quart measure'd be plenty big enough to hide mine.
+There! there! We won't have any more misunderstandin's, will we? I'm a
+pretty green vegetable and about as out of place here as a lobster in
+a balloon, but, as I said to you and Steve once before, if you'll
+just remember I _am_ green and sort of rough, and maybe make allowances
+accordin', this cruise of ours may not be so unpleasant. Now you
+run along and get ready for dinner, or the Commodore'll petrify from
+standin' so long behind your chair."
+
+She laughed, as she turned to go. "I should hate to have him do that,"
+she said. "He would make a depressing statue. I shall see you again in a
+few minutes, at dinner. Thank you--Uncle."
+
+She left Captain Elisha in a curious state of mind. Against his will he
+had been forced to accept thanks and credit which, he believed, did not
+rightfully belong to him. It was the only thing to do, and yet it seemed
+almost like disloyalty to Malcolm Dunn. This troubled him, but the
+trouble was, just then, a mere pinhead of blackness against the radiance
+of his spirit.
+
+His brother's daughter had, for the first time, called him uncle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+"Captain Warren," asked Caroline, as they were seated at the breakfast
+table next morning, "what are your plans for to-day?"
+
+Captain Elisha put down his coffee cup and pulled his beard
+reflectively. Contrary to his usual desire since he came to the
+apartment to live, he was in no hurry to finish the meal. This breakfast
+and the dinner of the previous evening had been really pleasant. He had
+enjoyed them. His niece had not called him uncle again, it is true, and
+perhaps that was too much to be expected as yet, but she was cheerful
+and even familiar. They talked as they ate, and he had not been made to
+feel that he was the death's head at the feast. The change was marked
+and very welcome. The bright winter sunshine streaming through the
+window indicated that the conditions outside were also just what they
+should be.
+
+"Well," he replied, with a smile, "I don't know, Caroline, as I've made
+any definite plans. Let's see, to-day's Sunday, ain't it? Last letter I
+got from Abbie she sailed into me because, as she said, I seemed to
+have been 'most everywheres except to meetin'. She figgers New York's a
+heathen place, anyhow, and she cal'lates I'm gettin' to be a backslider
+like the rest. I didn't know but I might go to church."
+
+Caroline nodded. "I wondered if you wouldn't like to go," she said. "I
+am going, and I thought perhaps you would go with me."
+
+Her uncle had again raised his cup to his lips. Now he set it down with
+a suddenness which caused the statuesque Edwards to bend forward in
+anticipation of a smash. The captain started to speak, thought better of
+it, and stared at his niece so intently that she colored and dropped her
+eyes.
+
+"I know," she faltered, "that I haven't asked you before, but--but--"
+then, with the impulsiveness which was one of her characteristics, and
+to her guardian her great charm, she looked him full in the face and
+added, "but I hoped you would understand that--that _I_ understood a
+little better. I should like to have your company very much."
+
+Captain Elisha drew a long breath.
+
+"Thank you, Caroline," he answered. "I appreciate your askin' me, I
+sartinly do. And I'd rather go with you than anybody else on earth.
+But I was cal'latin' to hunt up some little round-the-corner chapel, or
+Bethel, where I'd feel a little bit at home. I guess likely your church
+is a pretty big one, ain't it?"
+
+"We attend Saint Denis. It IS a large church, but we have always been
+connected with it. Stephen and I were christened there. But, of course,
+if you had rather go somewhere else--"
+
+"No, no! I hadn't anywhere in particular to go. I'm a Congregationalist
+to home, but Abbie says I've spread my creed so wide that it ain't
+more'n an inch deep anywhere, and she shouldn't think 'twould keep me
+afloat. I tell her I'd rather navigate a broad and shallow channel,
+where everybody stands by to keep his neighbor off the shoals, than I
+would a narrow and crooked one with self-righteousness off both beams
+and perdition underneath.
+
+"You see," he added, reflectively, "the way I look at it, it's a pretty
+uncertain cruise at the best. Course there's all sorts of charts, and
+every fleet is sartin it's got the only right one. But I don't know.
+We're afloat--that much we are sure of--but the port we left and the
+harbor we're bound for, they're always out of sight in the fog astern
+and ahead. I know lots of folks who claim to see the harbor, and see it
+plain; but they don't exactly agree as to what they see. As for me, I've
+come to the conclusion that we must steer as straight a course as we
+can, and when we meet a craft in distress, why, do our best to help
+her. The rest of it I guess we must leave to the Owner, to the One that
+launched us. I.... Good land!" he exclaimed, coming out of his
+meditation with a start, "I'm preachin' a sermon ahead of time. And
+the Commodore's goin' to sleep over it, I do believe."
+
+The butler, who had been staring vacantly out of the window during the
+captain's soliloquy, straightened at the sound of his nickname, and
+asked hastily, "Yes, sir? What will you have, sir?" Captain Elisha
+laughed in huge enjoyment, and his niece joined him.
+
+"Well," she said, "will you go with me?"
+
+"I'd like to fust-rate--if you won't be too much ashamed of me."
+
+"Then it's settled, isn't it? The service begins at a quarter to eleven.
+We will leave here at half-past ten."
+
+The captain shaved with extra care that morning, donned spotless linen,
+including a "stand-up" collar--which he detested--brushed his frock-coat
+and his hair with great particularity, and gave Edwards his shoes to
+clean. He would have shined them himself, as he always did at home, but
+on a former occasion when he asked for the "blackin' kit," the
+butler's shocked and pained expression led to questions and consequent
+enlightenment.
+
+He was ready by a quarter after ten, but when his niece knocked at his
+door she bore a message which surprised and troubled him.
+
+"Mrs. Dunn called," she said, "to ask me to go to church with her. I
+told her I had invited you to accompany me. Would you mind if she joined
+us?"
+
+Her guardian hesitated. "I guess," he answered, slowly, "it ain't so
+much a question of my mindin' her as she mindin' me. Does _she_ want me
+to go along?"
+
+"She said she should be delighted."
+
+"I want to know! Now, Caroline, don't you think I'd be sort of in the
+way? Don't you believe she'd manage to live down her disappointment if
+I didn't tag on? You mustn't feel that you've got to be bothered with me
+because you suggested my goin', you know."
+
+"If I had considered it a bother I should not have invited you. If you
+don't wish Mrs. Dunn's company, then you and I will go alone."
+
+"Oh, land sakes! I wouldn't have you do that for the world! All right,
+I'll be out in a jiffy."
+
+He gave his hair a final brush, straightened his tie, turned around once
+more before the mirror, and walked fearfully forth to meet the visitor.
+For him, the anticipated pleasure of the forenoon had been replaced by
+uneasy foreboding.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, as she rose creakingly to greet him, was
+extremely gracious. She was gowned and furred and hatted in a manner
+which caused the captain to make hasty mental estimate as to cost, but
+she extended a plump hand, buttoned in a very tight glove, and murmured
+her gratification.
+
+"I'm so glad you are to accompany us, Captain Warren," she gushed. "It
+is a charming winter morning, isn't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha touched the plump glove with his own big finger tips,
+and admitted that the morning was "fust-rate." He was relieved from the
+embarrassment of further conversation just then by Caroline's appearance
+in the library. She, too, was richly dressed.
+
+"Are we all ready?" she asked, brightly. "Then we may as well start."
+
+"I'm afraid we're a trifle early, my dear," said Mrs. Dunn, "but we can
+stroll about a bit before we go in."
+
+The captain looked at the library clock. The time was a quarter to
+eleven.
+
+"Early?" he exclaimed, involuntarily. "Why, I thought Caroline said--"
+
+He stopped, suddenly, realizing that he had spoken aloud. His niece
+divined his thought and laughed merrily.
+
+"The service does begin now," she said, "but no one is ever on time."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated her uncle, and did not speak again until they were at
+the door of the church. Then Caroline asked him what he was thinking.
+
+"Nothin' much," he answered, gazing at the fashionably garbed throng
+pouring under the carved stone arch of the entrance; "I was just
+reorganizin' my ideas, that's all. I've always sort of thought a plug
+hat looked lonesome. Now I've decided that I'm wearin' the lonesome
+kind."
+
+He marched behind his niece and Mrs. Dunn up the center aisle to the
+Warren pew. He wrote his housekeeper afterwards that he estimated
+that aisle to be "upwards of two mile long. And my Sunday shoes had a
+separate squeak for every inch," he added.
+
+Once seated, however, and no longer so conspicuous, his common sense
+and Yankee independence came to his rescue. He had been in much bigger
+churches than this one, while abroad during his seagoing years. He knew
+that his clothes were not fashionably cut, and that, to the people about
+him, he must appear odd and, perhaps, even ridiculous. But he remembered
+how odd certain city people appeared while summering at South Denboro.
+Recollections of pointed comments made by boatmen who had taken these
+summer sojourners on fishing excursions came to his mind. Well, he
+had one advantage over such people, at any rate, he knew when he was
+ridiculous, and they apparently did not.
+
+So, saved from humiliation by his sense of humor, he looked about him
+with interest. When the procession of choir boys came up the aisle,
+and Mrs. Dunn explained in a condescending whisper what they were, his
+answer surprised her a trifle. "Yes," whispered the captain in reply, "I
+know. I've seen the choir in Saint Peter's at Rome."
+
+Only once did he appear greatly astonished. That was when the offering
+was taken and a certain dignified magnate, whose fame as a king of
+finance is world-wide, officiated as one of the collectors.
+
+"Heavens and earth!" murmured Captain Elisha, staring wide-eyed at
+the unmistakable features so often pictured and cartooned in the daily
+papers; "Caroline--Caroline, am I seein' things or is that--is that--"
+
+"That is Mr. ----," whispered his niece. "He is one of the vestrymen
+here."
+
+"My soul!" still gazing after the Emperor of Wall Street; "_Him_ passin'
+the plate! Well," with a grim smile, "whoever picked him out for the job
+has got judgment. If _he_ can't make a body shell out, nobody can."
+
+He listened to the sermon, the text of which was from the Beatitudes,
+with outward solemnity, but with a twinkle in his eye. After the
+benediction, when Caroline asked how he enjoyed it, the cause of the
+twinkle became apparent.
+
+"Fine!" he declared, with enthusiasm. "He's a smart preacher, ain't he!
+And he knew his congregation. You might not guess they was meek perhaps,
+but they certainly did look as if they'd inherited the earth."
+
+He drew a breath of relief as the trio emerged into the open air. He had
+enjoyed the novel experience, in a way, but now he felt rather like one
+let out of jail. The quiet luncheon at home with Caroline was a pleasant
+anticipation.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn smashed his anticipation at a blow. She insisted
+that he and his niece lunch with her.
+
+"You really must, you know," she declared. "It will be delightful. Just
+a little family party."
+
+Captain Elisha looked distressed. "Thank you, ma'am," he stammered;
+"it's awful kind of you, but I wouldn't feel right to go puttin' you
+to all that trouble. Just as much obliged, but I--I've got a letter to
+write, you see."
+
+Mrs. Dunn bore his refusal bravely.
+
+"Very well," she said, "but Caroline _must_ come with me. I told Malcolm
+I should bring her."
+
+"Sure! Sartin! Caroline can go, of course."
+
+But Caroline also declined. Having misjudged her guardian in the matter
+of the Moriarty family, she was in a repentant mood, and had marked that
+day on her calendar as one of self-sacrifice.
+
+"No, Captain Warren," she said, "I shall not go unless you do."
+
+"Then the captain will come, of course," declared Mrs. Dunn, with
+decision. "I'm sure he will not be so selfish as to deprive me--and
+Malcolm--of your company."
+
+So, because he did not wish to appear selfish, Captain Elisha admitted
+that his letter might be written later in the afternoon, accepted the
+invitation, and braced his spirit for further martyrdom.
+
+It was not as bad as he expected. The Dunns occupied a small,
+brown-stone house on Fifth Avenue, somewhat old-fashioned, but eminently
+respectable. The paintings and bronzes were as numerous as those in the
+Warren apartment, and if the taste shown in their selection was not that
+of Rodgers Warren, the connoisseur, they made quite as much show, and
+the effect upon Captain Elisha was the same. The various mortgages on
+the property were not visible, and the tradesmen's bills were securely
+locked in Mrs. Dunn's desk.
+
+The luncheon itself was elaborate, and there was a butler whose majestic
+dignity and importance made even Edwards seem plebeian by comparison.
+
+Malcolm was at home when they arrived, irreproachably dressed and
+languidly non-effusive, as usual. Captain Elisha, as he often said,
+did not "set much store" by clothes; but there was something about this
+young man which always made him conscious that his own trousers were a
+little too short, or his boots too heavy, or something. "I wouldn't
+_wear_ a necktie like his," he wrote Abbie, after his first meeting with
+Malcolm, "but blessed if I don't wish I could _if_ I would!"
+
+Caroline, in the course of conversation during the luncheon, mentioned
+the Moriartys and their sorrow. The captain tried to head her off and
+to change the subject, but with little success. He was uncomfortable
+and kept glancing under his brows at Malcolm, with whom, under the
+circumstances, he could not help sympathizing to an extent. But his
+sympathy was wasted. The young man did not appear in the slightest
+degree nervous. The memory of his recent interview with Captain Elisha
+did not embarrass him, outwardly at least, half as much as it did the
+captain. He declared that old Pat's death was beastly hard luck, but
+accidents were bound to happen. It was a shame, and all that. "If
+there's anything the mater and I can do, Caroline, call on us, of
+course."
+
+"Yes, do, Caroline," concurred his mother. "However, one must be
+philosophic in such cases. It is a mercy that people in their station do
+not feel grief and loss as we do. Providence, in its wisdom, has limited
+their susceptibilities as it has their intelligence. Don't you agree
+with me, Captain Warren?"
+
+"Sartin!" was the prompt reply. "It's always a comfort to me, when I go
+fishin', to know that the fish ain't got so much brains as I have. The
+hook hurts, I presume likely, but they ain't got the sense to realize
+what a mean trick's been played on 'em. The one that's caught's dead,
+and them that are left are too busy hustlin' for the next meal to waste
+much time grievin'. That eases my conscience consider'ble."
+
+Caroline seemed to be the only one who appreciated the sarcasm in this
+observation. She frowned slightly. Mrs. Corcoran Dunn tolerantly smiled,
+and her son laughed aloud.
+
+"Say, Admiral," he commented, "when it comes to philosophy you go some
+yourself, don't you?"
+
+"Um-hm. I can be as philosophical about other folk's troubles as anybody
+I ever see." Then, with an involuntary chuckle of admiration at the
+young gentleman's coolness, he added, "That is, anybody I ever see afore
+I come to New York."
+
+Malcolm opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. The captain,
+noticing his change of purpose and following the direction of his look,
+saw Mrs. Dunn shake her head in sharp disapproval. He ate the remainder
+of his salad in silence, but he thought a good deal.
+
+"And now," said Mrs. Dunn, rising and leading the way to the
+drawing-room, "we must all go for a motor ride. Everyone rides on Sunday
+afternoon," she explained, turning to her male guest.
+
+The distressed look returned to Captain Elisha's face. His niece saw it,
+understood, and came to his rescue.
+
+"I think Captain Warren prefers to be excused," she said, smiling. "He
+has a prejudice against automobiles."
+
+"No!" drawled Malcolm, the irrepressible. "Not really? Admiral, I'm
+surprised! In these days, you know!"
+
+"It ain't so much the automobiles," snapped Captain Elisha, irritation
+getting the better of his discretion, "as 'tis the devilish fools
+that--"
+
+"Yes? Oh, all right, Mater."
+
+"That are careless enough to get in the way of them," finished the
+captain, with surprising presence of mind. "Still, if Caroline wants to
+go--"
+
+"I have it!" exclaimed Mrs. Dunn. "The young people shall go, and the
+others remain at home. Malcolm shall take you for a spin, Caroline, and
+Captain Warren and I will stay here and wait until you return. We'll
+have a family chat, Captain, won't we? Because," with a gay laugh, "in a
+way we _are_ like one family, you see."
+
+And, somewhat to Miss Warren's surprise, her uncle agreed to this
+proposition. He did not answer immediately, but, when he did, it was
+with heartiness.
+
+"Why, yes," he said, "that's a good idea. That's fust-rate. You young
+folks go, and Mrs. Dunn and I'll wait here till you come back. That's
+the way of the world--young folks on the go, and the old folks at home
+by the fire, hey, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+The lady addressed did not relish being numbered with "old folks," but
+she smiled sweetly, and said she supposed it was. Malcolm telephoned to
+the garage and to Edwards at the Warren apartment, ordering the butler
+to deliver his mistress's auto cap and cloak to the chauffeur, who would
+call for them. A few minutes later the yellow car rolled up to the door.
+
+In the hall Mrs. Dunn whispered a reassuring word to her departing
+guest.
+
+"Now enjoy yourself, dear," she whispered. "Have a nice ride and
+don't worry about me. If he--if our encumbrance bores me too much I
+shall--well, I shall plead a headache and leave him to his own devices.
+Besides, he isn't so _very_ dreadful, is he?"
+
+Caroline shook her head. "No," she answered, "he is a good man. I
+understand him better than I did and--yes, I like him better, too."
+
+"Oh!... Indeed! Well, good-by, dear. Good-by."
+
+The yellow car roared as the chauffeur cranked it, then moved off up
+the crowded avenue. Mrs. Dunn watched it until it was out of sight.
+Her brows were drawn together, and she seemed puzzled and just a bit
+disconcerted. However, when she returned to the drawing-room, her
+gracious smile had returned, and her bland condescension was again in
+evidence.
+
+Captain Elisha had been standing by the window. She begged him to be
+seated. He thanked her, but looked dubiously at the Louis XVI chair
+indicated. She noticed the look.
+
+"Suppose we go into the library," she said. "It is much less formal. And
+there is a fire--for us _old_ folks," with a slight accent on the word.
+
+The library was more homelike. Not as many books as at the Warrens', but
+a great deal of gilt in the bindings and much carving on the cases. The
+fire was cheery, and the pair sat down before it in big easy chairs.
+Mrs. Dunn looked intently at the glowing coals.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat. Mrs. Dunn leaned forward expectantly.
+The captain coughed and sank back in his chair.
+
+"Yes?" purred the lady. "You were about to say?"
+
+"Me? Oh, no, I didn't say anything."
+
+Another period of silence. Mrs. Dunn's foot tapped the rug impatiently.
+She wished him to begin the conversation, and he would not. At length,
+in desperation, she began it herself.
+
+"I suppose you find New York rather different from--er--North--er--"
+
+"From South Denboro? Yes, ma'am."
+
+"Do you like the city life?"
+
+"Well, I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Not as well as you do that of the country, doubtless."
+
+"Well, you see, I ain't had so much of it."
+
+"No, of course not. It does so depend upon what one is accustomed to.
+Now I fancy I should be perfectly desperate in your village."
+
+One corner of Captain Elisha's mouth curled upward.
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised," he admitted.
+
+"Desperately lonely, I mean."
+
+"Yes'm. I judged that was what you meant. Still, folks can be lonesome
+in New York."
+
+"Perhaps. But really I don't see how. With all the whirl and the crowds
+and the glorious excitement. The feeling that one is at the very heart,
+the center of everything!"
+
+"Yes. If you belong to the machinery, I s'pose it's all right. But
+if you've been leanin' over the rail, lookin' on, and get pushed in
+unexpected, maybe you don't care so much about bein' nigh the center."
+
+"Then why stay there? Why not get out?"
+
+"If you're caught in the wheels, gettin' out's somethin' of a job."
+
+"But, as I understand it, Captain Warren--I may be misinformed, for, of
+course, I haven't been unduly curious concerning your family affairs--as
+_I_ understand it, you were not obliged to remain among the--among
+the wheels, as you call them. You could have gotten out quite easily,
+couldn't you?"
+
+"I presume likely I could. But, you see, ma'am, I had a feelin' that I'd
+ought to stay."
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed lightly. "Ah me!" she exclaimed; "you felt it your
+duty, I suppose. Oh, you New England Puritans!"
+
+She shook her head in playful mockery. Then she added, "But, at all
+events, it cannot be so very disagreeable--now. I have no doubt it
+was--well, not comfortable for you at first. Steve and Caroline were
+quite impossible--really quite furious. Your sudden appearance in the
+capacity of guardian was too much for them. They were sure you must be
+a perfect ogre, Captain. I had to use all my eloquence to convince them
+they would not be devoured alive. But now--what a change! Why, already
+Caroline accepts you as--well, almost like an old friend, like myself.
+In the last few days this change in her attitude is quite marked. What
+_have_ you done? Are you a wizard? Do tell me!"
+
+This appeal, delivered with eloquence and most engaging play of brow and
+eye, should have been irresistible. Unfortunately the captain did not
+appear to have heard it. Leaning forward, his hands clasped between his
+knees, he was gazing into the fire. And when he spoke, it was as if he
+were thinking aloud.
+
+"I s'pose 'tis a sort of disease, this duty business," he mused. "And
+most diseases ain't cheerful visitations. Still a feller ought not to
+growl about it in public. I always did hate for a man to be goin' about
+forever complainin' of his sufferin's--whether they was from duty or
+rheumatiz."
+
+Mrs. Dunn's lips snapped shut. She pressed them together impatiently.
+Evidently her questions, and their diplomatic prelude, had been
+unheard and wasted. However, she did not intend to be sidetracked or
+discouraged.
+
+"One should not prate of one's duty, of course," she agreed. "Not that
+you do--far from it. But, as I was saying, our dear Caroline has--"
+
+"Thank you, ma'am. I hope I don't groan too loud. Do you know, I believe
+climate has a bearin' on duty, same as it has on rheumatics. I s'pose
+you city folks"--and there was almost contempt in the words--"are sort
+of Christian Science, and figger it's an 'error'--hey? Somethin' to be
+forgot."
+
+The lady resented the interruption, and the contempt nettled her.
+
+"Not at all!" she retorted. "We city dwellers have our duties, also."
+
+"Is that a fact? I want to know!"
+
+"Certainly it is a fact," tartly. "I have my duties and many of them."
+
+"Um! So? Well, I s'pose you do feel you must dress just so, and live
+just so, and do just such and such things. If you call those duties,
+why--"
+
+"I do. What else are they, pray?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn was finding it difficult to keep her temper. To be catechised
+in this contemptuously lofty manner by one to whom she considered
+herself so immensely superior, was too much. She forgot the careful plan
+of campaign which she had intended to follow in this interview, and now
+interrupted in her turn. And Captain Elisha, who also was something of a
+strategist, smiled at the fire.
+
+"We do have our social duties, our duties to society," snapped the
+widow, hotly. "They are necessary ones. Having been born--or risen to--a
+certain circle, we recognize the responsibilities attached to it. We
+_are_ careful with whom we associate; we have to be. As for dress, we
+dress as others of our friends do."
+
+"And maybe a little better, if you can, hey?"
+
+"If we can--yes. I presume--" with crushing irony--"dress in South
+Denboro counts but little."
+
+"You wouldn't say that if you ever went to sewin' circle," with a
+chuckle. "Still, compared to the folks at your meetin'-house this
+morning, our congregation would look like a flock of blackbirds
+alongside of a cage full of Birds of Paradise. But most of us--the women
+folks especial--dress as well as we can."
+
+"As well as you can!" triumphantly. "There! you see? And you live as
+well as you can, don't you?"
+
+"If you mean style, why, we don't set as much store by it as you do."
+
+"Nonsense! We are obliged to be," with a slight shudder at the
+vulgarism, "_stylish_. If we should lapse, if we should become shabby
+and behind the fashion or live in that way, people would wonder and
+believe it was because we could not afford to do otherwise."
+
+"Well, s'pose they did, you'd know better yourselves. Can't you be
+independent?"
+
+"No. Not unless you are very, very rich; then it might be considered an
+eccentricity. Independence is a costly luxury, and few can afford it."
+
+"But suppose you can't afford the other thing?"
+
+"Then we must pretend we can. Oh, you _don't_ understand! So _much_
+depends upon a proper appearance. Everything depends upon it--one's
+future, one's children's future--everything."
+
+"Humph!" with the same irritating smile, "I should think that might mean
+some plannin'. And plans, the best of 'em, are likely to go wrong. You
+talk about the children in your--in what you call your 'circle.' How can
+you plan what they'll do? You might when they was little, perhaps; but
+when they grow up it's different."
+
+"It is not. It _can't_ be! And, if they have been properly reared and
+understand their responsibilities, they plan with you."
+
+"Land sakes! You mean--why, s'pose they take a notion to get married?
+I'm an old bach, of course, but the average young girl or feller is
+subject to that sort of ailment, 'cordin' to the records. S'pose one
+of your circle's daughters gets to keepin' company with a chap who's
+outside the ring? A promisin', nice boy enough, but poor, and a rank
+outsider? Mean to say she sha'n't marry him if she wants to."
+
+"Certainly! That sort of marriage is never a happy one, unless, of
+course, the girl is wealthy enough not to care. And even then it is not
+advisable. All their customs and habits of thought are different. No!
+Emphatically, no! And the girl, if she is sensible and well reared, as I
+have said, will understand it is impossible."
+
+"My soul and body! Then you mean to tell me that she _must_ look out for
+some chap in her crowd? If she ain't got but just enough to keep inside
+the circle--this grand whirlamagig you're tellin' me about--if she's
+pretendin' up to the limit of her income or over, then it's her duty,
+and her ma and pa's duty, to set her cap for a man who's nigher the
+center pole in the tent and go right after him? Do you tell me that?
+That's a note, I must say!"
+
+Mrs. Dunn's foot beat a lively tattoo on the rug. "I don't know what you
+mean by a 'note,'" she commented, with majestic indignation. "I have
+not lived in South Denboro, and perhaps my understanding of English
+is defective. But marriages among cultivated people, _society_ people,
+intelligent, ambitious people are, or should be, the result of thought
+and planning. Others are impossible!"
+
+"How about this thing we read so much about in novels?--Love, I believe
+they call it."
+
+"Love! Love is well enough, but it does not, of itself, pay for proper
+clothes, or a proper establishment, or seats at the opera, or any of
+the practical, necessary things of modern life. You can't keep up a
+presentable appearance on _love_! If I had a daughter who lacked the
+brains to understand what I had taught her, that is, her duty as a
+member of good society, and talked of making a love match, I would....
+But there! You can't understand, I suppose."
+
+She rose and shook the wrinkles from her gown. Captain Elisha
+straightened in his chair. "Why, yes, ma'am," he drawled, quietly; "yes,
+ma'am, I guess I understand fust-rate."
+
+And suddenly Mrs. Dunn also understood. Her face, which had grown almost
+too red for one attached to a member of polite society, grew redder
+still. She turned away and walked to the window.
+
+"What nonsense we've been talking!" she said, after a moment's silence.
+"I don't see what led us into this silly discussion. Malcolm and your
+niece must be having a delightful ride. I almost wish I had gone with
+them."
+
+She did wish it, devoutly. Captain Elisha still remained by the fire.
+
+"Automobiles are great things for hustlin' around in," he observed.
+"Pity they're such dangerous playthings. Yet I s'pose they're one of the
+necessities of up-to-date folks, same as you said, Mrs. Dunn."
+
+"Surely," she asked coldly, "you don't condemn automobiles, Captain
+Warren? What would you--return to stage coaches?"
+
+"Not a mite! But I was thinkin' of that poor Moriarty man."
+
+"His death was due to an accident. And accidents," she turned and looked
+directly at him, "when they involve financial damages, may be paid for."
+
+The captain nodded. "Yes," he said.
+
+"And when arrangements for such payment is made, _honorable_ people--at
+least, in the circle of which you and I have been speaking--consider the
+matter settled and do not refer to it again, either among themselves--or
+elsewhere."
+
+"Yes, ma'am." He nodded again. She did know; Malcolm, evidently, had
+told her. "Yes, ma'am. That's the way any decent person would feel--and
+act--if such a thing happened--even if they hailed from South Denboro."
+
+He pushed back his chair and stood up. She continued to look him over,
+much as if she were taking a mental inventory of his character, or
+revising an old one.
+
+"I hope," she said, lightly, but with deliberation, "our little argument
+and--er--slight disagreement concerning--er--duty will not make us
+enemies, Captain Warren."
+
+"Enemies! Land sakes, no! I respect anybody's havin' opinions and not
+bein' afraid to give 'em. And I think I can understand some of how you
+feel. Maybe if I was anchored here on Fifth Avenue, same as you are,
+instead of bein' blown in by an unexpected no'theaster, I'd be feelin'
+the same way. It's all accordin', as I've said so often. Enemies? No,
+indeed!"
+
+She laughed again. "I'm so glad!" she said. "Malcolm declares he'd
+be quite afraid of me--as an enemy. He seems to think I possess
+some mysterious and quite diabolical talent for making my un-friends
+uncomfortable, and declares he would compromise rather than fight me
+at any time. Of course it's ridiculous--just one of his jokes--and I'm
+really harmless and very much afraid. That's why I want you and me to be
+friends, Captain Warren."
+
+"Sure!" Captain Elisha nodded emphatically. "That's what I want, too."
+
+But that evening, immediately after his return to the apartment,
+when--Caroline having gone to her own room to remove her wraps--he and
+the butler were alone, he characteristically unburdened his mind.
+
+"Mr. Warren, sir," said Edwards, "a young gentleman left a note here for
+you this afternoon. The elevator man gave it to me, sir. It's on your
+dressing table, sir."
+
+The captain's answer had nothing whatever to do with the note. He had
+been thinking of other things.
+
+"Commodore," he said, "I've got the answer."
+
+"To the note? Already, sir? I didn't know you'd seen it."
+
+"I ain't. I've got the answer to the conundrum. It's Mother!"
+
+"Mother, sir? I--I don't know what you mean."
+
+"I do. The answer's Mother. Sonny don't count, though he may think he
+does. But Mother's the whole team and the dog under the wagon. And,
+Commodore, we've got to trot some if we want to keep ahead of that team!
+Don't you forget it!"
+
+He went to his room, leaving the bewildered butler to retire to the
+kitchen, where he informed the cook that the old man was off his head
+worse than common to-night.
+
+"Blessed if he don't think he's a trotting horse!" said Edwards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The note on the dining room table proved, to the captain's delight, to
+be from James Pearson. It was brief and to the point.
+
+"Why don't you come and see me?" wrote the young man. "I've been
+expecting you, and you promised to come. Have you forgotten my address?
+If so, here it is. I expect to be in all day to-morrow."
+
+The consequence of this was that eleven o'clock the next day found
+Captain Elisha pulling the bell at a brick house in a long brick block
+on a West Side street. The block had evidently been, in its time, the
+homes of well-to-do people, but now it was rather dingy and gone to
+seed. Across the street the first floors were, for the most part, small
+shops, and in the windows above them doctors' signs alternated with
+those of modistes, manicure artists, and milliners.
+
+The captain had come a roundabout way, stopping in at the Moriarty
+flat, where he found Mrs. Moriarty in a curious state of woe and tearful
+pride. "Oh, what will I do, sir?" she moaned. "When I think he's gone,
+it seems as if I'd die, too. But, thanks to you and Miss Warren--Mary
+make it up to her!--my Pat'll have the finest funeral since the Guinny
+saloon man was buried. Ah, if he could have lived to see it, he'd have
+died content!"
+
+The pull at the boarding-house bell was answered by a rather slatternly
+maid, who informed the visitor that she guessed Mr. Pearson was in;
+he 'most always was around lunch time. So Captain Elisha waited in a
+typical boarding-house parlor, before a grate with no fire in it and
+surrounded by walnut and plush furniture, until Pearson himself came
+hurrying downstairs.
+
+"Say, you're a brick, Captain Warren!" he declared, as they shook hands.
+"I hoped you'd come to-day. Why haven't you before?"
+
+The captain explained his having mislaid the address.
+
+"Oh, was that it? Then I'm glad I reminded you. Rather a cheeky thing to
+do, but I've been a reporter, and nerve is necessary in that profession.
+I began to be afraid living among the blue-bloods had had its effect,
+and you were getting finicky as to your acquaintances."
+
+"You didn't believe any such thing."
+
+"Didn't I? Well, perhaps I didn't. Come up to my room. I think we can
+just about squeeze in, if you don't mind sitting close."
+
+Pearson's room was on the third flight, at the front of the house.
+Through the window one saw the upper half of the buildings opposite, and
+above them a stretch of sky. The bed was a small brass and iron affair,
+but the rest of the furniture was of good quality, the chairs were
+easy and comfortable, and the walls were thickly hung with photographs,
+framed drawings, and prints.
+
+"I put those up to cover the wall paper," explained the host. "I don't
+offer them as an art collection, but as a screen. Sit down. Put your
+coat on the bed. Shall I close the window? I usually keep the upper
+half open to let out the pipe smoke. Otherwise I might not be able to
+navigate without fog signals."
+
+His visitor chuckled, followed directions with his coat and hat, and sat
+down. Pearson took the chair by the small flat-topped desk.
+
+"How about that window?" he asked. "Shall I shut it?"
+
+"No, no! We'll be warm enough, I guess. You've got steam heat, I see."
+
+"You mean you hear. Those pipes make noise enough to wake the dead. At
+first I thought I couldn't sleep because of the racket they made. Now I
+doubt if I could without it. Would you consider a cigar, Captain?"
+
+"Hum! I don't usually stop to consider. But I tell you, Jim--just now
+you said something about a pipe. I've got mine aboard, but I ain't dared
+to smoke it since I left South Denboro. If you wouldn't mind--"
+
+"Not a bit. Tobacco in this jar on the desk. I keep a temporary supply
+in my jacket pocket. Matches? Here you are! What do you think of
+my--er--stateroom?"
+
+"Think it makes nice, snug quarters," was the prompt answer.
+
+"Humph! Snug is a good word. Much like living in an omnibus, but it
+answers the purpose. I furnished it myself, except for the bed. The
+original bureau had pictures of cauliflowers painted on each drawer
+front. Mrs. Hepton--my landlady--was convinced that they were roses. I
+told her she might be right, but, at all events, looking at them made
+me hungry. Perhaps she noticed the effect on my appetite and was willing
+for me to substitute."
+
+The captain laughed. Then, pointing, he asked: "What's that handbill?"
+
+The "handbill" was a fair-sized poster announcing the production at the
+"Eureka Opera House" of the "Thrilling Comedy-Drama, The Golden Gods."
+Pearson looked at it, made a face, and shook his head.
+
+"That," he said, "is my combined crusher and comforter. It is the
+announcement of the first, and next to the last, performance of a play
+I wrote in my calf days. The 'Eureka Opera House' is--or was, if the
+'gods' weren't too much for it--located at Daybury, Illinois. I keep
+that bill to prevent my conceit getting away with me. Also, when I get
+discouraged over my novel, it reminds me that, however bad the yarn may
+turn out to be, I have committed worse crimes."
+
+This led to the captain's asking about the novel and how it was
+progressing. His companion admitted having made some progress, more
+in the line of revision than anything else. He had remodeled his hero
+somewhat, in accordance with his new friend's suggestions during their
+interview at the Warren apartment, and had introduced other characters,
+portrait sketches from memory of persons whom he had known in his
+boyhood days in the Maine town. He read a few chapters aloud, and
+Captain Elisha waxed almost enthusiastic over them.
+
+Then followed a long discussion over a point of seamanship, the handling
+of a bark in a gale. It developed that the young author's knowledge
+of saltwater strategy was extensive and correct in the main, though
+somewhat theoretical. That of his critic was based upon practice and
+hard experience. He cited this skipper and that as examples, and carried
+them through no'theasters off Hatteras and typhoons in the Indian Ocean.
+The room, in spite of the open window, grew thick with pipe smoke, and
+the argument was punctuated by thumps on the desk and chair arms, and
+illustrated by diagrams drawn by the captain's forefinger on the side
+of the dresser. The effects of oil on breaking rollers, the use of a
+"sea-anchor" over the side to "hold her to it," whether or not a man
+was justified in abandoning his ship under certain given circumstances,
+these were debated pro and con. Always Pearson's "Uncle Jim" was held
+up as the final authority, the paragon of sea captains, by the visitor,
+and, while his host pretended to agree, with modest reservations, in
+this estimate of his relative, he was more and more certain that
+his hero was bound to become a youthful edition of Elisha Warren
+himself--and he thanked the fates which had brought this fine, able,
+old-school mariner to his door.
+
+At length, Captain Elisha, having worked "Uncle Jim" into a safe harbor
+after a hundred mile cruise under jury jig, with all hands watch and
+watch at the pumps, leaned forward in triumph to refill his pipe. Having
+done so, his eyes remained fixed upon a photograph standing, partially
+hidden by a leather collar box, upon the dresser. He looked at it
+intently, then rose and took it in his hand.
+
+"Well, I swan!" he exclaimed. "Either what my head's been the fullest
+of lately has struck to my eyesight, or else--why, say, Jim, that's
+Caroline, ain't it?"
+
+Pearson colored and seemed embarrassed. "Yes," he answered, "that is
+Miss Warren."
+
+"Humph! Good likeness, too! But what kind of rig has she got on? I've
+seen her wear a good many dresses--seems to have a different one for
+every day, pretty nigh--but I never saw her in anything like that.
+Looks sort of outlandish; like one of them foreign girls at Geneva--or
+Leghorn, say."
+
+"Yes. That is an Italian peasant costume. Miss Warren wore it at a fancy
+dress ball a year ago."
+
+"Want to know! I-talian peasant, hey! Fifth Avenue peasant with diamonds
+in her hair. Becomin' to her, ain't it."
+
+"I thought so."
+
+"Yup. She looks pretty _enough_! But she don't need diamonds nor
+hand-organ clothes to make her pretty."
+
+Then, looking up from the photograph, he asked, "Give you this picture,
+did she?"
+
+His friend's embarrassment increased. "No," he answered shortly. Then,
+after an instant's hesitation. "That ball was given by the Astorbilts
+and was one of the most swagger affairs of the season. The _Planet_--the
+paper with which I was connected--issues a Sunday supplement of
+half-tone reproductions of photographs. One page was given up to
+pictures of the ball and the costumes worn there."
+
+"I see. Astonishin' how folks do like to get their faces into print.
+I used to know an old woman--Aunt Hepsibah Tucker, her name was--she's
+dead now. The pride of Aunt Hepsy's heart was that she took nineteen
+bottles of 'Balm of Burdock Tea' and the tea folks printed her picture
+as a testimonial that she lived through it. Ho, ho! And society big-bugs
+appear to have the same cravin'."
+
+"Some of them do. But that of your niece was obtained by our society
+reporter from the photographer who took it. Bribery and corruption, of
+course. Miss Warren would have been at least surprised to see it in
+our supplement. I fancied she might not care for so much publicity and
+suppressed it."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, I guess you did right. I'll thank you for her. By the
+way, I told Caroline where I was cal'latin' to go this mornin', and she
+wished to be remembered to you."
+
+Pearson seemed pleased, but he made no comment. Captain Elisha blew a
+smoke ring from his pipe.
+
+"And say, Jim," he added, embarrassed in his turn, "I hope you won't
+think I'm interferin' in your affairs, but are you still set against
+comin' up to where I live? I know you said you had a reason, but are you
+sure it's a good one?"
+
+He waited for an answer but none came. Pearson was gazing out of the
+window. The captain looked at his watch and rose.
+
+"I guess I'll have to be goin'," he said. "It's after twelve now."
+
+His host swung around in his chair. "Sit down, Captain," he said. "I've
+been doing a lot of thinking since I saw you, and I'm not sure about
+that reason. I believe I'll ask your advice. It is a delicate matter,
+and it involves your brother. You may see it as he did, and, if so, our
+friendship ends, I suppose. But I'm going to risk it.
+
+"Mr. Rodgers Warren and I," he went on, "were well acquainted during
+the latter part of my newspaper work. I was financial man on the
+_Planet_, and some articles I wrote took your brother's fancy. At all
+events, he wrote me concerning them in highly complimentary terms and
+asked me to call and see him at his office. I did so and--well, we
+became very friendly, so much so that he invited me to his house. I
+dined there several times, was invited to call often, and--I enjoyed
+it. You see, I had few friends in the city, outside my journalistic
+acquaintances, and I suppose I was flattered by Mr. Warren's kindness
+and the fancy he seemed to have taken to me. And I liked Miss
+Warren--no one could help that--and I believed she liked me."
+
+"She does like you," interrupted his companion, with surprise.
+"Caroline's a good girl."
+
+"Yes, she is. However, she isn't in this story, except as a side-issue.
+At this time my ambitions were for a newspaper career, and I thought I
+was succeeding. And her father's marked interest and the things he said
+to me promised more than an ordinary success. He was a well known man on
+the street, and influential. So my head began to swell, and I dreamed--a
+lot of foolishness. And then--"
+
+He paused, put down his empty pipe, and sighed.
+
+"Well, then," he continued, "came the upset. I judged from what you
+said at our previous conversation, Captain, that you were well enough
+acquainted with Wall Street to know that queer operations take place
+there. Did you read about the South Shore Trolley business?"
+
+Captain Elisha considered. "Why, yes," he said, slowly, "seem's if I
+did. One of those consolidations with 'holdin' companies' and franchises
+and extensions and water by the hogshead. Wa'n't that it? I remember
+now; the Boston papers had considerable about it, and I presume likely
+the New York ones had more. One of those all-accordin'-to-law swindles
+that sprout same as toadstools in a dark place, but die out if the
+light's turned on too sudden. This one didn't come to nothin' but a bad
+smell, if I remember right."
+
+"You do. And I suppose I'm responsible for the smell. I got wind of
+the thing, investigated, found out something of what was going on, and
+printed a preliminary story in the _Planet_. It caused a sensation."
+
+He paused once more. Captain Elisha, for the sake of saying something,
+observed, "I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"It certainly did. And the morning on which it appeared, Mr. Rodgers
+Warren 'phoned me. He wished to see me at once. I went down to his
+office. Captain, I dislike to tell you this. Mr. Warren was your
+brother."
+
+"I know he was. And I'm his executor. Both those reasons make me
+'specially anxious to have you tell me the truth. Heave ahead now, to
+oblige me."
+
+"Well, I found him very polite and cordial, at first. He said that a
+ridiculous and sensational story concerning the Trolley Combine had
+appeared in the _Planet_, and he would like to have me contradict it and
+suppress further falsehoods of the kind. I told him I couldn't do that,
+because the story was true. I had written it myself. He was angry, and I
+could see that he was holding himself in by main strength. I went on to
+explain that it was the duty of an honest paper, as I saw it, to expose
+such trespass upon the people's rights. He asked me if I knew who was
+behind the scheme. I said I knew some of the backers. They were pretty
+big men, too. Then he informed me that he himself was deeply interested.
+
+"I was knocked off my feet by that, you can imagine. And, to be frank,
+Captain, if I had known it at first I'm not sure that I, personally,
+would have taken the matter up. Yet I might; I can't tell. But now that
+I had done it and discovered what I had, I couldn't give it up. I must
+go on and learn more. And I knew enough already to be certain that the
+more I learned the more I should write and have published. It was one of
+those things which had to be made public--if a fellow had a conscience
+about him and a pride in the decency of his profession.
+
+"All this was going through my head as I sat there in his private
+office. And he took my surprise and hesitation as symptoms of wavering
+and went at me, hard. Of course I knew, he said, that the operation was
+absolutely within the law. I did, but that didn't make it more honest or
+moral or just. He went on to say that in large financial deals of this
+nature petty scruples must be lost sight of. Good of the business,
+rights of stockholders, all that sort of stuff; he rang the changes. All
+the papers cared for was sensation; to imperil the fortune of widows and
+orphans whose savings were invested in the South Shore Stock, for the
+sake of sensation, was a crime. He should have known better than to say
+that to me; it is such an ancient, worn-out platitude."
+
+"I know. I've been to political meetin's. The widows and orphans
+are always hangin' on the success of the Republican party--or the
+Democratic, whichever way you vote. The amount of tears shed over their
+investments by fellers you wouldn't trust with a brass five-cent piece,
+is somethin' amazin'. Go on; I didn't mean to interrupt."
+
+"Then he switched to a more personal appeal. He said he had taken a
+fancy to me; had liked me from the very beginning. He recognized my
+unusual genius at first sight and had gone as far as to make plans
+bearing directly on my future. He was associated with men of wealth and
+business sagacity. Large deals, of which the Trolley Combine was but
+one, were on foot. He and his friends needed a representative on the
+press--a publicity agent, so to speak. Some of the greatest corporations
+employed men of that kind, and the salaries paid were large and the
+opportunities afforded greater still. Well, that's true enough. I know
+writers who are doing just that thing and getting rich at it. I suppose
+they've squared their consciences somehow and are willing to write lies
+and misleading articles for what there is in it. I can't, that's all;
+I'm not built that way, and I told him so.
+
+"It ended in an open break. He reminded me of the favors he had done me.
+He had treated me almost like a son, had introduced me to his family,
+entertaining me at his table. Where was my gratitude? That was another
+bad break on his part, for it made me mad. I told him I had not asked to
+be adopted or fed by him; if I had supposed his kindness had an ulterior
+motive, I would have seen him at the devil before I accepted a favor. My
+career as a financial visitor was ended. Get out of his office! I got.
+But the Trolley Combine did not go through. The _Planet_ and the other
+papers kept up the fight and--and the widows and orphans are bankrupt, I
+presume."
+
+Captain Elisha's pipe had gone out long since. He absently rubbed the
+warm bowl between his palms.
+
+"Humph!" he muttered. "So 'Bije was deep in that business, was he?"
+
+"He was. Very deep indeed, I found out afterwards. And, I declare, I
+almost pitied him at the time. He acted as if his whole fortune was
+staked on the gamble. His hands shook, and the perspiration stood on his
+forehead as he talked. I felt as if I had been the means of ruining
+him. But of course, I hadn't. He lived for some time after that, and, I
+understand, died a rich man."
+
+"Yes. He left what I'd call a heap of money. My nephew and niece don't
+seem to think so, but I do."
+
+"So you see, Captain, why I stopped calling on the Warrens, and why I
+did not accept Miss Warren's invitation."
+
+"I see.... I see.... And yet I don't know. 'Bije may have took to you
+for business reasons, but the children didn't. They liked you for
+yourself. Caroline as much as said so. And their father never told 'em a
+word about the row, neither. Of course you couldn't have called when he
+was alive, but he's gone, and I'm--well, I'm sort of temporary skipper
+there now. And _I_ want you to come."
+
+"But if Miss Warren did know? She should know, I think."
+
+"I ain't sure that she should. I guess there's consider'ble in her pa's
+life she ain't acquainted with. And she's as straight and honest and
+upright as a schooner's fo'mast. You did nothin' to be 'shamed of. It's
+the other way 'round, 'cordin' to my notion. But leave her out of
+it now. I've sacrificed some few things to take the job I've got at
+present, but I can't afford to sacrifice my friends. I count on you as a
+friend, and I want you to come and see _me_. Will you?"
+
+"I don't know, Captain Warren. I must think it over a while, I guess."
+
+"All right--think. But the invitation stands--_my_ invitation. And, if
+you want to shift responsibility, shift it on to me. Some day, if it'll
+make you feel better, I'll tell Caroline and Stevie the whole story. But
+I want them to know you and the world--and me--a little better first.
+'Cordin' to my notion, they need education just along that line. They've
+got teachers in other branches, but.... There! I've _got_ to be goin'.
+There's the dinner bell now."
+
+The string of Japanese gongs, hung in the lower hall, sounded
+sonorously. Captain Elisha reached for his coat and hat, but Pearson
+caught his arm.
+
+"No, you don't!" he declared. "You're going to stay and have lunch with
+me--here. If you say no, I shall believe it is because you are afraid of
+a boarding-house meal."
+
+His guest protested, but the protests were overruled, and he and
+his host went down to the dining room. The captain whispered as they
+entered, "Land sakes, Jim, this takes me back home. It's pretty nigh a
+twin to the dinin' room at the Centre House in South Denboro."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All boarding-house dining rooms bear a family likeness, so the comment
+was not far wrong. A long table, rows of chairs on each side, ancient
+and honorable pictures on the walls, the landlady presiding majestically
+over the teapot, the boarders' napkins in rings--all the familiar
+landmarks were present.
+
+Most of the male "regulars" were in business about the city and
+therefore lunched elsewhere, but the females were in evidence. Pearson
+introduced his guest. The captain met Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, plump,
+gray-haired, and graciously hospitable. She did not look at all like
+a business woman, but appearances are not always to be trusted; Mrs.
+Hepton had learned not to trust them--also delinquent boarders, too far.
+He met Miss Sherborne, whose coiffure did not match in spots, but whose
+voice, so he learned afterward, had been "cultivated abroad." Miss
+Sherborne gave music lessons. Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles also claimed his
+attention and held it, principally because of the faded richness of her
+apparel. Mrs. Ruggles was a widow, suffering from financial reverses;
+the contrast between her present mode of living and the grandeur of the
+past formed her principal topic of conversation.
+
+There were half a dozen others, including an artist whose aversion to
+barbers was proclaimed by the luxuriant length of his locks, a quiet old
+gentleman who kept the second-hand book store two doors below; his wife,
+a neat, trim little body; and Mr. and Mrs. C. Dickens, no less.
+
+Mr. Dickens was bald, an affliction which he tried to conceal by
+brushing the hair at the sides of his head across the desert at the
+top. He shaved his cheeks and wore a beard and mustache. Mrs. Dickens
+addressed him as "C.," and handed him the sauce bottle, the bread, or
+whatever she imagined he desired, as if she were offering sacrifice to
+an idol.
+
+She sat next to Captain Elisha and imparted information concerning her
+lord and master in whispers, during the intervals between offerings.
+
+"My husband will be pleased to meet you, Captain Warren," she murmured.
+"Any friend of Mr. Pearson is certain to be an acquisition. Mr. Pearson
+and my husband are congenial spirits; they are members of the same
+profession."
+
+"I want to know, ma'am."
+
+"Yes. What is it, 'C.' dear? Oh, the butter! Margaret--" to the
+waitress--"Mr. Dickens wishes another butter-ball. Yes, Captain Warren,
+Mr. Dickens is an author. Haven't you noticed the--er--resemblance? It
+is considered quite remarkable."
+
+Captain Elisha looked puzzled. "Why," he said, "I hadn't noticed it
+'special. Jim's--Mr. Pearson's--eyes and his are some the same color,
+but--"
+
+"Oh, no! not the resemblance to Mr. Pearson. I didn't mean _that_. The
+resemblance to his more famous namesake. Surely you notice it _now_."
+
+The captain shook his head. "I--I'm afraid I'm thick-headed, ma'am," he
+admitted. "I'm out of soundin's."
+
+"But the nose, and his beard, and his manner. Don't they remind you of
+the English Dickens?"
+
+"O-oh!" Captain Elisha inspected the great man with interest. He had
+a vague memory of a portrait in a volume of "Pickwick" at home. "Oh, I
+see! Yes, yes."
+
+"Of course you see! Everyone does. Mr. Dickens often says--it is one of
+his favorite jokes--that while other men must choose a profession, his
+was chosen for him by fate. How, with such a name, could he do anything
+except write?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am. But names are risky pilots, ain't they? I've run
+against a consider'ble number of Solomons, but there wa'n't one of 'em
+that carried more'n a deckload of wisdom. They christened me Elisha, but
+I can't even prophesy the weather with sartinty enough to bet. However,
+I daresay in your husband's case it's all right."
+
+The lady had turned away, and he was afraid he might have offended her.
+The fear was groundless; she was merely offering another sacrifice, the
+sugar this time.
+
+"Yes?" she asked, turning, "you were saying--"
+
+"Why--er--nothin' of account. I cal'late the C. stands for Charles,
+then."
+
+"No-o. Mr. Dickens's Christian name is Cornelius; but don't mention it
+before him, he is very sensitive on that point."
+
+The Dickenses "tickled" the captain exceedingly, and, after the meal was
+over, he spoke of them to Pearson.
+
+"Say," he said, "you're in notorious company, ain't you, Jim? What has
+Cornelius Charles turned out so far, in the way of masterpieces?"
+
+Pearson laughed. "I believe he is employed by a subscription house,"
+he replied. "Doing hack work on an encyclopedia. A great collection of
+freaks, aren't they, Captain Warren?"
+
+"Kind of. But that old book-shop man and his wife seem nice folks. And,
+as for freaks, the average boardin' house, city or country, seems
+to draw 'em like flies. I guess most anybody would get queer if they
+boarded all the time."
+
+"Perhaps so. Or, if they weren't queer, they wouldn't board permanently
+from choice. There are two or three good fellows who dine and breakfast
+here. The food isn't bad, considering the price."
+
+"No, it ain't. Tasted more like home than any meal I've had for a good
+while. I'm afraid I never was cut out for swell livin'."
+
+Mrs. Hepton approached them as they stood in the hall. She wished to
+know if Mr. Pearson's friend was thinking of finding lodgings. Because
+Mr. Saks--the artist's name--was giving up the second floor back in a
+fortnight, and it was a very pleasant room. "We should be delighted to
+add you to our little circle, Captain Warren."
+
+Pearson told her that his companion was already lodged, and she said
+good-by and left them. The captain smiled broadly.
+
+"Everything in New York seems to be circles," he declared. "Well, Jim,
+you come up and circulate with me, first chance you get. I'm dependin'
+on you to call, remember."
+
+The young man was still doubtful.
+
+"I'll see," he said. "I can't promise yet--perhaps I will."
+
+"You will--after you've thought it out to a finish. And come soon. I'm
+gettin' interested in that second edition of your Uncle Jim, and I want
+to keep along with him as fast as you write. Good-by. Much obliged for
+the dinner--there I go again!--luncheon, I mean."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Pearson called. He appeared at the apartment a week after the luncheon
+at the boarding house and was welcomed by the Captain Elisha, who,
+hearing his voice, strode into the hall, sent the shocked Edwards to the
+right-about in a hurry, seized his friend's hand, and ushered him into
+the library. Pearson said nothing concerning his change of mind, the
+course of reasoning which led him to make the visit, and the captain
+asked no questions. He took it for granted that the young fellow's
+common sense had turned the trick, and, the result being what it was,
+that was sufficient.
+
+They spent a pleasant afternoon together. Caroline was out, and they had
+the library to themselves. The newest chapters of the novel were read
+and discussed, and the salty flavor of the talk was as pronounced as
+ever. Pearson left early, but promised to come again very soon.
+
+When Caroline returned her uncle told her of his visitor. She seemed
+unfeignedly pleased, but regretted that she had not been there. "He was
+such a friend of father's," she said, "that seeing him here would be
+almost like the old days. And so many of those whom we thought were his
+friends and ours have left us."
+
+This was true. Rodgers Warren and his children had had many
+acquaintances, had been active in church and charitable work, and their
+former home was a center of entertainment and gayety while he lived. But
+his death and the rumors of shrinkage in the family fortune, the giving
+up of the Fifth Avenue residence, the period of mourning which forbade
+social functions, all these helped to bring about forgetfulness on the
+part of the many; and Caroline's supersensitiveness and her firm resolve
+not to force her society where it might be unwelcome had been the causes
+of misunderstanding in others, whose liking and sympathy were genuine.
+"I don't see what has come over Caroline Warren," declared a former girl
+friend, "she isn't a bit as she used to be. Well, I've done my part. If
+she doesn't wish to return my call, she needn't. _I_ sha'n't annoy her
+again. But I'm sorry, for she was the sweetest girl I knew."
+
+Stephen had never been very popular, and his absence at college still
+further reduced the number of young people who might be inclined to
+call. Their not calling confirmed Caroline's belief that she and
+her brother were deliberately shunned because of their change in
+circumstances, and she grew more sensitive and proudly resentful in
+consequence. Naturally she turned for comfort to those who remained
+faithful, the Dunns in particular. They were loyal to her. Therefore,
+with the intensity of her nature, she became doubly loyal to them. The
+rector of St. Denis dropped in frequently, and others occasionally, but
+she was lonely. She craved the society of those nearer her own age.
+
+Pearson's coming, then, was psychologically apt. When he made his next
+call upon Captain Elisha, to find the latter out but his niece at home,
+she welcomed him cordially and insisted upon his waiting until her
+guardian returned. The conversation was, at first, embarrassing for the
+ex-reporter; she spoke of her father, and Pearson--the memory of his
+last interview with the latter fresh in his mind, and painfully aware
+that she knew nothing of it--felt guilty and like a hypocrite. But soon
+the subject changed, and when the captain entered the library he found
+the pair laughing and chatting like old acquaintances, as, of course,
+they were.
+
+Captain Elisha, paying no attention to his friend's shakes of the head,
+invited his niece to be present at the reading of the latest addition to
+what he called "mine and Jim's record-breakin' sea yarn."
+
+"It's really mine, you understand, Caroline," he observed, with a wink.
+"I'm silent partner in the firm--if you can call the one that does all
+the talkin' silent--and Jim don't do nothin' but make it up and write it
+and get the profits. Course, you mustn't mention this to him, 'cause he
+thinks he's the author, and 'twould hurt his feelin's."
+
+"He's quite right," declared Pearson, emphatically. "If the thing is
+ever finished and published he will deserve all the credit. His advice
+had already remade it. This uncle of yours, Miss Warren," he added,
+turning to her, "is like the admiral Kipling wrote about--he has 'lived
+more stories' than ever I could invent."
+
+The captain, fearful that his niece might take the statement seriously,
+hastened to protest.
+
+"He's just foolin', Caroline," he said. "All I've done is set and talk
+and talk and talk. I've used up more of his time and the surroundin' air
+than you'd believe was possible. When I get next to salt water, even in
+print, it's time to muzzle me, same as a dog in July. The yarn is Jim's
+altogether, and it's mighty interestin'--to me anyhow."
+
+"I'm sure it will be to me, also," declared the young lady. "Captain
+Warren has told me all about it, Mr. Pearson, and I'm very eager to hear
+the new portion."
+
+"There!" Captain Elisha slapped his knee. "There, Jim!" he exclaimed,
+"you hear that? Now you've _got_ to read it. Anchor's apeak! Heave ahead
+and get under way."
+
+So, because he could not well refuse, the author reluctantly began
+to read. And, as usual, his nautical friend to interrupt and comment.
+Caroline listened, her eyes twinkling. When the reading and the
+arguments were at an end, she declared it was all splendid; "Just like
+being at sea one's self," she said. "I positively refuse to permit
+another installment to be submitted unless I am--on deck. That's the
+proper phrase, isn't it, Captain?"
+
+"Aye, aye, ma'am! Jim, we've shipped a new second mate, and she's goin'
+to be wuth her salt. You hear _me_!"
+
+She proved to be worth all of that, at least in Pearson's opinion. His
+calls and the readings and discussions became more and more frequent.
+Each of the trio enjoyed them greatly, Caroline quite as much as the
+others. Here was something new and fresh, something to furnish a real
+interest. The story advanced rapidly, the character of the nautical hero
+shaped itself better and better, and the heroine, also, heretofore a
+somewhat shadowy and vague young woman, began to live and breathe.
+She changed surprisingly, not only in mental but in physical
+characteristics.
+
+Captain Elisha was first to notice the latter peculiarity.
+
+"Say, Jim!" he interrupted, one afternoon, "what was that you just read
+about Mary? Her hat blowin' off to leeward and her brown hair blowin'
+after it? Or somethin' of that sort?"
+
+Caroline laughed merrily. The author turned to the passage mentioned.
+
+"Not exactly, Captain," he replied, smiling. "I said her hat had blown
+away, and her brown curls tossed in the wind. What's wrong with that?
+Hats do blow away in a sou'wester; I've seen them."
+
+"Perhaps he thinks she should have been more careful in pinning it on,"
+suggested the feminine member of the advisory board.
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head. "No," he observed calmly, "but why was
+she wearin' that kind of hair? She's pretty young to use a switch, ain't
+she?"
+
+"Switch?" repeated "Mary's" creator, with some indignation. "What are
+you talking about? When I first described her, I said that her hair was
+luxuriant and one of her chief beauties."
+
+"That's a fact! So you did. What made her dye it?"
+
+"Dye it? What do you think she is--a chorus girl?"
+
+"If I remember right she's a postmaster's daughter. But why is she
+wearin' brown hair, if it ain't neither false or dyed? Back in the third
+chapter 'twas _black_, like her eyes."
+
+Caroline burst into another laugh. Pearson blushed to his forehead.
+"Well, by George!" he admitted, "you're right. I believe I did have it
+black, at first."
+
+"You sartin did! I ain't got any objections to either color, only it
+ought to stay put, hadn't it? In a town of the size she's livin' in, a
+girl with changeable hair is likely to be kind of conspicuous. I tell
+you! maybe it bleached out in the sun. Ho, ho!"
+
+The writer made a note on the margin of his manuscript and declared
+that his heroine's tresses and eyes should be made to correspond at
+all stages. They did, but they remained brown. Captain Elisha chuckled
+inwardly, but offered no further comments. Caroline, whose own hair and
+eyes were brown, did not refer to the matter at all.
+
+She and the young man became better acquainted at each succeeding
+"literary clinic," as the latter called them. When Rodgers Warren first
+introduced him at their former home he had impressed her favorably,
+largely because of her desire to like anyone whom her father fancied.
+She worshiped the dead broker, and his memory to her was sacred. She
+would have forgiven and did forgive any wrong he might have done her,
+even his brother's appointment as guardian, though that she could not
+understand. Unlike Stephen, who fiercely resented the whole affair and
+said bitter things concerning his parent, she believed he had done what
+he considered right. Her feeling against Captain Elisha had been based
+upon the latter's acceptance of that appointment when he should have
+realized his unfitness. And his living with them and disgracing them in
+the eyes of their friends by his uncouth, country ways, made her blind
+to his good qualities. The Moriarty matter touched her conscience,
+and she saw more clearly. But she was very far from considering him
+an equal, or other than what Mrs. Corcoran Dunn termed him, an
+"encumbrance," even yet. She forced herself to be kind and tolerant and
+gave him more of her society, though the church-going experience was
+not repeated, nor did she accompany him on his walks or out-of-door
+excursions.
+
+If Pearson's introductions had been wholly as a friend of her
+guardian, her feeling toward him might have been tinged with the same
+condescension or aversion, even. But, hallowed as he was by association
+with her father, she welcomed him for the latter's sake. And, as she
+became interested in the novel and found that her suggestions concerning
+it were considered valuable, she looked forward to his visits and was
+disappointed if, for any reason, they were deferred. Without being aware
+of it, she began to like the young author, not alone because he wrote
+entertainingly and flattered her by listening respectfully to her
+criticisms, or because her father had liked him, but for himself.
+
+Captain Elisha was much pleased.
+
+"I told you, Jim!" he said. "She's just as glad to see you as I am. Now
+don't you see how foolish it was to stay away 'cause you and 'Bije had
+a spat? Think of all the good times we'd have missed! And we needed a
+female aboard your Uncle Jim's craft, to help with 'Mary' and the rest."
+
+His friend nodded. "She has been a great help, certainly," he answered.
+"But I can't help feeling guilty every time I come here. It is too much
+like obtaining her friendship under false pretenses. She should know the
+whole thing, I believe."
+
+"She shall know it, when I think it's time for her to. But I want her to
+know you first. Then she'll be able to judge without so much prejudice.
+I told you I'd take the responsibility. You leave the ship in my charge
+for a spell."
+
+In spite of this confident assertion, the captain also felt a trifle
+guilty. He realized that selfishness was involved in his keeping
+Pearson's secret from his niece. He was thoroughly enjoying himself with
+these two, and he could not bear to risk the breaking up which might
+follow disclosure.
+
+One evening, while a "clinic" was in progress and the three were deep
+in consultation, Edwards entered to announce Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and
+Mr. Malcolm. The butler's giving the lady precedence in his announcing
+showed that he, too, realized who was ranking officer in that family,
+even though the captain's "conundrum" had puzzled him. Mrs. Dunn and her
+son entered at his heels.
+
+[Illustration: "She and the young man became better acquainted at each
+succeeding 'literary clinic.'"]
+
+The lady took in the group by the table at a glance: Pearson, with
+the manuscript in his hands; Captain Elisha leaning back in his chair,
+frowning at the interruption; Caroline rising to welcome the guests, and
+coloring slightly as she did so. All these details Mrs. Dunn noted, made
+an entry in her mental memorandum-book, and underscored it for future
+reference.
+
+If she discerned unpleasant possibilities in the situation, she did
+not allow them to disturb her outward serenity. She kissed Caroline and
+called her "dear child" as fondly as usual, shook hands graciously with
+Captain Elisha, and bowed condescending recognition of Pearson.
+
+"And how is the novel coming on? Do tell me!" she begged. "I'm sure we
+interrupted a reading. It's too bad of us, really! But Malcolm insisted
+upon coming. He has been very busy of late--some dreadful 'corner' or
+other on the exchange--and has neglected his friends--or thinks he has.
+I told him I had explained it all to you, Caroline, but he _would_ come
+to-night. It is the first call he has made in weeks; so you _see_! But
+there! he doesn't consider running in here a call."
+
+Call or not, it spoiled the evening for at least two of the company.
+Pearson left early. Captain Elisha excused himself soon after and went
+to his room, leaving the Dunns to chat with Caroline for an hour or
+more. Malcolm joked and was languid and cynical. His mother asked a few
+carefully guarded questions.
+
+"Quite a clever person, this young author friend of yours seems to be,
+Caroline," she observed. "Almost brilliant, really."
+
+"He isn't a friend of mine, exactly," replied the girl. "He and Captain
+Warren are friendly, and father used to know and like him, as I have
+told you. The novel is great fun, though! The people in it are coming to
+seem almost real to me."
+
+"I daresay! I was a great reader myself once, before my health--my
+heart, you know--began to trouble me. The doctors now forbid my reading
+anything the least bit exciting. Has this--er--Mr. Pearson means?"
+
+"I know very little of him, personally, but I think not. He used to be
+connected with the _Planet_, and wrote things about Wall Street. That
+was how father came to know him."
+
+"Live in an attic, does he?" inquired Malcolm. "That's what all authors
+do, isn't it? Put up in attics and sleep on pallets--whatever they
+are--and eat crusts, don't they? Jolly life--if you like it! I prefer
+bucking wheat corners, myself."
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed, and Caroline joined her, though not as heartily.
+
+"How ridiculous you are, Malcolm!" exclaimed his mother. "Mr. Pearson
+isn't that kind of an author, I'm sure. But where does he live,
+Caroline?"
+
+"Somewhere on West 18th Street, I believe. He has rooms there, I think."
+
+"Oh! Really? And how is this wonderful novel of his progressing? When
+does he expect to favor us with it?"
+
+"I don't know. But it is progressing very well at present. He has
+written three chapters since last Wednesday. He was reading them to us
+when you came."
+
+"Indeed! Since last Wednesday? How interesting!"
+
+Malcolm did not seem to find the topic interesting, for he smothered a
+yawn. His mother changed the subject. On their way home, however, she
+again referred to it.
+
+"You must make it a point to see her every day," she declared. "No
+matter what happens, you must do it."
+
+"Oh, Lord!" groaned her son, "I can't. There's the deuce and all on
+'Change just now, and the billiard tournament's begun at the Club. My
+days and nights are full up. Once a week is all she should expect, I
+think."
+
+"No matter what you think or what she expects, you must do as I say."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I don't like the looks of things."
+
+"Oh, rubbish! You're always seeing bugaboos. Uncle Hayseed is pacified,
+isn't he? I've paid the Moriarty crowd off. Beastly big bills they were,
+too!"
+
+"Humph! Uncle Hayseed, as you call him, is anything but a fool. But he
+isn't the particular trouble at present. He and I understand each other,
+I believe, and he will be reasonable. But--there is this Pearson. I
+don't like his calling so frequently."
+
+Malcolm laughed in huge scorn. "Pearson!" he sneered. "Why, he's
+nothing but a penny-a-liner, without the penny. Surely you're not afraid
+Caroline will take a fancy to him. She isn't an idiot."
+
+"She's a young girl, and more romantic than I wish she was. At her age
+girls do silly things, sometimes. He called on Wednesday--you heard her
+say so--and was there again to-night. I don't like it, I tell you."
+
+"Her uncle is responsible for--"
+
+"It is more than that. She knew him long before she knew her uncle
+existed. Her father introduced him--her _father_. And to her mind,
+whatever her father did was right."
+
+"Witness his brilliant selection of an executor. Oh, Mater, you weary
+me! I used to know this Pearson when he was a reporter downtown,
+and.... Humph!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Why, nothing, I guess. It seemed as if I remember Warren and Pearson in
+some sort of mix-up. Some.... Humph! I wonder."
+
+He was silent, thinking. His mother pressed his arm excitedly.
+
+"If you remember anything that occurred between Rodgers Warren and
+this man, anything to this Pearson's disadvantage, it may pay us to
+investigate. What was it?"
+
+"I don't know. But it seemed as if I remembered Warren's ... or a friend
+of his telling me ... saying something ... but it couldn't be of
+importance, because Caroline doesn't know it."
+
+"I'm not so sure that it may not be important. And, if you recall, on
+that day when we first met him at Caroline's, she seemed hurt because he
+had not visited them since her father died. Perhaps there _was_ a
+reason. At any rate, I should look into the matter."
+
+"All right, Mater, just as you say. Really you ought to join a Don't
+Worry Club."
+
+"One member in the family is quite sufficient. And I expect you to
+devote yourself to Caroline from now on. That girl is lonely, and
+when you get the combination of a lonely romantic young girl and a
+good-looking and interesting young fellow, even though he is as poor
+as a church mouse, _anything_ may happen. Add to that the influence of
+an unpractical but sharp old Yankee relative and guardian--then the
+situation is positively dangerous."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+An important event was about to take place. At least, it seemed
+important to Captain Elisha, although the person most intimately
+concerned appeared to have forgotten it entirely. He ventured to remind
+her of it.
+
+"Caroline," he said, "Sunday is your birthday, ain't it?"
+
+His niece looked at him in surprise. "Yes," she answered, "it is. How
+did you know?"
+
+"Why, I remembered, that's all. Graves, the lawyer man, told me how
+old you and Stevie were, fust time I met him. And his partner, Mr.
+Sylvester, gave me the date one day when he was goin' over your pa's
+will. You'll be twenty years old Sunday, won't you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+It was late in the afternoon, and she had been out since ten o'clock
+shopping with Mrs. Dunn, lunching downtown with the latter and Malcolm,
+and motoring for an hour or two. The weather for the season was mild and
+sunny, and the crisp air had brightened her cheeks, her eyes sparkled,
+her fur coat and cap were very becoming, and Captain Elisha inspected
+her admiringly before making another remark.
+
+"My! My!" he exclaimed, after an instant's pause. "Twenty years old!
+Think of it! 'Bije's girl's a young woman now, ain't she? I cal'late he
+was proud of you, too. He ought to have been. I presume likely _he_
+didn't forget your birthday."
+
+He rose to help her with the heavy coat. As he lifted it from her
+shoulders, he bent forward and caught a glimpse of her face.
+
+"There! there!" he said, hastily. "Don't feel bad, dearie. I didn't mean
+to hurt your feelin's. Excuse me; I was thinkin' out loud, sort of."
+
+She did not answer at once, but turned away to remove her cap. Then she
+answered, without looking at him.
+
+"He never forgot them," she said.
+
+"Course he didn't. Well, you see I didn't forget, either."
+
+It was an unfortunate remark, inasmuch as it drew, in her mind,
+a comparison between her handsome, dignified father and his rude,
+uncultured brother. The contrast was ever present in her thoughts, and
+she did not need to be reminded of it. She made no reply.
+
+"I was thinkin'," continued the captain, conscious of having made a
+mistake, "that maybe we might celebrate somehow, in a quiet way."
+
+"No. I am not in the mood for--celebrations."
+
+"Oh, I didn't mean fireworks and the town band. I just thought--"
+
+"Please don't. I remember other birthdays too well." They had been great
+occasions, those birthdays of hers, ever since she was a little girl. On
+the eighteenth she made her debut in society, and the gown she wore on
+that memorable evening was laid away upstairs, a cherished memento, to
+be kept as long as she lived. Each year Rodgers Warren took infinite
+pains to please and surprise his idolized daughter. She could not bear
+to think of another birthday, now that he had been taken from her.
+
+Her guardian pulled his beard. "Well," he observed ruefully, "then my
+weak head's put my foot in it again, as the feller said. If I ain't
+careful I'll be like poor cracked Philander Baker, who lives with
+his sister over at Denboro Centre. The doctor told Philander he was
+threatened with softenin' of the brain, and the sister thanked him for
+the compliment. You see, Caroline, I wrote on my own hook and asked
+Stevie to come home Saturday and stay till Monday. I kind of thought
+you'd like to have him here."
+
+"Oh, I should like _that_! But will he come? Has he written you?"
+
+"Hey? Yes, I cal'late he'll be on deck. He's--er--yes, he's written me."
+
+He smiled as he answered. As a matter of fact, the correspondence
+between Stephen and himself had been lengthy and voluminous on the part
+of the former, and brief and business-like on his own. The boy, on his
+return to college, had found "conditions" awaiting him, and the amount
+of hard work involved in their clearance was not at all to his taste.
+He wrote his guardian before the first week was over, asserting that the
+whole business was foolishness and a waste of time. He should come
+home at once, he said, and he notified the captain that such was his
+intention. Captain Elisha replied with promptness and decision. If he
+came home he would be sent back, that was all. "I realize you've got a
+job ahead of you, Son," wrote the captain, "but you can do it, if you
+will. Fact is, I guess you've got to. So sail in and show us what you're
+made of."
+
+Stephen's answer was a five page declaration of independence. He refused
+to be bullied by any living man. He had made arrangements to come to New
+York on the following Monday, and he was coming. As to being sent back,
+he wished his uncle to understand that it was one thing to order and
+another to enforce obedience. To which he received the following note:
+
+    "I can't stop you from coming, Steve, except by going to New
+    Haven and holding you by main strength. That I don't propose
+    to do, for two reasons: first, that it is too much trouble,
+    and second that it ain't necessary. You can come home once in
+    a while to see your sister, but you mustn't do it till I say
+    the word. If you do, I shall take the carfare out of your
+    allowance, likewise board while you are here, and stop that
+    allowance for a month as a sort of fine for mutiny. So you
+    better think it over a spell. And, if I was you, I wouldn't
+    write Caroline that I was coming, or thinking of coming, till
+    I had my mind made up. She believes you are working hard at
+    your lessons. I shouldn't disappoint her, especially as it
+    wouldn't be any use.
+
+               "Your affectionate uncle,
+                    "ELISHA WARREN."
+
+The result of all this was that Stephen, whose finances were already in
+a precarious condition, did think it over and decided not to take the
+risk. Also, conscious that his sister sided with their guardian to the
+extent of believing the university the best place for him at present, he
+tore up the long letter of grievance which he had written her, and, in
+that which took its place, mentioned merely that he was "grinding like
+blazes," and the only satisfaction he got from it was his removal from
+the society of the "old tyrant from Cape Cod."
+
+He accepted the tyrant's invitation to return for the week-end and
+his sister's birthday with no hesitation whatever; and his letter of
+acceptance was so politic as to be almost humble.
+
+He arrived on an early train Saturday morning. Caroline met him at the
+station, and the Dunns' car conveyed them to the latter's residence,
+where they were to spend the day. The Dunns and Caroline had been
+together almost constantly since the evening when Malcolm and his mother
+interrupted the reading of the novel. The former, while professing to be
+harassed by business cares, sacrificed them to the extent of devoting at
+least a part of each twenty-four hours to the young lady's society.
+She was rarely allowed to be alone with her uncle, a circumstance which
+troubled her much less than it did him. He missed the evenings which he
+had enjoyed so much, and the next consultation over the adventures
+of Pearson's "Uncle Jim" and his "Mary" seemed flat and uninteresting
+without criticism and advice.
+
+The author himself noticed the difference.
+
+"Rot!" he exclaimed, throwing the manuscript aside in disgust. "It's
+rot, isn't it! If I can't turn out better stuff than that, I'd better
+quit. And I thought it was pretty decent, too, until to-night."
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head. "It don't seem quite so shipshape,
+somehow," he admitted, "but I guess likely it's 'cause my head's full
+of other things just now. I'm puzzled 'most to death to know what to get
+for Caroline's birthday. I want to get her somethin' she'll like, and
+she's got pretty nigh everything under the sun. Say, Jim, you've been
+workin' too hard, yourself. Why don't you take to-morrow off and cruise
+around the stores helpin' me pick out a present. Come ahead--do!"
+
+They spent the next afternoon in that "cruise," visiting department
+stores, jewelers, and art shops innumerable. Captain Elisha was hard to
+please, and his comments characteristic.
+
+"I guess you're right, Jim," he said, "there's no use lookin' at
+pictures. Let alone that the walls are so covered with 'em now a fly
+can't scarcely light without steppin' on some kind of scenery--let
+alone that, my judgment on pictures ain't any good. I cal'late that's
+considered pretty fine, ain't it?" pointing to a painting in the gallery
+where they then were.
+
+"Yes," replied the dealer, much amused. "That is a good specimen of the
+modern impressionist school."
+
+"Humph! Cookin' school, I shouldn't wonder. I'd call it a portrait of a
+plate of scrambled eggs, if 'twa'n't for that green thing that's either
+a cow or a church in the offin'. Out of soundin's again, I am! But I
+knew she liked pictures, and so.... However, let's set sail for a
+jewelry store."
+
+The sixth shop of this variety which they visited happened to be one of
+the largest and most fashionable in the city. Here the captain's fancy
+was taken by a gold chain for the neck, set with tiny emeralds.
+
+"That's pretty--sort of--ain't it, Jim?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied his companion, with emphasis, "it is. And I think you'll
+find it is expensive, also."
+
+"That so? How much?" turning to the salesman.
+
+The latter gave the price of the chain. Captain Elisha whistled.
+
+"Whew! Jerushy!" he exclaimed. "And it wouldn't much more than go around
+my wrist, at that. All the same size, are they?"
+
+"No. Some are longer. The longer ones are higher priced, of course."
+
+"Sartin! They're for fleshy folks, I s'pose. Mrs. Thoph Kenney down
+home, she'd have to splice three of 'em together to make the round trip.
+Thoph's always scared he won't get his money's wuth in a trade, but he
+couldn't kick when he got her. To give the minister a dollar and walk
+off with two hundred and eighty pounds of wife is showin' some business
+sagacity, hey? To do him justice, I will say that _he_ seems to be
+satisfied; she's the one that does the complainin'. I guess this is the
+most expensive counter in the store, ain't it, Mister?"
+
+The clerk laughed. "No, indeed," he said. "These are all moderate priced
+goods. I wonder," turning to Pearson, "if your friend wouldn't like to
+see some of our choice pieces. It is a quiet day here, and I shall be
+glad to show them."
+
+He led the way to a set of show cases near the door on the Fifth Avenue
+side. There before Captain Elisha's dazzled eyes were displayed diamond
+necklaces and aigrettes, tiaras and brooches, the figures on their price
+tags running high into the thousands. Pearson and the good-natured clerk
+enjoyed themselves hugely.
+
+"Jim," said the captain after a little of this, "is there a police
+officer lookin' this way?"
+
+Pearson laughed. "I guess not," he answered. "Why? The temptation isn't
+getting too much for your honesty, is it?"
+
+"No," with a sigh, "but I'm carryin' a forty dollar watch and wearin' a
+ring that cost fifteen. I thought they was some punkins till I begun
+to look at this stuff. Now they make me feel so mean and poverty-struck
+that I expect to be took up for a tramp any minute. Mister," to the
+clerk, "you run right along and wrap up that chain I was lookin' at.
+Hurry! or I'll be ashamed to carry anything so cheap."
+
+"Think she'll like it, do you, Jim?" he asked, when they were once more
+out of doors with the purchase in his inside pocket.
+
+"She ought, certainly," replied Pearson. "It's a beautiful thing."
+
+"Yes. Well, you see," apologetically, "I wanted to give her somethin'
+pretty good. 'Bije always did, and I didn't want to fall too fur behind.
+But," with a chuckle, "you needn't mention the price to anybody. If
+Abbie--my second cousin keepin' house for me, she is--if Abbie heard
+of it she'd be for puttin' me in an asylum. Abbie's got a hair
+breastpin and a tortoise shell comb, but she only wears 'em to the
+Congregationalist meetin'-house, where she's reasonably sure there ain't
+likely to be any sneak-thieves. She went to a Unitarian sociable once,
+but she carried 'em in a bag inside her dress."
+
+Captain Elisha planned to surprise his niece with the gift at breakfast
+on the morning of her birthday, but, after reflection, decided to
+postpone the presentation until dinner time. The inevitable Dunns had
+taken upon themselves the duty of caring for the girl and her brother
+during the major part of the day. The yellow car appeared at the door
+at ten o'clock and bore the two away. Caroline assured her guardian,
+however, that they would return in season for the evening meal.
+
+The captain spent lonely but busy hours until dinner time came. He had
+done some scheming on his own hook and, after a long argument with
+the cook, reenforced by a small sum in cash, had prevailed upon that
+haughty domestic to fashion a birthday cake of imposing exterior and
+indigestible make-up. Superintending the icing of this masterpiece
+occupied some time. He then worried Edwards into a respectful but
+stubborn fury by suggesting novelties in the way of table arrangement.
+Another bestowal of small change quelled the disturbance. Then came,
+by messenger, a dozen American Beauty roses with Mr. Pearson's card
+attached. These the captain decided should be placed in the center of
+the festive board. As a center piece had been previously provided, there
+was more argument. The cook took the butler's side in the debate, and
+the pair yielded only when Captain Elisha again dived into his pocket.
+
+"But I warn you, all hands," he observed, "that this is the last time.
+My right fist's got a cramp in it this minute, and you couldn't open it
+again with a cold chisel."
+
+At last, however, everything was as it should be, and he sat down in the
+library to await the coming of the young people. The gold chain in its
+handsome leather case, the latter enclosed in the jeweler's box, was
+carefully laid beside Caroline's place at the table. The dinner was
+ready, the cake, candles and all--the captain had insisted upon twenty
+candles--was ready, also. There was nothing to do but wait--and he
+waited.
+
+Six-thirty was the usual dinner hour. It passed. Seven o'clock struck,
+then eight, and still Captain Elisha sat alone in the library. The cook
+sent word that the dinner was ruined. Edwards respectfully asked, "What
+shall I do, sir?" twice, the second time being sent flying with an order
+to "Go for'ard and keep your hatches closed!" The nautical phraseology
+was lost upon the butler, but the tone and manner of delivery were quite
+understandable.
+
+Several times the captain rose from his chair to telephone the Dunn
+house and ask the reason for delay. Each time he decided not to do so.
+No doubt there were good reasons; Caroline and her brother had been
+detained; perhaps the automobile had broken down--the things were always
+breaking down just at the most inconvenient times; perhaps.... Well, at
+any rate, he would not 'phone just yet; he would wait a little longer.
+
+At last the bell rang. Captain Elisha sprang up, smiling, his impatience
+and worry forgotten, and, pushing the butler aside, hurried to open
+the door himself. He did so and faced, not his niece and nephew, but
+Pearson.
+
+"Good evening, Captain," hailed the young man, cheerily. "Didn't expect
+me, did you? I dropped in for a moment to shake hands with you and to
+offer congratulations to Miss Warren." Then, noticing the expression on
+his friend's face, he added, "What's the matter? Anything wrong? Am I
+intruding?"
+
+"No, no! Course not. You're as welcome as another egg in a poor man's
+hen-house. Come right in and take off your things. I'm glad to see you.
+Only--well, the fact is I thought 'twas Caroline comin' home. She and
+Stevie was to be here over two hours ago, and I can't imagine what's
+keepin' 'em."
+
+He insisted upon his visitor's remaining, although the latter, when he
+understood the situation, was reluctant to do so.
+
+"Caroline'll be real glad to see you, Jim, I know," the captain said.
+"And I want you to stay for my sake. Between pacifyin' the Commodore
+and frettin' over what couldn't possibly happen, I was half dead of the
+fidgets. Stay and cheer me up, there's a good feller. I'd just about
+reached the stage where I had the girl and boy stove to flinders under
+that pesky auto. I'd even begun to figger on notifyin' the undertaker.
+Tell me I'm an old fool and then talk about somethin' else. They'll be
+here any minute."
+
+But a good many minutes passed, and still they did not come. Pearson,
+aware of his companion's growing anxiety, chatted of the novel, of the
+people at the boarding house, of anything and everything he could think
+of likely to divert attention from the one important topic. The answers
+he received were more and more brief and absent. At last, when Edwards
+again appeared, appealingly mute, at the entrance to the dining room,
+Captain Elisha, with a sigh which was almost a groan, surrendered.
+
+"I guess," he said, reluctantly, "I guess, Jim, there ain't any use
+waitin' any longer. Somethin's kept 'em, and they won't be here for
+dinner. You and I'll set down and eat--though I ain't got the appetite I
+cal'lated to have."
+
+Pearson had dined hours before, but he followed his friend, resolved to
+please the latter by going through the form of pretending to eat.
+
+They sat down together. Captain Elisha, with a rueful smile, pointed to
+the floral centerpiece.
+
+"There's your posies, Jim," he observed. "Look pretty, don't they. She
+ain't seen 'em yet, but she'll like 'em when she does. And that over
+there, is her present from me. Stevie gave her a box of gloves, and I
+expect, from what Mrs. Dunn hinted, that she and that son of hers gave
+her somethin' fine. She'll show us when she gets here. What's this,
+Commodore? Oysters, hey? Well, they ought to taste like home. They're
+'Cape Cods'; I wouldn't have anything else."
+
+"We won't touch the birthday cake, Jim," he added, a little later.
+"She's got to cut that herself."
+
+The soup was only lukewarm, but neither of them commented on the fact.
+The captain had scarcely tasted of his, when he paused, his spoon in
+air.
+
+"Hey?" he exclaimed. "Listen! What's that? By the everlastin', it _is_.
+Here they are, at _last_!"
+
+He sprang up with such enthusiasm that his chair tipped backwards
+against the butler's devoted shins. Pearson, almost as much pleased,
+also rose.
+
+Captain Elisha paid scant attention to the chair incident.
+
+"What are you waitin' for?" he demanded, whirling on Edwards, who was
+righting the chair with one hand and rubbing his knee with the other.
+"Don't you hear 'em at the door? Let 'em in!"
+
+He reached the library first, his friend following more leisurely.
+Caroline and Stephen had just entered.
+
+"Well!" he cried, in his quarter-deck voice, his face beaming with
+relief and delight, "you _are_ here, ain't you! I begun to think....
+Why, what's the matter?"
+
+The question was addressed to Stephen, who stood nearest to him. The boy
+did not deign to reply. With a contemptuous grunt, he turned scornfully
+away from his guardian.
+
+"What is it, Caroline?" demanded Captain Elisha. "_Has_ anything
+happened?"
+
+The girl looked coldly at him. A new brooch--Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's
+birthday gift--sparkled at her throat.
+
+"No accident has happened, if that is what you mean," she said.
+
+"But--why, yes, that was what I meant. You was so awful late, and you
+know you said you'd be home for dinner, so--"
+
+"I changed my mind. Come, Steve."
+
+She turned to leave the room. Pearson, at that moment, entered it.
+Stephen saw him first.
+
+"_What_?" he cried. "Well, of all the nerve! Look, Caro!"
+
+"Jim--Mr. Pearson, I mean--ran in a few minutes ago," explained Captain
+Elisha, bewildered and stammering. "He thought of course we'd had dinner
+and--and--he just wanted to wish you many happy returns, Caroline."
+
+Pearson had extended his hand and a "Good evening" was on his lips.
+Stephen's strange behavior and language caused him to halt. He flushed,
+awkward, surprised, and indignant.
+
+Caroline turned and saw him. She started, and her cheeks also grew
+crimson. Then, recovering, she looked him full in the face, and
+deliberately and disdainfully turned her back.
+
+"Come, Steve!" she said again, and walked from the room.
+
+Her brother hesitated, glared at Pearson, and then stalked haughtily
+after her.
+
+Captain Elisha's bewilderment was supreme. He stared, open-mouthed,
+after his nephew and niece, and then turned slowly to his friend.
+
+"What on earth, Jim," he stammered. "What's it _mean_?"
+
+Pearson shrugged his shoulders. "I think I know what it means," he said.
+"I presume that Miss Warren and her brother have learned of my trouble
+with their father."
+
+"Hey? No! you don't think _that's_ it."
+
+"I think there's no doubt of it."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"I don't know how. What I do know is that I should not have come here. I
+felt it and, if you will remember, I said so. I was a fool. Good night,
+Captain."
+
+Hot and furiously angry at his own indecision which had placed him in
+this humiliating situation, he was striding towards the hall. Captain
+Elisha seized his arm.
+
+"Stay where you are, Jim!" he commanded. "If the trouble's what you
+think it is, I'm more to blame than anybody else, and you sha'n't leave
+this house till I've done my best to square you."
+
+"Thank you; but I don't wish to be 'squared.' I've done nothing to be
+ashamed of, and I have borne as many insults as I can stand. I'm going."
+
+"No, you ain't. Not yet. I want you to stay."
+
+At that moment Stephen's voice reached them from the adjoining room.
+
+"I tell you I shall, Caro!" it proclaimed, fiercely. "Do you suppose
+I'm going to permit that fellow to come here again--or to go until he is
+made to understand what we think of him and why? No, by gad! I'm the man
+of this family, and I'll tell him a few things."
+
+Pearson's jaw set grimly.
+
+"You may let go of my wrist, Captain Warren," he said; "I'll stay."
+
+Possibly Stephen's intense desire to prove his manliness made him
+self-conscious. At any rate, he never appeared more ridiculously boyish
+than when, an instant later, he marched into the library and confronted
+his uncle and Pearson.
+
+"I--I want to say--" he began, majestically; "I want to say--"
+
+He paused, choking, and brandished his fist.
+
+"I want to say--" he began again.
+
+"All right, Stevie," interrupted the captain, dryly, "then I'd say it if
+I was you. I guess it's time you did."
+
+"I want to--to tell that fellow _there_," with a vicious stab of his
+forefinger in the direction of Pearson, "that I consider him an--an
+ingrate--and a scoundrel--and a miserable--"
+
+"Steady!" Captain Elisha's interruption was sharp this time. "Steady
+now! Leave out the pet names. What is it you've got to tell?"
+
+"I--my sister and I have found out what a scoundrel he is, that's what!
+We've learned of the lies he wrote about father. We know that he was
+responsible for all that cowardly, lying stuff in the _Planet_--all that
+about the Trolley Combine. And we don't intend that he shall sneak into
+this house again. If he was the least part of a man, he would never have
+come."
+
+"Mr. Warren--" began Pearson, stepping forward. The captain interrupted.
+
+"Hold on, Jim!" he said. "Just a minute now. You've learned somethin',
+you say, Stevie. The Dunns told you, I s'pose."
+
+"Never mind who told me!"
+
+"I don't--much. But I guess we'd better have a clear understandin', all
+of us. Caroline, will you come in here, please?"
+
+He stepped toward the door. Stephen sprang in front of him.
+
+"My sister doesn't intend to cheapen herself by entering that man's
+presence," he declared, hotly. "I'll deal with him, myself!"
+
+"All right. But I guess she'd better be here, just the same. Caroline, I
+want you."
+
+"She sha'n't come!"
+
+"Yes, she shall. Caroline!"
+
+The boy would have detained him, but he pushed him firmly aside and
+walked toward the door. Before he reached it, however, his niece
+appeared.
+
+"Well?" she said, coldly. "What is it you want of me?"
+
+"I want you to hear Mr. Pearson's side of this business--and
+mine--before you do anything you'll be sorry for."
+
+"I think I've heard quite enough of Mr. Pearson already. Nothing he can
+say or do will make me more sorry than I am, or humiliate me more than
+the fact that I have treated him as a friend."
+
+The icy contempt in her tone was cutting. Pearson's face was white, but
+he spoke clearly and with deliberation.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "I must insist that you listen for another
+moment. I owe you an apology for--"
+
+"Apology!" broke in Stephen, with a scornful laugh. "Apology! Well, by
+gad! Just hear that, Caro!"
+
+The girl's lip curled. "I do not wish to hear your apology," she said.
+
+"But I wish you to hear it. Not for my attitude in the Trolley
+matter, nor for what I published in the _Planet_. Nor for my part in
+the disagreement with your father. I wrote the truth and nothing more. I
+considered it right then--I told your father so--and I have not changed
+my mind. I should act exactly the same under similar circumstances."
+
+"You blackguard!" shouted Stephen. Pearson ignored him utterly.
+
+"I do owe you an apology," he continued, "for coming here, as I have
+done, knowing that you were ignorant of the affair. I believe now that
+you are misinformed as to the facts, but that is immaterial. You should
+have been told of my trouble with Mr. Warren. I should have insisted
+upon it. That I did not do so is my fault and I apologize; but for that
+only. Good evening."
+
+He shook himself free from the captain's grasp, bowed to the trio, and
+left the room. An instant later the outer door closed behind him.
+
+Caroline turned to her brother. "Come, Steve," she said.
+
+"Stay right where you are!" Captain Elisha did not request now, he
+commanded. "Stevie, stand still. Caroline, I want to talk to you."
+
+The girl hesitated. She had never been spoken to in that tone before.
+Her pride had been already deeply wounded by what she had learned that
+afternoon; she was fiercely resentful, angry, and rebellious. She was
+sure she never hated anyone as she did this man who ordered her to stay
+and listen to him. But--she stayed.
+
+"Caroline," said Captain Elisha, after a moment of silence, "I presume
+likely--of course I don't know for sartin, but I presume likely it's
+Mrs. Dunn and that son of hers who've told you what you think you know."
+
+"It doesn't concern you who told us!" blustered Stephen, pushing
+forward. He might have been a fly buzzing on the wall for all the
+attention his uncle paid him.
+
+"I presume likely the Dunns told you, Caroline," he repeated, calmly.
+
+His niece met his gaze stubbornly.
+
+"Well," she answered, "and if they did? Wasn't it necessary we should
+know it? Oh!" with a shudder of disgust, "I wish I could make you
+understand how ashamed I feel--how _wicked_ and ashamed I feel that
+I--_I_ should have disgraced father's memory by.... Oh, but there! I
+can't! Yes; Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm did tell us--many things. Thank God
+that we _have_ friends to tell us the truth!"
+
+"Amen!" quietly. "I'll say amen to that, Caroline, any time. Only I want
+you to be sure those you call friends are real ones and that the truths
+they tell ain't like the bait on a fishhook, put on _for_ bait and just
+thick enough to cover the barb."
+
+"Do you mean to insinuate--" screamed the irrepressible nephew, wild
+at being so completely ignored. His uncle again paid not the slightest
+attention.
+
+"But that ain't neither here nor there now," he went on. "Caroline, Mr.
+Pearson just told you that his coming to this house without tellin' you
+fust of his quarrel with 'Bije was his fault. That ain't so. The fault
+was mine altogether. He told me the whole story; told me that he hadn't
+called since it happened, on that very account. And I took the whole
+responsibility and _asked_ him to come. I did! Do you know why?"
+
+If he expected an answer none was given. Caroline's lids drooped
+disdainfully. "Steve," she said, "let us go."
+
+"Stop! You'll stay here until I finish. I want to say that I didn't tell
+you about the Trolley fuss because I wanted you to learn some things for
+yourself. I wanted you to know Mr. Pearson--to find out what sort of man
+he was afore you judged him. Then, when you had known him long enough
+to understand he wasn't a liar and a blackguard, and all that Steve has
+called him, I was goin' to tell you the whole truth, not a part of it.
+And, after that, I was goin' to let you decide for yourself what to do.
+I'm a lot older than you are; I've mixed with all sorts of folks; I'm
+past the stage where I can be fooled by--by false hair or soft soap. You
+can't pour sweet oil over a herrin' and make me believe it's a sardine.
+I know the Pearson stock. I've sailed over a heap of salt water with
+one of the family. And I've kept my eyes open since I've run acrost this
+particular member. And I knew your father, too, Caroline Warren. And
+I say to you now that, knowin' Jim Pearson and 'Bije Warren--yes, and
+knowin' the rights and wrongs of that Trolley business quite as well as
+Malcolm Dunn or anybody else--I say to you that, although 'Bije was my
+brother, I'd bet my life that Jim had all the right on his side. There!
+that's the truth, and no hook underneath it. And some day you'll realize
+it, too."
+
+He had spoken with great vehemence. Now he took a handkerchief from his
+pocket and wiped his forehead. When he again looked at his niece, he
+found her staring intently at him; and her eyes blazed.
+
+"Have you quite finished--now?" she demanded. "Steve, be quiet!"
+
+"Why, yes, I guess so, pretty nigh. I s'pose there ain't much use to say
+more. If I was to tell you that I've tried to do for you and Steve in
+this--same as in everything else since I took this job--as if you
+were my own children, you wouldn't believe it. If I was to tell you,
+Caroline, that I'd come to think an awful lot of you, you wouldn't
+believe that, either. I did hope that since our other misunderstandin'
+was cleared up, and you found I wa'n't what you thought I was, you'd
+come to me and ask questions afore passin' judgment; but perhaps--"
+
+And now she interrupted, bursting out at him in a blast of scorn which
+took his breath away.
+
+"Oh, stop! stop!" she cried. "Don't say any more. You have insulted
+father's memory, and defended the man who slandered him. Isn't that
+enough? Why must you go on to prove yourself a greater hypocrite? We
+learned, my brother and I, to-day more than the truth concerning your
+_friend_. We learned that you have lied--yes, lied--and--"
+
+"Steady, Caroline! be careful. I wouldn't say what I might be sorry for
+later."
+
+"Sorry! Captain Warren, you spoke of my misjudging you. I thought I had,
+and I was sorry. To-day I learned that your attitude in that affair was
+a lie like the rest. _You_ did not pay for Mr. Moriarty's accident. Mr.
+Dunn's money paid those bills. And you allowed the family--and me--to
+thank _you_ for your generosity. Oh, I'm ashamed to be near you!"
+
+"There! There! Caroline, be still. I--"
+
+"I shall not be still. I have been still altogether too long. You are
+our guardian. We can't help that, I suppose. Father asked you to be
+that, for some reason; but did he ask you to _live_ here where you are
+not wanted? To shame us before our friends, ladies and gentlemen so far
+above you in every way? And to try to poison our minds against them and
+sneer at them when they are kind to us and even try to be kind to
+you? No, he did not! Oh, I'm sick of it all! your deceit and your
+hypocritical speeches and your pretended love for us. _Love_! Oh, if I
+could say something that would make you understand how thoroughly we
+despise you, and how your presence, ever since you forced it upon Steve
+and me, has disgraced us! If I only could! I--I--"
+
+She had been near to tears ever since Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, in the
+kindness of her heart, told her the "truth" that afternoon. But pride
+and indignation had prevented her giving way. Now, however, she broke
+down.
+
+"Oh--oh, Steve!" she cried, and, turning to her brother, sobbed
+hysterically on his shoulder. "Oh, Steve, what shall we do?"
+
+Stephen put his arm about her waist. "It's all right, Sis," he said
+soothingly. "Don't cry before _him_! I guess," with a glance at his
+uncle, "you've said enough to make even him understand--at last."
+
+Captain Elisha looked gravely at the pair. "I guess you have," he said
+slowly. "I guess you have, Caroline. Anyhow, I can't think offhand of
+anything you've left out. I could explain some things, but what's the
+use? And," with a sigh, "you may be right in a way. Perhaps I shouldn't
+have come here to live. If you'd only told me plain afore just how you
+felt, I'd--maybe I'd--but there! I didn't know--I didn't know. You see,
+I thought.... However, I guess that part of your troubles is over. But,"
+he added, firmly, "wherever I am, or wherever I go, you must understand
+that I'm your guardian, just the same. I considered a long spell afore I
+took the place, and I never abandoned a ship yet, once I took command of
+her. And I'll stick to this one! Yes, sir! I'll stick to it in spite of
+the devil--or the Dunns, either. Till you and your brother are of age
+I'm goin' to look out for you and your interests and your money; and
+nothin' nor nobody shall stop me. As for forcin' my company on you,
+though, that well, that's different. I cal'late you won't have to worry
+any more. Good night."
+
+He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked slowly from the library.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+Stephen, the "man of the family," was the only member of the household,
+servants excepted, who slept soundly that night. Conscious of having
+done his duty in the affair with Pearson and his guardian, and somewhat
+fatigued by the disagreeable task of soothing his hysterical sister, he
+was slumbering peacefully at nine the next morning when awakened by a
+series of raps on his bedroom door.
+
+"Ah! What? Well, what is it?" he demanded, testily opening his eyes.
+"Edwards, is that you? What the devil do you mean by making such a row?"
+
+The voice which answered was not the butler's, but Caroline's.
+
+"Steve! Oh, Steve!" she cried. "Do get up and come out! Come, quick!"
+
+"What's the matter?" inquired the young man, sitting up in bed. "Is the
+house afire?"
+
+"No, no! But do come! I want you. Something has happened."
+
+"Happened? What is it?"
+
+"I can't tell you here. Please dress and come to me as quick as you
+can."
+
+Stephen, wondering and somewhat alarmed, dressed with unusual
+promptitude and obeyed. He found his sister standing by the library
+window, a letter in her hand. She looked troubled and anxious.
+
+"Well, Caro," observed the boy, "here I am. What in the world's up now?"
+
+She turned.
+
+"Oh, Steve!" she exclaimed, "he's gone!"
+
+"Gone? Who?"
+
+"Captain Warren. He's gone."
+
+"Gone? Gone where? Caro, you don't mean he's--_dead_?"
+
+"No, he's gone--gone and left us."
+
+Her brother's expression changed to incredulous joy.
+
+"What?" he shouted. "You mean he's quit? Cleared out? Left here for
+good?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hurrah! Excuse me while I gloat! Hurrah! We got it through his skull
+at last! Is it possible? But--but hold on! Perhaps it's too good to be
+true. Are you sure? How do you know?"
+
+"He says so. See."
+
+She handed him the letter. It was addressed to "My dear Caroline" and
+in it Captain Elisha stated his intentions succinctly. After the plain
+speaking of the previous evening he should not, of course, burden them
+with his society any longer. He was leaving that morning, and, as soon
+as he "located permanent moorings somewhere else" would notify his niece
+and nephew of his whereabouts.
+
+    "For," he added, "as I told you, although I shall not impose
+    my company on you, I am your guardian same as ever. I will
+    see that your allowance comes to you regular, including
+    enough for all household bills and pay for the hired help and
+    so on. If you need any extras at any time let me know and, if
+    they seem to me right and proper, I will send money for them.
+    You will stay where you are, Caroline, and Stevie must go
+    back to college right away. Tell him I say so, and if he does
+    not I shall begin reducing his allowance according as I wrote
+    him. He will understand what I mean. I guess that is all
+    until I send you my address and any other sailing orders that
+    seem necessary to me then. And, Caroline, I want you and
+    Stevie to feel that I am your anchor to windward, and when
+    you get in a tight place, if you ever do, you can depend on
+    me. Last night's talk has no bearing on that whatever.
+    Good-by, then, until my next.
+
+               "ELISHA WARREN."
+
+Stephen read this screed to the end, then crumpled it in his fist and
+threw it angrily on the floor.
+
+"The nerve!" he exclaimed. "He seems to think I'm a sailor on one of his
+ships, to be ordered around as he sees fit. I'll go back to college when
+I'm good and ready--not before."
+
+Caroline shook her head. "Oh, no!" she said. "You must go to-day. He's
+right, Steve; it's the thing for you to do. He and I were agreed as to
+that. And you wouldn't stay and make it harder for me, would you, dear?"
+
+He growled a reluctant assent. "I suppose I shall have to go," he said,
+sullenly. "My allowance is too beastly small to have him cutting it; and
+the old shark would do that very thing; he'd take delight in doing it,
+confound him! Well, he knows what we think of him, that's some comfort."
+
+She did not answer. He looked at her curiously.
+
+"Why, hang it all, Caro!" he exclaimed in disgust; "what ails you?
+Blessed if I sha'n't begin to believe you're sorry he's gone. You act as
+if you were."
+
+"No, I'm not. Of course I'm not. I'm--I'm glad. He couldn't stay, of
+course. But I'm afraid--I can't help feeling that you and I were too
+harsh last night. We said things--dreadful things--"
+
+"Be hanged! We didn't say half enough. Oh, don't be a fool, Caro! I was
+just beginning to be proud of your grit. And now you want to take it all
+back. Honestly, girls are the limit! You don't know your own minds for
+twelve consecutive hours. Answer me now! _Are_ you sorry he's gone?"
+
+"No. No, I'm not, really. But I--I feel somehow as if--as if everything
+was on my shoulders. You're going away, and he's gone, and--What is it,
+Edwards?"
+
+The butler entered, with a small parcel in his hand.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Caroline," he said. "I should have given you
+this last evening. It was by your place at the table. I think Captain
+Warren put it there, miss."
+
+Caroline took the parcel and looked at it wonderingly.
+
+"For me?" she repeated.
+
+"Yes, Miss Caroline. It is marked with your name. And breakfast is
+served, when you and Mr. Stephen are ready."
+
+He bowed and retired. The girl sat turning the little white box in her
+hands.
+
+"_He_ left it for me," she said. "What can it be?"
+
+Her brother snatched it impatiently.
+
+"Why don't you open it and find out?" he demanded. "Perhaps it's his
+latch key. Here! I'll do it myself."
+
+He cut the cord and removed the cover of the little box. Inside was the
+jeweler's leather case. He took it out and pressed the spring. The cover
+flew up.
+
+"Whew!" he whistled. "It's a present. And rather a decent one, too, by
+gad! Look, Caro!"
+
+He handed her the open case. She looked at the chain, spread carefully
+on the white satin lining. Inside the cover was fitted a card. She
+turned it over and read: "To my niece, Caroline. With wishes for many
+happy returns, and much love, from her Uncle Elisha Warren."
+
+She sat gazing at the card. Stephen bent down, read the inscription,
+and then looked up into her face.
+
+"_What_?" he cried. "I believe--You're not _crying_! Well, I'll be
+hanged! Sis, you _are_ a fool!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The weather that morning was fine and clear. James Pearson, standing
+by the window of his rooms at the boarding house, looking out at the
+snow-covered roofs sparkling in the sun, was miserable. When he retired
+the night before it was with a solemn oath to forget Caroline Warren
+altogether; to put her and her father and the young cad, her brother,
+utterly from his mind, never to be thought of again. As a preliminary
+step in this direction, he began, the moment his head touched the
+pillow, to review, for the fiftieth time, the humiliating scene in the
+library, to think of things he should have said, and--worse than all--to
+recall, word for word, the things she had said to him. In this cheerful
+occupation he passed hours before falling asleep. And, when he woke, it
+was to begin all over again.
+
+Why--_why_ had he been so weak as to yield to Captain Elisha's advice?
+Why had he not acted like a sensible, self-respecting man, done what he
+knew was right, and persisted in his refusal to visit the Warrens? Why?
+Because he was an idiot, of course--a hopeless idiot, who had got
+exactly what he deserved! Which bit of philosophy did not help make his
+reflections less bitter.
+
+He went down to breakfast when the bell rang, but his appetite was
+missing, and he replied only in monosyllables to the remarks addressed
+to him by his fellow boarders. Mrs. Hepton, the landlady, noticed the
+change.
+
+"You not ill, Mr. Pearson, I hope?" she queried. "I do hope you haven't
+got cold, sleeping with your windows wide open, as you say you do. Fresh
+air is a good thing, in moderation, but one should be careful. Don't you
+think so, Mr. Carson?"
+
+Mr. Carson was a thin little man, a bachelor, who occupied the smallest
+room on the third story. He was a clerk in a department store, and his
+board was generally in arrears. Therefore, when Mrs. Hepton expressed an
+opinion he made it a point to agree with her. In this instance, however,
+he merely grunted.
+
+"I say fresh air in one's sleeping room is a good thing in moderation.
+Don't you think so, Mr. Carson?" repeated the landlady.
+
+Mr. Carson rolled up his napkin and inserted it in the ring. His board,
+as it happened, was paid in full to date. Also, although he had not yet
+declared his intention, he intended changing lodgings at the end of the
+week.
+
+"Humph!" he sniffed, with sarcasm, "it may be. I couldn't get none in
+_my_ room if I wanted it, so I can't say sure. Morning."
+
+He departed hurriedly. Mrs. Hepton looked disconcerted. Mrs. Van Winkle
+Ruggles smiled meaningly across the table at Miss Sherborne, who smiled
+back.
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, quietly observed that he hoped Mr. Pearson
+had not gotten cold. Colds were prevalent at this time of the year.
+"'These are the days when the Genius of the weather sits in mournful
+meditation on the threshold,' as Mr. Dickens tells us," he added. "I
+presume he sits on the sills of open windows, also."
+
+The wife of the Mr. Dickens there present pricked up her ears.
+
+"When did you write that, 'C.' dear?" she asked, turning to her husband.
+"I remember it perfectly, of course, but I have forgotten, for the
+moment, in which of your writings it appears."
+
+The illustrious one's mouth being occupied with a section of scorching
+hot waffle, he was spared the necessity of confession.
+
+"Pardon me," said Mr. Ludlow. "I was not quoting our Mr. Dickens this
+time, but his famous namesake."
+
+The great "C." drowned the waffle with a swallow of water.
+
+"Maria," he snapped, "don't be so foolish. Ludlow quotes
+from--er--'Bleak House.' I have written some things--er--similar, but
+not that. Why don't you pass the syrup?"
+
+The bookseller, who was under the impression that he had quoted from the
+"Christmas Carol," merely smiled and remained silent.
+
+"My father, the Senator," began Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles, "was troubled
+with colds during his political career. I remember his saying that the
+Senate Chamber at the Capitol was extremely draughty. Possibly Mr.
+Pearson's ailment does come from sleeping in a draught. Not that father
+was accustomed to _sleep_ during the sessions--Oh, dear, no! not that,
+of course. How absurd!"
+
+She laughed gayly. Pearson, who seemed to think it time to say
+something, declared that, so far as he knew, he had no cold or any
+symptoms of one.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Hepton, with conviction, "something ails you, I know.
+We can all see it; can't we?" turning to the rest of the company. "Why,
+you've scarcely spoken since you sat down at the table. And you've eaten
+next to nothing. Perhaps there is some trouble, something on your mind
+which is worrying you. Oh, I _hope_ not!"
+
+"No doubt it is the preoccupation of genius," remarked Mrs. Dickens.
+"I'm sure it must be that. When 'C.' is engaged with some particularly
+trying literary problem he frequently loses all his appetite and does
+not speak for hours together. Isn't it so, dear?"
+
+"C.," who was painfully conscious that he might have made a miscue in
+the matter of the quotation, answered sharply.
+
+"No," he said. "Not at all. Don't be silly, Maria."
+
+Miss Sherborne clasped her hands. "_I_ know!" she exclaimed in mock
+rapture; "Mr. Pearson is in love!"
+
+This suggestion was received with applause and hilarity. Pearson pushed
+back his chair and rose.
+
+"I'm much obliged for this outburst of sympathy," he observed, dryly.
+"But, as I say, I'm perfectly well, and the other diagnoses are too
+flattering to be true. Good morning."
+
+Back in his room he seated himself at his desk, took the manuscript of
+his novel from the drawer, and sat moodily staring at it. He was in no
+mood for work. The very sight of the typewritten page disgusted him.
+As he now felt, the months spent on the story were time wasted. It was
+ridiculous for him to attempt such a thing; or to believe that he
+could carry it through successfully; or to dream that he would ever be
+anything better than a literary hack, a cheap edition of "C." Dickens,
+minus the latter's colossal self-satisfaction.
+
+He was still sitting there, twirling an idle pencil between his fingers,
+when he heard steps outside his door. Someone knocked.
+
+"Well, what is it?" he asked.
+
+His landlady answered.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, "may I see you?"
+
+He threw down the pencil and, rising, walked to the door and opened it.
+Mrs. Hepton was waiting in the hall. She seemed excited.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, "will you step downstairs with me for a moment?
+I have a surprise for you."
+
+"A surprise? What sort of a surprise?"
+
+"Oh, a pleasant one. At least I think it is going to be pleasant for all
+of us. But I'm not going to tell you what it is. You must come down and
+see for yourself."
+
+She led the way downstairs, the young man following her, wondering what
+the surprise might be, and fairly certain it, nor anything else, could
+be pleasant on that day.
+
+He supposed, of course, that he must descend to the parlor to reach the
+solution of the mystery, but he was mistaken. On the second floor Mrs.
+Hepton stopped and pointed.
+
+"It's in there," she said, pointing.
+
+"There" was the room formerly occupied by Mr. Saks, the long-haired
+artist. Since his departure it had been vacant. Pearson looked at the
+closed door and then at the lady.
+
+"A surprise for me in _there_?" he repeated. "What's the joke, Mrs.
+Hepton?"
+
+By way of answer she took him by the arm, and, leading him to the door,
+threw the latter open.
+
+"Here he is!" she said.
+
+"Hello, Jim!" hailed Captain Elisha Warren, cheerfully. "Ship ahoy! Glad
+to see you."
+
+He was standing in the middle of the room, his hat on the table and his
+hands in his pockets.
+
+Pearson was surprised; there was no doubt of that--not so much at the
+sight of his friend--he had expected to see or hear from the captain
+before the day was over--as at seeing him in that room. He could not
+understand what he was doing there.
+
+Captain Elisha noted his bewildered expression, and chuckled.
+
+"Come aboard, Jim!" he commanded. "Come in and inspect. I'll see you
+later, Mrs. Hepton," he added, "and give you my final word. I want to
+hold officer's council with Mr. Pearson here fust."
+
+The landlady accepted the broad hint and turned to go.
+
+"Very well," she said, "but I do hope for all our sakes that word will
+be _yes_, Mr. Warren--Excuse me, it is Captain Warren, isn't it?"
+
+"It used to be, yes, ma'am. And at home it is yet. 'Round here I've
+learned to be like a barroom poll-parrot, ready to answer to most
+everything. There!" as the door closed after her; "now we can be more
+private. Set down, Jim! How are you, anyway?"
+
+Pearson sat down mechanically. "I'm well enough--everything considered,"
+he replied, slowly. "But what--what are you in here for? I don't
+understand."
+
+"You will in a minute. What do you think of this--er--saloon cabin?"
+with a comprehensive sweep of his arm.
+
+The room was of fair size, furnished in a nondescript, boarding-house
+fashion, and with two windows overlooking the little back yard of
+the house and those of the other adjoining it. Each yard contained an
+assortment of ash cans, and there was an astonishing number of clothes
+lines, each fluttering a variety of garments peculiarly personal to
+their respective owners.
+
+"Pretty snug, ain't it?" continued the captain. "Not exactly up to that
+I've been luxuriatin' in lately, but more fittin' to my build and class
+than that was, I shouldn't wonder. No Corot paintin's nor five thousand
+dollar tintypes of dory codders; but I can manage to worry along without
+them, if I try hard. Neat but not gaudy, I call it--as the architect
+feller said about his plans for the addition to the county jail at
+Ostable. Hey? Ho! Ho!"
+
+Pearson began to get a clue to the situation.
+
+"Captain Warren," he demanded, "have you--Do you mean to say you've
+taken this room to _live_ in?"
+
+"No, I ain't said all that yet. I wanted to talk with you a little afore
+I said it. But that was my idea, if you and I agreed on sartin matters."
+
+"You've come here to live! You've left your--your niece's house?"
+
+"Ya-as, I've left. That is, I left the way the Irishman left the stable
+where they kept the mule. He said there was all out doors in front of
+him and only two feet behind. That's about the way 'twas with me."
+
+"Have your nephew and niece--"
+
+"Um-hm. They hinted that my room was better than my company, and, take
+it by and large, I guess they was right for the present, anyhow. I set
+up till three o'clock thinkin' it over, and then I decided to get out
+afore breakfast this mornin'. I didn't wait for any good-bys. They'd
+been said, or all I cared to hear"--Captain Elisha's smile disappeared
+for an instant--"last evenin'. The dose was sort of bitter, but it had
+the necessary effect. At any rate, I didn't hanker for another one. I
+remembered what your landlady told me when I was here afore, about this
+stateroom bein' vacated, and I come down to look at it. It suits me well
+enough; seems like a decent moorin's for an old salt water derelict like
+me; the price is reasonable, and I guess likely I'll take it. I _guess_
+I will."
+
+"Why do you guess? By George, I hope you will!"
+
+"Do you? I'm much obliged. I didn't know but after last night, after the
+scrape I got you into, you might feel--well, sort of as if you'd seen
+enough of me."
+
+The young man smiled bitterly. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "It was
+mine entirely. I'm quite old enough to decide matters for myself, and I
+should have decided as my reason, and not my inclinations, told me. You
+weren't to blame."
+
+"Yes, I was. If you're old enough, I'm _too_ old, I cal'late. But I did
+think--However, there's no use goin' over that. I ask your pardon, Jim.
+And you don't hold any grudge?"
+
+"Indeed I don't. I may be a fool--I guess I am--but not that kind."
+
+"Thanks. Well, there's one objection out of the way, then, only I don't
+want you to think that I've hove overboard that 'responsibility' I was
+so easy and fresh about takin' on my shoulders. It's there yet; and I'll
+see you squared with Caroline afore this v'yage is over, if I live."
+
+His friend frowned.
+
+"You needn't mind," he said. "I prefer that you drop the whole miserable
+business."
+
+"Well, maybe, but--Jim, you've taken hold of these electric batteries
+that doctors have sometimes? It's awful easy to grab the handles of one
+of those contraptions, but when you want to drop 'em you can't. They
+don't drop easy. I took hold of the handles of 'Bije's affairs, and,
+though it might be pleasanter to drop 'em, I can't--or I won't."
+
+"Then you're leaving your nephew and niece doesn't mean that you've
+given up the guardianship?"
+
+Captain Elisha's jaw set squarely.
+
+"I don't remember sayin' that it did," he answered, with decision.
+Then, his good-nature returning, he added, "And now, Jim, I'd like your
+opinion of these new quarters that I may take. What do you think of 'em?
+Come to the window and take a look at the scenery."
+
+Pearson joined him at the window. The captain waved toward the
+clothes-lines and grinned.
+
+"Looks as if there was some kind of jubilee, don't it," he observed.
+"Every craft in sight has strung the colors."
+
+Pearson laughed. Then he said:
+
+"Captain, I think the room will do. It isn't palatial, but one can live
+in worse quarters, as I know from experience."
+
+"Yup. Well, Jim, there's just one thing more. Have I disgraced you a
+good deal, bein' around with you and chummin' in with you the way I
+have? That is, do you _think_ I've disgraced you? Are you ashamed of
+me?"
+
+"I? Ashamed of _you_? You're joking!"
+
+"No, I'm serious. Understand now, I'm not apologizin'. My ways are my
+ways, and I think they're just as good as the next feller's, whether
+he's from South Denboro or--well, Broad Street. I've got a habit of
+thinkin' for myself and actin' for myself, and when I take off my hat
+it's to a bigger _man_ than I am and not to a more stylish hat. But,
+since I've lived here in New York, I've learned that, with a whole lot
+of folks, hats themselves count more than what's underneath 'em. I
+haven't changed mine, and I ain't goin' to. Now, with that plain and
+understood, do you want me to live here, in the same house with you? I
+ain't fishin' for compliments. I want an honest answer."
+
+He got it. Pearson looked him squarely in the eye.
+
+"I do," he said. "I like you, and I don't care a damn about your hat. Is
+that plain?"
+
+Captain Elisha's reply was delivered over the balusters in the hall.
+
+"Hi!" he called. "Hi, Mrs. Hepton."
+
+The landlady had been anxiously waiting. She ran from the dining room to
+the foot of the stairs.
+
+"Yes?" she cried. "What is it?"
+
+"It's a bargain," said the captain. "I'm ready to engage passage."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+Thus Captain Elisha entered another of New York's "circles," that which
+centered at Mrs. Hepton's boarding house. Within a week he was as much
+a part of it as if he had lived there for years. At lunch, on the day
+of his arrival, he made his appearance at the table in company with
+Pearson, and when the landlady exultantly announced that he was to be
+"one of our little party" thereafter, he received and replied to the
+welcoming salutations of his fellow boarders with unruffled serenity.
+
+"How could I help it?" he asked. "Human nature's liable to temptation,
+they tell us. The flavor of that luncheon we had last time I was here
+has been hangin' 'round the edges of my mouth and tantalizin' my memory
+ever since."
+
+"We had a souffle that noon, if I remember correctly, Captain," observed
+the flattered Mrs. Hepton.
+
+"Did you? Well, I declare! I'd have sworn 'twas a biled-dinner hash.
+Knew 'twas better than any I ever ate afore, but I'd have bet 'twas
+hash, just the same. Tut! tut! tut! Now, honest, Mrs. Hepton, ain't
+this--er--whatever-you-call-it a close relation--a sort of hash with its
+city clothes on, hey?"
+
+The landlady admitted that a souffle was something not unlike a hash.
+Captain Elisha nodded.
+
+"I thought so," he declared. "I was sartin sure I couldn't be mistaken.
+What is it used to be in the song book? 'You can smash--you can--' Well,
+I don't remember. Somethin' about your bein' able to smash the vase if
+you wanted to, but the smell of the posies was there yet."
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, supplied the quotation.
+
+       "'You may break, you may shatter
+           The vase if you will,
+         But the scent of the roses
+           Will cling to it still,'"
+
+he said, smiling.
+
+"That's it. Much obliged. You can warm up and rechristen the hash if you
+will; but the corned beef and cabbage stay right on deck. Ain't that so,
+Mr. Dickens?"
+
+The illustrious "C." bowed.
+
+"Moore?" he observed, with dignity.
+
+"Yes. That's what _I_ said--'More!' Said it twice, I believe. Glad you
+agree with me. The hymn says that weakness is sin, but there's no sin in
+havin' a weakness for corned-beef hash."
+
+Miss Sherborne and Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles were at first inclined to
+snub the new boarder, considering him a country boor whose presence in
+their select society was almost an insult. The captain did not seem to
+notice their hints or sneers, although Pearson grew red and wrathful.
+
+"Laura, my dear," said Mrs. Ruggles, addressing the teacher of vocal
+culture, "don't you feel quite rural to-day? Almost as if you were
+visiting the country?"
+
+"I do, indeed," replied Miss Sherborne. "Refreshing, isn't it? Ha! ha!"
+
+"It is if one cares for such things. I am afraid _I_ don't appreciate
+them. They may be well enough in their place, but--"
+
+She finished with a shrug of her shoulders. Captain Elisha smiled.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he said politely, joining in the conversation; "that's
+what the boy said about the cooky crumbs in the bed. You don't care for
+the country, I take it, ma'am."
+
+"I do _not_!"
+
+"So? Well, it's a mercy we don't think alike; even Heaven would be
+crowded if we did--hey? You didn't come from the country, either?"
+turning to Miss Sherborne.
+
+The young lady would have liked to answer with an uncompromising
+negative. Truth and the fact that some of those present were acquainted
+with it compelled her to forego this pleasure.
+
+"I was born in a--a small town," she answered coldly. "But I came to the
+city as soon as I possibly could."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, I came when I couldn't possibly stay away. We can agree
+on one thing--we're all here. Yes, and on another--that that cake
+is fust-rate. I'll take a second piece, if you've no objection, Mrs.
+Hepton."
+
+When they were alone once more, in the captain's room, Pearson vented
+his indignation.
+
+"Why didn't you give them as good as they sent?" he demanded. "Couldn't
+you see they were doing their best to hurt your feelings?"
+
+"Ya-as. I could see it. Didn't need any specs to see that."
+
+"Then why didn't you answer them as they deserved?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. What's the use? They've got troubles of their own.
+One of 'em's a used-to-be, and the other's a never-was. Either disease
+is bad enough without addin' complications."
+
+Pearson laughed. "I don't get the whole of that, Captain," he said.
+"Mrs. Van is the used-to-be, I suppose. But what is it that Miss
+Sherborne never was?"
+
+"Married," was the prompt reply. "Old maiditis is creepin' on her fast.
+You want to be careful, Jim; a certain kind of female gets desperate
+about her stage."
+
+Pearson laughed again.
+
+"Oh, get out!" he exclaimed, turning to go.
+
+"All right! I will, when you and she are together and you give me the
+signal. But I tell you honest, I'd hate to do it. Judgin' by the way she
+smiles and looks up under her eye-winkers at you, you're in danger
+of kidnappin'. So long. I'll see you again after I get my dunnage
+unpacked."
+
+The snubbing and sneering came to an abrupt end. Pearson, in
+conversation with Mrs. Ruggles, casually imparted the information that
+Captain Elisha was the brother of A. Rodgers Warren, late society leader
+and wealthy broker. Also, that he had entire charge of the latter's
+estate. Thereafter Mrs. Ruggles treated the captain as one whose rank
+was equal to her own, and, consequently, higher than anyone's else
+in the boarding-house. She made it a point to publicly ask his advice
+concerning "securities" and "investments," and favored him with many
+reminiscences of her distinguished father, the Senator. Miss Sherborne,
+as usual, followed her lead. Captain Elisha, when Pearson joked him on
+the altered behavior of the two ladies, merely grinned.
+
+"You may thank me for that, Captain," said the young man. "When I told
+Mrs. Ruggles who and what you were she almost broke down and sobbed.
+The fact that she had risked offending one so closely connected with the
+real thing on Fifth Avenue and Wall Street was too dreadful. But she's
+yours devotedly now. There's an 18-karat crown on your head."
+
+"Yup. I suppose so. Well, I ain't so sot up with pride over wearin'
+that crown. It used to belong to 'Bije, and I never did care much for
+second-hand things. Rather have a new sou'wester of my own, any day in
+the week. When I buy a sou'wester I know what it's made of."
+
+"Mrs. Ruggles knows what the crown is made of--gold, nicely padded with
+bonds and preferred stock."
+
+"Humph! Sometimes I wonder if the paddin's waterproof. As for the
+gold--well, you can make consider'ble shine with brass when you're
+dealin' with nigh-sighted folks ... and children."
+
+To this indirect reference to Miss Warren and her brother Pearson made
+no reply. The pair conversed freely on other subjects, but each avoided
+this one. The novel, too, was laid on the shelf for the present. Its
+author had not yet mustered sufficient courage to return to it. Captain
+Elisha once or twice suggested a session with "Cap'n Jim," but, finding
+his suggestions received with more or less indifference, did not press
+them. His mind was busy with other things. A hint dropped by Sylvester,
+the lawyer, was one of these. It suggested alarming possibilities, and
+his skepticism concerning the intrinsic worth of his inherited "crown"
+was increased by it.
+
+He paid frequent visits to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves in
+Pine Street. Upon the senior partner, whom he esteemed and trusted not
+only as a business adviser but a friend, he depended for information
+concerning happenings at the Warren apartment.
+
+Caroline sent him regular statements of her weekly expenditures, also
+bills for his approval, but she had written him but once, and then only
+a brief note. The note brought by a messenger, accompanied a
+package containing the chain which he and Pearson selected with such
+deliberation and care at the Fifth Avenue jeweler's. Under the existing
+circumstances, the girl wrote, she felt that she did not wish to accept
+presents from him and therefore returned this one. He was alone when the
+note and package came and sat by the window of his room, looking out at
+the dismal prospect of back yards and clothes-lines, turning the leather
+case over and over in his hands. Perhaps this was the most miserable
+afternoon he had spent since his arrival in the city. He tried to
+comfort himself by the exercise of his usual philosophy, but it was cold
+comfort. He had no right to expect gratitude, so he told himself, and
+the girl undoubtedly felt that she was justified in her treatment of
+him; but it is hard to be misunderstood and misjudged, even by one whose
+youth is, perhaps, an excuse. He forgave Caroline, but he could not
+forgive those who were responsible for her action.
+
+After Pearson had departed, on the morning when the conversation dealing
+with Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles and her change of attitude took place,
+Captain Elisha put on his hat and coat and started for his lawyer's
+office. Sylvester was glad to see him and invited him to lunch.
+
+"No, thank you," replied the captain. "I just run down to ask if there
+was anything new in the offin'. Last time I see you, you hinted you and
+your mates had sighted somethin' or other through the fog, and it might
+turn out to be a rock or a lighthouse, you couldn't tell which. Made up
+your mind yet?"
+
+Sylvester shook his head. "No," he said, slowly; "it is still foggy.
+We're busy investigating, but we're not ready to report."
+
+"Humph! Well, what's the thing look like? You must be a little nigher to
+it by now."
+
+The lawyer tapped his desk with a pencil. "I don't know what it looks
+like," he answered. "That is to say, I don't--I can't believe it is what
+it appears, at this distance, to be. If it is, it is the most--"
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha waited for him to go on and, when he did not
+do so, asked another question.
+
+"The most what?" he demanded. "Is it likely to be very bad?"
+
+"Why--why--well, I can't say even that yet. But there! as I told you,
+I'm not going to permit it to worry me. And you mustn't worry, either.
+That's why I don't give you any further particulars. There may be
+nothing in it, after all."
+
+His visitor smiled. "Say, Mr. Sylvester," he said, "you're like the
+young-ones used to be when I was a boy. There'd be a gang of 'em waitin'
+by the schoolhouse steps and when the particular victim hove in sight
+they'd hail him with, 'Ah, ha! _you're_ goin' to get it!' 'Wait till
+teacher sees you!' and so on. Course the victim would want to know what
+it meant. All the satisfaction he got from them was, 'That's all right!
+You'll find out! You just wait!' And the poor feller put in the time
+afore the bell rung goin' over all the things he shouldn't have done and
+had, and wonderin' which it was this time. You hinted to me a week ago
+that there was a surprisin' possibility loomin' up in 'Bije's financial
+affairs. And ever since then I've been puzzlin' my brains tryin' to
+guess what could happen. Ain't discovered any more of those Cut Short
+bonds, have you?"
+
+The bonds to which he referred were those of a defunct Short Line
+railroad. A large number of these bonds had been discovered among A.
+Rodgers Warren's effects; part of his "tangled assets," the captain had
+termed them, differentiating from the "tangible" variety.
+
+"Abbie, my housekeeper, has been writin' me," he went on, "about havin'
+the sewin' room papered. She wants my advice concernin' the style of
+paper; says it ought to be pretty and out of the common, but not too
+expensive. I judge what she wants is somethin' that looks like money
+but ain't really wuth more than ten cents a mile. I've been thinkin'
+I'd send her a bale or so of those bonds; they'd fill the bill in those
+respects, wouldn't they?"
+
+Sylvester laughed. "They certainly would, Captain," he replied. "No,
+we haven't unearthed any more of that sort. And, as for this mystery of
+ours, I'll give you the answer--if it's worth giving at all, in a very
+short time. Meanwhile, you go home and forget it."
+
+"Well, I'll try. But I guess it sticks out on my face, like a four days'
+toothache. But I _won't_ worry about that. You know best whether to tell
+me now or not, and--well, I'm carryin' about all the worry my tonnage'll
+stand, as 'tis."
+
+He drew a long breath. Sylvester regarded him sympathetically.
+
+"You mustn't take your nephew's and niece's treatment too much to
+heart," he said.
+
+"Oh, I don't. That is, I pretend I don't. And I do try not to. But I
+keep thinkin', thinkin', and wonderin' if 'twould have been better if I
+hadn't gone there to live at all. Hi hum! a man of my age hadn't ought
+to mind what a twenty-year-old girl says, or does; 'specially when
+her kind, advisin' friends have shown her how she's been deceived and
+hypocrit-ted. By the way, speakin' of hypocrites, I suppose there's just
+as much 'Dunnin'' as ever goin' on up there?"
+
+"Yes. A little more, if anything, I'm afraid. Your niece and Mrs. Dunn
+and her precious son are together now so constantly that people are
+expecting--well, you know what they expect."
+
+"I can guess. I hope they'll be disapp'inted."
+
+"So do I, but I must confess I'm fearful. Malcolm himself isn't so wise,
+but his mother is--"
+
+"A whole Book of Proverbs, hey? I know. She's an able old frigate. I
+did think I had her guns spiked, but she turned 'em on me unexpected. I
+thought I had her and her boy in a clove hitch. I knew somethin' that I
+was sartin sure they wouldn't want Caroline to know, and she and Malcolm
+knew I knew it. Her tellin' Caroline of it, _her_ story of it, when I
+wasn't there to contradict, was as smart a piece of maneuverin' as ever
+was. It took the wind out of my sails, because, though I'm just as right
+as I ever was, Caroline wouldn't listen to me, nor believe me, now."
+
+"She'll learn by experience."
+
+"Yup. But learnin' by experience is a good deal like shippin' green
+afore the mast; it'll make an able seaman of you, if it don't kill you
+fust. When I was a boy there was a man in our town name of Nickerson
+Cummin's. He was mate of a ship and smart as a red pepper poultice on
+a skinned heel. He was a great churchgoer when he was ashore and always
+preachin' brotherly love and kindness and pattin' us little shavers on
+the head, and so on. Most of the grown folks thought he was a sort of
+saint, and I thought he was more than that. I'd have worshiped him,
+I cal'late, if my Methodist trainin' would have allowed me to worship
+anybody who wa'n't named in Scriptur'. If there'd been an apostle or a
+prophet christened Nickerson I'd have fell on my knees to this
+Cummin's man, sure. So, when I went to sea as a cabin boy, a tow-headed
+snub-nosed little chap of fourteen, I was as happy as a clam at
+highwater 'cause I was goin' in the ship he was mate of."
+
+He paused. There was a frown on his face, and his lower jaw was thrust
+forward grimly.
+
+"Well?" inquired Sylvester. "What happened?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, excuse me. When I get to thinkin' of that v'yage I simmer
+inside, like a teakettle on a hot stove. The second day out--seasick and
+homesick and so miserable I wished I could die all at once instead of
+by lingerin' spasms--I dropped a dish on the cabin floor and broke it.
+Cummin's was alone with me, eatin' his dinner; and he jumped out of
+his chair when I stooped to pick up the pieces and kicked me under the
+table. When I crawled out, he kicked me again and kept it up. When his
+foot got tired he used his fist. 'There!' says he between his teeth, 'I
+cal'late that'll learn you that crockery costs money.'
+
+"It did. I never broke anything else aboard that ship. Cummin's was a
+bully and a sneak to everybody but the old man, and a toady to him. He
+never struck me or anybody else when the skipper was around, but there
+was nothin' too mean for him to do when he thought he had a safe chance.
+And he took pains to let me know that if I ever told a soul at home
+he'd kill me. I'd learned by experience, not only about the price
+of crockery, but other things, things that a youngster ought not to
+learn--how to hate a man so that you can wait years to get even with
+him, for one. I'm sorry I learned that, and," dryly, "so was Cummin's,
+later. But I did learn, once and for all, not to take folks on
+trust, nor to size 'em up by their outside, or the noise they make in
+prayer-meetin', nor the way they can spread soft soap when they think
+it's necessary. I'd learned that, and I'd learned it early enough to be
+of use to me, which was a mercy.
+
+"It was a hard lesson for me," he added, reflectively; "but I managed to
+come out of it without lettin' it bitter my whole life. I don't mind so
+much Caroline's bein' down on me. She'll know better some day, I hope;
+and if she don't--well, I'm only a side-issue in her life, anyhow, hove
+in by accident, like the section of dog collar in the sassage. But I do
+hope her learnin' by experience won't come too late to save her from ...
+what she'll be awful sorry for by and by."
+
+"It must," declared the lawyer, with decision. "You must see to it,
+Captain Warren. You are her guardian. She is absolutely under your
+charge. She can do nothing of importance unless you consent."
+
+"Yup. That's so--for one more year; just one, remember! Then she'll
+be of age, and I can't say 'Boo!' And her share of 'Bije's money'll
+be hers, too. And don't you believe that that fact has slipped Sister
+Dunn's memory. I ain't on deck to head her off now; if she puts Malcolm
+up to gettin' Caroline to give her word, and Caroline gives it--well,
+I know my niece. She's honorable, and she'll stick to her promise if it
+runs her on the rocks. And Her Majesty Dunn knows that, too. Therefore,
+the cat bein' away, she cal'lates now's the time to make sure of the
+cheese."
+
+"But the cat can come back. The song says it did, you know."
+
+"Um-hm. And got another kick, I shouldn't wonder. However, my claws'll
+stay sharp for a year or thereabouts, and, if it comes to a shindy,
+there'll be some tall scratchin' afore I climb a tree. Keep a weather
+eye on what goes on, won't you?"
+
+"I will. You can depend on me."
+
+"I do. And say! for goodness' sakes put me out of my misery regardin'
+that rock or lighthouse on 'Bije's chart, soon's ever you settle which
+it is."
+
+"Certainly! And, remember, don't worry. It may be a lighthouse, or
+nothing at all. At all events, I'll report very soon."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+But, in spite of his promise, Sylvester did not report during the
+following week or the next. Meanwhile, his client tried his best to
+keep the new mystery from troubling his thoughts, and succeeded only
+partially. The captain's days and evenings were quiet and monotonous. He
+borrowed a book or two from Mrs. Hepton's meager library, read, walked
+a good deal, generally along the water front, and wrote daily letters to
+Miss Baker. He and Pearson were together for at least a portion of each
+day. The author, fighting down his dejection and discouragement, set
+himself resolutely to work once more on the novel, and his nautical
+adviser was called in for frequent consultation. The story, however,
+progressed but slowly. There was something lacking. Each knew what that
+something was, but neither named it.
+
+One evening Pearson entered the room tenanted by his friend to find the
+latter seated beside the table, his shoes partially unlaced, and a pair
+of big slippers ready for putting on.
+
+"Captain," said the visitor, "you look so comfortable I hate to disturb
+you."
+
+Captain Elisha, red-faced and panting, desisted from the unlacing and
+straightened in his chair.
+
+"Whew!" he puffed. "Jim, your remarks prove that your experience of the
+world ain't as big as it ought to be. When you get to my age and waist
+measure you'll realize that stoopin' over and comfort don't go together.
+I hope to be comfortable pretty soon; but I sha'n't be till them boots
+are off. Set down. The agony'll be over in a minute."
+
+Pearson declined to sit. "Not yet," he said. "And you let those shoes
+alone, until you hear what I've got to say. A newspaper friend of mine
+has sent me two tickets for the opera to-night. I want you to go with
+me."
+
+Captain Elisha was surprised.
+
+"To the opera?" he repeated. "Why, that's a--a sort of singin' theater
+ain't it?"
+
+"Yes, you're fond of music; you told me so. And Aida is beautiful. Come
+on! it will do us both good."
+
+"Hum! Well, I don't know."
+
+"I do. Get ready."
+
+The captain looked at his caller's evening clothes.
+
+"What do you mean by gettin' ready?" he asked. "You've got on your
+regimentals, open front and all. My uniform is the huntin' case kind;
+fits in better with church sociables and South Denboro no'theasters.
+If I wore one of those vests like yours Abbie'd make me put on a red
+flannel lung-protector to keep from catchin' pneumonia. And she'd think
+'twas sinful waste besides, runnin' the risk of sp'ilin' a clean biled
+shirt so quick. Won't I look like an undertaker, sittin' alongside of
+you?"
+
+"Not a bit. If it will ease your mind I'll change to a business suit."
+
+"I don't care. You know how I feel; we had a little talk about hats a
+spell ago, you remember. If you're willin' to take me 'just as I am,
+without a plea,' as the hymn-tune says, why, I cal'late I'll say yes and
+go. Set down and wait while I get on my ceremonials."
+
+He retired to the curtain alcove, and Pearson heard him rustling about,
+evidently making a hurried change of raiment. During this process he
+talked continuously.
+
+"Jim," he said, "I ain't been to the theater but once since I landed in
+New York. Then I went to see a play named 'The Heart of a Sailor.' Ha!
+ha! that was a great show! Ever take it in, did you?"
+
+"No. I never did."
+
+"Well, you'd ought to. It's a wonder of it's kind. I learned more
+things about life-savin' and 'longshore life from that drayma than you'd
+believe was possible. You'd have got some p'ints for your Cap'n Jim yarn
+from that play; you sartin would! Yes, indeed! Way I happened to go to
+it was on account of seein' a poster on a fence over nigh where that
+Moriarty tribe lived. The poster pictured a bark ashore, on her beam
+ends, in a sea like those off the Horn. On the beach was a whole parcel
+of life-savers firin' off rockets and blue lights. Keepin' the Fourth of
+July, I judged they was, for I couldn't see any other reason. The bark
+wa'n't more'n a hundred foot from 'em, and if all hands on board didn't
+know they was in trouble by that time, then they deserved to drown.
+Anyhow, they wa'n't likely to appreciate the celebration. Ho! ho! Well,
+when I run afoul of that poster I felt I hadn't ought to let anything
+like that get away; so I hunted up the theater--it wa'n't but a little
+ways off--and got a front seat for that very afternoon."
+
+"Was it up to the advertising?" asked Pearson.
+
+"_Was_ it? Hi hum! I wish you'd been there. More 'special I wished some
+of the folks from home had been there, for the whole business was
+supposed to happen on the Cape, and they'd have realized how ignorant we
+are about the place we live in. The hero was a strappin' six-footer,
+sort of a combination fisherman and parson, seemed so. He wore ileskins
+in fair weather and went around preachin' or defyin' folks that provoked
+him and makin' love to the daughter of a long-haired old relic that
+called himself an inventor.... Oh, consarn it!"
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Dropped my collar button, as usual. Collar buttons are one of the Old
+Harry's pet traps. I'll bet their responsible for 'most as many lapses
+from grace as tangled fishlines. Where.... Ow!... All right; I found it
+with my bare foot, and edge up, of course."
+
+A series of grunts and short-breathed exclamations followed, indicating
+that the sufferer was struggling with a tight collar.
+
+"Go on," commanded Pearson. "Tell me some more about the play."
+
+"Hey? Oh, the play. Where was I?"
+
+"You were saying that the heroine's father was an inventor."
+
+"That's what _he_ said he was, though he never furnished any proof. His
+daughter helped him with his inventions, but if she'd cut his hair
+once in a while 'twould have been a better way of puttin' in the time,
+'cordin' to my notion. And there was a rich squire, who made his money
+by speculatin' in wickedness, and a mortgage, and--I don't know what
+all. And those Cape Cod folks! and the houses they lived in! and the way
+they talked! Oh, dear! oh, dear! I got my money's wuth that afternoon."
+
+"What about the wreck? How did that happen?"
+
+"Don't know. It happened 'cause it had to be in the play, I cal'late.
+The mortgage, or an 'invention' or somethin', was on board the bark and
+just naturally took a short cut for home, way I figgered it out.
+But, Jim, you ought to have seen that hero! He peeled off his
+ileskin-slicker--he'd kept it on all through the sunshine, but now, when
+'twas rainin' and rainin' and wreckin' and thunderin', he shed it--and
+jumped in and saved all hands and the ship's cat. 'Twas great business!
+No wonder the life-savers set off fireworks! And thunder! Why, say, it
+never stopped thunderin' in that storm except when somebody had to make
+a heroic speech; then it let up and give 'em a chance. Most considerate
+thunder ever I heard. And the lightnin'! and the way the dust flew from
+the breakers! I was glad I went.... There!" appearing fully dressed from
+behind the curtains. "I'm ready if you are. Did I talk your head off? I
+ask your pardon; but that 'Heart of a Sailor' touched mine, I guess. I
+know I was afraid I'd laugh until it stopped beatin'. And all around the
+people were cryin'. It was enough sight damper amongst the seats than in
+those cloth waves."
+
+The pair walked over to Broadway, boarded a street car, and alighted
+before the Metropolitan Opera House. Pearson's seats were good ones,
+well down in the orchestra. Captain Elisha turned and surveyed the great
+interior and the brilliantly garbed audience.
+
+"Whew!" he muttered. "This is considerable of a show in itself, Jim.
+They could put our town hall inside here and the folks on the roof
+wouldn't be so high as those in that main skys'l gallery up aloft there.
+Can they see or hear, do you think?"
+
+"Oh, yes. The accepted idea is that they are the real music lovers.
+_they_ come for the opera itself. Some of the others come because--well,
+because it is the proper thing."
+
+"Yes, yes; I see. That's the real article right over our heads, I
+suppose."
+
+"Yes. That's the 'Diamond Horseshoe.'"
+
+"All proper things there, hey?"
+
+"Why--er--yes, I suppose so. What makes you ask?"
+
+"Nothing much. I was thinking 'twas better Abbie wa'n't along on this
+cruise. She'd probably want to put an 'im' in front of that 'proper.'
+I envy those women, Jim; _they_ didn't have to stop to hunt up collar
+buttons, did they."
+
+He was silent during the first act of the opera. When the curtain fell
+his companion asked how he liked it.
+
+"Good singin'," he replied; "best I ever heard. Do you understand what
+they say?"
+
+"No. But I'm familiar with the story of Aida, of course. It's a favorite
+of mine. And the words don't really matter."
+
+"I suppose not. It's the way they say it. I had an Irishman workin'
+round my barn once, and Tim Bailey drove down from Bayport to see me. I
+was out and Tim and the Irishman run afoul of each other. Tim stuttered
+so that he made a noise when he talked like one of these gasoline
+bicycles goin' by. He watched Mike sweepin' out the horse stall and he
+says, 'You're a pup--pup ... I say you're a pup--.' He didn't get any
+further 'cause Mike went for him with the broom. Turned out later that
+he was tryin' to compliment that Irishman by sayin' he was a particular
+sort of feller. These folks on the stage might be sayin' most anythin',
+and I wouldn't know it. But I sha'n't knock 'em down, for I like the
+way it's said. When the Almighty give us music he more than made up for
+makin' us subject to toothache, didn't he."
+
+Pearson bought a copy of the libretto, and the captain followed the
+performance of the next two acts with interest.
+
+"Say, Jim," he whispered, with a broad grin, "it's a good thing this
+opera idea ain't carried into real life. If you had to sing every word
+you said 'twould be sort of distressin', 'specially if you was in a
+hurry. A fust-rate solo when you was orderin' the crew to shorten sail
+would be a high old brimstone anthem, I'll bet you. And think of the
+dinner table at our boardin' house! Mrs. Van and C. Dickens both goin'
+at once, and Marm Hepton serenadin' the waiter girl! Ho! ho! A cat fight
+wouldn't be a circumstance."
+
+Between the third and the fourth acts the pair went out into the foyer,
+where, ascending to the next floor, they made the round of the long
+curve behind the boxes, Pearson pointing out to his friend the names of
+the box lessees on the brass plates.
+
+"There!" he observed, as, the half circle completed, they turned and
+strolled back again, "isn't that an imposing list, Captain? Don't you
+feel as if you were close to the real thing?"
+
+"Godfreys mighty!" was the solemn reply; "I was just thinkin' I felt as
+if I'd been readin' one of those muck-rakin' yarns in the magazines!"
+
+The foyer had its usual animated crowd, and among them Pearson
+recognized a critic of his acquaintance. He offered to introduce the
+captain, but the latter declined the honor, saying that he cal'lated
+he wouldn't shove his bows in this time. "You heave ahead and see your
+friend, Jim," he added. "I'll come to anchor by this pillar and watch
+the fleet go by. I'll have to write Abbie about all this; she'll want to
+know how the female craft was rigged."
+
+Left alone, he leaned against the pillar and watched the people pass and
+repass just behind him. Two young men paused just behind him. He could
+not help overhearing their conversation.
+
+"I presume you've heard the news?" asked one, casually.
+
+"Yes," replied the other, "I have. That is, if you mean the news
+concerning Mal Dunn. The mater learned it this afternoon and sprung it
+at dinner. No one was greatly surprised. Formal announcement made, and
+all that sort of thing, I believe. Mal's to be congratulated."
+
+"His mother is, you mean. She managed the campaign. The old lady is some
+strategist, and I'd back her to win under ordinary circumstances. But
+I understand these were not ordinary; wise owl of a guardian to be
+circumvented, or something of that sort."
+
+"From what I hear the Dunns haven't won so much after all. There was
+a big shrinkage when papa died, so they say. Instead of three or four
+millions it panned out to be a good deal less than one. I don't know
+much about it, because our family and theirs have drifted apart since
+they moved."
+
+"Humph! I imagine whatever the pan-out it will be welcome. The Dunns are
+dangerously close to the ragged edge; everybody has been on to that for
+some time. And it takes a few ducats to keep Mal going. He's no Uncle
+Russell when it comes to putting by for the rainy day."
+
+"Well, on the whole, I'm rather sorry for--the other party. Mal is a
+good enough fellow, and he certainly is a game sport; but--"
+
+They moved on, and Captain Elisha heard no more. But what he had heard
+was quite sufficient. He sat through the remainder of the opera in
+silence and answered all his friend's questions and remarks curtly and
+absently.
+
+As they stepped into the trolley Pearson bought an evening paper, not
+the _Planet_, but a dignified sheet which shunned sensationalism
+and devoted much space to the doings of the safe, sane, and
+ultra-respectable element. Perceiving that his companion, for some
+reason, did not care to talk, he read as the car moved downtown.
+Suddenly Captain Elisha was awakened from his reverie by hearing his
+friend utter an exclamation. Looking up, the captain saw that he was
+leaning back in the seat, the paper lying unheeded in his lap.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the older man, anxiously.
+
+Pearson started, glanced quickly at his friend, hesitated, and looked
+down again.
+
+"Nothing--now," he answered, brusquely. "We get out here. Come."
+
+He rose, picked up the paper with a hand that shook a little, and led
+the way to the door of the car. Captain Elisha followed, and they
+strode up the deserted side street. Pearson walked so rapidly that
+his companion was hard pushed to keep pace with him. When they stood
+together in the dimly lit hall of the boarding house, the captain spoke
+again.
+
+"Well, Jim," he asked in a low tone, "what is it? You may as well tell
+me. Maybe I can guess, anyhow."
+
+The young man reached up and turned the gas full on. In spite of the
+cold from which they had just come, his face was white. He folded the
+paper in his hand, and with his forefinger pointed to its uppermost
+page.
+
+"There it is," he said. "Read it."
+
+Captain Elisha took the paper, drew his spectacle case from his pocket,
+adjusted his glasses and read. The item was among those under the head
+of "Personal and Social." It was what he expected. "The engagement
+is to-day announced of Miss Caroline Warren, daughter of the late A.
+Rodgers Warren, the well-known broker, to Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, of
+Fifth Avenue. Miss Warren, it will be remembered, was one of the most
+charming of our season-before-last's debutantes and--" etc.
+
+The captain read the brief item through.
+
+"Yes," he said, slowly, "I see."
+
+Pearson looked at him in amazement.
+
+"You _see_!" he repeated. "You--Why! _Did you know it_?"
+
+"I've been afraid of it for some time. To-night, when you left me alone
+there in the quarter-deck of that opera house, I happened to hear two
+young chaps talkin' about it. So you might say I knew--Yes."
+
+"Good heavens! and you can stand there and--What are you going to do
+about it?"
+
+"I don't know--yet."
+
+"Are you going to permit her to marry that--_that_ fellow?"
+
+"Well, I ain't sartin that I can stop her."
+
+"My God, man! Do you realize--and _she_--your niece--why--"
+
+"There! there! Jim. I realize it all, I cal'late. It's my business to
+realize it."
+
+"And it isn't mine. No, of course it isn't; you're right there."
+
+He turned and strode toward the foot of the stairs.
+
+"Hold on!" commanded the captain. "Hold on, Jim! Don't you go off ha'f
+cocked. When I said 'twas my business to realize this thing, I meant
+just that and nothin' more. I wa'n't hintin', and you ought to know it.
+You do know it, don't you?"
+
+The young man paused. "Yes," he answered, after an instant's struggle
+with his feelings; "yes, I do. I beg your pardon, Captain."
+
+"All right. And here's somethin' else; I just told you I wasn't sartin I
+could stop the marriage. That's the truth. But I don't recollect sayin'
+I'd actually hauled down the colors, not yet. Good night."
+
+"Good night, Captain. I shouldn't have misunderstood you, of course.
+But, as you know, I respected and admired your niece. And this thing
+has--has--"
+
+"Sort of knocked you on your beam ends, I understand. Well, Jim," with a
+sigh, "I ain't exactly on an even keel myself."
+
+They separated, Pearson going to his room. As Captain Elisha was passing
+through the hall on the second floor, he heard someone calling him by
+name. Turning, he saw his landlady's head, bristling with curl papers,
+protruding from behind the door at the other end of the passage.
+
+"Captain Warren," she asked, "is that you?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied the captain, turning back.
+
+"Well, I've got a message for you. A Mr. Sylvester has 'phoned you
+twice this evening. He wishes to see you at his office at the earliest
+possible moment. He says it is _very_ important."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+Nine o'clock is an early hour for a New York lawyer of prominence to be
+at his place of business. Yet, when Captain Elisha asked the office boy
+of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves if the senior partner was in, he received
+an affirmative answer.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tim, respectfully. His manner toward the captain had
+changed surprisingly since the latter's first call. "Yes, sir; Mr.
+Sylvester's in. He expects you. I'll tell him you're here. Sit down and
+wait, please."
+
+Captain Elisha sat down, but he did not have to wait long. The boy
+returned at once and ushered him into the private office. Sylvester
+welcomed him gravely.
+
+"You got my message, then," he said. "I spent hours last evening chasing
+you by 'phone. And I was prepared to begin again this morning."
+
+"So? That's why you're on deck so early? Didn't sleep here, did you?
+Well, I cal'late I know what you want to talk about. You ain't the only
+one that reads the newspapers."
+
+"The newspapers? Great heavens! it isn't in the newspapers, is it? It
+can't be!"
+
+He seemed much perturbed. Captain Elisha looked puzzled.
+
+"Course it is," he said. "But I heard it afore I saw it. Perhaps you
+think I take it pretty easy. Maybe I act as if I did. But you expected
+it, and so did I, so we ain't exactly surprised. And," seriously, "I
+realize that it's no joke as well as you do. But we've got a year to
+fight in, and now we must plan the campaign. I did cal'late to see
+Caroline this mornin'. Then, if I heard from her own lips that 'twas
+actually so, I didn't know's I wouldn't drop in and give Sister
+Corcoran-Queen-Victoria-Dunn a few plain facts about it not bein' a
+healthy investment to hurry matters. You're wantin' to see me headed me
+off, and I come here instead."
+
+The lawyer looked at him in astonishment.
+
+"See here, Captain Warren," he demanded, "what do you imagine I asked
+you to come here for?"
+
+"Why, to talk about that miserable engagement, sartin. Poor girl! I've
+been awake ha'f the night thinkin' of the mess she's been led into. And
+she believes she's happy, I suppose."
+
+Sylvester shook his head. "I see," he said, slowly. "You would think it
+that, naturally. No, Captain, it isn't the engagement. It's more serious
+than that."
+
+"More serious than--_more_ serious! Why, what on earth? Hey? Mr.
+Sylvester, has that rock-lighthouse business come to somethin' after
+all?"
+
+The lawyer nodded. "It has," he replied.
+
+"I want to know! And I'd almost forgot it, not hearin' from you. It's
+a rock, too, I judge, by the looks of your face. Humph!... Is it very
+bad?"
+
+"I'm afraid so."
+
+The captain pulled his beard. "Well," he said, wearily, after a moment,
+"I guess likely I can bear it. I've had to bear some things in my time.
+Anyhow, I'll try. Heave ahead and get it over with. I'm ready."
+
+Instead of answering, Sylvester pushed an electric button on his desk.
+The office boy answered the ring.
+
+"Have Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves arrived?" asked the lawyer.
+
+"Yes, sir. Both of them, sir."
+
+"Tell them Captain Warren is here, and ask them to join us in the inner
+room. Remind Mr. Graves to bring the papers. And, Tim, remember that
+none of us is to be disturbed. Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tim and departed.
+
+Captain Elisha regarded his friend with some dismay.
+
+"Say!" he exclaimed, "this _must_ be serious, if it takes the skipper
+and both mates to handle it."
+
+Sylvester did not smile. "It is," he answered. "Come."
+
+He led the way into the room opening from the rear of his own. It was
+a large apartment with a long table in the center. Mr. Kuhn, brisk and
+business-like, was already there. He shook hands with his client. As he
+did so, Graves, dignified and precise as ever, entered, carrying a small
+portfolio filled with papers.
+
+"Mornin', Mr. Graves," said the captain; "glad to see you, even under
+such distressin' circumstances, as the undertaker said to the sick man.
+Feelin' all right again, I hope. No more colds or nothin' like that?"
+
+"No. Thank you. I am quite well, at present."
+
+"That's hearty. If you and me don't do any more buggy ridin' in Cape
+Cod typhoons, we'll last a spell yet, hey? What you got there, the death
+warrant?" referring to the portfolio and its contents.
+
+Mr. Graves evidently did not consider this flippancy worth a reply, for
+he made none.
+
+"Sit down, gentlemen," said Sylvester.
+
+The four took chairs at the table. Graves untied and opened the
+portfolio. Captain Elisha looked at his solemn companions, and his lips
+twitched.
+
+"You'll excuse me," he observed, "but I feel as if I was goin' to
+be tried for piracy on the high seas. Has the court any objection to
+tobacco smoke? I'm puttin' the emphasis strong on the 'tobacco,'" he
+added, "because this is a cigar you give me yourself, Mr. Sylvester,
+last time I was down here."
+
+"No, indeed," replied the senior partner. "Smoke, if you wish. No one
+here has any objection, unless it may be Graves."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Graves ain't. He and I fired up together that night we fust
+met. Hot smoke tasted grateful after all the cold water we'd had poured
+onto us in that storm. Graves is all right. He's a sportin' character,
+like myself. Maybe he'll jine us. Got another cigar in my pocket."
+
+But the invitation was declined. The "sporting character" might deign
+to relax amid proper and fitting surroundings, but not in the sacred
+precincts of his office. So the captain smoked alone.
+
+"Well," he observed, after a few preliminary puffs, "go on! Don't keep
+me in suspenders, as the feller said. Where did the lightnin' strike,
+and what's the damage?"
+
+Sylvester took a card from his pocket and referred to a penciled
+memorandum on its back.
+
+"Captain Warren," he began, slowly, "as you know, and as directed by
+you, my partners here and I have been engaged for months in carefully
+going over your brother's effects, estimating values, tabulating and
+sorting his various properties and securities, separating the good from
+the worthless--and there was, as we saw at a glance, a surprising amount
+of the latter--"
+
+"Um-hm," interrupted the captain, "Cut Short bonds and the like of that.
+I know. Excuse me. Go on."
+
+"Yes. Precisely. And there were many just as valueless. But we have been
+gradually getting those out of the way and listing and appraising the
+remainder. It was a tangle. Your brother's business methods, especially
+of late years, were decidedly unsystematic and slipshod. It may have
+been the condition of his health which prevented his attending to them
+as he should. Or," he hesitated slightly, "it may have been that he was
+secretly in great trouble and mental distress. At all events, the task
+has been a hard one for us. But, largely owing to Graves and his patient
+work, our report was practically ready a month ago."
+
+He paused. Captain Elisha, who had been listening attentively, nodded.
+
+"Yes," he said; "you told me 'twas. What does the whole thing tot up to?
+What's the final figger, Mr. Graves?"
+
+The junior partner adjusted his eyeglasses to his thin nose.
+
+"I have them here," he said. "The list of securities, et cetera, is
+rather long, but--"
+
+"Never mind them now, Graves," interrupted Kuhn. "The amount, roughly
+speaking, is close to over our original estimate, half a million."
+
+The captain drew a breath of relief. "Well," he exclaimed, "that's all
+right then, ain't it? That's no poorhouse pension."
+
+Sylvester answered. "Yes," he said, "that's all right, as far as it
+goes."
+
+"Humph! Well, I cal'late _I_ could make it go to the end of the route;
+and then have enough left for a return ticket. Say!" with another look
+at the solemn faces of the three, "what _is_ the row? If the estate is
+wuth ha'f a million, what's the matter with it?"
+
+"That is what we are here this morning to discuss, Captain. A month ago,
+as I said, we considered our report practically ready. Then we suddenly
+happened on the trail of something which, upon investigation, upset all
+our calculations. If true, it threatened, not to mention its effect upon
+the estate, to prove so distressing and painful to us, Rodgers Warren's
+friends and legal advisers, that we decided not to alarm you, his
+brother, by disclosing our suspicions until we were sure there was no
+mistake. I did drop you a hint, you will remember--"
+
+"I remember. _Now_ we're comin' to the rock!"
+
+"Yes. Captain Warren, I think perhaps I ought to warn you that what my
+partners and I are about to say will shock and hurt you. I, personally,
+knew your brother well and respected him as an honorable business man. A
+lawyer learns not to put too much trust in human nature, but, I confess,
+this--this--"
+
+He was evidently greatly disturbed. Captain Elisha, regarding him
+intently, nodded.
+
+"I judge it's sort of hard for you to go on, Mr. Sylvester," he said.
+"I'll help you all I can. You and Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves here have
+found out somethin' that ain't exactly straight in 'Bije's doin's? Am I
+right?"
+
+"Yes, Captain Warren, you are."
+
+"Somethin' that don't help his character, hey?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Somethin's he's, done that's--well, to speak plain, that's crooked?"
+
+"I'm afraid there's no doubt of it."
+
+"Humph!" The captain frowned. His cigar had gone out, and he idly
+twisted the stump between his fingers. "Well," he said, with a sigh,
+"our family, gen'rally speakin', has always held its head pretty high.
+Dad was poor, but he prided himself on bein' straight as a plumb line.
+And, as for mother, she...." Then, looking up quickly, he asked, "Does
+anybody outside know about this?"
+
+"No one but ourselves--yet."
+
+"Yet? Is it goin' to be necessary for anybody else to know it?"
+
+"We hope not. But there is a possibility."
+
+"I was thinkin' about the children."
+
+"Of course. So are we all."
+
+"Um-hm. Poor Caroline! she put her father on a sort of altar and bowed
+down afore him, as you might say. Any sort of disgrace to his name
+would about kill her. As for me," with another sigh, "I ain't so much
+surprised as you might think. I know that sounds tough to say about
+your own brother, but I've been afraid all along. You see, 'Bije always
+steered pretty close to the edge of the channel. He had ideas about
+honesty and fair dealin' in business that didn't jibe with mine. We
+split on just that, as I told you, Mr. Graves, when you and I fust met.
+He got some South Denboro folks to invest money along with him; sort of
+savin's account, they figgered it; but I found out he was usin' it to
+speculate with. So that's why we had our row. I took pains to see that
+the money was paid back, but he and I never spoke afterwards. Fur as my
+own money was concerned, I hadn't any kick, but.... However, I'm talkin'
+too much. Go on, Mr. Sylvester, I'm ready to hear whatever you've got to
+say."
+
+"Thank you, Captain. You make it easier for me. It seems that your
+brother's first step toward wealth and success was taken about nineteen
+years ago. Then, somehow or other, probably through a combination
+of luck and shrewdness, he obtained a grant, a concession from the
+Brazilian Government, the long term lease of a good-sized tract of land
+on the upper Amazon. It was very valuable because of its rubber trees."
+
+"Hey?" Captain Elisha leaned forward. "Say that again!" he commanded
+sharply.
+
+Sylvester repeated his statement. "He got the concession by paying
+twenty thousand dollars to the government of Brazil," he continued. "To
+raise the twenty thousand he formed a stock company of two hundred and
+fifty shares at one hundred dollars each. One hundred of these shares
+were in his own name. Fifty were in the name of one 'Thomas A. Craven,'
+a clerk at that time in his office. Craven was only a dummy, however. Do
+you understand what I mean by a dummy?"
+
+"I can guess. Sort of a wooden image that moved when 'Bije pulled the
+strings. Like one of these straw directors that clutter up the insurance
+companies, 'cordin' to the papers. Yes, yes; I understand well enough.
+Go ahead! go ahead!"
+
+"That's it. The fifty shares were in Craven's name, but they were
+transferred in blank and in Mr. Warren's safe. Together with his own
+hundred, they gave him control and a voting majority. That much we know
+by the records."
+
+"I see. But this rubber con--contraption wa'n't really wuth anything,
+was it?"
+
+"Worth anything! Captain Warren, I give you my word that it was worth
+more than all the rest of the investments that your brother made during
+his lifetime."
+
+"_No!_" The exclamation was almost a shout.
+
+"Why, yes, decidedly more. Does that surprise you, Captain?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not answer. He was regarding the lawyer with a dazed
+expression. He breathed heavily.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded the watchful Kuhn, his gaze fixed upon his
+client's face. "Do you know anything--"
+
+The captain interrupted him. "Go on!" he commanded. "But tell me this
+fust: What was the name of this rubber concern of 'Bije's?"
+
+"The Akrae Rubber Company."
+
+"I see.... Yes, yes.... Akry, hey!... Well, what about it? Tell me the
+rest."
+
+"For the first year or two this company did nothing. Then, in March, of
+the third year, the property was released by Mr. Warren to persons in
+Para, who were to develop and operate. The terms of his new lease were
+very advantageous. Royalties were to be paid on a sliding scale, and,
+from the very first, they were large. The Akrae Company paid enormous
+dividends."
+
+"Did, hey? I want to know!"
+
+"Yes. In fact, for twelve years the company's royalties averaged $50,000
+yearly."
+
+"Whe-e-w!" Captain Elisha whistled. "Fifty thousand a year!" he repeated
+slowly. "'Bije! 'Bije!"
+
+"Yes. And three years ago the Akrae Company sold its lease, sold out
+completely to the Para people, for seven hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars."
+
+"Godfreys mighty! Well," after a moment, "that's what I'd call a
+middlin' fair profit on a twenty thousand dollar investment--not to
+mention the dividends."
+
+"Captain," Sylvester leaned forward now; "Captain," he repeated, "it is
+that sale and the dividends which are troubling us. I told you that the
+Akrae Company was organized with two hundred and fifty shares of stock.
+Your brother held one hundred in his own name and fifty transferred to
+him by his dummy, Craven. What I did not tell you was that there were
+another hundred shares, held by someone, someone who paid ten thousand
+dollars for them--we know that--and was, therefore, entitled to
+two-fifths of every dollar earned by the company during its existence,
+and two-fifths of the amount received for the sale of the lease. So far
+as we can find out, this stockholder has never received one cent."
+
+The effect of this amazing announcement upon the uniniated member of the
+council was not as great as the lawyers expected it to be. "You don't
+tell me!" was his sole comment.
+
+Graves broke in impatiently: "I think, Captain Warren," he declared,
+"that you probably do not realize what this means. Besides proving your
+brother dishonest, it means that this stockholder, whoever he may have
+been--"
+
+"Hey? What's that? Don't you know who he was?"
+
+"No, we do not. The name upon the stub of the transfer book has been
+scratched out."
+
+Captain Elisha looked the speaker in the face, then slowly turned his
+look upon the other two faces.
+
+"Scratched out?" he repeated. "Who scratched it out?"
+
+Graves shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the captain. "You don't know, but we're all entitled to
+guess, hey?... Humph!"
+
+"If this person is living," began Sylvester, "it follows that--"
+
+"Hold on a minute! I don't know much about corporations, of
+course--that's more in your line than 'tis in mine--but I want to
+ask one question. You say this what-d'ye-call-it--this Akrae
+thingamajig--was sold out, hull, canvas and riggin', to a crowd in
+Brazil? It's gone out of business then? It's dead?"
+
+"Yes. But--"
+
+"Wait! Ain't it customary, when a sale like this is made, to turn over
+all the stock, certificates and all? Sometimes you get stock in the new
+company in exchange; I know that. But to complete the trade, wouldn't
+this extry hundred shares be turned in? Or some sharp questionin' done
+if 'twa'n't?"
+
+He addressed the query to Sylvester. The latter seemed more troubled
+than before.
+
+"That," he said with some hesitation, "is one of the delicate points in
+this talk of ours, Captain Warren. A certificate for the missing hundred
+shares _was_ turned in. It was dated at the time of the original issue,
+made out in the name of one Edward Bradley, and transferred on the back
+by him to your brother. That is, it was presumably so transferred."
+
+"Presumably. Pre-sumably? You mean--?"
+
+"I mean that this certificate is--well, let us say, rather queer. To
+begin with, no one knows who this Bradley is, or was. His name appears
+nowhere except on that certificate, unless, of course, it did appear on
+the stub where the scratching has been done; we doubt that, for reasons.
+Nobody ever heard of the man; and his transfer to your brother was made,
+and the certificate signed by him, only three years ago, when the Akrae
+Company sold out. It will take too long to go into details; but thanks
+to the kindness of the Para concern, which has offices in this city--we
+have been able to examine this Bradley certificate. Experts have
+examined it, also. And they tell us--"
+
+He paused.
+
+"Well, what do they tell?" demanded the captain.
+
+"They tell us that--that, in their opinion, the certificate was never
+issued at the time when, by this date, it presumes to have been. It was
+made out no longer ago than five years, probably less. The signature of
+Bradley on the back is--is--well, I hate to say it, Captain Warren, but
+the handwriting on that signature resembles very closely that of your
+brother."
+
+Captain Elisha was silent for some moments. The others did not speak,
+but waited. Even Graves, between whom and his client there was little in
+common, felt the general sympathy.
+
+At length the captain raised his head.
+
+"Well," he said slowly, "we ain't children. We might as well call things
+by their right names. 'Bije forged that certificate."
+
+"I'm afraid there is no doubt of it."
+
+"Dear! dear! dear! Why, they put folks in state's prison for that!"
+
+"Yes. But a dead man is beyond prisons."
+
+"That's so. Then I don't see--"
+
+"You will. You don't grasp the full meaning of this affair even yet. If
+the Bradley certificate is a forgery, a fraud from beginning to end,
+then the presumption is that there was never any such person as Bradley.
+But _someone_ paid ten thousand dollars for one hundred Akrae shares
+when the company was formed. _That_ certificate has never been turned
+in. Some person or persons, somewhere, hold one hundred shares of Akrae
+Rubber Company stock. Think, now! Suppose that someone turns up and
+demands all that he has been cheated out of for the past seventeen
+years! Think of that!"
+
+"Well ... I am thinkin' of it. I got the scent of what you was drivin'
+at five minutes ago. And I don't see that we need to be afraid. He could
+have put 'Bije in jail; but 'Bije is already servin' a longer sentence
+than he could give him. So that disgrace ain't bearin' down on us.
+And, if I understand about such things, his claim is against the Akrae
+Company, and that's dead--dead as the man that started it. Maybe he
+could put in a keeper, or a receiver, or some such critter, but there's
+nothin' left to keep or receive. Ain't I right?"
+
+"You are. Or you would be, but for one thing, the really inexplicable
+thing in this whole miserable affair. Your brother, Captain Warren, was
+dishonest. He took money that didn't belong to him, and he forged that
+certificate. But he must have intended to make restitution. He must have
+been conscience-stricken and more to be pitied, perhaps, than condemned.
+No doubt, when he first began to withhold the dividends and use the
+money which was not his, he intended merely to borrow. He was always
+optimistic and always plunging in desperate and sometimes rather shady
+speculations which, he was sure, would turn out favorably. If they
+had--if, for instance, the South Shore Trolley Combine had been put
+through--You knew of that, did you?"
+
+"I've been told somethin' about it. Go on!"
+
+"Well, it was not put through, so his hopes there were frustrated. And
+that was but one of his schemes. However, when the sale of the Company
+was consummated, he did an extraordinary thing. He made out and signed
+his personal note, payable to the Akrae Company, for every cent he had
+misappropriated. And we found that note in his safe after his death.
+That was what first aroused our suspicions. _Now_, Captain Warren, do
+you understand?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not understand, that was evident. His look of
+wondering amazement traveled from one face to the others about the
+table.
+
+"A _note_!" he repeated. "'Bije put his _note_ in the safe? A note
+promisin' to pay all he'd stole! And left it there where it could be
+found? Why, that's pretty nigh unbelievable, Mr. Sylvester! He might
+just as well have confessed his crookedness and be done with it."
+
+"Yes. It is unbelievable, but it is true. Graves can show you the note."
+
+The junior partner produced a slip of paper from the portfolio and
+regarded it frowningly.
+
+"Of all the pieces of sheer lunacy," he observed, "that ever came under
+my observation, this is the worst. Here it is, Captain Warren."
+
+He extended the paper. Captain Elisha waved it aside.
+
+"I don't want to see it--not yet," he protested. "I want to think. I
+want to get at the reason if I can. Why did he do it?"
+
+"That is what we've been tryin' to find--the reason," remarked Kuhn,
+"and we can only guess. Sylvester has told you the guess. Rodgers Warren
+intended, or hoped, to make restitution before he died."
+
+"Yes. Knowin' 'Bije, I can see that. He was weak, that was his main
+trouble. He didn't mean to be crooked, but his knees wa'n't strong
+enough to keep him straight when it come to a hard push. But he made his
+note payable to a Company that was already sold out, so it ain't good
+for nothin'. Now, why--"
+
+Graves struck the table with his open hand.
+
+"He doesn't understand at all," he exclaimed, impatiently. "Captain
+Warren, listen! That note is made payable to the Akrae Company.
+Against that company some unknown stockholder has an apparent claim
+for two-fifths of all dividends ever paid and two-fifths of the seven
+hundred and fifty thousand received for the sale. With accrued interest,
+that claim amounts to over five hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"That note binds Rodgers Warren's estate to pay that claim. His own
+personal estate! And that estate is not worth over four hundred and
+sixty thousand dollars! If this stockholder should appear and press his
+claim, _your brother's children would be, not only penniless, but thirty
+thousand dollars in debt_! There! I think that is plain enough!"
+
+He leaned back, grimly satisfied with the effect of his statement.
+Captain Elisha stared straight before him, unseeingly, the color fading
+from his cheeks. Then he put both elbows on the table and covered his
+face with his hands.
+
+"You see, Captain," said Sylvester, gently, "how very serious the
+situation is. Graves has put it bluntly, but what he says is literally
+true. If your brother had deliberately planned to hand his children over
+to the mercy of that missing stockholder, he couldn't have done it more
+completely."
+
+Slowly the captain raised his head. His expression was a strange one;
+agitated and shocked, but with a curious look of relief, almost of
+triumph.
+
+"At last!" he said, solemnly. "At last! Now it's _all_ plain!"
+
+"All?" repeated Sylvester. "You mean--?"
+
+"I mean everything, all that's been puzzlin' me and troublin' my head
+since the very beginnin'. All of it! _Now_ I know why! Oh, 'Bije! 'Bije!
+'Bije!"
+
+Kuhn spoke quickly.
+
+"Captain," he said, "I believe you know who the owner of that one
+hundred shares is. Do you?"
+
+Captain Elisha gravely nodded.
+
+"Yes," he answered. "I know him."
+
+"What?"
+
+"You do?"
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+The questions were blurted out together. The captain looked at the three
+excited faces. He hesitated and then, taking the stub of a pencil from
+his pocket, drew toward him a memorandum pad lying on the table and
+wrote a line upon the uppermost sheet. Tearing off the page, he tossed
+it to Sylvester.
+
+"That's the name," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+Two more hours passed before the lawyers and their client rose from
+their seats about the long table. Even then the consultation was not at
+an end. Sylvester and the Captain lunched together at the Central Club
+and sat in the smoking room until after four, talking earnestly. When
+they parted, the attorney was grave and troubled.
+
+"All right, Captain Warren," he said; "I'll do it. And you may be right.
+I certainly hope you are. But I must confess I don't look forward to my
+task with pleasure. I think I've got the roughest end."
+
+"It'll be rough, there's no doubt about that. Rough for all hands, I
+guess. And I hope you understand, Mr. Sylvester, that there ain't many
+men I'd trust to do what I ask you to. I appreciate your doin' it more'n
+I can tell you. Be as--as gentle as you can, won't you?"
+
+"I will. You can depend upon that."
+
+"I do. And I sha'n't forget it. Good-by, till the next time."
+
+They shook hands. Captain Elisha returned to the boarding house, where
+he found a letter awaiting him. It was from Caroline, telling him of her
+engagement to Malcolm Dunn. She wrote that, while not recognizing his
+right to interfere in any way, she felt that perhaps he should know
+of her action. He did not go down to supper, and, when Pearson came to
+inquire the reason, excused himself, pleading a late luncheon and no
+appetite. He guessed he would turn in early, so he said. It was a poor
+guess.
+
+Next morning he went uptown. Edwards, opening the door of the Warren
+apartment, was surprised to find who had rung the bell.
+
+"Mornin', Commodore!" hailed the captain, as casually as if he were
+merely returning from a stroll. "Is Miss Caroline aboard ship?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know, sir. I'll see."
+
+"That's all right. She's aboard or you wouldn't have to see. You and me
+sailed together quite a spell, so I know your little habits. I'll wait
+in the library, Commodore. Tell her there's no particular hurry."
+
+His niece was expecting him. She had anticipated his visit and was
+prepared for it. From the emotion caused by his departure after the
+eventful birthday, she had entirely recovered, or thought she had. The
+surprise and shock of his leaving and the consequent sense of loneliness
+and responsibility overcame her at the time, but Stephen's ridicule and
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's congratulations on riddance from the "encumbrance"
+shamed her and stilled the reproaches of her conscience. Mrs. Dunn,
+as always, played the diplomat and mingled just the proper quantity of
+comprehending sympathy with the congratulations.
+
+"I understand exactly how you feel, my dear," she said. "You have a
+tender heart, and it pains you to hurt anyone's feelings, no matter how
+much they deserve to be hurt. Every time I dismiss an incompetent
+or dishonest servant I feel that I have done wrong; sometimes I cry,
+actually shed tears, you know, and yet my reason tells me I am right.
+You feel that you may have been too harsh with that guardian of yours.
+You remember what you said to him and forget how hypocritically he
+behaved toward you. I can't forgive him that. I may forget how he
+misrepresented Malcolm and me to you--that I may even pardon, in
+time--but to deceive his own brother's children and introduce into their
+society a creature who had slandered and maligned their father--_that_
+I never shall forget or forgive. And--you'll excuse my frankness,
+dear--you should never forget or forgive it, either. You have nothing
+with which to reproach yourself. You were a brave girl, and if you are
+not proud of yourself, _I_ am proud of you."
+
+So, when her uncle was announced, Caroline was ready. She entered the
+library and acknowledged his greeting with a distant bow. He regarded
+her kindly, but his manner was grave.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he began, "I got your letter."
+
+"Yes, I presumed you did."
+
+"Um-hm. I got it. It didn't surprise me, what you wrote, because I'd
+seen the news in the papers; but I was hopin' you'd tell me yourself,
+and I'm real glad you did. I'm much obliged to you."
+
+She had not expected him to take this tone, and it embarrassed her.
+
+"I--I gave you my reasons for writing," she said. "Although I do not
+consider that I am, in any sense, duty bound to refer matters, other
+than financial, to you; and, although my feelings toward you have not
+changed--still, you are my guardian, and--and--"
+
+"I understand. So you're really engaged?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Engaged to Mr. Dunn?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you're cal'latin' to marry him?"
+
+"One might almost take that for granted," impatiently.
+
+"Almost--yes. Not always, but generally, I will give in. You're goin' to
+marry Malcolm Dunn. Why?"
+
+"Why?" she repeated the question as if she doubted his sanity.
+
+"Yes. Be as patient with me as you can, Caroline. I ain't askin' these
+things without what seems to me a good reason. Why are you goin' to
+marry him?"
+
+"Why because I choose, I suppose."
+
+"Um-hm. Are you sure of that?"
+
+"Am I sure?" indignantly. "What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean are you sure that it's because you choose, or because _he_ does,
+or maybe, because his mother does?"
+
+She turned angrily away. "If you came here to insult me--" she began. He
+interrupted her.
+
+"No, no," he protested gently. "Insultin' you is the last thing I want
+to do. But, as your father did put you in my charge, I want you to bear
+with me while we talk this over together. Remember, Caroline, I ain't
+bothered you a great deal lately. I shouldn't now if I hadn't thought
+'twas necessary. So please don't get mad, but answer me this: Do you
+care for this man you've promised to marry?"
+
+This was a plain question. It should have been answered without the
+slightest hesitation. Moreover, the girl had expected him to ask it.
+Yet, for a moment, she did hesitate.
+
+"I mean," continued Captain Elisha, "do you care for him _enough_?
+Enough to live with him all your life, and see him every day, and be to
+him what a true wife ought to be? See him, not with his company manners
+on or in his automobile, but at the breakfast table, and when he comes
+home tired and cross, maybe. When you've got to be forbearin' and
+forgivin' and--"
+
+"He is one of my oldest and best friends--" she interrupted. Her uncle
+went on without waiting for her to end the sentence.
+
+"I know," he said. "One of the oldest, that's sure. But friendship,
+'cordin' to my notion, is somethin' so small in comparison that it
+hardly counts in the manifest. Married folks ought to be friends, sartin
+sure; but they ought to be a whole lot more'n that. I'm an old bach, you
+say, and ain't had no experience. That's true; but I've been young, and
+there was a time when _I_ made plans.... However, she died, and it never
+come to nothin'. But I _know_ what it means to be engaged, the right
+kind of engagement. It means that you don't count yourself at all, not a
+bit. You're ready, each of you, to give up all you've got--your wishes,
+comfort, money and what it'll buy, and your life, if it should come to
+that, for that other one. Do you care for Malcolm Dunn like that,
+Caroline?"
+
+She answered defiantly.
+
+"Yes, I do," she said.
+
+"You do. Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?"
+
+"Yes," with not quite the same promptness, but still defiantly.
+
+"You feel sartin of it, do you?"
+
+She stamped her foot. "Yes! yes! _Yes_!" she cried. "Oh, _do_ say what
+you came to say, and end it!"
+
+Her uncle rose to his feet.
+
+"Why, I guess likely I've said it," he observed. "When two people care
+for each other like that, they _ought_ to be married, and the sooner the
+better. I knew that you'd been lonesome and troubled, maybe; and some
+of the friends you used to have had kind of dropped away--busy with
+other affairs, which is natural enough--and, you needin' sympathy and
+companionship, I was sort of worried for fear all this had influenced
+you more'n it ought to, and you'd been led into sayin' yes without
+realizin' what it meant. But you tell me that ain't so; you do realize.
+So all I can say is that I'm awful glad for you. God bless you, my dear!
+I hope you'll be as happy as the day is long."
+
+His niece gazed at him, bewildered and incredulous. This she had _not_
+expected.
+
+"Thank you," she stammered. "I did not know--I thought--"
+
+"Of course you did--of course. Well, then, Caroline, I guess that's all.
+I won't trouble you any longer. Good-by."
+
+He turned toward the door, but stopped, hesitated, and turned back
+again.
+
+"There is just one thing more," he said solemnly. "I don't know's I
+ought to speak, but--I want to--and I'm goin' to. And I want you to
+believe it! I do want you to!"
+
+He was so earnest, and the look he gave her was so strange, that she
+began to be alarmed.
+
+"What is it?" she demanded.
+
+"Why--why, just this, Caroline. This is a tough old world we live in.
+Things don't always go on in it as we think they'd ought to. Trouble
+comes to everybody, and when it all looks right sometimes it turns out
+to be all wrong. If--if there should come a time like that to you and
+Steve, I want you to remember that you've got me to turn to. No matter
+what you think of me, what folks have made you think of me, just
+remember that I'm waitin' and ready to help you all I can. Any time I'm
+ready--and glad. Just remember that, won't you, because.... Well, there!
+Good-by, Good-by!"
+
+He hurried away. She stood gazing after him, astonished, a little
+frightened, and not a little disturbed and touched. His emotion was so
+evident; his attitude toward her engagement was so different from that
+which she had anticipated; and there was something in his manner which
+she could not understand. He had acted as if he pitied her. Why? It
+could not be because she was to marry Malcolm Dunn. If it were that, she
+resented his pity, of course. But it could not be that, because he had
+given her his blessing. What was it? Was there something else; something
+that she did not know and he did? Why was he so kind and forbearing and
+patient?
+
+All her old doubts and questionings returned. She had resolutely kept
+them from her thoughts, but they had been there, in the background,
+always. When, after the long siege, she had at last yielded and said
+yes to Malcolm, she felt that that question, at least, was settled. She
+would marry him. He was one whom she had known all her life, the son of
+the dearest friend she had; he and his mother had been faithful at the
+time when she needed friends. As her husband, he would protect her and
+give her the affection and companionship she craved. He might appear
+careless and indifferent at times, but that was merely his manner. Had
+not Mrs. Dunn told her over and over again what a good son he was, and
+what a kind heart he had, and how he worshiped her? Oh, she ought to be
+a very happy girl! Of course she was happy. But why had her uncle looked
+at her as he did? And what did he mean by hinting that when things
+looked right they sometimes were all wrong? She wished Malcolm was with
+her then; she needed him.
+
+She heard the clang of the elevator door. Then the bell rang furiously.
+She heard Edwards hasten to answer it. Then, to her amazement, she heard
+her brother's voice.
+
+"Caroline!" demanded Stephen. "Caroline! Where are you?"
+
+He burst into the room, still wearing his coat and hat, and carrying a
+traveling bag in his hand.
+
+"Why, Steve!" she said, going toward him. "Why, Steve! what--"
+
+He was very much excited.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, "you're all right then! You are all right, aren't
+you?"
+
+"All right? Why shouldn't I be all right? What do you mean? And why are
+you here?"
+
+He returned her look of surprise with one of great astonishment.
+
+"Why am I here?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes. Why did you come from New Haven?"
+
+"Why, because I got the telegram, of course! You expected me to come,
+didn't you?"
+
+"_I_ expected you? Telegram? What telegram?"
+
+"Why, the--Good Lord, Caro! what are you talking about? Didn't you know
+they telegraphed me to come home at once? I've pretty nearly broke my
+neck, and the taxicab man's, getting here from the station. I thought
+you must be very ill, or something worse."
+
+"They telegraphed you to come here? Who.... Edwards, you may take Mr.
+Warren's things to his room."
+
+"But, Sis--"
+
+"Just a moment, Steve. Give Edwards your coat and hat. Yes, and your
+bag. That will be all, Edwards. We sha'n't need you."
+
+When they were alone, she turned again to her brother.
+
+"Now, Steve," she said, "sit down and tell me what you mean. Who
+telegraphed you?"
+
+"Why, old Sylvester, father's lawyer. I've got the message here
+somewhere. No, never mind! I've lost it, I guess. He wired me to come
+home as early as possible this morning. Said it was very important. And
+you didn't know anything about it?"
+
+"No, not a thing. What can it mean?"
+
+"_I_ don't know! That's the bell, isn't it? Edwards!"
+
+But the butler was already on his way to the door. A moment later he
+returned.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," he announced.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Captain Elisha scarcely left his room, except for meals, during the
+remainder of that day and for two days thereafter. He was unusually
+silent at table and avoided conversation even with Pearson, who was
+depressed and gloomy and made no attempt to force his society upon
+his friend. Once, passing the door of the latter's room, he heard the
+captain pacing back and forth as if he were walking the quarter-deck of
+one of his old ships. As Pearson stood listening the footsteps ceased;
+silence, then a deep sigh, and they began again. The young man sighed
+in sympathy and wearily climbed to his den. The prospect of chimneys
+and roofs across the way was never more desolate or more pregnant with
+discouragement.
+
+Several times Captain Elisha descended to the closet where the telephone
+was fastened to the wall and held long conversations with someone. Mrs.
+Hepton, who knew that her newest boarder was anxious and disturbed, and
+was very curious to learn the reason, made it a point to be busy near
+that closet while these conversations took place; but, as the captain
+was always careful to close the door, she was disappointed. Once the
+mysterious Mr. Sylvester called up and asked for "Captain Warren," and
+the landlady hastened with the summons.
+
+"I hope it's nothing serious," she observed, feelingly.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied the captain, on his way to the stairs. "Much
+obliged."
+
+"It is the same person who was so very anxious to get you the other
+night," she continued, making desperate efforts not to be left behind in
+the descent. "I declare he quite frightened me! And--you'll excuse
+me, Captain Warren, but I take such a real friendly interest in my
+boarders--you have seemed to me rather--rather upset lately, and I _do_
+hope it isn't bad news."
+
+"Well, I tell you, ma'am," was the unsatisfactory answer, given just
+before the closet door closed; "we'll do the way the poor relation
+did when he got word his uncle had willed him one of his suits of
+clothes--we'll hope for the best."
+
+Sylvester had a report to make.
+
+"The other party has been here," he said. "He has just gone."
+
+"The other party? Why--you don't mean--_him_?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Was he alone? Nobody along to look after him?"
+
+"He was alone, for a wonder. He had heard the news, too. Apparently had
+just learned it."
+
+"He had? I want to know! Who told him?"
+
+"He didn't say. He was very much agitated. Wouldn't say anything except
+to ask if it was true. I think we can guess who told him."
+
+"Maybe. Well, what did you say?"
+
+"Nothing of importance. I refused to discuss my clients' affairs."
+
+"Right you are! How did he take that?"
+
+"He went up like a sky-rocket. Said he had a right to know, under the
+circumstances. I admitted it, but said I could tell him nothing--yet. He
+went away frantic, and I called you."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, Mr. Sylvester, suppose you do see him and his boss. See
+'em and tell 'em some of the truth. Don't tell too much though; not who
+was to blame nor how, but just that it looks pretty bad so fur as the
+estate's concerned. Then say you want to see 'em again and will arrange
+another interview. Don't set any time and place for that until you hear
+from me. Understand?"
+
+"I think so, partially. But--"
+
+"Until you hear from me--that's the important part. And, if you can,
+convenient, I'd have the fust interview right off; this afternoon, if
+it's possible."
+
+"Captain, what have you got up your sleeve? Why don't you come down here
+and talk it over?"
+
+"'Cause I'm stickin' close aboard and waitin' developments. Maybe there
+won't be any, but I'm goin' to wait a spell and see. There ain't much up
+my sleeve just now but goose-flesh; there's plenty of that. So long."
+
+A development came that evening. Mrs. Hepton heralded it.
+
+"Captain," she said, when he answered her knock, "there's a young
+gentleman to see you. I think he must be a relative of yours. His name
+is Warren."
+
+Captain Elisha pulled his beard. "A young _gentleman_?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes. I showed him into the parlor. There will be no one there but you
+and he, and I thought it would be more comfortable."
+
+"Um-hm. I see. Well, I guess you'd better send him up. This is
+comfortable enough, and there won't be nobody but him and me here,
+either--and I'll be more sartin of it."
+
+The landlady, who considered herself snubbed, flounced away. Captain
+Elisha stepped to the head of the stairs.
+
+"Come right up, Steve!" he called.
+
+Stephen came. His uncle ushered him into the room, closed the door, and
+turned the key.
+
+"Stevie," he said, kindly, "I'm glad to see you. Take off your things
+and set down."
+
+The boy accepted the invitation only to the extent of throwing his hat
+on the table. He did not sit or remove his overcoat. He was pale, his
+eyes were swollen and red, his hair was disarranged, and in all respects
+he looked unlike his usual blase and immaculate self. His forehead was
+wet, showing that he had hurried on his way to the boarding house.
+
+The captain regarded him pityingly.
+
+"Set down, Stevie," he urged. "You're all het up and worn out."
+
+His nephew paid no attention. Instead he asked a question.
+
+"You know about it?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes, Stevie; I know."
+
+"You do? I--I mean about the--the Akrae Company and--and all?"
+
+"Yes. I know all about all of it. Do set down!"
+
+Stephen struck his closed fist into the palm of his other hand. He wore
+one glove. What had become of the other he could not have told.
+
+"You do?" he shouted. "You do? By gad! Then do you know what it means?"
+
+"Yes, I know that, too. Now, Stevie, be a good boy and set down and keep
+cool. Yes, I want you to."
+
+He put his hands on his nephew's shoulders and forced him into a chair.
+
+"Now, just calm yourself," urged the captain. "There ain't a mite of
+use workin' yourself up this way. I know the whole business, and I can't
+tell you--I can't begin to tell you how sorry I feel for you. Yet you
+mustn't give up the ship because--"
+
+"Mustn't give up!" Stephen was on his feet again. "Why, what are you
+talking about? I thought you said you knew! Do you think that losing
+every cent you've got in the world is a _joke_? Do you think that--See
+here, do you know who this shareholder is; this fellow who's going to
+rob us of all we own? Who is he?"
+
+"Didn't Mr. Sylvester tell you?"
+
+"He said that there was such a man and that he had the estate cinched.
+He told us about that note and all the rest. But he wouldn't tell the
+man's name. Said he had been forbidden to mention it. Do you know him?
+What sort of fellow is he? Don't you think he could be reasoned with?
+Hasn't he got any decency--or pity--or--"
+
+He choked, and the tears rushed to his eyes. He wiped them angrily away
+with the back of his glove.
+
+"It's a crime!" he cried. "Can't he be held off somehow? Who _is_ he? I
+want to know his name."
+
+Captain Elisha sadly shook his head. "I'm afraid he can't, Stevie," he
+said. "He's got a legal right to all 'Bije left, and more, too. It
+may be he won't be too hard; perhaps he'll ... but there," hastily. "I
+mustn't say that. We've got to face the situation as 'tis. And I
+can't tell you his name because he don't want it mentioned unless it's
+absolutely necessary. And we don't, either. We don't want--any of us--to
+have this get into the papers. We mustn't have any disgrace."
+
+"Disgrace! Good heavens! Isn't there disgrace enough already? Isn't
+it enough to know father was a crook as well as an idiot? I've always
+thought he was insane ever since that crazy will of his came to light;
+but to steal! and then to leave a paper proving it, so that we've got to
+lose everything! His children! It's--"
+
+"Now hold on, boy! Your dad didn't mean to take what didn't belong to
+him--for good, that is; the note proves that. He did do wrong and used
+another man's money, but--"
+
+"Then why didn't he keep it? If you're going to steal, steal like a man,
+I say!"
+
+"Steve, Steve! steady now!" The captain's tone was sterner. "Don't speak
+that way. You'll be sorry for it later. I tell you I don't condemn your
+father ha'f so much as I pity him."
+
+"Oh, shut up! You make me sick. You talk just as Caro does. I'll never
+forgive him, no matter how much she preaches, and I told her so. Pity!
+Pity him! How about pity for _me_? I--I--"
+
+His over-wrought nerves gave way, and, throwing himself into the chair,
+he broke down completely and, forgetting the manhood of which he was so
+fond of boasting, cried like a baby. Captain Elisha turned away, to hide
+his own emotion.
+
+"It's hard," he said slowly. "It's awfully hard for you, my boy. I hate
+to see you suffer this way." Then, in a lower tone, he added doubtfully.
+"I wonder if--if--I wonder--"
+
+His nephew heard the word and interrupted.
+
+"You wonder?" he demanded, hysterically; "you wonder what? What are you
+going to do about it? It's up to you, isn't it? You're our guardian,
+aren't you?"
+
+"Yes, Stevie, I'm your guardian."
+
+"Yes, you are! But no one would guess it. When we didn't want you, you
+wouldn't leave us for a minute. Now, when we need you, when there isn't
+a soul for us to turn to, you stay away. You haven't been near us. It's
+up to you, I say! and what are you going to do about it? What are you
+going to _do_?"
+
+His uncle held up his hand.
+
+"S-shh!" he said. "Don't raise your voice like that, son! I can hear you
+without that, and we don't want anybody else to hear. What am I goin' to
+do? Stevie, I don't know exactly. I ain't made up my mind yet."
+
+"Well, it's time you did!"
+
+"Yes, I guess likely 'tis. As for my not comin' to see you, you know the
+reason for that. I'd have come quick enough, but I wa'n't sure I'd
+be welcome. And I told your sister only 'tother day that--by the way,
+Steve, how is she? How is Caroline?"
+
+"She's a fool!" The boy sprang up again and shook his fist. "She's the
+one I've come here to speak about. If we don't stop her she'll ruin us
+altogether. She--she's a damned fool, I tell you!"
+
+"There! there!" the captain's tone was sharp and emphatic. "That's
+enough of that," he said. "I don't want to hear you call your sister
+names. What do you mean by it?"
+
+"I mean what I say. She _is_ a fool. Do you know what she's done? She's
+written Mal Dunn all about it! I'd have stopped her, but I didn't know
+until it was too late. She's told him the whole thing."
+
+"She has? About 'Bije?"
+
+"Well, perhaps she didn't tell him father was a thief, but she did tell
+that the estate was gone--that we were flat broke and worse."
+
+"Hum!" Captain Elisha seemed more gratified than displeased. "Hum!...
+Well, I kind of expected she would. Knowin' her, I kind of expected it."
+
+"You did?" Stephen glared in wrathful amazement. "You expected it?"
+
+"Yes. What of it?"
+
+"What _of_ it? Why, everything! Can't you see? Mal's our only chance. If
+she marries him she'll be looked out for and so will I. She needn't have
+told him until they were married. The wedding could have been hurried
+along; the Dunns were crazy to have it as soon as possible. Now--"
+
+"Hold on, Steve! Belay! What difference does her tellin' him make? Maybe
+she hasn't mentioned it to you, but I had a talk with your sister the
+other mornin'. She thinks the world of Malcolm, and he does of her. She
+told me so herself. Of _course_ she'd go to him in her trouble. And
+he'll be proud--yes, and glad to know that he can help her. As for the
+weddin', I don't see that this'll have any effect except to hurry it up
+a little more, maybe."
+
+Steve looked at him suspiciously, but there was no trace of sarcasm in
+the captain's face or voice. The boy scowled.
+
+"Ugh!" he grunted.
+
+"What's the 'ugh' for? See here, you ain't hintin' that young Dunn was
+cal'latin' to marry Caroline just for her money, are you? Of course you
+ain't! Why, you and he are the thickest sort of chums. You wouldn't chum
+with a feller who would play such a trick as that on your own sister."
+
+Stephen's scowl deepened. He thrust his hands into his pocket, and
+shifted his feet uneasily.
+
+"You don't understand," he said. "People don't do things here as they do
+where you come from."
+
+"I understand that, all right," with dry emphasis. "I've been here long
+enough to understand that. But maybe I don't understand _you_. Heave
+ahead, and make it plain."
+
+"Well--well, then--I mean this: I don't know that Mal was after Caro's
+money, but--but he had a right to expect _some_. If he didn't, why, then
+her not telling him until after they were married wouldn't have made
+any difference. And--and if her tellin' him beforehand _should_ make a
+difference and he wanted to break the engagement, she's just romantic
+fool enough to let him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"_Well?_ If she doesn't marry him, who's going to take care of her?
+What's going to become of _me_? We haven't a cent. What kind of a
+guardian are you? Do you want us to starve?"
+
+He was shouting again. The captain was calm. "Oh," he said, "I guess
+it won't reach to the starvation point. I'm a pretty tough old critter,
+'cordin' to your estimate, but I shouldn't let my brother's children
+starve. If the wust comes to the wust, there's always a home and plenty
+to eat for you both at South Denboro."
+
+This offer did not appear to comfort the young gentleman greatly. His
+disgust was evident.
+
+"South Denboro!" he repeated, scornfully. "Gad!... South Denboro!"
+
+"Yup. But we'll let South Denboro alone for now and stick to New York.
+What is it you expect me to do? What are you drivin' at?"
+
+Stephen shook a forefinger in his guardian's face.
+
+"I expect you to make her stick to her engagement," he cried. "And make
+her make him stick. She can, can't she? It's been announced, hasn't it?
+Everybody knows of it! She's got the right--the legal right to hold him,
+hasn't she?"
+
+His uncle regarded him with a quizzical smile. "Why, ye-es," he
+answered, "I cal'late she has, maybe. Course, there's no danger of his
+wantin' to do such a thing, but if he should I presume likely we could
+make it uncomfortable for him, anyhow. What are you hankerin' for,
+Steve--a breach-of-promise suit? I've always understood those sort of
+cases were kind of unpleasant--for everybody but the newspapers."
+
+The boy was in deadly earnest. "Pleasant!" he repeated. "Is any of this
+business pleasant? You make her act like a sensible girl! You're her
+guardian, and you make her! And, after that, if he tries to hedge, you
+tell him a few things. You can hold him! Do it! _Do_ it!"
+
+Captain Elisha turned on his heel and began pacing up and down the room.
+His nephew watched him eagerly.
+
+"Well," he demanded, after a moment, "what are we going to do? Are we
+going to make him make good?"
+
+The captain paused. "Steve," he answered, deliberately, "I ain't sure as
+we are. And, as I've said, if he's got a spark of decency, it won't be
+necessary for us to try. If it should be--if it should be--"
+
+"Well, _if_ it should be?"
+
+"Then we can try, that's all. Maybe you run a course a little different
+from me, Stevie; you navigate 'cordin' to your ideas, and I do by mine.
+But in some ways we ain't so fur apart. Son," with a grim nod, "you rest
+easy on one thing--the Corcoran Dunn fleet is goin' to show its colors."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Caroline sat by the library window, her chin in her hand, drearily
+watching the sleet as it beat against the panes, and the tops of the
+Park trees lashing in the wind. Below, in the street, the trolleys
+passed in their never-ending procession, the limousines and cabs whizzed
+forlornly by, and the few pedestrians pushed dripping umbrellas against
+the gale. A wet, depressing afternoon, as hopeless as her thoughts, and
+growing darker and more miserable hourly.
+
+Stephen, standing by the fire, kicked the logs together and sent a
+shower of sparks flying.
+
+"Oh, say something, Caro, do!" he snapped testily. "Don't sit there
+glowering; you give me the horrors."
+
+She roused from her reverie, turned, and tried to smile.
+
+"What shall I say?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know. But say something, for heaven's sake! Talk about the
+weather, if you can't think of anything more original."
+
+"The weather isn't a very bright subject just now."
+
+"I didn't say it was; but it's _a_ subject. I hope to goodness it
+doesn't prevent Sylvester's keeping his appointment. He's late, as it
+is."
+
+"Is he?" wearily. "I hadn't noticed."
+
+"Of course you hadn't. You don't notice anything. It doesn't help
+matters to pull a long face and go moping around wiping your eyes.
+You've got to use philosophy in times like this. It's just as hard for
+me as it is for you; and I try to make the best of it, don't I?"
+
+She might have reminded him that his philosophy was a very recent
+acquisition. When the news of their poverty first came he was the one
+who raved and sobbed and refused to contemplate anything less direful
+than slow starvation or quick suicide. She had soothed and comforted
+then. Since the previous evening, when he had gone out, in spite of her
+protestations, and left her alone, his manner had changed. He was still
+nervous and irritable, but no longer threatened self-destruction, and
+seemed, for some unexplained reason, more hopeful and less desperate.
+Sylvester had 'phoned, saying that he would call at the apartment at
+two, and since Stephen had received the message he had been in a state
+of suppressed excitement, scarcely keeping still for five minutes at a
+time.
+
+"It is just as hard for me as it is for you, isn't it?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, Steve, I suppose it is."
+
+"You suppose? Don't you know? Oh, do quit thinking about Mal Dunn and
+pay attention to me."
+
+She did not answer. He regarded her with disgust.
+
+"You are thinking of Mal, of course," he declared. "What's the use? You
+know what _I_ think: you were a fool to write him that letter."
+
+"Don't, Steve; please don't."
+
+"Ugh!"
+
+"Don't you know he didn't get the letter? I was so nervous and
+over-wrought that I misdirected it."
+
+"Pooh! Has he ever stayed away from you so long before? Or his precious
+mother, either? Why doesn't she come to see you? She scarcely missed a
+day before this happened. Nonsense! I guess he got it all right."
+
+"Steve, stop! stop! Don't dare speak like that. Do you realize what you
+are insinuating? You don't believe it! You know you don't! Shame on you!
+I'm ashamed of my brother! No! not another word of that kind, or I shall
+leave the room."
+
+She had risen to her feet. He looked at her determined face and turned
+away.
+
+"Oh, well," he muttered, sullenly, "maybe you're right. I don't say
+you're not. Perhaps he didn't get the letter. You sent it to his office,
+and he may have been called out of town. But his mother--"
+
+"Mrs. Dunn was not well when I last saw her. She may be ill."
+
+"Perhaps. But if you're so sure about them, why not let it go at that?
+What's the use of fretting?"
+
+"I was not thinking of them--then."
+
+As a matter of fact, she had been thinking of her uncle, Elisha Warren.
+As the time dragged by, she thought of him more and more--not as the
+uncouth countryman whose unwelcome presence had been forced into her
+life; nor as the hypocrite whose insult to her father's memory she
+never could forgive or whose double-dealing had been, as she thought,
+revealed; but as the man who, with the choke in his voice and the tears
+in his eyes, bade her remember that, whenever she needed help, he was
+ready and glad to give it.
+
+She did not doubt Malcolm's loyalty. Her brother's hints and
+insinuations found no echo in her thoughts. In the note which she had
+written her fiance she told of the loss of their fortune, though not of
+her father's shame. That she could not tell; nor did she ask Malcolm to
+come to her--her pride would not permit that. She wrote simply of her
+great trouble and trusted the rest to him. That he had not come was
+due--so she kept repeating to herself--solely to the fact that he had
+not received her letter. She knew that was it--she knew it. And yet--and
+yet he did not come.
+
+So, in her loneliness and misery, her guardian's words returned again
+and again to her memory: "Sometimes when things look all right they turn
+out to be all wrong. If ever there comes a time like that to you and
+Steve, remember you've got me to turn to." The time had come when she
+must turn to someone.
+
+She would never go to him; she vowed it. She would not accept his help
+if he came to her. But, if he was sincere, if he meant what he said,
+why did he not come again to proffer it? Because he was not sincere,
+of course. That had been proven long before. She despised him. But
+his face, as she last saw it, refused to be banished from her mind.
+It looked so strong, and yet gentle and loving, like the face of a
+protector, one to be trusted through good times and bad. Oh, this
+wicked, wicked world, and the shams and sorrows in it! "Malcolm, why
+don't you come to me?"
+
+Stephen uttered an exclamation. Looking up, she saw him hurrying toward
+the hall.
+
+"Someone's at the door," he explained. "It's Sylvester, of course. I'll
+let him in."
+
+It was not the lawyer but a messenger boy with a note. Stephen returned
+to the library with the missive in his hand.
+
+"He couldn't get here, Caro," he said, excitedly. "Wants us to come
+right down to his office. Hurry up! Get your things on. The cab's
+waiting. Come! Rush! It may be important."
+
+The cab, an electric vehicle, made good time, and they soon reached the
+Pine Street offices, where they were ushered at once into the senior
+partner's presence.
+
+"Step into the other room," said Mr. Sylvester, "and wait there, please.
+I'll join you shortly."
+
+The room was the large one where the momentous conference between
+Captain Elisha and the three lawyers had so recently taken place.
+Caroline seated herself in one of the chairs. Stephen walked the floor.
+
+"Hope he doesn't keep us waiting long," he fumed. "I thought of course
+he was ready or he wouldn't have sent for us."
+
+"Ready?" his sister looked at him, questioningly. "Ready for what?" she
+repeated, with sudden suspicion. "Steve, do you know what Mr. Sylvester
+wishes to see us about?"
+
+Her brother colored and seemed a bit disconcerted. "How should I know?"
+he muttered.
+
+"Is it something new about the estate or that man who owns it? You do
+know something! I can see it in your face. What is it?"
+
+"Nothing. How should I know what it is?"
+
+"But you do. I believe you do. Look at me! What does Mr. Sylvester want
+of us?"
+
+The boy hesitated; then whirled and faced her. "See here, Caro," he
+said, "maybe I do know something--or I can guess. Now, whatever happens,
+you've got to be a sensible girl. Certain things have to be dealt
+with in a practical way, and we're practical people. Sentiment--and
+pride--and all that sort of stuff, are well enough, but business is
+business and an engagement is an engagement. Now it's right up to you
+and--"
+
+"Steve, what are you talking about?"
+
+"That's all right. I know what I'm talking about. Somebody in the
+family must use common sense, and when it comes to holding a person to a
+promise, then--Confound it, Sis, we can't starve, can we?"
+
+"What do you mean?" She rose and advanced toward him. "What do you mean
+by a promise? What have you been doing?"
+
+His confusion increased. He avoided her eyes and moved sullenly toward
+the other side of the table.
+
+"I haven't done anything," he grumbled, "that is, I've done what any
+reasonable fellow would do. I'm not the only one who thinks.... Look
+here! We've got a guardian, haven't we?"
+
+"A guardian! a _guardian_! Stephen Warren, have you been to him? Have
+you--Was _that_ where you were last night?"
+
+"Well, I--"
+
+"Answer me!"
+
+"What if I have? Whom else am I to go to? Isn't he--"
+
+"But why did you go to him? What did you say?"
+
+"I said--I said--Never mind what I said. He agrees with me, I can tell
+you that. You'll thank your stars I did go, before very long. I....
+S-sh! Here's Sylvester."
+
+The door of the room opened. The person who entered, however, was not
+the lawyer, but the very man of whom they had been speaking, Captain
+Elisha himself. He closed the door behind him.
+
+"Hello, Stevie," he said, with a nod to the boy. Then, turning to his
+niece, he stepped forward and held out his hand. "Caroline," he began,
+"I don't doubt you're some surprised to see me here; but I.... Why,
+what's the matter?"
+
+The faces of the pair led him to ask the question. Stephen's was red and
+he looked embarrassed and guilty. Caroline's was white, and she glanced
+from her brother to her guardian and back again, with flashing eyes.
+
+"What's the matter?" repeated the captain. "Steve," sharply, "have you
+been making a fool of yourself again? What is it?"
+
+"Nothing," was the sulky answer; "nothing of consequence. Caro is--well,
+I happened to mention that I called on you last night and--and she
+doesn't seem to like it, that's all. As I told her, somebody in the
+family had to use common sense, and you were our guardian and naturally,
+under the circumstances.... Why, I'll leave it to anyone!" with a burst
+of righteous indignation. "You _are_ our guardian."
+
+He proclaimed it as if he expected a denial. Captain Elisha frowned.
+"Humph!" he grunted. "That ain't exactly news, is it, Steve? Seems to me
+we've taken up that p'int afore; though, as I remember, you didn't used
+to be sot on all hands knowin' it," with dry sarcasm. "I don't need even
+your common sense to remind me of it just at this minute. Caroline, your
+brother did come to see me last night. I was glad he did."
+
+She ignored him. "Steve," she demanded, still facing the young man, "was
+this, too, a part of your plan? Did you bring me here to meet--him?"
+
+"No, I didn't. Sylvester was to come to see us. You know that; he
+telephoned. I didn't know--"
+
+The captain interrupted. "There, there, son!" he exclaimed, "let me say
+a word. No, Caroline, Stevie didn't know I was to meet you here. But
+I thought it was necessary that I should. Set down, please. I know you
+must be worn out, poor girl."
+
+"I don't wish to sit. I want to know what my brother called to see you
+about."
+
+"Well, there was some matters he wanted to talk over."
+
+"What were they? Concerning the estate?"
+
+"Partly that."
+
+"Partly? What else? Captain Warren, my brother has hinted--he has
+said--What does he mean by holding someone to a promise? Answer me
+truthfully."
+
+"I shouldn't answer you any other way, Caroline. Steve seems to be
+worried about--now you mustn't mind my speakin' plain, Caroline; the
+time's come when I've got to--Steve seems to be worried about the young
+man you're engaged to. He seems to cal'late that Mr. Dunn may want to
+slip out of that engagement."
+
+His niece looked at him. Then she turned to her brother. "You went to
+_him_ and.... Oh, how _could_ you!"
+
+Stephen would not meet her gaze. "Well," he muttered rebelliously, "why
+wouldn't I? You know yourself that Mal hasn't been near you since it
+happened. If he wasn't after--if he was straight, he would have come,
+wouldn't he? Mind, I don't say he isn't--perhaps he doesn't know. But,
+at any rate, something must be done. We had to face possibilities, and
+you wouldn't listen to me. I tried--"
+
+"Stop!" she cut him short, imperiously. "Don't make me hate you. And
+you," turning to her uncle, "did _you_ listen and believe such things?
+Did you encourage him to believe them? Oh, I know what you think of my
+friends! I heard it from your own lips. And I know why you think it.
+Because they know what you are; because they exposed you and--"
+
+"There, there! Caroline, you needn't go on. I've heard your opinion
+of my character afore. Never mind me for the minute. And, if you'll
+remember, _I_ ain't said that I doubted your young man. You told me
+that you thought the world and all of him and that he did of you. That's
+enough--or ought to be. But your brother says you wrote him two days ago
+and he ain't been near you."
+
+"I misdirected the letter. He didn't receive it."
+
+"Um-hm. I see. That would explain."
+
+"Of course it would. That _must_ be the reason."
+
+"Yes, seem's if it must."
+
+"It is. What right have you to doubt it? Oh, how can you think such
+things? Can you suppose the man I am to marry is so despicable--so
+_mean_ as to--as to--I'm ashamed to say it. Why do you presume that
+money has any part in our engagement? Such trouble as mine only makes it
+more binding. Do you suppose if _he_ were poor as--as I am, that I would
+desert _him_? You know I wouldn't. I should be glad--yes, almost happy,
+because then I could show him--could--"
+
+Her voice failed her. She put her handkerchief to her eyes for an
+instant and then snatched it away and faced them, her head erect. The
+pride in her face was reflected in Captain Elisha's as he regarded her.
+
+"No, no," he said gently, "I never supposed you'd act but in one way,
+Caroline. I knew _you_. And, as Steve'll tell you, I said to him almost
+the same words you've been sayin'. If Malcolm's what he'd ought to be,
+I said, he'll be glad of the chance to prove how much he cares for your
+sister. But Steve appeared to have some misgivin's, and so--"
+
+He paused, turned toward the door, and seemed to be listening. Caroline
+flashed an indignant glance at her brother.
+
+"And so?" she asked, scornfully.
+
+"And so," continued the captain, with a slight change in his tone, "it
+seemed to me that his doubts ought to be settled. And," rising, as there
+came a tap at the door, "I cal'late they're goin' to be."
+
+He walked briskly over and opened the door. Sylvester was standing
+without.
+
+"Come, have they?" inquired Captain Elisha.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Fetch 'em right in here. Steve, stand over nigher that corner. This
+way, Caroline, if you please."
+
+He took his niece by the arm and led her to the side of the room not
+visible from the doorway. She was too astonished to resist, but asked an
+agitated question.
+
+"What is it?" she cried. "Who is coming?"
+
+"Some friends of yours," was the quiet reply. "Nothin' to be frightened
+about. Steve, stay where you are."
+
+The boy was greatly excited. "Is it they?" he demanded. "Is it? By gad!
+Now, Sis, be a sensible girl. If he should try to hedge, you hold him.
+Hold him! Understand?"
+
+"Steve, be quiet," ordered the captain.... "Ah, Mrs. Dunn, good
+afternoon, ma'am. Mr. Dunn, good afternoon, sir."
+
+For the pair who, followed by Sylvester, now entered the room were Mrs.
+Corcoran Dunn and Malcolm.
+
+They were past the sill before Captain Elisha's greeting caused them to
+turn and see the three already there. Mrs. Dunn, who was in the lead,
+stopped short in her majestic though creaking march of entrance, and her
+florid face turned a brighter crimson. Her son, strolling languidly at
+her heels, started violently and dropped his hat. The lawyer, bringing
+up in the rear, closed the door and remained standing near it. Caroline
+uttered an exclamation of surprise. Her brother drew himself haughtily
+erect. Captain Elisha remained unperturbed and smiling.
+
+"Good afternoon, ma'am," he repeated. "It's been some time since you and
+I run across each other. I hope you're feelin' pretty smart."
+
+Mrs. Dunn had faced some unpleasant situations in her life and
+had proved equal to them. Usually, however, she had been prepared
+beforehand. For this she had not been prepared--as yet. She had come
+to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, at the senior partner's
+request, to be told, as she supposed, the full and final details of
+the financial disaster threatening the Warren family. If those details
+should prove the disaster as overwhelming as it appeared, then--well,
+then, certain disagreeable duties must be performed. But to meet the
+girl to whom her son was engaged, and whom she and he had carefully
+avoided meeting until the lawyers should acquaint them with the whole
+truth--to meet this girl, and her brother, and her guardian, thus
+unexpectedly and unprepared, was enough to shake the composure and nerve
+of even such a veteran campaigner as Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn.
+
+But of the three to whom the meeting was an absolute
+surprise,--Caroline, Malcolm and herself--she was characteristically the
+first to regain outward serenity. For a moment she stood nonplused and
+speechless, but only for a moment. Then she hastened, with outstretched
+arms, to Caroline and clasped her in affectionate embrace.
+
+"My dear child!" she cried; "my dear girl! I'm _so_ glad to see you!
+I've thought of you so much! And I pity you so. Poor Malcolm
+has--Malcolm," sharply, "come here! Don't you see Caroline?"
+
+Malcolm was groping nervously for his hat. He picked it up and obeyed
+his mother's summons, though with no great eagerness.
+
+"How d'ye do, Caroline," he stammered, confusedly. "I--I--It's a deuce
+of a surprise to see you down here. The mater and I didn't expect--that
+is, we scarcely hoped to meet anyone but Sylvester. He sent for us, you
+know."
+
+He extended his hand. She did not take it.
+
+"Did you get my letter?" she asked, quickly. Mrs. Dunn answered for him.
+
+"Yes, dear, he got it," she said. "The poor fellow was almost crazy. I
+began to fear for his sanity; I did, indeed. I did not dare trust him
+out of my sight. Oh, if you could but know how we feel for you and pity
+you!"
+
+Pity was not what Caroline wanted just then. The word jarred upon her.
+She avoided the lady's embrace and once more faced the embarrassed
+Malcolm.
+
+"You got my letter?" she cried. "You _did_?"
+
+"Yes--er--yes, I got it, Caroline. I--by Jove, you know--"
+
+He hesitated, stammered, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. His mother
+regarded him wrathfully.
+
+"Well," she snapped, "why don't you go on? Caroline, dear, you really
+must excuse him. The dear boy is quite overcome."
+
+Captain Elisha stepped forward.
+
+"Excuse me for interruptin', ma'am," he said, addressing the ruffled
+matron; "but I know you're sort of surprised to see us all here and
+maybe I'd better explain. Mr. Sylvester told me you and your son had an
+appointment with him for this afternoon. Now there was something we--or
+I, anyhow--wanted to talk with you about, so I thought we might as well
+make one job of it. Sylvester's a pretty busy man, and I know he has
+other things to attend to; so why not let him go ahead and tell you what
+you come to hear, and then we can take up the other part by ourselves.
+He's told me what you wanted to see him about, and it's somethin' we're
+all interested in, bein' as we're one family--or goin' to be pretty
+soon. So suppose he just tells you now. Ain't that a good idea?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn looked at the speaker, and then at the lawyer, and seemed to
+have caught some of her son's embarrassment.
+
+"I--we did have an appointment with Mr. Sylvester," she admitted,
+reluctantly; "but the business was not important. And," haughtily, "I do
+not care to discuss it here."
+
+The captain opened his eyes. "Hey?" he exclaimed. "Not important? You
+surprise me, ma'am. I judged 'twas mighty important. 'Twas about the
+real size of your father's estate, Caroline," turning to the girl. "I
+thought Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Malcolm must think 'twas important, for I
+understand they've been telephonin' and askin' for appointments for the
+last two days. Why, yes! and they come way down here in all this storm
+on purpose to talk it over with him. Am I wrong? Ain't that so, ma'am?"
+
+It was so, and Mrs. Dunn could not well deny it. Therefore, she took
+refuge in a contemptuous silence. The captain nodded.
+
+"As to discussin' it here," he went on with bland innocence, "why, we're
+all family folks, same as I said, and there ain't any secrets between us
+on _that_ subject. So suppose we all listen while Mr. Sylvester tells
+just what he'd have told you and Mr. Malcolm. It's pretty hard to hear;
+but bad news is soon told. Heave ahead, Mr. Sylvester."
+
+Mrs. Dunn made one more attempt to avoid the crisis she saw was
+approaching.
+
+"Surely, Caroline," she said testily, "you don't wish your private
+affairs treated in this public manner. Come, let us go."
+
+She laid a hand on the girl's arm. Captain Elisha quietly interposed.
+
+"No, no," he said. "We'll all stay here. There's nothin' public about
+it."
+
+Caroline, crimson with mortification, protested indignantly.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," she said, "it is not necessary to--"
+
+"Excuse me;" her uncle's tone was sharper and more stern; "I think it
+is. Go on, Sylvester."
+
+The lawyer looked far from comfortable, but he spoke at once and to the
+point.
+
+"I should have told you and your son just this, Mrs. Dunn," he said.
+"I intimated it before, and Miss Warren had already written you the
+essential facts. A new and unexpected development, the nature of which I
+am not at liberty to disclose now or later, makes Abijah Warren's estate
+absolutely bankrupt. Not only that, but many thousand dollars in debt.
+His heirs are left penniless. That is the plain truth, I'm very sorry
+to say. There is no hope of anything better. You'll forgive me, Miss
+Warren, I hope, for putting it so bluntly; but I thought it best to
+avoid every possible misunderstanding."
+
+It was blunt, beyond doubt. Even Captain Elisha winced at the word
+"penniless." Stephen muttered under his breath and turned his back.
+Caroline, swaying, put a hand on the table to steady herself. The Dunns
+looked at each other.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Sylvester," said the captain, quietly. "I'll see you
+again in a few moments."
+
+The lawyer bowed and left the room, evidently glad to escape. Captain
+Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn.
+
+"And now, ma'am," he observed, "that part of the business is over. The
+next part's even more in the family, so I thought we didn't need legal
+advice. You see just how matters stand. My niece is a poor girl. She
+needs somebody to support her and look out for her. She's got that
+somebody, we're all thankful to say. She's engaged to Mr. Malcolm here.
+And, as you're his ma, Mrs. Dunn, and I'm Caroline's guardian, us old
+folks'll take our affairs in hand; they needn't listen, if they don't
+want to. I understand from Steve that Malcolm's been mighty anxious to
+have the weddin' day hurried along. I can't say as I blame him. And _I_
+think the sooner they're married the better. Now, how soon can we make
+it, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+This unexpected and matter-of-fact query was variously received. Mrs.
+Dunn frowned and flushed. Malcolm frowned, also. Steve nodded emphatic
+approval. As for Caroline, she gazed at her guardian in horrified
+amazement.
+
+"Why!" she cried. "You--you--What do you mean by such--"
+
+"Don't be an idiot, Caro!" cut in her brother. "I told you to be
+sensible. Captain Warren's dead right."
+
+"Stevie, you stay out of this." There was no misunderstanding the
+captain's tone. "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it. And,
+Caroline, I want you to stay out, too. This is my trick at the wheel.
+Mrs. Dunn, what d'you say? Never mind the young folks. You and me know
+that marriage is business, same as everything else. How soon can we have
+the weddin'?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn had, apparently, nothing to say--to him. She addressed her
+next remark to Caroline.
+
+"My dear," she said, in great agitation, "this is really too dreadful.
+This--er--guardian of yours appears to think he is in some barbarous
+country--ordering the savages about. Come! Malcolm, take her away."
+
+"No," Captain Elisha stepped in front of the door. "She ain't goin'; and
+I'd rather you wouldn't go yet. Let's settle this up now. I ain't askin'
+anything unreasonable. Caroline's under my charge, and I've got to plan
+for her. Your boy's just crazy to marry her; he's been beggin' for her
+to name the day. Let's name it. It needn't be to-morrow. I cal'late
+you'll want to get out invitations and such. It needn't be next week.
+But just say about when it can be; then I'll know how to plan. That
+ain't much to ask, sartin."
+
+Much or little, neither Mrs. Dunn nor her son appeared ready to answer.
+Malcolm fidgeted with his hat and gloves; his mother fanned herself with
+her handkerchief. Caroline, frantic with humiliation and shame, would
+have protested again, but her guardian's stern shake of the head
+silenced her.
+
+"Well, Mr. Dunn," turning to the groom-to-be; "you're one of the
+interested parties--what do you say?"
+
+Malcolm ground his heel into the rug. "I don't consider it your
+business," he declared. "You're butting in where--"
+
+"No, no, I ain't. It's my business, and business is just _what_ it is.
+Your ma knows that. She and I had a real confidential up and down talk
+on love and marriage, and she's the one that proved to me that marryin'
+in high society, like yours and the kind Caroline's been circulatin' in,
+was business and mighty little else. There's a business contract between
+you and my niece. We want to know how soon it can be carried out, that's
+all."
+
+The young man looked desperately at the door; but the captain's broad
+shoulders blocked the way towards it. He hesitated, scowled, and then,
+with a shrug of his shoulders, surrendered.
+
+"How can I marry?" he demanded sullenly. "Confound it! my salary isn't
+large enough to pay my own way, decently."
+
+"Malcolm!" cried his mother, warningly.
+
+"Well, Mater, what the devil's the use of all this? You know.... By
+Jove! you _ought_ to!"
+
+"Hold on, young feller! I don't understand. Your wages ain't large
+enough, you say? What do you mean? You was _goin'_ to be married, wasn't
+you?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn plunged to the rescue, a forlorn hope, but desperate, and
+fighting to the end.
+
+"An outrage!" she blurted. "Malcolm, I forbid you to continue this
+disgusting conversation. Caroline, my poor child, I don't blame you for
+this, but I call on you to stop it at once. My dear, I--"
+
+She advanced toward the girl with outstretched arms. Caroline recoiled.
+
+"Don't! don't!" she gasped. Captain Elisha spoke up sharp and stern.
+
+"Excuse me, ma'am," he said, "but I'll be obliged if you'll wait a
+minute. Caroline, don't you say a word. You say--you--" addressing
+Malcolm, "that you can't support a wife on your wages. You surprise me
+some, considerin' the swath you've been cuttin' on 'em--but never mind
+that. Maybe they won't keep automobiles and--er--other things I've heard
+you was interested in, but if you cut them out and economize a little,
+same as young married folks I've known have been glad to do, you could
+scrape along, couldn't you? Hey? Couldn't you?"
+
+Malcolm's answer was another scornful shrug. "You belong on Cape Cod,"
+he sneered. "Mater, let's get out of this."
+
+"Wait! Put it plain now. Do I understand that you cal'late to break the
+engagement because my niece has lost her money? Is that it?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn realized that the inevitable was upon them. After all, it
+might as well be faced now as later.
+
+"This is ridiculous," she proclaimed. "Every sane person knows--though
+_barbarians_ may not--" with a venomous glare at the captain--"that,
+in engagements of the kind in which my son shared, a certain amount
+of--er--financial--er--that is, the bride is supposed to have some
+money. It is expected. Of course it is! Love in a cottage is--well--a
+bit _passe_. My son and I pity your niece from the bottom of our hearts,
+but--there! under the circumstances the whole affair becomes impossible.
+Caroline, my dear, I'm dreadfully sorry, dreadfully! I love you like my
+own child. And poor Malcolm will be heartbroken--but--you _see_."
+
+She extended her hand in a gesture of utter helplessness. Stephen,
+who had been fuming and repressing his rage with difficulty during the
+scene, leaped forward with brandished fist.
+
+"By gad!" he shouted. "Mal Dunn, you cad--"
+
+His uncle pushed him back with a sweep of his arm.
+
+"Steve," he ordered, "I'm runnin' this ship." He gave a quick glance at
+his niece, and then added, speaking rapidly and addressing the head of
+the Dunn family, "I see, ma'am. Yes, yes, I see. Well, you've forgot one
+thing, I guess. Caroline's lived in high society, too. And I've been in
+it a spell, myself. And Steve's a boy, but he's got a business head. If
+there's nothin' in marriage but business, then an engagement is what I
+just called it, a business contract, and it can't be broke without the
+consent of both sides. You wanted Caroline's money; maybe she wants
+yours now. If she does, and there's such a thing as law, why, perhaps
+she can get it."
+
+"That's the talk!" cried Stephen exultingly.
+
+"Yup; perhaps she can. She may be a business woman, too, you know. If
+money and style and social position's what counts and she wants to force
+you to keep your promise, why, I'm her guardian and she can count on me
+to back her up. What do you say, Caroline? I'm at your service. I--"
+
+But Caroline interrupted him.
+
+"Stop!" she cried wildly. "Oh, stop! Do you think--do you suppose I
+would marry him now? _Now_, after I've seen what he is? Oh," with a
+shudder of disgust, "when I think what I might have done, I.... Thank
+God that the money has gone! I'm glad I'm poor! I'm _glad_!"
+
+"Caro, you fool!" shrieked Stephen. She did not heed him.
+
+"Let me go!" she cried. "Let me get away from him; from this room! I
+never want to see him or think of him again. Please! _Please_ let me go!
+Oh, take me home! Captain Warren, _please_ let me go home!"
+
+Her uncle was at her side in a moment. "Yes, yes, dearie," he said,
+"I'll take you home. Don't give way now! I'll--"
+
+He would have taken her arm, but she shrank from him.
+
+"Not you!" she begged. "Steve!"
+
+The captain's face clouded, but he answered promptly.
+
+"Of course--Steve," he agreed. "Steve, take your sister home. Mr.
+Sylvester's got a carriage waitin', and he'll go with you, I don't
+doubt. Do as I tell you, boy--and behave yourself. Don't wait; go!"
+
+He held the door open until the hysterical girl and her brother had
+departed. Then he turned to the Dunns.
+
+"Well, ma'am," he said, dryly. "I don't know's there's anything more to
+be said. All the questions seem to be settled. Our acquaintance wa'n't
+so awful long, but it was interestin'. Knowin' you has been, as the
+feller said, a liberal education. Don't let me keep you any longer. Good
+afternoon."
+
+He stepped away from the door. Malcolm and his mother remained standing,
+for an instant, where they were when Caroline left.
+
+The young man looked as if he would enjoy choking someone, the captain
+preferably, but said nothing. Then Mrs. Dunn bethought herself of a way
+to make their exit less awkward and embarrassing.
+
+"My heart!" she said, gasping, and with a clutch at her breast. "My
+poor heart! I--I fear I'm going to have one of my attacks. Malcolm, your
+arm--quick!"
+
+With an expression of intense but patient suffering, and leaning heavily
+upon her son's arm, she moved past Captain Elisha and from the room.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening the captain stood in the lower hall of the apartment house
+at Central Park West, undecided what to do next. He wished more than
+anything else in the world to go to his niece. He would have gone to her
+before--had been dying to go, to soothe, to comfort, to tell her of his
+love--but he was afraid. His conscience troubled him. Perhaps he had
+been too brutal. Perhaps he shouldn't have acted as he did. Maybe
+forcing the Dunn fleet to show its colors could have been done more
+diplomatically. He had wanted her to see those colors for herself, to
+actually see them. But he might have overdone it. He remembered how she
+shrank from him and turned to her brother. She might hate him more than
+ever now. If so, then the whole scheme under which he was working fell
+to pieces.
+
+He was worried about Steve, too. That young man would, naturally,
+be furious with his sister for what he would consider her romantic
+foolishness. He had been warned to behave himself; but would he? Captain
+Elisha paced up and down the marble floor before the elevator cage and
+wondered whether his visiting the apartment would be a wise move or a
+foolish one.
+
+The elevator descended, the door of the cage opened, and Stephen himself
+darted out. His face was red, he was scowling fiercely, and he strode
+toward the street without looking in his guardian's direction.
+
+The captain caught him as he passed.
+
+"Here, boy!" he exclaimed; "where's the fire? Where are you bound?"
+
+His nephew, brought thus unexpectedly to a halt, stared at him.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" he exclaimed. "Humph! I'm bound--I don't know where I'm
+bound!"
+
+"You don't, hey? Well, you can cruise a long ways on a v'yage like that.
+What do you mean?"
+
+"Aw, let me alone! I'm going to the club, I guess, or somewhere. Anyhow,
+I won't stay with her. I told her so. Silly little idiot! By gad, she
+understands what I think of her conduct. I'll never speak to her again.
+I told her so. She--"
+
+"Here! Belay! Stop! Who are you talking about?"
+
+"Caro, of course. She--"
+
+"You've run off and left her alone--to-night? Where is she?"
+
+"Upstairs--and crying, I suppose. She doesn't do anything else. It's all
+she's good for. Selfish, romantic--"
+
+He got no further, for Captain Elisha sent him reeling with a push and
+ran to the elevator.
+
+"Eighth floor," he commanded.
+
+The door of the apartment was not latched. Stephen, in his rage and
+hurry, had neglected such trifles. The captain opened it quietly and
+walked in. He entered the library. Caroline was lying on the couch,
+her head buried in the pillows. She did not hear him cross the room. He
+leaned over and touched her shoulder. She started, looked, and sat up,
+gazing at him as though not certain whether he was a dream or reality.
+
+And he looked at her, at her pretty face, now so white and careworn, at
+her eyes, at the tear-stains on her cheeks, and his whole heart went out
+to her.
+
+"Caroline, dearie," he faltered, "forgive me for comin' here, won't you?
+I had to come. I couldn't leave you alone; I couldn't rest, thinkin' of
+you alone in your trouble. I know you must feel harder than ever towards
+me for this afternoon's doin's, but I meant it for the best. I _had_ to
+show you--don't you see? Can you forgive me? Won't you try to forgive
+the old feller that loves you more'n all the world? Won't you try?"
+
+She looked at him, wide-eyed, clasping and unclasping her hands.
+
+"_I_ forgive _you_?" she repeated, incredulously.
+
+"Yes. Try to, dearie. Oh, if you would only believe I meant it for your
+good, and nothin' else! If you could only just trust me and come to me
+and let me help you. I want you, my girl, I want you!"
+
+She leaned forward. "Do you really mean it?" she cried. "How can you?
+after all I've done? after the way I've treated you? and the things I've
+said? You must _hate_ me! Everyone does. I hate myself! You can't
+forgive me! You can't!"
+
+His answer was to hold out his arms. Another moment and she was in them,
+clinging to his wet coat, sobbing, holding him fast, and begging him not
+to leave her, to take her away, that she would work, that she would not
+be a burden to him--only take her with him and try to forgive her, for
+he was real and honest and the only friend she had.
+
+And Captain Elisha, soothing her, stroking her hair, and murmuring words
+of love and tenderness, realized that his labor and sacrifice had
+not been in vain, that here was his recompense; she would never
+misunderstand him again; she was his at last.
+
+And yet, in the midst of his joy, his conscience troubled him more than
+ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+It was April; and May was close at hand. The weather was all that late
+April weather should be, and so often is not. Trees, bushes, and vines
+were in bud; the green of the new grass was showing everywhere above the
+dead brown of the old; a pair of bluebirds were inspecting the hollow of
+the old apple tree, with an eye toward spring housekeeping; the sun was
+warm and bright, and the water of the Sound sparkled in the distance.
+Caroline, sitting by the living-room window, was waiting for her uncle
+to return from the city.
+
+In the kitchen Annie Moriarty was preparing dinner. Annie was now cook
+as well as chamber-maid, for, of all the Warren servants, she was the
+only one remaining. Edwards, the "Commodore," had been dismissed, had
+departed, not without reluctance but philosophically, to seek other
+employment. "Yes, miss," observed Edwards, when notified that his
+services were no longer required; "I understand. I've been expecting
+it. I was in a family before that met with financial difficulties, and
+I know the signs. All I can say is that I hope you and Mr. Stephen will
+get on all right, miss. If there's anything I can do to help you, by way
+of friendship, please let me know. I'd be glad, for old times' sake. And
+the cook wanted me to tell you that, being as she's got another job in
+sight and was paid up to date, she wouldn't wait for notice, but was
+leaving immediate. She's gone already, miss."
+
+The second maid went also. But Annie, Irish and grateful, refused to go.
+Her mother came to back her in the refusal.
+
+"Indeed she'll not leave you, Miss Caroline--you nor Captain Warren
+neither. Lord love him! Sure, d'ye think we'll ever forget what you and
+him done for me and my Pat and the childer? You've got to have somebody,
+ain't you? And Annie's cookin' ain't so bad that it'll kill yez; and
+I'll learn her more. Never mind what the wages is, they're big enough.
+She'll stay! If she didn't, I'd break her back."
+
+So, when the apartment was given up, and Captain Elisha and his wards
+moved to the little house in Westchester County, Annie came with them.
+And her cooking, though not by any means equal to that at Delmonico's,
+had not killed them yet. Mrs. Moriarty came once a week to do the
+laundry work. Caroline acted as a sort of inexperienced but willing
+supervising housekeeper.
+
+The house itself had been procured through the kind interest of
+Sylvester. Keeping the apartment was, under the circumstances, out of
+the question, and Caroline hated it and was only too anxious to give it
+up. She had no suggestions to make. She would go anywhere, anywhere
+that her guardian deemed best; but might they not please go at once? She
+expected that he would suggest South Denboro, and she would have gone
+there without a complaint. To get away from the place where she had been
+so miserable was her sole wish. And trusting and believing in her uncle
+as she now did, realizing that he had been right always and had worked
+for her interest throughout, and having been shown the falseness and
+insincerity of the others whom she had once trusted implicitly, she
+clung to him with an appeal almost piteous. Her pride was, for the
+time, broken. She was humble and grateful. She surrendered to him
+unconditionally, and hoped only for his forgiveness and love.
+
+The captain did not suggest South Denboro. He did, however, tell
+Sylvester that he believed a little place out of the city would be the
+better refuge for the present.
+
+"Poor Caroline's switched clear around," he said to the lawyer, "and you
+can't blame her much. She cal'lates New York's nothin' but a sham from
+stern to stern, manned by liars and swindlers and hypocrites and
+officered by thieves. 'Tain't no use to tell her 'tain't, though she
+might pretend to believe it, if _I_ told her, for just now the poor girl
+thinks I'm Solomon and Saint Peter rolled into one. The way she agrees
+to whatever I say and the way she looks at me and sort of holds on to
+me, as if I was her only anchor in a gale, I declare it makes me feel
+meaner than poorhouse tea--and that's made of blackberry leaves steeped
+in memories of better things, so I've heard say. _Am_ I a low down
+scamp, playin' a dirty mean trick on a couple of orphans? What do you
+think, Sylvester?"
+
+"You know what I think, Captain Warren," replied the lawyer. "You're
+handling the whole matter better than any other man could handle it. No
+one else would have thought of it, to begin with; and the results so far
+prove that you're right."
+
+"Yup. Maybe. I wish you was around to say that to me when I wake up
+nights and get to thinkin'. However, as I said, Caroline believes New
+York is like a sailors' dance hall, a place for decent folks to steer
+clear of. And when the feller you've been engaged to is shown up as a
+sneak and your own dad as a crook--well, you can't blame a green hand
+for holdin' prejudice against the town that raised 'em. She'll get over
+it; but just now I cal'late some little flat, or, better still, a
+little home out where the back yards ain't made of concrete, would be
+a first-class port for us to make for. Don't know of such a place at a
+reasonable rent, do you?"
+
+"I might find one. And you may be right; your niece might like it
+better, though it will be somewhat of a change. But how about your
+nephew? He has no objection to the metropolis, I should judge. What will
+he say?"
+
+"Nothin', I guess--unless he says it to himself. Steve's goin' back to
+New Haven with things on his mind. He and I had a mornin' service, and
+I was the parson. He listened, because when you ain't got a cent except
+what the society allows you, it ain't good orthodoxy to dodge the
+charity sermon. Steve'll behave, and what he don't like he'll lump. If
+he starts to open his mouth his ear'll ache, I cal'late. I talked turkey
+to that young man. Ye-es," with a slight smile, "I'm sort of afraid I
+lost patience with Stevie."
+
+When Caroline first saw the little house, with its shingled sides, the
+dead vines over the porch, and the dry stalks of last year's flowers in
+the yard, her heart sank. With the wind blowing and the bare branches
+of the old apple tree scraping the roof and whining dolefully, it looked
+bleak and forsaken. It was so different, so unhomelike, and so, to her
+eyes, small and poverty-stricken. She made believe that she liked it,
+exclaimed over the view--which, on the particular day, was desolate
+enough--and declared the Dutch front door was "old-fashioned and dear."
+But Captain Elisha, watching her closely, knew that she was only waiting
+to be alone to give way to wretchedness and tears. He understood,
+had expected that she would feel thus, but he was disappointed,
+nevertheless. However, after the front door was passed and they were
+inside the house, Caroline looked about her in delighted amazement. The
+living room was small, but bright and warm and cheery. On its walls,
+hiding the rather vivid paper, were hung some of the best of Rodgers
+Warren's pictures--the Corot, the codfisher, and others. The furniture
+and rugs were those which had been in the library of the apartment,
+those she had been familiar with all her life. The books, many of them,
+were there, also. And the dining room, except for size, looked like
+home. So did the bedrooms; and, in the kitchen, Annie grinned a welcome.
+
+"But how could you?" asked Caroline. "How could you keep all these
+things, Uncle Elisha? I thought, of course, they must all be sold. I
+cried when they took them away that day when we were leaving to go to
+the hotel. I was sure I should never see them again. And here they all
+are! How could you do it?"
+
+The captain's grin was as wide as Annie's. "Oh," he explained, "I
+couldn't let 'em all go. Never intended to. That five thousand dollar
+codder up there seemed like own folks, pretty nigh. I'd have kept
+_him_, if we had to live in one room and a trunk. And we ain't got to
+that--yet. I tell you, dearie, I thought they'd make you feel more to
+home. And they do, don't they?"
+
+The look she gave him was answer sufficient.
+
+"But the creditors?" she asked. "That man who--they belong to him, don't
+they? I supposed of course they must go with the rest."
+
+Captain Elisha winked. "There's times," he answered, "when I believe in
+cheatin' my creditors. This is one of 'em. Never you mind that feller
+you mentioned. He's got enough, confound him! He didn't have the face to
+ask for any more. Sylvester looked out for that. Five hundred thousand,
+droppin' in, as you might say, unexpected, ought to soften anybody's
+heart; and I judge even that feller's got some bowels of mercy."
+
+He changed the subject hastily, but Caroline asked no more questions.
+She never alluded to the lost estate, never expressed any regrets,
+nor asked to know who it was that had seized her all. The captain had
+expected her to ask, had been ready with the same answer he had given
+Stephen, but when he hinted she herself had forbade his continuing.
+"Don't tell me about it," she begged. "I don't want to know any more.
+Father did wrong, but--but I know he did not mean to. He was a good,
+kind father to me, and I loved him. This man whose money he took had a
+right to it, and now it is his. He doesn't wish us to know who he is, so
+Steve says, and I'm glad. I don't want to know, because if I did I
+might hate him. And," with a shudder, "I am trying so hard not to hate
+anybody."
+
+Her make-believe liking for the little home became more and more real
+as spring drew near. She began to take an interest in it, in the flower
+garden, in the beds beside the porch, where the peonies and daffodils
+were beginning to show green heads above the loam, and in the household
+affairs. And she had plans of her own, not connected with these. She
+broached them to her uncle, and they surprised and delighted him,
+although he would not give his consent to them entirely.
+
+"You mustn't think," she said, "that, because I have been willing to
+live on your money since mine went, that I mean to continue doing it. I
+don't. I've been thinking a great deal, and I realize that I must earn
+my own way just as soon as I can. I'm not fitted for anything now; but
+I can be and I shall. I've thought perhaps I might learn stenography
+or--or something like that. Girls do."
+
+He looked at her serious face and choked back his laugh.
+
+"Why, yes," he admitted, "they do, that's a fact. About four hundred
+thousand of 'em do, and four hundred thousand more try to and then try
+to make business men think that they have. I heard Sylvester sputterin'
+about a couple in his office t'other day; said they was no good and not
+worth the seven dollars a week he paid 'em."
+
+"Seven dollars a _week_!" she repeated.
+
+"Yes. Course some make three times that and more; but they're the
+experienced ones, the good ones. And there's heaps that don't. What
+makes you so sot on earnin' a livin', Caroline? Ain't you satisfied with
+the kind I'm tryin' to give you?"
+
+She regarded him reproachfully. "Please don't say that," she protested.
+"You always treat your kindness as a joke, but to me it--it--"
+
+"There! there!" quickly. "Don't let's talk foolish. I see what you
+mean, dearie. It ain't the livin' but because I'm givin' it to you that
+troubles you. I know. Well, _I_ ain't complainin' but I understand your
+feelin's and respect 'em. However, I shouldn't study type-writin', if
+I was you. There's too much competition in it to be comfortable, as the
+fat man said about runnin' races. I've got a suggestion, if you want to
+listen to it."
+
+"I do, indeed. What is it?"
+
+"Why, just this. I've been about everythin' aboard ship, but I've never
+been a steward. Now I'll say this much for Annie, she tried hard. She
+tumbled into general housekeepin' the way Asa Foster said he fell into
+the cucumber frame--with a jolt and a jingle; and she's doin' her best
+accordin' to her lights. But sometimes her lights need ile or trimmin'
+or somethin'. I've had the feelin' that we need a good housekeeper
+here. If Annie's intelligence was as broad and liberal as her shoes, we
+wouldn't; as 'tis, we do. I'll hire you, Caroline, for that job, if you
+say so."
+
+"I? Uncle Elisha, you're joking!"
+
+"No, I ain't. Course I realize you ain't had much experience in runnin'
+a house, and I hope you understand I don't want to hire you as a cook.
+But I've had a scheme in the back of my head for a fortni't or more.
+Somethin' Sylvester said about a young lady cousin of his made me
+think of it. Seems over here at the female college--you know where I
+mean--they're teachin' a new course that they've christened Domestic
+Science. Nigh's I can find out it is about what our great gran'marms
+larned at home; that, with up-to-date trimmin's. All about runnin' a
+house, it is; how to superintend servants, and what kind of things
+to have to eat, and how they ought to be cooked, and takin' care of
+children--Humph! we don't need that, do we?--and, well, everything
+that a home woman, rich or poor, ought to know. At least, she ought to
+'cordin' to my old-fashioned notions. Sylvester's cousin goes there, and
+likes it; and I judge she ain't figgerin' to be anybody's hired help,
+either. My idea was about this: If you'd like to take this course,
+Caroline, you could do it afternoons. Mornin's and the days you had off,
+you could apply your science here at home, on Annie. Truly it would
+save me hirin' somebody else, and--well, maybe you'd enjoy it, you can't
+tell."
+
+His niece seemed interested.
+
+"I know of the Domestic Science course," she said. "Several of my
+friends--my former friends, were studying it. But I'm afraid, Uncle,
+that I don't see where earning my living has any part in it. It seems to
+me that it means your spending more money for me, paying my tuition."
+
+"No more'n I'd spend for a competent housekeeper. Honest, Caroline, I'd
+like to do it. You think it over a spell."
+
+She did, visiting the University and making inquiries. What she was told
+there decided her. She took up the course and enjoyed it. It occupied
+her mind and prevented her brooding over the past. She might have made
+many friends among the other students, but she was careful to treat
+them only as acquaintances. Her recent experience with "friends" was too
+fresh in her mind. She studied hard and applied her knowledge at home.
+She and Annie made some odd and funny mistakes at first, but they were
+not made twice, and Captain Elisha noticed a great improvement in the
+housekeeping. Also, Caroline's spirits improved, though more slowly.
+
+Most evenings they spent together in the living room. She read aloud to
+her uncle, who smoked his cigar and listened, commenting on the doings
+of the story folk with characteristic originality and aptitude. Each
+night, after the reading was over, he wrote his customary note to Abbie
+Baker at South Denboro. He made one flying trip to that village: "Just
+to prove to 'em that I'm still alive," as he explained it. "Some of
+those folks down there at the postoffice must have pretty nigh forgot
+to gossip about me by this time. They've had me eloped and married and
+a millionaire and a pauper long ago, I don't doubt. And now they've
+probably forgot me altogether. I'll just run down and stir 'em up. Good
+subjects for yarns are scurce at that postoffice, and they ought to be
+thankful."
+
+On his return he told his niece that he found everything much as usual.
+"Thoph Kenney's raised a beard 'cause shavin's so expensive; and the
+Come-Outer minister called the place the other denominations are bound
+for 'Hades,' and his congregation are thinkin' of firin' him for turnin'
+Free-Thinker. That's about all the sensations," he said. "I couldn't
+get around town much on account of Abbie. She kept me in bed most of the
+time, while she sewed on buttons and mended. Said she never saw a body's
+clothes in such a state in _her_ life."
+
+A few of the neighbors called occasionally. And there were other
+callers. Captain Elisha's unexpected departure from Mrs. Hepton's
+boarding house had caused a sensation and much regret to that select
+establishment. The landlady, aided and abetted by Mrs. Van Winkle
+Ruggles, would have given a farewell tea in his honor, but he declined.
+"Don't you do it," he said. "I like my tea pretty strong, and farewells
+are watery sort of things, the best of 'em. And this ain't a real
+farewell, anyhow."
+
+"'Say _au revoir_, but not good-by,'" sang Miss Sherborne sentimentally.
+
+"That's it. Everybody knows what good-by means. We'll say the other
+thing--as well as we can--and change it to 'Hello' the very first time
+any of you come out to see us."
+
+They were curious to know his reason for leaving. He explained that his
+niece was sort of lonesome and needed country air; he was going to live
+with her, for the present. Consequently Mrs. Ruggles, on the trail of
+aristocracy, was the first to call. Hers was a stately and ceremonious
+visit. They were glad when it was over. Lawton, the bookseller and his
+wife, came and were persuaded to remain and dine. Caroline liked them at
+sight. The most impressive call, however, was that of Mr. and Mrs. "C."
+Dickens. The great man made it a point to dress in the style of bygone
+years, and his conversation was a treat. His literary labors were
+fatiguing and confining, he admitted, and the "little breath of rural
+ozone" which this trip to Westchester County gave him, was like a
+tonic--yes, as one might say, a tonic prescribed and administered by
+Dame Nature herself.
+
+"I formerly resided in the country," he told Caroline.
+
+"Yes," put in his wife, "we used to live at Bayonne, New Jersey. We
+had such a pretty house there, that is, half a house; you see it was a
+double one, and--"
+
+"Maria," her husband waved his hand, "why trouble our friends with
+unnecessary details."
+
+"But it _was_ a pretty house, 'C.,' dear," with a pathetic little sigh.
+"I've missed it a great deal since, Miss Warren. 'C.' had a joke about
+it--he's such a joker! He used to call it 'Gad's Hill, Junior.'"
+
+"Named after some of David B.'s folks?" asked Captain Elisha innocently.
+The answer, delivered by Mr. Dickens, was condescending and explanatory.
+
+Caroline laughed, actually laughed aloud, when the visit was over. Her
+uncle was immensely pleased.
+
+"Hooray!" he cried. "I'll invite 'em up to stay a week. That's the fust
+time I've heard you laugh for I don't know when."
+
+She laughed again. "I can't help it," she said; "they are so funny."
+
+The captain chuckled. "Yes," he said, "and they don't know it. I
+cal'late a person's skull has got room for just about so much in it and
+no more. Cornelius Charles's head is so jammed with self-satisfaction
+that his sense of humor was crowded out of door long ago."
+
+One boarder at Mrs. Hepton's did not call, nor did Captain Elisha allude
+to him. Caroline noticed the latter fact and understood the reason.
+Also, when the captain went to the city, as he frequently did, and
+remained longer than usual, she noticed that his explanations of the
+way in which he spent his time were sometimes vague and hurried. She
+understood and was troubled. Yet she thought a great deal on the subject
+before she mentioned it.
+
+On the April afternoon when Caroline sat at the window of the living
+room awaiting her uncle's return she was thinking of that subject.
+But, at last, her mind was made up. It was a hard thing to do; it was
+humiliating, in a way; it might--though she sincerely hoped not--be
+misconstrued as to motive; but it was right. Captain Elisha had been
+so unselfish, so glad to give up every personal inclination in order to
+please her, that she would no longer permit her pride to stand in the
+way of his gratification, even in little things. At least, she would
+speak to him on the matter.
+
+He came on a later than his usual train, and at dinner, when she asked
+where he had been, replied, "Oh, to see Sylvester, and--er--around." She
+asked him no more, but, when they were together in the living room, she
+moved her chair over beside his and said without looking at him:
+
+"Uncle Elisha, I know where you've been this afternoon. You've been to
+see Mr. Pearson."
+
+"Hey?" He started, leaned back and regarded her with astonishment and
+some alarm.
+
+"You've been to see Mr. Pearson," she repeated, "haven't you?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, Caroline, I have--to tell you the truth. I don't see how
+you knew, but," nervously, "I hope you don't feel bad 'cause I did. I
+go to see him pretty often. You see, I think a good deal of him--a whole
+lot of him. _I_ think he's a fine young feller. Course I know you don't,
+and so I never mention him to you. But I do hope you ain't goin' to ask
+me not to see him."
+
+She shook her head. "No," she said. "I would have no right to ask that,
+even if I wished to. And I do not wish it. Uncle Elisha, if you were
+alone here, he would come to see you; I know he would. Invite him to
+come, please."
+
+His astonishment was greater than ever.
+
+"Invite him to come _here_?" he asked. "To see you?"
+
+"No," hastily; "to see you. This is your home. I have no right to keep
+your friends from visiting it. I know you would sacrifice everything
+for me, even them; but I will not be so selfish as to allow it. Ask him
+here, please. I really want you to."
+
+He pulled his beard. "Caroline," he answered slowly, "I'm much obliged
+to you. I understand why you're doin' this, and I thank you. But it
+ain't likely that I'll say yes, is it? And do you suppose Jim would come
+if I did ask him? He knows you believe he's a--well, all that's bad. You
+told him so, and you sent him away. I will give in that I'd like to have
+him here. He's one of the few men friends I've made since I landed
+in New York. But, under the circumstances--you feelin' as you do--I
+couldn't ask him, and he wouldn't come if I did."
+
+She remained silent for a time. Then she said: "Uncle, I want you to
+tell me the truth about Mr. Pearson and father--just why they
+quarreled and the real truth of the whole affair. Don't spare my
+feelings; tell me what you believe is the true story. I know you think
+Mr. Pearson was right, for you said so."
+
+The captain was much troubled.
+
+"I--I don't know's I'd better, dearie," he answered. "I think I do know
+the truth, but you might think I was hard on 'Bije--on your father. I
+ain't. And I sympathize with the way he felt, too. But Jim did right, as
+I see it. He acted just as I'd want a son of mine to do. And.... Well, I
+cal'late we'd better not rake up old times, had we?"
+
+"I want you to tell me. Please do."
+
+"I don't know's I'd better. You have been told the story different,
+and--"
+
+"I know I have. That is the reason why I ask you to tell it. Oh," with
+a flash of scorn, "I was told many stories, and I want to forget them.
+And," sadly, "I can bear whatever you may tell me, even about father.
+Since I learned that he was a--a--"
+
+"S-sh, Caroline; don't!"
+
+"After that, I can bear anything, I think. This cannot be worse."
+
+"Worse! No, not! This ain't very bad. I will tell you, dearie. This is
+just what happened."
+
+He told her the exact truth concerning the Trolley Combine, his
+brother's part in it, and Pearson's. She listened without comment.
+
+"I see," she said when he had finished. "I think I see. Mr. Pearson felt
+that, as a newspaper man, an honest one, he must go on. He knew that the
+thing was wrong and that innocent people might lose money in it. It was
+his duty to expose it, and he did it, even though it meant the loss of
+influence and of father's friendship. I see."
+
+"That was about it, Caroline. I think the hardest part for him was when
+'Bije called him ungrateful. 'Bije had been mighty kind to him, that's a
+fact."
+
+"Yes. Father was kind; I know that better than anyone else. But Mr.
+Pearson was right. Yes, he was right, and brave."
+
+"So I size it up. And I do sympathize with your father, too. This wa'n't
+such an awful lot worse than a good many stock deals. And poor 'Bije was
+perfectly desp'rate, I guess. If it had gone through he'd have been able
+to square accounts with the Rubber Company; and just think what that
+would have meant to him. Poor feller! poor feller!" He sighed. She
+reached for his hand and stroked it gently with her own.
+
+After another interval she said: "How I insulted and wronged him! How he
+must despise me!"
+
+"Who? Jim? No, no! he don't do any such thing. He knows you didn't
+understand, and who was responsible. Jim's got sense, lots of it."
+
+"But it is my misunderstanding and my insulting treatment of him which
+have kept you two apart--here, at any rate."
+
+"Don't let that worry you, Caroline. I see him every once in a while, up
+to the city."
+
+"It does worry me; and it will, until it is made right. And," in a lower
+tone, but with decision, "it shall be."
+
+She rose and, bending over, kissed him on the forehead. "Good night,
+Uncle," she said.
+
+Captain Elisha was disappointed. "What!" he exclaimed. "Goin' aloft so
+soon? We ain't had our readin' yet. Pretty early to turn in, seems to
+me. Stay a little longer, do."
+
+"Not to-night, dear. I'm going to my room. Please excuse me this time."
+She turned to go and then, turning back again, asked a final question.
+
+"You're sure," she said, hesitatingly; "you're quite sure he will not
+come here--to you--if you tell him I understand, and--and you ask him?"
+
+"Well, Caroline, I don't know. You see, I was responsible for his comin'
+before. He had some scruples against it then, but I talked him down.
+He's sort of proud, Jim is, and he might--might not want to--to--"
+
+"I see. Good night, Uncle."
+
+The next morning, after breakfast, she came to him again.
+
+"Uncle Elisha," she said, "I have written him."
+
+"What? You've written? Written who?"
+
+"Mr. Pearson. I wrote him, telling him I had learned the true story of
+his disagreement with father and that he was right and I was wrong. I
+apologized for my behavior toward him. Now, I think, perhaps, if you ask
+him, he will come."
+
+The captain looked at her. He realized the sacrifice of her pride which
+writing that letter must have meant, and that she had done it for him.
+He was touched and almost sorry she had done it. He took both her hands
+in his.
+
+"Dearie," he said, "you shouldn't have done that. I didn't expect you
+to. I know you did it just for my sake. I won't say I ain't glad; I am,
+in one way. But 'twa'n't necessary, and 'twas too much, too hard for you
+altogether."
+
+"Don't say that," she begged. "Too much! I never can do enough. Compared
+to what you have done for me it--it.... Oh, please let me do what little
+I can. But, Uncle Elisha, promise me one thing; promise that you will
+not ask me to meet him, if he should come. That I couldn't do, even for
+you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+Promises of that kind are easier to make than to keep. The captain
+promised promptly enough, but the Fates were against him. He made it his
+business to go to town the very next day and called upon his friend. He
+found the young man in a curiously excited and optimistic frame of mind,
+radically different from that of the past few months. The manuscript of
+the novel was before him on the desk, also plenty of blank paper.
+His fountain-pen was in his hand, although apparently, he had written
+nothing that morning. But he was going to--oh, yes, he was going to! He
+was feeling just in the mood. He had read his manuscript, and it was not
+so bad; by George, some of the stuff was pretty good! And the end
+was not so far off. Five or six chapters more and the thing would be
+finished. He would have to secure a publisher, of course, but two had
+already expressed an interest; and so on.
+
+Captain Elisha drew his own conclusions. He judged that his niece's
+letter had reached its destination. He did not mention it, however, nor
+did Pearson. But when the captain hinted at the latter's running out to
+the house to see him some time or other, the invitation was accepted.
+
+"That's fine, Jim," declared the visitor. "Come any time. I want you
+to see what a nice little place I've got out there. Don't stand on
+ceremony, come--er--next week, say." Then, mindful of his promise, he
+added, "You and I'll have it all to ourselves. I've been cal'latin' to
+hire a sail-boat for the summer; got my eye on a capable little sloop
+belongin' to a feller on the Sound shore. If all goes well I'll close
+the deal in a few days. I'll meet you at the depot and we'll have a sail
+and get dinner at a hotel or somewheres, and then we'll come up to the
+house and take a whack at Cap'n Jim's doin's in the new chapters. Just
+you and I together in the settin' room; hey?"
+
+Pearson did not seem so enthusiastic over this programme, although he
+admitted that it sounded tip-top.
+
+"How is Miss Warren?" he asked, mentioning the name with a nonchalance
+remarkable, considering that he had not done so before for weeks. "She
+is well, I hope?"
+
+"Yes, she's fust-rate, thank you. Very well, everything considered. She
+keeps to herself a good deal. Don't care to meet many folks, and you
+can't hardly blame her."
+
+Pearson admitted that, and the remainder of the call was largely a
+monologue by Captain Elisha.
+
+"Well, then, Jim," said the latter, when he rose to go, "you come up
+Monday or Tuesday of next week. Will you?"
+
+"Yes. I--I think so."
+
+"Don't think, do it. Let me know what train you're comin' on, and I'll
+meet you at the depot."
+
+This last remark was what upset calculations. Pearson came on Monday,
+having written the day before. He did not mail the note himself, but
+trusted it to Mrs. Hepton, who was going out to attend evening service.
+She forgot it until the next day. So it happened that when he alighted
+from the train at the suburban station the captain was not there to
+meet him. He waited a while, and then, inquiring the way of the station
+agent, walked up to the house by himself. As he turned in at the front
+walk, Caroline came out of the door. They met, face to face.
+
+It was a most embarrassing situation, particularly for Caroline; yet,
+with feminine resourcefulness, she dissembled her embarrassment to some
+extent and acknowledged his stammered, "Good afternoon, Miss Warren,"
+with a cool, almost cold, "How do you do, Mr. Pearson?" which chilled
+his pleasure at seeing her and made him wish devoutly that he had not
+been such a fool as to come. However, there he was, and he hastily
+explained his presence by telling her of the captain's invitation for
+that day, how he had expected to meet him at the station, and, not
+meeting him, had walked up to the house.
+
+"Is he in?" he asked.
+
+No, Captain Elisha was not in. He had gone to see the sail-boat man. Not
+hearing from his friend, he concluded the latter would not come until
+the next day.
+
+"He will be so sorry," said Caroline.
+
+Pearson was rather thankful than otherwise. The captain's absence
+afforded him an opportunity to escape from a place where he was plainly
+unwelcome.
+
+"Oh, never mind," he said. "It is not important. I can run out
+another day. Just tell him I called, Miss Warren, please; that I wrote
+yesterday, but my letter must have gone astray. Good afternoon."
+
+He was turning to go, but she stopped him. She had fully made up her
+mind that, when he came, she would not meet him--remembering how she had
+treated him on the evening of her birthday, she would be ashamed to
+look him in the face. Besides, she could not meet him after writing that
+letter; it would be too brazen; he would think--all sorts of things.
+When he visited her uncle she would remain in her room, or go to the
+city or somewhere.
+
+But now she had met him. And he had come in response to her uncle's
+invitation, given because she herself had pleaded that it should be. To
+let him go away would be rude and ridiculous; and how could she explain
+to the captain?
+
+"You mustn't go, Mr. Pearson," she said. "You must come in and wait;
+Captain Warren will be back soon, I'm sure."
+
+"Thank you; but I think I won't wait. I can come another time."
+
+"But you must wait. I insist. Uncle Elisha will be dreadfully
+disappointed if you don't. There isn't a train for an hour, and he will
+return before that, I am sure. Please come in."
+
+Pearson was reluctant, but he could think of no reasonable excuse. So he
+entered the house, removed his overcoat and hat, and seated himself in
+the living room to await the captain's return. Caroline excused herself,
+saying that she had an errand at the shop in the village. She made that
+errand as long as she could, but when she returned he was still there,
+and Captain Elisha had not appeared.
+
+The conversation was forced, for a time. Each felt the embarrassment,
+and Pearson was still resentful of the manner in which she had greeted
+him on his arrival. But, as he looked at her, the resentment vanished,
+and the other feeling, that which he had determined to forget, returned.
+Captain Elisha had told him how brave she had been through it all, and,
+contrasting the little house with the former home, remembering the loss
+of friends and fortune, to say nothing of the unmasking of those whom
+she believed were her nearest and dearest, he wondered and admired more
+than ever. He understood how very hard it must have been for her to
+write that letter to him, a letter in which she justified his course
+at the cost of her own father's honor. He longed to tell her that he
+understood and appreciated.
+
+At last he could not resist the temptation.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "please excuse my speaking of this, but I must;
+I must thank you for writing me as you did. It was not necessary, it
+was too much to expect, too hard a thing for you to do. It makes me feel
+guilty. I--"
+
+"Please don't!" she interrupted. "Don't speak in that way. It was right.
+It was what I should have done long ago."
+
+"But it was not necessary; I understood. I knew you had heard another
+version of the story and that you felt I had been ungrateful and mean,
+to say the least, in my conduct toward your father. I knew that; I have
+never blamed you. And you writing as you did--"
+
+"I did it for my uncle's sake," she broke in, quickly. "You are his
+closest friend."
+
+"I know, but I appreciate it, nevertheless. I--I wish you would consider
+me your friend as well as his. I do, sincerely."
+
+"Thank you. I need friends, I know. I have few now, which is not
+strange," rather bitterly.
+
+He protested earnestly. "I did not mean it in that way," he said. "It
+is an honor and a great privilege to be one of your friends. I had that
+honor and privilege once. May I have it again?"
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Pearson.... Now tell me about your novel. I remember
+it all so well. And I am very much interested. You must have it nearly
+completed. Tell me about it, please."
+
+They were deep in the discussion of the novel when Captain Elisha walked
+into the living room. He was surprised, stating his feelings at their
+mildest, to find them together, but he did not express his astonishment.
+Instead, he hailed Pearson delightedly, demanded to know if they had
+dared tackle Cap'n Jim without the "head doctor's" being on the scene;
+and insisted upon the author's admitting him to the "clinic" forthwith.
+Pearson did not take the next train, nor the next. Instead, he stayed
+for dinner and well into the evening, and when he did go it was after a
+prompt acceptance of the captain's invitation to "come again in a mighty
+little while."
+
+Caroline, when she and her uncle were alone after their visitor's
+departure, made no protest against the invitation having been given.
+She did not speak of Pearson at all. Captain Elisha also talked of other
+things, principally about the sail-boat, the summer lease of which he
+had arranged that afternoon. He declared the sloop to be an "able craft
+of her tonnage" and that they would have some good times aboard her or
+he missed his guess. In his own room, when ready for bed, he favored his
+reflection in the glass with a broad smile and a satisfied wink, from
+which proceeding it may be surmised that the day had not been a bad one,
+according to his estimate.
+
+Pearson came again a week later, and thereafter frequently. The sessions
+with Cap'n Jim and his associates were once more regular happenings
+to be looked forward to and enjoyed by the three. As the weather grew
+warmer, the sloop--Captain Elisha had the name she formerly bore painted
+out and Caroline substituted--proved to be as great a source of pleasure
+as her new skipper had prophesied. He and his niece--and occasionally
+Pearson--sailed and picnicked on the Sound, and Caroline's pallor
+disappeared under the influence of breeze and sunshine. Her health
+improved, and her spirits, also. She seemed, at times, almost happy,
+and her uncle seldom saw her, as after the removal to the suburb he
+so frequently used, with tears in her eyes and the sadness of bitter
+memories in her expression and manner. Her work at the University grew
+steadily more difficult, but she enjoyed it thoroughly and declared that
+she would not give it up for worlds.
+
+In June two very important events took place. The novel was finished,
+and Stephen, his Sophomore year at an end, came home from college. He
+had been invited by some classmates to spend a part of his vacation with
+them on the Maine coast, and his guardian had consented to his doing so;
+but the boy himself had something else to propose. On an evening soon
+after his return, when, his sister having retired, he was alone with the
+captain, he broached the idea.
+
+"Say," he said, "I've been thinking a good deal while I've been away
+this last time."
+
+"Glad to hear it, I'm sure," replied his uncle, dryly.
+
+"Yes. I've been thinking--about a good many things. I'm flat broke; down
+and out, so far as money is concerned. That's so, isn't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha looked at him keenly for an instant. Then:
+
+"It appears that way, I'm afraid," he answered. "What made you ask?"
+
+"Nothing. I wasn't asking, really; I was just stating the case. Now, the
+way I look at it, this college course of mine isn't worth while. You're
+putting up for it, and I ought to be much obliged; I am, of course."
+
+"You're welcome, Stevie."
+
+"I know; but what's the use of it? I've got to go to work when it's
+over. And the kind of work I want to do doesn't need university
+training. I'm just wasting time; that's what I'm doing."
+
+"Humph! I ain't so sure about that. But what sort of work do you want to
+do?"
+
+"I want to be down on the Street, as the governor was. If this Rubber
+Company business hadn't knocked us out, I intended, as soon as I was of
+age, to take that seat of his and start in for myself. Well, that chance
+has gone, but I mean to get in some way, though I have to start at the
+foot of the ladder. Now why can't I leave college and start now? It will
+be two years gained, won't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha seemed pleased, but he shook his head.
+
+"How do you know you'd like it?" he asked. "You've never tried."
+
+"No, I never have; but I'll like it all right. I know I shall. It's what
+I've wanted to do ever since I was old enough to think of such things.
+Just let me start in now, right away, and I'll show you. I'll make good;
+you see if I don't."
+
+He was very earnest. The captain deliberated before answering.
+
+"Stevie," he said, doubtfully, "I rather like to hear you talk that
+way; I own up it pleases me. But, as to your givin' up college--that's
+different. Let me think it over for a day or two; that is, if you can
+put off the Maine trip so long as that."
+
+"Hang the Maine trip! You let me get into business, the business I want
+to get into, and I won't ask for a vacation; you can bet on that!"
+
+"All right then. I'll think, and do some questionin' around, and report
+soon's I've decided what's best."
+
+He laid the stump of his cigar in the ash receiver and rose from his
+chair. But his nephew had not finished.
+
+"There was something else I intended to say," he announced, but with
+less eagerness.
+
+"That so? What?"
+
+"Why--why, just this." He fidgeted with his watch chain, colored and
+was evidently uneasy. "I guess--" he hesitated--"I guess that I haven't
+treated you as I ought."
+
+"I want to know! You guess that, hey? Why?"
+
+"Oh, you know why. I've been thinking since I went back to New Haven.
+I've had a chance to think. Some of the fellows in the set I used to be
+thick with up there have learned that I'm broke, and they--they aren't
+as friendly as they were. Not all of them, of course, but some. And
+I wouldn't chase after them; not much! If they wanted to drop me they
+could. You bet I didn't try to hang on! I was pretty sore for a while
+and kept to myself and--well, I did a lot of thinking. I guess Caro is
+right; you've been mighty decent to her and me."
+
+He paused, but Captain Elisha made no comment.
+
+"I guess you have," continued Stephen, soberly. "When you first came,
+you know, Caroline and I couldn't understand. We thought you were
+butting in and weren't our sort, and--and--"
+
+"And a hayseed nuisance generally; I know. Heave ahead, son; you
+interest me."
+
+"Well, we didn't like it. And Mal Dunn and his mother were always
+sympathizing and insinuating, and we believed they were our best
+friends, and all that. So we didn't try to understand you or--or even
+make it livable for you. Then, after the news came that the money had
+gone, I acted like a kid, I guess. That business of making Mal stick
+to the engagement was pretty silly. I was nearly desperate, you see,
+and--and--you knew it was silly. You never took any stock in it, did
+you?"
+
+The captain smiled.
+
+"Not a heap," he admitted.
+
+"No. All you wanted was to show them up. Well, you did it, and I'm glad
+you did. But Caro and I have talked it over since I've been home, and
+we agree that you've been a great deal better to us than we deserve. You
+didn't _have_ to take care of us at all, any more, after the money went.
+By gad! considering how we treated you, I don't see why you did. _I_
+wouldn't. But you did--and you are. You've given us a home, and you're
+putting me through college and--and--"
+
+"That's all right, son. Good night."
+
+"Just a minute. I--I--well, if you let me, I'd like to thank you
+and--and ask your pardon."
+
+"Granted, my boy. And never mind the thanks, either. Just keep on
+thinkin' and actin' as you have to-night, and I'll be satisfied. I want
+to see my nephew makin' a man of himself--a real man; and, Steve, you
+talk more like a man to-night than I've ever heard you. Stick to it, and
+you'll do yet. As for goin' to work, you let me chew on that for a few
+days."
+
+The next morning he called on Sylvester, who in turn took him to a
+friend of his, a broker--employing a good-sized staff of clerks. The
+three had a consultation, followed, the day after, by another. That
+evening the captain made a definite proposal to Stephen. It was,
+briefly, that, while not consenting to the latter's leaving college, he
+did consider that a trial of the work in a broker's office might be
+a good thing. Therefore, if the young man wished, he could enter the
+employ of Sylvester's friend and remain during July and August.
+
+"You'll leave about the first of September, Steve," he said, "and
+that'll give you time for the two weeks vacation that you ought to have.
+Then you can go back to Yale and pitch in till the next summer, when the
+same job'll be ready for you. After you're through college for good, if
+what you've learned about brokerin' ain't cured you of your likin' for
+it--if you still want to go ahead with it for your life job, then--well,
+then we'll see. What do you say?"
+
+Stephen had a good deal to say, principally in the line of objection to
+continuing his studies. Finding these objections unavailing, he agreed
+to his guardian's proposition.
+
+"All right," said the captain; "then you can go to work next Monday. But
+you'll _have_ to work, and be just the same as any other beginner, no
+better and no worse. There'll be no favoritism, and, if you're really
+wuth your salt, you won't want any. Show 'em, and me, that you're wuth
+it."
+
+The novel, the wonderful tale which Captain Elisha was certain would
+make its author famous, was finished that very day in June when Stephen
+came back from New Haven. The question of title remained, and the
+"clinic," now reenforced by Steve--whose dislike for Pearson
+had apparently vanished with others of his former likes and
+dislikes--considered that at several sessions. At last "The Man at the
+Wheel" was selected, as indicating something of the hero's profession
+and implying, perhaps, a hint of his character. Then came the
+fateful task of securing a publisher. And the first to whom it was
+submitted--one of the two firms which had already expressed a desire to
+read the manuscript--accepted it, at what, for a first novel, were
+very fair terms. During the summer there was proof to be read and
+illustrations to be criticized. Captain Elisha did not wholly approve of
+the artist's productions.
+
+"Jerushy!" he exclaimed, "look at that mainmast! Look at the rake of it!
+More like a yacht than a deep-water bark, she is enough sight. And the
+fust mate's got a uniform cap on, like a purser on a steamboat. Make
+that artist feller take that cap off him, Jim. He's got to. I wish he
+could have seen some of my mates. They wa'n't Cunarder dudes, but they
+could make a crew hop 'round like a sand-flea in a clam bake."
+
+Or, when the picture happened to be a shore view:
+
+"What kind of a house is that? Did you ever see a house like that
+Down-East? I'll leave it to anybody if it don't look like a sugar man's
+plantation I used to know down Mobile way. All that feller standin'
+by the door needs is to have his face blacked; then he'd start singin'
+'S'wanee River.' This ain't 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' Bah!"
+
+The advance copy, the first one, was ready early in September, and the
+author, of course, brought it immediately to his friends. They found
+the dedication especially interesting: "To C. W. and E. W., consulting
+specialists at the literary clinics, with grateful acknowledgments."
+Probably Captain Elisha was never prouder of anything, even his first
+command, than of that dedication.
+
+And the story, when at last it appeared for sale, was almost from the
+beginning a success. The reviewers praised it, the reading public--that
+final court of appeal which makes or unmakes novels--took kindly to it,
+and discussed and recommended it; and, most important of all, perhaps,
+it sold and continued to sell. There was something in it, its humanity,
+its simplicity, its clearly marked characters, which made a hit. Pearson
+no longer needed to seek publishers; they sought him. His short stories
+were bid for by the magazines, and his prices climbed and climbed.
+He found himself suddenly planted in the middle of the highway to
+prosperity, with a clear road ahead of him, provided he continued to do
+his best.
+
+In September Stephen gave up his work at the broker's office, spent the
+weeks with his friends in Maine, and then returned to Yale. He gave up
+the position on the Street with reluctance. He was sure he liked it
+now, he declared. It was what he was fitted for, and he meant, more than
+ever, to take it up permanently as soon as he was free. And his employer
+told Captain Elisha that the youngster was bright, clever, and apt. "A
+little conceited, needs taking down occasionally, but that is the only
+trouble. He has been spoiled, I should imagine," he said.
+
+"Yup," replied the captain, with emphasis; "your imagination's a good
+one. It don't need cultivatin' any."
+
+The novel being out of the way, and its successor not yet far enough
+advanced in plot or general plan for much discussion, the "literary
+clinics" were no longer as frequent. But Pearson's visits to the Warren
+house were not discontinued. All summer long he had been coming out,
+once, and usually twice, a week. Captain Elisha had told him not to
+stand on formality, to come any time, and he did. On most of these
+occasions he found the captain at home; but, if only Caroline was there,
+he seemed quite contented. She did not remark on the frequency of his
+visits. In fact, she mentioned him less and less in conversation with
+her uncle. But, as the autumn came and moved towards its prime she
+seemed, to the captain's noticing eye, a trifle more grave, a little
+more desirous of being by herself. Sometimes he found her sitting by
+the open fire--pleasant in the cool October evenings--and gazing very
+soberly at the blaze. She had been in good spirits, more merry and
+light-hearted than he had ever seen her, during the latter part of
+the summer; now her old sadness seemed to be returning. It would have
+troubled him, this change in her mood, if he had not believed he knew
+the cause.
+
+He was planning a glorious Thanksgiving. At least, it would be glorious
+to him, for he intended spending the day, and several days, at his own
+home in South Denboro. Abbie Baker had made him promise to do it, and he
+had agreed. He would not leave Caroline, of course; she was going with
+him. Steve would be there, though he would not come until Thanksgiving
+Day itself. Sylvester, also, would be of the party; he seemed delighted
+at the opportunity.
+
+"I'm curious to see the place where they raise fellows like you," the
+lawyer said. "It must be worth looking at."
+
+"Graves don't think so," chuckled the captain. "I invited him, and
+he said, 'No, thank you' so quick that the words was all telescoped
+together. And he shivered, too, when he said it; just as if he felt
+that sou'west gale whistlin' between his bones even now. I told him
+I'd pretty nigh guarantee that no more trees would fall on him, but it
+didn't have any effect."
+
+Pearson was asked and had accepted. His going was so far a settled thing
+that he had commissioned Captain Elisha to purchase a stateroom for him
+on the Fall River boat; for of course the captain would not consider
+their traveling the entire distance by train. At an interview in the
+young man's room in the boarding house, only three days before the date
+set for the start, he had been almost as enthusiastic as the Cape Codder
+himself. The pair had planned several side excursions, time and weather
+permitting, among them a trip across the Sound to Setuckit Point, with
+the possibility of some late sea-fowl shooting and a long tramp to one
+of the life-saving stations, where Pearson hoped to pick up material for
+his new book. He was all anticipation and enthusiasm when the captain
+left him, and said he would run out to the house the following day, to
+make final arrangements.
+
+That day Sylvester 'phoned, asking Captain Elisha to come to his office
+on a matter of business. When, having done so, the captain, returning,
+alighted at his home station, he was surprised to see Pearson standing
+on the platform.
+
+"Why, hello, Jim!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Just come,
+have you?"
+
+His friend shook his head. "No, Captain Warren," he said; "I'm just
+going."
+
+"Goin'? What for? Been up to the house, of course? Caroline told you
+where I'd gone and that I was cal'latin' to hurry back, didn't she?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, then, course you ain't goin'! You're goin' to stay to dinner.
+I've got some things to tell you about that life-savin' station cruise.
+I've been thinkin' that I know the cap'n and most of the crew on the
+lightship off back of the Point. How'd you like to go aboard of her? You
+could get some yarns from those fellers that might be wuth hearin'."
+
+"I have no doubt I should. But I'm afraid I can't go. The fact is,
+Captain, I've decided not to spend Thanksgiving with you, after all."
+
+"Hey?" Captain Elisha could scarcely believe he had heard correctly.
+"You can't go--to South Denboro?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Why not, for the land sakes?"
+
+"Well, I've decided--I've decided not to."
+
+"But, Jim! Why, I can't have it so! I'm dreadful disappointed. I've
+counted on your goin'. So has Abbie. She's read your book, and she says
+she's crazy to see the feller that wrote it. She's told the minister
+and a whole lot more, and they're all comin' in to look at you. 'Tain't
+often we have a celebrated character in our town. You've _got_ to go."
+
+"Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the invitation and your kindness,
+but," with decision, "I can't accept."
+
+"Can't you come later? Say Thanksgivin' mornin'? Or even the day after?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But why not? What's the matter with you all of a sudden? Come here! let
+me look at you."
+
+He took the young man by the arm and led him, almost by main strength,
+close to the lighted window of the station. It was late, and the
+afternoon was gloomy. Here, by the lamplight streaming through the
+window, he could see his face more clearly. He looked at it.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted, after a moment's scrutiny. "You've made up your
+mind; I can see that. Have you told Caroline? Does she know?"
+
+"Yes. You'll have to excuse me, Captain Warren; my train is coming."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+Pearson smiled, but there was little mirth in the smile. "I think she
+agrees with me that it is best," he observed.
+
+"Humph! She does, hey? I want to know! Look here, Jim! have you and
+she--"
+
+He got no further, for Pearson broke away, and, with a hurried "Good
+night," strode up the platform to meet the city-bound train. Captain
+Elisha watched it go and then walked slowly homeward, his hands in his
+pockets, troubled and wondering.
+
+He entered the house by the back door, a remnant of South Denboro habit,
+and found Annie in the kitchen.
+
+"Where's Caroline?" he asked.
+
+"She's in the living room, sir, I think. Mr. Pearson has been here and
+just gone."
+
+"Um-hm. So I heard. Say, Annie, you needn't hurry dinner; I ain't ready
+for it yet awhile."
+
+He hung his coat and hat in the back hall and quietly entered the living
+room. The lamp was not lighted, and the room was dark, but he saw his
+niece, a shadowy figure, seated by the window. He crossed to her side.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he said, cheerfully, "I'm home again."
+
+She turned. "I see you are," she answered.
+
+"Humph! your eyes must be better than mine then. I can't see anything in
+here. It's darker than a nigger's pocket. Suppose we turn on the glim."
+
+He struck a match as he said it. By its light he saw her face. The match
+burned down to his finger tips and then he extinguished it.
+
+"I don't know but the dark is just as good and more economical," he
+observed. "No use of encouragin' the graspin' ile trust unless it's
+necessary. Let's you and me sit here in the dark and talk. No objection
+to talkin' to your back country relation, have you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"That's good. Well, Caroline, I'm goin' to talk plain again. You can
+order me to close my hatch any time you feel like it; that's skipper's
+privilege, and you're boss of this craft, you know. Dearie, I just met
+Jim Pearson. He tells me he's decided not to go on this Cape cruise of
+ours. He said you agreed with him 'twas best he shouldn't go. Do you
+mind tellin' me why?"
+
+She did not answer. He waited a minute and then continued.
+
+"Course, I know I ain't got any real right to ask," he went on; "but I
+think more of you and Jim than I do of anybody else, and so maybe you'll
+excuse me. Have you and he had a fallin' out?"
+
+Still she was silent. He sighed. "Well," he observed, "I see you have,
+and I don't blame you for not wantin' to talk about it. I'm awful sorry.
+I'd begun to hope that.... However, we'll change the subject. Or we
+won't talk at all, if you'd rather not."
+
+Another pause. Then she laid her hand on his.
+
+"Uncle," she said, "you know I always want to talk to you. And, as for
+the right to ask, you have the right to ask anything of me at any time.
+And I should have told you, of my own accord, by and by. Mr. Pearson and
+I have not quarreled; but I think--I think it best that I should not see
+him again."
+
+"You do? Not see him--any more--at all? Why, Caroline!"
+
+"Not for a long, long time, at least. It would only make it harder--for
+him; and it's of no use."
+
+Captain Elisha sighed again. "I guess I understand, Caroline. I presume
+likely I do. He--he asked somethin' of you--and you couldn't say yes to
+him. That was it, I suppose. Needn't tell me unless you really want to,
+you understand," he added, hastily.
+
+"But I do. I ought to tell you. I should have told you before, and
+perhaps, if I had, he would not have ... Uncle Elisha, Mr. Pearson asked
+me to be his wife."
+
+The captain gave no evidence of surprise.
+
+"Yes," he replied, gravely, "I judged that was it. And you told him you
+couldn't, I suppose. Well, dearie, that's a question nobody ought to
+answer but the one. She's the only one that knows what that answer
+should be, and, when other folks interfere and try to influence, it
+generally means trouble. I'm kind of disappointed; I'll own up to that.
+I think Jim is a fine, honest, able young man, and he'd make a good
+husband, I'm sure. And, so far as his business, or profession, or
+whatever you call it, goes, he's doin' pretty well and sartin to do
+better. Of course, 'twa'n't that that kept you from--"
+
+"Uncle Elisha! Am _I_ so rich that I should--"
+
+"There! there, my girl! I know 'twa'n't that, of course. I was only
+thinkin' out loud, that's all--tryin' to find reasons. You didn't care
+for him enough, I suppose. Caroline, you don't care for anybody else, do
+you? You don't still care for that other feller, that--"
+
+"Uncle!" she sprang up, hurt and indignant. "How can you?" she cried.
+"How could you ask that? What must you think of me?"
+
+"Please, Caroline," he protested; "please don't. I beg your pardon. I
+was a fool! I knew better. Don't go. Tell me the real reason. Sit down
+again and let's talk this out. Do sit down! that's it. Now tell me; was
+it that you couldn't care for Jim enough?"
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"Was it?" he repeated.
+
+"I--I like Mr. Pearson very much. I respect and admire him."
+
+"But you don't love him. I see. Well," sadly, "there's another one of my
+dreams gone to smash. However, you did just right, dearie. Feelin' that
+way, you couldn't marry him, of course."
+
+He would have risen now, and she detained him.
+
+"That was not the reason," she said, in a low tone.
+
+"Hey?" he bent toward her. "What?" he cried. "That wa'n't the reason,
+you say? You do care for him?"
+
+She was silent.
+
+"Do you?" he repeated, gently. "And yet you sent him away. Why?"
+
+She faltered, tried to speak, and then turned away. He put his arm about
+her and stroked her hair.
+
+"Don't you cry, dearie," he begged. "I won't bother you any more. You
+can tell me some other time--if you want to. Or you needn't tell me
+at all. It's all right; only don't cry. 'Cause if you do," with sudden
+determination, "I shall cry, too; and, bein' as I ain't used to the
+exercise, I may raise such a row that Annie'll send for the constable.
+You wouldn't want that to happen, I know."
+
+This unexpected announcement had the desired effect; Caroline laughed
+hysterically and freed herself from his arm.
+
+"I mustn't be so silly," she said. "I had made up my mind to tell you
+everything, and I shall. My not caring for Mr. Pearson was not my reason
+for refusing him. The reasons were two--you and Steve."
+
+"Me and Steve? What in the world have we got to do with it?"
+
+"Everything. He would marry me, poor as I am; and perhaps I--perhaps
+I should say yes if things were different. Oh, there is no use my
+deceiving you, or trying to deceive myself! I know I should say yes, and
+be very, very happy. But I can't! and I won't! I _won't_!"
+
+"But why? And where, for mercy's sake, do Steve and I come in?"
+
+"Uncle Elisha, I suppose you think I have been perfectly satisfied to
+let you take care of me and of my brother, and give us a home and all
+that we needed and more. No doubt you thought me selfish enough to be
+contented with that and go on as I am--as we are--living on your bounty.
+You had reason to think so. But I have not been contented with that, nor
+has Steve. He and I have made our plans, and we shall carry them out. He
+will leave college in two years and go to work in earnest. Before that
+time I shall be ready to teach. I have been studying with just that idea
+in view."
+
+"Good land! Why, no, you ain't! You've been studyin' to help me and
+Annie run this house."
+
+"That was only part of it--the smallest part. I haven't told you before,
+Uncle, but one of the Domestic Science teachers at the University is a
+girl I used to know slightly. She is going to be married next year, and,
+if all goes well, I may be appointed to her position when she leaves. I
+have a conditional promise already. If I am, why, then, you see, I shall
+really be earning my own living; you will not have to give up your own
+home and all your interests there to make me comfortable: you can--"
+
+"Here! here!" Captain Elisha put in, desperately; "don't talk so
+ridiculous, Caroline. I ain't givin' up anything. I never was more happy
+than I've been right here with you this summer. I'm satisfied."
+
+"I know, but I am not. And neither is Steve. He and I have planned it
+all. His salary at first will be small, and so will mine. But together
+we can earn enough to live somehow and, later on, when he earns more,
+perhaps we may be able to repay a little of all that you have given us.
+We shall try. _I_ shall insist upon it."
+
+"Caroline Warren, is _that_ the reason you sent Jim away? Did you tell
+him that? Did you tell him you wouldn't marry him on account of me?"
+
+"No, of course I did not," indignantly. "I told him--I said I must not
+think of marriage; it was impossible. And it is! You _know_ it is, Uncle
+Elisha!"
+
+"I don't know any such thing. If you want to make me happy, Caroline,
+you couldn't find a better way than to be Jim Pearson's wife. And you
+would be happy, too; you said so."
+
+"But I am not thinking of happiness. It is my duty--to you and to my own
+self-respect. And not only that, but to Steve. Someone must provide a
+home for him. Neither he nor I will permit you to do it a day longer
+than is necessary. I am his sister and I shall not leave him."
+
+"But you won't have to leave him. Steve's future's all fixed. I've
+provided for Steve."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"What I say." The captain was very much excited and, for once,
+completely off his guard. "I've had plans for Steve all along. He's
+doin' fust-rate in that broker's office, learnin' the trade. Next summer
+he'll have another whack at it and learn more. When he's out of college
+I'm goin' to turn over your dad's seat on the Stock Exchange to him. Not
+give it to him, you know--not right off--but let him try; and then, if
+he makes a good fist at it, he'll have it permanent. Steve's got the
+best chance in the world. He couldn't ask much better, seems to me. You
+ain't got to fret yourself about Steve."
+
+He paused, almost out of breath. He had been speaking rapidly so as to
+prevent interruption. Caroline's astonishment was too great for words,
+just then. Her uncle anxiously awaited her reply.
+
+"You see, don't you?" he asked. "You understand. Steve's goin' to have
+the chance to make a good livin' at the very thing he declares he's set
+on doin'. I ain't told him, and I don't want you to, but it's what I've
+planned for him and--"
+
+"Wait! wait, Uncle, please! The Stock Exchange seat? Father's seat? I
+don't see.... I don't understand."
+
+"Yes, yes!" eagerly; "your pa's seat. I've meant it for Steve. There's
+been chances enough to sell it, but I wouldn't do that. 'Twas for him,
+Caroline; and he's goin' to have it."
+
+"But I don't see how.... Why, I thought--"
+
+The door of the dining room opened. Annie appeared on the threshold.
+
+"Dinner is served," she announced.
+
+"Be right there, Annie. Now you see that you ain't got to worry about
+Steve, don't you, Caroline?"
+
+His niece did not answer. By the light from the doorway he saw that she
+was gazing at him with a strange expression. She looked as if she was
+about to ask another question. He waited, but she did not ask it.
+
+"Well," he said, rising, "we won't talk any more just now. Annie's
+soup's gettin' cold, and she'll be in our wool if we don't have dinner.
+Afterwards we can have another session. Come, Caroline."
+
+She also rose, but hesitated. "Uncle Elisha," she said, "will you excuse
+me if I don't talk any more to-night? And, if you don't mind, I won't
+dine with you. I'm not hungry and--and my head aches. I'll go to my
+room, I think."
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, hastily, "of course. I'm afraid I've talked too
+much as 'tis. You go up and lie down, and Annie can fetch you some toast
+and tea or somethin' by and by. But do just answer me this, Caroline, if
+you can: When you told Jim marryin' was out of the question for you, did
+he take that as final? Was he contented with that? Didn't he say he was
+willin' to wait for you, or anything?"
+
+"Yes, he said he would wait, always. But I told him he must not. And I
+told him he must go and not see me again. I couldn't see him as I have
+been doing; Uncle, I couldn't!"
+
+"I know, dearie, I know. But didn't you say anything more? Didn't you
+give him _any_ hope?"
+
+"I said," she hesitated, and added in a whisper, "I said if I should
+ever need him or--or change my mind, I would send for him. I shouldn't
+have said it. It was weak and wicked of me, but I said it. Please let me
+go now, Uncle dear. Good night."
+
+She kissed him and hurried away. He ate his lonely dinner
+absent-mindedly and with little appetite. After it was finished he sat
+in the living room, the lamp still unlighted, smoking and thinking.
+
+And in her chamber Caroline, too, sat thinking--not altogether of the
+man she loved and who loved her. She thought of him, of course; but
+there was something else, an idea, a suspicion, which over and over
+again she dismissed as an utter impossibility, but which returned as
+often.
+
+The Stock Exchange seat had been a part of her father's estate, a
+part of her own and Steve's inheritance. Sylvester had told her so,
+distinctly. And such a seat was valuable; she remembered her brother
+reading in the paper that one had recently sold for ninety thousand
+dollars. How could Captain Warren have retained such a costly part of
+the forfeited estate in his possession? For it was in his possession;
+he was going to give it to her brother when the latter left college. But
+how could he have obtained it? Not by purchase; for, as she knew, he was
+not worth half of ninety thousand dollars. Surely the creditor, the man
+who had, as was his right, seized all Rodgers Warren's effects, would
+not have left that and taken the rest. Not unless he was a curiously
+philanthropic and eccentric person. Who was he? Who was this mysterious
+man her father had defrauded? She had never wished to know before; now
+she did. And the more she pondered, the more plausible her suspicion
+became. It was almost incredible, it seemed preposterous; but, as she
+went back, in memory, over the events since her father's death and the
+disclosure of his astonishing will, little bits of evidence, little
+happenings and details came to light, trifles in themselves, but all
+fitting in together, like pieces of an inscription in mosaic, to spell
+the truth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+November weather on Cape Cod is what Captain Elisha described as
+"considerable chancey." "The feller that can guess it two days ahead
+of time," he declared, "is wastin' his talents; he could make a livin'
+prophesyin' most anything, even the market price of cranberries." When
+Caroline, Sylvester, and the captain reached South Denboro after what
+seemed, to the two unused to the leisurely winter schedule of the
+railroad, an interminable journey from Fall River, the girl thought
+she had never seen a more gloomy sky or a more forbidding scene.
+Gray clouds, gray sea, brown bare fields; the village of white or
+gray-shingled houses set, for the most part, along the winding main
+street; the elms and silver-leaf poplars waving bare branches in the
+cutting wind; a picture of the fag end of loneliness and desolation, so
+it looked to her. She remembered Mr. Graves's opinion of the place, as
+jokingly reported by Sylvester, and she sympathized with the dignified
+junior partner.
+
+But she kept her feelings hidden on her uncle's account. The captain
+was probably the happiest individual in the state of Massachusetts that
+morning. He hailed the train's approach to Sandwich as the entrance to
+Ostable County, the promised land, and, from that station on, excitedly
+pointed out familiar landmarks and bits of scenery and buildings with
+the gusto and enthusiasm of a school boy.
+
+"That's Ostable court-house," he cried, pointing. "And see--see that
+red-roofed house right over there, just past that white church? That's
+where Judge Baxter lives; a mighty good friend of mine, the Judge is. I
+stopped to his house to dinner the night Graves came."
+
+A little further on he added, "'Twas about here that I spoke to Graves
+fust. I noticed him sittin' right across the aisle from me, with a face
+on him sour as a sasser of green tamarind preserves, and I thought I'd
+be sociable. 'Tough night,' I says. 'Umph,' says he. 'Twa'n't a remark
+cal'lated to encourage conversation, so I didn't try again--not till his
+umbrella turned inside out on the Denboro platform. Ho! ho! I wish you'd
+have seen his face _then_."
+
+At Denboro he pointed out Pete Shattuck's livery stable, where the horse
+and buggy came from which had been the means of transporting Graves and
+himself to South Denboro.
+
+"See!" he cried. "See that feller holdin' up the corner of the depot
+with his back! the one that's so broad in the beam he has to draw in his
+breath afore he can button his coat. That's Pete. You'd think he was too
+sleepy to care whether 'twas to-day or next week, wouldn't you? Well, if
+you was a summer boarder and wanted to hire a team, you'd find Pete was
+awake and got up early. If a ten-cent piece fell off the shelf in the
+middle of the night he'd hear it, though I've known him to sleep while
+the minister's barn burned down. The parson had been preachin' against
+horse-tradin'; maybe that sermon was responsible for some of the
+morphine influence."
+
+Sylvester was enjoying himself hugely. Captain Elisha's exuberant
+comments were great fun for him. "This is what I came for," he confided
+to Caroline. "I don't care if it rains or snows. I could sit and listen
+to your uncle for a year and never tire. He's a wonder. And I'm crazy to
+see that housekeeper of his. If she lives up to her reputation there'll
+be no disappointment in my Thanksgiving celebration."
+
+Dan, the captain's hired man, met them with the carriage at the station,
+and Miss Baker met them at the door of the Warren home. The exterior
+of the big, old-fashioned, rambling house was inviting and homelike,
+in spite of the gloomy weather, and Caroline cheered up a bit when they
+turned in at the gate. Five minutes of Miss Abigail's society, and all
+gloom disappeared. One could not be gloomy where Miss Abbie was. Her
+smile of welcome was so broad that, as her employer said, "it took in
+all outdoor and some of Punkhorn Neck," a place which, he hastened to
+add, "was forgot durin' creation and has sort of happened of itself
+since."
+
+Abbie conducted Caroline to her room--old-fashioned, like the rest of
+the house, but cozy, warm, and cheery--and, after helping in the removal
+of her wraps, seized her by both hands and took a long look at her face.
+
+"You'll excuse my bein' so familiar on short acquaintance, dearie," she
+said, "but I've heard so much about you that I feel's if I knew you like
+own folks. And you are own folks, ain't you? Course you are! Everyone of
+'Lisha's letters have had four pages of you to one of anything else. I
+begun to think New York was nothin' but you and a whole lot of ten-story
+houses. He thinks so much of you that I'd be jealous, if I had that
+kind of disposition and the time to spare. So I must have a good look at
+you.... I declare! you're almost prettier than he said. May I kiss you?
+I'd like to."
+
+[Illustration: "'I declare! you're almost prettier than he said. May I
+kiss you?'"]
+
+She did, and they were friends at once.
+
+The rest of that day and evening were busy times. Captain Elisha showed
+his visitors about the place, the barn, the cows, the pigpen--the pig
+himself had gone to fulfill the unhappy destiny of pigs, but they would
+meet him by sections later on, so the captain assured them. The house
+and buildings were spotless in paint and whitewash; the yard was raked
+clean of every dead leaf and twig; the whole establishment was so neat
+that Caroline remarked upon it.
+
+"It looks as if it had been scoured," she said.
+
+"Um-hm," observed her uncle, with a gratified nod; "that's Abbie. She
+hates dirt worse than she does laziness, and that ain't sayin' a little.
+I tell her she'd sand-soap the weather vane if she could climb up to
+it; as 'tis, she stays below and superintends Dan while he does it. If
+godliness wants to stay next to cleanliness when she's around it has
+to keep on the jump. I always buy shirts two degrees heavier'n I need,
+'cause I know she'll have 'em scrubbed thin in a fortni't. When it comes
+to _real_ Domestic Science, Caroline, Abbie ain't in the back row of the
+primer class, now I tell you."
+
+Miss Baker had planned that her young guest should sit in state, with
+folded hands, in the parlor. She seemed to consider that the proper
+conduct for a former member of New York's best society. She was shocked
+when the girl volunteered to help her about the house.
+
+"Course I sha'n't let you," she said. "The idea--and you company! Got
+more help than I know what to do with, as 'tis. 'Lisha was determined
+that I should hire a girl to wash dishes and things while you was here.
+Nothin' would do but that. So I got Annabel Haven's daughter, Etta G.
+There's fourteen in that family, and the land knows 'twas an act of
+charity takin' one appetite out of the house. Pay her fifty cents a day,
+I do, and she's out in the kitchen makin' believe wash windows. They
+don't need washin', but she was lookin' out of 'em most of the time, so
+I thought she might as well combine business with pleasure."
+
+But Caroline refused to sit in the parlor and be "company." She insisted
+upon helping. Miss Baker protested and declared there was nothing on
+earth to be done; but her guest insisted that, if there was not, she
+herself must sit. As Abbie would have as soon thought of attending
+church without wearing her jet earrings as she would of sitting down
+before dinner, she gave in, after a while, and permitted Caroline to
+help in arranging the table.
+
+"Why, you do fust-rate!" she exclaimed, in surprise. "You know where
+everything ought to go, just as if you'd been settin' table all your
+life. And you ain't, because 'Lisha wrote you used to keep hired help,
+two or three of 'em, all the time."
+
+Caroline laughed.
+
+"I've been studying housekeeping for almost a year," she said.
+
+"Studyin' it! Why, yes, now I remember 'Lisha wrote you'd been studyin'
+some kind of science at college. 'Twa'n't settin' table science, I
+guess, though. Ha! ha!"
+
+"That was part of it." She explained the course briefly. Abigail
+listened in amazement.
+
+"And they teach that--at school?" she demanded. "And take money for it?
+And call it _science_? My land! I guess I was brought up in a scientific
+household, then. I was the only girl in the family, and mother died when
+I was ten years old."
+
+After dinner she consented to sit for a time, though not until she had
+donned her Sunday best, earrings and all. Captain Elisha and Sylvester
+sat with them, and the big fireplace in the sitting room blazed and
+roared as it had not since its owner left for his long sojourn in the
+city. In the evening callers came, the Congregational minister and
+his wife, and some of the neighbors. The latter were pleasant country
+people, another retired sea captain among them, and they all seemed to
+have great respect and liking for Captain Elisha and to be very glad to
+welcome him home. The two captains spun salt water yarns, and the lawyer
+again decided that he was getting just what he had come for. They left
+a little after nine, and Caroline said good night and went to her room.
+She was tired, mentally and physically.
+
+But she did not fall asleep at once. Her mind was still busy with the
+suspicion which her uncle's words concerning his future plans for Steve
+had aroused. She had thought of little else since she heard them. The
+captain did not mention the subject again; possibly, on reflection,
+he decided that he had already said too much. And she asked no more
+questions. She determined not to question him--yet. She must think
+first, and then ask someone else--Sylvester. He knew the truth and, if
+taken by surprise, might be driven into confession, if there should be
+anything to confess. She was waiting for an opportunity to be alone with
+him, and that opportunity had not yet presented itself.
+
+The captain would have spoken further with her concerning James Pearson.
+He was eager to do that. But her mind was made up; she had sent her
+lover away, and it was best for both. She must forget him, if she could.
+So, when her uncle would have spoken on that subject, she begged him not
+to; and he, respecting her feelings and believing that to urge would be
+bad policy, refrained.
+
+But to forget, she found, was an impossibility. In the excitement of the
+journey and the arrival amid new surroundings, she had managed to
+keep up a show of good spirits, but now alone once more, with the wind
+singing mournfully about the gables and rattling the windows, she was
+sad and so lonely. She thought what her life had once promised to be and
+what it had become. She did not regret the old life, that life she had
+known before her father died; she had been happy in it while he lived,
+but miserable after his death. As for happiness, she had been happy
+that summer, happy with her uncle and with--him. And with him now, even
+though they would be poor, as she was used to reckoning poverty, she
+knew she could be very happy. She wondered what he was doing then; if he
+was thinking of her. She ought to hope that he was not, because it was
+useless; but she wished that he might be, nevertheless. Then she told
+herself that all this was wicked; she had made up her mind; she must be
+true to the task she had set, duty to her brother and uncle.
+
+Her uncle! why had her uncle done all this for her? And why had her
+father made him their guardian? These were old questions, but now she
+asked them with a new significance. If that strange suspicion of hers
+was true it would explain so much; it would explain almost everything.
+But it could not be true; if it was, why had he not told her when the
+discovery of her father's dishonesty and of the note forfeiting the
+estate was made? Why had he not told her then? That was what troubled
+her most. It did not seem like him to do such a thing--not like his
+character at all. Therefore, it could not be true. Yet she must know.
+She resolved to question Sylvester the next day, if possible. And, so
+resolving, she at last fell asleep.
+
+Her opportunity came the following morning, the day before Thanksgiving.
+After breakfast Captain Elisha went downtown to call on some
+acquaintances. He invited Caroline and the lawyer to accompany him, but
+they refused, the latter because he judged his, a stranger's, presence
+during the calls would be something of a hindrance to good fellowship
+and the discussion of town affairs which the captain was counting on,
+and Caroline because she saw her chance for the interview she so much
+desired.
+
+After the captain had gone, Sylvester sat down before the fire in the
+sitting room to read the Boston _Transcript_. As he sat there, Caroline
+entered and closed the door behind her. Miss Abigail was in the kitchen,
+busy with preparations for the morrow's plum pudding.
+
+The girl took the chair next that occupied by the lawyer. He put down
+his paper and turned to her.
+
+"Well," he asked, "how does this Cape Cod air effect your appetite,
+Caroline? I'm ashamed of mine. I'm rather glad to-morrow is
+Thanksgiving; on that day, I believe, it is permissible, even
+commendable, to eat three times more than a self-respecting person
+ordinarily should."
+
+She smiled, but her answer was in the form of another question, and
+quite irrelevant.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," she said, "I wish you would tell me something about the
+value of a seat on the Stock Exchange. What is the price of one?"
+
+The lawyer looked at her in surprise.
+
+"The value of a seat on the Stock Exchange?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes; what does it cost to buy one?"
+
+He hesitated, wondering why she should be interested in that subject.
+Captain Elisha had not told him a word of the interview following
+Pearson's last visit. He wondered, and then surmised a reason--Stephen,
+of course. Steve's ambition was to be a broker, and his sister was,
+doubtless, with sisterly solicitude and feminine ignorance of high
+prices, planning for his future.
+
+"Well," he replied, smiling, "they're pretty expensive, I'm afraid,
+Caroline."
+
+"Are they?" innocently.
+
+"Yes. I think the last sale was at a figure between ninety and one
+hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Indeed! Was father's seat worth as much as that?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But," with a sigh, "that, I suppose, went with the rest of the estate."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Into the hands of the man who took it all?"
+
+"Yes; the same hands," with a sly smile at his own private joke.
+
+"Then how does it happen that my uncle has it in his possession?"
+
+The lawyer smiled no more. He turned in his chair and gazed quickly and
+keenly at the young lady beside him. And her gaze was just as keen as
+his own.
+
+"What did you say?" he asked.
+
+"I asked you how it happened that my uncle now has father's Stock
+Exchange seat in his possession."
+
+"Why!... Has he?"
+
+"Yes. And I think you know he has, Mr. Sylvester. I know it, because he
+told me so himself. _Didn't_ you know it?"
+
+This was a line shot from directly in front and a hard one to dodge.
+A lie was the only guard, and he was not in the habit of lying, even
+professionally.
+
+"I--I cannot answer these questions," he declared. "They involve
+professional secrets and--"
+
+"I don't see that this is a secret. My uncle has already told me. What
+I could not understand was how he obtained the seat from the man to whom
+it was given as a part of father's debt. Do you know how he obtained
+it?"
+
+"Er--well--er--probably an arrangement was made. I cannot go into
+details, because--well, for obvious reasons. You must excuse me,
+Caroline."
+
+He rose to go.
+
+"One moment more," she said, "and one more question. Mr. Sylvester, who
+_is_ this mysterious person--this stockholder whom father defrauded,
+this person who wishes his name kept a secret, but who does such queer
+things? Who is he?"
+
+"Caroline, I tell you I cannot answer these questions. He does wish to
+remain unknown, as I told you and your brother when we first learned of
+him and his claim. If I were to tell you I should break my faith with
+him.... You must excuse me; you really must."
+
+"Mr. Sylvester, perhaps you don't need to tell me. Perhaps I can guess.
+Isn't he my--"
+
+"Caroline, I cannot--"
+
+"_Isn't he my uncle, Elisha Warren?_"
+
+Sylvester was half way to the door, but she was in his path and looking
+him directly in the face. He hesitated.
+
+"I thought so," she said. "You needn't answer, Mr. Sylvester; your face
+is answer enough. He is."
+
+She turned away, and, walking slowly to the chair from which she had
+arisen, sank into it.
+
+"He is," she repeated. "I knew it. I wonder that I didn't know it from
+the very first. How could I have been so blind!"
+
+The lawyer, nervous, chagrined, and greatly troubled, remained standing
+by the door. He did not know whether to go or stay. He took his
+handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead.
+
+"Whew!" he exclaimed. "Well, by--_George_!"
+
+She paid no attention to him, but went on, speaking, apparently, to
+herself.
+
+"It explains everything," she said. "He was father's brother; and
+father, in some way, took and used his money. But father knew what sort
+of man he was, and so he asked him to be our guardian. Father thought he
+would be kind to us, I suppose. And he has been kind--he has. But why
+did he keep it a secret? Why did he.... I don't understand that. Of
+course the money was his; all we had was his, by right. But to say
+nothing ... and to let us believe.... It does not seem like him at all.
+It...."
+
+Sylvester interrupted quickly. "Caroline! Caroline!" he said, "don't
+make any mistake. Don't misjudge your uncle again. He is a good man; one
+of the best men I ever knew. Yes, and one of the wisest. Don't say
+or think anything for which you may be sorry. I am speaking as your
+friend."
+
+She turned toward him once more, the distressed, puzzled look still on
+her face. "But I don't understand," she cried. "He.... Oh, Mr.
+Sylvester, please, now that I do know--now that you have told me so
+much--won't you tell me the rest; the reason and--all of it? Please!"
+
+The lawyer shook his head, regarding her with an expression of annoyance
+and reluctant admiration.
+
+"Now that _I've_ told you!" he repeated. "I don't remember that I've
+told you anything."
+
+"But you have. Not in words, perhaps, but you have told me. I know.
+Please go on and tell me all. If you don't," with determination, "I
+shall make Uncle Elisha tell me as soon as he comes. I shall!"
+
+Sylvester sighed. "Well, by George!" he repeated, feelingly. "I'll tell
+you one thing, young woman, you're wasting your talents. You should be
+a member of the bar. Anyone who can lead a battle-scarred veteran of
+cross-examination like myself into a trap and then spring it on him, as
+you have done, is gifted by Providence."
+
+"But will you tell me?"
+
+He hesitated, perplexed and doubtful.
+
+"I ought not to say another word on the subject," he declared,
+emphatically. "What Captain Warren will say to me when he finds this
+out is unpleasant to consider. But.... But yet, I don't know. It may
+be better for you to learn the real truth than to know a part and
+guess wrongly at the rest. I.... What is it you want me to tell you?"
+
+"Everything. I want you to sit down here by me and tell me the whole
+story, from the beginning. Please."
+
+He hesitated a moment longer and, then, his mind made up, returned to
+his chair, crossed his legs and began. "Here it is," he said.
+
+"Caroline, about twenty years ago, or such matter, your father was a
+comparatively poor man--poor, I mean, compared to what he afterward
+became. But he was a clever man, an able business man, one who saw
+opportunities and grasped them. At that time he obtained a grant in
+South America for--"
+
+"I know," she interrupted; "the Akrae Rubber Company was formed. You
+told Steve and me all about that. What I want to know is--"
+
+"Wait. I did not tell you all about it. I said that another man invested
+ten thousand dollars with your father to form that company. That man, so
+we now know, was your uncle, Captain Elisha Warren."
+
+"I guessed that. Of course it must have been he."
+
+"It was. The captain was older than your father, had lived carefully,
+and had saved some money. Also, at that time, he idolized his brother
+and believed in his shrewdness and capability. He invested this ten
+thousand on Rodgers Warren's word that the investment was likely to be a
+good one. That, and to help the latter in business. For a few years
+the company did nothing; during that time your father and uncle
+disagreed--concerning another matter, quite unconnected with this
+one--and they did not see each other again while Rodgers lived. In that
+long period the Akrae Company made millions. But Elisha supposed it
+to be bankrupt and worthless; because--well, to be frank, because his
+brother wrote him to that effect."
+
+He paused, fearful of the effect which this announcement might have upon
+the girl. But she had guessed this part of her father's dishonor and was
+prepared for it. She made no comment, and he continued.
+
+"Now we come to the will. Your father, Caroline, was not a bad man at
+heart. I knew him well, and I believe that may be said truthfully. He
+realized what he had done, how he had defrauded the brother who had been
+so kind to him, and he meant, he kept promising himself, to some day
+repay the money he had taken. To insure that, he put that note with the
+other papers of the Company. If he did repay, it could be destroyed. If
+he did not, if he should die, it would be there to prove--what it did
+prove. But always in his mind was the thought of you and Steve, the
+children he loved. He had quarreled with his brother it is true; he had
+cheated him, but restitution for that cheat he had provided. But
+what would become of you, left--in case he died without making
+restitution--penniless? He knew his brother, as I said; knew his
+character, respected his honesty, and believed in his conscientiousness
+and his big heart. So he made his will, and in it, as you know, he
+appointed Elisha your guardian. He threw his children and their future
+upon the mercy and generosity of the brother he had wronged. That is his
+reason, as we surmise it, for making that will."
+
+He paused again. Caroline did not speak for a moment. Then she asked:
+
+"And no one knew--you or my uncle or anyone--of all this until last
+March?"
+
+"No. Graves had, with his usual care and patience, pieced together the
+evidence and investigated until we were sure that a stockholder in the
+Akrae Company existed and that all of your father's estate belonged
+to him. Who that stockholder was we did not know until that day of the
+meeting at our office. Then Captain Warren told us."
+
+"But he did not know, either?"
+
+"Not until then. He supposed his Akrae stock worthless, and had
+practically forgotten it. When we told him of its value, of the note,
+and of the missing shareholder, he knew, of course."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"Say? Caroline, he was the most distressed and conscience-stricken man
+in the city. One would have thought he was the wrongdoer and not the
+wronged. He would have gone straight to you and asked your pardon, if we
+would have permitted it."
+
+"But, Mr. Sylvester, now we are coming to the part I cannot understand.
+Of course the estate belonged to him, I know that. It is his. But why
+didn't he tell Steve and me the truth then, at once? Why did he let us
+believe, and employ you to lead us to believe, that it was not he but
+someone else? Did he think we would blame him? Why has he--"
+
+"Caroline! Caroline! don't you understand yet? Do you imagine for one
+moment that your uncle intends keeping that money?"
+
+She stared at him in utter amazement.
+
+"Keeping it?" she repeated. "Why not? It is his. It belongs to him."
+
+"Caroline, I'm afraid you don't know him, even yet. He was for going to
+you at once and destroying the note in your presence. He would have done
+it, but we persuaded him to wait and think it over for a day or two. He
+did think and then decided to wait a little longer, for your sake."
+
+"For my sake? For mine?" she passed her hand in a bewildered way across
+her forehead. "Mr. Sylvester, I don't seem to understand even now. I--"
+
+"For your sake, Caroline. Remember, at that time you were engaged to
+Malcolm Dunn."
+
+Her intent gaze wavered. She drew a long breath. "I see," she said,
+slowly. "Oh.... I see."
+
+"Yes. Captain Warren is one of the best judges of character I ever met.
+The Dunns did not deceive him for one moment. He was certain Malcolm
+intended marrying you because of your money; for that matter, so was I.
+But his was the plan entirely which showed them to you as they were. He
+knew you were too honest and straightforward to believe such things of
+the man to whom you were engaged if they were told you; you must see the
+proof with your own eyes. And he showed it to you."
+
+"But then," she begged, distractedly, "why couldn't he tell me after
+that? I--I am so stupid, I suppose--but, Mr. Sylvester, all this
+is--is--"
+
+"He might have told you then, but he did not think it best. Caroline,
+your uncle has always believed in you. Even when you sent him from your
+home he did not blame you; he said you were deceived, that was all.
+But, too, he has always declared that you had been, as he expressed it,
+'brought up wrong.' Your money had, in a way, warped your estimate of
+people and things. He believed that, if you were given the opportunity,
+you would learn that wealth does not, of itself, mean happiness. So
+he decided not to tell you, not to give you back your share of your
+father's money--he refuses to consider it his--until another year, until
+you were of age, at least. And there was Steve. You know, Caroline, that
+money and what it brought was spoiling Steve. He has never been so much
+a man as during the past year, when he thought himself poor. But your
+uncle has planned for him as well as for you and, when he believes the
+time has come, he--"
+
+"Please," she interrupted, falteringly; "please don't say any more. Let
+me think. Oh, please let me think, Mr. Sylvester.... You say that Uncle
+Elisha intends giving us all that father took from him? All of it?"
+
+"Yes, all. He considers himself merely your guardian still and will
+accept only his expenses from the estate."
+
+"But--but it is wonderful!"
+
+"Yes, it is. But I have learned to think him a wonderful man."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is wonderful!" she repeated, brokenly. "Even though we cannot take
+it, it is wonderful."
+
+"What? Cannot take it?"
+
+"Of course not! Do you suppose that either my brother or I will take the
+fortune that our father stole--yes, _stole_ from him? After he has been
+living almost in poverty all these years and we in luxury--on _his_
+money? Of course we shall not take it!"
+
+"But, Caroline, I imagine you will have to take it. I understand your
+feelings, but I think he will compel you to take it."
+
+"I shall _not_!" she sprang to her feet. "Of course I shall not! Never!
+never!"
+
+"What's that you're never goin' to take, Caroline? Measles? or another
+trip down in these parts? I hope 'tain't the last, 'cause I've been
+cal'latin' you'd like it well enough to come again."
+
+Caroline turned. So did Sylvester. Captain Elisha was standing in the
+doorway, his hand on the knob. He was smiling broadly, but as he looked
+at the two by the fire he ceased to smile.
+
+"What's all this?" he asked, suspiciously. "Caroline, what--Sylvester,
+what have you been tellin' her?"
+
+Neither answered at once. The captain looked from one to the other.
+
+"Well, what's up?" he demanded. "What's the matter?"
+
+The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"What's up?" he repeated. "Humph! well, I should say the jig was up. The
+murder's out. The cat is no longer in the bag. That's about the size of
+it."
+
+"Sylvester!" Caroline had never seen her uncle thoroughly angry before;
+"Sylvester," he cried, "have you--Have you dast to tell her what you
+shouldn't? Didn't you promise me? If you told that girl, I'll--I'll--"
+
+His niece stepped forward. "Hush, Uncle Elisha," she said. "He didn't
+tell me until I knew already. I guessed it. Then I asked for the whole
+truth, and he told me."
+
+"The whole truth? _Caroline!_"
+
+He wrung his hands.
+
+"Yes, Uncle, the whole truth. I know you now. I thought I knew you
+before; but I didn't--not half. I do now."
+
+"Oh, Caroline!" he stepped toward her and then stopped, frantic and
+despairing. "Caroline! Caroline!" he cried again, "can you ever forgive
+me? You know--you must know I ain't ever meant to keep it. It's all
+yours. I just didn't give it to you right off because ... because....
+Oh, Sylvester, tell her I never meant to keep it! Tell her!"
+
+The lawyer shook his head. "I did tell her," he said, with another
+shrug, "and she tells me she won't accept it."
+
+"What?" the captain's eyes were starting from his head. "What? Won't
+take it? Why, it's hers--hers and Steve's! It always has been! Do you
+cal'late I'd rob my own brother's children? _Don't_ talk so foolish!
+I won't hear such talk!"
+
+Caroline was close to tears, but she was firm.
+
+"It isn't ours," she said. "It is yours. Our father kept it from you all
+these years. Do you suppose we will keep it any longer?"
+
+Captain Elisha looked at her determined face; then at the lawyer's--but
+he found no help there. His chin thrust forward. He nodded slowly.
+
+"All right! all right!" he said, grimly. "Sylvester, is your shop goin'
+to be open to-morrer?"
+
+"Guess not, Captain," was the puzzled reply. "It's Thanksgiving. Why?"
+
+"But Graves'll be to home, won't he? I could find him at his house?"
+
+"I presume you could."
+
+"All right, then! Caroline Warren, you listen to me: I'll give you till
+two o'clock to make up your mind to take the money that belongs to you.
+If you don't, I swear to the Lord A'mighty I'll take the fust train, go
+straight to New York, hunt up Graves, make him go down to the office and
+get that note your father made out turnin' all his property over to that
+Akrae Company. I'll get that note and I'll burn it up. Then--_then_
+you'll have to take the money, because it'll be yours. Every bit of
+evidence that'll hold in law is gone, and nobody but you and Steve'll
+have the shadow of a claim. I'll do it, so sure as I live! There! now
+you can make up your mind."
+
+He turned, strode to the door and out of the room. A moment later they
+heard a scream from Miss Baker in the kitchen: "'Lisha Warren, what ails
+you? Are you crazy?" There was no answer, but the back door closed with
+a tremendous bang.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half an hour after his dramatic exit Captain Elisha was pacing up and
+down the floor of the barn. It was an old refuge of his, a place where
+he was accustomed to go when matters requiring deliberation and thought
+oppressed him. He was alone. Dan had taken the horse to the blacksmith's
+to be shod.
+
+The captain strode across the floor, turned and strode back again. Every
+few moments he looked at his watch. It was a long way to two o'clock,
+but each additional moment was another weight piled upon his soul. As
+he turned in his stride he saw a shadow move across the sill of the big,
+open door. He caught his breath and stopped.
+
+Caroline entered the barn. She came straight to him and put her hands
+upon the lapels of his coat. Her eyes were wet and shining.
+
+"Caroline?" he faltered, eagerly.
+
+"You good man!" she breathed, softly. "Oh, you _good_ man!"
+
+"Caroline!" his voice shook, but there was hope in it. "Caroline, you're
+goin' to take the money?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha. Mr. Sylvester has shown me that I must. He says you
+will do something desperate if I refuse."
+
+"I sartin would! And you'll take it, really?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Glory be! And--and, Caroline, you won't hold it against me, my makin'
+you think you was poor, and makin' you live in that little place, and
+get along on just so much, and all that? Can you forgive me for doin'
+that?"
+
+"Forgive you? Can I ever thank you enough? I know I can't; but I can try
+all my life to prove what--"
+
+"S-s-h-h! s-s-h!... There!" with a great sigh, almost a sob, of relief,
+"I guess this'll be a real Thanksgivin', after all."
+
+But, a few minutes later, another thought came to him.
+
+"Caroline," he asked, "I wonder if, now that things are as they are,
+you couldn't do somethin' else--somethin' that would please me an
+awful lot?"
+
+"What is it, Uncle?"
+
+"It's somethin' perhaps I ain't got any right to ask. You mustn't say
+yes if you don't want to. The other day you told me you cared for Jim
+Pearson, but that you sent him away 'cause you thought you had to earn
+a livin' for you and Steve. Now you know that you ain't got to do that.
+And you said you told him if you ever changed your mind you'd send for
+him. Don't you s'pose you could send for him now--right off--so he could
+get here for this big Thanksgivin' of ours? Don't you think you could,
+Caroline?"
+
+He looked down into her face, and she looked down at the barn floor. But
+he saw the color creep up over her forehead.
+
+"Send for him--now?" she asked, in a low tone.
+
+"Yes. Now--right off. In time for to-morrow!"
+
+"He could not get here," she whispered.
+
+"Yes, he could. If you send him a telegram with one word in it:
+'Come'--and sign it 'Caroline'--he'll be here on to-morrow mornin's
+train, or I'll eat my hat and one of Abbie's bonnets hove in. Think you
+could, Caroline?"
+
+A moment; then in a whisper, "Yes, Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Hooray! But--but," anxiously, "hold on, Caroline. Tell me truly now.
+You ain't doin' this just to please me? You mustn't do that, not for the
+world and all. You mustn't send for him on my account. Only just for one
+reason--because _you_ want him."
+
+He waited for his answer. Then she looked up, blushing still, but with a
+smile trembling on her lips.
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha," she said, "because _I_ want him."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The clouds blew away that night, and Thanksgiving day dawned clear
+and cold. The gray sea was now blue; the white paint of the houses and
+fences glistened in the sun; the groves of pitchpine were brilliant
+green blotches spread like rugs here and there on the brown hills. South
+Denboro had thrown off its gloomy raiment and was "all dolled up for
+Thanksgivin'," so Captain Elisha said.
+
+The captain and Sylvester were leaning on the fence by the gate, looking
+up the road and waiting for Dan and the "two-seater" to heave in sight
+around the bend. The hired man had harnessed early and driven to the
+station at least thirty minutes before train time. Captain Elisha
+was responsible for the early start. Steve was coming on that train;
+possibly someone else was coming. The captain did not mean they should
+find no welcome or vehicle at the station.
+
+The whistle had sounded ten minutes before. It was time for Dan to
+appear at the bend.
+
+"I hope to thunder Jim got that telegram," observed the captain for the
+twentieth time, at least, since breakfast.
+
+"So do I," replied his friend. "There's no reason why he shouldn't, is
+there?"
+
+"No, no sensible one; but I've scared up no less than a couple of
+hundred of the other kind. If he shouldn't come--my, my! she'd be
+disappointed."
+
+"You wouldn't feel any disappointment yourself, of course," said the
+lawyer, with sarcasm.
+
+"Who? Me? Oh, I'd be sorer'n a scalded wharf rat in a barrel of pepper.
+But I don't count. There's the real one up there."
+
+He motioned with his head toward the window of Caroline's room.
+Sylvester nodded. "Yes," he said, "I suppose so. Captain, I'm somewhat
+surprised that you should be willing to trust that niece of yours
+to another man. She's a pretty precious article, according to your
+estimate."
+
+"Well, ain't she accordin' to yours?"
+
+"Yes. Pretty precious and precious pretty. Look at her now."
+
+They turned in time to catch a glimpse of the girl as she parted the
+curtains and looked out on the road. She saw them looking at her,
+smiled, blushed, and disappeared. Both men smoked in silence for a
+moment. Then the captain said:
+
+"Waitin'. Hi hum! nothin' like it, when you're waitin' for _the_ one,
+is there?"
+
+"No, nothing."
+
+"Yup. Well, for a pair of old single hulks our age, strikes me we're
+gettin' pretty sentimental. You say you wonder I'd trust Caroline to
+another man; I wouldn't to the average one. But Jim Pearson's all right.
+You'll say so, too, when you know him as well as I do."
+
+"I'll trust your judgment, any time. So you won't tell Steve yet awhile
+that he's not broke?"
+
+"No. And Caroline won't tell him, either. Steve's doin' fust-rate as
+he is. He's in the pickle tub and 'twill do him good to season a
+spell longer. But I think he's goin' to be all right by and by. Say,
+Sylvester, this New York cruise of mine turned out pretty good, after
+all, didn't it?"
+
+"Decidedly good. It was the making of your niece and nephew. Caroline
+realizes it now; and so will Steve later on."
+
+"Hope so. It didn't do _me_ any harm," with a chuckle. "I wouldn't have
+missed that little beat up the bay with Marm Dunn for a good deal. For
+a spell there we was bows abreast, and 'twas hard to tell who'd turn the
+mark first. Heard from the Dunns lately?"
+
+"No. Why, yes, I did hear that they were in a tighter box than ever,
+financially. The smash will come pretty soon."
+
+"I'm sorry. The old lady'll go down with colors nailed to the mast, I'll
+bet; and she'll leave a lot of suds where she sank. Do you know, I never
+blamed her so much. She was built that way. She's consider'ble like
+old Mrs. Patience Blodgett, who used to live up here to the Neck; like
+her--only there never was two people more different. Pashy was the
+craziest blue-ribboner you ever saw. Her one idea in life was gettin'
+folks to sign the pledge. She married Tim Blodgett, who was the wust
+soak in the county--he'd have figgered out, if you analyzed him, about
+like a bottle of patent medicine, seventy-two per cent alcohol. Well,
+Pashy married him to reform him, and she made her brags that she'd get
+him to sign the pledge. And she did, but only by puttin' it in front of
+him when he was too drunk to read it."
+
+The lawyer laughed heartily. "So you think Mrs. Corcoran Dunn resembles
+her, do you," he observed.
+
+"In one way--yes. Both of 'em sacrifice everything else to one idea.
+Pashy's was gettin' that pledge signed, and never mind ways and means.
+Mrs. Dunn's is money and position--never mind how they come. See what
+I'm drivin' at?"
+
+Sylvester laughed again. "I guess so," he said. "Captain Warren, I never
+saw you in better spirits. Do you know what I think? I think that, for
+a chap who has just given away half of a good-sized fortune and intends
+giving away the other half, you're the most cheerful specimen I ever
+saw."
+
+The captain laughed, too. "I am, ain't I," he said. "Well, I can say
+truthful what I never expected to say in my life--that _once_ I was
+wuth ha'f a million dollars. As for the rest of it, I'm like that
+millionaire--that.... Hi! Look! There comes Dan! See him!"
+
+They peered eagerly over the fence. The Warren "two-seater" had rounded
+the bend in the road. Dan was driving. Beside him sat a young fellow who
+waved his hand.
+
+"Steve!" cried the captain, excitedly. "There's Steve! And--and--yes,
+there's somebody on the back seat. It's Jim! He's come! Hooray!"
+
+He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.
+
+"Wait," he cried. "I don't want to lose the rest of that sentence. You
+said you were like some millionaire. Who?"
+
+"Don't bother me," cried Captain Elisha. "Who? Why, I was goin' to say
+I was like that millionaire chap who passes out a library every time he
+wakes up and happens to think of it. You know who I mean.... Ahoy there,
+Jim! Ahoy, Steve!"
+
+He was waving his hand to the passengers in the approaching vehicle.
+
+"Yes," prompted his friend, hastily, "I know who you mean--Carnegie."
+
+"That's the feller. I've come to feel about the way he says he
+does--that 'twould be a crime for me to die rich."
+
+                         THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
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+
+CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+
+by JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"Ostable!" screamed the brakeman, opening the car door and yelling
+his loudest, so as to be heard above the rattle of the train and
+the shriek of the wind; "Ostable!"
+
+The brakeman's cap was soaked through, his hair was plastered down
+on his forehead, and, in the yellow light from the car lamps, his
+wet nose glistened as if varnished.  Over his shoulders the shiny
+ropes of rain whipped and lashed across the space between the cars.
+The windows streamed as each succeeding gust flung its miniature
+freshet against them.
+
+The passengers in the car--there were but four of them--did not
+seem greatly interested in the brakeman's announcement.  The red-
+faced person in the seat nearest the rear slept soundly, as he had
+done for the last hour and a half.  He had boarded the train at
+Brockton, and, after requesting the conductor not to "lemme me git
+by Bayport, Bill," at first favored his fellow travelers with a
+song and then sank into slumber.
+
+The two elderly men sitting together on the right-hand side of the
+car droned on in their apparently endless Jeremiad concerning the
+low price of cranberries, the scarcity of scallops on the flats,
+the reasons why the fish weirs were a failure nowadays, and similar
+cheerful topics.  And in his seat on the left, Mr. Atwood Graves,
+junior partner in the New York firm of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves,
+lawyers, stirred uneasily on the lumpy plush cushion, looked at his
+watch, then at the time-table in his hand, noted that the train was
+now seventy-two minutes late, and for at least the fifteenth time
+mentally cursed the railway company, the whole of Cape Cod from
+Sandwich to Provincetown, and the fates which had brought him
+there.
+
+The train slowed down, in a jerky, hiccoughy sort of way, and crept
+on till the car in which Mr. Graves was seated was abreast the
+lighted windows of a small station, where it stopped.  Peering
+through the water-streaked pane at the end of his seat, the lawyer
+saw dim silhouettes of uncertain outline moving about.  They moved
+with provoking slowness.  He felt that it would be joy unspeakable
+to rush out there and thump them into animation.  The fact that
+the stately Atwood Graves even thought of such an undignified
+proceeding is sufficient indication of his frame of mind.
+
+Then, behind the door which the brakeman, after announcing the
+station, had closed again, sounded a big laugh.  The heartiness of
+it grated on Mr. Graves's nerves.  What idiot could laugh on such a
+night as this aboard a train over an hour late?
+
+The laugh was repeated.  Then the door was flung briskly open, and
+a man entered the car.  He was a big man, broad-shouldered,
+inclined to stoutness, wearing a cloth cap with a visor, and a
+heavy ulster, the collar of which was turned up.  Through the gap
+between the open ends of the collar bristled a short, grayish
+beard.  The face above the beard and below the visor was sunburned,
+with little wrinkles about the eyes and curving lines from the
+nostrils to the corners of the mouth.  The upper lip was shaved,
+and the eyebrows were heavy and grayish black.  Cap, face, and
+ulster were dripping with water.
+
+The newcomer paused in the doorway for an instant, evidently to add
+the finishing touch to a conversation previously begun.
+
+"Well, I tell you, Ezra," he called, over his shoulder, "if it's
+too deep to wade, maybe I can swim.  Fat floats, they tell me, and
+Abbie says I'm gettin' fleshier every day.  So long."
+
+He closed the door and, smiling broadly, swung down the aisle.  The
+pair of calamity prophets broke off their lament over the declining
+fisheries and greeted him almost jovially.
+
+"Hello, Cap'n!" cried one.  "What's the south shore doin' over here
+in this flood?"
+
+"What's the matter, Cap'n?" demanded the other.  "Broke loose from
+your moorin's, have you?  Did you ever see such a night in your
+life?"
+
+The man in the ulster shook hands with each of his questioners,
+removing a pair of wet, heavy leather gloves as he did so.
+
+"Don't know's I ever did, Dan," he answered.  "Couldn't see much of
+this one but its color--and that's black.  I come over this mornin'
+to attend to some business at the court-house--deeds to some
+cranberry bog property I just bought--and Judge Baxter made me go
+home with him to dinner.  Stayed at his house all the afternoon,
+and then his man, Ezra Hallett, undertook to drive me up here to
+the depot.  Talk about blind pilotin'!  Whew!  The Judge's horse
+was a new one, not used to the roads, Ezra's near-sighted, and I
+couldn't use my glasses 'count of the rain.  Let alone that, 'twas
+darker'n the fore-hold of Noah's ark.  Ho, ho!  Sometimes we was in
+the ruts and sometimes we was in the bushes.  I told Ez we'd ought
+to have fetched along a dipsy lead, then maybe we could get our
+bearin's by soundin's.  'Couldn't see 'em if we did get 'em,' says
+he.  'No,' says I, 'but we could taste 'em.  Man that's driven
+through as much Ostable mud as you have ought to know the taste of
+every road in town.'"
+
+"Well, you caught the train, anyhow," observed Dan.
+
+"Yup.  If we'd been crippled as WELL as blind we could have done
+that."  He seated himself just in front of the pair and glanced
+across the aisle at Mr. Graves, to find the latter looking intently
+at him.
+
+"Pretty tough night," he remarked, nodding.
+
+"Yes," replied the lawyer briefly.  He did not encourage conversation
+with casual acquaintances.  The latest arrival had caught his
+attention because there was something familiar about him.  It seemed
+to Graves that he must have seen him before; and yet that was very
+improbable.  This was the attorney's first visit to Cape Cod, and he
+had already vowed devoutly that it should be his last.  He turned a
+chilling shoulder to the trio opposite and again consulted the
+time-table.  Denboro was the next station; then--thank the Lord--
+South Denboro, his destination.
+
+Conversation across the aisle was brisk, and its subjects were many
+and varied.  Mr. Graves became aware, more or less against his
+will, that the person called "Cap'n" was, if not a leader in
+politics and local affairs, still one whose opinions counted.  Some
+of those opinions, as given, were pointed and dryly descriptive;
+as, for instance, when a certain town-meeting candidate was
+compared to a sculpin--"with a big head that sort of impresses you,
+till you get close enough to realize it HAS to be big to make room
+for so much mouth."  Graves, who was fond of salt water fishing,
+knew what a sculpin was, and appreciated the comparison.
+
+The conductor entered the car and stopped to collect a ticket from
+his new passenger.  It was evident that he, too, was acquainted
+with the latter.
+
+"Evening, Cap'n," he said, politely.  "Train's a little late to-
+night."
+
+"It is--for to-night's train," was the prompt response, "but if it
+keeps on at the rate it's travelin' now, it'll be a little early
+for to-morrow mornin's, won't it?"
+
+The conductor laughed.  "Guess you're right," he said.  "This is
+about as wet a storm as I've run through since I've been on the
+road.  If we get to Provincetown without a washout we'll be
+lucky . . .  Well, we've made another hitch.  So far, so good."
+
+The brakeman swung open the door to shout, "Denboro!  Denboro!" the
+conductor picked up his lantern and hurried away, the locomotive
+whistled hoarsely, and the train hiccoughed alongside another
+little station.  Mr. Graves, peering through his window, imagined
+that here the silhouettes on the platform moved more briskly.  They
+seemed almost excited.  He inferred that Denboro was a bigger and
+more wide-awake village than Ostable.
+
+But he was mistaken.  The reason for the excitement was made plain
+by the conductor a moment afterwards.  That official entered the
+car, removed his uniform cap, and rubbed a wet forehead with a
+wetter hand.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said, "I've been expecting it, and here it
+is.  Mark me down as a good prophet, will you?  There's a washout a
+mile further on, and a telegraph pole across the track.  It's
+blowing great guns and raining pitchforks.  It'll be out of the
+question for us to go forward before daylight, if then.  Darn a
+railroad man's job anyhow!"
+
+Five minutes later Mr. Graves descended the steps of the car, his
+traveling bag in one hand and an umbrella in the other.  As soon as
+both feet were securely planted on the platform, he put down the
+bag to wrestle with the umbrella and the hurricane, which was
+apparently blowing from four directions at once.  Feeling his hat
+leaving his head, he became aware that the umbrella had turned
+inside out.  He threw the wreck violently under the train and
+stooped to pick up the bag.  The bag was no longer there.
+
+"It's all right," said a calm voice behind him.  "I've got your
+satchel, neighbor.  Better beat for harbor, hadn't we?  Here! this
+way."
+
+The bewildered New Yorker felt his arm seized in a firm grip, and
+he was rushed across the platform, through a deluge of wind-driven
+water, and into a small, hot, close-smelling waiting room.  When he
+pushed his hat clear of his eyes he saw that his rescuer was the
+big man who boarded the train at Ostable.  He was holding the
+missing bag and smiling.
+
+"Dirty weather, hey?" he observed, pleasantly.  "Sorry your
+umbrella had to go by the board.  I see you was carryin' too much
+canvas and tried to run alongside in time to give you a tow; but
+you was dismasted just as I got there.  Here's your dunnage, all
+safe and sound."
+
+He extended the traveling bag at arm's length.  Mr. Graves accepted
+his property and murmured thanks, not too cordially.  His dignity
+and temper had gone overboard with the umbrella, and he had not yet
+recovered them.
+
+"Well," went on his companion, "here we are!  And I, for one,
+wanted to be somewheres else.  Caleb," turning to the station
+master, who came in at that moment, "any way of my gettin' home
+to-night?"
+
+"'Fraid not, Cap'n," was the answer.  "I don't know of any.  Guess
+you'll have to put up at the hotel and wait till mornin'."
+
+"That's right," agreed the passenger called "Dan," who was standing
+near.  "That's what Jerry and I are goin' to do."
+
+"Yes, but you and Jerry are bound for Orham.  I'm booked for South
+Denboro, and that's only seven miles off.  I'd SWIM the whole seven
+rather than put up at Sim Titcomb's hotel.  I've been there afore,
+thank you!  Look here, Caleb, can't I hire a team and drive over?"
+
+"Well, I don't know.  S'pose you might ring up Pete Shattuck and
+ask him.  He's pretty particular about his horses, though, and I
+cal'late he--"
+
+"All right.  I'll ring him up.  Pete ought to get over some of his
+particularness to oblige me.  I've helped HIM once or twice."
+
+He was on his way to the ticket office, where the telephone hung on
+the wall.  But Mr. Graves stepped forward and spoke to him.
+
+"Excuse me, sir," said the lawyer.  "Did I understand you to say
+you were going to South Denboro?"
+
+"Yes.  I am, if the powers--and Pete Shattuck--'ll let me."
+
+"You were going to drive over?  May I go with you?  I'm very
+anxious to get to South Denboro tonight.  I have some very
+important business there, and I want to complete it and get away
+to-morrow.  I must be back in New York by the morning following."
+
+The captain looked his questioner over.  There was a doubtful look
+on his face, and he smiled quizzically.
+
+"Well, I don't know, Mr.--"
+
+"Graves is my name."
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Graves.  This ain't goin' to be a pleasure
+cruise exactly.  You might get pretty wet."
+
+"I don't care.  I can get dry again when I get there.  Of course I
+shall share the expense of the livery.  I shall be greatly obliged
+if I may go with you.  If not, I must try for a rig myself."
+
+"Oh, if you feel that way about it, why, come ahead and welcome.  I
+was only warnin' you, that's all.  However, with me aboard for
+ballast, I guess we won't blow away.  Wait a jiffy till I get after
+Pete."
+
+He entered the ticket office and raised a big hand to the little
+crank of the telephone bell.
+
+"Let's see, Caleb," he called; "what's Shattuck's number?"
+
+"Four long and two short," answered the station master.
+
+Graves, wondering vaguely what sort of telephone system was in use
+on Cape Cod, heard his prospective pilot ring the instrument for a
+full two seconds, repeating the ring four times altogether.  This
+he followed with two sharp tinkles.  Then came a series of shouted
+"Hellos!" and, at last, fragments of one-half of a dialogue.
+
+"That you, Shattuck?  Know who this is, don't you?  Yes, that's
+right . . .  Say, how many folks listen every time a bell rings on
+this line?  I've heard no less'n eight receivers come down so
+far . . .  Two of 'em went up then, did you hear 'em? . . .
+Sartin . . .  I want to hire a team to go over home with . . .
+To-night--Sartin . . .  I don't care . . .  Yes, you will, too . . .
+YES, you WILL . . .  Send my man back with it to-morrow . . .
+I don't care WHAT it is, so it's got four legs and wheels . . ."
+
+And so on for at least five minutes.  Then the captain hung up the
+receiver and came back to the waiting room.
+
+"Bargain's made, Mr. Graves," he announced.  "Pete'll have some
+sort of a turn-out alongside soon's he can get it harnessed.  If
+you've got any extra storm duds in that satchel of yours, I'd
+advise you to put 'em on.  We're goin' to have a rough passage."
+
+Just how rough it was likely to be, Graves realized when he emerged
+from the station to board the Shattuck buggy.  "Pete" himself had
+driven the equipage over from the livery stable.
+
+"I wouldn't do this for anybody but you, Cap'n," he vouchsafed, in
+what might be called a reproachful shout.  Shouting was necessary,
+owing to the noise of the storm.
+
+"Wouldn't do what?" replied the captain, looking first at the
+ancient horse and then at the battered buggy.
+
+"Let this horse out a night like this."
+
+"Humph!  I should think night would be the only time you would let
+him out. . . .  There! there! never mind.  Get aboard, Mr. Graves.
+Put your satchel on the floor between your feet.  Here, let me
+h'ist that boot for you."
+
+The "boot" was a rubber curtain buttoned across the front of the
+buggy, extending from the dashboard to just below the level of the
+driver's eyes.  The lawyer clambered in behind it, the captain
+followed, the end of the reins was passed through a slit in the
+boot, Mr. Shuttuck, after inquiring if they were "all taut," gave
+the command, "Gid-dap!" and horse and buggy moved around the corner
+of the station, out into darkness.
+
+Of the next hour Graves's memories are keen but monotonous,--
+a strong smell of stable, arising from the laprobe which had
+evidently been recently used as a horse blanket; the sound of
+hoofs, in an interminable "jog, jog--splash, splash," never
+hurrying; a series of exasperated howls from the captain, who was
+doing his best to make them hurry; the thunderous roar of rain on
+the buggy top and the shrieking gale which rocked the vehicle on
+its springs and sent showers of fine spray driving in at every
+crack and crevice between the curtains.
+
+The view ahead, over the boot, was blackness, bordered by spidery
+trees and branches whipping in the wind.  Occasionally they passed
+houses sitting well back from the road, a lighted window gleaming
+cozily.  And ever, as they moved, the storm seemed to gather force.
+
+Graves noticed this and, at length, when his nervousness had
+reached the breaking point, screamed a question in his companion's
+ear.  They had attempted no conversation during the ride, the
+lawyer, whose contemptuous opinion of the locality and all its
+inhabitants was now a conviction, feeling that the result would
+not be worth the effort, and the captain busy with his driving.
+
+"It is blowing worse than ever, isn't it?" yelled the nervous
+Graves.
+
+"Hey?  No, just about the same.  It's dead sou'-west and we're
+getting out of the woods, that's all.  Up on those bare hills we
+catch the full force of it right off the Sound.  Be there pretty
+soon now, if this Old Hundred of a horse would quit walkin' in his
+sleep and really move.  Them lights ahead are South Denboro."
+
+The lights were clustered at the foot of a long and rather steep
+hill.  Down the declivity bounced and rocked the buggy.  The
+horse's hoofs sounded hollow on the planks of a bridge.  The road
+narrowed and became a village street, bordered and arched by tall
+trees which groaned and threshed in the hurricane.  The rain, as it
+beat in over the boot, had, so the lawyer fancied, a salty taste.
+
+The captain bent down.  "Say, Mister," he shouted, "where was it
+you wanted to stop?  Who is it you're lookin' for?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"I say--Heavens to Betsy! how that wind does screech!--I say
+where'bouts shall I land you.  This is South Denboro.  Whose house
+do you want to go to?"
+
+"I'm looking for one of your leading citizens.  Elisha Warren is
+his name."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Elisha Warren.  I--"
+
+He was interrupted.  There was a sharp crack overhead, followed by
+a tremendous rattle and crash.  Then down upon the buggy descended
+what, to Graves, appeared to be an avalanche of scratching, tearing
+twigs and branches.  They ripped away the boot and laprobe and
+jammed him back against the seat, their sharp points against his
+breast.  The buggy was jerked forward a few feet and stopped short.
+
+He heard the clatter of hoofs and shouts of "Whoa!" and "Stand
+still!"  He tried to rise, but the tangle of twigs before him
+seemed impenetrable, so he gave it up and remained where he was.
+Then, after an interval, came a hail from the darkness.
+
+"Hi, there!  Mr. Graves, ahoy!  Hurt, be you?"
+
+"No," the lawyer's tone was doubtful.  "No--o, I--I guess not.
+That you, Captain?"
+
+"Yes, it's me.  Stand still, you foolhead!  Quit your hoppin' up
+and down!"  These commands were evidently addressed to the horse.
+"Glad you ain't hurt.  Better get out, hadn't you?"
+
+"I--I'm not sure that I can get out.  What on earth has happened?"
+
+"Tree limb carried away.  Lucky for us we got the brush end, 'stead
+of the butt.  Scooch down and see if you can't wriggle out
+underneath.  I did."
+
+Mr. Graves obediently "scooched."  After a struggle he managed to
+slide under the tangle of branches and, at length, stood on his
+feet in the road beside the buggy.  The great limb had fallen
+across the street, its heavy end near the walk.  As the captain had
+said, it was fortunate for the travelers that the "brush" only had
+struck the carriage.
+
+Graves found his companion standing at the horse's head, holding
+the frightened animal by the bridle.  The rain was descending in a
+flood.
+
+"Well!" gasped the agitated New Yorker.  "I'll be hanged if this
+isn't--"
+
+"Ain't it?  But say, Mr. Graves, WHO did you say you was comin' to
+see?"
+
+"Oh, a person named Elisha Warren.  He lives in this forsaken hole
+somewhere, I believe.  If I had known what an experience I must go
+through to reach him, I'd have seen him at the devil."
+
+From the bulky figure at the horse's head came a chuckle.
+
+"Humph!  Well, Mr. Graves, if the butt of that limb had fetched us,
+instead of t'other end, I don't know but you MIGHT have seen him
+there.  I'm Elisha Warren, and that's my house over yonder where
+the lights are."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+"This is your room, Mr. Graves," said Miss Abigail Baker, placing
+the lighted lamp on the bureau.  "And here's a pair of socks and
+some slippers.  They belong to Elisha--Cap'n Warren, that is--but
+he's got more.  Cold water and towels and soap are on the washstand
+over yonder; but I guess you've had enough COLD water for one
+night.  There's plenty hot in the bathroom at the end of the hall.
+After you change your wet things, just leave 'em spread out on the
+floor.  I'll come fetch 'em by and by and hang 'em to dry in the
+kitchen.  Come right downstairs when you're ready.  Anything else
+you want?  No?  All right then.  You needn't hurry.  Supper's
+waited an hour 'n' a half as 'tis.  'Twon't hurt it to wait a spell
+longer."
+
+She went away, closing the door after her.  The bewildered, wet and
+shivering New Yorker stared about the room, which, to his surprise,
+was warm and cozy.  The warmth was furnished, so he presently
+discovered, by a steam radiator in the corner.  Radiators and a
+bathroom!  These were modern luxuries he would have taken for
+granted, had Elisha Warren been the sort of man he expected to
+find, the country magnate, the leading citizen, fitting brother to
+the late A. Rodgers Warren, of Fifth Avenue and Wall Street.
+
+But the Captain Warren who had driven him to South Denboro in the
+rain was not that kind of man at all.  His manner and his language
+were as far removed from those of the late A. Rodgers as the
+latter's brown stone residence was from this big rambling house,
+with its deep stairs and narrow halls, its antiquated pictures and
+hideous, old-fashioned wall paper; as far removed as Miss Baker,
+whom the captain had hurriedly introduced as "my second cousin
+keepin' house for me," was from the dignified butler at the mansion
+on Fifth Avenue.  Patchwork comforters and feather beds were not,
+in the lawyer's scheme of things, fit associates for radiators and
+up-to-date bathrooms.  And certainly this particular Warren was not
+fitted to be elder brother to the New York broker who had been
+Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves' client.
+
+It could not be, it COULD not.  There must be some mistake.  In
+country towns there were likely to be several of the same name.
+There must be another Elisha Warren.  Comforted by this thought,
+Mr. Graves opened his valise, extracted therefrom other and drier
+articles of wearing apparel, and proceeded to change his clothes.
+
+Meanwhile, Miss Abigail had descended the stairs to the sitting
+room.  Before a driftwood fire in a big brick fireplace sat Captain
+Warren in his shirt-sleeves, a pair of mammoth carpet slippers on
+his feet, and the said feet stretched luxuriously out toward the
+blaze.
+
+"Abbie," observed the captain, "this is solid comfort.  Every time
+I go away from home I get into trouble, don't I?  Last trip I took
+to Boston, I lost thirty dollars, and--"
+
+"Lost it!" interrupted Miss Baker, tartly.  "Gave it away, you
+mean."
+
+"I didn't GIVE it away.  I lent it.  Abbie, you ought to know the
+difference between a gift and a loan."
+
+"I do--when there is any difference.  But if lendin' Tim Foster
+ain't givin' it away, then I miss my guess."
+
+"Well," with another chuckle, "Tim don't feel that way.  He swore
+right up and down that he wouldn't take a cent--as a gift.  I
+offered to make him a present of ten dollars, but he looked so
+shocked that I apologized afore he could say no."
+
+"Yes, and then LENT him that thirty.  Shocked!  The only thing that
+would shock that good-for-nothin' is bein' set to work.  What
+possessed you to be such a soft-head, _I_ don't know.  When you get
+back a copper of that money I'll believe the millennium's struck,
+that's all."
+
+"Hum!  Well, I'll help you believe it--that is, if I have time
+afore I drop dead of heart disease.  Abbie, you'd make a good
+lawyer; you can get up an argument out of a perfect agreement.  I
+said the thirty dollars was lost, to begin with.  But I knew Tim
+Foster's mother when she used to think that boy of hers was the
+eighth wonder of the world.  And I promised her I'd do what I could
+for him long's I lived . . .  But it seems to me we've drifted some
+off the course, ain't we?  What I started to say was that every
+time I go away from home I get into trouble.  Up to Boston 'twas
+Tim and his 'loan.'  To-night it's about as healthy a sou'-wester
+as I've ever been out in.  Dan fetched in the team, has he?"
+
+"Yes.  It's in the stable.  He says the buggy dash is pretty well
+scratched up, and that it's a wonder you and that Graves man wa'n't
+killed.  Who is he, anyhow?"
+
+"Land knows, I don't."
+
+"You don't know!  Then what's he doin' here?"
+
+"Changin' his duds, I guess.  That's what I'd do if I looked as
+much like a drowned rat as he did."
+
+"'Lisha Warren! if you ain't the most PROVOKIN' thing!  Don't be so
+unlikely.  You know what I mean.  What's he come here, to this
+house, for?
+
+"Don't know, Abbie.  I didn't know he WAS comin' here till just as
+we got down yonder by Emery's corner.  I asked him who he was
+lookin' for, he said 'Elisha Warren,' and then the tree caved in on
+us."
+
+"'Lisha, you--you don't s'pose 'twas a--SIGN, do you?"
+
+"Sign?"
+
+"Yes, a sign, a prophecy-like, a warnin' that somethin' is goin' to
+happen."
+
+The captain put back his head and laughed.
+
+"Sign somethin' HAD happened, I should think," he answered.
+"What's GOIN' to happen is that Pete Shuttuck'll get his buggy
+painted free-for-nothin', at my expense.  How's supper gettin'
+along?  Is it ready?"
+
+"Ready?  It's been ready for so long that it'll have to be got
+ready all over again if . . .  Oh!  Come right in, Mr. Graves!  I
+hope you're drier now."
+
+Captain Warren sprang from the chair to greet his visitor, who was
+standing in the doorway.
+
+"Yes, come right in, Mr. Graves," he urged, cordially.  "Set down
+by the fire and make yourself comf'table.  Abbie'll have somethin'
+for us to eat in a jiffy.  Pull up a chair."
+
+The lawyer came forward hesitatingly.  The doubts which had
+troubled him ever since he entered the house were still in his
+mind.
+
+"Thank you, Captain," he said.  "But before I accept more of your
+hospitality I feel I should be sure there is no mistake.  I have
+come on important business, and--"
+
+"Hold on!"  The captain held up a big hand.  "Don't you say another
+word," he commanded.  "There's just one business that interests me
+this minute, and that's supper.  There's no mistake about THAT,
+anyhow.  Did you say 'Come ahead,' Abbie? or was you just going to?
+Good!  Right into the dinin' room, Mr. Graves."
+
+The dining room was long and low.  The woodwork was white, the
+floor green painted boards, with braided rag mats scattered over
+them.  There were old-fashioned pictures on the walls, pictures
+which brought shudders to the artistic soul of Atwood Graves.  A
+broad bay window filled one side of the apartment, and in this
+window, on shelves and in wire baskets, were Miss Baker's cherished
+and carefully tended plants.  As for the dining table, it was dark,
+old-fashioned walnut, as were the chairs.
+
+"Set right down here, Mr. Graves," ordered the captain.  "I'll try
+to keep you supplied with solid cargo, and Abbie'll 'tend to the
+moistenin'.  Hope that teapot is full up, Abbie.  Hot tea tastes
+good after you've swallered as much cold rain as Mr. Graves and I
+have . . .  Father-we-thank-thee-for-these-mercies-set-before-us-
+Amen . . .  How's your appetite when it comes to clam pie, Mr.
+Graves?"
+
+Mr. Graves's appetite was good, and the clam pie was good.  So,
+too, were the hot biscuits and the tea and homemade preserves and
+cake.  Conversation during the meal was, for the most part, a
+monologue by the captain.  He gave Miss Baker a detailed and
+exaggerated account of his adventures in Ostable, on board the
+train, and during the drive home.  The housekeeper listened,
+fidgeting in her chair.
+
+"'Lisha Warren," she interrupted, "how you do talk!  Rainin' so
+hard you had to hold the reins taut to keep the horse's head out of
+water so he wouldn't drown!  The idea!"
+
+"Fact," asserted Captain Warren, with a wink at his guest.  "And
+that wa'n't the worst of it.  'Twas so dark I had to keep feelin'
+the buggy with my foot to be sure I was in it.  Ain't that so, Mr.
+Graves? . . .  Here!  Abbie won't like to have you set lookin' at
+that empty plate.  She's always afraid folks'll notice the gilt's
+wearin' off.  Pass it over quick, and let me cover it with some
+more pie."
+
+"Yes, and have some more tea," urged Miss Abbie.  You mustn't pay
+attention to what he says, Mr. Graves," she went on.  "Some day
+he'll tell the truth by accident, and then I'll know it's time to
+send for the doctor."
+
+Several times the lawyer attempted to mention the business which
+had brought him to the Cape, and the probability of his having made
+a mistake.  But neither host nor housekeeper would listen.
+
+"When you've been in South Denboro as long as I have," declared the
+former, "you'll understand that the time to talk business is when
+you can't think of anything else.  Wait till we get into the
+settin' room.  Abbie, those six or eight biscuits I've ate are
+gettin' lonesome.  I'll take another for sociability, thank you."
+
+But, at last, when all the biscuits but one were gone, and the cake
+plate looked like the Desert of Sahara, the captain pushed back his
+chair, rose, and led the way into the next room.  Miss Baker
+remained to clear the table.
+
+"Set down by the fire, Mr. Graves," urged the captain.  "Nothin'
+like burnin' wood to look hot and comf'table, is there?  It don't
+always make you feel that way--that's why I put in hot water heat--
+but for looks and sociableness you can't beat a log fire.  Smoke,
+do you?"
+
+"Yes.  Occasionally.  But, Captain Warren--"
+
+"Here, try that.  It's a cigar the Judge gave me over to Ostable.
+He smokes that kind reg'lar, but if you don't like it, throw it
+away.  He ain't here to see you do it, so you won't be fined for
+contempt of court.  I'll stick to a pipe, if you don't mind.  Now
+we're shipshape and all taut, I cal'late.  Let's see, you wanted to
+talk business, I believe."
+
+"Yes, I did.  But before I begin I should like to be sure you are
+the Elisha Warren I came from New York to interview.  Is there
+another of that name in Denboro?"
+
+"Um-hm.  There's Warrens a-plenty all through this section of the
+Cape.  Our family blew ashore here a hundred and fifty years ago,
+or such matter.  My dad's name was Elisha; so was my grandfather's.
+Both sea cap'ns, and both dead.  There's another Elisha livin' over
+on the shore lane."
+
+"Indeed.  Then perhaps it is he I want."
+
+"P'raps.  He's keeper of the town poorhouse.  I can tell you better
+if you give me an idea what your business is."
+
+"I am an attorney.  And now let me ask another question, please.
+Have you--had you a brother in business in New York?"
+
+"Hey?"  The captain turned and looked his guest squarely in the
+eye.  His brows drew together.
+
+"I've got a brother in New York," he answered, slowly.  "Did HE
+send you here?"
+
+"Was your brother's name A. Rodgers Warren?"
+
+"'A. Rodgers'?  No.  His name is Abijah Warren, and--Wait!  His
+middle name is Rodgers, though.  Did 'Bije send you to me?"
+
+"A moment, Captain.  Was your brother a broker?"
+
+"Yes.  His office is--or used to be on Broad Street.  What--"
+
+"You have not heard from him for some time?"
+
+"Not for eighteen years.  He and I didn't agree as well as we
+might.  Maybe 'twas my fault, maybe 'twas his.  I have my own ideas
+on that.  If you're lookin' for 'Bije Warren's brother, Mr. Graves,
+I guess you've come to the right place.  But WHAT he sent you to me
+for, or what he wants--for he wants somethin', or he wouldn't have
+sent--I don't understand."
+
+"Why do you think he wanted something?"
+
+"Because he's 'Bije Warren, and I was brought up with him.  When we
+was young ones together, he went to school and I went to work.  He
+got the frostin' on the cake, and I got the burnt part next to the
+pan.  He went to college, and I went to sea.  He . . .  However,
+you mustn't think I find fault with him for that.  I sp'iled him as
+much as anybody, I guess.  'Twas later on that we . . .  Well,
+never mind that, either.  What is it he wants of me, after eighteen
+years?"
+
+"He wants a good deal of you, Captain Warren.  Or DID want it."
+
+"Did?  Don't he want it now?"
+
+"I don't know.  Captain, I'm surprised that you haven't heard.  It
+seems that I am the bearer of bad news.  Your brother--"
+
+"Is 'Bije DEAD?"
+
+"He died ten days ago very suddenly.  In a way it was a great shock
+to us all, yet we have known that his heart was weak.  He realized
+it, too."
+
+"So 'Bije is dead, hey?"  Captain Elisha's face was very grave, and
+he spoke slowly.  "Dead!  Well, well, well!"
+
+He paused and looked into the fire.  Graves saw again that vague
+resemblance he had caught on the train, but had forgotten.  He knew
+now why he noticed it.  Unlike as the two brothers were, unlike in
+almost every way, the trace of family likeness was there.  This
+sunburned, retired captain WAS the New York financier's elder
+brother.  And this certainty made Mr. Graves's errand more
+difficult, and the cause of it more inexplicable.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat.
+
+"Well, well!" he sighed.  "So 'Bije has gone.  I s'pose you think
+it's odd, maybe," he went on, "that I ain't more struck down by the
+news.  In a way, I am, and, in a way, I'm mighty sorry, too.  But,
+to speak truth, he and I have been so apart, and have had nothin'
+to do with each other for so long that--that, well, I've come to
+feel as if I didn't have a brother.  And I know he felt that way.
+Yes, and WANTED to feel so--I know that."
+
+"I wouldn't say that, if I were you," observed the lawyer, gently.
+"I think you're mistaken there."
+
+"I ain't mistaken.  Why, look here, Mr. Graves!  There was a time
+when I'd have got down on my knees and crawled from here to New
+York to help 'Bije Warren.  I lent him money to start in business.
+Later on him and I went into partnership together on a--a fool
+South American speculation that didn't pan out for nothin'.  I
+didn't care for that.  I took my chance same as he did, we formed a
+stock company all amongst ourselves, and I've got my share of the
+stock somewhere yet.  It may come in handy if I ever want to paper
+the barn.  But 'twa'n't business deals of that kind that parted us,
+'twas another matter.  Somethin' that he did to other folks who'd
+trusted us and . . .  Humph! this don't interest you, of course . . .
+Well, 'Bije was well off, I know.  His wife died way back in the
+nineties.  She was one of them fashionable women, and a hayseed
+salt-herrin' of a bachelor brother-in-law stuck down here in the
+sandheaps didn't interest her much--except as somethin' to forget,
+I s'pose.  I used to see her name in the Boston papers occasionally,
+givin' parties at Newport and one thing a'nother.  I never envied
+'em that kind of life.  I'm as well fixed as I want to be.  Got some
+money put by for a rainy spell, comf'table house and land, best town
+on earth to live in and work for; I'm satisfied and always have
+been.  I wouldn't change for nothin'.  But I'm nine year older than
+'Bije was--and yet I'm left alive.  Hum!"
+
+"Your brother had two children by his marriage," said Graves, after
+a moment of silence.
+
+"Hey?  Two children?  Why, yes, I remember he did.  Boy and girl,
+wa'n't they?  I never saw em.  They've growed up by this time, of
+course."
+
+"Yes, the eldest, Caroline, is nearly twenty.  The boy, Stephen, is
+a year younger.  It is concerning those children, Captain Warren,
+that I have come to you."
+
+Captain Elisha turned in his chair.  "Hey?" he queried.  "The
+children?  You've come to me about 'Bije's children?"
+
+Graves nodded.  "Yes," he answered, solemnly.  "That is what I
+meant by saying your brother had not forgotten you or wished to
+forget you.  In spite of the estrangement, it is evident that his
+confidence in your judgment and integrity was supreme.  His
+children were his idols, Captain Warren, and he has left them in
+your charge."
+
+The captain's pipe fell to the hearth.
+
+"WHAT?" he shouted.  "Left his children to--to ME!  Mr. Graves,
+you're--you're out of your head--or I am!"
+
+"No, I'm perfectly sane.  I have a copy of the will here, and--"
+
+He was interrupted by Miss Baker, who appeared at the door of the
+dining room.  "Did you want me, 'Lisha?" she asked.
+
+Her employer stared at her in a dazed, uncomprehending way.
+
+"Want you?" he repeated.  "Want you?"
+
+"Yes; I heard you holler, and I thought p'raps you was callin' me."
+
+"Hey?  No, I don't want you, Abbie. . . .  Holler!  I shouldn't
+wonder!  If all I did was holler, I'm surprised at myself.  No, no!
+Run along out and shut the door.  Yes, shut it. . . .  Now, Mr.
+Graves, say that over again and say it slow."
+
+"I say that your brother has left his two children in your care
+until the youngest shall become of age--twenty-one.  I have a copy
+of his will here, and--"
+
+"Wait, wait! let me think.  Left his children to me! . . . to ME.
+Mr. Graves, had 'Bije lost all his money?"
+
+"No.  He was not the millionaire that many thought him.  Miss
+Warren and her brother will be obliged to economize somewhat in
+their manner of living.  But, with care AND economy, their income
+should be quite sufficient, without touching the principal, to--"
+
+"Hold on again; the income, you say.  What is that income?"
+
+"Roughly speaking, a mere estimate, about twenty to twenty-five
+thousand yearly."
+
+Captain Elisha had stooped to pick up the pipe he had dropped.
+His fingers touched it, but they did not close.  Instead he
+straightened up in his chair as if suffering from an electric
+shock.
+
+"Mr. Graves," he began; "Mr. Graves, are you cra--.  No, I asked
+you that before.  But--but twenty THOUSAND a--a year!  For mercy
+sakes, what's the principal?"
+
+"In the neighborhood of five hundred thousand, I believe.  Of
+course, we had no authority to investigate thoroughly.  That will
+be a part of your duties, but--"
+
+"S-shh!  Let me soak this into my brains a little at a time.  'Bije
+leaves his children five hundred thousand, half a million, and--and
+they've got to ECONOMIZE!  And I'm . . .  Would you mind readin' me
+that will?"
+
+The attorney drew a long envelope from his pocket, extracted
+therefrom a folded document, donned a pair of gold-mounted
+eyeglasses, and began to read aloud.
+
+The will was short and very concise.  "'I, Abijah Rodgers Warren,
+being of sound mind--'"
+
+"You're sartin that part's true, are you?" broke in the captain.
+
+Graves nodded, rather impatiently, and continued.  "'Of sound mind,
+memory and understanding, do make, publish and declare this to be
+my last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say:--
+
+"'First:--I direct my executor hereinafter named to pay my just
+debts and funeral expenses as soon as maybe convenient after my
+decease.'"
+
+"Did he owe much, think likely?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"Apparently not.  Very little beyond the usual bills of a household."
+
+"Yes, yes.  Grocer and butcher and baker and suchlike.  Well, I
+guess they won't have to put in a keeper.  Heave ahead."
+
+"'Second:--I give, devise and bequeath all my estate, both real and
+personal, to my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive--'"
+
+The captain gasped.  "To me?" he cried, in utter amazement.  "He
+leaves it to ME?  'Bije leaves--say, Mr. Graves, there's some
+mistake here somewhere, sure!  And besides, you said--"
+
+"Just a minute, Captain Warren, if you please.  If you'll be
+patient and not interrupt, I'll try to make the whole matter
+plain."
+
+"Well, if you can do THAT, you'll have King Solomon and all his
+wisdom beat a mile, that's all I've got to say.  Go on."
+
+"'To my brother, Elisha Warren, if he survive me, IN TRUST,
+nevertheless, for the following purpose, to wit:--
+
+"'To invest the same and to use the income thereof for the
+education and maintenance of my two children, Caroline Edgecombe
+Warren--'"
+
+"Edgecombe?  Named for some of his wife's folks, I presume likely.
+Excuse me for puttin' my oar in again.  Go on."
+
+"'And Stephen Cole Warren--'"
+
+"THAT'S his wife, sartin.  She was a Cole.  I swan, I beg your
+pardon."
+
+"'Until the elder, Caroline Edgecombe Warren, shall have reached
+her twenty-first birthday, when one-half of the principal of said
+estate, together with one-half of the accumulated interest, shall
+be given to her, and the trust continued for the education and
+maintenance of my son, Stephen Cole Warren, until he shall have
+reached his twenty-first birthday, when I direct that the remainder
+be given to him.
+
+"'Third:--I appoint as testamentary guardian of my said children my
+said brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+"'Fourth:--I appoint as sole executor of this, my last will and
+testament, my said brother, Elisha Warren.
+
+"'Fifth:--Imposing implicit trust and confidence in Elisha Warren,
+my brother, I direct that he be not required to give bond for the
+performance of any of the affairs or trusts to which he has been
+herein appointed.'
+
+"The remainder," concluded Graves, refolding the will, "is purely
+formal.  It is dated May 15th, three years ago.  Your brother,
+Captain Warren, evidently realized, although no one else seems to
+have done so, the precarious state of his health, and prepared, as
+every careful person should, for the great emergency."
+
+The attorney removed his eyeglasses and rubbed them with his
+handkerchief.  Captain Elisha sat silent, staring at the fire.
+After an interval, Graves spoke again.
+
+"Of course, Captain," he went on, "my errand is now plain.  I come
+to acquaint you with your brother's last wishes and to ascertain
+whether or not you are willing to accept the trust and responsibility
+he has laid upon you.  As you doubtless know, the state provides a
+legal rate of reimbursement for such services as yours will--or
+may--be.  Ahem!"
+
+"May be?  You mean I ain't got to do this thing unless I want to?"
+
+"Certainly.  You have the right to renounce the various appointments,
+in which case another executor, trustee, and guardian will be
+appointed.  I realize, and I'm sure that your brother's children
+will realize, your hesitance in assuming such a responsibility over
+persons whom you have never even met."
+
+"Yes, I guess we'll all realize it; you needn't worry about that.
+Look here, do the children know I'm elected?"
+
+"Yes.  Of course, the will has been read to them."
+
+"Hum!  I s'pose likely they was overcome with joy, wa'n't they?"
+
+Graves bit his lip.  Remembering the comments of Miss Caroline and
+her brother when they learned of their uncle's appointment, he had
+difficulty in repressing a smile.
+
+"Well," he replied, slowly, "of course, one could scarcely expect
+them to rejoice.  They have never seen you.  In fact, I doubt if
+either of them knew their father had a brother, living."
+
+"Y-e-e-s.  That part don't surprise me.  But the rest of it does.
+By the miracles of the prophets! the rest of it does!  That 'Bije--
+'Bije--should leave his children and their money to ME to take care
+of is passin' human belief, as our old minister used to say-- . . .
+Humph!  I s'pose likely, Mr. Graves, you'd like to have me say yes
+or no to the thing while you're here, hey?"
+
+Graves nodded.  "It would be well to do so," he said.  "The
+settlement of the estate must be taken in hand as soon as possible.
+The law so directs."
+
+"Yes, I see that.  Well, what would you advise my doin'?"
+
+To this direct question the lawyer returned a noncommittal answer.
+
+"I'm afraid that must be answered by yourself alone, Captain
+Warren," he said.  "Of course, the acceptance of the trust will
+necessarily involve much trouble and inconvenience, especially to
+one of your--er--settled and--er--conservative--I judge merely from
+what you have said--your conservative habits.  The estate is large,
+the investments are, doubtless, many and varied, and the labor of
+looking into and investigating them may require some technical
+skill and knowledge of finance.  Yes."
+
+"Um-hm. . . .  Well, I judge that that kind of skill and knowledge
+could be hired, if a feller felt like payin' fair wages; hey?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes.  Any good lawyer could attend to that, under the
+supervision of the executor, certainly.  But there are other
+inconveniences to a--a--"
+
+"Country jay like me.  I understand.  Go ahead."
+
+"I mean that you would probably be required to spend much, or all,
+of the next two or three years in New York."
+
+"Would, hey?  I didn't know but bein' as a guardian has entire
+charge of the children and their money and all--I understand that's
+what he does have--he could direct the children fetched down to
+where HE lived, if he wanted to.  Am I wrong?"
+
+"No," the lawyer's hesitancy and annoyance was plainly evident.
+"No-o.  Of course, that MIGHT be done.  Still, I--"
+
+"You think that wouldn't cause no more rejoicin' than some other
+things have?  Yes, yes; I cal'late I understand, Mr. Graves.  Well,
+I guess you'll have to give me to-night to chew over this.  I guess
+you will.  It's come on me so sudden, 'Bije's death and all, that I
+want to be by myself and think.  I don't want to seem unsociable or
+lackin' in hospitality.  The whole house is yours.  Help yourself
+to it.  But when I'm caught in a clove hitch, I just have to set
+down and think myself out of it.  I HAVE to.  I was built and
+launched that way, I guess, and maybe you'll excuse me."
+
+"Certainly, Captain Warren.  You're quite right in wishing to
+deliberate on so important a matter.  And, if you will excuse me in
+return, I believe I will go to my room.  I've had a rather wearing
+day."
+
+"And a damp evenin'.  Yes, I'll excuse and sympathize with you,
+too.  I'll see you to your room, and I'll hope you'll have
+consider'ble more sleep than I'm likely to get.  Abbie! . . .
+Abbie! . . .  Fetch Mr. Graves's lamp, won't you, please?"
+
+It was after two the next morning before Captain Elisha rose from
+his chair by the fire and entered his bed chamber.  Yet, when
+Atwood Graves came down to breakfast, he found his host in the
+sitting room awaiting him.
+
+"Afore we tackle Abbie's pancakes and fishballs, Mr. Graves," said
+the captain, "let's get the rest of that will business off our
+minds.  Then we can have the pancakes to take the taste out of our
+mouths, as you might say.  And let me ask you one more question.
+This--er--er--Caroline and Stephen, they're used to livin' pretty
+well--fashionable society, and the like of that, hey?"
+
+"Yes.  Their home was on Fifth Avenue, and the family moved in the
+best circles."
+
+"Hum!  I should imagine life on twenty-odd thousand a year must be
+pretty much all circles, one everlastin' 'turn your partners.'
+Well, Mr. Graves, my circles down here are consider'ble smaller,
+but they suit me.  I'm worth twenty-odd thousand myself, not in a
+year, but in a lifetime.  I'm selectman and director in the bank
+and trustee of the church.  When I holler 'Boo,' the South Denboro
+folks--some of them, anyhow--set up and take notice.  I can lead
+the grand march down in this neighborhood once in a while, and I
+cal'late I'm prettier leadin' it than I would be doin' a solitaire
+jig for two years on the outside edge of New York's best circles.
+And I'm mighty sure I'm more welcome.  Now my eyesight's strong
+enough to see through a two-foot hole after the plug's out, and I
+can see that you and 'Bije's children won't shed tears if I say no
+to that will.  No offense meant, you know; just common sense,
+that's all."
+
+This was plain speaking.  Mr. Graves colored, though he didn't mean
+to, and for once could not answer offhand.
+
+"So," continued the captain, "I'll ease your and their minds by
+sayin' that, the way I feel now, I probably sha'n't accept the
+trust.  I PROBABLY sha'n't.  But I won't say sure I won't, because--
+well, because 'Bije was my brother; he was that, no matter what
+our diff'rences may have been.  And I know--I KNOW that there must
+be some reason bigger than 'implicit trust' and the other May-
+baskets for his appointin' me in his will.  What that reason is I
+DON'T know--yet."
+
+"Then you intend--?"
+
+"I don't know what I intend--in the end.  But for a beginnin', I
+cal'late to run down to New York some time durin' the next week,
+take a cruise 'round, and sort of look things over."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+"It's a box of a place, though, isn't it," declared Mr. Stephen
+Warren, contemptuously glancing about the library of the apartment.
+"A box, by George!  I think it's a blooming shame that we have to
+put up with it, Sis."
+
+Mr. Warren sprawled in the most comfortable chair in the room, was
+looking out through the window, across the wind-swept width of
+Central Park West, over the knolls and valleys of the Park itself,
+now bare of foliage and sprinkled with patches of snow.  There was
+a discontented look on his face, and his hands were jammed deep in
+his trousers pockets.
+
+His sister, Caroline, sat opposite to him, also looking out at the
+December landscape.  She, too, was discontented and unhappy, though
+she tried not to show it.
+
+"Why don't you say something," snapped Stephen, after a moment of
+silence.  "ISN'T it a box of a place?  Now come."
+
+"Yes," replied the young lady, without looking at her brother.
+"Yes, Steve, I suppose it is.  But you must remember that we must
+make the best of it.  I always wondered how people could live in
+apartments.  Now I suppose I shall have to find out."
+
+"Well, I maintain that we don't have to.  We aren't paupers, even
+though father wasn't so well fixed as everyone thought.  With
+management and care, we could have stayed in the old house, I
+believe, and kept up appearances, at least.  What's the use of
+advertising that we're broke?"
+
+"But, Steve, you know Mr. Graves said--"
+
+"Oh, yes, I know.  You swallowed every word Graves said, Caro, as
+if he was the whole book of Proverbs.  By George, _I_ don't; I'm
+from Missouri."
+
+Mr. Warren, being in the Sophomore class at Yale, was of the age
+when one is constitutionally "from Missouri."  Probably King
+Solomon, at sixty, had doubts concerning the scope and depth of
+his wisdom; at eighteen he would have admitted its all-embracing
+infallibility without a blush.
+
+"I tell you," continued Stephen, "there's no sense in it, Sis.  You
+and I know plenty of people whose incomes are no larger than ours.
+Do they 'economize,' as Graves is continually preaching?  They do
+not, publicly at least.  They may save a bit, here and there, but
+they do it where it doesn't show and nobody knows.  Take the
+Blaisdells, for instance.  When the Sodality Bank went up, and old
+Blaisdell died, everybody said the family was down and out.  They
+must have lost millions.  But did THEY move into 'apartments' and
+put up a placard, 'Home of the Dead-Brokes.  Walk in and Sympathize?'
+I guess they didn't!  They went into mourning, of course, and that
+let them out of entertaining and all that, but they stayed where
+they were and kept up the bluff.  That's the thing that counts in
+this world--keeping up the bluff."
+
+"Yes, but everyone knows they are--bluffing, as you call it."
+
+"What of it?  They don't really know, they only suspect.  And I met
+Jim Blaisdell yesterday and he shook my hand, after I had held it
+in front of his eyes where he couldn't help seeing it, and had the
+nerve to tell me he hoped things weren't as bad with us as he had
+heard."
+
+"I never liked the Blaisdells," declared Caroline, indignantly.
+
+"Neither did I.  Neither do most people.  But Jim is just as much
+in the swim as he ever was, and he's got his governor's place on
+the board of directors at the bank, now that it's reorganized, and
+an office down town, and he's hand and glove with Von Blarcom and
+all the rest.  They think he's a promising, plucky young man.
+They'll help his bluff through.  And are his mother and sister
+dropped by the people in their set?  I haven't noticed it."
+
+"Well, Mrs. Corcoran Dunn told me that everyone was talking about
+the Blaisdells and wondering how long they could keep it up.  And
+the newspapers have been printing all sorts of things, and hinting
+that young Mr. Blaisdell's appointment as director, after his
+father wrecked the bank, was a scandal.  At least, we haven't THAT
+to bear up under.  Father was honest, if he wasn't rich."
+
+"Who cares for the newspapers?  They're all run by demagogues
+hunting sensations.  What makes me feel the worst about all this is
+that Stock Exchange seat of father's.  If I were only of age, so
+that I could go down there on the floor, I tell you it wouldn't be
+long before you and I were back where we belong, Sis.  But, no, I'm
+a kid, so Graves thinks, in charge of a guardian--a GUARDIAN, by
+gad!"
+
+He snorted, in manly indignation.  Caroline, her pretty face
+troubled, rose and walked slowly across the room.  It was a large
+room, in spite of the fact that it was one of a suite in an
+apartment hotel, and furnished richly.  A. Rodgers Warren spent
+his money with taste, and spent it freely while he lived.  The
+furniture, the paintings, and bric-a-brac were of the very best,
+chosen with care, here and abroad.
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed the girl.  "I do hope Mr. Graves will be well
+enough to call to-day.  He expected to.  Except for the telephone
+message telling us that that MAN at Denboro--"
+
+"Our dear Uncle Elisha," put in Stephen, with sarcasm.  "Uncle
+''Lish!'  Heavens! what a name!"
+
+"Hush!  He can't help his name.  And father's was worse yet--
+Abijah!  Think of it!"
+
+"I don't want to think of it.  Neither did the governor; that's why
+he dropped it, I suppose.  Just what did Graves say?  Give me his
+exact words."
+
+"His partner, Mr. Kuhn, telephoned.  He said that Mr. Graves had a
+bad cold, having been wet through in a dreadful storm down there in
+the country.  The doctor forbade his leaving the house for a day or
+two, but he would call on Tuesday--to-day--if he was sufficiently
+recovered.  And Mr. Kuhn said that everything was satisfactory.
+This Captain Warren--a ship captain, I suppose he is--would, in all
+probability, refuse to accept the guardianship and the rest of it--"
+
+"Refuse?  I should think so.  I'm just as certain father was insane
+when he made that will as I am that I'm alive.  If I thought he
+wasn't, I'd never forgive him."
+
+"Hush, Steve.  You promised me you wouldn't speak in that way."
+
+"Well, all right, I won't.  But, Caro, he MUST have been insane.
+If he wasn't, do you suppose he would have put us and the estate in
+the care of a Down-East jay?  It's inconceivable!  It's ridiculous!
+Think of it.  Suppose this uncle of ours had accepted.  Suppose he
+had come to town here and any of our friends had met him.  'This is
+our guardian, Captain Warren, of Punkin Centre.'  'Please to meet
+ye,' says Uncle 'Lish.  'How's taters?'  Horrors!  Say, Caro, you
+haven't told anyone, Malcolm or his mother, or anyone, have you?"
+
+"Of course not, Steve.  You know I wouldn't."
+
+"Well, don't.  They needn't know it, now or at any other time.
+Graves will probably get himself appointed, and he's respectable if
+he is an old fogy.  We'll worry along till I'm twenty-one, and
+then--well, then I'll handle our business myself."
+
+Evidently there was no question in his mind as to his ability to
+handle this or any business, no matter how involved.  He rose from
+his chair and yawned.
+
+"It's deadly dull," he complained.  "You don't need me, do you,
+Caro?  I believe I'll go out for a while.  That is, unless you
+really care."
+
+His sister hesitated before replying.  When she spoke, there was
+disappointment in her tone.
+
+"Why, Steve," she said, "I did hope you might be here when Mr.
+Graves came.  He will wish to speak of important matters, and it
+seems to me that both of us should hear what he has to say."
+
+Young Warren, who had started for the door, stopped and kicked
+impatiently at the corners of the rug.
+
+"Oh, WELL!" he observed, "if you want me of course I'll stay.  But
+why doesn't old Graves come, if he is coming.  Maybe he's under the
+weather yet," he added, hopefully.  "Perhaps he isn't coming at all
+to-day.  I believe I'll call up Kuhn on the 'phone and find out."
+
+He was on his way to the telephone when the doorbell buzzed.
+
+"Gad! there he is now," he exclaimed.  "Now I suppose I'll have to
+stay.  We'll hear about dear Uncle 'Lish, won't we?  Oh, joy!"
+
+But the staid butler, when he entered the library, did not announce
+the lawyer's name.
+
+"Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and Mr. Malcolm," he said.  "Will you see them,
+Miss Caroline?"
+
+The young lady's face lit up.
+
+"Certainly, Edwards," she said.  "Show them--Oh, Mrs. Dunn, I'm
+so glad to see you!  It was EVER so good of you to come.  And
+Malcolm."
+
+Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn was tall and, in South Denboro, would have
+been called "fleshy," in spite of her own and the dressmaker's
+efforts to conceal the fact.  She was elaborately gowned and
+furred, and something about her creaked when she walked.  She
+rushed into the room, at the butler's heels, and, greeting Caroline
+with outstretched hands, kissed her effusively on the cheek.
+
+"My dear child," she cried, "how could I stay away?  We have spoken
+of you and Stephen SO often this morning.  We know how lonely you
+must be, and Malcolm and I decided we MUST run in on you after
+lunch.  Didn't we, Malcolm?"
+
+Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, her son, was a blond young man, with a
+rather indolent manner.
+
+"Sure, Mater!" he said, calmly.  "How d'ye do, Caroline?  'Lo,
+Steve!"
+
+The quartette shook hands.  Mrs. Dunn sank creakingly into a chair
+and gazed about the room.  Malcolm strolled to the window and
+looked out.  Stephen followed and stood beside him.
+
+"My dear," said Mrs. Dunn, addressing Caroline, "how are you
+getting on?  How are your nerves?  Is all the dreadful 'settling'
+over?"
+
+"Very nearly, thank goodness."
+
+"That's a mercy.  I should certainly have been here yesterday to
+help you in superintending and arranging and so on, but I was
+suffering from one of my 'hearts,' and you know what THEY are."
+
+Everyone who knew Mrs. Corcoran Dunn was acquainted with her
+"hearts."  The attacks came, so she was accustomed to explain, from
+an impaired valve, and "some day"--she usually completed the
+sentence with upturned eyes and a resigned upward wave of the hand.
+
+Her son turned from the window.
+
+"I say, Mother," he explained, wearily, "I do wish you wouldn't
+speak of your vital organs in the plural.  Anyone would imagine you
+were a sort of freak, like the two-headed boy at the circus.  It's
+positively distressing."
+
+Stephen laughed.  He admired young Dunn immensely.  Mrs. Dunn
+sighed.
+
+"Don't, Malcolm, dear," she pleaded.  "You sound so unfeeling.  One
+not acquainted with your real kindness of heart--"
+
+"Oh, drop it," interrupted Malcolm.  "Let's omit the heart interest.
+This isn't a clinic.  I say, Steve, how do you like the new flat?
+It is a flat, isn't it?"
+
+Stephen turned red.  His sister colored and bit her lip.  Mrs. Dunn
+hastened to the rescue.
+
+"Horrors!" she exclaimed.  "Malcolm, you really are insufferable.
+Flat!  Caroline, dear, you mustn't mind him.  He will have his
+joke.  Malcolm, apologize."
+
+The command was sharp, and her son obeyed it.
+
+"Beg your pardon, Steve," he said.  "Yours, too, Caroline.  I was
+only joking.  There's a little beast of a bookkeeper down at the
+office who is forever talking of his 'nice flat in the Bronx.'
+It's a standing guy, you know.  So far as I can see, these are
+pretty snug quarters.  And attractively arranged, too.  Your taste,
+Caroline, I'm betting."
+
+Miss Warren, slightly mollified, bowed assent.
+
+"I thought so," continued Malcolm.  "No one but you would have
+known exactly the right spot for everything.  Show us through,
+won't you?"
+
+But Mrs. Dunn had other plans.
+
+"Not now, Malcolm," she put in.  "Caroline is tired out, I'm sure.
+A little fresh air will do her good.  I was going to suggest that
+you and she and Stephen go for a short ride.  Yes, really you must,
+my dear," she added, turning to the girl beside her.  "Our car is
+at the door, it's not at all a bad afternoon, and the outing will
+be just what you need."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Dunn," said Caroline, gratefully.  "I should like
+to.  Indeed, I should.  But we have been expecting a business call
+from Mr. Graves, father's lawyer, and--"
+
+"Oh, come on, Sis!" interrupted Stephen.  "I'm dying to get out of
+this jail.  Let old Graves wait, if he comes.  We won't be long;
+and, besides, it's not certain that he is coming to-day.  Come on!"
+
+"I'm afraid I ought not, Steve.  Mr. Graves may come, and--and it
+seems too bad to trouble our friends--"
+
+"It's not trouble, it's pleasure," urged Mrs. Dunn.  "Malcolm will
+be delighted.  It was his idea.  Wasn't it?" turning to her son.
+
+"Oh, yes! certainly," replied the young gentleman.  "Hope you'll
+come, Caroline.  And you, of course, Steve.  The blessed machine's
+been off its feed for a week or more, but Peter says he thinks it's
+all right again.  We'll give it a try-out on the Drive.  Hope we
+have better luck than my last," with a laugh.  "They nabbed us for
+speeding, and I had to promise to be a good boy or to be fined.
+Said we were hitting it at fifty an hour.  We WERE going some,
+that's a fact.  Ha! ha!"
+
+"But he won't be reckless when you're with him, Caroline," put in
+his mother.  "You will go?  That's so nice!  As for Mr. Graves,
+I'll explain if he comes.  Oh, no!  I'M not going!  I shall remain
+here in this comfortable chair and rest until you return.  It's
+exactly what my physician orders, and for once I'm going to obey
+him.  My heart, you know, my poor heart--"
+
+She waved her hand and raised her eyes.  Miss Warren expostulated,
+but to no purpose.  Mrs. Corcoran Dunn would NOT go, but the others
+must.  So, at last, they did.  When Caroline and her brother had
+gone for their wraps, Mrs. Dunn laid a hand on her son's arm.
+
+"Now mind," she whispered, "see if you can find out anything during
+the ride.  Something more explicit about the size of their estate
+and who the guardian is to be.  There are all sorts of stories, you
+know, and we MUST learn the truth very soon.  Don't appear curious,
+but merely friendly.  You understand?"
+
+"Sure, Mater," was the careless answer.  "I'll pump."
+
+The two departed, leaving their lady visitor ensconced in the
+comfortable chair.  She remained in it for perhaps five minutes.
+Then she rose and sauntered about the room.  She drifted into the
+drawing-room, returning a moment later and sauntering casually
+toward the open desk by the fireplace.  There were papers and
+letters scattered about this desk, and these she turned over,
+glancing toward the door to be sure no one was coming.  The letters
+were, for the most part, messages of sympathy from friends of the
+Warren family.  Hearing an approaching step, she hastily returned
+to the chair.
+
+Edwards, the butler, entered the library and replenished the fire.
+Mrs. Dunn languidly accosted him.
+
+"Ah--er--Edwards," she said, "you are--er--growing familiar with
+your new home?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Edwards, politely.
+
+"It must seem--er--small compared to the other."
+
+"Smaller; yes, ma'am."
+
+"But very snug and comfortable."
+
+"Yes, ma 'am."
+
+"It is fortunate that Miss Warren and her brother have the aid of
+such a--an old servant of the family."
+
+"Thank you, ma'am."
+
+"Is Miss Caroline managing her own affairs?"
+
+"Apparently so.  Yes, ma'am."
+
+"I presume, however, a guardian has been appointed?  With an estate
+such as the late Mr. Warren MUST have left, some responsible person
+would be, of course, necessary."
+
+She paused.  Edwards, having arranged the logs to his liking,
+brushed the dust from his hands.
+
+"I don't know, ma'am, I'm sure," he said.  "Neither Miss Caroline
+nor Mr. Stephen have spoken with me concerning the family affairs."
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn straightened, with hauteur.
+
+"I think that was the doorbell," she remarked, a trifle sharply.
+"If it should be Mr. Graves, the attorney, you may show him into
+the library here."
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Edwards once more, and departed.
+
+The lady visitor heard voices in the passage.  She listened, but
+could hear nothing understandable.  Evidently the butler was having
+an argument with someone.  It could not be Graves.
+
+Edwards reappeared, looking troubled.
+
+"It's a--a gentleman to see Miss Caroline," he said.  "He won't
+give his name, ma'am, but says she's expecting him."
+
+"Expecting him?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am.  I told him she was out, but he said he was intending
+to stay a while anyway, and would wait.  I asked his business, but
+he wouldn't tell it."
+
+"That's odd."  Mrs. Dunn was slightly interested.  "A tradesman,
+perhaps; or an agent of the landlord."
+
+"No-o, ma'am.  I don't think he's either of them, ma'am."
+
+"What sort of a person is he, Edwards?"
+
+The butler's face twitched for an instant with a troubled smile.
+Then it resumed its customary respectful calm.
+
+"I hardly know, ma'am.  He's an oddish man.  He--I think he's from
+the country."
+
+From behind him came a quiet chuckle.
+
+"You're right, Commodore," said a man s voice; "I'm from the
+country.  You guessed it."
+
+Edwards jumped, startled out of his respectable wits.  Mrs. Dunn
+rose indignantly from her chair.
+
+"I beg your pardon, ma'am," said the intruder, appearing in the
+doorway.  "You mustn't think I'm forcin' my way where I ain't
+wanted.  But it seemed to take so long to make the Admiral here
+understand that I was goin' to wait until Caroline came back that I
+thought I'd save time and breath by provin' it to him.  I didn't
+know there was any company.  Excuse me, ma'am, I won't bother you.
+I'll just come to anchor out here in the entry.  Don't mind me."
+
+He bowed politely, picked up the large suit-case, plainly bran-new,
+which he had momentarily placed on the rug at his feet, and, with
+it in one hand and a big soft felt hat in the other, stepped back
+into the hall out of sight.  The astonished Mrs. Dunn and the
+paralyzed Edwards heard a chair crack as if a heavy weight had
+descended upon it.  Evidently he had "come to anchor."
+
+The lady was the first to recover the power of speech.
+
+"Why!" she exclaimed, in an alarmed whisper.  "Why!  I never heard
+of such brazen impertinence in my life.  He must be insane.  He is
+a lunatic, isn't he, Edwards?"
+
+The butler shook his head.  "I--I don't know, ma'am," he stammered.
+
+"I believe he is."  Mrs. Dunn's presence of mind was returning, and
+with it her courage.  Her florid cheeks flamed a more vivid red,
+and her eyes snapped.  "But whether he is or not, he sha'n't
+bulldoze me."
+
+She strode majestically to the door.  The visitor was seated in the
+hall, calmly reading a newspaper.  Hat and suit-case were on the
+floor beside him.
+
+"What do you mean by this?" demanded the lady.  "Who are you?  If
+you have any business here, state it at once."
+
+The man glanced at her, over his spectacles, rose and stood looking
+down at her.  His expression was pleasant, and he was remarkably
+cool.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he said, gravely.  "I'll be glad to tell you who I
+am, if you'd like to have me.  I'd have done it before, but I
+thought there weren't any use troublin' you with my affairs.  But,
+just a minute--" he hesitated--"I haven't made any mistake, have I?
+I understood your steward--the feller with the brass buttons, to
+say that Abijah Warren's children lived here.  That's so, ain't it?
+If not, then I AM mistaken."
+
+Mrs. Dunn regarded him with indignation.  "You are," she said
+coldly.  "The family of the late Mr. Rodgers Warren lives here.  I
+presume the slight resemblance in names misled you.  Edwards, show
+the gentleman out."
+
+"Just one moment more, ma'am.  It was Rodgers Warren's children I
+was lookin' for.  A. Rodgers Warren he called himself, didn't he?
+Yes.  Well, the A stood for Abijah; that was his Christian name.
+And he left two children, Caroline and Stephen?  Good!  I thought
+for a jiffy I'd blundered in where I had no business, but it's all
+right.  You see, ma'am, I'm their uncle from South Denboro,
+Massachusetts.  My name is Elisha Warren."
+
+Mrs. Dunn gasped.  Edwards, peering over her shoulder, breathed
+heavily.
+
+"You are--their UNCLE?" repeated the lady.
+
+"Yes, ma'am.  I'm 'Bije's brother.  Oh, don't worry.  It's all
+right.  And don't fret yourself about me, either.  I'll set right
+down out here and read my paper and wait till Caroline or Stephen
+get home.  They're expectin' me.  Mr. Graves, the lawyer, told 'em
+I was comin'."
+
+He calmly seated himself and adjusted his spectacles.  Mrs. Dunn
+stared at him, then at Edwards.  After an instant's indecision,
+she stepped back into the library and walked to the window.  She
+beckoned, with an agitated finger, to the butler, who joined her.
+
+"Edwards," she whispered, "did you hear what he said?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Edwards, wide-eyed and wondering.
+
+"Is it true?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Did Mr. Warren have a brother?"
+
+"I didn't know that he had, ma'am."
+
+"Do you--do you think it likely that he would have a brother like--
+like THAT?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Was Miss Caroline expecting him?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am.  She--"
+
+"Oh, you don't know anything!  You're impossible.  Go away!"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Edwards thankfully; and went.  Mrs. Corcoran
+Dunn stood for some minutes by the window, thinking, or trying to
+think a way to the truth in this astounding development.  Of course
+the man MIGHT be a lunatic who had gained his information concerning
+the Warren family from the papers; but he did not look like a
+lunatic.  On the other hand, he certainly did not look as one would
+have expected a brother of Rodgers Warren's to look.  Oddest of all,
+if he was such a brother, why had neither Caroline or Stephen
+mentioned his existence?  According to his story, Graves, the Warren
+lawyer, had warned the children of his coming.  Caroline had been
+very reticent concerning her father's will, the amount of his
+estate, and the like.  And Mrs. Dunn had repeatedly, though
+discreetly, endeavored to find out these important details.  Neither
+hints nor questions had resulted satisfactorily.  Was it possible
+that this was the reason, this country uncle?  If so--well, if so,
+here was a Heaven-sent opportunity for a little genteel and
+perfectly safe detective work.  Mrs. Dunn creakingly crossed the
+room and spoke.
+
+"Mr. Warren," she said, "I feel guilty in keeping you out there.
+Won't you come into the library?"
+
+"Why, thank you, ma'am, I'm all right.  Don't you trouble about me.
+Go right on with your readin' or sewing or knittin' or whatever you
+was doin' and--"
+
+"I was not reading," replied Mrs. Dunn, with a slight shudder.
+"Come in, please.  I wish you to."
+
+Captain Elisha folded his paper and put it in his pocket.  Entering
+the library, he stood quietly waiting.
+
+"Won't you sit down?" asked his impromptu hostess, trying hard to
+be gracious.
+
+"Thank you," said the captain.  He sank into an armchair and looked
+curiously about him.
+
+"So you are the late Mr. Warren's brother?" asked the lady, making
+her first lead in the game.
+
+"Yes, ma'am.  His older brother.  'Bije was ten year younger'n I
+am, Mrs.--er--"
+
+"Dunn.  I am an old friend of the family."
+
+"That's good.  I'm glad to hear they've got friends.  When you're
+in sickness or trouble or sorrer, friendship counts for consider'ble.
+How are the young folks--Caroline and Stephen--pretty smart, hey?"
+
+"SMART?  Why, they are intelligent, naturally.  I--"
+
+"No, no.  I mean are they pretty well?"
+
+"Very well, indeed, considering the shock of their recent
+bereavement."
+
+"Yes, yes.  Of course.  And they've moved, too.  Movin's an awful
+job.  They say three movin's are as bad as a fire, but I cal'late
+I'd rather burn up a set of carpets than PULL 'em up, 'specially if
+they was insured.  'Tain't half so much strain on your religion.  I
+remember the last time we took up our carpets at home, Abbie--she's
+my second cousin, keepin' house for me--said if gettin' down on my
+knees has that effect on me she'd never ask me to go to prayer-
+meetin' again.  Ho! ho!"
+
+He chuckled.  Mrs. Dunn elevated her nose and looked out of the
+window.  Then she led another small trump.
+
+"You say that Miss Caroline and her brother expect you," she said.
+"You surprise me.  Are you sure?"
+
+"Oh, yes, ma'am.  I'm sure.  When Mr. Graves came down to see me,
+last week 'twas, I told him to say I'd be up pretty soon to look
+the ground over.  This is a pretty fine place the young folks have
+got here," he added, gazing admiringly at the paintings and
+bookcases.
+
+"Yes," assented the lady, condescendingly.  "For an apartment it is
+really quite livable."
+
+"Livable!"  Captain Elisha's astonishment got the better of his
+politeness for the moment.  "Um!  Yes, I should say a body MIGHT
+manage to worry along in it.  Was the place where they used to live
+any finer than this?"
+
+"Certainly!"
+
+"You don't tell me!  No wonder they talked about economi--Humph!"
+
+"What were you about to say, Mr. Warren?"
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'!  Talkin' to myself is a habit I've got.
+Abbie--my second cousin; I guess I told you about her--says it's a
+sure sign that a person's rich or out of his head, one or t'other.
+I ain't rich, so--"  He chuckled once more.
+
+"Mr. Graves came to see you at your home, did he?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am.  At South Denboro.  And he certainly did have a rough
+passage.  Ho! ho!  Probably you heard about it, bein' so friendly
+with the family."
+
+"Ahem!  Doubtless he would have mentioned it, but he has been ill."
+
+"Sho!  I'm sorry to hear that.  I was afraid he'd catch cold."
+
+"Yes.  I hope Mr. Graves's errand was successful?"
+
+"Well, sort of so--so."
+
+"Yes.  He came to see you in connection with your brother's estate--
+some legacy, perhaps?"
+
+She did not look at the captain when she asked this question.
+Therefore, she did not notice the glance which he gave her.  When
+he answered, it was in the same deliberate, provokingly deliberate,
+manner.
+
+"Um-hm.  Somethin' of that kind, Mrs. Dunn.  I can't help thinkin',"
+he went on, "how nice it is that Caroline and Steve have such a
+good friend as you to help 'em.  Your husband and 'Bije was chums,
+I s'pose?
+
+"No, not exactly.  The friendship was on my side of the family."
+
+"So?  Want to know!  Your husband dead, ma'am?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn changed the subject.  Her husband, Mr. Corcoran Dunn--
+once Mike Dunn, contractor and Tammany politician--was buried in
+Calvary Cemetery.  She mourned him, after a fashion, but she
+preferred not to talk about him.
+
+"Yes," she answered shortly.  "It--it looks as if it might snow,
+doesn't it?"
+
+"I shouldn't wonder.  Have you any children, ma'am?"
+
+"One--a son."  The widow's tone was frigid.
+
+"So?  He must be a comfort to you.  I s'pose likely he's a friend
+of my nephew and niece, too."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"That's good.  Young folks ought to have young friends.  You live
+in this neighborhood, ma'am?"
+
+The lady did not answer.  She gazed haughtily at the trees in the
+Park.  Captain Elisha rubbed a smile from his lips with his hand
+and remained silent.  The tall clock ticked loud.
+
+There came the sound of laughter from the passage outside.  The
+hall door opened.  A moment later, Caroline, followed by her
+brother and young Dunn, entered the library.
+
+The girl's cheeks were rosy from the cold wind.  Her hair, beneath
+the fur auto cap, had blown in brown, rippled disorder across her
+forehead.  She was smiling.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Dunn!" she cried.  "I'm so glad I accepted your--
+Malcolm's--invitation.  We had a glorious ride!  I--"
+
+She stopped short.  Captain Warren had risen from his chair and was
+facing her.  Mrs. Dunn also rose.
+
+"Caroline," she said, nervously, "this"--pausing on the word--
+"gentleman is here to see you.  He says he is--"
+
+The captain interrupted her.  Stepping forward he seized his
+niece's hands in his.  "Well, well!" he exclaimed admiringly.
+"'Bije's girl, that I ain't seen since you was a little mite of a
+baby!  Caroline, I'm your Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Good LORD!" groaned Stephen Warren.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+If the captain heard Stephen's fervent ejaculation, he paid no
+attention to it.  Dropping his niece's hand, he extended his own
+toward his nephew.
+
+"And this is Stephen?" he said.  "Well, Steve, you and me have
+never met afore, I b'lieve.  But that's our misfortune, not our
+fault, hey?  How are you?  Pretty smart?"
+
+The boy's face was flaming.  He mumbled something to the effect
+that he was all right enough, and turned away without accepting the
+proffered hand.  Captain Elisha glanced quickly at him, then at his
+sister.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he said, pleasantly, "I s'pose you've been
+expectin' me.  Mr. Graves told you I was comin', didn't he?"
+
+Miss Warren, also, was flushed with embarrassment and mortified
+surprise.
+
+"No," she stammered.  "He has been ill."
+
+"Sho! you don't say!  Mrs. Dunn--your friend here--said he was laid
+up with a cold, but I didn't realize 'twas as bad as that.  So you
+didn't know I was comin' at all."
+
+"No.  We--we have not heard from you since he returned."
+
+"That's too bad.  I hope I sha'n't put you out any, droppin' in on
+you this way.  You mustn't treat me as comp'ny, you know.  If
+'tain't convenient, if your spare room ain't ready so soon after
+movin', or anything of that kind, I can go to a hotel somewheres
+for a day or so.  Hadn't I better, don't you think?"
+
+Caroline hesitated.  If only they might have been spared this
+public humiliation.  If the Dunns had not been there.  It was bad
+enough to have this dreadful country uncle come at all; but to have
+him come now, before they were prepared, before any explanations
+had been made!  What should she do?
+
+Her brother, fidgeting at her elbow, not daring to look at Malcolm
+Dunn, who, he knew, was thoroughly enjoying the scene, could stand
+it no longer.
+
+"Caro," he snapped, "what are you waiting for?  Don't you KNOW that
+the rooms are not ready?  Of course they're not!  We're sorry, and
+all that, but Graves didn't tell us and we weren't prepared.
+Certainly he'll have to go to the hotel, for--for the present."
+
+He ventured to raise his eyes and glare indignantly at the captain.
+Finding the latter looking intently at him, he dropped them again
+and jammed his clenched fists into his pockets.
+
+Captain Elisha pulled thoughtfully at his beard.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted.  "Humph! then I cal'late maybe--"  He took a
+step toward the door, stopped, turned back, and said, with calm
+decision, "I guess I'd better stay.  You won't mind me, Caroline--
+you and Stephen.  You MUSTN'T.  As I said, I ain't comp'ny.  I'm
+one of the family, your pa's brother, and I've come some
+consider'ble ways to see you two young folks and talk with you.
+I've come because your pa asked me to.  I'm used to roughin' it,
+been to sea a good many v'yages, and if a feather bed ain't handy I
+can get my forty winks on the floor.  So that's settled, and you
+mustn't have me on your conscience.  That's sense, ain't it, Mrs.
+Dunn?"
+
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn did not deign a reply.  Caroline answered for
+her.
+
+"Very well," she said, coldly.  Stepping to the desk she rang a
+bell.  The butler appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Edwards," said Miss Warren, "this gentleman," indicating the
+captain, "is to be our guest, for the present.  You may show him to
+his room--the blue room, I think.  If it is not ready, see that it
+is made so."
+
+"Yes, Miss Caroline," replied Edwards.  Retiring to the hall, he
+returned with the suit-case.
+
+"Will you wish to go to your room at once, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Why, I guess I might as well, Commodore," answered Captain Elisha,
+smiling.  "Little soap and water won't do no harm.  Fact is, I
+feel's if 'twas a prescription to be recommended.  You needn't tote
+that valise, though," he added.  "'Tain't heavy, and I've lugged it
+so fur already sence I got off the car that I feel kind of lonesome
+without it."
+
+The butler, not knowing exactly how to answer, grinned sheepishly.
+Captain Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn and her son.
+
+"Well, good afternoon, ma'am," he said.  "I'm real glad to have
+made your acquaintance.  Yours, too, sir," with a nod toward
+Malcolm.  "Your mother told me what a friend of the young folks you
+was, and, as I'm sort of actin' pilot for 'em just now, in a way of
+speakin', any friend of theirs ought to be a friend of mine.  Hope
+to see you often, Mr. Dunn."
+
+The young man addressed smiled, with amusement not at all concealed,
+and languidly admitted that he was "charmed."
+
+"Your first visit to the city?" he inquired, in a tone which caused
+Stephen to writhe inwardly.
+
+"No-o.  No, not exactly.  I used to come here pretty frequent, back
+in my sea-goin' days, when my ship was in port.  I sailed for
+Osgood and Colton, down on South Street, for a spell.  They were my
+owners.  You don't remember the firm, I s'pose?"
+
+"No.  The privilege has been denied me.  You find some changes in
+New York, don't you--er--Captain?  You are a captain, or a bos'n,
+or admiral--something of that sort, I presume?"
+
+"Malcolm!" said his mother, sharply.
+
+"Oh, no offense intended.  My sea terms are rather mixed.  The
+captain will excuse me."
+
+"Sartin!  Cap'n's what they all call me, mostly.  Your son ain't
+ever been to sea, except as passenger, I cal'late, ma'am?"
+
+"Certainly not," snapped Mrs. Dunn.
+
+"Of course, of course.  Well, 'tain't a life I'd want a boy of mine
+to take up, nowadays.  But it did have some advantages.  I don't
+know anything better than a v'yage afore the mast to learn a young
+feller what's healthy for him to unlearn.  Good day, ma'am.  Good
+day, Mr. Dunn.  I mustn't keep the Commodore waitin' here with that
+valise.  I'll be out pretty soon, Caroline; just as soon as I've
+got the upper layer of railroad dust off my face and hands.  You'll
+be surprised to see how light-complected I really am when that's
+over.  All right!  Heave ahead, Commodore!"
+
+He departed, preceded by Edwards and the suit-case.  Stephen Warren
+threw himself violently into a chair by the window.  Young Dunn
+laughed aloud.  His mother flashed an indignant glance at him, and
+then hurried to Caroline.
+
+"You poor dear!" she exclaimed, putting an arm about the girl's
+shoulder.  "Don't mind us, please don't!  Malcolm and I understand.
+That is, we know how you feel and--"
+
+"Oh, but you DON'T know, Mrs. Dunn," cried Caroline, almost in
+tears.  "You don't understand!  It's so much worse than you think.
+I--I--Oh, why did father do it?  How could he be so inconsiderate?"
+
+"There! there!" purred the friend of the family.  "You mustn't, you
+know.  You really mustn't.  Who is this man?  This uncle?  Where
+does he come from?  Why does he force himself upon you in this way?
+I didn't know your poor father had a brother."
+
+"Neither did we," growled Stephen, savagely.  Malcolm laughed
+again.
+
+"What does it all mean, dear?" begged Mrs. Dunn.  "You are in
+trouble, I'm sure.  Don't you think we--Malcolm and I--might be
+able to help you?  We should so love to do it.  If you feel that
+you CAN confide in us; if it isn't a secret--"
+
+She paused expectantly, patting the girl's shoulder.  But Caroline
+had heard young Dunn's laugh, and was offended and hurt.  Her eyes
+flashed as she answered.
+
+"It's nothing," she said.  "He has come to see us on a matter of
+business, I believe.  I am nervous and--foolish, I suppose.  Mr.
+Graves will see us soon, and then everything will be arranged.
+Thank you for calling, Mrs. Dunn, and for the ride."
+
+It was a very plain hint, but Mrs. Dunn did not choose to understand
+it as such.
+
+"You're sure you hadn't better tell me the whole story, dear?" she
+urged.  "I am old enough, almost, to be your mother, and perhaps my
+advice might . . .  No?  Very well.  You know best but--You
+understand that it is something other than mere curiosity which
+leads me to ask."
+
+"Of course, I understand," said the girl hastily.  "Thank you very
+much.  Perhaps, by and by, I can tell you everything.  But we must
+see Mr. Graves first.  I--oh, DON'T ask me more now, Mrs. Dunn."
+
+The widow of so astute a politician as Mike Dunn had been in his
+day could have scarcely failed to profit by his teachings.
+Moreover, she possessed talent of her own.  With a final pat and a
+kiss, she prepared for departure.
+
+"Good-by, then," she said, "or rather, au revoir.  We shall look in
+to-morrow.  Come, Malcolm."
+
+"I say, Mal!" cried Stephen, rising hurriedly.
+
+"You won't tell anyone about--"
+
+"Steve!" interrupted his sister.
+
+Malcolm, about to utter a languid sarcasm, caught his mother's
+look, and remained silent.  Another meaning glance, and his manner
+changed.
+
+"All right, Steve, old man," he said.  "Good-by and good luck.
+Caroline, awfully glad we had the spin this afternoon.  We must
+have more.  Just what you and Steve need.  At your service any
+time.  If there is anything I can do in any way to--er--you
+understand--call on me, won't you?  Ready, Mater?"
+
+The pair were shown out by Edwards.  On the way home in the car
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn lectured her son severely.
+
+"Have you no common sense?" she demanded.  "Couldn't you see that
+the girl would have told me everything if you hadn't laughed, like
+an idiot?"
+
+The young man laughed again.
+
+"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "it was enough to make a wooden Indian
+laugh.  The old jay with the barnacles telling us about the
+advantages of a sailor's life.  And Steve's face!  Ho! ho!"
+
+His mother snorted disgust.  "If you had brains," she declared,
+"you would have understood what he meant by saying that the sea was
+the place to learn what to unlearn.  He was hitting at you.  Was it
+necessary to insult him the first time you and he exchanged a
+word?"
+
+"Insult him?  HIM?  Ha, ha!  Why, Mater, what's the matter with
+you?  Do you imagine that a hayseed like that would recognize an
+insult without an introduction?  And, besides, what difference does
+it make?  You don't intend putting him on your calling list, do
+you?"
+
+"I intend cultivating him for the present."
+
+"CULTIVATING him?"
+
+"Yes--for the present.  He is Rodgers Warren's brother.  That
+lawyer, Graves, traveled miles to see him.  What does that mean?
+That, in some important way, he is connected with the estate and
+those two children.  If the estate is worth anything, and we have
+reason to believe it is, you and I must know it.  If it isn't, it
+is even more important that we should know, before we waste more
+time.  If Caroline is an heiress, if she inherits even a moderate
+fortune--"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders by way of finish to the sentence.
+
+Malcolm whistled.
+
+"But to think of that old Down-Easter being related to the Warren
+family!" he mused.  "It seems impossible."
+
+"Nothing is impossible," observed his mother.  Then, with a
+shudder, "You never met your father's relatives.  I have."
+
+
+
+When Captain Elisha emerged from his room, after a wash and a
+change of linen, he found the library untenanted.  He strolled
+about, his hands behind him, inspecting the pictures with critical
+interest.  Caroline, dressed for dinner, found him thus engaged.
+He turned at the sound of her step.
+
+"Why, hello!" he cried, with hearty enthusiasm.  "All rigged up for
+inspection, ain't you?"
+
+"Inspection?"
+
+"Oh, that's just sailor's lingo.  Means you've got your Sunday
+uniform on, that's all.  My! my! how nice you look!  But ain't
+black pretty old for such a young girl?"
+
+"I am in mourning," replied his niece, coldly.
+
+"There! there! of course you are.  Tut! tut!  How could I forget
+it.  You see, I've been so many years feelin' as if I didn't have a
+brother that I've sort of got used to his bein' gone."
+
+"I have not."  Her eyes filled as she said it.  The captain was
+greatly moved.
+
+"I'm a blunderin' old fool, my dear," he said.  "I beg your pardon.
+Do try to forgive me, won't you?  And, perhaps--perhaps I can make
+up your loss to you, just a little mite.  I'd like to.  I'll try
+to, if--"
+
+He laid a hand on her shoulder.  She avoided him and, moving away,
+seated herself in a chair at the opposite side of the desk.  The
+avoidance was so obvious as to be almost brutal.  Captain Elisha
+looked very grave for an instant.  Then he changed the subject.
+
+"I was lookin' at your oil paintin's," he said.  "They're pretty
+fine, ain't they?  Any of them your work, Caroline?"
+
+"MY work?"  The girl's astonishment was so great that she turned to
+stare at her questioner.  "MY work?" she repeated.  "Are you
+joking?  You can't think that I painted them."
+
+"I didn't know but you might.  That one over there, with the trees
+and folks dancin'--sort of picnic scene, I judge--that looks as if
+you might have done it."
+
+"That is a Corot."
+
+"'Tis, hey?  I want to know!  A--a--what did you call it?"
+
+"A Corot.  He was a famous French artist.  That was father's
+favorite picture."
+
+"Sho!  Well, I like it fust-rate myself.  Did 'Bije--did your
+father know this Mr. Corot well?"
+
+"Know him?  Certainly not.  Why should you think such a thing as
+that?"
+
+"Well, he bought the picture of him, and so I s'pose likely he knew
+him.  There was a young feller come to South Denboro three or four
+year ago and offered to paint a picture of our place for fifteen
+dollars.  Abbie--that's Abbie Baker, she's one of our folks, you
+know, your third cousin, Caroline; keepin' house for me, she is--
+Abbie wanted me to have him do the job, but I wa'n't very
+particular about it, so it never come to nothin'.  He done two or
+three places, though, and I swan 'twas nice work!  He painted Sam
+Cahoon's old ramshackle house and barn, and you'd hardly know it,
+'twas so fixed up and fine, in the picture.  White paint and green
+grass and everything just like real.  He left out the places where
+the pickets was off the fence and the blinds hangin' on one hinge.
+I told Abbie, I says, 'Abbie, that painter's made Sam's place look
+almost respectable, and if that ain't a miracle, I don't know what
+is.  I would think Sam would blush every time he sees that
+picture.'  Ho, ho!  Abbie seemed to cal'late that Sam Cahoon's
+blushin' would be the biggest miracle of the two.  Ho! ho!  You'd
+like Abbie; she's got lots of common sense."
+
+He chuckled at the reminiscence and rubbed his knee.  His niece
+made no reply.  Captain Elisha glanced at the Corot once more and
+asked another question.
+
+"I presume likely," he said, "that that picture cost consider'ble
+more than fifteen, hey?"
+
+"Father paid twenty-two thousand dollars for it," was the crushing
+answer.
+
+The captain looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, shut it
+again, and, rising, walked across the room.  Adjusting his glasses,
+he inspected the Corot in silence for a few minutes.  Then he drew
+a long breath.
+
+"Well!" he sighed.  "WELL."  Then, after an interval, "Was this the
+only one he ever painted?"
+
+"The only one?  The only picture Corot painted?  Of course not!
+There are many more."
+
+"Did--did this Corot feller get as much for every job as he did for
+this?"
+
+"I presume so.  I know father considered this one a bargain."
+
+"Did, hey?  Humph!  I ought to know enough by this time not to
+believe all I hear, but I kind of had an idea that picture paintin'
+was starvation work.  I've read about artists committin' suicide,
+and livin' in attics, and such.  Whew!  About two such bargain sale
+jobs as this, and I'd guarantee not to starve--and to live as nigh
+the ground as a second-floor bedroom anyhow.  How about this next
+one?  This feller in a dory--coddin', I guess he is.  Did--did Mr.
+Corot do him?"
+
+"No.  That is by a well-known American artist.  It is a good piece
+of work, but not like the other.  It is worth much less.  Perhaps
+five thousand."
+
+"So?  Well, even for that I'd undertake to buy consider'ble many
+dories, and hire fellers to fish from 'em, too.  Humph!  I guess
+I'm out of soundin's.  When I thought fifteen dollars was a high
+price for paintin' a view of a house I was slightly mistaken.  Next
+time I'll offer the paintin' feller the house and ask him what he
+considers a fair boot, besides.  Sam Cahoon's a better speculator
+than I thought he was.  Hello, Commodore! what's worryin' you now?"
+
+Edwards appeared to announce that dinner was served.  Caroline rose
+and led the way to the dining room.  Captain Elisha followed,
+looking curiously about him as he did so.  Stephen, who had been
+sulkily dressing in his own room, entered immediately after.
+
+The captain surveyed the dining room with interest.  Like the
+others of the suite, it was sumptuously and tastefully furnished.
+He took the chair indicated by the solemn Edwards, and the meal
+began.
+
+The butler's sense of humor was not acute, but it was with
+considerable difficulty that he restrained his smiles during the
+next half hour.  A more appreciative observer would have noticed
+and enjoyed the subtler points.  Stephen's glare of disgust at his
+uncle when the latter tucked his napkin in the opening of his
+waistcoat; Caroline's embarrassment when the captain complimented
+the soup, declaring that it was almost as good as one of Abbie's
+chowders; the visitor's obvious uneasiness at being waited upon
+attentively, and the like.  These Edwards missed, but he could not
+help appreciating Captain Elisha's conversation.
+
+Caroline said little during dinner.  Her brother glowered at his
+plate and was silent.  But the captain talked and talked.
+
+"Maybe you think I didn't have a time findin' your new lodgin's,"
+he said.  "I come over on the cars, somethin' I don't usually do
+when there's anything afloat to carry me.  But I had an errand or
+two to do in Boston, so I stopped over night at the hotel there
+and got the nine o'clock train.  I landed here in New York all
+shipshape and on time, and started in to hunt you up."
+
+"How did you get our address?" asked his niece.  "Mr. Graves
+couldn't have given it to you, for we only decided on this
+apartment a few days ago."
+
+"Ho! ho!" chuckled Captain Elisha, rolling in his chair, like a
+ship in a cross sea.  "Ho! ho!  You remind me of Abbie, Caroline.
+That's what she said.  'I never heard of such a crazy cruise,' she
+says.  ' Startin' off to visit folks when you haven't the least
+idea where they live!'  'Oh, yes, I have,' I says, 'I know where
+they live; they live in New York.'  Well, you ought to have seen
+her face.  Abbie's a good woman--none better--but she generally
+don't notice a joke until she trips over it.  I get consider'ble
+fun out of Abbie, take her by the large.  'New York!' she says.
+'Did anybody ever hear the beat of that?  Do you cal'late New
+York's like South Denboro, where everybody knows everybody else?
+What are you plannin' to do? run up the fust man, woman or child
+you meet and ask 'em to tell you where 'Bijah Warren lives?  Or are
+you goin' to trot from Dan to Beersheby, trustin' to meet your
+nephew and niece on the way?  I never in my born days!'
+
+"Well," went on the captain, "I told her that the last suggestion
+weren't such a bad one, but there was one little objection to it.
+Considerin' that I hadn't ever laid eyes on Steve and that I
+hadn't seen you since you was a baby, the chances was against my
+recognizin' you if we did meet.  Ho, ho, ho!  Finally I hinted that
+I might look in the directory, and she got more reconciled to my
+startin'.  Honest, I do believe she'd have insisted on takin' me by
+the hand and leadin' me to you, if I hadn't told her that.
+
+"So I did look in the directory and got the number on Fifth Avenue
+where you used to be.  I asked a policeman the nighest way to get
+there, and he said take a bus.  Last time I was in New York I rode
+in one of those Fifth Avenue omnibuses, and I never got such a
+jouncin' in my life.  The pavement then was round cobble stones,
+like some of the roads in Nantucket.  I remember I tried to ask a
+feller that set next to me somethin' or other, and I swan to man I
+couldn't get nothin' out of my mouth but rattles.  'Metropolitan
+Museum,' sounded like puttin' in a ton of coal.  I thought I was
+comin' apart, or my works was out of order, or somethin', but when
+the feller tried to answer he rattled just as bad, so I realized
+'twas the reg'lar disease and felt some better.  I never shall
+forget a fleshy woman--somethin' like that Mrs. Dunn friend of
+yours, Caroline--that set opposite me.  It give me the crawls to
+look at her, her chins shook around so.  Ho! ho! she had no less'n
+three of 'em, and they all shook different ways.  Ho! ho! ho!  If
+I'd been in the habit of wearin' false hair or teeth or anything
+that wa'n't growed to or buttoned on me I'd never have risked a
+trip in one of those omnibuses.
+
+"So when the police officer prescribed one for me this v'yage, I
+was some dubious.  I'm older'n I was ten year ago, and I wa'n't
+sure that I'd hold together.  I cal'lated walkin' was better for my
+health.  So I found Fifth Avenue and started to walk.  And the
+farther I walked the heavier that blessed satchel of mine got.  It
+weighed maybe ten or twelve pounds at the corner of 42nd Street,
+but when I got as far as the open square where the gilt woman is
+hurryin' to keep from bein' run over by Gen'ral Sherman on
+horseback--that statue, you know--I wouldn't have let that blessed
+bag go for less'n two ton, if I was sellin' it by weight.  So I
+leaned up against an electric light pole to rest and sort of get my
+bearin's.  Then I noticed what I'd ought to have seen afore, that
+the street wa'n't paved with cobbles, as it used to be, but was
+smooth as a stretch of state road down home.  So I figgered that a
+bus was a safe risk, after all.  I waited ten minutes or more for
+one to come, and finally I asked a woman who was in tow of an
+astrakhan-trimmed dog at the end of a chain, if the omnibuses had
+stopped runnin'.  When I fust see the dog leadin' her I thought she
+was blind, but I guess she was deef and dumb instead.  Anyhow, all
+she said was 'Ugh!' not very enthusiastic, at that, and went along.
+Ho! ho!  So then I asked a man, and he pointed to a bus right in
+front of me.  You see, I was lookin' for the horses, same as they
+used to be, and this was an automobile.
+
+"I blushed, I guess, just to show that there was some red underneath
+the green, and climbed aboard the omnibus.  I rode along for a
+spell, admirin' as much of the scenery as I could see between the
+women's hats, then I told the skipper of the thing that I wanted to
+make port at 82nd Street.  He said 'Ugh,' apparently suff'rin' from
+the same complaint the dog woman had, and we went on and on.  At
+last I got kind of anxious and asked him again.
+
+"'Eighty-second!' says he, ugly.  'This is Ninety-first.'
+
+"'Good land!' says I.  'I wanted Eighty-second.'
+
+"'Why didn't you say so?' says he, lookin' as if I'd stole his
+mother's spoons.
+
+"'I did,' says I.
+
+"'You DID?' he snarls.  'You did not!  If you did, wouldn't I have
+heard you?'
+
+"Well, any answer I'd be likely to make to that would have meant
+more argument, and the bus was sailin' right along at the time, so
+I piled out and did some more walkin', the other way.  At last I
+reached your old number, Stevie, and--Hey?  Did you speak?"
+
+"Don't call me 'Stevie,'" growled his nephew, rebelliously.
+
+"Beg your pardon.  I keep forgettin' that you're almost grown up.
+Well, as I was sayin', I got to the house where you used to live,
+and 'twas shut tight.  Nobody there.  Ho! ho!  I felt a good deal
+like old Beriah Doane must have on his last 'vacation.'  You see,
+Beriah is one of our South Denboro notorieties; he's famous in his
+way.  He works and loafs by spells until cranberry pickin' time in
+the fall; then he picks steady and earns thirty or forty dollars
+all at once.  Soon's he's paid off, he starts for Boston on a
+'vacation,' an alcoholic one.  Well, last fall his married sister
+was visitin' him, and she, bein' strong for good Templarism, was
+determined he shouldn't vacate in his regular way.  So she
+telegraphed her husband's brother in Brockton to meet Beriah there,
+go with him to Boston, and see that he behaved himself and stayed
+sober.  Beriah heard of it, and when his train gets as far as
+Tremont what does he do but get off quiet and change cars for New
+Bedford.  He hadn't been there for nine years, but he had pleasant
+memories of his last visit.  And when he does get to New Bedford,
+chucklin' over the way he's befooled his sister and her folks, I'm
+blessed if he didn't find that the town had gone no-license, and
+every saloon was shut up!  Ho! ho! ho!  Well, I felt about the way
+he did, I guess, when I stood on the steps of your Fifth Avenue
+house and realized you'd gone away.  I wouldn't have had Abbie see
+me there for somethin'.  Ho! ho!"
+
+He leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud.  Caroline smiled
+faintly.  Stephen threw down his napkin and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Sis," he cried, "I'm going to my room.  By gad!  I can't--"
+
+Catching a warning glance from his sister, he did not finish his
+sentence, but stood sulkily beside his chair.  Captain Elisha
+looked at him, then at the girl, and stopped laughing.  He folded
+his napkin with care, and rose.
+
+"That's about all of it," he said, shortly.  "I asked around at two
+or three of the neighbors' houses, and the last one I asked knew
+where you'd moved and told me how to get here."
+
+When the trio were again in the library, the captain spoke once
+more.
+
+"I'm 'fraid I've talked too much," he said, gravely.  "I didn't
+realize how I was runnin' on.  Thought I was home, I guess, with
+the fellers of my own age down at the postoffice, instead of bein'
+an old countryman, tirin' out you two young city folks with my
+yarns.  I beg your pardon.  Now you mustn't mind me.  I see you're
+expectin' company or goin' callin' somewheres, so I'll just go to
+my bedroom and write Abbie a line.  She'll be kind of anxious to
+know if I got here safe and sound and found you.  Don't worry about
+me, I'll be comf'table and busy."
+
+He turned to go.  Caroline looked at him in surprise.  "We are not
+expecting callers," she said.  "And certainly we are not going out
+to-night.  Why should you think such a thing?"
+
+It was her uncle's turn to show surprise.
+
+"Why," he said, with a glance at Stephen, "I see that you're all
+dressed up, and so I thought, naturally--"
+
+He paused.
+
+Young Warren grunted contemptuously.
+
+"We dressed for dinner, that is all," said Caroline.
+
+"You--you mean you put these clothes on every night?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+Captain Elisha was plainly very much astonished.
+
+"Well," he observed, slowly.  "I--guess I've made another mistake.
+Hum!  Good night."
+
+"Good night," said Stephen, quickly.  Caroline, however, seemed
+embarrassed.
+
+"Captain Warren," she said, "I thought possibly you might wish to
+talk business with my brother and me.  We--we understand that you
+have come on business connected with father's will.  It seems to me
+that the sooner we--we--"
+
+"Get it over the better, hey?  Well, maybe you're right.  It's an
+odd business for an old salt like me to be mixed up in, that's a
+fact.  If it hadn't been so odd, if I hadn't thought there must be
+some reason, some partic'lar reason, I--well, I guess I'd have
+stayed to home where I belong.  You mustn't think," he added,
+seriously, "that I don't realize I'm as out of place amongst you
+and your rich friends as a live fish in a barrel of sawdust.
+That's all right; you needn't trouble to say no.  But you must
+understand that, realizin' it, I'm not exactly imposin' myself on
+you for pleasure or--well, from choice.  I'm so built that I can't
+shirk when my conscience tells me I shouldn't, that's all.  I'm
+kind of tired to-night, and I guess you are.  To-morrow mornin', if
+it's agreeable to all hands, we will have a little business talk.
+I'll have to see Lawyer Graves pretty soon, and have a gen'ral look
+at your pa's affairs.  Then, if everything is all right and I feel
+my duty's done, I'll probably go back to the Cape and leave you to
+him, or somebody else able to look out for you.  Until then I'm
+afraid," with a smile which had a trace of bitterness in it; "I'm
+afraid you'll have to do the best you can with me.  I'll try to be
+no more of a nuisance than I can help.  Good night."
+
+When the two young people were left alone, Caroline turned to her
+brother.
+
+"Steve," she said, "I'm afraid you were a little rude.  I'm afraid
+you hurt his feelings."
+
+The boy stared at her in wonder.  "Hurt his feelings!" he exclaimed.
+"HIS feelings!  Well, by Jove!  Caro, you're a wonder!  Did you
+expect me to throw my arms around his neck?  If he had had any
+feelings at all, if he was the slightest part of a gentleman, do you
+suppose he would come here and disgrace us as he is doing?  Who
+invited him?  Did we?  I guess not!"
+
+"But he is father's brother, and father asked him to come."
+
+"No, he didn't.  He asked him--heaven knows why--to look out for
+our money affairs.  That's bad enough; but he didn't ask him to
+LIVE with us.  He sha'n't! by gad, he sha'n't!  YOU may be as sweet
+to him as you like, but I'll make it my business to give him the
+cold shoulder every chance I get.  I'll freeze him out, that's what
+I'll do--freeze him out.  Why, Caro! be sensible.  Think what his
+staying here means.  Can we take him about with us?  Can our
+friends meet HIM as--as our uncle?  He's got to be made to go.
+Hasn't he now?  Hasn't he?"
+
+The girl was silent for a moment.  Then she covered her face with
+her hands.  "Oh, yes!" she sobbed.  "Oh, yes, he must! he MUST!
+WHY did father do it?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The Warren breakfast hour was nine o'clock.  At a quarter to nine
+Caroline, entering the library, found Stephen seated by the fire
+reading the morning paper.
+
+"Good morning," she said.  Then, looking about the room, asked,
+"Has--has HE been here?"
+
+Her brother shook his head.  "You mean Uncle 'Lish?" he asked,
+cheerfully.  "No, he hasn't.  At least, I haven't seen him and I
+haven't made any inquiries.  I shall manage to survive if he never
+appears.  Let sleeping relatives lie, that's my motto."
+
+He laughed at his own joke and turned the page of the paper.  The
+butler entered.
+
+"Breakfast is served, Miss Caroline," he announced.
+
+"Has Captain Warren come from his room?" asked the young lady.
+
+"No, Miss Caroline.  That is, I haven't seen him."
+
+Stephen tossed the paper on the floor and rose.
+
+"I wonder--" he began.  Then, with a broad grin, "A sudden thought
+strikes me, Sis.  He has undoubtedly blown out the gas."
+
+"Steve!  How can you!"
+
+"Perfectly simple.  Absolutely reasonable.  Just what might have
+been expected.  'He has gone, but we shall miss him.'  Come on,
+Caro; I'm hungry.  Let the old hayseed sleep.  You and I can have a
+meal in peace.  Heavens! you don't care for another experience like
+last night's, do you?"
+
+"Edwards," said Caroline, "you may knock at Captain Warren's door
+and tell him breakfast is served."
+
+"Yes," commanded Stephen, "and tell him not to hurry on our account.
+Come, Caro, come!  You're not pining for his society.  Well, wait
+then!  _I_ won't!"
+
+He marched angrily out of the room.  His sister hesitated, her wish
+to follow complicated by a feeling of duty to a guest, no matter
+how unwelcome.  The butler reappeared, looking puzzled.
+
+"He's not there, miss?" he said.
+
+"Not there?  Not in his room?"
+
+"No, Miss Caroline.  I knocked, and he didn't answer, so I looked
+in and he wasn't there.  His bed's been slept in, but he's gone."
+
+"Gone?  And you haven't seen him?"
+
+"No, miss.  I've been up and about since half past seven, and I
+can't understand where he could have got to."
+
+The door of the hall opened and shut.  Edwards darted from the
+library.  A moment afterwards Captain Elisha strolled in.  He was
+wearing his overcoat, and his hat was in his hand.
+
+"Good mornin', Caroline," he hailed, in his big voice.  "Surprised
+to see me, are you?  Ho! ho!  So was the Commodore.  He couldn't
+understand how I got in without ringin'.  Well, you see, I'm used
+to turnin' out pretty early, and when it got to be most seven
+o'clock, I couldn't lay to bed any longer, so I got up, dressed,
+and went for a walk.  I fixed the door latch so's I could come in
+quiet.  You haven't waited breakfast for me, I hope."
+
+"No; it is ready now, however."
+
+"Ready now," the captain looked at his watch.  "Yes, I should think
+so.  It's way into the forenoon.  You HAVE waited for me, haven't
+you?  I'm awfully sorry."
+
+"No, we have not waited.  Our breakfast hour is nine.  Pardon me
+for neglecting to tell you that last evening."
+
+"Oh, that's all right.  Now you trot right out and eat.  I've had
+mine."
+
+"Had your breakfast?"
+
+"Yes, indeed.  When I'm home, Abbie and I usually eat about seven,
+so I get sort of sharp-set if I wait after that.  I cal'lated you
+city folks was late sleepers, and I wouldn't want to make any
+trouble, so I found a little eating house down below here a ways
+and had a cup of coffee and some bread and butter and mush.  Then I
+went cruisin' round in Central Park a spell.  This IS Central Park
+over across here, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes."  The girl was too astonished to say more.
+
+"I thought 'twas.  I'd been through part of it afore, but 'twas
+years ago, and it's such a big place and the paths run so criss-
+cross I got sort of mixed up, and it took me longer to get out than
+it did to get in.  I had the gen'ral points of the compass, and I
+guess I could have made a pretty average straight run for home, but
+every time I wanted to cut across lots there was a policeman
+lookin' at me, so I had to stick to the channel.  That's what made
+me so late.  Now do go and eat your breakfast.  I won't feel easy
+till I see you start."
+
+Caroline departed, and the captain, after a visit to his own room,
+where he left his coat and hat, returned to the library, picked up
+the paper which his nephew had dropped, and began reading.
+
+After breakfast came the "business talk."  It was a brief one.
+Captain Elisha soon discovered that his brother's children knew
+very little concerning their father's affairs.  They had always
+plenty of money, had been indulged in practically every wish, and
+had never had to think or plan for themselves.  As to the size of
+the estate, they knew nothing more than Mr. Graves had told them,
+which was that, instead of the several millions which rumor had
+credited A. Rodgers Warren with possessing, five hundred thousand
+dollars would probably be the extent of their inheritance, and
+that, therefore, they must live economically.  As a first step in
+that direction, they had given up their former home and moved to
+the apartment.
+
+"Yes, yes," mused the captain, "I see.  Mr. Graves didn't know
+about your movin', then?  You did it on your own hook, so to
+speak?"
+
+Stephen answered promptly.
+
+"Of course we did," he declared.  "Why not?"
+
+"No reason in the world.  A good sensible thing to do, I should
+say.  Didn't anybody advise you where to go?"
+
+"Why should we need advice?"  Again it was Stephen who replied.
+"We aren't kids.  We're old enough to decide some things for
+ourselves, I should think."
+
+"Yes.  Sartin.  That's right.  But I didn't know but p'raps some of
+your friends might have helped along.  This Mrs. Dunn now, she kind
+of hinted to me that she'd--well, done what she could to make you
+comf'table."
+
+"She has," avowed Caroline, warmly.  "Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm have
+proved their friendship in a thousand ways.  We never can repay
+them, Stephen and I, never!"
+
+"No.  There's some things you can't ever pay, I know that.  Mrs.
+Dunn found this nice place for you, did she?"
+
+"Why, yes.  She and I found it together."
+
+"So?  That was lucky, wa'n't it?  Advertised in the newspaper, was
+it; or was there a 'To Let' placard up in the window?"
+
+"No, certainly not.  Mrs. Dunn knew that we had decided to move,
+and she has a cousin who is interested in New York property.  She
+asked him, and he mentioned this apartment."
+
+"One of his own, was it?"
+
+"I believe so.  Why are you so particular?  Don't you like it?"
+
+Her tone was sharp.  Stephen, who resented his uncle's questions as
+impertinent intrusions upon the family affairs, added one of his
+own.
+
+"Isn't it as good as those in--what do you call it--South Denboro?"
+he asked, maliciously.
+
+Captain Elisha laughed heartily.
+
+"Pretty nigh as good," he said.  "I didn't notice any better on the
+way to the depot as I drove up.  And I doubt if there's many new
+ones built since I left.  It's a mighty fine lot of rooms, I think.
+What's the rent?  You'll excuse my askin', things bein' as they
+are."
+
+"Twenty-two hundred a year," answered his niece, coldly.
+
+The captain looked at her, whistled, broke off the whistle in the
+middle, and did a little mental arithmetic.
+
+"Twenty-two hundred a year!" he repeated.  "That's one hundred and
+eighty odd a month.  Say, that cousin of Mrs. Dunn's must want to
+get his investment back.  You mean for just these ten rooms?"
+
+Stephen laughed scornfully.
+
+"Our guardian has been counting, Caro," he remarked.
+
+"Yes.  Yes, I counted this mornin' when I got up.  I was interested,
+naturally."
+
+"Sure!  Naturally, of course," sneered the boy.  "Did you think the
+twenty-two hundred was the rent of the entire building?"
+
+"Well, I didn't know.  I--"
+
+"The rent," interrupted Caroline, with dignity, "was twenty-four
+hundred, but, thanks to Mrs. Dunn, who explained to her cousin that
+we were friends of hers, it was reduced."
+
+"We being in reduced circumstances," observed her brother in supreme
+disgust.  "Pity the poor orphans!  By gad!"
+
+"That was real nice of Mrs. Dunn," declared Captain Elisha, heartily.
+"She's pretty well-off herself, I s'pose--hey, Caroline?"
+
+"I presume so."
+
+"Yes, yes.  About how much is she wuth, think?"
+
+"I don't know.  I never inquired."
+
+"No.  Well, down our way," with a chuckle, "we don't have to
+inquire.  Ask anybody you meet what his next door neighbor's wuth,
+and he'll tell you within a hundred, and how he got it, and how
+much he owes, and how he gets along with his wife.  Ho! ho!
+Speakin' of wives, is this Mr. Dunn married?"
+
+He looked at his niece as he asked the question.  There was no
+reason why Caroline should blush; she knew it, and hated herself
+for doing it.
+
+"No," she answered, resentfully, "he is not."
+
+"Um-hm.  What's his business?"
+
+"He is connected with a produce exchange house, I believe."
+
+"One of the firm?"
+
+"I don't know.  In New York we are not as well posted, or as
+curious, concerning our friends' private affairs as your
+townspeople seem to be."
+
+"I guess that's so.  I imagine New Yorkers are too busy gettin' it
+themselves to bother whether their neighbors have got it or not.
+Well," he went on, rising, "I guess I've kept you young folks from
+your work or--or play, or whatever you was going to do, long enough
+for this once.  I think I'll go out for a spell.  I've got an
+errand or two I want to do.  What time do you have dinner?"
+
+"We lunch at half past one," answered Caroline.
+
+"We dine at seven."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes!  I keep forgettin' that supper's dinner.  Well, I
+presume likely I'll be back for luncheon.  If I ain't, don't wait
+for me.  I'll be home afore supper--there I go again!--afore
+dinner, anyhow.  Good-by."
+
+Five minutes later he was at the street corner, inquiring of a
+policeman "the handiest way to get to Pine Street."  Following the
+directions given, he boarded a train at the nearest subway station,
+emerged at Wall Street, inquired once more, located the street he
+was looking for, and, consulting a card which he took from a big
+stained leather pocket-book, walked on, peering at the numbers of
+the buildings he passed.
+
+The offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, were on the sixteenth
+floor of a new and gorgeously appointed sky-scraper.  When Captain
+Elisha entered the firm's reception room, he was accosted by a
+wide-awake and extremely self-possessed office boy.
+
+"Who'd you want to see?" asked the boy, briskly.
+
+The captain removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his
+handkerchief.
+
+"Hold on a jiffy, Sonny," he panted.  "Just give me a minute to
+sort of get myself together, as you might say.  I rode up in one of
+those express elevators of yours, and I kind of feel as if my boots
+had got tangled up with my necktie.  When that elevator feller cast
+off from the cellar, I begun to shut up like a spyglass.  Whew!
+Say, Son, is Mr. Graves in?"
+
+"No," replied the boy, grinning.
+
+"Hum!  Still in the sick bay, is he--hey?"
+
+"He's to home.  Got a cold."
+
+"Yup.  It's too bad.  Mr.--er--Sylvester, is he in?"
+
+"Naw, he ain't.  And Mr. Kuhn's busy.  Won't one of the clerks do?
+What do you want to see the firm about?"
+
+"Well, Son, I had reasons of my own.  However, I guess I won't
+disturb Mr. Kuhn, if he's busy's you say.  Here! you tell him, or
+Mr. Sylvester when he comes, that Cap'n Warren, Cap'n Elisha Warren
+of South Denboro--better write it down--called and will be back
+about half past twelve or thereabouts.  Got it, have you?  Hum! is
+that Elisha?  You don't tell me!  I've been spellin' it for sixty
+years, more or less, and never realized it had such possibilities.
+Lend me your pencil.  There! you give Mr. Sylvester that and tell
+him I'll see him later.  So long, Son."
+
+He departed, smiling.  The indignant office boy threw the card on
+the table.
+
+Captain Elisha strolled down Pine Street, looking about him with
+interest.  It had been years since he visited this locality, and
+the changes were many.  Soon, however, he began to recognize
+familiar landmarks.  He was approaching the water front, and there
+were fewer new buildings.  When he reached South Street he was
+thoroughly at home.
+
+The docks were crowded.  The river was alive with small craft of
+all kinds.  Steamers and schooners were plenty, but the captain
+missed the old square-riggers, the clipper ships and barks, such
+as he had sailed in as cabin boy, as foremast hand, and, later,
+commanded on many seas.
+
+At length, however, he saw four masts towering above the roof of a
+freight house.  They were not schooner rigged, those masts.  The
+yards were set square across, and along them were furled royals
+and upper topsails.  Here, at last, was a craft worth looking at.
+Captain Elisha crossed the street, hurried past the covered freight
+house, and saw a magnificent great ship lying beside a broad open
+wharf.  Down the wharf he walked, joyfully, as one who greets an
+old friend.
+
+The wharf was practically deserted.  An ancient watchman was dozing
+in a sort of sentry box, but he did not wake.  There was a pile of
+foreign-looking crates and boxes at the further end of the pier,
+evidently the last bit of cargo waiting to be carted away.  The
+captain inspected the pile, recognized the goods as Chinese and
+Japanese, then read the name on the big ship's stern.  She was the
+Empress of the Ocean, and her home port was Liverpool.
+
+Captain Elisha, as a free-born Yankee skipper, had an inherited and
+cherished contempt for British "lime-juicers," but he could not
+help admiring this one.  To begin with, her size and tonnage were
+enormous.  Also, she was four-masted, instead of the usual three,
+and her hull and lower spars were of steel instead of wood.  A
+steel sailing vessel was something of a novelty to the captain, and
+he was seized with a desire to go aboard and inspect.
+
+The ladder from ship to wharf was down, of course, and getting on
+board was an easy matter.  When he reached the deck and looked
+about him, the great size of the ship was still more apparent.  The
+bulwarks were as high as a short man's head.  She was decked over
+aft, and, as the captain said afterwards, "her cabins had nigh as
+many stories as a house."  From the roof of the "first story,"
+level with the bulwarks, extended a series of bridges, which could
+be hoisted or lowered, and by means of which her officers could
+walk from stern to bow without descending to the deck.  There was a
+good-sized engine house forward, beyond the galley and forecastle.
+Evidently the work of hoisting anchors and canvas was done by
+steam.
+
+The captain strolled about, looking her over.  The number of
+improvements since his seagoing days was astonishing.  He was
+standing by the wheel, near the companion way, wishing that he
+might inspect the officers' quarters, but not liking to do so
+without an invitation, when two men emerged from the cabin.
+
+One of the pair was evidently the Japanese steward of the ship.
+The other was a tall, clean-cut young fellow, whose general
+appearance and lack of sunburn showed quite plainly that he was not
+a seafaring man by profession.  The steward caught sight of Captain
+Elisha, and, walking over, accosted him.
+
+"Want to see skipper, sir?" he asked, in broken English.  "He
+ashore."
+
+"No, Doctor," replied the captain, cheerfully.  "I don't want to
+see him.  I've got no business aboard.  It's been some time since I
+trod the quarter-deck of a square-rigger, and I couldn't resist the
+temptation of tryin' how the planks felt under my feet.  This is
+consider'ble of a clipper you've got here," he added.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the steward grinning.
+
+"Where you from?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"Singapore, sir."
+
+"Cargo all out?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Waitin' for another one?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  We load for Manila bimeby."
+
+"Manila, hey?  Have a good passage across?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  She good ship."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder.  How d'ye do, sir," to the young man, who was
+standing near.  "Hope you won't think I'm crowdin' in where I don't
+belong.  I was just tellin' the doctor here that it had been some
+time since I trod a quarter-deck, and I thought I'd see if I'd
+forgot the feel."
+
+"Have you?" asked the young man, smiling.
+
+"Guess not.  Seems kind of nat'ral.  I never handled such a whale
+of a craft as this, though.  Didn't have many of 'em in my day.
+Come over in her, did you?"
+
+"No," with a shake of the head.  "No such luck.  I'm a land lubber,
+just scouting round, that's all.  She's a bully vessel, isn't she?"
+
+"Looks so.  Tell you better after I've seen what she could do in a
+full-sail breeze.  All hands ashore, Doctor?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the steward.
+
+"Crew paid off and spendin' their money, I s'pose.  Well, if it
+ain't against orders, I'd kind of like to look around a little
+mite.  May I?"
+
+The steward merely grinned.  His companion answered for him.
+
+"Certainly you may," he said.  "I'm a friend of one of the
+consignees, and I'd be glad to show you the ship, if you like.
+Shall we begin with the cabins?"
+
+Captain Elisha, delighted with the opportunity, expressed his
+thanks, and the tour of inspection began.  The steward remained on
+deck, but the captain and his new acquaintance strolled through the
+officers' quarters together.
+
+"Jerushy!" exclaimed the former, as he viewed the main cabin.
+"Say, you could pretty nigh have a dance here, couldn't you?  A
+small one.  This reminds me of the cabin aboard the Sea Gull, first
+vessel I went mate of--it's so diff'rent.  Aboard her we had to
+walk sittin' down.  There wa'n't room in the cabin for more'n one
+to stand up at a time.  But she could sail, just the same--and
+carry it, too.  I've seen her off the Horn with studdin' sails set,
+when craft twice her length and tonnage had everything furled above
+the tops'l yard.  Hi hum! you mustn't mind an old salt runnin' on
+this way.  I've been out of the pickle tub a good while, but I
+cal'late the brine ain't all out of my system."
+
+His guide's eyes snapped.
+
+"I understand," he said, laughing.  "I've never been at sea, on a
+long voyage, in my life, but I can understand just how you feel.
+It's in my blood, I guess.  I come of a salt water line.  My people
+were from Belfast, Maine, and every man of them went to sea."
+
+"Belfast, hey?  They turned out some A No.1 sailors in Belfast.  I
+sailed under a Cap'n Pearson from there once--James Pearson, his
+name was."
+
+"He was my great uncle.  I was named for him.  My name is James
+Pearson, also."
+
+"WHAT?"  Captain Elisha was hugely delighted.  "Mr. Pearson, shake
+hands.  I want to tell you that your Uncle Jim was a seaman of the
+kind you dream about, but seldom meet.  I was his second mate three
+v'yages.  My name's Elisha Warren."
+
+Mr. Pearson shook hands and laughed, good-humoredly.
+
+"Glad to meet you, Captain Warren," he said.  "And I'm glad you
+knew Uncle Jim.  As a youngster, he was my idol.  He could spin
+yarns that were worth listening to."
+
+"I bet you!  He'd seen things wuth yarnin' about.  So you ain't a
+sailor, hey?  Livin' in New York?"
+
+The young man nodded.  "Yes," he said.  Then, with a dry smile, "If
+you call occupying a hall bedroom and eating at a third-rate
+boarding-house table living.  However, it's my own fault.  I've
+been a newspaper man since I left college.  But I threw up my job
+six months ago.  Since then I've been free-lancing."
+
+"Have, hey?"  The captain was too polite to ask further questions,
+but he had not the slightest idea what "free-lancing" might be.
+Pearson divined his perplexity and explained.
+
+"I've had a feeling," he said, "that I might write magazine
+articles and stories--yes, possibly a novel or two.  It's a serious
+disease, but the only way to find out whether it's chronic or not
+is to experiment.  That's what I'm doing now.  The thing I'm at
+work on may turn out to be a sea story.  So I spend some time
+around the wharves and aboard the few sailing ships in port,
+picking up material."
+
+Captain Elisha patted him on the back.
+
+"Now don't you get discouraged," he said.  "I used to have an idea
+that novel writin' and picture paintin' was poverty jobs for men
+with healthy appetites, but I've changed my mind.  I don't know's
+you'll believe it, but I've just found out, for a fact, that some
+painters get twenty-two thousand dollars for one picture.  For ONE,
+mind you.  And a little mite of a thing, too, that couldn't have
+cost scarcely anything to paint.  Maybe novels sell for just as
+much.  _I_ don't know."
+
+His companion laughed heartily.  "I'm afraid not, Captain," he
+said.  "Few, at any rate.  I should be satisfied with considerably
+less, to begin with.  Are you living here in town?"
+
+"Well--we-ll, I don't know.  I ain't exactly livin', and I ain't
+exactly boardin', but--Say! ain't that the doctor callin' you?"
+
+It was the steward, and there was an anxious ring in his voice.
+Pearson excused himself and hurried out of the cabin.  Captain
+Elisha lingered for a final look about.  Then he followed
+leisurely, becoming aware, as he reached the open air, of loud
+voices in angry dialogue.
+
+Entrances to the Empress of the Ocean's cabins were on the main
+deck, and also on the raised half-deck at the stern, near the
+wheel, the binnacle and the officers' corned-beef tubs, swinging in
+their frames.  From this upper deck two flights of steps led down
+to the main deck below.  At the top of one of these flights stood
+young Pearson, cool and alert.  Behind him half crouched the
+Japanese steward, evidently very much frightened.  At the foot of
+the steps were grouped three rough looking men, foreigners and
+sailors without doubt, and partially intoxicated.  The three men
+were an ugly lot, and they were all yelling and jabbering together
+in a foreign lingo.  As the captain emerged from the passage to the
+open deck, he heard Pearson reply in the same language.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked.
+
+Pearson answered without turning his head.
+
+"Drunken sailors," he explained.  "Part of the crew here.  They've
+been uptown, got full, and come back to square a grudge they seem
+to have against the steward.  I'm telling them they'd better give
+up and go ashore, if they know when they're well off."
+
+The three fellows by the ladder's foot were consulting together.
+On the wharf were half a dozen loungers, collected by the prospect
+of a row.
+
+"If I can hold them off for a few minutes," went on Pearson, "we'll
+be all right.  The wharf watchman has gone for the police.  Here!
+drop it!  What are you up to?"
+
+One of the sailors had drawn a knife.  The other two reached for
+their belts behind, evidently intending to follow suit.  From the
+loafers on the wharf came shouts of encouragement.
+
+"Do the dude up, Pedro!  Give him what's comin' to him."
+
+The trio formed for a rush.  The steward, with a shrill scream,
+fled to the cabin.  Pearson did not move; he even smiled.  The next
+moment he was pushed to one side, and Captain Elisha stood at the
+top of the steps.
+
+"Here!" he said, sternly.  "What's all this?"
+
+The three sailors, astonished at this unexpected addition to their
+enemies forces, hesitated.  Pearson laid his hand on the captain's
+arm.
+
+"Be careful," he said.  "They're dangerous."
+
+"Dangerous?  Them?  I've seen their kind afore.  Here, you!"
+turning to the three below.  "What do you mean by this?  Put down
+that knife, you lubber!  Do you want to be put in irons?  Over the
+side with you, you swabs!  Git!"
+
+He began descending the ladder.  Whether the sailors were merely
+too surprised to resist, or because they recognized the authority
+of the deep sea in Captain Elisha's voice and face is a question.
+At any rate, as he descended they backed away.
+
+"Mutiny on board a ship of mine?" roared the captain.  "What do you
+mean by it?  Why, I'll have you tied up and put on bread and water.
+Over the side with you!  Mutiny on board of ME!  Lively!  Tumble up
+there!"
+
+With every order came a stride forward and a correspondingly
+backward movement on the part of the three.  The performance would
+have been ridiculous if Pearson had not feared that it might become
+tragic.  He was descending the steps to his new acquaintance's aid,
+when there rose a chorus of shouts from the wharf.
+
+"The cops! the cops!  Look out!"
+
+That was the finishing touch.  The next moment the three "mutineers"
+were over the side and running as fast as their alcoholic condition
+would permit down the wharf.
+
+"Well, by George!" exclaimed Pearson.
+
+Captain Elisha seemed to be coming out of a dream.  He stood still,
+drew his hand across his forehead, and then began to laugh.
+
+"Well!" he stammered.  "Well, I snum!  I--I--Mr. Pearson, I wonder
+what on earth you must think of me.  I declare the sight of that
+gang set me back about twenty years.  They--they must have thought
+I was the new skipper!  Did you hear me tell 'em they couldn't
+mutiny aboard of me?  Ho! ho!  Well, I am an old idiot!"
+
+Pearson stuck his fist into the palm of his other hand.  "I've got
+it!" he cried.  "I knew your name was familiar.  Why, you're the
+mate that handled the mutinous crew aboard Uncle Jim's bark, the
+Pacer, off Mauritius, in the typhoon, when he was hurt and in the
+cabin.  I've heard him tell it a dozen times.  Well, this IS a
+lucky day for me!"
+
+Captain Elisha was evidently pleased.  "So he told you that, did
+he?" he began.  "That WAS a time and a half, I--"
+
+He was interrupted.  Over the rail appeared a blue helmet, and an
+instant later a big and very pompous police officer leaped to the
+deck.  He was followed by the wharf watchman, who looked
+frightened.
+
+"Where's the other one of them?" demanded the policeman.  "Oh, it's
+you, is it?  Well, you're too old to be gettin' drunk and fightin'.
+Come along now, peaceable, and let's have no words about it."
+
+He advanced and laid a hand on the captain's arm.
+
+"You're under arrest," he announced.  "Will you come along quiet?"
+
+"I'm under arrest?" repeated Captain Elisha.  "Under--My soul and
+body!  Why, I ain't done anything."
+
+"Yes, I know.  Nobody's done nothin'.  Come on, or shall I--Hello,
+Mr. Pearson, sir!  How d'you do?"
+
+Pearson had stepped forward.
+
+"Slattery," he said, "you've made a mistake.  Let me tell you about
+it."  He drew the officer aside and whispered in his ear.  After a
+rather lengthy conversation, the guardian of the peace turned to
+the watchman.
+
+"What d'you mean by tellin' all them lies?" he demanded.
+
+"Lies?" repeated the astonished watchman.  "I never told no lies."
+
+"You did.  You said this gentleman," indicating the nervous and
+apprehensive Captain Elisha, "was fightin' and murderin'.  I ask
+your pardon, sir.  'Twas this bloke's foolishness.  G'wan ashore!
+You make me sick.  Good day, Mr. Pearson."
+
+He departed, driving his new victim before him and tongue-lashing
+him all the way.  The captain drew a long breath.
+
+"Say, Mr. Pearson," he declared, "a minute or so ago you said this
+was a lucky day for you.  I cal'late it's a luckier one for me.  If
+it hadn't been for you I'd been took up.  Yes, sir, took up and
+carted off to the lockup.  Whew! that would have looked well in the
+papers, wouldn't it?  And my niece and nephew . . .  Jerushy!  I'm
+mightily obliged to you.  How did you handle that policeman so
+easily?"
+
+Pearson laughed.  "Oh," he replied, "a newspaper training and
+acquaintance has its advantages.  Slattery knows me, and I know
+him."
+
+"Well, I thank you, I do so."
+
+"You needn't.  I wouldn't have missed meeting you and seeing you
+handle those fellows for a good deal.  And besides, you're not
+going to escape so easy.  You must lunch with me."
+
+The captain started, hastily pulled out his watch, and looked at
+it.
+
+"Quarter to one!" he cried.  "And I said I'd be back at that
+lawyer's office at half-past twelve.  No, no, Mr. Pearson, I can't
+go to lunch with you, but I do wish you'd come and see me some
+time.  My address for--for a spell, anyhow--is Central Park West,"
+giving the number, "and the name is Warren, same as mine.  Will you
+come some evenin'?  I'd be tickled to death to see you."
+
+The young man was evidently delighted.
+
+"Will I?" he exclaimed.  "Indeed I will.  I warn you, Captain
+Warren, that I shall probably keep you busy spinning sea yarns."
+
+"Nothin' I like better, though I'm afraid my yarns'll be pretty
+dull alongside of your Uncle Jim's."
+
+"I'll risk it.  Good-by and good luck.  I shall see you very soon."
+
+"That's right; do.  So long."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The boy, Captain Elisha's acquaintance of the morning, was out,
+regaling himself with crullers and milk at a pushcart on Broad
+Street, when the captain returned to the officers of Sylvester,
+Kuhn and Graves.  The clerk who had taken his place was very
+respectful.
+
+"Captain Warren," he said, "Mr. Sylvester was sorry to miss you.
+He waited until half past twelve and left word for us to telephone
+if you came.  Our Mr. Graves is still ill, and the matter of your
+brother's estate must be discussed without further delay.  Please
+sit down and I will telephone."
+
+The captain seated himself on the leather-covered bench, and the
+clerk entered the inner office.  He returned, a few moments later,
+to say:
+
+"Mr. Sylvester is at the Central Club.  He wished me to ask if you
+could conveniently join him there."
+
+Captain Elisha pondered.  "Why, yes," he replied, slowly, "I s'pose
+I could.  I don't know why I couldn't.  Where is this--er--club of
+his?"
+
+"On Fifth Avenue, near Fifty-second Street.  I'll send one of our
+boys with you if you like."
+
+"No, no!  I can pilot myself, I guess.  I ain't so old I can't ask
+my way.  Though--" with a reminiscent chuckle--"if the folks I ask
+are all sufferin' from that 'Ugh' disease, I sha'n't make much
+headway."
+
+"What disease?" asked the puzzled clerk.
+
+"Oh, nothin'.  I was just thinkin' out loud, that's all.  Mr.
+Sylvester wants to see me right off, does he?"
+
+"Yes, he said he would wait if I 'phoned him you were coming."
+
+"Um-hm.  Well, you can tell him I've left the dock, bound in his
+direction.  Say, that young chap that was here when I called the
+fust time--studyin' to be a lawyer, is he?"
+
+"Who?  Tim?  No, indeed.  He's only the office boy.  Why did you
+ask?"
+
+"Oh, I was just wonderin'.  I had a notion he might be in trainin'
+for a judgeship, he was so high and mighty.  Ho! ho!  He's got
+talent, that boy has.  Nobody but a born genius could have made as
+many mistakes in one name as he did when he undertook to spell
+Elisha.  Well, sir, I'm much obliged to you.  Good day."
+
+The Central Club is a ponderous institution occupying a becomingly
+gorgeous building on the Avenue.  The captain found his way to its
+door without much trouble.  A brass-buttoned attendant answered his
+ring and superciliously inquired his business.  Captain Elisha, not
+being greatly in awe of either buttons or brief authority, calmly
+hailed the attendant as "Gen'ral" and informed him that he was
+there to see Mr. Sylvester, if the latter was "on deck anywheres."
+
+"Tell him it's Cap'n Warren, Major," he added cheerfully; "he's
+expectin' me."
+
+The attendant brusquely ushered the visitor into a leather-
+upholstered reception room and left him.  The captain amused
+himself by looking at the prints and framed letters and autographs
+on the walls.  Then a round, red, pleasant-faced man entered.
+
+"Pardon me," he said, "is this Captain Warren?"
+
+"Yes, sir," was the reply.  "That's my name.  This is Mr. Sylvester,
+ain't it?  Glad to know you, sir."
+
+"Thanks.  Sorry to have made you travel way up here, Captain.  I
+waited until twelve-thirty, but as you didn't come then, I gave you
+up.  Hope I haven't inconvenienced you."
+
+"No, no.  Not a mite.  Might just as well be here as anywhere.
+Don't think another thing about it."
+
+"Have you lunched, Captain Warren?"
+
+"No, come to think of it, I ain't.  I've been kind of busy this
+forenoon, and a little thing like dinner--luncheon, I mean--slipped
+my mind.  Though 'tain't often I have those slips, I'm free to say.
+Ho! ho!  Abbie--she's my second cousin, my housekeeper--says I'm an
+unsartin critter, but there's two things about me she can always
+count on, one's that my clothes have always got a button loose
+somewheres, and t'other's my appetite."
+
+He laughed, and Sylvester laughed with him.
+
+"Well," observed the lawyer, "I'm not sure that I couldn't qualify
+on both of those counts.  At any rate I'm sure of my appetite.  I
+had a lunch engagement with an acquaintance of mine, but he hasn't
+appeared, so you must take his place.  We'll lunch together."
+
+"Well, now, I'd like to fust-rate, and it's real kind of you, Mr.
+Sylvester; but I don't know's I'd better.  Your friend may heave in
+sight, after all, and I'd be in the way."
+
+"Not a bit of it.  And I said 'acquaintance,' not 'friend.'  Of
+course you will!  You must.  We can talk business while we're
+eating, if you like."
+
+"All right.  And I'm ever so much obliged to you.  Is there an
+eatin' house near here?"
+
+"Oh, we'll eat right here at the club.  Come."
+
+He led the way, and Captain Elisha followed.  The Central Club has
+a large, exclusive, and wealthy membership, and its quarters
+correspond.  The captain gazed about him at the marble floors and
+pillars, the paintings and busts, with interest.  After checking
+his hat and coat, as they entered the elevator he asked a question.
+
+"Which floor is your club on, Mr. Sylvester?" he asked.
+
+"Floor?  Why, the dining room is on the fourth, if that's what you
+mean."
+
+"No, I meant how many rooms do you rent?"
+
+"We occupy the entire building.  It is our own, and a comparatively
+new one.  We built it three years ago."
+
+"You mean this whole shebang is just one CLUB?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Hum!  I see.  Well, I--"
+
+"What were you going to say?"
+
+"Nothin'.  I was wonderin' what fool thing I'd ask next.  I'm more
+used to lodge rooms than I am to clubs, I guess.  I'd like to take
+home a picture of this place to Theophilus Kenney.  Theoph's been
+raisin' hob because the Odd Fellows built on to their buildin'.  He
+said one room was enough for any society.  'Twould be, if we was
+all his kind of society.  Theoph's so small he could keep house in
+a closet.  He's always hollerin' in meetin' about his soul.  I
+asked the minister if it didn't seem ridic'lous for Kenney to make
+such a big noise over such a little thing.  This where we get off?"
+
+The dining room was a large and ornate apartment.  Captain Elisha,
+when he first entered it, seemed about to ask another question, but
+choked it off and remained silent.  Sylvester chose a table in a
+retired corner, and they sat down.
+
+"Now, Captain Warren," said the host, "what will you eat?"
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head.
+
+"You do the orderin'," he replied dryly; "I'll just set and be
+thankful, like the hen that found the china doorknob.  Anything
+that suits you will do me, I guess."
+
+The lawyer, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his companion,
+gave his orders, and the waiter brought first a bit of caviar on
+toast.  If Sylvester expected this delicacy to produce astonished
+comments, he was disappointed.
+
+"Well, well!" exclaimed Captain Elisha.  "I declare, you take me
+back a long ways, Mr. Sylvester.  Caviar!  Well, well!  Why, I
+haven't ate this since I used to go to Cronstadt.  At the American
+consul's house there we had it often enough.  Has a kind of homey
+taste even yet.  That consul was a good feller.  He and I were
+great friends.
+
+"I met him a long spell after that, when I was down in Mexico," he
+went on.  "He'd made money and was down on a vacation.  My ship was
+at Acapulco, and he and I used to go gunnin' together, after wild
+geese and such.  Ho! ho!  I remember there was a big, pompous
+critter of an Englishman there.  Mind you, I'm not talkin' against
+the English.  Some of the best men I ever met were English, and
+I've stood back to back with a British mate on a Genoa wharf when
+half of Italy was hoppin' around makin' proclamations that they was
+goin' to swallow us alive.  And, somehow or 'nother, they didn't.
+Took with prophetic indigestion, maybe.
+
+"However, this Englishman at Acapulco was diff'rent.  He was so
+swelled with importance that his back hollered in like Cape Cod Bay
+on the map.  His front bent out to correspond, though, so I
+cal'late he averaged up all right.  Well, he heard about what a
+good--that I was pretty lucky when it come to shootin' wild geese,
+and I'm blessed if he didn't send me orders to get him one for a
+dinner he was goin' to give.  Didn't ask--ORDERED me to do it, you
+understand.  And him nothin' but a consignee, with no more control
+over me than the average female Sunday-school teacher has over a
+class of boys.  Not so much, because she's supposed to have
+official authority, and he wa'n't.  AND he didn't invite me to
+the dinner.
+
+"Well, the next time my friend, the ex-consul, and I went out
+gunnin', I told him of the Englishman's 'orders.'  He was mad.
+'What are you goin' to do about it?' he asks.  'Don't know yet,'
+says I, 'we'll see.'  By and by we come in sight of one of them
+long-legged cranes, big birds you know, standin' fishin' at the
+edge of some reeds.  I up with my gun and shot it.  The consul chap
+looked at me as if I was crazy.  'What in the world did you kill
+that fish-basket on stilts for?' he says.  'Son,' says I, 'your
+eyesight is bad.  That's a British-American goose.  Chop off about
+three feet of neck and a couple of fathom of hind legs and pick and
+clean what's left, and I shouldn't wonder if 'twould make a good
+dinner for a mutual friend of ours--good ENOUGH, anyhow.'  Well,
+sir! that ex-consul set plump down in the mud and laughed and
+laughed.  Ho, ho!  Oh, dear me!"
+
+"Did you send it to the Englishman?" asked Sylvester.
+
+"Oh, yes, I sent it.  And, after a good while and in a roundabout
+way, I heard that the whole dinner party vowed 'twas the best wild
+goose they ever ate.  So I ain't sure just who the joke was on.
+However, I'm satisfied with my end.  Well, there!  I guess you must
+think I'm pretty talky on short acquaintance, Mr. Sylvester.
+You'll have to excuse me; that caviar set me to thinkin' about old
+times."
+
+His host was shaking all over.  "Go ahead, Captain," he cried.
+"Got any more as good as that?"
+
+But Captain Elisha merely smiled and shook his head.
+
+"Don't get me started on Mexico," he observed.  "I'm liable to yarn
+all the rest of the afternoon.  Let's see, we was goin' to talk
+over my brother's business a little mite, wa'n't we?"
+
+"Why, yes, we should.  Now, Captain Warren, just how much do you
+know about your late brother's affairs?"
+
+"Except what Mr. Graves told me, nothin' of importance.  And, afore
+we go any further, let me ask a question.  Do YOU know why 'Bije
+made me his executor and guardian and all the rest of it?"
+
+"I do not.  Graves drew his will, and so, of course, we knew of
+your existence and your appointment.  Your brother forbade our
+mentioning it, but we did not know, until after his death, that his
+own children were unaware they had an uncle.  It seems strange,
+doesn't it?"
+
+"It does to me; SO strange that I can't see two lengths ahead.  I
+cal'late Mr. Graves told you how I felt about it?"
+
+"Yes.  That is, he said you were very much surprised."
+
+"That's puttin' it mild enough.  And did he tell you that 'Bije and
+I hadn't seen each other, or even written, in eighteen years?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Um-hm.  Well, when you consider THAT, can you wonder I was set all
+aback?  And the more I think of it, the foggier it gets.  Why, Mr.
+Sylvester, it's one of them situations that are impossible, that
+you can prove fifty ways CAN'T happen.  And yet, it has--it
+sartinly has.  Now tell me:  Are you, or your firm, well acquainted
+with my brother's affairs?"
+
+"Not well, no.  The late Mr. Warren was a close-mouthed man, rather
+secretive, in fact."
+
+"Humph! that bein' one of the p'ints where he was different from
+his nighest relation, hey?"
+
+"I'm not so sure.  Have you questioned the children?"
+
+"Caroline and Steve?  Yes, I've questioned 'em more than they think
+I have, maybe.  And they know--well, leavin' out about the price of
+oil paintin's and the way to dress and that it's more or less of a
+disgrace to economize on twenty thousand a year, their worldly
+knowledge ain't too extensive."
+
+"Do you like them?"
+
+"I guess so.  Just now ain't the fairest time to judge 'em.  You
+see they're sufferin' from the joyful shock of their country
+relation droppin' in, and--"
+
+He paused and rubbed his chin.  His lips were smiling, but his eyes
+were not.  Sylvester noted their expression, and guessed many
+things.
+
+"They haven't been disagreeable, I hope?" he asked.
+
+"No-o.  No, I wouldn't want to say that.  They're young and--and,
+well, I ain't the kind they've been used to.  Caroline's a nice
+girl.  She is, sure.  All she needs is to grow a little older and
+have the right kind of advice and--and friends."
+
+"How about the boy?"  Mr. Sylvester had met young Warren, and his
+eyes twinkled as he spoke.
+
+"Steve?  Well," there was an answering twinkle in Captain Elisha's
+eye; "well, Steve needs to grow, too; though I wouldn't presume to
+tell him so.  When a feller's undertakin' to give advice to one of
+the seven wise men, he has to be diplomatic, as you might say."
+
+The lawyer put back his head and laughed uproariously.
+
+"Ha! ha!" he crowed.  "That's good!  Then, from your questioning of
+the children, you've learned--?"
+
+"Not such an awful lot.  I think I've learned that--hum! that a
+good guardian might be a handy thing to have in the house.  A
+reg'lar legal guardian, I mean.  Otherwise--"
+
+"Otherwise?"
+
+"Otherwise there might be too many disinterested volunteer
+substitutes for the job.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it."
+
+"Have you made up your mind to be that guardian?"
+
+"Not yet.  I haven't made up my mind to anything yet.  Now, Mr.
+Sylvester, while we're waitin' for what comes next--you've ordered
+enough grub to victual a ship--s'pose you just run over what your
+firm knows about 'Bije.  That is, if I ain't askin' too much."
+
+"Not at all.  That's what I'm here for.  You have a right to know.
+But I warn you my information isn't worth much."
+
+He went on, briefly and with the conciseness of the legal mind, to
+tell of A. Rodgers Warren, his business and his estate.  He had
+been a broker with a seat on the Stock Exchange.
+
+"That seat is worth consider'ble, ain't it?" interrupted the
+captain.
+
+"Between eighty and one hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Yup.  Well, it reminds me of a picture I saw once in one of the
+comic papers.  An old feller from the backwoods somewheres--good
+deal like me, he was, and just about as green--was pictured
+standin' along with his city nephew in the gallery of the Exchange.
+And the nephew says, 'Uncle,' says he, 'do you realize that a seat
+down there's wuth seventy-five thousand dollars?'  'Gosh!' says the
+old man, 'no wonder most of 'em are standin' up.'  Ho! ho!  Is that
+seat of 'Bije's part of the five hundred thousand you figger he's
+left?"
+
+"Yes, in a way it is.  To be truthful, Captain Warren, we're not
+sure as to the amount of your brother's tangible assets.  Graves
+made a hurried examination of the stocks, bonds, and memoranda, and
+estimated the total, that's all."
+
+"I see.  Well, heave ahead."
+
+The lawyer went on.  The dead broker's office had been on Broad
+Street.  A small office, with but two clerks.  One of the clerks
+was retained, and the office, having been leased for a year by its
+former tenant, was still open pending the settlement of the estate.
+A. Rodgers Warren personally was a man who looked older than he
+really was, a good liver, and popular among his companions.
+
+"What sort of fellers were his companions?" asked Captain Elisha.
+
+"You mean his friends in society, or his companions down town in
+Wall Street?"
+
+"The Wall Street ones.  I guess I can find out something about the
+society ones.  Anyhow, I can try.  These Wall Streeters that 'Bije
+chummed with--a quiet lot, was they?"
+
+Sylvester hesitated.  "Why--why--not particularly so," he admitted.
+"Nothing crooked about them, of course.  You see, a stock-broker's
+life is a nerve-racking, rather exciting one, and--"
+
+"And 'Bije and his chums were excited, too, hey?  All right, you
+needn't go any further.  He was a good husband while his wife
+lived, wa'n't he?"
+
+"Yes.  Frankly, Captain Warren, so far as I know, your brother's
+personal habits were good.  There was nothing against his
+character."
+
+"I'm mighty glad to hear it.  Mighty glad.  Is there anything else
+you can tell me?"
+
+"No.  Our next move, provided you decide to accept the trust, the
+executorship, and the rest, is to get together--you and Graves, if
+he is well enough; you and I if he is not--and begin a careful
+examination of the stocks, bonds, assets, and debts of the estate.
+This must be done first of all."
+
+"Graves hinted there wa'n't any debts, to amount to anything."
+
+"So far as we can see, there are none, except a few trifling
+bills."
+
+"Yes, yes.  Hum!"  Captain Elisha put down his coffee spoon and
+seemed to be thinking.  He shook his head.
+
+"You appear to be puzzled about something," observed the lawyer,
+who was watching him intently.
+
+"I am.  I was puzzled afore I left home, and I'm just as puzzled
+now."
+
+"What puzzles you? if I may ask."
+
+"Everything.  And, if you'll excuse my sayin' so, Mr. Sylvester, I
+guess it puzzles you, too."
+
+He returned his host's look.  The latter pushed back his chair,
+preparatory to rising.
+
+"It is all so perfectly simple, on the face of it, Captain Warren,"
+he said.  "Your brother realized that he must die, that his
+children and their money must be taken care of; you were his
+nearest relative; his trust in your honesty and judgment caused him
+to overlook the estrangement between you.  That's the case, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes.  That's the case, on the face of it, as you say.  But you've
+forgot to mention one item."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"'Bije himself.  You knew him pretty well, I can see that.  So did
+I.  And I guess that's why we're both puzzled."
+
+Captain Elisha folded his napkin with care and stood up.  Sylvester
+rose, also.
+
+"Come downstairs," he said.  "We can enjoy our cigars more
+comfortably there, and go on with our talk.  That is, unless you're
+in a great hurry."
+
+"No, I ain't in any special hurry.  So I get up to Caroline's in
+season for supper--er, dinner, I mean--I don't care.  But I don't
+want to keep you.  You're a busy man."
+
+"This is business.  This way, Captain."
+
+The big lounging room of the club, on the first floor, Fifth Avenue
+side, was almost empty when they entered it.  The lawyer drew two
+big chairs near the open fire, rang the bell, and ordered cigars.
+After the cigars were lighted and the fragrant clouds of tobacco
+smoke were rising, he reopened the conversation.  And now, in an
+easy, diplomatic way, he took his turn at questioning.
+
+It was pretty thorough pumping, managed with the skill of an
+experienced cross-examiner.  Captain Elisha, without realizing that
+he was doing so, told of his boyhood, his life at sea, his home at
+South Denboro, his position in the village, his work as selectman,
+as member of the school committee, and as director in the bank.
+The tone of the questioner expressed nothing--he was too well
+trained for that--but every item of information was tabulated and
+appraised.
+
+The tall mahogany-cased clock struck three, then four.  The lawyer
+finished his cigar and lit another.  He offered a fresh one to his
+guest, but the offer was declined.
+
+"No, thank you," observed the captain.  "I've been yarnin' away so
+fast that my breath's been too busy to keep this one goin'.
+There's consider'ble left yet.  This is a better smoke than I'm
+used to gettin' at the store down home.  I tell Ryder--he's our
+storekeeper and postmaster--that he must buy his cigars on the reel
+and cut 'em off with the scissors.  When the gang of us all got a-
+goin' mail times, it smells like a rope-walk burnin' down.  Ho! ho!
+It does, for a fact.  Yet I kind of enjoy one of his five-centers,
+after all.  You can get used to most anything.  Maybe it's the home
+flavor or the society.  P'raps they'd taste better still if they
+was made of seaweed.  I'll trouble you for a match, Mr. Sylvester.
+Two of 'em, if you don't mind."
+
+He whittled one match to a point with his pocket knife, impaled the
+cigar stump upon it, and relit with the other.
+
+Meanwhile the room had been filling up.  Around each of the big
+windows overlooking the Avenue were gathered groups of men, young
+and old, smoking, chatting, and gazing idly out.  Captain Elisha
+regarded them curiously.
+
+"This ain't a holiday, is it?" he asked, after a while.
+
+"No.  Why?"
+
+"I was just wonderin' if all those fellers hadn't any work to do,
+that's all."
+
+"Who?  That crowd?"  The lawyer laughed.  "Oh, they're doing their
+regular stunt.  You'll find most of them here every afternoon about
+this time."
+
+"You don't say.  Pay 'em wages for it, do you?"
+
+"Not that I know of.  Some of them are brokers, who come up after
+the Exchange closes.  Others are business men, active or retired.
+Some don't have any business--except what they're doing now."
+
+"I want to know!  Humph!  They remind me of the gang in the
+billiard room back home.  The billiard-roomers--the chronic ones--
+don't have any business, either, except to keep the dust from
+collectin' on the chairs.  That and talkin' about hard times.
+These chaps don't seem to be sufferin' from hard times, much."
+
+"No.  Most of the younger set have rich fathers or have inherited
+money."
+
+"I see.  They let the old man do the worryin'.  That's philosophy,
+anyhow.  What are they so interested in outside?  Parade goin' by?"
+
+"No.  I imagine an unusually pretty girl passed just then."
+
+"Is that so?  Well, well!  Say, Mr. Sylvester, the longer I stay in
+New York the more I see that the main difference between it and
+South Denboro is size.  The billiard-room gang acts just the same
+way when the downstairs school teacher goes past.  Hello!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"That young chap by the mizzen window looks sort of familiar to me.
+The one that stood up to shake a day-day to whoever was passin'.
+Hum!  He's made a hit, ain't he?  I expect some unprotected
+female's heart broke at that signal.  I cal'late I know him."
+
+"Who?  Which one?  Oh, that's young Corcoran Dunn.  He is a lady-
+killer, in his own estimation.  How d'ye do, Dunn."
+
+The young man turning grinning from the window, caught a glimpse of
+the lawyer as the latter rose to identify him.  He strolled over to
+the fire.
+
+"Hello, Sylvester," he hailed, carelessly.  "That was a peach.  You
+should have seen her.  What?  Why, it's the Admiral!"
+
+"How d'ye do, Mr. Dunn," said Captain Elisha.
+
+"Have you two met before?" asked Sylvester in astonishment.
+
+"Yes.  I had the pleasure of assisting in the welcoming salute when
+our seafarin' friend come aboard.  How was that, Captain?  Some
+nautical class to that remark?"
+
+"Yup.  You done fust rate, considerin' how recent you shipped."
+
+"Thanks.  Overwhelmed, I'm sure."  Then, with a look of languid
+amusement at the pair, "What is this--a meeting of the Board of
+Naval Affairs?  Have you bought a yacht, Sylvester?"
+
+"No."  The lawyer's tone was sharp.
+
+"Humph!  Well, take my advice and don't.  Yachts are all right, to
+have a good time on, but they cost like the devil to keep up.  An
+auto is bad enough.  By the way, Sylvester, did you hear about my
+running over the Irishman this morning?"
+
+"Running over?" repeated the captain, aghast.  "You didn't run over
+nobody, I hope."
+
+"Well, I came devilish near it.  Ha! ha!  You see, the old tarrier
+was crossing Saint Nicholas Avenue, with a big market basket full
+of provisions--the family dinner, I suppose.  By Jove, the
+household appetites must be good ones.  It was slippery as the
+mischief, I was running the car, and I tried to go between the
+fellow and the curb.  It would have been a decent bit of steering
+if I'd made it.  But--ha! ha!--by Jove, you know, I didn't.  I
+skidded.  The man himself managed to hop out of the way, but his
+foot slipped, and down he went.  Most ridiculous thing you ever
+saw.  And the street!  'Pon my word it was paved with eatables."
+
+Sylvester, plainly annoyed, did not reply.  But Captain Elisha's
+concern was evident.
+
+"The poor critter!" he exclaimed.  "What did you do?"
+
+"The last I saw of him he was sitting in the mud, looking at the
+upset.  I didn't linger.  Peters took the wheel, and we beat it.
+Lucky the cop didn't spot the license number.  Might have cost me
+fifty.  They've had me up for speeding twice before.  What are you
+and the Admiral discussing, Sylvester?"
+
+"We were discussing a business matter," answered the lawyer, with
+significant emphasis.
+
+"Business?  Why, sure!  I forgot that you were Graves's partner.
+Settling the family affairs, hey?  Well, I won't butt in.  Ta, ta!
+See you later, Captain.  You must go for a spin in that car of
+mine.  I'll call for you some day.  I'll show you something they
+don't do on Cape Cod.  Regards to Caro and Steve."
+
+He moved off, feeling that his invitation would have met with his
+mother's approval.  She had announced that the country uncle was to
+be "cultivated."
+
+Captain Elisha's cigar had gone out.  He did not attempt to relight
+it.
+
+"Whew!" he whistled.  "Well, when I go for a 'spin,' as he calls
+it, with HIM, I cal'late my head'll be spinnin' so I won't be
+responsible for my actions.  Whew!"
+
+Sylvester looked curiously at him.
+
+"So you met him before?" he asked.
+
+"Yes.  He was at the rooms when I fust landed.  Or his mother was
+there then.  He came a little later with Caroline and Stephen."
+
+"I see."
+
+"Yes.  Know him and his ma pretty well, do you?"
+
+"Slightly.  I've met them, at mutual acquaintances' homes and about
+town."
+
+"Pretty well fixed, I s'pose, ain't they?"
+
+"I presume so.  I don't know."
+
+"Um.  He's a sociable young feller, ain't he?  Don't stand on any
+ceremony, hey?  Caro and Steve think a lot of him and his mother."
+
+"Yes.  Graves has told me the Dunns were very intimate with the
+Warrens.  In fact, just before your brother's death, I remember
+hearing a rumor that the two families might be even closer
+connected."
+
+"You mean--er--Caroline and--er--him?"
+
+"There was such a rumor.  Probably nothing in it.  There is no
+engagement, I am very sure."
+
+"Yes, yes, I see.  Well, Mr. Sylvester, I must be trottin' on.
+I'll think the whole business over for another day or so and then
+give you my decision, one way or the other."
+
+"You can't give it now?"
+
+"No-o.  I guess I'd better not.  However, I think--"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I think I may take the job.  Take it on trial, anyhow."
+
+"Good!  I'm glad of it."
+
+"You ARE?"
+
+"I certainly am.  And I'm very glad indeed to have made your
+acquaintance, Captain Warren.  Good afternoon.  I shall hope to see
+you again soon."
+
+Captain Elisha left the Central Club in a surprised frame of mind.
+What surprised him was that a man of such thorough city training
+and habits as the senior partner of the law firm should express
+pleasure at the idea of his accepting the charge of A. Rodgers
+Warren's heirs and estate.  Mr. Graves had shown no such feeling.
+
+If he had heard Sylvester's report to Kuhn, at the office next day,
+he might have been even more surprised and pleased.
+
+"He's a brick, Kuhn," declared the senior partner.  "A countryman,
+of course, but a keen, able, honest man, and, I think, a mighty
+good judge of character.  If I was as sure of his ability to judge
+investments and financial affairs, I should be certain the Warren
+children couldn't be in better hands.  And no doubt we can help him
+when it comes to that.  He'll probably handle the girl and boy in
+his own way, and his outside greenness may jar them a little.  But
+it'll do them good to be jarred at their age.  He's all right, and
+I hope he accepts the whole trust."
+
+"Well," exclaimed Mr. Kuhn; "you surprise me.  Graves seemed to be--"
+
+"Graves suffers from the absolute lack of a sense of humor.  His
+path through life is about three feet wide and bordered with rock-
+ribbed conventionality.  If a man has a joke in his system, Graves
+doesn't understand it and is suspicious.  I tell, you, Kuhn,
+there's more honest common sense and ability in the right hand of
+this Down-East salt than there ever was in Rodgers Warren's whole
+body."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+During the next day Caroline Warren and her brother saw little of
+their uncle.  Not that they complained of this or sought his
+society.  The policy of avoidance and what Stephen called "freezing
+out" had begun, and the young people kept to themselves as much as
+possible.  At breakfast Caroline was coldly polite, and her brother
+cold, although his politeness was not overdone.  However, Captain
+Elisha did not seem to notice.  He was preoccupied, said but
+little, and spent the forenoon in writing a second letter to Miss
+Abigail.  In it he told of his experience on board the Empress of
+the Ocean and of the luncheon at the Central Club.  But he said
+nothing concerning his nephew and niece further than the statement
+that he was still getting acquainted, and that Caroline was a real
+nice looking girl.
+
+"I suppose you wonder what I've decided about taking the
+guardianship," he added, just at the close.  "Well, Abbie, I'm
+about in the position of Luther Sylvester when he fell off the dock
+at Orham.  The tide was out, and he went into the soft mud, all
+under.  When the folks who saw him tumble got to the edge and
+looked over, they saw a round, black thing sticking out of the
+mire, and, judging 'twas Lute's head, they asked him how he felt.
+'I don't know yet,' sputters Lute, 'whether I'm drowned or
+smothered, but I'm somewheres betwixt and between.'  That's me,
+Abbie, on that guardian business.  I'm still betwixt and between.
+But before this day's over I'll be drowned or smothered, and I'll
+let you know which next time I write."
+
+After lunch he took a stroll in the Park and passed up and down the
+paths, thinking, thinking.  Returning, he found that Caroline and
+Stephen had gone for an auto ride with the Dunns and would not be
+home for dinner.  So he ate that meal in solitary state, waited
+upon by Edwards.
+
+That evening, as he sat smoking in the library, the butler appeared
+to announce a caller.
+
+"Someone to see you, sir," said Edwards.  "Here's his card, sir."
+
+"Eh?  Someone to see ME?  Guess you've made a mistake, haven't you,
+Commodore?  I don't know anybody who'd be likely to come visitin'
+me here in New York.  Why, yes!  Well, I declare!  Tell him to walk
+right in.  Mr. Pearson, I'm glad to see you.  This is real
+neighborly."
+
+The caller was young Pearson, the captain's acquaintance of the
+previous forenoon.  They shook hands heartily.
+
+"Perhaps you didn't think I should accept that invitation of yours,
+Captain Warren," observed Pearson.  "I told you I meant it when I
+said yes.  And calling within thirty-six hours is pretty good
+proof, isn't it?"
+
+"Suits me fust-rate.  I'm mighty glad you came.  Set right down.
+Lonesome at the boardin' house, was it?"
+
+Pearson made a grimace.  "Lonesome!" he repeated.  "Ugh!  Let's
+talk of something else.  Were you in time for your appointment
+yesterday noon?"
+
+"Why, yes; I was and I wasn't.  Say, won't you have a cigar?
+That's right.  And I s'pose, bein' as this is New York, I'd ought
+to ask you to take somethin' to lay the dust, hey?  I ain't made
+any inquiries myself, but I shouldn't wonder if the Commodore--the
+feller that let you in--could find somethin' in the spare room
+closet or somewheres, if I ask him."
+
+The young man laughed.  "If you mean a drink," he said, "I don't
+care for it, thank you."
+
+"What?  You ain't a teetotaler, are you?"
+
+"No, not exactly.  But--"
+
+"But you can get along without it, hey?  So can I; generally do,
+fur's that goes.  But I'M from South Denboro.  I thought here in
+New York--"
+
+"Oh, there are many people, even here in New York, who are not
+convinced that alcohol is a food."
+
+"You don't tell me!  Well, I'm livin' and learnin' every day.
+Judgin' from stories and the yarns in the Boston newspapers, folks
+up our way have the idea that this town is a sort of annex to the
+bad place.  All right, then we won't trouble the Commodore.  I
+notice you're lookin' over my quarters.  What do you think of 'em?"
+
+Pearson had, in spite of himself, been glancing about the room.
+Its luxury and the evident signs of taste and wealth surprised him
+greatly.
+
+"Astonish you to find me livin' in a place like this, hey?"
+
+"Why, why, yes, it does, somewhat.  I didn't realize you were such
+an aristocrat, Captain Warren.  If I had, I might have been a
+little more careful of my dress in making my first call."
+
+"Dress?  Oh, you mean you'd have put on your Sunday clothes.  Well,
+I'm glad you didn't.  You see, _I_ haven't got on my regimentals,
+and if you'd been on dress parade I might have felt bashful.  Ho,
+ho!  I don't wonder you are surprised.  This is a pretty swell
+neighborhood, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes, it is."
+
+"These--er--apartments, now.  'Bout as good as any in town, are
+they?"
+
+"Pretty nearly.  There are few better--much better."
+
+"I thought so.  You wouldn't call livin' in 'em economizin' to any
+consider'ble extent, would you?"
+
+"No," with a laugh; "no, _I_ shouldn't, but my ideas of economy
+are--well, different.  They have to be.  Are you ecomomizing,
+Captain?"
+
+Captain Elisha laughed and rubbed his knee.
+
+"No," he chuckled, "_I_ ain't, but my nephew and niece are.  These
+are their rooms."
+
+"Oh, you're visiting?"
+
+"No, I don't know's you'd call it visitin'.  I don't know what you
+would call it.  I'm here, that's about all you can say."
+
+He paused and remained silent.  His friend was silent, also, not
+knowing exactly what remark to make.
+
+"How's the novel comin' on?" asked the captain, a minute later.
+
+"Oh, slowly.  I'm not at all sure it will ever be finished.  I get
+discouraged sometimes."
+
+"No use in doin' that.  What sort of a yarn is it goin' to be?
+Give me a gen'ral idea of the course you're tryin' to steer.  That
+is, if it ain't a secret."
+
+"It isn't.  But there's mighty little worth telling.  When I began
+I thought I had a good scheme, but it seems pretty weak and dish-
+watery now."
+
+"Most things do while their bein' done, if you really care about
+doin' 'em well.  Heave ahead!  You said 'twas a sea yarn, and I'm
+a sort of specialist when it comes to salt water.  Maybe I might
+prescribe just the right tonic, though 'tain't very likely."
+
+Pearson began to outline the plot of his novel, speaking slowly at
+first, but becoming more interested as he continued.  Captain
+Elisha listened meditatively, puffing solemnly at his cigar, and
+interrupting but seldom.
+
+"I think that's a pretty good idea," he observed, at length.  "Yes,
+sir, that sounds promisin', to me.  This cap'n of yours now, he's
+a good feller.  Don't get him too good, though; that wouldn't be
+natural.  And don't get him too bad, neither.  I know it's the
+fashion, judgin' by the sea yarns I've read lately, to have a
+Yankee skipper sort of a cross between a prize fighter and a
+murderer.  Fust day out of port he begins by pickin' out the most
+sickly fo'mast hand aboard, mashes him up, and then takes the next
+invalid.  I got a book about that kind of a skipper out of our
+library down home a spell ago, and the librarian said 'twas awful
+popular.  A strong story, she said, and true to life.  Well, 'twas
+strong--you could pretty nigh smell it--but as for bein' true to
+life, I had my doubts.  I've been to sea, command of a vessel, for
+a good many years, and sometimes I'd go weeks, whole weeks, without
+jumpin' up and down on a single sailor.  Fact!  Got my exercise
+other ways, I presume likely.
+
+"I tell you," he went on, "the main trouble with that tale of
+yours, as I see it, is that you're talkin' about things you ain't
+ever seen.  Now there's plenty you have seen, I wouldn't wonder.
+Let's see, you was born in Belfast, you said.  Live there long, did
+you?"
+
+"Yes, until I went away to school."
+
+"Your father, he went to sea, did he?"
+
+"Yes.  But his ship was lost, with all hands, when I was a baby."
+
+"But your Uncle Jim wa'n't lost.  You remember him well; you said
+so.  Tell me something you remember."
+
+Before the young man was aware of it, he was telling of his Uncle
+Jim, of the latter's return from voyages, of his own home life, of
+his mother, and of the village where he spent his boyhood.  Then,
+led on by the captain's questioning, he continued with his years at
+college, his experiences as reporter and city editor.  Without
+being conscious that he was doing so, he gave his host a pretty
+full sketch of himself, his story, and his ambitions.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," said Captain Elisha, earnestly, "don't you worry
+about that yarn of yours.  If you'll take the advice of an old
+feller who knows absolutely nothin' about such things, keep on
+rememberin' about your Uncle Jim.  He was a man, every inch of him,
+and a seaman, too.  Put lots of him into this hero of yours, and
+you won't go fur wrong.  And when it comes to handlin' a ship, why--
+well, if you WANT to come to me, I'll try and help you out best I
+can."
+
+Pearson was delighted.
+
+"You WILL?" he cried.  "Splendid!  It's mighty good of you.  May I
+spring some of my stuff on you as I write it?"
+
+"Sartin you may.  Any time, I'll be tickled to death.  I'll be
+tickled to have you call, too; that is, if callin' on an old salt
+like me won't be too tirin'."
+
+The answer was emphatic and reassuring.
+
+"Thank you," said Captain Elisha.  "I'm much obliged.  Come often,
+do.  I--well, the fact is, I'm likely to get sort of lonesome
+myself, I'm afraid.  Yes, I shouldn't wonder if I did."
+
+He sighed, tossed away the stump of his cigar, and added,
+
+"Now, I want to ask you somethin'.  You newspaper fellers are
+supposed to know about all there is to know of everything under the
+sun.  Do you know much about the Stock Exchange?"
+
+Pearson smiled.
+
+"All I can afford to know," he said.
+
+"Humph!  That's a pretty good answer.  Knowledge is power, they
+say, but--but I cal'late knowledge of the Stock Exchange is
+poverty, with a good many folks."
+
+"I think you're right, Captain.  It's none of my business, but--
+were you planning to tackle Wall Street?"
+
+Captain Elisha glanced, under his brows, at his new friend, and his
+eyes twinkled.
+
+"Didn't know but I might," he replied, solemnly.  "Ain't got any--
+er--tips, any sure things you want to put me on to, have you?"
+
+"I have not.  My experience of Wall Street 'sure things' leads me
+to believe that they're sure--but only for the other fellow."
+
+"Hum!  I know a chap down home that made money in stocks.  He made
+it so easy that, as the boys say, 'twas almost a shame to take the
+money.  And 'twas the makin' of him, too."
+
+Pearson was embarrassed and troubled.  If this big-hearted, simple-
+minded countryman had come to New York to buck the stock market, it
+was time to sound a warning.  But had he, on such short acquaintance,
+the right to warn?  The captain was shrewd in his own way.  Might
+not the warning seem presumptuous?
+
+"So--this--this friend of yours was a successful speculator, was
+he?" he asked.  "He was lucky."
+
+"Think so?  Well, maybe.  His name was Elkanah Chase, and his dad
+was old man 'Rastus Chase, who made consider'ble in cranberries and
+one thing or 'nother.  The old man brought Elkanah up to be what he
+called a gentleman.  Ho! ho!  Hi hum!  I ain't sure what 'Rastus's
+idea of a gentleman was, but if he cal'lated to have his son a
+tramp in go-to-meetin' clothes, he got his wish.  When the old man
+died, he willed the boy fifteen thousand dollars.  Well, fifteen
+thousand dollars is a fortune to some folks--if they ain't
+economizin' in New York--but to Elkanah 'twas just about enough to
+make him realize his poverty.  So, to make it bigger, he got one of
+them 'tips' from a college friend down here in Wall Street, and put
+the heft of ten thousand into it.  AND, I swan, if it didn't double
+his money!"
+
+Captain Elisha's visitor shook his head.  He did not even smile.
+
+"He was extremely fortunate," he said.  "I give you my word,
+Captain Warren, that the majority of first speculators don't turn
+out that way.  I hope he was wise enough to keep his profits."
+
+The captain rubbed his chin.
+
+"Jim--" he began.  "Excuse me, I should have said Mr. Pearson, but
+I've got sort of in the habit of callin' folks by their first
+names.  Livin' where you know everybody so well gets you into those
+habits."
+
+"Jim suits me.  I hope you'll cultivate the habit."
+
+"Do you?  Well, I will.  Now, Jim, referrin' to what I was goin' to
+say, you, bein' a newspaper man, ought to know everything, but it's
+pretty plain you don't know Elkanah Chase.  Keep his profits!  Why,
+when a feller is all but convinced that he knows it all, one little
+bit of evidence like that speculation settles it for him conclusive.
+Elkanah, realizin' that Wall Street was his apple pie, opened his
+mouth to swaller it at one gulp.  He put his profits and every other
+cent he had into another sure thing tip."
+
+"And won again?"
+
+"No.  He lost all that and some more that he borrowed."
+
+"But I thought you said it was the making of him!"
+
+"It was.  He had to take a job over at the overalls factory in
+Ostable.  As a fifteen thousand dollar gentleman, he was pretty
+average of a mess, but they tell me he makes middlin' good
+overalls.  Elkanah convinced me that Wall Street has its good
+points."
+
+He chuckled.  Pearson, relieved, laughed in sympathy.  "Has he paid
+back the money he borrowed?" he inquired.
+
+"No-o!  I guess the creditors'll have to take it out in overalls.
+However, it's a satisfaction to some of 'em to watch Chase really
+work.  I know that gives me MY money's worth."
+
+"Oh, ho!  You are one of the creditors!  Captain Warren, I'm
+surprised.  I sized you up as a shrewder judge of investments."
+
+Captain Elisha colored.  "I judged that one correct," he answered.
+"If I hadn't thought 'twould have turned out that way I never would
+have plunged.  You see, old man Chase was a friend of mine, and--
+However," he added, hastily changing the subject, "we've strayed
+some off the course.  When I mentioned the Stock Exchange I did it
+because my brother was a member of it, and I cal'late you might
+have known him."
+
+Pearson was astonished.  "Your brother was a member of the
+Exchange?" he repeated.
+
+"Um-hm.  Never would have guessed it, would you?  I s'pose you
+cal'late all the stock I knew about was on the hoof.  Well, I have
+been acquainted with other breeds in my time.  My brother's name
+was Abijah Warren--A. Rodgers Warren, he called himself."
+
+The effect of this announcement was instantaneous and electric.
+The young man sat back in his chair.
+
+"A. Rodgers Warren was your brother?" he cried.
+
+"Um-hm.  Seems to stagger you some.  Contrast between us as big as
+all that comes to?"
+
+"But--but, Captain Warren--Your brother--Tell me, is Miss Caroline
+Warren your niece?"
+
+"She is.  And Steve is my nephew.  'Tain't possible you're
+acquainted with them?"
+
+Pearson rose to his feet.  "Is--They used to live on the Avenue,"
+he said.  "But you said you were visiting.  Captain Warren, is this
+your niece's apartment?"
+
+"Yes, hers and Steve's.  Why, what's the matter?  Ain't goin', are
+you?"
+
+"I think perhaps I had better.  It is getting late."
+
+"Late!  It's only the shank of the evenin'.  Jim, I ain't so blind
+that I can't see through an open window.  It ain't the lateness
+that makes you want to leave so sudden.  Is there some trouble
+between you and Caroline?  Course, it's none of my business, and
+you needn't tell me unless you want to."
+
+The answer was prompt enough.
+
+"No," replied Pearson.  "No.  I assure you there is nothing of that
+kind.  I--I met Miss Warren.  In fact, at one time we were well
+acquainted.  I have the very highest opinion of her.  But I think
+it is best to--"
+
+"Just a minute now.  No trouble with Steve?  He's a boy and at an
+age when he's pretty well satisfied with himself and you have to
+make allowance."
+
+"No.  Steve and I were quite friendly.  I'm sorry to cut my visit
+short, but it is late and I MUST go."
+
+He was moving toward the door.  Captain Elisha looked at him
+intently.
+
+"Well, if you must," he said.  "But I hope you'll come again soon.
+Will you?"
+
+"I hope I may.  I give you my word, Captain, that I appreciate your
+invitation, and I do want to know you better."
+
+"Same here.  I don't often take sudden fancies, Jim, but I knew
+your uncle, and I'd bet consider'ble on any member of his family.
+And I WAS kind of interested in that novel of yours.  You haven't
+said you'd come again.  Will you?"
+
+Pearson was much embarrassed.
+
+"I should like to come, immensely," he said, with an earnestness
+unmistakable; "but--but, to be honest, Captain Warren, there is a
+reason, one which I may tell you sometime, but can't now--neither
+Miss Warren nor her brother have any part in it--which makes me
+reluctant to visit you here.  Won't you come and see me at the
+boarding house?  Here's the address.  WILL you come?"
+
+"Sartin!  I figured on doin' it, if you gave me the chance."
+
+"Thank you, you'll be welcome.  Of course it is ONLY a boarding
+house, and not a very good one.  My own room is--well, different
+from this."
+
+"Yup.  Maybe that's why I expect to feel at home in it.  Good
+night, Jim.  Thank you for callin'.  Shall I ring for the Commodore
+to pilot you out?"
+
+"No, I can find my way.  I--Someone is coming."
+
+From the hall came the clang of the elevator door and the sound of
+voices.  Before the captain or his friend could move, Caroline,
+Stephen, Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, and Malcolm entered.  Caroline was the
+first to reach the library.  Her entrance brought her face to face
+with Pearson.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she began.  "I did not know there was anyone
+here."
+
+"It's only a friend of mine, Caroline," explained her uncle,
+quickly.  "Just callin' on me, he was."
+
+"Good evening, Miss Warren," said Pearson, quietly.
+
+The girl looked at him for an instant.  Then her expression changed,
+and, with a smile, she extended her hand.
+
+"Why, Mr. Pearson!" she exclaimed.  "I'm very glad to see you.  You
+must excuse me for not recognizing you at once.  Steve, you
+remember Mr. Pearson."
+
+Stephen also extended a hand.
+
+"Sure!" he said.  "Glad to see you again, Pearson.  Haven't met you
+for an age.  How are you?"
+
+Pearson shook both the hands.  He was embarrassed and hesitated in
+his reply.
+
+"It HAS been some time since we met," he said.  "This is an
+unexpected pleasure.  Ah, Mr. Dunn, good evening."
+
+"It is Mr. Pearson, the financial writer of the Planet, Malcolm,"
+said Caroline.  "You used to know him, I think."
+
+"Don't remember, I'm sure.  Yes, I do.  Met you at the University
+Club, didn't I?"
+
+"Yes.  I was formerly a member."
+
+"And let me present you to Mrs. Corcoran Dunn," went on the girl.
+"Mr. Pearson used to know father well."
+
+Mrs. Dunn inspected the visitor through her lorgnette, and
+condescended to admit that she was "delighted."
+
+"I'm very glad you called," continued Caroline.  "We were just in
+time, weren't we?  Do sit down.  And if you will wait a minute
+until we remove our wraps--Steve ring for Edwards, please."
+
+"I'm afraid I can't wait, Miss Warren.  I dropped in to see your
+uncle, at his invitation, and, as a matter of fact, I didn't know--"
+
+"To see our UNCLE!" interrupted Stephen, in amazement.  "Who?"
+
+"Your uncle, Captain Warren here," explained Pearson, surprised in
+his turn.  "He and I made each other's acquaintance yesterday, and
+he asked me to call."
+
+"You--you called to see HIM?" repeated Stephen.  "Why, what in the
+world--?"
+
+"I took the liberty of askin' him, Caroline," observed Captain
+Elisha quietly, and ignoring the last speaker.  "I didn't know you
+knew him, and I used to sail along with HIS uncle, so he seemed
+almost like own folks."
+
+"Oh!" Caroline's manner changed.  "I presume it was a business
+call," she said slowly.  "I beg pardon for interrupting.  We had
+not seen you since father's death, Mr. Pearson, and I assumed that
+you had called upon my brother and me.  Excuse me.  Mrs. Dunn, we
+will go into the drawing-room."
+
+She led the way toward the apartment.  Captain Elisha was about to
+speak.  Pearson, however, explained for him.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "if by a business call you mean one in the
+interest of the Planet, I assure you that you are mistaken.  I am
+no longer connected with any paper.  I met Captain Warren, under
+rather unusual circumstances.  We discovered that we had mutual
+friends and mutual interests.  He asked me to call on him, and I
+did so.  I did not know, until five minutes ago, that he was your
+uncle or that you and your brother lived here.  I beg you won't
+leave the room on my account.  I was about to go when you came.
+Good evening."
+
+He bowed and stepped toward the hall.  Captain Elisha laid a hand
+on his arm and detained him.
+
+"Just a minute," he said.  "Caroline, I want you and Steve to know
+that what Mr. Pearson says is exactly true.  I ain't the kind to
+talk to the newspapers about the private affairs of my relations,
+and, if I'm any judge of character, Mr. Pearson, knowin' you as it
+seems he does, wouldn't be the kind to listen.  That's all.  Now,
+Jim, if you must go."
+
+He and his guest were at the door.  Caroline and Mrs. Dunn were at
+the opposite side of the room.  Suddenly the girl halted, turned,
+and, moving across to where her uncle and the young man were
+standing, once more extended her hand.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, impulsively, "again I ask your pardon.  I
+should have known.  I am very sorry I spoke as I did.  Will you
+forgive me?"
+
+Pearson colored.  His embarrassment was more evident than before.
+
+"There is no occasion for apology, Miss Warren," he said.  "I don't
+wonder you thought I had come in my former capacity as reporter."
+
+"Yes, you do.  You MUST have wondered.  I am very glad you called
+to see my--my guardian, and I hope you will continue to do so.
+Father used to speak so highly of you, and I'm sure he valued your
+friendship.  Stephen and I wish to consider his friends ours.
+Please believe that you are welcome here at any time."
+
+Pearson's reply was brief.
+
+"Thank you, Miss Warren," he said.  "You are very kind.  Good
+evening."
+
+In the hall, as they waited for the elevator, Captain Elisha,
+happier than at any time since his arrival in New York, clapped his
+friend on the shoulder.
+
+"Jim," he said, "I was beginnin' to doubt my judgment of things and
+folks.  Now I feel better.  That niece of mine has got the right
+stuff in her.  After THAT invitation, you will come and see us once
+in a while.  That makes it easier, hey?"
+
+Pearson shook his head.  "I'm not sure, Captain," he observed,
+slowly, "that it doesn't make it harder.  I shall look for you at
+the boarding house very soon.  Don't disappoint me.  Good night."
+
+The captain's last remark that evening was made to Edwards, whom he
+met just outside the door of his bedroom.
+
+"Commodore," he said, "a barn full of rats is a nuisance, ain't
+it?"
+
+"Sir?" stammered the astonished butler.
+
+"I say a barn full of rats is a nuisance."
+
+"Why--why, yes, sir.  I should think it might be, sir."
+
+"Yup.  Well, I know a worse one.  It's a house full of mysteries.
+By, by, Son.  Pleasant dreams."
+
+He sat up until late, meditating profoundly.  Then, taking from its
+envelope the letter yet unsealed, which he had written to Miss
+Abigail Baker, he added this postscript:
+
+"Eleven o'clock.  I have decided, Abbie, to accept the guardianship
+and the rest of it, for a spell, anyhow.  Shall notify the lawyers
+in the morning.  Necessity is one thing, and pleasure is another.
+I doubt if I find the job pleasant, but I guess it is necessary.
+Anyhow, it looks that way to me."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Announcement of Captain Elisha's decision followed quickly.
+Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves received the telephone message stating
+it, and the senior partner was unqualifiedly delighted.  Kuhn
+accepted his associate's opinion with some reservation.  "It is an
+odd piece of business, the whole of it," he declared.  "I shall be
+curious to see how it works out."  As for Mr. Graves, when the
+information was conveyed to him by messenger, he expressed disgust
+and dismay.  "Ridiculous!" he said.  "Doctor, I simply must be up
+and about within the next few days.  It is necessary that a sane,
+conservative man be at the office.  Far be it from me to say a word
+against Sylvester, as a lawyer, but he is subject to impressions.
+I imagine this Cape Codder made him laugh, and, therefore, in his
+opinion, is all right.  I'm glad I'm not a joker."
+
+The captain said that he would be down later on to talk things
+over.  Meanwhile, if the "papers and such" could be gotten
+together, it would "sort of help along."  Sylvester explained that
+there were certain legal and formal ceremonies pertaining to the
+acceptance of the trust to be gone through with, and these must
+have precedence.  "All right," answered the captain.  "Let's have
+'em all out at once and get the ache and agony over.  I'll see you
+by and by."
+
+When Mrs. Corcoran Dunn made her daily visit to the Warren
+apartment that afternoon, she found Caroline alone and almost in
+tears.  Captain Elisha had broken the news at the table during
+luncheon, after which he went downtown.  Stephen, having raved,
+protested, and made himself generally disagreeable and his sister
+correspondingly miserable, had departed for the club.  It was a
+time for confidences, and the wily Mrs. Dunn realized that fact.
+She soothed, comforted, and within half an hour, had learned the
+whole story.  Caroline told her all, the strange will, the
+disclosure concerning the country uncle, and the inexplicable
+clauses begging the latter to accept the executorship, the trust,
+and the charge of her brother and herself.  Incidentally she
+mentioned that a possible five hundred thousand was the extreme
+limit of the family's pecuniary resources.
+
+"Now you know everything," sobbed Caroline.  "Oh, Mrs. Dunn, YOU
+won't desert us, will you?"
+
+The widow's reply was a triumph, of its kind.  In it were expressed
+sorrow, indignation, pity, and unswerving loyalty.  Desert them?
+Desert the young people, toward whom she had come to feel almost
+like a mother?  Never!
+
+"You may depend on Malcolm and me, my dear," she declared.  "We are
+not fair-weather friends.  And, after all, it is not so very bad.
+Affairs might be very much worse."
+
+"Worse!  Oh, Mrs. Dunn, how could they be?  Think of it!  Stephen
+and I are dependent upon him for everything.  We must ask him for
+every penny.  And whatever he says to do we MUST do.  We're obliged
+to.  Just think! if he decides to take us back with him to--South
+Denboro, or whatever dreadful place he comes from, we shall have to
+go--and live there."
+
+"But he won't, my dear.  He won't.  It will take some time to
+settle your father's affairs, and the business will have to be
+transacted here in New York."
+
+"I know.  I suppose that's true.  But that doesn't make it any
+easier.  If he stops here he will stay with us.  And what shall we
+do?  We can't introduce him to our friends, or, at least, to any
+except our best, our understanding friends, like you and Malcolm."
+
+"Why, I'm not sure.  He is rather--well--er--countryfied, but I
+believe he has a good heart.  He is not rude or unkind or anything
+of that sort, is he?"
+
+"No.  No-o.  He's not that, at all.  In fact, he means to be kind
+in his way.  But it's such a different way from ours.  He is not
+used to society; he wouldn't understand that certain things and
+ways were absolutely essential.  I suppose it isn't his fault
+exactly, but that doesn't help.  And how can we tell him?"
+
+"I don't know that you can tell him, but you might hint.  Diplomacy,
+my dear, is one of the necessary elements of life.  Whatever else you
+do remember to be diplomatic.  My poor husband used to have a pet
+proverb--he was interested in politics, my dear, and some of his
+sayings were a trifle grotesque but very much to the point.  He used
+to say that one could get rid of more flies with molasses than with
+a club.  And I think he was right.  Now let me consider.  Let's look
+the situation right in the face.  Of course your guardian, as a
+companion, as an associate for us, for our kind of people, is, to be
+quite frank, impossible."
+
+"Yes.  Yes, I'm sure he is."
+
+"Yes.  But he IS your guardian.  Therefore, we can't get rid of him
+with--well, with a club.  He must be endured and made as endurable
+as possible.  And it certainly will not do to offend him."
+
+"Steve says we must do what he calls freezing him out--make him
+feel that we do not want him here."
+
+"Hum!  Well, Stephen is a nice boy--Malcolm adores him--but he
+isn't a diplomat.  If we should--what is it?--freeze out your
+uncle--"
+
+"Please call him something else."
+
+"Well, we'll call him the encumbrance on the estate; that's legal,
+I believe, and expresses it nicely.  If we should freeze out the
+encumbrance, we MIGHT freeze him to his village, and he MIGHT
+insist on your going with him, which wouldn't do at ALL, my dear.
+For one thing, Malcolm would probably insist on going, also, and I,
+for one, don't yearn for rural simplicity.  Ha! ha!  Oh, you
+mustn't mind me.  I'm only a doting mamma, dearie, and I have my
+air castles like everyone else.  So, freezing out won't do.  No,
+you and Steve must be polite to our encumbrance."
+
+"I shall not get on my knees to him and beg.  That I sha'n't do."
+
+"No one expects you to.  If anyone begs it should be he.  Condescend
+to just a little.  Make him feel his place.  Correct him when he
+goes too far wrong, and ignore him when he gets assertive.  As for
+getting rid of him at times when it may be necessary--well, I think
+you may safely leave that to me."
+
+"To you?  Oh, Mrs. Dunn, we couldn't think of dragging you into it.
+It is bad enough that we should be disgraced; but you must not be."
+
+"My dear child, I THINK my position in society is sufficiently
+established to warrant a risk or two.  If _I_ am seen in company
+with--with the encumbrance, people will merely say, 'Oh, it's
+another of her eccentricities!' that's all.  Now, don't worry, and
+don't fret all that pretty color from your cheeks.  Always remember
+this: it is but for a year or a trifle over.  Then you will be of
+age and can send your encumbrance to the right-about in a hurry."
+
+Caroline, under the spell of this convincing eloquence, began to
+cheer up.  She even smiled.
+
+"Well," she said, "I will try to be diplomatic.  I really will.
+But Stephen--I'm not sure what dreadful thing HE will do."
+
+"He will return to college soon.  I will take upon myself the
+convincing of the encumbrance to that effect.  And while he is at
+home, Malcolm will take charge of him.  He will be delighted to do
+it."
+
+"Mrs. Dunn, how can we ever thank you sufficiently?  What should we
+do without you and Malcolm?"
+
+"I HOPE, my dear, that you will never have to do without me; not
+for many years, at any rate.  Of course, there is always my poor
+heart, but--we won't worry, will we?"
+
+So, with a kiss and an embrace, this affecting interview ended.
+
+There was another that evening between Mrs. Dunn and her son, which
+was not devoid of interest.  Malcolm listened to the information
+which his mother gave him, and commented upon it in characteristic
+fashion.
+
+"Humph!" he observed, "two hundred and fifty thousand, instead of
+the two million you figured on, Mater!  Two hundred and fifty
+thousand isn't so much, in these days."
+
+"No," replied his parent, sharply, "it isn't so much, but it isn't
+so little, either."
+
+"I suppose one can get along on it."
+
+"Yes, one can.  In fact, I know of two who are managing with a good
+deal less.  Don't be any more of a fool than you can help, Malcolm.
+The sum itself isn't small, and, besides, the Warrens are a family
+of standing.  To be connected with them is worth a good deal.
+There are infinite possibilities in it.  Oh, if only I might live
+to see the day when tradespeople meant something other than
+nuisances to be dodged, I THINK I could die contented."
+
+"Caro's a decent sort of a girl," commented Malcolm, reflectively.
+
+"She's a bright girl and an attractive one.  Just now she is in a
+mood to turn to us, to you.  But, for Heaven's sake, be careful!
+She is delicate and sensitive and requires managing.  She likes
+you.  If only you weren't such a blunderer!"
+
+"Much obliged, Mater.  You're free with your compliments this
+evening.  What's the trouble?  Another 'heart'?
+
+"No.  My heart I can trust, up to certain limits.  But I'm afraid
+of your head, just as I always was of your father's.  And here's
+one more bit of advice:  Be careful how you treat that country
+uncle."
+
+"The Admiral!  Ho! ho!  He's a card."
+
+"He may be the trump that will lose us the trick.  Treat him
+civilly; yes, even cordially, if you can.  And DON'T insult him as
+you did the first time you and he met."
+
+The young man crossed his legs, and grunted in resignation.
+
+"Well," he said, "it's going to be a confounded bore, but, at the
+very longest, it'll last but a year.  Then Caro will be her own
+mistress."
+
+"Yes.  But there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year;
+remember that."
+
+"All right, Mater.  You can bet on me.  The old hayseed and I will
+be bosom pals.  Wait and see."
+
+The formalities at the lawyers' took some time.  Captain Elisha was
+absent from the apartment the better part of the following two
+days.  The evenings, however, he spent with his niece and nephew,
+and, if at all sensitive to sudden changes of the temperature, he
+must have noticed that the atmosphere of the library was less
+frigid.  Caroline was not communicative, did not make conversation,
+nor was she in the least familiar; but she answered his questions,
+did not leave the room when he entered, and seemed inclined to
+accept his society with resignation, if not with enthusiasm.  Even
+Stephen was less sarcastic and bitter.  At times, when his new
+guardian did or said something which offended his highly cultivated
+sense of the proprieties, he seemed inclined to burst out with a
+sneer; but a quick "ahem!" or a warning glance from his sister
+caused him to remain silent and vent his indignation by kicking a
+footstool or barking a violent order at the unresisting Edwards.
+Caroline and her brother had had a heart to heart talk, and, as a
+result, the all-wise young gentleman promised to make no more
+trouble than he could help.
+
+"Though, by gad, Caro," he declared, "it's only for you I do it!
+If I had my way the old butt-in should understand exactly what I
+think of him."
+
+On Thursday, after luncheon, as Captain Elisha sat in his own room,
+reading a book he had taken from the library, there came a knock at
+the door.
+
+"Come ahead in!" ordered the captain.  Caroline entered.  Her uncle
+rose and put down the book.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, "is it you?  Excuse me.  I thought 'twas the
+Commodore--Edwards, I mean.  If I'd known you was comin' callin',
+Caroline, I shouldn't have been quite so bossy.  Guess I'd have
+opened the door for you, instead of lettin' you do it yourself."
+
+"Thank you," answered his niece.  "I came to see you on--I suppose
+you might call it business.  At any rate, it is a financial matter.
+I sha'n't detain you long."
+
+Captain Elisha was a trifle disappointed.
+
+"Oh," he said, "on business, was it?  I hoped--I didn't know but
+you'd come just out of sociability.  However, I'm mighty glad to
+see you, Caroline, no matter what it's for.  That's a real becomin'
+dress you've got on," he added, inspecting her admiringly.  "I
+declare, you look prettier every time I see you.  You favor your pa
+consider'ble; I can see it more and more.  'Bije had about all the
+good looks there was in our family," with a chuckle.  "Set down,
+do."
+
+The girl seated herself in a rocker, and looked at him for a moment
+without speaking.  She seemed to have something on her mind, and
+not to know exactly how to express it.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began, "I--I came to ask a favor.  I am
+obliged to ask it, because you are our--" she almost choked over
+the hated word--"our guardian, and I can no longer act on my own
+responsibility.  I wish to ask you for some money.
+
+Captain Elisha nodded gravely.
+
+"I see" he said.  "Well, Caroline, I don't believe you'll find me
+very close-fisted.  I think I told you and Steve that you was to do
+just as you'd been in the habit of doin'.  Of course I AM your
+guardian now, and I shall be held responsible for whatever expense
+comes to the estate.  It is quite a responsibility, and I so
+understand it.  As I said to you when I told you I'd decided to
+take the job on trial, WHILE I have it it'll be my pride to see
+that you or your brother don't lose anything.  I intend, if the
+Almighty spares me so long and I keep on with the trust, to turn
+over, when my term's out, at least as much to you and Steve as your
+father left.  That's all.  Excuse me for mentioning it again.  Now,
+how much do you want?  Is your reg'lar allowance too small?
+Remember, I don't know much about such things here in New York, and
+you must be frank and aboveboard and tell me if you have any
+complaints."
+
+"I have no complaints.  My allowance is sufficient.  It is the same
+that father used to give me, and it is all I need.  But this is a
+matter outside my personal needs."
+
+"Um-hm.  Somethin' to do with the household expenses, hey?"
+
+"No.  It is--is a matter of--well, of charity.  It may amount to
+several hundred dollars."
+
+"Yes, yes.  I see.  Charity, hey?  Church?"
+
+"No.  One of the maids, Annie, has trouble at home, and I wanted to
+help her."
+
+The captain nodded once more.
+
+"Annie," he repeated, "that's the rosy-faced one?  The Irish one?"
+
+"Yes.  Her father was seriously injured the other day and cannot
+work.  His hip is broken, and the doctor's bill will be large.
+They are very poor, and I thought perhaps--"  She hesitated,
+faltered, and then said haughtily:  "Father was very sympathetic
+and liked to have me do such things."
+
+"Sho! sho!  Sartin!  Course he did.  I like it, too.  I'm glad you
+came to me just as you did, Caroline.  How much do you want to
+start with?"
+
+"I don't know, exactly.  I thought I might ask our own doctor to
+attend to the case, and might send them some delicacies and food."
+
+"Good idea!  Go right ahead, Caroline."
+
+"Thank you.  I have been over to see them, and they need help--they
+really do."
+
+"I presume likely.  How'd the accident happen?  Anybody's fault,
+was it?"
+
+Caroline's eyes snapped.  "Indeed it was!" she said, indignantly.
+"It was a wet morning, after a rain, and the pavement was slippery.
+Mr. Moriarty, Annie's father, was not working that day--they were
+making some repairs at the factory where he is employed, I believe--
+and he had gone out to do the family marketing.  He was crossing
+the street when an automobile, recklessly driven, so everyone says,
+drove directly down on him.  He tried to jump out of the way and
+succeeded--otherwise he might have been killed; but he fell and
+broke his hip.  He is an old man, and the case is serious."
+
+"Dear! dear! you don't tell me!  Poor old chap!  The auto feller--
+did he help?  Seems to me he ought to be the one to be spendin' the
+money.  'Twas his fault."
+
+"Help!  Indeed he didn't!  He and the man with him merely laughed,
+as if it was a good joke, put on speed, and disappeared as quickly
+as possible."
+
+"Why, the mean swab!  Did this Mr. Moriarty or the folks around get
+the license number of the auto?"
+
+"No.  All they know is that it was a big yellow car with two men in
+it."
+
+"Hey?  A yellow car?"
+
+"Yes.  Somewhat similar to the one Malcolm--Mr. Dunn drives."
+
+"So, so!  Hum!  Where did it happen?"
+
+"On Saint Nicholas Avenue, near One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth
+Street."
+
+"Eh?  Saint Nicholas Avenue, you say?"
+
+"Yes."  Caroline rose and turned to go.  "Thank you, Captain
+Warren," she said.  "I will tell Doctor Henry to take the case at
+once."
+
+The captain did not answer immediately.  With his chin in his hand
+he was gazing at the floor.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Caroline.
+
+Her uncle looked up.
+
+"Er--Wait just a minute, Caroline," he said.  "I guess maybe, if
+you don't mind, I'd like to think this over a little afore you go
+too far.  You have your doctor go right ahead and see to the old
+man, and you order the things to eat and whatever's necessary.  But
+afore you give Annie or her father any money, I'd kind of like to
+figger a little mite."
+
+His niece stopped short, turned and stared at him.
+
+"Oh!" she said, slowly and icily, "I see.  Please don't trouble
+yourself.  I should have known.  However, my allowance is my own,
+and I presume I am permitted to do what I please with that."
+
+"Caroline, don't be hasty.  I ain't sayin' no about the money.  Far
+from it.  I only--"
+
+"I understand--thoroughly.  Don't trouble to 'figure,' as you call
+it.  Oh! WHY did I humiliate myself?  I should have known!"
+
+"Caroline, please--"
+
+But the girl had gone, closing the door after her.  Captain Elisha
+shook his head, heaved a deep sigh, and then, sinking back into his
+chair, relapsed into meditation.  Soon afterward he put on his hat
+and coat and went out.
+
+Half an hour later he entered the office of a firm of commission
+brokers on lower Broad Street, and inquired if a gentleman by the
+name of Mr. Malcolm Dunn was connected with that establishment.  On
+being answered in the affirmative, he asked if Mr. Dunn were in.
+Yes, he was.
+
+"Well," said Captain Elisha, "I'd like to speak to him a minute or
+so.  Just tell him my name's Warren, if you don't mind, young
+feller."
+
+The clerk objected to being addressed as "young feller," and showed
+his disapproval by the haughty and indifferent manner in which he
+departed on the errand.  However, he did so depart, and returned
+followed by Malcolm himself.  The latter, who had been misled by
+the name into supposing his caller to be Stephen Warren, was much
+astonished when he saw the captain seated outside the railing.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Captain Elisha, rising and extending his
+hand:  "How are you to-day, sir?  Pretty smart?"
+
+The young man answered briefly that he was all right.  He added he
+was glad to see his visitor, a statement more polite than truthful.
+
+"Well, what's up?" he inquired, condescendingly.  "Nothing wrong
+with Caro or Steve, I hope."
+
+"No, they're fust-rate, thank you."
+
+"What's doing, then?  Is it pleasure or business?"
+
+"Well, a little of both, maybe.  It's always a pleasure to see you,
+of course; and I have got a little mite of business on hand."
+
+Malcolm smiled, in his languid fashion.  If he suspected sarcasm in
+the first part of the captain's reply, it did not trouble him.  His
+self-sufficiency was proof against anything of that sort.
+
+"Business," he repeated.  "Well, that's what I'm here for.
+Thinking of cornering the--er--potato market, were you?"
+
+"No-o.  Cranberries would be more in my line, and I cal'late you
+fellers don't deal in that kind of sass.  I had a private matter I
+wanted to talk over with you, Mr. Dunn; that is, if you ain't too
+busy."
+
+Malcolm looked at him with an amused curiosity.  As he had
+expressed it in the conversation with his mother, this old fellow
+certainly was a "card."  He seated himself on the arm of the oak
+settle from which the captain had risen and, lazily swinging a
+polished shoe, admitted that he was always busy but never too busy
+to oblige.
+
+"What's on your mind, Captain?" he drawled.
+
+Captain Elisha glanced about him somewhat uneasily.
+
+"I--I don't know as I made it quite clear," he said, "that it was
+sort of private; somethin' just between us, you understand."
+
+Malcolm hesitated.  Sliding from the settle, and impatiently
+commanding the clerk to open the gate in the railing, he led his
+caller through the main office and into a small room beyond.  On
+the glass pane of the door was lettered, "Mr. Dunn--Private."  A
+roll-top desk in the corner and three chairs were the furniture.
+Malcolm, after closing the door, sprawled in the swing chair before
+the desk, threw one leg over a drawer, which he pulled out for that
+purpose, and motioned his companion to occupy one of the other
+chairs.
+
+Captain Elisha took the offered chair and dropped his hat on the
+floor beside it.  Then he inspected the room and its furnishings
+with interest.  Dunn drew out a pocket case, extracted a cigarette,
+lit it, and waited for him to speak.
+
+"Well," observed the young man, after a moment, what's the trouble,
+Admiral?  Better get it off your chest, hadn't you?  We're private
+enough here."
+
+The captain answered the last question.  "Yes," he said, "this is
+nice and private.  Got a stateroom all to yourself; name on the
+door, and everything complete.  You must be one of the officers of
+the craft."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Um-hm.  I sort of expected to find your name on the door outside,
+but there 'twas, 'Smith, Haynes & Co.'  I presume likely you're the
+'Co.'"
+
+"_I_ 'presume likely,'" with mocking impatience.  "What about that
+private matter?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not appear to hear him.  His eyes were fixed on
+several photographs stuck in the rail of Mr. Dunn's desk.  The
+photos were those of young ladies.
+
+"Friends of yours?" inquired the captain, nodding toward the
+photographs.
+
+"No."  Dunn took the photos from the rack and threw them into a
+pigeon hole.  "Look here," he said, pointedly, "I wouldn't hurry
+you for the world, but--"
+
+He paused.  Captain Elisha did not take the hint.  His mind was
+evidently still busy with the vanished photographs.
+
+"Just fancy pictures, I s'pose, hey?" he commented.
+
+"Doubtless.  Any other little points I can give you?"
+
+"I guess not.  I thought they was fancy; looked so to me.  Well,
+about that private matter.  Mr. Dunn, I come to see you about an
+automobile."
+
+"An automobile!"  The young man was so astonished that he actually
+removed his feet from the desk.  Then he burst into a laugh.  "An
+automobile?" he repeated.  "Captain, has the influence of the
+metropolis made you a sport already?  Do you want to buy a car?"
+
+"Buy one?"  It was Captain Elisha's turn to show irritation.  "Buy
+one of them things?  Me?  I wouldn't buy one of 'em, or run one of
+'em, for somethin', _I_ tell you!  No, I don't want to buy one."
+
+"Why not?  Sell you mine for a price."
+
+"Not if I see you fust, thank you.  No, Mr. Dunn, 'tain't that.
+But one of the hired help up to our place--Caroline's place, I
+mean--is in trouble on account of one of the dratted machines.
+They're poor folks, of course, and they need money to help 'em
+through the doctorin' and nursin' and while the old man's out of
+work.  Caroline was for givin' it to 'em right off, she's a good-
+hearted girl; but I said--that is, I kind of coaxed her out of it.
+I thought I'd ask some questions first."
+
+"So you came to me to ask them?"  Malcolm smiled contentedly.
+Evidently the cares and complications of guardianship were already
+proving too intricate for the unsophisticated countryman.  He
+wished advice, and had come to him for it, possibly at Caroline's
+suggestion.  Affairs were shaping themselves well.  Here was an
+opportunity to act the disinterested friend, as per maternal
+instructions.
+
+"So you wanted to ask questions, did you, Captain?" he repeated.
+"Well, fire away.  Anything I can do to help you or Caroline will
+be a pleasure, of course.  Smoke?"
+
+He offered the cigarette case.  The captain eyed it dubiously and
+shook his head.
+
+"No," he said; "no, thank you, I commenced smokin' at the butt end,
+I guess.  Begun with a pipe, and them things would seem sort of
+kindergarten, I'm afraid.  No offense meant, you understand.  It's
+all accordin' to what you've been used to.  Well, about the
+questions.  Here's the first one:  Don't it seem to you that the
+right one to pay for the doctorin' and nursin' and such of Mr.
+Moriarty--that's Annie's pa--ought to be the feller who hurt him?
+That feller, instead of Caroline?"
+
+"Sure thing!  If you know who did it, he's your mark."
+
+"He could be held responsible, couldn't he?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Um-hm.  So I thought.  And if he was a right-minded chap, he'd be
+glad to help the poor critter, providin' he knew what damage he'd
+done; wouldn't you think so?"
+
+Malcolm nodded sagely, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed
+it again.  A sudden recollection came to him, an alarming
+recollection.  He turned in his chair and looked at his visitor.
+Captain Elisha met his gaze frankly.
+
+"Where did this accident happen?" asked Mr. Dunn, his condescending
+smile absent.
+
+"At the corner of Saint Nicholas Avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-
+Eighth Street.  It happened last Friday mornin', a week ago.  And
+the car that hit him was a yellow one."
+
+Malcolm did not answer.  His pale face grew paler, and then flushed
+a brilliant red.  The captain seemed to feel sorry for him.
+
+"Naturally," he went on, "when I heard about it, I remembered what
+you told Mr. Sylvester and me at the club that afternoon.  I
+understand how 'twas, of course.  You never thought you'd done any
+real harm and just went on, thinkin' 'twas a good joke, much as
+anything.  If you'd known you'd really hurt the poor old man, you'd
+have stopped to see him.  I understand that.  But--"
+
+"Look here!" interrupted Dunn, sharply, "did Caroline send you to
+me?"
+
+"Caroline?  No, no!  She don't know 'twas your automobile at all.
+I never said a word to her, 'tain't likely.  But afore she spent
+any of her money, I thought you'd ought to know, because I was sure
+you wouldn't let her.  That's the way I'd feel, and I felt 'twas no
+more'n honest to give you the chance.  I come on my own hook; she
+didn't know anything about it."
+
+Malcolm drummed on the desk with nervous fingers.  The flush
+remained on his face, his cigarette had gone out, and he threw the
+stump savagely into the wastepaper basket.  Captain Elisha remained
+silent.  At length the young man spoke.
+
+"Well," he growled, pettishly, "how much will it take to square
+things with the gang?  How much damages do they want?"
+
+"Damages?  Oh, there won't be any claim for damages, I guess.  That
+is, no lawsuit, or anything of that kind.  The Moriartys don't know
+you did it, and there's no reason why they should.  I thought maybe
+I'd see to 'em and do whatever was necessary; then you could settle
+with me, and the whole business would be just between us two.
+Outside the doctor's bills and food and nursin' and such, all the
+extry will be just the old man's wages for the time he's away from
+the factory.  'Twon't be very heavy."
+
+More reflection and finger tattoo by his companion.  Then:
+
+"All right!  I'm in it, I can see that; and it's up to me to get
+out as easy as I can.  I don't want any newspaper publicity.  Go
+ahead!  I'll pay the freight."
+
+Captain Elisha arose and picked up his hat.
+
+"That's fust-rate," he said, with emphasis.  "I felt sure you'd see
+it just as I did.  There's one thing I would like to say," he
+added: "that is, that you mustn't think I was stingy about helpin'
+'em myself.  But it wa'n't really my affair; and when Caroline
+spoke of spendin' her money and Steve's, I didn't feel I'd ought to
+let her.  You see, I don't know as you know it yet, Mr. Dunn, but
+my brother 'Bije left me in charge of his whole estate, and, now
+that I've decided to take the responsibility, I've got a sort of
+pride in not wastin' any of his children's inheritance.  Good day,
+Mr. Dunn.  I'm much obliged to you."
+
+He opened the office door.  Malcolm, frowning heavily, suddenly
+asked a final question.
+
+"Say!" he demanded, "you'll not tell Caroline or Steve a word of
+this, mind!"
+
+The captain seemed surprised.
+
+"I guess you didn't catch what I said, Mr. Dunn," he observed,
+mildly.  "I told you this whole business would be just between you
+and me."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Captain Elisha was very far from considering himself a Solomon.  As
+he would have said he had lived long enough with himself to know
+what a lot he didn't know.  Nevertheless, deep down in his inner
+consciousness, he cherished a belief in his judgment of human
+nature.  This judgment was not of the snap variety; he took his
+time in forming it.  People and their habits, their opinions and
+characters, were to him interesting problems.  He liked to study
+them and to reach conclusions founded upon reason, observation, and
+common sense.  Having reached such a conclusion, it disturbed him
+when the subjects of the problem suddenly upset the whole process
+of reasoning and apparently proved him wrong by behavior exactly
+contrary to that which he had expected.
+
+He had been pretty well satisfied with the result of his visit to
+young Dunn at the latter's office.  Malcolm had surrendered,
+perhaps not gracefully or unconditionally, but he had surrendered,
+and the condition--secrecy--was one which the captain himself had
+suggested.  Captain Elisha's mental attitude toward the son of the
+late Tammany leader had been a sort of good-natured but alert
+tolerance.  He judged the young man to be a product of rearing and
+environment.  He had known spoiled youths at the Cape and, in their
+surroundings, they behaved much as Malcolm did in his.  The same
+disrespect to their elders, the same cock-sureness, and the same
+careless indifference concerning the effect which their actions
+might have upon other people--these were natural and nothing but
+years and the hard knocks of experience could bring about a change.
+Elkanah Chase, country swell and pampered heir to the cranberry
+grower's few thousands, and Malcolm Dunn, idol of his set at the
+Metropolitan Club, were not so very different, except in externals.
+The similarity confirmed his opinion that New York was merely South
+Denboro many thousand times magnified.
+
+He knew how young Chase had behaved after an interview not unlike
+that just described.  In Elkanah's case several broken windows and
+property destroyed on a revel the night before the Fourth had
+caused the trouble.  In Malcolm's it was an automobile.  Both had
+listened to reason and had knuckled under rather than face possible
+lawsuits and certain publicity.  Chase, however, had sulkily
+refused to speak to him for a month, and regained affability merely
+because he wished to borrow money.  According to the captain's
+deduction, Dunn should have acted in similar fashion.  But he
+didn't; that was the odd part of it.
+
+For Malcolm, when he next called, in company with his mother, at
+the Warren apartment, was not in the least sulky.  Neither was he
+over effusive, which would have argued fear and a desire to
+conciliate.  Possibly there was a bit more respect in his greeting
+of the new guardian and a trifle less condescension, but not much.
+He still hailed Captain Elisha as "Admiral," and was as mockingly
+careless as ever in his remarks concerning the latter's newness in
+the big city.  In fact, he was so little changed that the captain
+was perplexed.  A chap who could take a licking when he deserved
+it, and not hold malice, must have good in him, unless, of course,
+he was hiding the malice for a purpose.  And if that purpose was
+the wish to appear friendly, then the manner of hiding it proved
+Malcolm Dunn to possess more brains than Captain Elisha had given
+him credit for.
+
+One thing seemed sure, the Dunns were not openly hostile.  And
+Caroline was.  Since the interview in the library, when the girl
+had, as she considered it, humiliated herself by asking her
+guardian for money to help the Moriartys, she had scarcely spoken
+to him.  Stephen, taking his cue from his sister, was morose and
+silent, also.  Captain Elisha found it hard to forgive his dead
+brother for bringing all this trouble upon him.
+
+His lawyers, so Sylvester informed him, were setting about getting
+Rodgers Warren's tangible assets together.  The task was likely to
+be a long one.  The late broker's affairs were in a muddled state,
+the books were anything but clear, some of the investments were
+foreign, and, at the very earliest, months must elapse before the
+executor and trustee could know, for certain, just how large a
+property he was in charge of.
+
+He found some solace and forgetfulness of the unpleasant life he
+was leading in helping the stricken Moriarty family.  Annie, the
+maid at the apartment, he swore to secrecy.  She must not tell Miss
+Caroline of his visits to her parents' home.  Doctor Henry, also,
+though he could not understand why, promised silence.  Caroline
+herself had engaged his services in the case, and he was faithful.
+But the patient was more seriously hurt than at first appeared, and
+consultations with a specialist were necessary.
+
+"Goin' to be a pretty expensive job, ain't it, Doctor?" asked the
+captain of the physician.
+
+"Rather, I'm afraid."
+
+"All right.  If expense is necessary, don't be afraid of it.  You
+do just what you'd ought to, and send the bill to me."
+
+"But Miss Warren insisted upon my sending it to her.  She said it
+was a private matter, and one with which you, as her guardian, had
+nothing to do."
+
+"I know.  Caroline intends to use her own allowance, I s'pose.
+Well, let her think she will, if 'twill please her.  But when it
+comes to the settlement, call on me.  Give her any reason you want
+to; say a--er--wealthy friend of the family come to life all at
+once and couldn't sleep nights unless he paid the costs."
+
+"But there isn't any such friend, is there, Captain Warren?  Other
+than yourself, I mean?"
+
+Captain Elisha grinned in appreciation of a private joke.  "There
+is somebody else," he admitted, "who'll pay a share, anyhow.  I
+don't know's he's what you call a bosom friend, and, as for his
+sleepin' nights--well, I never heard he couldn't do that, after he
+went to bed.  But, anyhow, you saw wood, or bones, or whatever you
+have to do, and leave the rest to me.  And don't tell Caroline or
+anybody else a word."
+
+The Moriartys lived in a four-room flat on the East Side, uptown,
+and his visits there gave the captain a glimpse of another sort of
+New York life, as different from that of Central Park West as could
+well be imagined.  The old man, Patrick, his wife, Margaret, the
+unmarried son, Dennis, who worked in the gas house, and five other
+children of various ages were hived somehow in those four small
+rooms and Captain Elisha marveled greatly thereat.
+
+"For the land sakes, ma'am," he asked of the nurse, "how do they do
+it?  Where do they put 'em nights?  That--that closet in there's
+the pantry and woodshed and kitchen and dinin' room; and that one's
+the settin' room and parlor; and them two dry-goods boxes with
+doors to 'em are bedrooms.  There's eight livin' critters to stow
+away when it's time to turn in, and one whole bed's took up by the
+patient.  WHERE do they put the rest?  Hang 'em up on nails?"
+
+The nurse laughed.  "Goodness knows!" she said.  "He should have
+been taken to the hospital.  In fact, the doctor and I at first
+insisted upon his removal there.  He would have been much better
+off.  But neither he nor his wife would hear of it.  She said he
+would die sure without his home comforts."
+
+"Humph!  I should think more likely he'd die with 'em, or under
+'em.  I watch that fleshy wife of his with fear and tremblin'.
+Every time she goes nigh the bed I expect her to trip over a young
+one and fall.  And if she fell on that poor rack-o'-bones," with a
+wave of the hand toward the invalid, "'twould be the final smash--
+like a brick chimney fallin' on a lath hencoop."
+
+At that moment the "brick chimney" herself entered the rooms and
+the nurse accosted her.
+
+"Captain Warren here," she said, "was asking where you all found
+sleeping quarters."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty smiled broadly.  "Sure, 'tis aisy," she explained.
+"When the ould man is laid up we're all happy to be a bit
+uncomfortable.  Not that we are, neither.  You see, sor, me and
+Nora and Rosy sleep in the other bed; and Dinnie has a bit of a
+shakedown in the parlor; and Honora is in the kitchen; and--"
+
+"There! there!" Captain Elisha interrupted hastily, "don't tell me
+any more.  I'd rather GUESS that the baby bunks in the cookstove
+oven than know it for sartin.  How did the grapes I sent you go?"
+turning to the sick man.
+
+"Aw, sor! they were foine.  God bless you, sor!  Mary be kind to
+you, sor!  Sure the angels'll watch over you every day you live and
+breathe!"
+
+Captain Elisha bolted for the parlor, the sufferer firing a gatling
+fusillade of blessings after him.  Mrs. Moriarty continued the
+bombardment, as she escorted him to the door of the flat.
+
+"There! there!" protested the captain.  "Just belay! cut it short,
+there's a good woman!  I'll admit I'm a saint and would wear a halo
+instead of a hat if 'twa'n't so unfashionable.  Good day.  If you
+need anything you ain't got, tell the nurse."
+
+The grateful Irish woman did not intend to let him escape so
+easily.
+
+"Aw, sor," she went on, "it's all right for you to make fun.  I'm
+the jokin' kind, sor, meself.  Whin the flats where we used to be
+got afire and Pat had to lug me down the fire escape in his arms,
+they tell me I was laughin' fit to kill; that is, when I wasn't
+screechin' for fear he'd drop me.  And him, poor soul, never seein'
+the joke, but puffin' and groanin' that his back was in two pieces.
+Ha, ha!  Oh, dear!  And him in two pieces now for sure and all!
+Aw, sor, it's all right for you to laugh it off, but what would we
+do without you?  You and Miss Caroline, God bless her!"
+
+"Caroline?  She doesn't come here, does she?"
+
+"Indade she does.  Sure, she's the perfect little lady!  Hardly a
+day passes--or a week, anyhow--that she doesn't drop in to see how
+the ould man's gettin' on."
+
+"Humph!  Well, see that you don't tell her about me."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty held up both hands in righteous protestation.  SHE
+tell?  Might the tongue of her wither between her teeth before it
+let slip a word, and so on.  Captain Elisha waved her to silence.
+
+"All right! all right!" he exclaimed.  "So long!  Take good care of
+your husband, and, and--for Heaven's sake, walk careful and don't
+step on any of the children."
+
+Mrs. Moriarty's tongue did not wither; at all events, it was lively
+enough when he next met her.  The captain's secret was not
+divulged, and he continued his visits to the flat, taking care,
+however, to ascertain his niece's whereabouts beforehand.  It was
+not altogether a desire to avoid making his charitable deeds public
+which influenced him.  He had a habit of not letting his right hand
+know what his left was about in such cases, and he detested a
+Pharisaical philanthropist.  But there was another reason why
+Caroline must not learn of his interest in the Moriartys.  If she
+did learn it, she would believe him to be helping them on his own
+responsibility; or, if not, that he was using money belonging to
+the estate.  Of course he would, and honestly must, deny the latter
+charge, and, therefore, the first would, to her mind, be proven.
+He intended that Malcolm Dunn should pay the larger share of the
+bills, as was right and proper.  But he could not tell Caroline
+that, because she must not know of the young man's responsibility
+for the accident.  He could not give Malcolm the credit, and he
+felt that he ought not to take it himself.  It was a delicate
+situation.
+
+He was lonely, and the days seemed long.  Reading the paper,
+walking in the park, occasionally dropping in at the lawyers'
+offices, or visiting the shops and other places of interest about
+town made up the monotonous routine.  He breakfasted early, waited
+upon by Edwards, got lunch at the restaurant nearest to wherever he
+happened to be at noon, and returned to the apartment for dinner.
+His niece and nephew dined with him, but when he attempted
+conversation they answered in monosyllables or not at all.  Every
+evening he wrote a letter to Abbie, and the mail each morning
+brought him one from her.  The Dunns came frequently and seemed
+disposed to be friendly, but he kept out of their way as much as
+possible.
+
+Pearson he had not seen since the latter's call.  This was a
+disappointment, for he fancied the young fellow and believed he
+should like him even better on closer acquaintance.  He would have
+returned the visit, but somehow or other the card with the
+boarding-house street and number had been lost or mislaid, and the
+long list of "James Pearsons" in the directory discouraged him.  He
+speculated much concerning the mystery at which the would-be
+novelist hinted as preventing his accepting Caroline's invitation.
+Evidently Pearson had once known Rodgers Warren well, and had been
+esteemed and respected by the latter.  Caroline, too, had known
+him, and was frankly pleased to meet him again.  Whatever the
+trouble might be, she, evidently, was ignorant of it.  The captain
+wondered and pondered, but reached no satisfactory conclusion.  It
+seemed the irony of fate that the one congenial person--Sylvester
+excepted--whom he had met during his stay in the big city should be
+scratched from his small list of acquaintances.
+
+With Sylvester he held many familiar and enjoyable chats.  The
+good-natured, democratic senior member of the law firm liked to
+have Captain Elisha drop in for advice or to spin yarns.  Graves,
+who was well again, regarded the new guardian with respect of a
+kind, but with distinct disapproval.  The captain was, in his
+opinion, altogether too flippant and jolly.  There was nothing
+humorous in the situation, as Graves saw it, and to laugh when
+one's brother's estate is in a tangle, indicated unfitness, if
+nothing worse.  Kuhn was a sharp, quick-moving man, who had no time
+for frivolity if it delayed business.
+
+It was after a long interview with Sylvester that Captain Elisha
+decided to send Stephen back to college.  When he broke the news
+there was rebellion, brief but lively.  Stephen had no desire to
+continue his studies; he wished to become a stock broker at once,
+and, as soon as he was of age, take his father's seat on the
+Exchange.
+
+"Stevie," said Captain Elisha, "one of these days, when you get to
+be as old as I am or before, you'll realize that an education is
+worth somethin'."
+
+"Ugh!" grunted the boy, in supreme disgust.  "What do you know
+about that?"
+
+"Why, not much, maybe, but enough."
+
+"Yes?" sarcastically.  "What college did you attend?"
+
+"Me?  Why, none, more's the pity.  What learnin' there was in our
+family your dad had.  Maybe that's why he was what he was, so fur
+as money and position and society and so on went, and I'm what _I_
+am."
+
+"Oh, rubbish!  What difference does it make to Malcolm Dunn--now--
+his going through college?"
+
+"Well, he went, didn't he?"
+
+Stephen grinned.  Malcolm had told him some particulars concerning
+his university career and its termination.
+
+"He went--part way," he answered.
+
+"Ya-as.  Well, you've gone part way, so fur.  And now you'll go the
+rest."
+
+"I'd like to know why."
+
+"For one reason, because I'm your guardian and I say so."
+
+Stephen was furiously angry.  His father's indulgence and his
+sister's tolerance had, in most cases, made his will law in the
+household.  To be ordered about in this way by an ignorant
+interloper, as he considered his uncle, was too much.
+
+"By gad," he shouted, "we'll see!"
+
+"No, we've seen.  You run along now and pack your trunk.  And take
+my advice and study hard.  You'll be behindhand in your work, so
+Mr. Sylvester tells me, but you're smart, and you can catch up.
+Make us proud of you; that's what you can do."
+
+His nephew glanced at him.  Captain Elisha was smiling kindly, but
+there was no sign of change of purpose in his look.
+
+Stephen ground his teeth.
+
+"Oh," he snarled, "if it wasn't for the disgrace!  If things
+weren't as they are, I'd--"
+
+"S-s-s-h!  I know; but they are.  Maybe I wish they wa'n't 'most as
+much as you do, but they are.  I don't blame you for feelin' mad
+now; but I'm right and I know it.  And some day you'll know it, and
+thank me."
+
+"When I do, I'll be insane."
+
+"No, you'll be older, that's all.  Now pack your trunk--or get the
+Commodore to pack it for you."
+
+
+
+News from the Moriarty sick room continued favorable for a time.
+Then, with alarming suddenness, a change came.  The broken hip was
+mending slowly, but poor Pat's age was against him, and the shock
+and long illness were too much for his system to fight.  Dr. Henry
+shook his head dubiously when the captain asked questions.  And,
+one morning at breakfast, Edwards informed him that the old man was
+dead.  Annie had been summoned by telephone at midnight and had
+gone home.
+
+Captain Elisha, though not greatly surprised, was shocked and
+grieved.  It seemed such a needless tragedy, almost like murder,
+although there was no malice in it.  And the thought of the
+fatherless children and the poverty of the stricken family made him
+shudder.  Death at any time, amid any surroundings, is terrible;
+when the dead hands have earned the bread for many mouths it is
+appalling.
+
+The captain dreaded visiting the flat, but because he felt it to be
+a duty he went immediately.  And the misery and wailing and dismay
+he found there were worse than his anticipations.  He did his best
+to comfort and cheer.  Mrs. Moriarty alternately called upon the
+saints to bless him and begged to know what she would do now that
+they were all sure to starve.  Luckily, the family priest, a kind-
+hearted, quiet man who faced similar scenes almost every day of his
+life, was there, and Captain Elisha had a long talk with him.  With
+Dennis, the oldest son, and Annie, the maid at the Warrens', he
+also consulted.  Money for their immediate needs, he told them, he
+would provide.  And the funeral expenses must not worry them.
+Afterward--well, plans for the future could be discussed at another
+time.  But upon Dennis and Annie he tried to impress a sense of
+their responsibility.
+
+"It's up to you, Boy," he said to the former.  "Annie's job's sure,
+I guess, as long as she wants it, and she can give her mother
+somethin' every month.  But you're the man of the house now, and
+you've got to steer the ship and keep it afloat.  That means work,
+and hard work, lots of it, too.  You can do it, if you've got the
+grit.  If I can find a better place and more pay for you, I will,
+but you mustn't depend on that.  It's up to you, I tell you, and
+you've got to show what's in you.  If you get stuck and need
+advice, come to me."
+
+He handed the priest a sum of money to cover immediate contingencies,
+and departed.  His letter to Abbie that afternoon was so blue that
+the housekeeper felt sure he was "coming down" with some disease or
+other.  He had been riding in that awful subway, where the air--so
+the papers said--was not fit to breathe, and just as like as not
+he'd caught consumption.  His great-uncle on his mother's side died
+of it, so it run in the family."  Either he must come home or she
+should come to him, one or the other.
+
+But before evening his blueness had disappeared.  He had just
+returned to his room, after stepping into the hall to drop his
+letter in the mail chute, when his niece knocked at the door.  He
+was surprised to see her, for she had not spoken to him, except in
+brief reply to questions, since their misunderstanding in that very
+room.  He looked at her wonderingly, not knowing what to say or
+what to expect; but she spoke first.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began, hurriedly, "the last time I came to
+you--the last time I came here, I came to ask a favor, and you--I
+thought you--"
+
+She was evidently embarrassed and confused.  Her guardian was
+embarrassed, also, but he tried to be hospitable.
+
+"Yes, Caroline," he said, gravely, "I know what you mean.  Won't
+you--won't you sit down?"
+
+To his surprise, she accepted the invitation, taking the same chair
+she had taken on the occasion of their former interview.  But there
+was a look in her eyes he had never seen there before; at least,
+not when she was addressing him.
+
+She went on, speaking hastily, as though determined to head off any
+questioning on his part.
+
+"Captain Warren," she began once more, "the time I came to you in
+this room you were, so I thought, unreasonable and unkind.  I asked
+you for money to help a poor family in trouble, and you refused to
+give it to me."
+
+"No, Caroline," he interrupted, "I didn't refuse, you only thought
+I did."
+
+She held up her hand.  "Please let me go on," she begged.  "I
+thought you refused, and I couldn't understand why.  I was hurt and
+angry.  I knew that father never would have refused me under such
+circumstances, and you were his brother.  But since then, only
+to-day, I have learned that I was wrong.  I have learned--"
+
+She paused.  The captain was silent.  He was beginning to hope, to
+believe once more in his judgment of character; and yet, with his
+hope and growing joy, there was a trifle of anxiety.
+
+"I have learned," went on his niece, "that I was mistaken.  I can't
+understand yet why you wished to wait before saying yes, but I do
+know that it must have been neither because you were unkind nor
+ungenerous.  I have just come from those poor people, and they have
+told me everything."
+
+Captain Elisha started.  "What did they tell you?" he asked,
+quickly.  "Who told you?"
+
+"Annie and her mother.  They told me what you had done and were
+doing for them.  How kind you had been all through the illness and
+to-day.  Oh, I know you made them promise not to tell me; and you
+made the doctor and nurse promise, too.  But I knew SOMEONE had
+helped, and Annie dropped a hint.  Then I suspected, and now I
+know.  Those poor people!"
+
+The captain, who had been looking at the floor, and frowning a bit,
+suddenly glanced up to find his niece's eyes fixed upon him, and
+they were filled with tears.
+
+"Will you forgive me?" she asked, rising from her chair, and coming
+impulsively toward him.  "I'm sorry I misjudged you and treated you
+so.  You must be a very good man.  Please forgive me."
+
+He took her hand, which was swallowed up in his big one.  His eyes
+were moist, also.
+
+"Lord love you, dearie," he said, "there's nothin' to forgive.
+I realized that I must have seemed like a mean, stingy old scamp.
+Yet I didn't mean to be.  I only wanted to look into this thing
+just a little.  Just as a matter of business, you know.  And
+I . . .  Caroline, did that doctor tell you anything more?"
+
+"Any more?" she repeated in bewilderment.  "He told me that you
+were the kindest man he had ever seen."
+
+"Yes, yes.  Well, maybe his eyesight's poor.  What I mean is did he
+tell you anything about anybody else bein' in this with me?"
+
+"Anybody else?  What do you mean?"
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'.  I joked with him a spell ago about a
+wealthy relation of the Moriarty tribe turnin up.  'Twas only a
+joke, of course.  And yet, Caroline, I--I think I'd ought to say--
+He hesitated.  What could he say?  Even a hint might lead to
+embarrassing questions and he had promised Dunn.
+
+"What ought you to say?" asked his niece.
+
+"Why, nothin', I guess.  I'm glad you understand matters a little
+better and I don't intend for the estate nor you to pay these
+Moriarty bills.  Just get 'em off your mind.  Forget 'em.  I'll see
+that everything's attended to.  And, later on, if you and me can,
+by puttin' our heads together, help those folks to earnin' a better
+livin', why, we will, hey?"
+
+The girl smiled up at him.  "I think," she said, "that you must be
+one who likes to hide his light under a bushel."
+
+"I guess likely a two-quart measure'd be plenty big enough to hide
+mine.  There! there!  We won't have any more misunderstandin's,
+will we?  I'm a pretty green vegetable and about as out of place
+here as a lobster in a balloon, but, as I said to you and Steve
+once before, if you'll just remember I AM green and sort of rough,
+and maybe make allowances accordin', this cruise of ours may not be
+so unpleasant.  Now you run along and get ready for dinner, or the
+Commodore'll petrify from standin' so long behind your chair."
+
+She laughed, as she turned to go.  "I should hate to have him do
+that," she said.  "He would make a depressing statue.  I shall see
+you again in a few minutes, at dinner.  Thank you--Uncle."
+
+She left Captain Elisha in a curious state of mind.  Against his
+will he had been forced to accept thanks and credit which, he
+believed, did not rightfully belong to him.  It was the only thing
+to do, and yet it seemed almost like disloyalty to Malcolm Dunn.
+This troubled him, but the trouble was, just then, a mere pinhead
+of blackness against the radiance of his spirit.
+
+His brother's daughter had, for the first time, called him uncle.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+"Captain Warren," asked Caroline, as they were seated at the
+breakfast table next morning, "what are your plans for to-day?"
+
+Captain Elisha put down his coffee cup and pulled his beard
+reflectively.  Contrary to his usual desire since he came to the
+apartment to live, he was in no hurry to finish the meal.  This
+breakfast and the dinner of the previous evening had been really
+pleasant.  He had enjoyed them.  His niece had not called him uncle
+again, it is true, and perhaps that was too much to be expected as
+yet, but she was cheerful and even familiar.  They talked as they
+ate, and he had not been made to feel that he was the death's head
+at the feast.  The change was marked and very welcome.  The bright
+winter sunshine streaming through the window indicated that the
+conditions outside were also just what they should be.
+
+"Well," he replied, with a smile, "I don't know, Caroline, as I've
+made any definite plans.  Let's see, to-day's Sunday, ain't it?
+Last letter I got from Abbie she sailed into me because, as she
+said, I seemed to have been 'most everywheres except to meetin'.
+She figgers New York's a heathen place, anyhow, and she cal'lates
+I'm gettin' to be a backslider like the rest.  I didn't know but I
+might go to church."
+
+Caroline nodded.  "I wondered if you wouldn't like to go," she
+said.  "I am going, and I thought perhaps you would go with me."
+
+Her uncle had again raised his cup to his lips.  Now he set it down
+with a suddenness which caused the statuesque Edwards to bend
+forward in anticipation of a smash.  The captain started to speak,
+thought better of it, and stared at his niece so intently that she
+colored and dropped her eyes.
+
+"I know," she faltered, "that I haven't asked you before, but--
+but--" then, with the impulsiveness which was one of her
+characteristics, and to her guardian her great charm, she looked
+him full in the face and added, "but I hoped you would understand
+that--that _I_ understood a little better.  I should like to have
+your company very much."
+
+Captain Elisha drew a long breath.
+
+"Thank you, Caroline," he answered.  "I appreciate your askin' me,
+I sartinly do.  And I'd rather go with you than anybody else on
+earth.  But I was cal'latin' to hunt up some little round-the-
+corner chapel, or Bethel, where I'd feel a little bit at home.  I
+guess likely your church is a pretty big one, ain't it?"
+
+"We attend Saint Denis.  It IS a large church, but we have always
+been connected with it.  Stephen and I were christened there.  But,
+of course, if you had rather go somewhere else--"
+
+"No, no!  I hadn't anywhere in particular to go.  I'm a
+Congregationalist to home, but Abbie says I've spread my creed so
+wide that it ain't more'n an inch deep anywhere, and she shouldn't
+think 'twould keep me afloat.  I tell her I'd rather navigate a
+broad and shallow channel, where everybody stands by to keep his
+neighbor off the shoals, than I would a narrow and crooked one with
+self-righteousness off both beams and perdition underneath.
+
+"You see," he added, reflectively, "the way I look at it, it's a
+pretty uncertain cruise at the best.  Course there's all sorts of
+charts, and every fleet is sartin it's got the only right one.  But
+I don't know.  We're afloat--that much we are sure of--but the port
+we left and the harbor we're bound for, they're always out of sight
+in the fog astern and ahead.  I know lots of folks who claim to see
+the harbor, and see it plain; but they don't exactly agree as to
+what they see.  As for me, I've come to the conclusion that we must
+steer as straight a course as we can, and when we meet a craft in
+distress, why, do our best to help her.  The rest of it I guess we
+must leave to the Owner, to the One that launched us.  I . . . Good
+land!" he exclaimed, coming out of his meditation with a start,
+"I'm preachin' a sermon ahead of time.  And the Commodore's goin'
+to sleep over it, I do believe."
+
+The butler, who had been staring vacantly out of the window during
+the captain's soliloquy, straightened at the sound of his nickname,
+and asked hastily, "Yes, sir?  What will you have, sir?"  Captain
+Elisha laughed in huge enjoyment, and his niece joined him.
+
+"Well," she said, "will you go with me?"
+
+"I'd like to fust-rate--if you won't be too much ashamed of me."
+
+"Then it's settled, isn't it?  The service begins at a quarter to
+eleven.  We will leave here at half-past ten."
+
+The captain shaved with extra care that morning, donned spotless
+linen, including a "stand-up" collar--which he detested--brushed
+his frock-coat and his hair with great particularity, and gave
+Edwards his shoes to clean.  He would have shined them himself, as
+he always did at home, but on a former occasion when he asked for
+the "blackin' kit," the butler's shocked and pained expression led
+to questions and consequent enlightenment.
+
+He was ready by a quarter after ten, but when his niece knocked at
+his door she bore a message which surprised and troubled him.
+
+"Mrs. Dunn called," she said, "to ask me to go to church with her.
+I told her I had invited you to accompany me.  Would you mind if
+she joined us?"
+
+Her guardian hesitated.  "I guess," he answered, slowly, "it ain't
+so much a question of my mindin' her as she mindin' me.  Does SHE
+want me to go along?"
+
+"She said she should be delighted."
+
+"I want to know!  Now, Caroline, don't you think I'd be sort of in
+the way?  Don't you believe she'd manage to live down her
+disappointment if I didn't tag on?  You mustn't feel that you've
+got to be bothered with me because you suggested my goin', you
+know."
+
+"If I had considered it a bother I should not have invited you.  If
+you don't wish Mrs. Dunn's company, then you and I will go alone."
+
+"Oh, land sakes!  I wouldn't have you do that for the world!  All
+right, I'll be out in a jiffy."
+
+He gave his hair a final brush, straightened his tie, turned around
+once more before the mirror, and walked fearfully forth to meet the
+visitor.  For him, the anticipated pleasure of the forenoon had
+been replaced by uneasy foreboding.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, as she rose creakingly to greet him, was
+extremely gracious.  She was gowned and furred and hatted in a
+manner which caused the captain to make hasty mental estimate as
+to cost, but she extended a plump hand, buttoned in a very tight
+glove, and murmured her gratification.
+
+"I'm so glad you are to accompany us, Captain Warren," she gushed.
+"It is a charming winter morning, isn't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha touched the plump glove with his own big finger
+tips, and admitted that the morning was "fust-rate."  He was
+relieved from the embarrassment of further conversation just then
+by Caroline's appearance in the library.  She, too, was richly
+dressed.
+
+"Are we all ready?" she asked, brightly.  "Then we may as well
+start."
+
+"I'm afraid we're a trifle early, my dear," said Mrs. Dunn, "but we
+can stroll about a bit before we go in."
+
+The captain looked at the library clock.  The time was a quarter to
+eleven.
+
+"Early?" he exclaimed, involuntarily.  "Why, I thought Caroline
+said--"
+
+He stopped, suddenly, realizing that he had spoken aloud.  His
+niece divined his thought and laughed merrily.
+
+"The service does begin now," she said, "but no one is ever on
+time."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated her uncle, and did not speak again until they were
+at the door of the church.  Then Caroline asked him what he was
+thinking.
+
+"Nothin' much," he answered, gazing at the fashionably garbed
+throng pouring under the carved stone arch of the entrance; "I was
+just reorganizin' my ideas, that's all.  I've always sort of
+thought a plug hat looked lonesome.  Now I've decided that I'm
+wearin' the lonesome kind."
+
+He marched behind his niece and Mrs. Dunn up the center aisle to
+the Warren pew.  He wrote his housekeeper afterwards that he
+estimated that aisle to be "upwards of two mile long.  And my
+Sunday shoes had a separate squeak for every inch," he added.
+
+Once seated, however, and no longer so conspicuous, his common
+sense and Yankee independence came to his rescue.  He had been in
+much bigger churches than this one, while abroad during his
+seagoing years.  He knew that his clothes were not fashionably cut,
+and that, to the people about him, he must appear odd and, perhaps,
+even ridiculous.  But he remembered how odd certain city people
+appeared while summering at South Denboro.  Recollections of
+pointed comments made by boatmen who had taken these summer
+sojourners on fishing excursions came to his mind.  Well, he had
+one advantage over such people, at any rate, he knew when he was
+ridiculous, and they apparently did not.
+
+So, saved from humiliation by his sense of humor, he looked about
+him with interest.  When the procession of choir boys came up the
+aisle, and Mrs. Dunn explained in a condescending whisper what they
+were, his answer surprised her a trifle.  "Yes," whispered the
+captain in reply, "I know.  I've seen the choir in Saint Peter's at
+Rome."
+
+Only once did he appear greatly astonished.  That was when the
+offering was taken and a certain dignified magnate, whose fame as a
+king of finance is world-wide, officiated as one of the collectors.
+
+"Heavens and earth!" murmured Captain Elisha, staring wide-eyed at
+the unmistakable features so often pictured and cartooned in the
+daily papers; "Caroline--Caroline, am I seein' things or is that--
+is that--"
+
+That is Mr. ----," whispered his niece.  "He is one of the vestrymen
+here."
+
+"My soul!" still gazing after the Emperor of Wall Street; "HIM
+passin' the plate!  Well," with a grim smile, "whoever picked him
+out for the job has got judgment.  If HE can't make a body shell
+out, nobody can."
+
+He listened to the sermon, the text of which was from the
+Beatitudes, with outward solemnity, but with a twinkle in his eye.
+After the benediction, when Caroline asked how he enjoyed it, the
+cause of the twinkle became apparent.
+
+"Fine!" he declared, with enthusiasm.  "He's a smart preacher,
+ain't he!  And he knew his congregation.  You might not guess
+they was meek perhaps, but they certainly did look as if they'd
+inherited the earth."
+
+He drew a breath of relief as the trio emerged into the open air.
+He had enjoyed the novel experience, in a way, but now he felt
+rather like one let out of jail.  The quiet luncheon at home with
+Caroline was a pleasant anticipation.
+
+But Mrs. Corcoran Dunn smashed his anticipation at a blow.  She
+insisted that he and his niece lunch with her.
+
+"You really must, you know," she declared.  "It will be delightful.
+Just a little family party."
+
+Captain Elisha looked distressed.  "Thank you, ma'am," he stammered;
+"it's awful kind of you, but I wouldn't feel right to go puttin' you
+to all that trouble.  Just as much obliged, but I--I've got a letter
+to write, you see."
+
+Mrs. Dunn bore his refusal bravely.
+
+"Very well," she said, "but Caroline MUST come with me.  I told
+Malcolm I should bring her."
+
+"Sure!  Sartin!  Caroline can go, of course."
+
+But Caroline also declined.  Having misjudged her guardian in the
+matter of the Moriarty family, she was in a repentant mood, and had
+marked that day on her calendar as one of self-sacrifice.
+
+"No, Captain Warren," she said, "I shall not go unless you do."
+
+"Then the captain will come, of course," declared Mrs. Dunn, with
+decision.  "I'm sure he will not be so selfish as to deprive me--
+and Malcolm--of your company."
+
+So, because he did not wish to appear selfish, Captain Elisha
+admitted that his letter might be written later in the afternoon,
+accepted the invitation, and braced his spirit for further
+martyrdom.
+
+It was not as bad as he expected.  The Dunns occupied a small,
+brown-stone house on Fifth Avenue, somewhat old-fashioned, but
+eminently respectable.  The paintings and bronzes were as numerous
+as those in the Warren apartment, and if the taste shown in their
+selection was not that of Rodgers Warren, the connoisseur, they
+made quite as much show, and the effect upon Captain Elisha was the
+same.  The various mortgages on the property were not visible, and
+the tradesmen's bills were securely locked in Mrs. Dunn's desk.
+
+The luncheon itself was elaborate, and there was a butler whose
+majestic dignity and importance made even Edwards seem plebeian by
+comparison.
+
+Malcolm was at home when they arrived, irreproachably dressed and
+languidly non-effusive, as usual.  Captain Elisha, as he often
+said, did not "set much store" by clothes; but there was something
+about this young man which always made him conscious that his own
+trousers were a little too short, or his boots too heavy, or
+something.  "I wouldn't WEAR a necktie like his," he wrote Abbie,
+after his first meeting with Malcolm, "but blessed if I don't wish
+I could IF I would!"
+
+Caroline, in the course of conversation during the luncheon,
+mentioned the Moriartys and their sorrow.  The captain tried to
+head her off and to change the subject, but with little success.
+He was uncomfortable and kept glancing under his brows at Malcolm,
+with whom, under the circumstances, he could not help sympathizing
+to an extent.  But his sympathy was wasted.  The young man did not
+appear in the slightest degree nervous.  The memory of his recent
+interview with Captain Elisha did not embarrass him, outwardly at
+least, half as much as it did the captain.  He declared that old
+Pat's death was beastly hard luck, but accidents were bound to
+happen.  It was a shame, and all that.  "If there's anything the
+mater and I can do, Caroline, call on us, of course."
+
+"Yes, do, Caroline," concurred his mother.  "However, one must be
+philosophic in such cases.  It is a mercy that people in their
+station do not feel grief and loss as we do.  Providence, in its
+wisdom, has limited their susceptibilities as it has their
+intelligence.  Don't you agree with me, Captain Warren?"
+
+"Sartin!" was the prompt reply.  "It's always a comfort to me, when
+I go fishin', to know that the fish ain't got so much brains as I
+have.  The hook hurts, I presume likely, but they ain't got the
+sense to realize what a mean trick's been played on 'em.  The one
+that's caught's dead, and them that are left are too busy hustlin'
+for the next meal to waste much time grievin'.  That eases my
+conscience consider'ble."
+
+Caroline seemed to be the only one who appreciated the sarcasm in
+this observation.  She frowned slightly.  Mrs. Corcoran Dunn
+tolerantly smiled, and her son laughed aloud.
+
+"Say, Admiral," he commented, "when it comes to philosophy you go
+some yourself, don't you?"
+
+"Um-hm.  I can be as philosophical about other folk's troubles as
+anybody I ever see."  Then, with an involuntary chuckle of
+admiration at the young gentleman's coolness, he added, "That is,
+anybody I ever see afore I come to New York."
+
+Malcolm opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again.  The
+captain, noticing his change of purpose and following the direction
+of his look, saw Mrs. Dunn shake her head in sharp disapproval.  He
+ate the remainder of his salad in silence, but he thought a good
+deal.
+
+"And now," said Mrs. Dunn, rising and leading the way to the
+drawing-room, "we must all go for a motor ride.  Everyone rides on
+Sunday afternoon," she explained, turning to her male guest.
+
+The distressed look returned to Captain Elisha's face.  His niece
+saw it, understood, and came to his rescue.
+
+"I think Captain Warren prefers to be excused," she said, smiling.
+"He has a prejudice against automobiles."
+
+"No!" drawled Malcolm, the irrepressible.  "Not really?  Admiral,
+I'm surprised!  In these days, you know!"
+
+"It ain't so much the automobiles," snapped Captain Elisha,
+irritation getting the better of his discretion, "as 'tis the
+devilish fools that--"
+
+"Yes?  Oh, all right, Mater."
+
+"That are careless enough to get in the way of them," finished the
+captain, with surprising presence of mind.  "Still, if Caroline
+wants to go--"
+
+"I have it!" exclaimed Mrs. Dunn.  "The young people shall go, and
+the others remain at home.  Malcolm shall take you for a spin,
+Caroline, and Captain Warren and I will stay here and wait until
+you return.  We'll have a family chat, Captain, won't we?
+Because," with a gay laugh, "in a way we ARE like one family, you
+see."
+
+And, somewhat to Miss Warren's surprise, her uncle agreed to this
+proposition.  He did not answer immediately, but, when he did, it
+was with heartiness.
+
+"Why, yes," he said, "that's a good idea.  That's fust-rate.  You
+young folks go, and Mrs. Dunn and I'll wait here till you come
+back.  That's the way of the world--young folks on the go, and the
+old folks at home by the fire, hey, Mrs. Dunn?"
+
+The lady addressed did not relish being numbered with "old folks,"
+but she smiled sweetly, and said she supposed it was.  Malcolm
+telephoned to the garage and to Edwards at the Warren apartment,
+ordering the butler to deliver his mistress's auto cap and cloak to
+the chauffeur, who would call for them.  A few minutes later the
+yellow car rolled up to the door.
+
+In the hall Mrs. Dunn whispered a reassuring word to her departing
+guest.
+
+"Now enjoy yourself, dear," she whispered.  "Have a nice ride and
+don't worry about me.  If he--if our encumbrance bores me too much
+I shall--well, I shall plead a headache and leave him to his own
+devices.  Besides, he isn't so VERY dreadful, is he?"
+
+Caroline shook her head.  "No," she answered, "he is a good man.  I
+understand him better than I did and--yes, I like him better, too."
+
+"Oh! . . . Indeed!  Well, good-by, dear.  Good-by."
+
+The yellow car roared as the chauffeur cranked it, then moved off
+up the crowded avenue.  Mrs. Dunn watched it until it was out of
+sight.  Her brows were drawn together, and she seemed puzzled and
+just a bit disconcerted.  However, when she returned to the
+drawing-room, her gracious smile had returned, and her bland
+condescension was again in evidence.
+
+Captain Elisha had been standing by the window.  She begged him to
+be seated.  He thanked her, but looked dubiously at the Louis XVI
+chair indicated.  She noticed the look.
+
+"Suppose we go into the library," she said.  "It is much less
+formal.  And there is a fire--for us OLD folks," with a slight
+accent on the word.
+
+The library was more homelike.  Not as many books as at the
+Warrens', but a great deal of gilt in the bindings and much carving
+on the cases.  The fire was cheery, and the pair sat down before it
+in big easy chairs.  Mrs. Dunn looked intently at the glowing
+coals.
+
+Captain Elisha cleared his throat.  Mrs. Dunn leaned forward
+expectantly.  The captain coughed and sank back in his chair.
+
+"Yes?" purred the lady.  "You were about to say?"
+
+"Me?  Oh, no, I didn't say anything."
+
+Another period of silence.  Mrs. Dunn's foot tapped the rug
+impatiently.  She wished him to begin the conversation, and he
+would not.  At length, in desperation, she began it herself.
+
+"I suppose you find New York rather different from--er--North--
+er--"
+
+"From South Denboro?  Yes, ma'am."
+
+"Do you like the city life?"
+
+"Well, I don't know, ma'am."
+
+"Not as well as you do that of the country, doubtless."
+
+"Well, you see, I ain't had so much of it."
+
+"No, of course not.  It does so depend upon what one is accustomed
+to.  Now I fancy I should be perfectly desperate in your village."
+
+One corner of Captain Elisha's mouth curled upward.
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised," he admitted.
+
+"Desperately lonely, I mean."
+
+"Yes'm.  I judged that was what you meant.  Still, folks can be
+lonesome in New York."
+
+"Perhaps.  But really I don't see how.  With all the whirl and the
+crowds and the glorious excitement.  The feeling that one is at the
+very heart, the center of everything!"
+
+"Yes.  If you belong to the machinery, I s'pose it's all right.
+But if you've been leanin' over the rail, lookin' on, and get
+pushed in unexpected, maybe you don't care so much about bein' nigh
+the center."
+
+"Then why stay there?  Why not get out?"
+
+"If you're caught in the wheels, gettin' out's somethin' of a job."
+
+"But, as I understand it, Captain Warren--I may be misinformed,
+for, of course, I haven't been unduly curious concerning your
+family affairs--as _I_ understand it, you were not obliged to
+remain among the--among the wheels, as you call them.  You could
+have gotten out quite easily, couldn't you?"
+
+"I presume likely I could.  But, you see, ma'am, I had a feelin'
+that I'd ought to stay."
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed lightly.  "Ah me!" she exclaimed; "you felt it
+your duty, I suppose.  Oh, you New England Puritans!"
+
+She shook her head in playful mockery.  Then she added, "But, at
+all events, it cannot be so very disagreeable--now.  I have no
+doubt it was--well, not comfortable for you at first.  Steve and
+Caroline were quite impossible--really quite furious.  Your sudden
+appearance in the capacity of guardian was too much for them.  They
+were sure you must be a perfect ogre, Captain.  I had to use all my
+eloquence to convince them they would not be devoured alive.  But
+now--what a change!  Why, already Caroline accepts you as--well,
+almost like an old friend, like myself.  In the last few days this
+change in her attitude is quite marked.  What HAVE you done?  Are
+you a wizard?  Do tell me!"
+
+This appeal, delivered with eloquence and most engaging play of
+brow and eye, should have been irresistible.  Unfortunately the
+captain did not appear to have heard it.  Leaning forward, his
+hands clasped between his knees, he was gazing into the fire.
+And when he spoke, it was as if he were thinking aloud.
+
+"I s'pose 'tis a sort of disease, this duty business," he mused.
+"And most diseases ain't cheerful visitations.  Still a feller
+ought not to growl about it in public.  I always did hate for a man
+to be goin' about forever complainin' of his sufferin's--whether
+they was from duty or rheumatiz."
+
+Mrs. Dunn's lips snapped shut.  She pressed them together
+impatiently.  Evidently her questions, and their diplomatic
+prelude, had been unheard and wasted.  However, she did not intend
+to be sidetracked or discouraged.
+
+"One should not prate of one's duty, of course," she agreed.  "Not
+that you do--far from it.  But, as I was saying, our dear Caroline
+has--"
+
+"Thank you, ma'am.  I hope I don't groan too loud.  Do you know,
+I believe climate has a bearin' on duty, same as it has on
+rheumatics.  I s'pose you city folks--"and there was almost
+contempt in the words--"are sort of Christian Science, and figger
+it's an 'error'--hey?  Somethin' to be forgot."
+
+The lady resented the interruption, and the contempt nettled her.
+
+"Not at all!" she retorted.  "We city dwellers have our duties,
+also."
+
+"Is that a fact?  I want to know!"
+
+"Certainly it is a fact," tartly.  "I have my duties and many of
+them."
+
+"Um!  So?  Well, I s'pose you do feel you must dress just so, and
+live just so, and do just such and such things.  If you call those
+duties, why--"
+
+"I do.  What else are they, pray?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn was finding it difficult to keep her temper.  To be
+catechised in this contemptuously lofty manner by one to whom she
+considered herself so immensely superior, was too much.  She forgot
+the careful plan of campaign which she had intended to follow in
+this interview, and now interrupted in her turn.  And Captain
+Elisha, who also was something of a strategist, smiled at the fire.
+
+"We do have our social duties, our duties to society," snapped the
+widow, hotly.  "They are necessary ones.  Having been born--or
+risen to--a certain circle, we recognize the responsibilities
+attached to it.  We ARE careful with whom we associate; we have to
+be.  As for dress, we dress as others of our friends do."
+
+"And maybe a little better, if you can, hey?"
+
+"If we can--yes.  I presume--" with crushing irony--"dress in South
+Denboro counts but little."
+
+"You wouldn't say that if you ever went to sewin' circle," with a
+chuckle.  "Still, compared to the folks at your meetin'-house this
+morning, our congregation would look like a flock of blackbirds
+alongside of a cage full of Birds of Paradise.  But most of us--the
+women folks especial--dress as well as we can."
+
+"As well as you can!" triumphantly.  "There! you see?  And you live
+as well as you can, don't you?"
+
+"If you mean style, why, we don't set as much store by it as you
+do."
+
+"Nonsense!  We are obliged to be," with a slight shudder at the
+vulgarism, "STYLISH.  If we should lapse, if we should become
+shabby and behind the fashion or live in that way, people would
+wonder and believe it was because we could not afford to do
+otherwise."
+
+"Well, s'pose they did, you'd know better yourselves.  Can't you be
+independent?"
+
+"No.  Not unless you are very, very rich; then it might be
+considered an eccentricity.  Independence is a costly luxury, and
+few can afford it."
+
+"But suppose you can't afford the other thing?"
+
+"Then we must pretend we can.  Oh, you DON'T understand!  So MUCH
+depends upon a proper appearance.  Everything depends upon it--
+one's future, one's children's future--everything."
+
+"Humph!" with the same irritating smile, "I should think that might
+mean some plannin'.  And plans, the best of 'em, are likely to go
+wrong.  You talk about the children in your--in what you call your
+'circle.'  How can you plan what they'll do?  You might when they
+was little, perhaps; but when they grow up it's different."
+
+"It is not.  It CAN'T be!  And, if they have been properly reared
+and understand their responsibilities, they plan with you."
+
+"Land sakes!  You mean--why, s'pose they take a notion to get
+married?  I'm an old bach, of course, but the average young girl or
+feller is subject to that sort of ailment, 'cordin' to the records.
+S'pose one of your circle's daughters gets to keepin' company with
+a chap who's outside the ring?  A promisin', nice boy enough, but
+poor, and a rank outsider?  Mean to say she sha'n't marry him if
+she wants to."
+
+"Certainly!  That sort of marriage is never a happy one, unless, of
+course, the girl is wealthy enough not to care.  And even then it
+is not advisable.  All their customs and habits of thought are
+different.  No!  Emphatically, no!  And the girl, if she is
+sensible and well reared, as I have said, will understand it is
+impossible."
+
+"My soul and body!  Then you mean to tell me that she MUST look out
+for some chap in her crowd?  If she ain't got but just enough to
+keep inside the circle--this grand whirlamagig you're tellin' me
+about--if she's pretendin' up to the limit of her income or over,
+then it's her duty, and her ma and pa's duty, to set her cap for a
+man who's nigher the center pole in the tent and go right after
+him?  Do you tell me that?  That's a note, I must say!"
+
+Mrs. Dunn's foot beat a lively tattoo on the rug.  "I don't know
+what you mean by a 'note,'" she commented, with majestic indignation.
+"I have not lived in South Denboro, and perhaps my understanding of
+English is defective.  But marriages among cultivated people,
+SOCIETY people, intelligent, ambitious people are, or should be,
+the result of thought and planning.  Others are impossible!"
+
+"How about this thing we read so much about in novels?--Love, I
+believe they call it."
+
+"Love!  Love is well enough, but it does not, of itself, pay for
+proper clothes, or a proper establishment, or seats at the opera,
+or any of the practical, necessary things of modern life.  You
+can't keep up a presentable appearance on LOVE!  If I had a
+daughter who lacked the brains to understand what I had taught her,
+that is, her duty as a member of good society, and talked of making
+a love match, I would . . . But there!  You can't understand, I
+suppose."
+
+She rose and shook the wrinkles from her gown.  Captain Elisha
+straightened in his chair.  "Why, yes, ma'am," he drawled, quietly;
+"yes, ma'am, I guess I understand fust-rate."
+
+And suddenly Mrs. Dunn also understood.  Her face, which had grown
+almost too red for one attached to a member of polite society, grew
+redder still.  She turned away and walked to the window.
+
+"What nonsense we've been talking!" she said, after a moment's
+silence.  "I don't see what led us into this silly discussion.
+Malcolm and your niece must be having a delightful ride.  I almost
+wish I had gone with them."
+
+She did wish it, devoutly.  Captain Elisha still remained by the
+fire.
+
+"Automobiles are great things for hustlin' around in," he observed.
+"Pity they're such dangerous playthings.  Yet I s'pose they're one
+of the necessities of up-to-date folks, same as you said, Mrs.
+Dunn."
+
+"Surely," she asked coldly, "you don't condemn automobiles, Captain
+Warren?  What would you--return to stage coaches?"
+
+"Not a mite!  But I was thinkin' of that poor Moriarty man."
+
+"His death was due to an accident.  And accidents," she turned and
+looked directly at him, "when they involve financial damages, may
+be paid for."
+
+The captain nodded.  "Yes," he said.
+
+"And when arrangements for such payment is made, HONORABLE people--
+at least, in the circle of which you and I have been speaking--
+consider the matter settled and do not refer to it again, either
+among themselves--or elsewhere."
+
+"Yes, ma'am."  He nodded again.  She did know; Malcolm, evidently,
+had told her.  "Yes, ma'am.  That's the way any decent person would
+feel--and act--if such a thing happened--even if they hailed from
+South Denboro."
+
+He pushed back his chair and stood up.  She continued to look him
+over, much as if she were taking a mental inventory of his
+character, or revising an old one.
+
+"I hope," she said, lightly, but with deliberation, "our little
+argument and--er--slight disagreement concerning--er--duty will not
+make us enemies, Captain Warren."
+
+"Enemies!  Land sakes, no!  I respect anybody's havin' opinions and
+not bein' afraid to give 'em.  And I think I can understand some of
+how you feel.  Maybe if I was anchored here on Fifth Avenue, same
+as you are, instead of bein' blown in by an unexpected no'theaster,
+I'd be feelin' the same way.  It's all accordin', as I've said so
+often.  Enemies?  No, indeed!"
+
+She laughed again.  "I'm so glad!" she said.  "Malcolm declares
+he'd be quite afraid of me--as an enemy.  He seems to think I
+possess some mysterious and quite diabolical talent for making my
+un-friends uncomfortable, and declares he would compromise rather
+than fight me at any time.  Of course it's ridiculous--just one of
+his jokes--and I'm really harmless and very much afraid.  That's
+why I want you and me to be friends, Captain Warren."
+
+"Sure!" Captain Elisha nodded emphatically.  "That's what I want,
+too."
+
+But that evening, immediately after his return to the apartment,
+when--Caroline having gone to her own room to remove her wraps--he
+and the butler were alone, he characteristically unburdened his
+mind.
+
+"Mr. Warren, sir," said Edwards, "a young gentleman left a note
+here for you this afternoon.  The elevator man gave it to me, sir.
+It's on your dressing table, sir."
+
+The captain's answer had nothing whatever to do with the note.  He
+had been thinking of other things.
+
+"Commodore," he said, "I've got the answer."
+
+"To the note?  Already, sir?  I didn't know you'd seen it."
+
+"I ain't.  I've got the answer to the conundrum.  It's Mother!"
+
+"Mother, sir?  I--I don't know what you mean."
+
+"I do.  The answer's Mother.  Sonny don't count, though he may
+think he does.  But Mother's the whole team and the dog under the
+wagon.  And, Commodore, we've got to trot some if we want to keep
+ahead of that team!  Don't you forget it!"
+
+He went to his room, leaving the bewildered butler to retire to the
+kitchen, where he informed the cook that the old man was off his
+head worse than common tonight.
+
+"Blessed if he don't think he's a trotting horse!" said Edwards.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The note on the dining room table proved, to the captain's delight,
+to be from James Pearson.  It was brief and to the point.
+
+"Why don't you come and see me?" wrote the young man.  "I've been
+expecting you, and you promised to come.  Have you forgotten my
+address?  If so, here it is.  I expect to be in all day to-morrow."
+
+The consequence of this was that eleven o'clock the next day found
+Captain Elisha pulling the bell at a brick house in a long brick
+block on a West Side street.  The block had evidently been, in its
+time, the homes of well-to-do people, but now it was rather dingy
+and gone to seed.  Across the street the first floors were, for the
+most part, small shops, and in the windows above them doctors'
+signs alternated with those of modistes, manicure artists, and
+milliners.
+
+The captain had come a roundabout way, stopping in at the Moriarty
+flat, where he found Mrs. Moriarty in a curious state of woe and
+tearful pride.  "Oh, what will I do, sir?" she moaned.  "When I
+think he's gone, it seems as if I'd die, too.  But, thanks to you
+and Miss Warren--Mary make it up to her!--my Pat'll have the finest
+funeral since the Guinny saloon man was buried.  Ah, if he could
+have lived to see it, he'd have died content!"
+
+The pull at the boarding-house bell was answered by a rather
+slatternly maid, who informed the visitor that she guessed Mr.
+Pearson was in; he 'most always was around lunch time.  So Captain
+Elisha waited in a typical boarding-house parlor, before a grate
+with no fire in it and surrounded by walnut and plush furniture,
+until Pearson himself came hurrying downstairs.
+
+"Say, you're a brick, Captain Warren!" he declared, as they shook
+hands.  "I hoped you'd come to-day.  Why haven't you before?"
+
+The captain explained his having mislaid the address.
+
+"Oh, was that it?  Then I'm glad I reminded you.  Rather a cheeky
+thing to do, but I've been a reporter, and nerve is necessary in
+that profession.  I began to be afraid living among the blue-bloods
+had had its effect, and you were getting finicky as to your
+acquaintances."
+
+"You didn't believe any such thing."
+
+"Didn't I?  Well, perhaps I didn't.  Come up to my room.  I think
+we can just about squeeze in, if you don't mind sitting close."
+
+Pearson's room was on the third flight, at the front of the house.
+Through the window one saw the upper half of the buildings
+opposite, and above them a stretch of sky.  The bed was a small
+brass and iron affair, but the rest of the furniture was of good
+quality, the chairs were easy and comfortable, and the walls were
+thickly hung with photographs, framed drawings, and prints.
+
+"I put those up to cover the wall paper," explained the host.  "I
+don't offer them as an art collection, but as a screen.  Sit down.
+Put your coat on the bed.  Shall I close the window?  I usually
+keep the upper half open to let out the pipe smoke.  Otherwise I
+might not be able to navigate without fog signals."
+
+His visitor chuckled, followed directions with his coat and hat,
+and sat down.  Pearson took the chair by the small flat-topped
+desk.
+
+"How about that window?" he asked.  "Shall I shut it?"
+
+"No, no!  We'll be warm enough, I guess.  You've got steam heat, I
+see."
+
+"You mean you hear.  Those pipes make noise enough to wake the
+dead.  At first I thought I couldn't sleep because of the racket
+they made.  Now I doubt if I could without it.  Would you consider
+a cigar, Captain?"
+
+"Hum!  I don't usually stop to consider.  But I tell you, Jim--just
+now you said something about a pipe.  I've got mine aboard, but I
+ain't dared to smoke it since I left South Denboro.  If you
+wouldn't mind--"
+
+"Not a bit.  Tobacco in this jar on the desk.  I keep a temporary
+supply in my jacket pocket.  Matches?  Here you are!  What do you
+think of my--er--stateroom?"
+
+"Think it makes nice, snug quarters," was the prompt answer.
+
+"Humph!  Snug is a good word.  Much like living in an omnibus, but
+it answers the purpose.  I furnished it myself, except for the bed.
+The original bureau had pictures of cauliflowers painted on each
+drawer front.  Mrs. Hepton--my landlady--was convinced that they
+were roses.  I told her she might be right, but, at all events,
+looking at them made me hungry.  Perhaps she noticed the effect on
+my appetite and was willing for me to substitute."
+
+The captain laughed.  Then, pointing, he asked:  "What's that
+handbill?"
+
+The "handbill" was a fair-sized poster announcing the production at
+the "Eureka Opera House" of the "Thrilling Comedy-Drama, The Golden
+Gods."  Pearson looked at it, made a face, and shook his head.
+
+"That," he said, "is my combined crusher and comforter.  It is the
+announcement of the first, and next to the last, performance of a
+play I wrote in my calf days.  The 'Eureka Opera Houses is--or was,
+if the 'gods' weren't too much for it--located at Daybury,
+Illinois.  I keep that bill to prevent my conceit getting away with
+me.  Also, when I get discouraged over my novel, it reminds me
+that, however bad the yarn may turn out to be, I have committed
+worse crimes.
+
+This led to the captain's asking about the novel and how it was
+progressing.  His companion admitted having made some progress,
+more in the line of revision than anything else.  He had remodeled
+his hero somewhat, in accordance with his new friend's suggestions
+during their interview at the Warren apartment, and had introduced
+other characters, portrait sketches from memory of persons whom he
+had known in his boyhood days in the Maine town.  He read a few
+chapters aloud, and Captain Elisha waxed almost enthusiastic over
+them.
+
+Then followed a long discussion over a point of seamanship, the
+handling of a bark in a gale.  It developed that the young author's
+knowledge of saltwater strategy was extensive and correct in the
+main, though somewhat theoretical.  That of his critic was based
+upon practice and hard experience.  He cited this skipper and that
+as examples, and carried them through no'theasters off Hatteras and
+typhoons in the Indian Ocean.  The room, in spite of the open
+window, grew thick with pipe smoke, and the argument was punctuated
+by thumps on the desk and chair arms, and illustrated by diagrams
+drawn by the captain's forefinger on the side of the dresser.  The
+effects of oil on breaking rollers, the use of a "sea-anchor" over
+the side to "hold her to it," whether or not a man was justified in
+abandoning his ship under certain given circumstances, these were
+debated pro and con.  Always Pearson's "Uncle Jim" was held up as
+the final authority, the paragon of sea captains, by the visitor,
+and, while his host pretended to agree, with modest reservations,
+in this estimate of his relative, he was more and more certain that
+his hero was bound to become a youthful edition of Elisha Warren
+himself--and he thanked the fates which had brought this fine,
+able, old-school mariner to his door.
+
+At length, Captain Elisha, having worked "Uncle Jim" into a safe
+harbor after a hundred mile cruise under jury jig, with all hands
+watch and watch at the pumps, leaned forward in triumph to refill
+his pipe.  Having done so, his eyes remained fixed upon a photograph
+standing, partially hidden by a leather collar box, upon the
+dresser.  He looked at it intently, then rose and took it in his
+hand.
+
+"Well, I swan!" he exclaimed.  "Either what my head's been the
+fullest of lately has struck to my eyesight, or else--why, say,
+Jim, that's Caroline, ain't it?"
+
+Pearson colored and seemed embarrassed.  "Yes," he answered, "that
+is Miss Warren."
+
+"Humph!  Good likeness, too!  But what kind of rig has she got on?
+I've seen her wear a good many dresses--seems to have a different
+one for every day, pretty nigh--but I never saw her in anything
+like that.  Looks sort of outlandish; like one of them foreign
+girls at Geneva--or Leghorn, say."
+
+"Yes.  That is an Italian peasant costume.  Miss Warren wore it at
+a fancy dress ball a year ago."
+
+"Want to know!  I-talian peasant, hey!  Fifth Avenue peasant with
+diamonds in her hair.  Becomin' to her, ain't it."
+
+"I thought so."
+
+"Yup.  She looks pretty ENOUGH!  But she don't need diamonds nor
+hand-organ clothes to make her pretty."
+
+Then, looking up from the photograph, he asked, "Give you this
+picture, did she?"
+
+His friend's embarrassment increased.  "No," he answered shortly.
+Then, after an instant's hesitation.  "That ball was given by the
+Astorbilts and was one of the most swagger affairs of the season.
+The Planet--the paper with which I was connected--issues a Sunday
+supplement of half-tone reproductions of photographs.  One page was
+given up to pictures of the ball and the costumes worn there."
+
+"I see.  Astonishin' how folks do like to get their faces into
+print.  I used to know an old woman--Aunt Hepsibah Tucker, her name
+was--she's dead now.  The pride of Aunt Hepsy's heart was that she
+took nineteen bottles of 'Balm of Burdock Tea' and the tea folks
+printed her picture as a testimonial that she lived through it.
+Ho, ho!  And society big-bugs appear to have the same cravin'."
+
+"Some of them do.  But that of your niece was obtained by our
+society reporter from the photographer who took it.  Bribery and
+corruption, of course.  Miss Warren would have been at least
+surprised to see it in our supplement.  I fancied she might not
+care for so much publicity and suppressed it."
+
+"Um-hm.  Well, I guess you did right.  I'll thank you for her.  By
+the way, I told Caroline where I was cal'latin' to go this mornin',
+and she wished to be remembered to you."
+
+Pearson seemed pleased, but he made no comment.  Captain Elisha
+blew a smoke ring from his pipe.
+
+"And say, Jim," he added, embarrassed in his turn, "I hope you
+won't think I'm interferin' in your affairs, but are you still set
+against comin' up to where I live?  I know you said you had a
+reason, but are you sure it's a good one?"
+
+He waited for an answer but none came.  Pearson was gazing out of
+the window.  The captain looked at his watch and rose.
+
+"I guess I'll have to be goin'," he said.  "It's after twelve now."
+
+His host swung around in his chair.  "Sit down, Captain," he said.
+"I've been doing a lot of thinking since I saw you, and I'm not
+sure about that reason.  I believe I'll ask your advice.  It is a
+delicate matter, and it involves your brother.  You may see it as
+he did, and, if so, our friendship ends, I suppose.  But I'm going
+to risk it.
+
+"Mr. Rodgers Warren and I," he went on, "were well acquainted
+during the latter part of my newspaper work.  I was financial man
+on the Planet, and some articles I wrote took your brother's fancy.
+At all events, he wrote me concerning them in highly complimentary
+terms and asked me to call and see him at his office.  I did so
+and--well, we became very friendly, so much so that he invited me
+to his house.  I dined there several times, was invited to call
+often, and--I enjoyed it.  You see, I had few friends in the city,
+outside my journalistic acquaintances, and I suppose I was
+flattered by Mr. Warren's kindness and the fancy he seemed to have
+taken to me.  And I liked Miss Warren--no one could help that--and
+I believed she liked me."
+
+"She does like you," interrupted his companion, with surprise.
+"Caroline's a good girl."
+
+"Yes, she is.  However, she isn't in this story, except as a side-
+issue.  At this time my ambitions were for a newspaper career, and
+I thought I was succeeding.  And her father's marked interest and
+the things he said to me promised more than an ordinary success.
+He was a well known man on the street, and influential.  So my head
+began to swell, and I dreamed--a lot of foolishness.  And then--"
+
+He paused, put down his empty pipe, and sighed.
+
+"Well, then," he continued, "came the upset.  I judged from what
+you said at our previous conversation, Captain, that you were well
+enough acquainted with Wall Street to know that queer operations
+take place there.  Did you read about the South Shore Trolley
+business?"
+
+Captain Elisha considered.  "Why, yes," he said, slowly, "seem's if
+I did.  One of those consolidations with 'holdin' companies' and
+franchises and extensions and water by the hogshead.  Wa'n't that
+it?  I remember now; the Boston papers had considerable about it,
+and I presume likely the New York ones had more.  One of those all-
+accordin'-to-law swindles that sprout same as toadstools in a dark
+place, but die out if the light's turned on too sudden.  This one
+didn't come to nothin' but a bad smell, if I remember right."
+
+"You do.  And I suppose I'm responsible for the smell.  I got wind
+of the thing, investigated, found out something of what was going
+on, and printed a preliminary story in the Planet.  It caused a
+sensation."
+
+He paused once more.  Captain Elisha, for the sake of saying
+something, observed, "I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"It certainly did.  And the morning on which it appeared, Mr.
+Rodgers Warren 'phoned me.  He wished to see me at once.  I went
+down to his office.  Captain, I dislike to tell you this.  Mr.
+Warren was your brother."
+
+"I know he was.  And I'm his executor.  Both those reasons make me
+'specially anxious to have you tell me the truth.  Heave ahead now,
+to oblige me."
+
+"Well, I found him very polite and cordial, at first.  He said that
+a ridiculous and sensational story concerning the Trolley Combine
+had appeared in the Planet, and he would like to have me contradict
+it and suppress further falsehoods of the kind.  I told him I
+couldn't do that, because the story was true.  I had written it
+myself.  He was angry, and I could see that he was holding himself
+in by main strength.  I went on to explain that it was the duty of
+an honest paper, as I saw it, to expose such trespass upon the
+people's rights.  He asked me if I knew who was behind the scheme.
+I said I knew some of the backers.  They were pretty big men, too.
+Then he informed me that he himself was deeply interested.
+
+"I was knocked off my feet by that, you can imagine.  And, to be
+frank, Captain, if I had known it at first I'm not sure that I,
+personally, would have taken the matter up.  Yet I might; I can't
+tell.  But now that I had done it and discovered what I had, I
+couldn't give it up.  I must go on and learn more.  And I knew
+enough already to be certain that the more I learned the more I
+should write and have published.  It was one of those things which
+had to be made public--if a fellow had a conscience about him and a
+pride in the decency of his profession.
+
+"All this was going through my head as I sat there in his private
+office.  And he took my surprise and hesitation as symptoms of
+wavering and went at me, hard.  Of course I knew, he said, that the
+operation was absolutely within the law.  I did, but that didn't
+make it more honest or moral or just.  He went on to say that in
+large financial deals of this nature petty scruples must be lost
+sight of.  Good of the business, rights of stockholders, all that
+sort of stuff; he rang the changes.  All the papers cared for was
+sensation; to imperil the fortune of widows and orphans whose
+savings were invested in the South Shore Stock, for the sake of
+sensation, was a crime.  He should have known better than to say
+that to me; it is such an ancient, worn-out platitude."
+
+"I know.  I've been to political meetin's.  The widows and orphans
+are always hangin' on the success of the Republican party--or the
+Democratic, whichever way you vote.  The amount of tears shed over
+their investments by fellers you wouldn't trust with a brass five-
+cent piece, is somethin' amazin'.  Go on; I didn't mean to
+interrupt."
+
+"Then he switched to a more personal appeal.  He said he had taken
+a fancy to me; had liked me from the very beginning.  He recognized
+my unusual genius at first sight and had gone as far as to make
+plans bearing directly on my future.  He was associated with men of
+wealth and business sagacity.  Large deals, of which the Trolley
+Combine was but one, were on foot.  He and his friends needed a
+representative on the press--a publicity agent, so to speak.  Some
+of the greatest corporations employed men of that kind, and the
+salaries paid were large and the opportunities afforded greater
+still.  Well, that's true enough.  I know writers who are doing
+just that thing and getting rich at it.  I suppose they've squared
+their consciences somehow and are willing to write lies and
+misleading articles for what there is in it.  I can't, that's all;
+I'm not built that way, and I told him so.
+
+"It ended in an open break.  He reminded me of the favors he had
+done me.  He had treated me almost like a son, had introduced me to
+his family, entertaining me at his table.  Where was my gratitude?
+That was another bad break on his part, for it made me mad.  I told
+him I had not asked to be adopted or fed by him; if I had supposed
+his kindness had an ulterior motive, I would have seen him at the
+devil before I accepted a favor.  My career as a financial visitor
+was ended.  Get out of his office!  I got.  But the Trolley Combine
+did not go through.  The Planet and the other papers kept up the
+fight and--and the widows and orphans are bankrupt, I presume."
+
+Captain Elisha's pipe had gone out long since.  He absently rubbed
+the warm bowl between his palms.
+
+"Humph!" he muttered.  "So 'Bije was deep in that business, was
+he?"
+
+"He was.  Very deep indeed, I found out afterwards.  And, I
+declare, I almost pitied him at the time.  He acted as if his
+whole fortune was staked on the gamble.  His hands shook, and the
+perspiration stood on his forehead as he talked.  I felt as if I
+had been the means of ruining him.  But of course, I hadn't.  He
+lived for some time after that, and, I understand, died a rich
+man."
+
+"Yes.  He left what I'd call a heap of money.  My nephew and niece
+don't seem to think so, but I do."
+
+"So you see, Captain, why I stopped calling on the Warrens, and why
+I did not accept Miss Warren's invitation."
+
+"I see . . . I see . . . And yet I don't know.  'Bije may have took
+to you for business reasons, but the children didn't.  They liked
+you for yourself.  Caroline as much as said so.  And their father
+never told 'em a word about the row, neither.  Of course you
+couldn't have called when he was alive, but he's gone, and I'm--
+well, I'm sort of temporary skipper there now.  And _I_ want you to
+come."
+
+"But if Miss Warren did know?  She should know, I think."
+
+"I ain't sure that she should.  I guess there's consider'ble in her
+pa's life she ain't acquainted with.  And she's as straight and
+honest and upright as a schooner's fo'mast.  You did nothin' to be
+'shamed of.  It's the other way 'round, 'cordin' to my notion.  But
+leave her out of it now.  I've sacrificed some few things to take
+the job I've got at present, but I can't afford to sacrifice my
+friends.  I count on you as a friend, and I want you to come and
+see ME.  Will you?"
+
+"I don't know, Captain Warren.  I must think it over a while, I
+guess."
+
+"All right--think.  But the invitation stands--MY invitation.  And,
+if you want to shift responsibility, shift it on to me.  Some day,
+if it'll make you feel better, I'll tell Caroline and Stevie the
+whole story.  But I want them to know you and the world--and me--a
+little better first.  'Cordin' to my notion, they need education
+just along that line.  They've got teachers in other branches,
+but . . . There!  I've GOT to be goin'.  There's the dinner bell
+now."
+
+The string of Japanese gongs, hung in the lower hall, sounded
+sonorously.  Captain Elisha reached for his coat and hat, but
+Pearson caught his arm.
+
+"No, you don't!" he declared.  "You're going to stay and have lunch
+with me--here.  If you say no, I shall believe it is because you
+are afraid of a boarding-house meal."
+
+His guest protested, but the protests were overruled, and he and
+his host went down to the dining room.  The captain whispered as
+they entered, "Land sakes, Jim, this takes me back home.  It's
+pretty nigh a twin to the dinin' room at the Centre House in South
+Denboro."
+
+
+
+All boarding-house dining rooms bear a family likeness, so the
+comment was not far wrong.  A long table, rows of chairs on each
+side, ancient and honorable pictures on the walls, the landlady
+presiding majestically over the teapot, the boarders' napkins in
+rings--all the familiar landmarks were present.
+
+Most of the male "regulars" were in business about the city and
+therefore lunched elsewhere, but the females were in evidence.
+Pearson introduced his guest.  The captain met Mrs. Hepton, the
+landlady, plump, gray-haired, and graciously hospitable.  She did
+not look at all like a business woman, but appearances are not
+always to be trusted; Mrs. Hepton had learned not to trust them--
+also delinquent boarders, too far.  He met Miss Sherborne, whose
+coiffure did not match in spots, but whose voice, so he learned
+afterward, had been "cultivated abroad."  Miss Sherborne gave music
+lessons.  Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles also claimed his attention and
+held it, principally because of the faded richness of her apparel.
+Mrs. Ruggles was a widow, suffering from financial reverses; the
+contrast between her present mode of living and the grandeur of the
+past formed her principal topic of conversation.
+
+There were half a dozen others, including an artist whose aversion
+to barbers was proclaimed by the luxuriant length of his locks, a
+quiet old gentleman who kept the second-hand book store two doors
+below; his wife, a neat, trim little body; and Mr. and Mrs. C.
+Dickens, no less.
+
+Mr. Dickens was bald, an affliction which he tried to conceal by
+brushing the hair at the sides of his head across the desert at the
+top.  He shaved his cheeks and wore a beard and mustache.  Mrs.
+Dickens addressed him as "C.," and handed him the sauce bottle, the
+bread, or whatever she imagined he desired, as if she were offering
+sacrifice to an idol.
+
+She sat next to Captain Elisha and imparted information concerning
+her lord and master in whispers, during the intervals between
+offerings.
+
+"My husband will be pleased to meet you, Captain Warren," she
+murmured.  "Any friend of Mr. Pearson is certain to be an
+acquisition.  Mr. Pearson and my husband are congenial spirits;
+they are members of the same profession."
+
+"I want to know, ma'am."
+
+"Yes.  What is it, 'C.' dear?  Oh, the butter!  Margaret--" to the
+waitress--"Mr. Dickens wishes another butter-ball.  Yes, Captain
+Warren, Mr. Dickens is an author.  Haven't you noticed the--er--
+resemblance?  It is considered quite remarkable."
+
+Captain Elisha looked puzzled.  "Why," he said, "I hadn't noticed
+it 'special.  Jim's--Mr. Pearson's--eyes and his are some the same
+color, but--"
+
+"Oh, no! not the resemblance to Mr. Pearson.  I didn't mean THAT.
+The resemblance to his more famous namesake.  Surely you notice it
+NOW."
+
+The captain shook his head.  "I--I'm afraid I'm thick-headed,
+ma'am," he admitted.  "I'm out of soundin's."
+
+"But the nose, and his beard, and his manner.  Don't they remind
+you of the English Dickens?"
+
+"O-oh!" Captain Elisha inspected the great man with interest.  He
+had a vague memory of a portrait in a volume of "Pickwick" at home.
+"Oh, I see!  Yes, yes."
+
+"Of course you see!  Everyone does.  Mr. Dickens often says--it
+is one of his favorite jokes--that while other men must choose a
+profession, his was chosen for him by fate.  How, with such a name,
+could he do anything except write?"
+
+"I don't know, ma'am.  But names are risky pilots, ain't they?
+I've run against a consider'ble number of Solomons, but there
+wa'n't one of 'em that carried more'n a deckload of wisdom.  They
+christened me Elisha, but I can't even prophesy the weather with
+sartinty enough to bet.  However, I daresay in your husband's case
+it's all right."
+
+The lady had turned away, and he was afraid he might have offended
+her.  The fear was groundless; she was merely offering another
+sacrifice, the sugar this time.
+
+"Yes?" she asked, turning, "you were saying--"
+
+"Why--er--nothin' of account.  I cal'late the C. stands for
+Charles, then."
+
+"No-o.  Mr. Dickens's Christian name is Cornelius; but don't
+mention it before him, he is very sensitive on that point."
+
+The Dickenses "tickled" the captain exceedingly, and, after the
+meal was over, he spoke of them to Pearson.
+
+"Say," he said, "you're in notorious company, ain't you, Jim?
+What has Cornelius Charles turned out so far, in the way of
+masterpieces?"
+
+Pearson laughed.  "I believe he is employed by a subscription
+house," he replied.  "Doing hack work on an encyclopedia.  A great
+collection of freaks, aren't they, Captain Warren?"
+
+"Kind of.  But that old book-shop man and his wife seem nice folks.
+And, as for freaks, the average boardin' house, city or country,
+seems to draw 'em like flies.  I guess most anybody would get queer
+if they boarded all the time."
+
+"Perhaps so.  Or, if they weren't queer, they wouldn't board
+permanently from choice.  There are two or three good fellows who
+dine and breakfast here.  The food isn't bad, considering the
+price."
+
+"No, it ain't.  Tasted more like home than any meal I've had for a
+good while.  I'm afraid I never was cut out for swell livin'."
+
+Mrs. Hepton approached them as they stood in the hall.  She wished
+to know if Mr. Pearson's friend was thinking of finding lodgings.
+Because Mr. Saks--the artist's name--was giving up the second floor
+back in a fortnight, and it was a very pleasant room.  "We should
+be delighted to add you to our little circle, Captain Warren."
+
+Pearson told her that his companion was already lodged, and she
+said good-by and left them.  The captain smiled broadly.
+
+"Everything in New York seems to be circles," he declared.  "Well,
+Jim, you come up and circulate with me, first chance you get.  I'm
+dependin' on you to call, remember."
+
+The young man was still doubtful.
+
+"I'll see," he said.  "I can't promise yet--perhaps I will."
+
+"You will--after you've thought it out to a finish.  And come soon.
+I'm gettin' interested in that second edition of your Uncle Jim,
+and I want to keep along with him as fast as you write.  Good-by.
+Much obliged for the dinner--there I go again!--luncheon, I mean."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Pearson called.  He appeared at the apartment a week after the
+luncheon at the boarding house and was welcomed by the Captain
+Elisha, who, hearing his voice, strode into the hall, sent the
+shocked Edwards to the right-about in a hurry, seized his friend's
+hand, and ushered him into the library.  Pearson said nothing
+concerning his change of mind, the course of reasoning which led
+him to make the visit, and the captain asked no questions.  He took
+it for granted that the young fellow's common sense had turned the
+trick, and, the result being what it was, that was sufficient.
+
+They spent a pleasant afternoon together.  Caroline was out, and
+they had the library to themselves.  The newest chapters of the
+novel were read and discussed, and the salty flavor of the talk was
+as pronounced as ever.  Pearson left early, but promised to come
+again very soon.
+
+When Caroline returned her uncle told her of his visitor.  She
+seemed unfeignedly pleased, but regretted that she had not been
+there.  "He was such a friend of father's," she said, "that seeing
+him here would be almost like the old days.  And so many of those
+whom we thought were his friends and ours have left us."
+
+This was true.  Rodgers Warren and his children had had many
+acquaintances, had been active in church and charitable work, and
+their former home was a center of entertainment and gayety while he
+lived.  But his death and the rumors of shrinkage in the family
+fortune, the giving up of the Fifth Avenue residence, the period of
+mourning which forbade social functions, all these helped to bring
+about forgetfulness on the part of the many; and Caroline's
+supersensitiveness and her firm resolve not to force her society
+where it might be unwelcome had been the causes of misunderstanding
+in others, whose liking and sympathy were genuine.  "I don't see
+what has come over Caroline Warren," declared a former girl friend,
+"she isn't a bit as she used to be.  Well, I've done my part.  If
+she doesn't wish to return my call, she needn't.  _I_ sha'n't annoy
+her again.  But I'm sorry, for she was the sweetest girl I knew."
+
+Stephen had never been very popular, and his absence at college
+still further reduced the number of young people who might be
+inclined to call.  Their not calling confirmed Caroline's belief
+that she and her brother were deliberately shunned because of their
+change in circumstances, and she grew more sensitive and proudly
+resentful in consequence.  Naturally she turned for comfort to
+those who remained faithful, the Dunns in particular.  They were
+loyal to her.  Therefore, with the intensity of her nature, she
+became doubly loyal to them.  The rector of St. Denis dropped in
+frequently, and others occasionally, but she was lonely.  She
+craved the society of those nearer her own age.
+
+Pearson's coming, then, was psychologically apt.  When he made his
+next call upon Captain Elisha, to find the latter out but his niece
+at home, she welcomed him cordially and insisted upon his waiting
+until her guardian returned.  The conversation was, at first,
+embarrassing for the ex-reporter; she spoke of her father, and
+Pearson--the memory of his last interview with the latter fresh in
+his mind, and painfully aware that she knew nothing of it--felt
+guilty and like a hypocrite.  But soon the subject changed, and
+when the captain entered the library he found the pair laughing and
+chatting like old acquaintances, as, of course, they were.
+
+Captain Elisha, paying no attention to his friend's shakes of the
+head, invited his niece to be present at the reading of the latest
+addition to what he called "mine and Jim's record-breakin' sea
+yarn."
+
+"It's really mine, you understand, Caroline," he observed, with a
+wink.  "I'm silent partner in the firm--if you can call the one
+that does all the talkin' silent--and Jim don't do nothin' but make
+it up and write it and get the profits.  Course, you mustn't
+mention this to him, 'cause he thinks he's the author, and 'twould
+hurt his feelin's."
+
+"He's quite right," declared Pearson, emphatically.  "If the thing
+is ever finished and published he will deserve all the credit.  His
+advice had already remade it.  This uncle of yours, Miss Warren,"
+he added, turning to her, "is like the admiral Kipling wrote about--
+he has 'lived more stories' than ever I could invent."
+
+The captain, fearful that his niece might take the statement
+seriously, hastened to protest.
+
+"He's just foolin', Caroline," he said.  "All I've done is set and
+talk and talk and talk.  I've used up more of his time and the
+surroundin' air than you'd believe was possible.  When I get next
+to salt water, even in print, it's time to muzzle me, same as a dog
+in July.  The yarn is Jim's altogether, and it's mighty interestin'--
+to me anyhow."
+
+"I'm sure it will be to me, also," declared the young lady.
+"Captain Warren has told me all about it, Mr. Pearson, and I'm very
+eager to hear the new portion."
+
+"There!"  Captain Elisha slapped his knee.  "There, Jim!" he
+exclaimed, "you hear that?  Now you've GOT to read it.  Anchor's
+apeak!  Heave ahead and get under way."
+
+So, because he could not well refuse, the author reluctantly began
+to read.  And, as usual, his nautical friend to interrupt and
+comment.  Caroline listened, her eyes twinkling.  When the reading
+and the arguments were at an end, she declared it was all splendid;
+"Just like being at sea one's self," she said.  "I positively
+refuse to permit another installment to be submitted unless I am--
+on deck.  That's the proper phrase, isn't it, Captain?"
+
+"Aye, aye, ma'am!  Jim, we've shipped a new second mate, and she's
+goin' to be wuth her salt.  You hear ME!"
+
+She proved to be worth all of that, at least in Pearson's opinion.
+His calls and the readings and discussions became more and more
+frequent.  Each of the trio enjoyed them greatly, Caroline quite as
+much as the others.  Here was something new and fresh, something to
+furnish a real interest.  The story advanced rapidly, the character
+of the nautical hero shaped itself better and better, and the
+heroine, also, heretofore a somewhat shadowy and vague young woman,
+began to live and breathe.  She changed surprisingly, not only in
+mental but in physical characteristics.
+
+Captain Elisha was first to notice the latter peculiarity.
+
+"Say, Jim!" he interrupted, one afternoon, "what was that you just
+read about Mary?  Her hat blowin' off to leeward and her brown hair
+blowin' after it?  Or somethin' of that sort?"
+
+Caroline laughed merrily.  The author turned to the passage
+mentioned.
+
+"Not exactly, Captain," he replied, smiling.  "I said her hat had
+blown away, and her brown curls tossed in the wind.  What's wrong
+with that?  Hats do blow away in a sou'wester; I've seen them."
+
+"Perhaps he thinks she should have been more careful in pinning it
+on," suggested the feminine member of the advisory board.
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head.  "No," he observed calmly, "but why
+was she wearin' that kind of hair?  She's pretty young to use a
+switch, ain't she?"
+
+"Switch?" repeated "Mary's" creator, with some indignation.  "What
+are you talking about?  When I first described her, I said that her
+hair was luxuriant and one of her chief beauties."
+
+"That's a fact!  So you did.  What made her dye it?"
+
+"Dye it?  What do you think she is--a chorus girl?"
+
+"If I remember right she's a postmaster's daughter.  But why is she
+wearin' brown hair, if it ain't neither false or dyed?  Back in the
+third chapter 'twas BLACK, like her eyes."
+
+Caroline burst into another laugh.  Pearson blushed to his forehead.
+"Well, by George!" he admitted, "you're right.  I believe I did
+have it black, at first."
+
+"You sartin did!  I ain't got any objections to either color, only
+it ought to stay put, hadn't it?  In a town of the size she's
+livin' in, a girl with changeable hair is likely to be kind of
+conspicuous.  I tell you! maybe it bleached out in the sun.  Ho,
+ho!"
+
+The writer made a note on the margin of his manuscript and declared
+that his heroine's tresses and eyes should be made to correspond at
+all stages.  They did, but they remained brown.  Captain Elisha
+chuckled inwardly, but offered no further comments.  Caroline,
+whose own hair and eyes were brown, did not refer to the matter at
+all.
+
+She and the young man became better acquainted at each succeeding
+"literary clinic," as the latter called them.  When Rodgers Warren
+first introduced him at their former home he had impressed her
+favorably, largely because of her desire to like anyone whom her
+father fancied.  She worshiped the dead broker, and his memory to
+her was sacred.  She would have forgiven and did forgive any wrong
+he might have done her, even his brother's appointment as guardian,
+though that she could not understand.  Unlike Stephen, who fiercely
+resented the whole affair and said bitter things concerning his
+parent, she believed he had done what he considered right.  Her
+feeling against Captain Elisha had been based upon the latter's
+acceptance of that appointment when he should have realized his
+unfitness.  And his living with them and disgracing them in the
+eyes of their friends by his uncouth, country ways, made her blind
+to his good qualities.  The Moriarty matter touched her conscience,
+and she saw more clearly.  But she was very far from considering
+him an equal, or other than what Mrs. Corcoran Dunn termed him, an
+"encumbrance," even yet.  She forced herself to be kind and
+tolerant and gave him more of her society, though the church-going
+experience was not repeated, nor did she accompany him on his walks
+or out-of-door excursions.
+
+If Pearson's introductions had been wholly as a friend of her
+guardian, her feeling toward him might have been tinged with the
+same condescension or aversion, even.  But, hallowed as he was by
+association with her father, she welcomed him for the latter's
+sake.  And, as she became interested in the novel and found that
+her suggestions concerning it were considered valuable, she looked
+forward to his visits and was disappointed if, for any reason, they
+were deferred.  Without being aware of it, she began to like the
+young author, not alone because he wrote entertainingly and
+flattered her by listening respectfully to her criticisms, or
+because her father had liked him, but for himself.
+
+Captain Elisha was much pleased.
+
+"I told you, Jim!" he said.  "She's just as glad to see you as I
+am.  Now don't you see how foolish it was to stay away 'cause you
+and 'Bije had a spat?  Think of all the good times we'd have
+missed!  And we needed a female aboard your Uncle Jim's craft, to
+help with 'Mary' and the rest."
+
+His friend nodded.  "She has been a great help, certainly," he
+answered.  "But I can't help feeling guilty every time I come here.
+It is too much like obtaining her friendship under false pretenses.
+She should know the whole thing, I believe."
+
+"She shall know it, when I think it's time for her to.  But I want
+her to know you first.  Then she'll be able to judge without so
+much prejudice.  I told you I'd take the responsibility.  You leave
+the ship in my charge for a spell."
+
+In spite of this confident assertion, the captain also felt a
+trifle guilty.  He realized that selfishness was involved in his
+keeping Pearson's secret from his niece.  He was thoroughly
+enjoying himself with these two, and he could not bear to risk the
+breaking up which might follow disclosure.
+
+One evening, while a "clinic" was in progress and the three were
+deep in consultation, Edwards entered to announce Mrs. Corcoran
+Dunn and Mr. Malcolm.  The butler's giving the lady precedence in
+his announcing showed that he, too, realized who was ranking
+officer in that family, even though the captain's "conundrum" had
+puzzled him.  Mrs. Dunn and her son entered at his heels.
+
+The lady took in the group by the table at a glance: Pearson, with
+the manuscript in his hands; Captain Elisha leaning back in his
+chair, frowning at the interruption; Caroline rising to welcome the
+guests, and coloring slightly as she did so.  All these details
+Mrs. Dunn noted, made an entry in her mental memorandum-book, and
+underscored it for future reference.
+
+If she discerned unpleasant possibilities in the situation, she
+did not allow them to disturb her outward serenity.  She kissed
+Caroline and called her "dear child" as fondly as usual, shook
+hands graciously with Captain Elisha, and bowed condescending
+recognition of Pearson.
+
+"And how is the novel coming on?  Do tell me!" she begged.  "I'm
+sure we interrupted a reading.  It's too bad of us, really!  But
+Malcolm insisted upon coming.  He has been very busy of late--some
+dreadful 'corner' or other on the exchange--and has neglected his
+friends--or thinks he has.  I told him I had explained it all to
+you, Caroline, but he WOULD come tonight.  It is the first call he
+has made in weeks; so you SEE!  But there! he doesn't consider
+running in here a call."
+
+Call or not, it spoiled the evening for at least two of the
+company.  Pearson left early.  Captain Elisha excused himself soon
+after and went to his room, leaving the Dunns to chat with Caroline
+for an hour or more.  Malcolm joked and was languid and cynical.
+His mother asked a few carefully guarded questions.
+
+"Quite a clever person, this young author friend of yours seems to
+be, Caroline," she observed.  "Almost brilliant, really."
+
+"He isn't a friend of mine, exactly," replied the girl.  "He and
+Captain Warren are friendly, and father used to know and like him,
+as I have told you.  The novel is great fun, though!  The people in
+it are coming to seem almost real to me."
+
+"I daresay!  I was a great reader myself once, before my health--my
+heart, you know--began to trouble me.  The doctors now forbid my
+reading anything the least bit exciting.  Has this--er--Mr. Pearson
+means?"
+
+"I know very little of him, personally, but I think not.  He used
+to be connected with the Planet, and wrote things about Wall
+Street.  That was how father came to know him."
+
+"Live in an attic, does he?" inquired Malcolm.  "That's what all
+authors do, isn't it?  Put up in attics and sleep on pallets--
+whatever they are--and eat crusts, don't they?  Jolly life--if you
+like it!  I prefer bucking wheat corners, myself."
+
+Mrs. Dunn laughed, and Caroline joined her, though not as heartily.
+
+"How ridiculous you are, Malcolm!" exclaimed his mother.  "Mr.
+Pearson isn't that kind of an author, I'm sure.  But where does he
+live, Caroline?"
+
+"Somewhere on West 18th Street, I believe.  He has rooms there, I
+think."
+
+"Oh!  Really?  And how is this wonderful novel of his progressing?
+When does he expect to favor us with it?"
+
+"I don't know.  But it is progressing very well at present.  He has
+written three chapters since last Wednesday.  He was reading them
+to us when you came."
+
+"Indeed!  Since last Wednesday?  How interesting!"
+
+Malcolm did not seem to find the topic interesting, for he
+smothered a yawn.  His mother changed the subject.  On their way
+home, however, she again referred to it.
+
+"You must make it a point to see her every day," she declared.  "No
+matter what happens, you must do it."
+
+"Oh, Lord!" groaned her son, "I can't.  There's the deuce and all
+on 'Change just now, and the billiard tournament's begun at the
+Club.  My days and nights are full up.  Once a week is all she
+should expect, I think."
+
+"No matter what you think or what she expects, you must do as I
+say."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I don't like the looks of things."
+
+"Oh, rubbish!  You're always seeing bugaboos.  Uncle Hayseed is
+pacified, isn't he?  I've paid the Moriarty crowd off.  Beastly big
+bills they were, too!"
+
+"Humph!  Uncle Hayseed, as you call him, is anything but a fool.
+But he isn't the particular trouble at present.  He and I
+understand each other, I believe, and he will be reasonable.  But--
+there is this Pearson.  I don't like his calling so frequently."
+
+Malcolm laughed in huge scorn.  "Pearson!" he sneered.  "Why, he's
+nothing but a penny-a-liner, without the penny.  Surely you're not
+afraid Caroline will take a fancy to him.  She isn't an idiot."
+
+"She's a young girl, and more romantic than I wish she was.  At her
+age girls do silly things, sometimes.  He called on Wednesday--you
+heard her say so--and was there again to-night.  I don't like it, I
+tell you."
+
+"Her uncle is responsible for--"
+
+"It is more than that.  She knew him long before she knew her uncle
+existed.  Her father introduced him--her FATHER.  And to her mind,
+whatever her father did was right."
+
+"Witness his brilliant selection of an executor.  Oh, Mater, you
+weary me!  I used to know this Pearson when he was a reporter down
+town, and . . . Humph!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Why, nothing, I guess.  It seemed as if I remember Warren and
+Pearson in some sort of mix-up.  Some . . . Humph!  I wonder."
+
+He was silent, thinking.  His mother pressed his arm excitedly.
+
+"If you remember anything that occurred between Rodgers Warren and
+this man, anything to this Pearson's disadvantage, it may pay us to
+investigate.  What was it?"
+
+"I don't know.  But it seemed as if I remembered Warren's . . . or
+a friend of his telling me . . . saying something . . . but it
+couldn't be of importance, because Caroline doesn't know it."
+
+"I'm not so sure that it may not be important.  And, if you recall,
+on that day when we first met him at Caroline's, she seemed hurt
+because he had not visited them since her father died.  Perhaps
+there WAS a reason.  At any rate, I should look into the matter."
+
+"All right, Mater, just as you say.  Really you ought to join a
+Don't Worry Club."
+
+"One member in the family is quite sufficient.  And I expect you to
+devote yourself to Caroline from now on.  That girl is lonely, and
+when you get the combination of a lonely romantic young girl and a
+good-looking and interesting young fellow, even though he is as
+poor as a church mouse, ANYTHING may happen.  Add to that the
+influence of an unpractical but sharp old Yankee relative and
+guardian--then the situation is positively dangerous."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+An important event was about to take place.  At least, it seemed
+important to Captain Elisha, although the person most intimately
+concerned appeared to have forgotten it entirely.  He ventured to
+remind her of it.
+
+"Caroline," he said, "Sunday is your birthday, ain't it?"
+
+His niece looked at him in surprise.  "Yes," she answered, "it is.
+How did you know?"
+
+"Why, I remembered, that's all.  Graves, the lawyer man, told me
+how old you and Stevie were, fust time I met him.  And his partner,
+Mr. Sylvester, gave me the date one day when he was goin' over your
+pa's will.  You'll be twenty years old Sunday, won't you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+It was late in the afternoon, and she had been out since ten
+o'clock shopping with Mrs. Dunn, lunching down town with the latter
+and Malcolm, and motoring for an hour or two.  The weather for the
+season was mild and sunny, and the crisp air had brightened her
+cheeks, her eyes sparkled, her fur coat and cap were very becoming,
+and Captain Elisha inspected her admiringly before making another
+remark.
+
+"My! My!" he exclaimed, after an instant's pause.  "Twenty years
+old!  Think of it!  'Bije's girl's a young woman now, ain't she?  I
+cal'late he was proud of you, too.  He ought to have been.  I
+presume likely HE didn't forget your birthday."
+
+He rose to help her with the heavy coat.  As he lifted it from her
+shoulders, he bent forward and caught a glimpse of her face.
+
+"There! there!" he said, hastily.  "Don't feel bad, dearie.  I
+didn't mean to hurt your feelin's.  Excuse me; I was thinkin' out
+loud, sort of."
+
+She did not answer at once, but turned away to remove her cap.
+Then she answered, without looking at him.
+
+"He never forgot them," she said.
+
+"Course he didn't.  Well, you see I didn't forget, either."
+
+It was an unfortunate remark, inasmuch as it drew, in her mind, a
+comparison between her handsome, dignified father and his rude,
+uncultured brother.  The contrast was ever present in her thoughts,
+and she did not need to be reminded of it.  She made no reply.
+
+"I was thinkin'," continued the captain, conscious of having made a
+mistake, "that maybe we might celebrate somehow, in a quiet way."
+
+"No.  I am not in the mood for--celebrations."
+
+"Oh, I didn't mean fireworks and the town band.  I just thought--"
+
+"Please don't.  I remember other birthdays too well."  They had
+been great occasions, those birthdays of hers, ever since she was a
+little girl.  On the eighteenth she made her debut in society, and
+the gown she wore on that memorable evening was laid away upstairs,
+a cherished memento, to be kept as long as she lived.  Each year
+Rodgers Warren took infinite pains to please and surprise his
+idolized daughter.  She could not bear to think of another
+birthday, now that he had been taken from her.
+
+Her guardian pulled his beard.  "Well," he observed ruefully, "then
+my weak head's put my foot in it again, as the feller said.  If I
+ain't careful I'll be like poor cracked Philander Baker, who lives
+with his sister over at Denboro Centre.  The doctor told Philander
+he was threatened with softenin' of the brain, and the sister
+thanked him for the compliment.  You see, Caroline, I wrote on my
+own hook and asked Stevie to come home Saturday and stay till
+Monday.  I kind of thought you'd like to have him here."
+
+"Oh, I should like THAT!  But will he come?  Has he written you?"
+
+"Hey?  Yes, I cal'late he'll be on deck.  He's--er--yes, he's
+written me."
+
+He smiled as he answered.  As a matter of fact, the correspondence
+between Stephen and himself had been lengthy and voluminous on the
+part of the former, and brief and business-like on his own.  The
+boy, on his return to college, had found "conditions" awaiting him,
+and the amount of hard work involved in their clearance was not at
+all to his taste.  He wrote his guardian before the first week was
+over, asserting that the whole business was foolishness and a waste
+of time.  He should come home at once, he said, and he notified the
+captain that such was his intention.  Captain Elisha replied with
+promptness and decision.  If he came home he would be sent back,
+that was all.  "I realize you've got a job ahead of you, Son,"
+wrote the captain, "but you can do it, if you will.  Fact is, I
+guess you've got to.  So sail in and show us what you're made of."
+
+Stephen's answer was a five page declaration of independence.  He
+refused to be bullied by any living man.  He had made arrangements
+to come to New York on the following Monday, and he was coming.  As
+to being sent back, he wished his uncle to understand that it was
+one thing to order and another to enforce obedience.  To which he
+received the following note:
+
+
+"I can't stop you from coming, Steve, except by going to New Haven
+and holding you by main strength.  That I don't propose to do, for
+two reasons: first, that it is too much trouble, and second that it
+ain't necessary.  You can come home once in a while to see your
+sister, but you mustn't do it till I say the word.  If you do, I
+shall take the carfare out of your allowance, likewise board while
+you are here, and stop that allowance for a month as a sort of fine
+for mutiny.  So you better think it over a spell.  And, if I was
+you, I wouldn't write Caroline that I was coming, or thinking of
+coming, till I had my mind made up.  She believes you are working
+hard at your lessons.  I shouldn't disappoint her, especially as it
+wouldn't be any use.
+
+"Your affectionate uncle,
+
+"ELISHA WARREN."
+
+
+The result of all this was that Stephen, whose finances were
+already in a precarious condition, did think it over and decided
+not to take the risk.  Also, conscious that his sister sided with
+their guardian to the extent of believing the university the best
+place for him at present, he tore up the long letter of grievance
+which he had written her, and, in that which took its place,
+mentioned merely that he was "grinding like blazes," and the only
+satisfaction he got from it was his removal from the society of the
+"old tyrant from Cape Cod."
+
+He accepted the tyrant's invitation to return for the week-end and
+his sister's birthday with no hesitation whatever; and his letter
+of acceptance was so politic as to be almost humble.
+
+He arrived on an early train Saturday morning.  Caroline met him at
+the station, and the Dunns' car conveyed them to the latter's
+residence, where they were to spend the day.  The Dunns and Caroline
+had been together almost constantly since the evening when Malcolm
+and his mother interrupted the reading of the novel.  The former,
+while professing to be harassed by business cares, sacrificed them
+to the extent of devoting at least a part of each twenty-four hours
+to the young lady's society.  She was rarely allowed to be alone
+with her uncle, a circumstance which troubled her much less than it
+did him.  He missed the evenings which he had enjoyed so much, and
+the next consultation over the adventures of Pearson's "Uncle Jim"
+and his "Mary" seemed flat and uninteresting without criticism and
+advice.
+
+The author himself noticed the difference.
+
+"Rot!" he exclaimed, throwing the manuscript aside in disgust.
+"It's rot, isn't it!  If I can't turn out better stuff than that,
+I'd better quit.  And I thought it was pretty decent, too, until
+to-night."
+
+Captain Elisha shook his head.  "It don't seem quite so shipshape,
+somehow," he admitted, "but I guess likely it's 'cause my head's
+full of other things just now.  I'm puzzled 'most to death to know
+what to get for Caroline's birthday.  I want to get her somethin'
+she'll like, and she's got pretty nigh everything under the sun.
+Say, Jim, you've been workin' too hard, yourself.  Why don't you
+take to-morrow off and cruise around the stores helpin' me pick out
+a present.  Come ahead--do!"
+
+They spent the next afternoon in that "cruise," visiting department
+stores, jewelers, and art shops innumerable.  Captain Elisha was
+hard to please, and his comments characteristic.
+
+"I guess you're right, Jim," he said, "there's no use lookin' at
+pictures.  Let alone that the walls are so covered with 'em now a
+fly can't scarcely light without steppin' on some kind of scenery--
+let alone that, my judgment on pictures ain't any good.  I cal'late
+that's considered pretty fine, ain't it?" pointing to a painting in
+the gallery where they then were.
+
+"Yes," replied the dealer, much amused.  "That is a good specimen
+of the modern impressionist school."
+
+"Humph!  Cookin' school, I shouldn't wonder.  I'd call it a
+portrait of a plate of scrambled eggs, if 'twa'n't for that green
+thing that's either a cow or a church in the offin'.  Out of
+soundin's again, I am!  But I knew she liked pictures, and so . . .
+However, let's set sail for a jewelry store."
+
+The sixth shop of this variety which they visited happened to be
+one of the largest and most fashionable in the city.  Here the
+captain's fancy was taken by a gold chain for the neck, set with
+tiny emeralds.
+
+"That's pretty--sort of--ain't it, Jim?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied his companion, with emphasis, "it is.  And I think
+you'll find it is expensive, also."
+
+"That so?  How much?" turning to the salesman.
+
+The latter gave the price of the chain.  Captain Elisha whistled.
+
+"Whew!  Jerushy!" he exclaimed.  "And it wouldn't much more than go
+around my wrist, at that.  All the same size, are they?"
+
+"No.  Some are longer.  The longer ones are higher priced, of
+course."
+
+"Sartin!  They're for fleshy folks, I s'pose.  Mrs. Thoph Kenney
+down home, she'd have to splice three of 'em together to make the
+round trip.  Thoph's always scared he won't get his money's wuth
+in a trade, but he couldn't kick when he got her.  To give the
+minister a dollar and walk off with two hundred and eighty pounds
+of wife is showin' some business sagacity, hey?  To do him justice,
+I will say that HE seems to be satisfied; she's the one that does
+the complainin'.  I guess this is the most expensive counter in the
+store, ain't it, Mister?"
+
+The clerk laughed.  "No, indeed," he said.  "These are all moderate
+priced goods.  I wonder," turning to Pearson, "if your friend
+wouldn't like to see some of our choice pieces.  It is a quiet day
+here, and I shall be glad to show them."
+
+He led the way to a set of show cases near the door on the Fifth
+Avenue side.  There before Captain Elisha's dazzled eyes were
+displayed diamond necklaces and aigrettes, tiaras and brooches, the
+figures on their price tags running high into the thousands.
+Pearson and the good-natured clerk enjoyed themselves hugely.
+
+"Jim," said the captain after a little of this, "is there a police
+officer lookin' this way?"
+
+Pearson laughed.  "I guess not," he answered.  "Why?  The
+temptation isn't getting too much for your honesty, is it?"
+
+"No," with a sigh, "but I'm carryin' a forty dollar watch and
+wearin' a ring that cost fifteen.  I thought they was some punkins
+till I begun to look at this stuff.  Now they make me feel so mean
+and poverty-struck that I expect to be took up for a tramp any
+minute.  Mister," to the clerk, "you run right along and wrap up
+that chain I was lookin' at.  Hurry! or I'll be ashamed to carry
+anything so cheap."
+
+"Think she'll like it, do you, Jim?" he asked, when they were once
+more out of doors with the purchase in his inside pocket.
+
+"She ought, certainly," replied Pearson.  "It's a beautiful thing."
+
+"Yes.  Well, you see," apologetically, "I wanted to give her
+somethin' pretty good.  'Bije always did, and I didn't want to fall
+too fur behind.  But," with a chuckle, "you needn't mention the
+price to anybody.  If Abbie--my second cousin keepin' house for me,
+she is--if Abbie heard of it she'd be for puttin' me in an asylum.
+Abbie's got a hair breastpin and a tortoise shell comb, but she
+only wears 'em to the Congregationalist meetin'-house, where she's
+reasonably sure there ain't likely to be any sneak-thieves.  She
+went to a Unitarian sociable once, but she carried 'em in a bag
+inside her dress."
+
+Captain Elisha planned to surprise his niece with the gift at
+breakfast on the morning of her birthday, but, after reflection,
+decided to postpone the presentation until dinner time.  The
+inevitable Dunns had taken upon themselves the duty of caring for
+the girl and her brother during the major part of the day.  The
+yellow car appeared at the door at ten o'clock and bore the two
+away.  Caroline assured her guardian, however, that they would
+return in season for the evening meal.
+
+The captain spent lonely but busy hours until dinner time came.  He
+had done some scheming on his own hook and, after a long argument
+with the cook, re-enforced by a small sum in cash, had prevailed
+upon that haughty domestic to fashion a birthday cake of imposing
+exterior and indigestible make-up.  Superintending the icing of
+this masterpiece occupied some time.  He then worried Edwards into
+a respectful but stubborn fury by suggesting novelties in the way
+of table arrangement.  Another bestowal of small change quelled the
+disturbance.  Then came, by messenger, a dozen American Beauty
+roses with Mr. Pearson's card attached.  These the captain decided
+should be placed in the center of the festive board.  As a center
+piece had been previously provided, there was more argument.  The
+cook took the butler's side in the debate, and the pair yielded
+only when Captain Elisha again dived into his pocket.
+
+"But I warn you, all hands," he observed, "that this is the last
+time.  My right fist's got a cramp in it this minute, and you
+couldn't open it again with a cold chisel."
+
+At last, however, everything was as it should be, and he sat down
+in the library to await the coming of the young people.  The gold
+chain in its handsome leather case, the latter enclosed in the
+jeweler's box, was carefully laid beside Caroline's place at the
+table.  The dinner was ready, the cake, candles and all--the
+captain had insisted upon twenty candles--was ready, also.  There
+was nothing to do but wait--and he waited.
+
+Six-thirty was the usual dinner hour.  It passed.  Seven o'clock
+struck, then eight, and still Captain Elisha sat alone in the
+library.  The cook sent word that the dinner was ruined.  Edwards
+respectfully asked, "What shall I do, sir?" twice, the second time
+being sent flying with an order to "Go for'ard and keep your hatches
+closed!"  The nautical phraseology was lost upon the butler, but the
+tone and manner of delivery were quite understandable.
+
+Several times the captain rose from his chair to telephone the Dunn
+house and ask the reason for delay.  Each time he decided not to do
+so.  No doubt there were good reasons; Caroline and her brother had
+been detained; perhaps the automobile had broken down--the things
+were always breaking down just at the most inconvenient times;
+perhaps . . .  Well, at any rate, he would not 'phone just yet; he
+would wait a little longer.
+
+At last the bell rang.  Captain Elisha sprang up, smiling, his
+impatience and worry forgotten, and, pushing the butler aside,
+hurried to open the door himself.  He did so and faced, not his
+niece and nephew, but Pearson.
+
+"Good evening, Captain," hailed the young man, cheerily.  "Didn't
+expect me, did you?  I dropped in for a moment to shake hands with
+you and to offer congratulations to Miss Warren."  Then, noticing
+the expression on his friend's face, he added, "What's the matter?
+Anything wrong?  Am I intruding?"
+
+"No, no!  Course not.  You're as welcome as another egg in a poor
+man's hen-house.  Come right in and take off your things.  I'm glad
+to see you.  Only--well, the fact is I thought 'twas Caroline
+comin' home.  She and Stevie was to be here over two hours ago, and
+I can't imagine what's keepin, 'em."
+
+He insisted upon his visitor's remaining, although the latter, when
+he understood the situation, was reluctant to do so.
+
+"Caroline'll be real glad to see you, Jim, I know," the captain
+said.  "And I want you to stay for my sake.  Between pacifyin' the
+Commodore and frettin' over what couldn't possibly happen, I was
+half dead of the fidgets.  Stay and cheer me up, there's a good
+feller.  I'd just about reached the stage where I had the girl and
+boy stove to flinders under that pesky auto.  I'd even begun to
+figger on notifyin' the undertaker.  Tell me I'm an old fool and
+then talk about somethin' else.  They'll be here any minute."
+
+But a good many minutes passed, and still they did not come.
+Pearson, aware of his companion's growing anxiety, chatted of the
+novel, of the people at the boarding house, of anything and
+everything he could think of likely to divert attention from the
+one important topic.  The answers he received were more and more
+brief and absent.  At last, when Edwards again appeared,
+appealingly mute, at the entrance to the dining room, Captain
+Elisha, with a sigh which was almost a groan, surrendered.
+
+"I guess," he said, reluctantly, "I guess, Jim, there ain't any use
+waitin' any longer.  Somethin's kept 'em, and they won't be here
+for dinner.  You and I'll set down and eat--though I ain't got the
+appetite I cal'lated to have."
+
+Pearson had dined hours before, but he followed his friend, resolved
+to please the latter by going through the form of pretending to eat.
+
+They sat down together.  Captain Elisha, with a rueful smile,
+pointed to the floral centerpiece.
+
+"There's your posies, Jim," he observed.  "Look pretty, don't they.
+She ain't seen 'em yet, but she'll like 'em when she does.  And
+that over there, is her present from me.  Stevie gave her a box of
+gloves, and I expect, from what Mrs. Dunn hinted, that she and that
+son of hers gave her somethin' fine.  She'll show us when she gets
+here.  What's this, Commodore?  Oysters, hey?  Well, they ought to
+taste like home.  They're 'Cape Cods'; I wouldn't have anything
+else."
+
+"We won't touch the birthday cake, Jim," he added, a little later.
+"She's got to cut that herself."
+
+The soup was only lukewarm, but neither of them commented on the
+fact.  The captain had scarcely tasted of his, when he paused, his
+spoon in air.
+
+"Hey?" he exclaimed.  "Listen!  What's that?  By the everlastin',
+it IS.  Here they are, at LAST!"
+
+He sprang up with such enthusiasm that his chair tipped backwards
+against the butler's devoted shins.  Pearson, almost as much
+pleased, also rose.
+
+Captain Elisha paid scant attention to the chair incident.
+
+"What are you waitin' for?" he demanded, whirling on Edwards, who
+was righting the chair with one hand and rubbing his knee with the
+other.  "Don't you hear 'em at the door?  Let 'em in!"
+
+He reached the library first, his friend following more leisurely.
+Caroline and Stephen had just entered.
+
+"Well!" he cried, in his quarter-deck voice, his face beaming with
+relief and delight, "you ARE here, ain't you!  I begun to think . . .
+Why, what's the matter?"
+
+The question was addressed to Stephen, who stood nearest to him.
+The boy did not deign to reply.  With a contemptuous grunt, he
+turned scornfully away from his guardian.
+
+"What is it, Caroline?" demanded Captain Elisha.  "HAS anything
+happened?"
+
+The girl looked coldly at him.  A new brooch--Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's
+birthday gift--sparkled at her throat.
+
+"No accident has happened, if that is what you mean," she said.
+
+"But--why, yes, that was what I meant.  You was so awful late, and
+you know you said you'd be home for dinner, so--"
+
+"I changed my mind.  Come, Steve."
+
+She turned to leave the room.  Pearson, at that moment, entered it.
+Stephen saw him first.
+
+"WHAT?" he cried.  "Well, of all the nerve!  Look, Caro!"
+
+"Jim--Mr. Pearson, I mean--ran in a few minutes ago," explained
+Captain Elisha, bewildered and stammering.  "He thought of course
+we'd had dinner and--and--he just wanted to wish you many happy
+returns, Caroline."
+
+Pearson had extended his hand and a "Good evening" was on his lips.
+Stephen's strange behavior and language caused him to halt.  He
+flushed, awkward, surprised, and indignant.
+
+Caroline turned and saw him.  She started, and her cheeks also grew
+crimson.  Then, recovering, she looked him full in the face, and
+deliberately and disdainfully turned her back.
+
+"Come, Steve!" she said again, and walked from the room.
+
+Her brother hesitated, glared at Pearson, and then stalked
+haughtily after her.
+
+Captain Elisha's bewilderment was supreme.  He stared, open-
+mouthed, after his nephew and niece, and then turned slowly to his
+friend.
+
+"What on earth, Jim," he stammered.  "What's it MEAN?"
+
+Pearson shrugged his shoulders.  "I think I know what it means," he
+said.  "I presume that Miss Warren and her brother have learned of
+my trouble with their father."
+
+"Hey?  No! you don't think THAT'S it."
+
+"I think there's no doubt of it."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"I don't know how.  What I do know is that I should not have come
+here.  I felt it and, if you will remember, I said so.  I was a
+fool.  Good night, Captain."
+
+Hot and furiously angry at his own indecision which had placed him
+in this humiliating situation, he was striding towards the hall.
+Captain Elisha seized his arm.
+
+"Stay where you are, Jim!" he commanded.  "If the trouble's what
+you think it is, I'm more to blame than anybody else, and you
+sha'n't leave this house till I've done my best to square you."
+
+"Thank you; but I don't wish to be 'squared.'  I've done nothing to
+be ashamed of, and I have borne as many insults as I can stand.
+I'm going."
+
+"No, you ain't.  Not yet.  I want you to stay."
+
+At that moment Stephen's voice reached them from the adjoining
+room.
+
+"I tell you I shall, Caro!" it proclaimed, fiercely.  "Do you
+suppose I'm going to permit that fellow to come here again--or to
+go until he is made to understand what we think of him and why?
+No, by gad!  I'm the man of this family, and I'll tell him a few
+things."
+
+Pearson's jaw set grimly.
+
+"You may let go of my wrist, Captain Warren," he said; "I'll stay."
+
+Possibly Stephen's intense desire to prove his manliness made him
+self-conscious.  At any rate, he never appeared more ridiculously
+boyish than when, an instant later, he marched into the library and
+confronted his uncle and Pearson.
+
+"I--I want to say--" he began, majestically; "I want to say--"
+
+He paused, choking, and brandished his fist.
+
+"I want to say--" he began again.
+
+"All right, Stevie," interrupted the captain, dryly, "then I'd say
+it if I was you.  I guess it's time you did."
+
+"I want to--to tell that fellow THERE," with a vicious stab of his
+forefinger in the direction of Pearson, "that I consider him an--an
+ingrate--and a scoundrel--and a miserable--"
+
+"Steady!" Captain Elisha's interruption was sharp this time.
+"Steady now!  Leave out the pet names.  What is it you've got to
+tell?"
+
+"I--my sister and I have found out what a scoundrel he is, that's
+what!  We've learned of the lies he wrote about father.  We know
+that he was responsible for all that cowardly, lying stuff in the
+Planet--all that about the Trolley Combine.  And we don't intend
+that he shall sneak into this house again.  If he was the least
+part of a man, he would never have come."
+
+"Mr. Warren--" began Pearson, stepping forward.  The captain
+interrupted.
+
+"Hold on, Jim!" he said.  "Just a minute now.  You've learned
+somethin', you say, Stevie.  The Dunns told you, I s'pose."
+
+"Never mind who told me!"
+
+"I don't--much.  But I guess we'd better have a clear understandin',
+all of us.  Caroline, will you come in here, please?"
+
+He stepped toward the door.  Stephen sprang in front of him.
+
+"My sister doesn't intend to cheapen herself by entering that man's
+presence," he declared, hotly.  "I'll deal with him, myself!"
+
+"All right.  But I guess she'd better be here, just the same.
+Caroline, I want you."
+
+"She sha'n't come!"
+
+"Yes, she shall.  Caroline!"
+
+The boy would have detained him, but he pushed him firmly aside and
+walked toward the door.  Before he reached it, however, his niece
+appeared.
+
+"Well?" she said, coldly.  "What is it you want of me?"
+
+"I want you to hear Mr. Pearson's side of this business--and mine--
+before you do anything you'll be sorry for."
+
+"I think I've heard quite enough of Mr. Pearson already.  Nothing
+he can say or do will make me more sorry than I am, or humiliate me
+more than the fact that I have treated him as a friend."
+
+The icy contempt in her tone was cutting.  Pearson's face was
+white, but he spoke clearly and with deliberation.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "I must insist that you listen for another
+moment.  I owe you an apology for--"
+
+"Apology!" broke in Stephen, with a scornful laugh.  "Apology!
+Well, by gad!  Just hear that, Caro!"
+
+The girl's lip curled.  "I do not wish to hear your apology," she
+said.
+
+"But I wish you to hear it.  Not for my attitude in the Trolley
+matter, nor for what I published in the Planet.  Nor for my part in
+the disagreement with your father.  I wrote the truth and nothing
+more.  I considered it right then--I told your father so--and I
+have not changed my mind.  I should act exactly the same under
+similar circumstances."
+
+"You blackguard!" shouted Stephen.  Pearson ignored him utterly.
+
+"I do owe you an apology," he continued, "for coming here, as I
+have done, knowing that you were ignorant of the affair.  I believe
+now that you are misinformed as to the facts, but that is immaterial.
+You should have been told of my trouble with Mr. Warren.  I should
+have insisted upon it.  That I did not do so is my fault and I
+apologize; but for that only.  Good evening."
+
+He shook himself free from the captain's grasp, bowed to the trio,
+and left the room.  An instant later the outer door closed behind
+him.
+
+Caroline turned to her brother.  "Come, Steve," she said.
+
+"Stay right where you are!"  Captain Elisha did not request now, he
+commanded.  "Stevie, stand still.  Caroline, I want to talk to
+you."
+
+The girl hesitated.  She had never been spoken to in that tone
+before.  Her pride had been already deeply wounded by what she had
+learned that afternoon; she was fiercely resentful, angry, and
+rebellious.  She was sure she never hated anyone as she did this
+man who ordered her to stay and listen to him.  But--she stayed.
+
+"Caroline," said Captain Elisha, after a moment of silence, "I
+presume likely--of course I don't know for sartin, but I presume
+likely it's Mrs. Dunn and that son of hers who've told you what you
+think you know."
+
+"It doesn't concern you who told us!" blustered Stephen, pushing
+forward.  He might have been a fly buzzing on the wall for all the
+attention his uncle paid him.
+
+"I presume likely the Dunns told you, Caroline," he repeated,
+calmly.
+
+His niece met his gaze stubbornly.
+
+"Well," she answered, "and if they did?  Wasn't it necessary we
+should know it?  Oh!" with a shudder of disgust, "I wish I could
+make you understand how ashamed I feel--how WICKED and ashamed I
+feel that I--_I_ should have disgraced father's memory by . . .
+Oh, but there!  I can't!  Yes; Mrs. Dunn and Malcolm did tell us--
+many things.  Thank God that we HAVE friends to tell us the truth!"
+
+"Amen!" quietly.  "I'll say amen to that, Caroline, any time.  Only
+I want you to be sure those you call friends are real ones and that
+the truths they tell ain't like the bait on a fishhook, put on FOR
+bait and just thick enough to cover the barb."
+
+"Do you mean to insinuate--" screamed the irrepressible nephew,
+wild at being so completely ignored.  His uncle again paid not the
+slightest attention.
+
+"But that ain't neither here nor there now," he went on.  "Caroline,
+Mr. Pearson just told you that his coming to this house without
+tellin' you fust of his quarrel with 'Bije was his fault.  That ain't
+so.  The fault was mine altogether.  He told me the whole story;
+told me that he hadn't called since it happened, on that very
+account.  And I took the whole responsibility and ASKED him to come.
+I did!  Do you know why?"
+
+If he expected an answer none was given.  Caroline's lids drooped
+disdainfully.  "Steve," she said, "let us go."
+
+"Stop!  You'll stay here until I finish.  I want to say that I
+didn't tell you about the Trolley fuss because I wanted you to
+learn some things for yourself.  I wanted you to know Mr. Pearson--
+to find out what sort of man he was afore you judged him.  Then,
+when you had known him long enough to understand he wasn't a liar
+and a blackguard, and all that Steve has called him, I was goin' to
+tell you the whole truth, not a part of it.  And, after that, I was
+goin' to let you decide for yourself what to do.  I'm a lot older
+than you are; I've mixed with all sorts of folks; I'm past the
+stage where I can be fooled by--by false hair or soft soap.  You
+can't pour sweet oil over a herrin' and make me believe it's a
+sardine.  I know the Pearson stock.  I've sailed over a heap of
+salt water with one of the family.  And I've kept my eyes open
+since I've run acrost this particular member.  And I knew your
+father, too, Caroline Warren.  And I say to you now that, knowin'
+Jim Pearson and 'Bije Warren--yes, and knowin' the rights and
+wrongs of that Trolley business quite as well as Malcolm Dunn or
+anybody else--I say to you that, although 'Bije was my brother, I'd
+bet my life that Jim had all the right on his side.  There! that's
+the truth, and no hook underneath it.  And some day you'll realize
+it, too."
+
+He had spoken with great vehemence.  Now he took a handkerchief
+from his pocket and wiped his forehead.  When he again looked at
+his niece, he found her staring intently at him; and her eyes
+blazed.
+
+"Have you quite finished--now?" she demanded.  "Steve, be quiet!"
+
+"Why, yes, I guess so, pretty nigh.  I s'pose there ain't much use
+to say more.  If I was to tell you that I've tried to do for you
+and Steve in this--same as in everything else since I took this
+job--as if you were my own children, you wouldn't believe it.  If I
+was to tell you, Caroline, that I'd come to think an awful lot of
+you, you wouldn't believe that, either.  I did hope that since our
+other misunderstandin' was cleared up, and you found I wa'n't what
+you thought I was, you'd come to me and ask questions afore passin'
+judgment; but perhaps--"
+
+And now she interrupted, bursting out at him in a blast of scorn
+which took his breath away.
+
+"Oh, stop! stop!" she cried.  "Don't say any more.  You have
+insulted father's memory, and defended the man who slandered him.
+Isn't that enough?  Why must you go on to prove yourself a greater
+hypocrite?  We learned, my brother and I, to-day more than the
+truth concerning your FRIEND.  We learned that you have lied--yes,
+lied--and--"
+
+"Steady, Caroline! be careful.  I wouldn't say what I might be
+sorry for later."
+
+"Sorry!  Captain Warren, you spoke of my misjudging you.  I thought
+I had, and I was sorry.  To-day I learned that your attitude in
+that affair was a lie like the rest.  YOU did not pay for Mr.
+Moriarty's accident.  Mr. Dunn's money paid those bills.  And you
+allowed the family--and me--to thank YOU for your generosity.  Oh,
+I'm ashamed to be near you!"
+
+"There!  There!  Caroline, be still.  I--"
+
+"I shall not be still.  I have been still altogether too long.  You
+are our guardian.  We can't help that, I suppose.  Father asked you
+to be that, for some reason; but did he ask you to LIVE here where
+you are not wanted?  To shame us before our friends, ladies and
+gentlemen so far above you in every way?  And to try to poison our
+minds against them and sneer at them when they are kind to us and
+even try to be kind to you?  No, he did not!  Oh, I'm sick of it
+all! your deceit and your hypocritical speeches and your pretended
+love for us.  LOVE!  Oh, if I could say something that would make
+you understand how thoroughly we despise you, and how your presence,
+ever since you forced it upon Steve and me, has disgraced us!
+If I only could!  I--I--"
+
+She had been near to tears ever since Mrs. Corcoran Dunn, in the
+kindness of her heart, told her the "truth" that afternoon.  But
+pride and indignation had prevented her giving way.  Now, however,
+she broke down.
+
+"Oh--oh, Steve!" she cried, and, turning to her brother, sobbed
+hysterically on his shoulder.  "Oh, Steve, what shall we do?"
+
+Stephen put his arm about her waist.  "It's all right, Sis," he
+said soothingly.  "Don't cry before HIM!  I guess," with a glance
+at his uncle, "you've said enough to make even him understand--at
+last."
+
+Captain Elisha looked gravely at the pair.  "I guess you have," he
+said slowly.  "I guess you have, Caroline.  Anyhow, I can't think
+offhand of anything you've left out.  I could explain some things,
+but what's the use?  And," with a sigh, "you may be right in a way.
+Perhaps I shouldn't have come here to live.  If you'd only told me
+plain afore just how you felt, I'd--maybe I'd--but there!  I didn't
+know--I didn't know.  You see, I thought . . .  However, I guess
+that part of your troubles is over.  But," he added, firmly,
+"wherever I am, or wherever I go, you must understand that I'm your
+guardian, just the same.  I considered a long spell afore I took
+the place, and I never abandoned a ship yet, once I took command of
+her.  And I'll stick to this one!  Yes, sir!  I'll stick to it in
+spite of the devil--or the Dunns, either.  Till you and your
+brother are of age I'm goin' to look out for you and your interests
+and your money; and nothin' nor nobody shall stop me.  As for
+forcin' my company on you, though, that well, that's different.  I
+cal'late you won't have to worry any more.  Good night."
+
+He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked slowly from the
+library.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+Stephen, the "man of the family," was the only member of the
+household, servants excepted, who slept soundly that night.
+Conscious of having done his duty in the affair with Pearson and
+his guardian, and somewhat fatigued by the disagreeable task of
+soothing his hysterical sister, he was slumbering peacefully at
+nine the next morning when awakened by a series of raps on his
+bedroom door.
+
+"Ah!  What?  Well, what is it?" he demanded, testily opening his
+eyes.  "Edwards, is that you?  What the devil do you mean by making
+such a row?"
+
+The voice which answered was not the butler's, but Caroline's.
+
+"Steve!  Oh, Steve!" she cried.  "Do get up and come out!  Come,
+quick!"
+
+"What's the matter?" inquired the young man, sitting up in bed.
+"Is the house afire?"
+
+"No, no!  But do come!  I want you.  Something has happened."
+
+"Happened?  What is it?"
+
+"I can't tell you here.  Please dress and come to me as quick as
+you can."
+
+Stephen, wondering and somewhat alarmed, dressed with unusual
+promptitude and obeyed.  He found his sister standing by the
+library window, a letter in her hand.  She looked troubled and
+anxious.
+
+"Well, Caro," observed the boy, "here I am.  What in the world's up
+now?"
+
+She turned.
+
+"Oh, Steve!" she exclaimed, "he's gone!"
+
+"Gone?  Who?"
+
+"Captain Warren.  He's gone."
+
+"Gone?  Gone where?  Caro, you don't mean he's--DEAD?"
+
+"No, he's gone--gone and left us."
+
+Her brother's expression changed to incredulous joy.
+
+"What?" he shouted.  "You mean he's quit?  Cleared out?  Left here
+for good?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hurrah!  Excuse me while I gloat!  Hurrah!  We got it through his
+skull at last!  Is it possible?  But--but hold on!  Perhaps it's
+too good to be true.  Are you sure?  How do you know?"
+
+"He says so.  See."
+
+She handed him the letter.  It was addressed to "My dear Caroline"
+and in it Captain Elisha stated his intentions succinctly.  After
+the plain speaking of the previous evening he should not, of
+course, burden them with his society any longer.  He was leaving
+that morning, and, as soon as he "located permanent moorings
+somewhere else" would notify his niece and nephew of his
+whereabouts.
+
+"For," he added, "as I told you, although I shall not impose my
+company on you, I am your guardian same as ever.  I will see that
+your allowance comes to you regular, including enough for all
+household bills and pay for the hired help and so on.  If you need
+any extras at any time let me know and, if they seem to me right
+and proper, I will send money for them.  You will stay where you
+are, Caroline, and Stevie must go back to college right away.
+Tell him I say so, and if he does not I shall begin reducing his
+allowance according as I wrote him.  He will understand what I
+mean.  I guess that is all until I send you my address and any
+other sailing orders that seem necessary to me then.  And,
+Caroline, I want you and Stevie to feel that I am your anchor to
+windward, and when you get in a tight place, if you ever do, you
+can depend on me.  Last night's talk has no bearing on that
+whatever.  Good-by, then, until my next.
+
+"ELISHA WARREN."
+
+
+Stephen read this screed to the end, then crumpled it in his fist
+and threw it angrily on the floor.
+
+"The nerve!" he exclaimed.  "He seems to think I'm a sailor on one
+of his ships, to be ordered around as he sees fit.  I'll go back to
+college when I'm good and ready--not before."
+
+Caroline shook her head.  "Oh, no!" she said.  "You must go to-day.
+He's right, Steve; it's the thing for you to do.  He and I were
+agreed as to that.  And you wouldn't stay and make it harder for
+me, would you, dear?"
+
+He growled a reluctant assent.  "I suppose I shall have to go," he
+said, sullenly.  "My allowance is too beastly small to have him
+cutting it; and the old shark would do that very thing; he'd take
+delight in doing it, confound him!  Well, he knows what we think of
+him, that's some comfort."
+
+She did not answer.  He looked at her curiously.
+
+"Why, hang it all, Caro!" he exclaimed in disgust; "what ails you?
+Blessed if I sha'n't begin to believe you're sorry he's gone.  You
+act as if you were."
+
+"No, I'm not.  Of course I'm not.  I'm--I'm glad.  He couldn't
+stay, of course.  But I'm afraid--I can't help feeling that you and
+I were too harsh last night.  We said things--dreadful things--"
+
+"Be hanged!  We didn't say half enough.  Oh, don't be a fool, Caro!
+I was just beginning to be proud of your grit.  And now you want to
+take it all back.  Honestly, girls are the limit!  You don't know
+your own minds for twelve consecutive hours.  Answer me now!  ARE
+you sorry he's gone?"
+
+"No.  No, I'm not, really.  But I--I feel somehow as if--as if
+everything was on my shoulders.  You're going away, and he's gone,
+and--What is it, Edwards?"
+
+The butler entered, with a small parcel in his hand.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Caroline," he said.  "I should have given
+you this last evening.  It was by your place at the table.  I think
+Captain Warren put it there, miss."
+
+Caroline took the parcel and looked at it wonderingly.
+
+"For me?" she repeated.
+
+"Yes, Miss Caroline.  It is marked with your name.  And breakfast
+is served, when you and Mr. Stephen are ready."
+
+He bowed and retired.  The girl sat turning the little white box in
+her hands.
+
+"HE left it for me," she said.  "What can it be?"
+
+Her brother snatched it impatiently.
+
+"Why don't you open it and find out?" he demanded.  "Perhaps it's
+his latch key.  Here!  I'll do it myself."
+
+He cut the cord and removed the cover of the little box.  Inside
+was the jeweler's leather case.  He took it out and pressed the
+spring.  The cover flew up.
+
+"Whew!" he whistled.  "It's a present.  And rather a decent one,
+too, by gad!  Look, Caro!"
+
+He handed her the open case.  She looked at the chain, spread
+carefully on the white satin lining.  Inside the cover was fitted a
+card.  She turned it over and read:  "To my niece, Caroline.  With
+wishes for many happy returns, and much love, from her Uncle Elisha
+Warren."
+
+She sat gazing at the card.  Stephen bent down, read the inscription,
+and then looked up into her face.
+
+"WHAT?" he cried.  "I believe--You're not CRYING!  Well, I'll be
+hanged!  Sis, you ARE a fool!"
+
+
+
+The weather that morning was fine and clear.  James Pearson,
+standing by the window of his rooms at the boarding house, looking
+out at the snow-covered roofs sparkling in the sun, was miserable.
+When he retired the night before it was with a solemn oath to
+forget Caroline Warren altogether; to put her and her father and
+the young cad, her brother, utterly from his mind, never to be
+thought of again.  As a preliminary step in this direction, he
+began, the moment his head touched the pillow, to review, for the
+fiftieth time, the humiliating scene in the library, to think of
+things he should have said, and--worse than all--to recall, word
+for word, the things she had said to him.  In this cheerful
+occupation he passed hours before falling asleep.  And, when he
+woke, it was to begin all over again.
+
+Why--Why had he been so weak as to yield to Captain Elisha's
+advice?  Why had he not acted like a sensible, self-respecting man,
+done what he knew was right, and persisted in his refusal to visit
+the Warrens?  Why?  Because he was an idiot, of course--a hopeless
+idiot, who had got exactly what he deserved!  Which bit of
+philosophy did not help make his reflections less bitter.
+
+He went down to breakfast when the bell rang, but his appetite was
+missing, and he replied only in monosyllables to the remarks
+addressed to him by his fellow boarders.  Mrs. Hepton, the
+landlady, noticed the change.
+
+"You not ill, Mr. Pearson, I hope?" she queried.  "I do hope you
+haven't got cold, sleeping with your windows wide open, as you say
+you do.  Fresh air is a good thing, in moderation, but one should
+be careful.  Don't you think so, Mr. Carson?"
+
+Mr. Carson was a thin little man, a bachelor, who occupied the
+smallest room on the third story.  He was a clerk in a department
+store, and his board was generally in arrears.  Therefore, when
+Mrs. Hepton expressed an opinion he made it a point to agree with
+her.  In this instance, however, he merely grunted.
+
+"I say fresh air in one's sleeping room is a good thing in
+moderation.  Don't you think so, Mr. Carson?" repeated the
+landlady.
+
+Mr. Carson rolled up his napkin and inserted it in the ring.  His
+board, as it happened, was paid in full to date.  Also, although he
+had not yet declared his intention, he intended changing lodgings
+at the end of the week.
+
+"Humph!" he sniffed, with sarcasm, "it may be.  I couldn't get none
+in MY room if I wanted it, so I can't say sure.  Morning."
+
+He departed hurriedly.  Mrs. Hepton looked disconcerted.  Mrs. Van
+Winkle Ruggles smiled meaningly across the table at Miss Sherborne,
+who smiled back.
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, quietly observed that he hoped Mr.
+Pearson had not gotten cold.  Colds were prevalent at this time of
+the year.  "'These are the days when the Genius of the weather sits
+in mournful meditation on the threshold,' as Mr. Dickens tells us,"
+he added.  "I presume he sits on the sills of open windows, also."
+
+The wife of the Mr. Dickens there present pricked up her ears.
+
+"When did you write that, 'C.' dear?" she asked, turning to her
+husband.  "I remember it perfectly, of course, but I have
+forgotten, for the moment, in which of your writings it appears."
+
+The illustrious one's mouth being occupied with a section of
+scorching hot waffle, he was spared the necessity of confession.
+
+"Pardon me," said Mr. Ludlow.  "I was not quoting our Mr. Dickens
+this time, but his famous namesake."
+
+The great "C." drowned the waffle with a swallow of water.
+
+"Maria," he snapped, "don't be so foolish.  Ludlow quotes from--er--
+'Bleak House.'  I have written some things--er--similar, but not
+that.  Why don't you pass the syrup?"
+
+The bookseller, who was under the impression that he had quoted
+from the "Christmas Carol," merely smiled and remained silent.
+
+"My father, the Senator," began Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles, "was
+troubled with colds during his political career.  I remember his
+saying that the Senate Chamber at the Capitol was extremely
+draughty.  Possibly Mr. Pearson's ailment does come from sleeping
+in a draught.  Not that father was accustomed to SLEEP during the
+sessions--Oh, dear, no! not that, of course.  How absurd!"
+
+She laughed gayly.  Pearson, who seemed to think it time to say
+something, declared that, so far as he knew, he had no cold or any
+symptoms of one.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Hepton, with conviction, "something ails you, I
+know.  We can all see it; can't we?" turning to the rest of the
+company.  "Why, you've scarcely spoken since you sat down at the
+table.  And you've eaten next to nothing.  Perhaps there is some
+trouble, something on your mind which is worrying you.  Oh, I HOPE
+not!"
+
+"No doubt it is the preoccupation of genius," remarked Mrs.
+Dickens.  "I'm sure it must be that.  When 'C.' is engaged with
+some particularly trying literary problem he frequently loses all
+his appetite and does not speak for hours together.  Isn't it so,
+dear?"
+
+"C.," who was painfully conscious that he might have made a miscue
+in the matter of the quotation, answered sharply.
+
+"No," he said.  "Not at all.  Don't be silly, Maria."
+
+Miss Sherborne clasped her hands.  "_I_ know!" she exclaimed in
+mock rapture; "Mr. Pearson is in love!"
+
+This suggestion was received with applause and hilarity.  Pearson
+pushed back his chair and rose.
+
+"I'm much obliged for this outburst of sympathy," he observed,
+dryly.  "But, as I say, I'm perfectly well, and the other diagnoses
+are too flattering to be true.  Good morning."
+
+Back in his room he seated himself at his desk, took the manuscript
+of his novel from the drawer, and sat moodily staring at it.  He
+was in no mood for work.  The very sight of the typewritten page
+disgusted him.  As he now felt, the months spent on the story were
+time wasted.  It was ridiculous for him to attempt such a thing; or
+to believe that he could carry it through successfully; or to dream
+that he would ever be anything better than a literary hack, a cheap
+edition of "C." Dickens, minus the latter's colossal self-
+satisfaction.
+
+He was still sitting there, twirling an idle pencil between his
+fingers, when he heard steps outside his door.  Someone knocked.
+
+"Well, what is it?" he asked.
+
+His landlady answered.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, "may I see you?"
+
+He threw down the pencil and, rising, walked to the door and opened
+it.  Mrs. Hepton was waiting in the hall.  She seemed excited.
+
+"Mr. Pearson," she said, "will you step downstairs with me for a
+moment?  I have a surprise for you."
+
+"A surprise?  What sort of a surprise?"
+
+"Oh, a pleasant one.  At least I think it is going to be pleasant
+for all of us.  But I'm not going to tell you what it is.  You must
+come down and see for yourself."
+
+She led the way downstairs, the young man following her, wondering
+what the surprise might be, and fairly certain it, nor anything
+else, could be pleasant on that day.
+
+He supposed, of course, that he must descend to the parlor to reach
+the solution of the mystery, but he was mistaken.  On the second
+floor Mrs. Hepton stopped and pointed.
+
+"It's in there," she said, pointing.
+
+"There" was the room formerly occupied by Mr. Saks, the long-haired
+artist.  Since his departure it had been vacant.  Pearson looked at
+the closed door and then at the lady.
+
+"A surprise for me in THERE?" he repeated.  "What's the joke, Mrs.
+Hepton?"
+
+By way of answer she took him by the arm, and, leading him to the
+door, threw the latter open.
+
+"Here he is!" she said.
+
+"Hello, Jim!" hailed Captain Elisha Warren, cheerfully.  "Ship
+ahoy!  Glad to see you."
+
+He was standing in the middle of the room, his hat on the table and
+his hands in his pockets.
+
+Pearson was surprised; there was no doubt of that--not so much at
+the sight of his friend--he had expected to see or hear from the
+captain before the day was over--as at seeing him in that room.  He
+could not understand what he was doing there.
+
+Captain Elisha noted his bewildered expression, and chuckled.
+
+"Come aboard, Jim!" he commanded.  "Come in and inspect.  I'll see
+you later, Mrs. Hepton," he added, "and give you my final word.  I
+want to hold officer's council with Mr. Pearson here fust."
+
+The landlady accepted the broad hint and turned to go.
+
+"Very well," she said, "but I do hope for all our sakes that word
+will be YES, Mr. Warren--Excuse me, it is Captain Warren, isn't
+it?"
+
+"It used to be, yes, ma'am.  And at home it is yet.  'Round here
+I've learned to be like a barroom poll-parrot, ready to answer to
+most everything.  There!" as the door closed after her; "now we can
+be more private.  Set down, Jim!  How are you, anyway?"
+
+Pearson sat down mechanically.  "I'm well enough--everything
+considered," he replied, slowly.  "But what--what are you in here
+for?  I don't understand."
+
+"You will in a minute.  What do you think of this--er--saloon
+cabin?" with a comprehensive sweep of his arm.
+
+The room was of fair size, furnished in a nondescript, boarding-
+house fashion, and with two windows overlooking the little back
+yard of the house and those of the other adjoining it.  Each yard
+contained an assortment of ash cans, and there was an astonishing
+number of clothes lines, each fluttering a variety of garments
+peculiarly personal to their respective owners.
+
+"Pretty snug, ain't it?" continued the captain.  "Not exactly up to
+that I've been luxuriatin' in lately, but more fittin' to my build
+and class than that was, I shouldn't wonder.  No Corot paintin's
+nor five thousand dollar tintypes of dory codders; but I can manage
+to worry along without them, if I try hard.  Neat but not gaudy, I
+call it--as the architect feller said about his plans for the
+addition to the county jail at Ostable.  Hey?  Ho! Ho!"
+
+Pearson began to get a clue to the situation.
+
+"Captain Warren," he demanded, "have you--Do you mean to say you've
+taken this room to LIVE in?"
+
+"No, I ain't said all that yet.  I wanted to talk with you a little
+afore I said it.  But that was my idea, if you and I agreed on
+sartin matters."
+
+"You've come here to live!  You've left your--your niece's house?"
+
+"Ya-as, I've left.  That is, I left the way the Irishman left the
+stable where they kept the mule.  He said there was all out doors
+in front of him and only two feet behind.  That's about the way
+'twas with me."
+
+"Have your nephew and niece--"
+
+"Um-hm.  They hinted that my room was better than my company, and,
+take it by and large, I guess they was right for the present,
+anyhow.  I set up till three o'clock thinkin' it over, and then I
+decided to get out afore breakfast this mornin'.  I didn't wait for
+any good-bys.  They'd been said, or all I cared to hear--Captain
+Elisha's smile disappeared for an instant--"last evenin'.  The dose
+was sort of bitter, but it had the necessary effect.  At any rate,
+I didn't hanker for another one.  I remembered what your landlady
+told me when I was here afore, about this stateroom bein' vacated,
+and I come down to look at it.  It suits me well enough; seems like
+a decent moorin's for an old salt water derelict like me; the price
+is reasonable, and I guess likely I'll take it.  I GUESS I will."
+
+"Why do you guess?  By George, I hope you will!"
+
+"Do you?  I'm much obliged.  I didn't know but after last night,
+after the scrape I got you into, you might feel--well, sort of as
+if you'd seen enough of me."
+
+The young man smiled bitterly.  "It wasn't your fault," he said.
+"It was mine entirely.  I'm quite old enough to decide matters for
+myself, and I should have decided as my reason, and not my
+inclinations, told me.  You weren't to blame."
+
+"Yes, I was.  If you're old enough, I'm TOO old, I cal'late.  But I
+did think--However, there's no use goin' over that.  I ask your
+pardon, Jim.  And you don't hold any grudge?"
+
+"Indeed I don't.  I may be a fool--I guess I am--but not that
+kind."
+
+"Thanks.  Well, there's one objection out of the way, then,
+only I don't want you to think that I've hove overboard that
+'responsibility' I was so easy and fresh about takin' on my
+shoulders.  It's there yet; and I'll see you squared with Caroline
+afore this v'yage is over, if I live."
+
+His friend frowned.
+
+"You needn't mind," he said.  "I prefer that you drop the whole
+miserable business."
+
+"Well, maybe, but--Jim, you've taken hold of these electric
+batteries that doctors have sometimes?  It's awful easy to grab the
+handles of one of those contraptions, but when you want to drop 'em
+you can't.  They don't drop easy.  I took hold of the handles of
+'Bije's affairs, and, though it might be pleasanter to drop 'em, I
+can't--or I won't."
+
+"Then you're leaving your nephew and niece doesn't mean that you've
+given up the guardianship?"
+
+Captain Elisha's jaw set squarely.
+
+"I don't remember sayin' that it did," he answered, with decision.
+Then, his good-nature returning, he added, "And now, Jim, I'd like
+your opinion of these new quarters that I may take.  What do you
+think of 'em?  Come to the window and take a look at the scenery."
+
+Pearson joined him at the window.  The captain waved toward the
+clothes-lines and grinned.
+
+"Looks as if there was some kind of jubilee, don't it," he
+observed.  "Every craft in sight has strung the colors."
+
+Pearson laughed.  Then he said:
+
+"Captain, I think the room will do.  It isn't palatial, but one can
+live in worse quarters, as I know from experience."
+
+"Yup.  Well, Jim, there's just one thing more.  Have I disgraced
+you a good deal, bein' around with you and chummin' in with you the
+way I have?  That is, do you THINK I've disgraced you?  Are you
+ashamed of me?"
+
+"I?  Ashamed of YOU?  You're joking!"
+
+"No, I'm serious.  Understand now, I'm not apologizin'.  My ways
+are my ways, and I think they're just as good as the next feller's,
+whether he's from South Denboro or--well, Broad Street.  I've got a
+habit of thinkin' for myself and actin' for myself, and when I take
+off my hat it's to a bigger MAN than I am and not to a more stylish
+hat.  But, since I've lived here in New York, I've learned that,
+with a whole lot of folks, hats themselves count more than what's
+underneath 'em.  I haven't changed mine, and I ain't goin' to.
+Now, with that plain and understood, do you want me to live here,in
+the same house with you?  I ain't fishin' for compliments.  I want
+an honest answer."
+
+He got it.  Pearson looked him squarely in the eye.
+
+"I do," he said.  "I like you, and I don't care a damn about your
+hat.  Is that plain?"
+
+Captain Elisha's reply was delivered over the balusters in the
+hall.
+
+"Hi!" he called.  "Hi, Mrs. Hepton."
+
+The landlady had been anxiously waiting.  She ran from the dining
+room to the foot of the stairs.
+
+"Yes?" she cried.  "What is it?"
+
+"It's a bargain," said the captain.  "I'm ready to engage passage."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+Thus Captain Elisha entered another of New York's "circles," that
+which centered at Mrs. Hepton's boarding house.  Within a week he
+was as much a part of it as if he had lived there for years.  At
+lunch, on the day of his arrival, he made his appearance at the
+table in company with Pearson, and when the landlady exultantly
+announced that he was to be "one of our little party" thereafter,
+he received and replied to the welcoming salutations of his fellow
+boarders with unruffled serenity.
+
+"How could I help it?" he asked.  "Human nature's liable to
+temptation, they tell us.  The flavor of that luncheon we had last
+time I was here has been hangin' 'round the edges of my mouth and
+tantalizin' my memory ever since."
+
+"We had a souffle that noon, if I remember correctly, Captain,"
+observed the flattered Mrs. Hepton.
+
+"Did you?  Well, I declare!  I'd have sworn 'twas a biled-dinner
+hash.  Knew 'twas better than any I ever ate afore, but I'd have
+bet 'twas hash, just the same.  Tut! tut! tut!  Now, honest, Mrs.
+Hepton, ain't this--er--whatever-you-call-it a close relation--a
+sort of hash with its city clothes on, hey?"
+
+The landlady admitted that a souffle was something not unlike a
+hash.  Captain Elisha nodded.
+
+"I thought so," he declared.  "I was sartin sure I couldn't be
+mistaken.  What is it used to be in the song book?  'You can smash--
+you can--'  Well, I don't remember.  Somethin' about your bein'
+able to smash the vase if you wanted to, but the smell of the
+posies was there yet."
+
+Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, supplied the quotation.
+
+
+       "'You may break, you may shatter
+           The vase if you will,
+         But the scent of the roses
+           Will cling to it still,'
+
+
+he said, smiling.
+
+"That's it.  Much obliged.  You can warm up and rechristen the hash
+if you will; but the corned beef and cabbage stay right on deck.
+Ain't that so, Mr. Dickens?"
+
+The illustrious "C." bowed.
+
+"Moore?" he observed, with dignity.
+
+"Yes.  That's what _I_ said--'More!'  Said it twice, I believe.
+Glad you agree with me.  The hymn says that weakness is sin, but
+there's no sin in havin' a weakness for corned-beef hash."
+
+Miss Sherborne and Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles were at first inclined
+to snub the new boarder, considering him a country boor whose
+presence in their select society was almost an insult.  The captain
+did not seem to notice their hints or sneers, although Pearson grew
+red and wrathful.
+
+"Laura, my dear," said Mrs. Ruggles, addressing the teacher of
+vocal culture, "don't you feel quite rural today?  Almost as if you
+were visiting the country?"
+
+"I do, indeed," replied Miss Sherborne.  "Refreshing, isn't it?
+Ha! ha!"
+
+"It is if one cares for such things.  I am afraid _I_ don't
+appreciate them.  They may be well enough in their place, but--"
+
+She finished with a shrug of her shoulders.  Captain Elisha smiled.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he said politely, joining in the conversation;
+"that's what the boy said about the cooky crumbs in the bed.  You
+don't care for the country, I take it, ma'am"
+
+"I do NOT!"
+
+"So?  Well, it's a mercy we don't think alike; even Heaven would be
+crowded if we did--hey?  You didn't come from the country, either?"
+turning to Miss Sherborne.
+
+The young lady would have liked to answer with an uncompromising
+negative.  Truth and the fact that some of those present were
+acquainted with it compelled her to forego this pleasure.
+
+"I was born in a--a small town," she answered coldly.  "But I came
+to the city as soon as I possibly could."
+
+"Um-hm.  Well, I came when I couldn't possibly stay away.  We can
+agree on one thing--we're all here.  Yes, and on another--that that
+cake is fust-rate.  I'll take a second piece, if you've no
+objection, Mrs. Hepton."
+
+When they were alone once more, in the captain's room, Pearson
+vented his indignation.
+
+"Why didn't you give them as good as they sent?" he demanded.
+"Couldn't you see they were doing their best to hurt your feelings?"
+
+"Ya-as.  I could see it.  Didn't need any specs to see that."
+
+"Then why didn't you answer them as they deserved?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  What's the use?  They've got troubles of their
+own.  One of 'em's a used-to-be, and the other's a never-was.
+Either disease is bad enough without addin' complications."
+
+Pearson laughed.  "I don't get the whole of that, Captain," he
+said.  "Mrs. Van is the used-to-be, I suppose.  But what is it that
+Miss Sherborne never was?"
+
+"Married," was the prompt reply.  "Old maiditis is creepin' on her
+fast.  You want to be careful, Jim; a certain kind of female gets
+desperate about her stage."
+
+Pearson laughed again.
+
+"Oh, get out!" he exclaimed, turning to go.
+
+"All right!  I will, when you and she are together and you give me
+the signal.  But I tell you honest, I'd hate to do it.  Judgin' by
+the way she smiles and looks up under her eye-winkers at you,
+you're in danger of kidnappin'.  So long.  I'll see you again after
+I get my dunnage unpacked."
+
+The snubbing and sneering came to an abrupt end.  Pearson, in
+conversation with Mrs. Ruggles, casually imparted the information
+that Captain Elisha was the brother of A. Rodgers Warren, late
+society leader and wealthy broker.  Also, that he had entire charge
+of the latter's estate.  Thereafter Mrs. Ruggles treated the
+captain as one whose rank was equal to her own, and, consequently,
+higher than anyone's else in the boarding-house.  She made it a
+point to publicly ask his advice concerning "securities" and
+"investments," and favored him with many reminiscences of her
+distinguished father, the Senator.  Miss Sherborne, as usual,
+followed her lead.  Captain Elisha, when Pearson joked him on the
+altered behavior of the two ladies, merely grinned.
+
+"You may thank me for that, Captain," said the young man.  "When I
+told Mrs. Ruggles who and what you were she almost broke down and
+sobbed.  The fact that she had risked offending one so closely
+connected with the real thing on Fifth Avenue and Wall Street was
+too dreadful.  But she's yours devotedly now.  There's an 18-karat
+crown on your head."
+
+"Yup.  I suppose so.  Well, I ain't so sot up with pride over
+wearin' that crown.  It used to belong to 'Bije, and I never did
+care much for second-hand things.  Rather have a new sou'wester of
+my own, any day in the week.  When I buy a sou'wester I know what
+it's made of."
+
+"Mrs. Ruggles knows what the crown is made of--gold, nicely padded
+with bonds and preferred stock."
+
+"Humph!  Sometimes I wonder if the paddin's waterproof.  As for the
+gold--well, you can make consider'ble shine with brass when you're
+dealin' with nigh-sighted folks . . . and children."
+
+To this indirect reference to Miss Warren and her brother Pearson
+made no reply.  The pair conversed freely on other subjects, but
+each avoided this one.  The novel, too, was laid on the shelf for
+the present.  Its author had not yet mustered sufficient courage to
+return to it.  Captain Elisha once or twice suggested a session
+with "Cap'n Jim," but, finding his suggestions received with more
+or less indifference, did not press them.  His mind was busy with
+other things.  A hint dropped by Sylvester, the lawyer, was one of
+these.  It suggested alarming possibilities, and his skepticism
+concerning the intrinsic worth of his inherited "crown" was
+increased by it.
+
+He paid frequent visits to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and
+Graves in Pine Street.  Upon the senior partner, whom he esteemed
+and trusted not only as a business adviser but a friend, he
+depended for information concerning happenings at the Warren
+apartment.
+
+Caroline sent him regular statements of her weekly expenditures,
+also bills for his approval, but she had written him but once,
+and then only a brief note.  The note brought by a messenger,
+accompanied a package containing the chain which he and Pearson
+selected with such deliberation and care at the Fifth Avenue
+jeweler's.  Under the existing circumstances, the girl wrote, she
+felt that she did not wish to accept presents from him and
+therefore returned this one.  He was alone when the note and
+package came and sat by the window of his room, looking out at the
+dismal prospect of back yards and clothes-lines, turning the
+leather case over and over in his hands.  Perhaps this was the most
+miserable afternoon he had spent since his arrival in the city.  He
+tried to comfort himself by the exercise of his usual philosophy,
+but it was cold comfort.  He had no right to expect gratitude, so
+he told himself, and the girl undoubtedly felt that she was justified
+in her treatment of him; but it is hard to be misunderstood and
+misjudged, even by one whose youth is, perhaps, an excuse.  He
+forgave Caroline, but he could not forgive those who were
+responsible for her action.
+
+After Pearson had departed, on the morning when the conversation
+dealing with Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles and her change of attitude
+took place, Captain Elisha put on his hat and coat and started for
+his lawyer's office.  Sylvester was glad to see him and invited him
+to lunch.
+
+"No, thank you," replied the captain.  "I just run down to ask if
+there was anything new in the offin'.  Last time I see you, you
+hinted you and your mates had sighted somethin' or other through
+the fog, and it might turn out to be a rock or a lighthouse, you
+couldn't tell which.  Made up your mind yet?"
+
+Sylvester shook his head.  "No," he said, slowly; "it is still
+foggy.  We're busy investigating, but we're not ready to report."
+
+"Humph!  Well, what's the thing look like?  You must be a little
+nigher to it by now."
+
+The lawyer tapped his desk with a pencil.  "I don't know what it
+looks like," he answered.  "That is to say, I don't--I can't
+believe it is what it appears, at this distance, to be.  If it is,
+it is the most--"
+
+He paused.  Captain Elisha waited for him to go on and, when he did
+not do so, asked another question.
+
+"The most what?" he demanded.  "Is it likely to be very bad?"
+
+"Why--why--well, I can't say even that yet.  But there! as I told
+you, I'm not going to permit it to worry me.  And you mustn't
+worry, either.  That's why I don't give you any further particulars.
+There may be nothing in it, after all."
+
+His visitor smiled.  "Say, Mr. Sylvester," he said, "you're like
+the young-ones used to be when I was a boy.  There'd be a gang of
+'em waitin' by the schoolhouse steps and when the particular victim
+hove in sight they'd hail him with, 'Ah, ha! YOU'RE goin' to get
+it!'  'Wait till teacher sees you!' and so on.  Course the victim
+would want to know what it meant.  All the satisfaction he got from
+them was, 'That's all right!  You'll find out!  You just wait!'
+And the poor feller put in the time afore the bell rung goin' over
+all the things he shouldn't have done and had, and wonderin' which
+it was this time.  You hinted to me a week ago that there was a
+surprisin' possibility loomin' up in 'Bije's financial affairs.
+And ever since then I've been puzzlin' my brains tryin' to guess
+what could happen.  Ain't discovered any more of those Cut Short
+bonds, have you?"
+
+The bonds to which he referred were those of a defunct Short Line
+railroad.  A large number of these bonds had been discovered among
+A. Rodgers Warren's effects; part of his "tangled assets," the
+captain had termed them, differentiating from the "tangible"
+variety.
+
+"Abbie, my housekeeper, has been writin' me," he went on, "about
+havin' the sewin' room papered.  She wants my advice concernin' the
+style of paper; says it ought to be pretty and out of the common,
+but not too expensive.  I judge what she wants is somethin' that
+looks like money but ain't really wuth more than ten cents a mile.
+I've been thinkin' I'd send her a bale or so of those bonds; they'd
+fill the bill in those respects, wouldn't they?"
+
+Sylvester laughed.  "They certainly would, Captain," he replied.
+"No, we haven't unearthed any more of that sort.  And, as for this
+mystery of ours, I'll give you the answer--if it's worth giving at
+all, in a very short time.  Meanwhile, you go home and forget it."
+
+"Well, I'll try.  But I guess it sticks out on my face, like a four
+days' toothache.  But I WON'T worry about that.  You know best
+whether to tell me now or not, and--well, I'm carryin' about all
+the worry my tonnage'll stand, as 'tis."
+
+He drew a long breath.  Sylvester regarded him sympathetically.
+
+"You mustn't take your nephew's and niece's treatment too much to
+heart," he said.
+
+"Oh, I don't.  That is, I pretend I don't.  And I do try not to.
+But I keep thinkin', thinkin', and wonderin' if 'twould have been
+better if I hadn't gone there to live at all.  Hi hum! a man of my
+age hadn't ought to mind what a twenty-year-old girl says, or does;
+'specially when her kind, advisin' friends have shown her how she's
+been deceived and hypocrit-ted.  By the way, speakin' of hypocrites,
+I suppose there's just as much 'Dunnin'' as ever goin' on up there?"
+
+"Yes.  A little more, if anything, I'm afraid.  Your niece and Mrs.
+Dunn and her precious son are together now so constantly that
+people are expecting--well, you know what they expect."
+
+"I can guess.  I hope they'll be disapp'inted."
+
+"So do I, but I must confess I'm fearful.  Malcolm himself isn't so
+wise, but his mother is--"
+
+"A whole Book of Proverbs, hey?  I know.  She's an able old frigate.
+I did think I had her guns spiked, but she turned 'em on me
+unexpected.  I thought I had her and her boy in a clove hitch.  I
+knew somethin' that I was sartin sure they wouldn't want Caroline to
+know, and she and Malcolm knew I knew it.  Her tellin' Caroline of
+it, HER story of it, when I wasn't there to contradict, was as smart
+a piece of maneuverin' as ever was.  It took the wind out of my
+sails, because, though I'm just as right as I ever was, Caroline
+wouldn't listen to me, nor believe me, now."
+
+"She'll learn by experience."
+
+"Yup.  But learnin' by experience is a good deal like shippin'
+green afore the mast; it'll make an able seaman of you, if it don't
+kill you fust.  When I was a boy there was a man in our town name
+of Nickerson Cummin's.  He was mate of a ship and smart as a red
+pepper poultice on a skinned heel.  He was a great churchgoer when
+he was ashore and always preachin' brotherly love and kindness and
+pattin' us little shavers on the head, and so on.  Most of the
+grown folks thought he was a sort of saint, and I thought he was
+more than that.  I'd have worshiped him, I cal'late, if my
+Methodist trainin' would have allowed me to worship anybody who
+wa'n't named in Scriptur'.  If there'd been an apostle or a prophet
+christened Nickerson I'd have fell on my knees to this Cummin's
+man, sure.  So, when I went to sea as a cabin boy, a tow-headed
+snub-nosed little chap of fourteen, I was as happy as a clam at
+highwater 'cause I was goin' in the ship he was mate of."
+
+He paused.  There was a frown on his face, and his lower jaw was
+thrust forward grimly.
+
+"Well?" inquired Sylvester.  "What happened?"
+
+"Hey?  Oh, excuse me.  When I get to thinkin' of that v'yage I
+simmer inside, like a teakettle on a hot stove.  The second day
+out--seasick and homesick and so miserable I wished I could die all
+at once instead of by lingerin' spasms--I dropped a dish on the
+cabin floor and broke it.  Cummin's was alone with me, eatin' his
+dinner; and he jumped out of his chair when I stooped to pick up
+the pieces and kicked me under the table.  When I crawled out, he
+kicked me again and kept it up.  When his foot got tired he used
+his fist.  'There!' says he between his teeth, 'I cal'late that'll
+learn you that crockery costs money.'
+
+"It did.  I never broke anything else aboard that ship.  Cummin's
+was a bully and a sneak to everybody but the old man, and a toady
+to him.  He never struck me or anybody else when the skipper was
+around, but there was nothin' too mean for him to do when he
+thought he had a safe chance.  And he took pains to let me know
+that if I ever told a soul at home he'd kill me.  I'd learned by
+experience, not only about the price of crockery, but other things,
+things that a youngster ought not to learn--how to hate a man so
+that you can wait years to get even with him, for one.  I'm sorry I
+learned that, and," dryly, "so was Cummin's, later.  But I did
+learn, once and for all, not to take folks on trust, nor to size
+'em up by their outside, or the noise they make in prayer-meetin',
+nor the way they can spread soft soap when they think it's
+necessary.  I'd learned that, and I'd learned it early enough to be
+of use to me, which was a mercy.
+
+"It was a hard lesson for me," he added, reflectively; "but I
+managed to come out of it without lettin' it bitter my whole life.
+I don't mind so much Caroline's bein' down on me.  She'll know
+better some day, I hope; and if she don't--well, I'm only a side-
+issue in her life, anyhow, hove in by accident, like the section of
+dog collar in the sassage.  But I do hope her learnin' by
+experience won't come too late to save her from . . . what she'll
+be awful sorry for by and by."
+
+"It must," declared the lawyer, with decision.  "You must see to
+it, Captain Warren.  You are her guardian.  She is absolutely under
+your charge.  She can do nothing of importance unless you consent."
+
+"Yup.  That's so--for one more year; just one, remember!  Then
+she'll be of age, and I can't say 'Boo!'  And her share of 'Bije's
+money'll be hers, too.  And don't you believe that that fact has
+slipped Sister Dunn's memory.  I ain't on deck to head her off now;
+if she puts Malcolm up to gettin' Caroline to give her word, and
+Caroline gives it--well, I know my niece.  She's honorable, and
+she'll stick to her promise if it runs her on the rocks.  And Her
+Majesty Dunn knows that, too.  Therefore, the cat bein' away, she
+cal'lates now's the time to make sure of the cheese."
+
+"But the cat can come back.  The song says it did, you know."
+
+"Um-hm.  And got another kick, I shouldn't wonder.  However, my
+claws'll stay sharp for a year or thereabouts, and, if it comes to
+a shindy, there'll be some tall scratchin' afore I climb a tree.
+Keep a weather eye on what goes on, won't you?"
+
+"I will.  You can depend on me."
+
+"I do.  And say! for goodness' sakes put me out of my misery
+regardin' that rock or lighthouse on 'Bije's chart, soon's ever you
+settle which it is."
+
+"Certainly!  And, remember, don't worry.  It may be a lighthouse,
+or nothing at all.  At all events, I'll report very soon."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+But, in spite of his promise, Sylvester did not report during the
+following week or the next.  Meanwhile, his client tried his best
+to keep the new mystery from troubling his thoughts, and succeeded
+only partially.  The captain's days and evenings were quiet and
+monotonous.  He borrowed a book or two from Mrs. Hepton's meager
+library, read, walked a good deal, generally along the water front,
+and wrote daily letters to Miss Baker.  He and Pearson were
+together for at least a portion of each day.  The author, fighting
+down his dejection and discouragement, set himself resolutely to
+work once more on the novel, and his nautical adviser was called
+in for frequent consultation.  The story, however, progressed but
+slowly.  There was something lacking.  Each knew what that
+something was, but neither named it.
+
+One evening Pearson entered the room tenanted by his friend to find
+the latter seated beside the table, his shoes partially unlaced,
+and a pair of big slippers ready for putting on.
+
+"Captain," said the visitor, "you look so comfortable I hate to
+disturb you."
+
+Captain Elisha, red-faced and panting, desisted from the unlacing
+and straightened in his chair.
+
+"Whew!" he puffed.  "Jim, your remarks prove that your experience
+of the world ain't as big as it ought to be.  When you get to my
+age and waist measure you'll realize that stoopin' over and comfort
+don't go together.  I hope to be comfortable pretty soon; but I
+sha'n't be till them boots are off.  Set down.  The agony'll be
+over in a minute."
+
+Pearson declined to sit.  "Not yet," he said.  "And you let those
+shoes alone, until you hear what I've got to say.  A newspaper
+friend of mine has sent me two tickets for the opera to-night.  I
+want you to go with me."
+
+Captain Elisha was surprised.
+
+"To the opera?" he repeated.  "Why, that's a--a sort of singin'
+theater ain't it?"
+
+"Yes, you're fond of music; you told me so.  And Aida is beautiful.
+Come on! it will do us both good."
+
+"Hum!  Well, I don't know."
+
+"I do.  Get ready."
+
+The captain looked at his caller's evening clothes.
+
+"What do you mean by gettin' ready?" he asked.  "You've got on your
+regimentals, open front and all.  My uniform is the huntin' case
+kind; fits in better with church sociables and South Denboro
+no'theasters.  If I wore one of those vests like yours Abbie'd make
+me put on a red flannel lung-protector to keep from catchin'
+pneumonia.  And she'd think 'twas sinful waste besides, runnin' the
+risk of sp'ilin' a clean biled shirt so quick.  Won't I look like
+an undertaker, sittin' alongside of you?"
+
+"Not a bit.  If it will ease your mind I'll change to a business
+suit."
+
+"I don't care.  You know how I feel; we had a little talk about
+hats a spell ago, you remember.  If you're willin' to take me 'just
+as I am, without a plea,' as the hymn-tune says, why, I cal'late
+I'll say yes and go.  Set down and wait while I get on my
+ceremonials."
+
+He retired to the curtain alcove, and Pearson heard him rustling
+about, evidently making a hurried change of raiment.  During this
+process he talked continuously.
+
+"Jim," he said, "I ain't been to the theater but once since I
+landed in New York.  Then I went to see a play named 'The Heart of
+a Sailor.'  Ha! ha! that was a great show!  Ever take it in, did
+you?"
+
+"No.  I never did."
+
+"Well, you'd ought to.  It's a wonder of it's kind.  I learned more
+things about life-savin' and 'longshore life from that drayma than
+you'd believe was possible.  You'd have got some p'ints for your
+Cap'n Jim yarn from that play; you sartin would!  Yes, indeed!  Way
+I happened to go to it was on account of seein' a poster on a fence
+over nigh where that Moriarty tribe lived.  The poster pictured a
+bark ashore, on her beam ends, in a sea like those off the Horn.
+On the beach was a whole parcel of life-savers firin' off rockets
+and blue lights.  Keepin' the Fourth of July, I judged they was,
+for I couldn't see any other reason.  The bark wa'n't more'n a
+hundred foot from 'em, and if all hands on board didn't know they
+was in trouble by that time, then they deserved to drown.  Anyhow,
+they wa'n't likely to appreciate the celebration.  Ho! ho!  Well,
+when I run afoul of that poster I felt I hadn't ought to let
+anything like that get away; so I hunted up the theater--it wa'n't
+but a little ways off--and got a front seat for that very afternoon."
+
+"Was it up to the advertising?" asked Pearson.
+
+"WAS it?  Hi hum!  I wish you'd been there.  More 'special I wished
+some of the folks from home had been there, for the whole business
+was supposed to happen on the Cape, and they'd have realized how
+ignorant we are about the place we live in.  The hero was a
+strappin' six-footer, sort of a combination fisherman and parson,
+seemed so.  He wore ileskins in fair weather and went around
+preachin' or defyin' folks that provoked him and makin' love to
+the daughter of a long-haired old relic that called himself an
+inventor. . . .  Oh, consarn it!"
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Dropped my collar button, as usual.  Collar buttons are one of the
+Old Harry's pet traps.  I'll bet their responsible for 'most as
+many lapses from grace as tangled fishlines.  Where . . . Ow! . . .
+All right; I found it with my bare foot, and edge up, of course."
+
+A series of grunts and short-breathed exclamations followed,
+indicating that the sufferer was struggling with a tight collar.
+
+"Go on," commanded Pearson. "Tell me some more about the play."
+
+"Hey?  Oh, the play.  Where was I?"
+
+"You were saying that the heroine's father was an inventor."
+
+"That's what HE said he was, though he never furnished any proof.
+His daughter helped him with his inventions, but if she'd cut his
+hair once in a while 'twould have been a better way of puttin' in
+the time, 'cordin' to my notion.  And there was a rich squire, who
+made his money by speculatin' in wickedness, and a mortgage, and--I
+don't know what all.  And those Cape Cod folks! and the houses they
+lived in! and the way they talked!  Oh, dear! oh, dear!  I got my
+money's wuth that afternoon."
+
+"What about the wreck?  How did that happen?"
+
+"Don't know.  It happened 'cause it had to be in the play, I
+cal'late.  The mortgage, or an 'invention' or somethin', was on
+board the bark and just naturally took a short cut for home, way I
+figgered it out.  But, Jim, you ought to have seen that hero!  He
+peeled off his ileskin-slicker--he'd kept it on all through the
+sunshine, but now, when 'twas rainin' and rainin' and wreckin' and
+thunderin', he shed it--and jumped in and saved all hands and the
+ship's cat.  'Twas great business!  No wonder the life-savers set
+off fireworks!  And thunder!  Why, say, it never stopped thunderin'
+in that storm except when somebody had to make a heroic speech;
+then it let up and give 'em a chance.  Most considerate thunder
+ever I heard.  And the lightnin'! and the way the dust flew from
+the breakers!  I was glad I went. . . .  There!" appearing fully
+dressed from behind the curtains.  "I'm ready if you are.  Did I
+talk your head off?  I ask your pardon; but that 'Heart of a
+Sailor' touched mine, I guess.  I know I was afraid I'd laugh until
+it stopped beatin'.  And all around the people were cryin'.  It was
+enough sight damper amongst the seats than in those cloth waves."
+
+The pair walked over to Broadway, boarded a street car, and
+alighted before the Metropolitan Opera House.  Pearson's seats were
+good ones, well down in the orchestra.  Captain Elisha turned and
+surveyed the great interior and the brilliantly garbed audience.
+
+"Whew!" he muttered.  "This is considerable of a show in itself,
+Jim.  They could put our town hall inside here and the folks on the
+roof wouldn't be so high as those in that main skys'l gallery up
+aloft there.  Can they see or hear, do you think?"
+
+"Oh, yes.  The accepted idea is that they are the real music
+lovers.  THEY come for the opera itself.  Some of the others come
+because--well, because it is the proper thing."
+
+"Yes, yes; I see.  That's the real article right over our heads, I
+suppose."
+
+"Yes.  That's the 'Diamond Horseshoe.'"
+
+"All proper things there, hey?"
+
+"Why--er--yes, I suppose so.  What makes you ask?"
+
+"Nothing much.  I was thinking 'twas better Abbie wa'n't along on
+this cruise.  She'd probably want to put an 'im' in front of that
+'proper.'  I envy those women, Jim; THEY didn't have to stop to
+hunt up collar buttons, did they."
+
+He was silent during the first act of the opera.  When the curtain
+fell his companion asked how he liked it.
+
+"Good singin'," he replied; "best I ever heard.  Do you understand
+what they say?"
+
+"No.  But I'm familiar with the story of Aida, of course.  It's a
+favorite of mine.  And the words don't really matter."
+
+"I suppose not.  It's the way they say it.  I had an Irishman
+workin' round my barn once, and Tim Bailey drove down from Bayport
+to see me.  I was out and Tim and the Irishman run afoul of each
+other.  Tim stuttered so that he made a noise when he talked like
+one of these gasoline bicycles goin' by.  He watched Mike sweepin'
+out the horse stall and he says, 'You're a pup--pup . . . I say
+you're a pup--.'  He didn't get any further 'cause Mike went for
+him with the broom.  Turned out later that he was tryin' to
+compliment that Irishman by sayin' he was a particular sort of
+feller.  These folks on the stage might be sayin' most anythin',
+and I wouldn't know it.  But I sha'n't knock 'em down, for I like
+the way it's said.  When the Almighty give us music he more than
+made up for makin' us subject to toothache, didn't he."
+
+Pearson bought a copy of the libretto, and the captain followed the
+performance of the next two acts with interest.
+
+"Say, Jim," he whispered, with a broad grin, "it's a good thing
+this opera idea ain't carried into real life.  If you had to sing
+every word you said 'twould be sort of distressin', 'specially if
+you was in a hurry.  A fust-rate solo when you was orderin' the
+crew to shorten sail would be a high old brimstone anthem, I'll bet
+you.  And think of the dinner table at our boardin' house!  Mrs.
+Van and C. Dickens both goin' at once, and Marm Hepton serenadin'
+the waiter girl!  Ho! ho!  A cat fight wouldn't be a circumstance."
+
+Between the third and the fourth acts the pair went out into the
+foyer, where, ascending to the next floor, they made the round of
+the long curve behind the boxes, Pearson pointing out to his friend
+the names of the box lessees on the brass plates.
+
+"There!" he observed, as, the half circle completed, they turned
+and strolled back again, "isn't that an imposing list, Captain?
+Don't you feel as if you were close to the real thing?"
+
+"Godfreys mighty!" was the solemn reply; "I was just thinkin' I
+felt as if I'd been readin' one of those muck-rakin' yarns in the
+magazines!"
+
+The foyer had its usual animated crowd, and among them Pearson
+recognized a critic of his acquaintance.  He offered to introduce
+the captain, but the latter declined the honor, saying that he
+cal'lated he wouldn't shove his bows in this time.  "You heave
+ahead and see your friend, Jim," he added.  "I'll come to anchor by
+this pillar and watch the fleet go by.  I'll have to write Abbie
+about all this; she'll want to know how the female craft was
+rigged."
+
+Left alone, he leaned against the pillar and watched the people
+pass and repass just behind him.  Two young men paused just behind
+him.  He could not help overhearing their conversation.
+
+"I presume you've heard the news?" asked one, casually.
+
+"Yes," replied the other, "I have.  That is, if you mean the news
+concerning Mal Dunn.  The mater learned it this afternoon and
+sprung it at dinner.  No one was greatly surprised.  Formal
+announcement made, and all that sort of thing, I believe.  Mal's
+to be congratulated."
+
+"His mother is, you mean.  She managed the campaign.  The old lady
+is some strategist, and I'd back her to win under ordinary
+circumstances.  But I understand these were not ordinary; wise owl
+of a guardian to be circumvented, or something of that sort."
+
+"From what I hear the Dunns haven't won so much after all.  There
+was a big shrinkage when papa died, so they say.  Instead of three
+or four millions it panned out to be a good deal less than one.  I
+don't know much about it, because our family and theirs have
+drifted apart since they moved."
+
+"Humph!  I imagine whatever the pan-out it will be welcome.  The
+Dunns are dangerously close to the ragged edge; everybody has been
+on to that for some time.  And it takes a few ducats to keep Mal
+going.  He's no Uncle Russell when it comes to putting by for the
+rainy day."
+
+"Well, on the whole, I'm rather sorry for--the other party.  Mal is
+a good enough fellow, and he certainly is a game sport; but--"
+
+They moved on, and Captain Elisha heard no more.  But what he had
+heard was quite sufficient.  He sat through the remainder of the
+opera in silence and answered all his friend's questions and
+remarks curtly and absently.
+
+As they stepped into the trolley Pearson bought an evening paper,
+not the Planet, but a dignified sheet which shunned sensationalism
+and devoted much space to the doings of the safe, sane, and ultra-
+respectable element.  Perceiving that his companion, for some
+reason, did not care to talk, he read as the car moved downtown.
+Suddenly Captain Elisha was awakened from his reverie by hearing
+his friend utter an exclamation.  Looking up, the captain saw that
+he was leaning back in the seat, the paper lying unheeded in his
+lap.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the older man, anxiously.
+
+Pearson started, glanced quickly at his friend, hesitated, and
+looked down again.
+
+"Nothing--now," he answered, brusquely.  "We get out here.  Come."
+
+He rose, picked up the paper with a hand that shook a little, and
+led the way to the door of the car.  Captain Elisha followed, and
+they strode up the deserted side street.  Pearson walked so rapidly
+that his companion was hard pushed to keep pace with him.  When
+they stood together in the dimly lit hall of the boarding house,
+the captain spoke again.
+
+"Well, Jim," he asked in a low tone, "what is it?  You may as well
+tell me.  Maybe I can guess, anyhow."
+
+The young man reached up and turned the gas full on.  In spite of
+the cold from which they had just come, his face was white.  He
+folded the paper in his hand, and with his forefinger pointed to
+its uppermost page.
+
+"There it is," he said.  "Read it."
+
+Captain Elisha took the paper, drew his spectacle case from his
+pocket, adjusted his glasses and read.  The item was among those
+under the head of "Personal and Social."  It was what he expected.
+"The engagement is to-day announced of Miss Caroline Warren,
+daughter of the late A. Rodgers Warren, the well-known broker, to
+Mr. Malcolm Corcoran Dunn, of Fifth Avenue.  Miss Warren, it will
+be remembered, was one of the most charming of our season-before-
+last's debutantes and--" etc.
+
+The captain read the brief item through.
+
+"Yes," he said, slowly, "I see."
+
+Pearson looked at him in amazement.
+
+"You SEE!" he repeated.  "You--Why!  DID YOU KNOW IT?"
+
+"I've been afraid of it for some time.  To-night, when you left me
+alone there in the quarter-deck of that opera house, I happened to
+hear two young chaps talkin' about it.  So you might say I knew--
+Yes."
+
+"Good heavens! and you can stand there and--What are you going to
+do about it?"
+
+"I don't know--yet."
+
+"Are you going to permit her to marry that--THAT fellow?"
+
+"Well, I ain't sartin that I can stop her."
+
+"My God, man!  Do you realize--and SHE--your niece--why--"
+
+"There! there! Jim.  I realize it all, I cal'late.  It's my
+business to realize it."
+
+"And it isn't mine.  No, of course it isn't; you're right there."
+
+He turned and strode toward the foot of the stairs.
+
+"Hold on!" commanded the captain.  "Hold on, Jim!  Don't you go off
+ha'f cocked.  When I said 'twas my business to realize this thing,
+I meant just that and nothin' more.  I wa'n't hintin', and you
+ought to know it.  You do know it, don't you?"
+
+The young man paused.  "Yes," he answered, after an instant's
+struggle with his feelings; "yes, I do.  I beg your pardon,
+Captain."
+
+"All right.  And here's somethin' else; I just told you I wasn't
+sartin I could stop the marriage.  That's the truth.  But I don't
+recollect sayin' I'd actually hauled down the colors, not yet.
+Good night."
+
+"Good night, Captain.  I shouldn't have misunderstood you, of
+course.  But, as you know, I respected and admired your niece.
+And this thing has--has--"
+
+"Sort of knocked you on your beam ends, I understand.  Well, Jim,"
+with a sigh, "I ain't exactly on an even keel myself."
+
+They separated, Pearson going to his room.  As Captain Elisha was
+passing through the hall on the second floor, he heard someone
+calling him by name.  Turning, he saw his landlady's head,
+bristling with curl papers, protruding from behind the door at
+the other end of the passage.
+
+"Captain Warren," she asked, "is that you?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied the captain, turning back.
+
+"Well, I've got a message for you.  A Mr. Sylvester has 'phoned you
+twice this evening.  He wishes to see you at his office at the
+earliest possible moment.  He says it is VERY important."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+Nine o'clock is an early hour for a New York lawyer of prominence
+to be at his place of business.  Yet, when Captain Elisha asked the
+office boy of Sylvester, Kuhn and Graves if the senior partner was
+in, he received an affirmative answer.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tim, respectfully.  His manner toward the captain
+had changed surprisingly since the latter's first call.  "Yes, sir;
+Mr. Sylvester's in.  He expects you.  I'll tell him you're here.
+Sit down and wait, please."
+
+Captain Elisha sat down, but he did not have to wait long.  The
+boy returned at once and ushered him into the private office.
+Sylvester welcomed him gravely.
+
+"You got my message, then," he said.  "I spent hours last evening
+chasing you by 'phone.  And I was prepared to begin again this
+morning."
+
+"So?  That's why you're on deck so early?  Didn't sleep here, did
+you?  Well, I cal'late I know what you want to talk about.  You
+ain't the only one that reads the newspapers."
+
+"The newspapers?  Great heavens! it isn't in the newspapers, is it?
+It can't be!"
+
+He seemed much perturbed.  Captain Elisha looked puzzled.
+
+"Course it is," he said.  "But I heard it afore I saw it.  Perhaps
+you think I take it pretty easy.  Maybe I act as if I did.  But you
+expected it, and so did I, so we ain't exactly surprised.  And,"
+seriously, "I realize that it's no joke as well as you do.  But
+we've got a year to fight in, and now we must plan the campaign.
+I did cal'late to see Caroline this mornin'.  Then, if I heard from
+her own lips that 'twas actually so, I didn't know's I wouldn't
+drop in and give Sister Corcoran-Queen-Victoria-Dunn a few plain
+facts about it not bein' a healthy investment to hurry matters.
+You're wantin' to see me headed me off, and I come here instead."
+
+The lawyer looked at him in astonishment.
+
+"See here, Captain Warren," he demanded, "what do you imagine I
+asked you to come here for?"
+
+"Why, to talk about that miserable engagement, sartin.  Poor girl!
+I've been awake ha'f the night thinkin' of the mess she's been led
+into.  And she believes she's happy, I suppose."
+
+Sylvester shook his head.  "I see," he said, slowly.  "You would
+think it that, naturally.  No, Captain, it isn't the engagement.
+It's more serious than that."
+
+"More serious than--MORE serious!  Why, what on earth?  Hey?  Mr.
+Sylvester, has that rock-lighthouse business come to somethin'
+after all?"
+
+The lawyer nodded.  "It has," he replied.
+
+"I want to know!  And I'd almost forgot it, not hearin' from you.
+It's a rock, too, I judge, by the looks of your face.  Humph! . . .
+Is it very bad?"
+
+"I'm afraid so."
+
+The captain pulled his beard.  "Well," he said, wearily, after a
+moment, "I guess likely I can bear it.  I've had to bear some
+things in my time.  Anyhow, I'll try.  Heave ahead and get it over
+with.  I'm ready."
+
+Instead of answering, Sylvester pushed an electric button on his
+desk.  The office boy answered the ring.
+
+"Have Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves arrived?" asked the lawyer.
+
+"Yes, sir.  Both of them, sir."
+
+"Tell them Captain Warren is here, and ask them to join us in the
+inner room.  Remind Mr. Graves to bring the papers.  And, Tim,
+remember that none of us is to be disturbed.  Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tim and departed.
+
+Captain Elisha regarded his friend with some dismay.
+
+"Say!" he exclaimed, "this MUST be serious, if it takes the skipper
+and both mates to handle it."
+
+Sylvester did not smile.  "It is," he answered.  "Come."
+
+He led the way into the room opening from the rear of his own.  It
+was a large apartment with a long table in the center.  Mr. Kuhn,
+brisk and business-like, was already there.  He shook hands with
+his client.  As he did so, Graves, dignified and precise as ever,
+entered, carrying a small portfolio filled with papers.
+
+"Mornin', Mr. Graves," said the captain; "glad to see you, even
+under such distressin' circumstances, as the undertaker said to the
+sick man.  Feelin' all right again, I hope.  No more colds or
+nothin' like that?"
+
+"No.  Thank you.  I am quite well, at present."
+
+"That's hearty.  If you and me don't do any more buggy ridin' in
+Cape Cod typhoons, we'll last a spell yet, hey?  What you got
+there, the death warrant?" referring to the portfolio and its
+contents.
+
+Mr. Graves evidently did not consider this flippancy worth a reply,
+for he made none.
+
+"Sit down, gentlemen," said Sylvester.
+
+The four took chairs at the table.  Graves untied and opened the
+portfolio.  Captain Elisha looked at his solemn companions, and his
+lips twitched.
+
+"You'll excuse me," he observed, "but I feel as if I was goin' to
+be tried for piracy on the high seas.  Has the court any objection
+to tobacco smoke?  I'm puttin' the emphasis strong on the 'tobacco,'"
+he added, "because this is a cigar you give me yourself, Mr.
+Sylvester, last time I was down here."
+
+"No, indeed," replied the senior partner.  "Smoke, if you wish.  No
+one here has any objection, unless it may be Graves."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Graves ain't.  He and I fired up together that night we
+fust met.  Hot smoke tasted grateful after all the cold water we'd
+had poured onto us in that storm.  Graves is all right.  He's a
+sportin' character, like myself.  Maybe he'll jine us.  Got another
+cigar in my pocket."
+
+But the invitation was declined.  The "sporting character" might
+deign to relax amid proper and fitting surroundings, but not in the
+sacred precincts of his office.  So the captain smoked alone.
+
+"Well," he observed, after a few preliminary puffs, "go on!  Don't
+keep me in suspenders, as the feller said.  Where did the lightnin'
+strike, and what's the damage?"
+
+Sylvester took a card from his pocket and referred to a penciled
+memorandum on its back.
+
+"Captain Warren," he began, slowly, "as you know, and as directed
+by you, my partners here and I have been engaged for months in
+carefully going over your brother's effects, estimating values,
+tabulating and sorting his various properties and securities,
+separating the good from the worthless--and there was, as we saw
+at a glance, a surprising amount of the latter--"
+
+"Um-hm," interrupted the captain, "Cut Short bonds and the like of
+that.  I know.  Excuse me.  Go on."
+
+"Yes.  Precisely.  And there were many just as valueless.  But we
+have been gradually getting those out of the way and listing and
+appraising the remainder.  It was a tangle.  Your brother's
+business methods, especially of late years, were decidedly
+unsystematic and slipshod.  It may have been the condition of his
+health which prevented his attending to them as he should.  Or," he
+hesitated slightly, "it may have been that he was secretly in great
+trouble and mental distress.  At all events, the task has been a
+hard one for us.  But, largely owing to Graves and his patient
+work, our report was practically ready a month ago."
+
+He paused.  Captain Elisha, who had been listening attentively,
+nodded.
+
+"Yes," he said; "you told me 'twas.  What does the whole thing tot
+up to?  What's the final figger, Mr. Graves?"
+
+The junior partner adjusted his eyeglasses to his thin nose.
+
+"I have them here," he said.  "The list of securities, et cetera,
+is rather long, but--"
+
+"Never mind them now, Graves," interrupted Kuhn.  "The amount,
+roughly speaking, is close to over our original estimate, half a
+million."
+
+The captain drew a breath of relief.  "Well," he exclaimed, "that's
+all right then, ain't it?  That's no poorhouse pension."
+
+Sylvester answered.  "Yes," he said, "that's all right, as far as
+it goes."
+
+"Humph!  Well, I cal'late _I_ could make it go to the end of the
+route; and then have enough left for a return ticket.  Say!" with
+another look at the solemn faces of the three, "what IS the row?
+If the estate is wuth ha'f a million, what's the matter with it?"
+
+"That is what we are here this morning to discuss, Captain.  A
+month ago, as I said, we considered our report practically ready.
+Then we suddenly happened on the trail of something which, upon
+investigation, upset all our calculations.  If true, it threatened,
+not to mention its effect upon the estate, to prove so distressing
+and painful to us, Rodgers Warren's friends and legal advisers,
+that we decided not to alarm you, his brother, by disclosing our
+suspicions until we were sure there was no mistake.  I did drop you
+a hint, you will remember--"
+
+"I remember.  NOW we're comin' to the rock!"
+
+"Yes.  Captain Warren, I think perhaps I ought to warn you that
+what my partners and I are about to say will shock and hurt you.
+I, personally, knew your brother well and respected him as an
+honorable business man.  A lawyer learns not to put too much trust
+in human nature, but, I confess, this--this--"
+
+He was evidently greatly disturbed.  Captain Elisha, regarding him
+intently, nodded.
+
+"I judge it's sort of hard for you to go on, Mr. Sylvester," he
+said.  "I'll help you all I can.  You and Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Graves
+here have found out somethin' that ain't exactly straight in
+'Bije's doin's?  Am I right?"
+
+"Yes, Captain Warren, you are."
+
+"Somethin' that don't help his character, hey?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Somethin's he's, done that's--well, to speak plain, that's crooked?"
+
+"I'm afraid there's no doubt of it."
+
+"Humph!"  The captain frowned.  His cigar had gone out, and he idly
+twisted the stump between his fingers.  "Well," he said, with a
+sigh, "our family, gen'rally speakin', has always held its head
+pretty high.  Dad was poor, but he prided himself on bein' straight
+as a plumb line.  And, as for mother, she . . . "  Then, looking up
+quickly, he asked, "Does anybody outside know about this?"
+
+"No one but ourselves--yet."
+
+"Yet?  Is it goin' to be necessary for anybody else to know it?"
+
+"We hope not.  But there is a possibility."
+
+"I was thinkin' about the children."
+
+"Of course.  So are we all."
+
+"Um-hm.  Poor Caroline! she put her father on a sort of altar and
+bowed down afore him, as you might say.  Any sort of disgrace to
+his name would about kill her.  As for me," with another sigh, "I
+ain't so much surprised as you might think.  I know that sounds
+tough to say about your own brother, but I've been afraid all
+along.  You see, 'Bije always steered pretty close to the edge of
+the channel.  He had ideas about honesty and fair dealin' in
+business that didn't jibe with mine.  We split on just that, as I
+told you, Mr. Graves, when you and I fust met.  He got some South
+Denboro folks to invest money along with him; sort of savin's
+account, they figgered it; but I found out he was usin' it to
+speculate with.  So that's why we had our row.  I took pains to see
+that the money was paid back, but he and I never spoke afterwards.
+Fur as my own money was concerned, I hadn't any kick, but . . .
+However, I'm talkin' too much.  Go on, Mr. Sylvester, I'm ready to
+hear whatever you've got to say."
+
+"Thank you, Captain.  You make it easier for me.  It seems that
+your brother's first step toward wealth and success was taken about
+nineteen years ago.  Then, somehow or other, probably through a
+combination of luck and shrewdness, he obtained a grant, a
+concession from the Brazilian Government, the long term lease of a
+good-sized tract of land on the upper Amazon.  It was very valuable
+because of its rubber trees."
+
+"Hey?"  Captain Elisha leaned forward.  "Say that again!" he
+commanded sharply.
+
+Sylvester repeated his statement.  "He got the concession by paying
+twenty thousand dollars to the government of Brazil," he continued.
+"To raise the twenty thousand he formed a stock company of two
+hundred and fifty shares at one hundred dollars each.  One hundred
+of these shares were in his own name.  Fifty were in the name of
+one 'Thomas A. Craven,' a clerk at that time in his office.  Craven
+was only a dummy, however.  Do you understand what I mean by a
+dummy?"
+
+"I can guess.  Sort of a wooden image that moved when 'Bije pulled
+the strings.  Like one of these straw directors that clutter up the
+insurance companies, 'cordin' to the papers.  Yes, yes; I understand
+well enough.  Go ahead! go ahead!"
+
+"That's it.  The fifty shares were in Craven's name, but they were
+transferred in blank and in Mr. Warren's safe.  Together with his
+own hundred, they gave him control and a voting majority.  That
+much we know by the records."
+
+"I see.  But this rubber con--contraption wa'n't really wuth
+anything, was it?"
+
+"Worth anything!  Captain Warren, I give you my word that it was
+worth more than all the rest of the investments that your brother
+made during his lifetime."
+
+"NO!"  The exclamation was almost a shout.
+
+"Why, yes, decidedly more.  Does that surprise you, Captain?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not answer.  He was regarding the lawyer with a
+dazed expression.  He breathed heavily.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded the watchful Kuhn, his gaze fixed
+upon his client's face.  "Do you know anything--"
+
+The captain interrupted him.  "Go on!" he commanded.  "But tell me
+this fust:  What was the name of this rubber concern of 'Bije's?"
+
+"The Akrae Rubber Company."
+
+"I see. . . .  Yes, yes. . . .  Akry, hey! . . .  Well, what about
+it?  Tell me the rest."
+
+"For the first year or two this company did nothing.  Then, in
+March, of the third year, the property was released by Mr. Warren
+to persons in Para, who were to develop and operate.  The terms of
+his new lease were very advantageous.  Royalties were to be paid on
+a sliding scale, and, from the very first, they were large.  The
+Akrae Company paid enormous dividends."
+
+"Did, hey?  I want to know!"
+
+"Yes.  In fact, for twelve years the company's royalties averaged
+$50,000 yearly."
+
+"Whe-e-w!" Captain Elisha whistled.  "Fifty thousand a year!" he
+repeated slowly.  "'Bije!  'Bije!"
+
+"Yes.  And three years ago the Akrae Company sold its lease, sold
+out completely to the Para people, for seven hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars."
+
+"Godfreys mighty!  Well," after a moment, "that's what I'd call a
+middlin' fair profit on a twenty thousand dollar investment--not to
+mention the dividends."
+
+"Captain," Sylvester leaned forward now; "Captain," he repeated,
+"it is that sale and the dividends which are troubling us.  I told
+you that the Akrae Company was organized with two hundred and fifty
+shares of stock.  Your brother held one hundred in his own name and
+fifty transferred to him by his dummy, Craven.  What I did not tell
+you was that there were another hundred shares, held by someone,
+someone who paid ten thousand dollars for them--we know that--and
+was, therefore, entitled to two-fifths of every dollar earned by
+the company during its existence, and two-fifths of the amount
+received for the sale of the lease.  So far as we can find out,
+this stockholder has never received one cent."
+
+The effect of this amazing announcement upon the uniniated member
+of the council was not as great as the lawyers expected it to be.
+"You don't tell me!" was his sole comment.
+
+Graves broke in impatiently:  "I think, Captain Warren," he declared,
+"that you probably do not realize what this means.  Besides proving
+your brother dishonest, it means that this stockholder, whoever
+he may have been--"
+
+"Hey?  What's that?  Don't you know who he was?"
+
+"No, we do not.  The name upon the stub of the transfer book has
+been scratched out."
+
+Captain Elisha looked the speaker in the face, then slowly turned
+his look upon the other two faces.
+
+"Scratched out?" he repeated.  "Who scratched it out?"
+
+Graves shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the captain.  "You don't know, but we're all
+entitled to guess, hey? . . .  Humph!"
+
+"If this person is living," began Sylvester, "it follows that--"
+
+"Hold on a minute!  I don't know much about corporations, of
+course--that's more in your line than 'tis in mine--but I want to
+ask one question.  You say this what-d'ye-call-it--this Akrae
+thingamajig--was sold out, hull, canvas and riggin', to a crowd in
+Brazil?  It's gone out of business then?  It's dead?"
+
+"Yes.  But--"
+
+"Wait!  Ain't it customary, when a sale like this is made, to turn
+over all the stock, certificates and all?  Sometimes you get stock
+in the new company in exchange; I know that.  But to complete the
+trade, wouldn't this extry hundred shares be turned in?  Or some
+sharp questionin' done if 'twa'n't?"
+
+He addressed the query to Sylvester.  The latter seemed more
+troubled than before.
+
+"That," he said with some hesitation, "is one of the delicate
+points in this talk of ours, Captain Warren.  A certificate for the
+missing hundred shares WAS turned in.  It was dated at the time of
+the original issue, made out in the name of one Edward Bradley, and
+transferred on the back by him to your brother.  That is, it was
+presumably so transferred."
+
+"Presumably.  Pre-sumably?  You mean--?"
+
+"I mean that this certificate is--well, let us say, rather queer.
+To begin with, no one knows who this Bradley is, or was.  His name
+appears nowhere except on that certificate, unless, of course, it
+did appear on the stub where the scratching has been done; we doubt
+that, for reasons.  Nobody ever heard of the man; and his transfer
+to your brother was made, and the certificate signed by him, only
+three years ago, when the Akrae Company sold out.  It will take too
+long to go into details; but thanks to the kindness of the Para
+concern, which has offices in this city--we have been able to
+examine this Bradley certificate.  Experts have examined it, also.
+And they tell us--"
+
+He paused.
+
+"Well, what do they tell?" demanded the captain.
+
+"They tell us that--that, in their opinion, the certificate was
+never issued at the time when, by this date, it presumes to have
+been.  It was made out no longer ago than five years, probably
+less.  The signature of Bradley on the back is--is--well, I hate
+to say it, Captain Warren, but the handwriting on that signature
+resembles very closely that of your brother."
+
+Captain Elisha was silent for some moments.  The others did not
+speak, but waited.  Even Graves, between whom and his client there
+was little in common, felt the general sympathy.
+
+At length the captain raised his head.
+
+"Well," he said slowly, "we ain't children.  We might as well call
+things by their right names.  'Bije forged that certificate."
+
+"I'm afraid there is no doubt of it."
+
+"Dear! dear! dear!  Why, they put folks in state's, prison for
+that!"
+
+"Yes.  But a dead man is beyond prisons."
+
+"That's so.  Then I don't see--"
+
+"You will.  You don't grasp the full meaning of this affair even
+yet.  If the Bradley certificate is a forgery, a fraud from
+beginning to end, then the presumption is that there was never any
+such person as Bradley.  But SOMEONE paid ten thousand dollars for
+one hundred Akrae shares when the company was formed.  THAT
+certificate has never been turned in.  Some person or persons,
+somewhere, hold one hundred shares of Akrae Rubber Company stock.
+Think, now!  Suppose that someone turns up and demands all that he
+has been cheated out of for the past seventeen years!  Think of
+that!"
+
+"Well . . . I am thinkin' of it.  I got the scent of what you was
+drivin' at five minutes ago.  And I don't see that we need to be
+afraid.  He could have put 'Bije in jail; but 'Bije is already
+servin' a longer sentence than he could give him.  So that disgrace
+ain't bearin' down on us.  And, if I understand about such things,
+his claim is against the Akrae Company, and that's dead--dead as
+the man that started it.  Maybe he could put in a keeper, or a
+receiver, or some such critter, but there's nothin' left to keep or
+receive.  Ain't I right?"
+
+"You are.  Or you would be, but for one thing, the really
+inexplicable thing in this whole miserable affair.  Your brother,
+Captain Warren, was dishonest.  He took money that didn't belong to
+him, and he forged that certificate.  But he must have intended to
+make restitution.  He must have been conscience-stricken and more
+to be pitied, perhaps, than condemned.  No doubt, when he first
+began to withhold the dividends and use the money which was not
+his, he intended merely to borrow.  He was always optimistic and
+always plunging in desperate and sometimes rather shady speculations
+which, he was sure, would turn out favorably.  If they had--if, for
+instance, the South Shore Trolley Combine had been put through--You
+knew of that, did you?"
+
+"I've been told somethin' about it.  Go on!"
+
+"Well, it was not put through, so his hopes there were frustrated.
+And that was but one of his schemes.  However, when the sale of the
+Company was consummated, he did an extraordinary thing.  He made
+out and signed his personal note, payable to the Akrae Company, for
+every cent he had misappropriated.  And we found that note in his
+safe after his death.  That was what first aroused our suspicions.
+NOW, Captain Warren, do you understand?"
+
+Captain Elisha did not understand, that was evident.  His look of
+wondering amazement traveled from one face to the others about the
+table.
+
+"A NOTE!" he repeated.  "'Bije put his NOTE in the safe?  A note
+promisin' to pay all he'd stole!  And left it there where it could
+be found?  Why, that's pretty nigh unbelievable, Mr. Sylvester!  He
+might just as well have confessed his crookedness and be done with
+it."
+
+"Yes.  It is unbelievable, but it is true.  Graves can show you the
+note."
+
+The junior partner produced a slip of paper from the portfolio and
+regarded it frowningly.
+
+"Of all the pieces of sheer lunacy," he observed, "that ever came
+under my observation, this is the worst.  Here it is, Captain
+Warren."
+
+He extended the paper.  Captain Elisha waved it aside.
+
+"I don't want to see it--not yet," he protested.  "I want to think.
+I want to get at the reason if I can.  Why did he do it?"
+
+"That is what we've been tryin' to find--the reason, remarked Kuhn,
+"and we can only guess.  Sylvester has told you the guess.  Rodgers
+Warren intended, or hoped, to make restitution before he died."
+
+"Yes.  Knowin' 'Bije, I can see that.  He was weak, that was his
+main trouble.  He didn't mean to be crooked, but his knees wa'n't
+strong enough to keep him straight when it come to a hard push.
+But he made his note payable to a Company that was already sold
+out, so it ain't good for nothin'.  Now, why--"
+
+Graves struck the table with his open hand.
+
+"He doesn't understand at all," he exclaimed, impatiently.
+"Captain Warren, listen!  That note is made payable to the Akrae
+Company.  Against that company some unknown stockholder has an
+apparent claim for two-fifths of all dividends ever paid and two-
+fifths of the seven hundred and fifty thousand received for the
+sale.  With accrued interest, that claim amounts to over five
+hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"That note binds Rodgers Warren's estate to pay that claim.  His
+own personal estate!  And that estate is not worth over four
+hundred and sixty thousand dollars!  If this stockholder should
+appear and press his claim, your brother's children would be, not
+only penniless, but thirty thousand dollars in debt!  There!  I
+think that is plain enough!"
+
+He leaned back, grimly satisfied with the effect of his statement.
+Captain Elisha stared straight before him, unseeingly, the color
+fading from his cheeks.  Then he put both elbows on the table and
+covered his face with his hands.
+
+"You see, Captain," said Sylvester, gently, "how very serious the
+situation is.  Graves has put it bluntly, but what he says is
+literally true.  If your brother had deliberately planned to hand
+his children over to the mercy of that missing stockholder, he
+couldn't have done it more completely."
+
+Slowly the captain raised his head.  His expression was a strange
+one; agitated and shocked, but with a curious look of relief,
+almost of triumph.
+
+"At last!" he said, solemnly.  "At last!  Now it's ALL plain!"
+
+"All?" repeated Sylvester.  "You mean--?"
+
+"I mean everything, all that's been puzzlin' me and troublin' my
+head since the very beginnin'.  All of it!  NOW I know why!  Oh,
+'Bije!  'Bije!  'Bije!"
+
+Kuhn spoke quickly.
+
+"Captain," he said, "I believe you know who the owner of that one
+hundred shares is.  Do you?"
+
+Captain Elisha gravely nodded.
+
+"Yes," he answered.  "I know him."
+
+"What?"
+
+"You do?"
+
+"Who is it?
+
+The questions were blurted out together.  The captain looked at the
+three excited faces.  He hesitated and then, taking the stub of a
+pencil from his pocket, drew toward him a memorandum pad lying on
+the table and wrote a line upon the uppermost sheet.  Tearing off
+the page, he tossed it to Sylvester.
+
+"That's the name," he said.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+Two more hours passed before the lawyers and their client rose from
+their seats about the long table.  Even then the consultation was
+not at an end.  Sylvester and the Captain lunched together at the
+Central Club and sat in the smoking room until after four, talking
+earnestly.  When they parted, the attorney was grave and troubled.
+
+"All right, Captain Warren," he said; "I'll do it.  And you may be
+right.  I certainly hope you are.  But I must confess I don't look
+forward to my task with pleasure.  I think I've got the roughest
+end."
+
+"It'll be rough, there's no doubt about that.  Rough for all hands,
+I guess.  And I hope you understand, Mr. Sylvester, that there
+ain't many men I'd trust to do what I ask you to.  I appreciate
+your doin' it more'n I can tell you.  Be as--as gentle as you can,
+won't you?"
+
+"I will.  You can depend upon that."
+
+"I do.  And I sha'n't forget it.  Good-by, till the next time."
+
+They shook hands.  Captain Elisha returned to the boarding house,
+where he found a letter awaiting him.  It was from Caroline,
+telling him of her engagement to Malcolm Dunn.  She wrote that,
+while not recognizing his right to interfere in any way, she felt
+that perhaps he should know of her action.  He did not go down to
+supper, and, when Pearson came to inquire the reason, excused
+himself, pleading a late luncheon and no appetite.  He guessed he
+would turn in early, so he said.  It was a poor guess.
+
+Next morning he went uptown.  Edwards, opening the door of the
+Warren apartment, was surprised to find who had rung the bell.
+
+"Mornin', Commodore!" hailed the captain, as casually as if he were
+merely returning from a stroll.  "Is Miss Caroline aboard ship?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know, sir.  I'll see."
+
+"That's all right.  She's aboard or you wouldn't have to see.  You
+and me sailed together quite a spell, so I know your little habits.
+I'll wait in the library, Commodore.  Tell her there's no
+particular hurry."
+
+His niece was expecting him.  She had anticipated his visit and was
+prepared for it.  From the emotion caused by his departure after
+the eventful birthday, she had entirely recovered, or thought she
+had.  The surprise and shock of his leaving and the consequent
+sense of loneliness and responsibility overcame her at the time,
+but Stephen's ridicule and Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's congratulations
+on riddance from the "encumbrance" shamed her and stilled the
+reproaches of her conscience.  Mrs. Dunn, as always, played the
+diplomat and mingled just the proper quantity of comprehending
+sympathy with the congratulations.
+
+"I understand exactly how you feel, my dear," she said.  "You have
+a tender heart, and it pains you to hurt anyone's feelings, no
+matter how much they deserve to be hurt.  Every time I dismiss an
+incompetent or dishonest servant I feel that I have done wrong;
+sometimes I cry, actually shed tears, you know, and yet my reason
+tells me I am right.  You feel that you may have been too harsh
+with that guardian of yours.  You remember what you said to him and
+forget how hypocritically he behaved toward you.  I can't forgive
+him that.  I may forget how he misrepresented Malcolm and me to
+you--that I may even pardon, in time--but to deceive his own
+brother's children and introduce into their society a creature who
+had slandered and maligned their father--THAT I never shall forget
+or forgive.  And--you'll excuse my frankness, dear--you should
+never forget or forgive it, either.  You have nothing with which to
+reproach yourself.  You were a brave girl, and if you are not proud
+of yourself, _I_ am proud of you."
+
+So, when her uncle was announced, Caroline was ready.  She entered
+the library and acknowledged his greeting with a distant bow.  He
+regarded her kindly, but his manner was grave.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he began, "I got your letter."
+
+"Yes, I presumed you did."
+
+"Um-hm.  I got it.  It didn't surprise me, what you wrote, because
+I'd seen the news in the papers; but I was hopin' you'd tell me
+yourself, and I'm real glad you did.  I'm much obliged to you."
+
+She had not expected him to take this tone, and it embarrassed her.
+
+"I--I gave you my reasons for writing," she said.  "Although I do
+not consider that I am, in any sense, duty bound to refer matters,
+other than financial, to you; and, although my feelings toward you
+have not changed--still, you are my guardian, and--and--"
+
+"I understand.  So you're really engaged?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Engaged to Mr. Dunn?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you're cal'latin' to marry him?"
+
+"One might almost take that for granted," impatiently.
+
+"Almost--yes.  Not always, but generally, I will give in.  You're
+goin' to marry Malcolm Dunn.  Why?"
+
+"Why?" she repeated the question as if she doubted his sanity.
+
+"Yes.  Be as patient with me as you can, Caroline.  I ain't askin'
+these things without what seems to me a good reason.  Why are you
+goin' to marry him?"
+
+"Why because I choose, I suppose."
+
+"Um-hm.  Are you sure of that?"
+
+"Am I sure?" indignantly.  "What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean are you sure that it's because you choose, or because HE
+does, or maybe, because his mother does?"
+
+She turned angrily away.  "If you came here to insult me--" she
+began.  He interrupted her.
+
+"No, no," he protested gently.  "Insultin' you is the last thing I
+want to do.  But, as your father did put you in my charge, I want
+you to bear with me while we talk this over together.  Remember,
+Caroline, I ain't bothered you a great deal lately.  I shouldn't
+now if I hadn't thought 'twas necessary.  So please don't get mad,
+but answer me this:  Do you care for this man you've promised to
+marry?"
+
+This was a plain question.  It should have been answered without
+the slightest hesitation.  Moreover, the girl had expected him to
+ask it.  Yet, for a moment, she did hesitate.
+
+"I mean," continued Captain Elisha, "do you care for him ENOUGH?"
+Enough to live with him all your life, and see him every day, and
+be to him what a true wife ought to be?  See him, not with his
+company manners on or in his automobile, but at the breakfast
+table, and when he comes home tired and cross, maybe.  When you've
+got to be forbearin' and forgivin' and--"
+
+"He is one of my oldest and best friends--" she interrupted.  Her
+uncle went on without waiting for her to end the sentence.
+
+"I know," he said.  "One of the oldest, that's sure.  But
+friendship, 'cordin' to my notion, is somethin' so small in
+comparison that it hardly counts in the manifest.  Married folks
+ought to be friends, sartin sure; but they ought to be a whole lot
+more'n that.  I'm an old bach, you say, and ain't had no experience.
+That's true; but I've been young, and there was a time when _I_ made
+plans . . .  However, she died, and it never come to nothin'.  But I
+KNOW what it means to be engaged, the right kind of engagement.  It
+means that you don't count yourself at all, not a bit.  You're
+ready, each of you, to give up all you've got--your wishes, comfort,
+money and what it'll buy, and your life, if it should come to that,
+for that other one.  Do you care for Malcolm Dunn like that,
+Caroline?"
+
+She answered defiantly.
+
+"Yes, I do," she said.
+
+"You do.  Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?"
+
+"Yes," with not quite the same promptness, but still defiantly.
+
+"You feel sartin of it, do you?"
+
+She stamped her foot.  "Yes! yes! YES!" she cried.  "Oh, DO say
+what you came to say, and end it!"
+
+Her uncle rose to his feet.
+
+"Why, I guess likely I've said it," he observed.  "When two people
+care for each other like that, they OUGHT to be married, and the
+sooner the better.  I knew that you'd been lonesome and troubled,
+maybe; and some of the friends you used to have had kind of dropped
+away--busy with other affairs, which is natural enough--and, you
+needin' sympathy and companionship, I was sort of worried for fear
+all this had influenced you more'n it ought to, and you'd been led
+into sayin' yes without realizin' what it meant.  But you tell me
+that ain't so; you do realize.  So all I can say is that I'm awful
+glad for you.  God bless you, my dear!  I hope you'll be as happy
+as the day is long."
+
+His niece gazed at him, bewildered and incredulous.  This she had
+NOT expected.
+
+"Thank you," she stammered.  "I did not know--I thought--"
+
+"Of course you did--of course.  Well, then, Caroline, I guess
+that's all.  I won't trouble you any longer.  Good-by."
+
+He turned toward the door, but stopped, hesitated, and turned back
+again.
+
+"There is just one thing more," he said solemnly.  "I don't know's
+I ought to speak, but--I want to--and I'm goin' to.  And I want you
+to believe it!  I do want you to!"
+
+He was so earnest, and the look he gave her was so strange, that
+she began to be alarmed.
+
+"What is it?" she demanded.
+
+"Why--why, just this, Caroline.  This is a tough old world we live
+in.  Things don't always go on in it as we think they'd ought to.
+Trouble comes to everybody, and when it all looks right sometimes
+it turns out to be all wrong.  If--if there should come a time like
+that to you and Steve, I want you to remember that you've got me to
+turn to.  No matter what you think of me, what folks have made you
+think of me, just remember that I'm waitin' and ready to help you
+all I can.  Any time I'm ready--and glad.  Just remember that,
+won't you, because . . .  Well, there!  Good-by, Good-by!"
+
+He hurried away.  She stood gazing after him, astonished, a little
+frightened, and not a little disturbed and touched.  His emotion
+was so evident; his attitude toward her engagement was so different
+from that which she had anticipated; and there was something in his
+manner which she could not understand.  He had acted as if he
+pitied her.  Why?  It could not be because she was to marry Malcolm
+Dunn.  If it were that, she resented his pity, of course.  But it
+could not be that, because he had given her his blessing.  What was
+it?  Was there something else; something that she did not know and
+he did?  Why was he so kind and forbearing and patient?
+
+All her old doubts and questionings returned.  She had resolutely
+kept them from her thoughts, but they had been there, in the
+background, always.  When, after the long siege, she had at last
+yielded and said yes to Malcolm, she felt that that question, at
+least, was settled.  She would marry him.  He was one whom she had
+known all her life, the son of the dearest friend she had; he and
+his mother had been faithful at the time when she needed friends.
+As her husband, he would protect her and give her the affection and
+companionship she craved.  He might appear careless and indifferent
+at times, but that was merely his manner.  Had not Mrs. Dunn told
+her over and over again what a good son he was, and what a kind
+heart he had, and how he worshiped her?  Oh, she ought to be a very
+happy girl!  Of course she was happy.  But why had her uncle looked
+at her as he did?  And what did he mean by hinting that when things
+looked right they sometimes were all wrong?  She wished Malcolm was
+with her then; she needed him.
+
+She heard the clang of the elevator door.  Then the bell rang
+furiously.  She heard Edwards hasten to answer it.  Then, to her
+amazement, she heard her brother's voice.
+
+"Caroline!" demanded Stephen.  "Caroline!  Where are you?"
+
+He burst into the room, still wearing his coat and hat, and
+carrying a traveling bag in his hand.
+
+"Why, Steve!" she said, going toward him.  "Why, Steve! what--"
+
+He was very much excited.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, "you're all right then!  You are all right,
+aren't you?
+
+"All right?  Why shouldn't I be all right?  What do you mean?  And
+why are you here?"
+
+He returned her look of surprise with one of great astonishment.
+
+"Why am I here?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes.  Why did you come from New Haven?"
+
+"Why, because I got the telegram, of course!  You expected me to
+come, didn't you?"
+
+"_I_ expected you?  Telegram?  What telegram?"
+
+"Why, the--Good Lord, Caro! what are you talking about?  Didn't you
+know they telegraphed me to come home at once?  I've pretty nearly
+broke my neck, and the taxicab man's, getting here from the
+station.  I thought you must be very ill, or something worse."
+
+"They telegraphed you to come here?  Who . . . Edwards, you may
+take Mr. Warren's things to his room."
+
+"But, Sis--"
+
+"Just a moment, Steve.  Give Edwards your coat and hat.  Yes, and
+your bag.  That will be all, Edwards.  We sha'n't need you."
+
+When they were alone, she turned again to her brother.
+
+"Now, Steve," she said, "sit down and tell me what you mean.  Who
+telegraphed you?"
+
+"Why, old Sylvester, father's lawyer.  I've got the message here
+somewhere.  No, never mind!  I've lost it, I guess.  He wired me
+to come home as early as possible this morning.  Said it was very
+important.  And you didn't know anything about it?"
+
+"No, not a thing.  What can it mean?"
+
+"_I_ don't know!  That's the bell, isn't it? Edwards!"
+
+But the butler was already on his way to the door.  A moment later
+he returned.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," he announced.
+
+
+
+Captain Elisha scarcely left his room, except for meals, during
+the remainder of that day and for two days thereafter.  He was
+unusually silent at table and avoided conversation even with
+Pearson, who was depressed and gloomy and made no attempt to force
+his society upon his friend.  Once, passing the door of the
+latter's room, he heard the captain pacing back and forth as if he
+were walking the quarter-deck of one of his old ships.  As Pearson
+stood listening the footsteps ceased; silence, then a deep sigh,
+and they began again.  The young man sighed in sympathy and wearily
+climbed to his den.  The prospect of chimneys and roofs across the
+way was never more desolate or more pregnant with discouragement.
+
+Several times Captain Elisha descended to the closet where the
+telephone was fastened to the wall and held long conversations with
+someone.  Mrs. Hepton, who knew that her newest boarder was anxious
+and disturbed, and was very curious to learn the reason, made it a
+point to be busy near that closet while these conversations took
+place; but, as the captain was always careful to close the door,
+she was disappointed.  Once the mysterious Mr. Sylvester called up
+and asked for "Captain Warren," and the landlady hastened with the
+summons.
+
+"I hope it's nothing serious," she observed, feelingly.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied the captain, on his way to the stairs.  "Much
+obliged."
+
+"It is the same person who was so very anxious to get you the other
+night," she continued, making desperate efforts not to be left
+behind in the descent.  "I declare he quite frightened me!  And--
+you'll excuse me, Captain Warren, but I take such a real friendly
+interest in my boarders--you have seemed to me rather--rather upset
+lately, and I DO hope it isn't bad news."
+
+"Well, I tell you, ma'am," was the unsatisfactory answer, given
+just before the closet door closed; "we'll do the way the poor
+relation did when he got word his uncle had willed him one of his
+suits of clothes--we'll hope for the best."
+
+Sylvester had a report to make.
+
+"The other party has been here," he said.  "He has just gone."
+
+"The other party?  Why--you don't mean--HIM?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Was he alone?  Nobody along to look after him?"
+
+"He was alone, for a wonder.  He had heard the news, too.  Apparently
+had just learned it."
+
+"He had?  I want to know!  Who told him?"
+
+"He didn't say.  He was very much agitated.  Wouldn't say anything
+except to ask if it was true.  I think we can guess who told him."
+
+"Maybe.  Well, what did you say?"
+
+"Nothing of importance.  I refused to discuss my clients' affairs."
+
+"Right you are!  How did he take that?"
+
+"He went up like a sky-rocket.  Said he had a right to know, under
+the circumstances.  I admitted it, but said I could tell him
+nothing--yet.  He went away frantic, and I called you."
+
+"Um-hm.  Well, Mr. Sylvester, suppose you do see him and his boss.
+See 'em and tell 'em some of the truth.  Don't tell too much
+though; not who was to blame nor how, but just that it looks pretty
+bad so fur as the estate's concerned.  Then say you want to see 'em
+again and will arrange another interview.  Don't set any time and
+place for that until you hear from me.  Understand?"
+
+"I think so, partially.  But--"
+
+"Until you hear from me--that's the important part.  And, if you
+can, convenient, I'd have the fust interview right off; this
+afternoon, if it's possible."
+
+"Captain, what have you got up your sleeve?  Why don't you come
+down here and talk it over?"
+
+"'Cause I'm stickin' close aboard and waitin' developments.  Maybe
+there won't be any, but I'm goin' to wait a spell and see.  There
+ain't much up my sleeve just now but goose-flesh; there's plenty of
+that.  So long."
+
+A development came that evening.  Mrs. Hepton heralded it.
+
+"Captain," she said, when he answered her knock, "there's a young
+gentleman to see you.  I think he must be a relative of yours.  His
+name is Warren."
+
+Captain Elisha pulled his beard.  "A young GENTLEMAN?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes.  I showed him into the parlor.  There will be no one there
+but you and he, and I thought it would be more comfortable."
+
+"Um-hm.  I see.  Well, I guess you'd better send him up.  This is
+comfortable enough, and there won't be nobody but him and me here,
+either--and I'll be more sartin of it."
+
+The landlady, who considered herself snubbed, flounced away.
+Captain Elisha stepped to the head of the stairs.
+
+"Come right up, Steve!" he called.
+
+Stephen came.  His uncle ushered him into the room, closed the
+door, and turned the key.
+
+"Stevie," he said, kindly, "I'm glad to see you.  Take off your
+things and set down."
+
+The boy accepted the invitation only to the extent of throwing his
+hat on the table.  He did not sit or remove his overcoat.  He was
+pale, his eyes were swollen and red, his hair was disarranged, and
+in all respects he looked unlike his usual blase and immaculate
+self.  His forehead was wet, showing that he had hurried on his way
+to the boarding house.
+
+The captain regarded him pityingly.
+
+"Set down, Stevie," he urged.  "You're all het up and worn out."
+
+His nephew paid no attention.  Instead he asked a question.
+
+"You know about it?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes, Stevie; I know."
+
+"You do?  I--I mean about the--the Akrae Company and--and all?"
+
+"Yes.  I know all about all of it.  Do set down!"
+
+Stephen struck his closed fist into the palm of his other hand.  He
+wore one glove.  What had become of the other he could not have
+told.
+
+"You do?" he shouted.  "You do?  By gad!  Then do you know what it
+means?"
+
+"Yes, I know that, too.  Now, Stevie, be a good boy and set down
+and keep cool.  Yes, I want you to."
+
+He put his hands on his nephew's shoulders and forced him into a
+chair.
+
+"Now, just calm yourself," urged the captain.  "There ain't a mite
+of use workin' yourself up this way.  I know the whole business,
+and I can't tell you--I can't begin to tell you how sorry I feel
+for you.  Yet you mustn't give up the ship because--"
+
+"Mustn't give up!"  Stephen was on his feet again.  "Why, what are
+you talking about?  I thought you said you knew!  Do you think that
+losing every cent you've got in the world is a JOKE?  Do you think
+that--See here, do you know who this shareholder is; this fellow
+who's going to rob us of all we own?  Who is he?"
+
+"Didn't Mr. Sylvester tell you?"
+
+"He said that there was such a man and that he had the estate
+cinched.  He told us about that note and all the rest.  But he
+wouldn't tell the man's name.  Said he had been forbidden to
+mention it.  Do you know him?  What sort of fellow is he?  Don't
+you think he could be reasoned with?  Hasn't he got any decency--or
+pity--or--"
+
+He choked, and the tears rushed to his eyes.  He wiped them angrily
+away with the back of his glove.
+
+"It's a crime!" he cried.  "Can't he be held off somehow?  Who IS
+he?  I want to know his name."
+
+Captain Elisha sadly shook his head.  "I'm afraid he can't, Stevie,"
+he said.  "He's got a legal right to all 'Bije left, and more, too.
+It may be he won't be too hard; perhaps he'll . . . but there,"
+hastily.  "I mustn't say that.  We've got to face the situation as
+'tis.  And I can't tell you his name because he don't want it
+mentioned unless it's absolutely necessary.  And we don't, either.
+We don't want--any of us--to have this get into the papers.  We
+mustn't have any disgrace."
+
+"Disgrace!  Good heavens!  Isn't there disgrace enough already?
+Isn't it enough to know father was a crook as well as an idiot?
+I've always thought he was insane ever since that crazy will of his
+came to light; but to steal! and then to leave a paper proving it,
+so that we've got to lose everything!  His children!  It's--"
+
+"Now hold on, boy!  Your dad didn't mean to take what didn't belong
+to him--for good, that is; the note proves that.  He did do wrong
+and used another man's money, but--"
+
+"Then why didn't he keep it?  If you're going to steal, steal like
+a man, I say!"
+
+"Steve, Steve! steady now!"  The captain's tone was sterner.
+"Don't speak that way.  You'll be sorry for it later.  I tell you I
+don't condemn your father ha'f so much as I pity him."
+
+"Oh, shut up!  You make me sick.  You talk just as Caro does.  I'll
+never forgive him, no matter how much she preaches, and I told her
+so.  Pity!  Pity him!  How about pity for ME?  I--I--"
+
+His overwrought nerves gave way, and, throwing himself into the
+chair, he broke down completely and, forgetting the manhood of
+which he was so fond of boasting, cried like a baby.  Captain
+Elisha turned away, to hide his own emotion.
+
+"It's hard," he said slowly.  "It's awfully hard for you, my boy.
+I hate to see you suffer this way."  Then, in a lower tone, he
+added doubtfully.  "I wonder if--if--I wonder--"
+
+His nephew heard the word and interrupted.
+
+"You wonder?" he demanded, hysterically; "you wonder what?  What
+are you going to do about it?  It's up to you, isn't it?  You're
+our guardian, aren't you?"
+
+"Yes, Stevie, I'm your guardian."
+
+"Yes, you are!  But no one would guess it.  When we didn't want
+you, you wouldn't leave us for a minute.  Now, when we need you,
+when there isn't a soul for us to turn to, you stay away.  You
+haven't been near us.  It's up to you, I say! and what are you
+going to do about it?  What are you going to DO?"
+
+His uncle held up his hand.
+
+"S-shh!" he said.  "Don't raise your voice like that, son!  I can
+hear you without that, and we don't want anybody else to hear.
+What am I goin' to do?  Stevie, I don't know exactly.  I ain't made
+up my mind yet."
+
+"Well, it's time you did!"
+
+"Yes, I guess likely 'tis.  As for my not comin' to see you, you
+know the reason for that.  I'd have come quick enough, but I wa'n't
+sure I'd be welcome.  And I told your sister only 'tother day that--
+by the way, Steve, how is she?  How is Caroline?"
+
+"She's a fool!"  The boy sprang up again and shook his fist.
+"She's the one I've come here to speak about.  If we don't stop her
+she'll ruin us altogether.  She--she's a damned fool, I tell you!"
+
+"There! there!" the captain's tone was sharp and emphatic.  "That's
+enough of that," he said.  "I don't want to hear you call your
+sister names.  What do you mean by it?"
+
+"I mean what I say.  She IS a fool.  Do you know what she's done?
+She's written Mal Dunn all about it!  I'd have stopped her, but I
+didn't know until it was too late.  She's told him the whole
+thing."
+
+"She has?  About 'Bije?"
+
+"Well, perhaps she didn't tell him father was a thief, but she did
+tell that the estate was gone--that we were flat broke and worse."
+
+"Hum!" Captain Elisha seemed more gratified than displeased.
+"Hum! . . .  Well, I kind of expected she would.  Knowin' her,
+I kind of expected it."
+
+"You did?" Stephen glared in wrathful amazement.  "You expected
+it?"
+
+"Yes.  What of it?"
+
+"What OF it?  Why, everything!  Can't you see?  Mal's our only
+chance.  If she marries him she'll be looked out for and so will I.
+She needn't have told him until they were married.  The wedding
+could have been hurried along; the Dunns were crazy to have it as
+soon as possible.  Now--"
+
+"Hold on, Steve!  Belay!  What difference does her tellin' him
+make?  Maybe she hasn't mentioned it to you, but I had a talk with
+your sister the other mornin'.  She thinks the world of Malcolm,
+and he does of her.  She told me so herself.  Of COURSE she'd go to
+him in her trouble.  And he'll be proud--yes, and glad to know that
+he can help her.  As for the weddin', I don't see that this'll have
+any effect except to hurry it up a little more, maybe."
+
+Steve looked at him suspiciously, but there was no trace of sarcasm
+in the captain's face or voice.  The boy scowled.
+
+"Ugh!" he grunted.
+
+"What's the 'ugh' for?  See here, you ain't hintin' that young Dunn
+was cal'latin' to marry Caroline just for her money, are you?  Of
+course you ain't!  Why, you and he are the thickest sort of chums.
+You wouldn't chum with a feller who would play such a trick as that
+on your own sister."
+
+Stephen's scowl deepened.  He thrust his hands into his pocket, and
+shifted his feet uneasily.
+
+"You don't understand," he said.  "People don't do things here as
+they do where you come from."
+
+"I understand that, all right," with dry emphasis.  "I've been here
+long enough to understand that.  But maybe I don't understand YOU.
+Heave ahead, and make it plain."
+
+"Well--well, then--I mean this: I don't know that Mal was after
+Caro's money, but--but he had a right to expect SOME.  If he
+didn't, why, then her not telling him until after they were married
+wouldn't have made any difference.  And--and if her tellin' him
+beforehand SHOULD make a difference and he wanted to break the
+engagement, she's just romantic fool enough to let him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"WELL?  If she doesn't marry him, who's going to take care of her?
+What's going to become of ME?  We haven't a cent.  What kind of a
+guardian are you?  Do you want us to starve?"
+
+He was shouting again.  The captain was calm.  "Oh," he said, "I
+guess it won't reach to the starvation point.  I'm a pretty tough
+old critter, 'cordin' to your estimate, but I shouldn't let my
+brother's children starve.  If the wust comes to the wust, there's
+always a home and plenty to eat for you both at South Denboro."
+
+This offer did not appear to comfort the young gentleman greatly.
+His disgust was evident.
+
+"South Denhoro!" he repeated, scornfully.  "Gad! . . . South
+Denboro!"
+
+"Yup.  But we'll let South Denboro alone for now and stick to New
+York.  What is it you expect me to do?  What are you drivin' at?"
+
+Stephen shook a forefinger in his guardian's face.
+
+"I expect you to make her stick to her engagement," he cried.  "And
+make her make him stick.  She can, can't she?  It's been announced,
+hasn't it?  Everybody knows of it!  She's got the right--the legal
+right to hold him, hasn't she?"
+
+His uncle regarded him with a quizzical smile.  "Why, ye-es," he
+answered, "I cal'late she has, maybe.  Course, there's no danger of
+his wantin' to do such a thing, but if he should I presume likely
+we could make it uncomfortable for him, anyhow.  What are you
+hankerin' for, Steve--a breach-of-promise suit?  I've always
+understood those sort of cases were kind of unpleasant--for
+everybody but the newspapers."
+
+The boy was in deadly earnest.  "Pleasant!" he repeated.  "Is any
+of this business pleasant?  You make her act like a sensible girl!
+You're her guardian, and you make her!  And, after that, if he
+tries to hedge, you tell him a few things.  You can hold him!  Do
+it!  DO it!"
+
+Captain Elisha turned on his heel and began pacing up and down the
+room.  His nephew watched him eagerly.
+
+"Well," he demanded, after a moment, "what are we going to do?  Are
+we going to make him make good?"
+
+The captain paused.  "Steve," he answered, deliberately, "I ain't
+sure as we are.  And, as I've said, if he's got a spark of decency,
+it won't be necessary for us to try.  If it should be--if it should
+be--"
+
+"Well, IF it should be?"
+
+"Then we can try, that's all.  Maybe you run a course a little
+different from me, Stevie; you navigate 'cordin' to your ideas, and
+I do by mine.  But in some ways we ain't so fur apart.  Son," with
+a grim nod, "you rest easy on one thing--the Corcoran Dunn fleet is
+goin' to show its colors."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Caroline sat by the library window, her chin in her hand, drearily
+watching the sleet as it beat against the panes, and the tops of
+the Park trees lashing in the wind.  Below, in the street, the
+trolleys passed in their never-ending procession, the limousines
+and cabs whizzed forlornly by, and the few pedestrians pushed
+dripping umbrellas against the gale.  A wet, depressing afternoon,
+as hopeless as her thoughts, and growing darker and more miserable
+hourly.
+
+Stephen, standing by the fire, kicked the logs together and sent a
+shower of sparks flying.
+
+"Oh, say something, Caro, do!" he snapped testily.  "Don't sit
+there glowering; you give me the horrors."
+
+She roused from her reverie, turned, and tried to smile.
+
+"What shall I say?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know.  But say something, for heaven's sake!  Talk about
+the weather, if you can't think of anything more original."
+
+"The weather isn't a very bright subject just now."
+
+"I didn't say it was; but it's a subject.  I hope to goodness it
+doesn't prevent Sylvester's keeping his appointment.  He's late, as
+it is."
+
+"Is he?" wearily.  "I hadn't noticed."
+
+"Of course you hadn't.  You don't notice anything.  It doesn't help
+matters to pull a long face and go moping around wiping your eyes.
+You've got to use philosophy in times like this.  It's just as hard
+for me as it is for you; and I try to make the best of it, don't I?"
+
+She might have reminded him that his philosophy was a very recent
+acquisition.  When the news of their poverty first came he was the
+one who raved and sobbed and refused to contemplate anything less
+direful than slow starvation or quick suicide.  She had soothed and
+comforted then.  Since the previous evening, when he had gone out,
+in spite of her protestations, and left her alone, his manner had
+changed.  He was still nervous and irritable, but no longer
+threatened self-destruction, and seemed, for some unexplained
+reason, more hopeful and less desperate.  Sylvester had 'phoned,
+saying that he would call at the apartment at two, and since
+Stephen had received the message he had been in a state of
+suppressed excitement, scarcely keeping still for five minutes
+at a time.
+
+"It is just as hard for me as it is for you, isn't it?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, Steve, I suppose it is."
+
+"You suppose?  Don't you know?  Oh, do quit thinking about Mal Dunn
+and pay attention to me."
+
+She did not answer.  He regarded her with disgust.
+
+"You are thinking of Mal, of course," he declared.  "What's the
+use?  You know what _I_ think: you were a fool to write him that
+letter."
+
+"Don't, Steve; please don't."
+
+"Ugh!"
+
+"Don't you know he didn't get the letter?  I was so nervous and
+over-wrought that I misdirected it."
+
+"Pooh!  Has he ever stayed away from you so long before?  Or his
+precious mother, either?  Why doesn't she come to see you?  She
+scarcely missed a day before this happened.  Nonsense!  I guess he
+got it all right."
+
+"Steve, stop! stop!  Don't dare speak like that.  Do you realize
+what you are insinuating?  You don't believe it!  You know you
+don't!  Shame on you!  I'm ashamed of my brother!  No! not another
+word of that kind, or I shall leave the room."
+
+She had risen to her feet.  He looked at her determined face and
+turned away.
+
+"Oh, well," he muttered, sullenly, "maybe you're right.  I don't
+say you're not.  Perhaps he didn't get the letter.  You sent it to
+his office, and he may have been called out of town.  But his
+mother--"
+
+"Mrs. Dunn was not well when I last saw her.  She may be ill."
+
+"Perhaps.  But if you're so sure about them, why not let it go at
+that?  What's the use of fretting?"
+
+"I was not thinking of them--then."
+
+As a matter of fact, she had been thinking of her uncle, Elisha
+Warren.  As the time dragged by, she thought of him more and more--
+not as the uncouth countryman whose unwelcome presence had been
+forced into her life; nor as the hypocrite whose insult to her
+father's memory she never could forgive or whose double-dealing had
+been, as she thought, revealed; but as the man who, with the choke
+in his voice and the tears in his eyes, bade her remember that,
+whenever she needed help, he was ready and glad to give it.
+
+She did not doubt Malcolm's loyalty.  Her brother's hints and
+insinuations found no echo in her thoughts.  In the note which she
+had written her fiancee she told of the loss of their fortune,
+though not of her father's shame.  That she could not tell; nor did
+she ask Malcolm to come to her--her pride would not permit that.
+She wrote simply of her great trouble and trusted the rest to him.
+That he had not come was due--so she kept repeating to herself--
+solely to the fact that he had not received her letter.  She knew
+that was it--she knew it.  And yet--and yet he did not come.
+
+So, in her loneliness and misery, her guardian's words returned
+again and again to her memory:  "Sometimes when things look all
+right they turn out to be all wrong.  If ever there comes a time
+like that to you and Steve, remember you've got me to turn to."
+The time had come when she must turn to someone.
+
+She would never go to him; she vowed it.  She would not accept his
+help if he came to her.  But, if he was sincere, if he meant what
+he said, why did he not come again to proffer it?  Because he was
+not sincere, of course.  That had been proven long before.  She
+despised him.  But his face, as she last saw it, refused to be
+banished from her mind.  It looked so strong, and yet gentle and
+loving, like the face of a protector, one to be trusted through
+good times and bad.  Oh, this wicked, wicked world, and the shams
+and sorrows in it!  "Malcolm, why don't you come to me?"
+
+Stephen uttered an exclamation.  Looking up, she saw him hurrying
+toward the hall.
+
+"Someone's at the door," he explained.  "It's Sylvester, of course.
+I'll let him in."
+
+It was not the lawyer but a messenger boy with a note.  Stephen
+returned to the library with the missive in his hand.
+
+"He couldn't get here, Caro," he said, excitedly.  "Wants us to
+come right down to his office.  Hurry up!  Get your things on.  The
+cab's waiting.  Come!  Rush!  It may be important."
+
+The cab, an electric vehicle, made good time, and they soon reached
+the Pine Street offices, where they were ushered at once into the
+senior partner's presence.
+
+"Step into the other room," said Mr. Sylvester, "and wait there,
+please.  I'll join you shortly."
+
+The room was the large one where the momentous conference between
+Captain Elisha and the three lawyers had so recently taken place.
+Caroline seated herself in one of the chairs.  Stephen walked the
+floor.
+
+"Hope he doesn't keep us waiting long," he fumed.  "I thought of
+course he was ready or he wouldn't have sent for us."
+
+"Ready?" his sister looked at him, questioningly.  "Ready for
+what?" she repeated, with sudden suspicion.  "Steve, do you know
+what Mr. Sylvester wishes to see us about?"
+
+Her brother colored and seemed a bit disconcerted.  "How should I
+know?" he muttered.
+
+"Is it something new about the estate or that man who owns it?  You
+do know something!  I can see it in your face.  What is it?"
+
+"Nothing.  How should I know what it is?"
+
+"But you do.  I believe you do.  Look at me!  What does Mr.
+Sylvester want of us?"
+
+The boy hesitated; then whirled and faced her.  "See here, Caro,"
+he said, "maybe I do know something--or I can guess.  Now, whatever
+happens, you've got to be a sensible girl.  Certain things have to
+be dealt with in a practical way, and we're practical people.
+Sentiment--and pride--and all that sort of stuff, are well enough,
+but business is business and an engagement is an engagement.  Now
+it's right up to you and--"
+
+"Steve, what are you talking about?"
+
+"That's all right.  I know what I'm talking about.  Somebody in the
+family must use common sense, and when it comes to holding a person
+to a promise, then--Confound it, Sis, we can't starve, can we?"
+
+"What do you mean?"  She rose and advanced toward him.  "What do
+you mean by a promise?  What have you been doing?"
+
+His confusion increased.  He avoided her eyes and moved sullenly
+toward the other side of the table.
+
+"I haven't done anything," he grumbled, "that is, I've done what
+any reasonable fellow would do.  I'm not the only one who
+thinks . . .  Look here!  We've got a guardian, haven't we?"
+
+"A guardian! a GUARDIAN!  Stephen Warren, have you been to him?
+Have you--Was THAT where you were last night?"
+
+"Well, I--"
+
+"Answer me!"
+
+"What if I have?  Whom else am I to go to?  Isn't he--"
+
+"But why did you go to him?  What did you say?"
+
+"I said--I said--Never mind what I said.  He agrees with me, I can
+tell you that.  You'll thank your stars I did go, before very long.
+I . . .  S-sh!  Here's Sylvester."
+
+The door of the room opened.  The person who entered, however, was
+not the lawyer, but the very man of whom they had been speaking,
+Captain Elisha himself.  He closed the door behind him.
+
+"Hello, Stevie," he said, with a nod to the boy.  Then, turning to
+his niece, he stepped forward and held out his hand.  "Caroline,"
+he began, "I don't doubt you're some surprised to see me here; but
+I . . .  Why, what's the matter?"
+
+The faces of the pair led him to ask the question.  Stephen's was
+red and he looked embarrassed and guilty.  Caroline's was white,
+and she glanced from her brother to her guardian and back again,
+with flashing eyes.
+
+"What's the matter?" repeated the captain.  "Steve," sharply, "have
+you been making a fool of yourself again?  What is it?"
+
+"Nothing," was the sulky answer; "nothing of consequence.  Caro is--
+well, I happened to mention that I called on you last night and--
+and she doesn't seem to like it, that's all.  As I told her,
+somebody in the family had to use common sense, and you were our
+guardian and naturally, under the circumstances . . .  Why, I'll
+leave it to anyone!" with a burst of righteous indignation.  "You
+ARE our guardian."
+
+He proclaimed it as if he expected a denial.  Captain Elisha
+frowned.  "Humph!" he grunted.  "That ain't exactly news, is it,
+Steve?  Seems to me we've taken up that p'int afore; though, as I
+remember, you didn't used to be sot on all hands knowin' it," with
+dry sarcasm.  "I don't need even your common sense to remind me of
+it just at this minute.  Caroline, your brother did come to see me
+last night.  I was glad he did."
+
+She ignored him.  "Steve," she demanded, still facing the young
+man, "was this, too, a part of your plan?  Did you bring me here to
+meet--him?"
+
+"No, I didn't.  Sylvester was to come to see us.  You know that; he
+telephoned.  I didn't know--"
+
+The captain interrupted.  "There, there, son!" he exclaimed, "let
+me say a word.  No, Caroline, Stevie didn't know I was to meet you
+here.  But I thought it was necessary that I should.  Set down,
+please.  I know you must be worn out, poor girl."
+
+"I don't wish to sit.  I want to know what my brother called to see
+you about."
+
+"Well, there was some matters he wanted to talk over."
+
+"What were they?  Concerning the estate?"
+
+"Partly that."
+
+"Partly?  What else?  Captain Warren, my brother has hinted--he has
+said--What does he mean by holding someone to a promise?  Answer me
+truthfully."
+
+"I shouldn't answer you any other way, Caroline.  Steve seems to be
+worried about--now you mustn't mind my speakin' plain, Caroline;
+the time's come when I've got to--Steve seems to be worried about
+the young man you're engaged to.  He seems to cal'late that Mr.
+Dunn may want to slip out of that engagement."
+
+His niece looked at him.  Then she turned to her brother.  "You
+went to HIM and . . .  Oh, how COULD you!"
+
+Stephen would not meet her gaze.  "Well," he muttered rebelliously,
+"why wouldn't I?  You know yourself that Mal hasn't been near you
+since it happened.  If he wasn't after--if he was straight, he
+would have come, wouldn't he?  Mind, I don't say he isn't--perhaps
+he doesn't know.  But, at any rate, something must be done.  We had
+to face possibilities, and you wouldn't listen to me.  I tried--"
+
+"Stop!" she cut him short, imperiously.  "Don't make me hate you.
+And you," turning to her uncle, "did YOU listen and believe such
+things?  Did you encourage him to believe them?  Oh, I know what
+you think of my friends!  I heard it from your own lips.  And I
+know why you think it.  Because they know what you are; because
+they exposed you and--"
+
+"There, there!  Caroline, you needn't go on.  I've heard your
+opinion of my character afore.  Never mind me for the minute.  And,
+if you'll remember, _I_ ain't said that I doubted your young man.
+You told me that you thought the world and all of him and that he
+did of you.  That's enough--or ought to be.  But your brother says
+you wrote him two days ago and he ain't been near you."
+
+"I misdirected the letter.  He didn't receive it."
+
+"Um-hm.  I see.  That would explain."
+
+"Of course it would.  That MUST be the reason."
+
+"Yes, seem's if it must."
+
+"It is.  What right have you to doubt it?  Oh, how can you think
+such things?  Can you suppose the man I am to marry is so
+despicable--so MEAN as to--as to--I'm ashamed to say it.  Why do
+you presume that money has any part in our engagement?  Such
+trouble as mine only makes it more binding.  Do you suppose if HE
+were poor as--as I am, that I would desert HIM?  You know I
+wouldn't.  I should be glad--yes, almost happy, because then I
+could show him--could--"
+
+Her voice failed her.  She put her handkerchief to her eyes for an
+instant and then snatched it away and faced them, her head erect.
+The pride in her face was reflected in Captain Elisha's as he
+regarded her.
+
+"No, no," he said gently, "I never supposed you'd act but in one
+way, Caroline.  I knew YOU.  And, as Steve'll tell you, I said to
+him almost the same words you've been sayin'.  If Malcolm's what
+he'd ought to be, I said, he'll be glad of the chance to prove how
+much he cares for your sister.  But Steve appeared to have some
+misgivin's, and so--"
+
+He paused, turned toward the door, and seemed to be listening.
+Caroline flashed an indignant glance at her brother.
+
+"And so?" she asked, scornfully.
+
+"And so," continued the captain, with a slight change in his tone,
+"it seemed to me that his doubts ought to be settled.  And,"
+rising, as there came a tap at the door, "I cal'late they're goin'
+to be."
+
+He walked briskly over and opened the door.  Sylvester was standing
+without.
+
+"Come, have they?" inquired Captain Elisha.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Fetch 'em right in here.  Steve, stand over nigher that corner.
+This way, Caroline, if you please."
+
+He took his niece by the arm and led her to the side of the room
+not visible from the doorway.  She was too astonished to resist,
+but asked an agitated question.
+
+"What is it?" she cried.  "Who is coming?
+
+"Some friends of yours," was the quiet reply.  "Nothin' to be
+frightened about.  Steve, stay where you are."
+
+The boy was greatly excited.  "Is it they?" he demanded.  "Is it?
+By gad!  Now, Sis, be a sensible girl.  If he should try to hedge,
+you hold him.  Hold him!  Understand?"
+
+"Steve, be quiet," ordered the captain. . . .  "Ah, Mrs. Dunn, good
+afternoon, ma'am.  Mr. Dunn, good afternoon, sir."
+
+For the pair who, followed by Sylvester, now entered the room were
+Mrs. Corcoran Dunn and Malcolm.
+
+They were past the sill before Captain Elisha's greeting caused
+them to turn and see the three already there.  Mrs. Dunn, who was
+in the lead, stopped short in her majestic though creaking march of
+entrance, and her florid face turned a brighter crimson.  Her son,
+strolling languidly at her heels, started violently and dropped his
+hat.  The lawyer, bringing up in the rear, closed the door and
+remained standing near it.  Caroline uttered an exclamation of
+surprise.  Her brother drew himself haughtily erect.  Captain
+Elisha remained unperturbed and smiling.
+
+"Good afternoon, ma'am," he repeated.  "It's been some time since
+you and I run across each other.  I hope you're feelin' pretty
+smart."
+
+Mrs. Dunn had faced some unpleasant situations in her life and had
+proved equal to them.  Usually, however, she had been prepared
+beforehand.  For this she had not been prepared--as yet.  She had
+come to the offices of Sylvester, Kuhn, and Graves, at the senior
+partner's request, to be told, as she supposed, the full and final
+details of the financial disaster threatening the Warren family.
+If those details should prove the disaster as overwhelming as it
+appeared, then--well, then, certain disagreeable duties must be
+performed.  But to meet the girl to whom her son was engaged, and
+whom she and he had carefully avoided meeting until the lawyers
+should acquaint them with the whole truth--to meet this girl, and
+her brother, and her guardian, thus unexpectedly and unprepared,
+was enough to shake the composure and nerve of even such a veteran
+campaigner as Mrs. M. Corcoran Dunn.
+
+But of the three to whom the meeting was an absolute surprise,--
+Caroline, Malcolm and herself--she was characteristically the first
+to regain outward serenity.  For a moment she stood nonplused and
+speechless, but only for a moment.  Then she hastened, with
+outstretched arms, to Caroline and clasped her in affectionate
+embrace.
+
+"My dear child!" she cried; "my dear girl!  I'm SO glad to see you!
+I've thought of you so much!  And I pity you so.  Poor Malcolm has--
+Malcolm," sharply, "come here!  Don't you see Caroline?"
+
+Malcolm was groping nervously for his hat.  He picked it up and
+obeyed his mother's summons, though with no great eagerness.
+
+"How d'ye do, Caroline," he stammered, confusedly.  "I--I--It's a
+deuce of a surprise to see you down here.  The mater and I didn't
+expect--that is, we scarcely hoped to meet anyone but Sylvester.
+He sent for us, you know."
+
+He extended his hand.  She did not take it.
+
+"Did you get my letter?" she asked, quickly.  Mrs. Dunn answered
+for him.
+
+"Yes, dear, he got it," she said.  "The poor fellow was almost
+crazy.  I began to fear for his sanity; I did, indeed.  I did not
+dare trust him out of my sight.  Oh, if you could but know how we
+feel for you and pity you!"
+
+Pity was not what Caroline wanted just then.  The word jarred upon
+her.  She avoided the lady's embrace and once more faced the
+embarrassed Malcolm.
+
+"You got my letter?" she cried.  "You DID?"
+
+"Yes--er--yes, I got it, Caroline.  I--by Jove, you know--"
+
+He hesitated, stammered, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable.  His
+mother regarded him wrathfully.
+
+"Well," she snapped, "why don't you go on?  Caroline, dear, you
+really must excuse him.  The dear boy is quite overcome."
+
+Captain Elisha stepped forward.
+
+"Excuse me for interruptin', ma'am," he said, addressing the
+ruffled matron; "but I know you're sort of surprised to see us all
+here and maybe I'd better explain.  Mr. Sylvester told me you and
+your son had an appointment with him for this afternoon.  Now there
+was something we--or I, anyhow--wanted to talk with you about, so I
+thought we might as well make one job of it.  Sylvester's a pretty
+busy man, and I know he has other things to attend to; so why not
+let him go ahead and tell you what you come to hear, and then we
+can take up the other part by ourselves.  He's told me what you
+wanted to see him about, and it's somethin' we're all interested
+in, bein' as we're one family--or goin' to be pretty soon.  So
+suppose he just tells you now.  Ain't that a good idea?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn looked at the speaker, and then at the lawyer, and seemed
+to have caught some of her son's embarrassment.
+
+"I--we did have an appointment with Mr. Sylvester," she admitted,
+reluctantly; "but the business was not important.  And," haughtily,
+"I do not care to discuss it here."
+
+The captain opened his eyes.  "Hey?" he exclaimed.  "Not important?
+You surprise me, ma'am.  I judged 'twas mighty important.  'Twas
+about the real size of your father's estate, Caroline," turning to
+the girl.  "I thought Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Malcolm must think 'twas
+important, for I understand they've been telephonin' and askin' for
+appointments for the last two days.  Why, yes! and they come way
+down here in all this storm on purpose to talk it over with him.
+Am I wrong?  Ain't that so, ma'am?"
+
+It was so, and Mrs. Dunn could not well deny it.  Therefore, she
+took refuge in a contemptuous silence.  The captain nodded.
+
+"As to discussin' it here," he went on with bland innocence, "why,
+we're all family folks, same as I said, and there ain't any secrets
+between us on THAT subject.  So suppose we all listen while Mr.
+Sylvester tells just what he'd have told you and Mr. Malcolm.  It's
+pretty hard to hear; but bad news is soon told.  Heave ahead, Mr.
+Sylvester."
+
+Mrs. Dunn made one more attempt to avoid the crisis she saw was
+approaching.
+
+"Surely, Caroline," she said testily, "you don't wish your private
+affairs treated in this public manner.  Come, let us go."
+
+She laid a hand on the girl's arm.  Captain Elisha quietly
+interposed.
+
+"No, no," he said.  "We'll all stay here.  There's nothin' public
+about it."
+
+Caroline, crimson with mortification, protested indignantly.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," she said, "it is not necessary to--"
+
+"Excuse me;" her uncle's tone was sharper and more stern; "I think
+it is.  Go on, Sylvester."
+
+The lawyer looked far from comfortable, but he spoke at once and to
+the point.
+
+"I should have told you and your son just this, Mrs. Dunn," he
+said.  "I intimated it before, and Miss Warren had already written
+you the essential facts.  A new and unexpected development, the
+nature of which I am not at liberty to disclose now or later, makes
+Abijah Warren's estate absolutely bankrupt.  Not only that, but
+many thousand dollars in debt.  His heirs are left penniless.  That
+is the plain truth, I'm very sorry to say.  There is no hope of
+anything better.  You'll forgive me, Miss Warren, I hope, for
+putting it so bluntly; but I thought it best to avoid every
+possible misunderstanding."
+
+It was blunt, beyond doubt.  Even Captain Elisha winced at the word
+"penniless."  Stephen muttered under his breath and turned his
+back.  Caroline, swaying, put a hand on the table to steady
+herself.  The Dunns looked at each other.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Sylvester," said the captain, quietly.  "I'll see
+you again in a few moments."
+
+The lawyer bowed and left the room, evidently glad to escape.
+Captain Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn.
+
+"And now, ma'am," he observed, "that part of the business is over.
+The next part's even more in the family, so I thought we didn't
+need legal advice.  You see just how matters stand.  My niece is a
+poor girl.  She needs somebody to support her and look out for her.
+She's got that somebody, we're all thankful to say.  She's engaged
+to Mr. Malcolm here.  And, as you're his ma, Mrs. Dunn, and I'm
+Caroline's guardian, us old folks'll take our affairs in hand; they
+needn't listen, if they don't want to.  I understand from Steve
+that Malcolm's been mighty anxious to have the weddin' day hurried
+along.  I can't say as I blame him.  And _I_ think the sooner
+they're married the better.  Now, how soon can we make it, Mrs.
+Dunn?"
+
+This unexpected and matter-of-fact query was variously received.
+Mrs. Dunn frowned and flushed.  Malcolm frowned, also.  Steve
+nodded emphatic approval.  As for Caroline, she gazed at her
+guardian in horrified amazement.
+
+"Why!" she cried.  "You--you--What do you mean by such--"
+
+"Don't be an idiot, Caro!" cut in her brother.  "I told you to be
+sensible.  Captain Warren's dead right."
+
+"Stevie, you stay out of this."  There was no misunderstanding the
+captain's tone.  "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it.  And,
+Caroline, I want you to stay out, too.  This is my trick at the
+wheel.  Mrs. Dunn, what d'you say?  Never mind the young folks.
+You and me know that marriage is business, same as everything else.
+How soon can we have the weddin'?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn had, apparently, nothing to say--to him.  She addressed
+her next remark to Caroline.
+
+"My dear," she said, in great agitation, "this is really too
+dreadful.  This--er--guardian of yours appears to think he is in
+some barbarous country--ordering the savages about.  Come! Malcolm,
+take her away."
+
+"No," Captain Elisha stepped in front of the door.  "She ain't
+goin'; and I'd rather you wouldn't go yet.  Let's settle this up
+now.  I ain't askin' anything unreasonable.  Caroline's under my
+charge, and I've got to plan for her.  Your boy's just crazy to
+marry her; he's been beggin' for her to name the day.  Let's name
+it.  It needn't be to-morrow.  I cal'late you'll want to get out
+invitations and such.  It needn't be next week.  But just say about
+when it can be; then I'll know how to plan.  That ain't much to
+ask, sartin."
+
+Much or little, neither Mrs. Dunn nor her son appeared ready to
+answer.  Malcolm fidgeted with his hat and gloves; his mother
+fanned herself with her handkerchief.  Caroline, frantic with
+humiliation and shame, would have protested again, but her
+guardian's stern shake of the head silenced her.
+
+"Well, Mr. Dunn," turning to the groom-to-be; "you're one of the
+interested parties--what do you say?"
+
+Malcolm ground his heel into the rug.  "I don't consider it your
+business," he declared.  "You're butting in where--"
+
+"No, no, I ain't.  It's my business, and business is just WHAT it
+is.  Your ma knows that.  She and I had a real confidential up and
+down talk on love and marriage, and she's the one that proved to me
+that marryin' in high society, like yours and the kind Caroline's
+been circulatin' in, was business and mighty little else.  There's
+a business contract between you and my niece.  We want to know how
+soon it can be carried out, that's all."
+
+The young man looked desperately at the door; but the captain's
+broad shoulders blocked the way towards it.  He hesitated, scowled,
+and then, with a shrug of his shoulders, surrendered.
+
+"How can I marry?" he demanded sullenly.  "Confound it! my salary
+isn't large enough to pay my own way, decently."
+
+"Malcolm!" cried his mother, warningly.
+
+"Well, Mater, what the devil's the use of all this?  You know . . .
+By Jove! you OUGHT to!"
+
+"Hold on, young feller!  I don't understand.  Your wages ain't
+large enough, you say?  What do you mean?  You was GOIN' to be
+married, wasn't you?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn plunged to the rescue, a forlorn hope, but desperate, and
+fighting to the end.
+
+"An outrage!" she blurted.  "Malcolm, I forbid you to continue this
+disgusting conversation.  Caroline, my poor child, I don't blame
+you for this, but I call on you to stop it at once.  My dear, I--"
+
+She advanced toward the girl with outstretched arms.  Caroline
+recoiled.
+
+"Don't! don't!" she gasped.  Captain Elisha spoke up sharp and
+stern.
+
+"Excuse me, ma'am," he said, "but I'll be obliged if you'll wait a
+minute.  Caroline, don't you say a word.  You say--you--"
+addressing Malcolm, "that you can't support a wife on your wages.
+You surprise me some, considerin' the swath you've been cuttin' on
+'em--but never mind that.  Maybe they won't keep automobiles and--
+er--other things I've heard you was interested in, but if you cut
+them out and economize a little, same as young married folks I've
+known have been glad to do, you could scrape along, couldn't you?
+Hey?  Couldn't you?"
+
+Malcolm's answer was another scornful shrug.  "You belong on Cape
+Cod," he sneered.  "Mater, let's get out of this."
+
+"Wait!  Put it plain now.  Do I understand that you cal'late to
+break the engagement because my niece has lost her money?  Is that
+it?"
+
+Mrs. Dunn realized that the inevitable was upon them.  After all,
+it might as well be faced now as later.
+
+"This is ridiculous," she proclaimed.  "Every sane person knows--
+though BARBARIANS may not--" with a venomous glare at the captain--
+"that, in engagements of the kind in which my son shared, a certain
+amount of--er--financial--er--that is, the bride is supposed to
+have some money.  It is expected.  Of course it is!  Love in a
+cottage is--well--a bit passe.  My son and I pity your niece from
+the bottom of our hearts, but--there! under the circumstances the
+whole affair becomes impossible.  Caroline, my dear, I'm dreadfully
+sorry, dreadfully!  I love you like my own child.  And poor Malcolm
+will be heartbroken--but--you SEE."
+
+She extended her hand in a gesture of utter helplessness.  Stephen,
+who had been fuming and repressing his rage with difficulty during
+the scene, leaped forward with brandished fist.
+
+"By gad!" he shouted.  "Mal Dunn, you cad--"
+
+His uncle pushed him back with a sweep of his arm.
+
+"Steve," he ordered, "I'm runnin' this ship."  He gave a quick
+glance at his niece, and then added, speaking rapidly and addressing
+the head of the Dunn family, "I see, ma'am.  Yes, yes, I see.  Well,
+you've forgot one thing, I guess.  Caroline's lived in high society,
+too.  And I've been in it a spell, myself.  And Steve's a boy, but
+he's got a business head.  If there's nothin' in marriage but
+business, then an engagement is what I just called it, a business
+contract, and it can't be broke without the consent of both sides.
+You wanted Caroline's money; maybe she wants yours now.  If she
+does, and there's such a thing as law, why, perhaps she can get it."
+
+"That's the talk!" cried Stephen exultingly.
+
+"Yup; perhaps she can.  She may be a business woman, too, you know.
+If money and style and social position's what counts and she wants
+to force you to keep your promise, why, I'm her guardian and she
+can count on me to back her up.  What do you say, Caroline?  I'm at
+your service.  I--"
+
+But Caroline interrupted him.
+
+"Stop!" she cried wildly.  "Oh, stop!  Do you think--do you suppose
+I would marry him now?  NOW, after I've seen what he is?  Oh," with
+a shudder of disgust, "when I think what I might have done, I . . .
+Thank God that the money has gone!  I'm glad I'm poor!  I'm GLAD!"
+
+"Caro, you fool!" shrieked Stephen.  She did not heed him.
+
+"Let me go!" she cried.  "Let me get away from him; from this room!
+I never want to see him or think of him again.  Please! PLEASE let
+me go!  Oh, take me home!  Captain Warren, PLEASE let me go home!"
+
+Her uncle was at her side in a moment.  "Yes, yes, dearie," he
+said, "I'll take you home.  Don't give way now!  I'll--"
+
+He would have taken her arm, but she shrank from him.
+
+"Not you!" she begged.  "Steve!"
+
+The captain's face clouded, but he answered promptly.
+
+"Of course--Steve," he agreed.  "Steve, take your sister home.  Mr.
+Sylvester's got a carriage waitin', and he'll go with you, I don't
+doubt.  Do as I tell you, boy--and behave yourself.  Don't wait;
+go!"
+
+He held the door open until the hysterical girl and her brother had
+departed.  Then he turned to the Dunns.
+
+"Well, ma'am," he said, dryly.  "I don't know's there's anything
+more to be said.  All the questions seem to be settled.  Our
+acquaintance wa'n't so awful long, but it was interestin'.  Knowin'
+you has been, as the feller said, a liberal education.  Don't let
+me keep you any longer.  Good afternoon."
+
+He stepped away from the door.  Malcolm and his mother remained
+standing, for an instant, where they were when Caroline left.
+
+The young man looked as if he would enjoy choking someone, the
+captain preferably, but said nothing.  Then Mrs. Dunn bethought
+herself of a way to make their exit less awkward and embarrassing.
+
+"My heart!" she said, gasping, and with a clutch at her breast.
+"My poor heart!  I--I fear I'm going to have one of my attacks.
+Malcolm, your arm--quick!"
+
+With an expression of intense but patient suffering, and leaning
+heavily upon her son's arm, she moved past Captain Elisha and from
+the room.
+
+
+
+That evening the captain stood in the lower hall of the apartment
+house at Central Park West, undecided what to do next.  He wished
+more than anything else in the world to go to his niece.  He would
+have gone to her before--had been dying to go, to soothe, to
+comfort, to tell her of his love--but he was afraid.  His conscience
+troubled him.  Perhaps he had been too brutal.  Perhaps he shouldn't
+have acted as he did.  Maybe forcing the Dunn fleet to show its
+colors could have been done more diplomatically.  He had wanted her
+to see those colors for herself, to actually see them.  But he might
+have overdone it.  He remembered how she shrank from him and turned
+to her brother.  She might hate him more than ever now.  If so, then
+the whole scheme under which he was working fell to pieces.
+
+He was worried about Steve, too.  That young man would, naturally,
+be furious with his sister for what he would consider her romantic
+foolishness.  He had been warned to behave himself; but would he?
+Captain Elisha paced up and down the marble floor before the
+elevator cage and wondered whether his visiting the apartment would
+be a wise move or a foolish one.
+
+The elevator descended, the door of the cage opened, and Stephen
+himself darted out.  His face was red, he was scowling fiercely,
+and he strode toward the street without looking in his guardian's
+direction.
+
+The captain caught him as he passed.
+
+"Here, boy!" he exclaimed; "where's the fire?  Where are you
+bound?"
+
+His nephew, brought thus unexpectedly to a halt, stared at him.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" he exclaimed.  "Humph!  I'm bound--I don't know
+where I'm bound!"
+
+"You don't, hey?  Well, you can cruise a long ways on a v'yage like
+that.  What do you mean?"
+
+"Aw, let me alone!  I'm going to the club, I guess, or somewhere.
+Anyhow, I won't stay with her.  I told her so.  Silly little idiot!
+By gad, she understands what I think of her conduct.  I'll never
+speak to her again.  I told her so.  She--"
+
+"Here!  Belay!  Stop!  Who are you talking about?"
+
+"Caro, of course.  She--"
+
+"You've run off and left her alone--to-night?  Where is she?"
+
+"Upstairs--and crying, I suppose.  She doesn't do anything else.
+It's all she's good for.  Selfish, romantic--"
+
+He got no further, for Captain Elisha sent him reeling with a push
+and ran to the elevator.
+
+"Eighth floor," he commanded.
+
+The door of the apartment was not latched.  Stephen, in his rage
+and hurry, had neglected such trifles.  The captain opened it
+quietly and walked in.  He entered the library.  Caroline was lying
+on the couch, her head buried in the pillows.  She did not hear him
+cross the room.  He leaned over and touched her shoulder.  She
+started, looked, and sat up, gazing at him as though not certain
+whether he was a dream or reality.
+
+And he looked at her, at her pretty face, now so white and
+careworn, at her eyes, at the tear-stains on her cheeks, and his
+whole heart went out to her.
+
+"Caroline, dearie," he faltered, "forgive me for comin' here, won't
+you?  I had to come.  I couldn't leave you alone; I couldn't rest,
+thinkin' of you alone in your trouble.  I know you must feel harder
+than ever towards me for this afternoon's doin's, but I meant it
+for the best.  I HAD to show you--don't you see?  Can you forgive
+me?  Won't you try to forgive the old feller that loves you more'n
+all the world?  Won't you try?"
+
+She looked at him, wide-eyed, clasping and unclasping her hands.
+
+"_I_ forgive YOU?" she repeated, incredulously.
+
+"Yes.  Try to, dearie.  Oh, if you would only believe I meant it
+for your good, and nothin' else!  If you could only just trust me
+and come to me and let me help you.  I want you, my girl, I want
+you!"
+
+She leaned forward.  "Do you really mean it?" she cried.  "How can
+you? after all I've done? after the way I've treated you? and the
+things I've said?  You must HATE me!  Everyone does.  I hate
+myself!  You can't forgive me!  You can't!"
+
+His answer was to hold out his arms.  Another moment and she was in
+them, clinging to his wet coat, sobbing, holding him fast, and
+begging him not to leave her, to take her away, that she would
+work, that she would not be a burden to him--only take her with him
+and try to forgive her, for he was real and honest and the only
+friend she had.
+
+And Captain Elisha, soothing her, stroking her hair, and murmuring
+words of love and tenderness, realized that his labor and sacrifice
+had not been in vain, that here was his recompense; she would never
+misunderstand him again; she was his at last.
+
+And yet, in the midst of his joy, his conscience troubled him more
+than ever.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+It was April; and May was close at hand.  The weather was all that
+late April weather should be, and so often is not.  Trees, bushes,
+and vines were in bud; the green of the new grass was showing
+everywhere above the dead brown of the old; a pair of bluebirds
+were inspecting the hollow of the old apple tree, with an eye
+toward spring housekeeping; the sun was warm and bright, and the
+water of the Sound sparkled in the distance.  Caroline, sitting by
+the living-room window, was waiting for her uncle to return from
+the city.
+
+In the kitchen Annie Moriarty was preparing dinner.  Annie was now
+cook as well as chamber-maid, for, of all the Warren servants, she
+was the only one remaining.  Edwards, the "Commodore," had been
+dismissed, had departed, not without reluctance but philosophically,
+to seek other employment.  "Yes, miss," observed Edwards, when
+notified that his services were no longer required; "I understand.
+I've been expecting it.  I was in a family before that met with
+financial difficulties, and I know the signs.  All I can say is that
+I hope you and Mr. Stephen will get on all right, miss.  If there's
+anything I can do to help you, by way of friendship, please let me
+know.  I'd be glad, for old times' sake.  And the cook wanted me to
+tell you that, being as she's got another job in sight and was paid
+up to date, she wouldn't wait for notice, but was leaving immediate.
+She's gone already, miss."
+
+The second maid went also.  But Annie, Irish and grateful, refused
+to go.  Her mother came to back her in the refusal.
+
+"Indeed she'll not leave you, Miss Caroline--you nor Captain Warren
+neither.  Lord love him!  Sure, d'ye think we'll ever forget what
+you and him done for me and my Pat and the childer?  You've got to
+have somebody, ain't you?  And Annie's cookin' ain't so bad that
+it'll kill yez; and I'll learn her more.  Never mind what the wages
+is, they're big enough.  She'll stay!  If she didn't, I'd break her
+back."
+
+So, when the apartment was given up, and Captain Elisha and his
+wards moved to the little house in Westchester County, Annie came
+with them.  And her cooking, though not by any means equal to that
+at Delmonico's, had not killed them yet.  Mrs. Moriarty came once
+a week to do the laundry work.  Caroline acted as a sort of
+inexperienced but willing supervising housekeeper.
+
+The house itself had been procured through the kind interest of
+Sylvester.  Keeping the apartment was, under the circumstances, out
+of the question, and Caroline hated it and was only too anxious to
+give it up.  She had no suggestions to make.  She would go anywhere,
+anywhere that her guardian deemed best; but might they not please go
+at once?  She expected that he would suggest South Denboro, and she
+would have gone there without a complaint.  To get away from the
+place where she had been so miserable was her sole wish.  And
+trusting and believing in her uncle as she now did, realizing that
+he had been right always and had worked for her interest throughout,
+and having been shown the falseness and insincerity of the others
+whom she had once trusted implicitly, she clung to him with an
+appeal almost piteous.  Her pride was, for the time, broken.  She
+was humble and grateful.  She surrendered to him unconditionally,
+and hoped only for his forgiveness and love.
+
+The captain did not suggest South Denboro.  He did, however, tell
+Sylvester that he believed a little place out of the city would be
+the better refuge for the present.
+
+"Poor Caroline's switched clear around," he said to the lawyer,
+"and you can't blame her much.  She cal'lates New York's nothin'
+but a sham from stern to stern, manned by liars and swindlers and
+hypocrites and officered by thieves.  'Tain't no use to tell her
+'tain't, though she might pretend to believe it, if _I_ told her,
+for just now the poor girl thinks I'm Solomon and Saint Peter
+rolled into one.  The way she agrees to whatever I say and the way
+she looks at me and sort of holds on to me, as if I was her only
+anchor in a gale, I declare it makes me feel meaner than poorhouse
+tea--and that's made of blackberry leaves steeped in memories of
+better things, so I've heard say.  AM I a low down scamp, playin'
+a dirty mean trick on a couple of orphans?  What do you think,
+Sylvester?"
+
+"You know what I think, Captain Warren," replied the lawyer.
+"You're handling the whole matter better than any other man could
+handle it.  No one else would have thought of it, to begin with;
+and the results so far prove that you're right."
+
+"Yup.  Maybe.  I wish you was around to say that to me when I wake
+up nights and get to thinkin'.  However, as I said, Caroline
+believes New York is like a sailors' dance hall, a place for decent
+folks to steer clear of.  And when the feller you've been engaged
+to is shown up as a sneak and your own dad as a crook--well, you
+can't blame a green hand for holdin' prejudice against the town
+that raised 'em.  She'll get over it; but just now I cal'late some
+little flat, or, better still, a little home out where the back
+yards ain't made of concrete, would be a first-class port for us
+to make for.  Don't know of such a place at a reasonable rent, do
+you?"
+
+"I might find one.  And you may be right; your niece might like it
+better, though it will be somewhat of a change.  But how about your
+nephew?  He has no objection to the metropolis, I should judge.
+What will he say?"
+
+"Nothin', I guess--unless he says it to himself.  Steve's goin'
+back to New Haven with things on his mind.  He and I had a mornin'
+service, and I was the parson.  He listened, because when you ain't
+got a cent except what the society allows you, it ain't good
+orthodoxy to dodge the charity sermon.  Steve'll behave, and what
+he don't like he'll lump.  If he starts to open his mouth his
+ear'll ache, I cal'late.  I talked turkey to that young man.
+Ye-es," with a slight smile, "I'm sort of afraid I lost patience
+with Stevie."
+
+When Caroline first saw the little house, with its shingled sides,
+the dead vines over the porch, and the dry stalks of last year's
+flowers in the yard, her heart sank.  With the wind blowing and the
+bare branches of the old apple tree scraping the roof and whining
+dolefully, it looked bleak and forsaken.  It was so different, so
+unhomelike, and so, to her eyes, small and poverty-stricken.  She
+made believe that she liked it, exclaimed over the view--which, on
+the particular day, was desolate enough--and declared the Dutch
+front door was "old-fashioned and dear."  But Captain Elisha,
+watching her closely, knew that she was only waiting to be alone to
+give way to wretchedness and tears.  He understood, had expected
+that she would feel thus, but he was disappointed, nevertheless.
+However, after the front door was passed and they were inside the
+house, Caroline looked about her in delighted amazement.  The
+living room was small, but bright and warm and cheery.  On its
+walls, hiding the rather vivid paper, were hung some of the best of
+Rodgers Warren's pictures--the Corot, the codfisher, and others.
+The furniture and rugs were those which had been in the library of
+the apartment, those she had been familiar with all her life.  The
+books, many of them, were there, also.  And the dining room, except
+for size, looked like home.  So did the bedrooms; and, in the
+kitchen, Annie grinned a welcome.
+
+"But how could you?" asked Caroline.  "How could you keep all these
+things, Uncle Elisha?  I thought, of course, they must all be sold.
+I cried when they took them away that day when we were leaving to
+go to the hotel.  I was sure I should never see them again.  And
+here they all are!  How could you do it?"
+
+The captain's grin was as wide as Annie's.  "Oh," he explained, "I
+couldn't let 'em all go.  Never intended to.  That five thousand
+dollar codder up there seemed like own folks, pretty nigh.  I'd
+have kept HIM, if we had to live in one room and a trunk.  And we
+ain't got to that--yet.  I tell you, dearie, I thought they'd make
+you feel more to home.  And they do, don't they?"
+
+The look she gave him was answer sufficient.
+
+"But the creditors?" she asked.  "That man who--they belong to him,
+don't they?  I supposed of course they must go with the rest."
+
+Captain Elisha winked.  "There's times," he answered, "when I
+believe in cheatin' my creditors.  This is one of 'em.  Never you
+mind that feller you mentioned.  He's got enough, confound him!  He
+didn't have the face to ask for any more.  Sylvester looked out for
+that.  Five hundred thousand, droppin' in, as you might say,
+unexpected, ought to soften anybody's heart; and I judge even that
+feller's got some bowels of mercy."
+
+He changed the subject hastily, but Caroline asked no more
+questions.  She never alluded to the lost estate, never expressed
+any regrets, nor asked to know who it was that had seized her all.
+The captain had expected her to ask, had been ready with the same
+answer he had given Stephen, but when he hinted she herself had
+forbade his continuing.  "Don't tell me about it," she begged.  "I
+don't want to know any more.  Father did wrong, but--but I know he
+did not mean to.  He was a good, kind father to me, and I loved
+him.  This man whose money he took had a right to it, and now it is
+his.  He doesn't wish us to know who he is, so Steve says, and I'm
+glad.  I don't want to know, because if I did I might hate him.
+And," with a shudder, "I am trying so hard not to hate anybody."
+
+Her make-believe liking for the little home became more and more
+real as spring drew near.  She began to take an interest in it, in
+the flower garden, in the beds beside the porch, where the peonies
+and daffodils were beginning to show green heads above the loam,
+and in the household affairs.  And she had plans of her own, not
+connected with these.  She broached them to her uncle, and they
+surprised and delighted him, although he would not give his consent
+to them entirely.
+
+"You mustn't think," she said, "that, because I have been willing
+to live on your money since mine went, that I mean to continue
+doing it.  I don't.  I've been thinking a great deal, and I realize
+that I must earn my own way just as soon as I can.  I'm not fitted
+for anything now; but I can be and I shall.  I've thought perhaps I
+might learn stenography or--or something like that.  Girls do."
+
+He looked at her serious face and choked back his laugh.
+
+"Why, yes," he admitted, "they do, that's a fact.  About four
+hundred thousand of 'em do, and four hundred thousand more try to
+and then try to make business men think that they have.  I heard
+Sylvester sputterin' about a couple in his office t'other day; said
+they was no good and not worth the seven dollars a week he paid
+'em."
+
+"Seven dollars a WEEK!" she repeated.
+
+"Yes.  Course some make three times that and more; but they're the
+experienced ones, the good ones.  And there's heaps that don't.
+What makes you so sot on earnin' a livin', Caroline?  Ain't you
+satisfied with the kind I'm tryin' to give you?"
+
+She regarded him reproachfully.  "Please don't say that," she
+protested.  "You always treat your kindness as a joke, but to me
+it--it--"
+
+"There! there!" quickly.  "Don't let's talk foolish.  I see what
+you mean, dearie.  It ain't the livin' but because I'm givin' it to
+you that troubles you.  I know.  Well, _I_ ain't complainin' but I
+understand your feelin's and respect 'em.  However, I shouldn't
+study type-writin', if I was you.  There's too much competition in
+it to be comfortable, as the fat man said about runnin' races.
+I've got a suggestion, if you want to listen to it."
+
+"I do, indeed.  What is it?"
+
+"Why, just this.  I've been about everythin' aboard ship, but I've
+never been a steward.  Now I'll say this much for Annie, she tried
+hard.  She tumbled into general housekeepin' the way Asa Foster
+said he fell into the cucumber frame--with a jolt and a jingle; and
+she's doin' her best accordin' to her lights.  But sometimes her
+lights need ile or trimmin' or somethin'.  I've had the feelin'
+that we need a good housekeeper here.  If Annie's intelligence was
+as broad and liberal as her shoes, we wouldn't; as 'tis, we do.
+I'll hire you, Caroline, for that job, if you say so."
+
+"I?  Uncle Elisha, you're joking!"
+
+"No, I ain't.  Course I realize you ain't had much experience in
+runnin' a house, and I hope you understand I don't want to hire you
+as a cook.  But I've had a scheme in the back of my head for a
+fortni't or more.  Somethin' Sylvester said about a young lady
+cousin of his made me think of it.  Seems over here at the female
+college--you know where I mean--they're teachin' a new course that
+they've christened Domestic Science.  Nigh's I can find out it is
+about what our great gran'marms larned at home; that, with up-to-
+date trimmin's.  All about runnin' a house, it is; how to
+superintend servants, and what kind of things to have to eat, and
+how they ought to be cooked, and takin' care of children--Humph! we
+don't need that, do we?--and, well, everything that a home woman,
+rich or poor, ought to know.  At least, she ought to 'cordin' to my
+old-fashioned notions.  Sylvester's cousin goes there, and likes
+it; and I judge she ain't figgerin' to be anybody's hired help,
+either.  My idea was about this:  If you'd like to take this
+course, Caroline, you could do it afternoons.  Mornin's and the
+days you had off, you could apply your science here at home, on
+Annie.  Truly it would save me hirin' somebody else, and--well,
+maybe you'd enjoy it, you can't tell."
+
+His niece seemed interested.
+
+"I know of the Domestic Science course," she said.  "Several of my
+friends--my former friends, were studying it.  But I'm afraid,
+Uncle, that I don't see where earning my living has any part in it.
+It seems to me that it means your spending more money for me,
+paying my tuition."
+
+"No more'n I'd spend for a competent housekeeper.  Honest,
+Caroline, I'd like to do it.  You think it over a spell."
+
+She did, visiting the University and making inquiries.  What she
+was told there decided her.  She took up the course and enjoyed it.
+It occupied her mind and prevented her brooding over the past.  She
+might have made many friends among the other students, but she was
+careful to treat them only as acquaintances.  Her recent experience
+with "friends" was too fresh in her mind.  She studied hard and
+applied her knowledge at home.  She and Annie made some odd and
+funny mistakes at first, but they were not made twice, and Captain
+Elisha noticed a great improvement in the housekeeping.  Also,
+Caroline's spirits improved, though more slowly.
+
+Most evenings they spent together in the living room.  She read
+aloud to her uncle, who smoked his cigar and listened, commenting
+on the doings of the story folk with characteristic originality and
+aptitude.  Each night, after the reading was over, he wrote his
+customary note to Abbie Baker at South Denboro.  He made one flying
+trip to that village:  "Just to prove to 'em that I'm still alive,"
+as he explained it.  "Some of those folks down there at the
+postoffice must have pretty nigh forgot to gossip about me by this
+time.  They've had me eloped and married and a millionaire and a
+pauper long ago, I don't doubt.  And now they've probably forgot me
+altogether.  I'll just run down and stir 'em up.  Good subjects for
+yarns are scurce at that postoffice, and they ought to be thankful."
+
+On his return he told his niece that he found everything much as
+usual.  "Thoph Kenney's raised a beard 'cause shavin's so
+expensive; and the Come-Outer minister called the place the other
+denominations are bound for 'Hades,' and his congregation are
+thinkin' of firin' him for turnin' Free-Thinker.  That's about all
+the sensations," he said.  "I couldn't get around town much on
+account of Abbie.  She kept me in bed most of the time, while she
+sewed on buttons and mended.  Said she never saw a body's clothes
+in such a state in HER life."
+
+A few of the neighbors called occasionally.  And there were other
+callers.  Captain Elisha's unexpected departure from Mrs. Hepton's
+boarding house had caused a sensation and much regret to that
+select establishment.  The landlady, aided and abetted by Mrs. Van
+Winkle Ruggles, would have given a farewell tea in his honor, but
+he declined.  "Don't you do it," he said.  "I like my tea pretty
+strong, and farewells are watery sort of things, the best of 'em.
+And this ain't a real farewell, anyhow."
+
+"'Say au revoir, but not good-by,'" sang Miss Sherborne
+sentimentally.
+
+"That's it.  Everybody knows what good-by means.  We'll say the
+other thing--as well as we can--and change it to 'Hello' the very
+first time any of you come out to see us."
+
+They were curious to know his reason for leaving.  He explained
+that his niece was sort of lonesome and needed country air; he was
+going to live with her, for the present.  Consequently Mrs. Ruggles,
+on the trail of aristocracy, was the first to call.  Hers was a
+stately and ceremonious visit.  They were glad when it was over.
+Lawton, the bookseller and his wife, came and were persuaded to
+remain and dine.  Caroline liked them at sight.  The most impressive
+call, however, was that of Mr. and Mrs. "C." Dickens.  The great man
+made it a point to dress in the style of bygone years, and his
+conversation was a treat.  His literary labors were fatiguing and
+confining, he admitted, and the "little breath of rural ozone" which
+this trip to Westchester County gave him, was like a tonic--yes, as
+one might say, a tonic prescribed and administered by Dame Nature
+herself.
+
+"I formerly resided in the country," he told Caroline.
+
+"Yes," put in his wife, "we used to live at Bayonne, New Jersey.
+We had such a pretty house there, that is, half a house; you see it
+was a double one, and--"
+
+"Maria," her husband waved his hand, "why trouble our friends with
+unnecessary details."
+
+"But it WAS a pretty house, 'C.,' dear," with a pathetic little
+sigh.  "I've missed it a great deal since, Miss Warren.  'C.' had a
+joke about it--he's such a joker!  He used to call it 'Gad's Hill,
+Junior.'"
+
+"Named after some of David B.'s folks?" asked Captain Elisha
+innocently.  The answer, delivered by Mr. Dickens, was condescending
+and explanatory.
+
+Caroline laughed, actually laughed aloud, when the visit was over.
+Her uncle was immensely pleased.
+
+"Hooray!" he cried.  "I'll invite 'em up to stay a week.  That's
+the fust time I've heard you laugh for I don't know when."
+
+She laughed again.  "I can't help it," she said; "they are so
+funny."
+
+The captain chuckled.  "Yes," he said, "and they don't know it.  I
+cal'late a person's skull has got room for just about so much in it
+and no more.  Cornelius Charles's head is so jammed with self-
+satisfaction that his sense of humor was crowded out of door long
+ago."
+
+One boarder at Mrs. Hepton's did not call, nor did Captain Elisha
+allude to him.  Caroline noticed the latter fact and understood the
+reason.  Also, when the captain went to the city, as he frequently
+did, and remained longer than usual, she noticed that his
+explanations of the way in which he spent his time were sometimes
+vague and hurried.  She understood and was troubled.  Yet she
+thought a great deal on the subject before she mentioned it.
+
+On the April afternoon when Caroline sat at the window of the
+living room awaiting her uncle's return she was thinking of that
+subject.  But, at last, her mind was made up.  It was a hard thing
+to do; it was humiliating, in a way; it might--though she sincerely
+hoped not--be misconstrued as to motive; but it was right.  Captain
+Elisha had been so unselfish, so glad to give up every personal
+inclination in order to please her, that she would no longer permit
+her pride to stand in the way of his gratification, even in little
+things.  At least, she would speak to him on the matter.
+
+He came on a later than his usual train, and at dinner, when she
+asked where he had been, replied, "Oh, to see Sylvester, and--er--
+around."  She asked him no more, but, when they were together in
+the living room, she moved her chair over beside his and said
+without looking at him:
+
+"Uncle Elisha, I know where you've been this afternoon.  You've
+been to see Mr. Pearson."
+
+"Hey?"  He started, leaned back and regarded her with astonishment
+and some alarm.
+
+"You've been to see Mr. Pearson," she repeated, "haven't you?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, Caroline, I have--to tell you the truth.  I don't
+see how you knew, but," nervously, "I hope you don't feel bad
+'cause I did.  I go to see him pretty often.  You see, I think a
+good deal of him--a whole lot of him.  _I_ think he's a fine young
+feller.  Course I know you don't, and so I never mention him to
+you.  But I do hope you ain't goin' to ask me not to see him."
+
+She shook her head.  "No," she said.  "I would have no right to ask
+that, even if I wished to.  And I do not wish it.  Uncle Elisha, if
+you were alone here, he would come to see you; I know he would.
+Invite him to come, please."
+
+His astonishment was greater than ever.
+
+"Invite him to come HERE?" he asked.  "To see you?"
+
+"No," hastily; "to see you.  This is your home.  I have no right to
+keep your friends from visiting it.  I know you would sacrifice
+everything for me, even them; but I will not be so selfish as to
+allow it.  Ask him here, please.  I really want you to."
+
+He pulled his beard.  "Caroline," he answered slowly, "I'm much
+obliged to you.  I understand why you're doin' this, and I thank
+you.  But it ain't likely that I'll say yes, is it?  And do you
+suppose Jim would come if I did ask him?  He knows you believe he's
+a--well, all that's bad.  You told him so, and you sent him away.
+I will give in that I'd like to have him here.  He's one of the few
+men friends I've made since I landed in New York.  But, under the
+circumstances--you feelin' as you do--I couldn't ask him, and he
+wouldn't come if I did."
+
+She remained silent for a time.  Then she said:
+
+"Uncle, I want you to tell me the truth about Mr. Pearson and
+father--just why they quarreled and the real truth of the whole
+affair.  Don't spare my feelings; tell me what you believe is the
+true story.  I know you think Mr. Pearson was right, for you said
+so."
+
+The captain was much troubled.
+
+"I--I don't know's I'd better, dearie," he answered.  "I think I do
+know the truth, but you might think I was hard on 'Bije--on your
+father.  I ain't.  And I sympathize with the way he felt, too.  But
+Jim did right, as I see it.  He acted just as I'd want a son of
+mine to do.  And . . .  Well, I cal'late we'd better not rake up
+old times, had we?"
+
+"I want you to tell me.  Please do."
+
+"I don't know's I'd better.  You have been told the story different,
+and--"
+
+"I know I have.  That is the reason why I ask you to tell it.  Oh,"
+with a flash of scorn, "I was told many stories, and I want to
+forget them.  And," sadly, "I can bear whatever you may tell me,
+even about father.  Since I learned that he was a--a--"
+
+"S-sh, Caroline; don't!"
+
+"After that, I can bear anything, I think.  This cannot be worse."
+
+"Worse!  No, not!  This ain't very bad.  I will tell you, dearie.
+This is just what happened."
+
+He told her the exact truth concerning the Trolley Combine, his
+brother's part in it, and Pearson's.  She listened without comment.
+
+"I see," she said when he had finished.  "I think I see.  Mr.
+Pearson felt that, as a newspaper man, an honest one, he must go
+on.  He knew that the thing was wrong and that innocent people
+might lose money in it.  It was his duty to expose it, and he did
+it, even though it meant the loss of influence and of father's
+friendship.  I see."
+
+"That was about it, Caroline.  I think the hardest part for him was
+when 'Bije called him ungrateful.  'Bije had been mighty kind to
+him, that's a fact."
+
+"Yes.  Father was kind; I know that better than anyone else.  But
+Mr. Pearson was right.  Yes, he was right, and brave."
+
+"So I size it up.  And I do sympathize with your father, too.  This
+wa'n't such an awful lot worse than a good many stock deals.  And
+poor 'Bije was perfectly desp'rate, I guess.  If it had gone
+through he'd have been able to square accounts with the Rubber
+Company; and just think what that would have meant to him.  Poor
+feller! poor feller!"  He sighed.  She reached for his hand and
+stroked it gently with her own.
+
+After another interval she said:  "How I insulted and wronged him!
+How he must despise me!"
+
+"Who?  Jim?  No, no! he don't do any such thing.  He knows you
+didn't understand, and who was responsible.  Jim's got sense, lots
+of it."
+
+"But it is my misunderstanding and my insulting treatment of him
+which have kept you two apart--here, at any rate."
+
+"Don't let that worry you, Caroline.  I see him every once in a
+while, up to the city."
+
+"It does worry me; and it will, until it is made right.  And," in a
+lower tone, but with decision, "it shall be."
+
+She rose and, bending over, kissed him on the forehead.  "Good
+night, Uncle," she said.
+
+Captain Elisha was disappointed.  "What!" he exclaimed.  "Goin'
+aloft so soon?  We ain't had our readin' yet.  Pretty early to turn
+in, seems to me.  Stay a little longer, do."
+
+"Not to-night, dear.  I'm going to my room.  Please excuse me this
+time."  She turned to go and then, turning back again, asked a
+final question.
+
+"You're sure," she said, hesitatingly; "you're quite sure he will
+not come here--to you--if you tell him I understand, and--and you
+ask him?"
+
+"Well, Caroline, I don't know.  You see, I was responsible for his
+comin' before.  He had some scruples against it then, but I talked
+him down.  He's sort of proud, Jim is, and he might--might not want
+to--to--"
+
+"I see.  Good night, Uncle."
+
+The next morning, after breakfast, she came to him again.
+
+"Uncle Elisha," she said, "I have written him."
+
+"What?  You've written?  Written who?"
+
+"Mr. Pearson.  I wrote him, telling him I had learned the true
+story of his disagreement with father and that he was right and I
+was wrong.  I apologized for my behavior toward him.  Now, I think,
+perhaps, if you ask him, he will come."
+
+The captain looked at her.  He realized the sacrifice of her pride
+which writing that letter must have meant, and that she had done it
+for him.  He was touched and almost sorry she had done it.  He took
+both her hands in his.
+
+"Dearie," he said, "you shouldn't have done that.  I didn't expect
+you to.  I know you did it just for my sake.  I won't say I ain't
+glad; I am, in one way.  But 'twa'n't necessary, and 'twas too
+much, too hard for you altogether."
+
+"Don't say that," she begged.  "Too much!  I never can do enough.
+Compared to what you have done for me it--it . . .  Oh, please let
+me do what little I can.  But, Uncle Elisha, promise me one thing;
+promise that you will not ask me to meet him, if he should come.
+That I couldn't do, even for you."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+Promises of that kind are easier to make than to keep.  The captain
+promised promptly enough, but the Fates were against him.  He made
+it his business to go to town the very next day and called upon his
+friend.  He found the young man in a curiously excited and
+optimistic frame of mind, radically different from that of the past
+few months.  The manuscript of the novel was before him on the
+desk, also plenty of blank paper.  His fountain-pen was in his
+hand, although apparently, he had written nothing that morning.
+But he was going to--oh, yes, he was going to!  He was feeling just
+in the mood.  He had read his manuscript, and it was not so bad; by
+George, some of the stuff was pretty good!  And the end was not so
+far off.  Five or six chapters more and the thing would be finished.
+He would have to secure a publisher, of course, but two had already
+expressed an interest; and so on.
+
+Captain Elisha drew his own conclusions.  He judged that his
+niece's letter had reached its destination.  He did not mention it,
+however, nor did Pearson.  But when the captain hinted at the
+latter's running out to the house to see him some time or other,
+the invitation was accepted.
+
+"That's fine, Jim," declared the visitor.  "Come any time.  I want
+you to see what a nice little place I've got out there.  Don't
+stand on ceremony, come--er--next week, say."  Then, mindful of his
+promise, he added, "You and I'll have it all to ourselves.  I've
+been cal'latin' to hire a sail-boat for the summer; got my eye on a
+capable little sloop belongin' to a feller on the Sound shore.  If
+all goes well I'll close the deal in a few days.  I'll meet you at
+the depot and we'll have a sail and get dinner at a hotel or
+somewheres, and then we'll come up to the house and take a whack at
+Cap'n Jim's doin's in the new chapters.  Just you and I together in
+the settin' room; hey?"
+
+Pearson did not seem so enthusiastic over this programme, although
+he admitted that it sounded tip-top.
+
+"How is Miss Warren?" he asked, mentioning the name with a
+nonchalance remarkable, considering that he had not done so before
+for weeks.  "She is well, I hope?"
+
+"Yes, she's fust-rate, thank you.  Very well, everything considered.
+She keeps to herself a good deal.  Don't care to meet many folks,
+and you can't hardly blame her."
+
+Pearson admitted that, and the remainder of the call was largely a
+monologue by Captain Elisha.
+
+"Well, then, Jim," said the latter, when he rose to go, "you come
+up Monday or Tuesday of next week.  Will you?"
+
+"Yes.  I--I think so."
+
+"Don't think, do it.  Let me know what train you're comin' on, and
+I'll meet you at the depot."
+
+This last remark was what upset calculations.  Pearson came on
+Monday, having written the day before.  He did not mail the note
+himself, but trusted it to Mrs. Hepton, who was going out to attend
+evening service.  She forgot it until the next day.  So it happened
+that when he alighted from the train at the suburban station the
+captain was not there to meet him.  He waited a while, and then,
+inquiring the way of the station agent, walked up to the house by
+himself.  As he turned in at the front walk, Caroline came out of
+the door.  They met, face to face.
+
+It was a most embarrassing situation, particularly for Caroline;
+yet, with feminine resourcefulness, she dissembled her embarrassment
+to some extent and acknowledged his stammered, "Good afternoon, Miss
+Warren," with a cool, almost cold, "How do you do, Mr. Pearson?"
+which chilled his pleasure at seeing her and made him wish devoutly
+that he had not been such a fool as to come. However, there he was,
+and he hastily explained his presence by telling her of the
+captain's invitation for that day, how he had expected to meet him
+at the station, and, not meeting him, had walked up to the house.
+
+"Is he in?" he asked.
+
+No, Captain Elisha was not in.  He had gone to see the sail-boat
+man.  Not hearing from his friend, he concluded the latter would
+not come until the next day.
+
+"He will be so sorry," said Caroline.
+
+Pearson was rather thankful than otherwise.  The captain's absence
+afforded him an opportunity to escape from a place where he was
+plainly unwelcome.
+
+"Oh, never mind," he said.  "It is not important.  I can run out
+another day.  Just tell him I called, Miss Warren, please; that I
+wrote yesterday, but my letter must have gone astray.  Good
+afternoon."
+
+He was turning to go, but she stopped him.  She had fully made up
+her mind that, when he came, she would not meet him--remembering
+how she had treated him on the evening of her birthday, she would
+be ashamed to look him in the face.  Besides, she could not meet him
+after writing that letter; it would be too brazen; he would think--
+all sorts of things.  When he visited her uncle she would remain in
+her room, or go to the city or somewhere.
+
+But now she had met him.  And he had come in response to her
+uncle's invitation, given because she herself had pleaded that it
+should be.  To let him go away would be rude and ridiculous; and
+how could she explain to the captain?
+
+"You mustn't go, Mr. Pearson," she said.  "You must come in and
+wait; Captain Warren will be back soon, I'm sure."
+
+"Thank you; but I think I won't wait.  I can come another time."
+
+"But you must wait.  I insist.  Uncle Elisha will be dreadfully
+disappointed if you don't.  There isn't a train for an hour, and he
+will return before that, I am sure.  Please come in."
+
+Pearson was reluctant, but he could think of no reasonable excuse.
+So he entered the house, removed his overcoat and hat, and seated
+himself in the living room to await the captain's return.  Caroline
+excused herself, saying that she had an errand at the shop in the
+village.  She made that errand as long as she could, but when she
+returned he was still there, and Captain Elisha had not appeared.
+
+The conversation was forced, for a time.  Each felt the
+embarrassment, and Pearson was still resentful of the manner in
+which she had greeted him on his arrival.  But, as he looked at
+her, the resentment vanished, and the other feeling, that which he
+had determined to forget, returned.  Captain Elisha had told him
+how brave she had been through it all, and, contrasting the little
+house with the former home, remembering the loss of friends and
+fortune, to say nothing of the unmasking of those whom she believed
+were her nearest and dearest, he wondered and admired more than
+ever.  He understood how very hard it must have been for her to
+write that letter to him, a letter in which she justified his
+course at the cost of her own father's honor.  He longed to tell
+her that he understood and appreciated.
+
+At last he could not resist the temptation.
+
+"Miss Warren," he said, "please excuse my speaking of this, but I
+must; I must thank you for writing me as you did.  It was not
+necessary, it was too much to expect, too hard a thing for you to
+do.  It makes me feel guilty.  I--"
+
+"Please don't!" she interrupted.  "Don't speak in that way.  It was
+right.  It was what I should have done long ago."
+
+"But it was not necessary; I understood.  I knew you had heard
+another version of the story and that you felt I had been
+ungrateful and mean, to say the least, in my conduct toward your
+father.  I knew that; I have never blamed you.  And you writing as
+you did--"
+
+"I did it for my uncle's sake," she broke in, quickly.  "You are
+his closest friend."
+
+"I know, but I appreciate it, nevertheless.  I--I wish you would
+consider me your friend as well as his.  I do, sincerely."
+
+"Thank you.  I need friends, I know.  I have few now, which is not
+strange," rather bitterly.
+
+He protested earnestly.  "I did not mean it in that way," he said.
+"It is an honor and a great privilege to be one of your friends.  I
+had that honor and privilege once.  May I have it again?"
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Pearson . . .  Now tell me about your novel.  I
+remember it all so well.  And I am very much interested.  You must
+have it nearly completed.  Tell me about it, please."
+
+They were deep in the discussion of the novel when Captain Elisha
+walked into the living room.  He was surprised, stating his
+feelings at their mildest, to find them together, but he did not
+express his astonishment.  Instead, he hailed Pearson delightedly,
+demanded to know if they had dared tackle Cap'n Jim without the
+"head doctor's" being on the scene; and insisted upon the author's
+admitting him to the "clinic" forthwith.  Pearson did not take the
+next train, nor the next.  Instead, he stayed for dinner and well
+into the evening, and when he did go it was after a prompt
+acceptance of the captain's invitation to "come again in a mighty
+little while."
+
+Caroline, when she and her uncle were alone after their visitor's
+departure, made no protest against the invitation having been
+given.  She did not speak of Pearson at all.  Captain Elisha also
+talked of other things, principally about the sail-boat, the summer
+lease of which he had arranged that afternoon.  He declared the
+sloop to be an "able craft of her tonnage" and that they would have
+some good times aboard her or he missed his guess.  In his own
+room, when ready for bed, he favored his reflection in the glass
+with a broad smile and a satisfied wink, from which proceeding it
+may be surmised that the day had not been a bad one, according to
+his estimate.
+
+Pearson came again a week later, and thereafter frequently.  The
+sessions with Cap'n Jim and his associates were once more regular
+happenings to be looked forward to and enjoyed by the three.  As
+the weather grew warmer, the sloop--Captain Elisha had the name she
+formerly bore painted out and Caroline substituted--proved to be as
+great a source of pleasure as her new skipper had prophesied.  He
+and his niece--and occasionally Pearson--sailed and picnicked on
+the Sound, and Caroline's pallor disappeared under the influence of
+breeze and sunshine.  Her health improved, and her spirits, also.
+She seemed, at times, almost happy, and her uncle seldom saw her,
+as after the removal to the suburb he so frequently used, with
+tears in her eyes and the sadness of bitter memories in her
+expression and manner.  Her work at the University grew steadily
+more difficult, but she enjoyed it thoroughly and declared that she
+would not give it up for worlds.
+
+In June two very important events took place.  The novel was
+finished, and Stephen, his Sophomore year at an end, came home from
+college.  He had been invited by some classmates to spend a part of
+his vacation with them on the Maine coast, and his guardian had
+consented to his doing so; but the boy himself had something else
+to propose.  On an evening soon after his return, when, his sister
+having retired, he was alone with the captain, he broached the
+idea.
+
+"Say," he said, "I've been thinking a good deal while I've been
+away this last time."
+
+"Glad to hear it, I'm sure," replied his uncle, dryly.
+
+"Yes.  I've been thinking--about a good many things.  I'm flat
+broke; down and out, so far as money is concerned.  That's so,
+isn't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha looked at him keenly for an instant.  Then:
+
+"It appears that way, I'm afraid," he answered.  "What made you
+ask?"
+
+"Nothing.  I wasn't asking, really; I was just stating the case.
+Now, the way I look at it, this college course of mine isn't worth
+while.  You're putting up for it, and I ought to be much obliged; I
+am, of course."
+
+"You're welcome, Stevie."
+
+"I know; but what's the use of it?  I've got to go to work when
+it's over.  And the kind of work I want to do doesn't need
+university training.  I'm just wasting time; that's what I'm
+doing."
+
+"Humph!  I ain't so sure about that.  But what sort of work do you
+want to do?"
+
+"I want to be down on the Street, as the governor was.  If this
+Rubber Company business hadn't knocked us out, I intended, as soon
+as I was of age, to take that seat of his and start in for myself.
+Well, that chance has gone, but I mean to get in some way, though I
+have to start at the foot of the ladder.  Now why can't I leave
+college and start now?  It will be two years gained, won't it?"
+
+Captain Elisha seemed pleased, but he shook his head.
+
+"How do you know you'd like it?" he asked.  "You've never tried."
+
+"No, I never have; but I'll like it all right.  I know I shall.
+It's what I've wanted to do ever since I was old enough to think of
+such things.  Just let me start in now, right away, and I'll show
+you.  I'll make good; you see if I don't."
+
+He was very earnest.  The captain deliberated before answering.
+
+"Stevie," he said, doubtfully, "I rather like to hear you talk that
+way; I own up it pleases me.  But, as to your givin' up college--
+that's different.  Let me think it over for a day or two; that is,
+if you can put off the Maine trip so long as that."
+
+"Hang the Maine trip!  You let me get into business, the business I
+want to get into, and I won't ask for a vacation; you can bet on
+that!"
+
+"All right then.  I'll think, and do some questionin' around, and
+report soon's I've decided what's best."
+
+He laid the stump of his cigar in the ash receiver and rose from
+his chair.  But his nephew had not finished.
+
+"There was something else I intended to say," he announced, but
+with less eagerness.
+
+"That so?  What?"
+
+"Why--why, just this."  He fidgeted with his watch chain, colored
+and was evidently uneasy.  "I guess--" he hesitated--"I guess that
+I haven't treated you as I ought."
+
+"I want to know!  You guess that, hey?  Why?"
+
+"Oh, you know why.  I've been thinking since I went back to New
+Haven.  I've had a chance to think.  Some of the fellows in the set
+I used to be thick with up there have learned that I'm broke, and
+they--they aren't as friendly as they were.  Not all of them, of
+course, but some.  And I wouldn't chase after them; not much!  If
+they wanted to drop me they could.  You bet I didn't try to hang
+on!  I was pretty sore for a while and kept to myself and--well, I
+did a lot of thinking.  I guess Caro is right; you've been mighty
+decent to her and me."
+
+He paused, but Captain Elisha made no comment.
+
+"I guess you have," continued Stephen, soberly.  "When you first
+came, you know, Caroline and I couldn't understand.  We thought you
+were butting in and weren't our sort, and--and--"
+
+"And a hayseed nuisance generally; I know.  Heave ahead, son; you
+interest me."
+
+"Well, we didn't like it.  And Mal Dunn and his mother were always
+sympathizing and insinuating, and we believed they were our best
+friends, and all that.  So we didn't try to understand you or--or
+even make it livable for you.  Then, after the news came that the
+money had gone, I acted like a kid, I guess.  That business of
+making Mal stick to the engagement was pretty silly.  I was nearly
+desperate, you see, and--and--you knew it was silly.  You never
+took any stock in it, did you?"
+
+The captain smiled.
+
+"Not a heap," he admitted.
+
+"No.  All you wanted was to show them up.  Well, you did it, and
+I'm glad you did.  But Caro and I have talked it over since I've
+been home, and we agree that you've been a great deal better to us
+than we deserve.  You didn't HAVE to take care of us at all, any
+more, after the money went.  By gad! considering how we treated
+you, I don't see why you did.  _I_ wouldn't.  But you did--and you
+are.  You've given us a home, and you're putting me through college
+and--and--"
+
+"That's all right, son.  Good night."
+
+"Just a minute.  I--I--well, if you let me, I'd like to thank you
+and--and ask your pardon."
+
+"Granted, my boy.  And never mind the thanks, either.  Just keep on
+thinkin' and actin' as you have to-night, and I'll be satisfied.  I
+want to see my nephew makin' a man of himself--a real man; and,
+Steve, you talk more like a man to-night than I've ever heard you.
+Stick to it, and you'll do yet.  As for goin' to work, you let me
+chew on that for a few days."
+
+The next morning he called on Sylvester, who in turn took him to a
+friend of his, a broker--employing a good-sized staff of clerks.
+The three had a consultation, followed, the day after, by another.
+That evening the captain made a definite proposal to Stephen.  It
+was, briefly, that, while not consenting to the latter's leaving
+college, he did consider that a trial of the work in a broker's
+office might be a good thing.  Therefore, if the young man wished,
+he could enter the employ of Sylvester's friend and remain during
+July and August.
+
+"You'll leave about the first of September, Steve," he said, "and
+that'll give you time for the two weeks vacation that you ought to
+have.  Then you can go back to Yale and pitch in till the next
+summer, when the same job'll be ready for you.  After you're
+through college for good, if what you've learned about brokerin'
+ain't cured you of your likin' for it--if you still want to go
+ahead with it for your life job, then--well, then we'll see.  What
+do you say?"
+
+Stephen had a good deal to say, principally in the line of
+objection to continuing his studies.  Finding these objections
+unavailing, he agreed to his guardian's proposition.
+
+"All right," said the captain; "then you can go to work next
+Monday.  But you'll HAVE to work, and be just the same as any other
+beginner, no better and no worse.  There'll be no favoritism, and,
+if you're really wuth your salt, you won't want any.  Show 'em, and
+me, that you're wuth it."
+
+The novel, the wonderful tale which Captain Elisha was certain
+would make its author famous, was finished that very day in June
+when Stephen came back from New Haven.  The question of title
+remained, and the "clinic," now re-enforced by Steve--whose dislike
+for Pearson had apparently vanished with others of his former likes
+and dislikes--considered that at several sessions.  At last "The
+Man at the Wheel" was selected, as indicating something of the
+hero's profession and implying, perhaps, a hint of his character.
+Then came the fateful task of securing a publisher.  And the first
+to whom it was submitted--one of the two firms which had already
+expressed a desire to read the manuscript--accepted it, at what,
+for a first novel, were very fair terms.  During the summer there
+was proof to be read and illustrations to be criticized.  Captain
+Elisha did not wholly approve of the artist's productions.
+
+"Jerushy!" he exclaimed, "look at that mainmast!  Look at the rake
+of it!  More like a yacht than a deep-water bark, she is enough
+sight.  And the fust mate's got a uniform cap on, like a purser on
+a steamboat.  Make that artist feller take that cap off him, Jim.
+He's got to.  I wish he could have seen some of my mates.  They
+wa'n't Cunarder dudes, but they could make a crew hop 'round like a
+sand-flea in a clam bake."
+
+Or, when the picture happened to be a shore view:
+
+"What kind of a house is that?  Did you ever see a house like that
+Down-East?  I'll leave it to anybody if it don't look like a sugar
+man's plantation I used to know down Mobile way.  All that feller
+standin' by the door needs is to have his face blacked; then he'd
+start singin' 'S'wanee River.'  This ain't 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.'
+Bah!"
+
+The advance copy, the first one, was ready early in September, and
+the author, of course, brought it immediately to his friends.  They
+found the dedication especially interesting:  "To C. W. and E. W.,
+consulting specialists at the literary clinics, with grateful
+acknowledgments."  Probably Captain Elisha was never prouder of
+anything, even his first command, than of that dedication.
+
+And the story, when at last it appeared for sale, was almost from
+the beginning a success.  The reviewers praised it, the reading
+public--that final court of appeal which makes or unmakes novels--
+took kindly to it, and discussed and recommended it; and, most
+important of all, perhaps, it sold and continued to sell.  There
+was something in it, its humanity, its simplicity, its clearly
+marked characters, which made a hit.  Pearson no longer needed to
+seek publishers; they sought him.  His short stories were bid for
+by the magazines, and his prices climbed and climbed.  He found
+himself suddenly planted in the middle of the highway to prosperity,
+with a clear road ahead of him, provided he continued to do his best.
+
+In September Stephen gave up his work at the broker's office, spent
+the weeks with his friends in Maine, and then returned to Yale.  He
+gave up the position on the Street with reluctance.  He was sure he
+liked it now, he declared.  It was what he was fitted for, and he
+meant, more than ever, to take it up permanently as soon as he was
+free.  And his employer told Captain Elisha that the youngster was
+bright, clever, and apt.  "A little conceited, needs taking down
+occasionally, but that is the only trouble.  He has been spoiled, I
+should imagine," he said.
+
+"Yup," replied the captain, with emphasis; "your imagination's a
+good one.  It don't need cultivatin' any."
+
+The novel being out of the way, and its successor not yet far
+enough advanced in plot or general plan for much discussion, the
+"literary clinics" were no longer as frequent.  But Pearson's
+visits to the Warren house were not discontinued.  All summer long
+he had been coming out, once, and usually twice, a week.  Captain
+Elisha had told him not to stand on formality, to come any time,
+and he did.  On most of these occasions he found the captain at
+home; but, if only Caroline was there, he seemed quite contented.
+She did not remark on the frequency of his visits.  In fact, she
+mentioned him less and less in conversation with her uncle.  But,
+as the autumn came and moved towards its prime she seemed, to the
+captain's noticing eye, a trifle more grave, a little more desirous
+of being by herself.  Sometimes he found her sitting by the open
+fire--pleasant in the cool October evenings--and gazing very
+soberly at the blaze.  She had been in good spirits, more merry and
+light-hearted than he had ever seen her, during the latter part of
+the summer; now her old sadness seemed to be returning.  It would
+have troubled him, this change in her mood, if he had not believed
+he knew the cause.
+
+He was planning a glorious Thanksgiving.  At least, it would be
+glorious to him, for he intended spending the day, and several
+days, at his own home in South Denboro.  Abbie Baker had made him
+promise to do it, and he had agreed.  He would not leave Caroline,
+of course; she was going with him.  Steve would be there, though he
+would not come until Thanksgiving Day itself.  Sylvester, also,
+would be of the party; he seemed delighted at the opportunity.
+
+"I'm curious to see the place where they raise fellows like you,"
+the lawyer said.  "It must be worth looking at."
+
+"Graves don't think so," chuckled the captain.  "I invited him, and
+he said, 'No, thank you' so quick that the words was all telescoped
+together.  And he shivered, too, when he said it; just as if he
+felt that sou'west gale whistlin' between his bones even now.  I
+told him I'd pretty nigh guarantee that no more trees would fall on
+him, but it didn't have any effect."
+
+Pearson was asked and had accepted.  His going was so far a settled
+thing that he had commissioned Captain Elisha to purchase a
+stateroom for him on the Fall River boat; for of course the captain
+would not consider their traveling the entire distance by train.
+At an interview in the young man's room in the boarding house, only
+three days before the date set for the start, he had been almost as
+enthusiastic as the Cape Codder himself.  The pair had planned
+several side excursions, time and weather permitting, among them a
+trip across the Sound to Setuckit Point, with the possibility of
+some late sea-fowl shooting and a long tramp to one of the life-
+saving stations, where Pearson hoped to pick up material for his
+new book.  He was all anticipation and enthusiasm when the captain
+left him, and said he would run out to the house the following day,
+to make final arrangements.
+
+That day Sylvester 'phoned, asking Captain Elisha to come to his
+office on a matter of business.  When, having done so, the captain,
+returning, alighted at his home station, he was surprised to see
+Pearson standing on the platform.
+
+"Why, hello, Jim!" he exclaimed.  "What are you doing here?  Just
+come, have you?"
+
+His friend shook his head.  "No, Captain Warren," he said; "I'm
+just going."
+
+"Goin'?  What for?  Been up to the house, of course?  Caroline told
+you where I'd gone and that I was cal'latin' to hurry back, didn't
+she?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, then, course you ain't goin'!  You're goin' to stay to
+dinner.  I've got some things to tell you about that life-savin'
+station cruise.  I've been thinkin' that I know the cap'n and most
+of the crew on the lightship off back of the Point.  How'd you like
+to go aboard of her?  You could get some yarns from those fellers
+that might be wuth hearin'."
+
+"I have no doubt I should.  But I'm afraid I can't go.  The fact
+is, Captain, I've decided not to spend Thanksgiving with you, after
+all."
+
+"Hey?"  Captain Elisha could scarcely believe he had heard correctly.
+"You can't go--to South Denboro?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Why not, for the land sakes?"
+
+"Well, I've decided--I've decided not to."
+
+"But, Jim!  Why, I can't have it so!  I'm dreadful disappointed.
+I've counted on your goin'.  So has Abbie.  She's read your book,
+and she says she's crazy to see the feller that wrote it.  She's
+told the minister and a whole lot more, and they're all comin' in
+to look at you.  'Tain't often we have a celebrated character in
+our town.  You've GOT to go."
+
+"Thank you, Captain.  I appreciate the invitation and your
+kindness, but," with decision, "I can't accept."
+
+"Can't you come later?  Say Thanksgivin' mornin'?  Or even the day
+after?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But why not?  What's the matter with you all of a sudden?  Come
+here! let me look at you."
+
+He took the young man by the arm and led him, almost by main
+strength, close to the lighted window of the station.  It was late,
+and the afternoon was gloomy.  Here, by the lamplight streaming
+through the window, he could see his face more clearly.  He looked
+at it.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted, after a moment's scrutiny.  "You've made up
+your mind; I can see that.  Have you told Caroline?  Does she
+know?"
+
+"Yes.  You'll have to excuse me, Captain Warren; my train is
+coming."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+Pearson smiled, but there was little mirth in the smile.  "I think
+she agrees with me that it is best," he observed.
+
+"Humph!  She does, hey?  I want to know!  Look here, Jim! have you
+and she--"
+
+He got no further, for Pearson broke away, and, with a hurried
+"Good night," strode up the platform to meet the city-bound train.
+Captain Elisha watched it go and then walked slowly homeward, his
+hands in his pockets, troubled and wondering.
+
+He entered the house by the back door, a remnant of South Denboro
+habit, and found Annie in the kitchen.
+
+"Where's Caroline?" he asked.
+
+"She's in the living room, sir, I think.  Mr. Pearson has been here
+and just gone."
+
+"Um-hm.  So I heard.  Say, Annie, you needn't hurry dinner; I ain't
+ready for it yet awhile."
+
+He hung his coat and hat in the back hall and quietly entered the
+living room.  The lamp was not lighted, and the room was dark, but
+he saw his niece, a shadowy figure, seated by the window.  He
+crossed to her side.
+
+"Well, Caroline," he said, cheerfully, "I'm home again."
+
+She turned.  "I see you are," she answered.
+
+"Humph! your eyes must be better than mine then.  I can't see
+anything in here.  It's darker than a nigger's pocket.  Suppose we
+turn on the glim."
+
+He struck a match as he said it.  By its light he saw her face.
+The match burned down to his finger tips and then he extinguished
+it.
+
+"I don't know but the dark is just as good and more economical," he
+observed.  "No use of encouragin' the graspin' ile trust unless
+it's necessary.  Let's you and me sit here in the dark and talk.
+No objection to talkin' to your back country relation, have you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"That's good.  Well, Caroline, I'm goin' to talk plain again.  You
+can order me to close my hatch any time you feel like it; that's
+skipper's privilege, and you're boss of this craft, you know.
+Dearie, I just met Jim Pearson.  He tells me he's decided not to go
+on this Cape cruise of ours.  He said you agreed with him 'twas
+best he shouldn't go.  Do you mind tellin' me why?"
+
+She did not answer.  He waited a minute and then continued.
+
+"Course, I know I ain't got any real right to ask," he went on;
+"but I think more of you and Jim than I do of anybody else, and so
+maybe you'll excuse me.  Have you and he had a fallin' out?"
+
+Still she was silent.  He sighed.  "Well," he observed, "I see you
+have, and I don't blame you for not wantin' to talk about it.  I'm
+awful sorry.  I'd begun to hope that . . .  However, we'll change
+the subject.  Or we won't talk at all, if you'd rather not."
+
+Another pause.  Then she laid her hand on his.
+
+"Uncle," she said, "you know I always want to talk to you.  And, as
+for the right to ask, you have the right to ask anything of me at
+any time.  And I should have told you, of my own accord, by and by.
+Mr. Pearson and I have not quarreled; but I think--I think it best
+that I should not see him again."
+
+"You do?  Not see him--any more--at all?  Why, Caroline!"
+
+"Not for a long, long time, at least.  It would only make it harder--
+for him; and it's of no use."
+
+Captain Elisha sighed again.  "I guess I understand, Caroline.  I
+presume likely I do.  He--he asked somethin' of you--and you
+couldn't say yes to him.  That was it, I suppose.  Needn't tell me
+unless you really want to, you understand," he added, hastily.
+
+"But I do.  I ought to tell you.  I should have told you before,
+and perhaps, if I had, he would not have . . . Uncle Elisha, Mr.
+Pearson asked me to be his wife."
+
+The captain gave no evidence of surprise.
+
+"Yes," he replied, gravely, "I judged that was it.  And you told
+him you couldn't, I suppose.  Well, dearie, that's a question
+nobody ought to answer but the one.  She's the only one that knows
+what that answer should be, and, when other folks interfere and try
+to influence, it generally means trouble.  I'm kind of disappointed;
+I'll own up to that.  I think Jim is a fine, honest, able young man,
+and he'd make a good husband, I'm sure.  And, so far as his
+business, or profession, or whatever you call it, goes, he's doin'
+pretty well and sartin to do better.  Of course, 'twa'n't that that
+kept you from--"
+
+"Uncle Elisha!  Am _I_ so rich that I should--"
+
+"There! there, my girl!  I know 'twa'n't that, of course.  I was
+only thinkin' out loud, that's all--tryin' to find reasons.  You
+didn't care for him enough, I suppose.  Caroline, you don't care
+for anybody else, do you?  You don't still care for that other
+feller, that--"
+
+"Uncle!" she sprang up, hurt and indignant.  "How can you?" she
+cried.  "How could you ask that?  What must you think of me?"
+
+"Please, Caroline," he protested; "please don't.  I beg your
+pardon.  I was a fool!  I knew better.  Don't go.  Tell me the real
+reason.  Sit down again and let's talk this out.  Do sit down!
+that's it.  Now tell me; was it that you couldn't care for Jim
+enough?"
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"Was it?" he repeated.
+
+"I--I like Mr. Pearson very much.  I respect and admire him."
+
+"But you don't love him.  I see.  Well," sadly, "there's another
+one of my dreams gone to smash.  However, you did just right,
+dearie.  Feelin' that way, you couldn't marry him, of course."
+
+He would have risen now, and she detained him.
+
+"That was not the reason," she said, in a low tone.
+
+"Hey?" he bent toward her.  "What?" he cried.  "That wa'n't the
+reason, you say?  You do care for him?"
+
+She was silent.
+
+"Do you?" he repeated, gently.  "And yet you sent him away.  Why?"
+
+She faltered, tried to speak, and then turned away.  He put his arm
+about her and stroked her hair.
+
+"Don't you cry, dearie," he begged.  "I won't bother you any more.
+You can tell me some other time--if you want to.  Or you needn't
+tell me at all.  It's all right; only don't cry.  'Cause if you
+do," with sudden determination, "I shall cry, too; and, bein' as I
+ain't used to the exercise, I may raise such a row that Annie'll
+send for the constable.  You wouldn't want that to happen, I know."
+
+This unexpected announcement had the desired effect; Caroline
+laughed hysterically and freed herself from his arm.
+
+"I mustn't be so silly," she said.  "I had made up my mind to tell
+you everything, and I shall.  My not caring for Mr. Pearson was not
+my reason for refusing him.  The reasons were two--you and Steve."
+
+"Me and Steve?  What in the world have we got to do with it?"
+
+"Everything.  He would marry me, poor as I am; and perhaps I--
+perhaps I should say yes if things were different.  Oh, there is no
+use my deceiving you, or trying to deceive myself!  I know I should
+say yes, and be very, very happy.  But I can't! and I won't!
+I WON'T!"
+
+"But why?  And where, for mercy's sake, do Steve and I come in?"
+
+"Uncle Elisha, I suppose you think I have been perfectly satisfied
+to let you take care of me and of my brother, and give us a home
+and all that we needed and more.  No doubt you thought me selfish
+enough to be contented with that and go on as I am--as we are--
+living on your bounty.  You had reason to think so.  But I have not
+been contented with that, nor has Steve.  He and I have made our
+plans, and we shall carry them out.  He will leave college in two
+years and go to work in earnest.  Before that time I shall be ready
+to teach.  I have been studying with just that idea in view."
+
+"Good land!  Why, no, you ain't!  You've been studyin' to help me
+and Annie run this house."
+
+"That was only part of it--the smallest part.  I haven't told you
+before, Uncle, but one of the Domestic Science teachers at the
+University is a girl I used to know slightly.  She is going to be
+married next year, and, if all goes well, I may be appointed to her
+position when she leaves.  I have a conditional promise already.
+If I am, why, then, you see, I shall really be earning my own
+living; you will not have to give up your own home and all your
+interests there to make me comfortable: you can--"
+
+"Here! here!" Captain Elisha put in, desperately; "don't talk so
+ridiculous, Caroline.  I ain't givin' up anything.  I never was
+more happy than I've been right here with you this summer.  I'm
+satisfied."
+
+"I know, but I am not.  And neither is Steve.  He and I have
+planned it all.  His salary at first will be small, and so will
+mine.  But together we can earn enough to live somehow and, later
+on, when he earns more, perhaps we may be able to repay a little of
+all that you have given us.  We shall try.  _I_ shall insist upon
+it."
+
+"Caroline Warren, is THAT the reason you sent Jim away?  Did you
+tell him that?  Did you tell him you wouldn't marry him on account
+of me?"
+
+"No, of course I did not," indignantly.  "I told him--I said I must
+not think of marriage; it was impossible.  And it is!  You KNOW it
+is, Uncle Elisha!"
+
+"I don't know any such thing.  If you want to make me happy,
+Caroline, you couldn't find a better way than to be Jim Pearson's
+wife.  And you would be happy, too; you said so."
+
+"But I am not thinking of happiness.  It is my duty--to you and to
+my own self-respect.  And not only that, but to Steve.  Someone
+must provide a home for him.  Neither he nor I will permit you to
+do it a day longer than is necessary.  I am his sister and I shall
+not leave him."
+
+"But you won't have to leave him.  Steve's future's all fixed.
+I've provided for Steve."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"What I say."  The captain was very much excited and, for once,
+completely off his guard.  "I've had plans for Steve all along.
+He's doin' fust-rate in that broker's office, learnin' the trade.
+Next summer he'll have another whack at it and learn more.  When
+he's out of college I'm goin' to turn over your dad's seat on the
+Stock Exchange to him.  Not give it to him, you know--not right
+off--but let him try; and then, if he makes a good fist at it,
+he'll have it permanent.  Steve's got the best chance in the world.
+He couldn't ask much better, seems to me.  You ain't got to fret
+yourself about Steve."
+
+He paused, almost out of breath.  He had been speaking rapidly so
+as to prevent interruption.  Caroline's astonishment was too great
+for words, just then.  Her uncle anxiously awaited her reply.
+
+"You see, don't you?" he asked.  "You understand.  Steve's goin' to
+have the chance to make a good livin' at the very thing he declares
+he's set on doin'.  I ain't told him, and I don't want you to, but
+it's what I've planned for him and--"
+
+"Wait! wait, Uncle, please!  The Stock Exchange seat?  Father's
+seat?  I don't see . . .  I don't understand."
+
+"Yes, yes!" eagerly; "your pa's seat.  I've meant it for Steve.
+There's been chances enough to sell it, but I wouldn't do that.
+'Twas for him, Caroline; and he's goin' to have it."
+
+"But I don't see how . . .  Why, I thought--"
+
+The door of the dining room opened.  Annie appeared on the threshold.
+
+"Dinner is served," she announced.
+
+"Be right there, Annie.  Now you see that you ain't got to worry
+about Steve, don't you, Caroline?"
+
+His niece did not answer.  By the light from the doorway he saw
+that she was gazing at him with a strange expression.  She looked
+as if she was about to ask another question.  He waited, but she
+did not ask it.
+
+"Well," he said, rising, "we won't talk any more just now.  Annie's
+soup's gettin' cold, and she'll be in our wool if we don't have
+dinner.  Afterwards we can have another session.  Come, Caroline."
+
+She also rose, but hesitated.  "Uncle Elisha," she said, "will you
+excuse me if I don't talk any more to-night?  And, if you don't
+mind, I won't dine with you.  I'm not hungry and--and my head
+aches.  I'll go to my room, I think."
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, hastily, "of course.  I'm afraid I've talked
+too much as 'tis.  You go up and lie down, and Annie can fetch you
+some toast and tea or somethin' by and by.  But do just answer me
+this, Caroline, if you can:  When you told Jim marryin' was out of
+the question for you, did he take that as final?  Was he contented
+with that?  Didn't he say he was willin' to wait for you, or
+anything?"
+
+"Yes, he said he would wait, always.  But I told him he must not.
+And I told him he must go and not see me again.  I couldn't see him
+as I have been doing; Uncle, I couldn't!"
+
+"I know, dearie, I know.  But didn't you say anything more?  Didn't
+you give him ANY hope?"
+
+"I said," she hesitated, and added in a whisper, "I said if I
+should ever need him or--or change my mind, I would send for him.
+I shouldn't have said it.  It was weak and wicked of me, but I said
+it.  Please let me go now, Uncle dear.  Good night."
+
+She kissed him and hurried away.  He ate his lonely dinner absent-
+mindedly and with little appetite.  After it was finished he sat in
+the living room, the lamp still unlighted, smoking and thinking.
+
+And in her chamber Caroline, too, sat thinking--not altogether of
+the man she loved and who loved her.  She thought of him, of
+course; but there was something else, an idea, a suspicion, which
+over and over again she dismissed as an utter impossibility, but
+which returned as often.
+
+The Stock Exchange seat had been a part of her father's estate, a
+part of her own and Steve's inheritance.  Sylvester had told her
+so, distinctly.  And such a seat was valuable; she remembered her
+brother reading in the paper that one had recently sold for ninety
+thousand dollars.  How could Captain Warren have retained such a
+costly part of the forfeited estate in his possession?  For it was
+in his possession; he was going to give it to her brother when the
+latter left college.  But how could he have obtained it?  Not by
+purchase; for, as she knew, he was not worth half of ninety
+thousand dollars.  Surely the creditor, the man who had, as was his
+right, seized all Rodgers Warren's effects, would not have left
+that and taken the rest.  Not unless he was a curiously philanthropic
+and eccentric person.  Who was he?  Who was this mysterious man her
+father had defrauded?  She had never wished to know before; now she
+did.  And the more she pondered, the more plausible her suspicion
+became.  It was almost incredible, it seemed preposterous; but, as
+she went back, in memory, over the events since her father's death
+and the disclosure of his astonishing will, little bits of evidence,
+little happenings and details came to light, trifles in themselves,
+but all fitting in together, like pieces of an inscription in
+mosaic, to spell the truth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+November weather on Cape Cod is what Captain Elisha described as
+"considerable chancey."  "The feller that can guess it two days
+ahead of time," he declared, "is wastin' his talents; he could make
+a livin' prophesyin' most anything, even the market price of
+cranberries."  When Caroline, Sylvester, and the captain reached
+South Denboro after what seemed, to the two unused to the leisurely
+winter schedule of the railroad, an interminable journey from Fall
+River, the girl thought she had never seen a more gloomy sky or a
+more forbidding scene.  Gray clouds, gray sea, brown bare fields;
+the village of white or gray-shingled houses set, for the most
+part, along the winding main street; the elms and silver-leaf
+poplars waving bare branches in the cutting wind; a picture of the
+fag end of loneliness and desolation, so it looked to her.  She
+remembered Mr. Graves's opinion of the place, as jokingly reported
+by Sylvester, and she sympathized with the dignified junior
+partner.
+
+But she kept her feelings hidden on her uncle's account.  The
+captain was probably the happiest individual in the state of
+Massachusetts that morning.  He hailed the train's approach to
+Sandwich as the entrance to Ostable County, the promised land, and,
+from that station on, excitedly pointed out familiar landmarks and
+bits of scenery and buildings with the gusto and enthusiasm of a
+school boy.
+
+"That's Ostable court-house," he cried, pointing.  "And see--see
+that red-roofed house right over there, just past that white
+church?  That's where Judge Baxter lives; a mighty good friend of
+mine, the Judge is.  I stopped to his house to dinner the night
+Graves came."
+
+A little further on he added, "'Twas about here that I spoke to
+Graves fust.  I noticed him sittin' right across the aisle from me,
+with a face on him sour as a sasser of green tamarind preserves,
+and I thought I'd be sociable.  'Tough night,' I says.  'Umph,'
+says he.  'Twa'n't a remark cal'lated to encourage conversation, so
+I didn't try again--not till his umbrella turned inside out on the
+Denboro platform.  Ho! ho!  I wish you'd have seen his face THEN."
+
+At Denboro he pointed out Pete Shattuck's livery stable, where the
+horse and buggy came from which had been the means of transporting
+Graves and himself to South Denboro.
+
+"See!" he cried.  "See that feller holdin' up the corner of the
+depot with his back! the one that's so broad in the beam he has to
+draw in his breath afore he can button his coat.  That's Pete.
+You'd think he was too sleepy to care whether 'twas to-day or next
+week, wouldn't you?  Well, if you was a summer boarder and wanted
+to hire a team, you'd find Pete was awake and got up early.  If a
+ten-cent piece fell off the shelf in the middle of the night he'd
+hear it, though I've known him to sleep while the minister's barn
+burned down.  The parson had been preachin' against horse-tradin';
+maybe that sermon was responsible for some of the morphine
+influence."
+
+Sylvester was enjoying himself hugely.  Captain Elisha's exuberant
+comments were great fun for him.  "This is what I came for," he
+confided to Caroline.  "I don't care if it rains or snows.  I could
+sit and listen to your uncle for a year and never tire.  He's a
+wonder.  And I'm crazy to see that housekeeper of his.  If she
+lives up to her reputation there'll be no disappointment in my
+Thanksgiving celebration."
+
+Dan, the captain's hired man, met them with the carriage at the
+station, and Miss Baker met them at the door of the Warren home.
+The exterior of the big, old-fashioned, rambling house was inviting
+and homelike, in spite of the gloomy weather, and Caroline cheered
+up a bit when they turned in at the gate.  Five minutes of Miss
+Abigail's society, and all gloom disappeared.  One could not be
+gloomy where Miss Abbie was.  Her smile of welcome was so broad
+that, as her employer said, "it took in all outdoor and some of
+Punkhorn Neck," a place which, he hastened to add, "was forgot
+durin' creation and has sort of happened of itself since."
+
+Abbie conducted Caroline to her room--old-fashioned, like the rest
+of the house, but cozy, warm, and cheery--and, after helping in the
+removal of her wraps, seized her by both hands and took a long look
+at her face.
+
+"You'll excuse my bein' so familiar on short acquaintance, dearie,"
+she said, "but I've heard so much about you that I feel's if I knew
+you like own folks.  And you are own folks, ain't you?  Course you
+are!  Everyone of 'Lisha's letters have had four pages of you to
+one of anything else.  I begun to think New York was nothin' but
+you and a whole lot of ten-story houses.  He thinks so much of you
+that I'd be jealous, if I had that kind of disposition and the time
+to spare.  So I must have a good look at you . . .  I declare!
+you're almost prettier than he said.  May I kiss you?  I'd like
+to."
+
+She did, and they were friends at once.
+
+The rest of that day and evening were busy times.  Captain Elisha
+showed his visitors about the place, the barn, the cows, the
+pigpen--the pig himself had gone to fulfill the unhappy destiny of
+pigs, but they would meet him by sections later on, so the captain
+assured them.  The house and buildings were spotless in paint and
+whitewash; the yard was raked clean of every dead leaf and twig;
+the whole establishment was so neat that Caroline remarked upon it.
+
+"It looks as if it had been scoured," she said.
+
+"Um-hm," observed her uncle, with a gratified nod; that's Abbie.
+She hates dirt worse than she does laziness, and that ain't sayin'
+a little.  I tell her she'd sand-soap the weather vane if she could
+climb up to it; as 'tis, she stays below and superintends Dan while
+he does it.  If godliness wants to stay next to cleanliness when
+she's around it has to keep on the jump.  I always buy shirts two
+degrees heavier'n I need, 'cause I know she'll have 'em scrubbed
+thin in a fortni't.  When it comes to REAL Domestic Science,
+Caroline, Abbie ain't in the back row of the primer class, now I
+tell you."
+
+Miss Baker had planned that her young guest should sit in state,
+with folded hands, in the parlor.  She seemed to consider that the
+proper conduct for a former member of New York's best society.  She
+was shocked when the girl volunteered to help her about the house.
+
+"Course I sha'n't let you," she said.  "The idea--and you company!
+Got more help than I know what to do with, as 'tis.  'Lisha was
+determined that I should hire a girl to wash dishes and things
+while you was here.  Nothin' would do but that.  So I got Annabel
+Haven's daughter, Etta G.  There's fourteen in that family, and the
+land knows 'twas an act of charity takin' one appetite out of the
+house.  Pay her fifty cents a day, I do, and she's out in the
+kitchen makin' believe wash windows.  They don't need washin', but
+she was lookin' out of 'em most of the time, so I thought she might
+as well combine business with pleasure."
+
+But Caroline refused to sit in the parlor and be "company."  She
+insisted upon helping.  Miss Baker protested and declared there was
+nothing on earth to be done; but her guest insisted that, if there
+was not, she herself must sit.  As Abbie would have as soon thought
+of attending church without wearing her jet earrings as she would
+of sitting down before dinner, she gave in, after a while, and
+permitted Caroline to help in arranging the table.
+
+"Why, you do fust-rate!" she exclaimed, in surprise.  "You know
+where everything ought to go, just as if you'd been settin' table
+all your life.  And you ain't, because 'Lisha wrote you used to
+keep hired help, two or three of 'em, all the time."
+
+Caroline laughed.
+
+"I've been studying housekeeping for almost a year," she said.
+
+"Studyin' it!  Why, yes, now I remember 'Lisha wrote you'd been
+studyin' some kind of science at college.  'Twa'n't settin' table
+science, I guess, though.  Ha! ha!"
+
+"That was part of it."  She explained the course briefly.  Abigail
+listened in amazement.
+
+"And they teach that--at school?" she demanded.  "And take money
+for it?  And call it SCIENCE?  My land!  I guess I was brought up
+in a scientific household, then.  I was the only girl in the
+family, and mother died when I was ten years old."
+
+After dinner she consented to sit for a time, though not until she
+had donned her Sunday best, earrings and all.  Captain Elisha and
+Sylvester sat with them, and the big fireplace in the sitting room
+blazed and roared as it had not since its owner left for his long
+sojourn in the city.  In the evening callers came, the Congregational
+minister and his wife, and some of the neighbors.  The latter were
+pleasant country people, another retired sea captain among them, and
+they all seemed to have great respect and liking for Captain Elisha
+and to be very glad to welcome him home.  The two captains spun salt
+water yarns, and the lawyer again decided that he was getting just
+what he had come for.  They left a little after nine, and Caroline
+said good night and went to her room.  She was tired, mentally and
+physically.
+
+But she did not fall asleep at once.  Her mind was still busy with
+the suspicion which her uncle's words concerning his future plans
+for Steve had aroused.  She had thought of little else since she
+heard them.  The captain did not mention the subject again;
+possibly, on reflection, he decided that he had already said too
+much.  And she asked no more questions.  She determined not to
+question him--yet.  She must think first, and then ask someone
+else--Sylvester.  He knew the truth and, if taken by surprise,
+might be driven into confession, if there should be anything to
+confess.  She was waiting for an opportunity to be alone with him,
+and that opportunity had not yet presented itself.
+
+The captain would have spoken further with her concerning James
+Pearson.  He was eager to do that.  But her mind was made up; she
+had sent her lover away, and it was best for both.  She must forget
+him, if she could.  So, when her uncle would have spoken on that
+subject, she begged him not to; and he, respecting her feelings and
+believing that to urge would be bad policy, refrained.
+
+But to forget, she found, was an impossibility.  In the excitement
+of the journey and the arrival amid new surroundings, she had
+managed to keep up a show of good spirits, but now alone once more,
+with the wind singing mournfully about the gables and rattling the
+windows, she was sad and so lonely.  She thought what her life had
+once promised to be and what it had become.  She did not regret the
+old life, that life she had known before her father died; she had
+been happy in it while he lived, but miserable after his death.  As
+for happiness, she had been happy that summer, happy with her uncle
+and with--him.  And with him now, even though they would be poor,
+as she was used to reckoning poverty, she knew she could be very
+happy.  She wondered what he was doing then; if he was thinking of
+her.  She ought to hope that he was not, because it was useless;
+but she wished that he might be, nevertheless.  Then she told
+herself that all this was wicked; she had made up her mind; she
+must be true to the task she had set, duty to her brother and
+uncle.
+
+Her uncle! why had her uncle done all this for her?  And why had
+her father made him their guardian?  These were old questions, but
+now she asked them with a new significance.  If that strange
+suspicion of hers was true it would explain so much; it would
+explain almost everything.  But it could not be true; if it was,
+why had he not told her when the discovery of her father's
+dishonesty and of the note forfeiting the estate was made?  Why had
+he not told her then?  That was what troubled her most.  It did not
+seem like him to do such a thing--not like his character at all.
+Therefore, it could not be true.  Yet she must know.  She resolved
+to question Sylvester the next day, if possible.  And, so resolving,
+she at last fell asleep.
+
+Her opportunity came the following morning, the day before
+Thanksgiving.  After breakfast Captain Elisha went downtown to call
+on some acquaintances.  He invited Caroline and the lawyer to
+accompany him, but they refused, the latter because he judged his,
+a stranger's, presence during the calls would be something of a
+hindrance to good fellowship and the discussion of town affairs
+which the captain was counting on, and Caroline because she saw her
+chance for the interview she so much desired.
+
+After the captain had gone, Sylvester sat down before the fire in
+the sitting room to read the Boston Transcript.  As he sat there,
+Caroline entered and closed the door behind her.  Miss Abigail was
+in the kitchen, busy with preparations for the morrow's plum
+pudding.
+
+The girl took the chair next that occupied by the lawyer.  He put
+down his paper and turned to her.
+
+"Well," he asked, "how does this Cape Cod air effect your appetite,
+Caroline?  I'm ashamed of mine.  I'm rather glad to-morrow is
+Thanksgiving; on that day, I believe, it is permissible, even
+commendable, to eat three times more than a self-respecting person
+ordinarily should."
+
+She smiled, but her answer was in the form of another question, and
+quite irrelevant.
+
+"Mr. Sylvester," she said, "I wish you would tell me something
+about the value of a seat on the Stock Exchange.  What is the price
+of one?"
+
+The lawyer looked at her in surprise.
+
+"The value of a seat on the Stock Exchange?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes; what does it cost to buy one?"
+
+He hesitated, wondering why she should be interested in that
+subject.  Captain Elisha had not told him a word of the interview
+following Pearson's last visit.  He wondered, and then surmised a
+reason--Stephen, of course.  Steve's ambition was to be a broker,
+and his sister was, doubtless, with sisterly solicitude and
+feminine ignorance of high prices, planning for his future.
+
+"Well," he replied, smiling, "they're pretty expensive, I'm afraid,
+Caroline."
+
+"Are they?" innocently.
+
+"Yes.  I think the last sale was at a figure between ninety and one
+hundred thousand dollars."
+
+"Indeed!  Was father's seat worth as much as that?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But," with a sigh, "that, I suppose, went with the rest of the
+estate."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Into the hands of the man who took it all?"
+
+"Yes; the same hands," with a sly smile at his own private joke.
+
+"Then how does it happen that my uncle has it in his possession?"
+
+The lawyer smiled no more.  He turned in his chair and gazed
+quickly and keenly at the young lady beside him.  And her gaze was
+just as keen as his own.
+
+"What did you say?" he asked.
+
+"I asked you how it happened that my uncle now has father's Stock
+Exchange seat in his possession."
+
+"Why! . . .  Has he?"
+
+"Yes.  And I think you know he has, Mr. Sylvester.  I know it,
+because he told me so himself.  Didn't you know it?"
+
+This was a line shot from directly in front and a hard one to
+dodge.  A lie was the only guard, and he was not in the habit of
+lying, even professionally.
+
+"I--I cannot answer these questions," he declared.  "They involve
+professional secrets and--"
+
+"I don't see that this is a secret.  My uncle has already told me.
+What I could not understand was how he obtained the seat from the
+man to whom it was given as a part of father's debt.  Do you know
+how he obtained it?"
+
+"Er--well--er--probably an arrangement was made.  I cannot go into
+details, because--well, for obvious reasons.  You must excuse me,
+Caroline."
+
+He rose to go.
+
+"One moment more," she said, "and one more question.  Mr. Sylvester,
+who IS this mysterious person--this stockholder whom father
+defrauded, this person who wishes his name kept a secret, but who
+does such queer things?  Who is he?"
+
+"Caroline, I tell you I cannot answer these questions.  He does
+wish to remain unknown, as I told you and your brother when we
+first learned of him and his claim.  If I were to tell you I should
+break my faith with him. . . .  You must excuse me; you really
+must."
+
+"Mr. Sylvester, perhaps you don't need to tell me.  Perhaps I can
+guess.  Isn't he my--"
+
+"Caroline, I cannot--"
+
+"ISN'T HE MY UNCLE, ELISHA WARREN?"
+
+Sylvester was half way to the door, but she was in his path and
+looking him directly in the face.  He hesitated.
+
+"I thought so," she said.  "You needn't answer, Mr. Sylvester; your
+face is answer enough.  He is."
+
+She turned away, and, walking slowly to the chair from which she
+had arisen, sank into it.
+
+"He is," she repeated.  "I knew it.  I wonder that I didn't know it
+from the very first.  How could I have been so blind!"
+
+The lawyer, nervous, chagrined, and greatly troubled, remained
+standing by the door.  He did not know whether to go or stay.  He
+took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead.
+
+"Whew!" he exclaimed.  "Well, by--GEORGE!"
+
+She paid no attention to him, but went on, speaking, apparently, to
+herself.
+
+"It explains everything," she said.  "He was father's brother; and
+father, in some way, took and used his money.  But father knew what
+sort of man he was, and so he asked him to be our guardian.  Father
+thought he would be kind to us, I suppose.  And he has been kind--
+he has.  But why did he keep it a secret?  Why did he . . .  I
+don't understand that.  Of course the money was his; all we had was
+his, by right.  But to say nothing . . . and to let us believe . . .
+It does not seem like him at all.  It . . ."
+
+Sylvester interrupted quickly.  "Caroline!  Caroline!" he said,
+"don't make any mistake.  Don't misjudge your uncle again.  He is a
+good man; one of the best men I ever knew.  Yes, and one of the
+wisest.  Don't say or think anything for which you may be sorry.
+I am speaking as your friend."
+
+She turned toward him once more, the distressed, puzzled look still
+on her face.  "But I don't understand," she cried.  "He . . .  Oh,
+Mr. Sylvester, please, now that I do know--now that you have told
+me so much--won't you tell me the rest; the reason and--all of it?
+Please!"
+
+The lawyer shook his head, regarding her with an expression of
+annoyance and reluctant admiration.
+
+"Now that I'VE told you!" he repeated.  "I don't remember that I've
+told you anything."
+
+"But you have.  Not in words, perhaps, but you have told me.  I
+know.  Please go on and tell me all.  If you don't," with
+determination, "I shall make Uncle Elisha tell me as soon as he
+comes.  I shall!"
+
+Sylvester sighed.  "Well, by George!" he repeated, feelingly.
+"I'll tell you one thing, young woman, you're wasting your talents.
+You should be a member of the bar.  Anyone who can lead a battle-
+scarred veteran of cross-examination like myself into a trap and
+then spring it on him, as you have done, is gifted by Providence."
+
+"But will you tell me?"
+
+He hesitated, perplexed and doubtful.
+
+"I ought not to say another word on the subject," he declared,
+emphatically.  "What Captain Warren will say to me when he finds
+this out is unpleasant to consider.  But . . .  But yet, I don't
+know.  It may be better for you to learn the real truth than to
+know a part and guess wrongly at the rest.  I . . .  What is it
+you want me to tell you?"
+
+"Everything.  I want you to sit down here by me and tell me the
+whole story, from the beginning.  Please."
+
+He hesitated a moment longer and, then, his mind made up, returned
+to his chair, crossed his legs and began.  "Here it is," he said.
+
+"Caroline, about twenty years ago, or such matter, your father
+was a comparatively poor man--poor, I mean, compared to what he
+afterward became.  But he was a clever man, an able business man,
+one who saw opportunities and grasped them.  At that time he
+obtained a grant in South America for--"
+
+"I know," she interrupted; "the Akrae Rubber Company was formed.
+You told Steve and me all about that.  What I want to know is--"
+
+"Wait.  I did not tell you all about it.  I said that another man
+invested ten thousand dollars with your father to form that
+company.  That man, so we now know, was your uncle, Captain Elisha
+Warren."
+
+"I guessed that.  Of course it must have been he."
+
+"It was.  The captain was older than your father, had lived
+carefully, and had saved some money.  Also, at that time, he
+idolized his brother and believed in his shrewdness and capability.
+He invested this ten thousand on Rodgers Warren's word that the
+investment was likely to be a good one.  That, and to help the
+latter in business.  For a few years the company did nothing;
+during that time your father and uncle disagreed--concerning
+another matter, quite unconnected with this one--and they did not
+see each other again while Rodgers lived.  In that long period the
+Akrae Company made millions.  But Elisha supposed it to be bankrupt
+and worthless; because--well, to be frank, because his brother
+wrote him to that effect."
+
+He paused, fearful of the effect which this announcement might have
+upon the girl.  But she had guessed this part of her father's
+dishonor and was prepared for it.  She made no comment, and he
+continued.
+
+"Now we come to the will.  Your father, Caroline, was not a bad
+man at heart.  I knew him well, and I believe that may be said
+truthfully.  He realized what he had done, how he had defrauded
+the brother who had been so kind to him, and he meant, he kept
+promising himself, to some day repay the money he had taken.  To
+insure that, he put that note with the other papers of the Company.
+If he did repay, it could be destroyed.  If he did not, if he
+should die, it would be there to prove--what it did prove.  But
+always in his mind was the thought of you and Steve, the children
+he loved.  He had quarreled with his brother it is true; he had
+cheated him, but restitution for that cheat he had provided.  But
+what would become of you, left--in case he died without making
+restitution--penniless?  He knew his brother, as I said; knew
+his character, respected his honesty, and believed in his
+conscientiousness and his big heart.  So he made his will, and in
+it, as you know, he appointed Elisha your guardian.  He threw his
+children and their future upon the mercy and generosity of the
+brother he had wronged.  That is his reason, as we surmise it, for
+making that will."
+
+He paused again.  Caroline did not speak for a moment.  Then she
+asked:
+
+"And no one knew--you or my uncle or anyone--of all this until last
+March?"
+
+"No.  Graves had, with his usual care and patience, pieced together
+the evidence and investigated until we were sure that a stockholder
+in the Akrae Company existed and that all of your father's estate
+belonged to him.  Who that stockholder was we did not know until
+that day of the meeting at our office.  Then Captain Warren told
+us."
+
+"But he did not know, either?"
+
+"Not until then.  He supposed his Akrae stock worthless, and had
+practically forgotten it.  When we told him of its value, of the
+note, and of the missing shareholder, he knew, of course."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"Say?  Caroline, he was the most distressed and conscience-stricken
+man in the city.  One would have thought he was the wrongdoer and
+not the wronged.  He would have gone straight to you and asked your
+pardon, if we would have permitted it."
+
+"But, Mr. Sylvester, now we are coming to the part I cannot
+understand.  Of course the estate belonged to him, I know that.
+It is his.  But why didn't he tell Steve and me the truth then,
+at once?  Why did he let us believe, and employ you to lead us to
+believe, that it was not he but someone else?  Did he think we would
+blame him?  Why has he--"
+
+"Caroline!  Caroline! don't you understand yet?  Do you imagine for
+one moment that your uncle intends keeping that money?"
+
+She stared at him in utter amazement.
+
+"Keeping it?" she repeated.  "Why not?  It is his.  It belongs to
+him."
+
+"Caroline, I'm afraid you don't know him, even yet.  He was for
+going to you at once and destroying the note in your presence.  He
+would have done it, but we persuaded him to wait and think it over
+for a day or two.  He did think and then decided to wait a little
+longer, for your sake."
+
+"For my sake?  For mine?" she passed her hand in a bewildered way
+across her forehead.  "Mr. Sylvester, I don't seem to understand
+even now.  I--"
+
+"For your sake, Caroline.  Remember, at that time you were engaged
+to Malcolm Dunn."
+
+Her intent gaze wavered.  She drew a long breath.  "I see," she
+said, slowly.  "Oh . . . I see."
+
+"Yes.  Captain Warren is one of the best judges of character I ever
+met.  The Dunns did not deceive him for one moment.  He was certain
+Malcolm intended marrying you because of your money; for that
+matter, so was I.  But his was the plan entirely which showed them
+to you as they were.  He knew you were too honest and straightforward
+to believe such things of the man to whom you were engaged if they
+were told you; you must see the proof with your own eyes.  And he
+showed it to you."
+
+"But then," she begged, distractedly, "why couldn't he tell me
+after that?  I--I am so stupid, I suppose--but, Mr. Sylvester, all
+this is--is--"
+
+"He might have told you then, but he did not think it best.
+Caroline, your uncle has always believed in you.  Even when you
+sent him from your home he did not blame you; he said you were
+deceived, that was all.  But, too, he has always declared that you
+had been, as he expressed it, 'brought up wrong.'  Your money had,
+in a way, warped your estimate of people and things.  He believed
+that, if you were given the opportunity, you would learn that
+wealth does not, of itself, mean happiness.  So he decided not to
+tell you, not to give you back your share of your father's money--
+he refuses to consider it his--until another year, until you were
+of age, at least.  And there was Steve.  You know, Caroline, that
+money and what it brought was spoiling Steve.  He has never been so
+much a man as during the past year, when he thought himself poor.
+But your uncle has planned for him as well as for you and, when he
+believes the time has come, he--"
+
+"Please," she interrupted, falteringly; "please don't say any more.
+Let me think.  Oh, please let me think, Mr. Sylvester . . .  You
+say that Uncle Elisha intends giving us all that father took from
+him?  All of it?"
+
+"Yes, all.  He considers himself merely your guardian still and
+will accept only his expenses from the estate."
+
+"But--but it is wonderful!"
+
+"Yes, it is.  But I have learned to think him a wonderful man."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is wonderful!" she repeated, brokenly.  "Even though we cannot
+take it, it is wonderful."
+
+"What?  Cannot take it?"
+
+"Of course not!  Do you suppose that either my brother or I will
+take the fortune that our father stole--yes, STOLE from him?  After
+he has been living almost in poverty all these years and we in
+luxury--on HIS money?  Of course we shall not take it!"
+
+"But, Caroline, I imagine you will have to take it.  I understand
+your feelings, but I think he will compel you to take it."
+
+"I shall NOT!" she sprang to her feet.  "Of course I shall not!
+Never! never!"
+
+"What's that you're never goin' to take, Caroline?  Measles? or
+another trip down in these parts?  I hope 'tain't the last, 'cause
+I've been cal'latin' you'd like it well enough to come again."
+
+Caroline turned.  So did Sylvester.  Captain Elisha was standing in
+the doorway, his hand on the knob.  He was smiling broadly, but as
+he looked at the two by the fire he ceased to smile.
+
+"What's all this?" he asked, suspiciously.  "Caroline, what--
+Sylvester, what have you been tellin' her?"
+
+Neither answered at once.  The captain looked from one to the
+other.
+
+"Well, what's up?" he demanded.  "What's the matter?"
+
+The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"What's up?" he repeated.  "Humph! well, I should say the jig was
+up.  The murder's out.  The cat is no longer in the bag.  That's
+about the size of it."
+
+"Sylvester!"  Caroline had never seen her uncle thoroughly angry
+before; "Sylvester," he cried, "have you--Have you dast to tell her
+what you shouldn't?  Didn't you promise me?  If you told that girl,
+I'll--I'll--"
+
+His niece stepped forward.  "Hush, Uncle Elisha," she said.  "He
+didn't tell me until I knew already.  I guessed it.  Then I asked
+for the whole truth, and he told me."
+
+"The whole truth?  CAROLINE!"
+
+He wrung his hands.
+
+"Yes, Uncle, the whole truth.  I know you now.  I thought I knew
+you before; but I didn't--not half.  I do now."
+
+"Oh, Caroline!" he stepped toward her and then stopped, frantic and
+despairing.  "Caroline!  Caroline!" he cried again, "can you ever
+forgive me?  You know--you must know I ain't ever meant to keep it.
+It's all yours.  I just didn't give it to you right off because . . .
+because . . .  Oh, Sylvester, tell her I never meant to keep it!
+Tell her!"
+
+The lawyer shook his head.  "I did tell her," he said, with another
+shrug, "and she tells me she won't accept it."
+
+"What?" the captain's eyes were starting from his head.  "What?
+Won't take it?  Why, it's hers--hers and Steve's!  It always has
+been!  Do you cal'late I'd rob my own brother's children?  DON'T
+talk so foolish!  I won't hear such talk!"
+
+Caroline was close to tears, but she was firm.
+
+"It isn't ours," she said.  "It is yours.  Our father kept it from
+you all these years.  Do you suppose we will keep it any longer?"
+
+Captain Elisha looked at her determined face; then at the lawyer's--
+but he found no help there.  His chin thrust forward.  He nodded
+slowly.
+
+"All right! all right!" he said, grimly.  "Sylvester, is your shop
+goin' to be open to-morrer?"
+
+"Guess not, Captain," was the puzzled reply.  "It's Thanksgiving.
+Why?"
+
+"But Graves'll be to home, won't he?  I could find him at his
+house?"
+
+"I presume you could."
+
+"All right, then!  Caroline Warren, you listen to me:  I'll give
+you till two o'clock to make up your mind to take the money that
+belongs to you.  If you don't, I swear to the Lord A'mighty I'll
+take the fust train, go straight to New York, hunt up Graves, make
+him go down to the office and get that note your father made out
+turnin' all his property over to that Akrae Company.  I'll get that
+note and I'll burn it up.  Then--THEN you'll have to take the
+money, because it'll be yours.  Every bit of evidence that'll hold
+in law is gone, and nobody but you and Steve'll have the shadow of
+a claim.  I'll do it, so sure as I live!  There! now you can make
+up your mind."
+
+He turned, strode to the door and out of the room.  A moment later
+they heard a scream from Miss Baker in the kitchen:  "'Lisha
+Warren, what ails you?  Are you crazy?"  There was no answer, but
+the back door closed with a tremendous bang.
+
+
+
+Half an hour after his dramatic exit Captain Elisha was pacing up
+and down the floor of the barn.  It was an old refuge of his, a
+place where he was accustomed to go when matters requiring
+deliberation and thought oppressed him.  He was alone.  Dan had
+taken the horse to the blacksmith's to be shod.
+
+The captain strode across the floor, turned and strode back again.
+Every few moments he looked at his watch.  It was a long way to two
+o'clock, but each additional moment was another weight piled upon
+his soul.  As he turned in his stride he saw a shadow move across
+the sill of the big, open door.  He caught his breath and stopped.
+
+Caroline entered the barn.  She came straight to him and put her
+hands upon the lapels of his coat.  Her eyes were wet and shining.
+
+"Caroline?" he faltered, eagerly.
+
+"You good man!" she breathed, softly.  "Oh, you GOOD man!"
+
+"Caroline!" his voice shook, but there was hope in it.  "Caroline,
+you're goin' to take the money?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha.  Mr. Sylvester has shown me that I must.  He
+says you will do something desperate if I refuse."
+
+"I sartin would!  And you'll take it, really?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Glory be!  And--and, Caroline, you won't hold it against me, my
+makin' you think you was poor, and makin' you live in that little
+place, and get along on just so much, and all that?  Can you
+forgive me for doin' that?"
+
+"Forgive you?  Can I ever thank you enough?  I know I can't; but I
+can try all my life to prove what--"
+
+"S-s-h-h! s-s-h! . . .  There!" with a great sigh, almost a sob, of
+relief, "I guess this'll be a real Thanksgivin', after all."
+
+But, a few minutes later, another thought came to him.  "Caroline,"
+he asked, "I wonder if, now that things are as they are, you
+couldn't do somethin' else--somethin' that would please me an awful
+lot?"
+
+"What is it, Uncle?"
+
+"It's somethin' perhaps I ain't got any right to ask.  You mustn't
+say yes if you don't want to.  The other day you told me you cared
+for Jim Pearson, but that you sent him away 'cause you thought you
+had to earn a livin' for you and Steve.  Now you know that you
+ain't got to do that.  And you said you told him if you ever
+changed your mind you'd send for him.  Don't you s'pose you could
+send for him now--right off--so he could get here for this big
+Thanksgivin' of ours?  Don't you think you could, Caroline?"
+
+He looked down into her face, and she looked down at the barn
+floor.  But he saw the color creep up over her forehead.
+
+"Send for him--now?" she asked, in a low tone.
+
+"Yes.  Now--right off.  In time for to-morrow!"
+
+"He could not get here," she whispered.
+
+"Yes, he could.  If you send him a telegram with one word in it:
+'Come'--and sign it 'Caroline'--he'll be here on to-morrow mornin's
+train, or I'll eat my hat and one of Abbie's bonnets hove in.
+Think you could, Caroline?"
+
+A moment; then in a whisper, "Yes, Uncle Elisha."
+
+"Hooray!  But--but," anxiously, "hold on, Caroline.  Tell me truly
+now.  You ain't doin' this just to please me?  You mustn't do that,
+not for the world and all.  You mustn't send for him on my account.
+Only just for one reason--because YOU want him."
+
+He waited for his answer.  Then she looked up, blushing still, but
+with a smile trembling on her lips.
+
+"Yes, Uncle Elisha," she said, "because _I_ want him."
+
+
+
+The clouds blew away that night, and Thanksgiving day dawned clear
+and cold.  The gray sea was now blue; the white paint of the houses
+and fences glistened in the sun; the groves of pitchpine were
+brilliant green blotches spread like rugs here and there on the
+brown hills.  South Denboro had thrown off its gloomy raiment and
+was "all dolled up for Thanksgivin'," so Captain Elisha said.
+
+The captain and Sylvester were leaning on the fence by the gate,
+looking up the road and waiting for Dan and the "two-seater" to
+heave in sight around the bend.  The hired man had harnessed early
+and driven to the station at least thirty minutes before train
+time.  Captain Elisha was responsible for the early start.  Steve
+was coming on that train; possibly someone else was coming.  The
+captain did not mean they should find no welcome or vehicle at the
+station.
+
+The whistle had sounded ten minutes before.  It was time for Dan to
+appear at the bend.
+
+"I hope to thunder Jim got that telegram," observed the captain for
+the twentieth time, at least, since breakfast.
+
+"So do I," replied his friend.  "There's no reason why he shouldn't,
+is there?"
+
+"No, no sensible one; but I've scared up no less than a couple of
+hundred of the other kind.  If he shouldn't come--my, my! she'd be
+disappointed."
+
+"You wouldn't feel any disappointment yourself, of course," said
+the lawyer, with sarcasm.
+
+"Who?  Me?  Oh, I'd be sorer'n a scalded wharf rat in a barrel of
+pepper.  But I don't count.  There's the real one up there."
+
+He motioned with his head toward the window of Caroline's room.
+Sylvester nodded.  "Yes," he said, "I suppose so.  Captain, I'm
+somewhat surprised that you should be willing to trust that niece
+of yours to another man.  She's a pretty precious article,
+according to your estimate."
+
+"Well, ain't she accordin' to yours?"
+
+"Yes.  Pretty precious and precious pretty.  Look at her now."
+
+They turned in time to catch a glimpse of the girl as she parted
+the curtains and looked out on the road.  She saw them looking at
+her, smiled, blushed, and disappeared.  Both men smoked in silence
+for a moment.  Then the captain said:
+
+"Waitin'.  Hi hum! nothin' like it, when you're waitin' for THE
+one, is there?"
+
+"No, nothing."
+
+"Yup.  Well, for a pair of old single hulks our age, strikes me
+we're gettin' pretty sentimental.  You say you wonder I'd trust
+Caroline to another man; I wouldn't to the average one.  But Jim
+Pearson's all right.  You'll say so, too, when you know him as well
+as I do."
+
+"I'll trust your judgment, any time.  So you won't tell Steve yet
+awhile that he's not broke?"
+
+"No.  And Caroline won't tell him, either.  Steve's doin' fust-rate
+as he is.  He's in the pickle tub and 'twill do him good to season
+a spell longer.  But I think he's goin' to be all right by and by.
+Say, Sylvester, this New York cruise of mine turned out pretty
+good, after all, didn't it?"
+
+"Decidedly good.  It was the making of your niece and nephew.
+Caroline realizes it now; and so will Steve later on."
+
+"Hope so.  It didn't do ME any harm," with a chuckle.  "I wouldn't
+have missed that little beat up the bay with Marm Dunn for a good
+deal.  For a spell there we was bows abreast, and 'twas hard to
+tell who'd turn the mark first.  Heard from the Dunns lately?"
+
+"No.  Why, yes, I did hear that they were in a tighter box than
+ever, financially.  The smash will come pretty soon."
+
+"I'm sorry.  The old lady'll go down with colors nailed to the
+mast, I'll bet; and she'll leave a lot of suds where she sank.  Do
+you know, I never blamed her so much.  She was built that way.
+She's consider'ble like old Mrs. Patience Blodgett, who used to
+live up here to the Neck; like her--only there never was two people
+more different.  Pashy was the craziest blue-ribboner you ever saw.
+Her one idea in life was gettin' folks to sign the pledge.  She
+married Tim Blodgett, who was the wust soak in the county--he'd
+have figgered out, if you analyzed him, about like a bottle of
+patent medicine, seventy-two per cent alcohol.  Well, Pashy married
+him to reform him, and she made her brags that she'd get him to
+sign the pledge.  And she did, but only by puttin' it in front of
+him when he was too drunk to read it."
+
+The lawyer laughed heartily.  "So you think Mrs. Corcoran Dunn
+resembles her, do you," he observed.
+
+"In one way--yes.  Both of 'em sacrifice everything else to one
+idea.  Pashy's was gettin' that pledge signed, and never mind ways
+and means.  Mrs. Dunn's is money and position--never mind how they
+come.  See what I'm drivin' at?"
+
+Sylvester laughed again.  "I guess so," he said.  "Captain Warren,
+I never saw you in better spirits.  Do you know what I think?  I
+think that, for a chap who has just given away half of a good-sized
+fortune and intends giving away the other half, you're the most
+cheerful specimen I ever saw."
+
+The captain laughed, too.  "I am, ain't I," he said.  "Well, I can
+say truthful what I never expected to say in my life--that ONCE I
+was wuth ha'f a million dollars.  As for the rest of it, I'm like
+that millionaire--that . . .  Hi!  Look!  There comes Dan!  See
+him!"
+
+They peered eagerly over the fence.  The Warren "two-seater" had
+rounded the bend in the road.  Dan was driving.  Beside him sat a
+young fellow who waved his hand.
+
+"Steve!" cried the captain, excitedly.  "There's Steve!  And--and--
+yes, there's somebody on the back seat.  It's Jim!  He's come!
+Hooray!"
+
+He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.
+
+"Wait," he cried.  "I don't want to lose the rest of that sentence.
+You said you were like some millionaire.  Who?"
+
+"Don't bother me," cried Captain Elisha.  "Who?  Why, I was goin'
+to say I was like that millionaire chap who passes out a library
+every time he wakes up and happens to think of it.  You know who I
+mean. . . .  Ahoy there, Jim!  Ahoy, Steve!"
+
+He was waving his hand to the passengers in the approaching vehicle.
+
+"Yes," prompted his friend, hastily, "I know who you mean--Carnegie."
+
+"That's the feller.  I've come to feel about the way he says he
+does--that 'twould be a crime for me to die rich."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg Etext Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph Lincoln
+
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