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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33565-8.txt b/33565-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d22c699 --- /dev/null +++ b/33565-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13031 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bachelors, by William Dana Orcutt + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bachelors + A Novel + +Author: William Dana Orcutt + +Release Date: August 28, 2010 [EBook #33565] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "LAUGH IF YOU LIKE; I SHAN'T MIND. THE MORE RIDICULOUS +YOU MAKE IT THE SHORTER WORK IT WILL BE."--_See page 244_] + + + + +THE BACHELORS +A NOVEL + + +BY +WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT + +AUTHOR OF +"THE MOTH," "THE LEVER," "THE SPELL," ETC. + + +[Illustration] + + +HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS +NEW YORK AND LONDON +MCMXV + + +COPYRIGHT, 1915 +BY HARPER & BROTHERS + + + + + * * * * * + +THE BACHELORS + + * * * * * + + + + + * * * * * + +I + + * * * * * + + +They were discussing Huntington and Cosden when the two men entered the +living-room of the Club and strolled toward the little group indulging +itself in relaxation after a more or less strenuous afternoon at golf. +It was natural, perhaps, that no one quite understood the basis upon +which their intimacy rested, for entirely aside from the difference in +their ages they seemed far separated in disposition and natural tastes. +Cosden's dynamic energy had made more than an average golf-player of +Huntington, and in other ways forced him out of the easy path of least +resistance; the older man's dignity and quiet philosophy tempered the +cyclonic tendencies of his friend. The one met the world as an +antagonist, and forced from it tribute and recognition; the other, never +having felt the necessity of competition, had formed the habit of taking +the world into his confidence and treating it as a friend. + +These differences could not fail to attract the attention of their +companions at the Club as day after day they played their round +together, but this was the first time the subject had become a topic of +general conversation. The speaker sat with his back to the door and +continued his remarks after the newcomers came within hearing, in spite +of the efforts made by those around to suppress him. The sudden hush and +the conscious manner of those in the group would have conveyed the +information even if the words had not. + +"So you're giving us the once over, are you?" Cosden demanded, dropping +into a chair. "You don't mean to say that the golf autobiographies have +become exhausted?" + +"I never heard myself publicly discussed," added Huntington as he, too, +joined the party. "I am already experiencing a thrill of pleasurable +excitement. Don't stop. Connie and I are really keen to learn more of +ourselves." + +"Well," the speaker replied, with some hesitation, "there's no use +trying to make you believe we were listening to Baker's explanation of +how the bunkers have been located exactly where the golf committee knows +his ball is going to strike--" + +"Heaven forbid!" Huntington exclaimed; "but don't apologize. I +congratulate the Club that the members are at last turning their +attention to serious things. 'Tell the truth and shame the +devil'--provided it is Connie, and not me, you are going to shame." + +"Don't mind me in the least," Cosden added. "My hide is tough, and I +rather like to be put through the acid test once in a while." + +"Oh, it isn't as bad as all that," the speaker explained. "We love you +both, but in different ways, yet we can't make out just where you two +fellows hitch up. Now, that isn't _lèse-majesté_, is it?" + +"What do you think, Connie?" Huntington asked, lighting his pipe. "Is +that an insult or a compliment?" + +"I don't see that it makes much difference from this crowd. We don't +care what they say about us as long as they pay us the compliment of +noticing us. That's the main point, and I'm glad we've been able to +start something." + +"But why don't you tell us?" insisted the speaker. "You aren't +interested in anything Monty cares for except golf, and he hasn't even a +flirting acquaintance with business, which is your divinity, yet you two +fellows have formed a fine young Damon and Pythias combination which we +all envy. Why don't you tell us how it happened?" + +"I don't know," Cosden answered, serious at last and speaking with +characteristic directness. "I never stopped to think of it; but if we're +satisfied, whose concern is it, anyhow?" + +"If friendship requires explanation, then it isn't friendship," added +Huntington. "Connie contributes much to my life which would otherwise be +lacking, and I hope that he would say the same of my relation to him." + +"Of course--that goes without saying; but neither one of you is telling +us anything. If you would explain your method perhaps we might become +more reconciled to some of these misfits lying around the Club--like +Baker over there--" + +"We have a thousand members--" Baker protested. + +"What has that to do with the present discussion?" + +"Why pick on me?" + +"Which is the misfit in my combination with Monty?" Cosden demanded. + +"I'm not labeling you fellows," the speaker disclaimed--"I couldn't if I +tried; but each of you is so different from the other that such a +friendship seems inconsistent." + +There was a twinkle in Huntington's eye as he listened to the persistent +cross-examination. "We are bachelors," he said quietly. "That should +explain everything; for what is a bachelor's life but one long +inconsistency? If our friends were all alike what would be the need of +having more than one? This friend gives us confidence in ourselves, +another gives us sympathy; this friend gives us the inspiration which +makes our work successful, another is the balance-wheel which prevents +us from losing the benefit which success brings us. Each fills a +separate and unique place in our lives, and, after all, the measure of +our life-work is the sum of these friendships." + +The two responses demonstrated the difference between the men. William +Montgomery Huntington came from a Boston family of position where wealth +had accumulated during the several generations, each steward having +given good account to his successor. He had taken up the practice of law +after being graduated from Harvard--not from choice or necessity, but +because his father and his grandfather had adopted it before him. His +practice had never been a large one, but the supervision of certain +trust estates, handed over to his care by his father's death, entailed +upon him sufficient responsibility to enable him to maintain his +self-respect. + +It would have been a fair question to ask what Montgomery Huntington's +manner of life would have been if his father had not been born before +him. He lived alone, since his younger brother married, in the same +house into which the family moved when he was an infant in arms. Modern +improvements had been introduced, it is true, in the building just as in +the generation itself; but the walls were unchanged. The son succeeded +to the father's place in directorates and on boards of trustees in +charitable institutions, and he performed his duties faithfully, as his +predecessor had done. Now, at forty-five, he had reached a point where +he found it difficult to distinguish between his working and his leisure +hours. + +Cosden's heritage had been a healthy imagination, a robust constitution, +and an unbelievable capacity for work. Even his uncle Conover, from whom +he had a right to expect compensation for the indignity of wearing his +name throughout a lifetime, had left him to work out his own salvation. +His parents had never worn the purple, but, being sturdy, valuable +citizens, they spent their lives in fitting their son to occupy a +position in life higher than they themselves could hope to attain; and +Cosden had made the most of his opportunities. Seven years Huntington's +junior, he had succeeded in a comparatively short time in extracting +from his commercial pursuits a property which, from the standpoint of +income, at least, was hardly less than his friend's. He, too, was a +product of the university, but his name would be found blazoned on the +annals of Harvard athletics rather than in the archives of the Phi Beta +Kappa. His election as captain of the football team was a personal +triumph, for it broke the precedent of social dominance in athletics, +and laid the corner-stone for that democracy which since then has given +Harvard her remarkable string of victories. The same dogged +determination, backed up by real ability, which forced recognition in +college accomplished similar results in later and more serious +competitions. In the business world he was taken up first because he +made himself valuable and necessary, and he held his advantage by virtue +of his personal characteristics. + +Cosden was not universally popular. He won his victories by sheer force +of determination and ability rather than by diplomacy or finesse. In +business dealings he had the reputation of being a hard man, demanding +his full pound of flesh and getting it, but he was scrupulously exact in +meeting his own obligations in the same spirit. To an extent this +characteristic was apparent in everything he did; but to those who came +to know him it ceased to be offensive because of other, more agreeable +qualities which went with it. They learned that, after all, money to him +was only the means to an end which he could not have secured without it. + +To the man whose ruling passion is his business it is natural to measure +himself and his actions by the same yardstick which has yielded full +return in his office; to him whose property stands simply as a counter +and medium of exchange the measure of life is inevitably different. The +good-natured chaffing at the Club was forgotten by Huntington before he +stepped into his automobile, but it still remained in Cosden's mind. As +the car rolled out of the Club grounds he turned to his companion. + +"Monty," he said, "what is there so different about us that it attracts +comment?" + +"We should have found out if you hadn't snapped together like a steel +trap. There was the chance of a lifetime to learn all about ourselves, +and you shut them off by saying, 'If we're satisfied, whose concern is +it, anyhow?'" + +"Of course we are different," Cosden continued; "that's only natural. No +two fellows are alike. I wonder if what you said about our being +bachelors hasn't more truth than poetry in it.--Give me a light from +your pipe." + +"What is the connection?" + +Cosden suddenly became absorbed and gave no sign that he heard the +question. When he spoke his words seemed still more irrelevant. + +"Monty," he said seriously, "I want you to take a little trip with me +for perhaps two or three weeks, or longer. What do you say?" + +Huntington showed no surprise. "It might possibly be arranged," he said. + +Again Cosden relapsed into silence, puffing vigorously at his cigar as +was his habit when excited. Huntington watched him curiously, wondering +what lay behind. + +"Did you ever try smoking a cigar with a vacuum cleaner?" he asked +maliciously. "They say it draws beautifully, and consumes the cigar in +one-tenth the time ordinarily required by a human being." + +Cosden was oblivious to his raillery. "What do you think of marriage?" +he demanded abruptly. + +The question, and the serious manner in which it was asked, succeeded in +rousing Huntington to a point of interest. + +"What do I think of-- So that's the idea, is it, Connie? That's why you +picked me up on what I said about bachelors? Good heavens, man! you +haven't made up your mind to marry me off like this without my consent?" + +"Of course not," Cosden answered, with some impatience; "but what do you +think of the idea in general?" + +Huntington looked at his companion with some curiosity. "Well," he said +deliberately, "if you really ask the question seriously, I consider +marriage an immorality, as it offers the greatest possible encouragement +to deceit." + +Cosden sighed. "You are a hard man to talk to when you don't start the +conversation. I really want your advice." + +"Would it be asking too much to suggest that you throw out a few hints +here and there as to the real bearing of your inquiry, so that I may +come fairly close on the third guess?" + +"I've decided to get married," Cosden announced. + +"By Jove!" The words brought Huntington bolt upright in his seat. "You +don't really mean it?" + +"That's just what I mean. It occurred to me on the way home from the +office last night. What you said about a bachelor's life being an +inconsistency reminded me of it. I believe you're right." + +Huntington regarded him for a moment with a puzzled expression on his +face; then he relaxed, convulsed with laughter. Cosden was distinctly +nettled. + +"This doesn't strike me as the friendliest way in the world to respond +to a fellow's request for advice on so serious a subject." + +"You don't want to consult me," Huntington insisted, checking himself; +"what you need is a specialist. When did you first feel the attack +coming on? Oh, Lord! Connie! That's the funniest line you ever pulled +off!" + +"Look here," Cosden said, with evident irritation; "I'm serious. With +any one else I should have approached the subject less abruptly, but I +don't see why I should pick and choose my words with you. + +"And the trip"--Huntington interrupted, again convulsed--"'for two or +three weeks, or longer'? Is that to be your wedding-trip, and am I to go +along as guardian?" + +The older man's amusement became contagious, and Cosden's annoyance +melted before his friend's keen enjoyment of the situation. + +"Oh, well, have your laugh out," he said good-naturedly. "When it's all +over perhaps you'll discuss matters seriously. Can you advance any sane +reason why I should not marry if I see fit?" + +"None whatever, my dear boy, provided you've found a girl who possesses +both imagination and a sense of humor." + +"I have reached a point in my life where I can indulge myself in +marriage as in any other luxury," Cosden pursued, unruffled by +Huntington's comments. "I've slaved for fifteen years for one definite +purpose--to make money enough to become a power; and now I've got it. Up +to this time a wife would have been a handicap; now she can be an asset. +After all is said and done, Monty, a home is the proper thing for a man +to have. It's all right living as you and I do while one's mind is +occupied with other things, but it is an inconsistency, as you say. +Now--well, what have you to put up against my line of argument?" + +"Am I to understand that all this, reduced to its last analysis, is +intended to convey the information that you have fallen in love?" + +"What perfect nonsense!" Cosden replied disgustedly. "You and I aren't +school-boys any more. We're living in the twentieth century, Monty, and +people have learned that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between love +and indigestion. I won't say that marriage has come to be a business +proposition, but there's a good deal more thinking beforehand than there +used to be. A woman wants power as much as a man does, and the one way +she can get it is through her husband. It's only the young and +unsophisticated who fall for the bushel of love and a penny loaf these +days, and there are mighty few of those left. Get your basic business +principles right to begin with, I say, and the sentimental part comes +along of itself." + +Huntington was convinced by this time that Cosden was seriously in +earnest. He had believed that he knew his friend well enough not to be +surprised at anything he said or did, but now he found himself not only +surprised, but distinctly shocked. He had joked with Cosden when he +first spoke of marriage, but in his heart he regarded it with a +sentimentality which no one of his friends suspected because of the +cynicisms which always sprang to his lips when the subject was +mentioned. He believed himself to have had a romance, and during these +years its memory still obtained from him a sacred observance which he +had successfully concealed from all the world. So, when Cosden coolly +announced that he had decided to select a wife just as he would have +picked out a car-load of pig iron, Huntington's first impulse was one of +resentment. + +"It seems to me that you are proposing a partnership rather than a +marriage," he remarked. + +"What else is marriage?" Cosden demanded. "You've hit it exactly. I +wouldn't take a man into business with me simply because I liked him, +but because I believed that he more than any one else could supplement +my work and extend my horizon. Marriage is the apotheosis of +partnership, and its success depends a great deal more upon the +psychology of selection than upon sentiment." + +Huntington made no response. The first shock was tempered by his +knowledge of Cosden's character. It was natural that he should have +arrived at this conclusion, the older man told himself, and it was +curious that the thought had not occurred to Huntington sooner that the +days of their bachelor companionship must inevitably be numbered. There +was nothing else which Connie could wish for now: he had his clubs, his +friends, and ample means to gratify every desire; a home with wife and +children was really needed to complete the success which he had made. He +had proved himself the best of friends, which was a guarantee that he +would make a good husband. Huntington found himself echoing Cosden's +question, "Why not?" + +"Have you selected the happy bride, Connie?" he asked at length, more +seriously. + +"Only tentatively," was the complacent reply. "I met a girl in New York +last winter, and it seems to me she couldn't be improved upon if she had +been made to order; but I want to look the ground over a bit, and that +is where you come in. Her name is Marian Thatcher, and--" + +"Thatcher--Marian Thatcher!" Huntington interrupted unexpectedly. "From +New York? Why--no, that would be ridiculous! Is she a widow?" + +Cosden chuckled. "Not yet, and if she marries me it will be a long time +before she gets a chance to wear black. What put that idea in your +head?" + +"Nothing," Huntington hastened to say. "I knew a girl years ago named +Marian who married a man named Thatcher, and they lived in New York." + +"She is about twenty years old--" + +"Not the same," Huntington remarked. Then after a moment's silence he +laughed. "What tricks Time plays us! I knew the girl I speak of when I +was in college, and I haven't seen her since her marriage. Go on with +your proposition." + +"Well, she and her parents went down to Bermuda last week, and it +occurred to me that if you and I just happen down there next week it +would exactly fit into my plans. More than that, I have business reasons +for wanting to get closer to Thatcher himself. We've been against each +other on several deals, and this might mean a combination. What do you +say? Will you go?" + +"Next week?" Huntington asked. "I couldn't pick up stakes in a minute +like that." + +"Of course you can," Cosden persisted. "There's nothing in the world to +prevent your leaving to-night if you choose." + +"There's Bill, you know." + +"Well, what about Bill? Is he in any new scrape now?" + +"No," Huntington admitted; "but he's sure to get into some trouble +before I return." + +"Why can't his father straighten him out?" + +Huntington laughed consciously. "No father ever understands his son as +well as an uncle." + +"No father ever spoiled a son the way you spoil Bill--" + +Huntington held up a restraining hand. "It is only the boy's animal +spirits bubbling over," he interrupted, "and the fact that he can't grow +up. You and I were in college once ourselves." + +Huntington was never successful in holding out against Cosden's +persistency, and in the present case elements existed which argued with +almost equal force. He was curious to see how far his friend was in +earnest, and was this combination of names a pure coincidence? He +wondered. + +The car came to a stop before Huntington's house. + +"Well," he yielded at length, as he stepped out, "I presume it might be +arranged.--Let Mason take you home. You've given me a lot to think +over, Connie--" + +"This wouldn't break up our intimacy, you understand," Cosden asserted +confidently. "No woman in the world shall ever do that; and it will be a +good thing for you, too, to have a woman's influence come into your +life." + +"Perhaps," Huntington assented dubiously; "but because you show symptoms +of lapsing is no sign that I shall fall from the blessed state of +bachelorhood. I supposed that our inoculation made us both immune, but +if the virus has weakened in your system I have no doubt that any woman +you select will have a heart big enough for us both." + +"If she hasn't, we won't take her into the firm," laughed Cosden. + + + + + * * * * * + +II + + * * * * * + + +Huntington was unusually preoccupied during the period of dinner. Even +when alone he was in the habit of making the evening meal a function, in +which his man Dixon and his cook took especial pride. But to-night the +words of praise or gentle criticism were lacking, one course succeeding +another mechanically without comment of any kind. When Dixon followed +him up-stairs to the library with coffee and liqueur he found him with +his _Transcript_ still unfolded lying in his lap; and, whatever may have +happened in the mean time, the same attitude of abstraction prevailed +when Dixon returned, three hours later, received his final instructions, +and was dismissed for the night. Cosden had undoubtedly dropped off into +that slumber which belongs by right to the man whose day has presented +him with a brilliant inspiration; but Huntington still sat alone, +absorbed in his own thoughts. + +The chronicler has already intimated that Huntington was possessed of a +sentimental nature, but were he to stop there he would understate the +real truth. Huntington was exceedingly sentimental--far more so than he +himself realized, which made it natural that his friends should be +deceived. He was a bachelor not from choice, as he would have the world +think, but from circumstance, and the absence of home and wife and +children represented the one lack in an otherwise entirely satisfactory +career. It was the only thing his father had not provided for him, and +he himself had not possessed sufficient energy to take the initiative. + +The conversation on the way home from the Club brought matters fairly +before Huntington's mental vision. One moment it seemed monstrous that +his friend of so many years' standing should deliberately announce his +intention of entering into an estate from which he himself must perforce +be barred, yet while the treachery seemed blackest Huntington found +himself acknowledging that it was the proper step for Cosden to take, +and admiring that characteristic which saved him from committing his own +mistake. Yet, if years before he had only--but herein lies the most +extraordinary evidence of Huntington's sentimentality. If the story were +told--and it can scarcely be called a story--it would begin and end like +Sidney Carton's in one long "what might have been." + +It was the mention of the name quite as much as the subject of their +conversation which started in motion all that mysterious machinery which +forces the present far out of its proper focus, disregards the future, +and brings into the limelight those events of the past which the +intervening years have magnified. No one can really explain it, and the +wise make no attempt. "Marian Thatcher," Cosden had said. She was Marian +Seymour when he had known her, twenty-odd years before, and the Marian +he had known married a man named Thatcher right under the very noses of +the legion of admirers, himself included, who fluttered about her. Of +course it was only a coincidence, this combination of names, for the +girl Cosden spoke of was only twenty; but just as substances combined by +chemists in their laboratories begin to ferment and produce unwonted +conditions, so did the combination of those two names start in +Montgomery Huntington's brain that series of mental pictures which +caused him to forget that the hour had come when sane persons of his age +and disposition sought repose. + +This was not the first time that he had thus outraged Nature, and for +the selfsame cause. Not a year of the more than twenty had passed +without at least one mental pilgrimage to the shrine which had become +more and more sacred as time piled itself on time. Satisfied that he +alone was awake in the house, Huntington rose and drew a small table +before his chair, and with a key taken from his pocket unlocked the +drawer. It was a curious performance at that hour of night, and he +seemed to be filled with guilty apprehensions, for he glanced from time +to time at the closely-curtained door as if fearing interruption. The +lock yielded readily and the contents of the drawer lay in front of him. +Then, before seating himself again, he laid a fresh log on the open +fire, turned off the lights, and resumed his favorite seat, with the +table and the open drawer before him, illumined only by the flickering +glare from the fireplace. + +For a moment he threw himself back in his chair, shading his eyes with +his hand as if the mental picture was even more delectable than the +sight of the actual objects before him. Then he sat upright again, with +a deep sigh, and transferred from the open drawer to the top of the +table a most remarkable collection of articles, which seemed to belong +to any one else rather than to him. + +There was a long white glove, which he reverently unfolded and placed at +the further edge of the table-top; there was a bunch of faded flowers, +the dried petals of which fell softly onto the white glove in spite of +the delicacy of his handling; there was a yellowed envelope, from which +he drew a brief note, read it word by word, shook his head sadly, +replaced the note in its covering, and laid the envelope tenderly on the +table beside its fellow-exhibits. A piece of pink ribbon followed the +envelope, and then--fie! Monty Huntington! where did you get it?--then +came a pink satin slipper; and the exhibition was complete. + +The showman seemed well satisfied with what he saw before him, for he +reached across to his smoking-table and found as if by instinct a +well-burnt brier pipe, with stem of albatross wing, which he filled with +his own mixture of Arcady and puffed contentedly, his eyes fixed upon +the exhibits. Then the dim, flickering light and the incense of the +tobacco accomplished their transmogrification. No longer was he William +Montgomery Huntington, lawyer, man of affairs, director, trustee +and--bachelor; he was Monty Huntington, senior in Harvard College, back +in his rooms in Beck after his Senior Dance, stricken by the darts of +that roguish Cupid who shot his shafts from the soft tulle folds of the +gown worn that night by this same Marian, the casual mention of whose +name even now caused him to forget his age and position and the dignity +demanded in a bachelor of forty-five. + +The cloud of fragrant smoke concealed the fact that the long white glove +was empty now; the flickering light made golden the words of the brief +note which thanked him for the evening which his escort had made so +wonderful a memory in a young girl's heart; the faded flowers were +things of color and fragrance, more sweetly redolent because they had +risen and fallen with her breath of life; the pink ribbon seemed to have +a dance-card at one end and to be tied to a graceful wrist at the other; +and the slipper--yes, the slipper--the dreamer smiled as he recalled the +fleeting figure which flew up the brownstone steps behind her chaperon +when he had last seen her, in playful fearfulness because he had managed +to whisper in her ear that she was the sweetest, dearest, most +bewitching maiden he had ever seen. The slipper had dropped off, and +remained in his possession by right of capture since the owner would not +come outside the door to claim her own. + +He had intended to make this selfsame slipper the excuse for following +up what he was convinced was the romance of his life; but Marian Seymour +had already returned home to New York when he called three days later. +This was a disappointment, still at that moment it seemed but a +postponement after all, for he was sailing for Europe a fortnight hence +and could easily reach New York a day or two earlier than he had +planned. Thus far the idea was capital; but when the second call was +paid, with the pink slipper safely reposing in his pocket, he found that +the dainty foot to which the slipper belonged had stepped upon an ocean +steamer which sailed the day before. + +Even this second misadventure failed to dampen his ardor. Good fortune +had arranged for him to follow in her direction, and surely, when once +upon the same continent, the slipper would be a lodestone of sufficient +potency to draw together two souls such as theirs. Yet he returned six +months later without having had the expected happen, and soon after +landing he learned of her engagement to a Mr. Thatcher. + +There is a certain gratification which comes to the experienced man of +the world of twenty-two when he finds himself a martyr; and Monty +Huntington enjoyed this gratification to the utmost. He was +conscientious in believing himself to be wretchedly unhappy, but as a +matter of fact he had in the instant become a hero to himself. Women +were faithless: misogamists in prose and poetry had so chronicled the +fact, and he had already, at this early age, become the victim of their +perfidy. Marian Seymour should have known the depth of his love for her; +she should have known that he would have told her of his affection had +she given him the opportunity; and the mere fact that he had never so +declared himself was not of the slightest importance. She had +deliberately disregarded his impassioned though unexpressed sentiments +toward her, and had thrown herself away on a man he did not even know! + +Fortunately, Time treats with kindly hand those tragedies which are +imagined as well as those which actually exist. Each year added to the +luster of the memory. Marian Seymour herself would not have recognized +her own face could Huntington have translated it out of the figments of +his mind upon the crude medium of canvas. And, be it said, had +Huntington come face to face with the original during these years, it is +doubtful whether he would have recognized her; for the idealization had +become absolutely real to him. No sculptor had ever modeled hand and arm +so perfect as that which the yellowed glove had held; no foot was ever +shaped with graceful line equal to that which once the satin slipper had +incased. The faithlessness of woman had long since been forgotten, and +the sanctity of this romance, which might have been, provided all the +details which it would otherwise have lacked. Each year made it more +real, until now there was no doubt about it. Other men worshiped at the +shrine of departed dear ones with no greater sincerity than did +Montgomery Huntington revere this near-romance of his life. + +So, as he sat there, he was not the bachelor his friends considered him, +but rather a man bereft of wife and children. Cosden, knowing nothing of +this secret grief, had wantonly torn the veil aside and exposed the +wound. Yet, with the sorrow of the widower and the childless, there must +have come back to Huntington some memories which were not sad, for when +Dixon happened upon him in the morning, soundly sleeping in his +favorite chair with this curious exhibit before him, and with a pink +slipper firmly grasped within his hand, there was a smile as if of +happiness upon his face. And Dixon, discreet valet that he was, showed +no surprise, a half-hour later, when he found the table and its strange +contents carefully put away without his aid, or when his master summoned +him to his room, where he appeared to be just rising as usual from a +sleep as restful as it had been unportentous. + + + + + * * * * * + +III + + * * * * * + + +"Then I shall leave Bermuda feeling that my beautiful dream is wholly +incomplete." + +Mrs. Henry Thatcher spoke with a degree of resignation, but her tone +signified that the apparent retreat was only to gain strength for a +final advance which was sure to gain her point. She knew that this +discussion with her husband would end as all their differences of +opinion ended, and so did he. Perhaps his opposition was the inevitable +expression of his own individuality which every married man likes to +make a pretense of preserving; perhaps it pleased him to see his wife's +half-playful, half-serious attack upon his own judgment in gently +forcing him into a position where her wishes became his desires. + +"Better to have your dream incomplete than his privacy invaded," was the +apparently unmoved reply. "When an owner plants a sign, 'Private +Property,' conspicuously at the entrance to his estate, he is sure to +have some idea in the back of his head which is as much to be respected +as your curiosity is to be gratified." + +"It is a compliment in itself that we wish to see the grounds," she +persisted; "the owner, whoever he is, could not consider it otherwise." + +"A compliment which has evidently been repeated often enough to become a +nuisance--hence the sign." + +Marian Thatcher sighed heavily as she threw herself back in the +victoria. Her husband was holding out longer than usual. + +"I simply must see the view from that point," she declared; "and until I +can examine that gorgeous _bougainvillea_ at closer range I refuse to +return to New York." + +"There!" laughed Edith Stevens, looking mischievously into Thatcher's +face, "that is what I call an ultimatum! Come, Ricky,"--speaking to her +brother--"let us walk back to the hotel. It will be humiliating to see +Marian disciplined in public!" + +"You all are making me the scapegoat," Marian protested. "You know that +you are just as eager to get inside those walls as I am. Look!" she +cried, leaning forward in the carriage. "Isn't that-- Yes, it _is_ a +century plant, and it's in bloom! Oh, Harry! you wouldn't make me wait +another hundred years to see that, would you?" + +"Let me be the dove of peace," Stevens suggested, manifesting unusual +comprehension and activity as he stepped out of the carriage. "I'll run +in and beard the jolly old lion in his den." + +Thatcher shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly, Marian clapped her hands +with delight, and Edith Stevens smiled indulgently as they settled back +to await the result of the embassy. + +This midwinter pilgrimage to Bermuda was the result of a sudden impulse +made while the Stevenses were their box-guests at the opera in New York +two weeks before. They had exhausted the superlatives forced from their +lips by the dramatic transformation from December to June--from ice and +snow to roses and oleanders; they had followed the beaten track, +touching elbows with the happy bride and the inquisitive traveler, +seeing the sights in true tourist fashion; they had passed through the +stage of quiet contentment, satisfied to sit on the broad sun-piazza of +the "Princess" in passive lassitude, watching others experience what +they had seen, learning the regulation forms of recreation indulged in +by those who settled down more permanently. From the same point of +vantage they had watched the great sails of the pleasure-boats pass so +close beside them that they could have tossed pennies upon their decks; +they saw the gorgeous sunsets behind Gibbs' Hill, with the ravishing +changes of color and light and shade thrown upon the myriad of tiny +islands scattered picturesquely throughout the bay. + +Then the period of inaction turned into a desire to learn more deeply of +the beauties which the tourist never sees, and they poked through the +narrow "tribal" lanes and unfrequented roads on foot, on bicycles, or +_en voiture_, searching for the unexpected, and finding rich rewards at +the end of every quest. It was one of these expeditions which led them +to the highest rise of Spanish Point, where they stopped their carriage +before the entrance to a private estate, within the walls of which they +saw evidences of what the hand of man can do in supplementing Nature's +work. + +Presently Stevens could be seen coming toward them, waving his hat as a +signal for their advance. The driver turned in through the gateway. + +"He's a mighty decent sort," Stevens announced as he met the approaching +vehicle. "Can't make out whether he's English or American, but he +offered no objections whatever." + +"There!" Marian cried triumphantly; "of course he feels complimented! If +his grounds were merely the commonplace no one would want to disturb his +'privacy,' as Harry calls it. Did you ever see such a spot?" + +"Wonderful!" echoed Edith, equally impressed by the luxuriant bloom on +either side of the driveway. "Thank Heaven here is a man who knows how +not to vulgarize flowers." + +As they reached the front of the coraline stone house the owner stepped +forward to greet them. He was a man of striking appearance, and his +visitors found their attention at once diverted from the beauty +surrounding them to the personality which manifested itself even in this +brief moment of their meeting. He was fairly tall, but slight, the +narrowness of his face being accentuated by the closely-cropped beard. +As he removed his broad panama he disclosed a heavy head of hair, well +turned to grey, which, with the darkness of his complexion, was set off +by the white doe-skin suit he wore. As he came nearer his visitors were +instinctively impressed by the expression of his face, for the high +forehead, the deep, restless, yet penetrating eyes, the refined yet +unsatisfied lines of the mouth, belonged to the ascetic rather than to +the cottager, to the spiritual seeker for the unattainable rather than +to the owner of an estate such as this. + +"I am glad you discounted my apparent inhospitality," he said, with +pleasant dignity. "The tourists would overrun me if I did not take some +such measure to protect myself; but I am always glad to welcome any one +whose interest is more than curiosity." + +"It is good of you to make a virtue out of our presumption," Marian +replied as their host assisted them to alight. Then their eyes met and +there was instant recognition. + +"Philip!" she cried in utter amazement. "Is it possible that this is +you--here?" + +The man bowed until his face almost touched the hand he still held, and +the surprise seemed for the moment to deprive him of power of speech. He +courteously motioned his guests to precede him through an arbor of +_poinsettia_ into a tropical garden on a cliff overhanging the water. + +"Harry," Marian continued, still excited by her experience, "this is +Philip Hamlen--you've heard me speak so many times of him. My husband, +Mr. Thatcher, Philip," she added, as the two men shook hands; then she +presented him to the Stevenses. + +Outwardly Hamlen showed none of the confusion which Marian so plainly +manifested. He was the self-contained host, seemingly interested in the +coincidence of the unexpected meeting, but by no means exercised over +it. + +"Welcome to my Garden of Eden," he said, smiling, as the magnificent +expanse of cliff and sea greeted them--"thrice welcome, since to two of +us this is in the nature of a reunion." + +It was a revelation even in spite of their expectations. Involuntarily +the eye first took in the turquoise water and the crumbling, broken +shore-line undershot by the caves formed by the pounding of centuries of +waves against the layers of animal formation. Except for the great +dry-dock and the naval barracks across the entrance to Hamilton Harbor, +all seemed as Nature had intended it. + +Then, as the vision narrowed to its immediate surroundings, the visitors +realized how much art had accomplished in making the garden into which +their host had shown them seem so completely in harmony with the +brilliant setting of its location. They had thought of Bermuda as the +home of the Easter lily, not realizing that this is but a seasonal +incident; they could not have believed it possible to make the luxuriant +bloom of the tropical trees, shrubs, and flowers so subservient to the +beauty of their foliage, yet so marvelous a finish to the brilliancy of +the whole. The great rubber-tree extended its awkward branches in +exactly the right directions to add quaint picturesqueness; the +_poincianas_, as graceful as the rubber-tree was _gauche_, lifted their +smooth, bare branches like elephant trunks, from which the great leaves +hung down in magnificent clusters; the calabash, with its own ungainly +beauty, proved its right by exactly fitting into the landscape at its +own particular corner and the row of giant cabbage-palms stood like +sentinels, adding a quiet dignity suggestive of the East. Between these +and other massive trunks the smaller trees and flowering shrubs were +interspersed in so original and bewildering a manner that each glance +forced a new exclamation of delight. The night-blooming cereus crawled +like an ugly reptile in and out among the branches of the giant cedars, +but the bursting buds gave evidence that at nightfall they would redeem +the hideous suggestiveness of the trailing vine. Cacti and sago-palms +formed brilliant backgrounds for the lilies of novel shapes and colors, +and for the other flowers which vied with one another for preference in +the eye of their beholder. + +The conversation was commonplace in its nature, and in it Marian took +little part. The vivacity which usually made her conspicuous in any +group had entirely left her. Her interest in the view from the Point and +in the magnificent vegetation had vanished, and her eyes followed Hamlen +as he indicated each special beauty to his guests. Edith Stevens was the +only one who sensed the unusual; the men were too discreet or too +occupied by the novelty of their experience. + +"Do you mind, Harry," Marian said aloud, turning to her husband, "if the +gardener shows you around the grounds? It has been years since I last +saw Mr. Hamlen, and there are some matters I simply must talk over with +him." + +Nothing Marian Thatcher asked or did ever surprised her husband or her +friends. The abruptness of the question, and the certainty she +manifested that her request would at once be complied with, were +characteristic. In the present instance, however, it was obvious that +the unexpected meeting touched some hidden spring which took her back to +a time in her life before they themselves had claims upon her, and they +respected her desire to be alone with her revived friendship. A few +moments later, with jocose chidings that she had appropriated for +herself the chief attraction of the estate, they moved off under the +guidance of the gardener, who was proud of the interest manifested in +the results of his work in carrying out his master's plans. + +"Please don't come back for at least half an hour," Marian called after +them. Then she turned to her companion. + +"So this is where you disappeared to?" + +Hamlen bowed his head. He was not so careful now to conceal his +emotions, and it was evident that old memories were stirred within him, +as well. + +"Could I have found a more beautiful exile?" he asked. + +"How many years have you been here?" she demanded. + +"I left New York the week following the announcement of your engagement +to Mr. Thatcher. Perhaps you can figure it out better than I. Time has +come to mean nothing to me here." + +"That was in ninety-three," Marian said, reflecting,--"over twenty years +ago! You have been here ever since?" + +Hamlen hesitated before he answered. "I have been back to the States +only once--when my father died. I have made short excursions to London, +to Paris, to Berlin, to Vienna; but the world is all the same, and I was +always glad to return here, to this retreat." + +"Twenty years of solitude!" Marian repeated. "Don't tell me that it was +because of--" + +"I came here because I wanted to get away from every old association," +Hamlen interrupted hastily. "I settled down here because I loved this +beautiful island--and I love it still." + +"But your friends, Philip--" + +A tinge of bitterness crept into his voice. "Friends?" he repeated after +her. "What friends did I ever have whom I could regret to leave behind?" + +"I know," she admitted, striving to ease the pain her words had +inflicted; "but your father--and your classmates." + +"Yes--my father. I was wrong to leave him. Had I waited but two years +longer, I should have left behind me no ties of any kind. But the good +old pater understood me; he was the only one who ever did." + +"Haven't you kept in touch with any one at home?" + +"This is 'home,'" he corrected. + +"Not for you, Philip," she insisted. "This is a Garden of Eden, as you +yourself called it, this is a dream life of sunshine and the fragrance +of flowers, this is the home of the lotus-eaters, for the present moment +enticing men--and women, too--away from the stern pursuits of life; but +it is not 'home' for such as you." + +"I have found it all you say and more," Hamlen replied firmly; "but it +has not been the life of inactivity which you suggest. The very things +which tempted you to turn in here from your drive show that my years of +patient study and experiment have not been altogether in vain. Inside +the house I have my library, which can scarcely be equaled in the +States. There I keep up my work more assiduously than I could possibly +have done elsewhere. The literature of the past belongs to me, for I +have made it part of myself. I know Homer, Vergil, Dante, Shakespeare, +not as books only, but almost word for word. I can speak five languages +as well as my own. Is this the existence of the lotus-eater, Marian? Is +this merely the dream life of sunshine and of flowers?" + +She looked at him long before replying. Then she rested her hand gently +upon his arm. + +"It's the same Philip, isn't it?--the same old Philip who refused, over +twenty years ago, to recognize the real significance of life? The same +Philip--older, more refined by the chastening of time, more polished by +the refinement of accomplishment, but with his eyes still closed to the +difference between the means and the end." + +The expression on Hamlen's face showed that he failed utterly to +comprehend. + +"Why had you no friends to leave behind you?" she asked abruptly, +realizing the cruelty of her question, but determined to make him see +her point. + +"Because no one understood me," he answered doggedly. + +"Was it their failure to understand you, or your failure to give them +the opportunity?" + +"Both, perhaps. I had no time to fritter away in college; most of the +men did." + +"There you are! Can't you see what I mean? The particular things the +fellows did there were forgotten within twenty-four hours, but the +friendships formed while doing them have endured throughout their lives. +The 'things' were the means, the experience was the end. What +friendships can you have here?" + +Instead of answering her, Hamlen rose and motioned silently that she +precede him through the arbor and up the path to the edge of the cliff. + +"Do you think I can be lonely while I hear the surge of that great ocean +upon my shore?" he demanded. "Do you think I miss the friendships which +so often bring sorrow in their wake while I can conjure up from the past +the most glorious friends the world has ever known, visit with them, +argue over my pet theories, and give them all this setting here whose +counterpart can never be surpassed?" + +She smiled sadly in reply. "You have built your life upon the same basis +as this island itself," she said--"upon the foundations of what is dead +and past. You have argued with yourself until you have come to believe +the fallacy you preach--that you, an Anglo-Saxon, can be content with +such a life as this. Are you true to your responsibilities? Are you--" + +"What do I owe the world?" he interrupted. "I ask from it nothing but +peace and solitude, and surely even the most insignificant has a right +to that without incurring responsibilities. Why, Marian, I stand here +upon this Point, as the little steamers leave their trail of smoke +behind them, and thank God that for one day, three days, a week, we are +cut off from the world. There is nothing I love so much as this +separation from my fellow-men." + +"Then how fortunate, after all--" she began, but he interrupted her. + +"That is another story," he insisted. "I am speaking of what life means +to me to-day, not what it might have meant under other circumstances." + +They strolled slowly back into the garden and settled themselves upon a +stone seat which commanded a superb view of the surrounding country. It +was her heart rather than her eyes which controlled Marian now, and she +saw before her nothing but this man-grown boy, who at an earlier time in +her life had exercised an absorbing influence upon her. It was her +heart, still loyal to the friendship which remained, struggling to find +the right word which should start in motion the machinery to bring the +latent potentiality into action. + +"Your ideas are no different now than then," she said at length, "except +that time has intensified them. You used to compare what you found in +books with what you found in life, to the distinct disadvantage of the +realities." + +"Yes," Hamlen admitted; "and it is just as true to-day." + +"Do you know why?" she demanded pointedly. + +"Because life is so full of insincerity." + +"No," she protested, "you are wrong, absolutely wrong. The real reason +lies in you. You have always given of yourself in your intellectual +pursuits, and have received in kind. In your relations with life you +have never given of yourself, and again you have received in kind. +Philip, Philip! why don't you study yourself as you do your books, and +even now learn the lesson you need to know?" + +"Was that why--back there--" he began. + +She paused for a moment as the conversation took her back to the earlier +days. + +"You thought me changeable," she evaded the question; "but for that you +yourself were responsible. You drew me to you with irresistible force, +then repelled me by your intolerance of all those lighter interests +which were natural to youth of our age. Your letters stimulated my +ambition, your conversation stirred in me all that was best; but as soon +as we were separated I felt a lack which for a long time I was unable to +understand." + +"Why did you come," he asked, "to awaken these memories I have tried so +hard to forget?" but she seemed not to hear him. + +"Then I realized what a dream it was," she continued. "Music to you +meant canon and fugue, counterpoint and diminished sevenths; to me it +was the invitation to dance. You had no friends, and I was frightened +by your willingness to be alone. You had nothing in common with me +or my friends; you gave my heart nothing to feed upon except +intellect--intellect, and I found myself one moment beneath its hypnotic +influence, the next striving to break away from its oppression. Perhaps +this was what you had in mind, Philip, that we two run off to some +island such as this, to spend our lives in Utopia, alone except for +ourselves and your books." + +"For me, that would have been all I could have asked." + +"But no one, Philip, can live on that alone. We need to draw from our +companionship with others in order to give of it to each other. And you +forget"--she smiled mischievously--"that when Aristotle begins to bore +you he can be placed back upon the shelf. You couldn't do that with a +wife! Admit, dear friend, that I or any other woman would have made you +utterly wretched." + +"I will admit that of any woman other than you." + +They rose as by mutual impulse and strolled about the garden for several +moments in silence, the thoughts of each centered upon the past. + +"See this wild honey." Hamlen touched the curiously formed leaf. "It +took me months to make it twine about that tree." + +"How long would it have taken to make a baby's fingers twine about your +heart?" Marian asked meaningly. + +A twinge of pain shot across his face. "Have you--children?" he asked. + +"Forgive me, Philip," she answered contritely. "Yes," in answer to his +question; "a daughter, whom you shall meet at the hotel, and a big, +strapping son. He's a senior at Harvard now, and his name is--Philip." + +Hamlen suddenly seized her hand and pressed it to his lips. "Your +husband won't begrudge me that," he said, with a quaver in his voice. + +"Thank God!" Marian cried unexpectedly. "It is a relief to find even a +small defect in that intellectual armor of yours! Philip, you are a +humbug, and you deceive no one but yourself! It is not solitude which +you love, it is not friendship which you despise; it is simply that you +have made a virtue out of a condition which exists because you don't +know how to change it. Let me help you now." + +"How can the leopard change his spots?" he demanded incredulously. + +"Go back with us when we sail for New York week after next. Leave things +here just as they are, and keep this wonderful spot as a retreat when +life becomes too strenuous. Harry and I will return here with you if you +wish us to, and will introduce so many serpents into your Garden of Eden +that you'll relegate us to the cliff while you take refuge in your +library. But between now and that time go back with us into that life +which is your life. Place yourself where you can feel the competition of +what goes on about you. Try pushing against the current, and learn the +joy of contact with something which opposes. Study the people around +you, and make friends--it's not too late, with your splendid personality +and with me to show you how. Come and get acquainted with your namesake. +Help him to learn from you what you can teach him better than any one I +know, and learn from him what his youthfulness can teach you. Will you +do it, Philip? Will you let this wonderful work you've done here be the +means and not the end? Will you put your accomplishments where they can +be of value, instead of hoarding them, as a miser does his gold?" + +He stood watching her wonderful animation as she spoke with a conviction +which swept him off his feet. In the past she had listened to him, and +he could but be conscious of the domination which his mind had held over +hers; now he knew their positions to be reversed. Was this what the +world had given her? And the boy--Philip, named after him. Why was it +that the lessons he had taught himself during all these years proved so +inadequate to combat the yearning which he felt within him? + +Marian was not slow to sense the conflict in his heart, nor to follow up +her advantage. + +"What have you really accomplished, Philip?" she asked quietly. "Be +generous in sharing your splendid development with us." + +"I could not give this up," he protested. + +"Of course you couldn't, and you should not," she assented. "Give up +nothing, but simply add to what you have by assimilating from others. I +want you to know my husband, my children, and my friends, and I want +them to know you. Say that you will return with us, Philip." + +He gazed at her helplessly, then turned his head aside. The emotion +against which he had fought for twenty years had escaped from his +control, and he was ashamed that another should see what he knew his +face betrayed. + +"It is impossible," he said, when he was himself again; "it would not be +fair." + +"To whom?" she demanded. + +"To you--or to your husband--" + +"Nonsense! We all understand one another too well for that! It is the +boy who needs you and whom you need." + +Hamlen turned to her again. "The boy," he repeated after her--"Philip! +You would let him come into my life?" + +"I desire nothing so much," she answered resolutely, a great joy surging +in her heart as she seemed to see the barrier between him and life +crumbling before her attack. + +"Would the boy permit it? I might not be able--" + +"Let me be judge of that," she smiled. + +The man passed his hand wearily over his eyes as Mrs. Thatcher watched +his uncertainty with fearfulness and yet with eager expectancy. She knew +that she could say no more, that there was danger in bringing further +pressure upon this spirit already extended to its extremest tension; and +yet she longed to take advantage of what she had gained in awakening the +latent human element and in disturbing the complacency which habit had +established upon premises so false. + +"Oh, Marian!" Hamlen cried at length, in a voice so full of suffering +that it staggered her; "the world is not to be trusted even when you +hold it up so temptingly before me. It always has been false and always +will be so for me. Each time I have given it the chance it has struck me +a harder blow than before. No, Marian, I can't expose myself again. If I +could make myself a part of some one else--if this boy-- No, no! I +couldn't take the risk. You mustn't ask me. You mean it kindly, but--" + +"Trust me," Marian said softly. "Come," she continued, nodding in the +direction of the returning party. "I will tell Harry that you are dining +with us to-night at the 'Princess.'" + + + + + * * * * * + +IV + + * * * * * + + +It was in the long, spacious dining-room of the "Princess" that Cosden +pointed out the Thatcher party to Huntington, and Hamlen was with them. +Naturally enough Huntington's eyes first rested on the girl's face, and +in it he found enough that was reminiscent to cause a start. It was +Marian Seymour as she must have looked when he knew her, but not at all +as he had come to think of her during the intervening years. How +ridiculously young she was! But Huntington had discovered that young +people were getting to look younger every year now. It almost annoyed +him, whenever he went to Cambridge to straighten out some mix-up of +nephew Billy's, to see how much smaller and younger the students were +to-day than when he was there. He remembered distinctly that he and his +mates had been men when he was in college; but the present generation +was made up of youngsters who should not be allowed abroad without their +nurses. + +Miss Thatcher, whom Cosden pointed out to him, came within the same +category. She carried herself with a dignity not always seen in girls of +her age, but she was undeniably young. Then his glance passed from her +to the older woman whom he took to be her mother, and he found himself +guilty of staring shamelessly. This was undoubtedly the Marian Seymour +of sainted memory, now delightfully matured into an extremely attractive +matron of thirty-eight or forty. The slight figure had changed but +little from what he remembered; the face still showed traces of its +former mischievous vivacity, even though it had become more decorous. +Such changes as he saw were only those which come in the natural +development of a charming girl into a well set-up woman of the world. So +this was the genius who would have presided over his household if he had +happened to find her at home upon either of those two momentous +occasions, or if he had happened to discover her in Europe on that +eventful trip and had happened to tell her of his devotion, and, +incidentally, she had happened to respond to his declaration of undying +affection. + +His inspection was as complete and analytic as the distance between the +two tables would permit. She was a fascinating woman, he acknowledged, +and yet--she was so different from what he had pictured her. The wife +with whom he had mentally lived these twenty years he himself had +created out of the all-too-scanty materials of memory, added to +substantially by what his imagination had skilfully selected of what he +thought she ought to be. He had not been more successful in his creation +than Nature herself, he was forced to admit, but while looking at Mrs. +Thatcher he experienced the mortifying sensation of being a +self-convicted bigamist. + +Curiously, he had never thought of her as growing older along with him. +His glance returned to the daughter's face, and in it he found a closer +semblance to what his mind had pictured. She was more mature than her +mother had been, yet she possessed many of the same physical +characteristics. Was it possible that she might have been his daughter? +Here came the third distinct shock. For the first time he had something +against which to measure his own age, and involuntarily he touched his +heavy head of hair to reassure himself that baldness, that advertisement +of advancing years, had not overtaken him in the moment. + +"Well," Cosden interrupted his reveries; "I'm waiting to hear your first +impressions." + +Huntington started guiltily, as if his friend had witnessed the +gymnastics his mind had executed. It was natural that Cosden, being +nearest to him, should come in for the force of the reaction. + +"How do you suppose I can express an opinion on a girl half-way across a +room the size of this?" he answered with as much asperity as ever crept +into the evenness of his tone. + +Cosden looked up surprised. "Why, Monty!" he expostulated, "don't get +peevish!" + +"Don't bother me with foolish questions," was the ungracious rejoinder. +"I'm studying the situation. Later I'll give you my impressions." + +"But you've seen her," Cosden persisted. "What do you think of the +perspective?" + +"She is very young," Huntington replied, regaining his composure and +realizing that to fall in with Cosden's mood was easier than to explain +his own. + +"She's twenty--just the right age for a man thirty-eight," was the +complacent reply. "I've figured it all out. A woman grows old faster +than a man, and eighteen years is just the proper handicap." + +"Which is her husband?" Huntington asked. + +"Her husband?" Cosden repeated after him. + +"I mean her mother's husband," Huntington corrected hastily; "which one +is Mr. Thatcher?" + +"The man with the smooth face; I don't know the others. We'll meet them +later." + +As the party left the dining-room Mr. Thatcher recognized Cosden and +fell behind to greet him. + +"Well met!" he exclaimed cordially, after being presented to Huntington. +"It is a relief to see some one I know. Down here on a vacation trip, I +suppose?" + +"Why--yes," Cosden hesitated, seeing some deeper meaning behind the +bromidic question; "that is, I thought so until I saw you. Now I'm not +quite sure." + +Thatcher laughed. "I had the same idea, but I can't seem to get away +from business; it pursues me! I've stumbled onto something--not very +tremendous, but still it may be a good thing. I'd be glad to have you +look it over with me if you care to. We'll discuss it later if you don't +object to talking shop during leisure hours." + +Cosden's face assumed that keen, resourceful expression which his +friends knew so well. "I'm never too much at leisure to discuss +business," he said. + +"Good! Now, when you and Mr. Huntington have finished dinner, join us on +the piazza and we'll all have our coffee together." + +Huntington looked at his friend significantly as Thatcher moved away. "I +didn't come down here on a business trip," he suggested. + +"It won't interfere with you at all," Cosden reassured him. "Thatcher is +a big man, and has a good eye for things. What he has in mind may be +well worth looking into." + +"So long as you don't let it divert us from our main purpose I won't +object," Huntington conceded gravely; "but the spirit of the chase is on +me, and I can't mix sport and business. This is the first time I have +ever approached a girl from a matrimonial point of view, even +vicariously. I'm beginning to enjoy it and I refuse to be thrown off the +scent." + + * * * * * + +There is no moon like a Bermuda moon. The contrast between its soft yet +brilliant light--as it fell first upon the harbor, throwing the islands +into silhouette, then flooding the piazza--and the electric glare, out +of which the two men stepped ten minutes later, made a deep impression +upon Huntington. The eyes of his friend, however, were focused upon the +little party, chatting merrily about the table, awaiting their arrival. + +"I had them postpone our coffee," Thatcher explained as he presented +Cosden to the Stevenses and to Hamlen, and Huntington to each. "We shall +enjoy it the more for having you with us." + +Huntington found himself sitting between the daughter and Hamlen, while +Cosden sat next to Mrs. Thatcher across the table. There had been no +recognition, and Huntington was glad of it; he preferred to introduce +the subject in his own way and at his own time. The girl, however, had +already discovered a bond. + +"Aren't you Billy Huntington's uncle?" she asked. + +"Yes," he admitted; "but where in the world did you meet him?" + +"He is a particular friend of my brother Philip's," she explained. +"Philip is a year ahead of him at Harvard, you know, but they are great +pals. My brother always has him at the house whenever he's in New York." + +"Well, well!" laughed Huntington. "The young rascal never told me +anything about it! But wait a minute--Phil Thatcher--why, of course! +Billy has had him in to dine with me several times. So he's your +brother!" + +"Yes; I was sure I was right," she smiled. "We're friends already, +aren't we?" + +"We are," Huntington acquiesced gravely; "and I shall do something +particularly nice for Billy to show my appreciation of what he has done +for me." + +Mrs. Thatcher caught the general drift of her daughter's conversation, +and she leaned across the table. + +"Are you not a Harvard man, Mr. Huntington?" she asked. "If so, you and +Mr. Hamlen must have been in college at about the same time." + +"Yes," Huntington replied; and turning to Hamlen he gave the year of his +graduation. + +"That was my Class also," was the reply; but there was nothing in +Hamlen's manner to invite reminiscence. + +"Hamlen--Philip Hamlen," Huntington repeated meditatively. "I don't +believe we knew each other, did we? But the name is familiar. I have it! +You are the lost Philip Hamlen our Class Secretary has been searching +for; I have seen the name in the list of missing men each time a Class +Report has been issued. You must send him your history, my dear fellow. +We're proud of our Class, and we don't want to lose sight of a single +member." + +There was a bitterness in Hamlen's voice as he replied. "My history +would interest no one; it is better that I remain among the 'missing +men.'" + +Huntington sensed at once what lay behind his classmate's response. "No +college graduate can afford to do that," he expostulated. "Whether one +wishes it so or not, he has accepted a heritage which carries with it +responsibilities, and these force him to his capacity for the honor of +his Class and of his Alma Mater." + +Mrs. Thatcher was following the conversation not only with interest, but +with a certain degree of anxiety. + +"Mr. Huntington is right, Philip," she added; "you know that he is +right." + +Hamlen moved uneasily in his chair. "It is curious how much more +interested our classmates become in us after we separate than while we +are together in college," he said significantly. + +"Why is it curious?" Huntington persisted. "Why is it not the natural +sequence of events?" + +"You could not understand." Hamlen spoke with rising emotion. "You had +everything in college; I had nothing. You remember my name only because +you've seen it listed amongst the 'missing men'; but I knew you the +moment I saw you. Back there you were Monty Huntington, manager of the +crew, member of all the exclusive societies, in everything, a part of +everything. Your classmates courted your acquaintance, and the four +years at Cambridge meant something to you. To me they meant nothing +except what I learned in the class-rooms. You as an alumnus owe all that +you say to the Class and to the Alma Mater, for both gave you much; I +owe them nothing, for they gave me nothing." + +"My dear fellow!" Huntington expostulated hastily, "forgive me for +touching on so tender a subject; yet I am glad I did, for it is only +fair that you let me set you right. The college world is a small one, +and its citizens are young, untried boys. They are sometimes selfish and +cruel and unreasonable without meaning it, while they are enjoying what +is to most of them their first freedom, and they are trying to conduct +themselves like full-grown men. There are heartburns which at the time +seem tragedies. Then the undeveloped citizens of this little world, the +biggest of them, pass out into the great world, for which the college +life is only a training-school, and become infinitesimal parts of it. +There the ratio becomes readjusted. What seemed essentials--like the +clubs, for instance, or athletics--become non-essentials as the men look +back upon them; become simply pleasant memories of delightful +companionship. The next few years represent the real trying-out period, +and each member of the Class measures up his fellow-members by what they +have done since college. The mere fact of being members of the same +Class is the bond. I don't care what you did in college, Hamlen; but I +sha'n't let you get away from me until you tell me what you've done +since, or until you promise that I shall see you when next you come to +Boston. The fact that I didn't know you in college makes me the more +keen to know you now." + +"I thank you a thousand times!" Mrs. Thatcher cried impulsively. "What +you have said in five minutes will do more to set Mr. Hamlen right than +weeks of argument from me. I found him to-day in a veritable paradise +which he has built here, and where he has lived alone practically since +he left college. I am trying to persuade him to come back into the world +again, and you can help me to accomplish it." + +Hamlen was visibly affected by Huntington's cordiality. "This has been a +bewildering day," he said. "For over twenty years I have lived alone, +nursing a resentment toward college and life in general until it has +come to be a religion. This afternoon Mrs. Thatcher finds me +unexpectedly and begins to batter down my defenses; now Mr. Huntington, +without realizing it, attempts to complete the demolition. Don't wonder +that I'm not myself to-night; but I thank my classmate for what he has +said, just as I thank Mrs. Thatcher for her earlier efforts." + +"Mr. Huntington," Thatcher remarked, "you have given Stevens and me a +new idea of the value of a college degree. I wasn't especially keen +about having my boy go to college, but now, by George! I wouldn't have +it otherwise." + +"Huntington is a living propagandum for Harvard," Cosden said lightly, +realizing the desirability of leading the conversation into a less +serious channel. "My degree represents simply an additional tool to use +in carving out success, to him it means idolatry. If Huntington's house +was on fire, I should expect to see him climbing down the firemen's +ladder in his pink pajamas with his precious sheepskin under his arm +carried as tenderly as a mother would a child." + +"Oh, you may make light of it," Huntington replied good-naturedly, "but +Hamlen and I are treading on sacred ground. The one weakness of college +life is that the opportunities it offers come before we are competent to +appreciate or embrace them. That is what brings about the condition +which he has misunderstood. It would be much better if we all could have +two years of college when we're seventeen and the other two when we're +forty." + +The conversation drifted into smoother channels, but by the time the +party separated the acquaintance had developed to a point far beyond an +ordinary first meeting. Underneath it different elements were at work in +each one's mind and heart, put in motion by the unexpected intensity of +almost the earliest words which had been exchanged. Hamlen was the first +to leave. He said good-night casually to the group, but managed to +separate Huntington from the others. + +"You have done much for one of your classmates to-night," he said +simply. "I thank you for it." + +"Nonsense!" Huntington protested. "I'm more than delighted to have this +opportunity to know you--and I want to know you better." + +"Will you come to my villa some day this week?" + +Hamlen seemed to hang expectantly upon the answer. + +"Of course," Huntington replied promptly. "If you hadn't asked me, I +should have come anyhow. It's an inherent right which I demand." + +Hamlen pressed his hand and turned to Mrs. Thatcher, who walked with him +to the door. + +"I don't know whether to thank you or to curse you, Marian," he said +feelingly in a low voice. "Through you I have had more interjected into +my life in this single day than in the twenty-odd years which have +passed by. Is this the dawn of a to-morrow or the epitome of human +suffering? Are you my Genius or my Nemesis? Before God I ask the +question seriously. I myself cannot answer it." + +"Don't try," she answered, smiling; "let Time do that!" + + + + + * * * * * + +V + + * * * * * + + +Cosden had been sitting on the hotel piazza half an hour when "Merry" +Thatcher emerged from the dining-room, gazed about the almost total +vacancy as if looking for some one, and then advanced, recognizing in +the solitary smoker an acquaintance of the night before. + +"I'm always the first one," she complained after greeting him. "We're +going sailing this morning, but I might have known that no one else +would be down for breakfast at anywhere near the appointed time." + +"Why not cheer me up while you're waiting?" Cosden suggested. "I formed +the habit of early rising years ago when I had to do it; now that I +don't have to, the habit still sticks." + +"Mr. Huntington hasn't appeared yet?" she inquired. + +Cosden laughed, and then looked at his watch. "When you come to know Mr. +Huntington better you will admire his mathematical precision: he is +never late, but he never arrives a moment earlier than is necessary. The +breakfast hour is over at nine-thirty; at nine-fifteen you will observe +the gentleman leisurely strolling in the direction of his table, with +every detail of his morning dress perfectly adjusted, as if the world +had placed all its time at his disposal, when in reality he can just get +his order in and have it served hot." + +The girl smiled at the description of his friend. "Not many men are so +dependable," she commented. + +"There is only one William Montgomery Huntington," Cosden admitted +cheerfully. "It would be exactly the same if the closing of the +breakfast room was four-thirty instead of nine-thirty." + +The smile on her face changed to a deeper expression as she looked out +across the harbor. She turned to Cosden suddenly. + +"Wasn't he splendid last evening when he talked about the +responsibilities of college life! For the first time I wished I were a +boy!" + +"He is a very intense person on some subjects; that happens to be one of +them." + +The girl could not fail to interest Cosden, even if he were not already +attracted by his previous slight acquaintance, for the present mood +showed her at her best. The nickname "Merry," given to distinguish the +younger Marian from her mother, scarcely served as a descriptive +appellation, for underneath the girlish vivacity ran a serious vein +which gave her unusual poise, and made her seem older than she was. To +Cosden she appeared at that moment the embodiment of attractive +girlhood, for the big panama, almost encircling her face, well set off +the dark hair and the sympathetic brown eyes, while the color which +plainly showed in her cheeks, despite the depth of the complexion, gave +just the touch needed to heighten the effect. The soft lines of the +white flannel skirt and the pink silk sweater disclosed the youth and +litheness of the figure. Cosden was surprised to find himself noticing +these details so carefully, and accepted the fact as evidence that his +interest in the girl was even deeper than he had supposed. + +"I love intensity in men," she said simply; "so many seem ashamed to +show it no matter how strongly they may feel!" + +"That is due to the training of life," Cosden explained, caring little +what direction the conversation took so long as they became better +acquainted. "The higher up you go, the greater the repression. Diplomacy +is the climax of gentlemanly concealment of one's real feelings, and the +art among arts of courteous insincerity. In business, of course, there's +a reason--" + +"Can't a man be sincere in business?" she asked, looking at him with +eyes so deep and straightforward in their expression that he found the +question disconcerting. + +"Why,--of course," he stumbled; "but 'sincerity' isn't exactly a +business expression. If I let you know by my manner that I was eager to +buy something which you wanted to sell, or to sell something you wanted +to buy, it would naturally affect the price, wouldn't it?" + +"Ought it to?" she persisted. "Why isn't that taking advantage?" + +Cosden smiled indulgently. "Some time, if you like, I will give you a +learned discourse on values and what affects them, but anything so +erudite now would take your mind off the gaieties of your sailing +trip." + +"Will you?" Merry exclaimed delighted. "Father always makes fun of me +when I ask serious questions. I am sure I should hate business, because +it seems always to be a question of taking advantage of some one else; +but I should like to know something about it." + +"You don't approve of taking advantage of some one else?" + +"It is exactly the opposite of what we are taught to consider right, +isn't it?" + +"How about bargain-sales when you are home?" Cosden asked with apparent +innocence. "Do you ever patronize them?" + +"Why, yes," Merry replied frankly; "I frequently wait for them when I +want some particular thing, and my allowance is running low." + +Cosden laughed outright. "If consistency were really a jewel, then would +woman go unadorned!" + +"How in the world are you going to twist what I said into an +inconsistency?" + +"I'll let you make the demonstration yourself. Here is the problem: a +dealer, believing a demand to exist for a certain article, lays in a +stock to supply that demand. If you, and other dear ladies who really +intend to buy the article, purchased when he first offered it for sale, +his estimate of the demand would have been correct. But you all have +learned the habits of the shops, so instead of rushing to his counters +you play 'possum until the dealer really believes that he has +over-estimated the demand, and down goes the value to him and +consequently the price to you. Then you rush frantically from your +lairs and secure the article you have really wanted from the beginning +at a bargain price. Don't you admit that you are taking advantage of the +dealer?" + +"Oh, you men do put things in such a disagreeable way!" Merry laughed. +"We have to do that to protect ourselves against the outrageous prices +they charge in the first place." + +"It's all a game," Cosden said seriously, "and a mighty fascinating one. +So long as you stick to the rules you may bluff all you choose, and the +best bluffer takes the blue chips." + +"I'm sure I should hate it," Merry repeated. "I'm going to learn to be a +teacher, so that if some one outbluffs father I can fall back upon a +respectable pursuit." + +"Even then you'll still be in the bluffing game," chuckled Cosden. +"Think of the knowledge a teacher has to assume which he doesn't +possess!" + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed in despair. "Why be an iconoclast? You leave +me nothing but matrimony--" + +"The worst bluff of all," interrupted Huntington, stepping forward from +behind their chairs, immaculate in white flannels and a panama which +rivaled Merry's. "Seeing Mr. Cosden in an academic mood, I could not +resist the temptation to snare the nuggets of wisdom which fell from his +lips. This must be my excuse for eavesdropping." + +"There he is," Cosden said significantly to Merry. "You'd never dream +that he'd come within an ace of missing his breakfast, would you?" + +"Missing what?" Huntington demanded. "In what little pleasantry has my +friendly critic been indulging himself?" + +"Let the critic answer for himself," Cosden retorted. "I predicted to +Miss Thatcher the exact moment when you would appear, thus proving +myself a prophet." + +"You take yourself too seriously, Connie. You're no prophet, nor even +the son of a prophet; you're simply a good observer. Some men run a +block and then wait five minutes for a car; I learned years ago that it +was wiser to walk deliberately to the white post and arrive there at the +precise moment. But I don't let that car get away from me, my friend." + +"If my memory serves me right, Mr. Huntington, you were not always so +deliberate," remarked Mrs. Thatcher significantly. + +Huntington looked up quickly, unaware until then that the other late +breakfasters had followed so closely on his heels. + +"The night has been telling tales," he said. + +"It was stupid of me not to recognize you before," she answered. + +"Do you and Mother know each other?" Merry asked, much interested in the +new turn of the conversation. + +"Your mother," said Huntington gravely, "did me the honor to accept my +escort to our Senior Dance--I won't tell you how many years ago. She +deliberately broke my heart, sailed away to Europe, and then returned +and married your father, just out of pique. Now that you know the story +of my life, I ask you, why should I accelerate my motions, as my +captious companion seems to think I should, when your mother's quixotic +conduct deprived me years ago of all possible incentive?" + +"Then you are really the Monty Huntington I knew!" Mrs. Thatcher +exclaimed. "I was sure of it when you spoke of your Class to Philip +Hamlen." + +"I was sure it was you before you spoke at all," he said quietly. "I +recognized an aroma the moment I came into your presence--" + +"An aroma?" Mrs. Thatcher interrupted questioningly. + +"I know not whether it was fragrance or reminiscence, but either is +equally sweet." + +Huntington's gallantry, half assumed, half real, as it seemed to those +who heard his words, passed simply as a pleasantry with all except +Cosden, who knew his friend too well not to recognize the presence of +something deeper beneath the lightly spoken expressions. But Thatcher's +voice brought him back from his surmises. + +"We are counting on you both to join us," he insisted. "Our party will +be incomplete without you." + +"Please come," Mrs. Thatcher added. "For the last twenty-four hours I +have been renewing all my girlhood friendships, and poor Edith Stevens +here hasn't had a chance even to express an opinion. That for Edith is +real self-sacrifice." + +"Edith is sitting back and learning a thing or two," Miss Stevens +retorted calmly. + +"Do come and give her a chance to demonstrate," Mrs. Thatcher appealed. + +"I suppose bachelors are as necessary to the demonstration as +guinea-pigs to the laboratory," Huntington said. "Come on, Connie; let +us take a chance." + +No truer statement had ever been made in jest than that the previous +twenty-four hours had been a period of self-sacrifice to Edith Stevens. +She was younger than Mrs. Thatcher, and their friends accused them of +accepting each other as foils to accentuate their contrasting +characteristics. Miss Stevens was slight and erect, and was always +gowned with a taste and skill which gave her an air of distinction; her +friend possessed such striking fascination of person and manner that she +gave distinction to any fashion she might adopt. Mrs. Thatcher's +activities accomplished results; Edith's seemed simply the expression of +an eternal unrest. The younger woman's hair was light, and her eyes +blue, while Mrs. Thatcher was a perfect brunette; and the approach of +the two women to the same subject was always from a different +standpoint. Yet they had been the closest of friends from school days. + +Except with Marian, Edith, as a rule, dominated the situation at all +times. Now, however, she found herself absolutely side-tracked, while +her friend occupied the center of the stage in the interesting character +of past or present object of admiration from three perfectly good men. +Men were a hobby with Edith Stevens. Her brother feelingly remarked that +the only reason she never married was that no individual male possessed +the composite attributes she demanded. To be one of three women, +surrounded by five men, and not to be able to command the attention of +any one of them except her brother was nothing less than irony. She had +tried flirting with Thatcher years before, and had long since given him +up in despair; Hamlen was annexed by Marian before she had even a chance +to compete, and of the two remaining eligibles Huntington suddenly +confessed himself a part of the flotsam her friend had left behind in +her beblossomed path toward the altar. + +"Take one more look at Mr. Cosden, Marian," she said maliciously, as the +little party walked slowly down the steps toward the yacht. "Perhaps he, +too, was an early admirer." + +Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "No," she reassured her, "I'm sure he never +crossed my horizon until last night. I'll renounce all claims on him, +but don't you set your cap for Philip Hamlen; I have other plans for +him." + +"Where is Mr. Hamlen?" Edith demanded. "Didn't you invite him?" + +"No," Marian replied quickly. "It would be cruel not to give him time to +recover his balance after yesterday. Heigh ho!" she sighed. "I wonder +whether I'm glad or sorry that I found him here." + +"I've been waiting for a report on that reunion," Edith said +suggestively. "I haven't forgotten the letters which we used to read +together years ago." + +"Weren't they wonderful?" Marian exclaimed. Then she added, after a +pause, "I don't believe I realized until yesterday the depth of +suffering which a sensitive soul can reach." + + + + + * * * * * + +VI + + * * * * * + + +The sailing-party disembarked at the landing steps of the "Princess" +shortly after six o'clock, and were greeted by a tall young man whose +face was almost concealed by the broad brim of his hat, turned down as +if to protect its owner from possible prostration from the sun. At the +opposite end of the young man the white trouser-legs were turned up at +least two laps higher than would have been expected, so that hat and +trousers together made a normal average. Below the turn-up of the +trousers showed a considerable expanse of white-silk hosiery, +terminating in spotless white buckskin shoes; below the down-turned +hat-brim was a grin which extended well across the boyish face. +Altogether, the young man warranted the attention he attracted. + +The skipper made so perfect a landing that the identity of those on +board was disclosed only at the last moment; but the single glance the +young man had was sufficient to reassure him, and he stepped forward +eagerly. + +"Hello, everybody!" he cried cheerfully. "Wish you Happy New-Year!" + +Merry was the first to grasp the significance of the excitement. "Why, +it's Billy Huntington!" she exclaimed. + +"Of course," he admitted, still grinning; "who else would charge down +here like a young dace just for the pleasure of wishing you the +compliments of the season?" + +The young man paused long enough to assist the ladies over the rail, +with a greeting to each. + +"There's your uncle," Merry said, nodding in the direction of the men; +"don't you recognize him?" + +"Surest thing you know," Billy answered, still hanging back. "I'm +waiting to see if he will recognize me, under all the circumstances." + +"Come here, you young rascal," Huntington responded to the implied +question as he stepped on the pier; "come here and give an account of +yourself." + +"Well," Billy replied slowly, clinging to the extended hand as a refuge, +"you see I didn't know Mr. Cosden came down with you, and it was +vacation, and I thought you'd be awfully lonely here without me--" + +"I see," his uncle said dryly; "it was all on my account." + +Billy seemed to feel the necessity of further explanation. "Of course I +knew Merry--the Thatchers were here. Phil told me--" + +"Too bad Philip couldn't have come with you," Mrs. Thatcher remarked. + +"Yes; he went up to the Lawrences' house-party for over Christmas as he +planned." + +"How did you leave your worthy parents?" Huntington inquired. + +A look of dismay passed over the boy's face. "I forgot to telegraph them +from New York, and I meant to cable just as soon as I arrived." Then an +expression of relief came to his assistance: "But they'll know I'm with +you--somewhere." + +Huntington sighed. "Another reckoning for me when I return!" he said +resignedly; "but it's worth it all to know that you 'charged down here +like a young dace' as soon as you realized your poor uncle's 'awful +loneliness.'" + +"Then it was you who tried to signal us from the tender?" Merry came to +his rescue. + +"Yes; I thought it was you; I wigwagged until I almost plunged +overboard. I've got to go back Monday, to reach Cambridge in time to +register, so I hated to lose a whole day out of three." + +"There's one thing about a college education which Mr. Huntington didn't +mention last evening," Thatcher remarked to Cosden as they walked toward +the bar for the anteprandial cocktail; "it gives a boy freedom of action +and breadth of imagination." + +"Huntington left out a whole lot of things he might have touched on," +Cosden said testily. "That's a topic on which we don't agree, and never +shall. There is a boy with many sterling qualities going to waste +because Monty has more wishbone than backbone in the matter of +discipline." + +"Don't get started on that, Connie," Huntington's voice came from the +rear. "I've no doubt it's deserved, but that boy keeps me from +remembering that my own days of irresponsibility are so far behind me. I +believe I enjoy him the more because I haven't a parent's duty to +perform." + +"It's a sort of reciprocity without personal liability," laughed +Thatcher. + +"Exactly. I wonder sometimes if what we gain by experience is worth what +we lose in illusion.--Aren't you coming up-stairs to dress for dinner, +Billy?" Huntington continued, as his nephew and Merry walked past them, +engaged in an animated conversation. + +"Don't wait for me," was the prompt response. "I'm a bear at dressing, +and I'll be ready before Dixon has put in your collar-studs." + +"I feel easier down here since I know that you're off duty, too, and not +likely to upset my apple-cart while I'm away," Thatcher remarked to +Cosden with a smile. "Did you know, Mr. Huntington," he continued, +turning, "that your friend is a wrecker of other men's plans?" + +"It's the best thing he does," Huntington agreed promptly. "That exactly +explains my presence here." + +Cosden was immensely pleased by Thatcher's acknowledgment of his +importance, but he tried to carry it off lightly. + +"Oh, well," he said indifferently, "you must let me have my innings once +in a while. I have to get to you sometimes to make up for other bouts +which I've been glad to forget." + +"You'll join us, of course," Thatcher added, to Huntington. + +"I can resist anything but temptation," Huntington replied soberly; "I +love the enemy." + +"This cocktail-drinking is a curious thing," Thatcher remarked. "In cold +weather we take it to warm us up, in warm weather to cool us off; when +we are depressed it is to cheer us, and when we're happy it's because we +want to celebrate. And there you are.--How about the Consolidated +Machinery deal?" Thatcher changed the subject abruptly, and spoke to +Cosden. "Are we going to fight each other on that?" + +"I'm afraid we'll have to," Cosden admitted frankly; "but I'll be glad +to talk it over with you. From here, the interests look too far apart +even to compromise." + +Cosden and Huntington went up in the elevator together, leaving Thatcher +on the piazza. + +"What the devil did that young cub show up here for just at this time?" +Cosden demanded. + +"Didn't you hear?" Monty explained innocently. "He wanted to cheer me up +in my 'awful loneliness.'" + +"Lonely fiddlesticks!" Cosden protested irritably. "Don't you grasp the +fact that his coming is going to mess things up?" + +"Why, no," Huntington said slowly, pausing at the door of his room to +give his friend opportunity to finish his remarks; "I can't for the life +of me see that." + +"Don't you see that it's Merry Thatcher the kid is making up to?" + +"Oh, ho!" Huntington exclaimed. "So that's the situation! It was stupid +of me not to understand." + +"Well, that's it; and I won't have it." + +"Of course you won't; but how are you going to stop it?" + +"That's your job, Monty. It's up to you to send him about his business." + +"That doesn't appeal to me as a sporting proposition," Huntington said +after a moment's deliberation. "I didn't come down here to help you get +a corner in anything, but merely as an observer, and to give you expert +advice. Now you suggest a combination--trust, as it were--of two +full-grown men against a half-baked boy. It isn't worthy of you, Connie, +and I'm not sure that it isn't an illegal restraint of trade. Oh, no; I +couldn't think of it." + +"I'd like to see you in the same situation just once," growled Cosden. +"Why the devil can't you send the boy home?" + +"If I did, he'd come back so quick he'd meet himself going away," +Huntington said gravely; "but as a matter of fact I understand that he +plans to go on Monday, and there's no boat sailing before then anyhow." + +He opened the door of his room and stepped inside. + +"I might add, Connie," he continued, "that if you're afraid to take +chances with a boy like that I don't feel much confidence in the final +outcome of your benedictine expedition." + +"I'm serious in this," Cosden snapped back. "My bump of humor evidently +got light-struck in the developing. Billy has twenty years ahead of him +to pick out a girl while I haven't, and he must understand that I mean +business." + +"Of course he must," agreed Huntington. "It hadn't occurred to me until +you spoke of it that there was the remotest chance of having Billy show +sense enough to become interested in any girl so well calculated to +make a man of him. In fact, I doubt very much whether his own intellect +has carried him so far. It's all right for you or me to contemplate +committing matrimony, but a young man, in these days of increasing cost +of everything, is likely to become a grandfather before he can afford to +be a father. Only the other day, Connie, the thought came to me that if +this high cost of living continues it will make death a necessity of +life." + +"You are evidently in no frame of mind to discuss anything serious now," +Cosden retorted; "I'll wait until after dinner." + +"Do!" Huntington's face brightened. "Look at the reproachful expression +on the bosom of that beautiful white shirt which Dixon has laid out for +me. Can't you almost hear the pathos in its tone as it asks to be +filled?" + +The door slammed, and Cosden's heavy tread could be heard as he +disgustedly retreated down the hall to his own room. + +One of the compensations of maturity is that the adjustment of proper +proportions comes more quickly than to youth. It may be that Cosden saw +the modicum of truth which lay beneath his friend's bantering; it may be +that he was ashamed to have shown any uncertainty in his mind as to the +final outcome of his embassy. At all events, he seemed to be in the best +of humor when he dined with Huntington and the boy, and even accepted +with good grace the unexpected announcement that Billy and Merry were to +"take in" the dance at the "Hamilton." It may be that he was determined +to demonstrate his strength of mind, for when the little party +reassembled on the piazza, and the young people disappeared soon after +the coffee, he devoted himself to Edith Stevens with an assiduity which +caused Huntington to smile quietly to himself. Stevens and Thatcher, +finding the ladies well provided for, went down-stairs for a game of +billiards. Mrs. Thatcher cheerfully accepted Huntington's invitation to +stroll to the pier, leaving Miss Stevens and Cosden by themselves. + +"I've made an appointment for you on Monday morning," Thatcher remarked +to Cosden as he passed by. + +"Good! I'll keep it," was the prompt response. + +"What do you think of Marian's resurrection?" Edith asked him when they +were alone. + +Cosden looked in the direction of the pier. "Do you mean--" he began. + +"Oh, no!" she interrupted him. "That is merely a revival, which I +imagine may develop into an experience meeting. I mean Mr. Hamlen. Think +of a devotion that forces a man to bury himself for twenty years! I +could throw myself on his neck for restoring my lost belief in the +constancy of man." + +"I hadn't heard that side of the story," Cosden observed. + +"It was while we were at school together," Edith explained. "Marian was +irresistible then--as now, and every man she met lost his head +altogether; but for a time she and Mr. Hamlen were engaged. Then she +married the last man we expected; but she and Harry have been very +happy. It simply shows that you never can tell." + +"Did you know Hamlen then?" + +"No; but I heard enough about him. If he had been merely intelligent +instead of intellectual he might have had her just as well as not. He +simply frightened her out of it." + +"Where did Monty come in?" + +"I never heard of him; things couldn't have gone very far." + +"You remember what he said just before we started out this morning? I +know him pretty well and Monty doesn't speak like that unless there is +something back of it." + +"Well," Edith laughed, "I'm sure I should have known, even so. Why, I +could reel off so many names that you would think Marian was a heartless +coquette; but it wasn't that at all. She simply loved attention, as all +women do." + +"How about the daughter?" queried Cosden. + +"Merry?" Miss Stevens interrogated. "Oh, Merry is an up-to-date, +twentieth-century thoroughbred. Marian has never known just what to make +of her because she isn't like other girls, but to my mind the comparison +is all to her credit. I'm generous when I give the child so good a +character, for I know she heartily disapproves of me." + +Cosden was pleased with the intuition he had shown in his selection. "I +should think young Huntington would bore her about as much as a +youngster in kilts," he said, to draw her out. + +"He is her brother's friend, she adores athletics and dancing, and she +is exercising the prerogative of her age and sex." + +There was a silence of several moments, during which time Cosden was +debating with himself whether it was too late for him to bring his +dancing of the vintage of the nineties up to the present confusion of +innovations. He had scoffed at modern dances but it might become +necessary to revise his views. + +"What an unusual ring you have," Miss Stevens exclaimed, leaning over +his hand which rested upon the arm of his chair. "Is there a romance +connected with it?" + +Cosden took it off and handed it to her. "No," he said. "When you know +me better you will understand that romance doesn't come into my make-up. +I bought that ring myself particularly to avoid any sentiment. I can +take it off when I like, wear it or not as I choose, and if I lose it +nobody's heart is broken." + +"That is an original idea," she laughed; then her face sobered. "I used +to think romance was everything," she said seriously. "Now I wonder if +what we call romance isn't another word for illusion. As I look back at +my girl friends and see how many romances became tragedies, and how many +matter-of-fact marriages, like Marian's and Harry's, have developed into +real unions, I'm inclined to think that romance is a form of hypnotism." + +"You've expressed my idea to a dot," Cosden replied emphatically. +"Huntington is a sentimentalist, and he stamps my common-sense ideas as +evidences of a commercial instinct. I've seen just what you've seen, and +I believe that the business of life rests on exactly the same basis as +the business of trade." + +"Take Harry Thatcher, for example," Edith continued her own +conversation rather than replied to his; "there's nothing brilliant +about him outside his business success, but you always know where to +find him. He's a comfortable man to have around. With men, they say he +dominates everything he goes into, but in his home,--well, every now and +then he stands out just on principle, but as a matter of fact even his +ideas are in his wife's name." + +Mrs. Thatcher and Huntington approached them returning from their +moon-bath on the steps of the pier. + +"Did you ever see so wonderful a night, Edith?" she exclaimed with +enthusiasm. "This atmosphere, and the renewing of my friendship with Mr. +Huntington, make me feel like a girl again." + +"Monty must have been composing poetry," Cosden remarked. + +"No," Huntington disclaimed promptly; "poetry is the one contagious +disease of youth which I have escaped. But Mrs. Thatcher has helped me +to set back my clock of life more than twenty years, and that is an +achievement of which I feel justly proud." + + + + + * * * * * + +VII + + * * * * * + + +Sunday morning found the party possessed of divers minds regarding the +proper use to make of the wonderful sunshine and the mild yet bracing +air, delicately scented with thousands of blooms on every side. Mr. and +Mrs. Thatcher announced definitely that they proposed to hear the band +concert at the Barracks, which gave a certain basis upon which to hang +other plans. Billy Huntington suggested to Merry that they walk to Elba +Beach, and Cosden, with the cordial disapproval of Edith Stevens and +Billy, invited himself to accompany the young people on their walk. +Huntington accounted for himself by reporting that Hamlen had +telephoned, asking him to make the promised visit that morning, so the +Stevenses joined forces with the Thatchers, and the plans were complete. + +Hamlen was visibly ill at ease when Huntington arrived. It was the only +time during the twenty years of his residence there that any guest had +been received at his villa by invitation of its owner. The new +experience excited him, but the sincerity of Huntington's admiration of +the grounds, and the friendliness of his attitude, made it impossible +for any barrier long to exist between them. A touch of the old-time +bitterness passed through Hamlen's mind, soon after Huntington's +arrival, as he thought what it would have meant to him during any one of +those four years at college to have had Monty Huntington come to his +room in the same spirit of comradeship! Yet, he admitted to himself, the +tragedies of that small world did lose some of their poignancy in +retrospect, just as Huntington had said. He had been at a disadvantage +in that the world into which he had been graduated was not the great +world of which his classmate spoke, but rather another little one, +smaller even than that which had tortured him,--so small that he had +remained still instead of growing, as the others had, into an estate +from which he might look back with broader vision. + +This much at least had borne fruit from the conversation at the hotel, +but beyond this there was an impression still deeper which increased +Hamlen's spirit of unrest. From the time when he began to feel things +strongly there had existed in him a sense of justice which completely +dominated his other attributes. By the time he entered college this +sense had assumed exaggerated proportions, and he had reached a point +where he was looking for injustices, and was quick to resent them. He +might have made a place for himself in athletics had he not expected +some one else to take the initiative; he might have made friends except +that he waited to be sought out. When he saw other fellows around him +succeed where he had failed, the sensitiveness of his nature placed his +classmates on trial, appointed himself judge, and condemned them as +guilty of injustice, the most heinous crime in the category of sin. As a +penalty, he had banished them from his life. The fact that they bore +their punishment with seeming indifference served only to twist the +knife in the wound. + +His devotion to Marian Seymour gave his strange nature its only outlet. +Her father and his had been bosom friends in boyhood, and they had hoped +to see their children bound together in even closer ties. The tense, +deep nature of the boy dominated,--even more so after he went to college +and she to school, and they saw less of each other. He was different +from other boys she knew, and at first it pleased her vanity that he had +no thought for any one else, even though he demanded so much of her. +Then she became fairly terrified by his intensity, and when she broke +the engagement, just after his graduation, she welcomed her release. + +Her engagement and marriage to Thatcher supplied the final evidence that +the whole world was built upon a structure of injustice, and Hamlen fled +from it with a sense of leaving behind a thing despised. During all +these years the judge had worn his ermine, and the world represented the +condemned prisoner, working out its sentence, but somehow failing to +gain salutary results from its long chastisement. Now a belated witness +appears, supplying testimony which shakes the integrity of the judicial +decision. Huntington presents the case from a position new to the +self-appointed judge, and Hamlen had spent many hours since that +eventful meeting wondering whether the world had really been on trial +or he himself. Many of the words which Marian had spoken, which had not +made their impression when he first heard them came back with redoubled +force after Huntington had added his testimony to hers. "Was it their +failure to understand you or your failure to give them the opportunity?" +she asked. "The citizens of the college world are young, untried boys," +Huntington explained, "trying to conduct themselves like full-grown +men." What right had he to condemn them because in their youth and +inexperience they had fallen below the standard older men had set? Had +he a right to expect them to search him out any more than they a right +to demand the same of him? "You drew me to you with irresistible force," +Marian admitted, only to make the agony the more unbearable when she +added, "Then you repelled me by your intolerance of all those lighter +interests which were natural to youth of our age." Intolerance! That was +a form of injustice, and he had judged her guilty upon the same +indictment! "Each member of the Class measures up his fellow-members by +what they have done since they have left college," Huntington had said. +Every word seemed seared into Hamlen's brain as he put himself through +this fierce analysis. "What have you really accomplished?" was Marian's +question. + +So Hamlen had struggled with himself during the intervening hours, and +now Huntington came to him as a classmate, as a friend, claiming kinship +and insisting upon recognition of his claim. If Monty Huntington had +been what Hamlen believed him to be in college, he would not now have +forced himself upon him in spite of his own rude disclaimers of any +present desire for recognition. If he had misjudged Huntington had he +not misjudged his other classmates, had he not misjudged the world at +large? + +This was the doubt which had been raised in Hamlen's mind, and with it +came a sense of responsibility and the necessity of restitution should +that doubt turn into a certainty. Forty-eight hours earlier he had asked +Marian, "What do I owe the world?" and it was from Huntington he +received his answer. It was uncanny how closely the two opinions of the +case, made by persons widely separated in viewpoint and environment, +dovetailed each into the other. This interview with Huntington would +settle all doubt, he was convinced, and if the injustice proved to be +vested in himself alone, what was there left for him out of the wreck he +had made of life? What wonder that he was ill at ease; what wonder that +his heart beat more quickly as he realized that the moment of his own +conviction might be at hand! + +They walked about the grounds, as the others had done, and Huntington's +exclamations were no less enthusiastic; yet it was obvious that this was +but a prelude to the real purpose of his visit. They paused for a moment +as they came back through the garden, and the hesitation forced the +question from Hamlen's lips. + +"Don't you care to see the view from the Point?" + +"Not to-day," Huntington answered frankly. "I want to come again and +examine every cranny; but to-day, Hamlen, my interest lies in something +deeper. You have shown me what you are by profession; now show me what +you are by nature. You remember the old Greek adage, 'Would you know a +man, give him power.' My version of it is 'Would you know a man, give +him leisure'; for leisure is the expression of power, the stored-up +capital of that unmeasured treasure called Time whose currency is in the +blood and which promotes life itself. Here, in these grounds, your work +has been similar to that of any one of us in his office. Now I want to +know the man. Take me to his workshop." + +Hamlen understood him beyond the necessity of further words. He had told +Marian that it was in his books that he found his relaxation, but it was +not to his library that he now silently led his guest. It was to a small +room on the back of the villa, in which Huntington found cases of type, +a hand-press, and a bench containing every description of binder's +tools. As they entered Hamlen closed the door behind them. + +"I don't know why I brought you here," he spoke apologetically, "except +that by what you just said you seemed to know this place existed. No one +else has ever entered with me, for I have a sentiment about it which +would seem ridiculous to any one except myself." + +"It is a miniature printing-office and bindery combined!" + +"This is where I spend my leisure. This is where I withdraw into a +solitude even more complete than that in which I live. These +books"--pointing to a case near by--"represent the pitifully meager +contribution which I have made to the world while you and my other +classmates have taken the positions to which you are entitled. That I +show them to you now is a confession of the narrow outlook I have always +had on life." + +Huntington was busy examining the volumes, one by one, giving no sign +that he heard the crisp words. He turned the leaves critically, he +examined the bindings, he studied the typography and the designs. Then +at length he looked up. + +"I was mistaken when I said I did not know you," he remarked. + +"I don't understand," Hamlen replied. + +"Printing as an art has always been a hobby of mine," Huntington +explained. "With two exceptions I have every one of these books in my +collection at home." + +The color came into Hamlen's face. "You mean--" he began. + +"I mean that these splendid examples of the bookmaker's art have +attracted much attention among those of us who understand what they +represent, and I count myself fortunate to be the first to solve the +mystery which has surrounded them, when I next meet with my +fellow-collectors." + +"How is it possible," demanded Hamlen, "that any of these should have +fallen into your hands?" + +"Were they not placed upon the market?" + +"I did not suppose any of them reached America," Hamlen explained. "Out +of curiosity to see what would happen I sent the first volumes to a +dealer in London, and he has been kind enough to take the subsequent +volumes as they have been issued." + +"And kind enough to himself," Huntington added, "to call the attention +of all the leading collectors to the uniqueness of the work. Some time I +will show you his circulars if you care to know what he thinks of you; +and I may add that there is none of us who considers his claims +exaggerated." + +"Then the work is good?" Hamlen asked, unable to conceal his excitement. + +"It is superb both in conception and execution; but its greatest merit +is its originality. Most of the good printing and binding which we have +to-day rests definitely in conception upon some one of the great +master-printers or binders of the past: the work of Aldus, Jenson, +Étienne, Plantin, Elzevir, Baskerville, Didot, William Morris, is drawn +upon to greater or less degree by every modern printer, the volumes of +Grolier, Maiolus, or Geoffroy Tory are revived in nearly every modern +binding of importance; but your books are absolutely unique. Frankly, I +don't sympathize with all of them, but there is not one which does not +interest me. Tell me, where did you learn the art of bookmaking enough +to make yourself a master?" + +"Your praise is too high," Hamlen answered deprecatingly. + +"I am not praising your work," Huntington insisted; "that would be +presumptuous. Its merit has passed far beyond the point where praise +from me could affect it. Each volume which comes into the market is +hungrily snatched up, and we all have been eager to discover who the +master was. Where did you learn so much?" + +"I have been interested in the mechanics of printing ever since, as a +boy, I had my first press," explained Hamlen; "but I only turned to it +seriously after I came here and felt the need of something to keep my +mind engaged. I have in my library examples from probably most of the +great printers and binders, but--I'm afraid you won't understand me when +I say it--they have never interested me particularly, nor do they now. I +am only interested in what I do myself; and when I explain I am sure you +will not think me egotistical." + +"Go on," Huntington urged as Hamlen paused, but there was a break before +the speaker continued. + +"You said a moment ago that you did not sympathize with some of my +books; that is perfectly natural. I said just now that I was only +interested in my own work; that, too, I believe, is natural. I have no +knowledge of the great _incunabula_, I know nothing of the history of +printing, and in making these few books I have had no thought of +producing examples of the printer's or the binder's art: they stand to +me simply as symbolic of certain phases of myself,--some good, perhaps, +some bad; but all representative of my mood when they were made. I tell +you, Huntington"--Hamlen continued with deep intensity--"I tell you now +what I have never before put into words, that those are not books at +all; they are simply the expression of a something in my soul which +demands an outlet, and it comes out through my finger-tips. That sounds +absurd, but it is the solemn truth!" + +"Absurd?" cried Huntington. "My dear fellow, what you have just said is +the explanation of the books which we collectors, poor simple fools, +haven't been able to give. Don't you see that by your very act you have +placed yourself among the masters? What else are the sculptures of +Michelangelo, the paintings of Raphael, but the expression of their +messages to the world made through the media with which they were +familiar? With them it was stone and canvas, with you it is type and +paper and leather. Thank God you couldn't write!" + +Hamlen listened to him in amazement, unable to grasp at once the +significance or the breadth of all he heard. It was natural that +Huntington's last words should be the first in his hearer's mind. + +"What do you mean,--'thank God you couldn't write'?" + +"I mean that what you have just told me is the reason why the arts of +painting, architecture and sculpture have stood still these four hundred +and fifty years. Stop and think, man! Who in those arts has surpassed +the work of the old masters within that limit of time? No one, I say; no +one! And why? Think of your dates! Four hundred and fifty years take us +back to the invention of printing. That was what did it! With all it +accomplished for the cause of learning it was the death-knell to the +further development of the arts; for with the invention of printing came +an easier way to give to the world that message which the human soul +contains. Since then the real artist, whoever he was, instead of +laboring to express his message in stone, or bronze, or on canvas, has +simply taken pen and ink and patient paper and given the outpourings of +his soul to the dear public in the form of a book. Again I say, thank +God you couldn't write!" + +When Huntington turned to his companion he was amazed to see that he had +dropped upon a stool, with bowed head resting on his hands, was sobbing +like a child. With a woman's tenderness and intuition Huntington gently +rested his hand upon his head. + +"We have torn off the bandages too fast, my friend," he said quietly. +"Philip Hamlen doesn't belong among the 'missing men'; he belongs among +the masters of art of his generation." + + + + + * * * * * + +VIII + + * * * * * + + +Between Cosden and Billy Huntington the breach had become well-defined +during the past twenty-four hours. Up to this time the boy had +considered him merely as an unsympathetic personality, whose advice to +his uncle frequently made the task of carrying his point more difficult; +but as the point was always eventually carried Billy had borne him no +permanent ill-will. Cosden looked upon him as a spoiled child, to be +punished frequently on general principles just for the good of the +service. Now, however, affairs assumed a different footing: the boy, +jealous of the passing moments which brought the sailing of the +"Arcadian" nearer at hand, regarded the older man's action in joining in +the walk to Elba Beach as a distinct intrusion; while Cosden, +unconsciously applying his familiar business principles, deliberately +determined to eliminate the possible competition of a diverting +influence by exhibiting to the "prospect" a superior line of samples. +Not that he really considered Billy worthy of such serious attention, +but he was exercising that precaution which more than once had saved him +from committing a business mistake. + +Merry Thatcher was not unaware of the relations which existed between +the two, even though Cosden's present viewpoint was naturally unknown to +her. Billy had been particularly frank in his expressions the evening +before, and as they started off that morning he found opportunity to +paint his feelings in vivid colorings. Considering the situation as +amusing rather than serious, she held herself as a neutral observer. + +When it became evident that Cosden was in earnest in his suggestion to +accompany them, Billy was seized with an inspiration. + +"What kind of bike do you ride, Mr. Cosden?" he asked, stopping in front +of the bicycle-shed of the "Princess." + +"Bike?" Cosden echoed. "I thought we were going to walk." + +"Oh, no!" Billy assured him with confidence. "It's too far for Merry to +hike it along the pavements, and these roads are bully for wheels." + +"All right," Cosden assented without further hesitation. "I haven't +ridden for some time, but I guess I haven't forgotten how." + +"You know it's pretty tricky, riding down here in Bermuda," Billy +cautioned him. "You have to turn out to the left, and all that sort of +thing." + +"I'll take care of that," Cosden answered with decision, recognizing +what was in the boy's mind. "You go ahead and get the wheels." + +Billy's glance at Merry as Cosden turned aside to say a word to +Huntington was most expressive, and he managed to speak with her in an +undertone before the older man rejoined them. + +"The big stiff!" he ejaculated. "I hope he takes a header on this first +hill!--You know how to ride, don't you?" + +Merry's laughing nod reassured him. "Yes," she said; "it will be loads +of fun!" + +"Great! then let's tear things up a bit, and give him a run for his +money." + +Huntington stepped up with Cosden as the negro boy brought out the +wheels. + +"So you're going back to first principles, Connie?" he asked. "It must +have been you who suggested bicycles." + +"No; Billy wants to show me a thing or two about riding." + +"Show _you_!" Huntington laughed. "You'll have your hands full, my boy, +riding with him. Why, he won everything in sight in the bicycle-races on +the Mott Haven team when he was in college. He was as good as a +professional then, and I don't believe he's forgotten it all yet. Throw +out your chest, Connie, and let the lady admire your medals." + +Billy's face fell, and he looked at Merry dubiously. "Let's walk," he +said. + +"No, you don't!" Cosden insisted. "This was your idea, and now we'll see +it through. Come on." + +There was a complete reversal in the boy's spirits. The way Cosden +handled the wheel showed clearly enough that bicycle-riding was second +nature to him, and Billy's interest in the trip had obviously waned. But +Merry had already mounted and was starting on behind Cosden, so nothing +remained for him but to follow. Down past the tennis-courts, out onto +Front Street, winding through the closely-packed buildings of the town +itself, past Parliament House and Pembroke Hall, with its magnificent +group of Royal Palms, then around the harbor, they soon found themselves +riding between gardens and great trees on either side, which protected +the coraline houses, with their curious tiled roofs, from the glare of +the sun and the inquisitive gaze of the passers-by. + +"Can you take that hill without dismounting?" Cosden challenged Merry, +as they approached a steep rise in the road. + +"Try me!" she answered gaily. + +"Oh, what's the use in tiring Merry all out?" Billy protested. "This +isn't an endurance test; we're out for fun." + +"We'll wait for you," the girl taunted him laughingly, and the two shot +ahead for the hill. The boy muttered something about Mr. Cosden which +undoubtedly would have been much to the point had it been heard, and +pedaled hard to make up for their start, but he reached the top of the +incline in considerably poorer condition than either of the others. + +"Whew!" Billy puffed, "let's stop a minute; there's a dandy view from +here." + +"Shall we rest?" Cosden asked Merry. + +"Not on my account," she replied unhelpfully. "I'm perfectly fresh, and +the ride is exhilarating." + +"Then it would be a pity to be held back by Billy's inexperience," +Cosden commented, glancing at him with a malicious smile. "On, on to +Elba Beach!" + +The boy managed nearly to keep up with them for the balance of the +distance, but was quite ready to throw himself on the ground when they +arrived at their destination. + +"Those are the 'boilers,' Billy," Merry announced to him, as they found +the expanse of sea spread out before them, with the curious coral atols +in the foreground, around which the water seethed. + +"Nothing that boils interests me in the least," was the unenthusiastic +reply. "Lead me to an ice-chest and I'll give it the bunny-hug. Say, Mr. +Cosden, you are some rider, aren't you? And Merry is no slouch!" + +"I'm glad you suggested the change," Cosden said. "I have underrated +your headwork, my boy." + +"You certainly ride mighty well for a man your age,--doesn't he, Merry?" +Billy continued with apparent good humor, but, aggravated to a point of +impertinence by the patronizing attitude, he determined to break even +with his tormentor. "Your wind is good, and the way you pedaled up that +hill made me forget that you were old enough to be my father. You're +mighty well preserved, aren't you?" + +Cosden was nettled. "Your idea of age needs some revision," he retorted +sharply. "If I were to figure things the same way, I would suggest that +the next time you come to Elba Beach you use an automobile perambulator +instead of a bicycle.--Now let's call it quits." + +"They don't allow automobiles down here," Billy corrected seriously. +"That's one reason why I came. I never want to see a buzz-wagon again." + +"Skid, collision, run-over, smash-up--" Merry began helpfully. + +"No--worse still," Billy rejoined slowly, evidently surveying the past +in his mind.--"Say, Phil was in this, too." + +"Phil?" the girl echoed anxiously. "He wasn't hurt, was he?" + +"No, not hurt exactly; but we both had the shivers all right, and the +more I think it over the less of a joke it seems to me. You see, Bud +Warner has a crackerjack car, and he asked Phil and me to dash out with +him one afternoon. The first thing we knew he turned in at a place out +in Belmont, rode to the front door, and went on in to fuss a dame there +that he's been rushing. Well, Phil and I cooled our heels half an hour +waiting for him and then we thought we'd get even by giving him the +slip, for it was a good two miles' walk to the cars and Bud is no bear +as a walker. We slid out with the motor all right, but just before we +reached Harvard Square a wise-guy cop pinched us for stealing the car, +and ran us both in." + +"Arrested you for stealing?" Merry demanded. + +"Surest thing you know," Billy confirmed. "When Bud found we'd slipped +him, he was sore, and to get even he telephoned the police-station, gave +them the number of the car, and said it had been stolen. Oh! we were in +bad, for fair." + +"And Uncle Monty far from home," commented Cosden. + +"Yes," Billy admitted; "I didn't know it at the time or I should have +been still more peeved. Well--we stayed there in the cooler for two +hours when Bud showed up and was brought in where we were. He gave us +the once over, and acted as if he'd never seen us before in all his +young life. 'I couldn't have believed it of such respectable-looking +young men,' he said,--the darned hypocrite! 'I couldn't send them to +State's prison,' said he, 'on account of their families.' Then he made +an imitation like thinking, and finally he said, 'Officer, I withdraw +the charge of theft, but ask you to hold the prisoners for exceeding the +speed limit.--What's the bail? I'll help them out for the sake of their +families.' So he bailed us out, and we went back together, with Bud +thinking he'd played us a fine, swell joke." + +"Did you jump your bail?" Merry inquired, thoroughly amused. + +"No; we didn't dare. We came up before the judge next morning, and it +cost us ten bones apiece and costs. That's what made me so short on my +Christmas money." + +"I'll guarantee you found some way to get around that," Cosden said, +suggestively egging him on to display his youthfulness. + +Billy grinned. "I had to," he admitted. "I thought I could get some +money from Uncle Monty, but he had gone away, so I had Mother's present +charged to Father, and Father's present charged to Mother." + +"Frenzied finance!" cried Cosden, amused in spite of his desire to +disparage the boy. "You are wasting your time in college; you should be +in Wall Street." + +"Your advice ought to be good, Mr. Cosden," agreed Billy, "for you +certainly know how to make your money work overtime. I can always tell +when Uncle Monty gives me any of the tired cash he wins out of you from +the gratitude it shows for getting a little rest." + +Cosden did not like Billy's come-backs, and he did not like the +amusement which he saw restrained in Merry's face. Still, he accepted +the responsibility in large measure for putting himself on the boy's +level. + +"I'd like to have charge of your business education," he said +significantly. + +"It may come to that," the boy said with a total lack of enthusiasm. +"That's the one real threat Uncle Monty always holds over me." + +"You are impertinent--" Cosden realized that the ragging was going too +far. + +"Who began it?" was the retort. + +"Who is going to invite me to have some strawberries and cream?" Merry +interrupted, feeling it to be her mission to come to the rescue, and +recognizing Billy's mistake in antagonizing so close a friend of his +uncle. + +Billy was on his feet in an instant, but Cosden was ahead of him. + +"I know the place," Merry said. "You see, I'm the old settler here, so +I'll show you all the attractions. Think of strawberries and cream in +January!--Won't you go ahead of us, Mr. Cosden, and ask the boy to put a +table out on the piazza? It will be lovely there." + +As Cosden moved out of earshot she turned to her companion. + +"You must not upset him like that, Billy," she reproved him firmly; +"your uncle will never forgive you." + +"He has no right to butt in on us," the boy protested gloomily. + +"But he's here, and you must be civil to him. Think how much older he is +than you are, and you're quarreling with him as if he were your own +age." + +"Oh, I'll be civil to him if he'll only can his grouch. Why, he got sore +with me for kidding him about his age, yet you noticed how old he is +yourself." + +"He isn't old, Billy. Why, he's younger than Mr. Huntington, isn't he?" + +"Perhaps he is; but Uncle Monty always makes you feel that he's your own +age. I never think of him any differently than I do of any of my other +pals. But Mr. Cosden--ugh!" + +"I know, Billy; but you don't want to say anything that will queer you +with your uncle, do you?" + +Billy looked at her quizzically before he replied, then his broad, +good-natured grin replaced the frown. + +"I get you, Stevie--what's the feminine for Steve, anyhow? You mean that +a fellow ought not to make _pâté de foie gras_ out of the goose that +lays the golden eggs.--Say, Merry, you're wonderful, you are,--simply +wonderful!" + + + + + * * * * * + +IX + + * * * * * + + +On their return from the Barracks Mrs. Thatcher and Edith Stevens left +the men on the piazza and went up-stairs for the ostensible purpose of +lying down, but with that ease with which two women change their plans +when once alone they found themselves sitting in Marian's room, engaged +in a heart-to-heart conversation. + +"I really think he might do," Edith remarked, à propos of nothing. + +As Mrs. Thatcher was intimately acquainted with Edith's mental processes +the remark was more intelligible than might have been expected. + +"You don't mean Philip Hamlen?" + +Edith laughed. "No; you warned me off of him yesterday. I mean Mr. +Cosden." + +"At it again?" Marian laughed. "Edith, you are absolutely incorrigible! +It has been so long since you have played ducks and drakes with a man +that I really believed you had reformed. You are old enough to know +better!" + +"I presume it will be the same with him as with the others," Edith +sighed. "That is my great weakness, I admit: I like a man just so long, +and then he bores me stiff. I don't see how a married woman stands it +to have only one man around her all the time. If you were as honest as I +am you would admit that it would be a relief to you, every now and then +if you could pour out your breakfast coffee with some one else sitting +in front of you instead of Harry." + +"Harry answers very well, thank you." + +"Habit, nothing else," Edith insisted. "He's as much a part of the +family furniture as the grand piano. But that's what gives me hope: if +you and so many other women can endure it, why can't I?" + +"There are hundreds of men; why pick on Mr. Cosden?" + +"I had a long, experimental conversation with him last night while you +and Mr. Huntington were holding your revival meeting on the pier, and I +really think he might do. Tell me what you know about him." + +"Only what Harry has told me. They have had some business dealings +together, and Harry says he has made a lot of money. The fact that Monty +Huntington is his friend is his best recommendation." + +"Mr. Huntington has a good social position in Boston, hasn't he?" + +"Good heavens, yes! I believe one of his ancestors discovered Beacon +Street, or something of that kind; but that doesn't imply that Mr. +Cosden has the same position. A bachelor may have friends at his clubs +whom he does not necessarily bring into his social circle,--especially +in Boston." + +"Mr. Cosden is frightfully commercial," Edith meditated aloud. + +"So are you," Marian broke in laughing. + +"I don't mind that," Edith continued, "so long as he has a human side. +I believe I could serve as a counter-irritant to keep him from remaining +merely a machine. + +"You mustn't take away his capacity as provider," Marian teased her; "he +would need a fairly stiff income to sail the good ship 'Edith Stevens.'" + +"With everything I want costing more and everything I own yielding less, +that is of vital importance, of course. But I really believe +Cossie--Connie--whatever they call him, might do." + +"Well, it's fine to have that all settled, my dear," Marian agreed, +still showing her amusement. "Now, when are you going to break the news +to him?" + +"Ah! that's another question!" Edith answered, entirely unabashed. +"Couldn't you find out from Mr. Huntington something about his hobbies +and his antipathies?" + +"Of course; unless you select some one else in the mean time. Perhaps +we'd better wait until after luncheon." + +"Oh, I'm serious," Edith protested,--"provided of course that he +measures up all right. The more I think it over the more serious I +become. Ricky was particularly trying this morning; I'm aghast at the +amount of last month's bills, and all in all it makes me realize the +importance of not letting one's age become an indiscretion. Even you +referred to my passing years." + +"Poor Ricky!" Marian said sympathetically; "he never gets any credit for +sacrificing himself." + +"I've acted in the interests of my sex," Edith asserted stoutly. "Ricky +is a joke. Except for the fact that he's my own brother I'd say he was +a scream. If it hadn't been for me he would have married some girl and +bored her to extinction. She couldn't have escaped him, but I can. +Somebody owes me a debt of gratitude." + +"Well," Marian sighed, "I wish you luck; if Mr. Cosden isn't smart +enough to protect himself it will be his own fault." + +"Why be catty, Marian?" Edith retorted with asperity. "It isn't +becoming." + +Marian laughed. "You silly child!" she said. "You are the most supremely +selfish creature in the world, but you are so blissfully unconscious of +the fact that I love you for it. Some one has to stand up for Ricky; +Heaven knows he can't stand up for himself." + +"Very good." Edith was only partly mollified. "I've no doubt Ricky will +be exceedingly grateful, but if you were to ask me I'd say that you have +men enough on your hands already without him. Now, I'm going to my room +to dress for luncheon. Afterwards, when you find an opportunity, I want +you to pump Mr. Huntington dry about Cossie--Connie--I'll never get used +to that name!--and leave me to do the rest." + +Unconscious of plots and counterplots, Cosden and Huntington sauntered +innocently onto the piazza after their noonday meal. Billy had managed +to get himself invited to the Thatchers' table, so the two friends had +lunched by themselves. Both were self-centered, but neither noticed it +because of his own abstraction. Cosden was measuring up the girl as his +opportunity for observation broadened, Huntington was still affected by +his experience with Hamlen. Curiously enough, in spite of their +friendship, or perhaps because their intimacy gave each so clear a +knowledge of the other's characteristics neither one cared to speak of +the subject which was uppermost in his mind. "Monty is too much of a +cynic to appreciate my situation here," Cosden told himself; and +Huntington, without even mentally putting it into words, knew that +Hamlen did not and never would appeal to Cosden. + +Shortly after the men had lighted their cigars the party from the +Thatchers' table joined them. Marian noticed that Edith casually dropped +into the chair beside Cosden's, and was amused to see that she began +operations at once. + +"What are we going to do this afternoon?" Edith queried breezily. + +"We've all been going since breakfast," Stevens suggested; "why not sit +still for a while?" + +"Ricky!" said his sister severely, "no one asked your opinion. What in +the world is the use of sitting still? We can do that at home." + +"What do you suggest?" Cosden asked her incautiously. + +"Have you been to Harrington Sound?" + +"No," he admitted; recognizing at once that he had given an unwise +opening. + +"Then why don't you let me show you the way?" Edith asked, as if the +thought had only just occurred to her. + +A chorus of approval went up from Huntington, Mrs. Thatcher and Billy. + +"Suppose we all go," Cosden said, seeking safety in numbers. + +"We have taken the drive several times," Mrs. Thatcher abetted Edith in +her conspiracy, "and I am sure Mr. Huntington is too gallant to leave +us. You can drive over and back comfortably by dinner-time." + +"Won't you stop on the way home and get me some coral sand?" Merry +asked. "Edith will show you the beach." + +A drive with Miss Stevens was the last thing Cosden had intended, but as +there seemed no possible escape he rose to the occasion and at once +ordered the victoria. Nor was the enthusiasm of Billy's send-off +balm-of-Gilead to his soul as the carriage moved away from the hotel +steps. Edith, in a suit of white Bermuda doe-skin, with a small purple +hat perched rakishly on her head, and carrying a purple parasol with +handle of abalone pearl, was looking her best, and to the amused +onlookers her snapping eyes and beaming countenance seemed to promise +compensation. + +"I wish we might have a word together about Hamlen," Huntington remarked +to Marian as they turned back to the piazza. + +"That is the very subject which is uppermost in my mind," she replied +eagerly. "You saw him this morning?" + +"Yes; and he has absorbed my thoughts ever since. Suppose we sit down +and talk him over." + +The others in the party left them to themselves. They had heard +Huntington's preliminary remark, and understood that they had no part in +the conversation. + +"He is a pathetic figure," Huntington continued, "and he has won a +sympathy from me which I never remember to have given to any one before. +Think of twenty years of solitude! By Jove! he is the Modern Edmond +Dantes!" + +"I've known him since he was a boy," Marian said as Huntington paused +for a moment. "If you are to understand the situation, perhaps I ought +to tell you more. For a time, we were engaged, but these relations were +broken off soon after his graduation. In fact I feel that I am to a +certain extent responsible for his present condition, for he left +America as soon as he heard of my engagement to Mr. Thatcher." + +Huntington looked up quickly. "That gives Hamlen and me another bond of +sympathy," he said quietly. + +"What do you mean?" she asked, surprised. + +"That same announcement produced disastrous effects upon my life as +well." + +"Why, you never saw me half a dozen times--" + +"Once was enough," he replied seriously. + +"Your imagination is as highly developed as your gallantry, Mr. +Huntington," Marian laughed; "but we mustn't let ourselves become +diverted.--Philip Hamlen was always sensitive and moody, but until I +discovered him down here I had no idea these characteristics could +become so exaggerated." + +"He believes himself always to have been misunderstood," Huntington +added. "To-day he felt that we met on common ground, and the gratitude +in his eyes still haunts me." + +"Can't we do something for him, between us?" she asked earnestly. + +"We must," Huntington assented with decision. "I am still puzzling over +the problem. Have you anything to suggest?" + +Mrs. Thatcher did not reply at once, and Huntington respected her +silence. He realized that her answer could not be given spontaneously, +that the proposition was too vital for anything but the most serious +consideration. As a matter of fact, however, she had already considered +it. Marian Thatcher was a woman of strong impulses, with strength of +will equal to carry them through to success. She had been appalled by +Hamlen's condition, and felt keenly her personal responsibility. During +the hours which had intervened since the accidental meeting, many of +them sleepless hours of the night, she had searched her mind for some +expedient which should in part work restitution. She had discovered a +possible solution, but it was of a nature so intimate that she hesitated +to take Huntington into her confidence. + +"I had thought--" she began at length, but then she paused. "We must +pull him out of himself," she began again; "we must get him where he +will find something to think of other than himself." + +"Suppose that to be accomplished, what then?" + +"I had thought--he needs--he needs a woman who believes in him, to give +him courage, to restore his lost faith in himself. A friendship such as +you or any other man can give will help much, but if the right woman +could happen to come into his life--" + +"Isn't that taking too long a step for a first one? Huntington +inquired. + +"Perhaps; but I feel myself so largely responsible that it would mean +much to me to atone--" + +Marian's intensity made its impression upon Huntington even as it had +upon Hamlen; but he could not follow her. How a married woman could make +atonement just at this crisis was not clearly apparent. She realized +that her stumbling remarks must be confusing. + +"It is difficult for me to tell you just what I have in mind," she +stated definitely at length. "You don't know me well enough not to +misunderstand, and you don't know Merry. But if I am to accept your aid +I must run that risk, mustn't I?" + +"I shall try not to misunderstand--" + +"You mustn't think me unmotherly or indelicate," she continued. "It may +be the last thing in the world which ought to happen, but if Philip +Hamlen and Merry should take it into their heads to marry it would seem +almost like poetic justice, wouldn't it?" + +"By Jove, no!" Huntington ejaculated hastily, with visions of Cosden +swimming before his eyes. + +"Of course you are surprised," Marian said, laughing consciously; "but +if you think of it you must admit that Merry would make him an ideal +wife, and I believe he would be a wonderful husband. Her interest has +always been in men older than herself, and he is only now ready to enjoy +his youth. Of course, it is only an idea, but stranger things than that +have happened." + +"Well," he said guardedly, sparring for time, "that may be the ultimate +outcome; but first of all we must do a bit of humanizing. I would like +to take him back to Boston to pay me a long visit if he would go. After +that, we could see how things worked out." + +"Splendid!" Marian exclaimed; "and being in Boston he would be nearer my +Philip. That was the one suggestion which seemed to appeal to him when I +tried to persuade him to leave Bermuda. He would be much more likely to +accept the suggestion from you than from me. The boy is named for him, +and I believe they could do much for each other." + +"Capital!" echoed Huntington. "I know from experience how much a boy can +do to keep an older man from thinking too much about himself. We are +making progress. I will do my best to drag him away from here, and if I +succeed we will arrange with Philip to take charge of that side of his +education." + +Marian smiled gratefully as she heard the plan put definitely into +words. "You have relieved me of an oppressive burden," she said +feelingly. "It is such a relief to talk the matter over with some one +who really understands. Don't misjudge me by what I suggest about Merry. +I can't forget the closeness of those earlier relations, I can't forget +my responsibility, and I shouldn't be true to myself if I failed to do +all in my power to bring Philip Hamlen back to himself." + +"His natural qualities and his helplessness form a strong appeal," +Huntington replied evasively. "I shall be glad to assist in this +socialistic experiment, Mrs. Thatcher, but I'm not quite sure that I am +wholly sympathetic." + +"You will see more reason in my suggestion after you know them both +better," Marian said confidently, placing her hand within the one +outstretched to her. "When you do, I am sure I shall have your cordial +co-operation in bringing about the match." + +"If you are right, I shall ask that my case be placed next upon the +calendar." + +"Willingly!" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "I'll find a wife within a month." + +"Heaven forbid!" he cried. "Unless--" he added slyly;--"unless you +become a widow in the mean time!" + + + + + * * * * * + +X + + * * * * * + + +For some reason best known to himself Huntington did not confide to +Cosden the fact that Mrs. Thatcher had suggested the possibility of a +match between Merry and Hamlen. She had referred to it as "poetic +justice"; perhaps Huntington, knowing his friend to be unsympathetic in +his relations toward poetry in general, might fail to appreciate the +present application, particularly since he himself, though possessing +pronounced fondness for the poets, had not fully risen to the idea. As a +matter of fact, the suggestion shocked him no less than Cosden's +business-like proposition concerning his own marriage. What were people +thinking of, these days! + +He looked forward to the morrow and to the sailing of the "Arcadian" +with a sense of partial relief, for Billy's boyish infatuation and +Cosden's impatient demands for interference had considerably disturbed +his tranquillity. Huntington was a man of action when he so elected, and +he enjoyed doing things when they were of his own choice and could be +done in his own time and way; but nothing annoyed him more than to be +forced into action by another's choice or election. Now, just as he saw +one disturbing element about to be eliminated, another of seemingly +greater magnitude loomed up on the horizon, and he cordially wished +himself back in Boston with nothing more serious than the east winds to +worry him. + +But no disturbing element was apparent in his face as he stepped out +onto the piazza after his leisurely breakfast the following morning. +Glancing around, he discovered Cosden and Miss Stevens standing at the +further corner, watching the hustle of the departing guests. + +"You're just in time to witness the great event of the day," she greeted +him as he joined them, pleased that she had Cosden and Huntington even +temporarily to herself. "One of the best things they do down here is to +arrange the sailings to New York at a time when one may see the boat off +without getting up at all hours of the night." + +Cosden started to speak and then paused, looking at her narrowly to make +certain that by no possible construction could any answer of his be +twisted into an invitation to drive to St. George's, or to some other +point equally remote. + +"Your remark shows that you and Mr. Huntington have much in common," he +observed at length. + +"Ability to sleep is an evidence of a clear conscience," she asserted. + +"Which explains my restless nights, and the necessity of making up my +quota at the wrong end," Huntington said. + +"But you come from New England, Mr. Huntington," Edith expostulated. +"I've always heard a lot about the New England conscience." + +"I'll wager you never heard anything good about it," Huntington smiled. + +"Does it ever really keep any one from doing the things he wants to do?" +she asked mischievously. + +"No," Huntington answered gravely; "it simply makes him very +uncomfortable while he's doing them." + +"I thought your sleeplessness might be caused by anxiety lest that +precious nephew of yours forget to take the boat this morning," Cosden +remarked dryly. + +Huntington was quietly amused. "How about you?" he asked. + +"I'm here to throw him bodily on board at the first sign of any change +of plan." + +"You speak as if you had a grudge against the boy," Edith said, looking +surprised. + +"Not at all," Cosden demurred; "Billy is all right, but he covers too +much territory. Since he landed I haven't been able to put my foot on +the ground without stepping on him. His Alma Mater needs Billy more than +I do, and, as Monty says, we alumni must be loyal to our Dear Mother." + +"His Alma Mater will have to do without him for a few days longer unless +he appears soon," Edith remarked calmly, pointing toward the dock. "The +tender has just started and will be here at the pier in a moment." + +Both men sprang to their feet. + +"Where in the world can that boy be?" Huntington demanded with real +concern. + +"You go up to his room and I'll look around down here," Cosden said, +taking command of the situation. + +Huntington disappeared with astonishing alacrity, while his friend +deserted Miss Stevens to pursue the search down-stairs. + +"Why don't you find Miss Thatcher?" Cosden suggested, coming back to her +as the idea struck him; "that will probably locate the boy." + +"I'd rather watch the man-hunt from here," she retorted coolly. "I don't +want to miss seeing you throw him bodily on board." + +The tender came slowly alongside the "Princess" steps, taking on board +the passengers from the hotel. Cosden and Huntington both appeared from +different directions as the gang-plank was drawn up and the little +steamer's screw began to churn. Huntington was out of breath, but not +empty-handed--he carried with him a bag which showed evidences of hectic +packing, with pajama strings hanging out from the partially closed top. + +"He hadn't even packed his things!" Huntington panted indignantly. + +"Stay here a moment," Cosden said, leaving him standing irresolutely at +the top of the stone steps, watching the stretch of water increase +between the departing tender and the pier. + +"Please turn this way," Edith called, leveling her camera at him from +the piazza rail. "I want to be sure to get that suit-case into the +picture." + +"Wait until Connie comes back," Huntington begged. + +At that moment a disheveled figure appeared running frantically up the +"Princess" driveway. + +"I've lost my boat!" Billy cried with well-simulated despair. + +"You did it deliberately, you young rascal!" Huntington cried, aroused +at last to exasperation. + +"Uncle Monty!" Billy's face wore an injured expression which would have +fitted a Raphael cherub. "You know I wouldn't have missed that boat for +anything. I'm sure to be rooked if I'm not in Cambridge Thursday." + +Cosden joined them in time to hear Billy's expostulations. "We couldn't +let that happen," he said comfortingly. "Come on; I've fixed it up with +the jolly skipper in this motor-boat. He swears he can reach the +'Arcadian' before the tender does. Quick! there isn't a minute to lose!" + +"But I haven't packed my bag--" + +"Here it is!" + +Huntington removed Billy's one remaining hope, and the boy saw that he +was fairly beaten. + +The broad grin returned to his face as he took his bag. "That's mighty +good of you, Mr. Cosden," he said, with such apparent sincerity that it +disarmed his uncle's wrath. "There aren't many men who would help a +fellow out like that. I won't forget it!" + +He ran down the stone steps and took his place in the stern of the +motor-boat. "Good-bye, everybody! Say, Uncle Monty, explain to Merry why +I didn't have time to say 'good-bye' to her, and don't forget that this +joy-ride is on Mr. Cosden. Good-bye!" + +They watched the little boat speed after the tender, which by this time +had reached the narrows; then they turned back to the piazza. + +"We've succeeded in making ourselves fairly conspicuous," Cosden +remarked. "A good deal of fuss over one small boy, eh, Monty?" + +"Thank you so much!" Edith cried enthusiastically as they joined her. "I +haven't seen so much excitement since I arrived,--and I love to watch +two live men in action." + +"It's frightful, being stared at, isn't it?" Cosden protested. + +"Don't believe a word he says, Miss Stevens," Huntington retaliated. "He +really loves to be stared at; it's the disappointment on the people's +faces after looking at him that causes the worry.--Now, Connie, you can +put your foot on the ground without stepping on Billy. How are you +planning to take advantage of your opportunity?" + +Cosden glanced at his watch. "I have an appointment with Thatcher at +eleven on that little business proposition. We're to meet at the +'Hamilton.' I've just about time to keep it. As for you, I suggest that +you invite Miss Stevens to show you the way to the Devil's Hole. They +have a wonderful collection of fish over there, which the Scotch keeper +puts through their paces every little while whenever he needs the money. +I commend your attention to the bachelor-fish: it has a bad disposition, +makes itself obnoxious to its fellow-creatures, and would be sarcastic +in its conversation if it had the power of speech." + +With this parting shot Cosden made his excuses to Miss Stevens and +walked over to the "Hamilton." His spirits had improved immensely within +the past half-hour, and the proximity of his appointment caused him to +forget for the moment that his vacation trip thus far had distinctly +bored him. To Cosden a vacation consisted, as Henry James would have +described it, of "agitated scraps of rest, snatched by the liveliest +violence." On other occasions, when he sought relaxation, he had found +it in strenuous physical exercise; in the present instance he had +intended to engage himself in the more unfamiliar occupation of offering +a partnership to Merry Thatcher in the "Cosden Social Development +Company, Limited," although he had not expressed it to himself in just +these words. In this expectation he had so far signally failed. Had he +been a baron of old he might have seized the prospective bride bodily +and made off with her to his ancestral castle, but, even with the +handicap imposed by modern civilization, now that the diverting +influence had been eliminated, he believed the opportunity was nearer to +the point of offering itself. The fact that Thatcher had turned to him +in this proposition, whatever it was, not only pleased him as a further +evidence of recognition, but supplied him with an agreeable outlet for +his pent-up energy. + +Cosden had told Huntington that Thatcher was a "big man," and his +friend, having learned his business vocabulary, understood what was +meant by this designation: Thatcher was a man of substantial means, held +influential positions on important boards, and wielded a power in the +financial circles in which he moved. Cosden had been far-sighted, he +told himself, to have happened upon the scene at this particular +juncture, for Thatcher would scarcely have gone out of his way to invite +him to join in the enterprise except for the coincidence of their +meeting; and Cosden was not averse to being included in the Thatcher +group of operators. + +Thatcher was awaiting him on the lower piazza when he arrived at the +"Hamilton." + +"I wanted to have a few words with you before we join this promoter +person up-stairs," he explained, "so I sent Stevens on ahead to tell him +we are on our way. Duncan is the man's name. He's a Scotchman who has +lived down here for many years. He has little education, and you could +cut his brogue with a knife." + +"I won't object to his brogue if his signature is any good at the foot +of a check," Cosden interrupted. + +"He doesn't come in on that end," Thatcher continued. "The idea is his, +and he can be of service later on if we proceed with it. It isn't very +large, and we can finance it easily if the thing is worth taking up at +all. The scheme is to fit Bermuda out with a trolley system, and to +bring the right tidy little island down to the twentieth century." + +"Not a bad suggestion," Cosden commented,--"and a great improvement upon +the present system of bicycling." Billy would have rejoiced had he known +how stiff his adversary's legs were after the famous ride to Elba Beach. +"Why hasn't some one thought of it before?" + +"Duncan will tell you the story as he has told me," Thatcher said +rising. "Come, let us go to him now. Ricky will have exhausted his +vocabulary by this time." + +Cosden smiled at the mention of Stevens' name. "He's a curious +fellow,--Stevens," he remarked. "With that vacant expression on his face +he ought to make a corking poker-player. Is he interested in this +deal?" + +"Ricky interested in business?" Thatcher laughed. "He would run a mile +to avoid it! No, he's just a messenger this morning; but Ricky is all +right in his way. He's the society member of his family. He isn't a +heavy-weight, but when it comes to dancing or the latest word in men's +attire, you can't overlook Ricky." + + * * * * * + +Cosden's departure left Huntington and Miss Stevens together on the +piazza of the hotel. The bustle attendant upon the sailing had quieted +down but Huntington had not recovered from the unusually violent action +of the past few moments. + +"I was going over to have another visit with Hamlen," he remarked, "but +the morning is gone." + +"It isn't eleven o'clock yet," Miss Stevens commented. + +"By Jove! is that all? Well, it's too late now, but I'll go this +afternoon.--It seems as if ages had passed since breakfast! Do you +suppose they'll keep that boy on board once they get him there?" + +"Of course," she laughed. "Why worry about him?" + +"I'm not worrying," Huntington protested. "I never worry,--I don't +believe in it. Worry is for parents and married people generally." + +"What a cynic you are on the subject of marriage," Edith remarked; "you +never pass an opportunity to knock it, do you?" + +"Am I so heartless as all that?" Huntington inquired by way of answer. +"But why can't you and I, who may class ourselves among those fortunate +ones who have escaped the snares, be honest with each other and enjoy +watching the thraldom of others who have shown themselves less +discreet?" + +"How do you know that I do class myself among the fortunate ones?" + +"Because you are unmarried, and seeing you is to know that you could not +enjoy that blessed state except through choice." + +Edith smiled at his gallantry, wondering whether he was really as +flippant as he would have her think. + +"If a woman were to take that position she would be accused of 'sour +grapes,' wouldn't she?" + +"Probably; such is the instinctive pessimism of the times. It is so much +easier to do the conventional when one sees it going on all about him +that people are intellectually incapable of comprehending that to avoid +the obvious may be a matter of pre-determination, and an evidence of +strength rather than the result of accident or an act of omission." + +"Does Mr. Cosden share your views upon this subject?" Edith inquired. + +"Not at the present moment, if I am credibly informed by my +observations." + +Edith looked at him critically. "Do you mean that he is engaged?" she +asked pointedly. + +"Oh, no," Huntington disclaimed promptly, conscious that he was talking +of his friend with considerable freedom, but suddenly inspired with the +idea that it might help the situation; "no, I didn't mean that at all. +He isn't as careful as he used to be about exposing himself; that is +what I was trying to say. You see, I don't know how long inoculation +holds good: it's seven years for smallpox, and three years for typhoid. +How long should you say a man could hold out against matrimony on the +same ratio?" + +"When was Mr. Cosden 'inoculated,' as you call it?" she asked, smiling. + +"When he started out to make his fortune, about fifteen years ago." + +"Then I'm sure it has run out of his system long since," she laughed. +"He ought to be very susceptible." + +"I'm afraid you're right," Huntington sighed. "Of course, Connie has a +strong, robust constitution and he may pull through, but I will admit +that I've seen symptoms lately which cause me some anxiety. Did you +notice anything while you were out driving?" + +"I noticed a good many things, but nothing which would contribute to the +subject you mention. He was about as responsive as the wrong side of a +mirror, but I talked at him until he had to say something in +self-defense." + +"Dear me!" Huntington held up his hands deprecatingly. "That is one of +the worst symptoms possible. I had no idea that it had gone as far as +that. You and I must take Connie in hand." + +"Who is the girl?" Edith demanded abruptly. + +"Ah! I am counting on you to help me find out." + +"It all must have happened before you came down here." + +"On the contrary; Connie was quite himself until he reached Bermuda. +Since then--" + +"Why, he hasn't met any one here except--" + +"You and Miss Thatcher," Huntington completed. "You see how the search +narrows itself. I shall continue my investigations until I discover the +truth. + +"How perfectly ridiculous!" Edith cried, not yet convinced as to his +sincerity. "Why, Merry is a mere child, and--what makes you think there +is anything of that kind in Mr. Cosden's mind?" + +"His vindictiveness. Haven't you noticed the way he treated Billy? And +he has actually been harsh with me on two occasions. It isn't like +Connie; and if it affects him like this now, Heaven alone knows what the +outcome will be if matters go further. You know the old song: + + "_You may carve it on his tombstone, you may cut it on his card, + That a young man married is a young man marred._" + +"There you go again," laughed Edith; "the cynic once more leaps into the +limelight." + +"But won't you pledge yourself to assist me in my noble work? Why not +form ourselves into a society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Single +Persons, and be sworn to do all we can to intervene between matrimony +and its victims?" + +"Of course each would be at liberty to use his own judgment?" queried +Edith, amused. + +"Yes; so long as he did not confound judgment with sentiment." + +"That is a capital suggestion," she agreed smiling. "I will gladly join +you. Our first undertaking, I presume, will be to prevent affairs from +going any further between Merry and Mr. Cosden--granting that they +exist?" + +"I don't say that. I recognize in you a superior person, and as such I +have absolute confidence that you will act in accord with the unwritten +constitution of our Society." + +"Thank you for that confidence," Edith said still smiling. Then she +added enigmatically, "Whenever I accept a responsibility I always rise +promptly to the emergency. In the present instance it requires careful +consideration. Now, if you will excuse me I will take my morning +constitutional." + +Huntington was not sorry to have a few moments of solitary +contemplation. Throwing away a half-smoked cigar, he drew his pipe from +his pocket and filled it with his favorite mixture--unchanged since he +first became acquainted with it at college. A cigarette represented to +Huntington the casual inconsequence of youth, a cigar the aristocracy of +smoking, a pipe that comfortable companionship which encourages +relaxation and introspective thought. With the first whiff he pulled his +hat down over his face, settled deep in his chair, and began to run over +the events of the past few days. Huntington's mind was methodical if not +always orderly, and his account of stock, when finally classified under +the head of "responsibilities," summed up about as follows: + + _Responsibility 1_: To keep peace with Connie, and yet + persuade him against or frighten him out of his present + assinine intentions. + + _Responsibility 2_: To pull Hamlen out of the solitary life + which he had affected, and to force him to assume that + position in the world to which he rightly belonged. + + _Responsibility 3_: To demonstrate to Mrs. Thatcher that her + unmotherly idea of making restitution to Hamlen by throwing + her daughter at his head was the product of an overwrought + sentimentality rather than a rational suggestion. + + _Responsibility 4_: To become sufficiently intimate with + Merry, the direct or indirect occasion of the entire + complication, to be able to judge as to the probable outcome + of all the other responsibilities. + +The sum total of his obligations appalled him, and he found himself +proceeding in a mental circle, making no progress beyond the +recapitulation. He was not displeased, therefore, when he found himself +interrupted in his reveries by a bell-boy who stood before him, holding +out a tray containing a telegram. He took it mechanically, wondering who +had located him in this island retreat. Opening the yellow envelope he +read the following message, sent by wireless from the "Arcadian": + + "_That Cosden person has slipped it over on me this time, + but I depend on you to watch out for my interests with + Merry. She is the one best bet. Don't let that antique + vintage of 1875 annoy her with his attentions. I know I can + trust you. Please cable money to me in New York care of + Hotel Biltmore to pay for this message and other expenses to + Cambridge._ + + "BILLY." + +Huntington groaned aloud as he twisted uncomfortably in his chair. +"Another responsibility to add to the others!" he cried, "and I believed +bachelor's life one of freedom and ease! If ever I get out of this mess +I'll bury myself in some monastery, and let its cold grey walls protect +me against the matrimonial madness of the world!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XI + + * * * * * + + +By a curious coincidence Edith Stevens' "morning constitutional" took +her in the direction of the "Hamilton," and by another coincidence, +equally curious, she met Thatcher, Cosden, and her brother as they +emerged from the hotel after their conference with Duncan. Cosden was +still in an elated mental condition as a result of the fact that he had +again placed himself within the control of his master passion. Even +though Thatcher spoke of the enterprise as "small," it was an opening +wedge, and Cosden knew how to make the most of an opening. + +The visit to Bermuda had already taught him that he was engaging in a +game of which he did not know even the first rudiments. It had seemed +easy enough to him when he first undertook it, but the experience of +these few days had undeceived him. When in the past he had wanted +anything, he simply played the game until he won out; now he saw that in +spite of his claim that marriage firmly rested upon basic business +principles, there was a certain hiatus which could not be filled in by +the education derived from every-day business routine in a +counting-room. He had met no discouragements as yet, but he was making +no beginning, and that of course was retrogression. + +As he saw Miss Stevens approaching Cosden was seized with one of those +inspirations which had made his business career so signal a success. It +was stupid of him not to have thought of it before! Whenever he wanted +advice upon factory management he employed the best expert he could +secure; now that he required specialized service in the matter of +approaching Miss Thatcher upon the delicate subject he had in mind, why +should he not employ the same method? Every woman was by nature a +specialist in affairs of this kind, and from what he had already seen of +Miss Stevens he believed he could scarcely have selected one better +fitted to act in the capacity suggested. + +It was easy enough to manoeuver matters so that he should walk back +with her to the "Princess," especially as she seemed unconsciously to +fall in with his plans by addressing her greeting particularly to him. +Cosden's response was so cordial and his pleasure in seeing her so +sincere that Edith was thoroughly mystified. Previously he had seemed +preoccupied, and appeared to endure her companionship rather than seek +it; now he threw aside his indifference and met her as a comrade. An +instant understanding flashed across her mind: Huntington had hinted +that his friend had suddenly developed interesting tendencies, and had +said plainly that the objective was either Merry Thatcher or herself. +Could it be that--well, perhaps it would not be necessary to use force +after all! Then, as a result of that curious feminine paradox, her next +thought was contradictory: "If he is really interested in me then I +shall lose interest in him." Still, the game was worth playing out. + +They turned in at the little shaded lane which offers a short cut to the +hotel, but instead of entering the hallway Cosden stopped and indicated +the steps leading down to the tennis-courts. + +"Would you mind having a very personal conversation with me down there?" +he asked with so much significance in his voice that Edith became almost +agitated. + +"I'd love to sit down for a moment," she assented. "I've been walking so +long that I could take that bench in my arms and hug it." + +"I'm in a quandary," Cosden began without preliminaries as soon as Edith +had adjusted herself where she would appear to best advantage. "I have +an idea that you can help me out." + +"First aid to the wounded is right in my line," Edith assured him +helpfully. + +Even with the inspiration which expectancy on the part of an audience is +always supposed to give a speaker, Cosden's fluency became somewhat +modified when he actually touched upon his main topic. + +"I'm a peculiar sort of man, I've no doubt--" + +"I wouldn't give a snap of my finger for a man who didn't possess +individuality," she interrupted emphatically. + +"Well, perhaps it is more than individuality. Men seem to understand me +all right, but I've never had a sister, and I've been too tied down by +my business to cultivate women. I'm a man's man--I suppose that about +expresses it." + +"That's a good recommendation; look at my brother,--he's a lady's man. +Would you change individualities with Ricky?" + +"Perhaps not," Cosden said guardedly; "still in this matter your brother +could probably give me a pointer or two.--Hang it all! when I talk to a +man I don't have any difficulty in making myself understood, but here I +am, floundering round with you like a school-boy!" + +"Just imagine for the moment that I am a man and that you are talking to +me about some one else--" + +"That's it exactly; I knew you would understand. I thought Monty would +help me out, but he absolutely refuses to take me seriously. The truth +of the matter is that I've decided to get married." + +Even with the preparation given her by Huntington's remarks Cosden's +statement came with an abruptness which surprised Edith into a becoming +flutter. Her eyes fell for the moment and she could feel a flush come +into her face. Knowing how some men admire the combination of blue eyes +and rosy cheeks she hastened to look up, but was disappointed to find +her companion's gaze resting upon the distant horizon. + +"You have decided?" she asked archly; "where does the girl come in?" + +"Oh, she'll come in all right at the finish, I've no doubt," Cosden +replied. "I'm taking you at your word, and I'm talking to you just as I +would to a man. I want you to tell me what I ought to do to make sure +that nothing goes wrong. I've always got what I've gone after, and it +would break me all up to come a cropper just because I hadn't handled +the matter right." + +"Have you given the prospective bride any suggestion of your +intentions?" Edith inquired, her eyes again drooping. + +"Not a word. That's not my way. I always plan things out to the finish, +and then it's plain sailing to the end." + +"Have you reason to think she cares for you?" + +"She has no more idea that I think of marrying anybody than you had +before I began to tell you; but I don't see why she should have any +special objection to me. The whole point is, I'm somewhat older than +she, and I'm not sure that I speak the same language." + +Edith's mind executed some lightning mathematical calculations, and she +wondered if he were older than he looked. + +"There is not too much difference, I am sure." + +"Just eighteen years," Cosden announced with finality. + +The color left Edith's face, and then it returned with greater strength. +Her surprise showed only in her snapping eyes, for she held herself well +in hand; but her mind was working fast. She was thankful enough that he +had been so wrapped up in himself that he was oblivious to her mistake. + +"It would serve him right if I did marry him, to pay him back for this," +was what her eyes said, but the words she spoke fitted well enough into +Cosden's understanding. + +"Well, of course, eighteen years is a good deal--" + +"Just the proper handicap." Cosden repeated the phrase he had used in +his discussion with Huntington. "Women grow old faster than men." + +Edith bit her lip to hold back the caustic reply which was almost +spoken. He certainly was intent upon his purpose, but that did not +excuse his lack of gallantry. His friend could give him points on that! +The responsibility she had told Huntington she would assume became a +real one! + +"Perhaps," she seemed to assent; "but of course it makes a difference +who the girl is. If I knew her--" + +"You know her all right; it's Merry Thatcher." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, as if the identity was a complete surprise. "Yes, +you would have to plan your campaign pretty carefully with Merry. She is +a girl with definite ideas of her own, and she might not be influenced +by the fact that you always get what you go after." + +Cosden looked at her suspiciously. + +"Yes; I think I could help you," she added quickly. + +"I'd be mighty grateful if you would," Cosden said with obvious relief. + +"Now, let me see--" Edith proceeded carefully, but the way was clearing +before her. "I think you will need to take quite a course of training," +she laughed. "Are you prepared to do that?" + +"When I place myself in my doctor's hands I usually take his medicines." + +"All right; then we'll start in at once. I must ask you a lot of +questions. Are you fond of athletics?" + +"Next to my business, it's my longest suit." + +"There is the first point of common interest. You are making a good +start.--Are you fond of reading? + +"I like a good detective story." + +"How about Stevenson and Ibsen and Lafcadio Hearn?" + +"Not in mine, except 'Treasure Island' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.'" + +Edith pursed her lips. "Not so good on the second test, Mr. Cosden. How +about opera?" + +"My favorites are 'Lohengrin' and the 'Merry Widow.'" + +"Horrors! That you must keep sacredly hidden from the dear girl. I've +known her to go to the opera eight times in one week, and sigh for more. +Of course you adore orchestral music?" + +"You'll have to score zeros against me on music, but perhaps I can come +back strong in some other branches." + +She held up a finger chidingly. "You from Boston, and don't rave over +your Symphony Orchestra! That is a real blow! I supposed every one in +Boston went to the Symphony concerts just for the prestige, even though +he couldn't tell whether the orchestra was playing or only tuning up." + +"You see I'm not trying to sail under false colors." + +"Well, now I come to the supreme test of all: do you dance?" + +Cosden threw up his hands in real despair. "You are making me look +ridiculous," he said. "I knew the old dances, but I've never put myself +up against the new ones. I suppose I could learn." + +"Well, well, well!" ejaculated the fair inquisitor. "All I can say is +that you showed real business judgment in coming to me first. Merry +would have made short work of you; she's crazy about dancing. Oh, don't +look so serious; the case may not be so hopeless as it seems." + +"I don't see how it could be much worse." Cosden was genuinely +chagrined. + +"It isn't every one who finds a fairy godmother waiting for him when he +comes out of his chrysalis, Mr. Cosden," Edith explained. "She will help +young Lochinvar to throw aside his antiquity and come down to date. In +two weeks' time you'll feel so spritely that Mr. Huntington and his +friends of equal age will bore you,--all provided that you follow your +instructor's precepts." + +Cosden caught the contagion of her optimism. "It's mighty good of you, +Miss Stevens. I have no right to ask so much of a comparative stranger." + +"Don't worry a bit," Edith reassured him. "You are to start right in and +practise on me. I'll teach you the new steps, and coach you in all +that's needful. You may lose your breath and a few friends, but I'll +guarantee to show you how to win a wife. Now you may begin your +education by leading me in to luncheon." + + + + + * * * * * + +XII + + * * * * * + + +Out of the helpless floundering in the lap of his "responsibilities" a +realization came to Huntington that immediate action of some sort was +imperative to prevent him from breaking his most zealously observed +commandment, "Thou shalt not worry." His antipathy to this favorite +pastime was not due to an acceptance of the Japanese theory that worry +produces poison in the human system, but rather to a willingness on his +part to let others do what he himself found distasteful. It was an +article of faith with him to avoid the unpleasant. During luncheon +Cosden was wrapped in his own thoughts, which gave final opportunity for +this realization to crystallize into a conclusion that the moment was at +hand to demonstrate his good intentions to Mrs. Thatcher, and to become +better acquainted with her daughter,--all in a single operation. + +"If my leaving the table won't disturb your reflections--" he began. + +Cosden looked up quickly and smiled. "I didn't intend to be such poor +company, Monty," he apologized. "The fact is, I have a good deal on my +mind. Of course you can't understand what that means; all you have to do +is to eat three meals a day, stand still while Dixon dolls you up at +stated intervals and go to sleep at night after he tucks you away in +your little trundle-bed." + +There was an indulgent expression in Huntington's eye as he listened. +"Yes," he acquiesced; "it is always difficult for any one to see the +other fellow's viewpoint. But don't apologize; I think I like you better +when you're quiet.--Now, if you don't mind, I'll have a word with Mrs. +Thatcher." + +He strolled leisurely to the table where the Thatcher party sat. + +"I am going over to Mr. Hamlen's villa this afternoon," he announced; "I +wonder if Miss Merry would care to go with me." + +"I'd love to," the girl replied promptly, with evident eagerness in her +voice. "Especially if you are going to talk with him as you did the +other evening," she added. + +"You're taking that Hamlen chap rather seriously, aren't you?" Stevens +volunteered. + +"He's entitled to it," Huntington said with a decision which Stevens +took to be a rebuff, and subsided. + +Mrs. Thatcher was quick to understand that Huntington was acting in +response to her suggestion of the night before, and her face showed her +appreciation. + +"I have wanted Merry to see those wonderful grounds," she exclaimed; +"this is just the time to do it." + +"When does our Society go into executive session?" asked Edith, with a +significant smile; "my committee wishes to report progress." + +"Splendid!" Huntington responded. "The notices shall be sent out at +once." Then he turned again to Merry. "You'll go?" he asked. + +"Of course I will; I'll be ready whenever you say." + +"I'll telephone Hamlen and see what time he would prefer to have us +come." + + * * * * * + +"Shall we walk?" she asked him, as they met at the appointed hour on the +piazza of the hotel. + +"It's over two miles," he suggested doubtfully. The idea of walking +anywhere when a conveyance was within reach never occurred to Huntington +naturally. + +"I don't mind the distance at all unless you do," she replied; "I always +walk when I can, and the afternoon is delightful." + +As Huntington regarded his vivacious companion he was conscious of +another shock similar to those he had experienced when he first saw her +and her mother the evening of his arrival. She had discarded the +unconventional costume of the morning, exchanging it for an afternoon +gown of softest texture, so girlish, yet to the practised eye revealing +in every detail the artist's creation,--arraying herself with such +special care that her escort could not fail to understand her +appreciation of his attention. It was Marian Seymour once more whose +hand he held in his as he assisted the girl down the long steps, and his +mind leaped back again over the five and twenty years. But what a +difference at his end of the picture! She was the same, but he--well, +the years had dealt kindly with him he must admit, but forty-five at +best must pay homage to twenty! Her youthful figure was disguised but +not hidden by the quaint gown of white Georgette crêpe and lace, +relieved from its monotone by a soft, moon-blue satin girdle, +embroidered with roses and leaves in pastel shades. The wide-brimmed hat +of the same crêpe, its crown of blue satin banded with flowers, the +dainty parasol, and the white kid colonials completed a becoming +costume. Huntington concluded that his slipper, so carefully preserved +at home, was as antique a souvenir as himself! "Shall we walk?" she +asked; he would have liked nothing better than to parade up and down +forever before every one he knew with this splendid young creature +beside him, exhaling all that glowing health and youth could add to the +natural charms which were her birthright! Particularly was he unable to +resist giving Cosden a look of triumph as they passed by him at the +steps. + +"Room for one more in your party?" Cosden asked, rising impulsively. + +"Full house, Connie," was the uncompromising response. "We're off on a +missionary trip, and you wouldn't be interested." + +To Merry herself this was an adventure as pleasing as it was unusual. +Huntington had made a deep impression upon her on that one occasion to +which she so often referred. In her quiet, tense way the girl was a +hero-worshiper, and in that single moment Huntington had qualified for +the hero's crown. That he should have selected her as his companion for +this afternoon was enough to set her cheeks aglow and to make her eyes +sparkle with girlish anticipation. + +"I'm afraid my nephew Billy has been imposing on your good-nature, these +days," he began. + +"Billy?" she laughed. "Not a bit of it! Billy is the best fun ever. I +never saw such an irrepressible boy; he's just like a big St. Bernard +pup!" + +Huntington decided to remember this for later use in time of need. + +"I suppose we old-stagers forget how youthful we were at his age, but +sometimes it seems to me as if Billy would never grow up." + +"Oh, he's all right, Mr. Huntington," Merry reassured him. "My brother +Phil is older, but every now and then he breaks out just the same. I +think they're lots of fun. It's only when they become serious that I +feel worried about them." + +"Billy isn't often guilty of that," was Huntington's comment. "When he +and I are alone I don't mind having him bubble over. It keeps me young, +so I rather like it; but down here it seemed as if he was getting in +every one's way,--just like a puppy, as you say. Mr. Cosden--" + +"I'm afraid Mr. Cosden doesn't remember his own boyhood as well as you +remember yours," Merry interrupted. "How much more he would enjoy +himself if he had a bump of humor, wouldn't he?" + +"Connie? Why, I never noticed that he lacked humor. Of course Connie is +very intense; he goes at his business as if it were the only thing in +life, and when it comes to play it's the same way. Now that you speak +about it, I don't know that I have noticed much sense of humor in him. +Perhaps that's why we pull together so well." + +"I'm glad you asked me to go with you this afternoon," Merry continued. +"Mother has told me something about Mr. Hamlen, and I feel terribly +sorry for him. He was so miserably unhappy the other evening. She says +he has one of the most wonderful places she ever saw." + +"He has; but I believe you will be even more interested in studying the +man than his frame. The morning I spent with him stands out as an event +in my life. You heard us discussing college the other evening; well, +Hamlen is the product of the one great fault in the life at Harvard when +we were there." + +"For Phil's sake, I hope all the faults are overcome by now." + +Huntington smiled. His face was one which smiled easily, adding to the +charm of his low, well-modulated voice. + +"Most of the faults have been eradicated," he replied, "but weaknesses +will always exist. Perhaps I should have called this a weakness. To-day +it is partially remedied, and I believe that the new freshman +dormitories are going to be a large insurance clause against it." + +"I don't believe I understand--" + +"Nor can you until I cease speaking in enigmas," laughed Huntington. "I +once went to a lecture William James gave on Pragmatism, and all I took +away as a reward for my hour of careful listening was that 'nothing is +the only resultant of the one thing which isn't.' I upbraided him for it +when next we met, and he explained that the prerogative of a philosopher +is that he can retreat behind meaningless expressions and still be +considered wise. I am no philosopher, so it is cowardly of me to try to +take similar advantage of you. Hamlen is a college-made recluse, and +there is no denying the fact that at Harvard there has been less effort +made by the students to find out the personal characteristics of their +classmates than at any of the other colleges. Each fellow has had to +show them forth himself, and it had to be done his freshman year. If he +held back, as Hamlen did, they have let him stay in his shell; then he +concluded they didn't like him." + +"But a boy can't advertise his characteristics--" + +"No; but he can manifest them in legitimate ways. Why, my freshman year +there was a little fellow in the Class who didn't weigh a hundred +pounds, and had no more strength than a cat; but he went in for crew, +football, baseball, track athletics, debating,--and everything else you +could imagine. He was no good in any of them, and didn't come within a +mile of making any team. We all made fun of him and we all loved him for +his grit. He didn't have to advertise; we knew him through and through. +That is the kind of boy that makes good at Harvard." + +"Some boys wouldn't realize the importance of this until too late, with +no one to tell them, would they?" + +"That is the whole point, Miss Merry, and it hasn't taken you as long to +see it as it has taken the college authorities. When Hamlen and I were +there no one made any effort to shake us up together. I had my own small +circle of friends, and we cared precious little for any one outside of +it. If I had known Hamlen then as I have come to know him here in less +than a week, I should have insisted on his being one of that little +circle; but I didn't know him at all. I am watching this segregation of +the freshmen with great interest. It seems as if they must get to know +each other better now; but if this experiment doesn't solve the problem +then the authorities must keep on trying until they find one that does." + +They walked on in silence for several moments. Huntington was deeply in +earnest, and Merry eager to hear every word. Her father, not being a +college man, had always been more or less intolerant of the claims made +by college graduates, so her ideas had naturally been colored by his +views. Her brother was sent to Harvard because his mother wished it, not +because Thatcher had changed his opinions, and Merry's new views, as +gained by her brother's life there, had not given her any deeper +understanding. What Huntington said to Hamlen supplied her with another +viewpoint, and she was keenly interested in this continuation of the +same subject. + +"Hamlen is a man cowed and embittered by his experiences," Huntington +said, speaking again. "Every time he has gone out into the world it has +been head foremost, without looking. He has butted against stone wall +after stone wall when he could have seen the opening had he used his +eyes. Each time he has been bruised he has fancied that the world struck +him, when in reality the wound was self-inflicted." + +"Has he no friends--no hobby which can take him out of himself?" + +"He believes himself to be friendless, but he has a hobby; I discovered +it when I was at his villa yesterday. Do you happen by any chance to +know anything of the artistic side of bookmaking?" + +"I took some lessons from Cobden-Sanderson while we were in London two +winters ago, but I haven't done much with what I learned." + +"Did you really?" Huntington stopped short and looked at her in genuine +surprise. "That is a curious coincidence! I hadn't the remotest idea, +when I asked the question, that you knew there was anything in a book +except the story. Well, that does simplify matters! Hamlen has a +hand-press and a miniature bindery, and has made some really exquisite +volumes. It is his one remaining human trait. I've known the books for +years, but no one could find out who made them. Well, well! I promise +that you shall see Hamlen this afternoon in a mood quite different from +the one you saw him in the other night; you shall know the man as I know +him, and better than he knows himself!" + + * * * * * + +Huntington noticed a new light in Hamlen's eyes as he greeted them at +the villa. The man was more reserved in the presence of a third person, +but Huntington was relieved to find that the fact of Merry's coming did +not throw his host back into that restrained attitude which he +manifested when first they met. + +"I have brought you another congenial soul," Huntington explained. + +"Can there be such--for me?" Hamlen demanded, but his guest continued as +if he had not heard. + +"Quite accidentally I find that Miss Merry has been a pupil of +Cobden-Sanderson's, and I want her to see what you have done in this +miniature island press of yours." + +"I should be so interested," Merry exclaimed eagerly. + +"How can it interest any one but me?" Hamlen asked incredulously. "I am +parading my inmost self in public, and it seems indecent." + +"I should not wish to intrude--" the girl began but Hamlen held up a +deprecating hand, and the expression on his face refuted the apparent +lack of courtesy. + +"I am sure you won't misunderstand, Miss Thatcher, being, as Mr. +Huntington says, a congenial soul. It is I who am apologizing. To have +any one show interest in what I do is a new experience, and I hesitate +for fear I may be indelicate. And yet I want to show you what I've +done!" + +"Of course I understand," Merry replied cordially; "I'm proud to be +among the first to see your work." + +"Before we go indoors, may I not take you around the grounds?" he turned +to Huntington. "Perhaps you are in the mood for it to-day?" + +"By all means," his guest responded. "It will give us exactly the right +atmosphere for what is to follow." + +Huntington rejoiced to see Hamlen's attitude. For an hour they wandered +from one point to another, Merry in a state of ecstasy from the superb +beauty of it all, Hamlen supremely happy in this sympathetic +companionship of which he knew so little, and Huntington contentedly +watching the life-drama enacting before his eyes. On the stage such a +sudden change from tragedy to comedy would have been considered crude, +for who could write lines of such delicacy as to portray the yearning of +a human soul, or what actors are there so great that they could mimic +the birth of hope? "God is the master-dramatist, after all," Huntington +murmured to himself as he studied the changes which made the tortured +derelict of a few days before into the contained and self-respecting +host. + +They returned to the house, and Hamlen took them to his press and +bindery. Huntington purposely kept in the background, asking a question +now and then, adding a word only where it was necessary, and giving his +host the opportunity of explaining the finer points of the work to the +responsive and comprehending mind of the girl. Little by little he could +see the real Hamlen emerge from his manufactured self under the +influences around him. + +But his interest was not wholly centered in Hamlen. Until to-day +Huntington had observed Merry only in her relation to others; now he +felt a personal pride in the way she carried herself, in her quick +understanding, her sympathetic responsiveness. He felt unconsciously for +these brief moments a pleasurable sense of possession which added to his +enjoyment. + +"Now take us to your library," he said to Hamlen at length. "You told me +that you had there some examples of the old master-printers at which you +had scarcely looked. I want to see them; perhaps they may show us the +influences which unconsciously affected your work." + +"Most of them belonged to my father," Hamlen explained, as he opened the +door for his guests to pass through into the larger room. + +"He was a collector, then?" + +"In a small way. As I look back, he must have known a good deal about +old books; but I had no interest then, so they made little impression." + +Huntington glanced around at the shelves critically. + +"Classics, classics, classics!" he cried. "Good heavens, man, do you +mean to tell me that you haven't any modern books at all?" + +Hamlen flushed. "There are many of these which I don't know well yet," +was his reply. "Until then why should I accept counterfeits?" + +Huntington had already found the shelf which held the _incunabula_ and +the later examples of printing. + +"Jenson, Aldus--ah, here is the 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili,' and a +splendid copy! That is the only illustrated volume Aldus ever issued," +he explained to Merry as he turned the pages. "Here is where you found +that half-diamond formation of the type," he added, speaking to Hamlen, +and pointing to the printed page. + +Hamlen bent forward. "I didn't even remember that it had ever been +used," he said. "I simply felt the necessity of filling out my page." + +"So did Aldus," Huntington answered significantly. "Here is one of +Étienne's Greek books. Splendid work, isn't it? And yet, after giving +France the crown of typographical supremacy which Italy had lost, he had +to flee for his life because he wouldn't let his books be censored!" + +"My father had a fine copy of Plantin's 'Polyglot Bible.'" Hamlen drew +one of the massive volumes from the shelf. + +"Yes," Huntington replied, glancing critically at it and then at several +of the other books; "your father must have known his subject well, for +these examples follow the supremacy of printing from Italy down to +modern times. See, starting with Aldus, you have one of Étienne's, then +one of Plantin's, representing the period when Belgium snatched the +prestige from France, then here is a 'Terence' of Elzevir's, printed +when Holland was supreme; then Baskerville's 'Vergil,' which gave +England the crown in the eighteenth century--" + +"Where does Caxton come in?" Merry asked. + +"He belongs to the period of Aldus, but his work was distinctly inferior +to that of his Italian rival.--I say, Hamlen, where did your father go, +after Baskerville?" + +Huntington, continuing his examination of the volumes, answered his own +question. "Here it is,--a beautiful example of Didot's 'Racine,' printed +in that type which he and Bodoni cut together. Splendid judgment your +father showed! This explains everything: you come naturally by your +genius. What you have called instinct is really inheritance. Now the +next; what is it?" Huntington became impatient in his eagerness. + +"That is as late as my father's collection went." + +"But surely you have a Kelmscott 'Chaucer'?" + +"Yes; I bought one when I was in England." + +"Put it up here just after the 'Racine.' There you are: except for +Gutenberg's 'Mazzarine Bible,' which you may be excused for not +possessing because of its rarity, you have a complete set representing +the best printing which has been done in each epoch." + +"You see how little I realized it," Hamlen apologized. + +"You expressed your realization in the most tangible way possible, my +dear fellow! You produced examples which are worthy to stand on the same +shelf with those masterpieces. We won't put any living printer's work +there yet, until Time has placed its value upon it, but I'll wager that +when the next selection is made the books of Philip Hamlen will receive +consideration." + +"I wish I might believe that," Hamlen said with deep feeling; "it would +mean everything to me." + +"You must believe it. When you come to Boston, and find out how other +collectors regard your work, you'll think my praise is tame. Until then, +believe what I tell you, and take out of it the gratification which +belongs to you.--I want you to go back to Boston with me, Hamlen, and +pay me a visit. Will you do it?" + +The change in subject was so abrupt that it took his host entirely +unawares. + +"Do you mean that, Huntington?" he asked. + +"Of course I mean it. In fact, I insist upon it. I want to take you home +to exhibit to my jealous friends as my own discovery.--Then it's all +agreed." + +"I couldn't leave here," Hamlen said soberly. + +"I'll wait for you," Huntington replied. "I'm really in no hurry at +all." + +Hamlen laughed, and it was the first time Huntington had seen his +reserve break down. He could not help contrasting it with the burst of +emotion which had preceded his departure only the day before. + +"You are a hard man to resist," Hamlen said lightly; "but that is +something for the future. Let me have it to look forward to." + +"Well, I haven't left Bermuda yet, and I don't want to go without +you.--Now, Miss Merry, I must get you safely back to the hotel. Do you +feel equal to another walk?" + +"I'm eager for it," she replied. + +At the door Hamlen managed to have a word alone with Huntington. + +"You knew her mother when she was a girl, you said?" + +"Yes;--slightly," was the guarded reply. + +"She was wonderful!" he exclaimed with much feeling. Then he added, "The +daughter is very like her, don't you think?" + + + + + * * * * * + +XIII + + * * * * * + + +Hamlen's remark remained in Huntington's mind long after it was spoken. +He himself had been impressed by Merry's resemblance to her mother as +they set out on their afternoon's pilgrimage; yet his reply to Hamlen's +question was a prompt denial. Huntington's mind centered itself upon +this paradox as they walked down the long driveway, and he wondered why +he had impulsively yet deliberately given an impression so at variance +with what he knew to be the facts. Seeking for self-justification, he +turned his head slightly so that he might inspect his companion more +closely without attracting her attention. After all, he satisfied +himself, the resemblance was occasioned more by certain intangible +characteristics than by any similarity of features. Marian Seymour +possessed a beauty of more startling type than her daughter; indeed, +until that afternoon Huntington had thought of Merry as an attractive +rather than a beautiful girl. Now that the subject forced itself upon +him he realized she was both, and that the type proved so satisfying +that he had been content to enjoy it without the temptation of analysis. + +Huntington's further acquaintance with the daughter emphasized his +disapproval of her mother's idea regarding her possible marriage to +Hamlen, and this led him to make a comparison between Marian Seymour as +she was to-day and the idealization with which he had been so long +familiar. Her beauty still remained, her fascination was perhaps greater +since experience had given substance to her girlish vivacity and charm, +and her energy was such that she unconsciously dominated every situation +of which she was a factor. She was evidently devoted to her husband and +to her children, but her force of personality dominated them as it did +all others with whom she came in contact. Huntington had rather admired +this trait in a woman, but now it clashed with his own judgment. He gave +her credit for believing that she would be acting in her daughter's +interest, but her suggestion did shock him, for it seemed to show a lack +of sympathetic understanding. The idea of Merry married to Philip +Hamlen! The man was all right, in his way, of course. Eventually he +might become less of the recluse and more nearly human; but obviously he +was too old and too settled in his eccentricities to be inflicted on any +woman, and least of all on a girl like this. + +"But still, confound him!" Huntington said to himself, "he came out of +his chrysalis far enough to take notice!" + +Then his thoughts jumped from Hamlen to Cosden. Connie was more alive +than Hamlen could ever be expected to become, but the same arguments +applied to him in greater or less degree. It was easy enough to +understand what had attracted him, for Connie always instinctively +sensed in anything the really vital assets. Now that Huntington was +becoming better acquainted with Merry he resented more and more the idea +of this coldly-calculated courtship, and he wondered why this +characteristic of Cosden's had not more often offended him in the past. + +From this point it was an easy shift to Billy,--dear, lovable, spoiled, +heedless Billy! Of course he loved Merry, just as he had always loved +every beautiful object he had ever seen; and, naturally enough, he +wanted this beautiful object just as he had wanted hundreds of others +during his brief but meteoric career. And still of course, he looked to +his Uncle Monty to gratify his whim in this as in all other cases! It +was going to the other extreme: Billy was as much too young and +irresponsible as the others were too old and unsuitable. This much +Huntington was able to settle definitely in his mind, and his arrival at +a conclusion brought with it a sense of relief. + +Huntington suddenly became aware that his introspection had occupied +more time than courtesy permitted, but Merry, absorbed in her own +thoughts, had not noticed his abstraction. He tried to relieve the +tension. + +"'Silence is golden, speech is silvern,'" he quoted. "What do you say to +our adopting a silver standard?" + +Merry's laugh showed that the interruption was welcome. "You always say +the least expected thing, Mr. Huntington!" she exclaimed. "My mind was a +thousand miles from here." + +"A thousand miles," Huntington repeated reflectively. "I'm fairly good +in geography, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask you the direction before +I locate the spot." + +"Straight up," she responded, half entering into his mood, half +returning to her serious vein,--"straight in that kingdom where desire +to do the right and wise thing is not hampered by a lack of knowledge." + +"You would like to help Hamlen?" + +"Indeed I would!" + +What a serious face it was! Huntington studied it with satisfaction yet +with twinges of conscience. + +"I should not burden you with my problem," he said penitently. "Why +should youth be made to carry loads which belong to older shoulders?" + +"Please--" the girl protested eagerly. "I want you to do it. I +appreciate your confidence so much that I am eager to be of some real +service." + +"You like--responsibilities?" he queried. + +"It isn't living to be without them, is it? They seem to come of their +own accord to men: a woman usually has to work hard to find any that are +worth while." + +"Some women do," Huntington admitted; "others have more than their share +without deserving them. Burdens usually seek and find the willing +shoulders." + +"Of course; but I mean the women who have been brought up as I have +been. I've always had everything I wanted, and my parents have protected +me against everything. They even protest when I rebel against my own +uselessness by going into settlement work, and in other small ways try +to express my individuality." + +"Such as the course in bookbinding with Cobden-Sanderson?" + +Merry smiled consciously. "That was such a poor attempt, because I had +no ability. My squares were uneven, my backs were wrinkled, and it was +really such sloppy work." + +"Granting that what you say is true, yet the experience gained in doing +it enabled you to understand Hamlen to-day far better than if you had +never attempted it. That is the main point, isn't it?" + +"I suppose nothing we do is ever wholly lost," she admitted. "I did +understand Mr. Hamlen, but that understanding has brought me no nearer +to the point where I can help him." + +"You helped him to-day more than any one has ever done except +myself.--You see how frankly I accept first glory." + +"I helped him?" Merry protested. "Why, I only listened and allowed +myself to be entertained." + +"Yes; but there is a difference in the way one does even that. He +hesitated to show you his work and yet he wanted to show it to you. That +was the struggle between the habit of years to restrain his real feeling +and the desire which your sympathetic personality created in him. And +the desire won out. Each time the habit is broken its power over him +becomes weaker. Now do you see the value of the service you rendered +him?" + +"It is wonderful how clearly you analyze things!" the girl exclaimed +admiringly. "All I could see was depressing, but you found encouragement +in everything." + +"Surely those beautiful books encouraged you?" + +"Yes; but they emphasized the awful pity of the deliberate repression of +his full ability." + +"Still; the fact that the demand for expression was as stronger than the +will to repress it shows the character beneath." + +"Then not to express one's individuality shows a lack of character?" +Merry inquired soberly. + +"I think I sense some personal application," Huntington answered +guardedly. "I must know more before I utter further words of wisdom." + +The girl looked up into his face inquiringly, and then laughed +consciously. "I am really becoming frightened by your power to +understand," she said, only half jokingly. "I do mean to make a personal +application. I want to express myself individually, but, being a woman, +I cannot find the opportunity. If I really had character I'm sure that I +should force the opportunity." + +Huntington realized that in hesitating to answer her question he had +been wiser than he knew. The seriousness which appeared from time to +time on the girl's face, then, was not a passing mood, but rather the +index of warring emotions. An unguarded word at this moment might do +much injury to a nature which was striving to find itself. + +"Do you know yet what form you wish your individuality to take?" he +asked cautiously. + +"Not exactly," was the frank response. "What I object to, is that a girl +isn't allowed to become interested in anything that is worth while. She +is given her education and 'brought out,' after which, whether she likes +it or not, she seems to be placed in a position of waiting for some man +to come along to marry her. Why can't she be allowed to do something, +just as a boy is, until she finds out whether she wants to marry or +not?" + +"That would be a fatal error!" Huntington explained with mock gravity, +hoping to lighten the serious turn the conversation had taken. "If any +such idea gained ground marriage would become the exception rather than +the rule. How many girls do you think would ever marry if they were +permitted to find any other real interest in life?" + +"But I'm serious, Mr. Huntington," Merry protested, showing that she +felt hurt by his flippancy. "I couldn't bear to be a nonentity all my +days. Think of realizing one's own ambitions only by marrying a man who +could fulfil them! I could not be happy unless I contributed my share to +the real life which we jointly lived." + +"You could do it," Huntington said with conviction, "but not every woman +could.--See that old man bowing to us. Suppose we go and speak with him. +Do you mind?" + +"Every one is so courteous here," she exclaimed as they crossed the +narrow road. "I never pass one of the natives without receiving a +greeting of some kind, and the children are forever shyly forcing +flowers or fruit upon me. It makes one love the place." + +The old man was overjoyed to have attracted attention. He hobbled +forward with difficulty as they approached, and bowed as low as his +infirmities would permit. + +"You are welcome to Bermuda," he said with a cracked, high-pitched +voice. "We are pleased to have strangers visit us." + +"Your visitors remain strangers but a little while," Huntington answered +him, "because of your hospitality." + +"Won't you come in and sit down?" the old man urged. + +"Not to-day, thank you; but if we should not be intruding it would be a +pleasure to return some other time." + +"You could not intrude, sir," he insisted; "for I am only waiting." + +"Waiting?" Huntington questioned. + +"Yes; waiting for that," and he pointed to a tall cedar growing inside +the yard, beside which was the stump of another tree. + +"He wants to tell us something," Merry whispered. + +"They were planted there sixty years ago," the old man continued, "the +two of them. They were little slips, stuck in our wedding-cake as is our +custom here, when my wife and I were married. We put them in the ground, +for everything takes root in this soil, and they grew side by side for +fifty years. Then that one fell"--pointing to the stump,--"and the next +day my wife was taken sick and died. We made her coffin from the cedar +wood of that tree, sir. Now I'm waiting for the other one to fall. That +was ten years ago now, so it won't be long." + +"Isn't that a beautiful idea?" Merry exclaimed, touched by the +unconscious pathos of the old man's words. "We would like to come back +and have you tell us about your wife." + +"She was a sweet, young girl like yourself when I married her," he +replied. "We were both born here and never left the island. But the maps +aren't fair to us; we're not so small"--he straightened and waved his +arm--"we're not so small, as you can see." + +They left him happy over the unusual break in his monotony, and +continued their walk to the hotel. + +"Here is the other side to the picture," Huntington remarked. "This old +man and his wife, and hundreds of others no doubt, live their lives out +here happy and contented with their nineteen square miles of world, yet +you and I are pitying Hamlen because of his self-exile under +circumstances infinitely more acceptable!" + +"It is a question of what one has within, isn't it?" Merry asked, "that +something which keeps one from being satisfied with anything less than +the most and the best that life can give him and he can give to life." + +Huntington looked at her with undisguised admiration. "You couldn't have +stated it better if you had taken all the college courses in the world," +he said. "You're a wonderful little girl, Miss Merry, and if you don't +let your heart play pranks with that well-balanced head of yours you +will certainly achieve your great ambition." + +They were near the hotel now, and the conversation had strayed so far +from the original subject that the girl did not follow him. + +"My great ambition?" she asked. "And that is--" + +"I won't tell you until we're up the steps." + +"Well?" she demanded archly, as at length they stood on the piazza. + +"You will marry a man who will let you contribute your share to the real +life which you will jointly live." + +The laughing response which he had looked for was not spoken, but to his +amazement Merry turned from him without a word and disappeared within +the hallway. + + + + + * * * * * + +XIV + + * * * * * + + +Thatcher and Cosden chartered one of the hotel carriages the next +morning and started on a tour of inspection over the route plotted out +by Duncan for the proposed trolley-line. After passing beyond the town +limits, and with the long stretch of superb coral road ahead of them, +Thatcher turned to his companion. + +"Why can't we get together on the Consolidated Machinery?" he asked +pointedly. + +"The public demands that your nefarious trust be compelled to recognize +its rights," Cosden replied smiling. + +"Good!" Thatcher smiled in response. "Now that you have that piffle off +your chest, please go on." + +"This time we have the goods," Cosden added significantly. + +"If you are so sure of it, why don't you show them to us? Then we can +tell whether it's a real hold-up or merely an attempt." + +"That's just the point, and the sooner your crowd realizes it the less +time you will waste. This is not a hold-up game; we have the goods, and +we can make a better thing by operating than by selling out." + +"You have courage to buck up against an organization as strong as ours." + +"Not only courage but capital enough to see us through." + +The antiquated stage-coach, plying between St. George's and Hamilton, +lumbered past them. Cosden smiled as he turned to his companion. + +"There's a perfect illustration of the situation," he said. "Your +machines belong to the same vintage as that old coach, yet by +maintaining a monopoly, as you have been able to do until now, you have +succeeded in forcing manufacturers to employ antique methods, and to pay +you a whacking big royalty for the privilege of remaining twenty years +behind the times. That stage-coach will stand as much chance of +continuing on its beat, if our trolley scheme goes through, as your +machines have of keeping out of the scrap-heap when ours once get on the +market. This isn't any news to you, Thatcher, and that's what makes your +whole crowd so anxious." + +"If what Duncan tells us is correct," Thatcher retorted quickly, "we +have just about as much show of pulling off the trolley scheme as you +fellows have of putting this machinery game over on us. Somebody has +been going to do this to us for twenty years, but somehow the +manufacturers keep coming back to renew their contracts." + +"Of course they do," Cosden admitted; "they haven't dared to do anything +else. Look at the terms in your leases! Any manufacturer would have to +be absolutely sure that the new machines were backed strongly enough to +keep you from punishing him for his temerity. That can now be +guaranteed, and with the element of fear eliminated they will flock to +us, rejoicing that they have the opportunity to leave their shackles of +bondage behind them." + +"Another Emancipation Proclamation!" laughed Thatcher; but Cosden found +the moment to impress the enemy with the strength of his position too +opportune to allow himself to be diverted. + +"Think of it, Thatcher," he cried with characteristic enthusiasm. "In +less than two years they can save enough, through the economies of +production, to buy their machines outright, instead of continuing year +after year to pay you tribute with nothing at the end to show for it. We +give them methods as well as machines, and show them how an ordinary +workman can produce the high-grade output of a skilled operative by +means of the improved automatic features of our machinery. The makers of +medium-quality goods can now turn out work equal to that heretofore +produced only by high-grade manufacturers." + +"You're a grand salesman, Cosden," Thatcher said lightly. "Your company +ought to put you on the road! Our people would pay you a big salary to +handle the sales end of our organization." + +"I shouldn't be worth ten dollars a week to them. There are three kinds +of salesmen, Thatcher: one sells his concern, another sells his +customers, and the third sells his goods. A man can't belong in the +third class unless he himself believes in what he's selling. I've been +making these machines for our crowd for five years, including the +experimental period, and I know what I'm talking about. Four big plants +are now being equipped, and when they once begin running you'll see your +royalties dropping away from you like friends after a failure. The fact +that you have had a monopoly has encouraged your people to keep their +eyes on the stock-market instead of on the improvement of their +machines, and our biggest asset is the fact that every manufacturer who +is leasing from you to-day is sore over his treatment." + +"That goes without saying," Thatcher admitted; "they would be sore if we +gave them the machines outright. But if you are so sure your +improvements are valuable, why go to the expense of duplicating our +selling and manufacturing equipment when we stand ready to make a fair +trade?" + +"The new machines wouldn't be worth as much to you as they are to us." + +"Why not?" + +"Because you would never use them. The improved models would simply be +side-tracked to keep them from competing against your antiques. You +would be paying whatever it cost to get hold of them for hush money, +just as you have done a hundred times before." + +"Suppose we did: what difference would it make to you, so long as you +get a good thing out of it? I don't understand that your company was +organized for philanthropic purposes." + +"No; business and philanthropy usually work better when they're given +allowances for separate maintenance, but in this particular case the two +seem to be walking along hand in hand. Self-interest, Thatcher, is the +strongest motive in the world, and when you find a proposition which +offers self-interest to the buyer as well as to the seller you have an +irresistible argument." + +"This is a great road-bed for a trolley-line," Thatcher remarked, +leaning over the side of the carriage. "The construction problem ought +to be a simple one." + +"The proposition to have a line of cars run here is so obvious that +there must have been powerful objections to obstruct it all these +years," Cosden answered, quite content to await Thatcher's pleasure in +resuming the main topic of their conversation. + +It was a beautiful clear, cool morning, and the sea at their left +sparkled brilliantly in its sapphire splendor. To the right of the +carriage road were attractive cottages, overgrown with blooming +_bougainvillea_ or other less spectacular foliage. Every now and then a +more pretentious mansion appeared, built on some elevation which +commanded a view of the water on either side, and surrounded by heavy +clumps of cedar and fan-leaved palmettos. Frequently the road passed +between high walls of solid coral limestone, from the crevices of which +the ever-decorative Bermuda vegetation showed scarlet, orange and purple +blooms against the green. + +"There must be something more than sentiment," Thatcher commented. "I +suspect that we shall uncover some large personal interests here which +have been strong enough to protect themselves--" + +"And find concealment behind the convenient screen of sentimentality," +completed Cosden. + +"Exactly. I wouldn't spend any time on it at all except that it seems so +important to the people themselves." + +Cosden laughed so spontaneously that Thatcher looked up quickly, trying +to grasp the unintended humor in his last remark. His companion was +hugely amused and made no effort to conceal it. + +"Well?" Thatcher interrogated good-naturedly; "aren't you going to let +me in on it?" + +"It's funny, that's all," Cosden replied; "but it's perfectly good +business either way you work it. Simply a question of how you sit when +you have your picture taken." + +Thatcher's face demanded further explanation, but before Cosden spoke +again by way of enlightenment his amused expression disappeared, and he +became serious. + +"I don't know as it is so funny, after all," he said. "When you spoke of +being interested in this trolley scheme principally because it was so +important to the people, I couldn't help thinking how inconsistent you +were." + +"Inconsistent?" Thatcher echoed. + +"Suppose you owned that line of stage-coaches, and leased it out just as +you do these machines. Then some men came along and proposed to build a +trolley-line which would push the stage-coaches off the map. That's what +our new machines will do to your old ones. In one case you're interested +in the improved method because it is so important to the people; in the +other you say, 'The people be damned.' But you're no different from the +rest of us. Our so-called consistency is as full of holes as a sieve; +but it's always the other fellow who sees it. We're too close to +ourselves to get the perspective." + +"I am relieved," Thatcher said. "If it is only a question of +inconsistency I'll take a chance on holding my own. But sometimes we are +not so inconsistent as we seem. The 'other fellow' thinks he has a joke +on us when in reality he only sees part of the situation. This +'nefarious trust,' for example which you cite as a hideous illustration +of grinding monopoly, took hold of an industry, twenty years ago, and +brought system out of chaos, shouldered all the risk, taught +manufacturers how to make money out of their business, and enabled small +factories to become big ones by leasing them machines which they could +not afford to buy. The trust has prospered, but so have the +manufacturers. Who shall say that those who took the risks are not +entitled to the rewards, or that the system introduced and developed by +the trust was not as much in the interests of the people as this +trolley-line we are proposing?" + +"There isn't much of anything we can't prove if we argue long enough, is +there?" Cosden retorted. "If I hadn't heard all that before, and if I +hadn't seen the way the 'system' worked out, I should be almost +persuaded. Some one told me once that there were two sides to every +story except that of Cain and Abel, but I came across an Icelandic myth +a while ago in which Abel was the murderer, and since then I've refused +to believe anything until I know the other side. Probably the only way +for you and me to agree on this question is for each of us to buy some +stock in the other fellow's company." + + + + + * * * * * + +XV + + * * * * * + + +Edith had secured the necessary records for the victrola from the hotel +office, and she and Cosden were alone in the ball-room ready for the +first lesson in modern dancing. Cosden had never before noticed how +enormous the room was, or how many of its windows opened onto the +piazza, or how curious the average hotel guest is when a novice is about +to be initiated into the mysteries of terpsichorean art. + +"Pay no attention to them," Edith reassured him. "Those who know how to +dance have had to go through it, and those who haven't learned are +perishing for an opportunity. Listen!" she cried, as the music began. +"Can you possibly make your feet behave when you hear that heavenly +one-step? Look!" + +Lifting her skirts gracefully above her ankles, Edith made herself a +veritable part of the music, pirouetting up and down and around, while +he watched her in mingled admiration and trepidation. + +"There!" she cried, stopping before him; "it's perfectly simple, you +see. Now, you try it." + +"By myself?" he inquired. + +"Of course," she laughed. "How else can you learn?" + +"All right," was the dubious assent; "but don't you think we might pull +those curtains down?" + +"Nonsense! You might as well start in,--you couldn't look more foolish +than you do now." + +"All right," he again assented, and took his place on the floor. + +"Now, left foot forward--one, two, three, four. No; left foot, I said. +That's it. Now rise a little on your toes. Don't be so heavy, and for +Heaven's sake look as cheerful as you can!" + +"This is awful!" Cosden ejaculated, mopping his forehead. "Don't you +think it's too warm a day to begin?" + +"It isn't warm; it's really cool, and you haven't begun to begin yet. +Now start in again. Left foot,--left I say, one, two--oh! that miserable +victrola has stopped!" + +"Let me wind it up," Cosden insisted quickly, glad of the opportunity to +struggle with something tangible. + +"Now we'll try again," Edith said amiably. "This time get started before +the music runs down. Watch me just a moment. There,--now you know what +to do. Left, dear man, left,--not right, and rise on your toes, one, +two, three, four. Why don't you pay attention to the music?" + +"I think I could learn better without the music. It throws me off." + +"Move with it; then it will help you." + +"I can't; it mixes me up." + +"Don't you feel any impulse to move your feet when you hear that music?" + +"Yes; I feel an inordinate desire to run out of the room." + +"But, seriously, doesn't the rhythm of that one-step make you +instinctively want to dance?" + +"Not the slightest. I never wanted to dance in my life until now, and +only now because you tell me that it's part of the game." + +"Did you ever play any musical instrument?" + +"Oh, yes; when I was a boy I played the bones in a minstrel show." + +"Well, there's a ray of hope.--Wind up the victrola again, and we'll +start all over. You do wind it beautifully!" + +"This is too big a job you've undertaken," he told her as they again +stood facing each other. "Let's call it off." + +"No, indeed," Edith protested. "It is only fair to say that you are not +what would be called a natural dancer, but that will bring all the more +glory to your instructor when once you've learned. Why, look at the +tricks they teach animals! I'm not a bit discouraged, are you?" + +"Are we down-hearted?" he echoed in a spirit of bravado. + +"Not a bit of it; now we'll dance together, and I'll try to pull you +around. There, put your arm around my waist,--that's right. Hold me +closer,--don't be afraid. Imagine I'm your sister if it will keep you +from being embarrassed. Left foot forward--ta, ta, ta, ta--that's +better. No, let me lead. There, we can go forwards and backwards anyway, +but you mustn't step on my feet. That's the first thing to learn,--dance +on your own feet." + +"I beg your pardon--" + +"That's all right; I don't mind it at all. But when we stop dancing, +you know, you must take your arm away from my waist. How quickly you +overcame that early embarrassment!" + +"I don't intend to give you another chance to suggest that I'm afraid," +Cosden retorted. "I may not know much about girls or dancing, but if you +think I haven't nerve enough to put my arm around your waist,--well, +it's up to me to demonstrate." + +"You bold, bad man!" Edith pointed her finger at him in mock-reproach. +"I sha'n't dare go on with the lesson until I've forgotten your +threatening attitude! Now let's see if a little turn on the piazza won't +give us courage to continue." + +Cosden assented with alacrity. "Splendid notion!" he exclaimed; "that +will give me a chance to cool off." + +"You are warm," she admitted, looking him over critically and noting +that his collar was completely wrecked. "You must read the Polite Book +of Dancing Etiquette--" + +"Oh, Lord!" Cosden groaned. + +"You will find there many useful suggestions which will add to your +popularity with your partners. For instance, it tells you that when +overheated by the exercise you should stand erect and throw your chin +out; then the perspiration will run down the back of your neck and be +less noticeable.--Come now, see what a light Bermuda breeze will do to +cheer you up." + +Edith was well pleased with the results of the first lesson. She had +felt some misgivings, for Cosden was the most masterful man she had ever +met. If this masterfulness could not be broken down, then her plans +could not be carried out; but she recalled the fact that Henry Thatcher, +so pliable in his wife's hands, was spoken of as dictatorial and +self-confident in his business relations. If this was true of Thatcher, +it might be equally true of Cosden, and the experiment was well worth +trying. In the hour just past Edith had proved her sagacity to herself. +Cosden explained his present docility by saying that he always obeyed +his doctor's orders; Edith had discovered in that brief time two facts +unknown even to himself: that his confidence came only from a knowledge +of his own strength, that in treading new and unknown paths he was not +only willing to be led but accepted guidance gratefully. + +After this important discovery, she intuitively came to a better +understanding of the man. "Men know more than they understand, and women +understand more than they know," some one has tritely said. Edith +Stevens was a woman, and understanding was enough; she did not crave to +know. When Cosden stated so flatly, "I always get what I go after," she +had thought him a tactless braggart, who deserved to be shown his place; +now, with this new light thrown upon his character, she understood his +remark quite differently. The man knew but one way to accomplish his +purpose, and that was to go directly at it, head-on, overpowering +opposition by the force of his momentum. In his beginnings, Edith +surmised, he had not always felt so confident, and these bold assertions +were made partly to give himself additional courage and partly to +conceal from the world the existence of any doubt as to his ultimate +success. What had been first a policy became a habit, and if Edith were +correct in her analysis Cosden was at the present moment repeating his +early experiences. + + * * * * * + +Time in Bermuda cannot be figured by calendar days. Whether this is due +to the evenness and perfection of the temperature, which so satisfies +the physical demands as to eliminate all desire for change, or to the +natural beauty which exorcises those sordid demands life elsewhere +compels, it would be difficult to determine; but the fact remains that +except for the sailing of the little steamers a week is like a long, +delicious day, with the nights a passing incident,--a curtain drawn for +a moment to deprive the vision of its wondrous panorama, lest the spirit +become satiated and thus less appreciative. + +More than a fortnight had passed since Billy Huntington's spectacular +departure, yet no one suggested that vacation days were drawing to an +end. It was Thatcher who found least to occupy him, yet even he had +fallen beneath the spell and was content to drift. By this time Marian +was fully convinced that a match between Hamlen and Merry was +foreordained, and that her mission was to drag him forth from his exile; +but she was not satisfied with her progress in either one of her +self-imposed labors. Hamlen was a changed man since the new +companionship came into his life, but whenever he was brought up against +the question of leaving his retreat the old terror seized him, and he +slipped back behind his defenses. + +"I wish I might," said he to her one day, "believe me, I wish I might; +but you don't know what you ask. The bitterness of my attitude toward +the world has become an abnormal condition which you could not be +expected to understand. Your visit here has tempered it--I know now that +there are exceptions; but don't urge me against my better judgment. Let +me remember this visit in all its happiness; perhaps its memory will +enable me later to do as you suggest." + +Huntington was no more successful in his efforts. His classmate listened +to him patiently and showed a full appreciation of the friendly +suggestions; but no promise could be exacted, and Hamlen seemed stronger +than the combined forces against him. Yet, in spite of disappointments, +Huntington was optimistic. + +"We may not be able to take him with us," he admitted to Marian, "but +after we are gone he will find this place unendurable. Time will be our +ally." + +Cosden's sudden intimacy with Edith Stevens mystified Huntington, but he +welcomed it as a temporary respite. So long as Cosden was making no +exertion to advance his interests with Merry, no more active effort +could be expected from his friend. He asked no questions and Cosden +vouchsafed no information, which on both sides marked a change in the +relations of the two men. + +Edith was equally mysterious with Marian, smiling sagely when her friend +tried to draw her out; but she admitted or denied nothing. She +faithfully performed her self-assumed duties, and Cosden lived up to his +agreement to take the medicine his doctor prescribed. By this time he +was able to pull through on the one-step and the canter waltz, but his +great success was the fox-trot. This, he discovered without assistance, +is danced in as many ways as there are individual dancers, so he +developed an original "series" which gave him supreme satisfaction, +since as he explained, no one could prove whether he or his partner was +at fault when a mistake was made. Edith had long since given up all hope +of having him follow the music, but he had actually learned the steps, +and his persistency in pursuing with grim relentlessness what she knew +to be an irksome duty could but win her respect. + +In fact, she looked upon the result of her experiment with no little +pride. Each afternoon the two might be seen on the ball-room floor, +working away as if their lives depended upon it, with the Victrola +repeating over and over the same tunes which, except for her own +persistency, would have driven Edith mad. Always after the dancing +lesson they promenaded the hotel piazza "to cool off," and their joint +devotion to their undertaking was so assiduous that it became almost a +feature of the hotel life. Edith's triumph came when Merry was called in +to "assist" at one of the later lessons. Try as they would, Cosden and +his new partner were at odds in each effort they made to dance together, +while with Edith he succeeded passably well. In Cosden's mind there +could be but one explanation. + +"I always thought she knew how to dance," he expressed it after Merry +left them alone. "How little you can judge of anything until you know +how to do it yourself!" And Edith, wise person that she was, did not +explain to him that this was the first time he had danced without her +guiding hand! + +Cosden had become dependent upon his chief adviser in other ways than +dancing. He found her so sympathetic in listening to his problems and so +helpfully intelligent in discussing them that he gradually confided to +her more of his intimate affairs than he had ever shared with any one +else. Ostensibly, she was adviser only in his affair with Merry, but it +was a short step to extend her line of operations without having him +realize that she was exceeding her contract. She explained matters which +seemed subtle to him with such clearness, her counsels were so wise and +her criticisms so fearless that Cosden's admiration was profound. + +"You are a bit severe, you know," he said to her one day; "but I like +it. The only reason I go to a specialist is because I know he +understands his subject better than I do, and so I swallow what he tells +me, hook, line and sinker. And you are a great success as an expert in +your line, Miss Stevens,--you're all right." + +Whereupon Edith courtesied gracefully and answered demurely, "Thank you, +sir; I am glad I give satisfaction." + +Thatcher and Cosden had carried the trolley proposition as far as lay +within their power, and awaited a response from the Bermuda government +before they could proceed. This threw Cosden back again upon his +original purpose, to which he clung with a bulldog tenacity. Edith knew +by this time that when his mind once settled upon a course diversion was +an impossibility, so she encouraged rather than opposed him. She left +Cosden's confidence in himself undisturbed while she encouraged his +dependence, and complacently permitted affairs to take their course. +Just when the master stroke would be delivered she could not tell, but +she was prepared to have it descend suddenly at any moment. + +The fortnight had given Huntington a new lease of life. His efforts to +humanize Hamlen forced him out of his habitual course along the line of +least resistance, and without analyzing his new sensations he found them +to be agreeable. In addition to this Merry and he were boon companions +now, and he discovered that the vivacity of a young girl was no less +effective in making him forget his years than the noisier enthusiasm of +his youthful nephew. Merry accepted her responsibilities with great +seriousness, and discussed Hamlen's persistent obstinacy with Huntington +from every possible angle. In fact, Huntington made a point of inventing +new angles in order to prolong the discussions, and to supply the excuse +for walks and drives which threw them much together. + +As a result of their growing intimacy Huntington came to favor Billy's +ambitions far above those of Cosden. He had not changed in his +conviction that neither one of them was at all suited to the girl, but +if it could be possible to hold matters in abeyance until the boy might +be developed up to her, there would at least be much satisfaction to him +personally if Merry could be kept in the family. Of course he must be +loyal to his friend, but as Cosden seemed to be finding much pleasure in +Miss Stevens' companionship his conscience did not suffer any twinges +which were too painful to be endured. + +But complacency is ever a forerunner of seismic upheavals. The days had +repeated themselves often enough now for Huntington to regard their +routine as practically fixed, and he was anticipating the usual quiet, +after-breakfast smoke on the piazza, during which period he would +discuss with Merry some new attack upon Hamlen's obstinacy, or some new +trip during which the attack could be devised. This had seemed such a +certainty to Huntington that Cosden's words were in the nature of a +shock. + +"Miss Thatcher and I are going sailing this morning," he announced. + +"Eh--what? Oh, sailing--are you?" Huntington stumbled a bit before +recovering himself. "It's a fine morning for that," he continued with +decision. + +"You've been doing better lately, Monty," Cosden complimented him. "At +first I didn't think you were going to help me out at all, but for some +time now you've been putting yourself right into it, just as I wanted +you to. What have you to say about the girl now? She's all right, isn't +she?" + +"You don't mean that you're still serious in that direction--" + +"Of course I am. Why should you think I had changed my mind?" Cosden +interrupted. "I don't often do that, do I?" + +"But you have hardly seen her." + +"I've been biding my time, Monty, that's all, while Miss Stevens coached +me up a bit. It's really a great game,--there's more to it than I +thought." + +"You are absolutely unsuited to each other." + +"Why, Monty, I believe you're jealous!" + +"Well, suppose I am?" + +Cosden showed his amusement. "I would take that as a challenge from any +one but an old cynic like you," he laughed. + +Huntington failed to enter into Cosden's lightheartedness. "This is a +serious matter, Connie," he insisted. "That little girl is too fine to +have her name bandied like this. I give you warning right here that I +step down and out on this proposition. I can't imagine a worse crime +than to harness a high-strung, thoughtful, sentimental child like that +to a human adding-machine like you, and I won't be a party to it." + +The younger man realized at last that his friend was serious. He looked +at him soberly for a moment, then he placed his hand on his shoulder. + +"Is this all our friendship amounts to?" he asked. + +"It is the greatest act of friendship I have ever been called upon to +show you," Huntington returned. "You would be as wretched with her as +she with you. I felt sure that you had come to the same conclusion, and +I admired your good sense." + +"Is there by any chance some deeper reason?" Cosden demanded pointedly. + +"No, Connie," Huntington replied quickly; "don't be ridiculous! I am +just as unsuited to her as you are. Why, I'm old enough to be her +father! But somewhere there is a man who is meant for her and who is +worthy of her, and I only hope that he will appear before any one +persuades her into making a mistake. + +"Don't you think her capable of taking care of that herself?" + +"Frankly, I do. I don't think you have the remotest chance of +interesting her." + +"What has happened to lower me so in your estimation?" Cosden persisted, +puzzled rather than resentful. "Our friendship dates back a good many +years, Monty, and this is the first time you ever made me feel you +disapproved of me. Does it mean--" + +"It means that I'm proving my friendship now," Huntington interrupted, +"by telling you an unpleasant truth. During this long friendship, which +I never prized more highly than I do this moment, I have watched you +work out your success, often against heavy odds. All this I have +admired, Connie, but to win as you have done has been at a cost I had +not realized until I saw you under these new conditions: it has kept you +from developing those finer instincts which a man needs to guide him at +a time like this." + +"You mean romance, I suppose, and sentiment." + +"I mean a sensing of the proportions and a respect for appropriateness +even if it interferes with your preconceived plans. Your interest in +this girl exists admittedly because of what an alliance with her will do +for you: it will bring you closer to the group of operators of which her +father is the head, she will preside with credit over your household, +through her you may perhaps secure social advantages which now you feel +are beyond your reach." + +"Isn't all that legitimate?" + +"Entirely legitimate, measured by laws of barter and sale,--but to my +mind eminently improper when applied to Miss Thatcher." + +As Huntington grew more and more intense Cosden's attitude gradually +became normal again, and an indulgent expression replaced the serious +aspect which his face had assumed as their conversation progressed. + +"Well, Monty," he said, slapping him on the back, "you've got that off +your mind, and it's a good thing to have happen. What you want is to +take your endorsement off my social note; that's all right,--consider it +done. Your sentimental notions are great in story-books but less +valuable in every-day life. You stick to your ideals, and I will to +mine. I've made up my mind to get married, and you know what happens +when once my mind is made up." + +"You are absolutely hopeless!" Huntington cried despondently. + +"Hopeful, you mean," laughed Cosden, "in spite of your gloomy +forebodings. What you say ought to shake my confidence in myself, no +doubt, but somehow I think I'd rather hear it direct from Miss Thatcher +herself. Hello!" he exclaimed as he looked at his watch, "it's time to +start. Cheer up, Monty! Really, things aren't half as bad as they look +from where you sit!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XVI + + * * * * * + + +However abrupt Cosden's action may have appeared to Miss Stevens or to +Huntington, in his own mind he believed himself to have selected the +psychological moment for which he had patiently waited. It was true that +he had seen comparatively little of Merry Thatcher, but the time had +been well spent in preparation for the grand event. Now, particularly +since Huntington had spoken as he did, Cosden was eager to put his +new-found knowledge to the test, and to disprove his friend's +contention. + +It was a business axiom with Cosden that an order must be half sold +before the salesman approached the prospective buyer. "People don't buy +anything these days," he hammered into his sales-manager; "they have to +be sold." And Cosden was a man who practised what he preached. The +frankly-admitted lack of familiarity on his part with the particular +market in which he proposed to trade was offset, he believed, by the +expert coaching he had received from Miss Stevens; and this should have +prepared him for any emergency. After all, were not the principles the +same the world over? Somewhere, back in the hazy, academic past when +Latin had been compulsory, he remembered that a certain gentleman whose +name he could not then recall had plunged _in medias res_. He remembered +distinctly how much this act had won his admiration; now he proposed to +emulate his illustrious predecessor. + +Even granting that Cosden's self-analysis was correct to the extent that +he possessed no romance in his make-up, the present surroundings were +such as to suggest the "psychological moment" even to the most obtuse. +The sloop, after running before the wind, was skilfully guided in and +out among the little islands and past the beautiful shores of Boaz and +Somerset by a hand on the tiller to which sailing was evidently +second-nature. The girl rested against the gunwale, her eye alert, her +face lighted by a smile of quiet contentment, her white, lithe figure +brightly contrasted against the varying background of blue water and the +green of the islands as they were left behind. + +"Where did you learn to handle a boat?" Cosden asked her, interrupting +the silence which she seemed content to accept. + +"Oh, there's nothing to it here," she answered. "I wonder if they have a +breeze like this all the time in Bermuda? It seems to be ready-made for +the visitors. But I think it would become monotonous, don't you? I like +something to work against." + +"You have evidently sailed a boat before." + +"I'm on the water a good deal every summer. Father gave me a knockabout +two years ago, and I've had lots of fun in her. It isn't always as +simple on Narragansett Bay as it appears to be here." + +"You seem to be pretty good at anything you undertake." + +"Oh, no!" Merry laughed deprecatingly. "I play at everything, and +perhaps that is why I am not particularly good at anything. Phil says I +have more courage than judgment." + +"That sounds like jealousy! I'll wager you can beat him in most games, +unless he is better than the youngsters I know." + +"I can, in some," she admitted, "but Phil is a great oarsman. He's on +the crew at Harvard, you know," she added with a pride which amused +Cosden; "he will probably row against Yale again this year. But Phil +doesn't go at other sports as hard as I do. I have to go at them hard. I +simply must be doing something. Mother calls it restlessness and Father +says it's because I haven't grown up yet. Perhaps they are both right; +but whatever it is I just can't help it." + +"I hope you will never grow up, if to lose your enthusiasm is the +penalty." + +"Then you don't think it's unwomanly?" she asked, grateful for his +approval. + +"On the contrary," Cosden asserted. "It is enthusiasm which wins in +everything to-day. Confidence in one's self, belief in one's subject, +enthusiasm in its presentation; that is my daily creed." + +"But you are a man," Merry protested. "You have made your success, so +you have a right to have confidence in yourself--" + +"My success is only partially complete," Cosden interrupted, quick to +seize the easy opening. "When I left college I undertook to make money: +I did make it. Then I undertook to compel that money to earn me a place +in the business world: I made that dream come true. Now I have reached +the third effort. My money is of value only so far as it secures for me +what I want, and a part of what I want I can't get alone: that is a +home, with the right woman in it. A man can make his clubs and all that +sort of thing by himself, but it takes a woman to secure for him the +social life which he ought to have. I'm looking for that woman now, and +I intend to get her." + +A smile crossed Merry's face as Cosden concluded his matter-of-fact +statement. "You are demonstrating your daily creed," she said. + +"Of course I am. If I didn't you would accuse me of inconsistency." + +"Have you found the woman you--intend to get?" + +"I'm not sure. What kind of woman do you think she ought to be?" + +Merry's face sobered, and she became thoughtfully serious. "First of +all, a woman who loved you," she said at length; "that goes without +saying." + +It was Cosden who smiled this time. "I see you still have some +old-fashioned ideas left; I had looked upon you as absolutely +up-to-date." + +"Is love old-fashioned?" + +"Love is a result rather than a cause. It comes from the combination of +one or more causes: propinquity, similarity of tastes, natural +attributes, I might go on indefinitely. Two natures are attracted to +each other before marriage, but love really comes as a result of the +closer companionship which follows. Could anything be more common-sense +or scientific than that?" + +"Is that what men believe?" she asked. + +"Not all; which explains the appalling list of matrimonial bankrupts." + +They were out beyond Ireland Island now, past the great dry-dock and the +barracks. The girl brought the boat about and started on the homeward +tack. + +"That is a very interesting idea," she said soberly as she shifted to +starboard. "It never occurred to me that love had become a commodity. +That is very interesting." + +"But you haven't told me what kind of woman you think my wife should +be," Cosden insisted. + +"She should be a poor girl, of good birth and personal attractions," she +answered promptly. + +"Why poor?" + +"Because otherwise she would be giving everything and you nothing. You +must supply something which she lacks or it wouldn't be a fair trade, +would it? If a woman loves a man, there is no need to measure what she +gives against what she receives, but your 'common-sense' plan suggests +it, and from a 'scientific' standpoint I should think it absolutely +essential." + +"But your statement is not correct, Miss Merry," Cosden protested +earnestly. "You would do me an injustice if you stopped at that point: +am I not offering her my name and my protection?" + +"Of course all this is an imaginary situation," Merry laughed +mischievously, "or I shouldn't dare to speak so freely; but in justice +to my sex I can't stop now: suppose her name is as good as yours, and +that she is entirely competent to protect herself?" + +"Great Scott! Don't tell me you are a suffragist!" + +"But you would want this woman you--intend to get to be a suffragist, +wouldn't you?" + +"Not under any circumstances!" + +"Still, your marriage is to be on an up-to-date common-sense, scientific +basis: can it be unless you and your wife stand on equal terms?" + +"I never saw such a girl to ask questions," Cosden protested almost +petulantly. "You must have been going to woman's suffrage meetings all +winter." + +Merry laughed outright. Her triumph was too obvious not to be enjoyed; +but she quickly checked herself. + +"I have been very rude," she said contritely; "but what you said so +completely destroys the vision which every girl has in her heart that I +couldn't resist the temptation to tease you. No, Mr. Cosden; I'm not a +suffragist, and I never attended a public meeting in my life. Mother +thinks I'm too young to enter into such things; but I've read a good +deal, and I can't see why, in this scientific age, men and women +shouldn't stand side by side at the ballot-box as well as elsewhere. For +myself, I'm not quite ready for it, but I admit that it is nothing but +sentiment--a holding on to a bit of old-fashioned precedent if you +like--which holds me back. It seems to mar that vision I just spoke of, +Mr. Cosden, even as your ideas completely destroy it." + +She was in earnest now, and the girlish, mischievous attitude had +completely vanished. Her grasp upon the tiller tightened, her eyes +looked far ahead and Cosden knew that in this mood she would have +welcomed a young typhoon--anything to struggle with, rather than the +smooth lapping of the water against the sides of the boat as the light +wind bore them tranquilly on toward their landing. Even to him, +unaccustomed as he was to the finer sensibilities which expressed +themselves in every feature of the girl's face, the surging thoughts +which forced so tense a silence commanded silence in his own response. +It was the closest he had ever come into a woman's inner shrine, and +instinctively he respected it. + +It was her own movement--a brushing back of a strand of hair which the +breeze had loosened and blown across her face--which finally broke the +tension, but her eyes did not drop. Still looking far ahead of her she +spoke again, but the words seemed addressed more to herself than to her +companion. + +"I can't bear to give that vision up," she said quietly, "and yet I +never expect to see it realized." + +"Tell me what it is," Cosden urged as she paused. "Visions aren't +exactly in my line, but perhaps you can make me see this one." + +"It's silly of me; you wouldn't be interested, of course." + +"But I am," he insisted. "Please go on." + +"Well," the girl said consciously, "since you have confided your creed +to me, I'll tell you what my vision is,--but you mustn't laugh at it for +it means a great deal to me." + +"I promise--cross my heart," Cosden replied. + +"In this vision each one of us atoms, man or woman, has a distinct +individuality, and each atom is intended to express its own +individuality alone and in its own way unless two atoms become joined +together by laws of natural attraction. In that case these two continue +on their way together, each strengthened by the combination, and thus +enabled to express their joint individuality as neither could do alone. +But love must be the crucible, Mr Cosden. Common-sense won't merge them, +science won't do it. The two atoms can't be made into one without the +crucible." + +They were almost at the "Princess" landing now, and Merry gave her full +attention to her duties as skipper. As the boatman took possession, +Cosden assisted her onto the landing and they walked slowly up the stone +steps. At the top she turned to him suddenly, the brightest of smiles +replacing her former seriousness. Cosden marveled at the rapidity with +which her mood changed. + +"That's my vision, Mr. Cosden," she said simply; "don't think it too +foolish. I must have some guide just as you have your daily creed. I +haven't confidence in myself, but I do believe in my subject, and you +tell me that I have enthusiasm. Please let that atone." + +"But that vision of yours--" Cosden demanded doubtfully. "You asked me +if all men regard marriage as I do; let me ask you if all women have +that vision, as you call it." + +"I suppose they have. If not, why should they give up their +independence?" + +"I thought all women wanted to marry--" + +"That is where _you_ are not up-to-date, Mr. Cosden," she laughed. +"Perhaps the woman you--intend to get has no vision; if so, it will be +that much easier. But she must be poor, Mr. Cosden,--you really mustn't +take advantage of her!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XVII + + * * * * * + + +Huntington passed an uncomfortable half hour after watching Merry and +Cosden start off on their sailing-trip, and he was glad to have Edith +Stevens break in upon his unprofitable self-communion. Cosden had put +into words a fact which until then Huntington had stubbornly refused to +acknowledge: he had actually reached a point where he heartily +disapproved of his friend. Connie had said it, and the realization that +what he said was true shook the long-established friendship to the core. + +As he analyzed the case Huntington found it difficult to explain why +this complete change in conditions should suddenly have taken place. +Cosden was no different from what he had been during all these years of +their intimacy. In fact, he knew no one among his friends who was so +absolutely consistent in conducting his life in accord with principles +established before their friendship began. Others had commented on +Cosden's commercial instincts, and Huntington always defended him, yet +now these same traits caused him to criticise his friend even more +severely than those whose attitude he had previously thought +unwarranted. + +The change, then, Huntington concluded was in himself rather than in +Cosden; and from this point he tried to discover what that change really +was. What had their relations been during these years? They had never +come together in any business way, and Huntington now for the first time +wondered why it would not have been natural for Cosden to turn over to +his office some of his frequent cases in litigation. It had not +previously occurred to him that he might have expected it, but now he +wondered. This in itself was evidence that his friend did not consider +him seriously in the practice of his profession. The real fact was that +they had played together, and that their intimacy had stopped at that +point. Huntington now recalled that in gratifying those characteristics +which found enjoyment in music, art or literature he instinctively +sought the companionship of other friends, and the same analysis +revealed to him that Cosden had done likewise in turning to other and +more kindred spirits in living that part of his life with which his +friend had little sympathy. It had all happened so naturally that +Huntington had never realized until now that in spite of their intimacy +there was a side to each man's life into which the other never entered. + +This was the explanation as Huntington thought it out, and the fact that +it could be explained at all gave promise of readjustment. The present +situation did not require any change in the relations of the two +friends. It had been precipitated by the accidental pulling aside of a +curtain which revealed a picture Huntington must always have known was +there, but at which he had always steadfastly refused to look. The +mistake came when Cosden insisted that he peer behind the curtain, and +became intensified when he permitted himself to be drawn into that side +of his friend's life in which he should have known he had no part. The +friendship need be in no way affected: simply restore the old relations, +use greater discretion in keeping them within the bounds which Nature +had prescribed for them, and all would be as before. + +Huntington abhorred an enigma because when once focused in his mind a +mental impossibility was created to rid himself of it. He found it +lurking behind his _Transcript_ in the evening, it tried to crystallize +itself in the smoke of his last pipe before retiring, it flirted with +him coyly over his coffee-cup the next morning. Until the figment became +a reality and was dismissed it was a haunting menace to his peace of +mind. Now that he had discovered an explanation of his disapproval of +Connie and had found the antidote, that particular enigma was disposed +of, and he should have been free to resume his normal state; but to his +further discomfiture this was just what he found he could not do. He had +cut off one of the Hydra's heads, but others remained which spat at him +viciously. + +Why was it that Cosden's attitude caused him such peculiar annoyance at +this particular time? Had he been entirely straightforward with his +friend, had he been quite frank in answering Hamlen's question regarding +Merry's resemblance to her mother? Huntington's disgust with himself at +that first slip became intensified by its repetition. He recalled De +Quincey's arraignment of the murderer on the ground that murder so +dulls the sensibilities that it is an easy step from this to falsehood. +Huntington, with his Puritan ancestry, would have allowed himself to be +torn by wild horses before he would deliberately tell an untruth, yet +here, on two separate occasions, he had undeniably juggled with the +facts. + +When Cosden suggested that there might be some deeper reason for his +objections he promptly and equivocably denied the implication that he +had any interest in Merry beyond that of an older friend; yet he now +knew that the denial was absolutely false. What he told Cosden was what +ought to be the case rather than what the case really was. This was his +secret, and he had protected it in the easiest way, which as usual was a +cowardly subterfuge. The fact that he had made a misstatement or that he +had a secret to conceal had come to him only during this period of +self-communion since the little sloop sailed away, leaving him alone +with his reflections. What he said to Cosden, that he was equally +unsuited to Merry and that he was old enough to be her father, expressed +the cold, hard facts; but he needed no second-sight to tell himself that +during these days of companionship, such as he had never before known, +the girl's sweet personality had penetrated the sham armor of the cynic, +and that he was face to face with an emotion far deeper than any he had +experienced from time to time in his library, in front of that table +with its curious exhibits, with the stage-like accessories of the +albatross-stem pipe and the flickering light from the burning logs. How +tinsel-like it all seemed to him now, compared with this +flesh-and-blood experience in the open air, with its glorious setting of +the sea and the beautiful island foliage! + +He had reached this point in his mental activities when he saw Miss +Stevens approaching, and he greeted her cordially. Face to face with +this latest revelation, he disliked his own company. His +responsibilities, which had seemed terrifying to him so short a time +before, now appeared insignificant compared with the new responsibility +with which he had saddled himself. He thought little at this moment of +the burdens imposed upon him by Mrs. Thatcher, by Cosden, or by Billy: +he must now protect the girl against himself, and that would be the +hardest task of all. + +Edith Stevens, as well as Huntington, found herself without her usual +occupation this morning. Cosden told her, the evening before, of his +plan to take Merry sailing, so she reverted to her natural habit of late +rising, from which she had temporarily reformed herself, knowing that +Cosden always breakfasted early and was usually looking for +companionship. Seeing Huntington absorbed in self-contemplation she +gravitated in his direction. + +"We've lost our little playmates, haven't we?" she said cheerfully, as +he rose and pulled up another piazza chair for her. "Why isn't this a +good time for our Society to go into executive session?" + +"Capital!" Huntington assented, replying only to the second part of her +question. "Is the secret-service department ready to make its report?" + +"I've found the girl," she announced bluntly; "but I imagine you know +already who she is." + +"The girl Connie is going to marry?" Huntington simulated a proper +attitude of interrogation. + +"The girl he thinks he wants to marry," she corrected. + +"Oh! he only thinks so. That's it, is it?" + +Edith raised her eyes from the toe of her buckskin shoe, which she had +been poking vigorously with her sunshade, and smiled brightly. + +"Yes," she said; "that's it." + +"You speak with conviction." + +"Well," Edith explained, "I know Mr. Cosden better now than when the +Society last met. He wants to get married, and he thinks he has picked +out the right girl, but--" + +"But--what?" + +"But--he hasn't; that's all." And again Edith smiled brightly into +Huntington's face. + +"Connie isn't in the habit of making mistakes; he usually gets what he +goes after." + +"So he told me," she admitted, with an expression on her face which +Huntington thought significant; "but there's always a first time to +everything; and this is where Mr. Cosden meets his Waterloo." + +"I understood that you had been coaching him--" + +"So I have." + +"But I thought we agreed--" + +"We did; and I've lived up to our agreement. You watch his face when he +comes in! I'm oozing out the balance of the morning here simply to give +myself that satisfaction." + +"You must have some inside information which has not been incorporated +in your report." + +"Not exactly; but I know Mr. Cosden and I know Merry. When he begins to +trade for a wife she won't understand the language, and if he tries to +teach it to her--well, he may learn something himself." + +"You think he will propose to her this morning?" + +"If she lets him get as far as that. He's been working up to this point +ever since he arrived, and the only way to cure him was to let him have +his own way." + +It was a novel experience to Huntington to see any one other than Cosden +himself undertake to manage his personal affairs. The certainty with +which Miss Stevens spoke evidenced a closer acquaintanceship with Connie +than Huntington had realized existed. + +"What will happen when this episode is over? Do you care to prophesy?" +he asked. + +"He will come back to his counsel to have his wounds bandaged, and then +the education of Mr. Cosden will continue from the point where it was +temporarily interrupted." + +"You are assuming a great responsibility," Huntington suggested. + +"I'm still retained," she answered demurely. "That's what you lawyers +call it, isn't it?" + +Edith rose and sat for a moment on the edge of the piazza rail, her eyes +looking down the harbor. She was impatient for the returning boat, and +made no attempt to conceal it. At last her vigilance was rewarded, and +she returned to her chair. + +"S-ssh! they're coming!" she said mysteriously, placing her finger on +her lips. "We mustn't seem to be waiting for them. Talk to me!" + +Huntington tried to obey her instructions during the intervening +moments, but it was obvious that Miss Stevens heard little of what he +said. She was intently watching the steps yet endeavoring to appear +entirely unconcerned. Merry was the first to see them, and she came +forward with her usual animation and enthusiasm. + +"We've had a wonderful sail!" she said. "The morning was simply perfect, +and it is such fun to play hide-and-seek among these little islands." + +"She knows how to handle a boat all right," Cosden said from behind, but +his tone did not reflect the girl's vivacity. + +"Why, it's like sailing a toy boat in a bath-tub," Merry disclaimed. +"You come down to the shore some time when there's a good breeze and +I'll show you some real sailing. Mr. Cosden is such good company!" she +added, turning to the others. "He has given me some really new ideas, +and that is more than one usually gains from a sailing-party. I'm going +to think them over so that I can argue with him more intelligently next +time we have a discussion.--I must run up now and get ready for lunch." + +Cosden remained behind. + +"Come sit down with us, Connie," Huntington urged. + +"I prefer to stand," was the unexpected answer, yet in spite of his +remark he sat down on the piazza rail which Miss Stevens had so recently +vacated. He too looked down the harbor, but his companions realized that +it was not the panorama which interested him. They also sensed the +kindliness of silence. At last he turned toward them. + +"I don't know why I shouldn't speak before both of you," he said. "You, +Monty, are my oldest friend, and Miss Stevens has been good enough to +let me take her into my confidence. I want you both to look me over and +tell me what's the matter with me." + +"You look perfectly good to me, Connie," Huntington replied lightly, +scenting unpleasantness, and helplessly trying to divert it. + +"You know what I mean," Cosden replied brusquely, determined to force +the issue, "and I want you to take me seriously. What you said this +morning gave me a jolt, of course, but it didn't sink in deep enough to +affect my confidence in myself. Now it's gone all the way through and +come out the other side, and at the present moment I feel as big as a +two-spot in a pinochle deck." + +"Did she refuse you?" Edith asked, with almost too much eagerness in her +voice. + +"Refuse me?" he echoed. "She didn't even give me the satisfaction of +recognizing that I had the slightest intention to propose." + +"Then what did happen?" Huntington demanded. "You seemed to be on the +best of terms when you came up here, and Merry complimented you on being +good company." + +"She was rubbing it in, that's all. We didn't have any trouble; that +isn't the point. I planned this out, as you both know, with the definite +idea of asking her to marry me, and before I knew what had happened she +had twisted the situation around where I was on the defensive and had +made myself look so ridiculous that I wouldn't have had the nerve to +propose to a colored cook. There is something in all this which I don't +understand, and I must understand it. I'm average intelligent, I've had +some experience in life, and if a slip of a girl like that can make me +lose my confidence then there's something radically wrong. You struck it +right this morning, Monty, and I tell you it hurts!" + +The man's humiliation was so complete that both his companions were +eager to relieve him. Huntington's loyalty to his friend caused instant +forgetfulness of his recent resentment. + +"Don't mind what I said, Connie," he urged contritely. "I had no right +to speak as I did." + +"You had every right," Cosden insisted. "All these years you have seen +the lack of this something in me, and you've overlooked it because you +were my friend. This morning you had sand enough to tell me the +unpleasant truth when you knew I ought to hear it. What I want to find +out now is what these 'finer instincts' are, and how I am to get them." + +The momentary silence which followed was evidence of the difficulty his +auditors found in answering his appeal. He was in such deadly earnest +that it was impossible to avoid direct reply. When this mood was on him, +Huntington knew that he would deal with nothing but facts. + +"Let me leave you and Mr. Huntington to discuss this," Edith said, +rising. + +"Please," Cosden detained her. "We are past the point of sensitiveness. +I want your advice as well as Monty's. I'm up against something I don't +understand," he repeated, "and I'm looking to you two to show me up to +myself." + +"What is the use, Connie?" Huntington expostulated. "You have gone alone +all these years living your own life; why disturb yourself now over +something to which you have always been blissfully indifferent?" + +"Can't you see that the situation has changed, Monty? It was all right +until I found out that I was different from other people. This is what +the boys at the Club meant when they jollied us about our friendship. I +always thought I was as good as anybody, but if an experience like this +can make me lose my confidence in myself then the matter is really +serious. It is this confidence which has made it possible for me to +accomplish what I have, and if I once lose it then my strength is gone. +It's all I have, Monty,--I can see that now. I must protect it, and you +must help me. You must tell me what the trouble really is; I don't care +how brutally frank you are so long as you tell me." + +"Then come over here and sit down," the older man said gently. "I will +try to make it clearer to you. The finer instincts I referred to can't +be bought, for they are not for sale; they come from every-day contact +with the humanities, and with those whose lives are spent in this +atmosphere. Your business has been your religion, Connie, and you are +branded with its ear-marks as plainly as the goods your factories +produce. Now, for the first time, you find yourself in an atmosphere +which considers business only as a means to bring the refinements of +life within closer reach, and it stifles you because of your +unfamiliarity with it." + +Cosden listened patiently to the lengthy discussion which followed with +the same attention which he gave to Thatcher when the trolley +proposition was outlined, but his expression when Huntington finally +paused and looked up showed bewilderment rather than comprehension. + +"I hear your words, Monty," he said frankly, "and your meaning is as +dense as Merry's talk about her 'vision.' But there's one thing you +haven't said, probably because you want to spare my feelings, which no +doubt explains the whole thing. This knowledge of the 'finer instincts' +comes naturally to you, Monty, because you were born in that atmosphere +you speak of; I wasn't. Some men acquire them as a result of their own +efforts, some devote their efforts to other things, as I have done. 'You +can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.' Isn't that what you really +mean to say, Monty?" + +"You are too severe on yourself, Mr. Cosden," Edith said +sympathetically, affected by the spectacle of this strong, +self-sufficient man suffering under the lash without realizing in the +least the power which wielded it. In his complacent mood she had longed +for the ability to wound his self-assurance, but the climax had been +reached without her assistance, and the woman in her failed to find the +satisfaction she had anticipated. + +"Well," Cosden said finally, rising and holding out a hand to each, "I +can't say that you've given me much enlightenment, but you've made some +things fairly clear. It will be a long time before I can look my +business in the face without blushing; but I count on those who are +really my friends to stand by me while I pumice down the marks of the +branding-iron. In the meantime, don't you think for a moment that I'm +indifferent to this thing we're talking about. Now that I know it +exists, in spite of your doubts, I intend to get it. If business +interferes, I'll cut out business. I refuse to let anything stand +between me and what I want." + + + + + * * * * * + +XVIII + + * * * * * + + +Cosden pursued the subject now uppermost in his mind with the same +relentless energy which he applied to other and more agreeable +undertakings. He had no desire to make himself a "ladies' man," such as +Edith Stevens described her brother and as he knew him to be; but this +idea that he was unfitted to enter into any circle he might choose, +provided he could force the entrance, was as novel as it was +disagreeable. When Huntington first intimated that he lacked certain +qualities Cosden had not taken him seriously. Monty was a Brahmin, +albeit one of the best of fellows, and this class had never been an +object of his envy nor considered by him an example to be emulated. +Cosden had discovered that those who constituted it were eager enough to +know him and to be intimate with him when once they came to realize, in +a business way, that this relationship might serve their own best +interests. Born outside the sacred circle, he expected nothing else, and +the fact of his friendship with Huntington, and his close +acquaintanceship with others of the same stamp, seemed to him a triumph +of merit over birth. If a man could trace his ancestry back to the right +people he became a member of this group automatically, and in spite of +lack of personal achievement. How much more credit, Cosden argued, to +the man who forced recognition through sheer accomplishment alone. + +For this reason he felt that Monty's criticism, if it was to be taken as +such, was the expression of a class rather than an individual. It was +not to be expected that his friend, reared in so unpractical an +atmosphere, should sympathize with or even understand this common-sense +approach to the subject of marriage. It was natural, indeed, that he +should be shocked by it; yet it had been a surprise to have the +easy-going Monty rouse himself to the extent of making definite +objections to the method of procedure. But Cosden had observed that +Huntington's conscience every now and then, like his liver, became +overburdened, and on these rare occasions he was liable to make remarks +which would sting if taken seriously. + +Now, however, it had been brought home to him that perhaps, after all, +his friend's comments might contain a grain of truth. The fact was +forced home not so much by what Merry Thatcher said to him as the wide +divergence of viewpoint which became apparent as a result of their +discussion. Cosden instinctively felt himself in the presence of +something higher and finer than himself, and this feeling put him at a +disadvantage. When he had ridden to Elba Beach with Merry and Billy they +were companions and all met on the same footing; now, with Merry alone, +he realized that the girl looked upon him as a man with ideas rather +than ideals, and with a creed of life which she neither understood nor +cared to understand. Yet he was not the first man to apply business +principles to this all-important partnership, and others had not made +themselves ridiculous. "Your business has been your religion and you are +branded with its ear-marks," Monty told him. It was the branding which +caused the trouble, Cosden concluded. The "finer instincts" could not be +bought, perhaps, but surely they might be acquired. He had been too +crude in the manner of expression. It came down to a question of finesse +in this as in any other transaction of life, and when reduced to this +medium he thought he understood. + +To arrive at this point required time. After a brief and silent luncheon +with Huntington Cosden set out by himself for a long walk, returning in +season for dinner in what appeared outwardly his normal mental +condition. In the evening he visited with the little group which had +formed the habit of taking their coffee together on the piazza, however +far their paths might diverge during the day. Even Edith Stevens was +deceived, but Huntington knew his friend's temperament well enough to +realize that he was working everything out in his mind preparatory to +the next step, by which he would endeavor to regain the lost ground. + +By the following morning Cosden had arrived at several definite +conclusions, and his courage returned. He breakfasted at his usual early +hour, and Edith Stevens, for some reason best known to herself, came +down-stairs at about the same time. After breakfast, as had become +almost a habit, they sat together on the piazza, he with his cigar, she +with an infinite nothing upon which from time to time she plied a not +overworked needle. + +"Well," he said at length, knocking off the ash from his cigar and +regarding it contemplatively for some moments before he +continued,--"Monty gave it to me good and straight yesterday, didn't +he?" + +"You asked him to--" + +"I know I did. You remember the man who said he didn't get what he +expected, and some one told him he was lucky not to get what he +deserved? Well, I got both." + +"Mr. Huntington had to say what he thought; you forced him to." + +"But I didn't really believe he did think it. I've been bowling along +all these years, and I suppose I've become too complacent. When I called +myself names yesterday I hadn't the slightest idea that any one would +agree with me. It was a case where I wanted to be contradicted." + +"Oh!" was all that Edith said, but the exclamation conveyed more to +Cosden regarding her real attitude than a whole vocabulary. + +"Then you agree with Monty?" he demanded. + +Edith had expected this crisis to come, so it did not find her wholly +unprepared. In fact she had been awaiting it as the point from which his +education was to be continued, as she had explained to Huntington. She +pursed her lips a little as she replied. + +"Yes--and no," she answered slowly, showing a serious consideration of +the subject which impressed Cosden. "I think he was right in saying that +business has left its mark upon you, but entirely wrong in his +assumption that what you lack can't be acquired." + +"Of course it can," Cosden agreed emphatically; "and what is more, it's +going to be acquired. I don't intend to have anything stand in my way. +The only thing to consider is just how and when." + +"Exactly," she encouraged him,--"just how and when. These are the +questions. Have you answered them?" + +"Not yet. I'm trying first to understand what Monty meant. I thought I +had learned the game. While, as I've told you, I started out with the +definite intention of making money, I've bent over backwards to conduct +my affairs so that they should be absolutely above criticism. I believed +that in doing this I proved that I had those 'finer instincts' which +mean so much to Monty. I've made other people play the game square with +me, but I've always played it square with them. My principle has been to +fix things so that the other fellow would do right because he had to, +and I would do right because I wanted to. You have to do that because +the other fellow doesn't always want to. Take one case for example: I +had a contract for a number of years with a house to supply them with +goods of a certain standard, made in accord with a fixed formula. Six +months ago my superintendent told me that by some mistake at the factory +these goods had been ten per cent. below the standard called for, +covering a period of nearly five years. My customer had made no +complaint--he supposed he was getting what the contract called for, and +so did I. The natural thing to do was to make all future deliveries up +to standard and to let it go at that; but that isn't my way. The man had +paid for something he hadn't received, and it was up to me to make good. +So I figured out the difference between the two grades, and the volume +of business, and sent him an explanation and a check for $6500." + +"That must have been a pleasant surprise for him, and you made a +customer for life." + +"Yes," Cosden replied, with a queer expression on his face: "it was a +pleasant surprise for him all right. He wrote me a beautiful letter, +telling me what a noble, upright thing it was to do, and that he didn't +believe another man in the trade would have done it. He even expressed +his deep appreciation. Last month the contract came up to be renewed, +and he canceled it because another house cut me a quarter of a cent a +pound, and I wouldn't meet it." + +"I never heard of such a thing!" Edith cried indignantly. "But you have +the satisfaction of knowing that you did the right thing." + +"Yes; I have the satisfaction and the other fellow has the contract. But +I am only telling you about it to show you why I can't understand Monty. +I thought I was showing some of those finer things he says I don't +possess. The man who canceled that contract was born with those +wonderful 'instincts,' and exhales them with every breath." + +"I don't believe you do understand just what Mr. Huntington means," she +said quietly. + +"Let me tell you something more," Cosden went on. "There is many a +corporation right in the city of Boston that spends more money in +lobbying at the State House than it does in producing its goods, yet +the officers of those same corporations go around without having their +best friends tell them they are 'branded with the ear-marks' of their +business. They are just as commercial as I am, and some of them aren't +nearly as careful to play the game straight. That is where I can't +comprehend Monty's attitude. If a man observes the 'finer instincts' in +his business, as I believe I do, why isn't the brand it marks him with a +hall-mark of respectability in any society in which he wants to mingle?" + +Edith had been very busy with her fancy-work, and she did not look up +when Cosden appealed to her for an answer. + +"Now you're getting nearer to what Mr. Huntington means," she said with +decision. "You know your business world,--its customs and its standards, +and as you have just explained they are not always consistent. The same +is true of the social world, and that, as I understand it, Mr. +Huntington knows better than you do. The social world has its customs +and standards just the same, and in many cases they are equally +inconsistent. You can't explain these inconsistencies in one any more +than in the other; they simply exist. What you still have to do is to +become familiar with them as you have with those in the business world." + +"That is where the wife comes in,--that's what she's for," Cosden +insisted. "That's the very reason I want to marry a woman who knows that +end of the game. When I select a partner in my business I don't want him +to handle my end, but rather some part of it which he can do better than +I can. And the same thing ought to apply here." + +"Perhaps it ought, Mr. Cosden, but that is just the point,--it doesn't; +and the first thing Mr. Huntington would tell you is that the two don't +mix. Here are two distinct worlds which touch each other very closely; +the one admits the other to a certain extent, the other never admits the +one." + +"Then the wife won't do it?" + +"Not alone. Many a wife has accomplished for her husband what he never +could have gained for himself, but only when the man has permitted her +to teach him how to leave his business behind him when he leaves his +office. Business plays its part in the social world, but it is one of +those polite amenities not to recognize the machinery which makes +society possible." + +Cosden moved uncomfortably in his chair. "I'm not a climber," he said. +"I haven't any desire to force myself in where I'm not wanted; but here +I am, a member of some of the best clubs in my own city, recognized in +the business world, and acquainted with every one who is worth knowing. +Until within twenty-four hours I supposed that I was as much a part of +the social organization as I chose to be,--no more, no less. Now, the +best friend I have in the world tells me point blank that the very thing +I supposed was most to my credit is a bar across the path I have elected +to take. I'm not ready yet to admit it. Monty says that I've lost +something, but he's wrong: apparently the attributes he has in mind I +never even possessed." + +"Then the more reason to exert yourself until you do possess them." + +"But if I lack them, why haven't I felt the lack before?" he appealed. +"I'm thrown all the time with the very men on whom the social life of +Boston rests." + +"Where, if I may ask?" + +"In business, and at my clubs." + +"But not in their homes?" Edith pursued. + +"No," Cosden admitted; "there has never been any reason to meet them +there." + +Edith folded her work deliberately and looked squarely at her companion. + +"My friend," she said with decision, "'the time has come, the Walrus +said, to talk of many things.' Some one must set you right. You have too +much knowledge in other directions to be so childlike in this. If you +still look upon me as confidential adviser, I'll appoint myself that +one." + +"I should be eternally grateful." + +"Then don't be offended if I speak plainly. I believe that I understand +the situation exactly: you have pursued the even tenor of your way all +these years, following a definite plan, and accomplishing your set +purpose. In the confidence of having accomplished it, you decide that +the moment has arrived to exercise a side of your nature which up to +that moment has scarcely interested you, and you try to put your new +thought into execution as mechanically as you have carried through every +other purpose which you have ever had. Your election to your clubs, no +doubt, was the result of careful and business-like plans, laid down when +your name was first proposed, and followed up with the same +irreproachable persistency which would be applied to any other business +undertaking." + +"Of course," he acknowledged: "that is the only way to put anything +through." + +"So your clubs, which you have looked upon to certain extent as social +achievements, have been only a part of your every-day business routine, +after all?" + +"Yes; if you choose to put it that way." + +"Then let me tell you that however intimate you become with any man, you +are not admitted to his social circle until he has presented you to his +wife or sisters, and has invited you to his home. Every woman knows +that, and I supposed every man did." + +"My ignorance is perhaps the best evidence of how crude I really am," +Cosden said soberly. + +"Don't say crude," Edith protested considerately; "say rather that your +social life has been undeveloped. Until this new desire for a home came +to you the necessity of considering that side had not appealed, and when +you once decided to make the grand plunge the only way you knew how to +go at it was as if you were selecting a partner in your business. +Perhaps, as you say, the same rules ought to apply, but I assure you +they don't. And that is just where you stand now." + +"Then I will learn the rules which do apply," he asserted with +determination. "But why, if this is so all-important, have you yourself +so little use for society?" + +"It is a very different matter, my friend, to make light of something +which you have and something which you lack. I may despise society, but +if it was society that despised me you'd see me starting a campaign in +New York that would make a football game look like a funeral +procession." + +Cosden regarded his animated companion for some moments in silence, but +any one who knew him would have recognized that his mind had seized upon +the germ of a new idea which pleased him, but which he was considering +critically for the moment. + +"Look here," he said suddenly. "It doesn't take me long to make up my +mind. Why couldn't I persuade you to start a campaign like that for +me--for us--in Boston?" + +The abruptness of the suggestion, and the complete change from the +subdued and humiliated seeker after light back to the dominating man of +affairs who forces the solution of his dilemma, took even the astute +Edith by surprise. + +"Am I by any chance to consider that as an offer of marriage?" she +demanded. + +"That is just what I mean. What do you say?" + +"Well, of all things!" She rose to her feet and walked up and down the +piazza with Cosden following close behind. It was a moment or two before +she recovered herself, and then she turned on him. + +"I take back all the sympathy I ever gave you," she cried indignantly, +"and I hate myself for having tried to help you with my advice." + +Cosden regarded her outbreak with consternation. "I always supposed an +offer of marriage was the greatest compliment a man could pay a woman," +he exclaimed surprised. + +"It is no compliment when such an offer is based so cold-bloodedly upon +business advantage. You come down here to get a wife, which you have +decided in your counting-room will increase your assets. The first girl +you select doesn't fit into your plans, as you had expected, so you look +me over critically, tell me it doesn't take you long to make up your +mind, and offer me a partnership.--All that remains, I suppose, is for +us to discuss office hours and the division of the profits! My word! You +are the most mercenary human creature I ever met!" + +Edith was splendid in her anger, but Cosden refused to take her +seriously. + +"Come," he insisted; "you are far too sensible to look at it that way. +Why, every one in the hotel is asking if we are engaged. What shall I +tell them?" + +"Tell them you proposed to me and that I refused you," she retorted +defiantly, turning from him and disappearing through the open door. + + + + + * * * * * + +XIX + + * * * * * + + +"Well Marian, my play-time is over for the present," Thatcher remarked +as he folded a cable he had just received and placed it in his pocket. +"They need me at the office, so I'll sail on Monday. There's no reason +for you to leave until later unless you wish to." + +She looked up at him with an expression of such real disappointment that +he felt the unspoken reproach. + +"We have stayed a month longer than we intended, as it is," he +explained, "and my going need not hasten your plans at all." + +"I don't want you to return alone, Harry, and I loathe the thought of +turning my back on this enchanting spot. Truly, each day makes it more +difficult to leave it." + +"Then if you don't go at once the problem may become serious," he +laughed. + +"You are so different down here, Harry, I hate to give you up to +business again. That is a wife's real rival; I'm jealous of it." + +"A rival which has made our pleasures possible, so you should be +friends. Only a few years more of it, little woman, and then you may +plan my days as well as yours. Then we'll have one long play-time +together." + +"You've been saying that for five years," she protested petulantly; "but +we seem to come no nearer. Haven't we enough to do that now?" + +"Who shall say what 'enough' really is?" he smiled, taking her hand in +his and looking with affection into her deep eyes. "That isn't what +holds me; it takes time to work out of the old interests without serious +loss, Marian, and present conditions aren't helpful." + +"I suppose not," she agreed unwillingly; "but do make the period of +waiting as short as possible. Merry and Philip are grown now, and I'm +hungry for another honeymoon, such as we have been having here." + +"Some day, little woman, some day!" + +"Don't say that, Harry!" she protested again, this time more vigorously. +"There is no expression in the English language I detest so much as +'some day.' When I was a little girl I had an uncle who was forever +going to take me somewhere or give me something 'some day'; and 'some +day' never came! I've always looked upon those two words as a diabolical +combination invented by older people as an aggravation to children. But +I will be patient, Harry. Can't you start in now to take some medicine +which will be sure to clear your blood of business by the time these +things you speak of work themselves out?" + +"If present conditions continue," he laughed, "they will accomplish what +you wish better than anything so homeopathic as physic. We shall all be +thrown out of business whether we like it or not. This cable I have just +received," he continued more soberly, "is a case in point: the +government is starting in to 'investigate' one of our pet interests, and +the stock has begun to drop out of sight already. It is paternalism with +a vengeance: protecting the infant industries to encourage their growth, +and then spanking them when they respond!" + +"Well," Marian sighed, "it's all Greek to me, but if you say it's wrong +then I know it is. Now," she added, slipping her arm through his, "let's +go over to the pool and see what is going on there." + +Shouts of laughter and sounds of splashing greeted them as they reached +the top of the tiled steps of the "Princess" pool, and they paused for a +moment to see the finish of an exciting race. + +"You're too fast for us, Miss Merry," Huntington acknowledged his +defeat. Then he turned to Cosden who finished just behind him. + +"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to let a girl beat you like that, +Connie?" he demanded. + +"How about yourself?" was the retort; "you always claimed to be some +swimmer." + +"You let me win!" Merry declared. + +"Indeed I didn't," Huntington protested stoutly. "It is eminently unfit +that woman should defeat man in any athletic contest; she has beaten us +out in everything else, and we must reserve something. Perhaps Connie +let you beat him,--did you, Connie?" + +Cosden laughed consciously. "Did I ever let any one beat me in anything +when I could prevent it?" he asked. + +"There you are," Huntington waved his arms dramatically. "We admit +ourselves temporarily defeated, but not disgraced. As for myself, I +shall immediately go into strict training, in an endeavor to alter my +lines from endurance to speed." + +The Thatchers strolled along the edge of the pool and seated themselves +on one of the benches at the farther end of the enclosure. + +"Here come Edith and Philip Hamlen," Marian called her husband's +attention to the new arrivals; "where do you suppose she found him?" + +"Hello, people," Edith greeted them. "Mr. Hamlen has been waiting for +you in the hotel, and I told him I thought we should find you here. This +looks to me like a perfectly good party." + +"Come sit with us," Thatcher urged, drawing up another bench. "We +elderly folk will watch the children at play." + +Edith suddenly caught sight of Cosden and she perceptibly stiffened. +"Children!" she echoed, with an inflection of her voice and a toss of +the head which attracted Marian's attention. "How is it that Mr. Cosden +goes into the water? I should think he would be afraid of rust." + +"I supposed it was by your orders, Edith," Marian said smiling. "Isn't +he still acting under your instructions? But why 'rust'?" + +"Certainly not by any orders of mine," she replied with emphasis. "What +he needs as an adviser is a machinist to keep that wonderful business +head of his in repair. Wouldn't you think it would rust if he got it +wet?" + +Edith's new attitude was more intelligible to Marian than to the men, +but discretion suggested a change of subject. + +"Harry is taking us home with him on Monday," she announced, suddenly +turning to Hamlen and watching him narrowly as she spoke. + +"On Monday?" Hamlen repeated after her. The color rushed into his +usually pale face, and a tremor in his voice showed how much the news +affected him. "You are going Monday?" + +"The Thatcher family intact," Marian answered him; "I don't know about +the others." + +"Of course Ricky and I go when you do," Edith added. "I'm quite ready. +The place is beginning to pall on me." + +There was an injured look in Hamlen's face as he turned to her quickly. +"Don't say that of my beautiful island!" he begged. + +"Oh, the place is all right," Edith assured him; "it is simply some of +the foreign element I don't like." + +"Must you really go?" Hamlen asked Thatcher appealingly. + +"It is my master's voice, and we slaves of the market dare not disregard +the call." + +Hamlen forced a smile. "I shall miss you," he said simply. + +"Come with us," Marian urged in a low voice. "That would make our visit +here complete." + +The man made no response, yet she could see no signs of weakening. The +color left his face and it was now more ashen than before. The lips were +tightly compressed as if he feared to trust them, and his hands clenched +the walking-stick he held in front of him with a grip of iron. He +mastered himself at last, and the pathetic smile which wrung Marian's +heart whenever she saw it returned to his face. It was too clearly the +reflection of a wound which pride alone concealed from sight. + +"You are too generous," he said at length, feeling the necessity of +making some response,--"far too generous; but it is like you, Marian. +Huntington is generous too, but you both are mistaken in your kindness. +There are some exotic growths which can't be transplanted; I am one of +those." + +He paused for a moment; then he continued: "I must ask one more favor +before you go--come to me to-morrow afternoon and let us have a final +celebration in honor of our reunion. Come to my villa, all of you, and +in the midst of the family I have created--my flowers, my trees--let me +dedicate my home anew to the dear friends who have brought life back to +me, even though they too will soon join the memories amongst which I +must continue to live. Give me this last experience to remain with me +after you are gone." + +"Of course we will, Philip,--we would love to come," Marian replied, +affected by his words and the depth of emotion which his voice +expressed. "It will be the one remembrance we would most rejoice to take +back with us if we can't take you. For these days, Philip," she added in +a voice so low that he alone could hear,--"these days have not been +vital ones for you alone, dear friend. Our meeting has brought back much +to me which I shall always cherish, and beyond all I wish I might be the +means of giving you back that happiness you lost through me." + +"No, no! You mustn't say that, Marian!" + +"Oh, but I feel the burden of it, Philip! You give me no chance to make +restitution. If you would only come--" + +A tremor ran through his frame but he quickly controlled himself. "No, +Marian," he said firmly; "you must come to me!" + +While the little group were conversing together the bathers had left the +pool, and now one by one appeared from the bath-houses, radiant from +their invigorating exercise, and looking for new worlds to conquer. +Cosden was first, and he seated himself on the bench beside Edith. + +"Am I forgiven?" he asked in a low tone, but with a smile which +expressed confidence in the answer. + +"I never talk shop outside of business hours," was the chilling +response, as she drew herself slightly away from him and looked straight +ahead. + +Merry was not far behind, and her appearance prevented Edith's hauteur +from becoming too apparent. + +"Mr. Huntington and I are going to have another race to-morrow morning," +she announced. "I'm sure he let me beat him this time just to humiliate +me the more when he shows what he can really do." + +"I'd back you against the field if I could find any takers," Cosden +insisted. "That shows what I think of his chances." + +"It's great fun, anyway. Isn't this a fine old world, Momsie?" she cried +impulsively, throwing her arms around her mother's neck and kissing her. + +"'Here comes the bride,'" chanted Cosden as Huntington finally walked +toward them with his dignified stride. "If I took as much time to prink +as you do I believe I could fuss myself up to look like something." + +"You'd need a file!" Edith ejaculated spitefully. + +"I beg your pardon?" Cosden interrogated, but no explanation was +vouchsafed. + +"This looks to me like a council of war," Huntington remarked. + +"Call it rather a demobilization," Thatcher corrected. "I have made +myself everlastingly unpopular by deciding to return to New York on +Monday. Marian insists on leaving when I do, and the Stevenses are +equally considerate of my pleasure. So I've spoiled everything." + +"I have only been waiting for some one stronger than I to determine my +own departure, so I include myself among the refugees. And Hamlen will +go with me, won't you, my friend?" + +Hamlen held up his hand deprecatingly. "I must complete my sentence of +exile," he said with finality. + +"Have you heard anything from New York?" Cosden inquired. "I left orders +not to cable." + +"The market is bad, and liable to become worse." + +"Then my vacation is over, too. How about the trolley project?" + +"Another postponement. I'll give you the details later." + +"Mr. Hamlen has invited us to have tea with him to-morrow afternoon as a +farewell celebration, and I have accepted for all." + +"Not a farewell, Mrs. Thatcher," Huntington corrected, looking across at +Hamlen. "There are some souls to whom we never say farewell. If he +won't come with us now it simply means a brief postponement. This friend +of mine cannot come into my life as he has done these weeks and then go +out of it again. He and I have already lost too many years of the +companionship which should have been ours; now together we must make up +for lost time." + +Hamlen looked at him gratefully but did not answer. In single file the +little party walked along the narrow edge of the pool, down the steps +and back to the hotel. Cosden manoeuvered so that he had a word with +Edith before they separated. + +"I sha'n't let you be cross with me," he said. + +"I'm not cross; 'disgusted' is the word if you really want to know." + +"But suppose my speaking was more sudden than my decision?" + +"I would rather not discuss it, if you please." + +"I've seen a great deal more of you than I have of Merry--" + +"But when you make up your mind, Mr. Cosden--" Edith recalled his own +words. + +"I never change it without reason," he replied. "And more than that, it +is very unprofessional to desert a client just when he needs you most." + +"When a client disregards his counsel's advice it is time to change +counsel," she retorted with decision. + +"Oh, dear, no!" Cosden replied in so conciliatory a tone that she was +partly mollified. The words rang with greater sincerity than she had +believed him to possess. "That isn't the way real counsels do at all, +especially when the client is so contrite." + +"What is their custom?" Edith asked, amused in spite of herself. + +"They charge it up on the bill and make him pay handsomely for his +presumption." + +"Oh!" she said, weakening a little in the caustic attitude she had +assumed. "If it comes down to a matter of bookkeeping perhaps we can +effect a compromise." + + + + + * * * * * + +XX + + * * * * * + + +"To-day, Connie, is Saturday, to-morrow is the Sabbath, in which we are +not permitted to toil, neither can we spin, and on the day which +followeth we sail," Huntington remarked at luncheon. + +Cosden regarded his companion critically. "It doesn't rhyme so I know it +isn't poetry; then it must be Scripture." + +"Freely paraphrased, it means that this afternoon is the last +opportunity we shall have to exercise our golf-clubs on Bermudian soil." + +"Enough said," Cosden answered sententiously; "I'll be ready whenever +you are. What a relief it will be to play on a real course again when +the season opens at home!" + +"I admit that this is the one great deficiency of an otherwise admirably +ordered resort," Huntington agreed. "Still, it is a whole lot better +than no course at all, so let us be philosophers.--I'll be ready in an +hour." + +The afternoon's round proved an eventful one to Huntington. Not that his +clubs were under better control, or that he was less penalized by the +atrocious lies encountered so frequently. Not that he succeeded in +defeating his opponent, which was usually the measure of an eventful +day; but he found Cosden in a state of mind which gave him infinite +relief. + +The weak spots shown up by the analysis Huntington had made of his +friendship with Cosden caused him real anxiety, explain them as he +would. It was one thing to play with a man three times a week and +another to live with him for a month of consecutive holidays. He had +wondered whether their relations could ever return to what he had +believed them to be before the shock came to his sense of propriety. +Cosden's new state of mind shifted the balance so that the scales hung +even, and the hope thus engendered made him indifferent to sliced +drives, bad lies, or topped approaches. To Huntington, a friendship such +as this had been assumed the proportions of a trust, and to disturb it +was to shake the foundations of his every-day life to a most disquieting +extent. + +"This visit to Bermuda hasn't been at all what I expected," Cosden +confided to him; "but I'm inclined to think it has been a success after +all." + +"I have found much to interest me here," Huntington admitted. + +"Between you and Miss Stevens I've learned a few things about myself I +didn't know before. The experience hasn't been altogether palatable, but +perhaps it will prove salutary." + +"That is ancient history now, Connie," Huntington protested, following +his usual custom of avoiding the unpleasant. "Why bring it up again? +Keep your mind on your game." + +"It hasn't become ancient history yet," he insisted. "I want you to +understand that I appreciate your friendliness in going out of your way +to say disagreeable things when you thought I needed to hear them. It +isn't every one who would have done it." + +"That's all right; now let's forget it." + +"I don't want to forget it. In fact I'm particularly keen on remembering +it. I tackled a job before I knew how to handle it, with the inevitable +consequences. Now I think I can come nearer to understanding what the +game is." + +He paused long enough to negotiate a particularly difficult stymie which +Huntington had laid him on the third green. As the ball dropped into the +cup he looked up with a satisfied smile. + +"You see I can play a game that I do understand, don't you, Monty? I'm +going to play this new game just as well after I'm on to it. You were +right: that little Thatcher girl is all I thought she was, but we are +absolutely unsuited. I had to find it out for myself, but now it is as +clear to me as it has been to you from the beginning. And this isn't the +only thing I've found out." + +"The air is pretty clear down here, Connie; one can see a long ways." + +"Yes, when he's supplied with a pair of binoculars like you and Miss +Stevens. The thing I can see clearest now is that I'm not ready to marry +any girl just at present." + +Huntington stopped as he was about to swing, dropped his club, and +seized Cosden by the shoulders. + +"Then you aren't going to desert me!" + +"Hold on!" Cosden cried as he released himself; "you're going too fast! +Don't overlook the fact that I said 'just at present.' It may be I +shall never marry, but something tells me that there are wedding-bells +for me before I get through with it. There's no doubt at all, however, +that before that takes place I must acquire some of those flossy things +you've taught me to look for. I'm going to take a few hundred shares in +some humanizing company and see what it does for me. Then I'll find out +just what there is in it, and let the future take care of itself." + +Now that Cosden had come to these eminently satisfactory conclusions +Huntington was too wise to offer any advice. His courage rose as this +responsibility rolled away from his overburdened shoulders, and he dared +hope that before he reached New York Mrs. Thatcher would voluntarily +abandon her quixotic notion concerning Merry and Hamlen. This would +leave him free to pull the strings for Billy,--but here he sighed. Could +he hope ever to bring the boy up to the standard he himself would insist +upon before permitting any thought of an alliance? And was the sigh all +because of doubts of Billy? Forty-five must give way to twenty, but he +admitted to himself that the supreme burden of all remained. If some of +those years could only be turned back! But he knew himself now, and in +that knowledge rested power. + +Sunday dawned bright and clear, one of those superlative days which +Bermuda produces now and then as an aggravation to her departing +visitors, and to demonstrate that she herself can improve even upon her +own perfection. Those who had planned to devote the morning to packing +against the morrow's sailing found the voice of duty too weak to make +itself heard above the irresistible call to the open. Mr. and Mrs. +Thatcher seized the opportunity to drive again to Harrington Sound, +Merry and Huntington took a final walk to Elba Beach, while Cosden +insisted that Edith Stevens permit him to escort her to the Barracks and +the band concert. This left Ricky Stevens entirely out in the cold, but +he was so accustomed to it that he did not even notice that it had +happened again. Cheerfully lighting a cigarette, after the others had +departed, and swinging his stick with an energy deserving of better +things, he devoted the morning to making a final round of the +tobacco-shops, laying in a huge amount of additional smoking materials. + +By afternoon all were again united, and set off together for Hamlen's +villa. Their host elected to receive them in the garden instead of at +the house, and as the guests passed through the rustic arbor, vivid in +the coloring of the _poinsettia_ which bore it down, each felt in +varying degree the dramatic effect of the reception. Hamlen stepped +quietly forward to receive them, clad in the familiar white doe-skin +suit which was never so effective as against its present background. His +manner was courtly, but the reserve his friends had seen broken down +during their visit again possessed him, and his face, even when he +smiled to welcome them, was reminiscent of some great renunciation. + +"Forgive me for not meeting you when you first drove up," Hamlen said to +Marian. "In my sentimentality I preferred to greet you here. These +trees, these shrubs, these flowers," he indicated, "I planted one by +one. I tended them in their infancy, I have watched them in their +growth. To me they have personalities as much as human beings. They +represent my family, they are all I have, and, as I told you yesterday, +I want them to join me in this last meeting before you depart and leave +us to ourselves." + +Their host's attitude was not fully appreciated except by the three who +knew him best, so it was natural that by degrees the party separated in +such a way that Mrs. Thatcher, Merry and Huntington were left with him +while the others explored the grounds in greater detail. + +"For the first time in my life, Marian," Hamlen said, "I shall regret to +see a steamer pass my Point and leave me cut off from the world. As I +told you, always before I have gloried in it. To-morrow--" + +"We shall be waving to you to-morrow, Philip, and wishing you were with +us." + +"It won't be long," Huntington added, "before you will be on one of +those same steamers on your way to us." + +"I hope so," was the non-committal reply. + +"We do want you, all of us," Merry smiled persuadingly. "We have come to +know each other so well here that we shall miss not being where we can +run in to disturb you in your work." + +"I shall miss those interruptions too, and the work will be all I +shall have to fall back upon. Somehow," he added, turning to +Huntington,--"somehow I haven't been able to do the same work since you +have been here. I don't understand it. I have been happier during these +weeks than in all the years which preceded them, yet my work has not +been so good. Why is it?" + +"The reason is obvious," Huntington answered quietly, but with a degree +of satisfaction in his tone. "In what you say I find a pledge that you +will come to us. Our visit, Hamlen, has disturbed the equilibrium of +your life; it can never be the same again. Your work now is not so good +because your mind has found a new horizon, and refuses to confine itself +within the narrow compass which it had before. You can't do as good work +again until your life finds new anchorage. Then you will reach heights +beyond your dreams; but it will be through your friends that the new +anchorage will come. We can afford to be patient, Hamlen, for you must +surely turn to us; you cannot avoid it no matter how hard you try." + +Huntington's magnetic voice affected Hamlen as deeply as his words. His +vision seemed so clear, his domination so complete that it startled the +weaker man. Mrs. Thatcher and Merry knew at that moment that, if he +chose, Huntington could have compelled Hamlen to follow him to the ends +of the earth; and the response their host made showed that he recognized +it too. + +"You won't force me, Huntington?" he appealed. + +"It must come only when you wish it," was the reassuring reply; "but +when that moment does arrive, know well, dear friend, how hearty a +welcome awaits you." + +Hamlen took his hand in both his own and gazed for a long moment into +Huntington's face. "Classmate--friend," was all he said, but those who +heard the words knew them to be enough. + +As they mixed again with the others, and the conversation became more +general, the seriousness of Hamlen's earlier bearing partially wore +away, relieving the unnatural tension which had almost turned an +informal social function into the observance of a religious rite. Then +the shadows lengthened, and two of the servants brought out a rustic +table laden with eatables, with a huge bowl of strawberries as a +centerpiece. There was no need of decoration beyond its cut-glass and +rare china, for each dish was a selected masterpiece. + +"A Class Day spread in February!" Merry exclaimed enthusiastically. "How +we shall miss these strawberries when we get home!" + +"'Strawberries may come and strawberries may go, but prunes go on +forever,'" Cosden added, glancing at Edith for approval. + +The whole experience affected Mrs. Thatcher deeply. She saw the Hamlen +of her youth full of promise and ambition, she saw the Hamlen of to-day +bound hand and foot in the bonds of his false sophistry. What would he +have been had she not broken her word to him? She was vaguely conscious +that her present emotion was deeper than any she had ever been called +upon to feel for her husband or for her children; she half-sensed the +fact that previously her deepest feelings had been for herself. Now she +felt a sympathy which demanded restitution, and the impulse must be +worthy since it was for the happiness of some one other than herself. Of +course, Merry should not be coerced against her will,--but if it could +only be! + +Every episode, however epochful, must end, and Marian rose at length, +indicating that the good-byes must be spoken. + +"You'll be down to see us off, Philip?" she asked. + +"No," he answered unexpectedly; "if you will excuse me I should prefer +to watch you from my Point up there. I want you to remember me amid my +own surroundings, rather than as a part of something to which I don't +belong." + + * * * * * + +Next morning, as the little tender passed Spanish Point, carrying its +passengers to the "Arcadian," three persons stood in the stern waving to +a solitary figure standing erect and motionless. When he made out the +greetings from the boat he raised his arm high above his head and held +it there, like a Roman of old, in stately recognition. He gave no sign +that he saw their further salutes, yet they knew he could not fail to +see them. They remained there until the figure became smaller and +smaller, and then finally was cut off altogether by a turn in their +course. + +"This is too much for me!" Mrs. Thatcher cried suddenly, as if +apologizing for the break in her voice. "If I don't get my mind on +something else I shall burst into tears! I'm going forward with the +others." + +Merry and Huntington still lingered, hoping that they might catch one +more glimpse of the solitary watcher; but in vain. When the girl turned +toward him Huntington saw that tears glistened in her eyes. + +"That is the most pathetic figure I have ever seen!" + +Huntington made no answer, but at that moment he became conscious that +he was holding a small hand tightly grasped within his own. Impulsively +he raised it to his lips, then he as suddenly released it. + +"To seal our friendship," he explained consciously, "at this crisis in +the life of one who has been the means of bringing us together. I owe +him much for that!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXI + + * * * * * + + +The "Arcadian" rested lazily at anchor just outside the harbor, +apparently as willing as other visitors to drift on the tide of peace +and contentment. The coils of smoke, rising straight upward from its +funnels, supplied the only sign of intended departure. The bustle and +activity usually attendant upon a sailing seemed absent, and the boat +lay there like a pleasure-yacht ready to take on board its master's +guests. + +This impression deepened as the passengers from the tender were +transferred on board and moved about the spacious decks, visiting their +state-rooms resplendent with inviting brass bedsteads in place of the +discouraging berths, and inspecting the swimming-pool. + +"You must be sure of your weather before you indulge yourself there," +Cosden remarked. "They told us, coming down, of a dignified British +admiral who was tempted to a plunge, but no sooner was he in the pool +than a young cyclone struck the boat, and for twenty minutes he was +thrown forwards and backwards and sideways in spite of the efforts of +the stewards to get him out. As he weighed nearly three hundred pounds +the situation became serious. Finally, when the water was drawn off, he +was dragged upon the stone slabs more dead than alive and held there +until the storm abated, indifferent to the dignity of his person or to +the glory of the British navy." + +"That ought to act as an excellent flesh-reducer," Huntington commented. +"Perhaps it would serve in my efforts to alter my lines for speed." + +"I don't see that you need it," Edith laughed; "but we'll all be down to +give encouragement." + +"About that time you'll be making love to your little brass bedstead," +remarked Mrs. Thatcher. + +Edith's face fell. "I forgot all about that!" she cried aghast. "You +don't think it will be as rough going back as it was coming down, do +you? Oh! I forgot all about that!" + +"It's certain to be bad enough to make you feel 'very annoyed,'" Marian +confirmed maliciously. + +"Let's go on deck," Ricky Stevens said with a sudden show of interest; +"it's so awfully stuffy down here!" + +Edith gave him a glance of approval. "For once in your life, Richard +Stevens, you have a real idea. I can feel the boat beginning to roll +now." + +"Nonsense!" Huntington laughed, "we're scarcely out of the harbor yet; +but the deck is much the better place; we are passing close to the shore +and this last view of the islands is beautiful. We shall have ample +opportunity to inspect the boat later on." + +"I've seen all I want to," Edith asserted, as they started back to the +companion way. "It was silly of me to forget that awful experience +coming down. I am sure the boat is rolling, in spite of your denials." + +"Then look," Huntington insisted, as they stepped out on the deck again. +"You could navigate this sea in a canoe." + +"Well, anyway," she compromised, "I shall be much more comfortable in my +little steamer chair, so lead me to it." + +Mrs. Thatcher, still affected by her last sight of Hamlen, was glad to +sit down beside her friend while the others walked up and down the +decks, watching the passing panorama of the shore, knowing that it would +last too short a time at best. + +"Marian," Edith said suddenly, "I have a presentiment that I shall die +of seasickness on this trip home, and there is something I want to say +to you while I can." + +"No one ever died of seasickness, child," Marian laughed; "but if you +have something serious on your conscience the sooner you get it off the +better." + +"It's Mr. Cosden," Edith explained. + +"I noticed that something had gone wrong in that quarter. Has he escaped +you, after all?" + +"It is really too bad of you to take advantage of me when I'm so ill!" + +"My poor Edith!" Marian said soothingly, "forgive me, dear; I forgot +your serious condition for the moment. Tell me about Mr. Cosden." + +"He is impossible," the invalid announced. "I really thought there was +some hope for him until a few days ago, but he is so frightfully +commercial that he crocks." + +"He--what?" + +"It comes off on everything he touches. He can't look at anything from +any other standpoint. It's a tragic disappointment to me, and I think +it just as well that I am going to expire from this awful seasickness. I +really thought I could train him, but he's too crude. That is the only +word to use." + +"He can't be that or he couldn't be Monty Huntington's friend. I rather +like him. He's blunt and matter-of-fact and all that; but I like to see +a man with confidence in himself." + +"I have an idea that Mr. Huntington has somewhat revised his opinions. I +certainly have; and whatever anybody else may think I agree with +myself." + +"That ought to be comforting to you, my dear; but I'm really sorry +things haven't pulled through this time. I'm afraid it's your last +chance. What did he do that was crude,--refuse to propose?" + +Edith sat bolt upright, her cheeks flaming, with all signs of her recent +indisposition vanished. + +"I hate you in that tantalizing mood, Marian Thatcher! You always put +the meanest interpretation on everything! Of course he proposed, but he +didn't do it in a nice way; he just figured it out as if it was one of +his business deals, and made me feel as if I ought to go right to the +shipping department and get packed up." + +"My dear Edith," Marian expostulated; "you mustn't be so fastidious. It +doesn't make so much difference how these men propose; the main thing is +to have them do it. Truly, I'm disappointed in you! Here you have been +working desperately to lead him to a point where he would let you put +the ball and chain on him, and then, for some silly little reason, you +let him get away from you! Really, I'm disappointed! From what I've +seen, you two seem admirably suited to each other." + +"You don't understand, Marian," she protested; "he made this trip for +the express purpose of picking out a wife--" + +"In Bermuda? Why couldn't he find one nearer home?" + +"The girl he had selected for the distinguished honor was in Bermuda--" + +Marian Thatcher was interested. Her amusement over her friend's +annoyances, real or imagined, became tempered by curiosity, and that +changed a passing incident into an event. + +"He told you this and yet proposed to you? Who was the other girl?" + +"You really don't know?" + +"Certainly not. Why should I know? This is all news to me." + +"I'm glad to be able to tell you something, my dear Marian," Edith said +complacently. "You are so terribly superior it really cheers me up to +have the chance to add to your knowledge, even in a small way. Mr. +Cosden came down here for the purpose of proposing to Merry." + +"To Merry!" Marian cried. "That man had the audacity to think he could +marry my child! Well, upon my soul! Why, he never saw her more than two +or three times before he came to Bermuda! How could he possibly have +fallen in love--" + +"In love!" Edith laughed. "Love? That's a real joke! Mr. Cosden has +never dealt in that commodity! I tell you, Marian, he just picks out the +thing he wants, and then he gets it--" + +"He could never get _my_ daughter." + +"But you just said you admired men who had confidence in themselves--" + +"I didn't say I cared for men with such unmitigated nerve as that. The +idea!" + +"You thought us well suited to each other." + +"Certainly I did; that's an entirely different matter. You are just as +mercenary as he, and I think you would make a perfect team,--but Merry! +Ho, ho! The audacity of it!" + +Sitting on the edge of her steamer chair Marian tapped the deck +excitedly with her toe and carefully adjusted an imaginary crease in her +skirt. Suddenly she turned again to her companion. + +"So he came down to get Merry,--and proposed to you?" + +"Yes; rather well manoeuvered, wasn't it? You see, don't you, that my +mercenary instincts saved you from an unpleasant maternal duty?" + +"I bless you for it," Marian said heartily; "but you've refused him, so +that leaves him loose to begin over again. He's not safe yet." + +"I wouldn't worry about that just now," Edith reassured her. "Mr. Cosden +has learned a few things since he has been under my instruction, and I +think he will be less precipitate." + +"Why don't you continue the good work and polish him up for yourself? +You must have found some good points or you wouldn't have gone to all +this trouble." + +"No, Marian; it's too big a contract. I once had hopes but they are +gone. The first thing I knew he'd have me packed up in spite of myself +and shipped off somewhere. I'm very disappointed, but I dare not take +the chance." + +It was fortunate, if Miss Stevens was to unburden her heart to her +friend at all, that she acted so promptly, for after the headland of St. +George's and St. David's light-house faded away in the distance it +became apparent that the elements were not kindly disposed toward those +on board the "Arcadian." The air became oppressive in its sultriness, +and the clouds gathered ominously. Within an hour the calmness of the +sea was forgotten. The little party playing shuffleboard found it +difficult to keep their feet, and of a sudden a sharp, vicious squall +struck the boat, sending all uncertain passengers to their state-rooms. +Luncheon, served with difficulty, found a reasonable number at their +seats, but by dinner-time the "good sailors" might have selected any +locations they chose. Nature had declared a division, and the state-room +stewards found far greater demand upon their services than did those in +the dining-saloon. The majority of the passengers simply endured until +the safe haven of New York harbor might be reached, the minority +adjusted themselves to the conditions and made the most of them. + +Merry and Huntington were among the fortunate minority. + +"At last I have found something to struggle against!" she cried +enthusiastically during the storm, as they stood in a sheltered position +on deck watching the quivering steamer plow steadfastly through the +great waves. + +"Still eager for a struggle!" Huntington exclaimed smiling, +understanding the spirit of the girl better than he cared to +acknowledge. "I don't like to think of you as struggling at all." + +"I must," she said firmly. "Unless I do, I feel myself slipping +backwards." + +"Of course," he admitted, "struggling means development, yet my wish for +you is freedom from anything which opposes. Is it selfishness on my +part, this desire to keep you as you are, or is it merely another of +those paradoxes of which life is made up?" + +"Whatever it is," Merry answered simply, "I know that your wish is for +my good, for I know you are my friend." + +She turned toward him as she spoke and looked full in his face with an +expression of confidence in her own which tested Huntington's +self-denial. But the years--the inexorable years--were there! + +"It is you who have made me realize the necessity of struggling," she +continued. "It is through the companionship I have had these weeks with +you, and your friendship, that I have been able to crystallize ideas +which before were so uncontrolled that they made me restless and +discontented. What I heard you say to Mr. Hamlen, what I have seen in +your every-day philosophy has taught me to concentrate my efforts in one +grand struggle with myself." + +"If you keep it there," Huntington answered, "I shall be content; it +would be no kindness to wish it otherwise. But one of these days, little +friend, some man will come along with a nature equal to your own, and in +the division of the struggle you will find the happiness multiplied. +That will be your chance to contribute your share to the real life which +you will jointly live." + +"You have remembered what I said that first time we walked home from Mr. +Hamlen's!" + +"I shall always remember it. From it I first learned the depth and +beauty of your womanhood." + +"Please, Mr. Huntington--" she begged deprecatingly; but her companion +saw no reason to recall the words. + +On the second morning the passengers came up on deck in anticipation of +landing in the afternoon. Even Edith Stevens had passed through the +ordeal without the fatal results she had predicted. Cosden seized the +first opportunity for a final word of reconciliation. + +"Don't give me up," he urged. "I've learned a lot of things down here, +and I appreciate what you have done for me more than I have shown. I'm +going to do a bit of sandpapering when I get home, and I want you to let +me run in to see you once in a while in New York, just to report +progress." + +And Edith, either because after her experiences she felt too weak to +combat him, or because she thought he needed encouragement, ingloriously +capitulated. + +The final good-byes were said on the dock, after the customs officials +had completed their inspection. + +"Of course we'll see you in New York now and then," Mrs. Thatcher said +to the two men; "and when we open up at the shore we must plan a real +reunion." + +"I shall hope to have Hamlen here by then," Huntington remarked. + +"You are more optimistic than I; but in the mean time I shall be eager +to receive news of him through you." + +"Drop in at the office next time you're in town, Cosden," said Thatcher; +"we'll talk over Consolidated Machinery and the Bermuda Trolleys." + +"I'm thinking of getting out of business altogether, to devote myself to +art," was Cosden's enigmatical reply; but the expression on Edith +Stevens' face showed that at least she understood. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXII + + * * * * * + + +Nearly a month passed after their return to Boston before Huntington and +Cosden really saw anything of each other. They met casually, they +telephoned, they lunched in company with other friends at down-town +clubs, but neither one suggested an old-time getting together, and each +felt relieved by the omission of the other. Yet the reason each man held +for this feeling, had he openly acknowledged it, was as opposed to the +other's as were the characteristics of the men themselves. Huntington +craved nothing so much as an opportunity to be alone, that he might +review the extraordinary happenings of the past few weeks and thus +fortify himself sufficiently to prevent any lapse from what he knew to +be his duty; Cosden required a return to his usual feverish business +activity in order to digest his new ideas. Huntington remembered the +wonderful sunshine and the fragrant flowers, in the midst of which he +always saw a sweetly serious face peering out at him in spite of his +efforts at banishment; Cosden forgot everything except that he had been +shown up to himself in a light which demanded immediate and drastic +consideration. To both men the weeks just ended, including those which +had elapsed since their return had been epoch-making. But +self-confidence revives with time, however great a shock it may receive +and when Huntington finally invited his friend to dine with him Cosden +found himself quite ready to accept. + +This first meeting was more formal than any which had taken place during +the many years of their acquaintance. Cosden often spoke of the relief +it was to him to be permitted to drop in at his friend's house in such +an intimate way,--without "fussing up," as he expressed it; now he +appeared in his dinner-coat, dressed as immaculately as Huntington +himself always was. His manner was more contained, and even though it +was evident that his restraint was studied Huntington was interested and +pleased to observe that as yet, at all events, the influence of the +Bermuda experiences made itself felt. + +"Well, Monty," Cosden said as he lifted his cocktail-glass, "I'm glad to +be aboard again. I've been associating a good deal lately with a fellow +named Conover Cosden, and I must admit he bores me. Let's have this and +then a little dividend just for good luck.--By the way, I saw you at the +Symphony last night." + +"At the Symphony?" Huntington echoed surprised. "You don't mean to +say--" + +"Oh, yes, I do!" he laughed rather consciously. "Not that it means much +to me yet, but I've reached a point where I can call it an orchestra +instead of a band, anyway. Mighty fine concert, wasn't it? I know I'm +right, for I read the criticism in the paper this morning." + +"How long are you going to keep this up?" + +"To the bitter end!" Cosden declared dramatically. "If music has charms +to calm the savage beast now is its chance to demonstrate! That isn't +all, but you wouldn't believe any more. As a matter of fact I'm taking +in everything which begins with H for fear I may miss some one of those +'humanities'!" + +Huntington gazed at him in sheer amazement. + +"That's right," Cosden emphasized, only slightly embarrassed by the +expression of incredulity on his friend's face. "Instead of being merely +a 'sow's ear' I'm going the whole hog, and so far I've managed to pull +through without casualties. Now what do you and Edith Stevens think of +your handiwork!" + +"By Jove, Connie!" Huntington exclaimed feelingly, "it's wonderful, and +I congratulate you. I had no idea--" + +"Other than that I would remain without those 'finer instincts' all my +life," he finished for him. "Well, maybe I will, even at that; but at +all events I'm giving the whole thing the once over. If my health and +strength hold out perhaps when you and I make another vacation trip +together you won't be mortified by your friend as you were last time." + +"Nonsense, Connie!" Huntington protested. "We both got out a little +beyond our depth down there, and things didn't look quite normal to us." + +"Both?" Cosden demanded. "Where do you come in? That was my party, if I +remember correctly, and I got all the presents." + +Huntington for the moment had been forgetful that he alone knew how much +the Bermuda days had disturbed his own equilibrium, and he recognized +that he had been almost guilty of betraying himself. + +"Well," he said lightly, "I interjected myself into your affairs in a +shameless fashion, so whatever blame there is I insist on taking my full +share.--What you tell me is simply incredible!" + +"Don't give me too much credit for it yet. Like everything else in my +life there's a selfish motive back of it. Edith Stevens never said a +truer thing than that it is a different matter making light of something +which you have and something which you lack. Measuring things up on this +basis shows me that nearly every time I've opened my mouth I've put my +foot in it. Now I'm going to play safe and make myself very, very wise +on some subjects regarding which I've been a bit of a scoffer. Then, if +I don't want to, I won't do them, but never again because I can't do +them!" + +"You needn't be ashamed of your motive; many a man has had one less +worthy. But what is your business doing all this time?" + +"Well, well, well!" Cosden laughed. "Good old Monty! We've been together +nearly an hour, and you are the first to mention business! You wouldn't +have believed I could go as long as that without speaking of it, would +you? But let me tell you I have them all guessing down at the office. I +can see it every day. Of course, I'm keeping my eye on things as much as +ever, but I'm not making so much noise about it. You see this is +something I have, so I can afford to treat it lightly. Now I have +something to measure myself by, and it helps a lot.--But don't let us +spend all the time talking about me; what have you been doing with +yourself?" + +"Drifting, as usual," Huntington replied, regretting that the +conversation turned on him; "wishing I might take twenty years off my +life and begin over again." + +"Why, Monty! You say that so seriously I really believe you mean it! +What's happened? It isn't like you." + +"Nothing, dear boy, nothing at all," Huntington disclaimed quickly, +trying to throw off the mood which had so promptly attracted his +friend's attention. "I've seen quite a bit of Billy and his friend Phil +Thatcher since I came home, and--I envy them their youth." + +Cosden looked at him long and searchingly before he spoke. "You're in a +curious mood to-night," he said at length. "During the years I've known +you I've never before seen you other than a philosopher, taking life day +by day as you found it, and getting all there was out of it." + +"What is philosophy unless one can find the stone?" Huntington exclaimed +with feeling. "It is the philosopher's stone I want to-night, and I +can't get it. I'm feeling my age, Connie, and the sensation isn't +agreeable." + +"Your age!" Cosden determined to overpower the surprising obsession. +"The idea of talking age at forty-five! Out with it, man! Tell me what +has taken hold of you. I've left you too much by yourself lately, and it +hasn't been a good thing for you." + +"That's it, Connie," Huntington smiled weakly. "You mustn't do it again. +First you take the heart out of me by declaring that you are going to +get married, then you cheer me up by becoming normal again, and lastly +you neglect me just as if you had taken the fatal step after all." + +"That's better," Cosden said, rising from his dessert and putting his +arm around his friend's shoulders. "Come on up-stairs and we'll gossip +over our cigars like two old cats. It won't be long before we can get +out on the links again, and then you'll forget that you have any age at +all. Age! the idea! Why, Monty, you and I have only just begun to live!" + +Arm in arm they walked slowly to the library in silence, but each one +wondered at the new characteristic he had discovered in the other. +Huntington was touched by Cosden's show of affection, the first time he +had ever seen it manifested; Cosden marveled at the first break he had +ever seen in his friend's self-possession. However easy-going Huntington +might be, he always held himself well in hand; and Cosden envied him +this trait. Huntington knew Cosden to be kind-hearted, but believed him +to consider any outward demonstration as an evidence of weakness. The +mutual discovery, surprising as it was, drew them closer together, and +each realized that whatever had been the means a change had come in +their relations which placed their friendship on a higher plane. + +"There's something deeper in this than appears on the surface," Cosden +declared insistently as he held the light for Huntington and then lit +his own cigar. "You said down-stairs that we both got out beyond our +depth at Bermuda, and perhaps you meant more than I realized. Then, +when we met the Thatchers, it developed that you and Mrs. Thatcher had +known each other years ago. Now, tell me, is there any association +between these two ideas, and is this by chance the explanation of the +changed Monty I find here to-night?" + +Huntington did not reply at once. He was annoyed with himself that he +had uncovered so much of his heart, and he had been pondering how to +extricate himself from the delicate position. Under no circumstances +must Cosden or any one else know how deep an impression Merry Thatcher +had made upon him. The first duty he owed to her was to stand before the +world simply as a devoted, older friend; his duty to himself was to +prevent his associates from discovering how many kinds of fool he was to +permit any such ridiculous condition to arise as that which at present +existed. Now Cosden had unconsciously shown him the way out. + +"Yes, Connie," he replied calmly; "there is an association which may be +made of those ideas, and since you have spoken of it I will ask you to +stand by me at the finish. There is something I have intended to do ever +since I came home, but I lacked the courage; now you have given it to +me." + +Huntington rose abruptly, and crossing to the opposite side of the +library he lifted the little mahogany table which stood there, placing +it before the fire in front of the easy-chair from which he had just +risen. Then he seated himself, and taking from his pocket the key to the +small drawer he turned it in the lock. Cosden watched him with an +interest far deeper than curiosity, for he felt from his friend's +manner that the turning of the key unlocked something within him which +until that moment had been closely hidden. + +"It will be better to get it out of my system," Huntington said finally, +after bringing all the accessories together.--"You never knew of my +romance, did you?" + +"Never," Cosden acknowledged; "I supposed you were the one man who had +passed through life unscathed." + +"I couldn't have told you of it before because you wouldn't have +understood, but now you will appreciate matters better if you know the +facts.--Do you remember my surprise when you first mentioned the name of +Marian Thatcher?" + +"Why, yes; you asked if she was a widow." + +"Exactly. Mrs. Thatcher was Marian Seymour when I first met her, my +senior year at college. There is no need to go into particulars; the +fact remains that I was hard hit.--Look at these!" + +He pulled out the drawer and laid the various exhibits on the top of the +table. Cosden leaned forward and gingerly lifted the long white glove, +looking into Huntington's face with a curious expression as he did so. +Huntington met his gaze squarely, nodding his head in affirmation of the +unasked question. + +"What's this?" Cosden demanded, laying down the glove and picking up the +slipper. + +"You see," was the unabashed reply; "it went as deep as that. Laugh if +you like; I sha'n't mind. We'll clean up this whole business to-night, +and the more ridiculous you make it the shorter work it will be." + +"I would have laughed a month ago," Cosden admitted; "but, as you say, I +understand some things now that I didn't before. Every man has a +right to a romance, and he's entitled to have it respected." + +"Thanks, dear boy; but romances don't belong to five-and-forty, and this +farce has gone far enough. Now we'll watch it go up in smoke, as most +romances do. But first let us pay it befitting honor." + +Dixon appeared in response to the bell. + +"A bottle of Moët & Chandon, '98," Huntington ordered. + +During the time required by Dixon the two men puffed silently at their +cigars. Huntington feared lest some inopportune word might disturb the +success of his stratagem; Cosden, believing that he was witnessing the +final act in the tragedy of his friend's life, respected the solemnity +of the occasion. + +"Now, Connie," Huntington rose with the glass in his hand, "I ask you to +drink to the dearest girl in the world, past, present and future,--to +Marian Thatcher, God bless her!" + +"To Marian Thatcher--God bless her!" Cosden repeated after him; and +Huntington turned away to chuckle to himself that he had paid homage to +the reality while his friend believed him to be giving tribute to the +figment. He blessed the figment for bestowing her name upon the reality! + +"Now for the renunciation," Huntington said solemnly, and one by one he +laid the long-cherished trophies upon the fire, watching in silence +their reduction to the elements. His success filled him with a spirit +of bravado. The opportunity might never come again. + +"Once again, Connie old boy!" he cried. + +He held out his disengaged hand and grasped Cosden's as he lifted his +refilled glass. + +"To Marian Thatcher--God bless her!" + +Cosden still held his glass after his friend placed his on the table. + +"Would it seem a sacrilege if I asked you to join me in a toast?" he +asked, with an unnatural hesitation in his voice. + +"Why,--no," Huntington said wonderingly. "Fill up the glasses again." + +Then he held his high, waiting for his friend to speak. + +"To Edith Stevens," Cosden finally blurted out,--"God bless her!" + +"Edith Stevens!" Huntington almost choked in his surprise. "You don't +mean--" + +"I don't know what I mean," Cosden admitted, blushing furiously; "but I +miss her like blazes, and I'm either in love or else I'm suffering from +a new disease the doctors haven't named!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXIII + + * * * * * + + +The letter postmarked "New York," announcing Hamlen's arrival, did not +take Huntington by surprise, but it fulfilled his expectations sooner +than he expected. The desirability of making certain changes in +investments, the letter explained, made it necessary for Hamlen to come +to the States, and if his classmate's invitation to Boston still held +good he would be glad to avail himself of the opportunity to renew their +friendship. + +This announcement found Huntington in the introspective mood which had +alarmed Cosden, and suggested a comparison in which he placed himself +under the microscope for a mercilessly minute analysis. Hamlen was +convinced that he had made a failure of life, but what had he, +Huntington demanded of himself, accomplished which could entitle him to +claim success? He had not separated himself from his fellow-men, it was +true, he had been a decent citizen, performing such duties as came to +him with faithfulness and ability,--yet what had he really contributed +to the community or to the life in which he lived which made it better +because he had been a part of it? He had created nothing, nor even made +an effort to create. No painting bore his signature; no volume added +his contribution to the world's knowledge on any subject; no +philanthropic or business enterprise owed its inception to his +initiative; no child of his was growing up to bear its share in the +struggle of to-morrow or to bless his memory for parental sacrifice and +guidance. Hamlen at least had given himself to the world in the +wonderful volumes which would live after him, even though their +creator's identity never was disclosed. Hamlen at least had made the +flowers and the shrubs of his island estate bear witness to the power +within him which refused to be restrained; but Huntington's labors, if +he could dignify them by so serious a name, had been perfunctory at +best. He was rich in the world's goods and in human friendships, he was +respected by all who knew him. For what? he demanded: because his +grandfather and his father before him had created, and had played their +part so well in the developing life of the city of their birth that a +luster had been given to the family name. His virtues were wholly +negative; his was a reflected glory and undeserved. The position in the +community which Huntington knew himself to occupy, and the fact that +Hamlen, because of his exile, would be considered to have forfeited his +position, struck him as a commentary on the value of popular esteem and +the lack of proportion in accrediting to each individual what was his +proper due. + +Hamlen had nothing to his credit in the columns where Huntington scored +heaviest: he was a poor citizen in his relations to those around him; he +took no part in making others happier for his companionship or stronger +by his example; his life had always been pointed inward, and yet, even +with the limitations needlessly imposed upon it, there had been +something within him, which Huntington had never felt within himself, +great enough and strong enough to rise superior to these limitations, to +burst the bonds by which Hamlen had sought to hold it back, and to force +the expression of its own individuality! There, at least, was something +positive; and yet the world would have called Huntington a success and +Hamlen a failure! "We have torn off the bandages too fast," Huntington +had complacently told Hamlen on that eventful first visit. Was it not +presumption on his part when until now his own vision had been equally +restricted? Huntington's first impulse was to make a frank admission, +when Hamlen arrived, of the wide divergence between what people credited +to him and what his real position ought to be; then he realized that his +friend needed some one to look up to. He must, for a time at least, +accept the position, however ironical it seemed; but he felt himself an +impostor and a fraud. + +Since his return home Huntington had been more than ever grateful for +the diverting influence of Billy's irresponsibility, and he encouraged +him to come frequently to the house and to bring his friends with him. +He would not have believed that a two months' absence could produce so +momentous a change of his entire viewpoint. The calm tranquillity in his +mental equipoise was seriously disturbed, and he welcomed anything which +took his mind off himself and his personal affairs. + +He had urged Billy to bring young Thatcher in to dine with him, for in +view of what Marian had said he hoped that Hamlen and the boy would make +good with each other when once they met. Thus far Billy had always +selected an evening when Huntington was engaged, but with the certainty +that Hamlen would soon arrive a special effort produced a mutually +convenient date, and the two boys appeared eager for their dinner and +obviously ready to be entertained. + +Philip Thatcher carried himself better than his friend, and seemed +older. His work on the crew had developed his frame and given him a +poise which does not come to those college students who watch athletic +sports from the side-lines. He had represented his university in +competition, and this responsibility showed itself to his advantage. +Those same "animal spirits" which gave Billy his boyish manner found a +natural outlet, in Philip's case, during the hours of physical athletic +training. His face was more his father's than like Mrs. Thatcher's; yet +at times Huntington discovered expressions or mannerisms resembling his +sister, which was enough to add to the interest he had already taken in +the boy. + +"Hello, Uncle Monty!" Billy announced their arrival. "We've come in to +eat ourselves out of shape." + +When this operation had been performed, and the coffee period took them +back to the library, Huntington settled down to the real purpose of the +evening. + +"Philip," he said, "there is a man coming to visit me next week whom I +want you to know and who wants to know you. He is an unusual character. +I wish you would show him something of what Harvard life is to-day, and +when you get acquainted tell me what you think of him." + +"I should be glad to meet any friend of yours, Mr. Huntington," the boy +answered. + +"He has a greater claim on you than simply as my friend," Huntington +continued. "He was also a friend of your mother's, years ago, and while +we were in Bermuda he showed us all a great deal of attention. He lives +there." + +"You mean that Hamlen chap?" Billy asked. "Is he really coming here? +He's a dead one!" + +"Don't let Billy's remarks prejudice you, Philip," Huntington urged. +"Hamlen is a classmate of mine who has passed through some unfortunate +experiences. He has lived by himself ever since he graduated, seeing +hardly any one, and he will find much that is unusual when he returns to +Boston and Cambridge after his long exile. He is a real man, Philip, and +I want you to help me bring him back into the present again. Will you do +it?" + +"I'll try,--gladly," was the hearty answer. "It sounds like a pretty big +contract, but if I can really help I shall be glad to do it." + +"I know you will," Huntington said; "I was sure of it." + +"Why don't you ask me?" Billy demanded. "Why go out of the family?" + +"You may come into it later, but I want his first impressions to be +favorable." + +"Stung!" Billy cried, laughing. "But I don't care. I don't care what +happens now, for Phil has asked me to spend the Easter recess with him +in New York, and I shall see Merry again." + +"So it is still 'Merry,' is it?" Huntington asked, looking at him with +an expression which any one other than a boy would have noticed. "By +this time I thought there might have been a dozen others." + +"Merry is still the one best bet," Billy insisted. "Phil here doesn't +know what a cinch it is to have a sister like that." + +"I believe it's because of Merry that you like me," Phil declared, half +seriously. + +"Well," Billy said guardedly, "it may have been the fact that you were +her brother that first attracted me--" + +"Why, you never saw her until we'd known each other several months--" + +"We were acquainted before that," was the admission; "but I really came +to know you after you introduced me to her. That, Phil, was the best +thing you ever did. It was after I met Merry that I discovered that you +were the finest old scout in the world." + +"You make me tired!" Philip answered disgustedly. "I never saw any one +so crazy over a girl. There are lots of other things in the world, +Billy, besides girls. I'd hate to think of getting engaged up and having +to train around with just one girl all my life." + +"That's because you can't marry Merry,--she's your sister." + +"I don't make any exceptions,--Merry's just a girl, like the rest of +them." + +"You don't appreciate her, that's all." + +"Oh, Merry is all right, of course. She and I have always been good +pals, and we've played together like two boys. She'd make any one a good +wife if he didn't mind being bossed." + +Huntington listened to the tilt between the boys with amusement, and yet +with a real feeling of envy. What riches these youths possessed with +life all before them, its mysteries still unexplained, its illusions +still unshattered! + +"I thought your sister the finest girl I ever met," he said to Philip, +curious to see what response the boy would make. + +"Oh, she wouldn't show that side to you," Philip replied; "it's only +with people her own age." + +Huntington winced. There it was again, and again he had brought it upon +himself! To these boys he seemed an antique fossil of humanity, entitled +to respect and veneration! He must appear the same to her. "People of +her own age,"--of course, that was the natural thing as it would appear +to any one. Again he cursed himself inwardly for being fool enough +deliberately to open up the wound. + +Billy was delighted to hear his uncle's comment on the girl, and beamed +contentedly. + +"You see, Phil," he said, "even Uncle Monty noticed what a corker she +is, and usually he never looks at a girl twice. Uncle Monty is a cynic +on marriage, a woman-hater and all that sort of thing. Yet even he +noticed Merry." + +"Don't say that, Billy!" Huntington protested with unusual vehemence. + +"But you are," the boy insisted. "The last time I dined here with you +and Mr. Cosden, before you went to Bermuda, I heard you tell him that +many a married man who seemed contented was only resigned." + +"That doesn't mean that I'm a 'woman-hater'; I won't stand for it! Be +careful what you say!" + +Billy looked at him in amazement. It was a rare thing to see his uncle +ruffled. + +"I beg your pardon, Uncle Monty," he apologized. "I didn't intend to +bump any one's feelings. Truly I wasn't joshing at all,--I thought you +meant it! But I'm glad you didn't, for now you'll be more sympathetic +with me, and you can help me a lot." + +"All right, boy," Huntington said soberly. "I know you didn't mean +anything by what you said, but marriage is a mighty sacred thing and you +ought not to speak lightly of it." + +"How's Mr. Cosden?" Billy asked, eager to get the conversation onto +safer grounds. + +"Well and happy; he dined with me last week." + +"Say, but he can ride a bicycle!--What did he have against me down at +Bermuda?" + +"He said you covered too much territory." + +"I don't see where I got in his way, but he was forever butting in on +Merry and me. And the way he hustled me off in that little speed-boat! I +never had any one take such an interest in my getting back to college on +time! That must have cost him quite a bit of kale. I can't understand +it." + +"It was because he is so good a friend of mine," Huntington explained. +"He saw a youngster down there who flopped around like a big St. Bernard +pup"--Huntington was gratified that his memory still retained Merry's +simile,--"and he served the best interests of his friend by keeping you +from making a mistake on your latest flop. Doesn't that clear things +up?" + +"As clear as mud," Billy grunted. "I guess I need one of those +glass-bottomed boats they use down there to see the spinach and the +gold-fish. I could see the gold-fish all right, but the spinach was on +me.--That reminds me, Uncle Monty, will you lend me a hundred dollars?" + +"For what, this time?" + +"I want to lend it to Phil,--he's broke because his father has cut down +his allowance." + +"Billy!" Philip cried aghast; "I told you that in confidence. I wouldn't +think of borrowing money from Mr. Huntington." + +"How in the world do you expect to get a hundred dollars out of me +unless I land Uncle Monty for it?--and he asked, 'for what?' You heard +him." + +"It's all right, Phil," Huntington said reassuringly. "Billy doesn't +have any secrets from me because he can't keep them. I would much rather +lend the money to you than to him." + +"That isn't fair," Billy protested. "Phil is sure to pay it back, and I +need it." + +"I don't know what has happened," Philip explained without paying any +attention to what his friend was trying to say, "but all of a sudden Dad +wrote that I must cut my expenses in two. That's a hard thing to do in a +minute, and I don't see why I should do it anyway, for Dad has all kinds +of money." + +"These are hard times in Wall Street, my boy," Huntington answered him, +"and many a rich man's son has to cut his corners. If your father has +written you that I advise you to follow his instructions. He isn't a man +to say it unless he means it.--I'll gladly help you out while you're +getting adjusted." + +"Thank you, Mr. Huntington, but perhaps I won't need it. Even cut in two +my allowance is bigger than most of the boys'." + +"Fathers are so inconsiderate," Billy yawned; "very few of them +understand their sons." + +"A paraphrase of the old saw, Billy," Huntington commented. "To-day we +would say that it is a wise stock which knows its own par." + +"Or a wise corn which knows its own popper," laughed Billy. + +"Or a wise beast which knows its own fodder," Philip added,--"now we're +all even!" + +"Speaking of fodder," Billy said, showing renewed signs of life, "let's +go down to the Copley-Plaza and get something to eat." + +"After the dinner you ate?" Huntington demanded. + +"That was over two hours ago, and I'm as hollow as a tin can. Come on, +Phil." + +"You can't be serious, Billy," insisted Huntington. + +"I sure am. Whenever I get a real square feed I have a pain, and +to-night I've felt perfectly comfortable." + +"All right, go on if you feel that way," his uncle replied. "Take him +away, Phil, and let him stuff himself until he has a pain! I'll let you +know when Hamlen arrives, and then I'll count on you to help me out. + +"Better include me," Billy insisted. + +"The next time I ask you to dine with me, young man, I'll thank you to +get filled up at the hotel first!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXIV + + * * * * * + + +The Stevenses, brother and sister, lived together in the old family +mansion in Washington Square. The income from the property left behind +by the elder members of the family would have been ample if Richard had +contributed even a modest amount as a result of his daily exertion; but +as exertion had never proved one of Ricky's strong points, except in +opposition to his sister's efforts to bully him into business, Edith was +forced to practise many economies to make the divided sum serve her +requirements. + +"If you ever showed half the ability after you got into business that +you do in keeping out of it, you'd make a howling success," she told +him; yet in spite of her perennial resentment she made many personal +sacrifices to enable her brother to lead his aimless existence. They +were a curious combination of selfishness and generosity, each going to +extremes in both. Each criticised the other in unstinted terms, yet +underneath it all lay an affection which would have carried either +through fire and brimstone had the other required it. + +Richard Stevens still kept up his social activities, but Edith moved in +a smaller and quieter circle made up of old-time friends. She knew she +could not compete, in these days of extravagant entertainment, and +unless she could repay her social obligations in kind she preferred not +to accept. She could not have everything she wished, so she selected +what she believed contributed most to her happiness and peace of mind. +All this had been carefully considered, and having been thus settled she +philosophically accepted conditions as they were. She exacted much from +her brother by way of attention, and he responded willingly, still +finding ample leisure outside her demands to live his own life in a +manner which satisfied himself. + +It was the morning after one of Richard's off nights, when Edith sat +leisurely finishing her late breakfast and reading the head-lines in the +morning paper, that her brother put in his belated appearance. + +"Morning, Ricky," she greeted him cheerfully. "Up for all day?" + +"I think so," was the doubtful answer. "I'm awfully tired. I'd have been +down sooner except that I couldn't decide whether to stay in bed until +lunchtime and give up my breakfast, or get up and have my breakfast and +give up my rest. Even now I believe I made a mistake, for I'm awfully +tired and I don't feel hungry." + +"You might go back to bed again," Edith suggested helpfully. + +"No; I'm dressed now, and that would be too much trouble.--I think I'll +make my breakfast off a jolly little bottle of Célestin." + +Edith laughed. "Too much wine last night, Ricky?" + +Stevens made a wry face. "I'll have to give up dancing or drinking, one +or the other," he said emphatically; "it isn't scientific. Wine should +be allowed to stand in the stomach just as it ought to stand in the +bottle. This idea of churning it up by dancing is all wrong. I'd rather +dance while I'm dancing and drink while I'm drinking; but every one else +wants to do both things at the same time. It's all wrong.--That Célestin +has a beastly bad taste this morning." He examined the bottle +critically. "I was afraid the maid had brought me Hunyadi by mistake." + +"I was in at Marian's yesterday," Edith remarked. "Mr. Hamlen has +arrived, and she expects Philip and Billy Huntington at the house over +Easter." + +"Has Hamlen been there yet? He's a melancholy sort,--about as cheerful +as a hearse. Feeling as I do this morning I think I'd rather like to see +him; but I hope to feel better soon." + +"No; he hasn't been there yet. Marian tried to get him out for dinner, +but some other friends were to dine with her so he wouldn't come." + +"He's a queer one,--but that reminds me: that Cosden man is in town." + +"He is?" Edith exclaimed, arresting her coffee-cup on its way to her +lips and poising it in mid-air. "Why didn't you tell me before?" + +"I couldn't until now; it was only yesterday I saw him. He was much more +civil than in Bermuda. Wanted to know about you and all that sort of +thing. He's going to telephone you before he goes back." + +"Very kind of him, I'm sure," Edith sniffed. "Perhaps I'll be in and +perhaps I won't." + +"Well that's your affair; you needn't see him on my account. But if you +were to ask me, I'd say he's not such a bad sort." + +"I didn't ask you, Ricky," Edith said significantly, and Stevens, with +precedent to guide him, refrained from further discussion of the topic. + +Yet in spite of the snap in her eyes when she commented on Cosden's +inquiry it so happened that she was in when he telephoned, and she was +also at home, arrayed in her most fetching afternoon gown, when he +called an hour later. Not that he would notice whether she wore gingham +or alpaca, she told herself, but she owed it to her self-respect to +appear her best. + +She had expected to see Cosden in his business suit with bulky contracts +and other papers bulging from his pockets, rushing in and out again like +a hurricane; but instead she beheld him entirely at his ease in cutaway +and silk hat, with immaculate grey spats over his patent-leather boots. +He carried himself with an air quite different from that she had become +familiar with in Bermuda, and the reception she had planned for +him--brief, matter-of-fact and bristling with satire--required a certain +modification. + +"I wasn't looking for a social call," Edith said guardedly after a +non-committal greeting. "I thought perhaps you had some business matter +to discuss." + +"Still unforgiving!" Cosden smiled. "What can I do to make you +forgetful?" + +"Of what?" Edith asked with well-feigned surprise. + +"Then suppose we assume that you have forgotten." + +"Aren't you over here on business?" + +"Yes; and pleasure, too. This is the pleasure." + +Her mystification was genuine. Was this the self-assertive, vivified +piece of machinery she had known three months before? Cosden could but +see her surprise and it pleased him. + +"I told you I should find out what was the matter with me. Have I +partially succeeded?" + +"Yes," she acknowledged frankly; "what did it?" + +"Huntington and--you." + +"But you couldn't change like this in so short a time; no one could." + +"Most of it is probably on the surface," he admitted cheerfully. +"Underneath is the same Cosden branded with the ear-marks of his +business. But I'm on my way, and if there's enough of a change to have +you notice it, then there's hope!" + +"Have you seen the Thatchers?" Edith asked, not knowing just how to +answer him. + +"I saw Mr. Thatcher yesterday. He asked me to dine with them to-night, +but I thought I'd wait until next time I'm over. He says Mrs. Thatcher +is planning to have our whole Bermuda party down at the shore in July. +You will be there, of course?" + +"If it's in July, I shall be. Marian has invited me to spend the month +with her." + +"Good! that was one of the things I called to find out." + +"What are the others?" + +"Whether you are forgiving and--forgetful." + +Edith laughed at the serious way he asked the question. + +"Are you laughing at me or with me?" he demanded half in earnest. + +"Why, I don't know what to make of you." + +"Make whatever you like,--it's in your hands!" + +"But I feel we ought to become acquainted all over again. + +"So do I; that is another one of the things I wanted to find out.--Will +you dine with me to-night, and then go to the theater afterwards?" + +"Why--" she hesitated. + +"It's the best possible way to get acquainted over again," he insisted. + +"I'm not sure that I want to," Edith retorted; "but I will admit that +you've excited my curiosity." + +"That's something," Cosden replied good-naturedly. "Why isn't an evening +together the easiest way to satisfy it?" + +"All right," Edith said with sudden decision. "I really must know more +about this." + +"The veneer may wear off before the evening is over." + +"That's what I'm thinking," she answered frankly. "I'm wondering how +deep it really goes." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXV + + * * * * * + + +Easter came to New York, as it did to other places, and with it came +Billy Huntington and Philip to the Thatchers. "Always have something to +radiate from," some one once advised, "if only a fly-speck." To Billy, +Boston was the fly-speck, entirely satisfactory as a point of radiation +but far too respectable, much too decorous, and altogether too near home +to be associated with his idea of a good time. Billy's life had been +running so long on high gear that the lower speeds had almost been +forgotten. This was typical of the times rather than a suggestion that +the boy himself exceeded the speed limit. It was the limit which +insisted upon exceeding itself, and he simply extended his pace to keep +up with everything around him,--the limit of yesterday kept becoming the +commonplace of to-day. + +In New York Billy always found the limit just enough ahead of what it +was in Boston to give him the additional thrill which added zest to his +life. The very atmosphere seemed charged with a different ozone, filled +with microbes impelling incessant activity. Everything not already in +motion seemed straining at its leash, impatient to dash forward at the +earliest opportunity. No one ever seemed satisfied to where he was, but +hurried onward to somewhere else or something different. It was the city +of unrest but never of discontent, for the changing, kaleidoscopic +conditions came as a result of a demand from those who had the price to +pay. It fascinated Billy, as it fascinates its tens of thousands, and as +he leaned back in the Thatchers' limousine, held up by the lines of +traffic on Fifth Avenue, then dashing forward to make up for lost time +between the intersecting streets, he turned his beaming face toward his +friend and murmured contentedly, "This is the life!" + +"The ride home gets worse every time I take it," was Philip's comment. +"If things keep on they will have to make the Avenue a double-decker +street." + +"By that time New-Yorkers will ride home in their aeroplanes," Billy +replied. "You can't hold them down by a little thing like congestion." + +Billy loved it, and for him the car turned off the Avenue all too soon, +in its final dash for the East Side. He wanted more time between his +arrival at the Grand Central Station and his appearance at the Thatcher +mansion to shake off what he felt to be his Boston provincialism, and to +feel outwardly as well as inwardly the real New-Yorker which he craved +to be. + +"What are we doing to-night?" Billy asked as they drew near their +destination. + +"I wrote Dad to get tickets for some show. You said you wanted to see +everything in town." + +"Great! Merry will go, won't she?" + +"I don't know. I can manage Mother and Dad all right, but when it comes +to Merry, that's different." + +"But she knows I'm coming--" Billy showed signs of feeling aggrieved. + +"Oh, she'll probably go all right. Why fuss until we find out? But I +don't think she's as crazy about you as you are about her." + +"Girls always conceal their real feelings," Billy explained sagely. + +"Perhaps," Philip conceded very little; "but Merry isn't like most +girls. Sometimes she seems about my own age and sometimes old enough to +be my mother. But have it your own way; I should worry." + +The welcome was hearty enough to satisfy even Billy, so the pessimism of +his friend was at once forgotten. Mrs. Thatcher opened her arms wide to +both boys, while Merry, though less demonstrative, was equally cordial +in her reception. + +"I'm awfully glad to see you," Billy said with a sincerity which could +not be doubted, and grinning all over. "It seems ages since Mr. Cosden +and Uncle Monty pushed me off the pier down at Bermuda." + +Merry laughed. "That was a splendid idea of yours, Billy, to miss the +steamer, but I was afraid you couldn't work it." + +"S-ssh," Billy placed a finger on his lips. "Don't ever breathe that +where Uncle Monty could hear you! I've made him believe it was a real +accident." + +"We're dining at seven, boys," Mrs. Thatcher interrupted; "that will +give us comfortable time to reach the theater." + +"Are we all going?" Phil asked. + +"All but your father; he's feeling too tired to-night." + +"Dad's well, isn't he?" Philip demanded quickly. + +"Yes,--but tired," his mother answered. "He's all right. Now run along +and dress or you'll be late for dinner." + +On his way up-stairs Philip stopped in his father's room. "Hello, Dad!" +he cried, pushing the door open unceremoniously. "Why, Dad,--you're not +well! Mother said you were only tired." + +Thatcher was sitting in front of the great, old-fashioned desk which +Philip had associated with business and mystery since his childhood +days, and when the door was unexpectedly thrown open it disclosed him +resting his head upon his hands. The papers which Philip usually saw +spread out on the desk were lacking, so the position his father had +taken was the result of habit rather than present necessity. It was the +expression on the elder man's face which forced the exclamation. + +Thatcher rose quickly and stepped forward to greet his son. "Nonsense, +boy! I'm all right," he exclaimed with an effort to speak lightly which +did not escape Philip; "I'm just tired, as your mother said.--I didn't +hear you come in or I would have been down-stairs to meet you." + +"You're not all right," Philip protested stoutly, still holding his +father's hand and looking squarely into his face. "You don't need to do +this with me, Dad; I'm a man now, and we ought to talk together like +men.--Has this anything to do with what you wrote me about my +allowance?" + +"We'll discuss it in the morning, Phil," Thatcher evaded. "Get dressed +now, and later we'll talk things over like two men, as you say. It will +help me to do that. Don't worry, boy; everything will come out all +right." + +"That's a promise, Dad?" + +"Yes; we'll put our heads together in the morning." + +Thatcher was as gay as the young people when they sat down to dinner, +and entered into the enjoyment of the home-coming so heartily that +Marian was relieved. + +"All you needed, Harry, was to have Phil come home," she said. "Couldn't +you telephone for another ticket and go with us?" + +"Not to-night; I have work to do. To-morrow Phil is going to lend a +hand, and then perhaps we'll have some play together.--Tell us of your +uncle, Billy." + +"Oh, Uncle Monty is all right,--except that he's become so terribly +sober and serious. What did you people do to him down at Bermuda? He +hasn't been the same since." + +"He was serious down there," Merry asserted. + +"Oh, he never was a cut-up, of course," Billy explained; "but he was +always saying things to make you laugh, and I could jolly him just as if +he was one of the fellows." + +"Can't you do it now?" Mrs. Thatcher inquired. + +"No; if I do he gets sore. Why, only the other night Phil and I went in +there to dinner. I made some remark about his being a woman-hater, and +he got huffed up in a minute. Didn't he, Phil?" + +"Monty Huntington a woman-hater?" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "No wonder he +was 'huffed'!" + +"But he never married, did he? Isn't that a sure sign that he's a +woman-hater?" + +"Oh, dear no!" Mrs. Thatcher insisted. "That may be taken quite as much +as an evidence of his profoundest respect and veneration for woman. In +fact, if fifty per cent. of the men who do marry would refrain from it +no greater tribute could be paid us!" + +The boy looked at her inquiringly. "Do all older people run marriage +down like that?" he inquired. "Every time the subject comes up some one +gives it a knock. With Uncle Monty, of course, it's sour grapes, because +now he's so old no one would think of marrying him, but--" + +"He's not so old," Merry interrupted unexpectedly and with such force +that Billy was taken by surprise. + +"Oh, ho!" Billy cried. "So that's the way the land lies! Now you've said +a mouthful. This is a case of mutual admiration! Uncle Monty told us the +other night that you were the finest girl he ever saw." + +"He did!" Merry cried, the blood rushing into her cheeks and her face +aglow with pleasure. "I wish I thought he really meant it!" + +"He meant it all right," Philip corroborated. "Mr. Huntington doesn't +make mouth-bets. He was calling me down for saying that you were just +like other girls." + +"Were you so ungallant as that?" Thatcher asked. "Whatever else +happens, Phil, we must stand up for the family." + +"Of course," he admitted; "but Billy was talking about Merry in +superlatives as usual, and I was trying to quiet him down." + +"Phil is doing his best to put me in wrong again," Billy protested. "Now +I'll tell you just what happened and you can judge for yourselves: I was +telling Uncle Monty how happy I was to be invited here for Easter, and +how glad I should be to see you all--" + +"You never said a word about any one but Merry," Philip interrupted. + +Billy looked vindictively at his friend and then smiled sheepishly. + +"I meant all of you, of course. Then Phil tried to jolly me about caring +for girls and for Merry in particular--" + +"Don't be foolish, Billy!" Merry exclaimed. + +"My! but it's hard to tell a story here, but I'm going to do it if I +burst a blood-vessel! Uncle Monty agreed with me, and then said that +Merry was the finest girl he ever saw. That from him is some praise, +because he never cuts in on girls at all; but you've made a hit with +him, Merry, and you might as well know it." + +"I'm glad he hasn't forgotten me," she said quietly, but the color +remained in her face after the conversation turned upon other topics. + +"What I said a moment ago isn't 'knocking,' as you call it, Billy," Mrs. +Thatcher resumed; "it is experience. We older folk know from what we've +seen, and from what we've been through, the dangers young people run +during the inflammable age; so we sound the warning. You are at that age +now, Billy, so your friends are trying to protect you. Philip apparently +hasn't arrived there yet, but he will; and then we'll try to protect him +from the idea that the 'only girl' is the one he happens to fancy while +the period lasts." + +"You're making me look like a flivver!" the boy said with mortification +in his voice; "and before Merry, too!" + +"No, my dear; you mustn't take it that way. I'm talking no more freely +than you have been. We consider you one of the family, so I'm speaking +to you just as I would to Philip." + +Billy's face was fiery red, but he never flinched in his dogged +determination. + +"I don't care who knows how much I think of Merry," he said defiantly. +"You've spoiled my visit! I'm not a bit ashamed--" + +"Forgive me, Billy," she soothed him gently,--"of course you're not +ashamed. I wouldn't speak to you like this if you weren't one of my own +boys; but I do want you to realize that it is seldom that early fancies +are more than impersonal idealizations. I'm glad you and Merry like each +other, and I hope you will always be the best of friends; but, in +applying our idealization to the one who at the moment comes nearest to +the realization, a mistake is usually made because the one we are really +looking for hasn't yet crossed our horizon." + +"Sometimes, perhaps," Billy conceded; "but there are exceptions." + +Mrs. Thatcher smiled at his persistency. She liked the boy, and had +seized on this opportunity to spare him the greater disappointment which +she felt sure would come. + +"Yes," she answered kindly; "there are exceptions. I know of one in my +own experience, but in this case it only made it more unfortunate. I +knew a boy once who applied the idealization formed during the +inflammable period to a girl who at that time thought she cared for him. +Then her horizon broadened and she found and married the man she really +loved; but the boy held on to his early ideal, becoming a recluse, +embittered against the world and incapable of seeing that unless the +ideal becomes a reality to both it can never safely amount to anything." + +Thatcher looked at his wife questioningly, and Merry's eyes also +fastened themselves upon her mother's face. Marian's voice as much as +her words disclosed more than she intended. As she paused Philip, +supposing the conversation to be concluded, mentioned the name which was +in each one's mind except the boys'. + +"By the way, Mother," he remarked, "Mr. Huntington wants me to meet a +friend of his named Hamlen, who, he says, used to be a friend of yours." + +"Yes," she said, looking up at him quickly,--"yes; I, too, wish you to +meet Mr. Hamlen. He is in New York now. Perhaps you will see him before +you return. I want you to know him well." + +As Thatcher assisted them in getting off to the theater, he managed to +draw Marian one side. + +"Hamlen's name is Philip, isn't it?" he asked. + +She nodded, wondering at the question. + +"Was that why you gave our boy the same name--and was it Hamlen you +referred to just now?" + +"Yes, Harry." + +He drew her gently to him and kissed her. "Poor chap!" he said. "If I +had known that I would have made a greater effort to be friendly with +him." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXVI + + * * * * * + + +During these depressed months Thatcher was not the only man of affairs +who saw the successes of his career threatened with disaster as a result +of the unnecessary burdens imposed by inexperienced and impractical +officials at Washington. Business groaned aloud as destructive control +and regulation delayed and paralyzed commerce. Labor, hand in hand with +its new ally Theory, stalked abroad through the land, demanding shorter +hours and increased wages, receiving recognition as a privileged class +from those in authority, exempt from respecting others' rights, which is +necessary to create and preserve responsibility: substance when it +struck at Capital, shadow when Capital in self-defense struck back. The +corporations which formed the pulse of the country's life were so +harassed that they paused in their constructive energies, wondering what +new menace would rise up before them, and yet were expected to give +better service while bound hand and foot by unwise legislative +restrictions, and burdened by unnecessary legislative demands for +increased expenditure. Samson, shorn of his strength by the shears of a +legalized Delilah, was expected to hold up with his enervated arms the +pillars of the temple which "psychological" complacency was pulling +down. + +The first serious rumors reached Thatcher in Bermuda, and when he +returned to his office his far-sighted perception told him that the +business world was face to face with a real crisis. Many of his +enterprises were in a condition where to pause in aggressive action +meant going backwards, entailing loss upon all concerned; yet to proceed +in the face of conditions as they were was to invite disaster and even +to imperil the stability of his firm. + +Cosden had felt the result of the depression in decreased business, but +he did not realize as soon as Thatcher the far-reaching results +inevitable from the new governmental policy. His horizon was local +compared to that of the New York operator, and he regarded the +conditions as a phase of business life, bound to appear once in so +often, rather than a blow at the basis upon which the commercial world +rested. He cut down his expenses in proportion to his reduced volume of +business, strengthened his relations at his banks, and considered his +sails trimmed to weather any storm. + +Thatcher had invited him to call, and Cosden had no idea other than to +make the most of the intimacy which had developed in Bermuda. More than +that, the machinery matter they had touched upon had progressed even +better than he expected. If Thatcher was still curious to learn more +about the details the time had now come when he could safely be told. +But to Cosden's surprise the subject was not once directly referred to +during their interview. Thatcher was cordial and affable, seemingly +interested in the general conversation and frank in his discussion of +various topics which presented themselves, but, as it appeared to +Cosden, strangely reticent upon certain specific subjects on which he +would have been glad to draw him out. It was only when Cosden paused for +a moment at the door of the private office that Thatcher made any remark +which gave his visitor an insight as to what was in his mind. + +"The full meaning of these present conditions evidently has not struck +Boston yet," he said. "Let me tell you that these are times when the +wise man learns how to wait. Instead of blaming your customers who +hesitate to give you the usual orders you should scrupulously +investigate the credit of those who do." + +"I can wait," Cosden said confidently. "I've always held myself back +from spreading out too thin, and if there's a storm coming on top of +this sloppy weather I'm fixed where I can meet it better perhaps than +some others." + +"You are to be congratulated," Thatcher told him with so much feeling +that Cosden took it as a personal compliment and departed well satisfied +with his interview. + +When he next met Huntington in Boston they discussed this among other +topics, and Cosden was surprised to have his friend ask him point-blank +whether he had heard rumors regarding Thatcher's firm. + +"You're dreaming, Monty," he replied with conviction. "Thatcher is a man +who makes money whichever way the market turns. That's what I admire so +much in him. I only win out when things go one way, but he wins coming +and going. What in the world put that idea in your head?" + +The chance remark which Billy had made regarding the reduction in +Philip's allowance was too much in the nature of a confidence to be +repeated, but it had left Huntington with a definite impression that +Thatcher must be feeling the conditions acutely or he would not have +begun to curtail expenses at home. To a man who lived as Thatcher did, +Huntington knew that this would be the hardest duty he would find to +perform. Cosden's question was answered lightly. + +"Wall Street is being hit hard," he said. "I am hoping that so good a +fellow as Thatcher won't be caught in the reaction." + +"Don't worry about that," Cosden laughed. "You'll find when the sky +clears that he has looked far enough ahead to make even the storm pay +him tribute." + +"Hamlen arrives to-morrow," Huntington remarked, changing the subject +lest his question raise some doubts in Cosden's mind which might linger. +"I shall give myself up to him a good deal while he is here, so you +mustn't be surprised if you don't see as much of me as usual. He needs +me more than you do." + +"That may be," Cosden admitted, "but how about you? I have an idea that, +with the peculiar state of mind you've been in lately, you will forget +your overpowering sense of age better with me than you will with him." + +"Perhaps," Huntington admitted, smiling; "but I must think of him +first." + +"You don't mind my butting in on you both once in a while?" + +"On the contrary; but I know how little you have in common with Hamlen. +I'm afraid he may bore you." + +"You forget my reincarnation," Cosden said dryly. "Who knows but that I +was a professor of classical antiquities in my previous existence? If he +bores me I'll cut out; but I've an idea that he can teach me a thing or +two, and just now I'm keen on becoming educated." + +There was a marked restraint in Hamlen's manner when Huntington met him +at the station and motored him to the Beacon Street house. His +embarrassment and the all too obvious efforts he made to impress upon +his friend the occasion of his leaving Bermuda would have convinced +Huntington, if he had not already known, that the real reason was that +which he had already anticipated in his prediction to Mrs. Thatcher. Yet +no one but Hamlen knew the agony of loneliness he had experienced when, +after watching the steamer disappear, he returned to his empty villa. No +one but Hamlen knew of the struggle he had passed through in his efforts +to readjust his life, or of the terror which came to him with the final +realization that he could no longer find solace in the work which he had +previously forced to absorb his waking hours. + +It was this terror Huntington saw in his classmate's eyes which told him +all that any one would ever know of the real tragedy. Hamlen looked +years older,--his face was more sallow, his hair more grey. Huntington +looked at him in pity, and felt apprehensive lest the task he had +allotted to himself had been too long postponed. Then the thought came +back to him, "He considers himself a failure and me a success!" + +The welcome was such as to reassure Hamlen as much as anything could. +Huntington made him feel as much at home as was possible for one whose +mental poise was so sadly disordered. No special effort was made at +conversation; everything was treated as a matter of course. Little by +little Hamlen found himself, and as he spoke more freely Huntington +entered into his spirit, but followed rather than led. + +"It is a relief to get into this quieter atmosphere after New York," +Hamlen remarked after they had sat in silence for some moments at the +table after dinner. "I felt as if I had been suddenly put down in a +whirling maelstrom, and there wasn't a minute when I did not expect to +be annihilated the next!" + +Huntington laughed quietly. "A New-Yorker would consider that the most +subtle compliment you could pay his city. It is not enough to have the +stranger merely impressed; he must be appalled!" + +Hamlen raised his hands in a silent gesture. + +"Have you arranged your business matters to your satisfaction?" +Huntington asked, rather by way of conversation than from curiosity. + +"Yes," Hamlen answered, but with a mental reservation which his friend +noticed,--"yes; and yet even that wasn't as I expected." + +He paused a moment, gazing into the fire which Huntington had ordered +lighted to take off the chill which the late Spring still left in the +air. + +"I am puzzled about it," Hamlen continued. "You see, most of my +investments have been in England, and it seemed to me that it would be +wise to take advantage of an opportunity I had to realize on them, and +to reinvest here in the States while everything is so much below its +real value. Knowing Mr. Thatcher as I did I naturally went straight to +him about it. He was most kind in advising me to hold off a while +longer, as securities are likely to fall still further; but when I asked +him to accept my money on deposit he declined, and offered instead to +give me a letter of introduction to a bank." + +"Why, Thatcher's house does a large banking business." + +"That is what puzzles me; why should he decline my account?" + +"I don't believe he meant just that," Huntington explained; "he probably +wanted you to understand that he was not looking for business from his +friends." + +"No, he flatly refused to accept it; for I tried to insist upon it. I +know few people here now, and I didn't feel like entrusting so +considerable a sum to any institution, however well recommended, without +personal acquaintance with some of its officers." + +"I don't understand it." + +"Nor I. Of course, I had no alternative, so I deposited it in the bank +Thatcher suggested." + +"Did you see much of the family while you were in New York?" Huntington +queried. + +Hamlen looked up quickly, with a return of the apprehensive expression +his face had worn earlier. + +"I saw them several times," he said. Then, after a moment's hesitation, +he added: "Later, you must let me impose still further upon your +friendship. I have no one else to counsel me." + +Hamlen's voice was apologetic. + +"I sha'n't consider that you accept my friendship at its par value +unless you call upon me in any way I can be of service to you." + +"Then perhaps you won't mind if I speak now," Hamlen responded eagerly. +"It really has been preying upon me until I am unfitted for anything +else. It would be a relief to share it." + +After saying this Hamlen found it more difficult to continue. "You +probably don't know," he said at length, "that Mrs. Thatcher and I knew +each other intimately years ago." + +"Yes," Huntington acknowledged frankly; "Mrs. Thatcher told me, while we +were in Bermuda." + +Hamlen was relieved. "It was a very close intimacy," he continued. "I +feel that perhaps I ought to be guided by her judgment now, yet I find +it difficult to accept for many reasons. In short, she thinks that I +should marry." + +During the last few moments Huntington had anticipated this +announcement, but he refrained from making comment. Hamlen looked over +at him for a word of encouragement, but as none came he went on. + +"I know myself to be entirely unfitted, and it is the last thing in the +world I should have thought of; but lately I have mistrusted my own +judgment, which leaves me absolutely without a guide of any kind. So +when any one I respect as I do Mrs. Thatcher makes such a statement, +and even suggests the possibility of my marrying her own daughter, I +don't know what to do. I can't believe that the girl would consider me +as a husband, yet Marian is confident that if it could be arranged it +would be for the happiness of all concerned." + +"Are you fond of Merry?" Huntington demanded. + +"As Marian's daughter, yes. I admire her tremendously, for in some ways +she reminds me of her mother. But what in the world have I to offer +her?" + +"What has any man to offer the woman he marries," Huntington replied +with feeling, "in comparison to what she brings into his life? He stakes +nothing but his liberty; she stakes her future as well as her present." + +"I know; but what do you advise me to do?" + +"Has it occurred to you that Mrs. Thatcher is assuming a great +responsibility in pledging her daughter's consent?" + +"Yes; I am afraid her influence over the girl is as strong as it is over +me. She is a very magnetic woman." + +"Do you mean that you question your own strength?" + +"That is exactly what I mean," he answered, dropping his eyes. + +"My promise of assistance was an empty one, after all," Huntington said +with more bitterness than had ever before crept into his voice. "The +alchemy of a woman's heart is past the comprehension of a bachelor like +myself. But why settle your problem so hastily? You are here with me +now, and what I intend to show you of life will fit you better than +anything else to answer that question for yourself. Don't let it +overwhelm you. See how far you can enter into what goes on about you, +and then draw your conclusions regarding the probabilities of the +future." + +"Are marriages ever successful when one's heart is made up of burnt +ashes?" + +"Don't ask me that, my friend!" Huntington begged. "You and I have +reached an age where we are entitled to use logic and judgment, and to +live the years which remain to us as those two attributes may dictate. +For the next few weeks I want you to imagine that you are back in +college again, with no responsibilities heavier than that of enjoying +yourself better than before because your sense of proportion has been +developed by experience. When these weeks are past, we may again +consider whether our hearts are made up of burnt ashes or of rich +Harvard crimson blood. Until then, my friend, let us steadfastly refuse +to be stampeded, and claim the benefit of every doubt." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXVII + + * * * * * + + +Philip Thatcher responded to the suggestion made by Huntington and his +mother with such conspicuous success that within a fortnight Hamlen +accepted his leadership from one experience to another with wonderment +and devotion. The fact that the boy was his namesake formed the first +bond, and with confidence once established intimacy developed rapidly. +Boys to Hamlen had been unknown quantities, creatures to be endured if +necessary but avoided if possible, and Philip did much to raise the +standard of his genus in the older man's mind. Billy's explosive +outbursts startled him for a time, but he learned to understand even +these, and accepted them at their true value. + +The responsibility came to young Thatcher at just the time when he was +best prepared to accept it. During the Easter recess his father suddenly +discovered that the boy had become a man, and it was with real +gratification that he took him into his confidence. To Philip, the +statement of present conditions made impending disaster seem conclusive, +and it was with difficulty that Thatcher persuaded him that many things +might happen to ease the situation before calamity really overtook him. +The boy wanted to leave college at once, and to throw himself into some +sphere of business activity so that his income might be added to the +family exchequer to keep the wolf from the door! His father, +strengthened by the youthful loyalty and enthusiasm, pointed out the +value, as a personal asset to himself, of actually possessing a college +degree, now so nearly secured, and sent the boy back to Cambridge with a +determination to make the most of the few remaining months in preparing +himself to rush into the breach and save his family from the threatening +malignant specters. + +The whole experience was a sobering one to Philip, and resulted in +putting him nearer on a plane with Hamlen. To the one, the world had +already proved its unreliability; to the other, it was now on trial with +every presumption of speedy conviction. Each event in the day took on a +new significance in the boy's mind, and Hamlen's dependence made him +feel that he was already man-grown, taking his place in the front rank +of the battle of life. + +Huntington watched these developments with a curious sensation of +interest and surprise. The most he had hoped was that Philip might take +the man far enough into undergraduate activities to give him by +assimilation a fresh viewpoint, but he found his guest largely taken off +his hands by one who was accomplishing the desired results far better +than he himself could do. Day by day he saw Philip winning a deeper hold +upon the affections of his older friend, and he marveled at the changes +taking place in Hamlen. For himself, he quietly forced him to meet such +of their classmates as were in Boston, preparing them by a brief outline +of Hamlen's experiences to extend a fitting welcome; but he left it to +Philip to show him what the new Harvard really is. + +It was impossible to have all this happen without misgivings and +questioning on the part of his guest. + +"I appreciate all this," Hamlen said to him one evening; "but don't for +a minute think that I take credit for the sudden interest on the part of +the fellows who never noticed me when I was in college. That belongs to +you. With the position you had then, and which you hold in the Class +to-day, the boys would drink healths and sing, 'For he's a jolly good +fellow' to a Fiji islander if he happened to be your friend." + +"Suppose we grant all that," Huntington answered frankly; "what +difference does it make? Didn't you tell me that you owned a piece of +land in Oklahoma on which oil was struck?" + +"Yes," Hamlen replied; surprised that his friend should so abruptly turn +the conversation. "What has that to do with our discussion?" + +"How much did you value it before you discovered what it contained?" + +"It was a joke; I begrudged even paying the taxes." + +"Now you consider it well worth including among your investments?" + +"Naturally. It is one of the best things I own." + +Huntington smiled at him quietly. "Don't you see the application? It is +no reflection on those who walked over that land that they were ignorant +of the riches which lay beneath their feet. It is no reflection on the +sincerity of your classmates that they like you now and did not know you +before. I discovered what you really are, Hamlen, quite as accidentally +as you struck oil in that apparently worthless land in Oklahoma. Now I +stand simply as the promoter of a property which has proved its worth." + +When Hamlen unpacked his trunk at Huntington's house he produced a +volume of Milton's "Areopagitica" which he placed in his friend's hand. + +"This is the latest issue from the 'Island Press,'" he said. "It was +nearly completed before you all came down to Bermuda and disturbed my +peace of mind. I put the covers on after you left, but I haven't been +able to produce a thing since. I believe this is the last book I shall +ever make." + +Huntington turned the leaves with great interest. "Exquisite!" he +exclaimed. "Quite the best example you have turned out. I love that type +of yours, Hamlen, for I feel it is the exemplification of William +Morris' definition of the Type Ideal,--'pure in form, severe without +needless excrescences, solid without the thickening and thinning of the +line, and not compressed laterally.' You have carried out what he set +himself to do and failed. How many copies did you print?" + +"Only fifty." + +"Splendid! But I am selfish enough to wish there was but one, and that I +owned it! I never saw finer presswork in my life." + +"You may gratify your wish if you like," Hamlen replied indifferently. +"I have the whole lot in my trunk up-stairs, and you may destroy the +other forty-nine if you choose. They are yours to do with as you will." + +"You don't mean it!" Huntington cried, enthusiastically. + +He fondled the copy in his hand, and his face was lighted by the +pleasure of the moment. Then he laughed. + +"It is a frightful temptation, Hamlen! Think of owning the only copy in +existence of a book like that! Bibliomania leads one on almost to crime, +and it would be nothing less to prevent other collectors from enjoying +this wonderful volume. I accept the gift proudly, Hamlen; I will make +good use of it." + +At the next monthly gathering of his fellow-collectors in their +attractive club-house Huntington took Hamlen with him as his guest. He +introduced him to his friends, but made no reference to the fact that he +was the creator of the productions of the Island Press. They listened to +an interesting paper, and then seated themselves at the long +supper-table to prove that even bibliomaniacs are human. Here Huntington +adroitly turned the conversation upon the subject of Hamlen's work. + +Huntington had told his friend that when once he heard the opinions of +other collectors the words of praise spoken at Bermuda would seem mild; +and the prediction proved true. Hamlen's cheeks burned as he heard his +work extolled and himself compared to the master-printers of the past. +There could be no doubt of the sincerity of the comment, for no one but +Huntington knew his identity; and the pleasure he felt was so intense +that it almost overcame him. + +As the discussion waned Huntington made his dramatic play. Each member +present was handed a copy of the "Areopagitica," on the fly-leaf of +which Hamlen had written his autograph. + +"A gift from our guest," Huntington explained; "and each copy is +inscribed by the master-printer of the Island Press." + +The silence which followed heightened the effect of Huntington's _coup_, +and Hamlen felt the blood rushing to his face. Huntington watched the +proceedings with evident relish, and as comprehension followed surprise +in the minds of his fellow-members he held his glass aloft. + +"To the health, gentlemen, of Philip Hamlen, our master-printer, an +American, thank God, who knows how to preserve that art preservative of +all arts!" + +It was the first triumph Hamlen had ever tasted, and as Huntington +watched his face he feared that in the desire to give him the confidence +of approval he had over-estimated his friend's physical strength. But +joy never kills, and the first weakness was conquered by the necessity +of living up to the position which had been thrust upon him. He +responded bravely, and Huntington smiled contentedly as he saw still +another barrier broken down between Philip Hamlen and the world he +believed to be against him. On their way home no word was spoken in the +motor-car, but when safe within the retreat of the library, which Hamlen +had learned to love, the pent-up emotion burst forth. + +"Then I have done something after all!" he cried. "My life has not been +all a mistake! Heaven knows what a mess I've made of it, but at least +there is something saved out of the wreck? You think they meant it, +don't you, Huntington?" he asked beseechingly, and he found his answer +in the beaming countenance of his friend. "I had no idea it would mean +so much, that so wonderful an experience as I had to-night could ever +come to me. Even now I can't understand it. Those little books are only +expressions of myself; I made them merely for personal gratification." + +"In doing so, my friend, you gave yourself to us; and more than that no +man can do!" + +The wonderful weeks went by, filled with a bewildering series of unusual +experiences for Hamlen and of continuing satisfaction to Huntington. +Philip unfolded to him day by day the various elements which went to +make the new Harvard spirit, and Huntington supplemented the boy's +efforts by keeping his guest in touch with the graduate activities +centered in and reaching their climax in the building of the "Home of +the Harvard Club" in Boston, dedicated as "the tomb of Harvard +indifference." Hamlen saw the freshmen segregated in their own +dormitories, and forced to become acquainted one with another, and he +realized what it would have meant to him at a similar time in his life +if heads wiser than his own had compelled him to show himself to his +classmates. He stood within the massive Stadium, he went to a +mass-meeting at the Harvard Union, he followed the crew on the Charles +in the launch "John Harvard," proud that Philip, his namesake, had won +a place in the boat. He spent many hours at the Harvard Club with +Huntington, watching the democracy which means unity, and the unity +which means fellowship. For the first time he felt a pride to be a part +of it, for the first time his degree stood to him as something more than +what he learned from books. Philip was to row against Yale, and he felt +that he himself, at last, was to take part in an intercollegiate +contest, once the ambition of his life. He was no longer a man without a +college, but was one of that great brotherhood which recognizes its +heritage, and stands ready to live up to the responsibilities this +heritage entails. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXVIII + + * * * * * + + +Huntington placed his house at the disposal of the Thatchers during +Class Day week, and urged them to arrive the Saturday before so that he +might show them something of Boston before the college festivities set +in. He had corresponded freely with Mrs. Thatcher during the weeks +Hamlen had been his guest, sharing with her his own gratification that +their joint undertaking proceeded with such promise of success. But each +letter she wrote contained some reference to her desire to carry the +rejuvenation to a climax. + +"Don't let him get too young," she wrote in one, "or Merry won't care +for him. She always feels more at home with older men." + +In another, accepting Huntington's invitation, she added: "Your +suggestion is particularly fortunate as it will give Merry a chance to +see Philip Hamlen under ideal conditions." + +There was no escape. Mrs. Thatcher still assumed that he was as eager to +bring about the match as she herself, and with woman's pertinacity +presented the matter to him in such a way that he was forced to act as +her ally whether he chose to do so or not. He had no restitution to make +to his classmate, he stoutly assured himself, and because a charming +woman felt a moral obligation to bring about "poetic justice" there was +no reason why he should be stampeded into aiding and abetting a scheme +of which he thoroughly disapproved. Huntington reasoned it out logically +and conclusively, arrived at a definite determination to have no part in +it, and then did the one thing which Mrs. Thatcher most desired by +inviting them all to his home. Such is the innate inconsistency of man +when he attempts to defeat the plans of a clever woman who always has +her way! + +Yet, curiously enough, Huntington believed that he was acting on his own +initiative, and that this plot of his to have the girl near by, where he +could again enjoy her companionship without betraying how much she had +become to him, was a triumph of diplomatic genius. He even dreaded lest +a refusal of his hospitality should defeat his carefully-laid plans, +never realizing that the idea itself had come through the most delicate +psychological suggestion between the lines of a letter which touched on +every subject but the one in point. Such is the inevitable climax of +man's originality when his plans include feminine co-operation! + +Hamlen did not again refer to the matter on which he had sought advice +until Huntington told him that the Thatchers were to arrive. Then his +manner took on that phase which his host knew well, and the old +apprehensiveness returned. The change was so noticeable that it could +not be passed by without comment. + +"Don't you want to see them?" Huntington demanded flatly. "You act as if +their coming really frightened you." + +"It does," Hamlen admitted frankly. + +"Why should it?" + +Huntington had come closely enough to him now to speak pointedly, and +Hamlen seemed grateful for it. He wanted to be treated like other men, +even though at times the new experience hurt; and his friend more and +more took him at his word. "Why should it?" Huntington repeated. + +"Because I can't trust myself yet. All is going so well that I fear +something may happen to cause a setback." + +"Nonsense! The old dread of meeting people hasn't worn off yet, but you +are making splendid strides. I shall be proud to have Mrs. Thatcher see +you as you are now." + +"I am not myself when I am with her," Hamlen insisted, avoiding his +friend's eyes as he spoke. + +"If you prefer, I'll put you up at the Club while they're here." + +"I should prefer it; but I think I had better fight it out while I have +you near at hand to help me." + +There was a new note of determination in his voice, but the dread was +still there. "I do not want to marry Miss Thatcher, Huntington," he said +slowly, with emphasis on every word; "yet unless you help me I shall do +it. I cannot resist Mrs. Thatcher if she is determined to accomplish +this. You spoke of logic and judgment when we talked of it before, but +these are not enough. Marian is a wonderful woman. She believes that +this marriage will be for our happiness, but I tell you, Huntington, it +would be a tragedy for us both. I have never had but one woman in my +heart, and any effort to dethrone that image would produce a condition +for which I cannot hold myself responsible. That is what I fear, and you +must help me." + +"Of course I'll help you, my dear fellow," Huntington reassured him, +"but are you not exaggerating Mrs. Thatcher's attitude? I can't believe +that she will proceed further when she knows how you really feel." + +Hamlen shook his head. "You have heard of men who lost their reason by +being accidentally locked in a tomb overnight--think what it has meant +to me to live with the specters of the dead for twenty years! As I look +back, I wonder that I've held together at all! I'm not rational even +now,--I know that; but I'm improving every day. What you have looked +upon as an obsession, an eccentricity, has been a condition over which I +have had no control, but through you I have been able to partially +extricate myself. Mrs. Thatcher stirred the dead embers when she found +me in Bermuda, and beneath them lay the smoldering flames which had +slowly consumed my life. That I was able to hold them in check there +gave me courage to accept your point of view, and I know that I have +gained strength during these weeks I have spent with you." + +"You are stronger in every way," Huntington said with decision. "If you +were able to hold yourself in check then, you should now feel doubly +safe." + +"Perhaps," Hamlen admitted doubtfully; "that is why I don't follow my +strong impulse to let you put me up at the Club. I want to test myself +still further. Whenever Marian Thatcher's name is mentioned I feel such +a confusion of emotions that I realize how far I am yet from being my +own master. I must either conquer or else return to the old life." + +"I'll stand by you--of course I will!" Huntington laughed, hoping to +lessen Hamlen's apprehension by treating the subject lightly. "Keep the +specters of the past back among the dead where they belong; don't let +them stalk in your present in which you are just beginning to find what +life really is. Mrs. Thatcher is a beautiful woman of flesh and blood +and not an avenging Nemesis!" + +"My God, Huntington! can't I make even you understand!" Hamlen cried +out. "It is the fact that Marian Seymour is a beautiful woman of flesh +and blood that the specter stalks! You who have never loved can't +sympathize as I do with the aboriginal man who struck down whomever +stood between himself and the woman he wanted, and carried his prize +bodily to his cave. I boasted that these twenty years had given me +opportunity for super-intellectual development, but instead I find +myself controlled by almost primeval instincts. My respect for law is +weakened, my regard for the rights of others seems stultified. This +woman has been mine since we were boy and girl together, Huntington, and +I want my woman! Before she broke the engagement my domination was too +complete, for it made her fear me; when we met twenty years later it was +she who dominated. Now, as I am coming back to myself, I feel my former +power returning, and I know that if I chose I could compel a +subservience of her will to mine. That is what I dread, for my exile +has destroyed my sense of proportion. If I do not exercise my own +strength then I must let her will be supreme, and that means that I +shall marry the girl while I worship the mother.--Don't belittle my +fearfulness, Huntington; it is a real thing to be reckoned with." + +"Whether real or not," Huntington said kindly, "the fact that you think +it so is enough. I shall not advise you nor urge you to do anything +except what you yourself think wise, and so far as I can, whenever or +wherever you wish it, I will help you." + +This discussion left a deep impression upon Huntington. He had never +looked upon Hamlen as a man of force, but rather as a visionary of +nervous tenseness; yet this outburst showed a strength which would have +carried his classmate far had it been properly directed. In spite of his +present activities Huntington could see that Hamlen still lived much in +his past,--the unconscious return to Mrs. Thatcher's girlhood name was +evidence of that, his reference to the ghostly companions of his Bermuda +life was equally convincing. What puzzled him was Hamlen's conviction +that Mrs. Thatcher was determined to compel the suggested alliance +against his will. This Huntington could not believe. She had expressly +stated to him that it was only an idea to be acted upon in case it +proved wise. Had Hamlen shown an interest in Merry, then undoubtedly +Marian's influence would be exercised in his behalf; but surely a +mother's heart would not be insistent in so serious a crisis! In this at +least Hamlen's apprehensions carried him too far. + +The opportunity to satisfy himself came to Huntington the day after his +guests arrived. They had motored down the North Shore and back to the +Club for lunch on a bright Sunday morning which seemed prepared +especially to show Boston's environs off to best advantage; and as they +strolled about the Club grounds he found himself paired off with Mrs. +Thatcher. + +The evening before had developed nothing of any moment. The two boys +rushed in after dinner, completely monopolized the situation for such +time as they were present, and then dashed off to keep a college +engagement. Things were too "thick," Billy explained to Merry, to have a +real visit. Thatcher seemed worn out and asked the indulgence of his +host to permit his early retiring; Mrs. Thatcher was happy and +complacent, rejoicing in the change she found in Hamlen and grateful to +her ally for having brought it about; Merry appeared strangely quiet, +but even if her presence had been wholly silent it would have seemed a +benediction to Huntington, whose sentiments no one suspected, and on +whom all depended for the expression of their individual purposes. +Huntington smiled grimly to himself as he recalled Hamlen's +matter-of-fact assumption that love had never entered into his life; he +even questioned whether his friend's self-imposed restraint was more +difficult than the repression of his own emotion! + +After luncheon they walked out onto the golf links, Huntington and +Marian finding a retreat in one of the thatched-roof shelters from which +they could command an extended view on all sides. Thatcher and Hamlen +had fallen behind, following Merry, who was eager to secure a better +idea of the earlier holes in the course. Marian seated herself and then +looked up into Huntington's face with an expression of complete +satisfaction. + +"It is simply wonderful!" she exclaimed. + +"It is a fine course--" + +"I'm not thinking of the course," she interrupted. "What you have done +with Philip Hamlen is simply wonderful!" + +"You must give your boy his share of the credit; his influence over +Hamlen is no less than mine." + +"I am glad my son could do something toward paying his mother's debt," +she replied feelingly. "Now if you and I can complete the work I shall +feel that restitution has been amply made." + +"You refer to your daughter?" + +"Yes; if I can see Merry married to Philip Hamlen I shall be blissfully +content." + +Huntington did not reply at once. He must be fair to this woman of whose +determination he could now have no doubt; he must be fair to Hamlen, but +above all he must be fair to the girl herself. Could he assume any +position of impartiality? Would not each word really be a cry from his +own heart, not against Hamlen but against any one who should create a +barrier between himself and her? But Hamlen had besought his aid, so +after all a responsibility existed, not of his making, which could not +be shirked. He would meet the issue squarely with special care to +eliminate himself. + +"I regret to say that I cannot sympathize with that plan," he said +deliberately. + +Mrs. Thatcher looked at him in complete surprise. "I thought we +agreed--" + +"I have had greater opportunity to study Hamlen since we last talked." + +She was genuinely distressed by Huntington's attitude. "I have set my +heart upon it," she said firmly. "Through me his life was wrecked; it +would be only justice if I helped him to find his happiness." + +At that moment Huntington wondered how Marian Seymour could ever have +attracted him. He had told Hamlen that the alchemy of a woman's heart +was past his comprehension, but he had believed that mothers' hearts +were all the same. He knew that Mrs. Thatcher was devoted to her +daughter, yet her insistence appeared to him inexplicable and +reprehensible. Had his companion been a man he would have told him so; +under the present circumstances he spoke more guardedly. + +"Being friends and allies, we should be frank in expressing our +conviction," he explained; "this must excuse my otherwise unwarranted +objections." + +"You know Merry now. Don't you agree with me that her interest is in men +older than herself?" + +"Has she been consulted?" + +Mrs. Thatcher flushed. "No," she answered; "I shall not speak to her +until Philip Hamlen has been persuaded." + +"You think she will acquiesce?" + +"I am sure of it. She may not understand at first, but I am certain that +she will feel as I do. Who could fail to see that he would be an ideal +husband for her?" + +"What would your life have been if you had married Hamlen?" + +"But he has changed,--he has learned much from his experience." + +"He is still, and always will be an abnormal personality," Huntington +insisted. "Marriage, in my opinion, has no place in his life, and no +woman could possibly endure his eccentricities. He can still find much +to interest him among men, but I beg of you not to pursue an experiment +which contains so many elements of danger." + +"You put it strongly, Mr. Huntington." + +"I feel it strongly; that must be my excuse." + +Mrs. Thatcher was visibly affected. It was several moments before she +spoke, and Huntington could see that she resented his attitude. + +"You look at it wholly from a man's standpoint," she protested. "No one +with Philip Hamlen's temperament can find the life he craves in +companionship with men alone. Of course I respect your convictions, but +you in turn must respect mine. I am so sure I am right that I cannot +abandon the hope I have so long cherished. It will be more difficult of +accomplishment without you, but if necessary I must carry it through +alone." + +"Forgive me, Mrs. Thatcher,--but are you not thinking of him and of your +obligation more than of your daughter?" + +"You surely don't think I would force Merry against her will!" + +"Sometimes we leave one a free moral agent," Huntington said pointedly, +"and at the same time bind him with chains stronger than iron by +expression of our own desires." + +The approach of Hamlen and Merry brought the unsatisfactory discussion +to a forced conclusion, and Huntington rejoiced that it saved him from +further expostulations. Thatcher had returned to the club-house to +telephone, leaving Hamlen and Merry by themselves. Hamlen responded to +Merry's spontaneous vivacity, and both were in the best of spirits as +they walked toward the shelter. He was heavier now and it became him. +The sallowness had left his face and a slight color appeared in his +cheeks. The girl beside him, as always when enthusiastic, radiated +happiness. Her companion could scarcely keep up with her as she half +walked half ran up the slight incline. + +"Look at them!" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, turning to Huntington. "Who are +you to tell me I am wrong!" + +Huntington was spared the necessity of reply for Merry had reached them. +Mrs. Thatcher rose and strolled away by herself to relieve her +overwrought feelings. + +"Oh, for a golf-skirt and a bag of clubs!" the girl cried. "When may I +play this adorable course?" + +"To-morrow morning," Huntington replied promptly, "if my guests permit +me to provide them with other entertainment. After to-morrow I must give +you up to those most exalted of personages, the Seniors." + +"I'd love to play this course," Merry said gratefully,--"but you're +going over for Class Day, aren't you?" + +"Yes; but we old grads don't count as against the Seniors. They are the +heroes and we bend the knee. On Thursday we shall walk respectfully up +to the graduating class, bow politely, and say, 'We who are about to +die, salute you'!" + +Merry laughed gaily. "Then, the next day, these heroes jump down off +their pedestals, walk respectfully up to the old grads, bow politely, +and say, 'Please give us a job'!" + +"Don't be an iconoclast, Miss Merry," Huntington retorted. "These boys +may be looking for jobs, but they are richer than any of us: they have +youth, and life is before them." + +"Grandpa!" the girl laughed mischievously. + +"I sha'n't let you call me that!" he cried, really piqued. + +"Then don't be so unfair to yourself!" she retaliated; "you are the +youngest 'old' man I ever met!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXIX + + * * * * * + + +It was with real regret the following morning that Huntington watched +his ball drop into the cup on the eighteenth green. The round had been +too perfect, the experience too enjoyable to come to an end so soon. + +"Five down," Merry remarked. "That looks to me like a real defeat." + +"I'm glad to find some game I can play better than you," Huntington +replied banteringly. "I'm still sore over our swimming-races in Bermuda. +But in all fairness I must admit that this course is built for a man's +game, and the premium on the length of the wooden clubs was all that +saved me to-day." + +"You are generous,--but I acknowledge my defeat. Do we have to go home +now?" + +"There is at least an hour between us and the rigid convention of +luncheon," Huntington answered. "Shall we spend it on the piazza?" + +"It is much nicer beneath one of these great trees," she said, suiting +her action to the word and sitting down upon the grass. "Come. Let us +imagine that we're back in Bermuda again!" + +Huntington seated himself beside her, still rebellious that their +moments together were passing so swiftly. He had wondered how she would +appear to him when he saw her again, half hoping to find that the charm +of the earlier setting had exaggerated her attractiveness, half dreading +an awakening. This would have simplified his problem, but it would also +have robbed his life of the richness which had entered it. Even though +he saw his course plainly plotted out for him, there was a delicious joy +in knowing that there existed one who had awakened in him that which +alone is best and without which no man's experience can be complete. + +But his half-hope was not to be gratified nor his half-dread realized. +The girl was different, but the intervening months had done their work +well. She seemed older and more mature, yet this passing of the girl +into womanhood had been accomplished without marring those +characteristics which he had before admired. His eyes rested on her face +longer than he realized, as these thoughts passed through his mind, but +until she spoke he had no idea that she had noticed the closeness of his +scrutiny. + +"Well," she said smiling, "do you approve?" + +He made no apology, for they understood each other too well, but instead +accepted her question seriously. + +"Entirely," he replied with an air of sincerity which forced the color +into her face. "The expression of the mouth, the tilt of the head, the +sparkle in the eyes,--all is perfection. But you suggested that we +imagine ourselves back in Bermuda. For myself, I should not dare to try +it, for it could never be the same." + +"Should we want it to be?" she asked earnestly. "An experience repeated +must have something added or it fails to satisfy. To be the same would +bring disappointment. I've argued that all out with myself, so I'm sure +I'm right." + +"Why should you have done that?" he demanded. + +"Because those were the most wonderful days I have ever known," she +explained simply and without embarrassment. "I found myself wishing them +back; then I realized that if I could have my wish gratified it wouldn't +satisfy me. I was unhappy when I went down there for no reason in the +world except that I couldn't seem to find my place. With all their love +no one at home has ever understood me, and I had reached a point where I +didn't understand myself. Then you gave me the chance to know Mr. +Hamlen, and in what you said to him and to me I saw what happens when +one has no anchorage. That was what had made me unhappy,--I was drifting +horribly." + +"You concealed it well," Huntington said. "All the time we were together +I never suspected that you had a care in the world." + +"That is a compliment to yourself," the girl answered. "With your +optimism you draw out the best in every one. See what you did with Mr. +Hamlen down there, and what you have done with him since! You are the +most completely happy person I have ever met, and--don't scold!--I have +tried to imitate you. I haven't been very successful yet, but I'm +trying. Some time, when the supreme test comes, I shall accept it, and +then you will see what your example has accomplished." + +The sincerity of the girl's words made Huntington uncomfortable. At +first it pleased him to discover how genuine was her respect, but as she +continued he found himself embarrassed by the character she gave him. + +"I shall begin to think myself somebody if you go on," he expostulated. +"You are crediting me with attributes I don't seem to recognize." + +"That is because they come so naturally to you," she explained. "You are +happy because your life is spent in making other people happy. That is +the lesson I learned." + +"You were doing that long before I met you, and you are doing it now." + +"No," she insisted; "it may have seemed so to you, but I was really +trying to find happiness for myself, and because I was thinking of +myself it didn't come. Since I returned home I've tried your plan, and +so far it has worked splendidly." + +"But the supreme test," Huntington asked,--"what is that to be?" + +"Oh, I don't know," she answered with an effort to speak indifferently; +"being a girl I suppose it will be my marriage." + +"That should be the supreme triumph of your happiness rather than the +test." + +"I used to think so but I've changed my mind. I had a vision once of +what I thought marriage ought to be.--We spoke of it in Bermuda, and you +made fun of it, don't you remember? I'm convinced now that it was all +wrong." + +"You said that you would marry only a man who would let you contribute +your share to the real life which you would jointly live." + +"Yes," Merry answered consciously; "and you laughed at me! But you were +right. I ought not to think so much of myself." She paused a moment. +"The man I really loved probably wouldn't care for me at all," she +continued soberly, her eyes averted. "If I am convinced that I can make +the man I marry happy, then I am more certain of finding happiness +myself. That is making a tremendous compromise with sentiment, but don't +you think it more sensible, after all?" + +"Then the supreme test, as I understand it, would be to marry a man you +thought you could make happy whether you cared for him or not?" + +Merry nodded her head in affirmation. A sudden suspicion came into +Huntington's mind, and he looked at the girl curiously. + +"Has your mother been talking to you upon this subject?" he demanded +with more directness than he had a right to use. + +"Why, no," she answered, showing her surprise. "She thinks me too +indifferent to men; but we have never discussed the matter seriously +because there has been no occasion." + +Huntington was relieved by her words but her ideas were not reassuring. +He started to tell her that she was entirely wrong, but he checked +himself because he realized that differing with people had now come to +be a habit with him. Two days before he had carefully explained to +Hamlen how erroneous his convictions were only to discover that he +himself had been in error. Yesterday he had differed with Mrs. Thatcher, +and now he found his ideas at variance with Merry's. Instead, he lifted +the girl's left hand, which rested on the grass beside him, and gently +pointing to the third finger he looked earnestly into her deep eyes. + +"Merry," he said calling her by her name for the first time, "when the +moment comes for some man to slip a gold band on there I want you to +remember what I tell you now. You have pictured me as an apostle of +optimism and as the happiest person you know. I could tell you something +about that, but instead I'll try to live up to your picture. But this +much is gospel truth, and I want you to remember it: that gold band will +stand as a symbol and the circle means completeness. It doesn't stand +for sacrifice, or for supreme tests, or for anything of that sort,--it +does stand for just what you saw in your 'vision.' A very wise person +once said that marriage was either a complete union or a complete +isolation, and he was right. My friends think me a cynic on this +subject, but my cynicism is a result of the complete isolation I see +every day in the lives of my friends. I want your marriage to be a +complete union, little girl, and that can't come if you apply your +present ideas to a sacrament so sacred that every-day principles become +meaningless. Marriage is the merging of all that is beautiful in two +lives, and unless the love on each side strives to outdo the other in +contributing to the joint account, the beauty fades, and the gold +circlet stands as a symbol of slavery instead of representing the most +wonderful relation which mortals are permitted to enjoy." + +"Mr. Huntington!" she exclaimed in a low tone, "I had no idea you looked +upon marriage like that! I didn't believe any man did! It makes me have +more faith in my vision. Still, after all, that doesn't change the fact +itself, for you are the exception. But, feeling as you do, I know now +that the only reason you are not married is that you have never found +the girl." + +Huntington looked full into her face before he turned his head aside. "I +did find the girl," he answered with a depth of feeling in his voice; +"but I found her too late." + +"Forgive me!" Merry cried impulsively, convinced that she had torn open +a concealed wound. + +"There is nothing to forgive, dear child," he said quickly. Then with +that smile which took the world in its embrace he added, "Don't waste +your sympathy on me; life has already given me more than I deserve." + +"I am so sorry," Merry replied soberly. "She must have been a wonderful +girl to win such a love." + +"She was," he answered. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXX + + * * * * * + + +Billy Huntington was the founder of an original secret organization +called the "Club for Undesirables." Being the founder he was privileged +to write the By-Laws, and these consisted of a single Article: "The +members of this Club shall be elected by the non-members." Exercising +his prerogative he had proposed, seconded and elected Cosden and others +of his acquaintance who failed to attain the standards he demanded of +those around him; and now he unanimously declared Mrs. Thatcher a member +in full standing. + +These were not red-letter days for the boy. Ever since his visit to New +York at Easter the times had been out of joint, and he blamed Merry's +mother for it all. From his viewpoint the visit had been a "frost," and +he nursed his resentment so successfully that he came to look upon it as +a virtue. Uncle Monty noticed the change, but having no knowledge of the +cause gave Billy credit for at last showing symptoms of growing up. +Philip looked upon his tragedy as a huge joke, and made his friend's +life wholly unendurable by frequent veiled allusions to the "inflammable +age," rubbed in as only a college chum can do. The sympathy he craved +was sadly lacking, so he sought compensation by sympathizing with +himself. + +Billy would have been better satisfied with the completeness of his +martyrdom had he been able to include Merry among those who abused him, +but he could discover no point where she had failed to preserve an +aggravatingly consistent neutrality. She was always friendly, accepting +his extravagant expressions of devotion with a good-natured indifference +which robbed them of all significance She had taken no exceptions to her +mother's humiliation of him, nor had she taken advantage of it; +everything progressed with a disgusting sameness, when he had +confidently expected that the result of his visit would be to acclaim +him Merry's accepted suitor, and thus raise him to the seventh heaven of +delight. + +While Hamlen had been in Boston Billy found himself again side-tracked. +Not only was Uncle Monty engaged, but Philip devoted much of his time to +his new responsibility. Everything conspired to throw Billy back upon +his own resources, and here he developed a decided hiatus. The boy's +strongest point was his ability to fit in with some one else's plans, +and of all his friends Philip proved most fertile in his suggestions. + +Now Class Day was at hand, and as it was not his Class Day he felt +himself eclipsed by the added glory which came to Philip and the other +Seniors. As an under-class man he counted for absolutely nothing. When +he was a freshman, the comparative size of the halos worn by his Class +and the graduating students was an open question of debate; from a +sophomore's standpoint, he was near enough the freshmen to be able to +look down upon them with a gratifying sense of superiority; but as a +Junior there was nothing to do but to wait for the coming year,--and +waiting was a game not included among Billy's favorite indoor or outdoor +sports. He had expected little from the visit of the New York friends, +owing to the presence of "the Gorgon" as he christened Mrs. Thatcher, +and in this expectation he was not disappointed. Merry herself was fully +occupied, and her mother took every opportunity to prevent diverting +influences from affecting what she considered a crucial moment. So +Billy, thoroughly disgruntled, drew himself up with a dignity which he +did not know he possessed, denied himself to the visiting friends, and +permitted the procession to move on without him. + +Philip himself, being at New London with the crew, was prevented from +taking personal participation in the Class Day festivities, but the +classmate whom he delegated as substitute proved an ideal host. In +Philip's absence Huntington had no compunctions in joining with Hamlen +in the Thatchers' celebration; had the boy been there he would have felt +it an intrusion for any one outside the family to share with them the +triumph which comes but once in a college man's life. So they passed +together from spread to spread, in and out of the Yard, listening to the +music, admiring the attractive costumes and the still more attractive +girls, entering into everything with a spirit which even Hamlen felt, +and which took Huntington back to his own Class Day, so many years +before. + +When the march to the Stadium was formed Huntington led Hamlen to that +portion of the line where their own classmates were assembled, and +presented him to each. Only a few remembered him, but all gave him a +welcome which confirmed Huntington's predictions. Hamlen noticed who the +men were standing side by side, and was impressed by the fact that while +in college the groups had been made up quite differently. He and +Huntington, then, did not form so grotesque a combination as he had +imagined. Other members of his Class, who knew each other but slightly +while in Cambridge, since then had discovered characteristics in each +other which drew them together. As Huntington said to him in Bermuda, +the ratio had become readjusted, the essentials only were remembered, +and the real bond was the fact of being members of the great fellowship. +Then the procession started, and he fell into step with the new life +which it had taken him so long to find. + +After the exercises at the Stadium, Cosden, at Huntington's suggestion, +took Hamlen with him to the Varsity Club, where the athletic heroes of +past and present congregated. There was a motive back of the suggestion, +and the effect on Hamlen of seeing these men, whose importance college +ideals had magnified, in their present relation to the world and to +their fellow-men, justified the experiment. Some of the old captains or +record-holders showed unmistakably their continued pre-eminence; others +had fallen back into the ranks after their temporary standard-bearing. +Hamlen could understand it now: what they did in college was of +importance only to the extent that it fitted them for what was to +follow; it was the use they made of this fitting in the after-life which +produced the permanent effect. This was the difference between the means +and the end which Marian tried to explain to him in Bermuda. + +Then came Commencement as a crescendo. It would have meant little to +Hamlen had it preceded Class Day, but each new experience gave him +fuller understanding and richer enjoyment. He saw again the same members +of his Class and felt now that he knew them; he met others, and was able +to mingle freely as a fellow-classmate. On Class Day the alumni came as +a unit, on Commencement they separated into Class groups, each with its +own spread and reunion, offering greater opportunity for intimate +exchanges of personal experience and mutual confidence. + +The climax came the following day with the boat-race at New London. The +Thatchers had returned home immediately after Class Day with plans of +their own still to be carried out, so Huntington and Cosden formed the +body-guard which convoyed Hamlen to the great event. Huntington knew +that he could not credit his friend's feverish anticipation wholly to +the dawning interest in Harvard events, but was equally content to see +how personal a triumph Philip's seat in the boat had become to him. Had +Hamlen's nervousness been shared by his namesake and the other oarsmen +the result of the race might have been foreshadowed! He changed his mind +about going so many times that Huntington finally insisted upon a +definite decision. + +"Of course I want to go," he explained; "but I never saw a Harvard crew +win and I can't believe I'm going to now." + +"Perhaps you won't," was the frank disavowal of responsibility. "The +worm must turn again some time, and it may be that this is the year, but +Harvard has the habit of winning now, and that goes a long way." + +"It would kill me to see Phil lose!" Harden said with deep feeling. + +"Tell me," Huntington said,--"tell me frankly for my gratification, is +your eagerness to see Harvard win to-morrow wholly on Phil's account, or +have these days brought your crimson blood near enough to the surface to +make you keen for the crew to win because it's a Harvard crew? Don't +deceive yourself or me. I really want to know." + +Hamlen hesitated before making reply, then he returned Huntington's look +with a frankness which conveyed much. His eye was clear and responsive +now; the haunting terror had left it. He met the question squarely. + +"Until this moment," he said, "I supposed myself sincere in believing +that my interest lay wholly in having that boy come through victorious, +but as you put it to me now I know there is a reason which lies deeper +still. Thanks to you, dear friend, notes in my life which have always +before been mute have now been struck, and I am finding a wonderful joy +in the melody produced. I have awakened to my heritage, and I realize +what I have missed in denying myself its privileges. I want Harvard to +win, Huntington, because it's Harvard. I shall always want Harvard to +win for the same reason. It may be better for the sport to have the +victories alternate, it may be impossible to defend anything so selfish +as a desire for an unbroken line of victories for years to come; but +still I want it. There is no occasion to argue it, there is no logic to +support it; I just simply want it!" + +Huntington regarded him with a satisfaction too deep for outward +exuberance. "I knew the spirit was too strong to accept limitations!" he +exclaimed quietly but with an exultant ring in his voice. "I knew that +no man could once place himself within the influence of college ideals +and not recognize their existence. You have tested my convictions, +Hamlen, but my faith has remained 'calm rising through change and +through storm.'" + +The strength of Huntington's emotion impressed Hamlen deeply. His own +dawning was so recent that at first he could not believe it possible for +his friend to be so affected by the subject under discussion. + +"Do other Harvard men feel as strongly as you do?" he demanded +questioningly. + +"Of course," Huntington replied; "but it isn't a question of Harvard any +more than of other colleges. We shout for our Alma Mater, but no more +lustily than the Yale or the Princeton man or the men of the smaller +colleges shout for theirs. It is merely the expression of the spirit of +loyalty and the sense of obligation, Hamlen. Not to express it is +unnatural, not to feel gratified when another laurel wreath is placed +upon the brow of our Dear Mother is a lack of filial devotion which I +refuse to believe exists." + +They elected to see the race from the observation-train, that they +might watch the positions of the crews from beginning to end rather than +at any fixed point. There was no novelty in the experience for +Huntington or Cosden except the ever-present uncertainty of the outcome, +but to Hamlen even the crowds which he had previously avoided added to +his excitement by imparting to him the thrill of their repressed +expectancy. He resented the calmness of his companions as they perused +their morning papers on the train. He tried to follow their example, but +found himself mechanically reading over and over again the statistics of +the two crews. Harvard was the favorite, but that he took as a bad omen +for he still remembered the Harvard teams which had gone into their +contests with the odds on their side, and had failed to win the expected +victories. Harvard overconfidence was a byword when he was in college, +and it was overconfidence which he feared now. + +They took their places on the improvised seats of the platform +freight-cars, ready to be hauled to the point of vantage at the start, +but the train seemed frightfully deliberate in getting under way. Hamlen +glanced at his watch nervously and was surprised that so little time had +elapsed since his last observation. Finally they found themselves +opposite the judge's boat. Harvard was already nearing the mark and the +Yale crew followed only a few lengths in her wake. Hamlen watched the +manoeuvers, disturbed by the conflicting cheers coming in sharp +staccato from every direction. At last the boats lined up in position. +Hamlen fancied that he could hear the referee's challenge: "Ready, +Harvard? Ready, Yale?" Then the pistol cracked out with reverberating +echoes, the oars gripped the water, the shells shot forward, and the +race was on! + +Hamlen's face set grimly and he sat bolt upright, taking no part in the +mad cheering or the boisterous excitement. His eyes followed every +stroke of the oars, and he suffered keenly as the Yale boat took a lead +of half-a-length at the quarter-mile. Then he saw Harvard settle down to +her work with a stroke quickened enough to enable her to take the +advantage. The same stroke kept the crimson boat forging steadily ahead. +At the half-mile the positions were reversed, at the mile clear water +showed between the shells, another mile added two lengths more, in spite +of Yale's plucky efforts to close in on the gaping space. At three miles +Harvard had five lengths to the good, and for the first time Hamlen +relaxed his tense attitude. + +"If it would not be a case of overconfidence," he said quietly to his +companions, "I should say that Harvard was going to win!" + +"Nothing but an act of God can save Eli now!" Cosden replied between his +cheers. "Why don't you yell?" + +"I can't," Hamlen said; "I feel it too much!" + +Still the crimson boat gained, and the contest had changed into a +procession. + +"Do they ever lose with a lead like that?" he asked Huntington +anxiously. + +"Lose!" his friend shouted,--"lose! They're gaining every stroke! Rah! +rah! rah! Harvard! Harvard! Harvard! There they go across the line!" + +He threw his arms deliriously around Cosden and Hamlen and they +performed a war-dance on the unsubstantial seats. Every Harvard +sympathizer on the train had gone mad, and the Yale streamers were +buried in the avalanche of crimson flags. + +"Another one!" Huntington shouted; "another wreath for the Alma Mater, +Hamlen! Rah, rah, rah! Harvard!" + +Hamlen had caught the contagion and was as affected with delirium as +those around him. He shouted his college yell over and over again, +unconscious that it was the first time in his life he had ever done so. +Huntington, the sedate Huntington, was cavorting like a two-year-old, +yet Hamlen saw nothing incongruous in his conduct. Cosden was so hoarse +that his cries resembled a wheezy calliope, yet they were sweet music in +Hamlen's ears. Harvard had won, Philip had won, he had won! + +At the station a crowd of undergraduates were singing hilariously: + + "_Bring the bacon home, John, + We cannot eat it all. + We sometimes got a taste of it + When you and I were small. + But now you bring it home, John, + In springtime and in fall. + It seems an awful waste of it, + We cannot eat it all._" + +There was the hectic scramble for seats on the special train. Snatches +of other songs came from here and there, and spasmodic cheering; but +gradually the excitement settled down into the quieter calm of satisfied +accomplishment. It was an orderly crowd which deserted the train at +Back Bay, but the men bunched on the platform, before they separated, +and again burst into song. The jibes were forgotten, the boastings +hushed. These had their place only in the first expressions of exultant +victory. A deeper sentiment seized the celebrating host, which was +expressed with uncovered heads: + + "_Fair Harvard! thy sons to thy jubilee throng, + And with blessings surrender thee o'er, + By these festival rites, from the age which is past + To the age which is waiting before._" + +Hamlen watched them in silence, touched with a new emotion by the sound +of the words, familiar enough, but which now took on a different +meaning. Huntington was right: it was not a boat-race he had just +witnessed, it was not the celebration of a victory over Yale, it was a +"festival rite," consecrating anew to its Alma Mater that brotherhood to +which he belonged, in grateful acknowledgment of the character and power +developed beneath her beneficent influence which placed within its reach +"the Earth and all that's in it." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXI + + * * * * * + + +In July, commercial stagnation increased, and the machinery of business +which before had creaked dismally in its daily routine now groaned aloud +in its travail; and the pity was that the conditions which caused it +were artificially created. There was capital enough, but the banks +hoarded it against possible contingencies; the crops were heavy, but it +was suicidal for the railroads to move them at the rates legislated by +the government; there were contracts to be let, but no one dared give +them out or accept them because of the shadow which hung gloomily over +every great industry in the shape of governmental paternalism and +interference. Stocks representing property intrinsically valuable +dropped lower and lower in the market, dividends which had been earned +were diverted into surplus as further margin of safety against future +developments, unknown and therefore to be feared. Incomes shrank in some +cases almost to the vanishing-point, while Washington reveled in an orgy +of those good intentions with which they say Hell is paved. + +Cosden by this time had come to a full realization of the significance +of Thatcher's warning, and he understood now why the New York operator +had shown so little interest in the attack on the Consolidated Machinery +corporation which had seemed inevitable. In view of conditions as they +had developed, and as Thatcher had foreseen them, no new enterprise +would be launched until opportunity presented itself to take advantage +of its inherent strength. The old-established company need fear no +competition while its own business was dropping off in such alarming +proportions. So Cosden again reduced expenses, still further extended +his bank affiliations, and settled back to meet whatever conditions +might arise, knowing that his sagacity had placed him outside the pale +of those fighting for their existence. + +In this latter class was Thatcher. The very success of his varied +interests now made them shining lights to attract the attention of the +authorities in Washington. One by one he saw them attacked, and day by +day he watched the dropping values of the stocks, called on by the banks +to increase his collateral, drawing deeper and deeper into his personal +resources which he had considered ample for any emergency. The strain +was terrific yet the only break he permitted himself was during the week +of his son's graduation. + +The question of the summer home gave Thatcher much concern. The heavy +expense of its upkeep made it an item to be considered at this time, yet +he could not bring himself to the point of doing what he knew would be +an act of wisdom. In their town house the Thatchers lived the usual +formal life which belonged to their position, but it was Sagamore Hall +they always meant when they spoke of "home." To relinquish it, even +temporarily, seemed to Thatcher nothing less than sacrilege. + +The estate consisted of some sixty acres wonderfully located on +Narragansett Bay with nearly a mile frontage on the sea. A rolling, +close-cropped lawn, bordered on either side by avenues of trees, ran +back three hundred yards from the beach before the stately, old English, +half-timbered mansion was reached, the broad expanse of green carpeting +making a perfect harmony of perspective. The two great end gables of the +house formed a shallow forecourt, filled in by a brick terrace with +balustrade. Between these gables, the central façade, a double-storied +loggia of stone, reminiscent of a Dorsetshire manor house, was +strikingly beautiful with its splendid sculptured decorations. + +The opposite front of the mansion faced the road, though removed some +distance from it, and was approached through a gateway and a winding +avenue in keeping with the dignity of the building itself. To the south, +connected by shaded walks, was an unusual garden, the boundaries of +which were marked by rare trees and shrubs so arranged that they formed +a pyramidal mass of verdure, against which perennial blooms of rare and +beautiful plants showed their bewildering colors to the best advantage. +This garden represented what Marian had put of herself into the estate +during the twenty years they had lived there, and to her and to Thatcher +each flower, shrub or tree represented something personal and recalled +some happy experience. + +At Sagamore Hall Marian really lived, keeping out of doors most of the +time, entertaining her friends in a manner which made every one feel +that each of the many attractions had been arranged for his own special +enjoyment. Here the Bermuda party was again united. Thatcher still kept +his wife in ignorance of the business complications which now seemed +certain to overwhelm him. Marian noticed that he was tired and worried, +but this had happened so many times before that she had come to look +upon these conditions as deplorable but none the less inevitable factors +in her husband's business life. In fact he had so explained on earlier +occasions when she questioned him, and had discouraged her from showing +too much concern. She recognized that he was scarcely in a mood for the +reunion she had planned, but justified her insistence on the ground that +he needed the relaxation; while he deemed it wise to yield rather than +attempt an explanation. + +Edith Stevens had been their guest for a fortnight before the other +members of the party arrived. Philip was entertaining several of his +college chums, including Billy Huntington, but Mrs. Thatcher +particularly requested her daughter to have no guests during this visit, +holding herself free to assist in the entertainment. + +Since her return home after the Class Day festivities Merry had shown +little interest in what went on around her. Had her mother noticed it +she would have passed it over lightly as "one of the child's moods," but +Mrs. Thatcher was too completely engrossed in her own great scheme to be +keenly sensitive to anything around her. In fact Merry's attitude +seemed peculiarly receptive, and encouraged her, a few days before +Hamlen was expected, to take her daughter into her confidence. + +In answering Huntington's question Marian expressed greater confidence +in Merry's acquiescence than she really felt. To herself she admitted +that she did not understand her daughter. Since the elaborate plans for +Merry's social life fell through because of the girl's lack of interest +and failure to respond, Marian had almost given up in despair. Merry was +unlike the daughters of the Thatchers' friends, who might be counted on +at all times to do the expected thing when given the expected +conditions; with her it was always the unexpected which happened. She +loved athletics, not because of the companionship of boys, as other +girls did, but for the games themselves; she was fond of dancing, but +she would as soon dance with another girl as with a man,--it was the +rhythmic motion of the dance itself which fascinated her; she had no +interest nor ability in making "small talk," but was always eager to +discuss problems which her mother felt she might better leave alone; she +tolerated young people of her own age, but expressed her real self only +when thrown with older friends. Mrs. Thatcher worried more over her +daughter's future than over any other phase of the family life, and the +solution which now seemed to offer itself contained so much promise that +Marian believed it to be foreordained. + +It was not easy to broach the subject, but when once accomplished Marian +talked on for some time without waiting for Merry to enter into the +discussion. It was important, she felt, that the girl should know the +whole story before being permitted to express an opinion. As the full +significance of her mother's words dawned upon Merry there was an +instinctive recoil, but she listened with outward calm. Marian believed +herself to be suggesting nothing save deepest concern for her daughter's +future; Merry heard nothing but a personal appeal for sacrifice. The +romance of her mother's early experience, the results which came from +the breaking of the engagement, her own interest and participation in +Hamlen's new life,--all went to strengthen the appeal, but still it +asked for sacrifice. + +As she listened Merry's mind was working fast. What were the relations +existing between them? She admired her mother tremendously, and was +proud of the attention her beauty excited wherever they went. She +respected her, for no wife or mother ever carried herself in these +positions with greater regard for the proprieties. Did she love her? Of +course! what a question to come to a girl's mind! Did she? The question +repeated itself insistently. Merry wondered. If this were disloyalty, +then the thought itself formed the offense; to analyze it was imperative +before putting it aside. The girl knew that she was face to face with +the crisis of her life, that the question now in mind had really been +the cause of that unrest she had failed to understand. + +"Is this something which you ask me to do?" Merry inquired at length. + +"No, my dear; that would be exceeding a mother's rights." + +"But you wish it?" + +"Yes; that is a different matter." + +"I wonder if it is," the girl said soberly. + +"It is a very different matter," Marian insisted. "I am thinking only of +you, dear child. Unless you felt convinced, as I do, that your marriage +would mean your happiness, I should be the last one to wish it." + +"Why don't you let me wait, as other girls do, until I find the man I +love?" + +"Because you're not like other girls, Merry--" + +"I've always been a disappointment to you, haven't I, Momsie?" she asked +suddenly. + +"Not that, dear," Marian disclaimed. "Of course it has worried me that +you would never be intimate with young people your own age. I have never +understood it--" + +"That is because I never had any girlhood, Momsie," Merry explained +seriously. "I grew up too soon. When I was little I couldn't play like +other children because my governess was always teaching me manners; so I +had nothing to do but think." + +"What are you talking about, child!" Mrs. Thatcher protested. "You are a +perfect tomboy, even to-day!" + +"I've had to make up for lost time, Momsie. You never saw me play when I +was little; that came after I became old enough to have my own way. Then +I learned games, but not as a child learns them; they were serious +problems, to be thought out because I had formed the habit of thinking. +While I was away at school I felt older than the other girls there, and +I wasn't interested in what interested them; that gave me a chance to +think some more. Then I came home, and you gave me that wonderful +coming-out party! It was after that I disappointed you most, wasn't it, +Momsie? I couldn't live the life the other débutantes did--talking silly +nonsense until early morning with men who hadn't any sense at all, +rushing to _thés dansants_ smoking cigarettes, and all that sort of +thing." + +"I never knew that you did smoke cigarettes," Marian said severely. + +"I don't suppose the mothers of the other girls knew it either; it was +the secrecy which made it sporty and gave the smoking its only interest. +I couldn't stand it, Momsie! I had to be doing something worth while! +Finally you let me have my own way, very much against your will, and +since then I've been a tomboy, as you say. Father gave in on the boat, +and I've spent hours in her, all by myself, trying to find out what the +things worth while are. I haven't been very successful yet, Momsie, but +I do know that it is a waste of time to fool around with boys like Ted +Erskine when one may find a chance to talk with a real man like Mr. +Huntington." + +"Mr. Hamlen is a real man, too, Merry. If you knew something of life--" + +"It's because I know too much of life, and understand too little. Mr. +Huntington has helped me to understand." + +"I had hoped that by being so much with him, you would be the more +prepared to appreciate Mr. Hamlen," Mrs. Thatcher said. + +"I wish I might have been more with you, dearie." + +Marian looked up quickly. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded. +"Haven't I given all my leisure to my family?" + +"You have had so very little leisure, Momsie." + +"I have had my own interests, of course--" + +"I'm not criticising you, dearie," Merry hastened to interpose; "I'm +only trying to explain myself to you." + +"I have done my best to prepare my children for the life they would +naturally enter--" + +"Isn't life what we live every day, Momsie? It isn't all made up of +worldly things, is it?" + +"Upon my word!" Marian cried. "One would think that I had entirely +neglected my family!" + +"No, Momsie; you have been most ambitious for us, and have made sure +that we could have everything you thought we ought to have. Truly it +isn't that I don't appreciate what you have done; I simply can't +understand why any one should want the things you consider essential. +Why, for instance, are you so anxious for me to be married?" + +"Because it is natural at this time in your life, Merry." Mrs. Thatcher +was determined to have no quarrel, in spite of what she considered just +provocation. "It is a mother's duty to advise her daughter when she sees +her on the verge of a mistake." + +"Suppose I felt that I didn't care to marry, Momsie, that I should be +happier to go through life expressing my own individuality?" + +"Don't let us get started on that," Marian protested. "You know how +little patience I have with feminism in any form. I do wish we might +discuss some subject in a normal way as other mothers and daughters do, +Merry," she continued, softening. "I have your interests on my mind all +the time, I want to help you to understand yourself and life, I love you +so, dear child,--and yet, whenever we try to talk anything over, it +always turns into an argument. What I have suggested to-day I have +thought of for months, I have considered it from every standpoint before +presenting it to you, but you give me no credit for that. Before you +even know how you feel about it you are ready to dismiss it. I really +think my efforts for your happiness are entitled to more consideration." + +"You think this would be for Mr. Hamlen's happiness too?" Merry asked +soberly. + +"I am sure of it," Marian replied, seeming to see a sign of yielding in +the girl's question. + +"Why hasn't he spoken to me himself?" Merry asked at length. + +"He will speak, of course; but to meet with another disappointment would +undo all the advance he has made." + +"I can't think of Mr. Hamlen as a married man," Merry continued; "I +can't believe that he would be happy under conditions changed from what +they are now. If he could only go on living with Mr. Huntington--" + +"That is out of the question, of course," Mrs. Thatcher answered. "Mr. +Huntington has accomplished a miracle in bringing him out of his old +obsession, and if it were possible to surround him now with normal +conditions there is no limit to the heights he might reach." + +"Has he told you that he cared for me?" + +"Not in so many words," her mother admitted; "that is scarcely to be +expected. I understand him so much better than he does himself. He +disparages his abilities, which is not a bad characteristic in a +husband, and without some assurance of success I doubt if he would ever +mention the subject to you. But you know what it would mean to him. I +shall never urge you against your will, my dear," she repeated with real +feeling,--"you know that without my telling you; but I do feel my own +responsibility so keenly! He was a boy of such promise, as he is to-day +a man of rare capabilities if the right one could only guide him in +making use of his talents. Haven't you felt this yourself, my dear, when +you have been with him?" + +Merry passed her hand wearily over her forehead. She could not +understand why she did not at once protest against what she felt to be +an unnatural suggestion. Still, the constancy of the lover, the sympathy +which she had felt for Hamlen since their first meeting in Bermuda, and +her own state of uncertainty combined in a confused way in the girl's +mind. Huntington's face was before her as her mother spoke of Hamlen, +his voice was in her ears, his words echoed in her heart: "I found the +girl too late!" Mrs. Thatcher thought Merry's hesitation came from a +consideration of the arguments just advanced, but what Huntington had +said formed the greatest argument of all. This closed for her all hope +of happiness coming as a direct response to the craving of her heart, +and left her only the possibility of attaining it through the indirect +means of giving happiness to some one else. + +"That is what he would do," she whispered; and the thought brought +comfort. + +"Haven't you felt this?" Mrs. Thatcher repeated at length, to recall the +girl to herself. "You have always seemed so much more at home with older +men, and he must have appealed to you. He would respond so quickly to +the sympathy you could give him." + +"Wouldn't it be wrong to marry a man you didn't love?" Merry asked +quietly. + +"But you respect him, don't you, dear? And respect is the first step +toward love. I wouldn't have you marry him unless that came, but there +is plenty of time before the wedding need be considered." + +"I am very unhappy!" Merry exclaimed suddenly, with a little catch in +her voice. + +"Unhappy, my dear!" Mrs. Thatcher cried with real sympathy, drawing the +girl's head upon her shoulder. "Why should you be unhappy? Tell Mother." + +"I don't know, myself," Merry admitted, crying softly. "I've been +unhappy ever so long. Now and then things have seemed to straighten out, +but never for long at a time. Now I'm more unsettled than I have ever +been, and I don't feel as if I could be much of a success in making any +one else happy while I feel so miserable myself." + +"This may be just what you need to help you find yourself, my dear," +Mrs. Thatcher answered, kissing her affectionately. "Oftentimes, when +we are wretched ourselves, we find happiness in giving it to others. +Don't promise me anything, dear child, except that you will think the +matter over carefully, and be prepared to settle it wisely when the time +comes. Let me say again, unless you decide for yourself that your life +will be made richer and brighter by marrying Philip Hamlen, of course I +should not wish you to consider it." + +Unconsciously Mrs. Thatcher had touched upon the same argument Merry had +used with herself. The girl had striven for happiness and failed to find +it; she had evolved a creed which called for ideals which she had come +to believe did not exist; she had demanded something for herself before +she thought of giving of herself. In her failure she had proved her +fallacy. The one person who had it in his power to disprove her present +contentions must consider her a visionary without the character to make +the visions real. Romance had already come to him, and having found the +girl too late that chapter in his life was closed. He was happy because +he always thought of others rather than himself. That was the only royal +road after all. There was nothing repellent about Hamlen. He had many +attributes which compelled admiration, and if he once became settled, +that in itself might release the indisputable abilities he possessed to +accomplish the great work which might lay before him. But would marriage +give that to him? Was she the one to bring about the metamorphosis which +her mother so confidently predicted? Would happiness come to her as a +result of giving it to him? + +The thoughts and the questions crowded through her mind in such numbers +and with such conflicting incoherence that she could hope to find no +answers. But her decision need not be made now--that one fact remained +clear and she clung to it. Perhaps another day would bring relief. + +"I will think it over, Momsie," she promised in a tired voice. "Forgive +me if I haven't seemed considerate. I want to do the right thing, dear, +but it is so hard to know what that is." + +"You are a darling!" Mrs. Thatcher cried, kissing her affectionately. +"Don't worry about that. Mother will help you to find out." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXII + + * * * * * + + +Merry's promise to consider the suggestion was equivalent to a victory, +in her mother's mind. True, it had not been won without a cost, for the +girl's plain, straightforward comments left their sting; but, after all, +they represented only a child's distorted viewpoint which failed to +appreciate the manifold demands upon a parent's time. Marian knew that +she had been a devoted mother, and she craved appreciation; but this was +more than she could expect. Merry's strictures were merely another +expression of her peculiar and unfathomable nature. + +The promise was the most that Marian could ask for, and with this +concession she did not doubt her ability finally to show the child that +the older judgment was wise and far-sighted. She knew that Merry had not +given the promise lightly, and that once given she would be +conscientious in fulfilling it. Her yielding, even to this extent, +atoned for many instances in the past where the girl had seemed +self-willed in insisting upon following her own judgment in spite of +advice from all the family to the contrary; but these were unimportant +incidents compared with the one at issue. Marian was now quite content +to let her daughter have her own way in anything and everything provided +she did not interfere in the gratification of carrying this one great +desire of her mother's life to a happy conclusion. + +The relations which had existed between her and Philip Hamlen, and the +responsibility she assumed for the aftermath, had become greatly +magnified during these months. It was natural that she should feel a +real satisfaction if she were able to repair the harm she had +unwittingly inflicted; but Huntington's question, "Are you not thinking +of him and of your obligation more than of your daughter?" proved so +disquieting that before speaking to Merry she had made doubly sure in +her own mind that the only way her responsibility affected her present +actions was to color the result with the romance of the past. She was +sincere in her conviction that at every step of her progress she had +been guided solely by a desire for her daughter's complete and final +welfare, and in her efforts she could find nothing other than a mother's +natural love and anxiety. + +There was another satisfaction, Marian admitted to herself, but it had +no bearing upon the situation until after she became convinced that her +attitude was justified from Merry's standpoint. She had never forgotten +Hamlen's domination over her as a girl. At the moment when she met him +so unexpectedly in Bermuda she felt the old-time sensation of dread she +had experienced so many times when alone with him during their childhood +days and the period of their engagement. She had never loved him; this +knowledge had come clearly to her during the years which had +intervened. When she accepted the tacit understanding of an engagement +it was because of the dominating influence of his mind over hers rather +than a response from her heart to his fierce devotion. The break came on +the occasion of the Senior Dance at Harvard to which she accepted Monty +Huntington's escort. Hamlen, bitter against college and college life, +and having no interest in the graduating festivities, not only refused +to attend the dance but forbade her to go without him. Her indignation +gave her strength to rebel against his domination. Later she sailed for +Europe, feeling a profound sense of relief that she had been able to +break the fetters which had bound her, she then realized, against her +will. + +The Hamlen she met at Bermuda was not the unreasonable boy of twenty +years before. He was still bitter, but they met on terms which gave her +the ascendency. Those traits which she had admired were accentuated, and +the fierce intensity had become modified. Now it was her mind which +controlled and his which yielded. He had tried to hold out against her +in refusing to come to America, but he had yielded; he was now trying to +hold out against her judgment that his marriage to Merry would restore +the lost equilibrium, but again he would yield. + +Still, above all other considerations, the great fact stood out in +Marian's mind that the match itself was ideal. Merry would find in him +an intellectual force which would satisfy her natural predilections; she +would give him in her spontaneity a leaven to perpetuate the normal +expressions of life which Huntington had taught him to understand. She +would give him the youth which he had lost, he would give her the +response which her unusual development could never obtain from a younger +man. The balance was perfect. The mother's heart rejoiced that her +efforts could make so noble a gift to her daughter, while the woman's +heart found equal satisfaction that these same efforts could pay the +debt of years in ample measure. + +It would have been a relief if her plans for entertaining the Bermuda +party could have been carried through without including Huntington, but, +entirely aside from the fact that this omission would have been a marked +slight, his co-operation in bringing Hamlen to this satisfactory +condition had been so conspicuous that there was no alternative. Mrs. +Thatcher was apprehensive lest he take advantage of his influence with +Hamlen to strengthen his will against her judgment; but this was a +chance she had to take. + +Could she have read his mind Marian would have found nothing to fear +from Huntington. His familiarity with Merry's nature made him aware, +soon after his arrival, of the fact that something of unusual moment had +occurred. There was a hectic excitement in her welcome, a yearning in +her eyes, otherwise unexplained, which went straight to his heart and +prepared him for the climax in the great renunciation of his life. + +"When the supreme test comes," she had told him, "I shall accept it"; +and he was convinced that the test had come and been accepted. + +"Ah, well!" he sighed deeply, "who am I to interfere?" + +It was the second day after his arrival before they finally found +themselves alone together, and he realized that Merry had been awaiting +this opportunity to have with him one of those intimate conversations +which previously he had so much enjoyed. Now, knowing what was coming, +he dreaded it. Until the words were spoken he could at least deceive +himself into believing that he might be wrong, and this self-deception +was all he now had left. + +"Let us sit down here in the sand," she said to him, "just as we used to +at Elba Beach." + +"I wish we were back there now," he answered feelingly, as he responded +to her request. + +"We always wish for something we have had, instead of something we are +going to have, don't we?" she asked, her hand modeling indefinite +figures in the damp sand. "I wonder why that is." + +"Because the past is known, and we can select the happy moments as we +choose. The future is unknown, and we must take it as it comes." + +"Oh, if we could only look into that future!" she exclaimed suddenly. +"If we could only be sure that in it we could correct our mistakes! How +that would simplify the problems of the present!" + +"Why speak so strongly?" he asked. "That belongs to those who have +mistakes to correct." + +"I have been thinking of myself all my life," she replied, at once +making the personal application. "I formed an ideal which I insisted +upon realizing, and when I found it at last it proved beyond my reach." + +"To have found it at all is more than most of us can claim." + +Her hand paused in its idle motions, and she looked up at him +inquiringly. + +"But you found yours." + +"Don't!" he said softly, a twinge of pain crossing his face. + +"I've hurt you again!" she cried impulsively. "Don't you see how selfish +I am? That proves it! There is no one I wouldn't rather hurt than you, +yet twice I've done it. Please forgive me; I'll not do it again." + +"There is nothing to forgive," he insisted as he did before. "I'm too +sensitive, that is all. Sometimes Life draws back the curtain and shows +us a wonderful picture of what might have been, to test the strength of +the philosophy the years should have taught us. The strong say, 'That is +not for me,' and pass it by; the weak stretch out their arms and cry in +vain for what they ought to know is not for them. I am among the weak." + +"You among the weak!" she cried incredulously. "How little you +appreciate yourself! It is of your strength which you must give me now, +for I am trying to be true to what you have taught me by your example: +by making some one else happy I am going to seek for happiness myself." + +It had come! Huntington needed no further confidence to complete the +avowal. He must be careful not to endanger the possibility of success +coming to the efforts which this brave spirit was prepared to make. +Hamlen was almost normal now. If this must be, Huntington knew that he +had played his part in preparing his classmate for the supreme joy which +ought to come to him in sharing the life of such a girl. At least he had +made her happiness possible. But the irony of her reference to his +teachings! + +"Then you are ready for the supreme test?" he asked in a low voice. + +"If it comes." + +Then it had not come! The reaction took him to an absurd extreme until +his sober sense returned and he realized that this made no change. If +Hamlen were eliminated, still the years remained. He saw still more +clearly that his opposition was not impartial. If Merry were to tell him +of her engagement to some younger man of whom he might wholly approve, +how could he take their hands in his and pronounce the banal +benediction, "God bless you, my children!" His heart would cry out and +his spirit rebel as bitterly in one case as in the other. Except for the +question of age he must admit that Hamlen was eligible; that what he +lacked in certain traits was offset by super-abundance in others. If +Huntington were to be consistent he must efface himself; to interfere +would be to accept greater responsibility than he had a right to assume. + +"You are prepared to marry a man you do not love because you hope to +make him happy, and thus gain happiness yourself?" he repeated the +problem slowly, emphasizing every word. + +"Yes," she replied deliberately; "and the reason I so want to peer into +the future is to make certain that either one of these results is +assured." + +"I suppose Hamlen is the man," Huntington said soberly. + +"He has spoken of it to you?" + +"Yes; he mentioned it soon after he came to visit me." + +"Then he does care for me? I had not realized that." + +How could the question be answered? Even if Huntington felt himself free +to repeat the confidence Hamlen had given him it would mar the +perfection of the sacrifice for Merry to know the truth. Her very +eagerness for happiness might bring it, and at whatever cost to himself +he wanted that to come to her! + +"When we spoke of it Mr. Hamlen was not in a condition to know what his +feelings really were," Huntington replied guardedly. "He realized his +limitations, and questioned, much as you do, the possibility of making +any other person happy. Since he has learned more of the world he is +greatly changed, but we have not again referred to the subject." + +"With us both feeling our limitations, and with both striving to +accomplish the same result, don't you think we ought to be successful?" + +There was an appealing expression in Merry's face which besought a +confirming answer. Huntington could not resist it. + +"It must be so," he said with decision. He smiled into her tense face +with a confidence his heart denied. "It must be so," he repeated. +"Somewhere there must be a divinity which watches over gentle souls like +yours, and brings them their reward." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXIII + + * * * * * + + +While Huntington's spirits sank lower and lower Cosden's rose to a point +which made him oblivious to the cares and worries of the world around +him. He had passed through the probationary period with Edith Stevens +with marked success, and this opportunity of consecutive days with her +amid such congenial surroundings filled him with a delight which he had +never found in his business successes. Edith was right, Huntington was +right, Cosden admitted, in their contention that there was something +finer and more satisfying than business ideals; but he gave Edith the +credit for having proved it to him. + +He went to extremes in this swing of the pendulum as in all others, but +the net result was a smoothing down of many of the rough corners, and a +tempering of the aggressive individualism which had often offended. +Cosden sized himself up correctly when he remarked to Edith, "I never +expect to be the finished product Monty is, but I'm going to quit +advertising the fact." + +Edith could but admire the persistency with which he worked upon his +disagreeable problem. Her curiosity to see "how deep it went" developed +during the course of several other experiences together, into a complete +willingness to forget past delinquencies, and a real desire to encourage +him in the pursuit of his new course. It interested her to see that the +same forcefulness which had made itself disagreeable before was the very +agent which had accomplished the change she admired; that it was this +same dogged determination which maintained the present poise and gave +him the new dignity. + +Marian was delighted by the way her guests grouped themselves, and +everything seemed to play wonderfully into her hands. Edith appropriated +Cosden and appointed herself his hostess; brother Ricky enjoyed himself +hugely motoring around the country in one of the Thatcher automobiles, +and did not ask to be considered except at meals; Philip kept his boy +friends engaged in an absorbing series of outdoor activities which +prevented Billy from interfering with her plans for Merry; Mr. Thatcher +was so engrossed with business matters that he became almost a +negligible quantity, which his guests understood and overlooked; +Huntington so far, Marian rejoiced to admit, had carried himself +admirably, dividing his time between Merry, Hamlen and herself in such a +way as to be really helpful instead of a menace to her plans. Never had +she entertained a group of friends so accommodating, and she was more +deeply appreciative at this time than she cared to state. + +Edith and Cosden strolled down a leaf-covered walk, flanked by antique +statuettes, to an attractive pavilion at the end of the vista. Here they +seated themselves after a leisurely walk about the estate. Edith knew +she was taking chances, but as she felt quite capable of defending her +position she saw no reason why she should not enjoy Cosden's continued +devotion. + +"I've ordered tea served here," she announced. "We seem to be a little +early." + +"I'm in no hurry," Cosden replied cheerfully; "are you?" + +"I have forgotten how to hurry, after these delicious weeks here," Edith +answered, leaning back in her rustic chair. "I think it agrees with me +to be deliberate, as Marian is. I am going to cultivate it." + +"You are deliberate with me, all right," he declared. "I don't quite +understand myself nowadays. Usually when I find that I am making little +progress along one line I shift onto another, but now I seem perfectly +contented to sit back and watch you act your part. That shows that +there's something deeper in all this, doesn't it?" + +"You might shift back to Merry," she replied calmly. + +"No," he said with decision; "I've learned the rules now, and you don't +catch me revoking.--Tell me, if you don't like me, why do you let me +hang around like this, and if you do like me, what's the use of putting +me off so long?" + +"There are loads of people I don't even take the trouble to like or +dislike, whom I 'put off,' as you call it." + +"Do you really dislike me?" + +"No," Edith drawled slowly, as if deliberating; "I can't say that. In +fact I think I rather like you--in spots." + +Cosden leaned forward eagerly. "Isn't it stronger than that?" he +demanded. + +"I can't say it is," she replied, her voice manifesting the same +interest which she might show if he had asked any other commonplace +question; "but don't get down on your knees now, for here comes the tea +and I loathe demonstration before servants." + +"All right," Cosden said with resignation but without losing his +cheerfulness; "you don't discourage me a bit. I guess counsel is just +collecting a little extra fee for that break in Bermuda. I'll wait." + +"I know how many lumps you take in your tea, and I know that you prefer +cream, but shall I pass you the raspberry jam?" + +"No, thank you," he replied promptly. "My mother always used to dose me +up with calomel disguised in raspberry jam, and I can't eat it now +without tasting the medicine." + +"Very well," Edith laughed, "try some honey. But please tell me what has +put your friend Monty in the dumps. At Bermuda he was stimulating, but +down here he's as cheerful as a crutch." + +"Monty in the dumps?" Cosden echoed, surprised. "Why, I hadn't noticed +it. Just before Hamlen came to visit him, he was way down,--bemoaned his +age, and all that sort of thing. I thought we'd got him out of that. I +must look him over and see what the trouble is.--Here come our hostess +and Hamlen. Did you ever see such a change in any one?" + +Marian approached with her brightest smile. "I'm glad Edith is keeping +you from being bored," she said. "I'm afraid I've been very remiss." + +"I don't see how you could divide yourself into much smaller bits, Mrs. +Thatcher," Cosden replied. "This is a big family you have at present." + +"The bigger the better," she exclaimed brightly. "I hoped I should find +you out here, and as I see the tea is still hot perhaps Edith will let +us join you. Philip and I have been walking and talking until we are +really tired." + +"I am entranced with all this," Hamlen said, turning to Edith. "I had no +idea, when I paraded my few acres at Bermuda, that I was competing with +an estate like Sagamore. I wonder some one didn't rebuke me for my +presumption!" + +"Isn't that a pretty compliment!" Marian cried. "You have put yourself +into every inch of your beautiful place, Philip; Harry and I have only +done that to a very small extent. It is beautiful, I admit, and I love +it just as I love the beauties with which you have surrounded yourself +at home." + +"It makes little difference, after all, where one finds it, so long as +it is beauty," Hamlen replied. "'The dawn is my Assyria; the sunset and +moonrise my Paphos and unimaginable realms of faerie; broad noon shall +be my England of the senses and the understanding; the night shall be my +Germany of mystic philosophy and dreams.' I used to think Emerson must +have written that in Bermuda, but it might have been written here." + +Edith caught the expression on Cosden's face and almost laughed. + +"What's the use?" he whispered to her without being detected. "This pace +is too swift for me! He reeled that off as easily as I could the latest +quotations on copper!" + +"Oh, Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, "I can't tell you what it means +to me to see you yourself again after that awful shock you gave me at +Bermuda! Truly, when we left you behind us I gave up hope." + +"What hope there was you took away with you, so I was forced to follow." + +"Come, Cossie--Connie--," Edith stumbled,--"if I'm to call you by your +given name you'll have to change it to something reasonable,--this is no +place for us." + +"Don't let us drive you away," Marian protested. + +"That's all right; we want to be driven away. If we stay longer, and Mr. +Hamlen talks like that, Mr. Cosden will become sentimental.--Bye, bye." + +Mrs. Thatcher and Hamlen watched them as they strolled leisurely up the +path, Edith swinging her parasol and Cosden walking meekly beside her. +Finally Marian turned to him and laughed. + +"What a dance that girl is leading him!" + +"Do you think she cares for him?" + +"In her way; but if he marries her he will have earned her!--He went +down to Bermuda on purpose to become engaged to Merry." + +"He did!" Hamlen exclaimed, surprised; "why, they were never together +when I saw them." + +"Nor often at other times. Of course, it was ridiculous,--but with you, +Philip, she'll be the happiest girl in all the world." + +His eyes dropped quickly as she turned the conversation, and the +expression on his face completely changed. + +"You are wrong, Marian," he protested; "no happiness can ever come to +any woman through me." + +"Don't disparage yourself," she answered gently. "You are a different +man from what you were. Do you think I would counsel this if I were not +sure?" + +"You believe it, Marian," he conceded, "and I wish I shared your +confidence. But I know myself. The time when I might have made something +of what I had passed long ago. If I am to go on at all it must be with +my real self suppressed, and the only way to do this is to plod my path +alone." + +"Why slip back, Philip? Why suppress your real self?" + +"I know the danger of permitting it to assume control." + +"When last we talked you seemed willing to accept my judgment." + +"I am still, in everything but this. I appreciate your desire for my +happiness, Marian, but you are taking a responsibility beyond what is +wise. I am complimented by your daughter's willingness to listen to an +offer of marriage from me, but if the test really came she could not +meet it." + +"She would, Philip,--she would." + +"I cannot comprehend it," he continued; "she has seen me at my worst." + +"She understands you, and appreciates the wonderful qualities you +possess. She is too young to know the depth of love, but old enough to +recognize what a man like you can become to her. If you would only +speak with her you too would understand." + +Hamlen moved uncomfortably in his chair, and was silent for what seemed +an interminable period. When at last he turned he spoke with a +conviction which shocked her. + +"No, Marian," he said deliberately; "it can never be. Let us end this +farce before it goes too far." + +"Philip!" she cried, seeing her work of months crumbling before her, and +reading in his determined face the miscarriage of what she believed to +be predestined. "I can't permit you to destroy the years which remain to +you." + +She leaned over and took his hand in hers. Success had been so near that +she could not see it slip away from her now without a supreme effort. +Merry needed such a man as this and Hamlen needed her. Why should these +false ideas, created by years of self-depreciation, stand in the way of +what she knew was best? + +"I can't let you destroy the years which remain to you," she repeated +earnestly. "I can't see my child's happiness marred by your foolish +insistence upon ideals which rest on conditions now long since passed +away. Philip, if you loved me once, show it now by your confidence in my +judgment, by your faith in my purpose. Tell me one reason why this +should not be." + +"If I loved you once?" he echoed her words with a force which startled +her. "Tell you one reason why this should not be? The one answers the +other, Marian; for that love, intensified by the denial of twenty +years, is now a power I can't withstand." + +"Philip!" she cried, striving to release her hand which he held in a +grip which hurt her, "you don't mean that you still--" + +"I mean that I have never ceased to love you, Marian. Look at me now and +tell me if you doubt it. Even while I cursed you for ruining my life, I +loved you. Every day of the twenty years I have lived alone I have had +your face before me, I have held out my arms beseeching you to come to +me, I have beaten my head against the wall in despair that the one +longing of my heart could never hope for realization." + +"You never told me--I did not know--" + +"I have at least been strong enough to keep my secret, Marian; but it is +sacrilege for you to talk to me of marriage to your daughter. Now that +you know the truth you will urge no further. Could anything be more +dishonorable than to offer myself to her when even to-day my love for +you is beating at my heart until I can scarcely contain it? No, no! let +us have an end to all this mockery! In the name of a life's devotion, in +the name of the love you once had for me--" + +"Release me, Philip," she entreated, frightened by his tenseness; but he +only tightened his grip upon her hand. She realized the importance of +terminating this impossible situation, regardless of the pain it might +inflict. + +"I never loved you, Philip," she said deliberately. "At the time, I +thought I did; but it was my mind and not my heart you dominated." + +He dropped her hand as if she had struck him, and, dazed, supported +himself against the rustic chair. + +"You never loved me?" he repeated brokenly after her. "You never--oh, +God! why did you tell me that! Why did you come back into my life to +stir up those forces which had crushed me, but which I had at last +subdued!" + +Then he turned his eyes upon her, full of the reproach which he dared +not trust himself to speak. + +"If it was the domination of my mind then, why should it not be now?" he +asked in a voice which trembled with emotion. "Look at me, Marian!" + +"Don't, Philip, I entreat of you; you frighten me! + +"Look at me!" he commanded, and she slowly raised her head and gazed +into his face. + +"Do you remember the last time you looked at me like that?" he asked +quietly, but even in his low tones there was a compelling force she +recognized. + +"Come," he said rising, and drawing her toward him. "If it was not love +which brought you to my arms before, then it must be the same impulse +to-day. Come, Marian, it is not the daughter I want, it is you,--my +beloved, my sweetheart of years gone by!" + +"Philip!" she protested feebly, "Philip--I entreat--" but the old, +irresistible influence was too strong, and he folded her in his arms. + +In a moment his face changed as if touched by a magician's wand. The +lines which years and disappointment had traced were miraculously +smoothed away, and the expression of contentment was that which comes +only when the seeker has at last reached the consummation of his quest. +The lips moved silently, the eyes looked far into the distance. The past +was forgotten, the future unheeded, but the wonderful present was his! + +A convulsive sob from Marian finally brought him to himself. He loosened +his hold, and gazed into her face with abject horror. + +"My God!" he cried, as he allowed her limp form to slip back into the +chair. "What have I done! Marian, child, speak to me! Tell me that you +forgive me! It was the years which did it, not I; Marian! speak to me! +Tell me you forgive me!" + +He gazed helplessly around as no response came. She lay there, her head +resting on the back of the chair, sobbing hysterically but giving no +sign that she even heard his words. He watched her until at last she +opened her eyes and regained control. Then he spoke again. + +"Leave it unspoken, Marian," he exclaimed with an agony in his voice +which the suspense intensified. "I have said it to myself. I have made +myself an outcast, a pariah! Let me take you to the house. Then you need +never think of me again." + +"No," she said brokenly; "leave me here." + +"This is the end, Marian!" The words came short and crisp. "I ask your +forgiveness no more. There are some things which are past forgiveness. I +only ask you to forget.--Good-bye!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXIV + + * * * * * + + +The long, sleepless night which followed Marian's harrowing experience, +painful as it was, proved the most vital moment of her life. From +girlhood it had been hers to receive rather than to give. Her beauty and +vivacity had always attracted attention and homage, her positive nature +demanded and was given leadership, until she came to regard this as +natural and to be expected. To have Huntington question her judgment was +as novel as it was unpleasant, to have Merry suggest a worldliness in +her approach to life struck her as absolutely incongruous. Mrs. Thatcher +knew herself to be a competent woman, and as no one before had +questioned her ethics, she accepted the successful outcome of her +undertakings as conclusive proof that her judgment was correct. + +She might pass Huntington's comment by as the expression of one who +could look at any question only from a man's standpoint, she could make +light of what Merry said on the ground that the girl knew so little of +life; but in her experience with Hamlen she had come face to face with a +mistake so real that it compelled a readjustment of her perspective. She +could harbor no resentment against him: the climax had come as the +direct result of her own error in judgment, and the responsibility +belonged to her alone. Ever since that eventful meeting in Bermuda she +had seen the battling of conflicting emotions. To her more than to any +one else should have come knowledge of the limit beyond which this +self-tortured soul could not be pressed. She had deceived herself in +regard to the reclamation; Hamlen's condition remained unchanged; +Huntington had simply developed him to a point where he had gained +better control. Beneath the deceptive smoothness of the surface still +surged the turmoil started twenty years before, seething with +unsatisfied yearnings, and kept under only by the superb strength of +will which she herself at last had broken down. Huntington had warned +her of the danger but she refused to recognize its existence. Marian +could blame no one but herself, and the fact that her intentions had +been of the best did not mitigate the tragedy she had perpetrated. This +latest buffet of the world would be conclusive evidence to Hamlen that +he had no place in its daily routine. + +Marian had reached this point in her mental struggle when the most awful +thought of all suddenly came to her. + +"Would the harm stop there!" + +She sat bolt upright, staring ahead into the grey dawn which lighted the +chamber through the long windows. "Merciful God!" she cried aloud,--"not +that! not that!" + +A moment later she sprang out of bed and threw a kimono about her. Then +she opened the window-door and passed out onto the little balcony. The +sun was just rising, and Marian unconsciously first felt the beauty of +the breaking day. It had been long since she had seen a sunrise! She +stood watching it for a brief moment, brushing back with her hand the +mass of beautiful hair which fell about her shoulders and lay against +her ashen cheeks. Then she stepped forward, and facing the East like a +Sun-worshiper of old fell upon her knees in an agony of prayer. The God +who made a world like this she supplicated, who flooded it with the +radiance of such a day, would not so punish her for a single act of +folly! Mistaken as it was, behind it all lay a desire to atone, an +effort for the happiness of others. He would not ask for retribution +such as that! + +Relieved by her outburst she returned to her chamber. She must see +Huntington. He would know what to do. He would be God's agent to prevent +the awful climax. But it would be several hours before she could disturb +him, and these hours must be endured. + +Huntington responded promptly to the summons when it reached him, +wondering what the occasion might be. Marian's explanation of Hamlen's +disappearance the night before had been so diplomatic that he had +accepted it, so the real story was a complete surprise. He listened +intently as she told him everything, sparing herself in no degree, +anxious only to receive from him some assurance that her fears were +unwarranted. + +"You should have told me sooner," was the only criticism Huntington +made, after learning the details. + +"I was completely dazed," Marian explained helplessly. "This awful +thought only came to me in the early morning. You don't think it too +late! Don't tell me that!" + +"It is useless to speculate," he answered gravely. "Knowing Hamlen as we +do, and knowing how high his sense of honor, the next step seems +inevitable. He will consider that he has sinned against the woman he +loves, and will demand of himself an expiation beyond what he would +exact from any one else. I shall do my best to find him. Let us hope it +will be in time." + +"Couldn't I go with you?--No, of course I couldn't,--but how can I +endure it until I know? What can I do to help?" + +Huntington had risen, ready to take his motor-car which had been +summoned when first he learned the facts. There was no excitement in his +manner, but an alert readiness to undertake his duty with the least +possible delay. As Mrs. Thatcher asked the question a sternness seemed +to come into his face, but his voice was kindly as he replied. + +"Whatever you tell the others," he said with decision, "Merry must know +the whole truth. There is another tragedy going on in that little girl's +soul which needs a mother's care. That is where you can help.--I shall +telephone you as soon as I have news." + +As the crunching of the wheels on the gravel road died away Mrs. +Thatcher rose and went to her daughter's room. Never before had she so +promptly followed another's suggestion, but at that moment she felt an +aversion to her own judgment, and welcomed the opportunity to follow +rather than to lead. + + * * * * * + +"All this mystery is getting on my nerves," Edith remarked to Cosden as +they sauntered out onto the piazza after a later breakfast. "Mr. Hamlen, +after seeming perfectly rational with us in the _bosquet_ yesterday, +rushes into the house, packs his belongings, and disappears without +saying 'good-bye' to any one. Marian, also rational when we saw her +yesterday, becomes invisible to the naked eye, and sends word she has a +headache--the first I've ever known her to have. This morning she is +down to breakfast before any one of us is up except Mr. Huntington, who +by a strange coincidence also craves an early breakfast for the first +time on record. Marian has gone up-stairs again, and our friend Monty +has motored off to Heaven knows where. Now then, what's the answer?" + +"Why not accept Mrs. Thatcher's explanation until you have a better +one?" Cosden asked, drawing his chair nearer to hers. + +"Because it's too fishy, and my curiosity is aroused." + +"In that case I'm sure you'll find out all about it," he said smiling. + +"Why aren't you interested?" + +"I'm perfectly comfortable," he explained, "and so entirely satisfied +with the present company that I can spare Hamlen, Monty, and even Mrs. +Thatcher just as well as not." + +"Then you're going to leave me to do the work?" she demanded. "That's +just like a man!" + +"I'm glad they're gone," Cosden admitted. "It gives me just the chance +I've been waiting for: will you marry me?" + +"Again?" Edith inquired. + +"No; just this once." + +"It would serve you right if I did!" + +"I dare you to!" + +"No! no! no! no!" she cried. + +"Give me an option for thirty days." + +"You silly!" she laughed. "For a sensible man you can be more kinds of +foolish than any one I know." + +"Flattery doesn't hurt anybody unless he swallows it," Cosden retorted +complacently. + +Whither their gibes would have carried them is needless to consider, for +they were interrupted by the approach of a motor-car up the driveway. + +"Monty has made a quick trip," Cosden observed, "now you can satisfy +your curiosity." + +"On the contrary," Edith retorted rising, "the plot thickens. That is +Harry Thatcher. What in the world has happened to send him motoring down +here at ten o'clock in the morning?" + +They passed through the hallway to the _porte cochère_ on the opposite +side of the house. Thatcher was just descending from the car. + +"Hello!" he greeted Edith, who was ahead. "Where's Marian?" + +"Up-stairs. What brings you home at this time of day?" + +"Don't disturb her yet," he exclaimed, disregarding her question. "I +want a word with Cosden first. You'll excuse us?" + +Locking his arm through Cosden's Thatcher led him back onto the piazza +which the two had just left. + +"What's wrong?" Cosden asked. "Market gone to pieces?" + +"It's hell,--nothing less," Thatcher answered, speaking with an +excitement unnatural to him. "I left New York at four o'clock this +morning. I've come to you, Cosden, as a last resort. We've fought each +other on every deal we've ever been in, so you understand how hard I'm +pushed. If you're fixed so that you can put me next to a bunch of cold, +hard cash, you can have anything I control at a fraction of its value. +This is your chance to make your everlasting fortune if you can command +the cash." + +"You don't mean it!" Cosden exclaimed. "Are you caught as bad as that?" + +"Worse than that. Securities are dropping out of sight. Germany will +declare war inside of a week, and there is danger of other big nations +becoming involved. If they do, God only knows what will happen to the +money system of the world; it is strained already to the breaking-point. +You may thank Heaven, Cosden, that your investments are not in +speculative stocks! But we're losing time. I must get back by three +o'clock. Is there any chance of pulling off my forlorn hope? If not, +we'll close our doors to-morrow." + +"Do you actually mean that, Thatcher?" + +"Exactly that. I don't advise you to do this unless you're fixed so that +you can carry things comfortably, for I tell you we're in for a crisis; +but if you can, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, and by sacrificing +my personal interests I can save my house." + +"How much do you need?" + +"Half a million, in cash. I'm that much short of what I must have to see +me through. It might as well be a billion!" + +"What do you offer for it?" + +"Five million in Consolidated Machinery stock." + +Cosden whistled and then became contemplative, while Thatcher waited +eagerly for his reply. The hesitation in itself was encouraging, for it +indicated that Cosden could raise the money if he cared to do it. + +"As a matter of fact, Thatcher," Cosden said at length, "I've been +laying my pipes for just this moment ever since the trouble began, and +I'm fixed where I can handle it all right; but I don't quite like the +proposition as it stands." + +"Then make your own proposition." + +"I've counted on having my available cash earn me something handsome, of +course; but I don't think I'd enjoy my profits much if I got them by +cleaning you out." + +"We must forget friendship and all else at a time like this," Thatcher +cried. "For God's sake, man, if you can do it, don't stand on any +foolish sentiment! It may ruin me, but my house will weather the storm. +I ask it as a favor." + +"How soon must you have the money?" + +"By to-morrow." + +"All right; I'll give you drafts to take back to New York." + +"Thank God!" Thatcher exclaimed feverishly. "And you'll take the stock?" + +"No, I don't want the stock. Give me your note." + +"But I haven't a dollar's worth of collateral to put up with it. +Everything I own is pledged." + +"Damn the collateral! The signature will be genuine, won't it? That's +good enough for me." + +"You advance it simply as a loan?" + +"Of course. Now let's get the drafts fixed up, and you run back to New +York and keep your finger on the pulse of the market." + +"You're sacrificing the chance of your life, Cosden," Thatcher +exclaimed. "Why should you do this for me?" + +"I don't quite understand it myself," Cosden admitted; "but as long as I +want to why not make the most of it? I might change my mind." + +"And we've always said you were a hard man, Cosden!" Thatcher exclaimed +with gratitude in his voice. + +"I was once," he admitted; "but lately I've been getting humanized, and +anybody can slip anything over on me. Now you trot back to New York and +cable Willie Kaiser that I disapprove of his declaring war." + +"You are a friend in need!" Thatcher grasped his hand cordially. "I'll +run up for a word with Marian, and then back into the vortex. Keep your +eye on the cable news, Cosden. Hell is breaking loose!" + +As Thatcher rushed up-stairs Cosden relit his cigar which had gone out +during the excitement, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked +meditatively up and down the piazza. He was immensely pleased with +himself, and felt entitled to his self-approval. + +"Even old Monty couldn't have done that better," he muttered. "Good old +Thatcher--I hope it pulls him through!" + +"What's the matter with Harry?" Edith demanded in a stage whisper, +appearing from nowhere. + +"He forgot his umbrella yesterday," Cosden lied, speciously, "and he's +afraid it's going to rain." + +"Oh, you tantalizing brute!" she cried, stamping her foot indignantly. +"I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man in the world!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXV + + * * * * * + + +Huntington's mind worked hard as he settled back in the motor-car and +surveyed the situation. It was impossible for him to have been so +intimately associated with Hamlen all these weeks without assimilating +his friend's manner of thought and action accurately enough to follow +him in this climax of his tragedy. Of his determination he had no doubt; +that he had as yet put it into execution was another matter. Huntington +believed that Hamlen would wish to see him once more before he visited +upon himself the extreme penalty which his hypersensitive nature would +decree. + +It was shortly after noon when the car drew up in front of Huntington's +home. Mrs. Thatcher, in her feverish efforts to assist, had suggested +that the fugitive might have gone across to Newport to take the boat +from there to New York; but Huntington figured it differently. Hamlen +disliked and distrusted New York, while Boston had become a second home +to him. His belongings, such as he had brought with him from Bermuda, +were still in the Beacon Street house, and Huntington was sure that +following the instincts of a homing pigeon he would return there by the +straightest path. + +Still, the doubt lingered with sufficient persistency to quicken +Huntington's movements up the brownstone steps. As he let himself in, +Dixon met him in the hallway. + +"Mr. Hamlen,--is he here?" Huntington demanded. + +"Yes, sir; he's up-stairs and very wild, sir." + +"Wild?" Huntington queried. "When did he arrive?" + +"Last night, sir, about ten o'clock. When I let him in he rushed past me +and went up-stairs, sir. I followed him, thinking he might need +something, but he turned on me and cursed me, sir. When I ventured to +take him some breakfast he swore at me again, and told me to get out of +the way. I'm glad you've come, sir. I was at a loss to know what to do +about luncheon." + +Huntington waited to hear no more, but mounted quickly to Hamlen's room +and knocked gently on the door. + +"Keep out, I tell you!" came a hoarse, guttural voice so unlike Hamlen's +that it startled him. "How many times must I tell you to leave me +alone!" + +"It is I,--Huntington." + +There was a sound of shuffling feet, the pushing back of a chair, and +the door was flung open. + +"I knew you would come to me!" Hamlen cried, extending his hand eagerly. +"You are the one man on earth who would stand by me!" + +"Of course; but you've given me a devilish shock, old man. Come +down-stairs where we can talk things over." + +"Yes, we must do that," he assented, following. "My only fear was that +you might not understand, and would delay your coming. I couldn't have +waited long." + +"I came as soon as I learned the facts." + +"I should not have doubted. Now let us sit down." + +The real shock to Huntington was that so great physical change could +take place within so short time. Hamlen seemed years older. His erect +carriage had slackened, his face was sunken, his hands and body twitched +nervously, and his eyes burned with a consuming fire. Pity filled +Huntington's heart, and he leaned over and placed his hand on his +friend's knee. + +"You mustn't take it like this," he said quietly. "There is something to +be said on both sides." + +Hamlen looked at him with a wan smile. "I wish there were," he said; +"but let us not speak of that. To you, at least, there is no need of +explanation. I told you what I dreaded,--well, the worst has come to +pass; that's all there is to it." + +"No!" Huntington contradicted, determined that he should not bear all +the blame; "there is much more to it than that. You and I are not the +only ones who understand. Mrs. Thatcher instructed me to ask your +forgiveness for her blindness. She understands, too, Hamlen, and she +knows that she brought it on herself." + +"Marian asks _my_ forgiveness!" he repeated stupefied,--"she asks me to +forgive her?" + +Huntington nodded. + +He pressed his hands against his temples. "My God, man! Is the world all +topsy-turvy! I forget my obligations toward my hostess, I am false to +my responsibilities as a friend, I force myself upon a married woman +whom in all honor I am bound to protect,--and she asks me to forgive +her! You are mocking me, Huntington. It is unworthy of you!" + +"It is the provocation she understands, Hamlen, and having unwittingly +given it, she accepts the responsibility, as she should. I'm not sure +that I myself am not the one to blame, for I knew better than she the +forces held back only by your self-control. If I had been more insistent +in my warning all might have been different." + +"That may explain, but it does not condone." + +"At least it mitigates. The beaver, innocently enough, undermines a dam +in securing material to build its home, and the waters rush down to the +destruction of the surrounding country. Surely you can't blame the +waters! Nor can you seriously blame the beaver for not comprehending +those natural laws of cause and effect.--Come, Hamlen, admit there's +something in what I say, and realize that this is an accident rather +than a tragedy." + +Again Hamlen tried to smile, but the expression on his face failed to +reassure. + +"It would be well for me if it were you upon the bench," Hamlen said +gravely. "The prisoner at the bar would receive far more leniency than +he will from me! No, Huntington; I can admit nothing. I believed that I +reached my lowest depth before I met you all in Bermuda. I believed my +life was over,--a miserable, useless, lonely life if you will, but at +least an honest one. Then you instilled hope into my dry bones. Judgment +warned me not to listen to you, human weakness tempted me to make one +further effort to redeem myself. I came to you here. Out of the bigness +of your heart you gave me of yourself, you taught me what life really +was. I acknowledge my debt, Huntington, and am grateful to you. Don't +mistake that, my friend, in what I am going to say. The joy of the new +experience lulled me into a sense of false security. I thought myself +like other men, strong enough to hold the passionate love I have always +borne that woman down, down where no one could ever see it. That was my +arrogance, Huntington; for it, I am paying the price." + +"She understands now if she never did before," Huntington reiterated. +"She felt her responsibility for your lonely years, and in trying to +atone made matters worse." + +"It is not her place to protect me," Hamlen continued with conviction. +"Take your own simile, with which you try to ease my sense of shame: +even though the waters are not to be blamed, what do people do with +them? Do they let them continue on their path of destruction? No, dear +friend, your arguments are kindly meant, but untenable. I intend to put +those waters where they will do no further harm." + +Huntington's face set in determined lines. "So you will dare to assume +the prerogatives of man and God?" he demanded sternly. + +Hamlen had never seen Huntington in this mood, and his eyes shifted +uneasily as they met the unflinching gaze of his friend. + +"There will be no scandal, Huntington," he said quietly; "I shall not +thus repay your royal hospitality. There are some matters I must turn +over to you, and as my friend I know you will accept them. Then I will +grasp your hand for the last time, thank you from the bottom of my heart +for giving me back the life I had abandoned, and pass on,--whither, it +concerns myself alone." + +"What are the matters you have in mind?" Huntington asked, hoping that +some word of Hamlen's might give him inspiration. + +"First, as to my property," Hamlen replied with returning confidence as +his friend showed willingness to listen. "Here is my will." He drew a +folded sheet from his pocket, on which he had written perhaps twenty +lines. "Please look it over, and tell me if it is legally drawn when the +necessary signatures are added." + +Huntington took the paper, with difficulty focusing his mind upon the +written words. + +"Yes," he said, looking up at length; "this document is wonderfully +simple and direct in its statements. The only possible attack upon it +would be to raise an issue as to your mental status at the time you drew +it up." + +"Could any one question that?" + +"Your later actions will determine," Huntington said significantly. + +Hamlen laughed nervously. "Fortunately there is no one left who would +have any interest to contest.--As I told you, the bulk of my property is +now in liquid form on deposit in New York, which simplifies your work as +executor. That, you see, I want to give to Harvard." + +He paused for a moment and became meditative. "How little I thought, six +months ago, that I should become a benefactor of the college I then +despised! That is your work, my friend,--making me realize my +obligation.--Hold on a minute: I want to add to that document! My +bequest shall go to Harvard as the 'William Montgomery Huntington +Foundation, given by a friend, the income to be used to foster larger +acquaintance and closer intimacy amongst the members of each freshman +class.' Make a note of that, will you? There may be other changes." + +Huntington made the necessary notations. It was best to humor him until +his entire plan was outlined. + +"Now, as to the estate in Bermuda," he went on. "You see what I've done +with it,--but have I been quite delicate? This whole affair, and its +outcome, will be humiliating to that sensitive little girl, and this +might be a constant reminder. I would like her to have it; she would +appreciate my trees and my flowers,--their fragrance might help her to +forget my grave offense. Then again, perhaps Marian would see in this +act an effort on my part to atone. I couldn't leave it to her, but do +you think the girl would understand my motive?" + +"Better than any one I know," Huntington replied. + +Hamlen seemed to have reached the end of his elaboration, and was +silent. + +"How soon is this remarkable document to become operative?" Huntington +demanded. + +"Six months from to-day if you do not hear from me to the contrary, or +upon receiving proof of death." + +"All right," Huntington rejoined with apparent complacency. "I'll have +it drafted in proper form and you can execute it to-morrow or next day. +Now listen to me." + +Hamlen looked up at him anxiously. Everything was progressing so well +that the new tone in Huntington's voice gave him apprehension. + +"It is always well to have these matters provided for, and if you +haven't a will it is time you drew one up. As to the disposition of your +property, it is yours to do with as you like, and I appreciate the +compliment you have paid to me. Up to this point I have no right to +interfere." + +Hamlen stiffened at the suggestion of interference. "There are limits," +he said quietly, "even to the rights of a friendship such as ours." + +"True; but we haven't begun to reach them yet. You acknowledge--don't +you?--that you still have an obligation to our Alma Mater which is +unsatisfied?" + +"I think I have acknowledged that in a substantial way," Hamlen replied, +surprised. + +"What can you think of an Alma Mater which would accept money in +exchange for the life of one of her sons? Do you consider her as +mercenary as that?" + +"When the son has forfeited his right to life--" + +"Who are you to take upon yourself the judicial ermine, Hamlen?" +Huntington said sternly. "You have years before you yet to devote to her +welfare. If you are a man, fulfil your obligations during your natural +lifetime, and then supplement your labors by the princely gift you have +in mind. If you will insist on assuming all the blame for this +regrettable affair, don't let it make you shirk your duty, but go at +life again with an added incentive to pay your debt." + +"You demand of me what is beyond my strength. I can't go on." + +"That is cowardice, Hamlen.--Forgive the word," he added quickly as he +saw the color mount to his friend's cheeks, "forgive the cruelty; but I +must make you see yourself." + +"It takes some courage to carry through what I have in mind," he +protested. + +"Not the slightest in the world," Huntington contradicted. "Just pull a +wretched little trigger, pump half an ounce of lead into your diseased +brain, and you think your troubles are over. I know the pleasures of +this world, my friend, but I am entirely ignorant of those of the next. +Let us take our chances on these when our time comes, not before. No, +Hamlen, the easy thing is to side-step our difficulties here; it is the +hard thing to stand up in our boots and say, 'Yes, I've broken your +laws, I've outraged your sensibilities; but I'm going to atone for what +I've done.' You have that strength, Hamlen, and I sha'n't let you pass +it up." + +"I'm sorry I waited for you!" Hamlen retorted sullenly. + +"No, you're not; for you are an honest man." It was hard for Huntington +to be brutal, but this was the moment when Hamlen must be forced to +yield if at all. "You said a moment ago that I gave you back the life +you had abandoned; then that life belongs to me. If you destroy it, you +rob me of something which is mine, and that is theft. I don't care +whether you agree with me or not, but I demand of you my property, on +which you gave up your claim. If I leave it in your hands will you +protect it for me, and deliver it to me when I am ready to make use of +it?" + +This was a new idea to Hamlen, and he could not meet it. He was only +conscious that Huntington was taking full advantage of his influence +over him, and was driving him on relentlessly. He shifted his eyes +uncomfortably, and in them was bitter resentment. + +"You leave me no alternative," he said helplessly. "For God's sake tell +me what you want!" + +"I don't know," Huntington admitted frankly; "but for the present give +me your promise that you will stay here until I reach my decision. I +must go back to Sagamore to relieve the anxiety of those who are +suffering on your account. When I return I shall hope to have found the +solution. Have I your promise?" + +Hamlen leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. + +"You are too strong for me," he muttered. "I must do as you wish." + +Huntington laid his hand kindly on the bowed head. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXVI + + * * * * * + + +In spite of Mrs. Thatcher's watchfulness, Billy had seen Merry and met +his Waterloo. Blissfully unaware of the momentous happenings about him, +and determined to "get even" with "the Gorgon," the boy developed a plot +of his own which was perfect in conception barring one important detail: +he and Merry were to slip away in a motor-car, dash over to Fall River +to a young clergyman he knew, have the knot tied before interference was +possible, and then return to Sagamore Hall for the parental blessing. +The question of license occurred to him, but that was a mere detail +which could be arranged on the way over. + +It was several days after this brilliant idea came to Billy before he +found opportunity to take Merry into his confidence, but the more he +thought it over the more strongly it appealed. The fact that she seemed +even less responsive than usual did not discourage him, for girls, he +had discovered, always act exactly contrary to their real feelings in +affairs of this kind. The details were so absurdly simple and the +outcome would be so eminently satisfactory that the possibility of +failure became more and more remote. But, as the strength of any chain +is determined by its weakest link, it was in this one omitted detail +that Billy's plan slipped up; the idea did not appeal to Merry with +sufficient force even to be given serious consideration. + +As a matter of fact the boy could not have selected a less opportune +moment for presenting his forlorn hope. Merry had reached that ecstatic +height to which martyrs attain. Joan of Arc was no more zealous to +sacrifice herself to save Orléans than was Merry to pay the debt of +honor her mother owed to Hamlen. It may be that the Maid was influenced +in her heart by other motives beyond the "heavenly voices" which are +generally accredited; it may be that Merry was more susceptible to the +"call" she believed had come to her for some reason other than a +willingness for martyrdom,--but in both cases the sincerity of the +response was too genuine to be questioned. Billy's infatuated wooing +seemed to her like sacrilege, and his mad plan for elopement too +ridiculous for discussion. + +"Let us be friends, dear Billy," she said to him sweetly and +gently,--"just friends, you and Philip and I. We'll always have the best +of times together, help each other over the hard places, and sympathize +with every sorrow which comes to any one of us." + +"No!" he protested vigorously, kicking viciously at an inoffensive root +protruding slightly beneath his foot. "Nix on this brother and sister +game; there's nothing in it." + +"I need you as a friend, Billy,--I need you this very minute!" + +Billy pricked up his ears at the words and at the pathetic note in +Merry's voice; but he did not intend to be caught off his guard. + +"What do you mean 'need me as a friend'? Want me to run an errand for +you? All right, off I go." + +"No, Billy; I need your sympathy. We're old pals, and ought to stand by +each other." + +He looked at her with a dawning understanding. + +"Merry," he said, with the conviction of one who has made a great +discovery,--"you're unhappy!" + +"Perhaps," she admitted; "I'm not sure." + +"I knew it!" he declared with satisfaction. "You are unhappy and I know +the reason why: you're in love with me without realizing it. You're +fighting against your destiny and you don't understand what the trouble +is. That's why you are unhappy." + +"No, no, Billy; that isn't it." + +"Yes, it is; you take my word for it. We'll just slip it over on the +whole bunch, get married, and then you'll see. You'll be as happy as a +lark." + +"Oh! Billy, I do wish you'd be serious!" + +"Serious? ha! I should say I was serious! And to show you how sure I am +I'm right, I'll make you a sporting proposition: if our getting married +doesn't shake your fit of blues then we'll call the whole thing off. +What do you say?" + +Merry laughed in spite of herself. "You certainly are the most +impossible boy! You speak of getting married as if it were a set of +tennis." + +"It's easy enough to get a divorce. Why don't you take a chance? Come +on, be a sport!" + +When he found this wooing ineffective, Billy adopted the tragic _motif_. +"Every time I think I've picked a rose," he declared disconsolately, "it +turns out to be poison ivy; and here I am, stung again!" + +It was unfortunate for Billy that Merry could never take him seriously. +While the boy poured out his youthful protestations she was gentle and +considerate, but her appeal to his reason proved futile because no such +thing existed. Later, when alone, the absurdity of the situation gave +her an outlet, and she laughed quietly to herself. Poor, dear, +easy-going Billy! She would have spared him even these imaginary +heart-pangs if she could, but the real meaning of life and its +responsibilities was yet for him to learn. + +Constant in the purpose to which she had consecrated herself, Merry +received her mother on that eventful morning with mind prepared to +accept the supreme test. She had been standing at the window before her +chamber door opened, looking out across the broad lawn to the wide +expanse of water sparkling in the morning sun. She had watched a stately +four-master sailing majestically by; she had watched the little pleasure +craft, darting in and out as if playing at hide and seek. The great ship +pursued its dignified course, following the track laid down for it by +the mariner's chart; the frolicsome boats went hither or thither, +whichever way the favoring wind filled their sails. The great ship by +holding steadfastly to her course would eventually reach that port +toward which she had set out, with her mission fulfilled; the little +boats would return to the moorings from which they fluttered with no +other purpose accomplished than the pleasure of the passing moment. Yes, +Merry had told herself, it was purpose which counted. She had dashed out +over and over again on brief excursions, but even her serious errands +had been undertaken because they gave her pleasure. Unless the course be +charted, unless the goal be predetermined, there could be no permanence, +no majestic dignity to any performance. The time had come when she would +permit no wavering. She would show her confidence in the experience of +the older mariner, who had plotted out the chart, by following it +without the semblance of a doubt. + +"I'm ready, Momsie," she said brightly, turning toward Mrs. +Thatcher,--"why, Momsie! what's the matter? It's all right, dearie. I'm +sure we'll be very, very happy. I'm ready to see Mr. Hamlen whenever you +say. It's all right, dearie." + +Mrs. Thatcher sat down wearily, and Merry slipped to the floor at her +feet, looking wonderingly up into her strained face. Marian leaned +forward impulsively and kissed her, resting her cheek against the girl's +face. + +"My darling!" she said in a low, tense voice. "I have made a horrible +mistake!" + +The spoken words started a flood of tears which until then Marian had +been able to restrain. The full weight of the responsibility again +rushed over her. She had dared to interfere in two lives which should +have been allowed to find their own expression, she had dared to pit her +human judgment against Nature. What would be the final outcome? With +Merry, she could not believe it would result in anything more serious +than a further confusion of ideals, but with Hamlen she knew well how +disastrous the effect must be. How could she make matters clear to this +dear child when her own brain was so bewildered! + +But when the tears had relieved the tension, and Marian felt the +sympathetic encouragement of the heart beating against her own, the +mother love, as always, rose triumphant over mental and physical +limitations. During the next hours, amid confidences and revelations +which enabled each at last to understand the other, mother and daughter +experienced that rare communion which had been denied them, but which +was theirs by right. The sacrifice Merry had been ready to make +accomplished its purpose without necessity of execution; the sincerity +of her mother's purpose became clear, and the girl discovered the +natural refuge where she might always find relief from overpowering +perplexities. When they went down-stairs together, with arms around each +other, and strolled out into the rose-garden, there was a new meaning to +the sunlight and to the fragrance of the flowers. Marian saw in it a +promise that her morning supplication might not have been in vain. + + * * * * * + +The telephone message from Huntington that Hamlen had been located and +that all was well relieved Marian's apprehensions, and left her with +such thankfulness and joy that she was able to join her remaining guests +in the day's activities. How all could be well she was unable to +comprehend, for the shock to Hamlen's nature must have been too great +for easy convalescence; but at all events the worst had not happened, +and until Huntington returned no further details could be obtained. +Merry, too, entered into the family life for the first time with any +show of interest. Philip and Billy, who now alone remained of Philip's +friends, annexed themselves in the absence of something better to do. +Billy was still disgruntled, but his malady seemed to be located in his +head rather than in the region of his heart. + +Activity was an absolute necessity to Marian, so she announced that +instead of the usual dinner they would picnic on the shore at a spot +perhaps two miles distant from Sagamore Hall. Not that this required +physical exertion for her, but it was a novelty which would prove +diverting. As the sun sank low, the little party boarded the electric +launch. + +"Excuse me for asking, Marian, but where does the picnic come in?" Edith +demanded, noting the total absence of baskets and bottles and the other +usual paraphernalia. "I don't want to criticise, but I'm no air-plant." + +Marian laughed, "Have faith," she replied. "A relief train is even now +on its way to save you from starvation." + +"Too bad for Huntington and Hamlen to miss all this," Cosden remarked, +hoping to call forth some word of explanation. + +"If you vote it a success, we may repeat it after they return," she +answered evasively. "Perhaps then we can include Harry." + +"That reminds me," Edith broke in, looking vindictively toward Cosden. +"Perhaps you will tell me why Harry rushed down here like a lost soul +and then back again to New York. Mr. Cosden is very mysterious about it, +and my curiosity is aroused." + +"There isn't any mystery," Marian assured her. "There were some papers +he had forgotten to take." + +"Why didn't he telephone me to bring them to him?" Philip demanded. "Why +is it he won't let me go to the office, when he promised me I could help +him as soon as college was over?" + +Mrs. Thatcher looked at Cosden questioningly. "Is there anything more +than Harry told me?" she asked him. + +Cosden knew that Thatcher was still trying to keep his family in +ignorance of the strain under which he was laboring. It was for him to +give such details as he chose rather than for his guest. + +"I don't know how much you already know, Mrs. Thatcher," he replied with +apparent candor. "These are strenuous days in Wall Street, and no one +can tell what is going to happen next. As for you, Philip, don't be +impatient. This is no time to initiate a youngster into any business. +War is breaking loose in Europe, and if Germany and England lock horns +there will be something doing." + +"War!" Philip cried. "Do you really think there will be a war?" + +"The idea!" Edith sniffed. "Those little savage tribes in the Balkans +may call each other names and throw things around, but Germany and +England are civilized nations. How perfectly absurd!" + +"If there is a war, I want to get in it," Philip insisted. "I've always +wanted to go to war, and never supposed I would have a chance." + +"I'll go with you," announced Billy with sudden enthusiasm, looking +significantly at Merry as he saw the solution of his troubles. "I don't +care what side I'm on or against whom I fight. Let's enlist together, +Phil." + +"You couldn't fight except for your own country, you silly," Merry +laughed. + +"Of course I could," he insisted stoutly. "You never think I can do what +I say I can, but I'll show you. I can be a soldier of fortune like +Robert Clay, or I can be a Canadian and get shot up as much as I like." + +"But this isn't in a story, Billy, and Robert Clay was. More than that, +you're no Canadian." + +"Anyhow I was in Canada once." + +"Don't mind Billy," Phil interrupted. "I'm really serious. There must be +some way I could get into it. You know, Mother, how much I've always +wanted to." + +"Yes, my boy; I do know," Mrs. Thatcher answered. "Ever since you were +old enough to play with toys it has always been soldiers and wars. I +have thanked God that war was a horror of the past, for I know how hard +it would be to hold you back if the opportunity offered." + +"If he goes, then I go with him," Billy said with decision. + +"You both had better wait until war is declared by somebody against +somebody else," Cosden suggested. + +"You don't think they'll patch it up, do you?" Philip inquired +anxiously. + +"Let us hope so," Mrs. Thatcher answered; "but this is a pleasure +expedition. Let us banish thoughts of war." + +As the launch rounded a rocky promontory a roaring fire was disclosed +burning on the beach, around which several of the house servants were +already busied in preparing supper. Back from the beach, beneath great +spreading oaks, a cloth was laid on the ground, to which the contents of +the hampers were being transferred. The usual limitations of camp life +were conspicuous by their absence, the fascinations were emphasized by +the marvelous smoothness with which everything was conducted. + +"I don't call this picnicking," Edith declared, after her first taste of +chowder. "Plant a forest of trees in Sherry's ball-room, paint an ocean +on the wall, fake a moon rising over the orchestra stage, everybody sit +cross-legged on the floor,--and there you have it. Sherry certainly +couldn't improve on the service or the food." + +"I can't find even an ant on mine," Billy complained, corroborating +Edith's praise. + +"Champagne like this is far too good for the common people," added +Cosden turning to Mrs. Thatcher. "How did you do it? It is the +apotheosis of gipsy life, and makes me reluctant to return to +civilization." + +Billy edged around until he gained a seat next to Merry. "This feast +might have been in honor of our marriage," he whispered. "It's all your +fault that I'm going to war, and if I'm shot up I'll come back and haunt +you." + +"Don't, Billy!" Merry sputtered, laughing and choking,--"you'll make me +swallow this the wrong way. There--" she continued as she recovered; +"that's better. Now don't be silly or you'll spoil our fun. We are going +to be good friends always, and that's all there is to it." + +"You wait. You've been lots happier since I told you that you loved me, +now haven't you? I know. You think it's a joke because you think I'm a +joke, but when once I've gone to war you'll understand. I'll bet you +even that you'll chase after me as a Red Cross nurse, and that I'll die +with my head in your lap. Do you take me?" + +Phil approached near enough to put an end to the proposition without +Merry's reply. + +"Do you suppose there's anything in this war talk?" he queried, sitting +down beside them. + +"Not a thing," his sister replied. "That would be too absurd." + +"If there is, I could at least go as a correspondent,--that is, if Dad +could spare me. I'm terribly keen about this." + +"How could you work me in?" Billy demanded. "I couldn't do any newspaper +stunt." + +"How about taking pictures to illustrate my articles?" + +"Great! I can shoot a Kodak like anything. Then it's all settled that we +go together?" + +"Suppose there isn't any war?" Merry persisted in throwing cold water +upon their plans. + +Both boys looked gloomily at each other. Then Billy had an inspiration. + +"If there isn't," he declared with decision, "then Phil and I will dash +over there and stir one up. We could make faces at them or do something +and get one started. That's the idea, isn't it, Phil?" + +"You make me tired!" Philip retorted. "This is too serious a matter to +joke about." + +As the older boy moved away disgustedly Billy again whispered to Merry. +"Phil is just as bad as you," he said disconsolately. "He doesn't know +seriousness when he sees it. Come on! Take a chance and be a sport!" + +The boy's persistency was the only jarring note in the whole experience, +and the extent of that was too limited to produce lasting effect. The +picnickers watched the sun set and the moon rise, then, filled with the +calm delights which Nature so generously shared with them, and +over-satiated with the creature comforts supplied by their hostess, they +re-embarked in the launch and returned to Sagamore Hall. To their +surprise, as they walked across the great lawn to the house, they saw +some one coming down to meet them. + +"Mr. Huntington has returned!" Marian cried, and she hastened toward him +in advance of the others. + +"Why, Harry!" she exclaimed surprised to discover that it was her +husband. "How did you manage to get back to-night? I'm so glad to see +you!" + +Cosden hurried forward, sensing important revelations in Thatcher's +return. The new-comer grasped his hand cordially, and his face even in +the moonlight showed a relief from the long strain. + +"With your help, old man, I've pulled through," he whispered later. "The +stock-markets of the world are closed indefinitely. Germany and England +are straining to jump at each other's throats. The history of the world +starts revision from to-day, and now I'm going to stay down here for a +while and let other people worry!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXVII + + * * * * * + + +Knowing that his telephone message would allay Mrs. Thatcher's greatest +anxiety, Huntington made no effort to return to the shore that night, +and when morning came it was a question whether he could go at all. He +knew that Hamlen would keep his promise so long as he remained master of +himself, but the roving eyes and the twitching nerves warned Huntington +that he must not place too great reliance upon this expectation. All +through the hours of darkness, without his friend's knowledge, he +watched over him, sharing in sympathetic silence the suffering which the +tossing body endured in expressing the tortures of the mind. When +morning came at last Hamlen was quieter, but this condition was due to +the exhaustion of high fever rather than to even temporary relief. +Hastily summoning a physician, Huntington watched the examination, +becoming more and more apprehensive as the expression of concern +deepened on the doctor's face. Together they stepped into the hall, +where the doctor shook his head gravely. + +"Tell me something of what led up to this," he demanded. + +Huntington briefly sketched Hamlen's history, and the climax. + +"It will be nip and tuck," the doctor said crisply. "His resistance is +low, but he'll probably pull through. What I'm afraid of is his reason. +We'll break this fever now, and then you must find something to interest +him outside of himself. That is his only salvation." + +"I wish I thought I could," Huntington replied doubtfully. "There will +be no help from him, for the last thing he desires is to live." + +"But if to live is to--" + +"I know,--I shall do my best." + +A week later Hamlen's life was out of danger, but at times his mental +wanderings confirmed the doctor's worst apprehensions. Yet Huntington +came to dread the depression of the saner moments more than the vagrant +hallucinations. The dramatic details of the unleashing of the war-dogs +of one nation after another should have been enough to arouse his +interest, but his only comment was, "It is a fitting end to a hollow +world, with its thin veneer of sham civilization; would to God it had +come sooner!" + +Finally it seemed safe to leave the patient in the care of the trained +nurse, and Huntington made his deferred return to Sagamore Hall. Marian +had kept in touch with Hamlen's progress as well as she could over the +telephone, but there was much which her heart craved to learn more +intimately. The illness afforded a simple explanation to the other +guests of the peculiar disappearance of both men, so Huntington's +confidences needed to be told to Mrs. Thatcher alone. Still, there was +a single exception. One of the first questions Huntington asked of +Marian was whether Merry knew the whole truth, and when he learned from +both how much each had gained from their mutual confidences he insisted +that the girl hear from him the details of what had happened since. + +He told his story simply, trying to spare Marian and making as light as +possible of the part which he himself had played, yet the whole-souled +devotion he had given his friend could be concealed no more than the +serious results of Mrs. Thatcher's persistency. Huntington had claimed +from him the life which would have been forfeited, promising to make +good use of it; now that it was at his disposal, what was he to do with +it? He admitted freely to Mrs. Thatcher and Merry that as yet he had +found no solution. + +"This necessity of doing your splendid work over again is but one of the +results of my culpable stupidity," Marian said penitently. "When I think +of it, it seems as if I should go mad!" + +Huntington rejoiced in the change which he found in Mrs. Thatcher. The +sudden view she had gained of herself was all she needed to understand +that one lack which no one could have made her see or comprehend. +Huntington felt the closer relationship between her and Merry, and he +believed the girl had found the answer to her question. + +"We must forget our mistakes," he said, anxious to relieve Marian, +"except when remembering them will prevent a repetition. We all have +tried to do our full duty by this abnormal personality, and our +shortcomings should not cause us to question the sincerity of our acts." + +"You are too generous," Mrs. Thatcher replied; "I shall never cease to +hold myself accountable, never!" + +"Don't, Momsie!" Merry begged. "Perhaps even now we can suggest +something which will undo the harm." + +"We must," Huntington said soberly. "Now, if I may finish out my visit +with you it will be a real relief after these depressing days, and we +will await the inspiration." + +"We are counting on your doing so," Marian replied promptly. "It +comforts me to have you share this time with me. I can't tell Harry the +whole story yet. And Billy is waiting for you. He and Philip are crazed +by this talk of war, and are trying to find some way to get into it. Of +course it is ridiculous, but boys are irrepressible creatures. I don't +need to tell you that!" + +"I'm not so sure that it is ridiculous," Huntington surprised them both +by saying. "I don't quite see where they could break into this war, but +as for Billy I believe a first-hand knowledge of these terrible +experiences would go far toward making a man of him." + +"You surely wouldn't have them get into the fighting!" Mrs. Thatcher +exclaimed. + +"No, not that; but there are other ways. I heard some talk of forming +ambulance squads to send to France. If they do that, I might urge +Billy's father to let him go." + +"Still, there would be danger, wouldn't there?" Merry asked. + +"Some, perhaps; but there is danger in the life which surrounds these +boys now. I am much concerned about Billy. Unless something happens to +shake him up he will never know what life really is. The nobility of +heroism, an every-day occurrence on the firing-line, is something which +could not fail to leave its impress on these youngsters. It is worth +thinking over." + +"I couldn't let Philip go," Marian said with the old-time finality in +her voice. + +"Perhaps not," Huntington replied with a significant look. "It may be +most unwise; but if Nature should seem to point strongly in that +direction we must be careful not to thwart it." + +Marian flushed. "You are right, Mr. Huntington," she said with frank +understanding; "I shall be careful, you may be sure." + +"Where are the boys now?" Huntington asked. "I would prefer to postpone +the discussion with them until I am rested. I'm not used to problems, +you know, and lately they seem to have concentrated themselves on me. +Help me to escape them for another hour!" + +"Take Mr. Huntington down to the water-garden," Marian suggested +smiling; "no one will think of looking for you there." + +"Would you like to go?" Merry asked him. + +"Nothing would rest me more." + +"Won't you come, Momsie?" + +"No, dear; you must do the honors in my stead." + +They wandered through the formal garden in silence, down the shaded +_bosquet_, and across a bit of lawn to the fresh-water garden which was +built only a little back from the shore itself. A miniature torii, from +whose crossbeam hung a replica in straw of the mystic _shimenawa_, +marked the entrance, sounding the motivation for the Oriental note +within. They passed through this and walked between the rows of Japanese +maples which formed an avenue ending in a vista of the sea. In the +moment they had transported themselves, for within the limitations +marked by the avenue of trees there was nothing to suggest anything save +the East: there were the little shrines surrounded by Oriental +flower-pots; there was a tiny lake, crossed by an arched stone bridge, +through which could be seen the luxuriant bloom of the lotus and other +rare aquatic plants, brilliant in their coloring and foliage, growing in +and out of the water and over the rocks with well-planned irregularity; +there was the lilliputian grove of dwarfed trees impudently challenging +comparison with their taller neighbors. + +"I'm glad you brought me here," Huntington said as they seated +themselves upon a curiously-carved stone. "Other parts of the estate are +far more impressive, but you have no spot which appeals to me more by +virtue of its beauty." + +"I love it too," the girl acknowledged. "Almost every one looks at it +once or twice and admires it, but no one seems to care to linger here as +I do. I am sure to be alone, so I come almost every day to read Lafcadio +Hearn and to dream of Nippon." + +"I understand," Huntington said quietly; "and I'll warrant you find +yourself spending much of your time gazing at the surface of that little +lake." + +"Yes," she exclaimed surprised; "but how do you know that, and why +should I do it?" + +"It is not so mysterious, after all," he answered smiling. "I have no +psychic powers, but I know a little of the Oriental teachings: the +surface of the lake is a mirror, symbolic of illusion and reflecting our +souls, in which alone we must seek the Buddha.--But to-day it is of a +modern divinity I would prefer to speak. These have been hard weeks for +you, Merry, and I have sympathized with you." + +"Why,--yes; in a way," she admitted. "But like everything else I do, +they haven't amounted to anything, have they?" + +"Haven't they?" he asked pointedly. "Isn't some of that unrest gone now +that you and the dear mother understand each other?" + +"Of course. That means everything to me, but again it is I who benefit. +Oh! Mr. Huntington, I want so much to do something for somebody else, +and no matter how hard I try it always turns out that I am the gainer. I +believed I had the opportunity at last, and again I was mistaken. But +this time it wasn't my fault, was it? At least I was ready to do my +part." + +"Don't you know that you can't try to do something for some one else +without having it come back to you?" + +"Do you expect that what you are doing for Mr. Hamlen will bring you a +reward?" + +"It has already given me your friendship. Isn't that enough?" + +The color came to Merry's face, and she turned her glance away. "What +can that mean to you who have so many friendships?" she asked. + +"It is the friendship I value most among them all." + +She looked up at him quickly, startled by the intensity of his tone. +"You can't mean that," she said. "To me it is different. You brought +into my life something which it never had and never would have had +except for you. To me your friendship is the grandest thing I know, but +what can mine mean to you? Something fine and splendid must come in +return for the months you have given Mr. Hamlen. I wish--" she hesitated +a moment but then continued bravely--"yes, I wish it might even bring +you back the girl you loved--and found too late!" + +"Merry! child! what are you saying!" he cried. + +"Have I hurt you again?" + +"Not hurt me; but you make it hard for me to be fair to our friendship." + +"Can't we be friends--because of her?" + +Huntington turned to her gently, taking her hand in his. His face showed +the force of the emotion which fought for supremacy, but the calmness +with which he spoke evidenced his control. + +"I have tried to be fair to our friendship," he repeated, "but you must +not misunderstand. I wonder if it would be more kind to tell you the +truth, even though it cost me what I value so." + +"Don't,--please don't!" she begged. + +"I fear I must," he said with decision, "no matter what it costs. +Whether this strain with Hamlen has weakened my resolve, or because the +romance of the Japanese Benten hovers over this spot and bids me speak, +I must tell you, little girl, that my friendship has only been a blind +to cover something far deeper, which I have no right to offer you. The +time has come for you to know that, for it will tell you what you are to +me. I would relinquish all I possess to turn back the years until they +gave me the right to ask you to be my wife." + +She started to her feet and tried to speak, but he stopped her. + +"You don't need to answer," he insisted. "I understand only too well." + +"But the girl you met too late--" + +"Was you, dear child! I am a generation ahead of my time; otherwise I +believe it might have been." + +He smiled as he always did when deeply moved, but this time the sadness +showed through the mask. As the full comprehension of his words came to +her, Merry's color faded but she looked into his face with a woman's +candor. + +"Is the difference in our ages the only reason?" she asked. + +"Alas! that is enough!" + +"No, no!" she cried impulsively. "You wouldn't let that stand between +us!" + +"Do you realize what you are saying, Merry? It can't be that you +understand!" + +"I do! I do!" she cried. "Please don't stop. Say it to me!" + +He placed his arm around her and drew her to him. "Can it possibly be?" +he demanded incredulously. "Can this really have come to me?" + +Merry hid her face on his shoulder. "Say it!" she insisted, +"please,--please say it!" + +"Merry--child--I love you!" + +Her arm crept about his neck, and then her radiant face came out from +its hiding place, and held itself ready for the consecration. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXVIII + + * * * * * + + +They lingered in happy disregard of passing time, each seeming to fear +disillusionment if they deserted their magic garden. Huntington no +longer felt the oppression of the years, Merry no longer drifted from +her anchorage. + +"Monty," she whispered slyly,--"dare I call you Monty?" + +"If you don't, I shall call you incorrigible!" + +"Monty,--who is Benten?" + +She asked the question so hesitatingly, as if ashamed to admit her +ignorance, that he laughed. + +"Benten?" he repeated after her. "Surely you know Benten! She is none +other than an adorable Japanese lady of antiquity who is known as the +deity of Beauty, the divinity of Love and the Goddess of Eloquence. I +have no doubt she has other attributes, but those are enough for us, +aren't they, little sweetheart?" + +"Oh, Monty,--you know so much!" she sighed. "It is going to be a +terrible strain!" + +She seemed very winsome in her present mood, and he smiled happily. + +"The strain will be on me, dear heart," he protested. "I have assumed +wisdom all these years with no danger of being unmasked; now you will +find me out. + +"I'm glad it happened here in this garden," she said contentedly. "I +seem to feel more at home in this atmosphere. Benten shall be my patron +saint from this day." + +"Shall we spend our honeymoon in Japan?" he asked. "Why not keep this +setting to the end?" + +She clapped her hands. "Splendid!" she cried. "That will be +Paradise;--and you'll teach me all you know about everything?" + +"Why not let your Hearn teach you of Japan? He knows it all. He would +tell you, too, that Benten is also Goddess of the Sea," he pointed to +the brilliant spot of color at the end of the avenue, now made +spectacular by the radiance of the setting sun. "He would understand +why, under this influence, I could not keep from telling you my secret; +for 'is not the sea most ancient and most excellent of speakers,--the +eternal poet, chanter of that mystic hymn whose rhythm shakes the world, +whose mighty syllables no man may learn?'" + +"Oh, Monty," she murmured, nestling closer to him in blissful happiness, +"please go on. To hear you talk is just like listening to a beautiful +symphony. And to think you're going to share it all with me! Let us stay +right here forever!" + +"Mer-ry!" came Philip's call across the lawn. + +"Uncle Mon-ty!" Billy halloed. + +"There come those horrid boys," she pouted, sitting up straight. "Why +are boys, anyway?" + +"You told me once that it was only when they became serious that you +worried about them," he teased her. + +"They are serious now,--they've found out you're here, and they're going +to talk war with you.--I don't want to give you up even for a moment!" + +"Nor I you," he whispered, as the boys were close at hand; "but we must +keep our secret a little longer." + +They rose and walked up the avenue to meet them. + +"Mother said to wait because you were tired, but Billy couldn't, so I +came with him," Philip explained lamely. + +"I am never too tired to receive a welcome like this--" + +"We want your advice," Billy interrupted. + +"Won't it wait until we get to the house?" + +"No," Billy insisted; "it's urgent. Phil and I want to go to the war, +and if we don't hurry they may call it off and then we'll be rooked." + +"I wish there was a chance they might," Huntington said feelingly. +"There's no fear of that, boy. They are in for a long and terrible +struggle." + +"Great!" cried Philip. "I've always wanted to go to war, and I never +believed there would be another." + +"I'm going because I want to get shot up just to spite Merry," added +Billy, remembering his grievance and looking at the girl gloomily. + +"The fact that you realize so little what you are saying is the greatest +argument you could advance in favor of your going," Huntington said, +looking at them gravely. + +"I didn't mean to speak as I did," Philip replied apologetically. "It +is a terrible thing, of course, but since it has come I am crazy to be a +part of it. I believe I'll run away if Mother and Dad don't let me go!" + +"I meant just what I said," Billy insisted stoutly. "Merry is very +unhappy,--haven't you noticed it?" + +"Do I look so now?" she laughed at him. + +"You shouldn't interrupt," he reproved her; "it isn't polite.--She +doesn't know what is the matter with her, but I do." + +"What is the matter, Billy?" Huntington inquired seriously. "If I knew, +perhaps I could help her." + +"Of course you could; that's why I'm telling you. She's in love with me +and she doesn't know it." + +"By Jove!" Huntington exclaimed, looking at Merry's beaming face as she +walked beside him, and then at the serious features of the boy on the +other side. "I'm afraid I can't help, after all." + +"Yes, you can," Billy insisted confidently. "Merry will believe anything +you tell her. Now if I go to war and get shot up she will realize her +destiny, and will come to the hospital over there somewhere and be a Red +Cross nurse, and fix me all up. Then we'll be married,--unless my wound +is fatal and I die," he added, gulping down the pathos which this +painful picture stirred within himself. + +"I can't stay with you, Billy, if you harrow up my feelings like this," +Huntington declared. "It isn't fair to take advantage of your +sympathetic old uncle." + +"He's just talking in bunches, Mr. Huntington," Philip said disgustedly. +"You mustn't mind what he says. His mouth is full of mush all the time +now. I'm sick of it!" + +"How about my feelings, Billy?" Merry demanded. "Have you no pity for +me?" + +"Why should I?" he retorted. "It's all your fault.--Uncle Monty, +wouldn't you like to have Merry in the family?" + +"I certainly would," was the frank response spoken with a sincerity +which gave the boy unbounded encouragement. + +"Now you've said something!" Billy exclaimed and he turned to Merry with +a gesture of finality! "I want you in the family, Uncle Monty wants you, +Phil wants me for a brother-in-law--" + +"I'm not so sure," Philip interrupted. + +"Oh, yes, he does," Billy continued unabashed.--"So it's up to you. Will +you make us all happy, or will you send me to meet my fate amid the +horrors of war?" + +"That'll be about all of that," Philip said, scowling. "We came out here +to talk war and not nonsense. I won't stand for it!" + +"We mustn't get these two great questions confused, Billy," Huntington +said soothingly. "I have something to tell you later which may solve one +of them, and we should approach the other with a calm and judicial mind. +I haven't any right to advise you, Philip, for your mother and father +probably have definite ideas which must be respected; but if a way could +be found for Billy to have some of the experiences over there without +running too much danger, I should be inclined to throw my influence in +favor of his going." + +"Hurrah!" Billy cried. + +"That is all I could possibly expect, Mr. Huntington," Philip +acknowledged. "If Billy is allowed to go, I'm sure Mother and Dad will +consent." + +"Very good. I promise you to look into it carefully, and Billy will keep +you posted as to the result." + +"What's the other solution?" Billy asked suspiciously. + +"I'll tell you later.--Now let me speak with the others. There is +nothing more for us to talk about, is there?" + +"I'm sorry I spoke so lightly about the war," Philip said, grasping +Huntington's hand as they separated. "I have fighting in my blood +somewhere, and I'm so excited over it all that I forget myself +sometimes." + +"War means to forget one's self at all times, my boy," Huntington +answered kindly. "With all its savagery, with all its brutal return to +primeval instincts, the sacrifices and the heroism it calls for ennoble +those who are drawn into its hideous vortex. No man can once feel this +and ever again look upon life in a small way. That is why, under certain +circumstances, I might favor Billy's desire." + +"That is my second desire," Billy carefully explained; "my first is that +Merry become a member of our family." + +"To that," his uncle replied, "I have already given my unqualified +approval." + +The boys left them and they continued to the house. Mr. and Mrs. +Thatcher met them at the steps. + +"I had begun to fear that you and Merry were lost," Marian said, after +Huntington greeted his host. + +"We have been lost a long time," Huntington replied, with a meaning they +did not comprehend; "now we have indeed found ourselves." + +He took Merry's hand in his and stood for a moment looking at them both. + +"Would this time be inopportune," he continued, "to ask if you can spare +this little girl to some one who loves her very dearly?" + +"So Billy has persuaded you to become his champion?" Mrs. Thatcher said +with some annoyance. "I didn't think Merry cared for him. He is so +irresponsible, Mr. Huntington. It is difficult to refuse anything you +ask, but couldn't the matter wait?" + +"The boy isn't grown up enough to think of such things yet," Thatcher +added. + +Huntington smiled quietly at the natural mistake. "It is for one who is +perhaps too far grown up I stand as champion, but I am hoping you will +not look upon that as an obstacle. I did for many months, but Merry has +a way of making one forget his years." + +"You!" Marian cried. + +"You don't mean it, my dear fellow!" Thatcher held out his hand +cordially. + +"We children ask the parental blessing." + +Merry slipped by, into her mother's arms. + +"Oh! Momsie! I am happy at last!" + +"You have certainly kept us in the dark!" Marian exclaimed, recovering +from her surprise. + +Then the pleasure in her face changed to one of concern. "You have +loved Merry, yet stood aside these weeks?" + +"I could not believe that she could care for me." + +"Almost a triple tragedy!" Marian said soberly, so low that only +Huntington heard her. "Can any one ever forgive me!" + +"Come, we must tell Edith and Cosden," Thatcher urged. "They are +consumed with impatience to see you." + +"Let us wait until dinner," Huntington suggested. "Billy must be +considered, for the dear boy believes himself madly in love with +Merry,--even as I did once with her mother." + +"Nonsense!" laughed Marian. + +"It didn't seem like nonsense then, but I forgive you since you give me +this sweet child, which I know you consider a greater gift than the one +I would have asked." + +"I never heard of this," Thatcher exclaimed. + +"No man can marry a woman like Mrs. Thatcher without finding wrecks +along the shore." + +"A very pretty remark from a son-in-law," she retorted. "I shall hold +you strictly to your loyalty!" + +"Let me find Billy while you are dressing for dinner," Huntington said. +"I'll overtake you after breaking the news gently to him." + +"Don't be late," Merry whispered to him in parting. "When I leave you I +shall think it all a dream." + +"So it is, dear heart, but one which is sure to come true!" + +Billy joined his uncle in his room, and the older man sat down beside +him on the window-seat. + +"Boy," he said, "you and I have been great pals, and I want you to be +the first to know of a wonderful thing which has happened to me." + +"You've beaten Mr. Cosden at golf," Billy guessed. + +"It is something which will hurt you for a minute but I want you to show +how good a sport you are." + +"You're not going to make me live within my allowance?" + +"Merry is going to marry me." + +"She isn't!" the boy cried, almost bursting into tears. "She +isn't,--she's going to marry me!" + +"Steady, Billy, steady! Remember what pals we are! You wouldn't want her +to marry you if she loved some one else, would you?" + +Billy quieted down, swallowing hard but saying nothing. + +"Think how many years I have waited for this wonderful thing to happen. +Think how many years you have ahead of you in which to have it happen. +For it will happen to you, boy,--it must." + +"But you are a woman-hater." + +"No, boy,--a Merry lover! Won't you forget your infatuation and wish me +joy?" + +"I shall never marry," Billy said disconsolately. + +"That is what I said, twenty years ago!" + +"You can't depend on girls, anyhow." + +"That is what I said, twenty years ago! Won't you wish me joy? It's the +first time I've ever asked you to do anything for me." + +"It's asking a whole lot." + +"It is,--and the greater the gift if you give it to me." + +"So Merry is really going to marry you?" + +Huntington nodded his head. + +"Oh, well, I suppose I shall get over it." + +"Good for you, boy! And you wish me joy?" + +"I can't; I'm a woman-hater now myself." + +"Wish me as much joy as possible under the circumstances." + +"I'll do that; but don't expect me to throw a fit in doing it." + +"All right," Huntington patted him affectionately on the shoulder. "Now +run and get ready for dinner, and don't forget that I'm keeping Merry in +the family!" + +"Oh! come. Don't rub it in!" + +"I won't, but I'm so happy that I'm kiddish!" + +"Many a married man seems contented when he's only resigned," quoted +Billy maliciously. + +"Get out!" Huntington shouted, throwing a chair-pillow at the retreating +figure. + +It was at dinner that the party reassembled, this time in its full +strength of numbers. The table was set in the Italian dining-porch, +which occupied the east gable, and by reason of its uniqueness formed a +charming background for the ceremony. Three of its sides were open, the +over-story being supported on columns; the plaster wall was covered with +masses of flowering and decorative plants, clinging to a lattice, and +broken in the center by a niche enclosing an old marble fountain. Edith +and Cosden greeted Huntington cordially when he came down, plying him +with questions until he begged for mercy. + +"You don't show any ill effects from acting as trained nurse," Cosden +remarked; "in fact I never saw you look so well. Glad you came in time +for this farewell dinner; I'm back into the harness again to-morrow." + +"I wish you could stay longer, Mr. Cosden," Marian urged. + +"I'm ashamed of the length of time I have already imposed upon your +hospitality," Cosden replied; "but you must hold Edith responsible. It +takes her an eternity to get a little word of three letters out of her +mouth." + +"That isn't a commodity which requires advertising," she remarked, +tossing her head. + +"I'll get you yet, you little devil!" whispered Cosden. + +"This dinner is epoch-making," Thatcher said seriously after they were +seated, "and the epochs divide themselves into two parts. The first one +I'm going to explain; then, as it is proper that my wife should have the +last word, Marian will tell you the second. We have with us this +evening--that's the way the toastmaster usually starts in, isn't it?--a +man whom I have known for several years, whose integrity is +unquestioned, but who has been considered by his business associates as +one who exacted his last pound of flesh." + +Cosden looked quickly at Thatcher, and reddened at the pointed glance +which Edith gave him. + +"A few days ago," Thatcher continued, "owing to extraordinary business +conditions, that man found the one house which he would like best to +control in a position where he could legitimately force it to accept his +own terms. I know, because that house was mine." + +"Cut it out, Thatcher," Cosden growled; "this isn't an experience +meeting." + +Thatcher paid no attention to him. "At this crisis, I went down on my +knees, and begged him a favor to accept a little trifle of four and a +half millions profit in exchange for saving my house and reputation." + +"Harry!" Marian cried. "I've been blind to your troubles too!" + +"This was his chance. He remarked coolly that he had been making plans +to take advantage of his opportunity when it came, handed me drafts +which enabled me to weather the storm, and refused to accept one penny +of the blood-money which I was only too ready to give him. That is the +way our friend Cosden collects his pound of flesh." + +"Connie did that?" Huntington demanded, gratified beyond measure but +speaking lightly to cover Cosden's embarrassment. "Why, Connie,--I +thought you were a business man!" + +Edith made no comment but her gaze never left Cosden's face. His +confusion was genuine, for to be made a hero in the midst of one's +friends is more than any man can stand. Marian hastened to his rescue. + +"I shall tell Mr. Cosden what I think of him when we are alone," she +said gratefully. "Now let us turn from the worship of Midas to that of a +coy little divinity who may yet teach Edith to speak in words of one +syllable. Harry says that I am to have the last word. It shall be brief: +Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thatcher announce the engagement of their only +daughter to--Mr. William Montgomery Huntington." + +The effect of this announcement was even more dramatic than the first. + +"You sly old dog!" Cosden cried, reaching over and pummeling Huntington +on the back. + +"Great work!" was Philip's congratulation, but he subsided when he saw +the expression on Billy's face. + +It was epoch-making, as Thatcher had promised. The relief over the happy +solution of the business crisis, and the surprise and joy of the +announced engagement made the dinner pass from an episode into an event. +Billy's lack of enthusiasm might be easily understood and as easily +forgiven, but Edith's subdued attitude was less comprehensible. It was +only as they left the table to go out upon the piazza that she broke her +silence. She held back after Marian and Merry passed through the door +and turned to Cosden. + +"Did you really do that?" she demanded. + +He nodded his head sheepishly. "You see, as Monty says, I'm no kind of +business man after all." + +"I think you're the greatest business genius in the world!" + +"You do!" he cried. "Then why don't you follow Merry's example?" + +"I might," she said smiling. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXIX + + * * * * * + + +Huntington dared not extend his visit beyond a few blissful days, but +into these he crowded the full expression of his long-delayed romance. +The wonder of it never left him, the joy of it filled him with quiet +content. + +The lovers watched Cosden's departure next morning, and by virtue of the +priority of their engagement, considered themselves entitled to tease +Edith who was not to leave until the following day. + +"Well," Huntington remarked, as they turned back into the hallway, "as +Connie says, he usually gets what he goes after." + +"Don't you think he's earned me?" Edith retaliated. + +"And you him," Huntington retorted. "Everything is as it should be. You +are just the girl for him, and he will make you a husband in a thousand. +I need not tell you how cordially I have congratulated him." + +"I don't think our Society proved very effective," she remarked dryly. + +"On the contrary, it demonstrated its efficiency by the present most +satisfactory exceptions.--But you are giving me a great many mysteries +to explain to Merry!" + +The evening before Huntington felt it necessary to return to his patient +he touched upon a subject which had been avoided. + +"Mamma," he said to Mrs. Thatcher, "I think--" + +"Don't you dare to call me that, Monty Huntington!" Marian exclaimed +vehemently. "If I am to go through life with a son-in-law older than I +am, at least I won't be called 'mamma'!" + +"I'm trying to be respectful," Huntington explained mischievously. + +"Never you mind that,--call me 'Marian.' That at least will give me the +benefit of the doubt." + +"I'm sorry to mark my entrance into the family by causing +mortification," Huntington continued in mock-seriousness. "It never +occurred to me, if my prospective wife made no objections, that my age +would be offensive to her parents. But the case isn't so serious as Ned +Fordham's, is it?" + +"He married Mrs. Eustis, didn't he?" + +"Yes; and you remember that she has a married daughter and a small +grandchild. Ned said the idea of a ready-made family was fine, but he +thought it immoral for him to become a grandfather before he became a +father." + +"Rather late for him to come to that conclusion, wasn't it?" Thatcher +laughed. + +"Yes; but he found two other men in the same predicament, so the three +of them have formed a 'Society of Illegitimate Grandparents,' and now +they're looking for more members." + +"Ned would joke at his own funeral!" chuckled Thatcher. + +"It isn't your age I'm objecting to," Marian explained; "it's my own. +Merry's engagement makes me realize it." + +"She and I are going to make you forget that you have any age at all," +Huntington declared.--"But when you interrupted me I was going to speak +of a really important matter.--We mustn't be unmindful of poor Hamlen." + +"No, indeed," Marian replied seriously. "Happiness is selfish, isn't it, +in making us temporarily forgetful? Poor Philip!" + +"We are doing him no injustice," he reassured her; "in fact I think the +news I can take will please him. But I want you and Merry to go back to +Boston with me." + +"Whatever you think is wise shall be done," she acquiesced, "but +wouldn't it be better for you to go ahead to prepare him for our +coming?" + +"That is by far the wiser plan," Huntington assented promptly. + +"Take me with you, Monty," Merry whispered; "I wish we never need be +separated again." + +"Stay here, sweetheart, and plan out with the dear mother how soon that +day may be. I have been waiting too long already!" + + * * * * * + +The nurse met Huntington as he entered the door, and replied to the +question his face asked sooner than his lips. + +"There is a remarkable improvement," she announced cheerfully. "The +doctor was here this morning, and left word for you that the progress is +beyond his understanding." + +"Splendid!" he cried. "Where shall I find Hamlen? + +"In the library, Mr. Huntington; it is all I can do to persuade him to +go anywhere else." + +Huntington mounted the stairs two steps at time. "Hamlen!" he cried, +"where are you?" + +"Here!" a well-contained voice replied as he entered the room, "in your +library, sitting in your favorite chair, eating your food, drinking your +rum--in short, exercising every prerogative a man can assume who has +unfettered himself from worldly responsibilities, and awaits the command +of his master." + +"You certainly are better," Huntington exclaimed, looking at him +critically, astonished by the tone of his remark. + +"Except for my weakness," Hamlen answered, holding out his hand, "better +than I've been in all my life." + +"You amaze me!" Huntington exclaimed. "I hoped for an improvement, but +this return to more than your best self--" + +"I've fought the fight, my friend, and this is the result." + +"It is a positive triumph!" Huntington drew a chair beside the patient, +and regarded him with an expression of mystified gratification. "What in +the world has happened?" + +"You went away and gave me a chance to think," Hamlen replied seriously. +"Do you know, Huntington, I'm convinced that there ought to be a law +condemning every human being to solitary confinement for a certain +period each year, to make him think. Deprive him of his companions, his +books, his writing materials--everything, and just force him to think. +We take things so much for granted, we accept so many half-truths, we so +easily lose our sense of proportion." + +"That is a capital idea, but you've done your share of it already." + +"My thoughts were misdirected. You not only gave me the opportunity but +something basic on which to build. I wonder if you realize how +pitilessly you laid me bare!" + +"I had no intention, my dear fellow--" + +"Oh, it was right; that was the very thing which saved me. I was sincere +in feeling myself sunk in degradation, in wanting to end it all, and I +hated you for standing in my way. But when you laid claim to my life, +which I valued so slightly, I began to analyze it to discover why you +cared to have it. You have done more for me, Huntington, than any human +being ever did for a fellow-creature, and why you did it was past my +comprehension." + +"We are bound by ties of a great brotherhood," Huntington explained. + +"No man I ever saw before has considered them so sacred. You are an +idealist, Huntington. Your devotion to college and to college +responsibilities amounts to a fetish. But I thank God for your idealism: +it is not what college relations really are but what they ought to be!" + +"I never will admit that, Hamlen." + +"Of course you won't; if you did you would lose your idealism. I saw all +this, and it gave me my explanation: what you have done for me, +Huntington, you would have done for any other college man under the +same circumstances. It was not because of any claim the individual had +upon you, but rather the acknowledgment of the greater appeal made by +that brotherhood you venerate." + +"No, Hamlen; you must not depreciate the appeal which your own +personality made from the first." + +"I don't depreciate it,--I'm proud of it; but to understand your +idolatrous worship of the brotherhood makes it possible for me to accept +the heavy obligations under which you place me. When you left me I felt +that you must hate the sight of my haggard face, the sound of my +complaining voice, the burden of silly weakness which I foisted upon +your generous shoulders." + +"I understood what lay beneath." + +"You did, and to a wonderful extent; but it took me hours of bitter +fighting to understand. Then the bigness of the great central thing at +last came to me, and I recognized it. Sitting here in this chair I cried +out in my excitement. The littleness of my own previous viewpoint +overwhelmed me, and what had seemed tragedies assumed at last their +smaller proportions. The greatness of your own ideals, the claim which +the Alma Mater ought to have upon her sons, the right which the larger +world outside has to demand big things of those to whom it gives +advantages, made the petty failures of my life so insignificant that I +was ashamed to have paraded them in public. I have been lying down on my +weaknesses, Huntington, as no man ever has a right to do; but you have +seen the last of that. I'll stand up now and take my medicine, I'll pay +whatever penalty my latest indiscretion may demand, I'll practise some +of that idealism which makes you what you are, and lay the ghost which +for years has tortured me with pin-pricks." + +"You give me too much credit, Hamlen," Huntington insisted firmly; "but +since you find relief in what I've said or done I rejoice in your +exaggeration." + +"You claimed my life, my friend," Hamlen returned again to his earlier +statement, "and it belongs to you. In all honor, I must make it reflect +attributes which will give it value. With that accomplished, I stand +ready to make delivery; but with it you must also accept its +obligations. How will you have me pay them?" + +"Your obligations are not so serious as you imagine," Huntington replied +with decision; "the only one as yet unpaid is to yourself. Had I not +seen this surprising evidence of your latent strength I should not have +believed you capable of meeting it; now I do." + +"But Marian--the insult my actions gave her--" + +"Forgotten, and forgiven,--if forgiveness be required." + +"If I could see her once more, and she would listen to me--" + +"She is coming here to see you as soon as I tell her you are strong +enough." + +"Coming here?" he echoed; "I can't believe it! And the girl--can she +ever understand?" + +"On that point I can reassure you with even greater certainty, for I am +to be the substitute bridegroom!" + +Hamlen looked at him steadily to make sure he was in earnest. + +"You are to marry Miss Thatcher?" he asked deliberately. + +"The Gods have been good to me, Hamlen; they have given me the one gift +I craved." + +"Then you have loved her all these weeks?" + +"Since first I saw her." + +"My friend!" Hamlen raised himself unsteadily in his weakness, refusing +assistance, until he stood upon his feet. Then supporting himself with +one hand, he raised the other to his forehead in salute. + +"You, sir, are a great man!" he said with dramatic fervor. "You not only +possess ideals, but actually live up to them! A world that can produce +one such as you is entitled to my respect, and is a place worth living +in!" + +"Cease!" Huntington cried, genuinely embarrassed by Hamlen's tribute. +"Leave me out of this, for this is your day. To rise superior to the +habit of twenty years, to let the world knock you down time after time, +and finally come up smiling with an acknowledgment that it was your +fault after all, to stand ready to pool issues with that world which you +have always considered your enemy, is an exhibition of character which +puts you so far beyond the rest of us that you couldn't see us if we +saluted you.--I thought my happiest moment came when I discovered +unexpectedly that Merry loved me; now you have taken me to heights +beyond. + +"I believe you," Hamlen answered him, his voice weak from the strain of +the interview, but his eyes bright with excitement and his face +radiant,--"I believe every word you say. For one of your great +brotherhood to find himself at last means more to you than any personal +happiness,--such is the strength of the fetish! I wonder if the girl is +big enough to share you with your other idol!" + +"Have no fears," Huntington laughed contentedly. "She will worship at +the shrine with devotion equal to my own, and my fellow-worshipers shall +bow the knee to her." + +The nurse gave Huntington a reproving glance when she came for her +patient, but Hamlen would not permit even a suggestion that his friend +had been unmindful of his weakness. + +"It's all right," he reassured her. "I know I'm excited, I know that +I've pulled too hard on my strength, but something has come to +me--inside here--which no doctor could ever give me. You'll see. Take me +away now and I'll be as docile as a child.--But, Huntington, please +telephone Marian that instead of coming to see me, I'd rather go to her. +I would prefer to tell her what I have to say down there where the trees +are cousins to my trees, and the language of the flowers can fill in the +words when I find my own speech inadequate.--She'll understand." + + + + + * * * * * + +XL + + * * * * * + + +It was another fortnight before the fugitive was able to return to +Sagamore Hall. Huntington telephoned, as he had promised, but he also +found it necessary to run down there himself, to explain in detail the +miracle which had happened. Mrs. Thatcher appreciated his thoughtfulness +of her, Merry expressed her full approval, and incidentally he found the +experience agreeable, so the necessity of his appearance in person was +unanimously conceded. Still, the satisfaction of this visit was +completely overshadowed by his feeling of triumph when Hamlen actually +accompanied him. + +The drone of the motor-car brought Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher and Merry to +the door to greet them, for Marian wished their welcome to express to +the fullest the fact that whatever had occurred was forgotten. Hamlen +read it so, and it helped him. + +"I have to move a bit slowly yet," he explained as he rose cautiously in +the tonneau. "Another month and I'll be as good as new." + +They assisted him up the steps and through the hallway to a great easy +chair on the piazza beyond. Then, after a few moments of general +conversation, they left him alone with Marian. + +"Isn't it wonderful?" he exclaimed with frank delight. "I'm as pleased +with myself as a kitten with two tails." + +"You well may be!" she laughed at his expression, which in its nature +was eloquent of the changed mental attitude. "And our rejoicing is not +far behind yours." + +"I know it; that is the most wonderful part of the whole thing. No +matter how idiotic my actions, you and Huntington have stuck right by +me, and have proved me wrong by the bigness of your hearts." + +"Forget the past," Marian urged, "and start things from to-day." + +"No; I wouldn't want to do that, even if I could." + +He paused for a moment, and played with a tassel which fell across his +lap from the cushion she had placed in the chair. + +"Of course," he said without looking up, "much of it will always seem +like a delirious dream, but after all it is the past which has given me +the present. And except for the past I should not have Huntington." + +There was a wealth of feeling in his words which showed Mrs. Thatcher +how strong a hold his friend had gained upon him. + +"Does he know how much he means to you, I wonder?" + +Hamlen looked up quickly. "He hasn't the slightest conception," he +answered. "I have never seen a man so oblivious to the power he +exercises over others, or to the results which he obtains. He really +thinks I've come through this crisis because of some latent strength of +character, when in reality it has been the reflection of his own. He +would tell you that when I was dying of shame and mortification I took +myself by the boot-straps and pulled myself out of the abyss, and he +would never believe it was the result of the philosophy he demonstrated +by every word and act. He positively made me ashamed to do anything but +respond. And now that I am out, he has fired me with a desire to use the +years which remain in doing something for some one else. Can you wonder +that I love him?" + +Marian's face reflected the pleasure his words gave her. "This is the +real Philip Hamlen I have seen behind his mask," she exclaimed; "this is +the Philip I tried in my mistaken way to rescue from the chaos of +confused ideals. I failed but Mr. Huntington succeeded; my gratitude to +him passes all bounds." + +"You must take some of the credit whether you wish to or not," Hamlen +insisted. "When you invaded my Garden of Eden last winter and made those +disturbing statements, you weakened the barrier of false beliefs with +which I had surrounded myself. You could have restored the structure had +I permitted it, but I wasn't ready for it then. You were entirely right +when you said that I had forgotten the teachings of the masters I +venerated, that I was blind to the difference between the means and the +end. But, Marian--" for the first time his voice quavered--"that was +before I had a friend! Think of living all those years without a friend! +It was through your invasion that my horrible tranquillity was +disturbed; it was through you that I met the one man in all the world +who could take advantage of that condition to build a human structure +upon such ruins." + +"Give me all the credit you can, Philip. I need it to help me to +forget." + +"Tut! tut!" he chided her. "I may touch upon the past, but to you it is +forbidden! Through you"--he went on--"I gained my friend, and, as if to +demonstrate the philosophy he lives, in giving him to me you gained him +too; for to your daughter is assured the most wonderful of +companionships. Now, by the same token, in giving him to her, I shall +expect the reward of being admitted to full friendship in this family +whose members mean the world to me." + +"We already count you one of us, Philip, and we shall accept nothing +less." + +"Then am I rich in friendship!" he exclaimed. "The law of compensation +gives a greater joy of realization to one who has drifted than to him +who has lived a normal existence: such a man is spared the depths, but +he can never reach the heights." + +Two duster-clad, begoggled figures burst unceremoniously through the +hallway onto the piazza where Marian and Hamlen had been scrupulously +left alone by a comprehending family. + +"Well, I'm glad to find some signs of life!" cried a familiar voice. + +"Edith!" Marian exclaimed. "Where on earth did you come from? And Mr. +Cosden!" + +"Connie and I crept up on the house to surprise you," she explained, as +greetings were exchanged all around, "but we began to think the joke was +on us and we'd struck the morgue by mistake. Where are the people +anyhow? We can't stay but a minute." + +"Here we are!" Merry answered her, and as if by magic the entire family +appeared from various directions. + +"Where did you come from, where are you going, and why can't you stay +but a minute?" Huntington demanded of Cosden as he grasped his hand. + +Cosden grinned and looked at Edith. + +"Oh, go ahead and tell them if you want to," she remarked indifferently. +"They're sure to find it out some time, and it might as well be now." + +"What in the world--" Mrs. Thatcher began. + +"We're married!" Cosden announced, his face beaming with happiness and +satisfaction. + +"Yes,--that's right," Edith corroborated, seeing doubt in the eager +faces peering at them, speechless with surprise. "I told you that if +once I gave Connie half a chance he'd have me packed up and shipped +before I knew it, and that's just what has happened!" + +"Don't apologize," Marian laughed, kissing her. "I think you've done a +very smart thing to elope like this." + +"Good heavens, Connie, I never thought of that! An elopement for me +would just be the last thing in the world! How can you call it that when +there is no one to elope from but Ricky!" + +"Whatever you call it, I've got you!" Cosden declared, tapping his +pocket. "The parson gave me a perfectly good bill of sale, and it will +take some trying to break this contract. Now don't you try!" + +Thatcher was the only one who rose fully to the occasion, and as a +result of his presence of mind the butler appeared with a bottle of +Pommery from which he filled the accompanying glasses. After Thatcher +proposed the toast to the happy couple, Huntington again raised his +glass to Cosden. + +"Here's to Edith, God bless her!" he exclaimed. + +Cosden understood, and the spirit of mischief seized him. + +"How about that other toast we drank that night, Monty?" + +Huntington put his arm around Merry's waist and drew her closer to him. + +"It stands!" he replied with smiling defiance. "To Marian--little +Marian--God bless her!" + +"You rascal! You slipped it over on me!" + +"Well, good-bye, people!" Edith interrupted. + +"Stay for supper," Mrs. Thatcher urged. + +"No; here it is five o'clock and the wedding breakfast hasn't been +served yet. We're off!" + +"It is pitiful to see you kidnapped like this," Marian teased her. + +"Oh, well!" she looked slyly up into her husband's face. "Connie's not a +bad sort as men go, and I'm game to take a chance." + +"Isn't she the best ever?" Cosden cried proudly. "I'm strong for the +Benedicts and the Benedictines! Hurry up, Monty,--go and do likewise!" + +They were off like a whirlwind, then all returned to Hamlen on the +piazza. The two boys had stayed with him while the farewells were spoken +at the door. Billy felt a bond of sympathy at last, for he too had +suffered from the perfidy of woman! Philip was genuinely fond of +Hamlen, and the older man clung to his friendship with even greater +tenacity since this return to his normal condition. + +"We are talking war," Hamlen explained to Marian as they returned to +him. "These boys are eager to see what is going on over there." + +"So we've heard," she replied, smiling indulgently. "They have presented +the case to us from as many angles as a certain manufacturer has +varieties of pickles." + +"It would be a wonderful object lesson," Hamlen said meditatively. "Even +to read about it makes our own troubles insignificant; what an +opportunity, if on the spot, to give out from one's own personality, and +thus demonstrate the teachings of the humanists in practical fashion!" + +The idea seemed to take possession of him, and his rigid figure and set +features so clearly betrayed the workings of a strong emotion that no +one interrupted him. At length he turned abruptly. + +"Huntington!" he cried. + +His friend stepped quickly to his side. + +"I believe this war was started especially for me!" he declared. + +"For you?" Huntington echoed, surprised. + +"Why isn't this my opportunity? Here I am, longing for the chance to +express myself in doing something for some one else. I haven't a tie in +the world to keep me from going over there. I have money which couldn't +be devoted to a better cause, and I speak the languages like a native." + +"By Jove!" Huntington replied; "you've solved the problem! Be the first +to endow a college unit, Hamlen, and let it be for the glory of +Harvard. You can equip the outfit, select your professional corps, and +go over with it to superintend the business end. It's a capital notion!" + +"I'll do it!" Hamlen said decisively. "With a definite purpose like this +ahead of me, I'll shake this weakness in no time.--How about the boys? +I'll need some chauffeurs." + +"Not Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher cried. + +"Let me have him, Marian?" Hamlen begged. "The personal danger will be +slight, and I don't need tell you that I'll watch over him as if he were +my own son." + +She looked appealingly to her husband. + +"I'd let him go," Thatcher said. "There's no chance for him to get +started in business for several months yet, and I'm grateful to Hamlen +for offering him this opportunity under such wonderful conditions." + +Philip pleaded. "You won't hold out now, will you, Mother?" + +"I can't," she answered soberly. "With your father's approval, and with +Mr. Hamlen's assurances, I should surely be opposing Nature, shouldn't +I?" + +Her question was put to Huntington, who understood it. He smiled +approvingly. + +"Good for you, little woman," he whispered. "There are times when we +must bow to something stronger than ourselves; this is one of them." + +"How about me?" Billy demanded. + +"I think I may promise to secure consent," Huntington assured him. + +"Come on, Phil," Billy seized his chum's arm. "Let's go out in the +garage and practise on those cars." + +Marian disappeared within doors to quiet the apprehensions of her +mother-heart; Thatcher drew a chair beside Hamlen's to discuss the war, +which now assumed a personal interest; Huntington and Merry quietly +slipped down the steps, and wandered through the formal garden to their +favorite retreat. + +"Why not watch the sunset from the water-garden?" Merry asked. + +The sun set in proper and glorious fashion into the sea at the foot of +the avenue of maple trees, but the successful completion of its task did +not suggest to the lovers a return to the house. Still they sat on the +curiously-cut stone seat, and told each other that story which is older +than the stone, and which was first told long before Benten became the +Goddess of Love. Twilight deepened into dusk, and stirred within +Huntington's mind a quotation from a kindred soul who felt as he felt, +but who couched his thought in more fitting words than he himself could +choose: + +"I wonder if you love to listen to the music of the night as I do, dear +heart,--with its space, its mystery, its uplift of spirit? It is written +in the key of the ideal and in the cadence of the divine." + +"Oh, Monty!" she murmured contentedly, "I do; for it is written in the +key of happiness, and in the cadence of my beloved's voice!" + +"You forgive me for being too old?" + +"Not too old, my darling,--just born too soon!" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bachelors, by William Dana Orcutt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS *** + +***** This file should be named 33565-8.txt or 33565-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/5/6/33565/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bachelors + A Novel + +Author: William Dana Orcutt + +Release Date: August 28, 2010 [EBook #33565] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 379px;"> +<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="379" height="600" alt=""LAUGH IF YOU LIKE; I SHAN'T MIND. THE MORE RIDICULOUS +YOU MAKE IT THE SHORTER WORK IT WILL BE."—See page 244" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"LAUGH IF YOU LIKE; I SHAN'T MIND. THE MORE RIDICULOUS +YOU MAKE IT THE SHORTER WORK IT WILL BE."—<i>See page 244</i></span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BACHELORS</h2> + +<h4>A NOVEL</h4> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT</h2> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF</h4> + +<h4>"THE MOTH," "THE LEVER," "THE SPELL," ETC.</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 79px;"> +<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="79" height="100" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4>HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</h4> + +<h4>NEW YORK AND LONDON</h4> + +<h4>MCMXV</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>COPYRIGHT, 1915</h4> + +<h4>BY HARPER & BROTHERS</h4> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>THE BACHELORS</h2> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#X"><b>CHAPTER X</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XI"><b>CHAPTER XI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XII"><b>CHAPTER XII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XV"><b>CHAPTER XV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XX"><b>CHAPTER XX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXVI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXVII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXVIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXIX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXX"><b>CHAPTER XXX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXI"><b>CHAPTER XXXI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXII"><b>CHAPTER XXXII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXXIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXXIV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXV"><b>CHAPTER XXXV</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXXVI</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXXVII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXXVIII</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XXXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXXIX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#XL"><b>CHAPTER XL</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>They were discussing Huntington and Cosden when the two men entered the +living-room of the Club and strolled toward the little group indulging +itself in relaxation after a more or less strenuous afternoon at golf. +It was natural, perhaps, that no one quite understood the basis upon +which their intimacy rested, for entirely aside from the difference in +their ages they seemed far separated in disposition and natural tastes. +Cosden's dynamic energy had made more than an average golf-player of +Huntington, and in other ways forced him out of the easy path of least +resistance; the older man's dignity and quiet philosophy tempered the +cyclonic tendencies of his friend. The one met the world as an +antagonist, and forced from it tribute and recognition; the other, never +having felt the necessity of competition, had formed the habit of taking +the world into his confidence and treating it as a friend.</p> + +<p>These differences could not fail to attract the attention of their +companions at the Club as day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> after day they played their round +together, but this was the first time the subject had become a topic of +general conversation. The speaker sat with his back to the door and +continued his remarks after the newcomers came within hearing, in spite +of the efforts made by those around to suppress him. The sudden hush and +the conscious manner of those in the group would have conveyed the +information even if the words had not.</p> + +<p>"So you're giving us the once over, are you?" Cosden demanded, dropping +into a chair. "You don't mean to say that the golf autobiographies have +become exhausted?"</p> + +<p>"I never heard myself publicly discussed," added Huntington as he, too, +joined the party. "I am already experiencing a thrill of pleasurable +excitement. Don't stop. Connie and I are really keen to learn more of +ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Well," the speaker replied, with some hesitation, "there's no use +trying to make you believe we were listening to Baker's explanation of +how the bunkers have been located exactly where the golf committee knows +his ball is going to strike—"</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid!" Huntington exclaimed; "but don't apologize. I +congratulate the Club that the members are at last turning their +attention to serious things. 'Tell the truth and shame the +devil'—provided it is Connie, and not me, you are going to shame."</p> + +<p>"Don't mind me in the least," Cosden added. "My hide is tough, and I +rather like to be put through the acid test once in a while."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it isn't as bad as all that," the speaker<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> explained. "We love you +both, but in different ways, yet we can't make out just where you two +fellows hitch up. Now, that isn't <i>lèse-majesté</i>, is it?"</p> + +<p>"What do you think, Connie?" Huntington asked, lighting his pipe. "Is +that an insult or a compliment?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see that it makes much difference from this crowd. We don't +care what they say about us as long as they pay us the compliment of +noticing us. That's the main point, and I'm glad we've been able to +start something."</p> + +<p>"But why don't you tell us?" insisted the speaker. "You aren't +interested in anything Monty cares for except golf, and he hasn't even a +flirting acquaintance with business, which is your divinity, yet you two +fellows have formed a fine young Damon and Pythias combination which we +all envy. Why don't you tell us how it happened?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Cosden answered, serious at last and speaking with +characteristic directness. "I never stopped to think of it; but if we're +satisfied, whose concern is it, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"If friendship requires explanation, then it isn't friendship," added +Huntington. "Connie contributes much to my life which would otherwise be +lacking, and I hope that he would say the same of my relation to him."</p> + +<p>"Of course—that goes without saying; but neither one of you is telling +us anything. If you would explain your method perhaps we might become +more reconciled to some of these misfits lying around the Club—like +Baker over there—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We have a thousand members—" Baker protested.</p> + +<p>"What has that to do with the present discussion?"</p> + +<p>"Why pick on me?"</p> + +<p>"Which is the misfit in my combination with Monty?" Cosden demanded.</p> + +<p>"I'm not labeling you fellows," the speaker disclaimed—"I couldn't if I +tried; but each of you is so different from the other that such a +friendship seems inconsistent."</p> + +<p>There was a twinkle in Huntington's eye as he listened to the persistent +cross-examination. "We are bachelors," he said quietly. "That should +explain everything; for what is a bachelor's life but one long +inconsistency? If our friends were all alike what would be the need of +having more than one? This friend gives us confidence in ourselves, +another gives us sympathy; this friend gives us the inspiration which +makes our work successful, another is the balance-wheel which prevents +us from losing the benefit which success brings us. Each fills a +separate and unique place in our lives, and, after all, the measure of +our life-work is the sum of these friendships."</p> + +<p>The two responses demonstrated the difference between the men. William +Montgomery Huntington came from a Boston family of position where wealth +had accumulated during the several generations, each steward having +given good account to his successor. He had taken up the practice of law +after being graduated from Harvard—not from choice or necessity, but +because his father and his grandfather had adopted it before him. His +practice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> had never been a large one, but the supervision of certain +trust estates, handed over to his care by his father's death, entailed +upon him sufficient responsibility to enable him to maintain his +self-respect.</p> + +<p>It would have been a fair question to ask what Montgomery Huntington's +manner of life would have been if his father had not been born before +him. He lived alone, since his younger brother married, in the same +house into which the family moved when he was an infant in arms. Modern +improvements had been introduced, it is true, in the building just as in +the generation itself; but the walls were unchanged. The son succeeded +to the father's place in directorates and on boards of trustees in +charitable institutions, and he performed his duties faithfully, as his +predecessor had done. Now, at forty-five, he had reached a point where +he found it difficult to distinguish between his working and his leisure +hours.</p> + +<p>Cosden's heritage had been a healthy imagination, a robust constitution, +and an unbelievable capacity for work. Even his uncle Conover, from whom +he had a right to expect compensation for the indignity of wearing his +name throughout a lifetime, had left him to work out his own salvation. +His parents had never worn the purple, but, being sturdy, valuable +citizens, they spent their lives in fitting their son to occupy a +position in life higher than they themselves could hope to attain; and +Cosden had made the most of his opportunities. Seven years Huntington's +junior, he had succeeded in a comparatively short time in extracting +from his commercial pursuits a property which, from the standpoint<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> of +income, at least, was hardly less than his friend's. He, too, was a +product of the university, but his name would be found blazoned on the +annals of Harvard athletics rather than in the archives of the Phi Beta +Kappa. His election as captain of the football team was a personal +triumph, for it broke the precedent of social dominance in athletics, +and laid the corner-stone for that democracy which since then has given +Harvard her remarkable string of victories. The same dogged +determination, backed up by real ability, which forced recognition in +college accomplished similar results in later and more serious +competitions. In the business world he was taken up first because he +made himself valuable and necessary, and he held his advantage by virtue +of his personal characteristics.</p> + +<p>Cosden was not universally popular. He won his victories by sheer force +of determination and ability rather than by diplomacy or finesse. In +business dealings he had the reputation of being a hard man, demanding +his full pound of flesh and getting it, but he was scrupulously exact in +meeting his own obligations in the same spirit. To an extent this +characteristic was apparent in everything he did; but to those who came +to know him it ceased to be offensive because of other, more agreeable +qualities which went with it. They learned that, after all, money to him +was only the means to an end which he could not have secured without it.</p> + +<p>To the man whose ruling passion is his business it is natural to measure +himself and his actions by the same yardstick which has yielded full +return in his office; to him whose property stands simply as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> counter +and medium of exchange the measure of life is inevitably different. The +good-natured chaffing at the Club was forgotten by Huntington before he +stepped into his automobile, but it still remained in Cosden's mind. As +the car rolled out of the Club grounds he turned to his companion.</p> + +<p>"Monty," he said, "what is there so different about us that it attracts +comment?"</p> + +<p>"We should have found out if you hadn't snapped together like a steel +trap. There was the chance of a lifetime to learn all about ourselves, +and you shut them off by saying, 'If we're satisfied, whose concern is +it, anyhow?'"</p> + +<p>"Of course we are different," Cosden continued; "that's only natural. No +two fellows are alike. I wonder if what you said about our being +bachelors hasn't more truth than poetry in it.—Give me a light from +your pipe."</p> + +<p>"What is the connection?"</p> + +<p>Cosden suddenly became absorbed and gave no sign that he heard the +question. When he spoke his words seemed still more irrelevant.</p> + +<p>"Monty," he said seriously, "I want you to take a little trip with me +for perhaps two or three weeks, or longer. What do you say?"</p> + +<p>Huntington showed no surprise. "It might possibly be arranged," he said.</p> + +<p>Again Cosden relapsed into silence, puffing vigorously at his cigar as +was his habit when excited. Huntington watched him curiously, wondering +what lay behind.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever try smoking a cigar with a vacuum cleaner?" he asked +maliciously. "They say it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> draws beautifully, and consumes the cigar in +one-tenth the time ordinarily required by a human being."</p> + +<p>Cosden was oblivious to his raillery. "What do you think of marriage?" +he demanded abruptly.</p> + +<p>The question, and the serious manner in which it was asked, succeeded in +rousing Huntington to a point of interest.</p> + +<p>"What do I think of— So that's the idea, is it, Connie? That's why you +picked me up on what I said about bachelors? Good heavens, man! you +haven't made up your mind to marry me off like this without my consent?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not," Cosden answered, with some impatience; "but what do you +think of the idea in general?"</p> + +<p>Huntington looked at his companion with some curiosity. "Well," he said +deliberately, "if you really ask the question seriously, I consider +marriage an immorality, as it offers the greatest possible encouragement +to deceit."</p> + +<p>Cosden sighed. "You are a hard man to talk to when you don't start the +conversation. I really want your advice."</p> + +<p>"Would it be asking too much to suggest that you throw out a few hints +here and there as to the real bearing of your inquiry, so that I may +come fairly close on the third guess?"</p> + +<p>"I've decided to get married," Cosden announced.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" The words brought Huntington bolt upright in his seat. "You +don't really mean it?"</p> + +<p>"That's just what I mean. It occurred to me on the way home from the +office last night. What<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> you said about a bachelor's life being an +inconsistency reminded me of it. I believe you're right."</p> + +<p>Huntington regarded him for a moment with a puzzled expression on his +face; then he relaxed, convulsed with laughter. Cosden was distinctly +nettled.</p> + +<p>"This doesn't strike me as the friendliest way in the world to respond +to a fellow's request for advice on so serious a subject."</p> + +<p>"You don't want to consult me," Huntington insisted, checking himself; +"what you need is a specialist. When did you first feel the attack +coming on? Oh, Lord! Connie! That's the funniest line you ever pulled +off!"</p> + +<p>"Look here," Cosden said, with evident irritation; "I'm serious. With +any one else I should have approached the subject less abruptly, but I +don't see why I should pick and choose my words with you.</p> + +<p>"And the trip"—Huntington interrupted, again convulsed—"'for two or +three weeks, or longer'? Is that to be your wedding-trip, and am I to go +along as guardian?"</p> + +<p>The older man's amusement became contagious, and Cosden's annoyance +melted before his friend's keen enjoyment of the situation.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, have your laugh out," he said good-naturedly. "When it's all +over perhaps you'll discuss matters seriously. Can you advance any sane +reason why I should not marry if I see fit?"</p> + +<p>"None whatever, my dear boy, provided you've found a girl who possesses +both imagination and a sense of humor."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have reached a point in my life where I can indulge myself in +marriage as in any other luxury," Cosden pursued, unruffled by +Huntington's comments. "I've slaved for fifteen years for one definite +purpose—to make money enough to become a power; and now I've got it. Up +to this time a wife would have been a handicap; now she can be an asset. +After all is said and done, Monty, a home is the proper thing for a man +to have. It's all right living as you and I do while one's mind is +occupied with other things, but it is an inconsistency, as you say. +Now—well, what have you to put up against my line of argument?"</p> + +<p>"Am I to understand that all this, reduced to its last analysis, is +intended to convey the information that you have fallen in love?"</p> + +<p>"What perfect nonsense!" Cosden replied disgustedly. "You and I aren't +school-boys any more. We're living in the twentieth century, Monty, and +people have learned that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between love +and indigestion. I won't say that marriage has come to be a business +proposition, but there's a good deal more thinking beforehand than there +used to be. A woman wants power as much as a man does, and the one way +she can get it is through her husband. It's only the young and +unsophisticated who fall for the bushel of love and a penny loaf these +days, and there are mighty few of those left. Get your basic business +principles right to begin with, I say, and the sentimental part comes +along of itself."</p> + +<p>Huntington was convinced by this time that Cosden was seriously in +earnest. He had believed that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> he knew his friend well enough not to be +surprised at anything he said or did, but now he found himself not only +surprised, but distinctly shocked. He had joked with Cosden when he +first spoke of marriage, but in his heart he regarded it with a +sentimentality which no one of his friends suspected because of the +cynicisms which always sprang to his lips when the subject was +mentioned. He believed himself to have had a romance, and during these +years its memory still obtained from him a sacred observance which he +had successfully concealed from all the world. So, when Cosden coolly +announced that he had decided to select a wife just as he would have +picked out a car-load of pig iron, Huntington's first impulse was one of +resentment.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that you are proposing a partnership rather than a +marriage," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"What else is marriage?" Cosden demanded. "You've hit it exactly. I +wouldn't take a man into business with me simply because I liked him, +but because I believed that he more than any one else could supplement +my work and extend my horizon. Marriage is the apotheosis of +partnership, and its success depends a great deal more upon the +psychology of selection than upon sentiment."</p> + +<p>Huntington made no response. The first shock was tempered by his +knowledge of Cosden's character. It was natural that he should have +arrived at this conclusion, the older man told himself, and it was +curious that the thought had not occurred to Huntington sooner that the +days of their bachelor companionship must inevitably be numbered. There +was nothing else which Connie could wish for now:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> he had his clubs, his +friends, and ample means to gratify every desire; a home with wife and +children was really needed to complete the success which he had made. He +had proved himself the best of friends, which was a guarantee that he +would make a good husband. Huntington found himself echoing Cosden's +question, "Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Have you selected the happy bride, Connie?" he asked at length, more +seriously.</p> + +<p>"Only tentatively," was the complacent reply. "I met a girl in New York +last winter, and it seems to me she couldn't be improved upon if she had +been made to order; but I want to look the ground over a bit, and that +is where you come in. Her name is Marian Thatcher, and—"</p> + +<p>"Thatcher—Marian Thatcher!" Huntington interrupted unexpectedly. "From +New York? Why—no, that would be ridiculous! Is she a widow?"</p> + +<p>Cosden chuckled. "Not yet, and if she marries me it will be a long time +before she gets a chance to wear black. What put that idea in your +head?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," Huntington hastened to say. "I knew a girl years ago named +Marian who married a man named Thatcher, and they lived in New York."</p> + +<p>"She is about twenty years old—"</p> + +<p>"Not the same," Huntington remarked. Then after a moment's silence he +laughed. "What tricks Time plays us! I knew the girl I speak of when I +was in college, and I haven't seen her since her marriage. Go on with +your proposition."</p> + +<p>"Well, she and her parents went down to Bermuda last week, and it +occurred to me that if you and I just happen down there next week it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +would exactly fit into my plans. More than that, I have business reasons +for wanting to get closer to Thatcher himself. We've been against each +other on several deals, and this might mean a combination. What do you +say? Will you go?"</p> + +<p>"Next week?" Huntington asked. "I couldn't pick up stakes in a minute +like that."</p> + +<p>"Of course you can," Cosden persisted. "There's nothing in the world to +prevent your leaving to-night if you choose."</p> + +<p>"There's Bill, you know."</p> + +<p>"Well, what about Bill? Is he in any new scrape now?"</p> + +<p>"No," Huntington admitted; "but he's sure to get into some trouble +before I return."</p> + +<p>"Why can't his father straighten him out?"</p> + +<p>Huntington laughed consciously. "No father ever understands his son as +well as an uncle."</p> + +<p>"No father ever spoiled a son the way you spoil Bill—"</p> + +<p>Huntington held up a restraining hand. "It is only the boy's animal +spirits bubbling over," he interrupted, "and the fact that he can't grow +up. You and I were in college once ourselves."</p> + +<p>Huntington was never successful in holding out against Cosden's +persistency, and in the present case elements existed which argued with +almost equal force. He was curious to see how far his friend was in +earnest, and was this combination of names a pure coincidence? He +wondered.</p> + +<p>The car came to a stop before Huntington's house.</p> + +<p>"Well," he yielded at length, as he stepped out, "I presume it might be +arranged.—Let Mason take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> you home. You've given me a lot to think +over, Connie—"</p> + +<p>"This wouldn't break up our intimacy, you understand," Cosden asserted +confidently. "No woman in the world shall ever do that; and it will be a +good thing for you, too, to have a woman's influence come into your +life."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," Huntington assented dubiously; "but because you show symptoms +of lapsing is no sign that I shall fall from the blessed state of +bachelorhood. I supposed that our inoculation made us both immune, but +if the virus has weakened in your system I have no doubt that any woman +you select will have a heart big enough for us both."</p> + +<p>"If she hasn't, we won't take her into the firm," laughed Cosden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Huntington was unusually preoccupied during the period of dinner. Even +when alone he was in the habit of making the evening meal a function, in +which his man Dixon and his cook took especial pride. But to-night the +words of praise or gentle criticism were lacking, one course succeeding +another mechanically without comment of any kind. When Dixon followed +him up-stairs to the library with coffee and liqueur he found him with +his <i>Transcript</i> still unfolded lying in his lap; and, whatever may have +happened in the mean time, the same attitude of abstraction prevailed +when Dixon returned, three hours later, received his final instructions, +and was dismissed for the night. Cosden had undoubtedly dropped off into +that slumber which belongs by right to the man whose day has presented +him with a brilliant inspiration; but Huntington still sat alone, +absorbed in his own thoughts.</p> + +<p>The chronicler has already intimated that Huntington was possessed of a +sentimental nature, but were he to stop there he would understate the +real truth. Huntington was exceedingly sentimental—far more so than he +himself realized, which made it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> natural that his friends should be +deceived. He was a bachelor not from choice, as he would have the world +think, but from circumstance, and the absence of home and wife and +children represented the one lack in an otherwise entirely satisfactory +career. It was the only thing his father had not provided for him, and +he himself had not possessed sufficient energy to take the initiative.</p> + +<p>The conversation on the way home from the Club brought matters fairly +before Huntington's mental vision. One moment it seemed monstrous that +his friend of so many years' standing should deliberately announce his +intention of entering into an estate from which he himself must perforce +be barred, yet while the treachery seemed blackest Huntington found +himself acknowledging that it was the proper step for Cosden to take, +and admiring that characteristic which saved him from committing his own +mistake. Yet, if years before he had only—but herein lies the most +extraordinary evidence of Huntington's sentimentality. If the story were +told—and it can scarcely be called a story—it would begin and end like +Sidney Carton's in one long "what might have been."</p> + +<p>It was the mention of the name quite as much as the subject of their +conversation which started in motion all that mysterious machinery which +forces the present far out of its proper focus, disregards the future, +and brings into the limelight those events of the past which the +intervening years have magnified. No one can really explain it, and the +wise make no attempt. "Marian Thatcher," Cosden had said. She was Marian +Seymour when he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> known her, twenty-odd years before, and the Marian +he had known married a man named Thatcher right under the very noses of +the legion of admirers, himself included, who fluttered about her. Of +course it was only a coincidence, this combination of names, for the +girl Cosden spoke of was only twenty; but just as substances combined by +chemists in their laboratories begin to ferment and produce unwonted +conditions, so did the combination of those two names start in +Montgomery Huntington's brain that series of mental pictures which +caused him to forget that the hour had come when sane persons of his age +and disposition sought repose.</p> + +<p>This was not the first time that he had thus outraged Nature, and for +the selfsame cause. Not a year of the more than twenty had passed +without at least one mental pilgrimage to the shrine which had become +more and more sacred as time piled itself on time. Satisfied that he +alone was awake in the house, Huntington rose and drew a small table +before his chair, and with a key taken from his pocket unlocked the +drawer. It was a curious performance at that hour of night, and he +seemed to be filled with guilty apprehensions, for he glanced from time +to time at the closely-curtained door as if fearing interruption. The +lock yielded readily and the contents of the drawer lay in front of him. +Then, before seating himself again, he laid a fresh log on the open +fire, turned off the lights, and resumed his favorite seat, with the +table and the open drawer before him, illumined only by the flickering +glare from the fireplace.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>For a moment he threw himself back in his chair, shading his eyes with +his hand as if the mental picture was even more delectable than the +sight of the actual objects before him. Then he sat upright again, with +a deep sigh, and transferred from the open drawer to the top of the +table a most remarkable collection of articles, which seemed to belong +to any one else rather than to him.</p> + +<p>There was a long white glove, which he reverently unfolded and placed at +the further edge of the table-top; there was a bunch of faded flowers, +the dried petals of which fell softly onto the white glove in spite of +the delicacy of his handling; there was a yellowed envelope, from which +he drew a brief note, read it word by word, shook his head sadly, +replaced the note in its covering, and laid the envelope tenderly on the +table beside its fellow-exhibits. A piece of pink ribbon followed the +envelope, and then—fie! Monty Huntington! where did you get it?—then +came a pink satin slipper; and the exhibition was complete.</p> + +<p>The showman seemed well satisfied with what he saw before him, for he +reached across to his smoking-table and found as if by instinct a +well-burnt brier pipe, with stem of albatross wing, which he filled with +his own mixture of Arcady and puffed contentedly, his eyes fixed upon +the exhibits. Then the dim, flickering light and the incense of the +tobacco accomplished their transmogrification. No longer was he William +Montgomery Huntington, lawyer, man of affairs, director, trustee +and—bachelor; he was Monty Huntington, senior in Harvard College, back +in his rooms in Beck after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> his Senior Dance, stricken by the darts of +that roguish Cupid who shot his shafts from the soft tulle folds of the +gown worn that night by this same Marian, the casual mention of whose +name even now caused him to forget his age and position and the dignity +demanded in a bachelor of forty-five.</p> + +<p>The cloud of fragrant smoke concealed the fact that the long white glove +was empty now; the flickering light made golden the words of the brief +note which thanked him for the evening which his escort had made so +wonderful a memory in a young girl's heart; the faded flowers were +things of color and fragrance, more sweetly redolent because they had +risen and fallen with her breath of life; the pink ribbon seemed to have +a dance-card at one end and to be tied to a graceful wrist at the other; +and the slipper—yes, the slipper—the dreamer smiled as he recalled the +fleeting figure which flew up the brownstone steps behind her chaperon +when he had last seen her, in playful fearfulness because he had managed +to whisper in her ear that she was the sweetest, dearest, most +bewitching maiden he had ever seen. The slipper had dropped off, and +remained in his possession by right of capture since the owner would not +come outside the door to claim her own.</p> + +<p>He had intended to make this selfsame slipper the excuse for following +up what he was convinced was the romance of his life; but Marian Seymour +had already returned home to New York when he called three days later. +This was a disappointment, still at that moment it seemed but a +postponement after all, for he was sailing for Europe a fortnight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> hence +and could easily reach New York a day or two earlier than he had +planned. Thus far the idea was capital; but when the second call was +paid, with the pink slipper safely reposing in his pocket, he found that +the dainty foot to which the slipper belonged had stepped upon an ocean +steamer which sailed the day before.</p> + +<p>Even this second misadventure failed to dampen his ardor. Good fortune +had arranged for him to follow in her direction, and surely, when once +upon the same continent, the slipper would be a lodestone of sufficient +potency to draw together two souls such as theirs. Yet he returned six +months later without having had the expected happen, and soon after +landing he learned of her engagement to a Mr. Thatcher.</p> + +<p>There is a certain gratification which comes to the experienced man of +the world of twenty-two when he finds himself a martyr; and Monty +Huntington enjoyed this gratification to the utmost. He was +conscientious in believing himself to be wretchedly unhappy, but as a +matter of fact he had in the instant become a hero to himself. Women +were faithless: misogamists in prose and poetry had so chronicled the +fact, and he had already, at this early age, become the victim of their +perfidy. Marian Seymour should have known the depth of his love for her; +she should have known that he would have told her of his affection had +she given him the opportunity; and the mere fact that he had never so +declared himself was not of the slightest importance. She had +deliberately disregarded his impassioned though unexpressed sentiments +toward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> her, and had thrown herself away on a man he did not even know!</p> + +<p>Fortunately, Time treats with kindly hand those tragedies which are +imagined as well as those which actually exist. Each year added to the +luster of the memory. Marian Seymour herself would not have recognized +her own face could Huntington have translated it out of the figments of +his mind upon the crude medium of canvas. And, be it said, had +Huntington come face to face with the original during these years, it is +doubtful whether he would have recognized her; for the idealization had +become absolutely real to him. No sculptor had ever modeled hand and arm +so perfect as that which the yellowed glove had held; no foot was ever +shaped with graceful line equal to that which once the satin slipper had +incased. The faithlessness of woman had long since been forgotten, and +the sanctity of this romance, which might have been, provided all the +details which it would otherwise have lacked. Each year made it more +real, until now there was no doubt about it. Other men worshiped at the +shrine of departed dear ones with no greater sincerity than did +Montgomery Huntington revere this near-romance of his life.</p> + +<p>So, as he sat there, he was not the bachelor his friends considered him, +but rather a man bereft of wife and children. Cosden, knowing nothing of +this secret grief, had wantonly torn the veil aside and exposed the +wound. Yet, with the sorrow of the widower and the childless, there must +have come back to Huntington some memories which were not sad, for when +Dixon happened upon him in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> morning, soundly sleeping in his +favorite chair with this curious exhibit before him, and with a pink +slipper firmly grasped within his hand, there was a smile as if of +happiness upon his face. And Dixon, discreet valet that he was, showed +no surprise, a half-hour later, when he found the table and its strange +contents carefully put away without his aid, or when his master summoned +him to his room, where he appeared to be just rising as usual from a +sleep as restful as it had been unportentous.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Then I shall leave Bermuda feeling that my beautiful dream is wholly +incomplete."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Henry Thatcher spoke with a degree of resignation, but her tone +signified that the apparent retreat was only to gain strength for a +final advance which was sure to gain her point. She knew that this +discussion with her husband would end as all their differences of +opinion ended, and so did he. Perhaps his opposition was the inevitable +expression of his own individuality which every married man likes to +make a pretense of preserving; perhaps it pleased him to see his wife's +half-playful, half-serious attack upon his own judgment in gently +forcing him into a position where her wishes became his desires.</p> + +<p>"Better to have your dream incomplete than his privacy invaded," was the +apparently unmoved reply. "When an owner plants a sign, 'Private +Property,' conspicuously at the entrance to his estate, he is sure to +have some idea in the back of his head which is as much to be respected +as your curiosity is to be gratified."</p> + +<p>"It is a compliment in itself that we wish to see the grounds," she +persisted; "the owner, whoever he is, could not consider it otherwise."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A compliment which has evidently been repeated often enough to become a +nuisance—hence the sign."</p> + +<p>Marian Thatcher sighed heavily as she threw herself back in the +victoria. Her husband was holding out longer than usual.</p> + +<p>"I simply must see the view from that point," she declared; "and until I +can examine that gorgeous <i>bougainvillea</i> at closer range I refuse to +return to New York."</p> + +<p>"There!" laughed Edith Stevens, looking mischievously into Thatcher's +face, "that is what I call an ultimatum! Come, Ricky,"—speaking to her +brother—"let us walk back to the hotel. It will be humiliating to see +Marian disciplined in public!"</p> + +<p>"You all are making me the scapegoat," Marian protested. "You know that +you are just as eager to get inside those walls as I am. Look!" she +cried, leaning forward in the carriage. "Isn't that— Yes, it <i>is</i> a +century plant, and it's in bloom! Oh, Harry! you wouldn't make me wait +another hundred years to see that, would you?"</p> + +<p>"Let me be the dove of peace," Stevens suggested, manifesting unusual +comprehension and activity as he stepped out of the carriage. "I'll run +in and beard the jolly old lion in his den."</p> + +<p>Thatcher shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly, Marian clapped her hands +with delight, and Edith Stevens smiled indulgently as they settled back +to await the result of the embassy.</p> + +<p>This midwinter pilgrimage to Bermuda was the result of a sudden impulse +made while the Stevenses were their box-guests at the opera in New York +two weeks before. They had exhausted the superlatives<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> forced from their +lips by the dramatic transformation from December to June—from ice and +snow to roses and oleanders; they had followed the beaten track, +touching elbows with the happy bride and the inquisitive traveler, +seeing the sights in true tourist fashion; they had passed through the +stage of quiet contentment, satisfied to sit on the broad sun-piazza of +the "Princess" in passive lassitude, watching others experience what +they had seen, learning the regulation forms of recreation indulged in +by those who settled down more permanently. From the same point of +vantage they had watched the great sails of the pleasure-boats pass so +close beside them that they could have tossed pennies upon their decks; +they saw the gorgeous sunsets behind Gibbs' Hill, with the ravishing +changes of color and light and shade thrown upon the myriad of tiny +islands scattered picturesquely throughout the bay.</p> + +<p>Then the period of inaction turned into a desire to learn more deeply of +the beauties which the tourist never sees, and they poked through the +narrow "tribal" lanes and unfrequented roads on foot, on bicycles, or +<i>en voiture</i>, searching for the unexpected, and finding rich rewards at +the end of every quest. It was one of these expeditions which led them +to the highest rise of Spanish Point, where they stopped their carriage +before the entrance to a private estate, within the walls of which they +saw evidences of what the hand of man can do in supplementing Nature's +work.</p> + +<p>Presently Stevens could be seen coming toward them, waving his hat as a +signal for their advance. The driver turned in through the gateway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He's a mighty decent sort," Stevens announced as he met the approaching +vehicle. "Can't make out whether he's English or American, but he +offered no objections whatever."</p> + +<p>"There!" Marian cried triumphantly; "of course he feels complimented! If +his grounds were merely the commonplace no one would want to disturb his +'privacy,' as Harry calls it. Did you ever see such a spot?"</p> + +<p>"Wonderful!" echoed Edith, equally impressed by the luxuriant bloom on +either side of the driveway. "Thank Heaven here is a man who knows how +not to vulgarize flowers."</p> + +<p>As they reached the front of the coraline stone house the owner stepped +forward to greet them. He was a man of striking appearance, and his +visitors found their attention at once diverted from the beauty +surrounding them to the personality which manifested itself even in this +brief moment of their meeting. He was fairly tall, but slight, the +narrowness of his face being accentuated by the closely-cropped beard. +As he removed his broad panama he disclosed a heavy head of hair, well +turned to grey, which, with the darkness of his complexion, was set off +by the white doe-skin suit he wore. As he came nearer his visitors were +instinctively impressed by the expression of his face, for the high +forehead, the deep, restless, yet penetrating eyes, the refined yet +unsatisfied lines of the mouth, belonged to the ascetic rather than to +the cottager, to the spiritual seeker for the unattainable rather than +to the owner of an estate such as this.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you discounted my apparent inhospitality,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> he said, with +pleasant dignity. "The tourists would overrun me if I did not take some +such measure to protect myself; but I am always glad to welcome any one +whose interest is more than curiosity."</p> + +<p>"It is good of you to make a virtue out of our presumption," Marian +replied as their host assisted them to alight. Then their eyes met and +there was instant recognition.</p> + +<p>"Philip!" she cried in utter amazement. "Is it possible that this is +you—here?"</p> + +<p>The man bowed until his face almost touched the hand he still held, and +the surprise seemed for the moment to deprive him of power of speech. He +courteously motioned his guests to precede him through an arbor of +<i>poinsettia</i> into a tropical garden on a cliff overhanging the water.</p> + +<p>"Harry," Marian continued, still excited by her experience, "this is +Philip Hamlen—you've heard me speak so many times of him. My husband, +Mr. Thatcher, Philip," she added, as the two men shook hands; then she +presented him to the Stevenses.</p> + +<p>Outwardly Hamlen showed none of the confusion which Marian so plainly +manifested. He was the self-contained host, seemingly interested in the +coincidence of the unexpected meeting, but by no means exercised over +it.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to my Garden of Eden," he said, smiling, as the magnificent +expanse of cliff and sea greeted them—"thrice welcome, since to two of +us this is in the nature of a reunion."</p> + +<p>It was a revelation even in spite of their expectations. Involuntarily +the eye first took in the turquoise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> water and the crumbling, broken +shore-line undershot by the caves formed by the pounding of centuries of +waves against the layers of animal formation. Except for the great +dry-dock and the naval barracks across the entrance to Hamilton Harbor, +all seemed as Nature had intended it.</p> + +<p>Then, as the vision narrowed to its immediate surroundings, the visitors +realized how much art had accomplished in making the garden into which +their host had shown them seem so completely in harmony with the +brilliant setting of its location. They had thought of Bermuda as the +home of the Easter lily, not realizing that this is but a seasonal +incident; they could not have believed it possible to make the luxuriant +bloom of the tropical trees, shrubs, and flowers so subservient to the +beauty of their foliage, yet so marvelous a finish to the brilliancy of +the whole. The great rubber-tree extended its awkward branches in +exactly the right directions to add quaint picturesqueness; the +<i>poincianas</i>, as graceful as the rubber-tree was <i>gauche</i>, lifted their +smooth, bare branches like elephant trunks, from which the great leaves +hung down in magnificent clusters; the calabash, with its own ungainly +beauty, proved its right by exactly fitting into the landscape at its +own particular corner and the row of giant cabbage-palms stood like +sentinels, adding a quiet dignity suggestive of the East. Between these +and other massive trunks the smaller trees and flowering shrubs were +interspersed in so original and bewildering a manner that each glance +forced a new exclamation of delight. The night-blooming cereus crawled +like an ugly reptile in and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> out among the branches of the giant cedars, +but the bursting buds gave evidence that at nightfall they would redeem +the hideous suggestiveness of the trailing vine. Cacti and sago-palms +formed brilliant backgrounds for the lilies of novel shapes and colors, +and for the other flowers which vied with one another for preference in +the eye of their beholder.</p> + +<p>The conversation was commonplace in its nature, and in it Marian took +little part. The vivacity which usually made her conspicuous in any +group had entirely left her. Her interest in the view from the Point and +in the magnificent vegetation had vanished, and her eyes followed Hamlen +as he indicated each special beauty to his guests. Edith Stevens was the +only one who sensed the unusual; the men were too discreet or too +occupied by the novelty of their experience.</p> + +<p>"Do you mind, Harry," Marian said aloud, turning to her husband, "if the +gardener shows you around the grounds? It has been years since I last +saw Mr. Hamlen, and there are some matters I simply must talk over with +him."</p> + +<p>Nothing Marian Thatcher asked or did ever surprised her husband or her +friends. The abruptness of the question, and the certainty she +manifested that her request would at once be complied with, were +characteristic. In the present instance, however, it was obvious that +the unexpected meeting touched some hidden spring which took her back to +a time in her life before they themselves had claims upon her, and they +respected her desire to be alone with her revived friendship. A few +moments later,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> with jocose chidings that she had appropriated for +herself the chief attraction of the estate, they moved off under the +guidance of the gardener, who was proud of the interest manifested in +the results of his work in carrying out his master's plans.</p> + +<p>"Please don't come back for at least half an hour," Marian called after +them. Then she turned to her companion.</p> + +<p>"So this is where you disappeared to?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen bowed his head. He was not so careful now to conceal his +emotions, and it was evident that old memories were stirred within him, +as well.</p> + +<p>"Could I have found a more beautiful exile?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"How many years have you been here?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"I left New York the week following the announcement of your engagement +to Mr. Thatcher. Perhaps you can figure it out better than I. Time has +come to mean nothing to me here."</p> + +<p>"That was in ninety-three," Marian said, reflecting,—"over twenty years +ago! You have been here ever since?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen hesitated before he answered. "I have been back to the States +only once—when my father died. I have made short excursions to London, +to Paris, to Berlin, to Vienna; but the world is all the same, and I was +always glad to return here, to this retreat."</p> + +<p>"Twenty years of solitude!" Marian repeated. "Don't tell me that it was +because of—"</p> + +<p>"I came here because I wanted to get away from every old association," +Hamlen interrupted hastily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> "I settled down here because I loved this +beautiful island—and I love it still."</p> + +<p>"But your friends, Philip—"</p> + +<p>A tinge of bitterness crept into his voice. "Friends?" he repeated after +her. "What friends did I ever have whom I could regret to leave behind?"</p> + +<p>"I know," she admitted, striving to ease the pain her words had +inflicted; "but your father—and your classmates."</p> + +<p>"Yes—my father. I was wrong to leave him. Had I waited but two years +longer, I should have left behind me no ties of any kind. But the good +old pater understood me; he was the only one who ever did."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you kept in touch with any one at home?"</p> + +<p>"This is 'home,'" he corrected.</p> + +<p>"Not for you, Philip," she insisted. "This is a Garden of Eden, as you +yourself called it, this is a dream life of sunshine and the fragrance +of flowers, this is the home of the lotus-eaters, for the present moment +enticing men—and women, too—away from the stern pursuits of life; but +it is not 'home' for such as you."</p> + +<p>"I have found it all you say and more," Hamlen replied firmly; "but it +has not been the life of inactivity which you suggest. The very things +which tempted you to turn in here from your drive show that my years of +patient study and experiment have not been altogether in vain. Inside +the house I have my library, which can scarcely be equaled in the +States. There I keep up my work more assiduously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> than I could possibly +have done elsewhere. The literature of the past belongs to me, for I +have made it part of myself. I know Homer, Vergil, Dante, Shakespeare, +not as books only, but almost word for word. I can speak five languages +as well as my own. Is this the existence of the lotus-eater, Marian? Is +this merely the dream life of sunshine and of flowers?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him long before replying. Then she rested her hand gently +upon his arm.</p> + +<p>"It's the same Philip, isn't it?—the same old Philip who refused, over +twenty years ago, to recognize the real significance of life? The same +Philip—older, more refined by the chastening of time, more polished by +the refinement of accomplishment, but with his eyes still closed to the +difference between the means and the end."</p> + +<p>The expression on Hamlen's face showed that he failed utterly to +comprehend.</p> + +<p>"Why had you no friends to leave behind you?" she asked abruptly, +realizing the cruelty of her question, but determined to make him see +her point.</p> + +<p>"Because no one understood me," he answered doggedly.</p> + +<p>"Was it their failure to understand you, or your failure to give them +the opportunity?"</p> + +<p>"Both, perhaps. I had no time to fritter away in college; most of the +men did."</p> + +<p>"There you are! Can't you see what I mean? The particular things the +fellows did there were forgotten within twenty-four hours, but the +friendships formed while doing them have endured throughout their lives. +The 'things' were the means, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> experience was the end. What +friendships can you have here?"</p> + +<p>Instead of answering her, Hamlen rose and motioned silently that she +precede him through the arbor and up the path to the edge of the cliff.</p> + +<p>"Do you think I can be lonely while I hear the surge of that great ocean +upon my shore?" he demanded. "Do you think I miss the friendships which +so often bring sorrow in their wake while I can conjure up from the past +the most glorious friends the world has ever known, visit with them, +argue over my pet theories, and give them all this setting here whose +counterpart can never be surpassed?"</p> + +<p>She smiled sadly in reply. "You have built your life upon the same basis +as this island itself," she said—"upon the foundations of what is dead +and past. You have argued with yourself until you have come to believe +the fallacy you preach—that you, an Anglo-Saxon, can be content with +such a life as this. Are you true to your responsibilities? Are you—"</p> + +<p>"What do I owe the world?" he interrupted. "I ask from it nothing but +peace and solitude, and surely even the most insignificant has a right +to that without incurring responsibilities. Why, Marian, I stand here +upon this Point, as the little steamers leave their trail of smoke +behind them, and thank God that for one day, three days, a week, we are +cut off from the world. There is nothing I love so much as this +separation from my fellow-men."</p> + +<p>"Then how fortunate, after all—" she began, but he interrupted her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That is another story," he insisted. "I am speaking of what life means +to me to-day, not what it might have meant under other circumstances."</p> + +<p>They strolled slowly back into the garden and settled themselves upon a +stone seat which commanded a superb view of the surrounding country. It +was her heart rather than her eyes which controlled Marian now, and she +saw before her nothing but this man-grown boy, who at an earlier time in +her life had exercised an absorbing influence upon her. It was her +heart, still loyal to the friendship which remained, struggling to find +the right word which should start in motion the machinery to bring the +latent potentiality into action.</p> + +<p>"Your ideas are no different now than then," she said at length, "except +that time has intensified them. You used to compare what you found in +books with what you found in life, to the distinct disadvantage of the +realities."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Hamlen admitted; "and it is just as true to-day."</p> + +<p>"Do you know why?" she demanded pointedly.</p> + +<p>"Because life is so full of insincerity."</p> + +<p>"No," she protested, "you are wrong, absolutely wrong. The real reason +lies in you. You have always given of yourself in your intellectual +pursuits, and have received in kind. In your relations with life you +have never given of yourself, and again you have received in kind. +Philip, Philip! why don't you study yourself as you do your books, and +even now learn the lesson you need to know?"</p> + +<p>"Was that why—back there—" he began.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>She paused for a moment as the conversation took her back to the earlier +days.</p> + +<p>"You thought me changeable," she evaded the question; "but for that you +yourself were responsible. You drew me to you with irresistible force, +then repelled me by your intolerance of all those lighter interests +which were natural to youth of our age. Your letters stimulated my +ambition, your conversation stirred in me all that was best; but as soon +as we were separated I felt a lack which for a long time I was unable to +understand."</p> + +<p>"Why did you come," he asked, "to awaken these memories I have tried so +hard to forget?" but she seemed not to hear him.</p> + +<p>"Then I realized what a dream it was," she continued. "Music to you +meant canon and fugue, counterpoint and diminished sevenths; to me it +was the invitation to dance. You had no friends, and I was frightened +by your willingness to be alone. You had nothing in common with me +or my friends; you gave my heart nothing to feed upon except +intellect—intellect, and I found myself one moment beneath its hypnotic +influence, the next striving to break away from its oppression. Perhaps +this was what you had in mind, Philip, that we two run off to some +island such as this, to spend our lives in Utopia, alone except for +ourselves and your books."</p> + +<p>"For me, that would have been all I could have asked."</p> + +<p>"But no one, Philip, can live on that alone. We need to draw from our +companionship with others in order to give of it to each other. And you +forget"—she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> smiled mischievously—"that when Aristotle begins to bore +you he can be placed back upon the shelf. You couldn't do that with a +wife! Admit, dear friend, that I or any other woman would have made you +utterly wretched."</p> + +<p>"I will admit that of any woman other than you."</p> + +<p>They rose as by mutual impulse and strolled about the garden for several +moments in silence, the thoughts of each centered upon the past.</p> + +<p>"See this wild honey." Hamlen touched the curiously formed leaf. "It +took me months to make it twine about that tree."</p> + +<p>"How long would it have taken to make a baby's fingers twine about your +heart?" Marian asked meaningly.</p> + +<p>A twinge of pain shot across his face. "Have you—children?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Philip," she answered contritely. "Yes," in answer to his +question; "a daughter, whom you shall meet at the hotel, and a big, +strapping son. He's a senior at Harvard now, and his name is—Philip."</p> + +<p>Hamlen suddenly seized her hand and pressed it to his lips. "Your +husband won't begrudge me that," he said, with a quaver in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" Marian cried unexpectedly. "It is a relief to find even a +small defect in that intellectual armor of yours! Philip, you are a +humbug, and you deceive no one but yourself! It is not solitude which +you love, it is not friendship which you despise; it is simply that you +have made a virtue out of a condition which exists because you don't +know how to change it. Let me help you now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How can the leopard change his spots?" he demanded incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Go back with us when we sail for New York week after next. Leave things +here just as they are, and keep this wonderful spot as a retreat when +life becomes too strenuous. Harry and I will return here with you if you +wish us to, and will introduce so many serpents into your Garden of Eden +that you'll relegate us to the cliff while you take refuge in your +library. But between now and that time go back with us into that life +which is your life. Place yourself where you can feel the competition of +what goes on about you. Try pushing against the current, and learn the +joy of contact with something which opposes. Study the people around +you, and make friends—it's not too late, with your splendid personality +and with me to show you how. Come and get acquainted with your namesake. +Help him to learn from you what you can teach him better than any one I +know, and learn from him what his youthfulness can teach you. Will you +do it, Philip? Will you let this wonderful work you've done here be the +means and not the end? Will you put your accomplishments where they can +be of value, instead of hoarding them, as a miser does his gold?"</p> + +<p>He stood watching her wonderful animation as she spoke with a conviction +which swept him off his feet. In the past she had listened to him, and +he could but be conscious of the domination which his mind had held over +hers; now he knew their positions to be reversed. Was this what the +world had given her? And the boy—Philip, named after him. Why was it +that the lessons he had taught himself during<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> all these years proved so +inadequate to combat the yearning which he felt within him?</p> + +<p>Marian was not slow to sense the conflict in his heart, nor to follow up +her advantage.</p> + +<p>"What have you really accomplished, Philip?" she asked quietly. "Be +generous in sharing your splendid development with us."</p> + +<p>"I could not give this up," he protested.</p> + +<p>"Of course you couldn't, and you should not," she assented. "Give up +nothing, but simply add to what you have by assimilating from others. I +want you to know my husband, my children, and my friends, and I want +them to know you. Say that you will return with us, Philip."</p> + +<p>He gazed at her helplessly, then turned his head aside. The emotion +against which he had fought for twenty years had escaped from his +control, and he was ashamed that another should see what he knew his +face betrayed.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible," he said, when he was himself again; "it would not be +fair."</p> + +<p>"To whom?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"To you—or to your husband—"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! We all understand one another too well for that! It is the +boy who needs you and whom you need."</p> + +<p>Hamlen turned to her again. "The boy," he repeated after her—"Philip! +You would let him come into my life?"</p> + +<p>"I desire nothing so much," she answered resolutely, a great joy surging +in her heart as she seemed to see the barrier between him and life +crumbling before her attack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Would the boy permit it? I might not be able—"</p> + +<p>"Let me be judge of that," she smiled.</p> + +<p>The man passed his hand wearily over his eyes as Mrs. Thatcher watched +his uncertainty with fearfulness and yet with eager expectancy. She knew +that she could say no more, that there was danger in bringing further +pressure upon this spirit already extended to its extremest tension; and +yet she longed to take advantage of what she had gained in awakening the +latent human element and in disturbing the complacency which habit had +established upon premises so false.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Marian!" Hamlen cried at length, in a voice so full of suffering +that it staggered her; "the world is not to be trusted even when you +hold it up so temptingly before me. It always has been false and always +will be so for me. Each time I have given it the chance it has struck me +a harder blow than before. No, Marian, I can't expose myself again. If I +could make myself a part of some one else—if this boy— No, no! I +couldn't take the risk. You mustn't ask me. You mean it kindly, but—"</p> + +<p>"Trust me," Marian said softly. "Come," she continued, nodding in the +direction of the returning party. "I will tell Harry that you are dining +with us to-night at the 'Princess.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was in the long, spacious dining-room of the "Princess" that Cosden +pointed out the Thatcher party to Huntington, and Hamlen was with them. +Naturally enough Huntington's eyes first rested on the girl's face, and +in it he found enough that was reminiscent to cause a start. It was +Marian Seymour as she must have looked when he knew her, but not at all +as he had come to think of her during the intervening years. How +ridiculously young she was! But Huntington had discovered that young +people were getting to look younger every year now. It almost annoyed +him, whenever he went to Cambridge to straighten out some mix-up of +nephew Billy's, to see how much smaller and younger the students were +to-day than when he was there. He remembered distinctly that he and his +mates had been men when he was in college; but the present generation +was made up of youngsters who should not be allowed abroad without their +nurses.</p> + +<p>Miss Thatcher, whom Cosden pointed out to him, came within the same +category. She carried herself with a dignity not always seen in girls of +her age, but she was undeniably young. Then his glance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> passed from her +to the older woman whom he took to be her mother, and he found himself +guilty of staring shamelessly. This was undoubtedly the Marian Seymour +of sainted memory, now delightfully matured into an extremely attractive +matron of thirty-eight or forty. The slight figure had changed but +little from what he remembered; the face still showed traces of its +former mischievous vivacity, even though it had become more decorous. +Such changes as he saw were only those which come in the natural +development of a charming girl into a well set-up woman of the world. So +this was the genius who would have presided over his household if he had +happened to find her at home upon either of those two momentous +occasions, or if he had happened to discover her in Europe on that +eventful trip and had happened to tell her of his devotion, and, +incidentally, she had happened to respond to his declaration of undying +affection.</p> + +<p>His inspection was as complete and analytic as the distance between the +two tables would permit. She was a fascinating woman, he acknowledged, +and yet—she was so different from what he had pictured her. The wife +with whom he had mentally lived these twenty years he himself had +created out of the all-too-scanty materials of memory, added to +substantially by what his imagination had skilfully selected of what he +thought she ought to be. He had not been more successful in his creation +than Nature herself, he was forced to admit, but while looking at Mrs. +Thatcher he experienced the mortifying sensation of being a +self-convicted bigamist.</p> + +<p>Curiously, he had never thought of her as growing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> older along with him. +His glance returned to the daughter's face, and in it he found a closer +semblance to what his mind had pictured. She was more mature than her +mother had been, yet she possessed many of the same physical +characteristics. Was it possible that she might have been his daughter? +Here came the third distinct shock. For the first time he had something +against which to measure his own age, and involuntarily he touched his +heavy head of hair to reassure himself that baldness, that advertisement +of advancing years, had not overtaken him in the moment.</p> + +<p>"Well," Cosden interrupted his reveries; "I'm waiting to hear your first +impressions."</p> + +<p>Huntington started guiltily, as if his friend had witnessed the +gymnastics his mind had executed. It was natural that Cosden, being +nearest to him, should come in for the force of the reaction.</p> + +<p>"How do you suppose I can express an opinion on a girl half-way across a +room the size of this?" he answered with as much asperity as ever crept +into the evenness of his tone.</p> + +<p>Cosden looked up surprised. "Why, Monty!" he expostulated, "don't get +peevish!"</p> + +<p>"Don't bother me with foolish questions," was the ungracious rejoinder. +"I'm studying the situation. Later I'll give you my impressions."</p> + +<p>"But you've seen her," Cosden persisted. "What do you think of the +perspective?"</p> + +<p>"She is very young," Huntington replied, regaining his composure and +realizing that to fall in with Cosden's mood was easier than to explain +his own.</p> + +<p>"She's twenty—just the right age for a man thirty-eight,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> was the +complacent reply. "I've figured it all out. A woman grows old faster +than a man, and eighteen years is just the proper handicap."</p> + +<p>"Which is her husband?" Huntington asked.</p> + +<p>"Her husband?" Cosden repeated after him.</p> + +<p>"I mean her mother's husband," Huntington corrected hastily; "which one +is Mr. Thatcher?"</p> + +<p>"The man with the smooth face; I don't know the others. We'll meet them +later."</p> + +<p>As the party left the dining-room Mr. Thatcher recognized Cosden and +fell behind to greet him.</p> + +<p>"Well met!" he exclaimed cordially, after being presented to Huntington. +"It is a relief to see some one I know. Down here on a vacation trip, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Why—yes," Cosden hesitated, seeing some deeper meaning behind the +bromidic question; "that is, I thought so until I saw you. Now I'm not +quite sure."</p> + +<p>Thatcher laughed. "I had the same idea, but I can't seem to get away +from business; it pursues me! I've stumbled onto something—not very +tremendous, but still it may be a good thing. I'd be glad to have you +look it over with me if you care to. We'll discuss it later if you don't +object to talking shop during leisure hours."</p> + +<p>Cosden's face assumed that keen, resourceful expression which his +friends knew so well. "I'm never too much at leisure to discuss +business," he said.</p> + +<p>"Good! Now, when you and Mr. Huntington have finished dinner, join us on +the piazza and we'll all have our coffee together."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huntington looked at his friend significantly as Thatcher moved away. "I +didn't come down here on a business trip," he suggested.</p> + +<p>"It won't interfere with you at all," Cosden reassured him. "Thatcher is +a big man, and has a good eye for things. What he has in mind may be +well worth looking into."</p> + +<p>"So long as you don't let it divert us from our main purpose I won't +object," Huntington conceded gravely; "but the spirit of the chase is on +me, and I can't mix sport and business. This is the first time I have +ever approached a girl from a matrimonial point of view, even +vicariously. I'm beginning to enjoy it and I refuse to be thrown off the +scent."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>There is no moon like a Bermuda moon. The contrast between its soft yet +brilliant light—as it fell first upon the harbor, throwing the islands +into silhouette, then flooding the piazza—and the electric glare, out +of which the two men stepped ten minutes later, made a deep impression +upon Huntington. The eyes of his friend, however, were focused upon the +little party, chatting merrily about the table, awaiting their arrival.</p> + +<p>"I had them postpone our coffee," Thatcher explained as he presented +Cosden to the Stevenses and to Hamlen, and Huntington to each. "We shall +enjoy it the more for having you with us."</p> + +<p>Huntington found himself sitting between the daughter and Hamlen, while +Cosden sat next to Mrs. Thatcher across the table. There had been no +recognition, and Huntington was glad of it; he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> preferred to introduce +the subject in his own way and at his own time. The girl, however, had +already discovered a bond.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you Billy Huntington's uncle?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he admitted; "but where in the world did you meet him?"</p> + +<p>"He is a particular friend of my brother Philip's," she explained. +"Philip is a year ahead of him at Harvard, you know, but they are great +pals. My brother always has him at the house whenever he's in New York."</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" laughed Huntington. "The young rascal never told me +anything about it! But wait a minute—Phil Thatcher—why, of course! +Billy has had him in to dine with me several times. So he's your +brother!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I was sure I was right," she smiled. "We're friends already, +aren't we?"</p> + +<p>"We are," Huntington acquiesced gravely; "and I shall do something +particularly nice for Billy to show my appreciation of what he has done +for me."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher caught the general drift of her daughter's conversation, +and she leaned across the table.</p> + +<p>"Are you not a Harvard man, Mr. Huntington?" she asked. "If so, you and +Mr. Hamlen must have been in college at about the same time."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Huntington replied; and turning to Hamlen he gave the year of his +graduation.</p> + +<p>"That was my Class also," was the reply; but there was nothing in +Hamlen's manner to invite reminiscence.</p> + +<p>"Hamlen—Philip Hamlen," Huntington repeated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> meditatively. "I don't +believe we knew each other, did we? But the name is familiar. I have it! +You are the lost Philip Hamlen our Class Secretary has been searching +for; I have seen the name in the list of missing men each time a Class +Report has been issued. You must send him your history, my dear fellow. +We're proud of our Class, and we don't want to lose sight of a single +member."</p> + +<p>There was a bitterness in Hamlen's voice as he replied. "My history +would interest no one; it is better that I remain among the 'missing +men.'"</p> + +<p>Huntington sensed at once what lay behind his classmate's response. "No +college graduate can afford to do that," he expostulated. "Whether one +wishes it so or not, he has accepted a heritage which carries with it +responsibilities, and these force him to his capacity for the honor of +his Class and of his Alma Mater."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher was following the conversation not only with interest, but +with a certain degree of anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington is right, Philip," she added; "you know that he is +right."</p> + +<p>Hamlen moved uneasily in his chair. "It is curious how much more +interested our classmates become in us after we separate than while we +are together in college," he said significantly.</p> + +<p>"Why is it curious?" Huntington persisted. "Why is it not the natural +sequence of events?"</p> + +<p>"You could not understand." Hamlen spoke with rising emotion. "You had +everything in college; I had nothing. You remember my name only because +you've seen it listed amongst the 'missing men';<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> but I knew you the +moment I saw you. Back there you were Monty Huntington, manager of the +crew, member of all the exclusive societies, in everything, a part of +everything. Your classmates courted your acquaintance, and the four +years at Cambridge meant something to you. To me they meant nothing +except what I learned in the class-rooms. You as an alumnus owe all that +you say to the Class and to the Alma Mater, for both gave you much; I +owe them nothing, for they gave me nothing."</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow!" Huntington expostulated hastily, "forgive me for +touching on so tender a subject; yet I am glad I did, for it is only +fair that you let me set you right. The college world is a small one, +and its citizens are young, untried boys. They are sometimes selfish and +cruel and unreasonable without meaning it, while they are enjoying what +is to most of them their first freedom, and they are trying to conduct +themselves like full-grown men. There are heartburns which at the time +seem tragedies. Then the undeveloped citizens of this little world, the +biggest of them, pass out into the great world, for which the college +life is only a training-school, and become infinitesimal parts of it. +There the ratio becomes readjusted. What seemed essentials—like the +clubs, for instance, or athletics—become non-essentials as the men look +back upon them; become simply pleasant memories of delightful +companionship. The next few years represent the real trying-out period, +and each member of the Class measures up his fellow-members by what they +have done since college. The mere fact of being members of the same +Class is the bond. I don't care what you did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> in college, Hamlen; but I +sha'n't let you get away from me until you tell me what you've done +since, or until you promise that I shall see you when next you come to +Boston. The fact that I didn't know you in college makes me the more +keen to know you now."</p> + +<p>"I thank you a thousand times!" Mrs. Thatcher cried impulsively. "What +you have said in five minutes will do more to set Mr. Hamlen right than +weeks of argument from me. I found him to-day in a veritable paradise +which he has built here, and where he has lived alone practically since +he left college. I am trying to persuade him to come back into the world +again, and you can help me to accomplish it."</p> + +<p>Hamlen was visibly affected by Huntington's cordiality. "This has been a +bewildering day," he said. "For over twenty years I have lived alone, +nursing a resentment toward college and life in general until it has +come to be a religion. This afternoon Mrs. Thatcher finds me +unexpectedly and begins to batter down my defenses; now Mr. Huntington, +without realizing it, attempts to complete the demolition. Don't wonder +that I'm not myself to-night; but I thank my classmate for what he has +said, just as I thank Mrs. Thatcher for her earlier efforts."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington," Thatcher remarked, "you have given Stevens and me a +new idea of the value of a college degree. I wasn't especially keen +about having my boy go to college, but now, by George! I wouldn't have +it otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Huntington is a living propagandum for Harvard," Cosden said lightly, +realizing the desirability of leading the conversation into a less +serious channel.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> "My degree represents simply an additional tool to use +in carving out success, to him it means idolatry. If Huntington's house +was on fire, I should expect to see him climbing down the firemen's +ladder in his pink pajamas with his precious sheepskin under his arm +carried as tenderly as a mother would a child."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you may make light of it," Huntington replied good-naturedly, "but +Hamlen and I are treading on sacred ground. The one weakness of college +life is that the opportunities it offers come before we are competent to +appreciate or embrace them. That is what brings about the condition +which he has misunderstood. It would be much better if we all could have +two years of college when we're seventeen and the other two when we're +forty."</p> + +<p>The conversation drifted into smoother channels, but by the time the +party separated the acquaintance had developed to a point far beyond an +ordinary first meeting. Underneath it different elements were at work in +each one's mind and heart, put in motion by the unexpected intensity of +almost the earliest words which had been exchanged. Hamlen was the first +to leave. He said good-night casually to the group, but managed to +separate Huntington from the others.</p> + +<p>"You have done much for one of your classmates to-night," he said +simply. "I thank you for it."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" Huntington protested. "I'm more than delighted to have this +opportunity to know you—and I want to know you better."</p> + +<p>"Will you come to my villa some day this week?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen seemed to hang expectantly upon the answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of course," Huntington replied promptly. "If you hadn't asked me, I +should have come anyhow. It's an inherent right which I demand."</p> + +<p>Hamlen pressed his hand and turned to Mrs. Thatcher, who walked with him +to the door.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether to thank you or to curse you, Marian," he said +feelingly in a low voice. "Through you I have had more interjected into +my life in this single day than in the twenty-odd years which have +passed by. Is this the dawn of a to-morrow or the epitome of human +suffering? Are you my Genius or my Nemesis? Before God I ask the +question seriously. I myself cannot answer it."</p> + +<p>"Don't try," she answered, smiling; "let Time do that!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Cosden had been sitting on the hotel piazza half an hour when "Merry" +Thatcher emerged from the dining-room, gazed about the almost total +vacancy as if looking for some one, and then advanced, recognizing in +the solitary smoker an acquaintance of the night before.</p> + +<p>"I'm always the first one," she complained after greeting him. "We're +going sailing this morning, but I might have known that no one else +would be down for breakfast at anywhere near the appointed time."</p> + +<p>"Why not cheer me up while you're waiting?" Cosden suggested. "I formed +the habit of early rising years ago when I had to do it; now that I +don't have to, the habit still sticks."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington hasn't appeared yet?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>Cosden laughed, and then looked at his watch. "When you come to know Mr. +Huntington better you will admire his mathematical precision: he is +never late, but he never arrives a moment earlier than is necessary. The +breakfast hour is over at nine-thirty; at nine-fifteen you will observe +the gentleman leisurely strolling in the direction of his table,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> with +every detail of his morning dress perfectly adjusted, as if the world +had placed all its time at his disposal, when in reality he can just get +his order in and have it served hot."</p> + +<p>The girl smiled at the description of his friend. "Not many men are so +dependable," she commented.</p> + +<p>"There is only one William Montgomery Huntington," Cosden admitted +cheerfully. "It would be exactly the same if the closing of the +breakfast room was four-thirty instead of nine-thirty."</p> + +<p>The smile on her face changed to a deeper expression as she looked out +across the harbor. She turned to Cosden suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't he splendid last evening when he talked about the +responsibilities of college life! For the first time I wished I were a +boy!"</p> + +<p>"He is a very intense person on some subjects; that happens to be one of +them."</p> + +<p>The girl could not fail to interest Cosden, even if he were not already +attracted by his previous slight acquaintance, for the present mood +showed her at her best. The nickname "Merry," given to distinguish the +younger Marian from her mother, scarcely served as a descriptive +appellation, for underneath the girlish vivacity ran a serious vein +which gave her unusual poise, and made her seem older than she was. To +Cosden she appeared at that moment the embodiment of attractive +girlhood, for the big panama, almost encircling her face, well set off +the dark hair and the sympathetic brown eyes, while the color which +plainly showed in her cheeks, despite the depth of the complexion, gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +just the touch needed to heighten the effect. The soft lines of the +white flannel skirt and the pink silk sweater disclosed the youth and +litheness of the figure. Cosden was surprised to find himself noticing +these details so carefully, and accepted the fact as evidence that his +interest in the girl was even deeper than he had supposed.</p> + +<p>"I love intensity in men," she said simply; "so many seem ashamed to +show it no matter how strongly they may feel!"</p> + +<p>"That is due to the training of life," Cosden explained, caring little +what direction the conversation took so long as they became better +acquainted. "The higher up you go, the greater the repression. Diplomacy +is the climax of gentlemanly concealment of one's real feelings, and the +art among arts of courteous insincerity. In business, of course, there's +a reason—"</p> + +<p>"Can't a man be sincere in business?" she asked, looking at him with +eyes so deep and straightforward in their expression that he found the +question disconcerting.</p> + +<p>"Why,—of course," he stumbled; "but 'sincerity' isn't exactly a +business expression. If I let you know by my manner that I was eager to +buy something which you wanted to sell, or to sell something you wanted +to buy, it would naturally affect the price, wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Ought it to?" she persisted. "Why isn't that taking advantage?"</p> + +<p>Cosden smiled indulgently. "Some time, if you like, I will give you a +learned discourse on values and what affects them, but anything so +erudite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> now would take your mind off the gaieties of your sailing +trip."</p> + +<p>"Will you?" Merry exclaimed delighted. "Father always makes fun of me +when I ask serious questions. I am sure I should hate business, because +it seems always to be a question of taking advantage of some one else; +but I should like to know something about it."</p> + +<p>"You don't approve of taking advantage of some one else?"</p> + +<p>"It is exactly the opposite of what we are taught to consider right, +isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"How about bargain-sales when you are home?" Cosden asked with apparent +innocence. "Do you ever patronize them?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes," Merry replied frankly; "I frequently wait for them when I +want some particular thing, and my allowance is running low."</p> + +<p>Cosden laughed outright. "If consistency were really a jewel, then would +woman go unadorned!"</p> + +<p>"How in the world are you going to twist what I said into an +inconsistency?"</p> + +<p>"I'll let you make the demonstration yourself. Here is the problem: a +dealer, believing a demand to exist for a certain article, lays in a +stock to supply that demand. If you, and other dear ladies who really +intend to buy the article, purchased when he first offered it for sale, +his estimate of the demand would have been correct. But you all have +learned the habits of the shops, so instead of rushing to his counters +you play 'possum until the dealer really believes that he has +over-estimated the demand, and down goes the value to him and +consequently the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> price to you. Then you rush frantically from your +lairs and secure the article you have really wanted from the beginning +at a bargain price. Don't you admit that you are taking advantage of the +dealer?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you men do put things in such a disagreeable way!" Merry laughed. +"We have to do that to protect ourselves against the outrageous prices +they charge in the first place."</p> + +<p>"It's all a game," Cosden said seriously, "and a mighty fascinating one. +So long as you stick to the rules you may bluff all you choose, and the +best bluffer takes the blue chips."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I should hate it," Merry repeated. "I'm going to learn to be a +teacher, so that if some one outbluffs father I can fall back upon a +respectable pursuit."</p> + +<p>"Even then you'll still be in the bluffing game," chuckled Cosden. +"Think of the knowledge a teacher has to assume which he doesn't +possess!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed in despair. "Why be an iconoclast? You leave +me nothing but matrimony—"</p> + +<p>"The worst bluff of all," interrupted Huntington, stepping forward from +behind their chairs, immaculate in white flannels and a panama which +rivaled Merry's. "Seeing Mr. Cosden in an academic mood, I could not +resist the temptation to snare the nuggets of wisdom which fell from his +lips. This must be my excuse for eavesdropping."</p> + +<p>"There he is," Cosden said significantly to Merry. "You'd never dream +that he'd come within an ace of missing his breakfast, would you?"</p> + +<p>"Missing what?" Huntington demanded. "In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> what little pleasantry has my +friendly critic been indulging himself?"</p> + +<p>"Let the critic answer for himself," Cosden retorted. "I predicted to +Miss Thatcher the exact moment when you would appear, thus proving +myself a prophet."</p> + +<p>"You take yourself too seriously, Connie. You're no prophet, nor even +the son of a prophet; you're simply a good observer. Some men run a +block and then wait five minutes for a car; I learned years ago that it +was wiser to walk deliberately to the white post and arrive there at the +precise moment. But I don't let that car get away from me, my friend."</p> + +<p>"If my memory serves me right, Mr. Huntington, you were not always so +deliberate," remarked Mrs. Thatcher significantly.</p> + +<p>Huntington looked up quickly, unaware until then that the other late +breakfasters had followed so closely on his heels.</p> + +<p>"The night has been telling tales," he said.</p> + +<p>"It was stupid of me not to recognize you before," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Do you and Mother know each other?" Merry asked, much interested in the +new turn of the conversation.</p> + +<p>"Your mother," said Huntington gravely, "did me the honor to accept my +escort to our Senior Dance—I won't tell you how many years ago. She +deliberately broke my heart, sailed away to Europe, and then returned +and married your father, just out of pique. Now that you know the story +of my life, I ask you, why should I accelerate my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> motions, as my +captious companion seems to think I should, when your mother's quixotic +conduct deprived me years ago of all possible incentive?"</p> + +<p>"Then you are really the Monty Huntington I knew!" Mrs. Thatcher +exclaimed. "I was sure of it when you spoke of your Class to Philip +Hamlen."</p> + +<p>"I was sure it was you before you spoke at all," he said quietly. "I +recognized an aroma the moment I came into your presence—"</p> + +<p>"An aroma?" Mrs. Thatcher interrupted questioningly.</p> + +<p>"I know not whether it was fragrance or reminiscence, but either is +equally sweet."</p> + +<p>Huntington's gallantry, half assumed, half real, as it seemed to those +who heard his words, passed simply as a pleasantry with all except +Cosden, who knew his friend too well not to recognize the presence of +something deeper beneath the lightly spoken expressions. But Thatcher's +voice brought him back from his surmises.</p> + +<p>"We are counting on you both to join us," he insisted. "Our party will +be incomplete without you."</p> + +<p>"Please come," Mrs. Thatcher added. "For the last twenty-four hours I +have been renewing all my girlhood friendships, and poor Edith Stevens +here hasn't had a chance even to express an opinion. That for Edith is +real self-sacrifice."</p> + +<p>"Edith is sitting back and learning a thing or two," Miss Stevens +retorted calmly.</p> + +<p>"Do come and give her a chance to demonstrate," Mrs. Thatcher appealed.</p> + +<p>"I suppose bachelors are as necessary to the demonstration<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> as +guinea-pigs to the laboratory," Huntington said. "Come on, Connie; let +us take a chance."</p> + +<p>No truer statement had ever been made in jest than that the previous +twenty-four hours had been a period of self-sacrifice to Edith Stevens. +She was younger than Mrs. Thatcher, and their friends accused them of +accepting each other as foils to accentuate their contrasting +characteristics. Miss Stevens was slight and erect, and was always +gowned with a taste and skill which gave her an air of distinction; her +friend possessed such striking fascination of person and manner that she +gave distinction to any fashion she might adopt. Mrs. Thatcher's +activities accomplished results; Edith's seemed simply the expression of +an eternal unrest. The younger woman's hair was light, and her eyes +blue, while Mrs. Thatcher was a perfect brunette; and the approach of +the two women to the same subject was always from a different +standpoint. Yet they had been the closest of friends from school days.</p> + +<p>Except with Marian, Edith, as a rule, dominated the situation at all +times. Now, however, she found herself absolutely side-tracked, while +her friend occupied the center of the stage in the interesting character +of past or present object of admiration from three perfectly good men. +Men were a hobby with Edith Stevens. Her brother feelingly remarked that +the only reason she never married was that no individual male possessed +the composite attributes she demanded. To be one of three women, +surrounded by five men, and not to be able to command the attention of +any one of them except her brother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> was nothing less than irony. She had +tried flirting with Thatcher years before, and had long since given him +up in despair; Hamlen was annexed by Marian before she had even a chance +to compete, and of the two remaining eligibles Huntington suddenly +confessed himself a part of the flotsam her friend had left behind in +her beblossomed path toward the altar.</p> + +<p>"Take one more look at Mr. Cosden, Marian," she said maliciously, as the +little party walked slowly down the steps toward the yacht. "Perhaps he, +too, was an early admirer."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "No," she reassured her, "I'm sure he never +crossed my horizon until last night. I'll renounce all claims on him, +but don't you set your cap for Philip Hamlen; I have other plans for +him."</p> + +<p>"Where is Mr. Hamlen?" Edith demanded. "Didn't you invite him?"</p> + +<p>"No," Marian replied quickly. "It would be cruel not to give him time to +recover his balance after yesterday. Heigh ho!" she sighed. "I wonder +whether I'm glad or sorry that I found him here."</p> + +<p>"I've been waiting for a report on that reunion," Edith said +suggestively. "I haven't forgotten the letters which we used to read +together years ago."</p> + +<p>"Weren't they wonderful?" Marian exclaimed. Then she added, after a +pause, "I don't believe I realized until yesterday the depth of +suffering which a sensitive soul can reach."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The sailing-party disembarked at the landing steps of the "Princess" +shortly after six o'clock, and were greeted by a tall young man whose +face was almost concealed by the broad brim of his hat, turned down as +if to protect its owner from possible prostration from the sun. At the +opposite end of the young man the white trouser-legs were turned up at +least two laps higher than would have been expected, so that hat and +trousers together made a normal average. Below the turn-up of the +trousers showed a considerable expanse of white-silk hosiery, +terminating in spotless white buckskin shoes; below the down-turned +hat-brim was a grin which extended well across the boyish face. +Altogether, the young man warranted the attention he attracted.</p> + +<p>The skipper made so perfect a landing that the identity of those on +board was disclosed only at the last moment; but the single glance the +young man had was sufficient to reassure him, and he stepped forward +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Hello, everybody!" he cried cheerfully. "Wish you Happy New-Year!"</p> + +<p>Merry was the first to grasp the significance of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> excitement. "Why, +it's Billy Huntington!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Of course," he admitted, still grinning; "who else would charge down +here like a young dace just for the pleasure of wishing you the +compliments of the season?"</p> + +<p>The young man paused long enough to assist the ladies over the rail, +with a greeting to each.</p> + +<p>"There's your uncle," Merry said, nodding in the direction of the men; +"don't you recognize him?"</p> + +<p>"Surest thing you know," Billy answered, still hanging back. "I'm +waiting to see if he will recognize me, under all the circumstances."</p> + +<p>"Come here, you young rascal," Huntington responded to the implied +question as he stepped on the pier; "come here and give an account of +yourself."</p> + +<p>"Well," Billy replied slowly, clinging to the extended hand as a refuge, +"you see I didn't know Mr. Cosden came down with you, and it was +vacation, and I thought you'd be awfully lonely here without me—"</p> + +<p>"I see," his uncle said dryly; "it was all on my account."</p> + +<p>Billy seemed to feel the necessity of further explanation. "Of course I +knew Merry—the Thatchers were here. Phil told me—"</p> + +<p>"Too bad Philip couldn't have come with you," Mrs. Thatcher remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes; he went up to the Lawrences' house-party for over Christmas as he +planned."</p> + +<p>"How did you leave your worthy parents?" Huntington inquired.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p>A look of dismay passed over the boy's face. "I forgot to telegraph them +from New York, and I meant to cable just as soon as I arrived." Then an +expression of relief came to his assistance: "But they'll know I'm with +you—somewhere."</p> + +<p>Huntington sighed. "Another reckoning for me when I return!" he said +resignedly; "but it's worth it all to know that you 'charged down here +like a young dace' as soon as you realized your poor uncle's 'awful +loneliness.'"</p> + +<p>"Then it was you who tried to signal us from the tender?" Merry came to +his rescue.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I thought it was you; I wigwagged until I almost plunged +overboard. I've got to go back Monday, to reach Cambridge in time to +register, so I hated to lose a whole day out of three."</p> + +<p>"There's one thing about a college education which Mr. Huntington didn't +mention last evening," Thatcher remarked to Cosden as they walked toward +the bar for the anteprandial cocktail; "it gives a boy freedom of action +and breadth of imagination."</p> + +<p>"Huntington left out a whole lot of things he might have touched on," +Cosden said testily. "That's a topic on which we don't agree, and never +shall. There is a boy with many sterling qualities going to waste +because Monty has more wishbone than backbone in the matter of +discipline."</p> + +<p>"Don't get started on that, Connie," Huntington's voice came from the +rear. "I've no doubt it's deserved, but that boy keeps me from +remembering that my own days of irresponsibility are so far behind me. I +believe I enjoy him the more because I haven't a parent's duty to +perform."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's a sort of reciprocity without personal liability," laughed +Thatcher.</p> + +<p>"Exactly. I wonder sometimes if what we gain by experience is worth what +we lose in illusion.—Aren't you coming up-stairs to dress for dinner, +Billy?" Huntington continued, as his nephew and Merry walked past them, +engaged in an animated conversation.</p> + +<p>"Don't wait for me," was the prompt response. "I'm a bear at dressing, +and I'll be ready before Dixon has put in your collar-studs."</p> + +<p>"I feel easier down here since I know that you're off duty, too, and not +likely to upset my apple-cart while I'm away," Thatcher remarked to +Cosden with a smile. "Did you know, Mr. Huntington," he continued, +turning, "that your friend is a wrecker of other men's plans?"</p> + +<p>"It's the best thing he does," Huntington agreed promptly. "That exactly +explains my presence here."</p> + +<p>Cosden was immensely pleased by Thatcher's acknowledgment of his +importance, but he tried to carry it off lightly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well," he said indifferently, "you must let me have my innings once +in a while. I have to get to you sometimes to make up for other bouts +which I've been glad to forget."</p> + +<p>"You'll join us, of course," Thatcher added, to Huntington.</p> + +<p>"I can resist anything but temptation," Huntington replied soberly; "I +love the enemy."</p> + +<p>"This cocktail-drinking is a curious thing," Thatcher remarked. "In cold +weather we take it to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> warm us up, in warm weather to cool us off; when +we are depressed it is to cheer us, and when we're happy it's because we +want to celebrate. And there you are.—How about the Consolidated +Machinery deal?" Thatcher changed the subject abruptly, and spoke to +Cosden. "Are we going to fight each other on that?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid we'll have to," Cosden admitted frankly; "but I'll be glad +to talk it over with you. From here, the interests look too far apart +even to compromise."</p> + +<p>Cosden and Huntington went up in the elevator together, leaving Thatcher +on the piazza.</p> + +<p>"What the devil did that young cub show up here for just at this time?" +Cosden demanded.</p> + +<p>"Didn't you hear?" Monty explained innocently. "He wanted to cheer me up +in my 'awful loneliness.'"</p> + +<p>"Lonely fiddlesticks!" Cosden protested irritably. "Don't you grasp the +fact that his coming is going to mess things up?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no," Huntington said slowly, pausing at the door of his room to +give his friend opportunity to finish his remarks; "I can't for the life +of me see that."</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that it's Merry Thatcher the kid is making up to?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" Huntington exclaimed. "So that's the situation! It was stupid +of me not to understand."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's it; and I won't have it."</p> + +<p>"Of course you won't; but how are you going to stop it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's your job, Monty. It's up to you to send him about his business."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't appeal to me as a sporting proposition," Huntington said +after a moment's deliberation. "I didn't come down here to help you get +a corner in anything, but merely as an observer, and to give you expert +advice. Now you suggest a combination—trust, as it were—of two +full-grown men against a half-baked boy. It isn't worthy of you, Connie, +and I'm not sure that it isn't an illegal restraint of trade. Oh, no; I +couldn't think of it."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see you in the same situation just once," growled Cosden. +"Why the devil can't you send the boy home?"</p> + +<p>"If I did, he'd come back so quick he'd meet himself going away," +Huntington said gravely; "but as a matter of fact I understand that he +plans to go on Monday, and there's no boat sailing before then anyhow."</p> + +<p>He opened the door of his room and stepped inside.</p> + +<p>"I might add, Connie," he continued, "that if you're afraid to take +chances with a boy like that I don't feel much confidence in the final +outcome of your benedictine expedition."</p> + +<p>"I'm serious in this," Cosden snapped back. "My bump of humor evidently +got light-struck in the developing. Billy has twenty years ahead of him +to pick out a girl while I haven't, and he must understand that I mean +business."</p> + +<p>"Of course he must," agreed Huntington. "It hadn't occurred to me until +you spoke of it that there was the remotest chance of having Billy show +sense enough to become interested in any girl so well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> calculated to +make a man of him. In fact, I doubt very much whether his own intellect +has carried him so far. It's all right for you or me to contemplate +committing matrimony, but a young man, in these days of increasing cost +of everything, is likely to become a grandfather before he can afford to +be a father. Only the other day, Connie, the thought came to me that if +this high cost of living continues it will make death a necessity of +life."</p> + +<p>"You are evidently in no frame of mind to discuss anything serious now," +Cosden retorted; "I'll wait until after dinner."</p> + +<p>"Do!" Huntington's face brightened. "Look at the reproachful expression +on the bosom of that beautiful white shirt which Dixon has laid out for +me. Can't you almost hear the pathos in its tone as it asks to be +filled?"</p> + +<p>The door slammed, and Cosden's heavy tread could be heard as he +disgustedly retreated down the hall to his own room.</p> + +<p>One of the compensations of maturity is that the adjustment of proper +proportions comes more quickly than to youth. It may be that Cosden saw +the modicum of truth which lay beneath his friend's bantering; it may be +that he was ashamed to have shown any uncertainty in his mind as to the +final outcome of his embassy. At all events, he seemed to be in the best +of humor when he dined with Huntington and the boy, and even accepted +with good grace the unexpected announcement that Billy and Merry were to +"take in" the dance at the "Hamilton." It may be that he was determined +to demonstrate his strength of mind, for when the little party +reassembled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> on the piazza, and the young people disappeared soon after +the coffee, he devoted himself to Edith Stevens with an assiduity which +caused Huntington to smile quietly to himself. Stevens and Thatcher, +finding the ladies well provided for, went down-stairs for a game of +billiards. Mrs. Thatcher cheerfully accepted Huntington's invitation to +stroll to the pier, leaving Miss Stevens and Cosden by themselves.</p> + +<p>"I've made an appointment for you on Monday morning," Thatcher remarked +to Cosden as he passed by.</p> + +<p>"Good! I'll keep it," was the prompt response.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of Marian's resurrection?" Edith asked him when they +were alone.</p> + +<p>Cosden looked in the direction of the pier. "Do you mean—" he began.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" she interrupted him. "That is merely a revival, which I +imagine may develop into an experience meeting. I mean Mr. Hamlen. Think +of a devotion that forces a man to bury himself for twenty years! I +could throw myself on his neck for restoring my lost belief in the +constancy of man."</p> + +<p>"I hadn't heard that side of the story," Cosden observed.</p> + +<p>"It was while we were at school together," Edith explained. "Marian was +irresistible then—as now, and every man she met lost his head +altogether; but for a time she and Mr. Hamlen were engaged. Then she +married the last man we expected; but she and Harry have been very +happy. It simply shows that you never can tell."</p> + +<p>"Did you know Hamlen then?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No; but I heard enough about him. If he had been merely intelligent +instead of intellectual he might have had her just as well as not. He +simply frightened her out of it."</p> + +<p>"Where did Monty come in?"</p> + +<p>"I never heard of him; things couldn't have gone very far."</p> + +<p>"You remember what he said just before we started out this morning? I +know him pretty well and Monty doesn't speak like that unless there is +something back of it."</p> + +<p>"Well," Edith laughed, "I'm sure I should have known, even so. Why, I +could reel off so many names that you would think Marian was a heartless +coquette; but it wasn't that at all. She simply loved attention, as all +women do."</p> + +<p>"How about the daughter?" queried Cosden.</p> + +<p>"Merry?" Miss Stevens interrogated. "Oh, Merry is an up-to-date, +twentieth-century thoroughbred. Marian has never known just what to make +of her because she isn't like other girls, but to my mind the comparison +is all to her credit. I'm generous when I give the child so good a +character, for I know she heartily disapproves of me."</p> + +<p>Cosden was pleased with the intuition he had shown in his selection. "I +should think young Huntington would bore her about as much as a +youngster in kilts," he said, to draw her out.</p> + +<p>"He is her brother's friend, she adores athletics and dancing, and she +is exercising the prerogative of her age and sex."</p> + +<p>There was a silence of several moments, during which time Cosden was +debating with himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> whether it was too late for him to bring his +dancing of the vintage of the nineties up to the present confusion of +innovations. He had scoffed at modern dances but it might become +necessary to revise his views.</p> + +<p>"What an unusual ring you have," Miss Stevens exclaimed, leaning over +his hand which rested upon the arm of his chair. "Is there a romance +connected with it?"</p> + +<p>Cosden took it off and handed it to her. "No," he said. "When you know +me better you will understand that romance doesn't come into my make-up. +I bought that ring myself particularly to avoid any sentiment. I can +take it off when I like, wear it or not as I choose, and if I lose it +nobody's heart is broken."</p> + +<p>"That is an original idea," she laughed; then her face sobered. "I used +to think romance was everything," she said seriously. "Now I wonder if +what we call romance isn't another word for illusion. As I look back at +my girl friends and see how many romances became tragedies, and how many +matter-of-fact marriages, like Marian's and Harry's, have developed into +real unions, I'm inclined to think that romance is a form of hypnotism."</p> + +<p>"You've expressed my idea to a dot," Cosden replied emphatically. +"Huntington is a sentimentalist, and he stamps my common-sense ideas as +evidences of a commercial instinct. I've seen just what you've seen, and +I believe that the business of life rests on exactly the same basis as +the business of trade."</p> + +<p>"Take Harry Thatcher, for example," Edith<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> continued her own +conversation rather than replied to his; "there's nothing brilliant +about him outside his business success, but you always know where to +find him. He's a comfortable man to have around. With men, they say he +dominates everything he goes into, but in his home,—well, every now and +then he stands out just on principle, but as a matter of fact even his +ideas are in his wife's name."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher and Huntington approached them returning from their +moon-bath on the steps of the pier.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see so wonderful a night, Edith?" she exclaimed with +enthusiasm. "This atmosphere, and the renewing of my friendship with Mr. +Huntington, make me feel like a girl again."</p> + +<p>"Monty must have been composing poetry," Cosden remarked.</p> + +<p>"No," Huntington disclaimed promptly; "poetry is the one contagious +disease of youth which I have escaped. But Mrs. Thatcher has helped me +to set back my clock of life more than twenty years, and that is an +achievement of which I feel justly proud."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Sunday morning found the party possessed of divers minds regarding the +proper use to make of the wonderful sunshine and the mild yet bracing +air, delicately scented with thousands of blooms on every side. Mr. and +Mrs. Thatcher announced definitely that they proposed to hear the band +concert at the Barracks, which gave a certain basis upon which to hang +other plans. Billy Huntington suggested to Merry that they walk to Elba +Beach, and Cosden, with the cordial disapproval of Edith Stevens and +Billy, invited himself to accompany the young people on their walk. +Huntington accounted for himself by reporting that Hamlen had +telephoned, asking him to make the promised visit that morning, so the +Stevenses joined forces with the Thatchers, and the plans were complete.</p> + +<p>Hamlen was visibly ill at ease when Huntington arrived. It was the only +time during the twenty years of his residence there that any guest had +been received at his villa by invitation of its owner. The new +experience excited him, but the sincerity of Huntington's admiration of +the grounds, and the friendliness of his attitude, made it impossible +for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> any barrier long to exist between them. A touch of the old-time +bitterness passed through Hamlen's mind, soon after Huntington's +arrival, as he thought what it would have meant to him during any one of +those four years at college to have had Monty Huntington come to his +room in the same spirit of comradeship! Yet, he admitted to himself, the +tragedies of that small world did lose some of their poignancy in +retrospect, just as Huntington had said. He had been at a disadvantage +in that the world into which he had been graduated was not the great +world of which his classmate spoke, but rather another little one, +smaller even than that which had tortured him,—so small that he had +remained still instead of growing, as the others had, into an estate +from which he might look back with broader vision.</p> + +<p>This much at least had borne fruit from the conversation at the hotel, +but beyond this there was an impression still deeper which increased +Hamlen's spirit of unrest. From the time when he began to feel things +strongly there had existed in him a sense of justice which completely +dominated his other attributes. By the time he entered college this +sense had assumed exaggerated proportions, and he had reached a point +where he was looking for injustices, and was quick to resent them. He +might have made a place for himself in athletics had he not expected +some one else to take the initiative; he might have made friends except +that he waited to be sought out. When he saw other fellows around him +succeed where he had failed, the sensitiveness of his nature placed his +classmates on trial,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> appointed himself judge, and condemned them as +guilty of injustice, the most heinous crime in the category of sin. As a +penalty, he had banished them from his life. The fact that they bore +their punishment with seeming indifference served only to twist the +knife in the wound.</p> + +<p>His devotion to Marian Seymour gave his strange nature its only outlet. +Her father and his had been bosom friends in boyhood, and they had hoped +to see their children bound together in even closer ties. The tense, +deep nature of the boy dominated,—even more so after he went to college +and she to school, and they saw less of each other. He was different +from other boys she knew, and at first it pleased her vanity that he had +no thought for any one else, even though he demanded so much of her. +Then she became fairly terrified by his intensity, and when she broke +the engagement, just after his graduation, she welcomed her release.</p> + +<p>Her engagement and marriage to Thatcher supplied the final evidence that +the whole world was built upon a structure of injustice, and Hamlen fled +from it with a sense of leaving behind a thing despised. During all +these years the judge had worn his ermine, and the world represented the +condemned prisoner, working out its sentence, but somehow failing to +gain salutary results from its long chastisement. Now a belated witness +appears, supplying testimony which shakes the integrity of the judicial +decision. Huntington presents the case from a position new to the +self-appointed judge, and Hamlen had spent many hours since that +eventful meeting wondering whether the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> world had really been on trial +or he himself. Many of the words which Marian had spoken, which had not +made their impression when he first heard them came back with redoubled +force after Huntington had added his testimony to hers. "Was it their +failure to understand you or your failure to give them the opportunity?" +she asked. "The citizens of the college world are young, untried boys," +Huntington explained, "trying to conduct themselves like full-grown +men." What right had he to condemn them because in their youth and +inexperience they had fallen below the standard older men had set? Had +he a right to expect them to search him out any more than they a right +to demand the same of him? "You drew me to you with irresistible force," +Marian admitted, only to make the agony the more unbearable when she +added, "Then you repelled me by your intolerance of all those lighter +interests which were natural to youth of our age." Intolerance! That was +a form of injustice, and he had judged her guilty upon the same +indictment! "Each member of the Class measures up his fellow-members by +what they have done since they have left college," Huntington had said. +Every word seemed seared into Hamlen's brain as he put himself through +this fierce analysis. "What have you really accomplished?" was Marian's +question.</p> + +<p>So Hamlen had struggled with himself during the intervening hours, and +now Huntington came to him as a classmate, as a friend, claiming kinship +and insisting upon recognition of his claim. If Monty Huntington had +been what Hamlen believed him to be in college, he would not now have +forced himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> upon him in spite of his own rude disclaimers of any +present desire for recognition. If he had misjudged Huntington had he +not misjudged his other classmates, had he not misjudged the world at +large?</p> + +<p>This was the doubt which had been raised in Hamlen's mind, and with it +came a sense of responsibility and the necessity of restitution should +that doubt turn into a certainty. Forty-eight hours earlier he had asked +Marian, "What do I owe the world?" and it was from Huntington he +received his answer. It was uncanny how closely the two opinions of the +case, made by persons widely separated in viewpoint and environment, +dovetailed each into the other. This interview with Huntington would +settle all doubt, he was convinced, and if the injustice proved to be +vested in himself alone, what was there left for him out of the wreck he +had made of life? What wonder that he was ill at ease; what wonder that +his heart beat more quickly as he realized that the moment of his own +conviction might be at hand!</p> + +<p>They walked about the grounds, as the others had done, and Huntington's +exclamations were no less enthusiastic; yet it was obvious that this was +but a prelude to the real purpose of his visit. They paused for a moment +as they came back through the garden, and the hesitation forced the +question from Hamlen's lips.</p> + +<p>"Don't you care to see the view from the Point?"</p> + +<p>"Not to-day," Huntington answered frankly. "I want to come again and +examine every cranny; but to-day, Hamlen, my interest lies in something +deeper. You have shown me what you are by profession;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> now show me what +you are by nature. You remember the old Greek adage, 'Would you know a +man, give him power.' My version of it is 'Would you know a man, give +him leisure'; for leisure is the expression of power, the stored-up +capital of that unmeasured treasure called Time whose currency is in the +blood and which promotes life itself. Here, in these grounds, your work +has been similar to that of any one of us in his office. Now I want to +know the man. Take me to his workshop."</p> + +<p>Hamlen understood him beyond the necessity of further words. He had told +Marian that it was in his books that he found his relaxation, but it was +not to his library that he now silently led his guest. It was to a small +room on the back of the villa, in which Huntington found cases of type, +a hand-press, and a bench containing every description of binder's +tools. As they entered Hamlen closed the door behind them.</p> + +<p>"I don't know why I brought you here," he spoke apologetically, "except +that by what you just said you seemed to know this place existed. No one +else has ever entered with me, for I have a sentiment about it which +would seem ridiculous to any one except myself."</p> + +<p>"It is a miniature printing-office and bindery combined!"</p> + +<p>"This is where I spend my leisure. This is where I withdraw into a +solitude even more complete than that in which I live. These +books"—pointing to a case near by—"represent the pitifully meager +contribution which I have made to the world while you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and my other +classmates have taken the positions to which you are entitled. That I +show them to you now is a confession of the narrow outlook I have always +had on life."</p> + +<p>Huntington was busy examining the volumes, one by one, giving no sign +that he heard the crisp words. He turned the leaves critically, he +examined the bindings, he studied the typography and the designs. Then +at length he looked up.</p> + +<p>"I was mistaken when I said I did not know you," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand," Hamlen replied.</p> + +<p>"Printing as an art has always been a hobby of mine," Huntington +explained. "With two exceptions I have every one of these books in my +collection at home."</p> + +<p>The color came into Hamlen's face. "You mean—" he began.</p> + +<p>"I mean that these splendid examples of the bookmaker's art have +attracted much attention among those of us who understand what they +represent, and I count myself fortunate to be the first to solve the +mystery which has surrounded them, when I next meet with my +fellow-collectors."</p> + +<p>"How is it possible," demanded Hamlen, "that any of these should have +fallen into your hands?"</p> + +<p>"Were they not placed upon the market?"</p> + +<p>"I did not suppose any of them reached America," Hamlen explained. "Out +of curiosity to see what would happen I sent the first volumes to a +dealer in London, and he has been kind enough to take the subsequent +volumes as they have been issued."</p> + +<p>"And kind enough to himself," Huntington added,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> "to call the attention +of all the leading collectors to the uniqueness of the work. Some time I +will show you his circulars if you care to know what he thinks of you; +and I may add that there is none of us who considers his claims +exaggerated."</p> + +<p>"Then the work is good?" Hamlen asked, unable to conceal his excitement.</p> + +<p>"It is superb both in conception and execution; but its greatest merit +is its originality. Most of the good printing and binding which we have +to-day rests definitely in conception upon some one of the great +master-printers or binders of the past: the work of Aldus, Jenson, +Étienne, Plantin, Elzevir, Baskerville, Didot, William Morris, is drawn +upon to greater or less degree by every modern printer, the volumes of +Grolier, Maiolus, or Geoffroy Tory are revived in nearly every modern +binding of importance; but your books are absolutely unique. Frankly, I +don't sympathize with all of them, but there is not one which does not +interest me. Tell me, where did you learn the art of bookmaking enough +to make yourself a master?"</p> + +<p>"Your praise is too high," Hamlen answered deprecatingly.</p> + +<p>"I am not praising your work," Huntington insisted; "that would be +presumptuous. Its merit has passed far beyond the point where praise +from me could affect it. Each volume which comes into the market is +hungrily snatched up, and we all have been eager to discover who the +master was. Where did you learn so much?"</p> + +<p>"I have been interested in the mechanics of printing ever since, as a +boy, I had my first press,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> explained Hamlen; "but I only turned to it +seriously after I came here and felt the need of something to keep my +mind engaged. I have in my library examples from probably most of the +great printers and binders, but—I'm afraid you won't understand me when +I say it—they have never interested me particularly, nor do they now. I +am only interested in what I do myself; and when I explain I am sure you +will not think me egotistical."</p> + +<p>"Go on," Huntington urged as Hamlen paused, but there was a break before +the speaker continued.</p> + +<p>"You said a moment ago that you did not sympathize with some of my +books; that is perfectly natural. I said just now that I was only +interested in my own work; that, too, I believe, is natural. I have no +knowledge of the great <i>incunabula</i>, I know nothing of the history of +printing, and in making these few books I have had no thought of +producing examples of the printer's or the binder's art: they stand to +me simply as symbolic of certain phases of myself,—some good, perhaps, +some bad; but all representative of my mood when they were made. I tell +you, Huntington"—Hamlen continued with deep intensity—"I tell you now +what I have never before put into words, that those are not books at +all; they are simply the expression of a something in my soul which +demands an outlet, and it comes out through my finger-tips. That sounds +absurd, but it is the solemn truth!"</p> + +<p>"Absurd?" cried Huntington. "My dear fellow, what you have just said is +the explanation of the books which we collectors, poor simple fools, +haven't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> been able to give. Don't you see that by your very act you have +placed yourself among the masters? What else are the sculptures of +Michelangelo, the paintings of Raphael, but the expression of their +messages to the world made through the media with which they were +familiar? With them it was stone and canvas, with you it is type and +paper and leather. Thank God you couldn't write!"</p> + +<p>Hamlen listened to him in amazement, unable to grasp at once the +significance or the breadth of all he heard. It was natural that +Huntington's last words should be the first in his hearer's mind.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean,—'thank God you couldn't write'?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that what you have just told me is the reason why the arts of +painting, architecture and sculpture have stood still these four hundred +and fifty years. Stop and think, man! Who in those arts has surpassed +the work of the old masters within that limit of time? No one, I say; no +one! And why? Think of your dates! Four hundred and fifty years take us +back to the invention of printing. That was what did it! With all it +accomplished for the cause of learning it was the death-knell to the +further development of the arts; for with the invention of printing came +an easier way to give to the world that message which the human soul +contains. Since then the real artist, whoever he was, instead of +laboring to express his message in stone, or bronze, or on canvas, has +simply taken pen and ink and patient paper and given the outpourings of +his soul to the dear public in the form of a book. Again I say, thank +God you couldn't write!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Huntington turned to his companion he was amazed to see that he had +dropped upon a stool, with bowed head resting on his hands, was sobbing +like a child. With a woman's tenderness and intuition Huntington gently +rested his hand upon his head.</p> + +<p>"We have torn off the bandages too fast, my friend," he said quietly. +"Philip Hamlen doesn't belong among the 'missing men'; he belongs among +the masters of art of his generation."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Between Cosden and Billy Huntington the breach had become well-defined +during the past twenty-four hours. Up to this time the boy had +considered him merely as an unsympathetic personality, whose advice to +his uncle frequently made the task of carrying his point more difficult; +but as the point was always eventually carried Billy had borne him no +permanent ill-will. Cosden looked upon him as a spoiled child, to be +punished frequently on general principles just for the good of the +service. Now, however, affairs assumed a different footing: the boy, +jealous of the passing moments which brought the sailing of the +"Arcadian" nearer at hand, regarded the older man's action in joining in +the walk to Elba Beach as a distinct intrusion; while Cosden, +unconsciously applying his familiar business principles, deliberately +determined to eliminate the possible competition of a diverting +influence by exhibiting to the "prospect" a superior line of samples. +Not that he really considered Billy worthy of such serious attention, +but he was exercising that precaution which more than once had saved him +from committing a business mistake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>Merry Thatcher was not unaware of the relations which existed between +the two, even though Cosden's present viewpoint was naturally unknown to +her. Billy had been particularly frank in his expressions the evening +before, and as they started off that morning he found opportunity to +paint his feelings in vivid colorings. Considering the situation as +amusing rather than serious, she held herself as a neutral observer.</p> + +<p>When it became evident that Cosden was in earnest in his suggestion to +accompany them, Billy was seized with an inspiration.</p> + +<p>"What kind of bike do you ride, Mr. Cosden?" he asked, stopping in front +of the bicycle-shed of the "Princess."</p> + +<p>"Bike?" Cosden echoed. "I thought we were going to walk."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" Billy assured him with confidence. "It's too far for Merry to +hike it along the pavements, and these roads are bully for wheels."</p> + +<p>"All right," Cosden assented without further hesitation. "I haven't +ridden for some time, but I guess I haven't forgotten how."</p> + +<p>"You know it's pretty tricky, riding down here in Bermuda," Billy +cautioned him. "You have to turn out to the left, and all that sort of +thing."</p> + +<p>"I'll take care of that," Cosden answered with decision, recognizing +what was in the boy's mind. "You go ahead and get the wheels."</p> + +<p>Billy's glance at Merry as Cosden turned aside to say a word to +Huntington was most expressive, and he managed to speak with her in an +undertone before the older man rejoined them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The big stiff!" he ejaculated. "I hope he takes a header on this first +hill!—You know how to ride, don't you?"</p> + +<p>Merry's laughing nod reassured him. "Yes," she said; "it will be loads +of fun!"</p> + +<p>"Great! then let's tear things up a bit, and give him a run for his +money."</p> + +<p>Huntington stepped up with Cosden as the negro boy brought out the +wheels.</p> + +<p>"So you're going back to first principles, Connie?" he asked. "It must +have been you who suggested bicycles."</p> + +<p>"No; Billy wants to show me a thing or two about riding."</p> + +<p>"Show <i>you</i>!" Huntington laughed. "You'll have your hands full, my boy, +riding with him. Why, he won everything in sight in the bicycle-races on +the Mott Haven team when he was in college. He was as good as a +professional then, and I don't believe he's forgotten it all yet. Throw +out your chest, Connie, and let the lady admire your medals."</p> + +<p>Billy's face fell, and he looked at Merry dubiously. "Let's walk," he +said.</p> + +<p>"No, you don't!" Cosden insisted. "This was your idea, and now we'll see +it through. Come on."</p> + +<p>There was a complete reversal in the boy's spirits. The way Cosden +handled the wheel showed clearly enough that bicycle-riding was second +nature to him, and Billy's interest in the trip had obviously waned. But +Merry had already mounted and was starting on behind Cosden, so nothing +remained for him but to follow. Down past the tennis-courts, out onto +Front Street, winding through the closely-packed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> buildings of the town +itself, past Parliament House and Pembroke Hall, with its magnificent +group of Royal Palms, then around the harbor, they soon found themselves +riding between gardens and great trees on either side, which protected +the coraline houses, with their curious tiled roofs, from the glare of +the sun and the inquisitive gaze of the passers-by.</p> + +<p>"Can you take that hill without dismounting?" Cosden challenged Merry, +as they approached a steep rise in the road.</p> + +<p>"Try me!" she answered gaily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what's the use in tiring Merry all out?" Billy protested. "This +isn't an endurance test; we're out for fun."</p> + +<p>"We'll wait for you," the girl taunted him laughingly, and the two shot +ahead for the hill. The boy muttered something about Mr. Cosden which +undoubtedly would have been much to the point had it been heard, and +pedaled hard to make up for their start, but he reached the top of the +incline in considerably poorer condition than either of the others.</p> + +<p>"Whew!" Billy puffed, "let's stop a minute; there's a dandy view from +here."</p> + +<p>"Shall we rest?" Cosden asked Merry.</p> + +<p>"Not on my account," she replied unhelpfully. "I'm perfectly fresh, and +the ride is exhilarating."</p> + +<p>"Then it would be a pity to be held back by Billy's inexperience," +Cosden commented, glancing at him with a malicious smile. "On, on to +Elba Beach!"</p> + +<p>The boy managed nearly to keep up with them for the balance of the +distance, but was quite ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> to throw himself on the ground when they +arrived at their destination.</p> + +<p>"Those are the 'boilers,' Billy," Merry announced to him, as they found +the expanse of sea spread out before them, with the curious coral atols +in the foreground, around which the water seethed.</p> + +<p>"Nothing that boils interests me in the least," was the unenthusiastic +reply. "Lead me to an ice-chest and I'll give it the bunny-hug. Say, Mr. +Cosden, you are some rider, aren't you? And Merry is no slouch!"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you suggested the change," Cosden said. "I have underrated +your headwork, my boy."</p> + +<p>"You certainly ride mighty well for a man your age,—doesn't he, Merry?" +Billy continued with apparent good humor, but, aggravated to a point of +impertinence by the patronizing attitude, he determined to break even +with his tormentor. "Your wind is good, and the way you pedaled up that +hill made me forget that you were old enough to be my father. You're +mighty well preserved, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>Cosden was nettled. "Your idea of age needs some revision," he retorted +sharply. "If I were to figure things the same way, I would suggest that +the next time you come to Elba Beach you use an automobile perambulator +instead of a bicycle.—Now let's call it quits."</p> + +<p>"They don't allow automobiles down here," Billy corrected seriously. +"That's one reason why I came. I never want to see a buzz-wagon again."</p> + +<p>"Skid, collision, run-over, smash-up—" Merry began helpfully.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No—worse still," Billy rejoined slowly, evidently surveying the past +in his mind.—"Say, Phil was in this, too."</p> + +<p>"Phil?" the girl echoed anxiously. "He wasn't hurt, was he?"</p> + +<p>"No, not hurt exactly; but we both had the shivers all right, and the +more I think it over the less of a joke it seems to me. You see, Bud +Warner has a crackerjack car, and he asked Phil and me to dash out with +him one afternoon. The first thing we knew he turned in at a place out +in Belmont, rode to the front door, and went on in to fuss a dame there +that he's been rushing. Well, Phil and I cooled our heels half an hour +waiting for him and then we thought we'd get even by giving him the +slip, for it was a good two miles' walk to the cars and Bud is no bear +as a walker. We slid out with the motor all right, but just before we +reached Harvard Square a wise-guy cop pinched us for stealing the car, +and ran us both in."</p> + +<p>"Arrested you for stealing?" Merry demanded.</p> + +<p>"Surest thing you know," Billy confirmed. "When Bud found we'd slipped +him, he was sore, and to get even he telephoned the police-station, gave +them the number of the car, and said it had been stolen. Oh! we were in +bad, for fair."</p> + +<p>"And Uncle Monty far from home," commented Cosden.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Billy admitted; "I didn't know it at the time or I should have +been still more peeved. Well—we stayed there in the cooler for two +hours when Bud showed up and was brought in where we were. He gave us +the once over, and acted as if he'd never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> seen us before in all his +young life. 'I couldn't have believed it of such respectable-looking +young men,' he said,—the darned hypocrite! 'I couldn't send them to +State's prison,' said he, 'on account of their families.' Then he made +an imitation like thinking, and finally he said, 'Officer, I withdraw +the charge of theft, but ask you to hold the prisoners for exceeding the +speed limit.—What's the bail? I'll help them out for the sake of their +families.' So he bailed us out, and we went back together, with Bud +thinking he'd played us a fine, swell joke."</p> + +<p>"Did you jump your bail?" Merry inquired, thoroughly amused.</p> + +<p>"No; we didn't dare. We came up before the judge next morning, and it +cost us ten bones apiece and costs. That's what made me so short on my +Christmas money."</p> + +<p>"I'll guarantee you found some way to get around that," Cosden said, +suggestively egging him on to display his youthfulness.</p> + +<p>Billy grinned. "I had to," he admitted. "I thought I could get some +money from Uncle Monty, but he had gone away, so I had Mother's present +charged to Father, and Father's present charged to Mother."</p> + +<p>"Frenzied finance!" cried Cosden, amused in spite of his desire to +disparage the boy. "You are wasting your time in college; you should be +in Wall Street."</p> + +<p>"Your advice ought to be good, Mr. Cosden," agreed Billy, "for you +certainly know how to make your money work overtime. I can always tell +when Uncle Monty gives me any of the tired cash he wins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> out of you from +the gratitude it shows for getting a little rest."</p> + +<p>Cosden did not like Billy's come-backs, and he did not like the +amusement which he saw restrained in Merry's face. Still, he accepted +the responsibility in large measure for putting himself on the boy's +level.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have charge of your business education," he said +significantly.</p> + +<p>"It may come to that," the boy said with a total lack of enthusiasm. +"That's the one real threat Uncle Monty always holds over me."</p> + +<p>"You are impertinent—" Cosden realized that the ragging was going too +far.</p> + +<p>"Who began it?" was the retort.</p> + +<p>"Who is going to invite me to have some strawberries and cream?" Merry +interrupted, feeling it to be her mission to come to the rescue, and +recognizing Billy's mistake in antagonizing so close a friend of his +uncle.</p> + +<p>Billy was on his feet in an instant, but Cosden was ahead of him.</p> + +<p>"I know the place," Merry said. "You see, I'm the old settler here, so +I'll show you all the attractions. Think of strawberries and cream in +January!—Won't you go ahead of us, Mr. Cosden, and ask the boy to put a +table out on the piazza? It will be lovely there."</p> + +<p>As Cosden moved out of earshot she turned to her companion.</p> + +<p>"You must not upset him like that, Billy," she reproved him firmly; +"your uncle will never forgive you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He has no right to butt in on us," the boy protested gloomily.</p> + +<p>"But he's here, and you must be civil to him. Think how much older he is +than you are, and you're quarreling with him as if he were your own +age."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll be civil to him if he'll only can his grouch. Why, he got sore +with me for kidding him about his age, yet you noticed how old he is +yourself."</p> + +<p>"He isn't old, Billy. Why, he's younger than Mr. Huntington, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he is; but Uncle Monty always makes you feel that he's your own +age. I never think of him any differently than I do of any of my other +pals. But Mr. Cosden—ugh!"</p> + +<p>"I know, Billy; but you don't want to say anything that will queer you +with your uncle, do you?"</p> + +<p>Billy looked at her quizzically before he replied, then his broad, +good-natured grin replaced the frown.</p> + +<p>"I get you, Stevie—what's the feminine for Steve, anyhow? You mean that +a fellow ought not to make <i>pâté de foie gras</i> out of the goose that +lays the golden eggs.—Say, Merry, you're wonderful, you are,—simply +wonderful!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On their return from the Barracks Mrs. Thatcher and Edith Stevens left +the men on the piazza and went up-stairs for the ostensible purpose of +lying down, but with that ease with which two women change their plans +when once alone they found themselves sitting in Marian's room, engaged +in a heart-to-heart conversation.</p> + +<p>"I really think he might do," Edith remarked, à propos of nothing.</p> + +<p>As Mrs. Thatcher was intimately acquainted with Edith's mental processes +the remark was more intelligible than might have been expected.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean Philip Hamlen?"</p> + +<p>Edith laughed. "No; you warned me off of him yesterday. I mean Mr. +Cosden."</p> + +<p>"At it again?" Marian laughed. "Edith, you are absolutely incorrigible! +It has been so long since you have played ducks and drakes with a man +that I really believed you had reformed. You are old enough to know +better!"</p> + +<p>"I presume it will be the same with him as with the others," Edith +sighed. "That is my great weakness, I admit: I like a man just so long, +and then he bores me stiff. I don't see how a married woman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> stands it +to have only one man around her all the time. If you were as honest as I +am you would admit that it would be a relief to you, every now and then +if you could pour out your breakfast coffee with some one else sitting +in front of you instead of Harry."</p> + +<p>"Harry answers very well, thank you."</p> + +<p>"Habit, nothing else," Edith insisted. "He's as much a part of the +family furniture as the grand piano. But that's what gives me hope: if +you and so many other women can endure it, why can't I?"</p> + +<p>"There are hundreds of men; why pick on Mr. Cosden?"</p> + +<p>"I had a long, experimental conversation with him last night while you +and Mr. Huntington were holding your revival meeting on the pier, and I +really think he might do. Tell me what you know about him."</p> + +<p>"Only what Harry has told me. They have had some business dealings +together, and Harry says he has made a lot of money. The fact that Monty +Huntington is his friend is his best recommendation."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington has a good social position in Boston, hasn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, yes! I believe one of his ancestors discovered Beacon +Street, or something of that kind; but that doesn't imply that Mr. +Cosden has the same position. A bachelor may have friends at his clubs +whom he does not necessarily bring into his social circle,—especially +in Boston."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Cosden is frightfully commercial," Edith meditated aloud.</p> + +<p>"So are you," Marian broke in laughing.</p> + +<p>"I don't mind that," Edith continued, "so long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> as he has a human side. +I believe I could serve as a counter-irritant to keep him from remaining +merely a machine.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't take away his capacity as provider," Marian teased her; "he +would need a fairly stiff income to sail the good ship 'Edith Stevens.'"</p> + +<p>"With everything I want costing more and everything I own yielding less, +that is of vital importance, of course. But I really believe +Cossie—Connie—whatever they call him, might do."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's fine to have that all settled, my dear," Marian agreed, +still showing her amusement. "Now, when are you going to break the news +to him?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's another question!" Edith answered, entirely unabashed. +"Couldn't you find out from Mr. Huntington something about his hobbies +and his antipathies?"</p> + +<p>"Of course; unless you select some one else in the mean time. Perhaps +we'd better wait until after luncheon."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm serious," Edith protested,—"provided of course that he +measures up all right. The more I think it over the more serious I +become. Ricky was particularly trying this morning; I'm aghast at the +amount of last month's bills, and all in all it makes me realize the +importance of not letting one's age become an indiscretion. Even you +referred to my passing years."</p> + +<p>"Poor Ricky!" Marian said sympathetically; "he never gets any credit for +sacrificing himself."</p> + +<p>"I've acted in the interests of my sex," Edith asserted stoutly. "Ricky +is a joke. Except for the fact that he's my own brother I'd say he was +a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> scream. If it hadn't been for me he would have married some girl and +bored her to extinction. She couldn't have escaped him, but I can. +Somebody owes me a debt of gratitude."</p> + +<p>"Well," Marian sighed, "I wish you luck; if Mr. Cosden isn't smart +enough to protect himself it will be his own fault."</p> + +<p>"Why be catty, Marian?" Edith retorted with asperity. "It isn't +becoming."</p> + +<p>Marian laughed. "You silly child!" she said. "You are the most supremely +selfish creature in the world, but you are so blissfully unconscious of +the fact that I love you for it. Some one has to stand up for Ricky; +Heaven knows he can't stand up for himself."</p> + +<p>"Very good." Edith was only partly mollified. "I've no doubt Ricky will +be exceedingly grateful, but if you were to ask me I'd say that you have +men enough on your hands already without him. Now, I'm going to my room +to dress for luncheon. Afterwards, when you find an opportunity, I want +you to pump Mr. Huntington dry about Cossie—Connie—I'll never get used +to that name!—and leave me to do the rest."</p> + +<p>Unconscious of plots and counterplots, Cosden and Huntington sauntered +innocently onto the piazza after their noonday meal. Billy had managed +to get himself invited to the Thatchers' table, so the two friends had +lunched by themselves. Both were self-centered, but neither noticed it +because of his own abstraction. Cosden was measuring up the girl as his +opportunity for observation broadened, Huntington was still affected by +his experience<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> with Hamlen. Curiously enough, in spite of their +friendship, or perhaps because their intimacy gave each so clear a +knowledge of the other's characteristics neither one cared to speak of +the subject which was uppermost in his mind. "Monty is too much of a +cynic to appreciate my situation here," Cosden told himself; and +Huntington, without even mentally putting it into words, knew that +Hamlen did not and never would appeal to Cosden.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the men had lighted their cigars the party from the +Thatchers' table joined them. Marian noticed that Edith casually dropped +into the chair beside Cosden's, and was amused to see that she began +operations at once.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do this afternoon?" Edith queried breezily.</p> + +<p>"We've all been going since breakfast," Stevens suggested; "why not sit +still for a while?"</p> + +<p>"Ricky!" said his sister severely, "no one asked your opinion. What in +the world is the use of sitting still? We can do that at home."</p> + +<p>"What do you suggest?" Cosden asked her incautiously.</p> + +<p>"Have you been to Harrington Sound?"</p> + +<p>"No," he admitted; recognizing at once that he had given an unwise +opening.</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you let me show you the way?" Edith asked, as if the +thought had only just occurred to her.</p> + +<p>A chorus of approval went up from Huntington, Mrs. Thatcher and Billy.</p> + +<p>"Suppose we all go," Cosden said, seeking safety in numbers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We have taken the drive several times," Mrs. Thatcher abetted Edith in +her conspiracy, "and I am sure Mr. Huntington is too gallant to leave +us. You can drive over and back comfortably by dinner-time."</p> + +<p>"Won't you stop on the way home and get me some coral sand?" Merry +asked. "Edith will show you the beach."</p> + +<p>A drive with Miss Stevens was the last thing Cosden had intended, but as +there seemed no possible escape he rose to the occasion and at once +ordered the victoria. Nor was the enthusiasm of Billy's send-off +balm-of-Gilead to his soul as the carriage moved away from the hotel +steps. Edith, in a suit of white Bermuda doe-skin, with a small purple +hat perched rakishly on her head, and carrying a purple parasol with +handle of abalone pearl, was looking her best, and to the amused +onlookers her snapping eyes and beaming countenance seemed to promise +compensation.</p> + +<p>"I wish we might have a word together about Hamlen," Huntington remarked +to Marian as they turned back to the piazza.</p> + +<p>"That is the very subject which is uppermost in my mind," she replied +eagerly. "You saw him this morning?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and he has absorbed my thoughts ever since. Suppose we sit down +and talk him over."</p> + +<p>The others in the party left them to themselves. They had heard +Huntington's preliminary remark, and understood that they had no part in +the conversation.</p> + +<p>"He is a pathetic figure," Huntington continued,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> "and he has won a +sympathy from me which I never remember to have given to any one before. +Think of twenty years of solitude! By Jove! he is the Modern Edmond +Dantes!"</p> + +<p>"I've known him since he was a boy," Marian said as Huntington paused +for a moment. "If you are to understand the situation, perhaps I ought +to tell you more. For a time, we were engaged, but these relations were +broken off soon after his graduation. In fact I feel that I am to a +certain extent responsible for his present condition, for he left +America as soon as he heard of my engagement to Mr. Thatcher."</p> + +<p>Huntington looked up quickly. "That gives Hamlen and me another bond of +sympathy," he said quietly.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" she asked, surprised.</p> + +<p>"That same announcement produced disastrous effects upon my life as +well."</p> + +<p>"Why, you never saw me half a dozen times—"</p> + +<p>"Once was enough," he replied seriously.</p> + +<p>"Your imagination is as highly developed as your gallantry, Mr. +Huntington," Marian laughed; "but we mustn't let ourselves become +diverted.—Philip Hamlen was always sensitive and moody, but until I +discovered him down here I had no idea these characteristics could +become so exaggerated."</p> + +<p>"He believes himself always to have been misunderstood," Huntington +added. "To-day he felt that we met on common ground, and the gratitude +in his eyes still haunts me."</p> + +<p>"Can't we do something for him, between us?" she asked earnestly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We must," Huntington assented with decision. "I am still puzzling over +the problem. Have you anything to suggest?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher did not reply at once, and Huntington respected her +silence. He realized that her answer could not be given spontaneously, +that the proposition was too vital for anything but the most serious +consideration. As a matter of fact, however, she had already considered +it. Marian Thatcher was a woman of strong impulses, with strength of +will equal to carry them through to success. She had been appalled by +Hamlen's condition, and felt keenly her personal responsibility. During +the hours which had intervened since the accidental meeting, many of +them sleepless hours of the night, she had searched her mind for some +expedient which should in part work restitution. She had discovered a +possible solution, but it was of a nature so intimate that she hesitated +to take Huntington into her confidence.</p> + +<p>"I had thought—" she began at length, but then she paused. "We must +pull him out of himself," she began again; "we must get him where he +will find something to think of other than himself."</p> + +<p>"Suppose that to be accomplished, what then?"</p> + +<p>"I had thought—he needs—he needs a woman who believes in him, to give +him courage, to restore his lost faith in himself. A friendship such as +you or any other man can give will help much, but if the right woman +could happen to come into his life—"</p> + +<p>"Isn't that taking too long a step for a first one? Huntington +inquired.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps; but I feel myself so largely responsible that it would mean +much to me to atone—"</p> + +<p>Marian's intensity made its impression upon Huntington even as it had +upon Hamlen; but he could not follow her. How a married woman could make +atonement just at this crisis was not clearly apparent. She realized +that her stumbling remarks must be confusing.</p> + +<p>"It is difficult for me to tell you just what I have in mind," she +stated definitely at length. "You don't know me well enough not to +misunderstand, and you don't know Merry. But if I am to accept your aid +I must run that risk, mustn't I?"</p> + +<p>"I shall try not to misunderstand—"</p> + +<p>"You mustn't think me unmotherly or indelicate," she continued. "It may +be the last thing in the world which ought to happen, but if Philip +Hamlen and Merry should take it into their heads to marry it would seem +almost like poetic justice, wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>"By Jove, no!" Huntington ejaculated hastily, with visions of Cosden +swimming before his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Of course you are surprised," Marian said, laughing consciously; "but +if you think of it you must admit that Merry would make him an ideal +wife, and I believe he would be a wonderful husband. Her interest has +always been in men older than herself, and he is only now ready to enjoy +his youth. Of course, it is only an idea, but stranger things than that +have happened."</p> + +<p>"Well," he said guardedly, sparring for time, "that may be the ultimate +outcome; but first of all we must do a bit of humanizing. I would like +to take him back to Boston to pay me a long visit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> if he would go. After +that, we could see how things worked out."</p> + +<p>"Splendid!" Marian exclaimed; "and being in Boston he would be nearer my +Philip. That was the one suggestion which seemed to appeal to him when I +tried to persuade him to leave Bermuda. He would be much more likely to +accept the suggestion from you than from me. The boy is named for him, +and I believe they could do much for each other."</p> + +<p>"Capital!" echoed Huntington. "I know from experience how much a boy can +do to keep an older man from thinking too much about himself. We are +making progress. I will do my best to drag him away from here, and if I +succeed we will arrange with Philip to take charge of that side of his +education."</p> + +<p>Marian smiled gratefully as she heard the plan put definitely into +words. "You have relieved me of an oppressive burden," she said +feelingly. "It is such a relief to talk the matter over with some one +who really understands. Don't misjudge me by what I suggest about Merry. +I can't forget the closeness of those earlier relations, I can't forget +my responsibility, and I shouldn't be true to myself if I failed to do +all in my power to bring Philip Hamlen back to himself."</p> + +<p>"His natural qualities and his helplessness form a strong appeal," +Huntington replied evasively. "I shall be glad to assist in this +socialistic experiment, Mrs. Thatcher, but I'm not quite sure that I am +wholly sympathetic."</p> + +<p>"You will see more reason in my suggestion after you know them both +better," Marian said confidently,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> placing her hand within the one +outstretched to her. "When you do, I am sure I shall have your cordial +co-operation in bringing about the match."</p> + +<p>"If you are right, I shall ask that my case be placed next upon the +calendar."</p> + +<p>"Willingly!" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "I'll find a wife within a month."</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid!" he cried. "Unless—" he added slyly;—"unless you +become a widow in the mean time!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For some reason best known to himself Huntington did not confide to +Cosden the fact that Mrs. Thatcher had suggested the possibility of a +match between Merry and Hamlen. She had referred to it as "poetic +justice"; perhaps Huntington, knowing his friend to be unsympathetic in +his relations toward poetry in general, might fail to appreciate the +present application, particularly since he himself, though possessing +pronounced fondness for the poets, had not fully risen to the idea. As a +matter of fact, the suggestion shocked him no less than Cosden's +business-like proposition concerning his own marriage. What were people +thinking of, these days!</p> + +<p>He looked forward to the morrow and to the sailing of the "Arcadian" +with a sense of partial relief, for Billy's boyish infatuation and +Cosden's impatient demands for interference had considerably disturbed +his tranquillity. Huntington was a man of action when he so elected, and +he enjoyed doing things when they were of his own choice and could be +done in his own time and way; but nothing annoyed him more than to be +forced into action by another's choice or election. Now, just as he saw +one disturbing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> element about to be eliminated, another of seemingly +greater magnitude loomed up on the horizon, and he cordially wished +himself back in Boston with nothing more serious than the east winds to +worry him.</p> + +<p>But no disturbing element was apparent in his face as he stepped out +onto the piazza after his leisurely breakfast the following morning. +Glancing around, he discovered Cosden and Miss Stevens standing at the +further corner, watching the hustle of the departing guests.</p> + +<p>"You're just in time to witness the great event of the day," she greeted +him as he joined them, pleased that she had Cosden and Huntington even +temporarily to herself. "One of the best things they do down here is to +arrange the sailings to New York at a time when one may see the boat off +without getting up at all hours of the night."</p> + +<p>Cosden started to speak and then paused, looking at her narrowly to make +certain that by no possible construction could any answer of his be +twisted into an invitation to drive to St. George's, or to some other +point equally remote.</p> + +<p>"Your remark shows that you and Mr. Huntington have much in common," he +observed at length.</p> + +<p>"Ability to sleep is an evidence of a clear conscience," she asserted.</p> + +<p>"Which explains my restless nights, and the necessity of making up my +quota at the wrong end," Huntington said.</p> + +<p>"But you come from New England, Mr. Huntington," Edith expostulated. +"I've always heard a lot about the New England conscience."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll wager you never heard anything good about it," Huntington smiled.</p> + +<p>"Does it ever really keep any one from doing the things he wants to do?" +she asked mischievously.</p> + +<p>"No," Huntington answered gravely; "it simply makes him very +uncomfortable while he's doing them."</p> + +<p>"I thought your sleeplessness might be caused by anxiety lest that +precious nephew of yours forget to take the boat this morning," Cosden +remarked dryly.</p> + +<p>Huntington was quietly amused. "How about you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I'm here to throw him bodily on board at the first sign of any change +of plan."</p> + +<p>"You speak as if you had a grudge against the boy," Edith said, looking +surprised.</p> + +<p>"Not at all," Cosden demurred; "Billy is all right, but he covers too +much territory. Since he landed I haven't been able to put my foot on +the ground without stepping on him. His Alma Mater needs Billy more than +I do, and, as Monty says, we alumni must be loyal to our Dear Mother."</p> + +<p>"His Alma Mater will have to do without him for a few days longer unless +he appears soon," Edith remarked calmly, pointing toward the dock. "The +tender has just started and will be here at the pier in a moment."</p> + +<p>Both men sprang to their feet.</p> + +<p>"Where in the world can that boy be?" Huntington demanded with real +concern.</p> + +<p>"You go up to his room and I'll look around down here," Cosden said, +taking command of the situation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huntington disappeared with astonishing alacrity, while his friend +deserted Miss Stevens to pursue the search down-stairs.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you find Miss Thatcher?" Cosden suggested, coming back to her +as the idea struck him; "that will probably locate the boy."</p> + +<p>"I'd rather watch the man-hunt from here," she retorted coolly. "I don't +want to miss seeing you throw him bodily on board."</p> + +<p>The tender came slowly alongside the "Princess" steps, taking on board +the passengers from the hotel. Cosden and Huntington both appeared from +different directions as the gang-plank was drawn up and the little +steamer's screw began to churn. Huntington was out of breath, but not +empty-handed—he carried with him a bag which showed evidences of hectic +packing, with pajama strings hanging out from the partially closed top.</p> + +<p>"He hadn't even packed his things!" Huntington panted indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Stay here a moment," Cosden said, leaving him standing irresolutely at +the top of the stone steps, watching the stretch of water increase +between the departing tender and the pier.</p> + +<p>"Please turn this way," Edith called, leveling her camera at him from +the piazza rail. "I want to be sure to get that suit-case into the +picture."</p> + +<p>"Wait until Connie comes back," Huntington begged.</p> + +<p>At that moment a disheveled figure appeared running frantically up the +"Princess" driveway.</p> + +<p>"I've lost my boat!" Billy cried with well-simulated despair.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You did it deliberately, you young rascal!" Huntington cried, aroused +at last to exasperation.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Monty!" Billy's face wore an injured expression which would have +fitted a Raphael cherub. "You know I wouldn't have missed that boat for +anything. I'm sure to be rooked if I'm not in Cambridge Thursday."</p> + +<p>Cosden joined them in time to hear Billy's expostulations. "We couldn't +let that happen," he said comfortingly. "Come on; I've fixed it up with +the jolly skipper in this motor-boat. He swears he can reach the +'Arcadian' before the tender does. Quick! there isn't a minute to lose!"</p> + +<p>"But I haven't packed my bag—"</p> + +<p>"Here it is!"</p> + +<p>Huntington removed Billy's one remaining hope, and the boy saw that he +was fairly beaten.</p> + +<p>The broad grin returned to his face as he took his bag. "That's mighty +good of you, Mr. Cosden," he said, with such apparent sincerity that it +disarmed his uncle's wrath. "There aren't many men who would help a +fellow out like that. I won't forget it!"</p> + +<p>He ran down the stone steps and took his place in the stern of the +motor-boat. "Good-bye, everybody! Say, Uncle Monty, explain to Merry why +I didn't have time to say 'good-bye' to her, and don't forget that this +joy-ride is on Mr. Cosden. Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>They watched the little boat speed after the tender, which by this time +had reached the narrows; then they turned back to the piazza.</p> + +<p>"We've succeeded in making ourselves fairly conspicuous,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> Cosden +remarked. "A good deal of fuss over one small boy, eh, Monty?"</p> + +<p>"Thank you so much!" Edith cried enthusiastically as they joined her. "I +haven't seen so much excitement since I arrived,—and I love to watch +two live men in action."</p> + +<p>"It's frightful, being stared at, isn't it?" Cosden protested.</p> + +<p>"Don't believe a word he says, Miss Stevens," Huntington retaliated. "He +really loves to be stared at; it's the disappointment on the people's +faces after looking at him that causes the worry.—Now, Connie, you can +put your foot on the ground without stepping on Billy. How are you +planning to take advantage of your opportunity?"</p> + +<p>Cosden glanced at his watch. "I have an appointment with Thatcher at +eleven on that little business proposition. We're to meet at the +'Hamilton.' I've just about time to keep it. As for you, I suggest that +you invite Miss Stevens to show you the way to the Devil's Hole. They +have a wonderful collection of fish over there, which the Scotch keeper +puts through their paces every little while whenever he needs the money. +I commend your attention to the bachelor-fish: it has a bad disposition, +makes itself obnoxious to its fellow-creatures, and would be sarcastic +in its conversation if it had the power of speech."</p> + +<p>With this parting shot Cosden made his excuses to Miss Stevens and +walked over to the "Hamilton." His spirits had improved immensely within +the past half-hour, and the proximity of his appointment caused him to +forget for the moment that his vacation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> trip thus far had distinctly +bored him. To Cosden a vacation consisted, as Henry James would have +described it, of "agitated scraps of rest, snatched by the liveliest +violence." On other occasions, when he sought relaxation, he had found +it in strenuous physical exercise; in the present instance he had +intended to engage himself in the more unfamiliar occupation of offering +a partnership to Merry Thatcher in the "Cosden Social Development +Company, Limited," although he had not expressed it to himself in just +these words. In this expectation he had so far signally failed. Had he +been a baron of old he might have seized the prospective bride bodily +and made off with her to his ancestral castle, but, even with the +handicap imposed by modern civilization, now that the diverting +influence had been eliminated, he believed the opportunity was nearer to +the point of offering itself. The fact that Thatcher had turned to him +in this proposition, whatever it was, not only pleased him as a further +evidence of recognition, but supplied him with an agreeable outlet for +his pent-up energy.</p> + +<p>Cosden had told Huntington that Thatcher was a "big man," and his +friend, having learned his business vocabulary, understood what was +meant by this designation: Thatcher was a man of substantial means, held +influential positions on important boards, and wielded a power in the +financial circles in which he moved. Cosden had been far-sighted, he +told himself, to have happened upon the scene at this particular +juncture, for Thatcher would scarcely have gone out of his way to invite +him to join in the enterprise except for the coincidence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> their +meeting; and Cosden was not averse to being included in the Thatcher +group of operators.</p> + +<p>Thatcher was awaiting him on the lower piazza when he arrived at the +"Hamilton."</p> + +<p>"I wanted to have a few words with you before we join this promoter +person up-stairs," he explained, "so I sent Stevens on ahead to tell him +we are on our way. Duncan is the man's name. He's a Scotchman who has +lived down here for many years. He has little education, and you could +cut his brogue with a knife."</p> + +<p>"I won't object to his brogue if his signature is any good at the foot +of a check," Cosden interrupted.</p> + +<p>"He doesn't come in on that end," Thatcher continued. "The idea is his, +and he can be of service later on if we proceed with it. It isn't very +large, and we can finance it easily if the thing is worth taking up at +all. The scheme is to fit Bermuda out with a trolley system, and to +bring the right tidy little island down to the twentieth century."</p> + +<p>"Not a bad suggestion," Cosden commented,—"and a great improvement upon +the present system of bicycling." Billy would have rejoiced had he known +how stiff his adversary's legs were after the famous ride to Elba Beach. +"Why hasn't some one thought of it before?"</p> + +<p>"Duncan will tell you the story as he has told me," Thatcher said +rising. "Come, let us go to him now. Ricky will have exhausted his +vocabulary by this time."</p> + +<p>Cosden smiled at the mention of Stevens' name. "He's a curious +fellow,—Stevens," he remarked. "With that vacant expression on his face +he ought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> to make a corking poker-player. Is he interested in this +deal?"</p> + +<p>"Ricky interested in business?" Thatcher laughed. "He would run a mile +to avoid it! No, he's just a messenger this morning; but Ricky is all +right in his way. He's the society member of his family. He isn't a +heavy-weight, but when it comes to dancing or the latest word in men's +attire, you can't overlook Ricky."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Cosden's departure left Huntington and Miss Stevens together on the +piazza of the hotel. The bustle attendant upon the sailing had quieted +down but Huntington had not recovered from the unusually violent action +of the past few moments.</p> + +<p>"I was going over to have another visit with Hamlen," he remarked, "but +the morning is gone."</p> + +<p>"It isn't eleven o'clock yet," Miss Stevens commented.</p> + +<p>"By Jove! is that all? Well, it's too late now, but I'll go this +afternoon.—It seems as if ages had passed since breakfast! Do you +suppose they'll keep that boy on board once they get him there?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," she laughed. "Why worry about him?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not worrying," Huntington protested. "I never worry,—I don't +believe in it. Worry is for parents and married people generally."</p> + +<p>"What a cynic you are on the subject of marriage," Edith remarked; "you +never pass an opportunity to knock it, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Am I so heartless as all that?" Huntington inquired by way of answer. +"But why can't you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> and I, who may class ourselves among those fortunate +ones who have escaped the snares, be honest with each other and enjoy +watching the thraldom of others who have shown themselves less +discreet?"</p> + +<p>"How do you know that I do class myself among the fortunate ones?"</p> + +<p>"Because you are unmarried, and seeing you is to know that you could not +enjoy that blessed state except through choice."</p> + +<p>Edith smiled at his gallantry, wondering whether he was really as +flippant as he would have her think.</p> + +<p>"If a woman were to take that position she would be accused of 'sour +grapes,' wouldn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Probably; such is the instinctive pessimism of the times. It is so much +easier to do the conventional when one sees it going on all about him +that people are intellectually incapable of comprehending that to avoid +the obvious may be a matter of pre-determination, and an evidence of +strength rather than the result of accident or an act of omission."</p> + +<p>"Does Mr. Cosden share your views upon this subject?" Edith inquired.</p> + +<p>"Not at the present moment, if I am credibly informed by my +observations."</p> + +<p>Edith looked at him critically. "Do you mean that he is engaged?" she +asked pointedly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," Huntington disclaimed promptly, conscious that he was talking +of his friend with considerable freedom, but suddenly inspired with the +idea that it might help the situation; "no, I didn't mean that at all. +He isn't as careful as he used to be about exposing himself; that is +what I was trying to say. You see, I don't know how long inoculation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +holds good: it's seven years for smallpox, and three years for typhoid. +How long should you say a man could hold out against matrimony on the +same ratio?"</p> + +<p>"When was Mr. Cosden 'inoculated,' as you call it?" she asked, smiling.</p> + +<p>"When he started out to make his fortune, about fifteen years ago."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm sure it has run out of his system long since," she laughed. +"He ought to be very susceptible."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you're right," Huntington sighed. "Of course, Connie has a +strong, robust constitution and he may pull through, but I will admit +that I've seen symptoms lately which cause me some anxiety. Did you +notice anything while you were out driving?"</p> + +<p>"I noticed a good many things, but nothing which would contribute to the +subject you mention. He was about as responsive as the wrong side of a +mirror, but I talked at him until he had to say something in +self-defense."</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" Huntington held up his hands deprecatingly. "That is one of +the worst symptoms possible. I had no idea that it had gone as far as +that. You and I must take Connie in hand."</p> + +<p>"Who is the girl?" Edith demanded abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Ah! I am counting on you to help me find out."</p> + +<p>"It all must have happened before you came down here."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary; Connie was quite himself until he reached Bermuda. +Since then—"</p> + +<p>"Why, he hasn't met any one here except—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You and Miss Thatcher," Huntington completed. "You see how the search +narrows itself. I shall continue my investigations until I discover the +truth.</p> + +<p>"How perfectly ridiculous!" Edith cried, not yet convinced as to his +sincerity. "Why, Merry is a mere child, and—what makes you think there +is anything of that kind in Mr. Cosden's mind?"</p> + +<p>"His vindictiveness. Haven't you noticed the way he treated Billy? And +he has actually been harsh with me on two occasions. It isn't like +Connie; and if it affects him like this now, Heaven alone knows what the +outcome will be if matters go further. You know the old song:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"<i>You may carve it on his tombstone, you may cut it on his card,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>That a young man married is a young man marred.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"There you go again," laughed Edith; "the cynic once more leaps into the +limelight."</p> + +<p>"But won't you pledge yourself to assist me in my noble work? Why not +form ourselves into a society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Single +Persons, and be sworn to do all we can to intervene between matrimony +and its victims?"</p> + +<p>"Of course each would be at liberty to use his own judgment?" queried +Edith, amused.</p> + +<p>"Yes; so long as he did not confound judgment with sentiment."</p> + +<p>"That is a capital suggestion," she agreed smiling. "I will gladly join +you. Our first undertaking, I presume, will be to prevent affairs from +going any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> further between Merry and Mr. Cosden—granting that they +exist?"</p> + +<p>"I don't say that. I recognize in you a superior person, and as such I +have absolute confidence that you will act in accord with the unwritten +constitution of our Society."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for that confidence," Edith said still smiling. Then she +added enigmatically, "Whenever I accept a responsibility I always rise +promptly to the emergency. In the present instance it requires careful +consideration. Now, if you will excuse me I will take my morning +constitutional."</p> + +<p>Huntington was not sorry to have a few moments of solitary +contemplation. Throwing away a half-smoked cigar, he drew his pipe from +his pocket and filled it with his favorite mixture—unchanged since he +first became acquainted with it at college. A cigarette represented to +Huntington the casual inconsequence of youth, a cigar the aristocracy of +smoking, a pipe that comfortable companionship which encourages +relaxation and introspective thought. With the first whiff he pulled his +hat down over his face, settled deep in his chair, and began to run over +the events of the past few days. Huntington's mind was methodical if not +always orderly, and his account of stock, when finally classified under +the head of "responsibilities," summed up about as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Responsibility 1</i>: To keep peace with Connie, and yet +persuade him against or frighten him out of his present +assinine intentions.</p> + +<p><i>Responsibility 2</i>: To pull Hamlen out of the solitary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> life +which he had affected, and to force him to assume that +position in the world to which he rightly belonged.</p> + +<p><i>Responsibility 3</i>: To demonstrate to Mrs. Thatcher that her +unmotherly idea of making restitution to Hamlen by throwing +her daughter at his head was the product of an overwrought +sentimentality rather than a rational suggestion.</p> + +<p><i>Responsibility 4</i>: To become sufficiently intimate with +Merry, the direct or indirect occasion of the entire +complication, to be able to judge as to the probable outcome +of all the other responsibilities.</p></div> + +<p>The sum total of his obligations appalled him, and he found himself +proceeding in a mental circle, making no progress beyond the +recapitulation. He was not displeased, therefore, when he found himself +interrupted in his reveries by a bell-boy who stood before him, holding +out a tray containing a telegram. He took it mechanically, wondering who +had located him in this island retreat. Opening the yellow envelope he +read the following message, sent by wireless from the "Arcadian":</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>That Cosden person has slipped it over on me this time, +but I depend on you to watch out for my interests with +Merry. She is the one best bet. Don't let that antique +vintage of 1875 annoy her with his attentions. I know I can +trust you. Please cable money to me in New York care of +Hotel Biltmore to pay for this message and other expenses to +Cambridge.</i></p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;">"<small>Billy</small>."</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huntington groaned aloud as he twisted uncomfortably in his chair. +"Another responsibility to add to the others!" he cried, "and I believed +bachelor's life one of freedom and ease! If ever I get out of this mess +I'll bury myself in some monastery, and let its cold grey walls protect +me against the matrimonial madness of the world!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>By a curious coincidence Edith Stevens' "morning constitutional" took +her in the direction of the "Hamilton," and by another coincidence, +equally curious, she met Thatcher, Cosden, and her brother as they +emerged from the hotel after their conference with Duncan. Cosden was +still in an elated mental condition as a result of the fact that he had +again placed himself within the control of his master passion. Even +though Thatcher spoke of the enterprise as "small," it was an opening +wedge, and Cosden knew how to make the most of an opening.</p> + +<p>The visit to Bermuda had already taught him that he was engaging in a +game of which he did not know even the first rudiments. It had seemed +easy enough to him when he first undertook it, but the experience of +these few days had undeceived him. When in the past he had wanted +anything, he simply played the game until he won out; now he saw that in +spite of his claim that marriage firmly rested upon basic business +principles, there was a certain hiatus which could not be filled in by +the education derived from every-day business routine in a +counting-room. He had met no discouragements as yet, but he was making<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +no beginning, and that of course was retrogression.</p> + +<p>As he saw Miss Stevens approaching Cosden was seized with one of those +inspirations which had made his business career so signal a success. It +was stupid of him not to have thought of it before! Whenever he wanted +advice upon factory management he employed the best expert he could +secure; now that he required specialized service in the matter of +approaching Miss Thatcher upon the delicate subject he had in mind, why +should he not employ the same method? Every woman was by nature a +specialist in affairs of this kind, and from what he had already seen of +Miss Stevens he believed he could scarcely have selected one better +fitted to act in the capacity suggested.</p> + +<p>It was easy enough to manœuver matters so that he should walk back +with her to the "Princess," especially as she seemed unconsciously to +fall in with his plans by addressing her greeting particularly to him. +Cosden's response was so cordial and his pleasure in seeing her so +sincere that Edith was thoroughly mystified. Previously he had seemed +preoccupied, and appeared to endure her companionship rather than seek +it; now he threw aside his indifference and met her as a comrade. An +instant understanding flashed across her mind: Huntington had hinted +that his friend had suddenly developed interesting tendencies, and had +said plainly that the objective was either Merry Thatcher or herself. +Could it be that—well, perhaps it would not be necessary to use force +after all! Then, as a result of that curious feminine paradox, her next +thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> was contradictory: "If he is really interested in me then I +shall lose interest in him." Still, the game was worth playing out.</p> + +<p>They turned in at the little shaded lane which offers a short cut to the +hotel, but instead of entering the hallway Cosden stopped and indicated +the steps leading down to the tennis-courts.</p> + +<p>"Would you mind having a very personal conversation with me down there?" +he asked with so much significance in his voice that Edith became almost +agitated.</p> + +<p>"I'd love to sit down for a moment," she assented. "I've been walking so +long that I could take that bench in my arms and hug it."</p> + +<p>"I'm in a quandary," Cosden began without preliminaries as soon as Edith +had adjusted herself where she would appear to best advantage. "I have +an idea that you can help me out."</p> + +<p>"First aid to the wounded is right in my line," Edith assured him +helpfully.</p> + +<p>Even with the inspiration which expectancy on the part of an audience is +always supposed to give a speaker, Cosden's fluency became somewhat +modified when he actually touched upon his main topic.</p> + +<p>"I'm a peculiar sort of man, I've no doubt—"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't give a snap of my finger for a man who didn't possess +individuality," she interrupted emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Well, perhaps it is more than individuality. Men seem to understand me +all right, but I've never had a sister, and I've been too tied down by +my business to cultivate women. I'm a man's man—I suppose that about +expresses it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's a good recommendation; look at my brother,—he's a lady's man. +Would you change individualities with Ricky?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," Cosden said guardedly; "still in this matter your brother +could probably give me a pointer or two.—Hang it all! when I talk to a +man I don't have any difficulty in making myself understood, but here I +am, floundering round with you like a school-boy!"</p> + +<p>"Just imagine for the moment that I am a man and that you are talking to +me about some one else—"</p> + +<p>"That's it exactly; I knew you would understand. I thought Monty would +help me out, but he absolutely refuses to take me seriously. The truth +of the matter is that I've decided to get married."</p> + +<p>Even with the preparation given her by Huntington's remarks Cosden's +statement came with an abruptness which surprised Edith into a becoming +flutter. Her eyes fell for the moment and she could feel a flush come +into her face. Knowing how some men admire the combination of blue eyes +and rosy cheeks she hastened to look up, but was disappointed to find +her companion's gaze resting upon the distant horizon.</p> + +<p>"You have decided?" she asked archly; "where does the girl come in?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she'll come in all right at the finish, I've no doubt," Cosden +replied. "I'm taking you at your word, and I'm talking to you just as I +would to a man. I want you to tell me what I ought to do to make sure +that nothing goes wrong. I've<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> always got what I've gone after, and it +would break me all up to come a cropper just because I hadn't handled +the matter right."</p> + +<p>"Have you given the prospective bride any suggestion of your +intentions?" Edith inquired, her eyes again drooping.</p> + +<p>"Not a word. That's not my way. I always plan things out to the finish, +and then it's plain sailing to the end."</p> + +<p>"Have you reason to think she cares for you?"</p> + +<p>"She has no more idea that I think of marrying anybody than you had +before I began to tell you; but I don't see why she should have any +special objection to me. The whole point is, I'm somewhat older than +she, and I'm not sure that I speak the same language."</p> + +<p>Edith's mind executed some lightning mathematical calculations, and she +wondered if he were older than he looked.</p> + +<p>"There is not too much difference, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"Just eighteen years," Cosden announced with finality.</p> + +<p>The color left Edith's face, and then it returned with greater strength. +Her surprise showed only in her snapping eyes, for she held herself well +in hand; but her mind was working fast. She was thankful enough that he +had been so wrapped up in himself that he was oblivious to her mistake.</p> + +<p>"It would serve him right if I did marry him, to pay him back for this," +was what her eyes said, but the words she spoke fitted well enough into +Cosden's understanding.</p> + +<p>"Well, of course, eighteen years is a good deal—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Just the proper handicap." Cosden repeated the phrase he had used in +his discussion with Huntington. "Women grow old faster than men."</p> + +<p>Edith bit her lip to hold back the caustic reply which was almost +spoken. He certainly was intent upon his purpose, but that did not +excuse his lack of gallantry. His friend could give him points on that! +The responsibility she had told Huntington she would assume became a +real one!</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she seemed to assent; "but of course it makes a difference +who the girl is. If I knew her—"</p> + +<p>"You know her all right; it's Merry Thatcher."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she exclaimed, as if the identity was a complete surprise. "Yes, +you would have to plan your campaign pretty carefully with Merry. She is +a girl with definite ideas of her own, and she might not be influenced +by the fact that you always get what you go after."</p> + +<p>Cosden looked at her suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I think I could help you," she added quickly.</p> + +<p>"I'd be mighty grateful if you would," Cosden said with obvious relief.</p> + +<p>"Now, let me see—" Edith proceeded carefully, but the way was clearing +before her. "I think you will need to take quite a course of training," +she laughed. "Are you prepared to do that?"</p> + +<p>"When I place myself in my doctor's hands I usually take his medicines."</p> + +<p>"All right; then we'll start in at once. I must ask you a lot of +questions. Are you fond of athletics?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Next to my business, it's my longest suit."</p> + +<p>"There is the first point of common interest. You are making a good +start.—Are you fond of reading?</p> + +<p>"I like a good detective story."</p> + +<p>"How about Stevenson and Ibsen and Lafcadio Hearn?"</p> + +<p>"Not in mine, except 'Treasure Island' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.'"</p> + +<p>Edith pursed her lips. "Not so good on the second test, Mr. Cosden. How +about opera?"</p> + +<p>"My favorites are 'Lohengrin' and the 'Merry Widow.'"</p> + +<p>"Horrors! That you must keep sacredly hidden from the dear girl. I've +known her to go to the opera eight times in one week, and sigh for more. +Of course you adore orchestral music?"</p> + +<p>"You'll have to score zeros against me on music, but perhaps I can come +back strong in some other branches."</p> + +<p>She held up a finger chidingly. "You from Boston, and don't rave over +your Symphony Orchestra! That is a real blow! I supposed every one in +Boston went to the Symphony concerts just for the prestige, even though +he couldn't tell whether the orchestra was playing or only tuning up."</p> + +<p>"You see I'm not trying to sail under false colors."</p> + +<p>"Well, now I come to the supreme test of all: do you dance?"</p> + +<p>Cosden threw up his hands in real despair. "You are making me look +ridiculous," he said. "I knew the old dances, but I've never put myself +up against the new ones. I suppose I could learn."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, well, well!" ejaculated the fair inquisitor. "All I can say is +that you showed real business judgment in coming to me first. Merry +would have made short work of you; she's crazy about dancing. Oh, don't +look so serious; the case may not be so hopeless as it seems."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how it could be much worse." Cosden was genuinely +chagrined.</p> + +<p>"It isn't every one who finds a fairy godmother waiting for him when he +comes out of his chrysalis, Mr. Cosden," Edith explained. "She will help +young Lochinvar to throw aside his antiquity and come down to date. In +two weeks' time you'll feel so spritely that Mr. Huntington and his +friends of equal age will bore you,—all provided that you follow your +instructor's precepts."</p> + +<p>Cosden caught the contagion of her optimism. "It's mighty good of you, +Miss Stevens. I have no right to ask so much of a comparative stranger."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry a bit," Edith reassured him. "You are to start right in and +practise on me. I'll teach you the new steps, and coach you in all +that's needful. You may lose your breath and a few friends, but I'll +guarantee to show you how to win a wife. Now you may begin your +education by leading me in to luncheon."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Out of the helpless floundering in the lap of his "responsibilities" a +realization came to Huntington that immediate action of some sort was +imperative to prevent him from breaking his most zealously observed +commandment, "Thou shalt not worry." His antipathy to this favorite +pastime was not due to an acceptance of the Japanese theory that worry +produces poison in the human system, but rather to a willingness on his +part to let others do what he himself found distasteful. It was an +article of faith with him to avoid the unpleasant. During luncheon +Cosden was wrapped in his own thoughts, which gave final opportunity for +this realization to crystallize into a conclusion that the moment was at +hand to demonstrate his good intentions to Mrs. Thatcher, and to become +better acquainted with her daughter,—all in a single operation.</p> + +<p>"If my leaving the table won't disturb your reflections—" he began.</p> + +<p>Cosden looked up quickly and smiled. "I didn't intend to be such poor +company, Monty," he apologized. "The fact is, I have a good deal on my +mind. Of course you can't understand what that means; all you have to do +is to eat three meals a day, stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> still while Dixon dolls you up at +stated intervals and go to sleep at night after he tucks you away in +your little trundle-bed."</p> + +<p>There was an indulgent expression in Huntington's eye as he listened. +"Yes," he acquiesced; "it is always difficult for any one to see the +other fellow's viewpoint. But don't apologize; I think I like you better +when you're quiet.—Now, if you don't mind, I'll have a word with Mrs. +Thatcher."</p> + +<p>He strolled leisurely to the table where the Thatcher party sat.</p> + +<p>"I am going over to Mr. Hamlen's villa this afternoon," he announced; "I +wonder if Miss Merry would care to go with me."</p> + +<p>"I'd love to," the girl replied promptly, with evident eagerness in her +voice. "Especially if you are going to talk with him as you did the +other evening," she added.</p> + +<p>"You're taking that Hamlen chap rather seriously, aren't you?" Stevens +volunteered.</p> + +<p>"He's entitled to it," Huntington said with a decision which Stevens +took to be a rebuff, and subsided.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher was quick to understand that Huntington was acting in +response to her suggestion of the night before, and her face showed her +appreciation.</p> + +<p>"I have wanted Merry to see those wonderful grounds," she exclaimed; +"this is just the time to do it."</p> + +<p>"When does our Society go into executive session?" asked Edith, with a +significant smile; "my committee wishes to report progress."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Splendid!" Huntington responded. "The notices shall be sent out at +once." Then he turned again to Merry. "You'll go?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course I will; I'll be ready whenever you say."</p> + +<p>"I'll telephone Hamlen and see what time he would prefer to have us +come."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Shall we walk?" she asked him, as they met at the appointed hour on the +piazza of the hotel.</p> + +<p>"It's over two miles," he suggested doubtfully. The idea of walking +anywhere when a conveyance was within reach never occurred to Huntington +naturally.</p> + +<p>"I don't mind the distance at all unless you do," she replied; "I always +walk when I can, and the afternoon is delightful."</p> + +<p>As Huntington regarded his vivacious companion he was conscious of +another shock similar to those he had experienced when he first saw her +and her mother the evening of his arrival. She had discarded the +unconventional costume of the morning, exchanging it for an afternoon +gown of softest texture, so girlish, yet to the practised eye revealing +in every detail the artist's creation,—arraying herself with such +special care that her escort could not fail to understand her +appreciation of his attention. It was Marian Seymour once more whose +hand he held in his as he assisted the girl down the long steps, and his +mind leaped back again over the five and twenty years. But what a +difference at his end of the picture! She was the same, but he—well, +the years had dealt kindly with him he must admit, but forty-five at +best must pay homage to twenty! Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> youthful figure was disguised but +not hidden by the quaint gown of white Georgette crêpe and lace, +relieved from its monotone by a soft, moon-blue satin girdle, +embroidered with roses and leaves in pastel shades. The wide-brimmed hat +of the same crêpe, its crown of blue satin banded with flowers, the +dainty parasol, and the white kid colonials completed a becoming +costume. Huntington concluded that his slipper, so carefully preserved +at home, was as antique a souvenir as himself! "Shall we walk?" she +asked; he would have liked nothing better than to parade up and down +forever before every one he knew with this splendid young creature +beside him, exhaling all that glowing health and youth could add to the +natural charms which were her birthright! Particularly was he unable to +resist giving Cosden a look of triumph as they passed by him at the +steps.</p> + +<p>"Room for one more in your party?" Cosden asked, rising impulsively.</p> + +<p>"Full house, Connie," was the uncompromising response. "We're off on a +missionary trip, and you wouldn't be interested."</p> + +<p>To Merry herself this was an adventure as pleasing as it was unusual. +Huntington had made a deep impression upon her on that one occasion to +which she so often referred. In her quiet, tense way the girl was a +hero-worshiper, and in that single moment Huntington had qualified for +the hero's crown. That he should have selected her as his companion for +this afternoon was enough to set her cheeks aglow and to make her eyes +sparkle with girlish anticipation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm afraid my nephew Billy has been imposing on your good-nature, these +days," he began.</p> + +<p>"Billy?" she laughed. "Not a bit of it! Billy is the best fun ever. I +never saw such an irrepressible boy; he's just like a big St. Bernard +pup!"</p> + +<p>Huntington decided to remember this for later use in time of need.</p> + +<p>"I suppose we old-stagers forget how youthful we were at his age, but +sometimes it seems to me as if Billy would never grow up."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's all right, Mr. Huntington," Merry reassured him. "My brother +Phil is older, but every now and then he breaks out just the same. I +think they're lots of fun. It's only when they become serious that I +feel worried about them."</p> + +<p>"Billy isn't often guilty of that," was Huntington's comment. "When he +and I are alone I don't mind having him bubble over. It keeps me young, +so I rather like it; but down here it seemed as if he was getting in +every one's way,—just like a puppy, as you say. Mr. Cosden—"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid Mr. Cosden doesn't remember his own boyhood as well as you +remember yours," Merry interrupted. "How much more he would enjoy +himself if he had a bump of humor, wouldn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Connie? Why, I never noticed that he lacked humor. Of course Connie is +very intense; he goes at his business as if it were the only thing in +life, and when it comes to play it's the same way. Now that you speak +about it, I don't know that I have noticed much sense of humor in him. +Perhaps that's why we pull together so well."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you asked me to go with you this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> afternoon," Merry continued. +"Mother has told me something about Mr. Hamlen, and I feel terribly +sorry for him. He was so miserably unhappy the other evening. She says +he has one of the most wonderful places she ever saw."</p> + +<p>"He has; but I believe you will be even more interested in studying the +man than his frame. The morning I spent with him stands out as an event +in my life. You heard us discussing college the other evening; well, +Hamlen is the product of the one great fault in the life at Harvard when +we were there."</p> + +<p>"For Phil's sake, I hope all the faults are overcome by now."</p> + +<p>Huntington smiled. His face was one which smiled easily, adding to the +charm of his low, well-modulated voice.</p> + +<p>"Most of the faults have been eradicated," he replied, "but weaknesses +will always exist. Perhaps I should have called this a weakness. To-day +it is partially remedied, and I believe that the new freshman +dormitories are going to be a large insurance clause against it."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I understand—"</p> + +<p>"Nor can you until I cease speaking in enigmas," laughed Huntington. "I +once went to a lecture William James gave on Pragmatism, and all I took +away as a reward for my hour of careful listening was that 'nothing is +the only resultant of the one thing which isn't.' I upbraided him for it +when next we met, and he explained that the prerogative of a philosopher +is that he can retreat behind meaningless expressions and still be +considered wise. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> am no philosopher, so it is cowardly of me to try to +take similar advantage of you. Hamlen is a college-made recluse, and +there is no denying the fact that at Harvard there has been less effort +made by the students to find out the personal characteristics of their +classmates than at any of the other colleges. Each fellow has had to +show them forth himself, and it had to be done his freshman year. If he +held back, as Hamlen did, they have let him stay in his shell; then he +concluded they didn't like him."</p> + +<p>"But a boy can't advertise his characteristics—"</p> + +<p>"No; but he can manifest them in legitimate ways. Why, my freshman year +there was a little fellow in the Class who didn't weigh a hundred +pounds, and had no more strength than a cat; but he went in for crew, +football, baseball, track athletics, debating,—and everything else you +could imagine. He was no good in any of them, and didn't come within a +mile of making any team. We all made fun of him and we all loved him for +his grit. He didn't have to advertise; we knew him through and through. +That is the kind of boy that makes good at Harvard."</p> + +<p>"Some boys wouldn't realize the importance of this until too late, with +no one to tell them, would they?"</p> + +<p>"That is the whole point, Miss Merry, and it hasn't taken you as long to +see it as it has taken the college authorities. When Hamlen and I were +there no one made any effort to shake us up together. I had my own small +circle of friends, and we cared precious little for any one outside of +it. If I had known Hamlen then as I have come to know him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> here in less +than a week, I should have insisted on his being one of that little +circle; but I didn't know him at all. I am watching this segregation of +the freshmen with great interest. It seems as if they must get to know +each other better now; but if this experiment doesn't solve the problem +then the authorities must keep on trying until they find one that does."</p> + +<p>They walked on in silence for several moments. Huntington was deeply in +earnest, and Merry eager to hear every word. Her father, not being a +college man, had always been more or less intolerant of the claims made +by college graduates, so her ideas had naturally been colored by his +views. Her brother was sent to Harvard because his mother wished it, not +because Thatcher had changed his opinions, and Merry's new views, as +gained by her brother's life there, had not given her any deeper +understanding. What Huntington said to Hamlen supplied her with another +viewpoint, and she was keenly interested in this continuation of the +same subject.</p> + +<p>"Hamlen is a man cowed and embittered by his experiences," Huntington +said, speaking again. "Every time he has gone out into the world it has +been head foremost, without looking. He has butted against stone wall +after stone wall when he could have seen the opening had he used his +eyes. Each time he has been bruised he has fancied that the world struck +him, when in reality the wound was self-inflicted."</p> + +<p>"Has he no friends—no hobby which can take him out of himself?"</p> + +<p>"He believes himself to be friendless, but he has a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> hobby; I discovered +it when I was at his villa yesterday. Do you happen by any chance to +know anything of the artistic side of bookmaking?"</p> + +<p>"I took some lessons from Cobden-Sanderson while we were in London two +winters ago, but I haven't done much with what I learned."</p> + +<p>"Did you really?" Huntington stopped short and looked at her in genuine +surprise. "That is a curious coincidence! I hadn't the remotest idea, +when I asked the question, that you knew there was anything in a book +except the story. Well, that does simplify matters! Hamlen has a +hand-press and a miniature bindery, and has made some really exquisite +volumes. It is his one remaining human trait. I've known the books for +years, but no one could find out who made them. Well, well! I promise +that you shall see Hamlen this afternoon in a mood quite different from +the one you saw him in the other night; you shall know the man as I know +him, and better than he knows himself!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Huntington noticed a new light in Hamlen's eyes as he greeted them at +the villa. The man was more reserved in the presence of a third person, +but Huntington was relieved to find that the fact of Merry's coming did +not throw his host back into that restrained attitude which he +manifested when first they met.</p> + +<p>"I have brought you another congenial soul," Huntington explained.</p> + +<p>"Can there be such—for me?" Hamlen demanded, but his guest continued as +if he had not heard.</p> + +<p>"Quite accidentally I find that Miss Merry has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> been a pupil of +Cobden-Sanderson's, and I want her to see what you have done in this +miniature island press of yours."</p> + +<p>"I should be so interested," Merry exclaimed eagerly.</p> + +<p>"How can it interest any one but me?" Hamlen asked incredulously. "I am +parading my inmost self in public, and it seems indecent."</p> + +<p>"I should not wish to intrude—" the girl began but Hamlen held up a +deprecating hand, and the expression on his face refuted the apparent +lack of courtesy.</p> + +<p>"I am sure you won't misunderstand, Miss Thatcher, being, as Mr. +Huntington says, a congenial soul. It is I who am apologizing. To have +any one show interest in what I do is a new experience, and I hesitate +for fear I may be indelicate. And yet I want to show you what I've +done!"</p> + +<p>"Of course I understand," Merry replied cordially; "I'm proud to be +among the first to see your work."</p> + +<p>"Before we go indoors, may I not take you around the grounds?" he turned +to Huntington. "Perhaps you are in the mood for it to-day?"</p> + +<p>"By all means," his guest responded. "It will give us exactly the right +atmosphere for what is to follow."</p> + +<p>Huntington rejoiced to see Hamlen's attitude. For an hour they wandered +from one point to another, Merry in a state of ecstasy from the superb +beauty of it all, Hamlen supremely happy in this sympathetic +companionship of which he knew so little, and Huntington contentedly +watching the life-drama enacting before his eyes. On the stage such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> a +sudden change from tragedy to comedy would have been considered crude, +for who could write lines of such delicacy as to portray the yearning of +a human soul, or what actors are there so great that they could mimic +the birth of hope? "God is the master-dramatist, after all," Huntington +murmured to himself as he studied the changes which made the tortured +derelict of a few days before into the contained and self-respecting +host.</p> + +<p>They returned to the house, and Hamlen took them to his press and +bindery. Huntington purposely kept in the background, asking a question +now and then, adding a word only where it was necessary, and giving his +host the opportunity of explaining the finer points of the work to the +responsive and comprehending mind of the girl. Little by little he could +see the real Hamlen emerge from his manufactured self under the +influences around him.</p> + +<p>But his interest was not wholly centered in Hamlen. Until to-day +Huntington had observed Merry only in her relation to others; now he +felt a personal pride in the way she carried herself, in her quick +understanding, her sympathetic responsiveness. He felt unconsciously for +these brief moments a pleasurable sense of possession which added to his +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>"Now take us to your library," he said to Hamlen at length. "You told me +that you had there some examples of the old master-printers at which you +had scarcely looked. I want to see them; perhaps they may show us the +influences which unconsciously affected your work."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Most of them belonged to my father," Hamlen explained, as he opened the +door for his guests to pass through into the larger room.</p> + +<p>"He was a collector, then?"</p> + +<p>"In a small way. As I look back, he must have known a good deal about +old books; but I had no interest then, so they made little impression."</p> + +<p>Huntington glanced around at the shelves critically.</p> + +<p>"Classics, classics, classics!" he cried. "Good heavens, man, do you +mean to tell me that you haven't any modern books at all?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen flushed. "There are many of these which I don't know well yet," +was his reply. "Until then why should I accept counterfeits?"</p> + +<p>Huntington had already found the shelf which held the <i>incunabula</i> and +the later examples of printing.</p> + +<p>"Jenson, Aldus—ah, here is the 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili,' and a +splendid copy! That is the only illustrated volume Aldus ever issued," +he explained to Merry as he turned the pages. "Here is where you found +that half-diamond formation of the type," he added, speaking to Hamlen, +and pointing to the printed page.</p> + +<p>Hamlen bent forward. "I didn't even remember that it had ever been +used," he said. "I simply felt the necessity of filling out my page."</p> + +<p>"So did Aldus," Huntington answered significantly. "Here is one of +Étienne's Greek books. Splendid work, isn't it? And yet, after giving +France the crown of typographical supremacy which Italy had lost, he had +to flee for his life because he wouldn't let his books be censored!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My father had a fine copy of Plantin's 'Polyglot Bible.'" Hamlen drew +one of the massive volumes from the shelf.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Huntington replied, glancing critically at it and then at several +of the other books; "your father must have known his subject well, for +these examples follow the supremacy of printing from Italy down to +modern times. See, starting with Aldus, you have one of Étienne's, then +one of Plantin's, representing the period when Belgium snatched the +prestige from France, then here is a 'Terence' of Elzevir's, printed +when Holland was supreme; then Baskerville's 'Vergil,' which gave +England the crown in the eighteenth century—"</p> + +<p>"Where does Caxton come in?" Merry asked.</p> + +<p>"He belongs to the period of Aldus, but his work was distinctly inferior +to that of his Italian rival.—I say, Hamlen, where did your father go, +after Baskerville?"</p> + +<p>Huntington, continuing his examination of the volumes, answered his own +question. "Here it is,—a beautiful example of Didot's 'Racine,' printed +in that type which he and Bodoni cut together. Splendid judgment your +father showed! This explains everything: you come naturally by your +genius. What you have called instinct is really inheritance. Now the +next; what is it?" Huntington became impatient in his eagerness.</p> + +<p>"That is as late as my father's collection went."</p> + +<p>"But surely you have a Kelmscott 'Chaucer'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I bought one when I was in England."</p> + +<p>"Put it up here just after the 'Racine.' There you are: except for +Gutenberg's 'Mazzarine Bible,'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> which you may be excused for not +possessing because of its rarity, you have a complete set representing +the best printing which has been done in each epoch."</p> + +<p>"You see how little I realized it," Hamlen apologized.</p> + +<p>"You expressed your realization in the most tangible way possible, my +dear fellow! You produced examples which are worthy to stand on the same +shelf with those masterpieces. We won't put any living printer's work +there yet, until Time has placed its value upon it, but I'll wager that +when the next selection is made the books of Philip Hamlen will receive +consideration."</p> + +<p>"I wish I might believe that," Hamlen said with deep feeling; "it would +mean everything to me."</p> + +<p>"You must believe it. When you come to Boston, and find out how other +collectors regard your work, you'll think my praise is tame. Until then, +believe what I tell you, and take out of it the gratification which +belongs to you.—I want you to go back to Boston with me, Hamlen, and +pay me a visit. Will you do it?"</p> + +<p>The change in subject was so abrupt that it took his host entirely +unawares.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that, Huntington?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course I mean it. In fact, I insist upon it. I want to take you home +to exhibit to my jealous friends as my own discovery.—Then it's all +agreed."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't leave here," Hamlen said soberly.</p> + +<p>"I'll wait for you," Huntington replied. "I'm really in no hurry at +all."</p> + +<p>Hamlen laughed, and it was the first time Huntington had seen his +reserve break down. He could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> not help contrasting it with the burst of +emotion which had preceded his departure only the day before.</p> + +<p>"You are a hard man to resist," Hamlen said lightly; "but that is +something for the future. Let me have it to look forward to."</p> + +<p>"Well, I haven't left Bermuda yet, and I don't want to go without +you.—Now, Miss Merry, I must get you safely back to the hotel. Do you +feel equal to another walk?"</p> + +<p>"I'm eager for it," she replied.</p> + +<p>At the door Hamlen managed to have a word alone with Huntington.</p> + +<p>"You knew her mother when she was a girl, you said?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—slightly," was the guarded reply.</p> + +<p>"She was wonderful!" he exclaimed with much feeling. Then he added, "The +daughter is very like her, don't you think?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Hamlen's remark remained in Huntington's mind long after it was spoken. +He himself had been impressed by Merry's resemblance to her mother as +they set out on their afternoon's pilgrimage; yet his reply to Hamlen's +question was a prompt denial. Huntington's mind centered itself upon +this paradox as they walked down the long driveway, and he wondered why +he had impulsively yet deliberately given an impression so at variance +with what he knew to be the facts. Seeking for self-justification, he +turned his head slightly so that he might inspect his companion more +closely without attracting her attention. After all, he satisfied +himself, the resemblance was occasioned more by certain intangible +characteristics than by any similarity of features. Marian Seymour +possessed a beauty of more startling type than her daughter; indeed, +until that afternoon Huntington had thought of Merry as an attractive +rather than a beautiful girl. Now that the subject forced itself upon +him he realized she was both, and that the type proved so satisfying +that he had been content to enjoy it without the temptation of analysis.</p> + +<p>Huntington's further acquaintance with the daughter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> emphasized his +disapproval of her mother's idea regarding her possible marriage to +Hamlen, and this led him to make a comparison between Marian Seymour as +she was to-day and the idealization with which he had been so long +familiar. Her beauty still remained, her fascination was perhaps greater +since experience had given substance to her girlish vivacity and charm, +and her energy was such that she unconsciously dominated every situation +of which she was a factor. She was evidently devoted to her husband and +to her children, but her force of personality dominated them as it did +all others with whom she came in contact. Huntington had rather admired +this trait in a woman, but now it clashed with his own judgment. He gave +her credit for believing that she would be acting in her daughter's +interest, but her suggestion did shock him, for it seemed to show a lack +of sympathetic understanding. The idea of Merry married to Philip +Hamlen! The man was all right, in his way, of course. Eventually he +might become less of the recluse and more nearly human; but obviously he +was too old and too settled in his eccentricities to be inflicted on any +woman, and least of all on a girl like this.</p> + +<p>"But still, confound him!" Huntington said to himself, "he came out of +his chrysalis far enough to take notice!"</p> + +<p>Then his thoughts jumped from Hamlen to Cosden. Connie was more alive +than Hamlen could ever be expected to become, but the same arguments +applied to him in greater or less degree. It was easy enough to +understand what had attracted him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> for Connie always instinctively +sensed in anything the really vital assets. Now that Huntington was +becoming better acquainted with Merry he resented more and more the idea +of this coldly-calculated courtship, and he wondered why this +characteristic of Cosden's had not more often offended him in the past.</p> + +<p>From this point it was an easy shift to Billy,—dear, lovable, spoiled, +heedless Billy! Of course he loved Merry, just as he had always loved +every beautiful object he had ever seen; and, naturally enough, he +wanted this beautiful object just as he had wanted hundreds of others +during his brief but meteoric career. And still of course, he looked to +his Uncle Monty to gratify his whim in this as in all other cases! It +was going to the other extreme: Billy was as much too young and +irresponsible as the others were too old and unsuitable. This much +Huntington was able to settle definitely in his mind, and his arrival at +a conclusion brought with it a sense of relief.</p> + +<p>Huntington suddenly became aware that his introspection had occupied +more time than courtesy permitted, but Merry, absorbed in her own +thoughts, had not noticed his abstraction. He tried to relieve the +tension.</p> + +<p>"'Silence is golden, speech is silvern,'" he quoted. "What do you say to +our adopting a silver standard?"</p> + +<p>Merry's laugh showed that the interruption was welcome. "You always say +the least expected thing, Mr. Huntington!" she exclaimed. "My mind was a +thousand miles from here."</p> + +<p>"A thousand miles," Huntington repeated reflectively. "I'm fairly good +in geography, but I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> afraid I'll have to ask you the direction before +I locate the spot."</p> + +<p>"Straight up," she responded, half entering into his mood, half +returning to her serious vein,—"straight in that kingdom where desire +to do the right and wise thing is not hampered by a lack of knowledge."</p> + +<p>"You would like to help Hamlen?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I would!"</p> + +<p>What a serious face it was! Huntington studied it with satisfaction yet +with twinges of conscience.</p> + +<p>"I should not burden you with my problem," he said penitently. "Why +should youth be made to carry loads which belong to older shoulders?"</p> + +<p>"Please—" the girl protested eagerly. "I want you to do it. I +appreciate your confidence so much that I am eager to be of some real +service."</p> + +<p>"You like—responsibilities?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"It isn't living to be without them, is it? They seem to come of their +own accord to men: a woman usually has to work hard to find any that are +worth while."</p> + +<p>"Some women do," Huntington admitted; "others have more than their share +without deserving them. Burdens usually seek and find the willing +shoulders."</p> + +<p>"Of course; but I mean the women who have been brought up as I have +been. I've always had everything I wanted, and my parents have protected +me against everything. They even protest when I rebel against my own +uselessness by going into settlement work, and in other small ways try +to express my individuality."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Such as the course in bookbinding with Cobden-Sanderson?"</p> + +<p>Merry smiled consciously. "That was such a poor attempt, because I had +no ability. My squares were uneven, my backs were wrinkled, and it was +really such sloppy work."</p> + +<p>"Granting that what you say is true, yet the experience gained in doing +it enabled you to understand Hamlen to-day far better than if you had +never attempted it. That is the main point, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose nothing we do is ever wholly lost," she admitted. "I did +understand Mr. Hamlen, but that understanding has brought me no nearer +to the point where I can help him."</p> + +<p>"You helped him to-day more than any one has ever done except +myself.—You see how frankly I accept first glory."</p> + +<p>"I helped him?" Merry protested. "Why, I only listened and allowed +myself to be entertained."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but there is a difference in the way one does even that. He +hesitated to show you his work and yet he wanted to show it to you. That +was the struggle between the habit of years to restrain his real feeling +and the desire which your sympathetic personality created in him. And +the desire won out. Each time the habit is broken its power over him +becomes weaker. Now do you see the value of the service you rendered +him?"</p> + +<p>"It is wonderful how clearly you analyze things!" the girl exclaimed +admiringly. "All I could see was depressing, but you found encouragement +in everything."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Surely those beautiful books encouraged you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but they emphasized the awful pity of the deliberate repression of +his full ability."</p> + +<p>"Still; the fact that the demand for expression was as stronger than the +will to repress it shows the character beneath."</p> + +<p>"Then not to express one's individuality shows a lack of character?" +Merry inquired soberly.</p> + +<p>"I think I sense some personal application," Huntington answered +guardedly. "I must know more before I utter further words of wisdom."</p> + +<p>The girl looked up into his face inquiringly, and then laughed +consciously. "I am really becoming frightened by your power to +understand," she said, only half jokingly. "I do mean to make a personal +application. I want to express myself individually, but, being a woman, +I cannot find the opportunity. If I really had character I'm sure that I +should force the opportunity."</p> + +<p>Huntington realized that in hesitating to answer her question he had +been wiser than he knew. The seriousness which appeared from time to +time on the girl's face, then, was not a passing mood, but rather the +index of warring emotions. An unguarded word at this moment might do +much injury to a nature which was striving to find itself.</p> + +<p>"Do you know yet what form you wish your individuality to take?" he +asked cautiously.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly," was the frank response. "What I object to, is that a girl +isn't allowed to become interested in anything that is worth while. She +is given her education and 'brought out,' after which, whether she likes +it or not, she seems to be placed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> in a position of waiting for some man +to come along to marry her. Why can't she be allowed to do something, +just as a boy is, until she finds out whether she wants to marry or +not?"</p> + +<p>"That would be a fatal error!" Huntington explained with mock gravity, +hoping to lighten the serious turn the conversation had taken. "If any +such idea gained ground marriage would become the exception rather than +the rule. How many girls do you think would ever marry if they were +permitted to find any other real interest in life?"</p> + +<p>"But I'm serious, Mr. Huntington," Merry protested, showing that she +felt hurt by his flippancy. "I couldn't bear to be a nonentity all my +days. Think of realizing one's own ambitions only by marrying a man who +could fulfil them! I could not be happy unless I contributed my share to +the real life which we jointly lived."</p> + +<p>"You could do it," Huntington said with conviction, "but not every woman +could.—See that old man bowing to us. Suppose we go and speak with him. +Do you mind?"</p> + +<p>"Every one is so courteous here," she exclaimed as they crossed the +narrow road. "I never pass one of the natives without receiving a +greeting of some kind, and the children are forever shyly forcing +flowers or fruit upon me. It makes one love the place."</p> + +<p>The old man was overjoyed to have attracted attention. He hobbled +forward with difficulty as they approached, and bowed as low as his +infirmities would permit.</p> + +<p>"You are welcome to Bermuda," he said with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> cracked, high-pitched +voice. "We are pleased to have strangers visit us."</p> + +<p>"Your visitors remain strangers but a little while," Huntington answered +him, "because of your hospitality."</p> + +<p>"Won't you come in and sit down?" the old man urged.</p> + +<p>"Not to-day, thank you; but if we should not be intruding it would be a +pleasure to return some other time."</p> + +<p>"You could not intrude, sir," he insisted; "for I am only waiting."</p> + +<p>"Waiting?" Huntington questioned.</p> + +<p>"Yes; waiting for that," and he pointed to a tall cedar growing inside +the yard, beside which was the stump of another tree.</p> + +<p>"He wants to tell us something," Merry whispered.</p> + +<p>"They were planted there sixty years ago," the old man continued, "the +two of them. They were little slips, stuck in our wedding-cake as is our +custom here, when my wife and I were married. We put them in the ground, +for everything takes root in this soil, and they grew side by side for +fifty years. Then that one fell"—pointing to the stump,—"and the next +day my wife was taken sick and died. We made her coffin from the cedar +wood of that tree, sir. Now I'm waiting for the other one to fall. That +was ten years ago now, so it won't be long."</p> + +<p>"Isn't that a beautiful idea?" Merry exclaimed, touched by the +unconscious pathos of the old man's words. "We would like to come back +and have you tell us about your wife."</p> + +<p>"She was a sweet, young girl like yourself when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> I married her," he +replied. "We were both born here and never left the island. But the maps +aren't fair to us; we're not so small"—he straightened and waved his +arm—"we're not so small, as you can see."</p> + +<p>They left him happy over the unusual break in his monotony, and +continued their walk to the hotel.</p> + +<p>"Here is the other side to the picture," Huntington remarked. "This old +man and his wife, and hundreds of others no doubt, live their lives out +here happy and contented with their nineteen square miles of world, yet +you and I are pitying Hamlen because of his self-exile under +circumstances infinitely more acceptable!"</p> + +<p>"It is a question of what one has within, isn't it?" Merry asked, "that +something which keeps one from being satisfied with anything less than +the most and the best that life can give him and he can give to life."</p> + +<p>Huntington looked at her with undisguised admiration. "You couldn't have +stated it better if you had taken all the college courses in the world," +he said. "You're a wonderful little girl, Miss Merry, and if you don't +let your heart play pranks with that well-balanced head of yours you +will certainly achieve your great ambition."</p> + +<p>They were near the hotel now, and the conversation had strayed so far +from the original subject that the girl did not follow him.</p> + +<p>"My great ambition?" she asked. "And that is—"</p> + +<p>"I won't tell you until we're up the steps."</p> + +<p>"Well?" she demanded archly, as at length they stood on the piazza.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You will marry a man who will let you contribute your share to the real +life which you will jointly live."</p> + +<p>The laughing response which he had looked for was not spoken, but to his +amazement Merry turned from him without a word and disappeared within +the hallway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Thatcher and Cosden chartered one of the hotel carriages the next +morning and started on a tour of inspection over the route plotted out +by Duncan for the proposed trolley-line. After passing beyond the town +limits, and with the long stretch of superb coral road ahead of them, +Thatcher turned to his companion.</p> + +<p>"Why can't we get together on the Consolidated Machinery?" he asked +pointedly.</p> + +<p>"The public demands that your nefarious trust be compelled to recognize +its rights," Cosden replied smiling.</p> + +<p>"Good!" Thatcher smiled in response. "Now that you have that piffle off +your chest, please go on."</p> + +<p>"This time we have the goods," Cosden added significantly.</p> + +<p>"If you are so sure of it, why don't you show them to us? Then we can +tell whether it's a real hold-up or merely an attempt."</p> + +<p>"That's just the point, and the sooner your crowd realizes it the less +time you will waste. This is not a hold-up game; we have the goods, and +we can make a better thing by operating than by selling out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You have courage to buck up against an organization as strong as ours."</p> + +<p>"Not only courage but capital enough to see us through."</p> + +<p>The antiquated stage-coach, plying between St. George's and Hamilton, +lumbered past them. Cosden smiled as he turned to his companion.</p> + +<p>"There's a perfect illustration of the situation," he said. "Your +machines belong to the same vintage as that old coach, yet by +maintaining a monopoly, as you have been able to do until now, you have +succeeded in forcing manufacturers to employ antique methods, and to pay +you a whacking big royalty for the privilege of remaining twenty years +behind the times. That stage-coach will stand as much chance of +continuing on its beat, if our trolley scheme goes through, as your +machines have of keeping out of the scrap-heap when ours once get on the +market. This isn't any news to you, Thatcher, and that's what makes your +whole crowd so anxious."</p> + +<p>"If what Duncan tells us is correct," Thatcher retorted quickly, "we +have just about as much show of pulling off the trolley scheme as you +fellows have of putting this machinery game over on us. Somebody has +been going to do this to us for twenty years, but somehow the +manufacturers keep coming back to renew their contracts."</p> + +<p>"Of course they do," Cosden admitted; "they haven't dared to do anything +else. Look at the terms in your leases! Any manufacturer would have to +be absolutely sure that the new machines were backed strongly enough to +keep you from punishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> him for his temerity. That can now be +guaranteed, and with the element of fear eliminated they will flock to +us, rejoicing that they have the opportunity to leave their shackles of +bondage behind them."</p> + +<p>"Another Emancipation Proclamation!" laughed Thatcher; but Cosden found +the moment to impress the enemy with the strength of his position too +opportune to allow himself to be diverted.</p> + +<p>"Think of it, Thatcher," he cried with characteristic enthusiasm. "In +less than two years they can save enough, through the economies of +production, to buy their machines outright, instead of continuing year +after year to pay you tribute with nothing at the end to show for it. We +give them methods as well as machines, and show them how an ordinary +workman can produce the high-grade output of a skilled operative by +means of the improved automatic features of our machinery. The makers of +medium-quality goods can now turn out work equal to that heretofore +produced only by high-grade manufacturers."</p> + +<p>"You're a grand salesman, Cosden," Thatcher said lightly. "Your company +ought to put you on the road! Our people would pay you a big salary to +handle the sales end of our organization."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't be worth ten dollars a week to them. There are three kinds +of salesmen, Thatcher: one sells his concern, another sells his +customers, and the third sells his goods. A man can't belong in the +third class unless he himself believes in what he's selling. I've been +making these machines for our crowd for five years, including the +experimental<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> period, and I know what I'm talking about. Four big plants +are now being equipped, and when they once begin running you'll see your +royalties dropping away from you like friends after a failure. The fact +that you have had a monopoly has encouraged your people to keep their +eyes on the stock-market instead of on the improvement of their +machines, and our biggest asset is the fact that every manufacturer who +is leasing from you to-day is sore over his treatment."</p> + +<p>"That goes without saying," Thatcher admitted; "they would be sore if we +gave them the machines outright. But if you are so sure your +improvements are valuable, why go to the expense of duplicating our +selling and manufacturing equipment when we stand ready to make a fair +trade?"</p> + +<p>"The new machines wouldn't be worth as much to you as they are to us."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because you would never use them. The improved models would simply be +side-tracked to keep them from competing against your antiques. You +would be paying whatever it cost to get hold of them for hush money, +just as you have done a hundred times before."</p> + +<p>"Suppose we did: what difference would it make to you, so long as you +get a good thing out of it? I don't understand that your company was +organized for philanthropic purposes."</p> + +<p>"No; business and philanthropy usually work better when they're given +allowances for separate maintenance, but in this particular case the two +seem to be walking along hand in hand. Self-interest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> Thatcher, is the +strongest motive in the world, and when you find a proposition which +offers self-interest to the buyer as well as to the seller you have an +irresistible argument."</p> + +<p>"This is a great road-bed for a trolley-line," Thatcher remarked, +leaning over the side of the carriage. "The construction problem ought +to be a simple one."</p> + +<p>"The proposition to have a line of cars run here is so obvious that +there must have been powerful objections to obstruct it all these +years," Cosden answered, quite content to await Thatcher's pleasure in +resuming the main topic of their conversation.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful clear, cool morning, and the sea at their left +sparkled brilliantly in its sapphire splendor. To the right of the +carriage road were attractive cottages, overgrown with blooming +<i>bougainvillea</i> or other less spectacular foliage. Every now and then a +more pretentious mansion appeared, built on some elevation which +commanded a view of the water on either side, and surrounded by heavy +clumps of cedar and fan-leaved palmettos. Frequently the road passed +between high walls of solid coral limestone, from the crevices of which +the ever-decorative Bermuda vegetation showed scarlet, orange and purple +blooms against the green.</p> + +<p>"There must be something more than sentiment," Thatcher commented. "I +suspect that we shall uncover some large personal interests here which +have been strong enough to protect themselves—"</p> + +<p>"And find concealment behind the convenient screen of sentimentality," +completed Cosden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Exactly. I wouldn't spend any time on it at all except that it seems so +important to the people themselves."</p> + +<p>Cosden laughed so spontaneously that Thatcher looked up quickly, trying +to grasp the unintended humor in his last remark. His companion was +hugely amused and made no effort to conceal it.</p> + +<p>"Well?" Thatcher interrogated good-naturedly; "aren't you going to let +me in on it?"</p> + +<p>"It's funny, that's all," Cosden replied; "but it's perfectly good +business either way you work it. Simply a question of how you sit when +you have your picture taken."</p> + +<p>Thatcher's face demanded further explanation, but before Cosden spoke +again by way of enlightenment his amused expression disappeared, and he +became serious.</p> + +<p>"I don't know as it is so funny, after all," he said. "When you spoke of +being interested in this trolley scheme principally because it was so +important to the people, I couldn't help thinking how inconsistent you +were."</p> + +<p>"Inconsistent?" Thatcher echoed.</p> + +<p>"Suppose you owned that line of stage-coaches, and leased it out just as +you do these machines. Then some men came along and proposed to build a +trolley-line which would push the stage-coaches off the map. That's what +our new machines will do to your old ones. In one case you're interested +in the improved method because it is so important to the people; in the +other you say, 'The people be damned.' But you're no different from the +rest of us. Our so-called consistency is as full of holes as a sieve;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +but it's always the other fellow who sees it. We're too close to +ourselves to get the perspective."</p> + +<p>"I am relieved," Thatcher said. "If it is only a question of +inconsistency I'll take a chance on holding my own. But sometimes we are +not so inconsistent as we seem. The 'other fellow' thinks he has a joke +on us when in reality he only sees part of the situation. This +'nefarious trust,' for example which you cite as a hideous illustration +of grinding monopoly, took hold of an industry, twenty years ago, and +brought system out of chaos, shouldered all the risk, taught +manufacturers how to make money out of their business, and enabled small +factories to become big ones by leasing them machines which they could +not afford to buy. The trust has prospered, but so have the +manufacturers. Who shall say that those who took the risks are not +entitled to the rewards, or that the system introduced and developed by +the trust was not as much in the interests of the people as this +trolley-line we are proposing?"</p> + +<p>"There isn't much of anything we can't prove if we argue long enough, is +there?" Cosden retorted. "If I hadn't heard all that before, and if I +hadn't seen the way the 'system' worked out, I should be almost +persuaded. Some one told me once that there were two sides to every +story except that of Cain and Abel, but I came across an Icelandic myth +a while ago in which Abel was the murderer, and since then I've refused +to believe anything until I know the other side. Probably the only way +for you and me to agree on this question is for each of us to buy some +stock in the other fellow's company."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Edith had secured the necessary records for the victrola from the hotel +office, and she and Cosden were alone in the ball-room ready for the +first lesson in modern dancing. Cosden had never before noticed how +enormous the room was, or how many of its windows opened onto the +piazza, or how curious the average hotel guest is when a novice is about +to be initiated into the mysteries of terpsichorean art.</p> + +<p>"Pay no attention to them," Edith reassured him. "Those who know how to +dance have had to go through it, and those who haven't learned are +perishing for an opportunity. Listen!" she cried, as the music began. +"Can you possibly make your feet behave when you hear that heavenly +one-step? Look!"</p> + +<p>Lifting her skirts gracefully above her ankles, Edith made herself a +veritable part of the music, pirouetting up and down and around, while +he watched her in mingled admiration and trepidation.</p> + +<p>"There!" she cried, stopping before him; "it's perfectly simple, you +see. Now, you try it."</p> + +<p>"By myself?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she laughed. "How else can you learn?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right," was the dubious assent; "but don't you think we might pull +those curtains down?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! You might as well start in,—you couldn't look more foolish +than you do now."</p> + +<p>"All right," he again assented, and took his place on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Now, left foot forward—one, two, three, four. No; left foot, I said. +That's it. Now rise a little on your toes. Don't be so heavy, and for +Heaven's sake look as cheerful as you can!"</p> + +<p>"This is awful!" Cosden ejaculated, mopping his forehead. "Don't you +think it's too warm a day to begin?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't warm; it's really cool, and you haven't begun to begin yet. +Now start in again. Left foot,—left I say, one, two—oh! that miserable +victrola has stopped!"</p> + +<p>"Let me wind it up," Cosden insisted quickly, glad of the opportunity to +struggle with something tangible.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll try again," Edith said amiably. "This time get started before +the music runs down. Watch me just a moment. There,—now you know what +to do. Left, dear man, left,—not right, and rise on your toes, one, +two, three, four. Why don't you pay attention to the music?"</p> + +<p>"I think I could learn better without the music. It throws me off."</p> + +<p>"Move with it; then it will help you."</p> + +<p>"I can't; it mixes me up."</p> + +<p>"Don't you feel any impulse to move your feet when you hear that music?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I feel an inordinate desire to run out of the room."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But, seriously, doesn't the rhythm of that one-step make you +instinctively want to dance?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest. I never wanted to dance in my life until now, and +only now because you tell me that it's part of the game."</p> + +<p>"Did you ever play any musical instrument?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; when I was a boy I played the bones in a minstrel show."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's a ray of hope.—Wind up the victrola again, and we'll +start all over. You do wind it beautifully!"</p> + +<p>"This is too big a job you've undertaken," he told her as they again +stood facing each other. "Let's call it off."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," Edith protested. "It is only fair to say that you are not +what would be called a natural dancer, but that will bring all the more +glory to your instructor when once you've learned. Why, look at the +tricks they teach animals! I'm not a bit discouraged, are you?"</p> + +<p>"Are we down-hearted?" he echoed in a spirit of bravado.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it; now we'll dance together, and I'll try to pull you +around. There, put your arm around my waist,—that's right. Hold me +closer,—don't be afraid. Imagine I'm your sister if it will keep you +from being embarrassed. Left foot forward—ta, ta, ta, ta—that's +better. No, let me lead. There, we can go forwards and backwards anyway, +but you mustn't step on my feet. That's the first thing to learn,—dance +on your own feet."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon—"</p> + +<p>"That's all right; I don't mind it at all. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> when we stop dancing, +you know, you must take your arm away from my waist. How quickly you +overcame that early embarrassment!"</p> + +<p>"I don't intend to give you another chance to suggest that I'm afraid," +Cosden retorted. "I may not know much about girls or dancing, but if you +think I haven't nerve enough to put my arm around your waist,—well, +it's up to me to demonstrate."</p> + +<p>"You bold, bad man!" Edith pointed her finger at him in mock-reproach. +"I sha'n't dare go on with the lesson until I've forgotten your +threatening attitude! Now let's see if a little turn on the piazza won't +give us courage to continue."</p> + +<p>Cosden assented with alacrity. "Splendid notion!" he exclaimed; "that +will give me a chance to cool off."</p> + +<p>"You are warm," she admitted, looking him over critically and noting +that his collar was completely wrecked. "You must read the Polite Book +of Dancing Etiquette—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord!" Cosden groaned.</p> + +<p>"You will find there many useful suggestions which will add to your +popularity with your partners. For instance, it tells you that when +overheated by the exercise you should stand erect and throw your chin +out; then the perspiration will run down the back of your neck and be +less noticeable.—Come now, see what a light Bermuda breeze will do to +cheer you up."</p> + +<p>Edith was well pleased with the results of the first lesson. She had +felt some misgivings, for Cosden was the most masterful man she had ever +met. If this masterfulness could not be broken down,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> then her plans +could not be carried out; but she recalled the fact that Henry Thatcher, +so pliable in his wife's hands, was spoken of as dictatorial and +self-confident in his business relations. If this was true of Thatcher, +it might be equally true of Cosden, and the experiment was well worth +trying. In the hour just past Edith had proved her sagacity to herself. +Cosden explained his present docility by saying that he always obeyed +his doctor's orders; Edith had discovered in that brief time two facts +unknown even to himself: that his confidence came only from a knowledge +of his own strength, that in treading new and unknown paths he was not +only willing to be led but accepted guidance gratefully.</p> + +<p>After this important discovery, she intuitively came to a better +understanding of the man. "Men know more than they understand, and women +understand more than they know," some one has tritely said. Edith +Stevens was a woman, and understanding was enough; she did not crave to +know. When Cosden stated so flatly, "I always get what I go after," she +had thought him a tactless braggart, who deserved to be shown his place; +now, with this new light thrown upon his character, she understood his +remark quite differently. The man knew but one way to accomplish his +purpose, and that was to go directly at it, head-on, overpowering +opposition by the force of his momentum. In his beginnings, Edith +surmised, he had not always felt so confident, and these bold assertions +were made partly to give himself additional courage and partly to +conceal from the world the existence of any doubt as to his ultimate +success. What had been first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> a policy became a habit, and if Edith were +correct in her analysis Cosden was at the present moment repeating his +early experiences.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Time in Bermuda cannot be figured by calendar days. Whether this is due +to the evenness and perfection of the temperature, which so satisfies +the physical demands as to eliminate all desire for change, or to the +natural beauty which exorcises those sordid demands life elsewhere +compels, it would be difficult to determine; but the fact remains that +except for the sailing of the little steamers a week is like a long, +delicious day, with the nights a passing incident,—a curtain drawn for +a moment to deprive the vision of its wondrous panorama, lest the spirit +become satiated and thus less appreciative.</p> + +<p>More than a fortnight had passed since Billy Huntington's spectacular +departure, yet no one suggested that vacation days were drawing to an +end. It was Thatcher who found least to occupy him, yet even he had +fallen beneath the spell and was content to drift. By this time Marian +was fully convinced that a match between Hamlen and Merry was +foreordained, and that her mission was to drag him forth from his exile; +but she was not satisfied with her progress in either one of her +self-imposed labors. Hamlen was a changed man since the new +companionship came into his life, but whenever he was brought up against +the question of leaving his retreat the old terror seized him, and he +slipped back behind his defenses.</p> + +<p>"I wish I might," said he to her one day, "believe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> me, I wish I might; +but you don't know what you ask. The bitterness of my attitude toward +the world has become an abnormal condition which you could not be +expected to understand. Your visit here has tempered it—I know now that +there are exceptions; but don't urge me against my better judgment. Let +me remember this visit in all its happiness; perhaps its memory will +enable me later to do as you suggest."</p> + +<p>Huntington was no more successful in his efforts. His classmate listened +to him patiently and showed a full appreciation of the friendly +suggestions; but no promise could be exacted, and Hamlen seemed stronger +than the combined forces against him. Yet, in spite of disappointments, +Huntington was optimistic.</p> + +<p>"We may not be able to take him with us," he admitted to Marian, "but +after we are gone he will find this place unendurable. Time will be our +ally."</p> + +<p>Cosden's sudden intimacy with Edith Stevens mystified Huntington, but he +welcomed it as a temporary respite. So long as Cosden was making no +exertion to advance his interests with Merry, no more active effort +could be expected from his friend. He asked no questions and Cosden +vouchsafed no information, which on both sides marked a change in the +relations of the two men.</p> + +<p>Edith was equally mysterious with Marian, smiling sagely when her friend +tried to draw her out; but she admitted or denied nothing. She +faithfully performed her self-assumed duties, and Cosden lived up to his +agreement to take the medicine his doctor prescribed. By this time he +was able to pull through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> on the one-step and the canter waltz, but his +great success was the fox-trot. This, he discovered without assistance, +is danced in as many ways as there are individual dancers, so he +developed an original "series" which gave him supreme satisfaction, +since as he explained, no one could prove whether he or his partner was +at fault when a mistake was made. Edith had long since given up all hope +of having him follow the music, but he had actually learned the steps, +and his persistency in pursuing with grim relentlessness what she knew +to be an irksome duty could but win her respect.</p> + +<p>In fact, she looked upon the result of her experiment with no little +pride. Each afternoon the two might be seen on the ball-room floor, +working away as if their lives depended upon it, with the Victrola +repeating over and over the same tunes which, except for her own +persistency, would have driven Edith mad. Always after the dancing +lesson they promenaded the hotel piazza "to cool off," and their joint +devotion to their undertaking was so assiduous that it became almost a +feature of the hotel life. Edith's triumph came when Merry was called in +to "assist" at one of the later lessons. Try as they would, Cosden and +his new partner were at odds in each effort they made to dance together, +while with Edith he succeeded passably well. In Cosden's mind there +could be but one explanation.</p> + +<p>"I always thought she knew how to dance," he expressed it after Merry +left them alone. "How little you can judge of anything until you know +how to do it yourself!" And Edith, wise person that she was, did not +explain to him that this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> was the first time he had danced without her +guiding hand!</p> + +<p>Cosden had become dependent upon his chief adviser in other ways than +dancing. He found her so sympathetic in listening to his problems and so +helpfully intelligent in discussing them that he gradually confided to +her more of his intimate affairs than he had ever shared with any one +else. Ostensibly, she was adviser only in his affair with Merry, but it +was a short step to extend her line of operations without having him +realize that she was exceeding her contract. She explained matters which +seemed subtle to him with such clearness, her counsels were so wise and +her criticisms so fearless that Cosden's admiration was profound.</p> + +<p>"You are a bit severe, you know," he said to her one day; "but I like +it. The only reason I go to a specialist is because I know he +understands his subject better than I do, and so I swallow what he tells +me, hook, line and sinker. And you are a great success as an expert in +your line, Miss Stevens,—you're all right."</p> + +<p>Whereupon Edith courtesied gracefully and answered demurely, "Thank you, +sir; I am glad I give satisfaction."</p> + +<p>Thatcher and Cosden had carried the trolley proposition as far as lay +within their power, and awaited a response from the Bermuda government +before they could proceed. This threw Cosden back again upon his +original purpose, to which he clung with a bulldog tenacity. Edith knew +by this time that when his mind once settled upon a course diversion was +an impossibility, so she encouraged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> rather than opposed him. She left +Cosden's confidence in himself undisturbed while she encouraged his +dependence, and complacently permitted affairs to take their course. +Just when the master stroke would be delivered she could not tell, but +she was prepared to have it descend suddenly at any moment.</p> + +<p>The fortnight had given Huntington a new lease of life. His efforts to +humanize Hamlen forced him out of his habitual course along the line of +least resistance, and without analyzing his new sensations he found them +to be agreeable. In addition to this Merry and he were boon companions +now, and he discovered that the vivacity of a young girl was no less +effective in making him forget his years than the noisier enthusiasm of +his youthful nephew. Merry accepted her responsibilities with great +seriousness, and discussed Hamlen's persistent obstinacy with Huntington +from every possible angle. In fact, Huntington made a point of inventing +new angles in order to prolong the discussions, and to supply the excuse +for walks and drives which threw them much together.</p> + +<p>As a result of their growing intimacy Huntington came to favor Billy's +ambitions far above those of Cosden. He had not changed in his +conviction that neither one of them was at all suited to the girl, but +if it could be possible to hold matters in abeyance until the boy might +be developed up to her, there would at least be much satisfaction to him +personally if Merry could be kept in the family. Of course he must be +loyal to his friend, but as Cosden seemed to be finding much pleasure in +Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> Stevens' companionship his conscience did not suffer any twinges +which were too painful to be endured.</p> + +<p>But complacency is ever a forerunner of seismic upheavals. The days had +repeated themselves often enough now for Huntington to regard their +routine as practically fixed, and he was anticipating the usual quiet, +after-breakfast smoke on the piazza, during which period he would +discuss with Merry some new attack upon Hamlen's obstinacy, or some new +trip during which the attack could be devised. This had seemed such a +certainty to Huntington that Cosden's words were in the nature of a +shock.</p> + +<p>"Miss Thatcher and I are going sailing this morning," he announced.</p> + +<p>"Eh—what? Oh, sailing—are you?" Huntington stumbled a bit before +recovering himself. "It's a fine morning for that," he continued with +decision.</p> + +<p>"You've been doing better lately, Monty," Cosden complimented him. "At +first I didn't think you were going to help me out at all, but for some +time now you've been putting yourself right into it, just as I wanted +you to. What have you to say about the girl now? She's all right, isn't +she?"</p> + +<p>"You don't mean that you're still serious in that direction—"</p> + +<p>"Of course I am. Why should you think I had changed my mind?" Cosden +interrupted. "I don't often do that, do I?"</p> + +<p>"But you have hardly seen her."</p> + +<p>"I've been biding my time, Monty, that's all, while Miss Stevens coached +me up a bit. It's really a great game,—there's more to it than I +thought."</p> + +<p>"You are absolutely unsuited to each other."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, Monty, I believe you're jealous!"</p> + +<p>"Well, suppose I am?"</p> + +<p>Cosden showed his amusement. "I would take that as a challenge from any +one but an old cynic like you," he laughed.</p> + +<p>Huntington failed to enter into Cosden's lightheartedness. "This is a +serious matter, Connie," he insisted. "That little girl is too fine to +have her name bandied like this. I give you warning right here that I +step down and out on this proposition. I can't imagine a worse crime +than to harness a high-strung, thoughtful, sentimental child like that +to a human adding-machine like you, and I won't be a party to it."</p> + +<p>The younger man realized at last that his friend was serious. He looked +at him soberly for a moment, then he placed his hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Is this all our friendship amounts to?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"It is the greatest act of friendship I have ever been called upon to +show you," Huntington returned. "You would be as wretched with her as +she with you. I felt sure that you had come to the same conclusion, and +I admired your good sense."</p> + +<p>"Is there by any chance some deeper reason?" Cosden demanded pointedly.</p> + +<p>"No, Connie," Huntington replied quickly; "don't be ridiculous! I am +just as unsuited to her as you are. Why, I'm old enough to be her +father! But somewhere there is a man who is meant for her and who is +worthy of her, and I only hope that he will appear before any one +persuades her into making a mistake.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think her capable of taking care of that herself?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Frankly, I do. I don't think you have the remotest chance of +interesting her."</p> + +<p>"What has happened to lower me so in your estimation?" Cosden persisted, +puzzled rather than resentful. "Our friendship dates back a good many +years, Monty, and this is the first time you ever made me feel you +disapproved of me. Does it mean—"</p> + +<p>"It means that I'm proving my friendship now," Huntington interrupted, +"by telling you an unpleasant truth. During this long friendship, which +I never prized more highly than I do this moment, I have watched you +work out your success, often against heavy odds. All this I have +admired, Connie, but to win as you have done has been at a cost I had +not realized until I saw you under these new conditions: it has kept you +from developing those finer instincts which a man needs to guide him at +a time like this."</p> + +<p>"You mean romance, I suppose, and sentiment."</p> + +<p>"I mean a sensing of the proportions and a respect for appropriateness +even if it interferes with your preconceived plans. Your interest in +this girl exists admittedly because of what an alliance with her will do +for you: it will bring you closer to the group of operators of which her +father is the head, she will preside with credit over your household, +through her you may perhaps secure social advantages which now you feel +are beyond your reach."</p> + +<p>"Isn't all that legitimate?"</p> + +<p>"Entirely legitimate, measured by laws of barter and sale,—but to my +mind eminently improper when applied to Miss Thatcher."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>As Huntington grew more and more intense Cosden's attitude gradually +became normal again, and an indulgent expression replaced the serious +aspect which his face had assumed as their conversation progressed.</p> + +<p>"Well, Monty," he said, slapping him on the back, "you've got that off +your mind, and it's a good thing to have happen. What you want is to +take your endorsement off my social note; that's all right,—consider it +done. Your sentimental notions are great in story-books but less +valuable in every-day life. You stick to your ideals, and I will to +mine. I've made up my mind to get married, and you know what happens +when once my mind is made up."</p> + +<p>"You are absolutely hopeless!" Huntington cried despondently.</p> + +<p>"Hopeful, you mean," laughed Cosden, "in spite of your gloomy +forebodings. What you say ought to shake my confidence in myself, no +doubt, but somehow I think I'd rather hear it direct from Miss Thatcher +herself. Hello!" he exclaimed as he looked at his watch, "it's time to +start. Cheer up, Monty! Really, things aren't half as bad as they look +from where you sit!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>However abrupt Cosden's action may have appeared to Miss Stevens or to +Huntington, in his own mind he believed himself to have selected the +psychological moment for which he had patiently waited. It was true that +he had seen comparatively little of Merry Thatcher, but the time had +been well spent in preparation for the grand event. Now, particularly +since Huntington had spoken as he did, Cosden was eager to put his +new-found knowledge to the test, and to disprove his friend's +contention.</p> + +<p>It was a business axiom with Cosden that an order must be half sold +before the salesman approached the prospective buyer. "People don't buy +anything these days," he hammered into his sales-manager; "they have to +be sold." And Cosden was a man who practised what he preached. The +frankly-admitted lack of familiarity on his part with the particular +market in which he proposed to trade was offset, he believed, by the +expert coaching he had received from Miss Stevens; and this should have +prepared him for any emergency. After all, were not the principles the +same the world over? Somewhere, back in the hazy, academic past when +Latin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> had been compulsory, he remembered that a certain gentleman whose +name he could not then recall had plunged <i>in medias res</i>. He remembered +distinctly how much this act had won his admiration; now he proposed to +emulate his illustrious predecessor.</p> + +<p>Even granting that Cosden's self-analysis was correct to the extent that +he possessed no romance in his make-up, the present surroundings were +such as to suggest the "psychological moment" even to the most obtuse. +The sloop, after running before the wind, was skilfully guided in and +out among the little islands and past the beautiful shores of Boaz and +Somerset by a hand on the tiller to which sailing was evidently +second-nature. The girl rested against the gunwale, her eye alert, her +face lighted by a smile of quiet contentment, her white, lithe figure +brightly contrasted against the varying background of blue water and the +green of the islands as they were left behind.</p> + +<p>"Where did you learn to handle a boat?" Cosden asked her, interrupting +the silence which she seemed content to accept.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's nothing to it here," she answered. "I wonder if they have a +breeze like this all the time in Bermuda? It seems to be ready-made for +the visitors. But I think it would become monotonous, don't you? I like +something to work against."</p> + +<p>"You have evidently sailed a boat before."</p> + +<p>"I'm on the water a good deal every summer. Father gave me a knockabout +two years ago, and I've had lots of fun in her. It isn't always as +simple on Narragansett Bay as it appears to be here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You seem to be pretty good at anything you undertake."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" Merry laughed deprecatingly. "I play at everything, and +perhaps that is why I am not particularly good at anything. Phil says I +have more courage than judgment."</p> + +<p>"That sounds like jealousy! I'll wager you can beat him in most games, +unless he is better than the youngsters I know."</p> + +<p>"I can, in some," she admitted, "but Phil is a great oarsman. He's on +the crew at Harvard, you know," she added with a pride which amused +Cosden; "he will probably row against Yale again this year. But Phil +doesn't go at other sports as hard as I do. I have to go at them hard. I +simply must be doing something. Mother calls it restlessness and Father +says it's because I haven't grown up yet. Perhaps they are both right; +but whatever it is I just can't help it."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will never grow up, if to lose your enthusiasm is the +penalty."</p> + +<p>"Then you don't think it's unwomanly?" she asked, grateful for his +approval.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," Cosden asserted. "It is enthusiasm which wins in +everything to-day. Confidence in one's self, belief in one's subject, +enthusiasm in its presentation; that is my daily creed."</p> + +<p>"But you are a man," Merry protested. "You have made your success, so +you have a right to have confidence in yourself—"</p> + +<p>"My success is only partially complete," Cosden interrupted, quick to +seize the easy opening. "When I left college I undertook to make money: +I did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> make it. Then I undertook to compel that money to earn me a place +in the business world: I made that dream come true. Now I have reached +the third effort. My money is of value only so far as it secures for me +what I want, and a part of what I want I can't get alone: that is a +home, with the right woman in it. A man can make his clubs and all that +sort of thing by himself, but it takes a woman to secure for him the +social life which he ought to have. I'm looking for that woman now, and +I intend to get her."</p> + +<p>A smile crossed Merry's face as Cosden concluded his matter-of-fact +statement. "You are demonstrating your daily creed," she said.</p> + +<p>"Of course I am. If I didn't you would accuse me of inconsistency."</p> + +<p>"Have you found the woman you—intend to get?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure. What kind of woman do you think she ought to be?"</p> + +<p>Merry's face sobered, and she became thoughtfully serious. "First of +all, a woman who loved you," she said at length; "that goes without +saying."</p> + +<p>It was Cosden who smiled this time. "I see you still have some +old-fashioned ideas left; I had looked upon you as absolutely +up-to-date."</p> + +<p>"Is love old-fashioned?"</p> + +<p>"Love is a result rather than a cause. It comes from the combination of +one or more causes: propinquity, similarity of tastes, natural +attributes, I might go on indefinitely. Two natures are attracted to +each other before marriage, but love really comes as a result of the +closer companionship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> which follows. Could anything be more common-sense +or scientific than that?"</p> + +<p>"Is that what men believe?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Not all; which explains the appalling list of matrimonial bankrupts."</p> + +<p>They were out beyond Ireland Island now, past the great dry-dock and the +barracks. The girl brought the boat about and started on the homeward +tack.</p> + +<p>"That is a very interesting idea," she said soberly as she shifted to +starboard. "It never occurred to me that love had become a commodity. +That is very interesting."</p> + +<p>"But you haven't told me what kind of woman you think my wife should +be," Cosden insisted.</p> + +<p>"She should be a poor girl, of good birth and personal attractions," she +answered promptly.</p> + +<p>"Why poor?"</p> + +<p>"Because otherwise she would be giving everything and you nothing. You +must supply something which she lacks or it wouldn't be a fair trade, +would it? If a woman loves a man, there is no need to measure what she +gives against what she receives, but your 'common-sense' plan suggests +it, and from a 'scientific' standpoint I should think it absolutely +essential."</p> + +<p>"But your statement is not correct, Miss Merry," Cosden protested +earnestly. "You would do me an injustice if you stopped at that point: +am I not offering her my name and my protection?"</p> + +<p>"Of course all this is an imaginary situation," Merry laughed +mischievously, "or I shouldn't dare to speak so freely; but in justice +to my sex I can't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> stop now: suppose her name is as good as yours, and +that she is entirely competent to protect herself?"</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! Don't tell me you are a suffragist!"</p> + +<p>"But you would want this woman you—intend to get to be a suffragist, +wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Not under any circumstances!"</p> + +<p>"Still, your marriage is to be on an up-to-date common-sense, scientific +basis: can it be unless you and your wife stand on equal terms?"</p> + +<p>"I never saw such a girl to ask questions," Cosden protested almost +petulantly. "You must have been going to woman's suffrage meetings all +winter."</p> + +<p>Merry laughed outright. Her triumph was too obvious not to be enjoyed; +but she quickly checked herself.</p> + +<p>"I have been very rude," she said contritely; "but what you said so +completely destroys the vision which every girl has in her heart that I +couldn't resist the temptation to tease you. No, Mr. Cosden; I'm not a +suffragist, and I never attended a public meeting in my life. Mother +thinks I'm too young to enter into such things; but I've read a good +deal, and I can't see why, in this scientific age, men and women +shouldn't stand side by side at the ballot-box as well as elsewhere. For +myself, I'm not quite ready for it, but I admit that it is nothing but +sentiment—a holding on to a bit of old-fashioned precedent if you +like—which holds me back. It seems to mar that vision I just spoke of, +Mr. Cosden, even as your ideas completely destroy it."</p> + +<p>She was in earnest now, and the girlish, mischievous attitude had +completely vanished. Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> grasp upon the tiller tightened, her eyes +looked far ahead and Cosden knew that in this mood she would have +welcomed a young typhoon—anything to struggle with, rather than the +smooth lapping of the water against the sides of the boat as the light +wind bore them tranquilly on toward their landing. Even to him, +unaccustomed as he was to the finer sensibilities which expressed +themselves in every feature of the girl's face, the surging thoughts +which forced so tense a silence commanded silence in his own response. +It was the closest he had ever come into a woman's inner shrine, and +instinctively he respected it.</p> + +<p>It was her own movement—a brushing back of a strand of hair which the +breeze had loosened and blown across her face—which finally broke the +tension, but her eyes did not drop. Still looking far ahead of her she +spoke again, but the words seemed addressed more to herself than to her +companion.</p> + +<p>"I can't bear to give that vision up," she said quietly, "and yet I +never expect to see it realized."</p> + +<p>"Tell me what it is," Cosden urged as she paused. "Visions aren't +exactly in my line, but perhaps you can make me see this one."</p> + +<p>"It's silly of me; you wouldn't be interested, of course."</p> + +<p>"But I am," he insisted. "Please go on."</p> + +<p>"Well," the girl said consciously, "since you have confided your creed +to me, I'll tell you what my vision is,—but you mustn't laugh at it for +it means a great deal to me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I promise—cross my heart," Cosden replied.</p> + +<p>"In this vision each one of us atoms, man or woman, has a distinct +individuality, and each atom is intended to express its own +individuality alone and in its own way unless two atoms become joined +together by laws of natural attraction. In that case these two continue +on their way together, each strengthened by the combination, and thus +enabled to express their joint individuality as neither could do alone. +But love must be the crucible, Mr Cosden. Common-sense won't merge them, +science won't do it. The two atoms can't be made into one without the +crucible."</p> + +<p>They were almost at the "Princess" landing now, and Merry gave her full +attention to her duties as skipper. As the boatman took possession, +Cosden assisted her onto the landing and they walked slowly up the stone +steps. At the top she turned to him suddenly, the brightest of smiles +replacing her former seriousness. Cosden marveled at the rapidity with +which her mood changed.</p> + +<p>"That's my vision, Mr. Cosden," she said simply; "don't think it too +foolish. I must have some guide just as you have your daily creed. I +haven't confidence in myself, but I do believe in my subject, and you +tell me that I have enthusiasm. Please let that atone."</p> + +<p>"But that vision of yours—" Cosden demanded doubtfully. "You asked me +if all men regard marriage as I do; let me ask you if all women have +that vision, as you call it."</p> + +<p>"I suppose they have. If not, why should they give up their +independence?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought all women wanted to marry—"</p> + +<p>"That is where <i>you</i> are not up-to-date, Mr. Cosden," she laughed. +"Perhaps the woman you—intend to get has no vision; if so, it will be +that much easier. But she must be poor, Mr. Cosden,—you really mustn't +take advantage of her!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Huntington passed an uncomfortable half hour after watching Merry and +Cosden start off on their sailing-trip, and he was glad to have Edith +Stevens break in upon his unprofitable self-communion. Cosden had put +into words a fact which until then Huntington had stubbornly refused to +acknowledge: he had actually reached a point where he heartily +disapproved of his friend. Connie had said it, and the realization that +what he said was true shook the long-established friendship to the core.</p> + +<p>As he analyzed the case Huntington found it difficult to explain why +this complete change in conditions should suddenly have taken place. +Cosden was no different from what he had been during all these years of +their intimacy. In fact, he knew no one among his friends who was so +absolutely consistent in conducting his life in accord with principles +established before their friendship began. Others had commented on +Cosden's commercial instincts, and Huntington always defended him, yet +now these same traits caused him to criticise his friend even more +severely than those whose attitude he had previously thought +unwarranted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>The change, then, Huntington concluded was in himself rather than in +Cosden; and from this point he tried to discover what that change really +was. What had their relations been during these years? They had never +come together in any business way, and Huntington now for the first time +wondered why it would not have been natural for Cosden to turn over to +his office some of his frequent cases in litigation. It had not +previously occurred to him that he might have expected it, but now he +wondered. This in itself was evidence that his friend did not consider +him seriously in the practice of his profession. The real fact was that +they had played together, and that their intimacy had stopped at that +point. Huntington now recalled that in gratifying those characteristics +which found enjoyment in music, art or literature he instinctively +sought the companionship of other friends, and the same analysis +revealed to him that Cosden had done likewise in turning to other and +more kindred spirits in living that part of his life with which his +friend had little sympathy. It had all happened so naturally that +Huntington had never realized until now that in spite of their intimacy +there was a side to each man's life into which the other never entered.</p> + +<p>This was the explanation as Huntington thought it out, and the fact that +it could be explained at all gave promise of readjustment. The present +situation did not require any change in the relations of the two +friends. It had been precipitated by the accidental pulling aside of a +curtain which revealed a picture Huntington must always have known was +there, but at which he had always steadfastly refused<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> to look. The +mistake came when Cosden insisted that he peer behind the curtain, and +became intensified when he permitted himself to be drawn into that side +of his friend's life in which he should have known he had no part. The +friendship need be in no way affected: simply restore the old relations, +use greater discretion in keeping them within the bounds which Nature +had prescribed for them, and all would be as before.</p> + +<p>Huntington abhorred an enigma because when once focused in his mind a +mental impossibility was created to rid himself of it. He found it +lurking behind his <i>Transcript</i> in the evening, it tried to crystallize +itself in the smoke of his last pipe before retiring, it flirted with +him coyly over his coffee-cup the next morning. Until the figment became +a reality and was dismissed it was a haunting menace to his peace of +mind. Now that he had discovered an explanation of his disapproval of +Connie and had found the antidote, that particular enigma was disposed +of, and he should have been free to resume his normal state; but to his +further discomfiture this was just what he found he could not do. He had +cut off one of the Hydra's heads, but others remained which spat at him +viciously.</p> + +<p>Why was it that Cosden's attitude caused him such peculiar annoyance at +this particular time? Had he been entirely straightforward with his +friend, had he been quite frank in answering Hamlen's question regarding +Merry's resemblance to her mother? Huntington's disgust with himself at +that first slip became intensified by its repetition. He recalled De +Quincey's arraignment of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> murderer on the ground that murder so +dulls the sensibilities that it is an easy step from this to falsehood. +Huntington, with his Puritan ancestry, would have allowed himself to be +torn by wild horses before he would deliberately tell an untruth, yet +here, on two separate occasions, he had undeniably juggled with the +facts.</p> + +<p>When Cosden suggested that there might be some deeper reason for his +objections he promptly and equivocably denied the implication that he +had any interest in Merry beyond that of an older friend; yet he now +knew that the denial was absolutely false. What he told Cosden was what +ought to be the case rather than what the case really was. This was his +secret, and he had protected it in the easiest way, which as usual was a +cowardly subterfuge. The fact that he had made a misstatement or that he +had a secret to conceal had come to him only during this period of +self-communion since the little sloop sailed away, leaving him alone +with his reflections. What he said to Cosden, that he was equally +unsuited to Merry and that he was old enough to be her father, expressed +the cold, hard facts; but he needed no second-sight to tell himself that +during these days of companionship, such as he had never before known, +the girl's sweet personality had penetrated the sham armor of the cynic, +and that he was face to face with an emotion far deeper than any he had +experienced from time to time in his library, in front of that table +with its curious exhibits, with the stage-like accessories of the +albatross-stem pipe and the flickering light from the burning logs. How +tinsel-like it all seemed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> him now, compared with this +flesh-and-blood experience in the open air, with its glorious setting of +the sea and the beautiful island foliage!</p> + +<p>He had reached this point in his mental activities when he saw Miss +Stevens approaching, and he greeted her cordially. Face to face with +this latest revelation, he disliked his own company. His +responsibilities, which had seemed terrifying to him so short a time +before, now appeared insignificant compared with the new responsibility +with which he had saddled himself. He thought little at this moment of +the burdens imposed upon him by Mrs. Thatcher, by Cosden, or by Billy: +he must now protect the girl against himself, and that would be the +hardest task of all.</p> + +<p>Edith Stevens, as well as Huntington, found herself without her usual +occupation this morning. Cosden told her, the evening before, of his +plan to take Merry sailing, so she reverted to her natural habit of late +rising, from which she had temporarily reformed herself, knowing that +Cosden always breakfasted early and was usually looking for +companionship. Seeing Huntington absorbed in self-contemplation she +gravitated in his direction.</p> + +<p>"We've lost our little playmates, haven't we?" she said cheerfully, as +he rose and pulled up another piazza chair for her. "Why isn't this a +good time for our Society to go into executive session?"</p> + +<p>"Capital!" Huntington assented, replying only to the second part of her +question. "Is the secret-service department ready to make its report?"</p> + +<p>"I've found the girl," she announced bluntly; "but I imagine you know +already who she is."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The girl Connie is going to marry?" Huntington simulated a proper +attitude of interrogation.</p> + +<p>"The girl he thinks he wants to marry," she corrected.</p> + +<p>"Oh! he only thinks so. That's it, is it?"</p> + +<p>Edith raised her eyes from the toe of her buckskin shoe, which she had +been poking vigorously with her sunshade, and smiled brightly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said; "that's it."</p> + +<p>"You speak with conviction."</p> + +<p>"Well," Edith explained, "I know Mr. Cosden better now than when the +Society last met. He wants to get married, and he thinks he has picked +out the right girl, but—"</p> + +<p>"But—what?"</p> + +<p>"But—he hasn't; that's all." And again Edith smiled brightly into +Huntington's face.</p> + +<p>"Connie isn't in the habit of making mistakes; he usually gets what he +goes after."</p> + +<p>"So he told me," she admitted, with an expression on her face which +Huntington thought significant; "but there's always a first time to +everything; and this is where Mr. Cosden meets his Waterloo."</p> + +<p>"I understood that you had been coaching him—"</p> + +<p>"So I have."</p> + +<p>"But I thought we agreed—"</p> + +<p>"We did; and I've lived up to our agreement. You watch his face when he +comes in! I'm oozing out the balance of the morning here simply to give +myself that satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"You must have some inside information which has not been incorporated +in your report."</p> + +<p>"Not exactly; but I know Mr. Cosden and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> know Merry. When he begins to +trade for a wife she won't understand the language, and if he tries to +teach it to her—well, he may learn something himself."</p> + +<p>"You think he will propose to her this morning?"</p> + +<p>"If she lets him get as far as that. He's been working up to this point +ever since he arrived, and the only way to cure him was to let him have +his own way."</p> + +<p>It was a novel experience to Huntington to see any one other than Cosden +himself undertake to manage his personal affairs. The certainty with +which Miss Stevens spoke evidenced a closer acquaintanceship with Connie +than Huntington had realized existed.</p> + +<p>"What will happen when this episode is over? Do you care to prophesy?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"He will come back to his counsel to have his wounds bandaged, and then +the education of Mr. Cosden will continue from the point where it was +temporarily interrupted."</p> + +<p>"You are assuming a great responsibility," Huntington suggested.</p> + +<p>"I'm still retained," she answered demurely. "That's what you lawyers +call it, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>Edith rose and sat for a moment on the edge of the piazza rail, her eyes +looking down the harbor. She was impatient for the returning boat, and +made no attempt to conceal it. At last her vigilance was rewarded, and +she returned to her chair.</p> + +<p>"S-ssh! they're coming!" she said mysteriously, placing her finger on +her lips. "We mustn't seem to be waiting for them. Talk to me!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huntington tried to obey her instructions during the intervening +moments, but it was obvious that Miss Stevens heard little of what he +said. She was intently watching the steps yet endeavoring to appear +entirely unconcerned. Merry was the first to see them, and she came +forward with her usual animation and enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"We've had a wonderful sail!" she said. "The morning was simply perfect, +and it is such fun to play hide-and-seek among these little islands."</p> + +<p>"She knows how to handle a boat all right," Cosden said from behind, but +his tone did not reflect the girl's vivacity.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's like sailing a toy boat in a bath-tub," Merry disclaimed. +"You come down to the shore some time when there's a good breeze and +I'll show you some real sailing. Mr. Cosden is such good company!" she +added, turning to the others. "He has given me some really new ideas, +and that is more than one usually gains from a sailing-party. I'm going +to think them over so that I can argue with him more intelligently next +time we have a discussion.—I must run up now and get ready for lunch."</p> + +<p>Cosden remained behind.</p> + +<p>"Come sit down with us, Connie," Huntington urged.</p> + +<p>"I prefer to stand," was the unexpected answer, yet in spite of his +remark he sat down on the piazza rail which Miss Stevens had so recently +vacated. He too looked down the harbor, but his companions realized that +it was not the panorama which interested him. They also sensed the +kindliness of silence. At last he turned toward them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know why I shouldn't speak before both of you," he said. "You, +Monty, are my oldest friend, and Miss Stevens has been good enough to +let me take her into my confidence. I want you both to look me over and +tell me what's the matter with me."</p> + +<p>"You look perfectly good to me, Connie," Huntington replied lightly, +scenting unpleasantness, and helplessly trying to divert it.</p> + +<p>"You know what I mean," Cosden replied brusquely, determined to force +the issue, "and I want you to take me seriously. What you said this +morning gave me a jolt, of course, but it didn't sink in deep enough to +affect my confidence in myself. Now it's gone all the way through and +come out the other side, and at the present moment I feel as big as a +two-spot in a pinochle deck."</p> + +<p>"Did she refuse you?" Edith asked, with almost too much eagerness in her +voice.</p> + +<p>"Refuse me?" he echoed. "She didn't even give me the satisfaction of +recognizing that I had the slightest intention to propose."</p> + +<p>"Then what did happen?" Huntington demanded. "You seemed to be on the +best of terms when you came up here, and Merry complimented you on being +good company."</p> + +<p>"She was rubbing it in, that's all. We didn't have any trouble; that +isn't the point. I planned this out, as you both know, with the definite +idea of asking her to marry me, and before I knew what had happened she +had twisted the situation around where I was on the defensive and had +made myself look so ridiculous that I wouldn't have had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> nerve to +propose to a colored cook. There is something in all this which I don't +understand, and I must understand it. I'm average intelligent, I've had +some experience in life, and if a slip of a girl like that can make me +lose my confidence then there's something radically wrong. You struck it +right this morning, Monty, and I tell you it hurts!"</p> + +<p>The man's humiliation was so complete that both his companions were +eager to relieve him. Huntington's loyalty to his friend caused instant +forgetfulness of his recent resentment.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind what I said, Connie," he urged contritely. "I had no right +to speak as I did."</p> + +<p>"You had every right," Cosden insisted. "All these years you have seen +the lack of this something in me, and you've overlooked it because you +were my friend. This morning you had sand enough to tell me the +unpleasant truth when you knew I ought to hear it. What I want to find +out now is what these 'finer instincts' are, and how I am to get them."</p> + +<p>The momentary silence which followed was evidence of the difficulty his +auditors found in answering his appeal. He was in such deadly earnest +that it was impossible to avoid direct reply. When this mood was on him, +Huntington knew that he would deal with nothing but facts.</p> + +<p>"Let me leave you and Mr. Huntington to discuss this," Edith said, +rising.</p> + +<p>"Please," Cosden detained her. "We are past the point of sensitiveness. +I want your advice as well as Monty's. I'm up against something I don't +understand," he repeated, "and I'm looking to you two to show me up to +myself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What is the use, Connie?" Huntington expostulated. "You have gone alone +all these years living your own life; why disturb yourself now over +something to which you have always been blissfully indifferent?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you see that the situation has changed, Monty? It was all right +until I found out that I was different from other people. This is what +the boys at the Club meant when they jollied us about our friendship. I +always thought I was as good as anybody, but if an experience like this +can make me lose my confidence in myself then the matter is really +serious. It is this confidence which has made it possible for me to +accomplish what I have, and if I once lose it then my strength is gone. +It's all I have, Monty,—I can see that now. I must protect it, and you +must help me. You must tell me what the trouble really is; I don't care +how brutally frank you are so long as you tell me."</p> + +<p>"Then come over here and sit down," the older man said gently. "I will +try to make it clearer to you. The finer instincts I referred to can't +be bought, for they are not for sale; they come from every-day contact +with the humanities, and with those whose lives are spent in this +atmosphere. Your business has been your religion, Connie, and you are +branded with its ear-marks as plainly as the goods your factories +produce. Now, for the first time, you find yourself in an atmosphere +which considers business only as a means to bring the refinements of +life within closer reach, and it stifles you because of your +unfamiliarity with it."</p> + +<p>Cosden listened patiently to the lengthy discussion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> which followed with +the same attention which he gave to Thatcher when the trolley +proposition was outlined, but his expression when Huntington finally +paused and looked up showed bewilderment rather than comprehension.</p> + +<p>"I hear your words, Monty," he said frankly, "and your meaning is as +dense as Merry's talk about her 'vision.' But there's one thing you +haven't said, probably because you want to spare my feelings, which no +doubt explains the whole thing. This knowledge of the 'finer instincts' +comes naturally to you, Monty, because you were born in that atmosphere +you speak of; I wasn't. Some men acquire them as a result of their own +efforts, some devote their efforts to other things, as I have done. 'You +can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.' Isn't that what you really +mean to say, Monty?"</p> + +<p>"You are too severe on yourself, Mr. Cosden," Edith said +sympathetically, affected by the spectacle of this strong, +self-sufficient man suffering under the lash without realizing in the +least the power which wielded it. In his complacent mood she had longed +for the ability to wound his self-assurance, but the climax had been +reached without her assistance, and the woman in her failed to find the +satisfaction she had anticipated.</p> + +<p>"Well," Cosden said finally, rising and holding out a hand to each, "I +can't say that you've given me much enlightenment, but you've made some +things fairly clear. It will be a long time before I can look my +business in the face without blushing; but I count on those who are +really my friends to stand by me while I pumice down the marks of the +branding-iron.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> In the meantime, don't you think for a moment that I'm +indifferent to this thing we're talking about. Now that I know it +exists, in spite of your doubts, I intend to get it. If business +interferes, I'll cut out business. I refuse to let anything stand +between me and what I want."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Cosden pursued the subject now uppermost in his mind with the same +relentless energy which he applied to other and more agreeable +undertakings. He had no desire to make himself a "ladies' man," such as +Edith Stevens described her brother and as he knew him to be; but this +idea that he was unfitted to enter into any circle he might choose, +provided he could force the entrance, was as novel as it was +disagreeable. When Huntington first intimated that he lacked certain +qualities Cosden had not taken him seriously. Monty was a Brahmin, +albeit one of the best of fellows, and this class had never been an +object of his envy nor considered by him an example to be emulated. +Cosden had discovered that those who constituted it were eager enough to +know him and to be intimate with him when once they came to realize, in +a business way, that this relationship might serve their own best +interests. Born outside the sacred circle, he expected nothing else, and +the fact of his friendship with Huntington, and his close +acquaintanceship with others of the same stamp, seemed to him a triumph +of merit over birth. If a man could trace his ancestry back to the right +people he became a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> member of this group automatically, and in spite of +lack of personal achievement. How much more credit, Cosden argued, to +the man who forced recognition through sheer accomplishment alone.</p> + +<p>For this reason he felt that Monty's criticism, if it was to be taken as +such, was the expression of a class rather than an individual. It was +not to be expected that his friend, reared in so unpractical an +atmosphere, should sympathize with or even understand this common-sense +approach to the subject of marriage. It was natural, indeed, that he +should be shocked by it; yet it had been a surprise to have the +easy-going Monty rouse himself to the extent of making definite +objections to the method of procedure. But Cosden had observed that +Huntington's conscience every now and then, like his liver, became +overburdened, and on these rare occasions he was liable to make remarks +which would sting if taken seriously.</p> + +<p>Now, however, it had been brought home to him that perhaps, after all, +his friend's comments might contain a grain of truth. The fact was +forced home not so much by what Merry Thatcher said to him as the wide +divergence of viewpoint which became apparent as a result of their +discussion. Cosden instinctively felt himself in the presence of +something higher and finer than himself, and this feeling put him at a +disadvantage. When he had ridden to Elba Beach with Merry and Billy they +were companions and all met on the same footing; now, with Merry alone, +he realized that the girl looked upon him as a man with ideas rather +than ideals, and with a creed of life which she neither understood nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +cared to understand. Yet he was not the first man to apply business +principles to this all-important partnership, and others had not made +themselves ridiculous. "Your business has been your religion and you are +branded with its ear-marks," Monty told him. It was the branding which +caused the trouble, Cosden concluded. The "finer instincts" could not be +bought, perhaps, but surely they might be acquired. He had been too +crude in the manner of expression. It came down to a question of finesse +in this as in any other transaction of life, and when reduced to this +medium he thought he understood.</p> + +<p>To arrive at this point required time. After a brief and silent luncheon +with Huntington Cosden set out by himself for a long walk, returning in +season for dinner in what appeared outwardly his normal mental +condition. In the evening he visited with the little group which had +formed the habit of taking their coffee together on the piazza, however +far their paths might diverge during the day. Even Edith Stevens was +deceived, but Huntington knew his friend's temperament well enough to +realize that he was working everything out in his mind preparatory to +the next step, by which he would endeavor to regain the lost ground.</p> + +<p>By the following morning Cosden had arrived at several definite +conclusions, and his courage returned. He breakfasted at his usual early +hour, and Edith Stevens, for some reason best known to herself, came +down-stairs at about the same time. After breakfast, as had become +almost a habit, they sat together on the piazza, he with his cigar, she +with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> an infinite nothing upon which from time to time she plied a not +overworked needle.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said at length, knocking off the ash from his cigar and +regarding it contemplatively for some moments before he +continued,—"Monty gave it to me good and straight yesterday, didn't +he?"</p> + +<p>"You asked him to—"</p> + +<p>"I know I did. You remember the man who said he didn't get what he +expected, and some one told him he was lucky not to get what he +deserved? Well, I got both."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington had to say what he thought; you forced him to."</p> + +<p>"But I didn't really believe he did think it. I've been bowling along +all these years, and I suppose I've become too complacent. When I called +myself names yesterday I hadn't the slightest idea that any one would +agree with me. It was a case where I wanted to be contradicted."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" was all that Edith said, but the exclamation conveyed more to +Cosden regarding her real attitude than a whole vocabulary.</p> + +<p>"Then you agree with Monty?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>Edith had expected this crisis to come, so it did not find her wholly +unprepared. In fact she had been awaiting it as the point from which his +education was to be continued, as she had explained to Huntington. She +pursed her lips a little as she replied.</p> + +<p>"Yes—and no," she answered slowly, showing a serious consideration of +the subject which impressed Cosden. "I think he was right in saying that +business has left its mark upon you, but entirely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> wrong in his +assumption that what you lack can't be acquired."</p> + +<p>"Of course it can," Cosden agreed emphatically; "and what is more, it's +going to be acquired. I don't intend to have anything stand in my way. +The only thing to consider is just how and when."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," she encouraged him,—"just how and when. These are the +questions. Have you answered them?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. I'm trying first to understand what Monty meant. I thought I +had learned the game. While, as I've told you, I started out with the +definite intention of making money, I've bent over backwards to conduct +my affairs so that they should be absolutely above criticism. I believed +that in doing this I proved that I had those 'finer instincts' which +mean so much to Monty. I've made other people play the game square with +me, but I've always played it square with them. My principle has been to +fix things so that the other fellow would do right because he had to, +and I would do right because I wanted to. You have to do that because +the other fellow doesn't always want to. Take one case for example: I +had a contract for a number of years with a house to supply them with +goods of a certain standard, made in accord with a fixed formula. Six +months ago my superintendent told me that by some mistake at the factory +these goods had been ten per cent. below the standard called for, +covering a period of nearly five years. My customer had made no +complaint—he supposed he was getting what the contract called for, and +so did I. The natural thing to do was to make all future<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> deliveries up +to standard and to let it go at that; but that isn't my way. The man had +paid for something he hadn't received, and it was up to me to make good. +So I figured out the difference between the two grades, and the volume +of business, and sent him an explanation and a check for $6500."</p> + +<p>"That must have been a pleasant surprise for him, and you made a +customer for life."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Cosden replied, with a queer expression on his face: "it was a +pleasant surprise for him all right. He wrote me a beautiful letter, +telling me what a noble, upright thing it was to do, and that he didn't +believe another man in the trade would have done it. He even expressed +his deep appreciation. Last month the contract came up to be renewed, +and he canceled it because another house cut me a quarter of a cent a +pound, and I wouldn't meet it."</p> + +<p>"I never heard of such a thing!" Edith cried indignantly. "But you have +the satisfaction of knowing that you did the right thing."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I have the satisfaction and the other fellow has the contract. But +I am only telling you about it to show you why I can't understand Monty. +I thought I was showing some of those finer things he says I don't +possess. The man who canceled that contract was born with those +wonderful 'instincts,' and exhales them with every breath."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe you do understand just what Mr. Huntington means," she +said quietly.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you something more," Cosden went on. "There is many a +corporation right in the city of Boston that spends more money in +lobbying at the State House than it does in producing its goods,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> yet +the officers of those same corporations go around without having their +best friends tell them they are 'branded with the ear-marks' of their +business. They are just as commercial as I am, and some of them aren't +nearly as careful to play the game straight. That is where I can't +comprehend Monty's attitude. If a man observes the 'finer instincts' in +his business, as I believe I do, why isn't the brand it marks him with a +hall-mark of respectability in any society in which he wants to mingle?"</p> + +<p>Edith had been very busy with her fancy-work, and she did not look up +when Cosden appealed to her for an answer.</p> + +<p>"Now you're getting nearer to what Mr. Huntington means," she said with +decision. "You know your business world,—its customs and its standards, +and as you have just explained they are not always consistent. The same +is true of the social world, and that, as I understand it, Mr. +Huntington knows better than you do. The social world has its customs +and standards just the same, and in many cases they are equally +inconsistent. You can't explain these inconsistencies in one any more +than in the other; they simply exist. What you still have to do is to +become familiar with them as you have with those in the business world."</p> + +<p>"That is where the wife comes in,—that's what she's for," Cosden +insisted. "That's the very reason I want to marry a woman who knows that +end of the game. When I select a partner in my business I don't want him +to handle my end, but rather some part of it which he can do better than +I can. And the same thing ought to apply here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps it ought, Mr. Cosden, but that is just the point,—it doesn't; +and the first thing Mr. Huntington would tell you is that the two don't +mix. Here are two distinct worlds which touch each other very closely; +the one admits the other to a certain extent, the other never admits the +one."</p> + +<p>"Then the wife won't do it?"</p> + +<p>"Not alone. Many a wife has accomplished for her husband what he never +could have gained for himself, but only when the man has permitted her +to teach him how to leave his business behind him when he leaves his +office. Business plays its part in the social world, but it is one of +those polite amenities not to recognize the machinery which makes +society possible."</p> + +<p>Cosden moved uncomfortably in his chair. "I'm not a climber," he said. +"I haven't any desire to force myself in where I'm not wanted; but here +I am, a member of some of the best clubs in my own city, recognized in +the business world, and acquainted with every one who is worth knowing. +Until within twenty-four hours I supposed that I was as much a part of +the social organization as I chose to be,—no more, no less. Now, the +best friend I have in the world tells me point blank that the very thing +I supposed was most to my credit is a bar across the path I have elected +to take. I'm not ready yet to admit it. Monty says that I've lost +something, but he's wrong: apparently the attributes he has in mind I +never even possessed."</p> + +<p>"Then the more reason to exert yourself until you do possess them."</p> + +<p>"But if I lack them, why haven't I felt the lack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> before?" he appealed. +"I'm thrown all the time with the very men on whom the social life of +Boston rests."</p> + +<p>"Where, if I may ask?"</p> + +<p>"In business, and at my clubs."</p> + +<p>"But not in their homes?" Edith pursued.</p> + +<p>"No," Cosden admitted; "there has never been any reason to meet them +there."</p> + +<p>Edith folded her work deliberately and looked squarely at her companion.</p> + +<p>"My friend," she said with decision, "'the time has come, the Walrus +said, to talk of many things.' Some one must set you right. You have too +much knowledge in other directions to be so childlike in this. If you +still look upon me as confidential adviser, I'll appoint myself that +one."</p> + +<p>"I should be eternally grateful."</p> + +<p>"Then don't be offended if I speak plainly. I believe that I understand +the situation exactly: you have pursued the even tenor of your way all +these years, following a definite plan, and accomplishing your set +purpose. In the confidence of having accomplished it, you decide that +the moment has arrived to exercise a side of your nature which up to +that moment has scarcely interested you, and you try to put your new +thought into execution as mechanically as you have carried through every +other purpose which you have ever had. Your election to your clubs, no +doubt, was the result of careful and business-like plans, laid down when +your name was first proposed, and followed up with the same +irreproachable persistency which would be applied to any other business +undertaking."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of course," he acknowledged: "that is the only way to put anything +through."</p> + +<p>"So your clubs, which you have looked upon to certain extent as social +achievements, have been only a part of your every-day business routine, +after all?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; if you choose to put it that way."</p> + +<p>"Then let me tell you that however intimate you become with any man, you +are not admitted to his social circle until he has presented you to his +wife or sisters, and has invited you to his home. Every woman knows +that, and I supposed every man did."</p> + +<p>"My ignorance is perhaps the best evidence of how crude I really am," +Cosden said soberly.</p> + +<p>"Don't say crude," Edith protested considerately; "say rather that your +social life has been undeveloped. Until this new desire for a home came +to you the necessity of considering that side had not appealed, and when +you once decided to make the grand plunge the only way you knew how to +go at it was as if you were selecting a partner in your business. +Perhaps, as you say, the same rules ought to apply, but I assure you +they don't. And that is just where you stand now."</p> + +<p>"Then I will learn the rules which do apply," he asserted with +determination. "But why, if this is so all-important, have you yourself +so little use for society?"</p> + +<p>"It is a very different matter, my friend, to make light of something +which you have and something which you lack. I may despise society, but +if it was society that despised me you'd see me starting a campaign in +New York that would make a football game look like a funeral +procession."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>Cosden regarded his animated companion for some moments in silence, but +any one who knew him would have recognized that his mind had seized upon +the germ of a new idea which pleased him, but which he was considering +critically for the moment.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said suddenly. "It doesn't take me long to make up my +mind. Why couldn't I persuade you to start a campaign like that for +me—for us—in Boston?"</p> + +<p>The abruptness of the suggestion, and the complete change from the +subdued and humiliated seeker after light back to the dominating man of +affairs who forces the solution of his dilemma, took even the astute +Edith by surprise.</p> + +<p>"Am I by any chance to consider that as an offer of marriage?" she +demanded.</p> + +<p>"That is just what I mean. What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"Well, of all things!" She rose to her feet and walked up and down the +piazza with Cosden following close behind. It was a moment or two before +she recovered herself, and then she turned on him.</p> + +<p>"I take back all the sympathy I ever gave you," she cried indignantly, +"and I hate myself for having tried to help you with my advice."</p> + +<p>Cosden regarded her outbreak with consternation. "I always supposed an +offer of marriage was the greatest compliment a man could pay a woman," +he exclaimed surprised.</p> + +<p>"It is no compliment when such an offer is based so cold-bloodedly upon +business advantage. You come down here to get a wife, which you have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +decided in your counting-room will increase your assets. The first girl +you select doesn't fit into your plans, as you had expected, so you look +me over critically, tell me it doesn't take you long to make up your +mind, and offer me a partnership.—All that remains, I suppose, is for +us to discuss office hours and the division of the profits! My word! You +are the most mercenary human creature I ever met!"</p> + +<p>Edith was splendid in her anger, but Cosden refused to take her +seriously.</p> + +<p>"Come," he insisted; "you are far too sensible to look at it that way. +Why, every one in the hotel is asking if we are engaged. What shall I +tell them?"</p> + +<p>"Tell them you proposed to me and that I refused you," she retorted +defiantly, turning from him and disappearing through the open door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Well Marian, my play-time is over for the present," Thatcher remarked +as he folded a cable he had just received and placed it in his pocket. +"They need me at the office, so I'll sail on Monday. There's no reason +for you to leave until later unless you wish to."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with an expression of such real disappointment that +he felt the unspoken reproach.</p> + +<p>"We have stayed a month longer than we intended, as it is," he +explained, "and my going need not hasten your plans at all."</p> + +<p>"I don't want you to return alone, Harry, and I loathe the thought of +turning my back on this enchanting spot. Truly, each day makes it more +difficult to leave it."</p> + +<p>"Then if you don't go at once the problem may become serious," he +laughed.</p> + +<p>"You are so different down here, Harry, I hate to give you up to +business again. That is a wife's real rival; I'm jealous of it."</p> + +<p>"A rival which has made our pleasures possible, so you should be +friends. Only a few years more of it, little woman, and then you may +plan my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> days as well as yours. Then we'll have one long play-time +together."</p> + +<p>"You've been saying that for five years," she protested petulantly; "but +we seem to come no nearer. Haven't we enough to do that now?"</p> + +<p>"Who shall say what 'enough' really is?" he smiled, taking her hand in +his and looking with affection into her deep eyes. "That isn't what +holds me; it takes time to work out of the old interests without serious +loss, Marian, and present conditions aren't helpful."</p> + +<p>"I suppose not," she agreed unwillingly; "but do make the period of +waiting as short as possible. Merry and Philip are grown now, and I'm +hungry for another honeymoon, such as we have been having here."</p> + +<p>"Some day, little woman, some day!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say that, Harry!" she protested again, this time more vigorously. +"There is no expression in the English language I detest so much as +'some day.' When I was a little girl I had an uncle who was forever +going to take me somewhere or give me something 'some day'; and 'some +day' never came! I've always looked upon those two words as a diabolical +combination invented by older people as an aggravation to children. But +I will be patient, Harry. Can't you start in now to take some medicine +which will be sure to clear your blood of business by the time these +things you speak of work themselves out?"</p> + +<p>"If present conditions continue," he laughed, "they will accomplish what +you wish better than anything so homeopathic as physic. We shall all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> be +thrown out of business whether we like it or not. This cable I have just +received," he continued more soberly, "is a case in point: the +government is starting in to 'investigate' one of our pet interests, and +the stock has begun to drop out of sight already. It is paternalism with +a vengeance: protecting the infant industries to encourage their growth, +and then spanking them when they respond!"</p> + +<p>"Well," Marian sighed, "it's all Greek to me, but if you say it's wrong +then I know it is. Now," she added, slipping her arm through his, "let's +go over to the pool and see what is going on there."</p> + +<p>Shouts of laughter and sounds of splashing greeted them as they reached +the top of the tiled steps of the "Princess" pool, and they paused for a +moment to see the finish of an exciting race.</p> + +<p>"You're too fast for us, Miss Merry," Huntington acknowledged his +defeat. Then he turned to Cosden who finished just behind him.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to let a girl beat you like that, +Connie?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"How about yourself?" was the retort; "you always claimed to be some +swimmer."</p> + +<p>"You let me win!" Merry declared.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I didn't," Huntington protested stoutly. "It is eminently unfit +that woman should defeat man in any athletic contest; she has beaten us +out in everything else, and we must reserve something. Perhaps Connie +let you beat him,—did you, Connie?"</p> + +<p>Cosden laughed consciously. "Did I ever let any one beat me in anything +when I could prevent it?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There you are," Huntington waved his arms dramatically. "We admit +ourselves temporarily defeated, but not disgraced. As for myself, I +shall immediately go into strict training, in an endeavor to alter my +lines from endurance to speed."</p> + +<p>The Thatchers strolled along the edge of the pool and seated themselves +on one of the benches at the farther end of the enclosure.</p> + +<p>"Here come Edith and Philip Hamlen," Marian called her husband's +attention to the new arrivals; "where do you suppose she found him?"</p> + +<p>"Hello, people," Edith greeted them. "Mr. Hamlen has been waiting for +you in the hotel, and I told him I thought we should find you here. This +looks to me like a perfectly good party."</p> + +<p>"Come sit with us," Thatcher urged, drawing up another bench. "We +elderly folk will watch the children at play."</p> + +<p>Edith suddenly caught sight of Cosden and she perceptibly stiffened. +"Children!" she echoed, with an inflection of her voice and a toss of +the head which attracted Marian's attention. "How is it that Mr. Cosden +goes into the water? I should think he would be afraid of rust."</p> + +<p>"I supposed it was by your orders, Edith," Marian said smiling. "Isn't +he still acting under your instructions? But why 'rust'?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not by any orders of mine," she replied with emphasis. "What +he needs as an adviser is a machinist to keep that wonderful business +head of his in repair. Wouldn't you think it would rust if he got it +wet?"</p> + +<p>Edith's new attitude was more intelligible to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> Marian than to the men, +but discretion suggested a change of subject.</p> + +<p>"Harry is taking us home with him on Monday," she announced, suddenly +turning to Hamlen and watching him narrowly as she spoke.</p> + +<p>"On Monday?" Hamlen repeated after her. The color rushed into his +usually pale face, and a tremor in his voice showed how much the news +affected him. "You are going Monday?"</p> + +<p>"The Thatcher family intact," Marian answered him; "I don't know about +the others."</p> + +<p>"Of course Ricky and I go when you do," Edith added. "I'm quite ready. +The place is beginning to pall on me."</p> + +<p>There was an injured look in Hamlen's face as he turned to her quickly. +"Don't say that of my beautiful island!" he begged.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the place is all right," Edith assured him; "it is simply some of +the foreign element I don't like."</p> + +<p>"Must you really go?" Hamlen asked Thatcher appealingly.</p> + +<p>"It is my master's voice, and we slaves of the market dare not disregard +the call."</p> + +<p>Hamlen forced a smile. "I shall miss you," he said simply.</p> + +<p>"Come with us," Marian urged in a low voice. "That would make our visit +here complete."</p> + +<p>The man made no response, yet she could see no signs of weakening. The +color left his face and it was now more ashen than before. The lips were +tightly compressed as if he feared to trust them, and his hands clenched +the walking-stick he held in front of him with a grip of iron. He +mastered himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> at last, and the pathetic smile which wrung Marian's +heart whenever she saw it returned to his face. It was too clearly the +reflection of a wound which pride alone concealed from sight.</p> + +<p>"You are too generous," he said at length, feeling the necessity of +making some response,—"far too generous; but it is like you, Marian. +Huntington is generous too, but you both are mistaken in your kindness. +There are some exotic growths which can't be transplanted; I am one of +those."</p> + +<p>He paused for a moment; then he continued: "I must ask one more favor +before you go—come to me to-morrow afternoon and let us have a final +celebration in honor of our reunion. Come to my villa, all of you, and +in the midst of the family I have created—my flowers, my trees—let me +dedicate my home anew to the dear friends who have brought life back to +me, even though they too will soon join the memories amongst which I +must continue to live. Give me this last experience to remain with me +after you are gone."</p> + +<p>"Of course we will, Philip,—we would love to come," Marian replied, +affected by his words and the depth of emotion which his voice +expressed. "It will be the one remembrance we would most rejoice to take +back with us if we can't take you. For these days, Philip," she added in +a voice so low that he alone could hear,—"these days have not been +vital ones for you alone, dear friend. Our meeting has brought back much +to me which I shall always cherish, and beyond all I wish I might be the +means of giving you back that happiness you lost through me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, no! You mustn't say that, Marian!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I feel the burden of it, Philip! You give me no chance to make +restitution. If you would only come—"</p> + +<p>A tremor ran through his frame but he quickly controlled himself. "No, +Marian," he said firmly; "you must come to me!"</p> + +<p>While the little group were conversing together the bathers had left the +pool, and now one by one appeared from the bath-houses, radiant from +their invigorating exercise, and looking for new worlds to conquer. +Cosden was first, and he seated himself on the bench beside Edith.</p> + +<p>"Am I forgiven?" he asked in a low tone, but with a smile which +expressed confidence in the answer.</p> + +<p>"I never talk shop outside of business hours," was the chilling +response, as she drew herself slightly away from him and looked straight +ahead.</p> + +<p>Merry was not far behind, and her appearance prevented Edith's hauteur +from becoming too apparent.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington and I are going to have another race to-morrow morning," +she announced. "I'm sure he let me beat him this time just to humiliate +me the more when he shows what he can really do."</p> + +<p>"I'd back you against the field if I could find any takers," Cosden +insisted. "That shows what I think of his chances."</p> + +<p>"It's great fun, anyway. Isn't this a fine old world, Momsie?" she cried +impulsively, throwing her arms around her mother's neck and kissing her.</p> + +<p>"'Here comes the bride,'" chanted Cosden as Huntington finally walked +toward them with his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> dignified stride. "If I took as much time to prink +as you do I believe I could fuss myself up to look like something."</p> + +<p>"You'd need a file!" Edith ejaculated spitefully.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon?" Cosden interrogated, but no explanation was +vouchsafed.</p> + +<p>"This looks to me like a council of war," Huntington remarked.</p> + +<p>"Call it rather a demobilization," Thatcher corrected. "I have made +myself everlastingly unpopular by deciding to return to New York on +Monday. Marian insists on leaving when I do, and the Stevenses are +equally considerate of my pleasure. So I've spoiled everything."</p> + +<p>"I have only been waiting for some one stronger than I to determine my +own departure, so I include myself among the refugees. And Hamlen will +go with me, won't you, my friend?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen held up his hand deprecatingly. "I must complete my sentence of +exile," he said with finality.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard anything from New York?" Cosden inquired. "I left orders +not to cable."</p> + +<p>"The market is bad, and liable to become worse."</p> + +<p>"Then my vacation is over, too. How about the trolley project?"</p> + +<p>"Another postponement. I'll give you the details later."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hamlen has invited us to have tea with him to-morrow afternoon as a +farewell celebration, and I have accepted for all."</p> + +<p>"Not a farewell, Mrs. Thatcher," Huntington corrected, looking across at +Hamlen. "There are some souls to whom we never say farewell. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> he +won't come with us now it simply means a brief postponement. This friend +of mine cannot come into my life as he has done these weeks and then go +out of it again. He and I have already lost too many years of the +companionship which should have been ours; now together we must make up +for lost time."</p> + +<p>Hamlen looked at him gratefully but did not answer. In single file the +little party walked along the narrow edge of the pool, down the steps +and back to the hotel. Cosden manœuvered so that he had a word with +Edith before they separated.</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't let you be cross with me," he said.</p> + +<p>"I'm not cross; 'disgusted' is the word if you really want to know."</p> + +<p>"But suppose my speaking was more sudden than my decision?"</p> + +<p>"I would rather not discuss it, if you please."</p> + +<p>"I've seen a great deal more of you than I have of Merry—"</p> + +<p>"But when you make up your mind, Mr. Cosden—" Edith recalled his own +words.</p> + +<p>"I never change it without reason," he replied. "And more than that, it +is very unprofessional to desert a client just when he needs you most."</p> + +<p>"When a client disregards his counsel's advice it is time to change +counsel," she retorted with decision.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, no!" Cosden replied in so conciliatory a tone that she was +partly mollified. The words rang with greater sincerity than she had +believed him to possess. "That isn't the way real counsels do at all, +especially when the client is so contrite."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What is their custom?" Edith asked, amused in spite of herself.</p> + +<p>"They charge it up on the bill and make him pay handsomely for his +presumption."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she said, weakening a little in the caustic attitude she had +assumed. "If it comes down to a matter of bookkeeping perhaps we can +effect a compromise."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"To-day, Connie, is Saturday, to-morrow is the Sabbath, in which we are +not permitted to toil, neither can we spin, and on the day which +followeth we sail," Huntington remarked at luncheon.</p> + +<p>Cosden regarded his companion critically. "It doesn't rhyme so I know it +isn't poetry; then it must be Scripture."</p> + +<p>"Freely paraphrased, it means that this afternoon is the last +opportunity we shall have to exercise our golf-clubs on Bermudian soil."</p> + +<p>"Enough said," Cosden answered sententiously; "I'll be ready whenever +you are. What a relief it will be to play on a real course again when +the season opens at home!"</p> + +<p>"I admit that this is the one great deficiency of an otherwise admirably +ordered resort," Huntington agreed. "Still, it is a whole lot better +than no course at all, so let us be philosophers.—I'll be ready in an +hour."</p> + +<p>The afternoon's round proved an eventful one to Huntington. Not that his +clubs were under better control, or that he was less penalized by the +atrocious lies encountered so frequently. Not that he succeeded in +defeating his opponent, which was usually<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> the measure of an eventful +day; but he found Cosden in a state of mind which gave him infinite +relief.</p> + +<p>The weak spots shown up by the analysis Huntington had made of his +friendship with Cosden caused him real anxiety, explain them as he +would. It was one thing to play with a man three times a week and +another to live with him for a month of consecutive holidays. He had +wondered whether their relations could ever return to what he had +believed them to be before the shock came to his sense of propriety. +Cosden's new state of mind shifted the balance so that the scales hung +even, and the hope thus engendered made him indifferent to sliced +drives, bad lies, or topped approaches. To Huntington, a friendship such +as this had been assumed the proportions of a trust, and to disturb it +was to shake the foundations of his every-day life to a most disquieting +extent.</p> + +<p>"This visit to Bermuda hasn't been at all what I expected," Cosden +confided to him; "but I'm inclined to think it has been a success after +all."</p> + +<p>"I have found much to interest me here," Huntington admitted.</p> + +<p>"Between you and Miss Stevens I've learned a few things about myself I +didn't know before. The experience hasn't been altogether palatable, but +perhaps it will prove salutary."</p> + +<p>"That is ancient history now, Connie," Huntington protested, following +his usual custom of avoiding the unpleasant. "Why bring it up again? +Keep your mind on your game."</p> + +<p>"It hasn't become ancient history yet," he insisted. "I want you to +understand that I appreciate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> your friendliness in going out of your way +to say disagreeable things when you thought I needed to hear them. It +isn't every one who would have done it."</p> + +<p>"That's all right; now let's forget it."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to forget it. In fact I'm particularly keen on remembering +it. I tackled a job before I knew how to handle it, with the inevitable +consequences. Now I think I can come nearer to understanding what the +game is."</p> + +<p>He paused long enough to negotiate a particularly difficult stymie which +Huntington had laid him on the third green. As the ball dropped into the +cup he looked up with a satisfied smile.</p> + +<p>"You see I can play a game that I do understand, don't you, Monty? I'm +going to play this new game just as well after I'm on to it. You were +right: that little Thatcher girl is all I thought she was, but we are +absolutely unsuited. I had to find it out for myself, but now it is as +clear to me as it has been to you from the beginning. And this isn't the +only thing I've found out."</p> + +<p>"The air is pretty clear down here, Connie; one can see a long ways."</p> + +<p>"Yes, when he's supplied with a pair of binoculars like you and Miss +Stevens. The thing I can see clearest now is that I'm not ready to marry +any girl just at present."</p> + +<p>Huntington stopped as he was about to swing, dropped his club, and +seized Cosden by the shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Then you aren't going to desert me!"</p> + +<p>"Hold on!" Cosden cried as he released himself; "you're going too fast! +Don't overlook the fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> that I said 'just at present.' It may be I +shall never marry, but something tells me that there are wedding-bells +for me before I get through with it. There's no doubt at all, however, +that before that takes place I must acquire some of those flossy things +you've taught me to look for. I'm going to take a few hundred shares in +some humanizing company and see what it does for me. Then I'll find out +just what there is in it, and let the future take care of itself."</p> + +<p>Now that Cosden had come to these eminently satisfactory conclusions +Huntington was too wise to offer any advice. His courage rose as this +responsibility rolled away from his overburdened shoulders, and he dared +hope that before he reached New York Mrs. Thatcher would voluntarily +abandon her quixotic notion concerning Merry and Hamlen. This would +leave him free to pull the strings for Billy,—but here he sighed. Could +he hope ever to bring the boy up to the standard he himself would insist +upon before permitting any thought of an alliance? And was the sigh all +because of doubts of Billy? Forty-five must give way to twenty, but he +admitted to himself that the supreme burden of all remained. If some of +those years could only be turned back! But he knew himself now, and in +that knowledge rested power.</p> + +<p>Sunday dawned bright and clear, one of those superlative days which +Bermuda produces now and then as an aggravation to her departing +visitors, and to demonstrate that she herself can improve even upon her +own perfection. Those who had planned to devote the morning to packing +against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> the morrow's sailing found the voice of duty too weak to make +itself heard above the irresistible call to the open. Mr. and Mrs. +Thatcher seized the opportunity to drive again to Harrington Sound, +Merry and Huntington took a final walk to Elba Beach, while Cosden +insisted that Edith Stevens permit him to escort her to the Barracks and +the band concert. This left Ricky Stevens entirely out in the cold, but +he was so accustomed to it that he did not even notice that it had +happened again. Cheerfully lighting a cigarette, after the others had +departed, and swinging his stick with an energy deserving of better +things, he devoted the morning to making a final round of the +tobacco-shops, laying in a huge amount of additional smoking materials.</p> + +<p>By afternoon all were again united, and set off together for Hamlen's +villa. Their host elected to receive them in the garden instead of at +the house, and as the guests passed through the rustic arbor, vivid in +the coloring of the <i>poinsettia</i> which bore it down, each felt in +varying degree the dramatic effect of the reception. Hamlen stepped +quietly forward to receive them, clad in the familiar white doe-skin +suit which was never so effective as against its present background. His +manner was courtly, but the reserve his friends had seen broken down +during their visit again possessed him, and his face, even when he +smiled to welcome them, was reminiscent of some great renunciation.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me for not meeting you when you first drove up," Hamlen said to +Marian. "In my sentimentality I preferred to greet you here. These +trees, these shrubs, these flowers," he indicated, "I planted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> one by +one. I tended them in their infancy, I have watched them in their +growth. To me they have personalities as much as human beings. They +represent my family, they are all I have, and, as I told you yesterday, +I want them to join me in this last meeting before you depart and leave +us to ourselves."</p> + +<p>Their host's attitude was not fully appreciated except by the three who +knew him best, so it was natural that by degrees the party separated in +such a way that Mrs. Thatcher, Merry and Huntington were left with him +while the others explored the grounds in greater detail.</p> + +<p>"For the first time in my life, Marian," Hamlen said, "I shall regret to +see a steamer pass my Point and leave me cut off from the world. As I +told you, always before I have gloried in it. To-morrow—"</p> + +<p>"We shall be waving to you to-morrow, Philip, and wishing you were with +us."</p> + +<p>"It won't be long," Huntington added, "before you will be on one of +those same steamers on your way to us."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," was the non-committal reply.</p> + +<p>"We do want you, all of us," Merry smiled persuadingly. "We have come to +know each other so well here that we shall miss not being where we can +run in to disturb you in your work."</p> + +<p>"I shall miss those interruptions too, and the work will be all I +shall have to fall back upon. Somehow," he added, turning to +Huntington,—"somehow I haven't been able to do the same work since you +have been here. I don't understand it. I have been happier during these +weeks than in all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> the years which preceded them, yet my work has not +been so good. Why is it?"</p> + +<p>"The reason is obvious," Huntington answered quietly, but with a degree +of satisfaction in his tone. "In what you say I find a pledge that you +will come to us. Our visit, Hamlen, has disturbed the equilibrium of +your life; it can never be the same again. Your work now is not so good +because your mind has found a new horizon, and refuses to confine itself +within the narrow compass which it had before. You can't do as good work +again until your life finds new anchorage. Then you will reach heights +beyond your dreams; but it will be through your friends that the new +anchorage will come. We can afford to be patient, Hamlen, for you must +surely turn to us; you cannot avoid it no matter how hard you try."</p> + +<p>Huntington's magnetic voice affected Hamlen as deeply as his words. His +vision seemed so clear, his domination so complete that it startled the +weaker man. Mrs. Thatcher and Merry knew at that moment that, if he +chose, Huntington could have compelled Hamlen to follow him to the ends +of the earth; and the response their host made showed that he recognized +it too.</p> + +<p>"You won't force me, Huntington?" he appealed.</p> + +<p>"It must come only when you wish it," was the reassuring reply; "but +when that moment does arrive, know well, dear friend, how hearty a +welcome awaits you."</p> + +<p>Hamlen took his hand in both his own and gazed for a long moment into +Huntington's face. "Classmate—friend," was all he said, but those who +heard the words knew them to be enough.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>As they mixed again with the others, and the conversation became more +general, the seriousness of Hamlen's earlier bearing partially wore +away, relieving the unnatural tension which had almost turned an +informal social function into the observance of a religious rite. Then +the shadows lengthened, and two of the servants brought out a rustic +table laden with eatables, with a huge bowl of strawberries as a +centerpiece. There was no need of decoration beyond its cut-glass and +rare china, for each dish was a selected masterpiece.</p> + +<p>"A Class Day spread in February!" Merry exclaimed enthusiastically. "How +we shall miss these strawberries when we get home!"</p> + +<p>"'Strawberries may come and strawberries may go, but prunes go on +forever,'" Cosden added, glancing at Edith for approval.</p> + +<p>The whole experience affected Mrs. Thatcher deeply. She saw the Hamlen +of her youth full of promise and ambition, she saw the Hamlen of to-day +bound hand and foot in the bonds of his false sophistry. What would he +have been had she not broken her word to him? She was vaguely conscious +that her present emotion was deeper than any she had ever been called +upon to feel for her husband or for her children; she half-sensed the +fact that previously her deepest feelings had been for herself. Now she +felt a sympathy which demanded restitution, and the impulse must be +worthy since it was for the happiness of some one other than herself. Of +course, Merry should not be coerced against her will,—but if it could +only be!</p> + +<p>Every episode, however epochful, must end, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> Marian rose at length, +indicating that the good-byes must be spoken.</p> + +<p>"You'll be down to see us off, Philip?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"No," he answered unexpectedly; "if you will excuse me I should prefer +to watch you from my Point up there. I want you to remember me amid my +own surroundings, rather than as a part of something to which I don't +belong."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Next morning, as the little tender passed Spanish Point, carrying its +passengers to the "Arcadian," three persons stood in the stern waving to +a solitary figure standing erect and motionless. When he made out the +greetings from the boat he raised his arm high above his head and held +it there, like a Roman of old, in stately recognition. He gave no sign +that he saw their further salutes, yet they knew he could not fail to +see them. They remained there until the figure became smaller and +smaller, and then finally was cut off altogether by a turn in their +course.</p> + +<p>"This is too much for me!" Mrs. Thatcher cried suddenly, as if +apologizing for the break in her voice. "If I don't get my mind on +something else I shall burst into tears! I'm going forward with the +others."</p> + +<p>Merry and Huntington still lingered, hoping that they might catch one +more glimpse of the solitary watcher; but in vain. When the girl turned +toward him Huntington saw that tears glistened in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"That is the most pathetic figure I have ever seen!"</p> + +<p>Huntington made no answer, but at that moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> he became conscious that +he was holding a small hand tightly grasped within his own. Impulsively +he raised it to his lips, then he as suddenly released it.</p> + +<p>"To seal our friendship," he explained consciously, "at this crisis in +the life of one who has been the means of bringing us together. I owe +him much for that!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The "Arcadian" rested lazily at anchor just outside the harbor, +apparently as willing as other visitors to drift on the tide of peace +and contentment. The coils of smoke, rising straight upward from its +funnels, supplied the only sign of intended departure. The bustle and +activity usually attendant upon a sailing seemed absent, and the boat +lay there like a pleasure-yacht ready to take on board its master's +guests.</p> + +<p>This impression deepened as the passengers from the tender were +transferred on board and moved about the spacious decks, visiting their +state-rooms resplendent with inviting brass bedsteads in place of the +discouraging berths, and inspecting the swimming-pool.</p> + +<p>"You must be sure of your weather before you indulge yourself there," +Cosden remarked. "They told us, coming down, of a dignified British +admiral who was tempted to a plunge, but no sooner was he in the pool +than a young cyclone struck the boat, and for twenty minutes he was +thrown forwards and backwards and sideways in spite of the efforts of +the stewards to get him out. As he weighed nearly three hundred pounds +the situation became serious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> Finally, when the water was drawn off, he +was dragged upon the stone slabs more dead than alive and held there +until the storm abated, indifferent to the dignity of his person or to +the glory of the British navy."</p> + +<p>"That ought to act as an excellent flesh-reducer," Huntington commented. +"Perhaps it would serve in my efforts to alter my lines for speed."</p> + +<p>"I don't see that you need it," Edith laughed; "but we'll all be down to +give encouragement."</p> + +<p>"About that time you'll be making love to your little brass bedstead," +remarked Mrs. Thatcher.</p> + +<p>Edith's face fell. "I forgot all about that!" she cried aghast. "You +don't think it will be as rough going back as it was coming down, do +you? Oh! I forgot all about that!"</p> + +<p>"It's certain to be bad enough to make you feel 'very annoyed,'" Marian +confirmed maliciously.</p> + +<p>"Let's go on deck," Ricky Stevens said with a sudden show of interest; +"it's so awfully stuffy down here!"</p> + +<p>Edith gave him a glance of approval. "For once in your life, Richard +Stevens, you have a real idea. I can feel the boat beginning to roll +now."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" Huntington laughed, "we're scarcely out of the harbor yet; +but the deck is much the better place; we are passing close to the shore +and this last view of the islands is beautiful. We shall have ample +opportunity to inspect the boat later on."</p> + +<p>"I've seen all I want to," Edith asserted, as they started back to the +companion way. "It was silly of me to forget that awful experience +coming down. I am sure the boat is rolling, in spite of your denials."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then look," Huntington insisted, as they stepped out on the deck again. +"You could navigate this sea in a canoe."</p> + +<p>"Well, anyway," she compromised, "I shall be much more comfortable in my +little steamer chair, so lead me to it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher, still affected by her last sight of Hamlen, was glad to +sit down beside her friend while the others walked up and down the +decks, watching the passing panorama of the shore, knowing that it would +last too short a time at best.</p> + +<p>"Marian," Edith said suddenly, "I have a presentiment that I shall die +of seasickness on this trip home, and there is something I want to say +to you while I can."</p> + +<p>"No one ever died of seasickness, child," Marian laughed; "but if you +have something serious on your conscience the sooner you get it off the +better."</p> + +<p>"It's Mr. Cosden," Edith explained.</p> + +<p>"I noticed that something had gone wrong in that quarter. Has he escaped +you, after all?"</p> + +<p>"It is really too bad of you to take advantage of me when I'm so ill!"</p> + +<p>"My poor Edith!" Marian said soothingly, "forgive me, dear; I forgot +your serious condition for the moment. Tell me about Mr. Cosden."</p> + +<p>"He is impossible," the invalid announced. "I really thought there was +some hope for him until a few days ago, but he is so frightfully +commercial that he crocks."</p> + +<p>"He—what?"</p> + +<p>"It comes off on everything he touches. He can't look at anything from +any other standpoint.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> It's a tragic disappointment to me, and I think +it just as well that I am going to expire from this awful seasickness. I +really thought I could train him, but he's too crude. That is the only +word to use."</p> + +<p>"He can't be that or he couldn't be Monty Huntington's friend. I rather +like him. He's blunt and matter-of-fact and all that; but I like to see +a man with confidence in himself."</p> + +<p>"I have an idea that Mr. Huntington has somewhat revised his opinions. I +certainly have; and whatever anybody else may think I agree with +myself."</p> + +<p>"That ought to be comforting to you, my dear; but I'm really sorry +things haven't pulled through this time. I'm afraid it's your last +chance. What did he do that was crude,—refuse to propose?"</p> + +<p>Edith sat bolt upright, her cheeks flaming, with all signs of her recent +indisposition vanished.</p> + +<p>"I hate you in that tantalizing mood, Marian Thatcher! You always put +the meanest interpretation on everything! Of course he proposed, but he +didn't do it in a nice way; he just figured it out as if it was one of +his business deals, and made me feel as if I ought to go right to the +shipping department and get packed up."</p> + +<p>"My dear Edith," Marian expostulated; "you mustn't be so fastidious. It +doesn't make so much difference how these men propose; the main thing is +to have them do it. Truly, I'm disappointed in you! Here you have been +working desperately to lead him to a point where he would let you put +the ball and chain on him, and then, for some silly little reason, you +let him get away from you! Really,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> I'm disappointed! From what I've +seen, you two seem admirably suited to each other."</p> + +<p>"You don't understand, Marian," she protested; "he made this trip for +the express purpose of picking out a wife—"</p> + +<p>"In Bermuda? Why couldn't he find one nearer home?"</p> + +<p>"The girl he had selected for the distinguished honor was in Bermuda—"</p> + +<p>Marian Thatcher was interested. Her amusement over her friend's +annoyances, real or imagined, became tempered by curiosity, and that +changed a passing incident into an event.</p> + +<p>"He told you this and yet proposed to you? Who was the other girl?"</p> + +<p>"You really don't know?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not. Why should I know? This is all news to me."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to be able to tell you something, my dear Marian," Edith said +complacently. "You are so terribly superior it really cheers me up to +have the chance to add to your knowledge, even in a small way. Mr. +Cosden came down here for the purpose of proposing to Merry."</p> + +<p>"To Merry!" Marian cried. "That man had the audacity to think he could +marry my child! Well, upon my soul! Why, he never saw her more than two +or three times before he came to Bermuda! How could he possibly have +fallen in love—"</p> + +<p>"In love!" Edith laughed. "Love? That's a real joke! Mr. Cosden has +never dealt in that commodity! I tell you, Marian, he just picks out the +thing he wants, and then he gets it—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He could never get <i>my</i> daughter."</p> + +<p>"But you just said you admired men who had confidence in themselves—"</p> + +<p>"I didn't say I cared for men with such unmitigated nerve as that. The +idea!"</p> + +<p>"You thought us well suited to each other."</p> + +<p>"Certainly I did; that's an entirely different matter. You are just as +mercenary as he, and I think you would make a perfect team,—but Merry! +Ho, ho! The audacity of it!"</p> + +<p>Sitting on the edge of her steamer chair Marian tapped the deck +excitedly with her toe and carefully adjusted an imaginary crease in her +skirt. Suddenly she turned again to her companion.</p> + +<p>"So he came down to get Merry,—and proposed to you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; rather well manœuvered, wasn't it? You see, don't you, that my +mercenary instincts saved you from an unpleasant maternal duty?"</p> + +<p>"I bless you for it," Marian said heartily; "but you've refused him, so +that leaves him loose to begin over again. He's not safe yet."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't worry about that just now," Edith reassured her. "Mr. Cosden +has learned a few things since he has been under my instruction, and I +think he will be less precipitate."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you continue the good work and polish him up for yourself? +You must have found some good points or you wouldn't have gone to all +this trouble."</p> + +<p>"No, Marian; it's too big a contract. I once had hopes but they are +gone. The first thing I knew he'd have me packed up in spite of myself +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> shipped off somewhere. I'm very disappointed, but I dare not take +the chance."</p> + +<p>It was fortunate, if Miss Stevens was to unburden her heart to her +friend at all, that she acted so promptly, for after the headland of St. +George's and St. David's light-house faded away in the distance it +became apparent that the elements were not kindly disposed toward those +on board the "Arcadian." The air became oppressive in its sultriness, +and the clouds gathered ominously. Within an hour the calmness of the +sea was forgotten. The little party playing shuffleboard found it +difficult to keep their feet, and of a sudden a sharp, vicious squall +struck the boat, sending all uncertain passengers to their state-rooms. +Luncheon, served with difficulty, found a reasonable number at their +seats, but by dinner-time the "good sailors" might have selected any +locations they chose. Nature had declared a division, and the state-room +stewards found far greater demand upon their services than did those in +the dining-saloon. The majority of the passengers simply endured until +the safe haven of New York harbor might be reached, the minority +adjusted themselves to the conditions and made the most of them.</p> + +<p>Merry and Huntington were among the fortunate minority.</p> + +<p>"At last I have found something to struggle against!" she cried +enthusiastically during the storm, as they stood in a sheltered position +on deck watching the quivering steamer plow steadfastly through the +great waves.</p> + +<p>"Still eager for a struggle!" Huntington exclaimed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> smiling, +understanding the spirit of the girl better than he cared to +acknowledge. "I don't like to think of you as struggling at all."</p> + +<p>"I must," she said firmly. "Unless I do, I feel myself slipping +backwards."</p> + +<p>"Of course," he admitted, "struggling means development, yet my wish for +you is freedom from anything which opposes. Is it selfishness on my +part, this desire to keep you as you are, or is it merely another of +those paradoxes of which life is made up?"</p> + +<p>"Whatever it is," Merry answered simply, "I know that your wish is for +my good, for I know you are my friend."</p> + +<p>She turned toward him as she spoke and looked full in his face with an +expression of confidence in her own which tested Huntington's +self-denial. But the years—the inexorable years—were there!</p> + +<p>"It is you who have made me realize the necessity of struggling," she +continued. "It is through the companionship I have had these weeks with +you, and your friendship, that I have been able to crystallize ideas +which before were so uncontrolled that they made me restless and +discontented. What I heard you say to Mr. Hamlen, what I have seen in +your every-day philosophy has taught me to concentrate my efforts in one +grand struggle with myself."</p> + +<p>"If you keep it there," Huntington answered, "I shall be content; it +would be no kindness to wish it otherwise. But one of these days, little +friend, some man will come along with a nature equal to your own, and in +the division of the struggle you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> will find the happiness multiplied. +That will be your chance to contribute your share to the real life which +you will jointly live."</p> + +<p>"You have remembered what I said that first time we walked home from Mr. +Hamlen's!"</p> + +<p>"I shall always remember it. From it I first learned the depth and +beauty of your womanhood."</p> + +<p>"Please, Mr. Huntington—" she begged deprecatingly; but her companion +saw no reason to recall the words.</p> + +<p>On the second morning the passengers came up on deck in anticipation of +landing in the afternoon. Even Edith Stevens had passed through the +ordeal without the fatal results she had predicted. Cosden seized the +first opportunity for a final word of reconciliation.</p> + +<p>"Don't give me up," he urged. "I've learned a lot of things down here, +and I appreciate what you have done for me more than I have shown. I'm +going to do a bit of sandpapering when I get home, and I want you to let +me run in to see you once in a while in New York, just to report +progress."</p> + +<p>And Edith, either because after her experiences she felt too weak to +combat him, or because she thought he needed encouragement, ingloriously +capitulated.</p> + +<p>The final good-byes were said on the dock, after the customs officials +had completed their inspection.</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll see you in New York now and then," Mrs. Thatcher said to +the two men; "and when we open up at the shore we must plan a real +reunion."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I shall hope to have Hamlen here by then," Huntington remarked.</p> + +<p>"You are more optimistic than I; but in the mean time I shall be eager +to receive news of him through you."</p> + +<p>"Drop in at the office next time you're in town, Cosden," said Thatcher; +"we'll talk over Consolidated Machinery and the Bermuda Trolleys."</p> + +<p>"I'm thinking of getting out of business altogether, to devote myself to +art," was Cosden's enigmatical reply; but the expression on Edith +Stevens' face showed that at least she understood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Nearly a month passed after their return to Boston before Huntington and +Cosden really saw anything of each other. They met casually, they +telephoned, they lunched in company with other friends at down-town +clubs, but neither one suggested an old-time getting together, and each +felt relieved by the omission of the other. Yet the reason each man held +for this feeling, had he openly acknowledged it, was as opposed to the +other's as were the characteristics of the men themselves. Huntington +craved nothing so much as an opportunity to be alone, that he might +review the extraordinary happenings of the past few weeks and thus +fortify himself sufficiently to prevent any lapse from what he knew to +be his duty; Cosden required a return to his usual feverish business +activity in order to digest his new ideas. Huntington remembered the +wonderful sunshine and the fragrant flowers, in the midst of which he +always saw a sweetly serious face peering out at him in spite of his +efforts at banishment; Cosden forgot everything except that he had been +shown up to himself in a light which demanded immediate and drastic +consideration. To both men the weeks just ended,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> including those which +had elapsed since their return had been epoch-making. But +self-confidence revives with time, however great a shock it may receive +and when Huntington finally invited his friend to dine with him Cosden +found himself quite ready to accept.</p> + +<p>This first meeting was more formal than any which had taken place during +the many years of their acquaintance. Cosden often spoke of the relief +it was to him to be permitted to drop in at his friend's house in such +an intimate way,—without "fussing up," as he expressed it; now he +appeared in his dinner-coat, dressed as immaculately as Huntington +himself always was. His manner was more contained, and even though it +was evident that his restraint was studied Huntington was interested and +pleased to observe that as yet, at all events, the influence of the +Bermuda experiences made itself felt.</p> + +<p>"Well, Monty," Cosden said as he lifted his cocktail-glass, "I'm glad to +be aboard again. I've been associating a good deal lately with a fellow +named Conover Cosden, and I must admit he bores me. Let's have this and +then a little dividend just for good luck.—By the way, I saw you at the +Symphony last night."</p> + +<p>"At the Symphony?" Huntington echoed surprised. "You don't mean to +say—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I do!" he laughed rather consciously. "Not that it means much +to me yet, but I've reached a point where I can call it an orchestra +instead of a band, anyway. Mighty fine concert, wasn't it? I know I'm +right, for I read the criticism in the paper this morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How long are you going to keep this up?"</p> + +<p>"To the bitter end!" Cosden declared dramatically. "If music has charms +to calm the savage beast now is its chance to demonstrate! That isn't +all, but you wouldn't believe any more. As a matter of fact I'm taking +in everything which begins with H for fear I may miss some one of those +'humanities'!"</p> + +<p>Huntington gazed at him in sheer amazement.</p> + +<p>"That's right," Cosden emphasized, only slightly embarrassed by the +expression of incredulity on his friend's face. "Instead of being merely +a 'sow's ear' I'm going the whole hog, and so far I've managed to pull +through without casualties. Now what do you and Edith Stevens think of +your handiwork!"</p> + +<p>"By Jove, Connie!" Huntington exclaimed feelingly, "it's wonderful, and +I congratulate you. I had no idea—"</p> + +<p>"Other than that I would remain without those 'finer instincts' all my +life," he finished for him. "Well, maybe I will, even at that; but at +all events I'm giving the whole thing the once over. If my health and +strength hold out perhaps when you and I make another vacation trip +together you won't be mortified by your friend as you were last time."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Connie!" Huntington protested. "We both got out a little +beyond our depth down there, and things didn't look quite normal to us."</p> + +<p>"Both?" Cosden demanded. "Where do you come in? That was my party, if I +remember correctly, and I got all the presents."</p> + +<p>Huntington for the moment had been forgetful that he alone knew how much +the Bermuda days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> had disturbed his own equilibrium, and he recognized +that he had been almost guilty of betraying himself.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said lightly, "I interjected myself into your affairs in a +shameless fashion, so whatever blame there is I insist on taking my full +share.—What you tell me is simply incredible!"</p> + +<p>"Don't give me too much credit for it yet. Like everything else in my +life there's a selfish motive back of it. Edith Stevens never said a +truer thing than that it is a different matter making light of something +which you have and something which you lack. Measuring things up on this +basis shows me that nearly every time I've opened my mouth I've put my +foot in it. Now I'm going to play safe and make myself very, very wise +on some subjects regarding which I've been a bit of a scoffer. Then, if +I don't want to, I won't do them, but never again because I can't do +them!"</p> + +<p>"You needn't be ashamed of your motive; many a man has had one less +worthy. But what is your business doing all this time?"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, well!" Cosden laughed. "Good old Monty! We've been together +nearly an hour, and you are the first to mention business! You wouldn't +have believed I could go as long as that without speaking of it, would +you? But let me tell you I have them all guessing down at the office. I +can see it every day. Of course, I'm keeping my eye on things as much as +ever, but I'm not making so much noise about it. You see this is +something I have, so I can afford to treat it lightly. Now I have +something to measure myself by, and it helps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> a lot.—But don't let us +spend all the time talking about me; what have you been doing with +yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Drifting, as usual," Huntington replied, regretting that the +conversation turned on him; "wishing I might take twenty years off my +life and begin over again."</p> + +<p>"Why, Monty! You say that so seriously I really believe you mean it! +What's happened? It isn't like you."</p> + +<p>"Nothing, dear boy, nothing at all," Huntington disclaimed quickly, +trying to throw off the mood which had so promptly attracted his +friend's attention. "I've seen quite a bit of Billy and his friend Phil +Thatcher since I came home, and—I envy them their youth."</p> + +<p>Cosden looked at him long and searchingly before he spoke. "You're in a +curious mood to-night," he said at length. "During the years I've known +you I've never before seen you other than a philosopher, taking life day +by day as you found it, and getting all there was out of it."</p> + +<p>"What is philosophy unless one can find the stone?" Huntington exclaimed +with feeling. "It is the philosopher's stone I want to-night, and I +can't get it. I'm feeling my age, Connie, and the sensation isn't +agreeable."</p> + +<p>"Your age!" Cosden determined to overpower the surprising obsession. +"The idea of talking age at forty-five! Out with it, man! Tell me what +has taken hold of you. I've left you too much by yourself lately, and it +hasn't been a good thing for you."</p> + +<p>"That's it, Connie," Huntington smiled weakly. "You mustn't do it again. +First you take the heart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> out of me by declaring that you are going to +get married, then you cheer me up by becoming normal again, and lastly +you neglect me just as if you had taken the fatal step after all."</p> + +<p>"That's better," Cosden said, rising from his dessert and putting his +arm around his friend's shoulders. "Come on up-stairs and we'll gossip +over our cigars like two old cats. It won't be long before we can get +out on the links again, and then you'll forget that you have any age at +all. Age! the idea! Why, Monty, you and I have only just begun to live!"</p> + +<p>Arm in arm they walked slowly to the library in silence, but each one +wondered at the new characteristic he had discovered in the other. +Huntington was touched by Cosden's show of affection, the first time he +had ever seen it manifested; Cosden marveled at the first break he had +ever seen in his friend's self-possession. However easy-going Huntington +might be, he always held himself well in hand; and Cosden envied him +this trait. Huntington knew Cosden to be kind-hearted, but believed him +to consider any outward demonstration as an evidence of weakness. The +mutual discovery, surprising as it was, drew them closer together, and +each realized that whatever had been the means a change had come in +their relations which placed their friendship on a higher plane.</p> + +<p>"There's something deeper in this than appears on the surface," Cosden +declared insistently as he held the light for Huntington and then lit +his own cigar. "You said down-stairs that we both got out beyond our +depth at Bermuda, and perhaps you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> meant more than I realized. Then, +when we met the Thatchers, it developed that you and Mrs. Thatcher had +known each other years ago. Now, tell me, is there any association +between these two ideas, and is this by chance the explanation of the +changed Monty I find here to-night?"</p> + +<p>Huntington did not reply at once. He was annoyed with himself that he +had uncovered so much of his heart, and he had been pondering how to +extricate himself from the delicate position. Under no circumstances +must Cosden or any one else know how deep an impression Merry Thatcher +had made upon him. The first duty he owed to her was to stand before the +world simply as a devoted, older friend; his duty to himself was to +prevent his associates from discovering how many kinds of fool he was to +permit any such ridiculous condition to arise as that which at present +existed. Now Cosden had unconsciously shown him the way out.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Connie," he replied calmly; "there is an association which may be +made of those ideas, and since you have spoken of it I will ask you to +stand by me at the finish. There is something I have intended to do ever +since I came home, but I lacked the courage; now you have given it to +me."</p> + +<p>Huntington rose abruptly, and crossing to the opposite side of the +library he lifted the little mahogany table which stood there, placing +it before the fire in front of the easy-chair from which he had just +risen. Then he seated himself, and taking from his pocket the key to the +small drawer he turned it in the lock. Cosden watched him with an +interest far deeper than curiosity, for he felt from his friend's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +manner that the turning of the key unlocked something within him which +until that moment had been closely hidden.</p> + +<p>"It will be better to get it out of my system," Huntington said finally, +after bringing all the accessories together.—"You never knew of my +romance, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Never," Cosden acknowledged; "I supposed you were the one man who had +passed through life unscathed."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't have told you of it before because you wouldn't have +understood, but now you will appreciate matters better if you know the +facts.—Do you remember my surprise when you first mentioned the name of +Marian Thatcher?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; you asked if she was a widow."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. Mrs. Thatcher was Marian Seymour when I first met her, my +senior year at college. There is no need to go into particulars; the +fact remains that I was hard hit.—Look at these!"</p> + +<p>He pulled out the drawer and laid the various exhibits on the top of the +table. Cosden leaned forward and gingerly lifted the long white glove, +looking into Huntington's face with a curious expression as he did so. +Huntington met his gaze squarely, nodding his head in affirmation of the +unasked question.</p> + +<p>"What's this?" Cosden demanded, laying down the glove and picking up the +slipper.</p> + +<p>"You see," was the unabashed reply; "it went as deep as that. Laugh if +you like; I sha'n't mind. We'll clean up this whole business to-night, +and the more ridiculous you make it the shorter work it will be."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I would have laughed a month ago," Cosden admitted; "but, as you say, I +understand some things now that I didn't before. Every man has a +right to a romance, and he's entitled to have it respected."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, dear boy; but romances don't belong to five-and-forty, and this +farce has gone far enough. Now we'll watch it go up in smoke, as most +romances do. But first let us pay it befitting honor."</p> + +<p>Dixon appeared in response to the bell.</p> + +<p>"A bottle of Moët & Chandon, '98," Huntington ordered.</p> + +<p>During the time required by Dixon the two men puffed silently at their +cigars. Huntington feared lest some inopportune word might disturb the +success of his stratagem; Cosden, believing that he was witnessing the +final act in the tragedy of his friend's life, respected the solemnity +of the occasion.</p> + +<p>"Now, Connie," Huntington rose with the glass in his hand, "I ask you to +drink to the dearest girl in the world, past, present and future,—to +Marian Thatcher, God bless her!"</p> + +<p>"To Marian Thatcher—God bless her!" Cosden repeated after him; and +Huntington turned away to chuckle to himself that he had paid homage to +the reality while his friend believed him to be giving tribute to the +figment. He blessed the figment for bestowing her name upon the reality!</p> + +<p>"Now for the renunciation," Huntington said solemnly, and one by one he +laid the long-cherished trophies upon the fire, watching in silence +their reduction to the elements. His success filled him with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> a spirit +of bravado. The opportunity might never come again.</p> + +<p>"Once again, Connie old boy!" he cried.</p> + +<p>He held out his disengaged hand and grasped Cosden's as he lifted his +refilled glass.</p> + +<p>"To Marian Thatcher—God bless her!"</p> + +<p>Cosden still held his glass after his friend placed his on the table.</p> + +<p>"Would it seem a sacrilege if I asked you to join me in a toast?" he +asked, with an unnatural hesitation in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Why,—no," Huntington said wonderingly. "Fill up the glasses again."</p> + +<p>Then he held his high, waiting for his friend to speak.</p> + +<p>"To Edith Stevens," Cosden finally blurted out,—"God bless her!"</p> + +<p>"Edith Stevens!" Huntington almost choked in his surprise. "You don't +mean—"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what I mean," Cosden admitted, blushing furiously; "but I +miss her like blazes, and I'm either in love or else I'm suffering from +a new disease the doctors haven't named!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The letter postmarked "New York," announcing Hamlen's arrival, did not +take Huntington by surprise, but it fulfilled his expectations sooner +than he expected. The desirability of making certain changes in +investments, the letter explained, made it necessary for Hamlen to come +to the States, and if his classmate's invitation to Boston still held +good he would be glad to avail himself of the opportunity to renew their +friendship.</p> + +<p>This announcement found Huntington in the introspective mood which had +alarmed Cosden, and suggested a comparison in which he placed himself +under the microscope for a mercilessly minute analysis. Hamlen was +convinced that he had made a failure of life, but what had he, +Huntington demanded of himself, accomplished which could entitle him to +claim success? He had not separated himself from his fellow-men, it was +true, he had been a decent citizen, performing such duties as came to +him with faithfulness and ability,—yet what had he really contributed +to the community or to the life in which he lived which made it better +because he had been a part of it? He had created nothing, nor even made +an effort to create. No<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> painting bore his signature; no volume added +his contribution to the world's knowledge on any subject; no +philanthropic or business enterprise owed its inception to his +initiative; no child of his was growing up to bear its share in the +struggle of to-morrow or to bless his memory for parental sacrifice and +guidance. Hamlen at least had given himself to the world in the +wonderful volumes which would live after him, even though their +creator's identity never was disclosed. Hamlen at least had made the +flowers and the shrubs of his island estate bear witness to the power +within him which refused to be restrained; but Huntington's labors, if +he could dignify them by so serious a name, had been perfunctory at +best. He was rich in the world's goods and in human friendships, he was +respected by all who knew him. For what? he demanded: because his +grandfather and his father before him had created, and had played their +part so well in the developing life of the city of their birth that a +luster had been given to the family name. His virtues were wholly +negative; his was a reflected glory and undeserved. The position in the +community which Huntington knew himself to occupy, and the fact that +Hamlen, because of his exile, would be considered to have forfeited his +position, struck him as a commentary on the value of popular esteem and +the lack of proportion in accrediting to each individual what was his +proper due.</p> + +<p>Hamlen had nothing to his credit in the columns where Huntington scored +heaviest: he was a poor citizen in his relations to those around him; he +took no part in making others happier for his companionship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> or stronger +by his example; his life had always been pointed inward, and yet, even +with the limitations needlessly imposed upon it, there had been +something within him, which Huntington had never felt within himself, +great enough and strong enough to rise superior to these limitations, to +burst the bonds by which Hamlen had sought to hold it back, and to force +the expression of its own individuality! There, at least, was something +positive; and yet the world would have called Huntington a success and +Hamlen a failure! "We have torn off the bandages too fast," Huntington +had complacently told Hamlen on that eventful first visit. Was it not +presumption on his part when until now his own vision had been equally +restricted? Huntington's first impulse was to make a frank admission, +when Hamlen arrived, of the wide divergence between what people credited +to him and what his real position ought to be; then he realized that his +friend needed some one to look up to. He must, for a time at least, +accept the position, however ironical it seemed; but he felt himself an +impostor and a fraud.</p> + +<p>Since his return home Huntington had been more than ever grateful for +the diverting influence of Billy's irresponsibility, and he encouraged +him to come frequently to the house and to bring his friends with him. +He would not have believed that a two months' absence could produce so +momentous a change of his entire viewpoint. The calm tranquillity in his +mental equipoise was seriously disturbed, and he welcomed anything which +took his mind off himself and his personal affairs.</p> + +<p>He had urged Billy to bring young Thatcher in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> to dine with him, for in +view of what Marian had said he hoped that Hamlen and the boy would make +good with each other when once they met. Thus far Billy had always +selected an evening when Huntington was engaged, but with the certainty +that Hamlen would soon arrive a special effort produced a mutually +convenient date, and the two boys appeared eager for their dinner and +obviously ready to be entertained.</p> + +<p>Philip Thatcher carried himself better than his friend, and seemed +older. His work on the crew had developed his frame and given him a +poise which does not come to those college students who watch athletic +sports from the side-lines. He had represented his university in +competition, and this responsibility showed itself to his advantage. +Those same "animal spirits" which gave Billy his boyish manner found a +natural outlet, in Philip's case, during the hours of physical athletic +training. His face was more his father's than like Mrs. Thatcher's; yet +at times Huntington discovered expressions or mannerisms resembling his +sister, which was enough to add to the interest he had already taken in +the boy.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Uncle Monty!" Billy announced their arrival. "We've come in to +eat ourselves out of shape."</p> + +<p>When this operation had been performed, and the coffee period took them +back to the library, Huntington settled down to the real purpose of the +evening.</p> + +<p>"Philip," he said, "there is a man coming to visit me next week whom I +want you to know and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> who wants to know you. He is an unusual character. +I wish you would show him something of what Harvard life is to-day, and +when you get acquainted tell me what you think of him."</p> + +<p>"I should be glad to meet any friend of yours, Mr. Huntington," the boy +answered.</p> + +<p>"He has a greater claim on you than simply as my friend," Huntington +continued. "He was also a friend of your mother's, years ago, and while +we were in Bermuda he showed us all a great deal of attention. He lives +there."</p> + +<p>"You mean that Hamlen chap?" Billy asked. "Is he really coming here? +He's a dead one!"</p> + +<p>"Don't let Billy's remarks prejudice you, Philip," Huntington urged. +"Hamlen is a classmate of mine who has passed through some unfortunate +experiences. He has lived by himself ever since he graduated, seeing +hardly any one, and he will find much that is unusual when he returns to +Boston and Cambridge after his long exile. He is a real man, Philip, and +I want you to help me bring him back into the present again. Will you do +it?"</p> + +<p>"I'll try,—gladly," was the hearty answer. "It sounds like a pretty big +contract, but if I can really help I shall be glad to do it."</p> + +<p>"I know you will," Huntington said; "I was sure of it."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you ask me?" Billy demanded. "Why go out of the family?"</p> + +<p>"You may come into it later, but I want his first impressions to be +favorable."</p> + +<p>"Stung!" Billy cried, laughing. "But I don't care. I don't care what +happens now, for Phil has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> asked me to spend the Easter recess with him +in New York, and I shall see Merry again."</p> + +<p>"So it is still 'Merry,' is it?" Huntington asked, looking at him with +an expression which any one other than a boy would have noticed. "By +this time I thought there might have been a dozen others."</p> + +<p>"Merry is still the one best bet," Billy insisted. "Phil here doesn't +know what a cinch it is to have a sister like that."</p> + +<p>"I believe it's because of Merry that you like me," Phil declared, half +seriously.</p> + +<p>"Well," Billy said guardedly, "it may have been the fact that you were +her brother that first attracted me—"</p> + +<p>"Why, you never saw her until we'd known each other several months—"</p> + +<p>"We were acquainted before that," was the admission; "but I really came +to know you after you introduced me to her. That, Phil, was the best +thing you ever did. It was after I met Merry that I discovered that you +were the finest old scout in the world."</p> + +<p>"You make me tired!" Philip answered disgustedly. "I never saw any one +so crazy over a girl. There are lots of other things in the world, +Billy, besides girls. I'd hate to think of getting engaged up and having +to train around with just one girl all my life."</p> + +<p>"That's because you can't marry Merry,—she's your sister."</p> + +<p>"I don't make any exceptions,—Merry's just a girl, like the rest of +them."</p> + +<p>"You don't appreciate her, that's all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Merry is all right, of course. She and I have always been good +pals, and we've played together like two boys. She'd make any one a good +wife if he didn't mind being bossed."</p> + +<p>Huntington listened to the tilt between the boys with amusement, and yet +with a real feeling of envy. What riches these youths possessed with +life all before them, its mysteries still unexplained, its illusions +still unshattered!</p> + +<p>"I thought your sister the finest girl I ever met," he said to Philip, +curious to see what response the boy would make.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she wouldn't show that side to you," Philip replied; "it's only +with people her own age."</p> + +<p>Huntington winced. There it was again, and again he had brought it upon +himself! To these boys he seemed an antique fossil of humanity, entitled +to respect and veneration! He must appear the same to her. "People of +her own age,"—of course, that was the natural thing as it would appear +to any one. Again he cursed himself inwardly for being fool enough +deliberately to open up the wound.</p> + +<p>Billy was delighted to hear his uncle's comment on the girl, and beamed +contentedly.</p> + +<p>"You see, Phil," he said, "even Uncle Monty noticed what a corker she +is, and usually he never looks at a girl twice. Uncle Monty is a cynic +on marriage, a woman-hater and all that sort of thing. Yet even he +noticed Merry."</p> + +<p>"Don't say that, Billy!" Huntington protested with unusual vehemence.</p> + +<p>"But you are," the boy insisted. "The last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> time I dined here with you +and Mr. Cosden, before you went to Bermuda, I heard you tell him that +many a married man who seemed contented was only resigned."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't mean that I'm a 'woman-hater'; I won't stand for it! Be +careful what you say!"</p> + +<p>Billy looked at him in amazement. It was a rare thing to see his uncle +ruffled.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Uncle Monty," he apologized. "I didn't intend to +bump any one's feelings. Truly I wasn't joshing at all,—I thought you +meant it! But I'm glad you didn't, for now you'll be more sympathetic +with me, and you can help me a lot."</p> + +<p>"All right, boy," Huntington said soberly. "I know you didn't mean +anything by what you said, but marriage is a mighty sacred thing and you +ought not to speak lightly of it."</p> + +<p>"How's Mr. Cosden?" Billy asked, eager to get the conversation onto +safer grounds.</p> + +<p>"Well and happy; he dined with me last week."</p> + +<p>"Say, but he can ride a bicycle!—What did he have against me down at +Bermuda?"</p> + +<p>"He said you covered too much territory."</p> + +<p>"I don't see where I got in his way, but he was forever butting in on +Merry and me. And the way he hustled me off in that little speed-boat! I +never had any one take such an interest in my getting back to college on +time! That must have cost him quite a bit of kale. I can't understand +it."</p> + +<p>"It was because he is so good a friend of mine," Huntington explained. +"He saw a youngster down there who flopped around like a big St. Bernard +pup"—Huntington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> was gratified that his memory still retained Merry's +simile,—"and he served the best interests of his friend by keeping you +from making a mistake on your latest flop. Doesn't that clear things +up?"</p> + +<p>"As clear as mud," Billy grunted. "I guess I need one of those +glass-bottomed boats they use down there to see the spinach and the +gold-fish. I could see the gold-fish all right, but the spinach was on +me.—That reminds me, Uncle Monty, will you lend me a hundred dollars?"</p> + +<p>"For what, this time?"</p> + +<p>"I want to lend it to Phil,—he's broke because his father has cut down +his allowance."</p> + +<p>"Billy!" Philip cried aghast; "I told you that in confidence. I wouldn't +think of borrowing money from Mr. Huntington."</p> + +<p>"How in the world do you expect to get a hundred dollars out of me +unless I land Uncle Monty for it?—and he asked, 'for what?' You heard +him."</p> + +<p>"It's all right, Phil," Huntington said reassuringly. "Billy doesn't +have any secrets from me because he can't keep them. I would much rather +lend the money to you than to him."</p> + +<p>"That isn't fair," Billy protested. "Phil is sure to pay it back, and I +need it."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what has happened," Philip explained without paying any +attention to what his friend was trying to say, "but all of a sudden Dad +wrote that I must cut my expenses in two. That's a hard thing to do in a +minute, and I don't see why I should do it anyway, for Dad has all kinds +of money."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>"These are hard times in Wall Street, my boy," Huntington answered him, +"and many a rich man's son has to cut his corners. If your father has +written you that I advise you to follow his instructions. He isn't a man +to say it unless he means it.—I'll gladly help you out while you're +getting adjusted."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mr. Huntington, but perhaps I won't need it. Even cut in two +my allowance is bigger than most of the boys'."</p> + +<p>"Fathers are so inconsiderate," Billy yawned; "very few of them +understand their sons."</p> + +<p>"A paraphrase of the old saw, Billy," Huntington commented. "To-day we +would say that it is a wise stock which knows its own par."</p> + +<p>"Or a wise corn which knows its own popper," laughed Billy.</p> + +<p>"Or a wise beast which knows its own fodder," Philip added,—"now we're +all even!"</p> + +<p>"Speaking of fodder," Billy said, showing renewed signs of life, "let's +go down to the Copley-Plaza and get something to eat."</p> + +<p>"After the dinner you ate?" Huntington demanded.</p> + +<p>"That was over two hours ago, and I'm as hollow as a tin can. Come on, +Phil."</p> + +<p>"You can't be serious, Billy," insisted Huntington.</p> + +<p>"I sure am. Whenever I get a real square feed I have a pain, and +to-night I've felt perfectly comfortable."</p> + +<p>"All right, go on if you feel that way," his uncle replied. "Take him +away, Phil, and let him stuff himself until he has a pain! I'll let you +know when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> Hamlen arrives, and then I'll count on you to help me out.</p> + +<p>"Better include me," Billy insisted.</p> + +<p>"The next time I ask you to dine with me, young man, I'll thank you to +get filled up at the hotel first!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a>XXIV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Stevenses, brother and sister, lived together in the old family +mansion in Washington Square. The income from the property left behind +by the elder members of the family would have been ample if Richard had +contributed even a modest amount as a result of his daily exertion; but +as exertion had never proved one of Ricky's strong points, except in +opposition to his sister's efforts to bully him into business, Edith was +forced to practise many economies to make the divided sum serve her +requirements.</p> + +<p>"If you ever showed half the ability after you got into business that +you do in keeping out of it, you'd make a howling success," she told +him; yet in spite of her perennial resentment she made many personal +sacrifices to enable her brother to lead his aimless existence. They +were a curious combination of selfishness and generosity, each going to +extremes in both. Each criticised the other in unstinted terms, yet +underneath it all lay an affection which would have carried either +through fire and brimstone had the other required it.</p> + +<p>Richard Stevens still kept up his social activities, but Edith moved in +a smaller and quieter circle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> made up of old-time friends. She knew she +could not compete, in these days of extravagant entertainment, and +unless she could repay her social obligations in kind she preferred not +to accept. She could not have everything she wished, so she selected +what she believed contributed most to her happiness and peace of mind. +All this had been carefully considered, and having been thus settled she +philosophically accepted conditions as they were. She exacted much from +her brother by way of attention, and he responded willingly, still +finding ample leisure outside her demands to live his own life in a +manner which satisfied himself.</p> + +<p>It was the morning after one of Richard's off nights, when Edith sat +leisurely finishing her late breakfast and reading the head-lines in the +morning paper, that her brother put in his belated appearance.</p> + +<p>"Morning, Ricky," she greeted him cheerfully. "Up for all day?"</p> + +<p>"I think so," was the doubtful answer. "I'm awfully tired. I'd have been +down sooner except that I couldn't decide whether to stay in bed until +lunchtime and give up my breakfast, or get up and have my breakfast and +give up my rest. Even now I believe I made a mistake, for I'm awfully +tired and I don't feel hungry."</p> + +<p>"You might go back to bed again," Edith suggested helpfully.</p> + +<p>"No; I'm dressed now, and that would be too much trouble.—I think I'll +make my breakfast off a jolly little bottle of Célestin."</p> + +<p>Edith laughed. "Too much wine last night, Ricky?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stevens made a wry face. "I'll have to give up dancing or drinking, one +or the other," he said emphatically; "it isn't scientific. Wine should +be allowed to stand in the stomach just as it ought to stand in the +bottle. This idea of churning it up by dancing is all wrong. I'd rather +dance while I'm dancing and drink while I'm drinking; but every one else +wants to do both things at the same time. It's all wrong.—That Célestin +has a beastly bad taste this morning." He examined the bottle +critically. "I was afraid the maid had brought me Hunyadi by mistake."</p> + +<p>"I was in at Marian's yesterday," Edith remarked. "Mr. Hamlen has +arrived, and she expects Philip and Billy Huntington at the house over +Easter."</p> + +<p>"Has Hamlen been there yet? He's a melancholy sort,—about as cheerful +as a hearse. Feeling as I do this morning I think I'd rather like to see +him; but I hope to feel better soon."</p> + +<p>"No; he hasn't been there yet. Marian tried to get him out for dinner, +but some other friends were to dine with her so he wouldn't come."</p> + +<p>"He's a queer one,—but that reminds me: that Cosden man is in town."</p> + +<p>"He is?" Edith exclaimed, arresting her coffee-cup on its way to her +lips and poising it in mid-air. "Why didn't you tell me before?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't until now; it was only yesterday I saw him. He was much more +civil than in Bermuda. Wanted to know about you and all that sort of +thing. He's going to telephone you before he goes back."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Very kind of him, I'm sure," Edith sniffed. "Perhaps I'll be in and +perhaps I won't."</p> + +<p>"Well that's your affair; you needn't see him on my account. But if you +were to ask me, I'd say he's not such a bad sort."</p> + +<p>"I didn't ask you, Ricky," Edith said significantly, and Stevens, with +precedent to guide him, refrained from further discussion of the topic.</p> + +<p>Yet in spite of the snap in her eyes when she commented on Cosden's +inquiry it so happened that she was in when he telephoned, and she was +also at home, arrayed in her most fetching afternoon gown, when he +called an hour later. Not that he would notice whether she wore gingham +or alpaca, she told herself, but she owed it to her self-respect to +appear her best.</p> + +<p>She had expected to see Cosden in his business suit with bulky contracts +and other papers bulging from his pockets, rushing in and out again like +a hurricane; but instead she beheld him entirely at his ease in cutaway +and silk hat, with immaculate grey spats over his patent-leather boots. +He carried himself with an air quite different from that she had become +familiar with in Bermuda, and the reception she had planned for +him—brief, matter-of-fact and bristling with satire—required a certain +modification.</p> + +<p>"I wasn't looking for a social call," Edith said guardedly after a +non-committal greeting. "I thought perhaps you had some business matter +to discuss."</p> + +<p>"Still unforgiving!" Cosden smiled. "What can I do to make you +forgetful?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of what?" Edith asked with well-feigned surprise.</p> + +<p>"Then suppose we assume that you have forgotten."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you over here on business?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and pleasure, too. This is the pleasure."</p> + +<p>Her mystification was genuine. Was this the self-assertive, vivified +piece of machinery she had known three months before? Cosden could but +see her surprise and it pleased him.</p> + +<p>"I told you I should find out what was the matter with me. Have I +partially succeeded?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she acknowledged frankly; "what did it?"</p> + +<p>"Huntington and—you."</p> + +<p>"But you couldn't change like this in so short a time; no one could."</p> + +<p>"Most of it is probably on the surface," he admitted cheerfully. +"Underneath is the same Cosden branded with the ear-marks of his +business. But I'm on my way, and if there's enough of a change to have +you notice it, then there's hope!"</p> + +<p>"Have you seen the Thatchers?" Edith asked, not knowing just how to +answer him.</p> + +<p>"I saw Mr. Thatcher yesterday. He asked me to dine with them to-night, +but I thought I'd wait until next time I'm over. He says Mrs. Thatcher +is planning to have our whole Bermuda party down at the shore in July. +You will be there, of course?"</p> + +<p>"If it's in July, I shall be. Marian has invited me to spend the month +with her."</p> + +<p>"Good! that was one of the things I called to find out."</p> + +<p>"What are the others?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Whether you are forgiving and—forgetful."</p> + +<p>Edith laughed at the serious way he asked the question.</p> + +<p>"Are you laughing at me or with me?" he demanded half in earnest.</p> + +<p>"Why, I don't know what to make of you."</p> + +<p>"Make whatever you like,—it's in your hands!"</p> + +<p>"But I feel we ought to become acquainted all over again.</p> + +<p>"So do I; that is another one of the things I wanted to find out.—Will +you dine with me to-night, and then go to the theater afterwards?"</p> + +<p>"Why—" she hesitated.</p> + +<p>"It's the best possible way to get acquainted over again," he insisted.</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure that I want to," Edith retorted; "but I will admit that +you've excited my curiosity."</p> + +<p>"That's something," Cosden replied good-naturedly. "Why isn't an evening +together the easiest way to satisfy it?"</p> + +<p>"All right," Edith said with sudden decision. "I really must know more +about this."</p> + +<p>"The veneer may wear off before the evening is over."</p> + +<p>"That's what I'm thinking," she answered frankly. "I'm wondering how +deep it really goes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a>XXV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Easter came to New York, as it did to other places, and with it came +Billy Huntington and Philip to the Thatchers. "Always have something to +radiate from," some one once advised, "if only a fly-speck." To Billy, +Boston was the fly-speck, entirely satisfactory as a point of radiation +but far too respectable, much too decorous, and altogether too near home +to be associated with his idea of a good time. Billy's life had been +running so long on high gear that the lower speeds had almost been +forgotten. This was typical of the times rather than a suggestion that +the boy himself exceeded the speed limit. It was the limit which +insisted upon exceeding itself, and he simply extended his pace to keep +up with everything around him,—the limit of yesterday kept becoming the +commonplace of to-day.</p> + +<p>In New York Billy always found the limit just enough ahead of what it +was in Boston to give him the additional thrill which added zest to his +life. The very atmosphere seemed charged with a different ozone, filled +with microbes impelling incessant activity. Everything not already in +motion seemed straining at its leash, impatient to dash forward at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> the +earliest opportunity. No one ever seemed satisfied to where he was, but +hurried onward to somewhere else or something different. It was the city +of unrest but never of discontent, for the changing, kaleidoscopic +conditions came as a result of a demand from those who had the price to +pay. It fascinated Billy, as it fascinates its tens of thousands, and as +he leaned back in the Thatchers' limousine, held up by the lines of +traffic on Fifth Avenue, then dashing forward to make up for lost time +between the intersecting streets, he turned his beaming face toward his +friend and murmured contentedly, "This is the life!"</p> + +<p>"The ride home gets worse every time I take it," was Philip's comment. +"If things keep on they will have to make the Avenue a double-decker +street."</p> + +<p>"By that time New-Yorkers will ride home in their aeroplanes," Billy +replied. "You can't hold them down by a little thing like congestion."</p> + +<p>Billy loved it, and for him the car turned off the Avenue all too soon, +in its final dash for the East Side. He wanted more time between his +arrival at the Grand Central Station and his appearance at the Thatcher +mansion to shake off what he felt to be his Boston provincialism, and to +feel outwardly as well as inwardly the real New-Yorker which he craved +to be.</p> + +<p>"What are we doing to-night?" Billy asked as they drew near their +destination.</p> + +<p>"I wrote Dad to get tickets for some show. You said you wanted to see +everything in town."</p> + +<p>"Great! Merry will go, won't she?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know. I can manage Mother and Dad all right, but when it comes +to Merry, that's different."</p> + +<p>"But she knows I'm coming—" Billy showed signs of feeling aggrieved.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she'll probably go all right. Why fuss until we find out? But I +don't think she's as crazy about you as you are about her."</p> + +<p>"Girls always conceal their real feelings," Billy explained sagely.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," Philip conceded very little; "but Merry isn't like most +girls. Sometimes she seems about my own age and sometimes old enough to +be my mother. But have it your own way; I should worry."</p> + +<p>The welcome was hearty enough to satisfy even Billy, so the pessimism of +his friend was at once forgotten. Mrs. Thatcher opened her arms wide to +both boys, while Merry, though less demonstrative, was equally cordial +in her reception.</p> + +<p>"I'm awfully glad to see you," Billy said with a sincerity which could +not be doubted, and grinning all over. "It seems ages since Mr. Cosden +and Uncle Monty pushed me off the pier down at Bermuda."</p> + +<p>Merry laughed. "That was a splendid idea of yours, Billy, to miss the +steamer, but I was afraid you couldn't work it."</p> + +<p>"S-ssh," Billy placed a finger on his lips. "Don't ever breathe that +where Uncle Monty could hear you! I've made him believe it was a real +accident."</p> + +<p>"We're dining at seven, boys," Mrs. Thatcher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> interrupted; "that will +give us comfortable time to reach the theater."</p> + +<p>"Are we all going?" Phil asked.</p> + +<p>"All but your father; he's feeling too tired to-night."</p> + +<p>"Dad's well, isn't he?" Philip demanded quickly.</p> + +<p>"Yes,—but tired," his mother answered. "He's all right. Now run along +and dress or you'll be late for dinner."</p> + +<p>On his way up-stairs Philip stopped in his father's room. "Hello, Dad!" +he cried, pushing the door open unceremoniously. "Why, Dad,—you're not +well! Mother said you were only tired."</p> + +<p>Thatcher was sitting in front of the great, old-fashioned desk which +Philip had associated with business and mystery since his childhood +days, and when the door was unexpectedly thrown open it disclosed him +resting his head upon his hands. The papers which Philip usually saw +spread out on the desk were lacking, so the position his father had +taken was the result of habit rather than present necessity. It was the +expression on the elder man's face which forced the exclamation.</p> + +<p>Thatcher rose quickly and stepped forward to greet his son. "Nonsense, +boy! I'm all right," he exclaimed with an effort to speak lightly which +did not escape Philip; "I'm just tired, as your mother said.—I didn't +hear you come in or I would have been down-stairs to meet you."</p> + +<p>"You're not all right," Philip protested stoutly, still holding his +father's hand and looking squarely into his face. "You don't need to do +this with me, Dad; I'm a man now, and we ought to talk together<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> like +men.—Has this anything to do with what you wrote me about my +allowance?"</p> + +<p>"We'll discuss it in the morning, Phil," Thatcher evaded. "Get dressed +now, and later we'll talk things over like two men, as you say. It will +help me to do that. Don't worry, boy; everything will come out all +right."</p> + +<p>"That's a promise, Dad?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; we'll put our heads together in the morning."</p> + +<p>Thatcher was as gay as the young people when they sat down to dinner, +and entered into the enjoyment of the home-coming so heartily that +Marian was relieved.</p> + +<p>"All you needed, Harry, was to have Phil come home," she said. "Couldn't +you telephone for another ticket and go with us?"</p> + +<p>"Not to-night; I have work to do. To-morrow Phil is going to lend a +hand, and then perhaps we'll have some play together.—Tell us of your +uncle, Billy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Uncle Monty is all right,—except that he's become so terribly +sober and serious. What did you people do to him down at Bermuda? He +hasn't been the same since."</p> + +<p>"He was serious down there," Merry asserted.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he never was a cut-up, of course," Billy explained; "but he was +always saying things to make you laugh, and I could jolly him just as if +he was one of the fellows."</p> + +<p>"Can't you do it now?" Mrs. Thatcher inquired.</p> + +<p>"No; if I do he gets sore. Why, only the other night Phil and I went in +there to dinner. I made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> some remark about his being a woman-hater, and +he got huffed up in a minute. Didn't he, Phil?"</p> + +<p>"Monty Huntington a woman-hater?" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "No wonder he +was 'huffed'!"</p> + +<p>"But he never married, did he? Isn't that a sure sign that he's a +woman-hater?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear no!" Mrs. Thatcher insisted. "That may be taken quite as much +as an evidence of his profoundest respect and veneration for woman. In +fact, if fifty per cent. of the men who do marry would refrain from it +no greater tribute could be paid us!"</p> + +<p>The boy looked at her inquiringly. "Do all older people run marriage +down like that?" he inquired. "Every time the subject comes up some one +gives it a knock. With Uncle Monty, of course, it's sour grapes, because +now he's so old no one would think of marrying him, but—"</p> + +<p>"He's not so old," Merry interrupted unexpectedly and with such force +that Billy was taken by surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" Billy cried. "So that's the way the land lies! Now you've said +a mouthful. This is a case of mutual admiration! Uncle Monty told us the +other night that you were the finest girl he ever saw."</p> + +<p>"He did!" Merry cried, the blood rushing into her cheeks and her face +aglow with pleasure. "I wish I thought he really meant it!"</p> + +<p>"He meant it all right," Philip corroborated. "Mr. Huntington doesn't +make mouth-bets. He was calling me down for saying that you were just +like other girls."</p> + +<p>"Were you so ungallant as that?" Thatcher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> asked. "Whatever else +happens, Phil, we must stand up for the family."</p> + +<p>"Of course," he admitted; "but Billy was talking about Merry in +superlatives as usual, and I was trying to quiet him down."</p> + +<p>"Phil is doing his best to put me in wrong again," Billy protested. "Now +I'll tell you just what happened and you can judge for yourselves: I was +telling Uncle Monty how happy I was to be invited here for Easter, and +how glad I should be to see you all—"</p> + +<p>"You never said a word about any one but Merry," Philip interrupted.</p> + +<p>Billy looked vindictively at his friend and then smiled sheepishly.</p> + +<p>"I meant all of you, of course. Then Phil tried to jolly me about caring +for girls and for Merry in particular—"</p> + +<p>"Don't be foolish, Billy!" Merry exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"My! but it's hard to tell a story here, but I'm going to do it if I +burst a blood-vessel! Uncle Monty agreed with me, and then said that +Merry was the finest girl he ever saw. That from him is some praise, +because he never cuts in on girls at all; but you've made a hit with +him, Merry, and you might as well know it."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad he hasn't forgotten me," she said quietly, but the color +remained in her face after the conversation turned upon other topics.</p> + +<p>"What I said a moment ago isn't 'knocking,' as you call it, Billy," Mrs. +Thatcher resumed; "it is experience. We older folk know from what we've +seen, and from what we've been through, the dangers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> young people run +during the inflammable age; so we sound the warning. You are at that age +now, Billy, so your friends are trying to protect you. Philip apparently +hasn't arrived there yet, but he will; and then we'll try to protect him +from the idea that the 'only girl' is the one he happens to fancy while +the period lasts."</p> + +<p>"You're making me look like a flivver!" the boy said with mortification +in his voice; "and before Merry, too!"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear; you mustn't take it that way. I'm talking no more freely +than you have been. We consider you one of the family, so I'm speaking +to you just as I would to Philip."</p> + +<p>Billy's face was fiery red, but he never flinched in his dogged +determination.</p> + +<p>"I don't care who knows how much I think of Merry," he said defiantly. +"You've spoiled my visit! I'm not a bit ashamed—"</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Billy," she soothed him gently,—"of course you're not +ashamed. I wouldn't speak to you like this if you weren't one of my own +boys; but I do want you to realize that it is seldom that early fancies +are more than impersonal idealizations. I'm glad you and Merry like each +other, and I hope you will always be the best of friends; but, in +applying our idealization to the one who at the moment comes nearest to +the realization, a mistake is usually made because the one we are really +looking for hasn't yet crossed our horizon."</p> + +<p>"Sometimes, perhaps," Billy conceded; "but there are exceptions."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher smiled at his persistency. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> liked the boy, and had +seized on this opportunity to spare him the greater disappointment which +she felt sure would come.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered kindly; "there are exceptions. I know of one in my +own experience, but in this case it only made it more unfortunate. I +knew a boy once who applied the idealization formed during the +inflammable period to a girl who at that time thought she cared for him. +Then her horizon broadened and she found and married the man she really +loved; but the boy held on to his early ideal, becoming a recluse, +embittered against the world and incapable of seeing that unless the +ideal becomes a reality to both it can never safely amount to anything."</p> + +<p>Thatcher looked at his wife questioningly, and Merry's eyes also +fastened themselves upon her mother's face. Marian's voice as much as +her words disclosed more than she intended. As she paused Philip, +supposing the conversation to be concluded, mentioned the name which was +in each one's mind except the boys'.</p> + +<p>"By the way, Mother," he remarked, "Mr. Huntington wants me to meet a +friend of his named Hamlen, who, he says, used to be a friend of yours."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, looking up at him quickly,—"yes; I, too, wish you to +meet Mr. Hamlen. He is in New York now. Perhaps you will see him before +you return. I want you to know him well."</p> + +<p>As Thatcher assisted them in getting off to the theater, he managed to +draw Marian one side.</p> + +<p>"Hamlen's name is Philip, isn't it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She nodded, wondering at the question.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was that why you gave our boy the same name—and was it Hamlen you +referred to just now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Harry."</p> + +<p>He drew her gently to him and kissed her. "Poor chap!" he said. "If I +had known that I would have made a greater effort to be friendly with +him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a>XXVI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>During these depressed months Thatcher was not the only man of affairs +who saw the successes of his career threatened with disaster as a result +of the unnecessary burdens imposed by inexperienced and impractical +officials at Washington. Business groaned aloud as destructive control +and regulation delayed and paralyzed commerce. Labor, hand in hand with +its new ally Theory, stalked abroad through the land, demanding shorter +hours and increased wages, receiving recognition as a privileged class +from those in authority, exempt from respecting others' rights, which is +necessary to create and preserve responsibility: substance when it +struck at Capital, shadow when Capital in self-defense struck back. The +corporations which formed the pulse of the country's life were so +harassed that they paused in their constructive energies, wondering what +new menace would rise up before them, and yet were expected to give +better service while bound hand and foot by unwise legislative +restrictions, and burdened by unnecessary legislative demands for +increased expenditure. Samson, shorn of his strength by the shears of a +legalized Delilah, was expected to hold up with his enervated arms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> the +pillars of the temple which "psychological" complacency was pulling +down.</p> + +<p>The first serious rumors reached Thatcher in Bermuda, and when he +returned to his office his far-sighted perception told him that the +business world was face to face with a real crisis. Many of his +enterprises were in a condition where to pause in aggressive action +meant going backwards, entailing loss upon all concerned; yet to proceed +in the face of conditions as they were was to invite disaster and even +to imperil the stability of his firm.</p> + +<p>Cosden had felt the result of the depression in decreased business, but +he did not realize as soon as Thatcher the far-reaching results +inevitable from the new governmental policy. His horizon was local +compared to that of the New York operator, and he regarded the +conditions as a phase of business life, bound to appear once in so +often, rather than a blow at the basis upon which the commercial world +rested. He cut down his expenses in proportion to his reduced volume of +business, strengthened his relations at his banks, and considered his +sails trimmed to weather any storm.</p> + +<p>Thatcher had invited him to call, and Cosden had no idea other than to +make the most of the intimacy which had developed in Bermuda. More than +that, the machinery matter they had touched upon had progressed even +better than he expected. If Thatcher was still curious to learn more +about the details the time had now come when he could safely be told. +But to Cosden's surprise the subject was not once directly referred to +during their interview. Thatcher was cordial and affable, seemingly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +interested in the general conversation and frank in his discussion of +various topics which presented themselves, but, as it appeared to +Cosden, strangely reticent upon certain specific subjects on which he +would have been glad to draw him out. It was only when Cosden paused for +a moment at the door of the private office that Thatcher made any remark +which gave his visitor an insight as to what was in his mind.</p> + +<p>"The full meaning of these present conditions evidently has not struck +Boston yet," he said. "Let me tell you that these are times when the +wise man learns how to wait. Instead of blaming your customers who +hesitate to give you the usual orders you should scrupulously +investigate the credit of those who do."</p> + +<p>"I can wait," Cosden said confidently. "I've always held myself back +from spreading out too thin, and if there's a storm coming on top of +this sloppy weather I'm fixed where I can meet it better perhaps than +some others."</p> + +<p>"You are to be congratulated," Thatcher told him with so much feeling +that Cosden took it as a personal compliment and departed well satisfied +with his interview.</p> + +<p>When he next met Huntington in Boston they discussed this among other +topics, and Cosden was surprised to have his friend ask him point-blank +whether he had heard rumors regarding Thatcher's firm.</p> + +<p>"You're dreaming, Monty," he replied with conviction. "Thatcher is a man +who makes money whichever way the market turns. That's what I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> admire so +much in him. I only win out when things go one way, but he wins coming +and going. What in the world put that idea in your head?"</p> + +<p>The chance remark which Billy had made regarding the reduction in +Philip's allowance was too much in the nature of a confidence to be +repeated, but it had left Huntington with a definite impression that +Thatcher must be feeling the conditions acutely or he would not have +begun to curtail expenses at home. To a man who lived as Thatcher did, +Huntington knew that this would be the hardest duty he would find to +perform. Cosden's question was answered lightly.</p> + +<p>"Wall Street is being hit hard," he said. "I am hoping that so good a +fellow as Thatcher won't be caught in the reaction."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about that," Cosden laughed. "You'll find when the sky +clears that he has looked far enough ahead to make even the storm pay +him tribute."</p> + +<p>"Hamlen arrives to-morrow," Huntington remarked, changing the subject +lest his question raise some doubts in Cosden's mind which might linger. +"I shall give myself up to him a good deal while he is here, so you +mustn't be surprised if you don't see as much of me as usual. He needs +me more than you do."</p> + +<p>"That may be," Cosden admitted, "but how about you? I have an idea that, +with the peculiar state of mind you've been in lately, you will forget +your overpowering sense of age better with me than you will with him."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," Huntington admitted, smiling; "but I must think of him +first."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You don't mind my butting in on you both once in a while?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary; but I know how little you have in common with Hamlen. +I'm afraid he may bore you."</p> + +<p>"You forget my reincarnation," Cosden said dryly. "Who knows but that I +was a professor of classical antiquities in my previous existence? If he +bores me I'll cut out; but I've an idea that he can teach me a thing or +two, and just now I'm keen on becoming educated."</p> + +<p>There was a marked restraint in Hamlen's manner when Huntington met him +at the station and motored him to the Beacon Street house. His +embarrassment and the all too obvious efforts he made to impress upon +his friend the occasion of his leaving Bermuda would have convinced +Huntington, if he had not already known, that the real reason was that +which he had already anticipated in his prediction to Mrs. Thatcher. Yet +no one but Hamlen knew the agony of loneliness he had experienced when, +after watching the steamer disappear, he returned to his empty villa. No +one but Hamlen knew of the struggle he had passed through in his efforts +to readjust his life, or of the terror which came to him with the final +realization that he could no longer find solace in the work which he had +previously forced to absorb his waking hours.</p> + +<p>It was this terror Huntington saw in his classmate's eyes which told him +all that any one would ever know of the real tragedy. Hamlen looked +years older,—his face was more sallow, his hair more grey. Huntington +looked at him in pity, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> felt apprehensive lest the task he had +allotted to himself had been too long postponed. Then the thought came +back to him, "He considers himself a failure and me a success!"</p> + +<p>The welcome was such as to reassure Hamlen as much as anything could. +Huntington made him feel as much at home as was possible for one whose +mental poise was so sadly disordered. No special effort was made at +conversation; everything was treated as a matter of course. Little by +little Hamlen found himself, and as he spoke more freely Huntington +entered into his spirit, but followed rather than led.</p> + +<p>"It is a relief to get into this quieter atmosphere after New York," +Hamlen remarked after they had sat in silence for some moments at the +table after dinner. "I felt as if I had been suddenly put down in a +whirling maelstrom, and there wasn't a minute when I did not expect to +be annihilated the next!"</p> + +<p>Huntington laughed quietly. "A New-Yorker would consider that the most +subtle compliment you could pay his city. It is not enough to have the +stranger merely impressed; he must be appalled!"</p> + +<p>Hamlen raised his hands in a silent gesture.</p> + +<p>"Have you arranged your business matters to your satisfaction?" +Huntington asked, rather by way of conversation than from curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Hamlen answered, but with a mental reservation which his friend +noticed,—"yes; and yet even that wasn't as I expected."</p> + +<p>He paused a moment, gazing into the fire which Huntington had ordered +lighted to take off the chill which the late Spring still left in the +air.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am puzzled about it," Hamlen continued. "You see, most of my +investments have been in England, and it seemed to me that it would be +wise to take advantage of an opportunity I had to realize on them, and +to reinvest here in the States while everything is so much below its +real value. Knowing Mr. Thatcher as I did I naturally went straight to +him about it. He was most kind in advising me to hold off a while +longer, as securities are likely to fall still further; but when I asked +him to accept my money on deposit he declined, and offered instead to +give me a letter of introduction to a bank."</p> + +<p>"Why, Thatcher's house does a large banking business."</p> + +<p>"That is what puzzles me; why should he decline my account?"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe he meant just that," Huntington explained; "he probably +wanted you to understand that he was not looking for business from his +friends."</p> + +<p>"No, he flatly refused to accept it; for I tried to insist upon it. I +know few people here now, and I didn't feel like entrusting so +considerable a sum to any institution, however well recommended, without +personal acquaintance with some of its officers."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand it."</p> + +<p>"Nor I. Of course, I had no alternative, so I deposited it in the bank +Thatcher suggested."</p> + +<p>"Did you see much of the family while you were in New York?" Huntington +queried.</p> + +<p>Hamlen looked up quickly, with a return of the apprehensive expression +his face had worn earlier.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I saw them several times," he said. Then, after a moment's hesitation, +he added: "Later, you must let me impose still further upon your +friendship. I have no one else to counsel me."</p> + +<p>Hamlen's voice was apologetic.</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't consider that you accept my friendship at its par value +unless you call upon me in any way I can be of service to you."</p> + +<p>"Then perhaps you won't mind if I speak now," Hamlen responded eagerly. +"It really has been preying upon me until I am unfitted for anything +else. It would be a relief to share it."</p> + +<p>After saying this Hamlen found it more difficult to continue. "You +probably don't know," he said at length, "that Mrs. Thatcher and I knew +each other intimately years ago."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Huntington acknowledged frankly; "Mrs. Thatcher told me, while we +were in Bermuda."</p> + +<p>Hamlen was relieved. "It was a very close intimacy," he continued. "I +feel that perhaps I ought to be guided by her judgment now, yet I find +it difficult to accept for many reasons. In short, she thinks that I +should marry."</p> + +<p>During the last few moments Huntington had anticipated this +announcement, but he refrained from making comment. Hamlen looked over +at him for a word of encouragement, but as none came he went on.</p> + +<p>"I know myself to be entirely unfitted, and it is the last thing in the +world I should have thought of; but lately I have mistrusted my own +judgment, which leaves me absolutely without a guide of any kind. So +when any one I respect as I do Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> Thatcher makes such a statement, +and even suggests the possibility of my marrying her own daughter, I +don't know what to do. I can't believe that the girl would consider me +as a husband, yet Marian is confident that if it could be arranged it +would be for the happiness of all concerned."</p> + +<p>"Are you fond of Merry?" Huntington demanded.</p> + +<p>"As Marian's daughter, yes. I admire her tremendously, for in some ways +she reminds me of her mother. But what in the world have I to offer +her?"</p> + +<p>"What has any man to offer the woman he marries," Huntington replied +with feeling, "in comparison to what she brings into his life? He stakes +nothing but his liberty; she stakes her future as well as her present."</p> + +<p>"I know; but what do you advise me to do?"</p> + +<p>"Has it occurred to you that Mrs. Thatcher is assuming a great +responsibility in pledging her daughter's consent?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I am afraid her influence over the girl is as strong as it is over +me. She is a very magnetic woman."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you question your own strength?"</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what I mean," he answered, dropping his eyes.</p> + +<p>"My promise of assistance was an empty one, after all," Huntington said +with more bitterness than had ever before crept into his voice. "The +alchemy of a woman's heart is past the comprehension of a bachelor like +myself. But why settle your problem so hastily? You are here with me +now, and what I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> intend to show you of life will fit you better than +anything else to answer that question for yourself. Don't let it +overwhelm you. See how far you can enter into what goes on about you, +and then draw your conclusions regarding the probabilities of the +future."</p> + +<p>"Are marriages ever successful when one's heart is made up of burnt +ashes?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me that, my friend!" Huntington begged. "You and I have +reached an age where we are entitled to use logic and judgment, and to +live the years which remain to us as those two attributes may dictate. +For the next few weeks I want you to imagine that you are back in +college again, with no responsibilities heavier than that of enjoying +yourself better than before because your sense of proportion has been +developed by experience. When these weeks are past, we may again +consider whether our hearts are made up of burnt ashes or of rich +Harvard crimson blood. Until then, my friend, let us steadfastly refuse +to be stampeded, and claim the benefit of every doubt."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXVII" id="XXVII"></a>XXVII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Philip Thatcher responded to the suggestion made by Huntington and his +mother with such conspicuous success that within a fortnight Hamlen +accepted his leadership from one experience to another with wonderment +and devotion. The fact that the boy was his namesake formed the first +bond, and with confidence once established intimacy developed rapidly. +Boys to Hamlen had been unknown quantities, creatures to be endured if +necessary but avoided if possible, and Philip did much to raise the +standard of his genus in the older man's mind. Billy's explosive +outbursts startled him for a time, but he learned to understand even +these, and accepted them at their true value.</p> + +<p>The responsibility came to young Thatcher at just the time when he was +best prepared to accept it. During the Easter recess his father suddenly +discovered that the boy had become a man, and it was with real +gratification that he took him into his confidence. To Philip, the +statement of present conditions made impending disaster seem conclusive, +and it was with difficulty that Thatcher persuaded him that many things +might happen to ease the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> situation before calamity really overtook him. +The boy wanted to leave college at once, and to throw himself into some +sphere of business activity so that his income might be added to the +family exchequer to keep the wolf from the door! His father, +strengthened by the youthful loyalty and enthusiasm, pointed out the +value, as a personal asset to himself, of actually possessing a college +degree, now so nearly secured, and sent the boy back to Cambridge with a +determination to make the most of the few remaining months in preparing +himself to rush into the breach and save his family from the threatening +malignant specters.</p> + +<p>The whole experience was a sobering one to Philip, and resulted in +putting him nearer on a plane with Hamlen. To the one, the world had +already proved its unreliability; to the other, it was now on trial with +every presumption of speedy conviction. Each event in the day took on a +new significance in the boy's mind, and Hamlen's dependence made him +feel that he was already man-grown, taking his place in the front rank +of the battle of life.</p> + +<p>Huntington watched these developments with a curious sensation of +interest and surprise. The most he had hoped was that Philip might take +the man far enough into undergraduate activities to give him by +assimilation a fresh viewpoint, but he found his guest largely taken off +his hands by one who was accomplishing the desired results far better +than he himself could do. Day by day he saw Philip winning a deeper hold +upon the affections of his older friend, and he marveled at the changes +taking place in Hamlen. For himself, he quietly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> forced him to meet such +of their classmates as were in Boston, preparing them by a brief outline +of Hamlen's experiences to extend a fitting welcome; but he left it to +Philip to show him what the new Harvard really is.</p> + +<p>It was impossible to have all this happen without misgivings and +questioning on the part of his guest.</p> + +<p>"I appreciate all this," Hamlen said to him one evening; "but don't for +a minute think that I take credit for the sudden interest on the part of +the fellows who never noticed me when I was in college. That belongs to +you. With the position you had then, and which you hold in the Class +to-day, the boys would drink healths and sing, 'For he's a jolly good +fellow' to a Fiji islander if he happened to be your friend."</p> + +<p>"Suppose we grant all that," Huntington answered frankly; "what +difference does it make? Didn't you tell me that you owned a piece of +land in Oklahoma on which oil was struck?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Hamlen replied; surprised that his friend should so abruptly turn +the conversation. "What has that to do with our discussion?"</p> + +<p>"How much did you value it before you discovered what it contained?"</p> + +<p>"It was a joke; I begrudged even paying the taxes."</p> + +<p>"Now you consider it well worth including among your investments?"</p> + +<p>"Naturally. It is one of the best things I own."</p> + +<p>Huntington smiled at him quietly. "Don't you see the application? It is +no reflection on those who walked over that land that they were ignorant +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> the riches which lay beneath their feet. It is no reflection on the +sincerity of your classmates that they like you now and did not know you +before. I discovered what you really are, Hamlen, quite as accidentally +as you struck oil in that apparently worthless land in Oklahoma. Now I +stand simply as the promoter of a property which has proved its worth."</p> + +<p>When Hamlen unpacked his trunk at Huntington's house he produced a +volume of Milton's "Areopagitica" which he placed in his friend's hand.</p> + +<p>"This is the latest issue from the 'Island Press,'" he said. "It was +nearly completed before you all came down to Bermuda and disturbed my +peace of mind. I put the covers on after you left, but I haven't been +able to produce a thing since. I believe this is the last book I shall +ever make."</p> + +<p>Huntington turned the leaves with great interest. "Exquisite!" he +exclaimed. "Quite the best example you have turned out. I love that type +of yours, Hamlen, for I feel it is the exemplification of William +Morris' definition of the Type Ideal,—'pure in form, severe without +needless excrescences, solid without the thickening and thinning of the +line, and not compressed laterally.' You have carried out what he set +himself to do and failed. How many copies did you print?"</p> + +<p>"Only fifty."</p> + +<p>"Splendid! But I am selfish enough to wish there was but one, and that I +owned it! I never saw finer presswork in my life."</p> + +<p>"You may gratify your wish if you like," Hamlen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> replied indifferently. +"I have the whole lot in my trunk up-stairs, and you may destroy the +other forty-nine if you choose. They are yours to do with as you will."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean it!" Huntington cried, enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>He fondled the copy in his hand, and his face was lighted by the +pleasure of the moment. Then he laughed.</p> + +<p>"It is a frightful temptation, Hamlen! Think of owning the only copy in +existence of a book like that! Bibliomania leads one on almost to crime, +and it would be nothing less to prevent other collectors from enjoying +this wonderful volume. I accept the gift proudly, Hamlen; I will make +good use of it."</p> + +<p>At the next monthly gathering of his fellow-collectors in their +attractive club-house Huntington took Hamlen with him as his guest. He +introduced him to his friends, but made no reference to the fact that he +was the creator of the productions of the Island Press. They listened to +an interesting paper, and then seated themselves at the long +supper-table to prove that even bibliomaniacs are human. Here Huntington +adroitly turned the conversation upon the subject of Hamlen's work.</p> + +<p>Huntington had told his friend that when once he heard the opinions of +other collectors the words of praise spoken at Bermuda would seem mild; +and the prediction proved true. Hamlen's cheeks burned as he heard his +work extolled and himself compared to the master-printers of the past. +There could be no doubt of the sincerity of the comment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> for no one but +Huntington knew his identity; and the pleasure he felt was so intense +that it almost overcame him.</p> + +<p>As the discussion waned Huntington made his dramatic play. Each member +present was handed a copy of the "Areopagitica," on the fly-leaf of +which Hamlen had written his autograph.</p> + +<p>"A gift from our guest," Huntington explained; "and each copy is +inscribed by the master-printer of the Island Press."</p> + +<p>The silence which followed heightened the effect of Huntington's <i>coup</i>, +and Hamlen felt the blood rushing to his face. Huntington watched the +proceedings with evident relish, and as comprehension followed surprise +in the minds of his fellow-members he held his glass aloft.</p> + +<p>"To the health, gentlemen, of Philip Hamlen, our master-printer, an +American, thank God, who knows how to preserve that art preservative of +all arts!"</p> + +<p>It was the first triumph Hamlen had ever tasted, and as Huntington +watched his face he feared that in the desire to give him the confidence +of approval he had over-estimated his friend's physical strength. But +joy never kills, and the first weakness was conquered by the necessity +of living up to the position which had been thrust upon him. He +responded bravely, and Huntington smiled contentedly as he saw still +another barrier broken down between Philip Hamlen and the world he +believed to be against him. On their way home no word was spoken in the +motor-car, but when safe within the retreat of the library, which Hamlen +had learned to love, the pent-up emotion burst forth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then I have done something after all!" he cried. "My life has not been +all a mistake! Heaven knows what a mess I've made of it, but at least +there is something saved out of the wreck? You think they meant it, +don't you, Huntington?" he asked beseechingly, and he found his answer +in the beaming countenance of his friend. "I had no idea it would mean +so much, that so wonderful an experience as I had to-night could ever +come to me. Even now I can't understand it. Those little books are only +expressions of myself; I made them merely for personal gratification."</p> + +<p>"In doing so, my friend, you gave yourself to us; and more than that no +man can do!"</p> + +<p>The wonderful weeks went by, filled with a bewildering series of unusual +experiences for Hamlen and of continuing satisfaction to Huntington. +Philip unfolded to him day by day the various elements which went to +make the new Harvard spirit, and Huntington supplemented the boy's +efforts by keeping his guest in touch with the graduate activities +centered in and reaching their climax in the building of the "Home of +the Harvard Club" in Boston, dedicated as "the tomb of Harvard +indifference." Hamlen saw the freshmen segregated in their own +dormitories, and forced to become acquainted one with another, and he +realized what it would have meant to him at a similar time in his life +if heads wiser than his own had compelled him to show himself to his +classmates. He stood within the massive Stadium, he went to a +mass-meeting at the Harvard Union, he followed the crew on the Charles +in the launch "John Harvard," proud that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Philip, his namesake, had won +a place in the boat. He spent many hours at the Harvard Club with +Huntington, watching the democracy which means unity, and the unity +which means fellowship. For the first time he felt a pride to be a part +of it, for the first time his degree stood to him as something more than +what he learned from books. Philip was to row against Yale, and he felt +that he himself, at last, was to take part in an intercollegiate +contest, once the ambition of his life. He was no longer a man without a +college, but was one of that great brotherhood which recognizes its +heritage, and stands ready to live up to the responsibilities this +heritage entails.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII"></a>XXVIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Huntington placed his house at the disposal of the Thatchers during +Class Day week, and urged them to arrive the Saturday before so that he +might show them something of Boston before the college festivities set +in. He had corresponded freely with Mrs. Thatcher during the weeks +Hamlen had been his guest, sharing with her his own gratification that +their joint undertaking proceeded with such promise of success. But each +letter she wrote contained some reference to her desire to carry the +rejuvenation to a climax.</p> + +<p>"Don't let him get too young," she wrote in one, "or Merry won't care +for him. She always feels more at home with older men."</p> + +<p>In another, accepting Huntington's invitation, she added: "Your +suggestion is particularly fortunate as it will give Merry a chance to +see Philip Hamlen under ideal conditions."</p> + +<p>There was no escape. Mrs. Thatcher still assumed that he was as eager to +bring about the match as she herself, and with woman's pertinacity +presented the matter to him in such a way that he was forced to act as +her ally whether he chose to do so or not. He had no restitution to make +to his classmate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> he stoutly assured himself, and because a charming +woman felt a moral obligation to bring about "poetic justice" there was +no reason why he should be stampeded into aiding and abetting a scheme +of which he thoroughly disapproved. Huntington reasoned it out logically +and conclusively, arrived at a definite determination to have no part in +it, and then did the one thing which Mrs. Thatcher most desired by +inviting them all to his home. Such is the innate inconsistency of man +when he attempts to defeat the plans of a clever woman who always has +her way!</p> + +<p>Yet, curiously enough, Huntington believed that he was acting on his own +initiative, and that this plot of his to have the girl near by, where he +could again enjoy her companionship without betraying how much she had +become to him, was a triumph of diplomatic genius. He even dreaded lest +a refusal of his hospitality should defeat his carefully-laid plans, +never realizing that the idea itself had come through the most delicate +psychological suggestion between the lines of a letter which touched on +every subject but the one in point. Such is the inevitable climax of +man's originality when his plans include feminine co-operation!</p> + +<p>Hamlen did not again refer to the matter on which he had sought advice +until Huntington told him that the Thatchers were to arrive. Then his +manner took on that phase which his host knew well, and the old +apprehensiveness returned. The change was so noticeable that it could +not be passed by without comment.</p> + +<p>"Don't you want to see them?" Huntington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> demanded flatly. "You act as if +their coming really frightened you."</p> + +<p>"It does," Hamlen admitted frankly.</p> + +<p>"Why should it?"</p> + +<p>Huntington had come closely enough to him now to speak pointedly, and +Hamlen seemed grateful for it. He wanted to be treated like other men, +even though at times the new experience hurt; and his friend more and +more took him at his word. "Why should it?" Huntington repeated.</p> + +<p>"Because I can't trust myself yet. All is going so well that I fear +something may happen to cause a setback."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! The old dread of meeting people hasn't worn off yet, but you +are making splendid strides. I shall be proud to have Mrs. Thatcher see +you as you are now."</p> + +<p>"I am not myself when I am with her," Hamlen insisted, avoiding his +friend's eyes as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"If you prefer, I'll put you up at the Club while they're here."</p> + +<p>"I should prefer it; but I think I had better fight it out while I have +you near at hand to help me."</p> + +<p>There was a new note of determination in his voice, but the dread was +still there. "I do not want to marry Miss Thatcher, Huntington," he said +slowly, with emphasis on every word; "yet unless you help me I shall do +it. I cannot resist Mrs. Thatcher if she is determined to accomplish +this. You spoke of logic and judgment when we talked of it before, but +these are not enough. Marian is a wonderful woman. She believes that +this marriage will be for our happiness, but I tell you, Huntington, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +would be a tragedy for us both. I have never had but one woman in my +heart, and any effort to dethrone that image would produce a condition +for which I cannot hold myself responsible. That is what I fear, and you +must help me."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'll help you, my dear fellow," Huntington reassured him, +"but are you not exaggerating Mrs. Thatcher's attitude? I can't believe +that she will proceed further when she knows how you really feel."</p> + +<p>Hamlen shook his head. "You have heard of men who lost their reason by +being accidentally locked in a tomb overnight—think what it has meant +to me to live with the specters of the dead for twenty years! As I look +back, I wonder that I've held together at all! I'm not rational even +now,—I know that; but I'm improving every day. What you have looked +upon as an obsession, an eccentricity, has been a condition over which I +have had no control, but through you I have been able to partially +extricate myself. Mrs. Thatcher stirred the dead embers when she found +me in Bermuda, and beneath them lay the smoldering flames which had +slowly consumed my life. That I was able to hold them in check there +gave me courage to accept your point of view, and I know that I have +gained strength during these weeks I have spent with you."</p> + +<p>"You are stronger in every way," Huntington said with decision. "If you +were able to hold yourself in check then, you should now feel doubly +safe."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," Hamlen admitted doubtfully; "that is why I don't follow my +strong impulse to let you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> put me up at the Club. I want to test myself +still further. Whenever Marian Thatcher's name is mentioned I feel such +a confusion of emotions that I realize how far I am yet from being my +own master. I must either conquer or else return to the old life."</p> + +<p>"I'll stand by you—of course I will!" Huntington laughed, hoping to +lessen Hamlen's apprehension by treating the subject lightly. "Keep the +specters of the past back among the dead where they belong; don't let +them stalk in your present in which you are just beginning to find what +life really is. Mrs. Thatcher is a beautiful woman of flesh and blood +and not an avenging Nemesis!"</p> + +<p>"My God, Huntington! can't I make even you understand!" Hamlen cried +out. "It is the fact that Marian Seymour is a beautiful woman of flesh +and blood that the specter stalks! You who have never loved can't +sympathize as I do with the aboriginal man who struck down whomever +stood between himself and the woman he wanted, and carried his prize +bodily to his cave. I boasted that these twenty years had given me +opportunity for super-intellectual development, but instead I find +myself controlled by almost primeval instincts. My respect for law is +weakened, my regard for the rights of others seems stultified. This +woman has been mine since we were boy and girl together, Huntington, and +I want my woman! Before she broke the engagement my domination was too +complete, for it made her fear me; when we met twenty years later it was +she who dominated. Now, as I am coming back to myself, I feel my former +power returning, and I know that if I chose I could compel a +subservience<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> of her will to mine. That is what I dread, for my exile +has destroyed my sense of proportion. If I do not exercise my own +strength then I must let her will be supreme, and that means that I +shall marry the girl while I worship the mother.—Don't belittle my +fearfulness, Huntington; it is a real thing to be reckoned with."</p> + +<p>"Whether real or not," Huntington said kindly, "the fact that you think +it so is enough. I shall not advise you nor urge you to do anything +except what you yourself think wise, and so far as I can, whenever or +wherever you wish it, I will help you."</p> + +<p>This discussion left a deep impression upon Huntington. He had never +looked upon Hamlen as a man of force, but rather as a visionary of +nervous tenseness; yet this outburst showed a strength which would have +carried his classmate far had it been properly directed. In spite of his +present activities Huntington could see that Hamlen still lived much in +his past,—the unconscious return to Mrs. Thatcher's girlhood name was +evidence of that, his reference to the ghostly companions of his Bermuda +life was equally convincing. What puzzled him was Hamlen's conviction +that Mrs. Thatcher was determined to compel the suggested alliance +against his will. This Huntington could not believe. She had expressly +stated to him that it was only an idea to be acted upon in case it +proved wise. Had Hamlen shown an interest in Merry, then undoubtedly +Marian's influence would be exercised in his behalf; but surely a +mother's heart would not be insistent in so serious a crisis! In this at +least Hamlen's apprehensions carried him too far.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p> + +<p>The opportunity to satisfy himself came to Huntington the day after his +guests arrived. They had motored down the North Shore and back to the +Club for lunch on a bright Sunday morning which seemed prepared +especially to show Boston's environs off to best advantage; and as they +strolled about the Club grounds he found himself paired off with Mrs. +Thatcher.</p> + +<p>The evening before had developed nothing of any moment. The two boys +rushed in after dinner, completely monopolized the situation for such +time as they were present, and then dashed off to keep a college +engagement. Things were too "thick," Billy explained to Merry, to have a +real visit. Thatcher seemed worn out and asked the indulgence of his +host to permit his early retiring; Mrs. Thatcher was happy and +complacent, rejoicing in the change she found in Hamlen and grateful to +her ally for having brought it about; Merry appeared strangely quiet, +but even if her presence had been wholly silent it would have seemed a +benediction to Huntington, whose sentiments no one suspected, and on +whom all depended for the expression of their individual purposes. +Huntington smiled grimly to himself as he recalled Hamlen's +matter-of-fact assumption that love had never entered into his life; he +even questioned whether his friend's self-imposed restraint was more +difficult than the repression of his own emotion!</p> + +<p>After luncheon they walked out onto the golf links, Huntington and +Marian finding a retreat in one of the thatched-roof shelters from which +they could command an extended view on all sides.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> Thatcher and Hamlen +had fallen behind, following Merry, who was eager to secure a better +idea of the earlier holes in the course. Marian seated herself and then +looked up into Huntington's face with an expression of complete +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"It is simply wonderful!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"It is a fine course—"</p> + +<p>"I'm not thinking of the course," she interrupted. "What you have done +with Philip Hamlen is simply wonderful!"</p> + +<p>"You must give your boy his share of the credit; his influence over +Hamlen is no less than mine."</p> + +<p>"I am glad my son could do something toward paying his mother's debt," +she replied feelingly. "Now if you and I can complete the work I shall +feel that restitution has been amply made."</p> + +<p>"You refer to your daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; if I can see Merry married to Philip Hamlen I shall be blissfully +content."</p> + +<p>Huntington did not reply at once. He must be fair to this woman of whose +determination he could now have no doubt; he must be fair to Hamlen, but +above all he must be fair to the girl herself. Could he assume any +position of impartiality? Would not each word really be a cry from his +own heart, not against Hamlen but against any one who should create a +barrier between himself and her? But Hamlen had besought his aid, so +after all a responsibility existed, not of his making, which could not +be shirked. He would meet the issue squarely with special care to +eliminate himself.</p> + +<p>"I regret to say that I cannot sympathize with that plan," he said +deliberately.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher looked at him in complete surprise. "I thought we +agreed—"</p> + +<p>"I have had greater opportunity to study Hamlen since we last talked."</p> + +<p>She was genuinely distressed by Huntington's attitude. "I have set my +heart upon it," she said firmly. "Through me his life was wrecked; it +would be only justice if I helped him to find his happiness."</p> + +<p>At that moment Huntington wondered how Marian Seymour could ever have +attracted him. He had told Hamlen that the alchemy of a woman's heart +was past his comprehension, but he had believed that mothers' hearts +were all the same. He knew that Mrs. Thatcher was devoted to her +daughter, yet her insistence appeared to him inexplicable and +reprehensible. Had his companion been a man he would have told him so; +under the present circumstances he spoke more guardedly.</p> + +<p>"Being friends and allies, we should be frank in expressing our +conviction," he explained; "this must excuse my otherwise unwarranted +objections."</p> + +<p>"You know Merry now. Don't you agree with me that her interest is in men +older than herself?"</p> + +<p>"Has she been consulted?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher flushed. "No," she answered; "I shall not speak to her +until Philip Hamlen has been persuaded."</p> + +<p>"You think she will acquiesce?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it. She may not understand at first, but I am certain that +she will feel as I do. Who could fail to see that he would be an ideal +husband for her?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What would your life have been if you had married Hamlen?"</p> + +<p>"But he has changed,—he has learned much from his experience."</p> + +<p>"He is still, and always will be an abnormal personality," Huntington +insisted. "Marriage, in my opinion, has no place in his life, and no +woman could possibly endure his eccentricities. He can still find much +to interest him among men, but I beg of you not to pursue an experiment +which contains so many elements of danger."</p> + +<p>"You put it strongly, Mr. Huntington."</p> + +<p>"I feel it strongly; that must be my excuse."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher was visibly affected. It was several moments before she +spoke, and Huntington could see that she resented his attitude.</p> + +<p>"You look at it wholly from a man's standpoint," she protested. "No one +with Philip Hamlen's temperament can find the life he craves in +companionship with men alone. Of course I respect your convictions, but +you in turn must respect mine. I am so sure I am right that I cannot +abandon the hope I have so long cherished. It will be more difficult of +accomplishment without you, but if necessary I must carry it through +alone."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Mrs. Thatcher,—but are you not thinking of him and of your +obligation more than of your daughter?"</p> + +<p>"You surely don't think I would force Merry against her will!"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes we leave one a free moral agent," Huntington said pointedly, +"and at the same time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> bind him with chains stronger than iron by +expression of our own desires."</p> + +<p>The approach of Hamlen and Merry brought the unsatisfactory discussion +to a forced conclusion, and Huntington rejoiced that it saved him from +further expostulations. Thatcher had returned to the club-house to +telephone, leaving Hamlen and Merry by themselves. Hamlen responded to +Merry's spontaneous vivacity, and both were in the best of spirits as +they walked toward the shelter. He was heavier now and it became him. +The sallowness had left his face and a slight color appeared in his +cheeks. The girl beside him, as always when enthusiastic, radiated +happiness. Her companion could scarcely keep up with her as she half +walked half ran up the slight incline.</p> + +<p>"Look at them!" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, turning to Huntington. "Who are +you to tell me I am wrong!"</p> + +<p>Huntington was spared the necessity of reply for Merry had reached them. +Mrs. Thatcher rose and strolled away by herself to relieve her +overwrought feelings.</p> + +<p>"Oh, for a golf-skirt and a bag of clubs!" the girl cried. "When may I +play this adorable course?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow morning," Huntington replied promptly, "if my guests permit +me to provide them with other entertainment. After to-morrow I must give +you up to those most exalted of personages, the Seniors."</p> + +<p>"I'd love to play this course," Merry said gratefully,—"but you're +going over for Class Day, aren't you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes; but we old grads don't count as against the Seniors. They are the +heroes and we bend the knee. On Thursday we shall walk respectfully up +to the graduating class, bow politely, and say, 'We who are about to +die, salute you'!"</p> + +<p>Merry laughed gaily. "Then, the next day, these heroes jump down off +their pedestals, walk respectfully up to the old grads, bow politely, +and say, 'Please give us a job'!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be an iconoclast, Miss Merry," Huntington retorted. "These boys +may be looking for jobs, but they are richer than any of us: they have +youth, and life is before them."</p> + +<p>"Grandpa!" the girl laughed mischievously.</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't let you call me that!" he cried, really piqued.</p> + +<p>"Then don't be so unfair to yourself!" she retaliated; "you are the +youngest 'old' man I ever met!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXIX" id="XXIX"></a>XXIX</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was with real regret the following morning that Huntington watched +his ball drop into the cup on the eighteenth green. The round had been +too perfect, the experience too enjoyable to come to an end so soon.</p> + +<p>"Five down," Merry remarked. "That looks to me like a real defeat."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to find some game I can play better than you," Huntington +replied banteringly. "I'm still sore over our swimming-races in Bermuda. +But in all fairness I must admit that this course is built for a man's +game, and the premium on the length of the wooden clubs was all that +saved me to-day."</p> + +<p>"You are generous,—but I acknowledge my defeat. Do we have to go home +now?"</p> + +<p>"There is at least an hour between us and the rigid convention of +luncheon," Huntington answered. "Shall we spend it on the piazza?"</p> + +<p>"It is much nicer beneath one of these great trees," she said, suiting +her action to the word and sitting down upon the grass. "Come. Let us +imagine that we're back in Bermuda again!"</p> + +<p>Huntington seated himself beside her, still rebellious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> that their +moments together were passing so swiftly. He had wondered how she would +appear to him when he saw her again, half hoping to find that the charm +of the earlier setting had exaggerated her attractiveness, half dreading +an awakening. This would have simplified his problem, but it would also +have robbed his life of the richness which had entered it. Even though +he saw his course plainly plotted out for him, there was a delicious joy +in knowing that there existed one who had awakened in him that which +alone is best and without which no man's experience can be complete.</p> + +<p>But his half-hope was not to be gratified nor his half-dread realized. +The girl was different, but the intervening months had done their work +well. She seemed older and more mature, yet this passing of the girl +into womanhood had been accomplished without marring those +characteristics which he had before admired. His eyes rested on her face +longer than he realized, as these thoughts passed through his mind, but +until she spoke he had no idea that she had noticed the closeness of his +scrutiny.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said smiling, "do you approve?"</p> + +<p>He made no apology, for they understood each other too well, but instead +accepted her question seriously.</p> + +<p>"Entirely," he replied with an air of sincerity which forced the color +into her face. "The expression of the mouth, the tilt of the head, the +sparkle in the eyes,—all is perfection. But you suggested that we +imagine ourselves back in Bermuda. For myself, I should not dare to try +it, for it could never be the same."</p> + +<p>"Should we want it to be?" she asked earnestly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> "An experience repeated +must have something added or it fails to satisfy. To be the same would +bring disappointment. I've argued that all out with myself, so I'm sure +I'm right."</p> + +<p>"Why should you have done that?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Because those were the most wonderful days I have ever known," she +explained simply and without embarrassment. "I found myself wishing them +back; then I realized that if I could have my wish gratified it wouldn't +satisfy me. I was unhappy when I went down there for no reason in the +world except that I couldn't seem to find my place. With all their love +no one at home has ever understood me, and I had reached a point where I +didn't understand myself. Then you gave me the chance to know Mr. +Hamlen, and in what you said to him and to me I saw what happens when +one has no anchorage. That was what had made me unhappy,—I was drifting +horribly."</p> + +<p>"You concealed it well," Huntington said. "All the time we were together +I never suspected that you had a care in the world."</p> + +<p>"That is a compliment to yourself," the girl answered. "With your +optimism you draw out the best in every one. See what you did with Mr. +Hamlen down there, and what you have done with him since! You are the +most completely happy person I have ever met, and—don't scold!—I have +tried to imitate you. I haven't been very successful yet, but I'm +trying. Some time, when the supreme test comes, I shall accept it, and +then you will see what your example has accomplished."</p> + +<p>The sincerity of the girl's words made Huntington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> uncomfortable. At +first it pleased him to discover how genuine was her respect, but as she +continued he found himself embarrassed by the character she gave him.</p> + +<p>"I shall begin to think myself somebody if you go on," he expostulated. +"You are crediting me with attributes I don't seem to recognize."</p> + +<p>"That is because they come so naturally to you," she explained. "You are +happy because your life is spent in making other people happy. That is +the lesson I learned."</p> + +<p>"You were doing that long before I met you, and you are doing it now."</p> + +<p>"No," she insisted; "it may have seemed so to you, but I was really +trying to find happiness for myself, and because I was thinking of +myself it didn't come. Since I returned home I've tried your plan, and +so far it has worked splendidly."</p> + +<p>"But the supreme test," Huntington asked,—"what is that to be?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know," she answered with an effort to speak indifferently; +"being a girl I suppose it will be my marriage."</p> + +<p>"That should be the supreme triumph of your happiness rather than the +test."</p> + +<p>"I used to think so but I've changed my mind. I had a vision once of +what I thought marriage ought to be.—We spoke of it in Bermuda, and you +made fun of it, don't you remember? I'm convinced now that it was all +wrong."</p> + +<p>"You said that you would marry only a man who would let you contribute +your share to the real life which you would jointly live."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," Merry answered consciously; "and you laughed at me! But you were +right. I ought not to think so much of myself." She paused a moment. +"The man I really loved probably wouldn't care for me at all," she +continued soberly, her eyes averted. "If I am convinced that I can make +the man I marry happy, then I am more certain of finding happiness +myself. That is making a tremendous compromise with sentiment, but don't +you think it more sensible, after all?"</p> + +<p>"Then the supreme test, as I understand it, would be to marry a man you +thought you could make happy whether you cared for him or not?"</p> + +<p>Merry nodded her head in affirmation. A sudden suspicion came into +Huntington's mind, and he looked at the girl curiously.</p> + +<p>"Has your mother been talking to you upon this subject?" he demanded +with more directness than he had a right to use.</p> + +<p>"Why, no," she answered, showing her surprise. "She thinks me too +indifferent to men; but we have never discussed the matter seriously +because there has been no occasion."</p> + +<p>Huntington was relieved by her words but her ideas were not reassuring. +He started to tell her that she was entirely wrong, but he checked +himself because he realized that differing with people had now come to +be a habit with him. Two days before he had carefully explained to +Hamlen how erroneous his convictions were only to discover that he +himself had been in error. Yesterday he had differed with Mrs. Thatcher, +and now he found his ideas at variance with Merry's. Instead, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> lifted +the girl's left hand, which rested on the grass beside him, and gently +pointing to the third finger he looked earnestly into her deep eyes.</p> + +<p>"Merry," he said calling her by her name for the first time, "when the +moment comes for some man to slip a gold band on there I want you to +remember what I tell you now. You have pictured me as an apostle of +optimism and as the happiest person you know. I could tell you something +about that, but instead I'll try to live up to your picture. But this +much is gospel truth, and I want you to remember it: that gold band will +stand as a symbol and the circle means completeness. It doesn't stand +for sacrifice, or for supreme tests, or for anything of that sort,—it +does stand for just what you saw in your 'vision.' A very wise person +once said that marriage was either a complete union or a complete +isolation, and he was right. My friends think me a cynic on this +subject, but my cynicism is a result of the complete isolation I see +every day in the lives of my friends. I want your marriage to be a +complete union, little girl, and that can't come if you apply your +present ideas to a sacrament so sacred that every-day principles become +meaningless. Marriage is the merging of all that is beautiful in two +lives, and unless the love on each side strives to outdo the other in +contributing to the joint account, the beauty fades, and the gold +circlet stands as a symbol of slavery instead of representing the most +wonderful relation which mortals are permitted to enjoy."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington!" she exclaimed in a low tone, "I had no idea you looked +upon marriage like that!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> I didn't believe any man did! It makes me have +more faith in my vision. Still, after all, that doesn't change the fact +itself, for you are the exception. But, feeling as you do, I know now +that the only reason you are not married is that you have never found +the girl."</p> + +<p>Huntington looked full into her face before he turned his head aside. "I +did find the girl," he answered with a depth of feeling in his voice; +"but I found her too late."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me!" Merry cried impulsively, convinced that she had torn open +a concealed wound.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to forgive, dear child," he said quickly. Then with +that smile which took the world in its embrace he added, "Don't waste +your sympathy on me; life has already given me more than I deserve."</p> + +<p>"I am so sorry," Merry replied soberly. "She must have been a wonderful +girl to win such a love."</p> + +<p>"She was," he answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXX" id="XXX"></a>XXX</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Billy Huntington was the founder of an original secret organization +called the "Club for Undesirables." Being the founder he was privileged +to write the By-Laws, and these consisted of a single Article: "The +members of this Club shall be elected by the non-members." Exercising +his prerogative he had proposed, seconded and elected Cosden and others +of his acquaintance who failed to attain the standards he demanded of +those around him; and now he unanimously declared Mrs. Thatcher a member +in full standing.</p> + +<p>These were not red-letter days for the boy. Ever since his visit to New +York at Easter the times had been out of joint, and he blamed Merry's +mother for it all. From his viewpoint the visit had been a "frost," and +he nursed his resentment so successfully that he came to look upon it as +a virtue. Uncle Monty noticed the change, but having no knowledge of the +cause gave Billy credit for at last showing symptoms of growing up. +Philip looked upon his tragedy as a huge joke, and made his friend's +life wholly unendurable by frequent veiled allusions to the "inflammable +age," rubbed in as only a college chum can do. The sympathy he craved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +was sadly lacking, so he sought compensation by sympathizing with +himself.</p> + +<p>Billy would have been better satisfied with the completeness of his +martyrdom had he been able to include Merry among those who abused him, +but he could discover no point where she had failed to preserve an +aggravatingly consistent neutrality. She was always friendly, accepting +his extravagant expressions of devotion with a good-natured indifference +which robbed them of all significance She had taken no exceptions to her +mother's humiliation of him, nor had she taken advantage of it; +everything progressed with a disgusting sameness, when he had +confidently expected that the result of his visit would be to acclaim +him Merry's accepted suitor, and thus raise him to the seventh heaven of +delight.</p> + +<p>While Hamlen had been in Boston Billy found himself again side-tracked. +Not only was Uncle Monty engaged, but Philip devoted much of his time to +his new responsibility. Everything conspired to throw Billy back upon +his own resources, and here he developed a decided hiatus. The boy's +strongest point was his ability to fit in with some one else's plans, +and of all his friends Philip proved most fertile in his suggestions.</p> + +<p>Now Class Day was at hand, and as it was not his Class Day he felt +himself eclipsed by the added glory which came to Philip and the other +Seniors. As an under-class man he counted for absolutely nothing. When +he was a freshman, the comparative size of the halos worn by his Class +and the graduating students was an open question of debate;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> from a +sophomore's standpoint, he was near enough the freshmen to be able to +look down upon them with a gratifying sense of superiority; but as a +Junior there was nothing to do but to wait for the coming year,—and +waiting was a game not included among Billy's favorite indoor or outdoor +sports. He had expected little from the visit of the New York friends, +owing to the presence of "the Gorgon" as he christened Mrs. Thatcher, +and in this expectation he was not disappointed. Merry herself was fully +occupied, and her mother took every opportunity to prevent diverting +influences from affecting what she considered a crucial moment. So +Billy, thoroughly disgruntled, drew himself up with a dignity which he +did not know he possessed, denied himself to the visiting friends, and +permitted the procession to move on without him.</p> + +<p>Philip himself, being at New London with the crew, was prevented from +taking personal participation in the Class Day festivities, but the +classmate whom he delegated as substitute proved an ideal host. In +Philip's absence Huntington had no compunctions in joining with Hamlen +in the Thatchers' celebration; had the boy been there he would have felt +it an intrusion for any one outside the family to share with them the +triumph which comes but once in a college man's life. So they passed +together from spread to spread, in and out of the Yard, listening to the +music, admiring the attractive costumes and the still more attractive +girls, entering into everything with a spirit which even Hamlen felt, +and which took Huntington back to his own Class Day, so many years +before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the march to the Stadium was formed Huntington led Hamlen to that +portion of the line where their own classmates were assembled, and +presented him to each. Only a few remembered him, but all gave him a +welcome which confirmed Huntington's predictions. Hamlen noticed who the +men were standing side by side, and was impressed by the fact that while +in college the groups had been made up quite differently. He and +Huntington, then, did not form so grotesque a combination as he had +imagined. Other members of his Class, who knew each other but slightly +while in Cambridge, since then had discovered characteristics in each +other which drew them together. As Huntington said to him in Bermuda, +the ratio had become readjusted, the essentials only were remembered, +and the real bond was the fact of being members of the great fellowship. +Then the procession started, and he fell into step with the new life +which it had taken him so long to find.</p> + +<p>After the exercises at the Stadium, Cosden, at Huntington's suggestion, +took Hamlen with him to the Varsity Club, where the athletic heroes of +past and present congregated. There was a motive back of the suggestion, +and the effect on Hamlen of seeing these men, whose importance college +ideals had magnified, in their present relation to the world and to +their fellow-men, justified the experiment. Some of the old captains or +record-holders showed unmistakably their continued pre-eminence; others +had fallen back into the ranks after their temporary standard-bearing. +Hamlen could understand it now: what they did in college was of +importance only to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> the extent that it fitted them for what was to +follow; it was the use they made of this fitting in the after-life which +produced the permanent effect. This was the difference between the means +and the end which Marian tried to explain to him in Bermuda.</p> + +<p>Then came Commencement as a crescendo. It would have meant little to +Hamlen had it preceded Class Day, but each new experience gave him +fuller understanding and richer enjoyment. He saw again the same members +of his Class and felt now that he knew them; he met others, and was able +to mingle freely as a fellow-classmate. On Class Day the alumni came as +a unit, on Commencement they separated into Class groups, each with its +own spread and reunion, offering greater opportunity for intimate +exchanges of personal experience and mutual confidence.</p> + +<p>The climax came the following day with the boat-race at New London. The +Thatchers had returned home immediately after Class Day with plans of +their own still to be carried out, so Huntington and Cosden formed the +body-guard which convoyed Hamlen to the great event. Huntington knew +that he could not credit his friend's feverish anticipation wholly to +the dawning interest in Harvard events, but was equally content to see +how personal a triumph Philip's seat in the boat had become to him. Had +Hamlen's nervousness been shared by his namesake and the other oarsmen +the result of the race might have been foreshadowed! He changed his mind +about going so many times that Huntington finally insisted upon a +definite decision.</p> + +<p>"Of course I want to go," he explained; "but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> I never saw a Harvard crew +win and I can't believe I'm going to now."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you won't," was the frank disavowal of responsibility. "The +worm must turn again some time, and it may be that this is the year, but +Harvard has the habit of winning now, and that goes a long way."</p> + +<p>"It would kill me to see Phil lose!" Harden said with deep feeling.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," Huntington said,—"tell me frankly for my gratification, is +your eagerness to see Harvard win to-morrow wholly on Phil's account, or +have these days brought your crimson blood near enough to the surface to +make you keen for the crew to win because it's a Harvard crew? Don't +deceive yourself or me. I really want to know."</p> + +<p>Hamlen hesitated before making reply, then he returned Huntington's look +with a frankness which conveyed much. His eye was clear and responsive +now; the haunting terror had left it. He met the question squarely.</p> + +<p>"Until this moment," he said, "I supposed myself sincere in believing +that my interest lay wholly in having that boy come through victorious, +but as you put it to me now I know there is a reason which lies deeper +still. Thanks to you, dear friend, notes in my life which have always +before been mute have now been struck, and I am finding a wonderful joy +in the melody produced. I have awakened to my heritage, and I realize +what I have missed in denying myself its privileges. I want Harvard to +win, Huntington, because it's Harvard. I shall always want Harvard to +win for the same reason. It may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> be better for the sport to have the +victories alternate, it may be impossible to defend anything so selfish +as a desire for an unbroken line of victories for years to come; but +still I want it. There is no occasion to argue it, there is no logic to +support it; I just simply want it!"</p> + +<p>Huntington regarded him with a satisfaction too deep for outward +exuberance. "I knew the spirit was too strong to accept limitations!" he +exclaimed quietly but with an exultant ring in his voice. "I knew that +no man could once place himself within the influence of college ideals +and not recognize their existence. You have tested my convictions, +Hamlen, but my faith has remained 'calm rising through change and +through storm.'"</p> + +<p>The strength of Huntington's emotion impressed Hamlen deeply. His own +dawning was so recent that at first he could not believe it possible for +his friend to be so affected by the subject under discussion.</p> + +<p>"Do other Harvard men feel as strongly as you do?" he demanded +questioningly.</p> + +<p>"Of course," Huntington replied; "but it isn't a question of Harvard any +more than of other colleges. We shout for our Alma Mater, but no more +lustily than the Yale or the Princeton man or the men of the smaller +colleges shout for theirs. It is merely the expression of the spirit of +loyalty and the sense of obligation, Hamlen. Not to express it is +unnatural, not to feel gratified when another laurel wreath is placed +upon the brow of our Dear Mother is a lack of filial devotion which I +refuse to believe exists."</p> + +<p>They elected to see the race from the observation-train,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> that they +might watch the positions of the crews from beginning to end rather than +at any fixed point. There was no novelty in the experience for +Huntington or Cosden except the ever-present uncertainty of the outcome, +but to Hamlen even the crowds which he had previously avoided added to +his excitement by imparting to him the thrill of their repressed +expectancy. He resented the calmness of his companions as they perused +their morning papers on the train. He tried to follow their example, but +found himself mechanically reading over and over again the statistics of +the two crews. Harvard was the favorite, but that he took as a bad omen +for he still remembered the Harvard teams which had gone into their +contests with the odds on their side, and had failed to win the expected +victories. Harvard overconfidence was a byword when he was in college, +and it was overconfidence which he feared now.</p> + +<p>They took their places on the improvised seats of the platform +freight-cars, ready to be hauled to the point of vantage at the start, +but the train seemed frightfully deliberate in getting under way. Hamlen +glanced at his watch nervously and was surprised that so little time had +elapsed since his last observation. Finally they found themselves +opposite the judge's boat. Harvard was already nearing the mark and the +Yale crew followed only a few lengths in her wake. Hamlen watched the +manœuvers, disturbed by the conflicting cheers coming in sharp +staccato from every direction. At last the boats lined up in position. +Hamlen fancied that he could hear the referee's challenge: "Ready, +Harvard?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> Ready, Yale?" Then the pistol cracked out with reverberating +echoes, the oars gripped the water, the shells shot forward, and the +race was on!</p> + +<p>Hamlen's face set grimly and he sat bolt upright, taking no part in the +mad cheering or the boisterous excitement. His eyes followed every +stroke of the oars, and he suffered keenly as the Yale boat took a lead +of half-a-length at the quarter-mile. Then he saw Harvard settle down to +her work with a stroke quickened enough to enable her to take the +advantage. The same stroke kept the crimson boat forging steadily ahead. +At the half-mile the positions were reversed, at the mile clear water +showed between the shells, another mile added two lengths more, in spite +of Yale's plucky efforts to close in on the gaping space. At three miles +Harvard had five lengths to the good, and for the first time Hamlen +relaxed his tense attitude.</p> + +<p>"If it would not be a case of overconfidence," he said quietly to his +companions, "I should say that Harvard was going to win!"</p> + +<p>"Nothing but an act of God can save Eli now!" Cosden replied between his +cheers. "Why don't you yell?"</p> + +<p>"I can't," Hamlen said; "I feel it too much!"</p> + +<p>Still the crimson boat gained, and the contest had changed into a +procession.</p> + +<p>"Do they ever lose with a lead like that?" he asked Huntington +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Lose!" his friend shouted,—"lose! They're gaining every stroke! Rah! +rah! rah! Harvard! Harvard! Harvard! There they go across the line!"</p> + +<p>He threw his arms deliriously around Cosden and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> Hamlen and they +performed a war-dance on the unsubstantial seats. Every Harvard +sympathizer on the train had gone mad, and the Yale streamers were +buried in the avalanche of crimson flags.</p> + +<p>"Another one!" Huntington shouted; "another wreath for the Alma Mater, +Hamlen! Rah, rah, rah! Harvard!"</p> + +<p>Hamlen had caught the contagion and was as affected with delirium as +those around him. He shouted his college yell over and over again, +unconscious that it was the first time in his life he had ever done so. +Huntington, the sedate Huntington, was cavorting like a two-year-old, +yet Hamlen saw nothing incongruous in his conduct. Cosden was so hoarse +that his cries resembled a wheezy calliope, yet they were sweet music in +Hamlen's ears. Harvard had won, Philip had won, he had won!</p> + +<p>At the station a crowd of undergraduates were singing hilariously:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 23em;">"<i>Bring the bacon home, John,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;"><i>We cannot eat it all.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 23em;"><i>We sometimes got a taste of it</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;"><i>When you and I were small.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 23em;"><i>But now you bring it home, John,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;"><i>In springtime and in fall.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 23em;"><i>It seems an awful waste of it,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;"><i>We cannot eat it all.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>There was the hectic scramble for seats on the special train. Snatches +of other songs came from here and there, and spasmodic cheering; but +gradually the excitement settled down into the quieter calm of satisfied +accomplishment. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> an orderly crowd which deserted the train at +Back Bay, but the men bunched on the platform, before they separated, +and again burst into song. The jibes were forgotten, the boastings +hushed. These had their place only in the first expressions of exultant +victory. A deeper sentiment seized the celebrating host, which was +expressed with uncovered heads:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"<i>Fair Harvard! thy sons to thy jubilee throng,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And with blessings surrender thee o'er,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>By these festival rites, from the age which is past</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>To the age which is waiting before.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Hamlen watched them in silence, touched with a new emotion by the sound +of the words, familiar enough, but which now took on a different +meaning. Huntington was right: it was not a boat-race he had just +witnessed, it was not the celebration of a victory over Yale, it was a +"festival rite," consecrating anew to its Alma Mater that brotherhood to +which he belonged, in grateful acknowledgment of the character and power +developed beneath her beneficent influence which placed within its reach +"the Earth and all that's in it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXI" id="XXXI"></a>XXXI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In July, commercial stagnation increased, and the machinery of business +which before had creaked dismally in its daily routine now groaned aloud +in its travail; and the pity was that the conditions which caused it +were artificially created. There was capital enough, but the banks +hoarded it against possible contingencies; the crops were heavy, but it +was suicidal for the railroads to move them at the rates legislated by +the government; there were contracts to be let, but no one dared give +them out or accept them because of the shadow which hung gloomily over +every great industry in the shape of governmental paternalism and +interference. Stocks representing property intrinsically valuable +dropped lower and lower in the market, dividends which had been earned +were diverted into surplus as further margin of safety against future +developments, unknown and therefore to be feared. Incomes shrank in some +cases almost to the vanishing-point, while Washington reveled in an orgy +of those good intentions with which they say Hell is paved.</p> + +<p>Cosden by this time had come to a full realization of the significance +of Thatcher's warning, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> he understood now why the New York operator +had shown so little interest in the attack on the Consolidated Machinery +corporation which had seemed inevitable. In view of conditions as they +had developed, and as Thatcher had foreseen them, no new enterprise +would be launched until opportunity presented itself to take advantage +of its inherent strength. The old-established company need fear no +competition while its own business was dropping off in such alarming +proportions. So Cosden again reduced expenses, still further extended +his bank affiliations, and settled back to meet whatever conditions +might arise, knowing that his sagacity had placed him outside the pale +of those fighting for their existence.</p> + +<p>In this latter class was Thatcher. The very success of his varied +interests now made them shining lights to attract the attention of the +authorities in Washington. One by one he saw them attacked, and day by +day he watched the dropping values of the stocks, called on by the banks +to increase his collateral, drawing deeper and deeper into his personal +resources which he had considered ample for any emergency. The strain +was terrific yet the only break he permitted himself was during the week +of his son's graduation.</p> + +<p>The question of the summer home gave Thatcher much concern. The heavy +expense of its upkeep made it an item to be considered at this time, yet +he could not bring himself to the point of doing what he knew would be +an act of wisdom. In their town house the Thatchers lived the usual +formal life which belonged to their position, but it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> Sagamore Hall +they always meant when they spoke of "home." To relinquish it, even +temporarily, seemed to Thatcher nothing less than sacrilege.</p> + +<p>The estate consisted of some sixty acres wonderfully located on +Narragansett Bay with nearly a mile frontage on the sea. A rolling, +close-cropped lawn, bordered on either side by avenues of trees, ran +back three hundred yards from the beach before the stately, old English, +half-timbered mansion was reached, the broad expanse of green carpeting +making a perfect harmony of perspective. The two great end gables of the +house formed a shallow forecourt, filled in by a brick terrace with +balustrade. Between these gables, the central façade, a double-storied +loggia of stone, reminiscent of a Dorsetshire manor house, was +strikingly beautiful with its splendid sculptured decorations.</p> + +<p>The opposite front of the mansion faced the road, though removed some +distance from it, and was approached through a gateway and a winding +avenue in keeping with the dignity of the building itself. To the south, +connected by shaded walks, was an unusual garden, the boundaries of +which were marked by rare trees and shrubs so arranged that they formed +a pyramidal mass of verdure, against which perennial blooms of rare and +beautiful plants showed their bewildering colors to the best advantage. +This garden represented what Marian had put of herself into the estate +during the twenty years they had lived there, and to her and to Thatcher +each flower, shrub or tree represented something personal and recalled +some happy experience.</p> + +<p>At Sagamore Hall Marian really lived, keeping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> out of doors most of the +time, entertaining her friends in a manner which made every one feel +that each of the many attractions had been arranged for his own special +enjoyment. Here the Bermuda party was again united. Thatcher still kept +his wife in ignorance of the business complications which now seemed +certain to overwhelm him. Marian noticed that he was tired and worried, +but this had happened so many times before that she had come to look +upon these conditions as deplorable but none the less inevitable factors +in her husband's business life. In fact he had so explained on earlier +occasions when she questioned him, and had discouraged her from showing +too much concern. She recognized that he was scarcely in a mood for the +reunion she had planned, but justified her insistence on the ground that +he needed the relaxation; while he deemed it wise to yield rather than +attempt an explanation.</p> + +<p>Edith Stevens had been their guest for a fortnight before the other +members of the party arrived. Philip was entertaining several of his +college chums, including Billy Huntington, but Mrs. Thatcher +particularly requested her daughter to have no guests during this visit, +holding herself free to assist in the entertainment.</p> + +<p>Since her return home after the Class Day festivities Merry had shown +little interest in what went on around her. Had her mother noticed it +she would have passed it over lightly as "one of the child's moods," but +Mrs. Thatcher was too completely engrossed in her own great scheme to be +keenly sensitive to anything around her. In fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> Merry's attitude +seemed peculiarly receptive, and encouraged her, a few days before +Hamlen was expected, to take her daughter into her confidence.</p> + +<p>In answering Huntington's question Marian expressed greater confidence +in Merry's acquiescence than she really felt. To herself she admitted +that she did not understand her daughter. Since the elaborate plans for +Merry's social life fell through because of the girl's lack of interest +and failure to respond, Marian had almost given up in despair. Merry was +unlike the daughters of the Thatchers' friends, who might be counted on +at all times to do the expected thing when given the expected +conditions; with her it was always the unexpected which happened. She +loved athletics, not because of the companionship of boys, as other +girls did, but for the games themselves; she was fond of dancing, but +she would as soon dance with another girl as with a man,—it was the +rhythmic motion of the dance itself which fascinated her; she had no +interest nor ability in making "small talk," but was always eager to +discuss problems which her mother felt she might better leave alone; she +tolerated young people of her own age, but expressed her real self only +when thrown with older friends. Mrs. Thatcher worried more over her +daughter's future than over any other phase of the family life, and the +solution which now seemed to offer itself contained so much promise that +Marian believed it to be foreordained.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to broach the subject, but when once accomplished Marian +talked on for some time without waiting for Merry to enter into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +discussion. It was important, she felt, that the girl should know the +whole story before being permitted to express an opinion. As the full +significance of her mother's words dawned upon Merry there was an +instinctive recoil, but she listened with outward calm. Marian believed +herself to be suggesting nothing save deepest concern for her daughter's +future; Merry heard nothing but a personal appeal for sacrifice. The +romance of her mother's early experience, the results which came from +the breaking of the engagement, her own interest and participation in +Hamlen's new life,—all went to strengthen the appeal, but still it +asked for sacrifice.</p> + +<p>As she listened Merry's mind was working fast. What were the relations +existing between them? She admired her mother tremendously, and was +proud of the attention her beauty excited wherever they went. She +respected her, for no wife or mother ever carried herself in these +positions with greater regard for the proprieties. Did she love her? Of +course! what a question to come to a girl's mind! Did she? The question +repeated itself insistently. Merry wondered. If this were disloyalty, +then the thought itself formed the offense; to analyze it was imperative +before putting it aside. The girl knew that she was face to face with +the crisis of her life, that the question now in mind had really been +the cause of that unrest she had failed to understand.</p> + +<p>"Is this something which you ask me to do?" Merry inquired at length.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear; that would be exceeding a mother's rights."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But you wish it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; that is a different matter."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if it is," the girl said soberly.</p> + +<p>"It is a very different matter," Marian insisted. "I am thinking only of +you, dear child. Unless you felt convinced, as I do, that your marriage +would mean your happiness, I should be the last one to wish it."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you let me wait, as other girls do, until I find the man I +love?"</p> + +<p>"Because you're not like other girls, Merry—"</p> + +<p>"I've always been a disappointment to you, haven't I, Momsie?" she asked +suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Not that, dear," Marian disclaimed. "Of course it has worried me that +you would never be intimate with young people your own age. I have never +understood it—"</p> + +<p>"That is because I never had any girlhood, Momsie," Merry explained +seriously. "I grew up too soon. When I was little I couldn't play like +other children because my governess was always teaching me manners; so I +had nothing to do but think."</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about, child!" Mrs. Thatcher protested. "You are a +perfect tomboy, even to-day!"</p> + +<p>"I've had to make up for lost time, Momsie. You never saw me play when I +was little; that came after I became old enough to have my own way. Then +I learned games, but not as a child learns them; they were serious +problems, to be thought out because I had formed the habit of thinking. +While I was away at school I felt older<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> than the other girls there, and +I wasn't interested in what interested them; that gave me a chance to +think some more. Then I came home, and you gave me that wonderful +coming-out party! It was after that I disappointed you most, wasn't it, +Momsie? I couldn't live the life the other débutantes did—talking silly +nonsense until early morning with men who hadn't any sense at all, +rushing to <i>thés dansants</i> smoking cigarettes, and all that sort of +thing."</p> + +<p>"I never knew that you did smoke cigarettes," Marian said severely.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose the mothers of the other girls knew it either; it was +the secrecy which made it sporty and gave the smoking its only interest. +I couldn't stand it, Momsie! I had to be doing something worth while! +Finally you let me have my own way, very much against your will, and +since then I've been a tomboy, as you say. Father gave in on the boat, +and I've spent hours in her, all by myself, trying to find out what the +things worth while are. I haven't been very successful yet, Momsie, but +I do know that it is a waste of time to fool around with boys like Ted +Erskine when one may find a chance to talk with a real man like Mr. +Huntington."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hamlen is a real man, too, Merry. If you knew something of life—"</p> + +<p>"It's because I know too much of life, and understand too little. Mr. +Huntington has helped me to understand."</p> + +<p>"I had hoped that by being so much with him, you would be the more +prepared to appreciate Mr. Hamlen," Mrs. Thatcher said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wish I might have been more with you, dearie."</p> + +<p>Marian looked up quickly. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded. +"Haven't I given all my leisure to my family?"</p> + +<p>"You have had so very little leisure, Momsie."</p> + +<p>"I have had my own interests, of course—"</p> + +<p>"I'm not criticising you, dearie," Merry hastened to interpose; "I'm +only trying to explain myself to you."</p> + +<p>"I have done my best to prepare my children for the life they would +naturally enter—"</p> + +<p>"Isn't life what we live every day, Momsie? It isn't all made up of +worldly things, is it?"</p> + +<p>"Upon my word!" Marian cried. "One would think that I had entirely +neglected my family!"</p> + +<p>"No, Momsie; you have been most ambitious for us, and have made sure +that we could have everything you thought we ought to have. Truly it +isn't that I don't appreciate what you have done; I simply can't +understand why any one should want the things you consider essential. +Why, for instance, are you so anxious for me to be married?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is natural at this time in your life, Merry." Mrs. Thatcher +was determined to have no quarrel, in spite of what she considered just +provocation. "It is a mother's duty to advise her daughter when she sees +her on the verge of a mistake."</p> + +<p>"Suppose I felt that I didn't care to marry, Momsie, that I should be +happier to go through life expressing my own individuality?"</p> + +<p>"Don't let us get started on that," Marian protested.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> "You know how +little patience I have with feminism in any form. I do wish we might +discuss some subject in a normal way as other mothers and daughters do, +Merry," she continued, softening. "I have your interests on my mind all +the time, I want to help you to understand yourself and life, I love you +so, dear child,—and yet, whenever we try to talk anything over, it +always turns into an argument. What I have suggested to-day I have +thought of for months, I have considered it from every standpoint before +presenting it to you, but you give me no credit for that. Before you +even know how you feel about it you are ready to dismiss it. I really +think my efforts for your happiness are entitled to more consideration."</p> + +<p>"You think this would be for Mr. Hamlen's happiness too?" Merry asked +soberly.</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it," Marian replied, seeming to see a sign of yielding in +the girl's question.</p> + +<p>"Why hasn't he spoken to me himself?" Merry asked at length.</p> + +<p>"He will speak, of course; but to meet with another disappointment would +undo all the advance he has made."</p> + +<p>"I can't think of Mr. Hamlen as a married man," Merry continued; "I +can't believe that he would be happy under conditions changed from what +they are now. If he could only go on living with Mr. Huntington—"</p> + +<p>"That is out of the question, of course," Mrs. Thatcher answered. "Mr. +Huntington has accomplished a miracle in bringing him out of his old +obsession, and if it were possible to surround him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> now with normal +conditions there is no limit to the heights he might reach."</p> + +<p>"Has he told you that he cared for me?"</p> + +<p>"Not in so many words," her mother admitted; "that is scarcely to be +expected. I understand him so much better than he does himself. He +disparages his abilities, which is not a bad characteristic in a +husband, and without some assurance of success I doubt if he would ever +mention the subject to you. But you know what it would mean to him. I +shall never urge you against your will, my dear," she repeated with real +feeling,—"you know that without my telling you; but I do feel my own +responsibility so keenly! He was a boy of such promise, as he is to-day +a man of rare capabilities if the right one could only guide him in +making use of his talents. Haven't you felt this yourself, my dear, when +you have been with him?"</p> + +<p>Merry passed her hand wearily over her forehead. She could not +understand why she did not at once protest against what she felt to be +an unnatural suggestion. Still, the constancy of the lover, the sympathy +which she had felt for Hamlen since their first meeting in Bermuda, and +her own state of uncertainty combined in a confused way in the girl's +mind. Huntington's face was before her as her mother spoke of Hamlen, +his voice was in her ears, his words echoed in her heart: "I found the +girl too late!" Mrs. Thatcher thought Merry's hesitation came from a +consideration of the arguments just advanced, but what Huntington had +said formed the greatest argument of all. This closed for her all hope +of happiness coming as a direct response to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> the craving of her heart, +and left her only the possibility of attaining it through the indirect +means of giving happiness to some one else.</p> + +<p>"That is what he would do," she whispered; and the thought brought +comfort.</p> + +<p>"Haven't you felt this?" Mrs. Thatcher repeated at length, to recall the +girl to herself. "You have always seemed so much more at home with older +men, and he must have appealed to you. He would respond so quickly to +the sympathy you could give him."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it be wrong to marry a man you didn't love?" Merry asked +quietly.</p> + +<p>"But you respect him, don't you, dear? And respect is the first step +toward love. I wouldn't have you marry him unless that came, but there +is plenty of time before the wedding need be considered."</p> + +<p>"I am very unhappy!" Merry exclaimed suddenly, with a little catch in +her voice.</p> + +<p>"Unhappy, my dear!" Mrs. Thatcher cried with real sympathy, drawing the +girl's head upon her shoulder. "Why should you be unhappy? Tell Mother."</p> + +<p>"I don't know, myself," Merry admitted, crying softly. "I've been +unhappy ever so long. Now and then things have seemed to straighten out, +but never for long at a time. Now I'm more unsettled than I have ever +been, and I don't feel as if I could be much of a success in making any +one else happy while I feel so miserable myself."</p> + +<p>"This may be just what you need to help you find yourself, my dear," +Mrs. Thatcher answered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> kissing her affectionately. "Oftentimes, when +we are wretched ourselves, we find happiness in giving it to others. +Don't promise me anything, dear child, except that you will think the +matter over carefully, and be prepared to settle it wisely when the time +comes. Let me say again, unless you decide for yourself that your life +will be made richer and brighter by marrying Philip Hamlen, of course I +should not wish you to consider it."</p> + +<p>Unconsciously Mrs. Thatcher had touched upon the same argument Merry had +used with herself. The girl had striven for happiness and failed to find +it; she had evolved a creed which called for ideals which she had come +to believe did not exist; she had demanded something for herself before +she thought of giving of herself. In her failure she had proved her +fallacy. The one person who had it in his power to disprove her present +contentions must consider her a visionary without the character to make +the visions real. Romance had already come to him, and having found the +girl too late that chapter in his life was closed. He was happy because +he always thought of others rather than himself. That was the only royal +road after all. There was nothing repellent about Hamlen. He had many +attributes which compelled admiration, and if he once became settled, +that in itself might release the indisputable abilities he possessed to +accomplish the great work which might lay before him. But would marriage +give that to him? Was she the one to bring about the metamorphosis which +her mother so confidently predicted? Would happiness come to her as a +result of giving it to him?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> + +<p>The thoughts and the questions crowded through her mind in such numbers +and with such conflicting incoherence that she could hope to find no +answers. But her decision need not be made now—that one fact remained +clear and she clung to it. Perhaps another day would bring relief.</p> + +<p>"I will think it over, Momsie," she promised in a tired voice. "Forgive +me if I haven't seemed considerate. I want to do the right thing, dear, +but it is so hard to know what that is."</p> + +<p>"You are a darling!" Mrs. Thatcher cried, kissing her affectionately. +"Don't worry about that. Mother will help you to find out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXII" id="XXXII"></a>XXXII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Merry's promise to consider the suggestion was equivalent to a victory, +in her mother's mind. True, it had not been won without a cost, for the +girl's plain, straightforward comments left their sting; but, after all, +they represented only a child's distorted viewpoint which failed to +appreciate the manifold demands upon a parent's time. Marian knew that +she had been a devoted mother, and she craved appreciation; but this was +more than she could expect. Merry's strictures were merely another +expression of her peculiar and unfathomable nature.</p> + +<p>The promise was the most that Marian could ask for, and with this +concession she did not doubt her ability finally to show the child that +the older judgment was wise and far-sighted. She knew that Merry had not +given the promise lightly, and that once given she would be +conscientious in fulfilling it. Her yielding, even to this extent, +atoned for many instances in the past where the girl had seemed +self-willed in insisting upon following her own judgment in spite of +advice from all the family to the contrary; but these were unimportant +incidents compared with the one at issue. Marian was now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> quite content +to let her daughter have her own way in anything and everything provided +she did not interfere in the gratification of carrying this one great +desire of her mother's life to a happy conclusion.</p> + +<p>The relations which had existed between her and Philip Hamlen, and the +responsibility she assumed for the aftermath, had become greatly +magnified during these months. It was natural that she should feel a +real satisfaction if she were able to repair the harm she had +unwittingly inflicted; but Huntington's question, "Are you not thinking +of him and of your obligation more than of your daughter?" proved so +disquieting that before speaking to Merry she had made doubly sure in +her own mind that the only way her responsibility affected her present +actions was to color the result with the romance of the past. She was +sincere in her conviction that at every step of her progress she had +been guided solely by a desire for her daughter's complete and final +welfare, and in her efforts she could find nothing other than a mother's +natural love and anxiety.</p> + +<p>There was another satisfaction, Marian admitted to herself, but it had +no bearing upon the situation until after she became convinced that her +attitude was justified from Merry's standpoint. She had never forgotten +Hamlen's domination over her as a girl. At the moment when she met him +so unexpectedly in Bermuda she felt the old-time sensation of dread she +had experienced so many times when alone with him during their childhood +days and the period of their engagement. She had never loved him; this +knowledge had come clearly to her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> during the years which had +intervened. When she accepted the tacit understanding of an engagement +it was because of the dominating influence of his mind over hers rather +than a response from her heart to his fierce devotion. The break came on +the occasion of the Senior Dance at Harvard to which she accepted Monty +Huntington's escort. Hamlen, bitter against college and college life, +and having no interest in the graduating festivities, not only refused +to attend the dance but forbade her to go without him. Her indignation +gave her strength to rebel against his domination. Later she sailed for +Europe, feeling a profound sense of relief that she had been able to +break the fetters which had bound her, she then realized, against her +will.</p> + +<p>The Hamlen she met at Bermuda was not the unreasonable boy of twenty +years before. He was still bitter, but they met on terms which gave her +the ascendency. Those traits which she had admired were accentuated, and +the fierce intensity had become modified. Now it was her mind which +controlled and his which yielded. He had tried to hold out against her +in refusing to come to America, but he had yielded; he was now trying to +hold out against her judgment that his marriage to Merry would restore +the lost equilibrium, but again he would yield.</p> + +<p>Still, above all other considerations, the great fact stood out in +Marian's mind that the match itself was ideal. Merry would find in him +an intellectual force which would satisfy her natural predilections; she +would give him in her spontaneity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> a leaven to perpetuate the normal +expressions of life which Huntington had taught him to understand. She +would give him the youth which he had lost, he would give her the +response which her unusual development could never obtain from a younger +man. The balance was perfect. The mother's heart rejoiced that her +efforts could make so noble a gift to her daughter, while the woman's +heart found equal satisfaction that these same efforts could pay the +debt of years in ample measure.</p> + +<p>It would have been a relief if her plans for entertaining the Bermuda +party could have been carried through without including Huntington, but, +entirely aside from the fact that this omission would have been a marked +slight, his co-operation in bringing Hamlen to this satisfactory +condition had been so conspicuous that there was no alternative. Mrs. +Thatcher was apprehensive lest he take advantage of his influence with +Hamlen to strengthen his will against her judgment; but this was a +chance she had to take.</p> + +<p>Could she have read his mind Marian would have found nothing to fear +from Huntington. His familiarity with Merry's nature made him aware, +soon after his arrival, of the fact that something of unusual moment had +occurred. There was a hectic excitement in her welcome, a yearning in +her eyes, otherwise unexplained, which went straight to his heart and +prepared him for the climax in the great renunciation of his life.</p> + +<p>"When the supreme test comes," she had told him, "I shall accept it"; +and he was convinced that the test had come and been accepted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, well!" he sighed deeply, "who am I to interfere?"</p> + +<p>It was the second day after his arrival before they finally found +themselves alone together, and he realized that Merry had been awaiting +this opportunity to have with him one of those intimate conversations +which previously he had so much enjoyed. Now, knowing what was coming, +he dreaded it. Until the words were spoken he could at least deceive +himself into believing that he might be wrong, and this self-deception +was all he now had left.</p> + +<p>"Let us sit down here in the sand," she said to him, "just as we used to +at Elba Beach."</p> + +<p>"I wish we were back there now," he answered feelingly, as he responded +to her request.</p> + +<p>"We always wish for something we have had, instead of something we are +going to have, don't we?" she asked, her hand modeling indefinite +figures in the damp sand. "I wonder why that is."</p> + +<p>"Because the past is known, and we can select the happy moments as we +choose. The future is unknown, and we must take it as it comes."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if we could only look into that future!" she exclaimed suddenly. +"If we could only be sure that in it we could correct our mistakes! How +that would simplify the problems of the present!"</p> + +<p>"Why speak so strongly?" he asked. "That belongs to those who have +mistakes to correct."</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking of myself all my life," she replied, at once +making the personal application. "I formed an ideal which I insisted +upon realizing, and when I found it at last it proved beyond my reach."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To have found it at all is more than most of us can claim."</p> + +<p>Her hand paused in its idle motions, and she looked up at him +inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"But you found yours."</p> + +<p>"Don't!" he said softly, a twinge of pain crossing his face.</p> + +<p>"I've hurt you again!" she cried impulsively. "Don't you see how selfish +I am? That proves it! There is no one I wouldn't rather hurt than you, +yet twice I've done it. Please forgive me; I'll not do it again."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to forgive," he insisted as he did before. "I'm too +sensitive, that is all. Sometimes Life draws back the curtain and shows +us a wonderful picture of what might have been, to test the strength of +the philosophy the years should have taught us. The strong say, 'That is +not for me,' and pass it by; the weak stretch out their arms and cry in +vain for what they ought to know is not for them. I am among the weak."</p> + +<p>"You among the weak!" she cried incredulously. "How little you +appreciate yourself! It is of your strength which you must give me now, +for I am trying to be true to what you have taught me by your example: +by making some one else happy I am going to seek for happiness myself."</p> + +<p>It had come! Huntington needed no further confidence to complete the +avowal. He must be careful not to endanger the possibility of success +coming to the efforts which this brave spirit was prepared to make. +Hamlen was almost normal now. If this must be, Huntington knew that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +had played his part in preparing his classmate for the supreme joy which +ought to come to him in sharing the life of such a girl. At least he had +made her happiness possible. But the irony of her reference to his +teachings!</p> + +<p>"Then you are ready for the supreme test?" he asked in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"If it comes."</p> + +<p>Then it had not come! The reaction took him to an absurd extreme until +his sober sense returned and he realized that this made no change. If +Hamlen were eliminated, still the years remained. He saw still more +clearly that his opposition was not impartial. If Merry were to tell him +of her engagement to some younger man of whom he might wholly approve, +how could he take their hands in his and pronounce the banal +benediction, "God bless you, my children!" His heart would cry out and +his spirit rebel as bitterly in one case as in the other. Except for the +question of age he must admit that Hamlen was eligible; that what he +lacked in certain traits was offset by super-abundance in others. If +Huntington were to be consistent he must efface himself; to interfere +would be to accept greater responsibility than he had a right to assume.</p> + +<p>"You are prepared to marry a man you do not love because you hope to +make him happy, and thus gain happiness yourself?" he repeated the +problem slowly, emphasizing every word.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied deliberately; "and the reason I so want to peer into +the future is to make certain that either one of these results is +assured."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I suppose Hamlen is the man," Huntington said soberly.</p> + +<p>"He has spoken of it to you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; he mentioned it soon after he came to visit me."</p> + +<p>"Then he does care for me? I had not realized that."</p> + +<p>How could the question be answered? Even if Huntington felt himself free +to repeat the confidence Hamlen had given him it would mar the +perfection of the sacrifice for Merry to know the truth. Her very +eagerness for happiness might bring it, and at whatever cost to himself +he wanted that to come to her!</p> + +<p>"When we spoke of it Mr. Hamlen was not in a condition to know what his +feelings really were," Huntington replied guardedly. "He realized his +limitations, and questioned, much as you do, the possibility of making +any other person happy. Since he has learned more of the world he is +greatly changed, but we have not again referred to the subject."</p> + +<p>"With us both feeling our limitations, and with both striving to +accomplish the same result, don't you think we ought to be successful?"</p> + +<p>There was an appealing expression in Merry's face which besought a +confirming answer. Huntington could not resist it.</p> + +<p>"It must be so," he said with decision. He smiled into her tense face +with a confidence his heart denied. "It must be so," he repeated. +"Somewhere there must be a divinity which watches over gentle souls like +yours, and brings them their reward."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXIII" id="XXXIII"></a>XXXIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>While Huntington's spirits sank lower and lower Cosden's rose to a point +which made him oblivious to the cares and worries of the world around +him. He had passed through the probationary period with Edith Stevens +with marked success, and this opportunity of consecutive days with her +amid such congenial surroundings filled him with a delight which he had +never found in his business successes. Edith was right, Huntington was +right, Cosden admitted, in their contention that there was something +finer and more satisfying than business ideals; but he gave Edith the +credit for having proved it to him.</p> + +<p>He went to extremes in this swing of the pendulum as in all others, but +the net result was a smoothing down of many of the rough corners, and a +tempering of the aggressive individualism which had often offended. +Cosden sized himself up correctly when he remarked to Edith, "I never +expect to be the finished product Monty is, but I'm going to quit +advertising the fact."</p> + +<p>Edith could but admire the persistency with which he worked upon his +disagreeable problem. Her curiosity to see "how deep it went" developed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +during the course of several other experiences together, into a complete +willingness to forget past delinquencies, and a real desire to encourage +him in the pursuit of his new course. It interested her to see that the +same forcefulness which had made itself disagreeable before was the very +agent which had accomplished the change she admired; that it was this +same dogged determination which maintained the present poise and gave +him the new dignity.</p> + +<p>Marian was delighted by the way her guests grouped themselves, and +everything seemed to play wonderfully into her hands. Edith appropriated +Cosden and appointed herself his hostess; brother Ricky enjoyed himself +hugely motoring around the country in one of the Thatcher automobiles, +and did not ask to be considered except at meals; Philip kept his boy +friends engaged in an absorbing series of outdoor activities which +prevented Billy from interfering with her plans for Merry; Mr. Thatcher +was so engrossed with business matters that he became almost a +negligible quantity, which his guests understood and overlooked; +Huntington so far, Marian rejoiced to admit, had carried himself +admirably, dividing his time between Merry, Hamlen and herself in such a +way as to be really helpful instead of a menace to her plans. Never had +she entertained a group of friends so accommodating, and she was more +deeply appreciative at this time than she cared to state.</p> + +<p>Edith and Cosden strolled down a leaf-covered walk, flanked by antique +statuettes, to an attractive pavilion at the end of the vista. Here they +seated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> themselves after a leisurely walk about the estate. Edith knew +she was taking chances, but as she felt quite capable of defending her +position she saw no reason why she should not enjoy Cosden's continued +devotion.</p> + +<p>"I've ordered tea served here," she announced. "We seem to be a little +early."</p> + +<p>"I'm in no hurry," Cosden replied cheerfully; "are you?"</p> + +<p>"I have forgotten how to hurry, after these delicious weeks here," Edith +answered, leaning back in her rustic chair. "I think it agrees with me +to be deliberate, as Marian is. I am going to cultivate it."</p> + +<p>"You are deliberate with me, all right," he declared. "I don't quite +understand myself nowadays. Usually when I find that I am making little +progress along one line I shift onto another, but now I seem perfectly +contented to sit back and watch you act your part. That shows that +there's something deeper in all this, doesn't it?"</p> + +<p>"You might shift back to Merry," she replied calmly.</p> + +<p>"No," he said with decision; "I've learned the rules now, and you don't +catch me revoking.—Tell me, if you don't like me, why do you let me +hang around like this, and if you do like me, what's the use of putting +me off so long?"</p> + +<p>"There are loads of people I don't even take the trouble to like or +dislike, whom I 'put off,' as you call it."</p> + +<p>"Do you really dislike me?"</p> + +<p>"No," Edith drawled slowly, as if deliberating;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> "I can't say that. In +fact I think I rather like you—in spots."</p> + +<p>Cosden leaned forward eagerly. "Isn't it stronger than that?" he +demanded.</p> + +<p>"I can't say it is," she replied, her voice manifesting the same +interest which she might show if he had asked any other commonplace +question; "but don't get down on your knees now, for here comes the tea +and I loathe demonstration before servants."</p> + +<p>"All right," Cosden said with resignation but without losing his +cheerfulness; "you don't discourage me a bit. I guess counsel is just +collecting a little extra fee for that break in Bermuda. I'll wait."</p> + +<p>"I know how many lumps you take in your tea, and I know that you prefer +cream, but shall I pass you the raspberry jam?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," he replied promptly. "My mother always used to dose me +up with calomel disguised in raspberry jam, and I can't eat it now +without tasting the medicine."</p> + +<p>"Very well," Edith laughed, "try some honey. But please tell me what has +put your friend Monty in the dumps. At Bermuda he was stimulating, but +down here he's as cheerful as a crutch."</p> + +<p>"Monty in the dumps?" Cosden echoed, surprised. "Why, I hadn't noticed +it. Just before Hamlen came to visit him, he was way down,—bemoaned his +age, and all that sort of thing. I thought we'd got him out of that. I +must look him over and see what the trouble is.—Here come our hostess +and Hamlen. Did you ever see such a change in any one?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p> + +<p>Marian approached with her brightest smile. "I'm glad Edith is keeping +you from being bored," she said. "I'm afraid I've been very remiss."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how you could divide yourself into much smaller bits, Mrs. +Thatcher," Cosden replied. "This is a big family you have at present."</p> + +<p>"The bigger the better," she exclaimed brightly. "I hoped I should find +you out here, and as I see the tea is still hot perhaps Edith will let +us join you. Philip and I have been walking and talking until we are +really tired."</p> + +<p>"I am entranced with all this," Hamlen said, turning to Edith. "I had no +idea, when I paraded my few acres at Bermuda, that I was competing with +an estate like Sagamore. I wonder some one didn't rebuke me for my +presumption!"</p> + +<p>"Isn't that a pretty compliment!" Marian cried. "You have put yourself +into every inch of your beautiful place, Philip; Harry and I have only +done that to a very small extent. It is beautiful, I admit, and I love +it just as I love the beauties with which you have surrounded yourself +at home."</p> + +<p>"It makes little difference, after all, where one finds it, so long as +it is beauty," Hamlen replied. "'The dawn is my Assyria; the sunset and +moonrise my Paphos and unimaginable realms of faerie; broad noon shall +be my England of the senses and the understanding; the night shall be my +Germany of mystic philosophy and dreams.' I used to think Emerson must +have written that in Bermuda, but it might have been written here."</p> + +<p>Edith caught the expression on Cosden's face and almost laughed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's the use?" he whispered to her without being detected. "This pace +is too swift for me! He reeled that off as easily as I could the latest +quotations on copper!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, "I can't tell you what it means +to me to see you yourself again after that awful shock you gave me at +Bermuda! Truly, when we left you behind us I gave up hope."</p> + +<p>"What hope there was you took away with you, so I was forced to follow."</p> + +<p>"Come, Cossie—Connie—," Edith stumbled,—"if I'm to call you by your +given name you'll have to change it to something reasonable,—this is no +place for us."</p> + +<p>"Don't let us drive you away," Marian protested.</p> + +<p>"That's all right; we want to be driven away. If we stay longer, and Mr. +Hamlen talks like that, Mr. Cosden will become sentimental.—Bye, bye."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher and Hamlen watched them as they strolled leisurely up the +path, Edith swinging her parasol and Cosden walking meekly beside her. +Finally Marian turned to him and laughed.</p> + +<p>"What a dance that girl is leading him!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think she cares for him?"</p> + +<p>"In her way; but if he marries her he will have earned her!—He went +down to Bermuda on purpose to become engaged to Merry."</p> + +<p>"He did!" Hamlen exclaimed, surprised; "why, they were never together +when I saw them."</p> + +<p>"Nor often at other times. Of course, it was ridiculous,—but with you, +Philip, she'll be the happiest girl in all the world."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> + +<p>His eyes dropped quickly as she turned the conversation, and the +expression on his face completely changed.</p> + +<p>"You are wrong, Marian," he protested; "no happiness can ever come to +any woman through me."</p> + +<p>"Don't disparage yourself," she answered gently. "You are a different +man from what you were. Do you think I would counsel this if I were not +sure?"</p> + +<p>"You believe it, Marian," he conceded, "and I wish I shared your +confidence. But I know myself. The time when I might have made something +of what I had passed long ago. If I am to go on at all it must be with +my real self suppressed, and the only way to do this is to plod my path +alone."</p> + +<p>"Why slip back, Philip? Why suppress your real self?"</p> + +<p>"I know the danger of permitting it to assume control."</p> + +<p>"When last we talked you seemed willing to accept my judgment."</p> + +<p>"I am still, in everything but this. I appreciate your desire for my +happiness, Marian, but you are taking a responsibility beyond what is +wise. I am complimented by your daughter's willingness to listen to an +offer of marriage from me, but if the test really came she could not +meet it."</p> + +<p>"She would, Philip,—she would."</p> + +<p>"I cannot comprehend it," he continued; "she has seen me at my worst."</p> + +<p>"She understands you, and appreciates the wonderful qualities you +possess. She is too young to know the depth of love, but old enough to +recognize<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> what a man like you can become to her. If you would only +speak with her you too would understand."</p> + +<p>Hamlen moved uncomfortably in his chair, and was silent for what seemed +an interminable period. When at last he turned he spoke with a +conviction which shocked her.</p> + +<p>"No, Marian," he said deliberately; "it can never be. Let us end this +farce before it goes too far."</p> + +<p>"Philip!" she cried, seeing her work of months crumbling before her, and +reading in his determined face the miscarriage of what she believed to +be predestined. "I can't permit you to destroy the years which remain to +you."</p> + +<p>She leaned over and took his hand in hers. Success had been so near that +she could not see it slip away from her now without a supreme effort. +Merry needed such a man as this and Hamlen needed her. Why should these +false ideas, created by years of self-depreciation, stand in the way of +what she knew was best?</p> + +<p>"I can't let you destroy the years which remain to you," she repeated +earnestly. "I can't see my child's happiness marred by your foolish +insistence upon ideals which rest on conditions now long since passed +away. Philip, if you loved me once, show it now by your confidence in my +judgment, by your faith in my purpose. Tell me one reason why this +should not be."</p> + +<p>"If I loved you once?" he echoed her words with a force which startled +her. "Tell you one reason why this should not be? The one answers the +other, Marian; for that love, intensified by the denial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> of twenty +years, is now a power I can't withstand."</p> + +<p>"Philip!" she cried, striving to release her hand which he held in a +grip which hurt her, "you don't mean that you still—"</p> + +<p>"I mean that I have never ceased to love you, Marian. Look at me now and +tell me if you doubt it. Even while I cursed you for ruining my life, I +loved you. Every day of the twenty years I have lived alone I have had +your face before me, I have held out my arms beseeching you to come to +me, I have beaten my head against the wall in despair that the one +longing of my heart could never hope for realization."</p> + +<p>"You never told me—I did not know—"</p> + +<p>"I have at least been strong enough to keep my secret, Marian; but it is +sacrilege for you to talk to me of marriage to your daughter. Now that +you know the truth you will urge no further. Could anything be more +dishonorable than to offer myself to her when even to-day my love for +you is beating at my heart until I can scarcely contain it? No, no! let +us have an end to all this mockery! In the name of a life's devotion, in +the name of the love you once had for me—"</p> + +<p>"Release me, Philip," she entreated, frightened by his tenseness; but he +only tightened his grip upon her hand. She realized the importance of +terminating this impossible situation, regardless of the pain it might +inflict.</p> + +<p>"I never loved you, Philip," she said deliberately. "At the time, I +thought I did; but it was my mind and not my heart you dominated."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span></p> + +<p>He dropped her hand as if she had struck him, and, dazed, supported +himself against the rustic chair.</p> + +<p>"You never loved me?" he repeated brokenly after her. "You never—oh, +God! why did you tell me that! Why did you come back into my life to +stir up those forces which had crushed me, but which I had at last +subdued!"</p> + +<p>Then he turned his eyes upon her, full of the reproach which he dared +not trust himself to speak.</p> + +<p>"If it was the domination of my mind then, why should it not be now?" he +asked in a voice which trembled with emotion. "Look at me, Marian!"</p> + +<p>"Don't, Philip, I entreat of you; you frighten me!</p> + +<p>"Look at me!" he commanded, and she slowly raised her head and gazed +into his face.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember the last time you looked at me like that?" he asked +quietly, but even in his low tones there was a compelling force she +recognized.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said rising, and drawing her toward him. "If it was not love +which brought you to my arms before, then it must be the same impulse +to-day. Come, Marian, it is not the daughter I want, it is you,—my +beloved, my sweetheart of years gone by!"</p> + +<p>"Philip!" she protested feebly, "Philip—I entreat—" but the old, +irresistible influence was too strong, and he folded her in his arms.</p> + +<p>In a moment his face changed as if touched by a magician's wand. The +lines which years and disappointment had traced were miraculously +smoothed away, and the expression of contentment was that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> which comes +only when the seeker has at last reached the consummation of his quest. +The lips moved silently, the eyes looked far into the distance. The past +was forgotten, the future unheeded, but the wonderful present was his!</p> + +<p>A convulsive sob from Marian finally brought him to himself. He loosened +his hold, and gazed into her face with abject horror.</p> + +<p>"My God!" he cried, as he allowed her limp form to slip back into the +chair. "What have I done! Marian, child, speak to me! Tell me that you +forgive me! It was the years which did it, not I; Marian! speak to me! +Tell me you forgive me!"</p> + +<p>He gazed helplessly around as no response came. She lay there, her head +resting on the back of the chair, sobbing hysterically but giving no +sign that she even heard his words. He watched her until at last she +opened her eyes and regained control. Then he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Leave it unspoken, Marian," he exclaimed with an agony in his voice +which the suspense intensified. "I have said it to myself. I have made +myself an outcast, a pariah! Let me take you to the house. Then you need +never think of me again."</p> + +<p>"No," she said brokenly; "leave me here."</p> + +<p>"This is the end, Marian!" The words came short and crisp. "I ask your +forgiveness no more. There are some things which are past forgiveness. I +only ask you to forget.—Good-bye!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXIV" id="XXXIV"></a>XXXIV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The long, sleepless night which followed Marian's harrowing experience, +painful as it was, proved the most vital moment of her life. From +girlhood it had been hers to receive rather than to give. Her beauty and +vivacity had always attracted attention and homage, her positive nature +demanded and was given leadership, until she came to regard this as +natural and to be expected. To have Huntington question her judgment was +as novel as it was unpleasant, to have Merry suggest a worldliness in +her approach to life struck her as absolutely incongruous. Mrs. Thatcher +knew herself to be a competent woman, and as no one before had +questioned her ethics, she accepted the successful outcome of her +undertakings as conclusive proof that her judgment was correct.</p> + +<p>She might pass Huntington's comment by as the expression of one who +could look at any question only from a man's standpoint, she could make +light of what Merry said on the ground that the girl knew so little of +life; but in her experience with Hamlen she had come face to face with a +mistake so real that it compelled a readjustment of her perspective. She +could harbor no resentment against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> him: the climax had come as the +direct result of her own error in judgment, and the responsibility +belonged to her alone. Ever since that eventful meeting in Bermuda she +had seen the battling of conflicting emotions. To her more than to any +one else should have come knowledge of the limit beyond which this +self-tortured soul could not be pressed. She had deceived herself in +regard to the reclamation; Hamlen's condition remained unchanged; +Huntington had simply developed him to a point where he had gained +better control. Beneath the deceptive smoothness of the surface still +surged the turmoil started twenty years before, seething with +unsatisfied yearnings, and kept under only by the superb strength of +will which she herself at last had broken down. Huntington had warned +her of the danger but she refused to recognize its existence. Marian +could blame no one but herself, and the fact that her intentions had +been of the best did not mitigate the tragedy she had perpetrated. This +latest buffet of the world would be conclusive evidence to Hamlen that +he had no place in its daily routine.</p> + +<p>Marian had reached this point in her mental struggle when the most awful +thought of all suddenly came to her.</p> + +<p>"Would the harm stop there!"</p> + +<p>She sat bolt upright, staring ahead into the grey dawn which lighted the +chamber through the long windows. "Merciful God!" she cried aloud,—"not +that! not that!"</p> + +<p>A moment later she sprang out of bed and threw a kimono about her. Then +she opened the window-door and passed out onto the little balcony. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> +sun was just rising, and Marian unconsciously first felt the beauty of +the breaking day. It had been long since she had seen a sunrise! She +stood watching it for a brief moment, brushing back with her hand the +mass of beautiful hair which fell about her shoulders and lay against +her ashen cheeks. Then she stepped forward, and facing the East like a +Sun-worshiper of old fell upon her knees in an agony of prayer. The God +who made a world like this she supplicated, who flooded it with the +radiance of such a day, would not so punish her for a single act of +folly! Mistaken as it was, behind it all lay a desire to atone, an +effort for the happiness of others. He would not ask for retribution +such as that!</p> + +<p>Relieved by her outburst she returned to her chamber. She must see +Huntington. He would know what to do. He would be God's agent to prevent +the awful climax. But it would be several hours before she could disturb +him, and these hours must be endured.</p> + +<p>Huntington responded promptly to the summons when it reached him, +wondering what the occasion might be. Marian's explanation of Hamlen's +disappearance the night before had been so diplomatic that he had +accepted it, so the real story was a complete surprise. He listened +intently as she told him everything, sparing herself in no degree, +anxious only to receive from him some assurance that her fears were +unwarranted.</p> + +<p>"You should have told me sooner," was the only criticism Huntington made, +after learning the details.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was completely dazed," Marian explained helplessly. "This awful +thought only came to me in the early morning. You don't think it too +late! Don't tell me that!"</p> + +<p>"It is useless to speculate," he answered gravely. "Knowing Hamlen as we +do, and knowing how high his sense of honor, the next step seems +inevitable. He will consider that he has sinned against the woman he +loves, and will demand of himself an expiation beyond what he would +exact from any one else. I shall do my best to find him. Let us hope it +will be in time."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't I go with you?—No, of course I couldn't,—but how can I +endure it until I know? What can I do to help?"</p> + +<p>Huntington had risen, ready to take his motor-car which had been +summoned when first he learned the facts. There was no excitement in his +manner, but an alert readiness to undertake his duty with the least +possible delay. As Mrs. Thatcher asked the question a sternness seemed +to come into his face, but his voice was kindly as he replied.</p> + +<p>"Whatever you tell the others," he said with decision, "Merry must know +the whole truth. There is another tragedy going on in that little girl's +soul which needs a mother's care. That is where you can help.—I shall +telephone you as soon as I have news."</p> + +<p>As the crunching of the wheels on the gravel road died away Mrs. +Thatcher rose and went to her daughter's room. Never before had she so +promptly followed another's suggestion, but at that moment she felt an +aversion to her own judgment, and welcomed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> the opportunity to follow +rather than to lead.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"All this mystery is getting on my nerves," Edith remarked to Cosden as +they sauntered out onto the piazza after a later breakfast. "Mr. Hamlen, +after seeming perfectly rational with us in the <i>bosquet</i> yesterday, +rushes into the house, packs his belongings, and disappears without +saying 'good-bye' to any one. Marian, also rational when we saw her +yesterday, becomes invisible to the naked eye, and sends word she has a +headache—the first I've ever known her to have. This morning she is +down to breakfast before any one of us is up except Mr. Huntington, who +by a strange coincidence also craves an early breakfast for the first +time on record. Marian has gone up-stairs again, and our friend Monty +has motored off to Heaven knows where. Now then, what's the answer?"</p> + +<p>"Why not accept Mrs. Thatcher's explanation until you have a better +one?" Cosden asked, drawing his chair nearer to hers.</p> + +<p>"Because it's too fishy, and my curiosity is aroused."</p> + +<p>"In that case I'm sure you'll find out all about it," he said smiling.</p> + +<p>"Why aren't you interested?"</p> + +<p>"I'm perfectly comfortable," he explained, "and so entirely satisfied +with the present company that I can spare Hamlen, Monty, and even Mrs. +Thatcher just as well as not."</p> + +<p>"Then you're going to leave me to do the work?" she demanded. "That's +just like a man!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm glad they're gone," Cosden admitted. "It gives me just the chance +I've been waiting for: will you marry me?"</p> + +<p>"Again?" Edith inquired.</p> + +<p>"No; just this once."</p> + +<p>"It would serve you right if I did!"</p> + +<p>"I dare you to!"</p> + +<p>"No! no! no! no!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Give me an option for thirty days."</p> + +<p>"You silly!" she laughed. "For a sensible man you can be more kinds of +foolish than any one I know."</p> + +<p>"Flattery doesn't hurt anybody unless he swallows it," Cosden retorted +complacently.</p> + +<p>Whither their gibes would have carried them is needless to consider, for +they were interrupted by the approach of a motor-car up the driveway.</p> + +<p>"Monty has made a quick trip," Cosden observed, "now you can satisfy +your curiosity."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," Edith retorted rising, "the plot thickens. That is +Harry Thatcher. What in the world has happened to send him motoring down +here at ten o'clock in the morning?"</p> + +<p>They passed through the hallway to the <i>porte cochère</i> on the opposite +side of the house. Thatcher was just descending from the car.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he greeted Edith, who was ahead. "Where's Marian?"</p> + +<p>"Up-stairs. What brings you home at this time of day?"</p> + +<p>"Don't disturb her yet," he exclaimed, disregarding her question. "I +want a word with Cosden first. You'll excuse us?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p> + +<p>Locking his arm through Cosden's Thatcher led him back onto the piazza +which the two had just left.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?" Cosden asked. "Market gone to pieces?"</p> + +<p>"It's hell,—nothing less," Thatcher answered, speaking with an +excitement unnatural to him. "I left New York at four o'clock this +morning. I've come to you, Cosden, as a last resort. We've fought each +other on every deal we've ever been in, so you understand how hard I'm +pushed. If you're fixed so that you can put me next to a bunch of cold, +hard cash, you can have anything I control at a fraction of its value. +This is your chance to make your everlasting fortune if you can command +the cash."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean it!" Cosden exclaimed. "Are you caught as bad as that?"</p> + +<p>"Worse than that. Securities are dropping out of sight. Germany will +declare war inside of a week, and there is danger of other big nations +becoming involved. If they do, God only knows what will happen to the +money system of the world; it is strained already to the breaking-point. +You may thank Heaven, Cosden, that your investments are not in +speculative stocks! But we're losing time. I must get back by three +o'clock. Is there any chance of pulling off my forlorn hope? If not, +we'll close our doors to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Do you actually mean that, Thatcher?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly that. I don't advise you to do this unless you're fixed so that +you can carry things comfortably, for I tell you we're in for a crisis; +but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> if you can, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, and by sacrificing +my personal interests I can save my house."</p> + +<p>"How much do you need?"</p> + +<p>"Half a million, in cash. I'm that much short of what I must have to see +me through. It might as well be a billion!"</p> + +<p>"What do you offer for it?"</p> + +<p>"Five million in Consolidated Machinery stock."</p> + +<p>Cosden whistled and then became contemplative, while Thatcher waited +eagerly for his reply. The hesitation in itself was encouraging, for it +indicated that Cosden could raise the money if he cared to do it.</p> + +<p>"As a matter of fact, Thatcher," Cosden said at length, "I've been +laying my pipes for just this moment ever since the trouble began, and +I'm fixed where I can handle it all right; but I don't quite like the +proposition as it stands."</p> + +<p>"Then make your own proposition."</p> + +<p>"I've counted on having my available cash earn me something handsome, of +course; but I don't think I'd enjoy my profits much if I got them by +cleaning you out."</p> + +<p>"We must forget friendship and all else at a time like this," Thatcher +cried. "For God's sake, man, if you can do it, don't stand on any +foolish sentiment! It may ruin me, but my house will weather the storm. +I ask it as a favor."</p> + +<p>"How soon must you have the money?"</p> + +<p>"By to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"All right; I'll give you drafts to take back to New York."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thank God!" Thatcher exclaimed feverishly. "And you'll take the stock?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want the stock. Give me your note."</p> + +<p>"But I haven't a dollar's worth of collateral to put up with it. +Everything I own is pledged."</p> + +<p>"Damn the collateral! The signature will be genuine, won't it? That's +good enough for me."</p> + +<p>"You advance it simply as a loan?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Now let's get the drafts fixed up, and you run back to New +York and keep your finger on the pulse of the market."</p> + +<p>"You're sacrificing the chance of your life, Cosden," Thatcher +exclaimed. "Why should you do this for me?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite understand it myself," Cosden admitted; "but as long as I +want to why not make the most of it? I might change my mind."</p> + +<p>"And we've always said you were a hard man, Cosden!" Thatcher exclaimed +with gratitude in his voice.</p> + +<p>"I was once," he admitted; "but lately I've been getting humanized, and +anybody can slip anything over on me. Now you trot back to New York and +cable Willie Kaiser that I disapprove of his declaring war."</p> + +<p>"You are a friend in need!" Thatcher grasped his hand cordially. "I'll +run up for a word with Marian, and then back into the vortex. Keep your +eye on the cable news, Cosden. Hell is breaking loose!"</p> + +<p>As Thatcher rushed up-stairs Cosden relit his cigar which had gone out +during the excitement, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> +meditatively up and down the piazza. He was immensely pleased with +himself, and felt entitled to his self-approval.</p> + +<p>"Even old Monty couldn't have done that better," he muttered. "Good old +Thatcher—I hope it pulls him through!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with Harry?" Edith demanded in a stage whisper, +appearing from nowhere.</p> + +<p>"He forgot his umbrella yesterday," Cosden lied, speciously, "and he's +afraid it's going to rain."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you tantalizing brute!" she cried, stamping her foot indignantly. +"I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man in the world!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXV" id="XXXV"></a>XXXV</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Huntington's mind worked hard as he settled back in the motor-car and +surveyed the situation. It was impossible for him to have been so +intimately associated with Hamlen all these weeks without assimilating +his friend's manner of thought and action accurately enough to follow +him in this climax of his tragedy. Of his determination he had no doubt; +that he had as yet put it into execution was another matter. Huntington +believed that Hamlen would wish to see him once more before he visited +upon himself the extreme penalty which his hypersensitive nature would +decree.</p> + +<p>It was shortly after noon when the car drew up in front of Huntington's +home. Mrs. Thatcher, in her feverish efforts to assist, had suggested +that the fugitive might have gone across to Newport to take the boat +from there to New York; but Huntington figured it differently. Hamlen +disliked and distrusted New York, while Boston had become a second home +to him. His belongings, such as he had brought with him from Bermuda, +were still in the Beacon Street house, and Huntington was sure that +following the instincts of a homing pigeon he would return there by the +straightest path.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p> + +<p>Still, the doubt lingered with sufficient persistency to quicken +Huntington's movements up the brownstone steps. As he let himself in, +Dixon met him in the hallway.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hamlen,—is he here?" Huntington demanded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; he's up-stairs and very wild, sir."</p> + +<p>"Wild?" Huntington queried. "When did he arrive?"</p> + +<p>"Last night, sir, about ten o'clock. When I let him in he rushed past me +and went up-stairs, sir. I followed him, thinking he might need +something, but he turned on me and cursed me, sir. When I ventured to +take him some breakfast he swore at me again, and told me to get out of +the way. I'm glad you've come, sir. I was at a loss to know what to do +about luncheon."</p> + +<p>Huntington waited to hear no more, but mounted quickly to Hamlen's room +and knocked gently on the door.</p> + +<p>"Keep out, I tell you!" came a hoarse, guttural voice so unlike Hamlen's +that it startled him. "How many times must I tell you to leave me +alone!"</p> + +<p>"It is I,—Huntington."</p> + +<p>There was a sound of shuffling feet, the pushing back of a chair, and +the door was flung open.</p> + +<p>"I knew you would come to me!" Hamlen cried, extending his hand eagerly. +"You are the one man on earth who would stand by me!"</p> + +<p>"Of course; but you've given me a devilish shock, old man. Come +down-stairs where we can talk things over."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, we must do that," he assented, following. "My only fear was that +you might not understand, and would delay your coming. I couldn't have +waited long."</p> + +<p>"I came as soon as I learned the facts."</p> + +<p>"I should not have doubted. Now let us sit down."</p> + +<p>The real shock to Huntington was that so great physical change could +take place within so short time. Hamlen seemed years older. His erect +carriage had slackened, his face was sunken, his hands and body twitched +nervously, and his eyes burned with a consuming fire. Pity filled +Huntington's heart, and he leaned over and placed his hand on his +friend's knee.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't take it like this," he said quietly. "There is something to +be said on both sides."</p> + +<p>Hamlen looked at him with a wan smile. "I wish there were," he said; +"but let us not speak of that. To you, at least, there is no need of +explanation. I told you what I dreaded,—well, the worst has come to +pass; that's all there is to it."</p> + +<p>"No!" Huntington contradicted, determined that he should not bear all +the blame; "there is much more to it than that. You and I are not the +only ones who understand. Mrs. Thatcher instructed me to ask your +forgiveness for her blindness. She understands, too, Hamlen, and she +knows that she brought it on herself."</p> + +<p>"Marian asks <i>my</i> forgiveness!" he repeated stupefied,—"she asks me to +forgive her?"</p> + +<p>Huntington nodded.</p> + +<p>He pressed his hands against his temples. "My God, man! Is the world all +topsy-turvy! I forget<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> my obligations toward my hostess, I am false to +my responsibilities as a friend, I force myself upon a married woman +whom in all honor I am bound to protect,—and she asks me to forgive +her! You are mocking me, Huntington. It is unworthy of you!"</p> + +<p>"It is the provocation she understands, Hamlen, and having unwittingly +given it, she accepts the responsibility, as she should. I'm not sure +that I myself am not the one to blame, for I knew better than she the +forces held back only by your self-control. If I had been more insistent +in my warning all might have been different."</p> + +<p>"That may explain, but it does not condone."</p> + +<p>"At least it mitigates. The beaver, innocently enough, undermines a dam +in securing material to build its home, and the waters rush down to the +destruction of the surrounding country. Surely you can't blame the +waters! Nor can you seriously blame the beaver for not comprehending +those natural laws of cause and effect.—Come, Hamlen, admit there's +something in what I say, and realize that this is an accident rather +than a tragedy."</p> + +<p>Again Hamlen tried to smile, but the expression on his face failed to +reassure.</p> + +<p>"It would be well for me if it were you upon the bench," Hamlen said +gravely. "The prisoner at the bar would receive far more leniency than +he will from me! No, Huntington; I can admit nothing. I believed that I +reached my lowest depth before I met you all in Bermuda. I believed my +life was over,—a miserable, useless, lonely life if you will, but at +least an honest one. Then you instilled hope into my dry bones. Judgment +warned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> me not to listen to you, human weakness tempted me to make one +further effort to redeem myself. I came to you here. Out of the bigness +of your heart you gave me of yourself, you taught me what life really +was. I acknowledge my debt, Huntington, and am grateful to you. Don't +mistake that, my friend, in what I am going to say. The joy of the new +experience lulled me into a sense of false security. I thought myself +like other men, strong enough to hold the passionate love I have always +borne that woman down, down where no one could ever see it. That was my +arrogance, Huntington; for it, I am paying the price."</p> + +<p>"She understands now if she never did before," Huntington reiterated. +"She felt her responsibility for your lonely years, and in trying to +atone made matters worse."</p> + +<p>"It is not her place to protect me," Hamlen continued with conviction. +"Take your own simile, with which you try to ease my sense of shame: +even though the waters are not to be blamed, what do people do with +them? Do they let them continue on their path of destruction? No, dear +friend, your arguments are kindly meant, but untenable. I intend to put +those waters where they will do no further harm."</p> + +<p>Huntington's face set in determined lines. "So you will dare to assume +the prerogatives of man and God?" he demanded sternly.</p> + +<p>Hamlen had never seen Huntington in this mood, and his eyes shifted +uneasily as they met the unflinching gaze of his friend.</p> + +<p>"There will be no scandal, Huntington," he said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> quietly; "I shall not +thus repay your royal hospitality. There are some matters I must turn +over to you, and as my friend I know you will accept them. Then I will +grasp your hand for the last time, thank you from the bottom of my heart +for giving me back the life I had abandoned, and pass on,—whither, it +concerns myself alone."</p> + +<p>"What are the matters you have in mind?" Huntington asked, hoping that +some word of Hamlen's might give him inspiration.</p> + +<p>"First, as to my property," Hamlen replied with returning confidence as +his friend showed willingness to listen. "Here is my will." He drew a +folded sheet from his pocket, on which he had written perhaps twenty +lines. "Please look it over, and tell me if it is legally drawn when the +necessary signatures are added."</p> + +<p>Huntington took the paper, with difficulty focusing his mind upon the +written words.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, looking up at length; "this document is wonderfully +simple and direct in its statements. The only possible attack upon it +would be to raise an issue as to your mental status at the time you drew +it up."</p> + +<p>"Could any one question that?"</p> + +<p>"Your later actions will determine," Huntington said significantly.</p> + +<p>Hamlen laughed nervously. "Fortunately there is no one left who would +have any interest to contest.—As I told you, the bulk of my property is +now in liquid form on deposit in New York, which simplifies your work as +executor. That, you see, I want to give to Harvard."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span></p> + +<p>He paused for a moment and became meditative. "How little I thought, six +months ago, that I should become a benefactor of the college I then +despised! That is your work, my friend,—making me realize my +obligation.—Hold on a minute: I want to add to that document! My +bequest shall go to Harvard as the 'William Montgomery Huntington +Foundation, given by a friend, the income to be used to foster larger +acquaintance and closer intimacy amongst the members of each freshman +class.' Make a note of that, will you? There may be other changes."</p> + +<p>Huntington made the necessary notations. It was best to humor him until +his entire plan was outlined.</p> + +<p>"Now, as to the estate in Bermuda," he went on. "You see what I've done +with it,—but have I been quite delicate? This whole affair, and its +outcome, will be humiliating to that sensitive little girl, and this +might be a constant reminder. I would like her to have it; she would +appreciate my trees and my flowers,—their fragrance might help her to +forget my grave offense. Then again, perhaps Marian would see in this +act an effort on my part to atone. I couldn't leave it to her, but do +you think the girl would understand my motive?"</p> + +<p>"Better than any one I know," Huntington replied.</p> + +<p>Hamlen seemed to have reached the end of his elaboration, and was +silent.</p> + +<p>"How soon is this remarkable document to become operative?" Huntington +demanded.</p> + +<p>"Six months from to-day if you do not hear from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> me to the contrary, or +upon receiving proof of death."</p> + +<p>"All right," Huntington rejoined with apparent complacency. "I'll have +it drafted in proper form and you can execute it to-morrow or next day. +Now listen to me."</p> + +<p>Hamlen looked up at him anxiously. Everything was progressing so well +that the new tone in Huntington's voice gave him apprehension.</p> + +<p>"It is always well to have these matters provided for, and if you +haven't a will it is time you drew one up. As to the disposition of your +property, it is yours to do with as you like, and I appreciate the +compliment you have paid to me. Up to this point I have no right to +interfere."</p> + +<p>Hamlen stiffened at the suggestion of interference. "There are limits," +he said quietly, "even to the rights of a friendship such as ours."</p> + +<p>"True; but we haven't begun to reach them yet. You acknowledge—don't +you?—that you still have an obligation to our Alma Mater which is +unsatisfied?"</p> + +<p>"I think I have acknowledged that in a substantial way," Hamlen replied, +surprised.</p> + +<p>"What can you think of an Alma Mater which would accept money in +exchange for the life of one of her sons? Do you consider her as +mercenary as that?"</p> + +<p>"When the son has forfeited his right to life—"</p> + +<p>"Who are you to take upon yourself the judicial ermine, Hamlen?" +Huntington said sternly. "You have years before you yet to devote to her +welfare. If you are a man, fulfil your obligations during your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> natural +lifetime, and then supplement your labors by the princely gift you have +in mind. If you will insist on assuming all the blame for this +regrettable affair, don't let it make you shirk your duty, but go at +life again with an added incentive to pay your debt."</p> + +<p>"You demand of me what is beyond my strength. I can't go on."</p> + +<p>"That is cowardice, Hamlen.—Forgive the word," he added quickly as he +saw the color mount to his friend's cheeks, "forgive the cruelty; but I +must make you see yourself."</p> + +<p>"It takes some courage to carry through what I have in mind," he +protested.</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest in the world," Huntington contradicted. "Just pull a +wretched little trigger, pump half an ounce of lead into your diseased +brain, and you think your troubles are over. I know the pleasures of +this world, my friend, but I am entirely ignorant of those of the next. +Let us take our chances on these when our time comes, not before. No, +Hamlen, the easy thing is to side-step our difficulties here; it is the +hard thing to stand up in our boots and say, 'Yes, I've broken your +laws, I've outraged your sensibilities; but I'm going to atone for what +I've done.' You have that strength, Hamlen, and I sha'n't let you pass +it up."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I waited for you!" Hamlen retorted sullenly.</p> + +<p>"No, you're not; for you are an honest man." It was hard for Huntington +to be brutal, but this was the moment when Hamlen must be forced to +yield if at all. "You said a moment ago that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> gave you back the life +you had abandoned; then that life belongs to me. If you destroy it, you +rob me of something which is mine, and that is theft. I don't care +whether you agree with me or not, but I demand of you my property, on +which you gave up your claim. If I leave it in your hands will you +protect it for me, and deliver it to me when I am ready to make use of +it?"</p> + +<p>This was a new idea to Hamlen, and he could not meet it. He was only +conscious that Huntington was taking full advantage of his influence +over him, and was driving him on relentlessly. He shifted his eyes +uncomfortably, and in them was bitter resentment.</p> + +<p>"You leave me no alternative," he said helplessly. "For God's sake tell +me what you want!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Huntington admitted frankly; "but for the present give +me your promise that you will stay here until I reach my decision. I +must go back to Sagamore to relieve the anxiety of those who are +suffering on your account. When I return I shall hope to have found the +solution. Have I your promise?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen leaned forward, burying his face in his hands.</p> + +<p>"You are too strong for me," he muttered. "I must do as you wish."</p> + +<p>Huntington laid his hand kindly on the bowed head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXVI" id="XXXVI"></a>XXXVI</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In spite of Mrs. Thatcher's watchfulness, Billy had seen Merry and met +his Waterloo. Blissfully unaware of the momentous happenings about him, +and determined to "get even" with "the Gorgon," the boy developed a plot +of his own which was perfect in conception barring one important detail: +he and Merry were to slip away in a motor-car, dash over to Fall River +to a young clergyman he knew, have the knot tied before interference was +possible, and then return to Sagamore Hall for the parental blessing. +The question of license occurred to him, but that was a mere detail +which could be arranged on the way over.</p> + +<p>It was several days after this brilliant idea came to Billy before he +found opportunity to take Merry into his confidence, but the more he +thought it over the more strongly it appealed. The fact that she seemed +even less responsive than usual did not discourage him, for girls, he +had discovered, always act exactly contrary to their real feelings in +affairs of this kind. The details were so absurdly simple and the +outcome would be so eminently satisfactory that the possibility of +failure became more and more remote. But, as the strength of any chain +is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> determined by its weakest link, it was in this one omitted detail +that Billy's plan slipped up; the idea did not appeal to Merry with +sufficient force even to be given serious consideration.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact the boy could not have selected a less opportune +moment for presenting his forlorn hope. Merry had reached that ecstatic +height to which martyrs attain. Joan of Arc was no more zealous to +sacrifice herself to save Orléans than was Merry to pay the debt of +honor her mother owed to Hamlen. It may be that the Maid was influenced +in her heart by other motives beyond the "heavenly voices" which are +generally accredited; it may be that Merry was more susceptible to the +"call" she believed had come to her for some reason other than a +willingness for martyrdom,—but in both cases the sincerity of the +response was too genuine to be questioned. Billy's infatuated wooing +seemed to her like sacrilege, and his mad plan for elopement too +ridiculous for discussion.</p> + +<p>"Let us be friends, dear Billy," she said to him sweetly and +gently,—"just friends, you and Philip and I. We'll always have the best +of times together, help each other over the hard places, and sympathize +with every sorrow which comes to any one of us."</p> + +<p>"No!" he protested vigorously, kicking viciously at an inoffensive root +protruding slightly beneath his foot. "Nix on this brother and sister +game; there's nothing in it."</p> + +<p>"I need you as a friend, Billy,—I need you this very minute!"</p> + +<p>Billy pricked up his ears at the words and at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> pathetic note in +Merry's voice; but he did not intend to be caught off his guard.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean 'need me as a friend'? Want me to run an errand for +you? All right, off I go."</p> + +<p>"No, Billy; I need your sympathy. We're old pals, and ought to stand by +each other."</p> + +<p>He looked at her with a dawning understanding.</p> + +<p>"Merry," he said, with the conviction of one who has made a great +discovery,—"you're unhappy!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she admitted; "I'm not sure."</p> + +<p>"I knew it!" he declared with satisfaction. "You are unhappy and I know +the reason why: you're in love with me without realizing it. You're +fighting against your destiny and you don't understand what the trouble +is. That's why you are unhappy."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Billy; that isn't it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is; you take my word for it. We'll just slip it over on the +whole bunch, get married, and then you'll see. You'll be as happy as a +lark."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Billy, I do wish you'd be serious!"</p> + +<p>"Serious? ha! I should say I was serious! And to show you how sure I am +I'm right, I'll make you a sporting proposition: if our getting married +doesn't shake your fit of blues then we'll call the whole thing off. +What do you say?"</p> + +<p>Merry laughed in spite of herself. "You certainly are the most +impossible boy! You speak of getting married as if it were a set of +tennis."</p> + +<p>"It's easy enough to get a divorce. Why don't you take a chance? Come +on, be a sport!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he found this wooing ineffective, Billy adopted the tragic <i>motif</i>. +"Every time I think I've picked a rose," he declared disconsolately, "it +turns out to be poison ivy; and here I am, stung again!"</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for Billy that Merry could never take him seriously. +While the boy poured out his youthful protestations she was gentle and +considerate, but her appeal to his reason proved futile because no such +thing existed. Later, when alone, the absurdity of the situation gave +her an outlet, and she laughed quietly to herself. Poor, dear, +easy-going Billy! She would have spared him even these imaginary +heart-pangs if she could, but the real meaning of life and its +responsibilities was yet for him to learn.</p> + +<p>Constant in the purpose to which she had consecrated herself, Merry +received her mother on that eventful morning with mind prepared to +accept the supreme test. She had been standing at the window before her +chamber door opened, looking out across the broad lawn to the wide +expanse of water sparkling in the morning sun. She had watched a stately +four-master sailing majestically by; she had watched the little pleasure +craft, darting in and out as if playing at hide and seek. The great ship +pursued its dignified course, following the track laid down for it by +the mariner's chart; the frolicsome boats went hither or thither, +whichever way the favoring wind filled their sails. The great ship by +holding steadfastly to her course would eventually reach that port +toward which she had set out, with her mission fulfilled; the little +boats would return to the moorings from which they fluttered with no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> +other purpose accomplished than the pleasure of the passing moment. Yes, +Merry had told herself, it was purpose which counted. She had dashed out +over and over again on brief excursions, but even her serious errands +had been undertaken because they gave her pleasure. Unless the course be +charted, unless the goal be predetermined, there could be no permanence, +no majestic dignity to any performance. The time had come when she would +permit no wavering. She would show her confidence in the experience of +the older mariner, who had plotted out the chart, by following it +without the semblance of a doubt.</p> + +<p>"I'm ready, Momsie," she said brightly, turning toward Mrs. +Thatcher,—"why, Momsie! what's the matter? It's all right, dearie. I'm +sure we'll be very, very happy. I'm ready to see Mr. Hamlen whenever you +say. It's all right, dearie."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher sat down wearily, and Merry slipped to the floor at her +feet, looking wonderingly up into her strained face. Marian leaned +forward impulsively and kissed her, resting her cheek against the girl's +face.</p> + +<p>"My darling!" she said in a low, tense voice. "I have made a horrible +mistake!"</p> + +<p>The spoken words started a flood of tears which until then Marian had +been able to restrain. The full weight of the responsibility again +rushed over her. She had dared to interfere in two lives which should +have been allowed to find their own expression, she had dared to pit her +human judgment against Nature. What would be the final outcome? With +Merry, she could not believe it would result<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> in anything more serious +than a further confusion of ideals, but with Hamlen she knew well how +disastrous the effect must be. How could she make matters clear to this +dear child when her own brain was so bewildered!</p> + +<p>But when the tears had relieved the tension, and Marian felt the +sympathetic encouragement of the heart beating against her own, the +mother love, as always, rose triumphant over mental and physical +limitations. During the next hours, amid confidences and revelations +which enabled each at last to understand the other, mother and daughter +experienced that rare communion which had been denied them, but which +was theirs by right. The sacrifice Merry had been ready to make +accomplished its purpose without necessity of execution; the sincerity +of her mother's purpose became clear, and the girl discovered the +natural refuge where she might always find relief from overpowering +perplexities. When they went down-stairs together, with arms around each +other, and strolled out into the rose-garden, there was a new meaning to +the sunlight and to the fragrance of the flowers. Marian saw in it a +promise that her morning supplication might not have been in vain.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The telephone message from Huntington that Hamlen had been located and +that all was well relieved Marian's apprehensions, and left her with +such thankfulness and joy that she was able to join her remaining guests +in the day's activities. How all could be well she was unable to +comprehend, for the shock to Hamlen's nature must have been too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> great +for easy convalescence; but at all events the worst had not happened, +and until Huntington returned no further details could be obtained. +Merry, too, entered into the family life for the first time with any +show of interest. Philip and Billy, who now alone remained of Philip's +friends, annexed themselves in the absence of something better to do. +Billy was still disgruntled, but his malady seemed to be located in his +head rather than in the region of his heart.</p> + +<p>Activity was an absolute necessity to Marian, so she announced that +instead of the usual dinner they would picnic on the shore at a spot +perhaps two miles distant from Sagamore Hall. Not that this required +physical exertion for her, but it was a novelty which would prove +diverting. As the sun sank low, the little party boarded the electric +launch.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me for asking, Marian, but where does the picnic come in?" Edith +demanded, noting the total absence of baskets and bottles and the other +usual paraphernalia. "I don't want to criticise, but I'm no air-plant."</p> + +<p>Marian laughed, "Have faith," she replied. "A relief train is even now +on its way to save you from starvation."</p> + +<p>"Too bad for Huntington and Hamlen to miss all this," Cosden remarked, +hoping to call forth some word of explanation.</p> + +<p>"If you vote it a success, we may repeat it after they return," she +answered evasively. "Perhaps then we can include Harry."</p> + +<p>"That reminds me," Edith broke in, looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> vindictively toward Cosden. +"Perhaps you will tell me why Harry rushed down here like a lost soul +and then back again to New York. Mr. Cosden is very mysterious about it, +and my curiosity is aroused."</p> + +<p>"There isn't any mystery," Marian assured her. "There were some papers +he had forgotten to take."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he telephone me to bring them to him?" Philip demanded. "Why +is it he won't let me go to the office, when he promised me I could help +him as soon as college was over?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thatcher looked at Cosden questioningly. "Is there anything more +than Harry told me?" she asked him.</p> + +<p>Cosden knew that Thatcher was still trying to keep his family in +ignorance of the strain under which he was laboring. It was for him to +give such details as he chose rather than for his guest.</p> + +<p>"I don't know how much you already know, Mrs. Thatcher," he replied with +apparent candor. "These are strenuous days in Wall Street, and no one +can tell what is going to happen next. As for you, Philip, don't be +impatient. This is no time to initiate a youngster into any business. +War is breaking loose in Europe, and if Germany and England lock horns +there will be something doing."</p> + +<p>"War!" Philip cried. "Do you really think there will be a war?"</p> + +<p>"The idea!" Edith sniffed. "Those little savage tribes in the Balkans +may call each other names and throw things around, but Germany and +England are civilized nations. How perfectly absurd!"</p> + +<p>"If there is a war, I want to get in it," Philip insisted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> "I've always +wanted to go to war, and never supposed I would have a chance."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," announced Billy with sudden enthusiasm, looking +significantly at Merry as he saw the solution of his troubles. "I don't +care what side I'm on or against whom I fight. Let's enlist together, +Phil."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't fight except for your own country, you silly," Merry +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Of course I could," he insisted stoutly. "You never think I can do what +I say I can, but I'll show you. I can be a soldier of fortune like +Robert Clay, or I can be a Canadian and get shot up as much as I like."</p> + +<p>"But this isn't in a story, Billy, and Robert Clay was. More than that, +you're no Canadian."</p> + +<p>"Anyhow I was in Canada once."</p> + +<p>"Don't mind Billy," Phil interrupted. "I'm really serious. There must be +some way I could get into it. You know, Mother, how much I've always +wanted to."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my boy; I do know," Mrs. Thatcher answered. "Ever since you were +old enough to play with toys it has always been soldiers and wars. I +have thanked God that war was a horror of the past, for I know how hard +it would be to hold you back if the opportunity offered."</p> + +<p>"If he goes, then I go with him," Billy said with decision.</p> + +<p>"You both had better wait until war is declared by somebody against +somebody else," Cosden suggested.</p> + +<p>"You don't think they'll patch it up, do you?" Philip inquired +anxiously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Let us hope so," Mrs. Thatcher answered; "but this is a pleasure +expedition. Let us banish thoughts of war."</p> + +<p>As the launch rounded a rocky promontory a roaring fire was disclosed +burning on the beach, around which several of the house servants were +already busied in preparing supper. Back from the beach, beneath great +spreading oaks, a cloth was laid on the ground, to which the contents of +the hampers were being transferred. The usual limitations of camp life +were conspicuous by their absence, the fascinations were emphasized by +the marvelous smoothness with which everything was conducted.</p> + +<p>"I don't call this picnicking," Edith declared, after her first taste of +chowder. "Plant a forest of trees in Sherry's ball-room, paint an ocean +on the wall, fake a moon rising over the orchestra stage, everybody sit +cross-legged on the floor,—and there you have it. Sherry certainly +couldn't improve on the service or the food."</p> + +<p>"I can't find even an ant on mine," Billy complained, corroborating +Edith's praise.</p> + +<p>"Champagne like this is far too good for the common people," added +Cosden turning to Mrs. Thatcher. "How did you do it? It is the +apotheosis of gipsy life, and makes me reluctant to return to +civilization."</p> + +<p>Billy edged around until he gained a seat next to Merry. "This feast +might have been in honor of our marriage," he whispered. "It's all your +fault that I'm going to war, and if I'm shot up I'll come back and haunt +you."</p> + +<p>"Don't, Billy!" Merry sputtered, laughing and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> choking,—"you'll make me +swallow this the wrong way. There—" she continued as she recovered; +"that's better. Now don't be silly or you'll spoil our fun. We are going +to be good friends always, and that's all there is to it."</p> + +<p>"You wait. You've been lots happier since I told you that you loved me, +now haven't you? I know. You think it's a joke because you think I'm a +joke, but when once I've gone to war you'll understand. I'll bet you +even that you'll chase after me as a Red Cross nurse, and that I'll die +with my head in your lap. Do you take me?"</p> + +<p>Phil approached near enough to put an end to the proposition without +Merry's reply.</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose there's anything in this war talk?" he queried, sitting +down beside them.</p> + +<p>"Not a thing," his sister replied. "That would be too absurd."</p> + +<p>"If there is, I could at least go as a correspondent,—that is, if Dad +could spare me. I'm terribly keen about this."</p> + +<p>"How could you work me in?" Billy demanded. "I couldn't do any newspaper +stunt."</p> + +<p>"How about taking pictures to illustrate my articles?"</p> + +<p>"Great! I can shoot a Kodak like anything. Then it's all settled that we +go together?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose there isn't any war?" Merry persisted in throwing cold water +upon their plans.</p> + +<p>Both boys looked gloomily at each other. Then Billy had an inspiration.</p> + +<p>"If there isn't," he declared with decision, "then Phil and I will dash +over there and stir one up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> We could make faces at them or do something +and get one started. That's the idea, isn't it, Phil?"</p> + +<p>"You make me tired!" Philip retorted. "This is too serious a matter to +joke about."</p> + +<p>As the older boy moved away disgustedly Billy again whispered to Merry. +"Phil is just as bad as you," he said disconsolately. "He doesn't know +seriousness when he sees it. Come on! Take a chance and be a sport!"</p> + +<p>The boy's persistency was the only jarring note in the whole experience, +and the extent of that was too limited to produce lasting effect. The +picnickers watched the sun set and the moon rise, then, filled with the +calm delights which Nature so generously shared with them, and +over-satiated with the creature comforts supplied by their hostess, they +re-embarked in the launch and returned to Sagamore Hall. To their +surprise, as they walked across the great lawn to the house, they saw +some one coming down to meet them.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Huntington has returned!" Marian cried, and she hastened toward him +in advance of the others.</p> + +<p>"Why, Harry!" she exclaimed surprised to discover that it was her +husband. "How did you manage to get back to-night? I'm so glad to see +you!"</p> + +<p>Cosden hurried forward, sensing important revelations in Thatcher's +return. The new-comer grasped his hand cordially, and his face even in +the moonlight showed a relief from the long strain.</p> + +<p>"With your help, old man, I've pulled through," he whispered later. "The +stock-markets of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> world are closed indefinitely. Germany and England +are straining to jump at each other's throats. The history of the world +starts revision from to-day, and now I'm going to stay down here for a +while and let other people worry!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXVII" id="XXXVII"></a>XXXVII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Knowing that his telephone message would allay Mrs. Thatcher's greatest +anxiety, Huntington made no effort to return to the shore that night, +and when morning came it was a question whether he could go at all. He +knew that Hamlen would keep his promise so long as he remained master of +himself, but the roving eyes and the twitching nerves warned Huntington +that he must not place too great reliance upon this expectation. All +through the hours of darkness, without his friend's knowledge, he +watched over him, sharing in sympathetic silence the suffering which the +tossing body endured in expressing the tortures of the mind. When +morning came at last Hamlen was quieter, but this condition was due to +the exhaustion of high fever rather than to even temporary relief. +Hastily summoning a physician, Huntington watched the examination, +becoming more and more apprehensive as the expression of concern +deepened on the doctor's face. Together they stepped into the hall, +where the doctor shook his head gravely.</p> + +<p>"Tell me something of what led up to this," he demanded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huntington briefly sketched Hamlen's history, and the climax.</p> + +<p>"It will be nip and tuck," the doctor said crisply. "His resistance is +low, but he'll probably pull through. What I'm afraid of is his reason. +We'll break this fever now, and then you must find something to interest +him outside of himself. That is his only salvation."</p> + +<p>"I wish I thought I could," Huntington replied doubtfully. "There will +be no help from him, for the last thing he desires is to live."</p> + +<p>"But if to live is to—"</p> + +<p>"I know,—I shall do my best."</p> + +<p>A week later Hamlen's life was out of danger, but at times his mental +wanderings confirmed the doctor's worst apprehensions. Yet Huntington +came to dread the depression of the saner moments more than the vagrant +hallucinations. The dramatic details of the unleashing of the war-dogs +of one nation after another should have been enough to arouse his +interest, but his only comment was, "It is a fitting end to a hollow +world, with its thin veneer of sham civilization; would to God it had +come sooner!"</p> + +<p>Finally it seemed safe to leave the patient in the care of the trained +nurse, and Huntington made his deferred return to Sagamore Hall. Marian +had kept in touch with Hamlen's progress as well as she could over the +telephone, but there was much which her heart craved to learn more +intimately. The illness afforded a simple explanation to the other +guests of the peculiar disappearance of both men, so Huntington's +confidences needed to be told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> to Mrs. Thatcher alone. Still, there was +a single exception. One of the first questions Huntington asked of +Marian was whether Merry knew the whole truth, and when he learned from +both how much each had gained from their mutual confidences he insisted +that the girl hear from him the details of what had happened since.</p> + +<p>He told his story simply, trying to spare Marian and making as light as +possible of the part which he himself had played, yet the whole-souled +devotion he had given his friend could be concealed no more than the +serious results of Mrs. Thatcher's persistency. Huntington had claimed +from him the life which would have been forfeited, promising to make +good use of it; now that it was at his disposal, what was he to do with +it? He admitted freely to Mrs. Thatcher and Merry that as yet he had +found no solution.</p> + +<p>"This necessity of doing your splendid work over again is but one of the +results of my culpable stupidity," Marian said penitently. "When I think +of it, it seems as if I should go mad!"</p> + +<p>Huntington rejoiced in the change which he found in Mrs. Thatcher. The +sudden view she had gained of herself was all she needed to understand +that one lack which no one could have made her see or comprehend. +Huntington felt the closer relationship between her and Merry, and he +believed the girl had found the answer to her question.</p> + +<p>"We must forget our mistakes," he said, anxious to relieve Marian, +"except when remembering them will prevent a repetition. We all have +tried to do our full duty by this abnormal personality, and our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> +shortcomings should not cause us to question the sincerity of our acts."</p> + +<p>"You are too generous," Mrs. Thatcher replied; "I shall never cease to +hold myself accountable, never!"</p> + +<p>"Don't, Momsie!" Merry begged. "Perhaps even now we can suggest +something which will undo the harm."</p> + +<p>"We must," Huntington said soberly. "Now, if I may finish out my visit +with you it will be a real relief after these depressing days, and we +will await the inspiration."</p> + +<p>"We are counting on your doing so," Marian replied promptly. "It +comforts me to have you share this time with me. I can't tell Harry the +whole story yet. And Billy is waiting for you. He and Philip are crazed +by this talk of war, and are trying to find some way to get into it. Of +course it is ridiculous, but boys are irrepressible creatures. I don't +need to tell you that!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure that it is ridiculous," Huntington surprised them both +by saying. "I don't quite see where they could break into this war, but +as for Billy I believe a first-hand knowledge of these terrible +experiences would go far toward making a man of him."</p> + +<p>"You surely wouldn't have them get into the fighting!" Mrs. Thatcher +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"No, not that; but there are other ways. I heard some talk of forming +ambulance squads to send to France. If they do that, I might urge +Billy's father to let him go."</p> + +<p>"Still, there would be danger, wouldn't there?" Merry asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Some, perhaps; but there is danger in the life which surrounds these +boys now. I am much concerned about Billy. Unless something happens to +shake him up he will never know what life really is. The nobility of +heroism, an every-day occurrence on the firing-line, is something which +could not fail to leave its impress on these youngsters. It is worth +thinking over."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't let Philip go," Marian said with the old-time finality in +her voice.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," Huntington replied with a significant look. "It may be +most unwise; but if Nature should seem to point strongly in that +direction we must be careful not to thwart it."</p> + +<p>Marian flushed. "You are right, Mr. Huntington," she said with frank +understanding; "I shall be careful, you may be sure."</p> + +<p>"Where are the boys now?" Huntington asked. "I would prefer to postpone +the discussion with them until I am rested. I'm not used to problems, +you know, and lately they seem to have concentrated themselves on me. +Help me to escape them for another hour!"</p> + +<p>"Take Mr. Huntington down to the water-garden," Marian suggested +smiling; "no one will think of looking for you there."</p> + +<p>"Would you like to go?" Merry asked him.</p> + +<p>"Nothing would rest me more."</p> + +<p>"Won't you come, Momsie?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear; you must do the honors in my stead."</p> + +<p>They wandered through the formal garden in silence, down the shaded +<i>bosquet</i>, and across a bit of lawn to the fresh-water garden which was +built<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> only a little back from the shore itself. A miniature torii, from +whose crossbeam hung a replica in straw of the mystic <i>shimenawa</i>, +marked the entrance, sounding the motivation for the Oriental note +within. They passed through this and walked between the rows of Japanese +maples which formed an avenue ending in a vista of the sea. In the +moment they had transported themselves, for within the limitations +marked by the avenue of trees there was nothing to suggest anything save +the East: there were the little shrines surrounded by Oriental +flower-pots; there was a tiny lake, crossed by an arched stone bridge, +through which could be seen the luxuriant bloom of the lotus and other +rare aquatic plants, brilliant in their coloring and foliage, growing in +and out of the water and over the rocks with well-planned irregularity; +there was the lilliputian grove of dwarfed trees impudently challenging +comparison with their taller neighbors.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you brought me here," Huntington said as they seated +themselves upon a curiously-carved stone. "Other parts of the estate are +far more impressive, but you have no spot which appeals to me more by +virtue of its beauty."</p> + +<p>"I love it too," the girl acknowledged. "Almost every one looks at it +once or twice and admires it, but no one seems to care to linger here as +I do. I am sure to be alone, so I come almost every day to read Lafcadio +Hearn and to dream of Nippon."</p> + +<p>"I understand," Huntington said quietly; "and I'll warrant you find +yourself spending much of your time gazing at the surface of that little +lake."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," she exclaimed surprised; "but how do you know that, and why +should I do it?"</p> + +<p>"It is not so mysterious, after all," he answered smiling. "I have no +psychic powers, but I know a little of the Oriental teachings: the +surface of the lake is a mirror, symbolic of illusion and reflecting our +souls, in which alone we must seek the Buddha.—But to-day it is of a +modern divinity I would prefer to speak. These have been hard weeks for +you, Merry, and I have sympathized with you."</p> + +<p>"Why,—yes; in a way," she admitted. "But like everything else I do, +they haven't amounted to anything, have they?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't they?" he asked pointedly. "Isn't some of that unrest gone now +that you and the dear mother understand each other?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. That means everything to me, but again it is I who benefit. +Oh! Mr. Huntington, I want so much to do something for somebody else, +and no matter how hard I try it always turns out that I am the gainer. I +believed I had the opportunity at last, and again I was mistaken. But +this time it wasn't my fault, was it? At least I was ready to do my +part."</p> + +<p>"Don't you know that you can't try to do something for some one else +without having it come back to you?"</p> + +<p>"Do you expect that what you are doing for Mr. Hamlen will bring you a +reward?"</p> + +<p>"It has already given me your friendship. Isn't that enough?"</p> + +<p>The color came to Merry's face, and she turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> her glance away. "What +can that mean to you who have so many friendships?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"It is the friendship I value most among them all."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him quickly, startled by the intensity of his tone. +"You can't mean that," she said. "To me it is different. You brought +into my life something which it never had and never would have had +except for you. To me your friendship is the grandest thing I know, but +what can mine mean to you? Something fine and splendid must come in +return for the months you have given Mr. Hamlen. I wish—" she hesitated +a moment but then continued bravely—"yes, I wish it might even bring +you back the girl you loved—and found too late!"</p> + +<p>"Merry! child! what are you saying!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Have I hurt you again?"</p> + +<p>"Not hurt me; but you make it hard for me to be fair to our friendship."</p> + +<p>"Can't we be friends—because of her?"</p> + +<p>Huntington turned to her gently, taking her hand in his. His face showed +the force of the emotion which fought for supremacy, but the calmness +with which he spoke evidenced his control.</p> + +<p>"I have tried to be fair to our friendship," he repeated, "but you must +not misunderstand. I wonder if it would be more kind to tell you the +truth, even though it cost me what I value so."</p> + +<p>"Don't,—please don't!" she begged.</p> + +<p>"I fear I must," he said with decision, "no matter what it costs. +Whether this strain with Hamlen has weakened my resolve, or because the +romance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> of the Japanese Benten hovers over this spot and bids me speak, +I must tell you, little girl, that my friendship has only been a blind +to cover something far deeper, which I have no right to offer you. The +time has come for you to know that, for it will tell you what you are to +me. I would relinquish all I possess to turn back the years until they +gave me the right to ask you to be my wife."</p> + +<p>She started to her feet and tried to speak, but he stopped her.</p> + +<p>"You don't need to answer," he insisted. "I understand only too well."</p> + +<p>"But the girl you met too late—"</p> + +<p>"Was you, dear child! I am a generation ahead of my time; otherwise I +believe it might have been."</p> + +<p>He smiled as he always did when deeply moved, but this time the sadness +showed through the mask. As the full comprehension of his words came to +her, Merry's color faded but she looked into his face with a woman's +candor.</p> + +<p>"Is the difference in our ages the only reason?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Alas! that is enough!"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" she cried impulsively. "You wouldn't let that stand between +us!"</p> + +<p>"Do you realize what you are saying, Merry? It can't be that you +understand!"</p> + +<p>"I do! I do!" she cried. "Please don't stop. Say it to me!"</p> + +<p>He placed his arm around her and drew her to him. "Can it possibly be?" +he demanded incredulously. "Can this really have come to me?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>"</p> + +<p>Merry hid her face on his shoulder. "Say it!" she insisted, +"please,—please say it!"</p> + +<p>"Merry—child—I love you!"</p> + +<p>Her arm crept about his neck, and then her radiant face came out from +its hiding place, and held itself ready for the consecration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXVIII" id="XXXVIII"></a>XXXVIII</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>They lingered in happy disregard of passing time, each seeming to fear +disillusionment if they deserted their magic garden. Huntington no +longer felt the oppression of the years, Merry no longer drifted from +her anchorage.</p> + +<p>"Monty," she whispered slyly,—"dare I call you Monty?"</p> + +<p>"If you don't, I shall call you incorrigible!"</p> + +<p>"Monty,—who is Benten?"</p> + +<p>She asked the question so hesitatingly, as if ashamed to admit her +ignorance, that he laughed.</p> + +<p>"Benten?" he repeated after her. "Surely you know Benten! She is none +other than an adorable Japanese lady of antiquity who is known as the +deity of Beauty, the divinity of Love and the Goddess of Eloquence. I +have no doubt she has other attributes, but those are enough for us, +aren't they, little sweetheart?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monty,—you know so much!" she sighed. "It is going to be a +terrible strain!"</p> + +<p>She seemed very winsome in her present mood, and he smiled happily.</p> + +<p>"The strain will be on me, dear heart," he protested. "I have assumed +wisdom all these years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> with no danger of being unmasked; now you will +find me out.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad it happened here in this garden," she said contentedly. "I +seem to feel more at home in this atmosphere. Benten shall be my patron +saint from this day."</p> + +<p>"Shall we spend our honeymoon in Japan?" he asked. "Why not keep this +setting to the end?"</p> + +<p>She clapped her hands. "Splendid!" she cried. "That will be +Paradise;—and you'll teach me all you know about everything?"</p> + +<p>"Why not let your Hearn teach you of Japan? He knows it all. He would +tell you, too, that Benten is also Goddess of the Sea," he pointed to +the brilliant spot of color at the end of the avenue, now made +spectacular by the radiance of the setting sun. "He would understand +why, under this influence, I could not keep from telling you my secret; +for 'is not the sea most ancient and most excellent of speakers,—the +eternal poet, chanter of that mystic hymn whose rhythm shakes the world, +whose mighty syllables no man may learn?'"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monty," she murmured, nestling closer to him in blissful happiness, +"please go on. To hear you talk is just like listening to a beautiful +symphony. And to think you're going to share it all with me! Let us stay +right here forever!"</p> + +<p>"Mer-ry!" came Philip's call across the lawn.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Mon-ty!" Billy halloed.</p> + +<p>"There come those horrid boys," she pouted, sitting up straight. "Why +are boys, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"You told me once that it was only when they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> became serious that you +worried about them," he teased her.</p> + +<p>"They are serious now,—they've found out you're here, and they're going +to talk war with you.—I don't want to give you up even for a moment!"</p> + +<p>"Nor I you," he whispered, as the boys were close at hand; "but we must +keep our secret a little longer."</p> + +<p>They rose and walked up the avenue to meet them.</p> + +<p>"Mother said to wait because you were tired, but Billy couldn't, so I +came with him," Philip explained lamely.</p> + +<p>"I am never too tired to receive a welcome like this—"</p> + +<p>"We want your advice," Billy interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Won't it wait until we get to the house?"</p> + +<p>"No," Billy insisted; "it's urgent. Phil and I want to go to the war, +and if we don't hurry they may call it off and then we'll be rooked."</p> + +<p>"I wish there was a chance they might," Huntington said feelingly. +"There's no fear of that, boy. They are in for a long and terrible +struggle."</p> + +<p>"Great!" cried Philip. "I've always wanted to go to war, and I never +believed there would be another."</p> + +<p>"I'm going because I want to get shot up just to spite Merry," added +Billy, remembering his grievance and looking at the girl gloomily.</p> + +<p>"The fact that you realize so little what you are saying is the greatest +argument you could advance in favor of your going," Huntington said, +looking at them gravely.</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean to speak as I did," Philip replied<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> apologetically. "It +is a terrible thing, of course, but since it has come I am crazy to be a +part of it. I believe I'll run away if Mother and Dad don't let me go!"</p> + +<p>"I meant just what I said," Billy insisted stoutly. "Merry is very +unhappy,—haven't you noticed it?"</p> + +<p>"Do I look so now?" she laughed at him.</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't interrupt," he reproved her; "it isn't polite.—She +doesn't know what is the matter with her, but I do."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Billy?" Huntington inquired seriously. "If I knew, +perhaps I could help her."</p> + +<p>"Of course you could; that's why I'm telling you. She's in love with me +and she doesn't know it."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" Huntington exclaimed, looking at Merry's beaming face as she +walked beside him, and then at the serious features of the boy on the +other side. "I'm afraid I can't help, after all."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can," Billy insisted confidently. "Merry will believe anything +you tell her. Now if I go to war and get shot up she will realize her +destiny, and will come to the hospital over there somewhere and be a Red +Cross nurse, and fix me all up. Then we'll be married,—unless my wound +is fatal and I die," he added, gulping down the pathos which this +painful picture stirred within himself.</p> + +<p>"I can't stay with you, Billy, if you harrow up my feelings like this," +Huntington declared. "It isn't fair to take advantage of your +sympathetic old uncle."</p> + +<p>"He's just talking in bunches, Mr. Huntington," Philip said disgustedly. +"You mustn't mind what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> he says. His mouth is full of mush all the time +now. I'm sick of it!"</p> + +<p>"How about my feelings, Billy?" Merry demanded. "Have you no pity for +me?"</p> + +<p>"Why should I?" he retorted. "It's all your fault.—Uncle Monty, +wouldn't you like to have Merry in the family?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly would," was the frank response spoken with a sincerity +which gave the boy unbounded encouragement.</p> + +<p>"Now you've said something!" Billy exclaimed and he turned to Merry with +a gesture of finality! "I want you in the family, Uncle Monty wants you, +Phil wants me for a brother-in-law—"</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure," Philip interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, he does," Billy continued unabashed.—"So it's up to you. Will +you make us all happy, or will you send me to meet my fate amid the +horrors of war?"</p> + +<p>"That'll be about all of that," Philip said, scowling. "We came out here +to talk war and not nonsense. I won't stand for it!"</p> + +<p>"We mustn't get these two great questions confused, Billy," Huntington +said soothingly. "I have something to tell you later which may solve one +of them, and we should approach the other with a calm and judicial mind. +I haven't any right to advise you, Philip, for your mother and father +probably have definite ideas which must be respected; but if a way could +be found for Billy to have some of the experiences over there without +running too much danger, I should be inclined to throw my influence in +favor of his going."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" Billy cried.</p> + +<p>"That is all I could possibly expect, Mr. Huntington," Philip +acknowledged. "If Billy is allowed to go, I'm sure Mother and Dad will +consent."</p> + +<p>"Very good. I promise you to look into it carefully, and Billy will keep +you posted as to the result."</p> + +<p>"What's the other solution?" Billy asked suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you later.—Now let me speak with the others. There is +nothing more for us to talk about, is there?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I spoke so lightly about the war," Philip said, grasping +Huntington's hand as they separated. "I have fighting in my blood +somewhere, and I'm so excited over it all that I forget myself +sometimes."</p> + +<p>"War means to forget one's self at all times, my boy," Huntington +answered kindly. "With all its savagery, with all its brutal return to +primeval instincts, the sacrifices and the heroism it calls for ennoble +those who are drawn into its hideous vortex. No man can once feel this +and ever again look upon life in a small way. That is why, under certain +circumstances, I might favor Billy's desire."</p> + +<p>"That is my second desire," Billy carefully explained; "my first is that +Merry become a member of our family."</p> + +<p>"To that," his uncle replied, "I have already given my unqualified +approval."</p> + +<p>The boys left them and they continued to the house. Mr. and Mrs. +Thatcher met them at the steps.</p> + +<p>"I had begun to fear that you and Merry were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> lost," Marian said, after +Huntington greeted his host.</p> + +<p>"We have been lost a long time," Huntington replied, with a meaning they +did not comprehend; "now we have indeed found ourselves."</p> + +<p>He took Merry's hand in his and stood for a moment looking at them both.</p> + +<p>"Would this time be inopportune," he continued, "to ask if you can spare +this little girl to some one who loves her very dearly?"</p> + +<p>"So Billy has persuaded you to become his champion?" Mrs. Thatcher said +with some annoyance. "I didn't think Merry cared for him. He is so +irresponsible, Mr. Huntington. It is difficult to refuse anything you +ask, but couldn't the matter wait?"</p> + +<p>"The boy isn't grown up enough to think of such things yet," Thatcher +added.</p> + +<p>Huntington smiled quietly at the natural mistake. "It is for one who is +perhaps too far grown up I stand as champion, but I am hoping you will +not look upon that as an obstacle. I did for many months, but Merry has +a way of making one forget his years."</p> + +<p>"You!" Marian cried.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean it, my dear fellow!" Thatcher held out his hand +cordially.</p> + +<p>"We children ask the parental blessing."</p> + +<p>Merry slipped by, into her mother's arms.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Momsie! I am happy at last!"</p> + +<p>"You have certainly kept us in the dark!" Marian exclaimed, recovering +from her surprise.</p> + +<p>Then the pleasure in her face changed to one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> concern. "You have +loved Merry, yet stood aside these weeks?"</p> + +<p>"I could not believe that she could care for me."</p> + +<p>"Almost a triple tragedy!" Marian said soberly, so low that only +Huntington heard her. "Can any one ever forgive me!"</p> + +<p>"Come, we must tell Edith and Cosden," Thatcher urged. "They are +consumed with impatience to see you."</p> + +<p>"Let us wait until dinner," Huntington suggested. "Billy must be +considered, for the dear boy believes himself madly in love with +Merry,—even as I did once with her mother."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" laughed Marian.</p> + +<p>"It didn't seem like nonsense then, but I forgive you since you give me +this sweet child, which I know you consider a greater gift than the one +I would have asked."</p> + +<p>"I never heard of this," Thatcher exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"No man can marry a woman like Mrs. Thatcher without finding wrecks +along the shore."</p> + +<p>"A very pretty remark from a son-in-law," she retorted. "I shall hold +you strictly to your loyalty!"</p> + +<p>"Let me find Billy while you are dressing for dinner," Huntington said. +"I'll overtake you after breaking the news gently to him."</p> + +<p>"Don't be late," Merry whispered to him in parting. "When I leave you I +shall think it all a dream."</p> + +<p>"So it is, dear heart, but one which is sure to come true!"</p> + +<p>Billy joined his uncle in his room, and the older man sat down beside +him on the window-seat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Boy," he said, "you and I have been great pals, and I want you to be +the first to know of a wonderful thing which has happened to me."</p> + +<p>"You've beaten Mr. Cosden at golf," Billy guessed.</p> + +<p>"It is something which will hurt you for a minute but I want you to show +how good a sport you are."</p> + +<p>"You're not going to make me live within my allowance?"</p> + +<p>"Merry is going to marry me."</p> + +<p>"She isn't!" the boy cried, almost bursting into tears. "She +isn't,—she's going to marry me!"</p> + +<p>"Steady, Billy, steady! Remember what pals we are! You wouldn't want her +to marry you if she loved some one else, would you?"</p> + +<p>Billy quieted down, swallowing hard but saying nothing.</p> + +<p>"Think how many years I have waited for this wonderful thing to happen. +Think how many years you have ahead of you in which to have it happen. +For it will happen to you, boy,—it must."</p> + +<p>"But you are a woman-hater."</p> + +<p>"No, boy,—a Merry lover! Won't you forget your infatuation and wish me +joy?"</p> + +<p>"I shall never marry," Billy said disconsolately.</p> + +<p>"That is what I said, twenty years ago!"</p> + +<p>"You can't depend on girls, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"That is what I said, twenty years ago! Won't you wish me joy? It's the +first time I've ever asked you to do anything for me."</p> + +<p>"It's asking a whole lot."</p> + +<p>"It is,—and the greater the gift if you give it to me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So Merry is really going to marry you?"</p> + +<p>Huntington nodded his head.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, I suppose I shall get over it."</p> + +<p>"Good for you, boy! And you wish me joy?"</p> + +<p>"I can't; I'm a woman-hater now myself."</p> + +<p>"Wish me as much joy as possible under the circumstances."</p> + +<p>"I'll do that; but don't expect me to throw a fit in doing it."</p> + +<p>"All right," Huntington patted him affectionately on the shoulder. "Now +run and get ready for dinner, and don't forget that I'm keeping Merry in +the family!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! come. Don't rub it in!"</p> + +<p>"I won't, but I'm so happy that I'm kiddish!"</p> + +<p>"Many a married man seems contented when he's only resigned," quoted +Billy maliciously.</p> + +<p>"Get out!" Huntington shouted, throwing a chair-pillow at the retreating +figure.</p> + +<p>It was at dinner that the party reassembled, this time in its full +strength of numbers. The table was set in the Italian dining-porch, +which occupied the east gable, and by reason of its uniqueness formed a +charming background for the ceremony. Three of its sides were open, the +over-story being supported on columns; the plaster wall was covered with +masses of flowering and decorative plants, clinging to a lattice, and +broken in the center by a niche enclosing an old marble fountain. Edith +and Cosden greeted Huntington cordially when he came down, plying him +with questions until he begged for mercy.</p> + +<p>"You don't show any ill effects from acting as trained nurse," Cosden +remarked; "in fact I never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> saw you look so well. Glad you came in time +for this farewell dinner; I'm back into the harness again to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I wish you could stay longer, Mr. Cosden," Marian urged.</p> + +<p>"I'm ashamed of the length of time I have already imposed upon your +hospitality," Cosden replied; "but you must hold Edith responsible. It +takes her an eternity to get a little word of three letters out of her +mouth."</p> + +<p>"That isn't a commodity which requires advertising," she remarked, +tossing her head.</p> + +<p>"I'll get you yet, you little devil!" whispered Cosden.</p> + +<p>"This dinner is epoch-making," Thatcher said seriously after they were +seated, "and the epochs divide themselves into two parts. The first one +I'm going to explain; then, as it is proper that my wife should have the +last word, Marian will tell you the second. We have with us this +evening—that's the way the toastmaster usually starts in, isn't it?—a +man whom I have known for several years, whose integrity is +unquestioned, but who has been considered by his business associates as +one who exacted his last pound of flesh."</p> + +<p>Cosden looked quickly at Thatcher, and reddened at the pointed glance +which Edith gave him.</p> + +<p>"A few days ago," Thatcher continued, "owing to extraordinary business +conditions, that man found the one house which he would like best to +control in a position where he could legitimately force it to accept his +own terms. I know, because that house was mine."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Cut it out, Thatcher," Cosden growled; "this isn't an experience +meeting."</p> + +<p>Thatcher paid no attention to him. "At this crisis, I went down on my +knees, and begged him a favor to accept a little trifle of four and a +half millions profit in exchange for saving my house and reputation."</p> + +<p>"Harry!" Marian cried. "I've been blind to your troubles too!"</p> + +<p>"This was his chance. He remarked coolly that he had been making plans +to take advantage of his opportunity when it came, handed me drafts +which enabled me to weather the storm, and refused to accept one penny +of the blood-money which I was only too ready to give him. That is the +way our friend Cosden collects his pound of flesh."</p> + +<p>"Connie did that?" Huntington demanded, gratified beyond measure but +speaking lightly to cover Cosden's embarrassment. "Why, Connie,—I +thought you were a business man!"</p> + +<p>Edith made no comment but her gaze never left Cosden's face. His +confusion was genuine, for to be made a hero in the midst of one's +friends is more than any man can stand. Marian hastened to his rescue.</p> + +<p>"I shall tell Mr. Cosden what I think of him when we are alone," she +said gratefully. "Now let us turn from the worship of Midas to that of a +coy little divinity who may yet teach Edith to speak in words of one +syllable. Harry says that I am to have the last word. It shall be brief: +Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thatcher announce the engagement of their only +daughter to—Mr. William Montgomery Huntington."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span></p> + +<p>The effect of this announcement was even more dramatic than the first.</p> + +<p>"You sly old dog!" Cosden cried, reaching over and pummeling Huntington +on the back.</p> + +<p>"Great work!" was Philip's congratulation, but he subsided when he saw +the expression on Billy's face.</p> + +<p>It was epoch-making, as Thatcher had promised. The relief over the happy +solution of the business crisis, and the surprise and joy of the +announced engagement made the dinner pass from an episode into an event. +Billy's lack of enthusiasm might be easily understood and as easily +forgiven, but Edith's subdued attitude was less comprehensible. It was +only as they left the table to go out upon the piazza that she broke her +silence. She held back after Marian and Merry passed through the door +and turned to Cosden.</p> + +<p>"Did you really do that?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>He nodded his head sheepishly. "You see, as Monty says, I'm no kind of +business man after all."</p> + +<p>"I think you're the greatest business genius in the world!"</p> + +<p>"You do!" he cried. "Then why don't you follow Merry's example?"</p> + +<p>"I might," she said smiling.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XXXIX" id="XXXIX"></a>XXXIX</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Huntington dared not extend his visit beyond a few blissful days, but +into these he crowded the full expression of his long-delayed romance. +The wonder of it never left him, the joy of it filled him with quiet +content.</p> + +<p>The lovers watched Cosden's departure next morning, and by virtue of the +priority of their engagement, considered themselves entitled to tease +Edith who was not to leave until the following day.</p> + +<p>"Well," Huntington remarked, as they turned back into the hallway, "as +Connie says, he usually gets what he goes after."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think he's earned me?" Edith retaliated.</p> + +<p>"And you him," Huntington retorted. "Everything is as it should be. You +are just the girl for him, and he will make you a husband in a thousand. +I need not tell you how cordially I have congratulated him."</p> + +<p>"I don't think our Society proved very effective," she remarked dryly.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, it demonstrated its efficiency by the present most +satisfactory exceptions.—But you are giving me a great many mysteries +to explain to Merry!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span></p> + +<p>The evening before Huntington felt it necessary to return to his patient +he touched upon a subject which had been avoided.</p> + +<p>"Mamma," he said to Mrs. Thatcher, "I think—"</p> + +<p>"Don't you dare to call me that, Monty Huntington!" Marian exclaimed +vehemently. "If I am to go through life with a son-in-law older than I +am, at least I won't be called 'mamma'!"</p> + +<p>"I'm trying to be respectful," Huntington explained mischievously.</p> + +<p>"Never you mind that,—call me 'Marian.' That at least will give me the +benefit of the doubt."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to mark my entrance into the family by causing +mortification," Huntington continued in mock-seriousness. "It never +occurred to me, if my prospective wife made no objections, that my age +would be offensive to her parents. But the case isn't so serious as Ned +Fordham's, is it?"</p> + +<p>"He married Mrs. Eustis, didn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and you remember that she has a married daughter and a small +grandchild. Ned said the idea of a ready-made family was fine, but he +thought it immoral for him to become a grandfather before he became a +father."</p> + +<p>"Rather late for him to come to that conclusion, wasn't it?" Thatcher +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but he found two other men in the same predicament, so the three +of them have formed a 'Society of Illegitimate Grandparents,' and now +they're looking for more members."</p> + +<p>"Ned would joke at his own funeral!" chuckled Thatcher.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It isn't your age I'm objecting to," Marian explained; "it's my own. +Merry's engagement makes me realize it."</p> + +<p>"She and I are going to make you forget that you have any age at all," +Huntington declared.—"But when you interrupted me I was going to speak +of a really important matter.—We mustn't be unmindful of poor Hamlen."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," Marian replied seriously. "Happiness is selfish, isn't it, +in making us temporarily forgetful? Poor Philip!"</p> + +<p>"We are doing him no injustice," he reassured her; "in fact I think the +news I can take will please him. But I want you and Merry to go back to +Boston with me."</p> + +<p>"Whatever you think is wise shall be done," she acquiesced, "but +wouldn't it be better for you to go ahead to prepare him for our +coming?"</p> + +<p>"That is by far the wiser plan," Huntington assented promptly.</p> + +<p>"Take me with you, Monty," Merry whispered; "I wish we never need be +separated again."</p> + +<p>"Stay here, sweetheart, and plan out with the dear mother how soon that +day may be. I have been waiting too long already!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The nurse met Huntington as he entered the door, and replied to the +question his face asked sooner than his lips.</p> + +<p>"There is a remarkable improvement," she announced cheerfully. "The +doctor was here this morning, and left word for you that the progress is +beyond his understanding."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Splendid!" he cried. "Where shall I find Hamlen?</p> + +<p>"In the library, Mr. Huntington; it is all I can do to persuade him to +go anywhere else."</p> + +<p>Huntington mounted the stairs two steps at time. "Hamlen!" he cried, +"where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Here!" a well-contained voice replied as he entered the room, "in your +library, sitting in your favorite chair, eating your food, drinking your +rum—in short, exercising every prerogative a man can assume who has +unfettered himself from worldly responsibilities, and awaits the command +of his master."</p> + +<p>"You certainly are better," Huntington exclaimed, looking at him +critically, astonished by the tone of his remark.</p> + +<p>"Except for my weakness," Hamlen answered, holding out his hand, "better +than I've been in all my life."</p> + +<p>"You amaze me!" Huntington exclaimed. "I hoped for an improvement, but +this return to more than your best self—"</p> + +<p>"I've fought the fight, my friend, and this is the result."</p> + +<p>"It is a positive triumph!" Huntington drew a chair beside the patient, +and regarded him with an expression of mystified gratification. "What in +the world has happened?"</p> + +<p>"You went away and gave me a chance to think," Hamlen replied seriously. +"Do you know, Huntington, I'm convinced that there ought to be a law +condemning every human being to solitary confinement for a certain +period each year, to make him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> think. Deprive him of his companions, his +books, his writing materials—everything, and just force him to think. +We take things so much for granted, we accept so many half-truths, we so +easily lose our sense of proportion."</p> + +<p>"That is a capital idea, but you've done your share of it already."</p> + +<p>"My thoughts were misdirected. You not only gave me the opportunity but +something basic on which to build. I wonder if you realize how +pitilessly you laid me bare!"</p> + +<p>"I had no intention, my dear fellow—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was right; that was the very thing which saved me. I was sincere +in feeling myself sunk in degradation, in wanting to end it all, and I +hated you for standing in my way. But when you laid claim to my life, +which I valued so slightly, I began to analyze it to discover why you +cared to have it. You have done more for me, Huntington, than any human +being ever did for a fellow-creature, and why you did it was past my +comprehension."</p> + +<p>"We are bound by ties of a great brotherhood," Huntington explained.</p> + +<p>"No man I ever saw before has considered them so sacred. You are an +idealist, Huntington. Your devotion to college and to college +responsibilities amounts to a fetish. But I thank God for your idealism: +it is not what college relations really are but what they ought to be!"</p> + +<p>"I never will admit that, Hamlen."</p> + +<p>"Of course you won't; if you did you would lose your idealism. I saw all +this, and it gave me my explanation: what you have done for me, +Huntington,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> you would have done for any other college man under the +same circumstances. It was not because of any claim the individual had +upon you, but rather the acknowledgment of the greater appeal made by +that brotherhood you venerate."</p> + +<p>"No, Hamlen; you must not depreciate the appeal which your own +personality made from the first."</p> + +<p>"I don't depreciate it,—I'm proud of it; but to understand your +idolatrous worship of the brotherhood makes it possible for me to accept +the heavy obligations under which you place me. When you left me I felt +that you must hate the sight of my haggard face, the sound of my +complaining voice, the burden of silly weakness which I foisted upon +your generous shoulders."</p> + +<p>"I understood what lay beneath."</p> + +<p>"You did, and to a wonderful extent; but it took me hours of bitter +fighting to understand. Then the bigness of the great central thing at +last came to me, and I recognized it. Sitting here in this chair I cried +out in my excitement. The littleness of my own previous viewpoint +overwhelmed me, and what had seemed tragedies assumed at last their +smaller proportions. The greatness of your own ideals, the claim which +the Alma Mater ought to have upon her sons, the right which the larger +world outside has to demand big things of those to whom it gives +advantages, made the petty failures of my life so insignificant that I +was ashamed to have paraded them in public. I have been lying down on my +weaknesses, Huntington, as no man ever has a right to do; but you have +seen the last of that. I'll stand up now and take my medicine, I'll pay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> +whatever penalty my latest indiscretion may demand, I'll practise some +of that idealism which makes you what you are, and lay the ghost which +for years has tortured me with pin-pricks."</p> + +<p>"You give me too much credit, Hamlen," Huntington insisted firmly; "but +since you find relief in what I've said or done I rejoice in your +exaggeration."</p> + +<p>"You claimed my life, my friend," Hamlen returned again to his earlier +statement, "and it belongs to you. In all honor, I must make it reflect +attributes which will give it value. With that accomplished, I stand +ready to make delivery; but with it you must also accept its +obligations. How will you have me pay them?"</p> + +<p>"Your obligations are not so serious as you imagine," Huntington replied +with decision; "the only one as yet unpaid is to yourself. Had I not +seen this surprising evidence of your latent strength I should not have +believed you capable of meeting it; now I do."</p> + +<p>"But Marian—the insult my actions gave her—"</p> + +<p>"Forgotten, and forgiven,—if forgiveness be required."</p> + +<p>"If I could see her once more, and she would listen to me—"</p> + +<p>"She is coming here to see you as soon as I tell her you are strong +enough."</p> + +<p>"Coming here?" he echoed; "I can't believe it! And the girl—can she +ever understand?"</p> + +<p>"On that point I can reassure you with even greater certainty, for I am +to be the substitute bridegroom!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hamlen looked at him steadily to make sure he was in earnest.</p> + +<p>"You are to marry Miss Thatcher?" he asked deliberately.</p> + +<p>"The Gods have been good to me, Hamlen; they have given me the one gift +I craved."</p> + +<p>"Then you have loved her all these weeks?"</p> + +<p>"Since first I saw her."</p> + +<p>"My friend!" Hamlen raised himself unsteadily in his weakness, refusing +assistance, until he stood upon his feet. Then supporting himself with +one hand, he raised the other to his forehead in salute.</p> + +<p>"You, sir, are a great man!" he said with dramatic fervor. "You not only +possess ideals, but actually live up to them! A world that can produce +one such as you is entitled to my respect, and is a place worth living +in!"</p> + +<p>"Cease!" Huntington cried, genuinely embarrassed by Hamlen's tribute. +"Leave me out of this, for this is your day. To rise superior to the +habit of twenty years, to let the world knock you down time after time, +and finally come up smiling with an acknowledgment that it was your +fault after all, to stand ready to pool issues with that world which you +have always considered your enemy, is an exhibition of character which +puts you so far beyond the rest of us that you couldn't see us if we +saluted you.—I thought my happiest moment came when I discovered +unexpectedly that Merry loved me; now you have taken me to heights +beyond.</p> + +<p>"I believe you," Hamlen answered him, his voice weak from the strain of +the interview, but his eyes bright with excitement and his face +radiant,—"I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> believe every word you say. For one of your great +brotherhood to find himself at last means more to you than any personal +happiness,—such is the strength of the fetish! I wonder if the girl is +big enough to share you with your other idol!"</p> + +<p>"Have no fears," Huntington laughed contentedly. "She will worship at +the shrine with devotion equal to my own, and my fellow-worshipers shall +bow the knee to her."</p> + +<p>The nurse gave Huntington a reproving glance when she came for her +patient, but Hamlen would not permit even a suggestion that his friend +had been unmindful of his weakness.</p> + +<p>"It's all right," he reassured her. "I know I'm excited, I know that +I've pulled too hard on my strength, but something has come to +me—inside here—which no doctor could ever give me. You'll see. Take me +away now and I'll be as docile as a child.—But, Huntington, please +telephone Marian that instead of coming to see me, I'd rather go to her. +I would prefer to tell her what I have to say down there where the trees +are cousins to my trees, and the language of the flowers can fill in the +words when I find my own speech inadequate.—She'll understand."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="XL" id="XL"></a>XL</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was another fortnight before the fugitive was able to return to +Sagamore Hall. Huntington telephoned, as he had promised, but he also +found it necessary to run down there himself, to explain in detail the +miracle which had happened. Mrs. Thatcher appreciated his thoughtfulness +of her, Merry expressed her full approval, and incidentally he found the +experience agreeable, so the necessity of his appearance in person was +unanimously conceded. Still, the satisfaction of this visit was +completely overshadowed by his feeling of triumph when Hamlen actually +accompanied him.</p> + +<p>The drone of the motor-car brought Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher and Merry to +the door to greet them, for Marian wished their welcome to express to +the fullest the fact that whatever had occurred was forgotten. Hamlen +read it so, and it helped him.</p> + +<p>"I have to move a bit slowly yet," he explained as he rose cautiously in +the tonneau. "Another month and I'll be as good as new."</p> + +<p>They assisted him up the steps and through the hallway to a great easy +chair on the piazza beyond. Then, after a few moments of general +conversation, they left him alone with Marian.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Isn't it wonderful?" he exclaimed with frank delight. "I'm as pleased +with myself as a kitten with two tails."</p> + +<p>"You well may be!" she laughed at his expression, which in its nature +was eloquent of the changed mental attitude. "And our rejoicing is not +far behind yours."</p> + +<p>"I know it; that is the most wonderful part of the whole thing. No +matter how idiotic my actions, you and Huntington have stuck right by +me, and have proved me wrong by the bigness of your hearts."</p> + +<p>"Forget the past," Marian urged, "and start things from to-day."</p> + +<p>"No; I wouldn't want to do that, even if I could."</p> + +<p>He paused for a moment, and played with a tassel which fell across his +lap from the cushion she had placed in the chair.</p> + +<p>"Of course," he said without looking up, "much of it will always seem +like a delirious dream, but after all it is the past which has given me +the present. And except for the past I should not have Huntington."</p> + +<p>There was a wealth of feeling in his words which showed Mrs. Thatcher +how strong a hold his friend had gained upon him.</p> + +<p>"Does he know how much he means to you, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>Hamlen looked up quickly. "He hasn't the slightest conception," he +answered. "I have never seen a man so oblivious to the power he +exercises over others, or to the results which he obtains. He really +thinks I've come through this crisis because of some latent strength of +character, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> in reality it has been the reflection of his own. He +would tell you that when I was dying of shame and mortification I took +myself by the boot-straps and pulled myself out of the abyss, and he +would never believe it was the result of the philosophy he demonstrated +by every word and act. He positively made me ashamed to do anything but +respond. And now that I am out, he has fired me with a desire to use the +years which remain in doing something for some one else. Can you wonder +that I love him?"</p> + +<p>Marian's face reflected the pleasure his words gave her. "This is the +real Philip Hamlen I have seen behind his mask," she exclaimed; "this is +the Philip I tried in my mistaken way to rescue from the chaos of +confused ideals. I failed but Mr. Huntington succeeded; my gratitude to +him passes all bounds."</p> + +<p>"You must take some of the credit whether you wish to or not," Hamlen +insisted. "When you invaded my Garden of Eden last winter and made those +disturbing statements, you weakened the barrier of false beliefs with +which I had surrounded myself. You could have restored the structure had +I permitted it, but I wasn't ready for it then. You were entirely right +when you said that I had forgotten the teachings of the masters I +venerated, that I was blind to the difference between the means and the +end. But, Marian—" for the first time his voice quavered—"that was +before I had a friend! Think of living all those years without a friend! +It was through your invasion that my horrible tranquillity was +disturbed; it was through you that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> I met the one man in all the world +who could take advantage of that condition to build a human structure +upon such ruins."</p> + +<p>"Give me all the credit you can, Philip. I need it to help me to +forget."</p> + +<p>"Tut! tut!" he chided her. "I may touch upon the past, but to you it is +forbidden! Through you"—he went on—"I gained my friend, and, as if to +demonstrate the philosophy he lives, in giving him to me you gained him +too; for to your daughter is assured the most wonderful of +companionships. Now, by the same token, in giving him to her, I shall +expect the reward of being admitted to full friendship in this family +whose members mean the world to me."</p> + +<p>"We already count you one of us, Philip, and we shall accept nothing +less."</p> + +<p>"Then am I rich in friendship!" he exclaimed. "The law of compensation +gives a greater joy of realization to one who has drifted than to him +who has lived a normal existence: such a man is spared the depths, but +he can never reach the heights."</p> + +<p>Two duster-clad, begoggled figures burst unceremoniously through the +hallway onto the piazza where Marian and Hamlen had been scrupulously +left alone by a comprehending family.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad to find some signs of life!" cried a familiar voice.</p> + +<p>"Edith!" Marian exclaimed. "Where on earth did you come from? And Mr. +Cosden!"</p> + +<p>"Connie and I crept up on the house to surprise you," she explained, as +greetings were exchanged all around, "but we began to think the joke was +on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> us and we'd struck the morgue by mistake. Where are the people +anyhow? We can't stay but a minute."</p> + +<p>"Here we are!" Merry answered her, and as if by magic the entire family +appeared from various directions.</p> + +<p>"Where did you come from, where are you going, and why can't you stay +but a minute?" Huntington demanded of Cosden as he grasped his hand.</p> + +<p>Cosden grinned and looked at Edith.</p> + +<p>"Oh, go ahead and tell them if you want to," she remarked indifferently. +"They're sure to find it out some time, and it might as well be now."</p> + +<p>"What in the world—" Mrs. Thatcher began.</p> + +<p>"We're married!" Cosden announced, his face beaming with happiness and +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Yes,—that's right," Edith corroborated, seeing doubt in the eager +faces peering at them, speechless with surprise. "I told you that if +once I gave Connie half a chance he'd have me packed up and shipped +before I knew it, and that's just what has happened!"</p> + +<p>"Don't apologize," Marian laughed, kissing her. "I think you've done a +very smart thing to elope like this."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, Connie, I never thought of that! An elopement for me +would just be the last thing in the world! How can you call it that when +there is no one to elope from but Ricky!"</p> + +<p>"Whatever you call it, I've got you!" Cosden declared, tapping his +pocket. "The parson gave me a perfectly good bill of sale, and it will +take some trying to break this contract. Now don't you try!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thatcher was the only one who rose fully to the occasion, and as a +result of his presence of mind the butler appeared with a bottle of +Pommery from which he filled the accompanying glasses. After Thatcher +proposed the toast to the happy couple, Huntington again raised his +glass to Cosden.</p> + +<p>"Here's to Edith, God bless her!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Cosden understood, and the spirit of mischief seized him.</p> + +<p>"How about that other toast we drank that night, Monty?"</p> + +<p>Huntington put his arm around Merry's waist and drew her closer to him.</p> + +<p>"It stands!" he replied with smiling defiance. "To Marian—little +Marian—God bless her!"</p> + +<p>"You rascal! You slipped it over on me!"</p> + +<p>"Well, good-bye, people!" Edith interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Stay for supper," Mrs. Thatcher urged.</p> + +<p>"No; here it is five o'clock and the wedding breakfast hasn't been +served yet. We're off!"</p> + +<p>"It is pitiful to see you kidnapped like this," Marian teased her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well!" she looked slyly up into her husband's face. "Connie's not a +bad sort as men go, and I'm game to take a chance."</p> + +<p>"Isn't she the best ever?" Cosden cried proudly. "I'm strong for the +Benedicts and the Benedictines! Hurry up, Monty,—go and do likewise!"</p> + +<p>They were off like a whirlwind, then all returned to Hamlen on the +piazza. The two boys had stayed with him while the farewells were spoken +at the door. Billy felt a bond of sympathy at last, for he too had +suffered from the perfidy of woman! Philip<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> was genuinely fond of +Hamlen, and the older man clung to his friendship with even greater +tenacity since this return to his normal condition.</p> + +<p>"We are talking war," Hamlen explained to Marian as they returned to +him. "These boys are eager to see what is going on over there."</p> + +<p>"So we've heard," she replied, smiling indulgently. "They have presented +the case to us from as many angles as a certain manufacturer has +varieties of pickles."</p> + +<p>"It would be a wonderful object lesson," Hamlen said meditatively. "Even +to read about it makes our own troubles insignificant; what an +opportunity, if on the spot, to give out from one's own personality, and +thus demonstrate the teachings of the humanists in practical fashion!"</p> + +<p>The idea seemed to take possession of him, and his rigid figure and set +features so clearly betrayed the workings of a strong emotion that no +one interrupted him. At length he turned abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Huntington!" he cried.</p> + +<p>His friend stepped quickly to his side.</p> + +<p>"I believe this war was started especially for me!" he declared.</p> + +<p>"For you?" Huntington echoed, surprised.</p> + +<p>"Why isn't this my opportunity? Here I am, longing for the chance to +express myself in doing something for some one else. I haven't a tie in +the world to keep me from going over there. I have money which couldn't +be devoted to a better cause, and I speak the languages like a native."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" Huntington replied; "you've solved the problem! Be the first +to endow a college unit,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> Hamlen, and let it be for the glory of +Harvard. You can equip the outfit, select your professional corps, and +go over with it to superintend the business end. It's a capital notion!"</p> + +<p>"I'll do it!" Hamlen said decisively. "With a definite purpose like this +ahead of me, I'll shake this weakness in no time.—How about the boys? +I'll need some chauffeurs."</p> + +<p>"Not Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher cried.</p> + +<p>"Let me have him, Marian?" Hamlen begged. "The personal danger will be +slight, and I don't need tell you that I'll watch over him as if he were +my own son."</p> + +<p>She looked appealingly to her husband.</p> + +<p>"I'd let him go," Thatcher said. "There's no chance for him to get +started in business for several months yet, and I'm grateful to Hamlen +for offering him this opportunity under such wonderful conditions."</p> + +<p>Philip pleaded. "You won't hold out now, will you, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"I can't," she answered soberly. "With your father's approval, and with +Mr. Hamlen's assurances, I should surely be opposing Nature, shouldn't +I?"</p> + +<p>Her question was put to Huntington, who understood it. He smiled +approvingly.</p> + +<p>"Good for you, little woman," he whispered. "There are times when we +must bow to something stronger than ourselves; this is one of them."</p> + +<p>"How about me?" Billy demanded.</p> + +<p>"I think I may promise to secure consent," Huntington assured him.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Phil," Billy seized his chum's arm. "Let's go out in the +garage and practise on those cars."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span></p> + +<p>Marian disappeared within doors to quiet the apprehensions of her +mother-heart; Thatcher drew a chair beside Hamlen's to discuss the war, +which now assumed a personal interest; Huntington and Merry quietly +slipped down the steps, and wandered through the formal garden to their +favorite retreat.</p> + +<p>"Why not watch the sunset from the water-garden?" Merry asked.</p> + +<p>The sun set in proper and glorious fashion into the sea at the foot of +the avenue of maple trees, but the successful completion of its task did +not suggest to the lovers a return to the house. Still they sat on the +curiously-cut stone seat, and told each other that story which is older +than the stone, and which was first told long before Benten became the +Goddess of Love. Twilight deepened into dusk, and stirred within +Huntington's mind a quotation from a kindred soul who felt as he felt, +but who couched his thought in more fitting words than he himself could +choose:</p> + +<p>"I wonder if you love to listen to the music of the night as I do, dear +heart,—with its space, its mystery, its uplift of spirit? It is written +in the key of the ideal and in the cadence of the divine."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monty!" she murmured contentedly, "I do; for it is written in the +key of happiness, and in the cadence of my beloved's voice!"</p> + +<p>"You forgive me for being too old?"</p> + +<p>"Not too old, my darling,—just born too soon!"</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bachelors, by William Dana Orcutt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS *** + +***** This file should be named 33565-h.htm or 33565-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/5/6/33565/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bachelors + A Novel + +Author: William Dana Orcutt + +Release Date: August 28, 2010 [EBook #33565] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "LAUGH IF YOU LIKE; I SHAN'T MIND. THE MORE RIDICULOUS +YOU MAKE IT THE SHORTER WORK IT WILL BE."--_See page 244_] + + + + +THE BACHELORS +A NOVEL + + +BY +WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT + +AUTHOR OF +"THE MOTH," "THE LEVER," "THE SPELL," ETC. + + +[Illustration] + + +HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS +NEW YORK AND LONDON +MCMXV + + +COPYRIGHT, 1915 +BY HARPER & BROTHERS + + + + + * * * * * + +THE BACHELORS + + * * * * * + + + + + * * * * * + +I + + * * * * * + + +They were discussing Huntington and Cosden when the two men entered the +living-room of the Club and strolled toward the little group indulging +itself in relaxation after a more or less strenuous afternoon at golf. +It was natural, perhaps, that no one quite understood the basis upon +which their intimacy rested, for entirely aside from the difference in +their ages they seemed far separated in disposition and natural tastes. +Cosden's dynamic energy had made more than an average golf-player of +Huntington, and in other ways forced him out of the easy path of least +resistance; the older man's dignity and quiet philosophy tempered the +cyclonic tendencies of his friend. The one met the world as an +antagonist, and forced from it tribute and recognition; the other, never +having felt the necessity of competition, had formed the habit of taking +the world into his confidence and treating it as a friend. + +These differences could not fail to attract the attention of their +companions at the Club as day after day they played their round +together, but this was the first time the subject had become a topic of +general conversation. The speaker sat with his back to the door and +continued his remarks after the newcomers came within hearing, in spite +of the efforts made by those around to suppress him. The sudden hush and +the conscious manner of those in the group would have conveyed the +information even if the words had not. + +"So you're giving us the once over, are you?" Cosden demanded, dropping +into a chair. "You don't mean to say that the golf autobiographies have +become exhausted?" + +"I never heard myself publicly discussed," added Huntington as he, too, +joined the party. "I am already experiencing a thrill of pleasurable +excitement. Don't stop. Connie and I are really keen to learn more of +ourselves." + +"Well," the speaker replied, with some hesitation, "there's no use +trying to make you believe we were listening to Baker's explanation of +how the bunkers have been located exactly where the golf committee knows +his ball is going to strike--" + +"Heaven forbid!" Huntington exclaimed; "but don't apologize. I +congratulate the Club that the members are at last turning their +attention to serious things. 'Tell the truth and shame the +devil'--provided it is Connie, and not me, you are going to shame." + +"Don't mind me in the least," Cosden added. "My hide is tough, and I +rather like to be put through the acid test once in a while." + +"Oh, it isn't as bad as all that," the speaker explained. "We love you +both, but in different ways, yet we can't make out just where you two +fellows hitch up. Now, that isn't _lese-majeste_, is it?" + +"What do you think, Connie?" Huntington asked, lighting his pipe. "Is +that an insult or a compliment?" + +"I don't see that it makes much difference from this crowd. We don't +care what they say about us as long as they pay us the compliment of +noticing us. That's the main point, and I'm glad we've been able to +start something." + +"But why don't you tell us?" insisted the speaker. "You aren't +interested in anything Monty cares for except golf, and he hasn't even a +flirting acquaintance with business, which is your divinity, yet you two +fellows have formed a fine young Damon and Pythias combination which we +all envy. Why don't you tell us how it happened?" + +"I don't know," Cosden answered, serious at last and speaking with +characteristic directness. "I never stopped to think of it; but if we're +satisfied, whose concern is it, anyhow?" + +"If friendship requires explanation, then it isn't friendship," added +Huntington. "Connie contributes much to my life which would otherwise be +lacking, and I hope that he would say the same of my relation to him." + +"Of course--that goes without saying; but neither one of you is telling +us anything. If you would explain your method perhaps we might become +more reconciled to some of these misfits lying around the Club--like +Baker over there--" + +"We have a thousand members--" Baker protested. + +"What has that to do with the present discussion?" + +"Why pick on me?" + +"Which is the misfit in my combination with Monty?" Cosden demanded. + +"I'm not labeling you fellows," the speaker disclaimed--"I couldn't if I +tried; but each of you is so different from the other that such a +friendship seems inconsistent." + +There was a twinkle in Huntington's eye as he listened to the persistent +cross-examination. "We are bachelors," he said quietly. "That should +explain everything; for what is a bachelor's life but one long +inconsistency? If our friends were all alike what would be the need of +having more than one? This friend gives us confidence in ourselves, +another gives us sympathy; this friend gives us the inspiration which +makes our work successful, another is the balance-wheel which prevents +us from losing the benefit which success brings us. Each fills a +separate and unique place in our lives, and, after all, the measure of +our life-work is the sum of these friendships." + +The two responses demonstrated the difference between the men. William +Montgomery Huntington came from a Boston family of position where wealth +had accumulated during the several generations, each steward having +given good account to his successor. He had taken up the practice of law +after being graduated from Harvard--not from choice or necessity, but +because his father and his grandfather had adopted it before him. His +practice had never been a large one, but the supervision of certain +trust estates, handed over to his care by his father's death, entailed +upon him sufficient responsibility to enable him to maintain his +self-respect. + +It would have been a fair question to ask what Montgomery Huntington's +manner of life would have been if his father had not been born before +him. He lived alone, since his younger brother married, in the same +house into which the family moved when he was an infant in arms. Modern +improvements had been introduced, it is true, in the building just as in +the generation itself; but the walls were unchanged. The son succeeded +to the father's place in directorates and on boards of trustees in +charitable institutions, and he performed his duties faithfully, as his +predecessor had done. Now, at forty-five, he had reached a point where +he found it difficult to distinguish between his working and his leisure +hours. + +Cosden's heritage had been a healthy imagination, a robust constitution, +and an unbelievable capacity for work. Even his uncle Conover, from whom +he had a right to expect compensation for the indignity of wearing his +name throughout a lifetime, had left him to work out his own salvation. +His parents had never worn the purple, but, being sturdy, valuable +citizens, they spent their lives in fitting their son to occupy a +position in life higher than they themselves could hope to attain; and +Cosden had made the most of his opportunities. Seven years Huntington's +junior, he had succeeded in a comparatively short time in extracting +from his commercial pursuits a property which, from the standpoint of +income, at least, was hardly less than his friend's. He, too, was a +product of the university, but his name would be found blazoned on the +annals of Harvard athletics rather than in the archives of the Phi Beta +Kappa. His election as captain of the football team was a personal +triumph, for it broke the precedent of social dominance in athletics, +and laid the corner-stone for that democracy which since then has given +Harvard her remarkable string of victories. The same dogged +determination, backed up by real ability, which forced recognition in +college accomplished similar results in later and more serious +competitions. In the business world he was taken up first because he +made himself valuable and necessary, and he held his advantage by virtue +of his personal characteristics. + +Cosden was not universally popular. He won his victories by sheer force +of determination and ability rather than by diplomacy or finesse. In +business dealings he had the reputation of being a hard man, demanding +his full pound of flesh and getting it, but he was scrupulously exact in +meeting his own obligations in the same spirit. To an extent this +characteristic was apparent in everything he did; but to those who came +to know him it ceased to be offensive because of other, more agreeable +qualities which went with it. They learned that, after all, money to him +was only the means to an end which he could not have secured without it. + +To the man whose ruling passion is his business it is natural to measure +himself and his actions by the same yardstick which has yielded full +return in his office; to him whose property stands simply as a counter +and medium of exchange the measure of life is inevitably different. The +good-natured chaffing at the Club was forgotten by Huntington before he +stepped into his automobile, but it still remained in Cosden's mind. As +the car rolled out of the Club grounds he turned to his companion. + +"Monty," he said, "what is there so different about us that it attracts +comment?" + +"We should have found out if you hadn't snapped together like a steel +trap. There was the chance of a lifetime to learn all about ourselves, +and you shut them off by saying, 'If we're satisfied, whose concern is +it, anyhow?'" + +"Of course we are different," Cosden continued; "that's only natural. No +two fellows are alike. I wonder if what you said about our being +bachelors hasn't more truth than poetry in it.--Give me a light from +your pipe." + +"What is the connection?" + +Cosden suddenly became absorbed and gave no sign that he heard the +question. When he spoke his words seemed still more irrelevant. + +"Monty," he said seriously, "I want you to take a little trip with me +for perhaps two or three weeks, or longer. What do you say?" + +Huntington showed no surprise. "It might possibly be arranged," he said. + +Again Cosden relapsed into silence, puffing vigorously at his cigar as +was his habit when excited. Huntington watched him curiously, wondering +what lay behind. + +"Did you ever try smoking a cigar with a vacuum cleaner?" he asked +maliciously. "They say it draws beautifully, and consumes the cigar in +one-tenth the time ordinarily required by a human being." + +Cosden was oblivious to his raillery. "What do you think of marriage?" +he demanded abruptly. + +The question, and the serious manner in which it was asked, succeeded in +rousing Huntington to a point of interest. + +"What do I think of-- So that's the idea, is it, Connie? That's why you +picked me up on what I said about bachelors? Good heavens, man! you +haven't made up your mind to marry me off like this without my consent?" + +"Of course not," Cosden answered, with some impatience; "but what do you +think of the idea in general?" + +Huntington looked at his companion with some curiosity. "Well," he said +deliberately, "if you really ask the question seriously, I consider +marriage an immorality, as it offers the greatest possible encouragement +to deceit." + +Cosden sighed. "You are a hard man to talk to when you don't start the +conversation. I really want your advice." + +"Would it be asking too much to suggest that you throw out a few hints +here and there as to the real bearing of your inquiry, so that I may +come fairly close on the third guess?" + +"I've decided to get married," Cosden announced. + +"By Jove!" The words brought Huntington bolt upright in his seat. "You +don't really mean it?" + +"That's just what I mean. It occurred to me on the way home from the +office last night. What you said about a bachelor's life being an +inconsistency reminded me of it. I believe you're right." + +Huntington regarded him for a moment with a puzzled expression on his +face; then he relaxed, convulsed with laughter. Cosden was distinctly +nettled. + +"This doesn't strike me as the friendliest way in the world to respond +to a fellow's request for advice on so serious a subject." + +"You don't want to consult me," Huntington insisted, checking himself; +"what you need is a specialist. When did you first feel the attack +coming on? Oh, Lord! Connie! That's the funniest line you ever pulled +off!" + +"Look here," Cosden said, with evident irritation; "I'm serious. With +any one else I should have approached the subject less abruptly, but I +don't see why I should pick and choose my words with you. + +"And the trip"--Huntington interrupted, again convulsed--"'for two or +three weeks, or longer'? Is that to be your wedding-trip, and am I to go +along as guardian?" + +The older man's amusement became contagious, and Cosden's annoyance +melted before his friend's keen enjoyment of the situation. + +"Oh, well, have your laugh out," he said good-naturedly. "When it's all +over perhaps you'll discuss matters seriously. Can you advance any sane +reason why I should not marry if I see fit?" + +"None whatever, my dear boy, provided you've found a girl who possesses +both imagination and a sense of humor." + +"I have reached a point in my life where I can indulge myself in +marriage as in any other luxury," Cosden pursued, unruffled by +Huntington's comments. "I've slaved for fifteen years for one definite +purpose--to make money enough to become a power; and now I've got it. Up +to this time a wife would have been a handicap; now she can be an asset. +After all is said and done, Monty, a home is the proper thing for a man +to have. It's all right living as you and I do while one's mind is +occupied with other things, but it is an inconsistency, as you say. +Now--well, what have you to put up against my line of argument?" + +"Am I to understand that all this, reduced to its last analysis, is +intended to convey the information that you have fallen in love?" + +"What perfect nonsense!" Cosden replied disgustedly. "You and I aren't +school-boys any more. We're living in the twentieth century, Monty, and +people have learned that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between love +and indigestion. I won't say that marriage has come to be a business +proposition, but there's a good deal more thinking beforehand than there +used to be. A woman wants power as much as a man does, and the one way +she can get it is through her husband. It's only the young and +unsophisticated who fall for the bushel of love and a penny loaf these +days, and there are mighty few of those left. Get your basic business +principles right to begin with, I say, and the sentimental part comes +along of itself." + +Huntington was convinced by this time that Cosden was seriously in +earnest. He had believed that he knew his friend well enough not to be +surprised at anything he said or did, but now he found himself not only +surprised, but distinctly shocked. He had joked with Cosden when he +first spoke of marriage, but in his heart he regarded it with a +sentimentality which no one of his friends suspected because of the +cynicisms which always sprang to his lips when the subject was +mentioned. He believed himself to have had a romance, and during these +years its memory still obtained from him a sacred observance which he +had successfully concealed from all the world. So, when Cosden coolly +announced that he had decided to select a wife just as he would have +picked out a car-load of pig iron, Huntington's first impulse was one of +resentment. + +"It seems to me that you are proposing a partnership rather than a +marriage," he remarked. + +"What else is marriage?" Cosden demanded. "You've hit it exactly. I +wouldn't take a man into business with me simply because I liked him, +but because I believed that he more than any one else could supplement +my work and extend my horizon. Marriage is the apotheosis of +partnership, and its success depends a great deal more upon the +psychology of selection than upon sentiment." + +Huntington made no response. The first shock was tempered by his +knowledge of Cosden's character. It was natural that he should have +arrived at this conclusion, the older man told himself, and it was +curious that the thought had not occurred to Huntington sooner that the +days of their bachelor companionship must inevitably be numbered. There +was nothing else which Connie could wish for now: he had his clubs, his +friends, and ample means to gratify every desire; a home with wife and +children was really needed to complete the success which he had made. He +had proved himself the best of friends, which was a guarantee that he +would make a good husband. Huntington found himself echoing Cosden's +question, "Why not?" + +"Have you selected the happy bride, Connie?" he asked at length, more +seriously. + +"Only tentatively," was the complacent reply. "I met a girl in New York +last winter, and it seems to me she couldn't be improved upon if she had +been made to order; but I want to look the ground over a bit, and that +is where you come in. Her name is Marian Thatcher, and--" + +"Thatcher--Marian Thatcher!" Huntington interrupted unexpectedly. "From +New York? Why--no, that would be ridiculous! Is she a widow?" + +Cosden chuckled. "Not yet, and if she marries me it will be a long time +before she gets a chance to wear black. What put that idea in your +head?" + +"Nothing," Huntington hastened to say. "I knew a girl years ago named +Marian who married a man named Thatcher, and they lived in New York." + +"She is about twenty years old--" + +"Not the same," Huntington remarked. Then after a moment's silence he +laughed. "What tricks Time plays us! I knew the girl I speak of when I +was in college, and I haven't seen her since her marriage. Go on with +your proposition." + +"Well, she and her parents went down to Bermuda last week, and it +occurred to me that if you and I just happen down there next week it +would exactly fit into my plans. More than that, I have business reasons +for wanting to get closer to Thatcher himself. We've been against each +other on several deals, and this might mean a combination. What do you +say? Will you go?" + +"Next week?" Huntington asked. "I couldn't pick up stakes in a minute +like that." + +"Of course you can," Cosden persisted. "There's nothing in the world to +prevent your leaving to-night if you choose." + +"There's Bill, you know." + +"Well, what about Bill? Is he in any new scrape now?" + +"No," Huntington admitted; "but he's sure to get into some trouble +before I return." + +"Why can't his father straighten him out?" + +Huntington laughed consciously. "No father ever understands his son as +well as an uncle." + +"No father ever spoiled a son the way you spoil Bill--" + +Huntington held up a restraining hand. "It is only the boy's animal +spirits bubbling over," he interrupted, "and the fact that he can't grow +up. You and I were in college once ourselves." + +Huntington was never successful in holding out against Cosden's +persistency, and in the present case elements existed which argued with +almost equal force. He was curious to see how far his friend was in +earnest, and was this combination of names a pure coincidence? He +wondered. + +The car came to a stop before Huntington's house. + +"Well," he yielded at length, as he stepped out, "I presume it might be +arranged.--Let Mason take you home. You've given me a lot to think +over, Connie--" + +"This wouldn't break up our intimacy, you understand," Cosden asserted +confidently. "No woman in the world shall ever do that; and it will be a +good thing for you, too, to have a woman's influence come into your +life." + +"Perhaps," Huntington assented dubiously; "but because you show symptoms +of lapsing is no sign that I shall fall from the blessed state of +bachelorhood. I supposed that our inoculation made us both immune, but +if the virus has weakened in your system I have no doubt that any woman +you select will have a heart big enough for us both." + +"If she hasn't, we won't take her into the firm," laughed Cosden. + + + + + * * * * * + +II + + * * * * * + + +Huntington was unusually preoccupied during the period of dinner. Even +when alone he was in the habit of making the evening meal a function, in +which his man Dixon and his cook took especial pride. But to-night the +words of praise or gentle criticism were lacking, one course succeeding +another mechanically without comment of any kind. When Dixon followed +him up-stairs to the library with coffee and liqueur he found him with +his _Transcript_ still unfolded lying in his lap; and, whatever may have +happened in the mean time, the same attitude of abstraction prevailed +when Dixon returned, three hours later, received his final instructions, +and was dismissed for the night. Cosden had undoubtedly dropped off into +that slumber which belongs by right to the man whose day has presented +him with a brilliant inspiration; but Huntington still sat alone, +absorbed in his own thoughts. + +The chronicler has already intimated that Huntington was possessed of a +sentimental nature, but were he to stop there he would understate the +real truth. Huntington was exceedingly sentimental--far more so than he +himself realized, which made it natural that his friends should be +deceived. He was a bachelor not from choice, as he would have the world +think, but from circumstance, and the absence of home and wife and +children represented the one lack in an otherwise entirely satisfactory +career. It was the only thing his father had not provided for him, and +he himself had not possessed sufficient energy to take the initiative. + +The conversation on the way home from the Club brought matters fairly +before Huntington's mental vision. One moment it seemed monstrous that +his friend of so many years' standing should deliberately announce his +intention of entering into an estate from which he himself must perforce +be barred, yet while the treachery seemed blackest Huntington found +himself acknowledging that it was the proper step for Cosden to take, +and admiring that characteristic which saved him from committing his own +mistake. Yet, if years before he had only--but herein lies the most +extraordinary evidence of Huntington's sentimentality. If the story were +told--and it can scarcely be called a story--it would begin and end like +Sidney Carton's in one long "what might have been." + +It was the mention of the name quite as much as the subject of their +conversation which started in motion all that mysterious machinery which +forces the present far out of its proper focus, disregards the future, +and brings into the limelight those events of the past which the +intervening years have magnified. No one can really explain it, and the +wise make no attempt. "Marian Thatcher," Cosden had said. She was Marian +Seymour when he had known her, twenty-odd years before, and the Marian +he had known married a man named Thatcher right under the very noses of +the legion of admirers, himself included, who fluttered about her. Of +course it was only a coincidence, this combination of names, for the +girl Cosden spoke of was only twenty; but just as substances combined by +chemists in their laboratories begin to ferment and produce unwonted +conditions, so did the combination of those two names start in +Montgomery Huntington's brain that series of mental pictures which +caused him to forget that the hour had come when sane persons of his age +and disposition sought repose. + +This was not the first time that he had thus outraged Nature, and for +the selfsame cause. Not a year of the more than twenty had passed +without at least one mental pilgrimage to the shrine which had become +more and more sacred as time piled itself on time. Satisfied that he +alone was awake in the house, Huntington rose and drew a small table +before his chair, and with a key taken from his pocket unlocked the +drawer. It was a curious performance at that hour of night, and he +seemed to be filled with guilty apprehensions, for he glanced from time +to time at the closely-curtained door as if fearing interruption. The +lock yielded readily and the contents of the drawer lay in front of him. +Then, before seating himself again, he laid a fresh log on the open +fire, turned off the lights, and resumed his favorite seat, with the +table and the open drawer before him, illumined only by the flickering +glare from the fireplace. + +For a moment he threw himself back in his chair, shading his eyes with +his hand as if the mental picture was even more delectable than the +sight of the actual objects before him. Then he sat upright again, with +a deep sigh, and transferred from the open drawer to the top of the +table a most remarkable collection of articles, which seemed to belong +to any one else rather than to him. + +There was a long white glove, which he reverently unfolded and placed at +the further edge of the table-top; there was a bunch of faded flowers, +the dried petals of which fell softly onto the white glove in spite of +the delicacy of his handling; there was a yellowed envelope, from which +he drew a brief note, read it word by word, shook his head sadly, +replaced the note in its covering, and laid the envelope tenderly on the +table beside its fellow-exhibits. A piece of pink ribbon followed the +envelope, and then--fie! Monty Huntington! where did you get it?--then +came a pink satin slipper; and the exhibition was complete. + +The showman seemed well satisfied with what he saw before him, for he +reached across to his smoking-table and found as if by instinct a +well-burnt brier pipe, with stem of albatross wing, which he filled with +his own mixture of Arcady and puffed contentedly, his eyes fixed upon +the exhibits. Then the dim, flickering light and the incense of the +tobacco accomplished their transmogrification. No longer was he William +Montgomery Huntington, lawyer, man of affairs, director, trustee +and--bachelor; he was Monty Huntington, senior in Harvard College, back +in his rooms in Beck after his Senior Dance, stricken by the darts of +that roguish Cupid who shot his shafts from the soft tulle folds of the +gown worn that night by this same Marian, the casual mention of whose +name even now caused him to forget his age and position and the dignity +demanded in a bachelor of forty-five. + +The cloud of fragrant smoke concealed the fact that the long white glove +was empty now; the flickering light made golden the words of the brief +note which thanked him for the evening which his escort had made so +wonderful a memory in a young girl's heart; the faded flowers were +things of color and fragrance, more sweetly redolent because they had +risen and fallen with her breath of life; the pink ribbon seemed to have +a dance-card at one end and to be tied to a graceful wrist at the other; +and the slipper--yes, the slipper--the dreamer smiled as he recalled the +fleeting figure which flew up the brownstone steps behind her chaperon +when he had last seen her, in playful fearfulness because he had managed +to whisper in her ear that she was the sweetest, dearest, most +bewitching maiden he had ever seen. The slipper had dropped off, and +remained in his possession by right of capture since the owner would not +come outside the door to claim her own. + +He had intended to make this selfsame slipper the excuse for following +up what he was convinced was the romance of his life; but Marian Seymour +had already returned home to New York when he called three days later. +This was a disappointment, still at that moment it seemed but a +postponement after all, for he was sailing for Europe a fortnight hence +and could easily reach New York a day or two earlier than he had +planned. Thus far the idea was capital; but when the second call was +paid, with the pink slipper safely reposing in his pocket, he found that +the dainty foot to which the slipper belonged had stepped upon an ocean +steamer which sailed the day before. + +Even this second misadventure failed to dampen his ardor. Good fortune +had arranged for him to follow in her direction, and surely, when once +upon the same continent, the slipper would be a lodestone of sufficient +potency to draw together two souls such as theirs. Yet he returned six +months later without having had the expected happen, and soon after +landing he learned of her engagement to a Mr. Thatcher. + +There is a certain gratification which comes to the experienced man of +the world of twenty-two when he finds himself a martyr; and Monty +Huntington enjoyed this gratification to the utmost. He was +conscientious in believing himself to be wretchedly unhappy, but as a +matter of fact he had in the instant become a hero to himself. Women +were faithless: misogamists in prose and poetry had so chronicled the +fact, and he had already, at this early age, become the victim of their +perfidy. Marian Seymour should have known the depth of his love for her; +she should have known that he would have told her of his affection had +she given him the opportunity; and the mere fact that he had never so +declared himself was not of the slightest importance. She had +deliberately disregarded his impassioned though unexpressed sentiments +toward her, and had thrown herself away on a man he did not even know! + +Fortunately, Time treats with kindly hand those tragedies which are +imagined as well as those which actually exist. Each year added to the +luster of the memory. Marian Seymour herself would not have recognized +her own face could Huntington have translated it out of the figments of +his mind upon the crude medium of canvas. And, be it said, had +Huntington come face to face with the original during these years, it is +doubtful whether he would have recognized her; for the idealization had +become absolutely real to him. No sculptor had ever modeled hand and arm +so perfect as that which the yellowed glove had held; no foot was ever +shaped with graceful line equal to that which once the satin slipper had +incased. The faithlessness of woman had long since been forgotten, and +the sanctity of this romance, which might have been, provided all the +details which it would otherwise have lacked. Each year made it more +real, until now there was no doubt about it. Other men worshiped at the +shrine of departed dear ones with no greater sincerity than did +Montgomery Huntington revere this near-romance of his life. + +So, as he sat there, he was not the bachelor his friends considered him, +but rather a man bereft of wife and children. Cosden, knowing nothing of +this secret grief, had wantonly torn the veil aside and exposed the +wound. Yet, with the sorrow of the widower and the childless, there must +have come back to Huntington some memories which were not sad, for when +Dixon happened upon him in the morning, soundly sleeping in his +favorite chair with this curious exhibit before him, and with a pink +slipper firmly grasped within his hand, there was a smile as if of +happiness upon his face. And Dixon, discreet valet that he was, showed +no surprise, a half-hour later, when he found the table and its strange +contents carefully put away without his aid, or when his master summoned +him to his room, where he appeared to be just rising as usual from a +sleep as restful as it had been unportentous. + + + + + * * * * * + +III + + * * * * * + + +"Then I shall leave Bermuda feeling that my beautiful dream is wholly +incomplete." + +Mrs. Henry Thatcher spoke with a degree of resignation, but her tone +signified that the apparent retreat was only to gain strength for a +final advance which was sure to gain her point. She knew that this +discussion with her husband would end as all their differences of +opinion ended, and so did he. Perhaps his opposition was the inevitable +expression of his own individuality which every married man likes to +make a pretense of preserving; perhaps it pleased him to see his wife's +half-playful, half-serious attack upon his own judgment in gently +forcing him into a position where her wishes became his desires. + +"Better to have your dream incomplete than his privacy invaded," was the +apparently unmoved reply. "When an owner plants a sign, 'Private +Property,' conspicuously at the entrance to his estate, he is sure to +have some idea in the back of his head which is as much to be respected +as your curiosity is to be gratified." + +"It is a compliment in itself that we wish to see the grounds," she +persisted; "the owner, whoever he is, could not consider it otherwise." + +"A compliment which has evidently been repeated often enough to become a +nuisance--hence the sign." + +Marian Thatcher sighed heavily as she threw herself back in the +victoria. Her husband was holding out longer than usual. + +"I simply must see the view from that point," she declared; "and until I +can examine that gorgeous _bougainvillea_ at closer range I refuse to +return to New York." + +"There!" laughed Edith Stevens, looking mischievously into Thatcher's +face, "that is what I call an ultimatum! Come, Ricky,"--speaking to her +brother--"let us walk back to the hotel. It will be humiliating to see +Marian disciplined in public!" + +"You all are making me the scapegoat," Marian protested. "You know that +you are just as eager to get inside those walls as I am. Look!" she +cried, leaning forward in the carriage. "Isn't that-- Yes, it _is_ a +century plant, and it's in bloom! Oh, Harry! you wouldn't make me wait +another hundred years to see that, would you?" + +"Let me be the dove of peace," Stevens suggested, manifesting unusual +comprehension and activity as he stepped out of the carriage. "I'll run +in and beard the jolly old lion in his den." + +Thatcher shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly, Marian clapped her hands +with delight, and Edith Stevens smiled indulgently as they settled back +to await the result of the embassy. + +This midwinter pilgrimage to Bermuda was the result of a sudden impulse +made while the Stevenses were their box-guests at the opera in New York +two weeks before. They had exhausted the superlatives forced from their +lips by the dramatic transformation from December to June--from ice and +snow to roses and oleanders; they had followed the beaten track, +touching elbows with the happy bride and the inquisitive traveler, +seeing the sights in true tourist fashion; they had passed through the +stage of quiet contentment, satisfied to sit on the broad sun-piazza of +the "Princess" in passive lassitude, watching others experience what +they had seen, learning the regulation forms of recreation indulged in +by those who settled down more permanently. From the same point of +vantage they had watched the great sails of the pleasure-boats pass so +close beside them that they could have tossed pennies upon their decks; +they saw the gorgeous sunsets behind Gibbs' Hill, with the ravishing +changes of color and light and shade thrown upon the myriad of tiny +islands scattered picturesquely throughout the bay. + +Then the period of inaction turned into a desire to learn more deeply of +the beauties which the tourist never sees, and they poked through the +narrow "tribal" lanes and unfrequented roads on foot, on bicycles, or +_en voiture_, searching for the unexpected, and finding rich rewards at +the end of every quest. It was one of these expeditions which led them +to the highest rise of Spanish Point, where they stopped their carriage +before the entrance to a private estate, within the walls of which they +saw evidences of what the hand of man can do in supplementing Nature's +work. + +Presently Stevens could be seen coming toward them, waving his hat as a +signal for their advance. The driver turned in through the gateway. + +"He's a mighty decent sort," Stevens announced as he met the approaching +vehicle. "Can't make out whether he's English or American, but he +offered no objections whatever." + +"There!" Marian cried triumphantly; "of course he feels complimented! If +his grounds were merely the commonplace no one would want to disturb his +'privacy,' as Harry calls it. Did you ever see such a spot?" + +"Wonderful!" echoed Edith, equally impressed by the luxuriant bloom on +either side of the driveway. "Thank Heaven here is a man who knows how +not to vulgarize flowers." + +As they reached the front of the coraline stone house the owner stepped +forward to greet them. He was a man of striking appearance, and his +visitors found their attention at once diverted from the beauty +surrounding them to the personality which manifested itself even in this +brief moment of their meeting. He was fairly tall, but slight, the +narrowness of his face being accentuated by the closely-cropped beard. +As he removed his broad panama he disclosed a heavy head of hair, well +turned to grey, which, with the darkness of his complexion, was set off +by the white doe-skin suit he wore. As he came nearer his visitors were +instinctively impressed by the expression of his face, for the high +forehead, the deep, restless, yet penetrating eyes, the refined yet +unsatisfied lines of the mouth, belonged to the ascetic rather than to +the cottager, to the spiritual seeker for the unattainable rather than +to the owner of an estate such as this. + +"I am glad you discounted my apparent inhospitality," he said, with +pleasant dignity. "The tourists would overrun me if I did not take some +such measure to protect myself; but I am always glad to welcome any one +whose interest is more than curiosity." + +"It is good of you to make a virtue out of our presumption," Marian +replied as their host assisted them to alight. Then their eyes met and +there was instant recognition. + +"Philip!" she cried in utter amazement. "Is it possible that this is +you--here?" + +The man bowed until his face almost touched the hand he still held, and +the surprise seemed for the moment to deprive him of power of speech. He +courteously motioned his guests to precede him through an arbor of +_poinsettia_ into a tropical garden on a cliff overhanging the water. + +"Harry," Marian continued, still excited by her experience, "this is +Philip Hamlen--you've heard me speak so many times of him. My husband, +Mr. Thatcher, Philip," she added, as the two men shook hands; then she +presented him to the Stevenses. + +Outwardly Hamlen showed none of the confusion which Marian so plainly +manifested. He was the self-contained host, seemingly interested in the +coincidence of the unexpected meeting, but by no means exercised over +it. + +"Welcome to my Garden of Eden," he said, smiling, as the magnificent +expanse of cliff and sea greeted them--"thrice welcome, since to two of +us this is in the nature of a reunion." + +It was a revelation even in spite of their expectations. Involuntarily +the eye first took in the turquoise water and the crumbling, broken +shore-line undershot by the caves formed by the pounding of centuries of +waves against the layers of animal formation. Except for the great +dry-dock and the naval barracks across the entrance to Hamilton Harbor, +all seemed as Nature had intended it. + +Then, as the vision narrowed to its immediate surroundings, the visitors +realized how much art had accomplished in making the garden into which +their host had shown them seem so completely in harmony with the +brilliant setting of its location. They had thought of Bermuda as the +home of the Easter lily, not realizing that this is but a seasonal +incident; they could not have believed it possible to make the luxuriant +bloom of the tropical trees, shrubs, and flowers so subservient to the +beauty of their foliage, yet so marvelous a finish to the brilliancy of +the whole. The great rubber-tree extended its awkward branches in +exactly the right directions to add quaint picturesqueness; the +_poincianas_, as graceful as the rubber-tree was _gauche_, lifted their +smooth, bare branches like elephant trunks, from which the great leaves +hung down in magnificent clusters; the calabash, with its own ungainly +beauty, proved its right by exactly fitting into the landscape at its +own particular corner and the row of giant cabbage-palms stood like +sentinels, adding a quiet dignity suggestive of the East. Between these +and other massive trunks the smaller trees and flowering shrubs were +interspersed in so original and bewildering a manner that each glance +forced a new exclamation of delight. The night-blooming cereus crawled +like an ugly reptile in and out among the branches of the giant cedars, +but the bursting buds gave evidence that at nightfall they would redeem +the hideous suggestiveness of the trailing vine. Cacti and sago-palms +formed brilliant backgrounds for the lilies of novel shapes and colors, +and for the other flowers which vied with one another for preference in +the eye of their beholder. + +The conversation was commonplace in its nature, and in it Marian took +little part. The vivacity which usually made her conspicuous in any +group had entirely left her. Her interest in the view from the Point and +in the magnificent vegetation had vanished, and her eyes followed Hamlen +as he indicated each special beauty to his guests. Edith Stevens was the +only one who sensed the unusual; the men were too discreet or too +occupied by the novelty of their experience. + +"Do you mind, Harry," Marian said aloud, turning to her husband, "if the +gardener shows you around the grounds? It has been years since I last +saw Mr. Hamlen, and there are some matters I simply must talk over with +him." + +Nothing Marian Thatcher asked or did ever surprised her husband or her +friends. The abruptness of the question, and the certainty she +manifested that her request would at once be complied with, were +characteristic. In the present instance, however, it was obvious that +the unexpected meeting touched some hidden spring which took her back to +a time in her life before they themselves had claims upon her, and they +respected her desire to be alone with her revived friendship. A few +moments later, with jocose chidings that she had appropriated for +herself the chief attraction of the estate, they moved off under the +guidance of the gardener, who was proud of the interest manifested in +the results of his work in carrying out his master's plans. + +"Please don't come back for at least half an hour," Marian called after +them. Then she turned to her companion. + +"So this is where you disappeared to?" + +Hamlen bowed his head. He was not so careful now to conceal his +emotions, and it was evident that old memories were stirred within him, +as well. + +"Could I have found a more beautiful exile?" he asked. + +"How many years have you been here?" she demanded. + +"I left New York the week following the announcement of your engagement +to Mr. Thatcher. Perhaps you can figure it out better than I. Time has +come to mean nothing to me here." + +"That was in ninety-three," Marian said, reflecting,--"over twenty years +ago! You have been here ever since?" + +Hamlen hesitated before he answered. "I have been back to the States +only once--when my father died. I have made short excursions to London, +to Paris, to Berlin, to Vienna; but the world is all the same, and I was +always glad to return here, to this retreat." + +"Twenty years of solitude!" Marian repeated. "Don't tell me that it was +because of--" + +"I came here because I wanted to get away from every old association," +Hamlen interrupted hastily. "I settled down here because I loved this +beautiful island--and I love it still." + +"But your friends, Philip--" + +A tinge of bitterness crept into his voice. "Friends?" he repeated after +her. "What friends did I ever have whom I could regret to leave behind?" + +"I know," she admitted, striving to ease the pain her words had +inflicted; "but your father--and your classmates." + +"Yes--my father. I was wrong to leave him. Had I waited but two years +longer, I should have left behind me no ties of any kind. But the good +old pater understood me; he was the only one who ever did." + +"Haven't you kept in touch with any one at home?" + +"This is 'home,'" he corrected. + +"Not for you, Philip," she insisted. "This is a Garden of Eden, as you +yourself called it, this is a dream life of sunshine and the fragrance +of flowers, this is the home of the lotus-eaters, for the present moment +enticing men--and women, too--away from the stern pursuits of life; but +it is not 'home' for such as you." + +"I have found it all you say and more," Hamlen replied firmly; "but it +has not been the life of inactivity which you suggest. The very things +which tempted you to turn in here from your drive show that my years of +patient study and experiment have not been altogether in vain. Inside +the house I have my library, which can scarcely be equaled in the +States. There I keep up my work more assiduously than I could possibly +have done elsewhere. The literature of the past belongs to me, for I +have made it part of myself. I know Homer, Vergil, Dante, Shakespeare, +not as books only, but almost word for word. I can speak five languages +as well as my own. Is this the existence of the lotus-eater, Marian? Is +this merely the dream life of sunshine and of flowers?" + +She looked at him long before replying. Then she rested her hand gently +upon his arm. + +"It's the same Philip, isn't it?--the same old Philip who refused, over +twenty years ago, to recognize the real significance of life? The same +Philip--older, more refined by the chastening of time, more polished by +the refinement of accomplishment, but with his eyes still closed to the +difference between the means and the end." + +The expression on Hamlen's face showed that he failed utterly to +comprehend. + +"Why had you no friends to leave behind you?" she asked abruptly, +realizing the cruelty of her question, but determined to make him see +her point. + +"Because no one understood me," he answered doggedly. + +"Was it their failure to understand you, or your failure to give them +the opportunity?" + +"Both, perhaps. I had no time to fritter away in college; most of the +men did." + +"There you are! Can't you see what I mean? The particular things the +fellows did there were forgotten within twenty-four hours, but the +friendships formed while doing them have endured throughout their lives. +The 'things' were the means, the experience was the end. What +friendships can you have here?" + +Instead of answering her, Hamlen rose and motioned silently that she +precede him through the arbor and up the path to the edge of the cliff. + +"Do you think I can be lonely while I hear the surge of that great ocean +upon my shore?" he demanded. "Do you think I miss the friendships which +so often bring sorrow in their wake while I can conjure up from the past +the most glorious friends the world has ever known, visit with them, +argue over my pet theories, and give them all this setting here whose +counterpart can never be surpassed?" + +She smiled sadly in reply. "You have built your life upon the same basis +as this island itself," she said--"upon the foundations of what is dead +and past. You have argued with yourself until you have come to believe +the fallacy you preach--that you, an Anglo-Saxon, can be content with +such a life as this. Are you true to your responsibilities? Are you--" + +"What do I owe the world?" he interrupted. "I ask from it nothing but +peace and solitude, and surely even the most insignificant has a right +to that without incurring responsibilities. Why, Marian, I stand here +upon this Point, as the little steamers leave their trail of smoke +behind them, and thank God that for one day, three days, a week, we are +cut off from the world. There is nothing I love so much as this +separation from my fellow-men." + +"Then how fortunate, after all--" she began, but he interrupted her. + +"That is another story," he insisted. "I am speaking of what life means +to me to-day, not what it might have meant under other circumstances." + +They strolled slowly back into the garden and settled themselves upon a +stone seat which commanded a superb view of the surrounding country. It +was her heart rather than her eyes which controlled Marian now, and she +saw before her nothing but this man-grown boy, who at an earlier time in +her life had exercised an absorbing influence upon her. It was her +heart, still loyal to the friendship which remained, struggling to find +the right word which should start in motion the machinery to bring the +latent potentiality into action. + +"Your ideas are no different now than then," she said at length, "except +that time has intensified them. You used to compare what you found in +books with what you found in life, to the distinct disadvantage of the +realities." + +"Yes," Hamlen admitted; "and it is just as true to-day." + +"Do you know why?" she demanded pointedly. + +"Because life is so full of insincerity." + +"No," she protested, "you are wrong, absolutely wrong. The real reason +lies in you. You have always given of yourself in your intellectual +pursuits, and have received in kind. In your relations with life you +have never given of yourself, and again you have received in kind. +Philip, Philip! why don't you study yourself as you do your books, and +even now learn the lesson you need to know?" + +"Was that why--back there--" he began. + +She paused for a moment as the conversation took her back to the earlier +days. + +"You thought me changeable," she evaded the question; "but for that you +yourself were responsible. You drew me to you with irresistible force, +then repelled me by your intolerance of all those lighter interests +which were natural to youth of our age. Your letters stimulated my +ambition, your conversation stirred in me all that was best; but as soon +as we were separated I felt a lack which for a long time I was unable to +understand." + +"Why did you come," he asked, "to awaken these memories I have tried so +hard to forget?" but she seemed not to hear him. + +"Then I realized what a dream it was," she continued. "Music to you +meant canon and fugue, counterpoint and diminished sevenths; to me it +was the invitation to dance. You had no friends, and I was frightened +by your willingness to be alone. You had nothing in common with me +or my friends; you gave my heart nothing to feed upon except +intellect--intellect, and I found myself one moment beneath its hypnotic +influence, the next striving to break away from its oppression. Perhaps +this was what you had in mind, Philip, that we two run off to some +island such as this, to spend our lives in Utopia, alone except for +ourselves and your books." + +"For me, that would have been all I could have asked." + +"But no one, Philip, can live on that alone. We need to draw from our +companionship with others in order to give of it to each other. And you +forget"--she smiled mischievously--"that when Aristotle begins to bore +you he can be placed back upon the shelf. You couldn't do that with a +wife! Admit, dear friend, that I or any other woman would have made you +utterly wretched." + +"I will admit that of any woman other than you." + +They rose as by mutual impulse and strolled about the garden for several +moments in silence, the thoughts of each centered upon the past. + +"See this wild honey." Hamlen touched the curiously formed leaf. "It +took me months to make it twine about that tree." + +"How long would it have taken to make a baby's fingers twine about your +heart?" Marian asked meaningly. + +A twinge of pain shot across his face. "Have you--children?" he asked. + +"Forgive me, Philip," she answered contritely. "Yes," in answer to his +question; "a daughter, whom you shall meet at the hotel, and a big, +strapping son. He's a senior at Harvard now, and his name is--Philip." + +Hamlen suddenly seized her hand and pressed it to his lips. "Your +husband won't begrudge me that," he said, with a quaver in his voice. + +"Thank God!" Marian cried unexpectedly. "It is a relief to find even a +small defect in that intellectual armor of yours! Philip, you are a +humbug, and you deceive no one but yourself! It is not solitude which +you love, it is not friendship which you despise; it is simply that you +have made a virtue out of a condition which exists because you don't +know how to change it. Let me help you now." + +"How can the leopard change his spots?" he demanded incredulously. + +"Go back with us when we sail for New York week after next. Leave things +here just as they are, and keep this wonderful spot as a retreat when +life becomes too strenuous. Harry and I will return here with you if you +wish us to, and will introduce so many serpents into your Garden of Eden +that you'll relegate us to the cliff while you take refuge in your +library. But between now and that time go back with us into that life +which is your life. Place yourself where you can feel the competition of +what goes on about you. Try pushing against the current, and learn the +joy of contact with something which opposes. Study the people around +you, and make friends--it's not too late, with your splendid personality +and with me to show you how. Come and get acquainted with your namesake. +Help him to learn from you what you can teach him better than any one I +know, and learn from him what his youthfulness can teach you. Will you +do it, Philip? Will you let this wonderful work you've done here be the +means and not the end? Will you put your accomplishments where they can +be of value, instead of hoarding them, as a miser does his gold?" + +He stood watching her wonderful animation as she spoke with a conviction +which swept him off his feet. In the past she had listened to him, and +he could but be conscious of the domination which his mind had held over +hers; now he knew their positions to be reversed. Was this what the +world had given her? And the boy--Philip, named after him. Why was it +that the lessons he had taught himself during all these years proved so +inadequate to combat the yearning which he felt within him? + +Marian was not slow to sense the conflict in his heart, nor to follow up +her advantage. + +"What have you really accomplished, Philip?" she asked quietly. "Be +generous in sharing your splendid development with us." + +"I could not give this up," he protested. + +"Of course you couldn't, and you should not," she assented. "Give up +nothing, but simply add to what you have by assimilating from others. I +want you to know my husband, my children, and my friends, and I want +them to know you. Say that you will return with us, Philip." + +He gazed at her helplessly, then turned his head aside. The emotion +against which he had fought for twenty years had escaped from his +control, and he was ashamed that another should see what he knew his +face betrayed. + +"It is impossible," he said, when he was himself again; "it would not be +fair." + +"To whom?" she demanded. + +"To you--or to your husband--" + +"Nonsense! We all understand one another too well for that! It is the +boy who needs you and whom you need." + +Hamlen turned to her again. "The boy," he repeated after her--"Philip! +You would let him come into my life?" + +"I desire nothing so much," she answered resolutely, a great joy surging +in her heart as she seemed to see the barrier between him and life +crumbling before her attack. + +"Would the boy permit it? I might not be able--" + +"Let me be judge of that," she smiled. + +The man passed his hand wearily over his eyes as Mrs. Thatcher watched +his uncertainty with fearfulness and yet with eager expectancy. She knew +that she could say no more, that there was danger in bringing further +pressure upon this spirit already extended to its extremest tension; and +yet she longed to take advantage of what she had gained in awakening the +latent human element and in disturbing the complacency which habit had +established upon premises so false. + +"Oh, Marian!" Hamlen cried at length, in a voice so full of suffering +that it staggered her; "the world is not to be trusted even when you +hold it up so temptingly before me. It always has been false and always +will be so for me. Each time I have given it the chance it has struck me +a harder blow than before. No, Marian, I can't expose myself again. If I +could make myself a part of some one else--if this boy-- No, no! I +couldn't take the risk. You mustn't ask me. You mean it kindly, but--" + +"Trust me," Marian said softly. "Come," she continued, nodding in the +direction of the returning party. "I will tell Harry that you are dining +with us to-night at the 'Princess.'" + + + + + * * * * * + +IV + + * * * * * + + +It was in the long, spacious dining-room of the "Princess" that Cosden +pointed out the Thatcher party to Huntington, and Hamlen was with them. +Naturally enough Huntington's eyes first rested on the girl's face, and +in it he found enough that was reminiscent to cause a start. It was +Marian Seymour as she must have looked when he knew her, but not at all +as he had come to think of her during the intervening years. How +ridiculously young she was! But Huntington had discovered that young +people were getting to look younger every year now. It almost annoyed +him, whenever he went to Cambridge to straighten out some mix-up of +nephew Billy's, to see how much smaller and younger the students were +to-day than when he was there. He remembered distinctly that he and his +mates had been men when he was in college; but the present generation +was made up of youngsters who should not be allowed abroad without their +nurses. + +Miss Thatcher, whom Cosden pointed out to him, came within the same +category. She carried herself with a dignity not always seen in girls of +her age, but she was undeniably young. Then his glance passed from her +to the older woman whom he took to be her mother, and he found himself +guilty of staring shamelessly. This was undoubtedly the Marian Seymour +of sainted memory, now delightfully matured into an extremely attractive +matron of thirty-eight or forty. The slight figure had changed but +little from what he remembered; the face still showed traces of its +former mischievous vivacity, even though it had become more decorous. +Such changes as he saw were only those which come in the natural +development of a charming girl into a well set-up woman of the world. So +this was the genius who would have presided over his household if he had +happened to find her at home upon either of those two momentous +occasions, or if he had happened to discover her in Europe on that +eventful trip and had happened to tell her of his devotion, and, +incidentally, she had happened to respond to his declaration of undying +affection. + +His inspection was as complete and analytic as the distance between the +two tables would permit. She was a fascinating woman, he acknowledged, +and yet--she was so different from what he had pictured her. The wife +with whom he had mentally lived these twenty years he himself had +created out of the all-too-scanty materials of memory, added to +substantially by what his imagination had skilfully selected of what he +thought she ought to be. He had not been more successful in his creation +than Nature herself, he was forced to admit, but while looking at Mrs. +Thatcher he experienced the mortifying sensation of being a +self-convicted bigamist. + +Curiously, he had never thought of her as growing older along with him. +His glance returned to the daughter's face, and in it he found a closer +semblance to what his mind had pictured. She was more mature than her +mother had been, yet she possessed many of the same physical +characteristics. Was it possible that she might have been his daughter? +Here came the third distinct shock. For the first time he had something +against which to measure his own age, and involuntarily he touched his +heavy head of hair to reassure himself that baldness, that advertisement +of advancing years, had not overtaken him in the moment. + +"Well," Cosden interrupted his reveries; "I'm waiting to hear your first +impressions." + +Huntington started guiltily, as if his friend had witnessed the +gymnastics his mind had executed. It was natural that Cosden, being +nearest to him, should come in for the force of the reaction. + +"How do you suppose I can express an opinion on a girl half-way across a +room the size of this?" he answered with as much asperity as ever crept +into the evenness of his tone. + +Cosden looked up surprised. "Why, Monty!" he expostulated, "don't get +peevish!" + +"Don't bother me with foolish questions," was the ungracious rejoinder. +"I'm studying the situation. Later I'll give you my impressions." + +"But you've seen her," Cosden persisted. "What do you think of the +perspective?" + +"She is very young," Huntington replied, regaining his composure and +realizing that to fall in with Cosden's mood was easier than to explain +his own. + +"She's twenty--just the right age for a man thirty-eight," was the +complacent reply. "I've figured it all out. A woman grows old faster +than a man, and eighteen years is just the proper handicap." + +"Which is her husband?" Huntington asked. + +"Her husband?" Cosden repeated after him. + +"I mean her mother's husband," Huntington corrected hastily; "which one +is Mr. Thatcher?" + +"The man with the smooth face; I don't know the others. We'll meet them +later." + +As the party left the dining-room Mr. Thatcher recognized Cosden and +fell behind to greet him. + +"Well met!" he exclaimed cordially, after being presented to Huntington. +"It is a relief to see some one I know. Down here on a vacation trip, I +suppose?" + +"Why--yes," Cosden hesitated, seeing some deeper meaning behind the +bromidic question; "that is, I thought so until I saw you. Now I'm not +quite sure." + +Thatcher laughed. "I had the same idea, but I can't seem to get away +from business; it pursues me! I've stumbled onto something--not very +tremendous, but still it may be a good thing. I'd be glad to have you +look it over with me if you care to. We'll discuss it later if you don't +object to talking shop during leisure hours." + +Cosden's face assumed that keen, resourceful expression which his +friends knew so well. "I'm never too much at leisure to discuss +business," he said. + +"Good! Now, when you and Mr. Huntington have finished dinner, join us on +the piazza and we'll all have our coffee together." + +Huntington looked at his friend significantly as Thatcher moved away. "I +didn't come down here on a business trip," he suggested. + +"It won't interfere with you at all," Cosden reassured him. "Thatcher is +a big man, and has a good eye for things. What he has in mind may be +well worth looking into." + +"So long as you don't let it divert us from our main purpose I won't +object," Huntington conceded gravely; "but the spirit of the chase is on +me, and I can't mix sport and business. This is the first time I have +ever approached a girl from a matrimonial point of view, even +vicariously. I'm beginning to enjoy it and I refuse to be thrown off the +scent." + + * * * * * + +There is no moon like a Bermuda moon. The contrast between its soft yet +brilliant light--as it fell first upon the harbor, throwing the islands +into silhouette, then flooding the piazza--and the electric glare, out +of which the two men stepped ten minutes later, made a deep impression +upon Huntington. The eyes of his friend, however, were focused upon the +little party, chatting merrily about the table, awaiting their arrival. + +"I had them postpone our coffee," Thatcher explained as he presented +Cosden to the Stevenses and to Hamlen, and Huntington to each. "We shall +enjoy it the more for having you with us." + +Huntington found himself sitting between the daughter and Hamlen, while +Cosden sat next to Mrs. Thatcher across the table. There had been no +recognition, and Huntington was glad of it; he preferred to introduce +the subject in his own way and at his own time. The girl, however, had +already discovered a bond. + +"Aren't you Billy Huntington's uncle?" she asked. + +"Yes," he admitted; "but where in the world did you meet him?" + +"He is a particular friend of my brother Philip's," she explained. +"Philip is a year ahead of him at Harvard, you know, but they are great +pals. My brother always has him at the house whenever he's in New York." + +"Well, well!" laughed Huntington. "The young rascal never told me +anything about it! But wait a minute--Phil Thatcher--why, of course! +Billy has had him in to dine with me several times. So he's your +brother!" + +"Yes; I was sure I was right," she smiled. "We're friends already, +aren't we?" + +"We are," Huntington acquiesced gravely; "and I shall do something +particularly nice for Billy to show my appreciation of what he has done +for me." + +Mrs. Thatcher caught the general drift of her daughter's conversation, +and she leaned across the table. + +"Are you not a Harvard man, Mr. Huntington?" she asked. "If so, you and +Mr. Hamlen must have been in college at about the same time." + +"Yes," Huntington replied; and turning to Hamlen he gave the year of his +graduation. + +"That was my Class also," was the reply; but there was nothing in +Hamlen's manner to invite reminiscence. + +"Hamlen--Philip Hamlen," Huntington repeated meditatively. "I don't +believe we knew each other, did we? But the name is familiar. I have it! +You are the lost Philip Hamlen our Class Secretary has been searching +for; I have seen the name in the list of missing men each time a Class +Report has been issued. You must send him your history, my dear fellow. +We're proud of our Class, and we don't want to lose sight of a single +member." + +There was a bitterness in Hamlen's voice as he replied. "My history +would interest no one; it is better that I remain among the 'missing +men.'" + +Huntington sensed at once what lay behind his classmate's response. "No +college graduate can afford to do that," he expostulated. "Whether one +wishes it so or not, he has accepted a heritage which carries with it +responsibilities, and these force him to his capacity for the honor of +his Class and of his Alma Mater." + +Mrs. Thatcher was following the conversation not only with interest, but +with a certain degree of anxiety. + +"Mr. Huntington is right, Philip," she added; "you know that he is +right." + +Hamlen moved uneasily in his chair. "It is curious how much more +interested our classmates become in us after we separate than while we +are together in college," he said significantly. + +"Why is it curious?" Huntington persisted. "Why is it not the natural +sequence of events?" + +"You could not understand." Hamlen spoke with rising emotion. "You had +everything in college; I had nothing. You remember my name only because +you've seen it listed amongst the 'missing men'; but I knew you the +moment I saw you. Back there you were Monty Huntington, manager of the +crew, member of all the exclusive societies, in everything, a part of +everything. Your classmates courted your acquaintance, and the four +years at Cambridge meant something to you. To me they meant nothing +except what I learned in the class-rooms. You as an alumnus owe all that +you say to the Class and to the Alma Mater, for both gave you much; I +owe them nothing, for they gave me nothing." + +"My dear fellow!" Huntington expostulated hastily, "forgive me for +touching on so tender a subject; yet I am glad I did, for it is only +fair that you let me set you right. The college world is a small one, +and its citizens are young, untried boys. They are sometimes selfish and +cruel and unreasonable without meaning it, while they are enjoying what +is to most of them their first freedom, and they are trying to conduct +themselves like full-grown men. There are heartburns which at the time +seem tragedies. Then the undeveloped citizens of this little world, the +biggest of them, pass out into the great world, for which the college +life is only a training-school, and become infinitesimal parts of it. +There the ratio becomes readjusted. What seemed essentials--like the +clubs, for instance, or athletics--become non-essentials as the men look +back upon them; become simply pleasant memories of delightful +companionship. The next few years represent the real trying-out period, +and each member of the Class measures up his fellow-members by what they +have done since college. The mere fact of being members of the same +Class is the bond. I don't care what you did in college, Hamlen; but I +sha'n't let you get away from me until you tell me what you've done +since, or until you promise that I shall see you when next you come to +Boston. The fact that I didn't know you in college makes me the more +keen to know you now." + +"I thank you a thousand times!" Mrs. Thatcher cried impulsively. "What +you have said in five minutes will do more to set Mr. Hamlen right than +weeks of argument from me. I found him to-day in a veritable paradise +which he has built here, and where he has lived alone practically since +he left college. I am trying to persuade him to come back into the world +again, and you can help me to accomplish it." + +Hamlen was visibly affected by Huntington's cordiality. "This has been a +bewildering day," he said. "For over twenty years I have lived alone, +nursing a resentment toward college and life in general until it has +come to be a religion. This afternoon Mrs. Thatcher finds me +unexpectedly and begins to batter down my defenses; now Mr. Huntington, +without realizing it, attempts to complete the demolition. Don't wonder +that I'm not myself to-night; but I thank my classmate for what he has +said, just as I thank Mrs. Thatcher for her earlier efforts." + +"Mr. Huntington," Thatcher remarked, "you have given Stevens and me a +new idea of the value of a college degree. I wasn't especially keen +about having my boy go to college, but now, by George! I wouldn't have +it otherwise." + +"Huntington is a living propagandum for Harvard," Cosden said lightly, +realizing the desirability of leading the conversation into a less +serious channel. "My degree represents simply an additional tool to use +in carving out success, to him it means idolatry. If Huntington's house +was on fire, I should expect to see him climbing down the firemen's +ladder in his pink pajamas with his precious sheepskin under his arm +carried as tenderly as a mother would a child." + +"Oh, you may make light of it," Huntington replied good-naturedly, "but +Hamlen and I are treading on sacred ground. The one weakness of college +life is that the opportunities it offers come before we are competent to +appreciate or embrace them. That is what brings about the condition +which he has misunderstood. It would be much better if we all could have +two years of college when we're seventeen and the other two when we're +forty." + +The conversation drifted into smoother channels, but by the time the +party separated the acquaintance had developed to a point far beyond an +ordinary first meeting. Underneath it different elements were at work in +each one's mind and heart, put in motion by the unexpected intensity of +almost the earliest words which had been exchanged. Hamlen was the first +to leave. He said good-night casually to the group, but managed to +separate Huntington from the others. + +"You have done much for one of your classmates to-night," he said +simply. "I thank you for it." + +"Nonsense!" Huntington protested. "I'm more than delighted to have this +opportunity to know you--and I want to know you better." + +"Will you come to my villa some day this week?" + +Hamlen seemed to hang expectantly upon the answer. + +"Of course," Huntington replied promptly. "If you hadn't asked me, I +should have come anyhow. It's an inherent right which I demand." + +Hamlen pressed his hand and turned to Mrs. Thatcher, who walked with him +to the door. + +"I don't know whether to thank you or to curse you, Marian," he said +feelingly in a low voice. "Through you I have had more interjected into +my life in this single day than in the twenty-odd years which have +passed by. Is this the dawn of a to-morrow or the epitome of human +suffering? Are you my Genius or my Nemesis? Before God I ask the +question seriously. I myself cannot answer it." + +"Don't try," she answered, smiling; "let Time do that!" + + + + + * * * * * + +V + + * * * * * + + +Cosden had been sitting on the hotel piazza half an hour when "Merry" +Thatcher emerged from the dining-room, gazed about the almost total +vacancy as if looking for some one, and then advanced, recognizing in +the solitary smoker an acquaintance of the night before. + +"I'm always the first one," she complained after greeting him. "We're +going sailing this morning, but I might have known that no one else +would be down for breakfast at anywhere near the appointed time." + +"Why not cheer me up while you're waiting?" Cosden suggested. "I formed +the habit of early rising years ago when I had to do it; now that I +don't have to, the habit still sticks." + +"Mr. Huntington hasn't appeared yet?" she inquired. + +Cosden laughed, and then looked at his watch. "When you come to know Mr. +Huntington better you will admire his mathematical precision: he is +never late, but he never arrives a moment earlier than is necessary. The +breakfast hour is over at nine-thirty; at nine-fifteen you will observe +the gentleman leisurely strolling in the direction of his table, with +every detail of his morning dress perfectly adjusted, as if the world +had placed all its time at his disposal, when in reality he can just get +his order in and have it served hot." + +The girl smiled at the description of his friend. "Not many men are so +dependable," she commented. + +"There is only one William Montgomery Huntington," Cosden admitted +cheerfully. "It would be exactly the same if the closing of the +breakfast room was four-thirty instead of nine-thirty." + +The smile on her face changed to a deeper expression as she looked out +across the harbor. She turned to Cosden suddenly. + +"Wasn't he splendid last evening when he talked about the +responsibilities of college life! For the first time I wished I were a +boy!" + +"He is a very intense person on some subjects; that happens to be one of +them." + +The girl could not fail to interest Cosden, even if he were not already +attracted by his previous slight acquaintance, for the present mood +showed her at her best. The nickname "Merry," given to distinguish the +younger Marian from her mother, scarcely served as a descriptive +appellation, for underneath the girlish vivacity ran a serious vein +which gave her unusual poise, and made her seem older than she was. To +Cosden she appeared at that moment the embodiment of attractive +girlhood, for the big panama, almost encircling her face, well set off +the dark hair and the sympathetic brown eyes, while the color which +plainly showed in her cheeks, despite the depth of the complexion, gave +just the touch needed to heighten the effect. The soft lines of the +white flannel skirt and the pink silk sweater disclosed the youth and +litheness of the figure. Cosden was surprised to find himself noticing +these details so carefully, and accepted the fact as evidence that his +interest in the girl was even deeper than he had supposed. + +"I love intensity in men," she said simply; "so many seem ashamed to +show it no matter how strongly they may feel!" + +"That is due to the training of life," Cosden explained, caring little +what direction the conversation took so long as they became better +acquainted. "The higher up you go, the greater the repression. Diplomacy +is the climax of gentlemanly concealment of one's real feelings, and the +art among arts of courteous insincerity. In business, of course, there's +a reason--" + +"Can't a man be sincere in business?" she asked, looking at him with +eyes so deep and straightforward in their expression that he found the +question disconcerting. + +"Why,--of course," he stumbled; "but 'sincerity' isn't exactly a +business expression. If I let you know by my manner that I was eager to +buy something which you wanted to sell, or to sell something you wanted +to buy, it would naturally affect the price, wouldn't it?" + +"Ought it to?" she persisted. "Why isn't that taking advantage?" + +Cosden smiled indulgently. "Some time, if you like, I will give you a +learned discourse on values and what affects them, but anything so +erudite now would take your mind off the gaieties of your sailing +trip." + +"Will you?" Merry exclaimed delighted. "Father always makes fun of me +when I ask serious questions. I am sure I should hate business, because +it seems always to be a question of taking advantage of some one else; +but I should like to know something about it." + +"You don't approve of taking advantage of some one else?" + +"It is exactly the opposite of what we are taught to consider right, +isn't it?" + +"How about bargain-sales when you are home?" Cosden asked with apparent +innocence. "Do you ever patronize them?" + +"Why, yes," Merry replied frankly; "I frequently wait for them when I +want some particular thing, and my allowance is running low." + +Cosden laughed outright. "If consistency were really a jewel, then would +woman go unadorned!" + +"How in the world are you going to twist what I said into an +inconsistency?" + +"I'll let you make the demonstration yourself. Here is the problem: a +dealer, believing a demand to exist for a certain article, lays in a +stock to supply that demand. If you, and other dear ladies who really +intend to buy the article, purchased when he first offered it for sale, +his estimate of the demand would have been correct. But you all have +learned the habits of the shops, so instead of rushing to his counters +you play 'possum until the dealer really believes that he has +over-estimated the demand, and down goes the value to him and +consequently the price to you. Then you rush frantically from your +lairs and secure the article you have really wanted from the beginning +at a bargain price. Don't you admit that you are taking advantage of the +dealer?" + +"Oh, you men do put things in such a disagreeable way!" Merry laughed. +"We have to do that to protect ourselves against the outrageous prices +they charge in the first place." + +"It's all a game," Cosden said seriously, "and a mighty fascinating one. +So long as you stick to the rules you may bluff all you choose, and the +best bluffer takes the blue chips." + +"I'm sure I should hate it," Merry repeated. "I'm going to learn to be a +teacher, so that if some one outbluffs father I can fall back upon a +respectable pursuit." + +"Even then you'll still be in the bluffing game," chuckled Cosden. +"Think of the knowledge a teacher has to assume which he doesn't +possess!" + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed in despair. "Why be an iconoclast? You leave +me nothing but matrimony--" + +"The worst bluff of all," interrupted Huntington, stepping forward from +behind their chairs, immaculate in white flannels and a panama which +rivaled Merry's. "Seeing Mr. Cosden in an academic mood, I could not +resist the temptation to snare the nuggets of wisdom which fell from his +lips. This must be my excuse for eavesdropping." + +"There he is," Cosden said significantly to Merry. "You'd never dream +that he'd come within an ace of missing his breakfast, would you?" + +"Missing what?" Huntington demanded. "In what little pleasantry has my +friendly critic been indulging himself?" + +"Let the critic answer for himself," Cosden retorted. "I predicted to +Miss Thatcher the exact moment when you would appear, thus proving +myself a prophet." + +"You take yourself too seriously, Connie. You're no prophet, nor even +the son of a prophet; you're simply a good observer. Some men run a +block and then wait five minutes for a car; I learned years ago that it +was wiser to walk deliberately to the white post and arrive there at the +precise moment. But I don't let that car get away from me, my friend." + +"If my memory serves me right, Mr. Huntington, you were not always so +deliberate," remarked Mrs. Thatcher significantly. + +Huntington looked up quickly, unaware until then that the other late +breakfasters had followed so closely on his heels. + +"The night has been telling tales," he said. + +"It was stupid of me not to recognize you before," she answered. + +"Do you and Mother know each other?" Merry asked, much interested in the +new turn of the conversation. + +"Your mother," said Huntington gravely, "did me the honor to accept my +escort to our Senior Dance--I won't tell you how many years ago. She +deliberately broke my heart, sailed away to Europe, and then returned +and married your father, just out of pique. Now that you know the story +of my life, I ask you, why should I accelerate my motions, as my +captious companion seems to think I should, when your mother's quixotic +conduct deprived me years ago of all possible incentive?" + +"Then you are really the Monty Huntington I knew!" Mrs. Thatcher +exclaimed. "I was sure of it when you spoke of your Class to Philip +Hamlen." + +"I was sure it was you before you spoke at all," he said quietly. "I +recognized an aroma the moment I came into your presence--" + +"An aroma?" Mrs. Thatcher interrupted questioningly. + +"I know not whether it was fragrance or reminiscence, but either is +equally sweet." + +Huntington's gallantry, half assumed, half real, as it seemed to those +who heard his words, passed simply as a pleasantry with all except +Cosden, who knew his friend too well not to recognize the presence of +something deeper beneath the lightly spoken expressions. But Thatcher's +voice brought him back from his surmises. + +"We are counting on you both to join us," he insisted. "Our party will +be incomplete without you." + +"Please come," Mrs. Thatcher added. "For the last twenty-four hours I +have been renewing all my girlhood friendships, and poor Edith Stevens +here hasn't had a chance even to express an opinion. That for Edith is +real self-sacrifice." + +"Edith is sitting back and learning a thing or two," Miss Stevens +retorted calmly. + +"Do come and give her a chance to demonstrate," Mrs. Thatcher appealed. + +"I suppose bachelors are as necessary to the demonstration as +guinea-pigs to the laboratory," Huntington said. "Come on, Connie; let +us take a chance." + +No truer statement had ever been made in jest than that the previous +twenty-four hours had been a period of self-sacrifice to Edith Stevens. +She was younger than Mrs. Thatcher, and their friends accused them of +accepting each other as foils to accentuate their contrasting +characteristics. Miss Stevens was slight and erect, and was always +gowned with a taste and skill which gave her an air of distinction; her +friend possessed such striking fascination of person and manner that she +gave distinction to any fashion she might adopt. Mrs. Thatcher's +activities accomplished results; Edith's seemed simply the expression of +an eternal unrest. The younger woman's hair was light, and her eyes +blue, while Mrs. Thatcher was a perfect brunette; and the approach of +the two women to the same subject was always from a different +standpoint. Yet they had been the closest of friends from school days. + +Except with Marian, Edith, as a rule, dominated the situation at all +times. Now, however, she found herself absolutely side-tracked, while +her friend occupied the center of the stage in the interesting character +of past or present object of admiration from three perfectly good men. +Men were a hobby with Edith Stevens. Her brother feelingly remarked that +the only reason she never married was that no individual male possessed +the composite attributes she demanded. To be one of three women, +surrounded by five men, and not to be able to command the attention of +any one of them except her brother was nothing less than irony. She had +tried flirting with Thatcher years before, and had long since given him +up in despair; Hamlen was annexed by Marian before she had even a chance +to compete, and of the two remaining eligibles Huntington suddenly +confessed himself a part of the flotsam her friend had left behind in +her beblossomed path toward the altar. + +"Take one more look at Mr. Cosden, Marian," she said maliciously, as the +little party walked slowly down the steps toward the yacht. "Perhaps he, +too, was an early admirer." + +Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "No," she reassured her, "I'm sure he never +crossed my horizon until last night. I'll renounce all claims on him, +but don't you set your cap for Philip Hamlen; I have other plans for +him." + +"Where is Mr. Hamlen?" Edith demanded. "Didn't you invite him?" + +"No," Marian replied quickly. "It would be cruel not to give him time to +recover his balance after yesterday. Heigh ho!" she sighed. "I wonder +whether I'm glad or sorry that I found him here." + +"I've been waiting for a report on that reunion," Edith said +suggestively. "I haven't forgotten the letters which we used to read +together years ago." + +"Weren't they wonderful?" Marian exclaimed. Then she added, after a +pause, "I don't believe I realized until yesterday the depth of +suffering which a sensitive soul can reach." + + + + + * * * * * + +VI + + * * * * * + + +The sailing-party disembarked at the landing steps of the "Princess" +shortly after six o'clock, and were greeted by a tall young man whose +face was almost concealed by the broad brim of his hat, turned down as +if to protect its owner from possible prostration from the sun. At the +opposite end of the young man the white trouser-legs were turned up at +least two laps higher than would have been expected, so that hat and +trousers together made a normal average. Below the turn-up of the +trousers showed a considerable expanse of white-silk hosiery, +terminating in spotless white buckskin shoes; below the down-turned +hat-brim was a grin which extended well across the boyish face. +Altogether, the young man warranted the attention he attracted. + +The skipper made so perfect a landing that the identity of those on +board was disclosed only at the last moment; but the single glance the +young man had was sufficient to reassure him, and he stepped forward +eagerly. + +"Hello, everybody!" he cried cheerfully. "Wish you Happy New-Year!" + +Merry was the first to grasp the significance of the excitement. "Why, +it's Billy Huntington!" she exclaimed. + +"Of course," he admitted, still grinning; "who else would charge down +here like a young dace just for the pleasure of wishing you the +compliments of the season?" + +The young man paused long enough to assist the ladies over the rail, +with a greeting to each. + +"There's your uncle," Merry said, nodding in the direction of the men; +"don't you recognize him?" + +"Surest thing you know," Billy answered, still hanging back. "I'm +waiting to see if he will recognize me, under all the circumstances." + +"Come here, you young rascal," Huntington responded to the implied +question as he stepped on the pier; "come here and give an account of +yourself." + +"Well," Billy replied slowly, clinging to the extended hand as a refuge, +"you see I didn't know Mr. Cosden came down with you, and it was +vacation, and I thought you'd be awfully lonely here without me--" + +"I see," his uncle said dryly; "it was all on my account." + +Billy seemed to feel the necessity of further explanation. "Of course I +knew Merry--the Thatchers were here. Phil told me--" + +"Too bad Philip couldn't have come with you," Mrs. Thatcher remarked. + +"Yes; he went up to the Lawrences' house-party for over Christmas as he +planned." + +"How did you leave your worthy parents?" Huntington inquired. + +A look of dismay passed over the boy's face. "I forgot to telegraph them +from New York, and I meant to cable just as soon as I arrived." Then an +expression of relief came to his assistance: "But they'll know I'm with +you--somewhere." + +Huntington sighed. "Another reckoning for me when I return!" he said +resignedly; "but it's worth it all to know that you 'charged down here +like a young dace' as soon as you realized your poor uncle's 'awful +loneliness.'" + +"Then it was you who tried to signal us from the tender?" Merry came to +his rescue. + +"Yes; I thought it was you; I wigwagged until I almost plunged +overboard. I've got to go back Monday, to reach Cambridge in time to +register, so I hated to lose a whole day out of three." + +"There's one thing about a college education which Mr. Huntington didn't +mention last evening," Thatcher remarked to Cosden as they walked toward +the bar for the anteprandial cocktail; "it gives a boy freedom of action +and breadth of imagination." + +"Huntington left out a whole lot of things he might have touched on," +Cosden said testily. "That's a topic on which we don't agree, and never +shall. There is a boy with many sterling qualities going to waste +because Monty has more wishbone than backbone in the matter of +discipline." + +"Don't get started on that, Connie," Huntington's voice came from the +rear. "I've no doubt it's deserved, but that boy keeps me from +remembering that my own days of irresponsibility are so far behind me. I +believe I enjoy him the more because I haven't a parent's duty to +perform." + +"It's a sort of reciprocity without personal liability," laughed +Thatcher. + +"Exactly. I wonder sometimes if what we gain by experience is worth what +we lose in illusion.--Aren't you coming up-stairs to dress for dinner, +Billy?" Huntington continued, as his nephew and Merry walked past them, +engaged in an animated conversation. + +"Don't wait for me," was the prompt response. "I'm a bear at dressing, +and I'll be ready before Dixon has put in your collar-studs." + +"I feel easier down here since I know that you're off duty, too, and not +likely to upset my apple-cart while I'm away," Thatcher remarked to +Cosden with a smile. "Did you know, Mr. Huntington," he continued, +turning, "that your friend is a wrecker of other men's plans?" + +"It's the best thing he does," Huntington agreed promptly. "That exactly +explains my presence here." + +Cosden was immensely pleased by Thatcher's acknowledgment of his +importance, but he tried to carry it off lightly. + +"Oh, well," he said indifferently, "you must let me have my innings once +in a while. I have to get to you sometimes to make up for other bouts +which I've been glad to forget." + +"You'll join us, of course," Thatcher added, to Huntington. + +"I can resist anything but temptation," Huntington replied soberly; "I +love the enemy." + +"This cocktail-drinking is a curious thing," Thatcher remarked. "In cold +weather we take it to warm us up, in warm weather to cool us off; when +we are depressed it is to cheer us, and when we're happy it's because we +want to celebrate. And there you are.--How about the Consolidated +Machinery deal?" Thatcher changed the subject abruptly, and spoke to +Cosden. "Are we going to fight each other on that?" + +"I'm afraid we'll have to," Cosden admitted frankly; "but I'll be glad +to talk it over with you. From here, the interests look too far apart +even to compromise." + +Cosden and Huntington went up in the elevator together, leaving Thatcher +on the piazza. + +"What the devil did that young cub show up here for just at this time?" +Cosden demanded. + +"Didn't you hear?" Monty explained innocently. "He wanted to cheer me up +in my 'awful loneliness.'" + +"Lonely fiddlesticks!" Cosden protested irritably. "Don't you grasp the +fact that his coming is going to mess things up?" + +"Why, no," Huntington said slowly, pausing at the door of his room to +give his friend opportunity to finish his remarks; "I can't for the life +of me see that." + +"Don't you see that it's Merry Thatcher the kid is making up to?" + +"Oh, ho!" Huntington exclaimed. "So that's the situation! It was stupid +of me not to understand." + +"Well, that's it; and I won't have it." + +"Of course you won't; but how are you going to stop it?" + +"That's your job, Monty. It's up to you to send him about his business." + +"That doesn't appeal to me as a sporting proposition," Huntington said +after a moment's deliberation. "I didn't come down here to help you get +a corner in anything, but merely as an observer, and to give you expert +advice. Now you suggest a combination--trust, as it were--of two +full-grown men against a half-baked boy. It isn't worthy of you, Connie, +and I'm not sure that it isn't an illegal restraint of trade. Oh, no; I +couldn't think of it." + +"I'd like to see you in the same situation just once," growled Cosden. +"Why the devil can't you send the boy home?" + +"If I did, he'd come back so quick he'd meet himself going away," +Huntington said gravely; "but as a matter of fact I understand that he +plans to go on Monday, and there's no boat sailing before then anyhow." + +He opened the door of his room and stepped inside. + +"I might add, Connie," he continued, "that if you're afraid to take +chances with a boy like that I don't feel much confidence in the final +outcome of your benedictine expedition." + +"I'm serious in this," Cosden snapped back. "My bump of humor evidently +got light-struck in the developing. Billy has twenty years ahead of him +to pick out a girl while I haven't, and he must understand that I mean +business." + +"Of course he must," agreed Huntington. "It hadn't occurred to me until +you spoke of it that there was the remotest chance of having Billy show +sense enough to become interested in any girl so well calculated to +make a man of him. In fact, I doubt very much whether his own intellect +has carried him so far. It's all right for you or me to contemplate +committing matrimony, but a young man, in these days of increasing cost +of everything, is likely to become a grandfather before he can afford to +be a father. Only the other day, Connie, the thought came to me that if +this high cost of living continues it will make death a necessity of +life." + +"You are evidently in no frame of mind to discuss anything serious now," +Cosden retorted; "I'll wait until after dinner." + +"Do!" Huntington's face brightened. "Look at the reproachful expression +on the bosom of that beautiful white shirt which Dixon has laid out for +me. Can't you almost hear the pathos in its tone as it asks to be +filled?" + +The door slammed, and Cosden's heavy tread could be heard as he +disgustedly retreated down the hall to his own room. + +One of the compensations of maturity is that the adjustment of proper +proportions comes more quickly than to youth. It may be that Cosden saw +the modicum of truth which lay beneath his friend's bantering; it may be +that he was ashamed to have shown any uncertainty in his mind as to the +final outcome of his embassy. At all events, he seemed to be in the best +of humor when he dined with Huntington and the boy, and even accepted +with good grace the unexpected announcement that Billy and Merry were to +"take in" the dance at the "Hamilton." It may be that he was determined +to demonstrate his strength of mind, for when the little party +reassembled on the piazza, and the young people disappeared soon after +the coffee, he devoted himself to Edith Stevens with an assiduity which +caused Huntington to smile quietly to himself. Stevens and Thatcher, +finding the ladies well provided for, went down-stairs for a game of +billiards. Mrs. Thatcher cheerfully accepted Huntington's invitation to +stroll to the pier, leaving Miss Stevens and Cosden by themselves. + +"I've made an appointment for you on Monday morning," Thatcher remarked +to Cosden as he passed by. + +"Good! I'll keep it," was the prompt response. + +"What do you think of Marian's resurrection?" Edith asked him when they +were alone. + +Cosden looked in the direction of the pier. "Do you mean--" he began. + +"Oh, no!" she interrupted him. "That is merely a revival, which I +imagine may develop into an experience meeting. I mean Mr. Hamlen. Think +of a devotion that forces a man to bury himself for twenty years! I +could throw myself on his neck for restoring my lost belief in the +constancy of man." + +"I hadn't heard that side of the story," Cosden observed. + +"It was while we were at school together," Edith explained. "Marian was +irresistible then--as now, and every man she met lost his head +altogether; but for a time she and Mr. Hamlen were engaged. Then she +married the last man we expected; but she and Harry have been very +happy. It simply shows that you never can tell." + +"Did you know Hamlen then?" + +"No; but I heard enough about him. If he had been merely intelligent +instead of intellectual he might have had her just as well as not. He +simply frightened her out of it." + +"Where did Monty come in?" + +"I never heard of him; things couldn't have gone very far." + +"You remember what he said just before we started out this morning? I +know him pretty well and Monty doesn't speak like that unless there is +something back of it." + +"Well," Edith laughed, "I'm sure I should have known, even so. Why, I +could reel off so many names that you would think Marian was a heartless +coquette; but it wasn't that at all. She simply loved attention, as all +women do." + +"How about the daughter?" queried Cosden. + +"Merry?" Miss Stevens interrogated. "Oh, Merry is an up-to-date, +twentieth-century thoroughbred. Marian has never known just what to make +of her because she isn't like other girls, but to my mind the comparison +is all to her credit. I'm generous when I give the child so good a +character, for I know she heartily disapproves of me." + +Cosden was pleased with the intuition he had shown in his selection. "I +should think young Huntington would bore her about as much as a +youngster in kilts," he said, to draw her out. + +"He is her brother's friend, she adores athletics and dancing, and she +is exercising the prerogative of her age and sex." + +There was a silence of several moments, during which time Cosden was +debating with himself whether it was too late for him to bring his +dancing of the vintage of the nineties up to the present confusion of +innovations. He had scoffed at modern dances but it might become +necessary to revise his views. + +"What an unusual ring you have," Miss Stevens exclaimed, leaning over +his hand which rested upon the arm of his chair. "Is there a romance +connected with it?" + +Cosden took it off and handed it to her. "No," he said. "When you know +me better you will understand that romance doesn't come into my make-up. +I bought that ring myself particularly to avoid any sentiment. I can +take it off when I like, wear it or not as I choose, and if I lose it +nobody's heart is broken." + +"That is an original idea," she laughed; then her face sobered. "I used +to think romance was everything," she said seriously. "Now I wonder if +what we call romance isn't another word for illusion. As I look back at +my girl friends and see how many romances became tragedies, and how many +matter-of-fact marriages, like Marian's and Harry's, have developed into +real unions, I'm inclined to think that romance is a form of hypnotism." + +"You've expressed my idea to a dot," Cosden replied emphatically. +"Huntington is a sentimentalist, and he stamps my common-sense ideas as +evidences of a commercial instinct. I've seen just what you've seen, and +I believe that the business of life rests on exactly the same basis as +the business of trade." + +"Take Harry Thatcher, for example," Edith continued her own +conversation rather than replied to his; "there's nothing brilliant +about him outside his business success, but you always know where to +find him. He's a comfortable man to have around. With men, they say he +dominates everything he goes into, but in his home,--well, every now and +then he stands out just on principle, but as a matter of fact even his +ideas are in his wife's name." + +Mrs. Thatcher and Huntington approached them returning from their +moon-bath on the steps of the pier. + +"Did you ever see so wonderful a night, Edith?" she exclaimed with +enthusiasm. "This atmosphere, and the renewing of my friendship with Mr. +Huntington, make me feel like a girl again." + +"Monty must have been composing poetry," Cosden remarked. + +"No," Huntington disclaimed promptly; "poetry is the one contagious +disease of youth which I have escaped. But Mrs. Thatcher has helped me +to set back my clock of life more than twenty years, and that is an +achievement of which I feel justly proud." + + + + + * * * * * + +VII + + * * * * * + + +Sunday morning found the party possessed of divers minds regarding the +proper use to make of the wonderful sunshine and the mild yet bracing +air, delicately scented with thousands of blooms on every side. Mr. and +Mrs. Thatcher announced definitely that they proposed to hear the band +concert at the Barracks, which gave a certain basis upon which to hang +other plans. Billy Huntington suggested to Merry that they walk to Elba +Beach, and Cosden, with the cordial disapproval of Edith Stevens and +Billy, invited himself to accompany the young people on their walk. +Huntington accounted for himself by reporting that Hamlen had +telephoned, asking him to make the promised visit that morning, so the +Stevenses joined forces with the Thatchers, and the plans were complete. + +Hamlen was visibly ill at ease when Huntington arrived. It was the only +time during the twenty years of his residence there that any guest had +been received at his villa by invitation of its owner. The new +experience excited him, but the sincerity of Huntington's admiration of +the grounds, and the friendliness of his attitude, made it impossible +for any barrier long to exist between them. A touch of the old-time +bitterness passed through Hamlen's mind, soon after Huntington's +arrival, as he thought what it would have meant to him during any one of +those four years at college to have had Monty Huntington come to his +room in the same spirit of comradeship! Yet, he admitted to himself, the +tragedies of that small world did lose some of their poignancy in +retrospect, just as Huntington had said. He had been at a disadvantage +in that the world into which he had been graduated was not the great +world of which his classmate spoke, but rather another little one, +smaller even than that which had tortured him,--so small that he had +remained still instead of growing, as the others had, into an estate +from which he might look back with broader vision. + +This much at least had borne fruit from the conversation at the hotel, +but beyond this there was an impression still deeper which increased +Hamlen's spirit of unrest. From the time when he began to feel things +strongly there had existed in him a sense of justice which completely +dominated his other attributes. By the time he entered college this +sense had assumed exaggerated proportions, and he had reached a point +where he was looking for injustices, and was quick to resent them. He +might have made a place for himself in athletics had he not expected +some one else to take the initiative; he might have made friends except +that he waited to be sought out. When he saw other fellows around him +succeed where he had failed, the sensitiveness of his nature placed his +classmates on trial, appointed himself judge, and condemned them as +guilty of injustice, the most heinous crime in the category of sin. As a +penalty, he had banished them from his life. The fact that they bore +their punishment with seeming indifference served only to twist the +knife in the wound. + +His devotion to Marian Seymour gave his strange nature its only outlet. +Her father and his had been bosom friends in boyhood, and they had hoped +to see their children bound together in even closer ties. The tense, +deep nature of the boy dominated,--even more so after he went to college +and she to school, and they saw less of each other. He was different +from other boys she knew, and at first it pleased her vanity that he had +no thought for any one else, even though he demanded so much of her. +Then she became fairly terrified by his intensity, and when she broke +the engagement, just after his graduation, she welcomed her release. + +Her engagement and marriage to Thatcher supplied the final evidence that +the whole world was built upon a structure of injustice, and Hamlen fled +from it with a sense of leaving behind a thing despised. During all +these years the judge had worn his ermine, and the world represented the +condemned prisoner, working out its sentence, but somehow failing to +gain salutary results from its long chastisement. Now a belated witness +appears, supplying testimony which shakes the integrity of the judicial +decision. Huntington presents the case from a position new to the +self-appointed judge, and Hamlen had spent many hours since that +eventful meeting wondering whether the world had really been on trial +or he himself. Many of the words which Marian had spoken, which had not +made their impression when he first heard them came back with redoubled +force after Huntington had added his testimony to hers. "Was it their +failure to understand you or your failure to give them the opportunity?" +she asked. "The citizens of the college world are young, untried boys," +Huntington explained, "trying to conduct themselves like full-grown +men." What right had he to condemn them because in their youth and +inexperience they had fallen below the standard older men had set? Had +he a right to expect them to search him out any more than they a right +to demand the same of him? "You drew me to you with irresistible force," +Marian admitted, only to make the agony the more unbearable when she +added, "Then you repelled me by your intolerance of all those lighter +interests which were natural to youth of our age." Intolerance! That was +a form of injustice, and he had judged her guilty upon the same +indictment! "Each member of the Class measures up his fellow-members by +what they have done since they have left college," Huntington had said. +Every word seemed seared into Hamlen's brain as he put himself through +this fierce analysis. "What have you really accomplished?" was Marian's +question. + +So Hamlen had struggled with himself during the intervening hours, and +now Huntington came to him as a classmate, as a friend, claiming kinship +and insisting upon recognition of his claim. If Monty Huntington had +been what Hamlen believed him to be in college, he would not now have +forced himself upon him in spite of his own rude disclaimers of any +present desire for recognition. If he had misjudged Huntington had he +not misjudged his other classmates, had he not misjudged the world at +large? + +This was the doubt which had been raised in Hamlen's mind, and with it +came a sense of responsibility and the necessity of restitution should +that doubt turn into a certainty. Forty-eight hours earlier he had asked +Marian, "What do I owe the world?" and it was from Huntington he +received his answer. It was uncanny how closely the two opinions of the +case, made by persons widely separated in viewpoint and environment, +dovetailed each into the other. This interview with Huntington would +settle all doubt, he was convinced, and if the injustice proved to be +vested in himself alone, what was there left for him out of the wreck he +had made of life? What wonder that he was ill at ease; what wonder that +his heart beat more quickly as he realized that the moment of his own +conviction might be at hand! + +They walked about the grounds, as the others had done, and Huntington's +exclamations were no less enthusiastic; yet it was obvious that this was +but a prelude to the real purpose of his visit. They paused for a moment +as they came back through the garden, and the hesitation forced the +question from Hamlen's lips. + +"Don't you care to see the view from the Point?" + +"Not to-day," Huntington answered frankly. "I want to come again and +examine every cranny; but to-day, Hamlen, my interest lies in something +deeper. You have shown me what you are by profession; now show me what +you are by nature. You remember the old Greek adage, 'Would you know a +man, give him power.' My version of it is 'Would you know a man, give +him leisure'; for leisure is the expression of power, the stored-up +capital of that unmeasured treasure called Time whose currency is in the +blood and which promotes life itself. Here, in these grounds, your work +has been similar to that of any one of us in his office. Now I want to +know the man. Take me to his workshop." + +Hamlen understood him beyond the necessity of further words. He had told +Marian that it was in his books that he found his relaxation, but it was +not to his library that he now silently led his guest. It was to a small +room on the back of the villa, in which Huntington found cases of type, +a hand-press, and a bench containing every description of binder's +tools. As they entered Hamlen closed the door behind them. + +"I don't know why I brought you here," he spoke apologetically, "except +that by what you just said you seemed to know this place existed. No one +else has ever entered with me, for I have a sentiment about it which +would seem ridiculous to any one except myself." + +"It is a miniature printing-office and bindery combined!" + +"This is where I spend my leisure. This is where I withdraw into a +solitude even more complete than that in which I live. These +books"--pointing to a case near by--"represent the pitifully meager +contribution which I have made to the world while you and my other +classmates have taken the positions to which you are entitled. That I +show them to you now is a confession of the narrow outlook I have always +had on life." + +Huntington was busy examining the volumes, one by one, giving no sign +that he heard the crisp words. He turned the leaves critically, he +examined the bindings, he studied the typography and the designs. Then +at length he looked up. + +"I was mistaken when I said I did not know you," he remarked. + +"I don't understand," Hamlen replied. + +"Printing as an art has always been a hobby of mine," Huntington +explained. "With two exceptions I have every one of these books in my +collection at home." + +The color came into Hamlen's face. "You mean--" he began. + +"I mean that these splendid examples of the bookmaker's art have +attracted much attention among those of us who understand what they +represent, and I count myself fortunate to be the first to solve the +mystery which has surrounded them, when I next meet with my +fellow-collectors." + +"How is it possible," demanded Hamlen, "that any of these should have +fallen into your hands?" + +"Were they not placed upon the market?" + +"I did not suppose any of them reached America," Hamlen explained. "Out +of curiosity to see what would happen I sent the first volumes to a +dealer in London, and he has been kind enough to take the subsequent +volumes as they have been issued." + +"And kind enough to himself," Huntington added, "to call the attention +of all the leading collectors to the uniqueness of the work. Some time I +will show you his circulars if you care to know what he thinks of you; +and I may add that there is none of us who considers his claims +exaggerated." + +"Then the work is good?" Hamlen asked, unable to conceal his excitement. + +"It is superb both in conception and execution; but its greatest merit +is its originality. Most of the good printing and binding which we have +to-day rests definitely in conception upon some one of the great +master-printers or binders of the past: the work of Aldus, Jenson, +Etienne, Plantin, Elzevir, Baskerville, Didot, William Morris, is drawn +upon to greater or less degree by every modern printer, the volumes of +Grolier, Maiolus, or Geoffroy Tory are revived in nearly every modern +binding of importance; but your books are absolutely unique. Frankly, I +don't sympathize with all of them, but there is not one which does not +interest me. Tell me, where did you learn the art of bookmaking enough +to make yourself a master?" + +"Your praise is too high," Hamlen answered deprecatingly. + +"I am not praising your work," Huntington insisted; "that would be +presumptuous. Its merit has passed far beyond the point where praise +from me could affect it. Each volume which comes into the market is +hungrily snatched up, and we all have been eager to discover who the +master was. Where did you learn so much?" + +"I have been interested in the mechanics of printing ever since, as a +boy, I had my first press," explained Hamlen; "but I only turned to it +seriously after I came here and felt the need of something to keep my +mind engaged. I have in my library examples from probably most of the +great printers and binders, but--I'm afraid you won't understand me when +I say it--they have never interested me particularly, nor do they now. I +am only interested in what I do myself; and when I explain I am sure you +will not think me egotistical." + +"Go on," Huntington urged as Hamlen paused, but there was a break before +the speaker continued. + +"You said a moment ago that you did not sympathize with some of my +books; that is perfectly natural. I said just now that I was only +interested in my own work; that, too, I believe, is natural. I have no +knowledge of the great _incunabula_, I know nothing of the history of +printing, and in making these few books I have had no thought of +producing examples of the printer's or the binder's art: they stand to +me simply as symbolic of certain phases of myself,--some good, perhaps, +some bad; but all representative of my mood when they were made. I tell +you, Huntington"--Hamlen continued with deep intensity--"I tell you now +what I have never before put into words, that those are not books at +all; they are simply the expression of a something in my soul which +demands an outlet, and it comes out through my finger-tips. That sounds +absurd, but it is the solemn truth!" + +"Absurd?" cried Huntington. "My dear fellow, what you have just said is +the explanation of the books which we collectors, poor simple fools, +haven't been able to give. Don't you see that by your very act you have +placed yourself among the masters? What else are the sculptures of +Michelangelo, the paintings of Raphael, but the expression of their +messages to the world made through the media with which they were +familiar? With them it was stone and canvas, with you it is type and +paper and leather. Thank God you couldn't write!" + +Hamlen listened to him in amazement, unable to grasp at once the +significance or the breadth of all he heard. It was natural that +Huntington's last words should be the first in his hearer's mind. + +"What do you mean,--'thank God you couldn't write'?" + +"I mean that what you have just told me is the reason why the arts of +painting, architecture and sculpture have stood still these four hundred +and fifty years. Stop and think, man! Who in those arts has surpassed +the work of the old masters within that limit of time? No one, I say; no +one! And why? Think of your dates! Four hundred and fifty years take us +back to the invention of printing. That was what did it! With all it +accomplished for the cause of learning it was the death-knell to the +further development of the arts; for with the invention of printing came +an easier way to give to the world that message which the human soul +contains. Since then the real artist, whoever he was, instead of +laboring to express his message in stone, or bronze, or on canvas, has +simply taken pen and ink and patient paper and given the outpourings of +his soul to the dear public in the form of a book. Again I say, thank +God you couldn't write!" + +When Huntington turned to his companion he was amazed to see that he had +dropped upon a stool, with bowed head resting on his hands, was sobbing +like a child. With a woman's tenderness and intuition Huntington gently +rested his hand upon his head. + +"We have torn off the bandages too fast, my friend," he said quietly. +"Philip Hamlen doesn't belong among the 'missing men'; he belongs among +the masters of art of his generation." + + + + + * * * * * + +VIII + + * * * * * + + +Between Cosden and Billy Huntington the breach had become well-defined +during the past twenty-four hours. Up to this time the boy had +considered him merely as an unsympathetic personality, whose advice to +his uncle frequently made the task of carrying his point more difficult; +but as the point was always eventually carried Billy had borne him no +permanent ill-will. Cosden looked upon him as a spoiled child, to be +punished frequently on general principles just for the good of the +service. Now, however, affairs assumed a different footing: the boy, +jealous of the passing moments which brought the sailing of the +"Arcadian" nearer at hand, regarded the older man's action in joining in +the walk to Elba Beach as a distinct intrusion; while Cosden, +unconsciously applying his familiar business principles, deliberately +determined to eliminate the possible competition of a diverting +influence by exhibiting to the "prospect" a superior line of samples. +Not that he really considered Billy worthy of such serious attention, +but he was exercising that precaution which more than once had saved him +from committing a business mistake. + +Merry Thatcher was not unaware of the relations which existed between +the two, even though Cosden's present viewpoint was naturally unknown to +her. Billy had been particularly frank in his expressions the evening +before, and as they started off that morning he found opportunity to +paint his feelings in vivid colorings. Considering the situation as +amusing rather than serious, she held herself as a neutral observer. + +When it became evident that Cosden was in earnest in his suggestion to +accompany them, Billy was seized with an inspiration. + +"What kind of bike do you ride, Mr. Cosden?" he asked, stopping in front +of the bicycle-shed of the "Princess." + +"Bike?" Cosden echoed. "I thought we were going to walk." + +"Oh, no!" Billy assured him with confidence. "It's too far for Merry to +hike it along the pavements, and these roads are bully for wheels." + +"All right," Cosden assented without further hesitation. "I haven't +ridden for some time, but I guess I haven't forgotten how." + +"You know it's pretty tricky, riding down here in Bermuda," Billy +cautioned him. "You have to turn out to the left, and all that sort of +thing." + +"I'll take care of that," Cosden answered with decision, recognizing +what was in the boy's mind. "You go ahead and get the wheels." + +Billy's glance at Merry as Cosden turned aside to say a word to +Huntington was most expressive, and he managed to speak with her in an +undertone before the older man rejoined them. + +"The big stiff!" he ejaculated. "I hope he takes a header on this first +hill!--You know how to ride, don't you?" + +Merry's laughing nod reassured him. "Yes," she said; "it will be loads +of fun!" + +"Great! then let's tear things up a bit, and give him a run for his +money." + +Huntington stepped up with Cosden as the negro boy brought out the +wheels. + +"So you're going back to first principles, Connie?" he asked. "It must +have been you who suggested bicycles." + +"No; Billy wants to show me a thing or two about riding." + +"Show _you_!" Huntington laughed. "You'll have your hands full, my boy, +riding with him. Why, he won everything in sight in the bicycle-races on +the Mott Haven team when he was in college. He was as good as a +professional then, and I don't believe he's forgotten it all yet. Throw +out your chest, Connie, and let the lady admire your medals." + +Billy's face fell, and he looked at Merry dubiously. "Let's walk," he +said. + +"No, you don't!" Cosden insisted. "This was your idea, and now we'll see +it through. Come on." + +There was a complete reversal in the boy's spirits. The way Cosden +handled the wheel showed clearly enough that bicycle-riding was second +nature to him, and Billy's interest in the trip had obviously waned. But +Merry had already mounted and was starting on behind Cosden, so nothing +remained for him but to follow. Down past the tennis-courts, out onto +Front Street, winding through the closely-packed buildings of the town +itself, past Parliament House and Pembroke Hall, with its magnificent +group of Royal Palms, then around the harbor, they soon found themselves +riding between gardens and great trees on either side, which protected +the coraline houses, with their curious tiled roofs, from the glare of +the sun and the inquisitive gaze of the passers-by. + +"Can you take that hill without dismounting?" Cosden challenged Merry, +as they approached a steep rise in the road. + +"Try me!" she answered gaily. + +"Oh, what's the use in tiring Merry all out?" Billy protested. "This +isn't an endurance test; we're out for fun." + +"We'll wait for you," the girl taunted him laughingly, and the two shot +ahead for the hill. The boy muttered something about Mr. Cosden which +undoubtedly would have been much to the point had it been heard, and +pedaled hard to make up for their start, but he reached the top of the +incline in considerably poorer condition than either of the others. + +"Whew!" Billy puffed, "let's stop a minute; there's a dandy view from +here." + +"Shall we rest?" Cosden asked Merry. + +"Not on my account," she replied unhelpfully. "I'm perfectly fresh, and +the ride is exhilarating." + +"Then it would be a pity to be held back by Billy's inexperience," +Cosden commented, glancing at him with a malicious smile. "On, on to +Elba Beach!" + +The boy managed nearly to keep up with them for the balance of the +distance, but was quite ready to throw himself on the ground when they +arrived at their destination. + +"Those are the 'boilers,' Billy," Merry announced to him, as they found +the expanse of sea spread out before them, with the curious coral atols +in the foreground, around which the water seethed. + +"Nothing that boils interests me in the least," was the unenthusiastic +reply. "Lead me to an ice-chest and I'll give it the bunny-hug. Say, Mr. +Cosden, you are some rider, aren't you? And Merry is no slouch!" + +"I'm glad you suggested the change," Cosden said. "I have underrated +your headwork, my boy." + +"You certainly ride mighty well for a man your age,--doesn't he, Merry?" +Billy continued with apparent good humor, but, aggravated to a point of +impertinence by the patronizing attitude, he determined to break even +with his tormentor. "Your wind is good, and the way you pedaled up that +hill made me forget that you were old enough to be my father. You're +mighty well preserved, aren't you?" + +Cosden was nettled. "Your idea of age needs some revision," he retorted +sharply. "If I were to figure things the same way, I would suggest that +the next time you come to Elba Beach you use an automobile perambulator +instead of a bicycle.--Now let's call it quits." + +"They don't allow automobiles down here," Billy corrected seriously. +"That's one reason why I came. I never want to see a buzz-wagon again." + +"Skid, collision, run-over, smash-up--" Merry began helpfully. + +"No--worse still," Billy rejoined slowly, evidently surveying the past +in his mind.--"Say, Phil was in this, too." + +"Phil?" the girl echoed anxiously. "He wasn't hurt, was he?" + +"No, not hurt exactly; but we both had the shivers all right, and the +more I think it over the less of a joke it seems to me. You see, Bud +Warner has a crackerjack car, and he asked Phil and me to dash out with +him one afternoon. The first thing we knew he turned in at a place out +in Belmont, rode to the front door, and went on in to fuss a dame there +that he's been rushing. Well, Phil and I cooled our heels half an hour +waiting for him and then we thought we'd get even by giving him the +slip, for it was a good two miles' walk to the cars and Bud is no bear +as a walker. We slid out with the motor all right, but just before we +reached Harvard Square a wise-guy cop pinched us for stealing the car, +and ran us both in." + +"Arrested you for stealing?" Merry demanded. + +"Surest thing you know," Billy confirmed. "When Bud found we'd slipped +him, he was sore, and to get even he telephoned the police-station, gave +them the number of the car, and said it had been stolen. Oh! we were in +bad, for fair." + +"And Uncle Monty far from home," commented Cosden. + +"Yes," Billy admitted; "I didn't know it at the time or I should have +been still more peeved. Well--we stayed there in the cooler for two +hours when Bud showed up and was brought in where we were. He gave us +the once over, and acted as if he'd never seen us before in all his +young life. 'I couldn't have believed it of such respectable-looking +young men,' he said,--the darned hypocrite! 'I couldn't send them to +State's prison,' said he, 'on account of their families.' Then he made +an imitation like thinking, and finally he said, 'Officer, I withdraw +the charge of theft, but ask you to hold the prisoners for exceeding the +speed limit.--What's the bail? I'll help them out for the sake of their +families.' So he bailed us out, and we went back together, with Bud +thinking he'd played us a fine, swell joke." + +"Did you jump your bail?" Merry inquired, thoroughly amused. + +"No; we didn't dare. We came up before the judge next morning, and it +cost us ten bones apiece and costs. That's what made me so short on my +Christmas money." + +"I'll guarantee you found some way to get around that," Cosden said, +suggestively egging him on to display his youthfulness. + +Billy grinned. "I had to," he admitted. "I thought I could get some +money from Uncle Monty, but he had gone away, so I had Mother's present +charged to Father, and Father's present charged to Mother." + +"Frenzied finance!" cried Cosden, amused in spite of his desire to +disparage the boy. "You are wasting your time in college; you should be +in Wall Street." + +"Your advice ought to be good, Mr. Cosden," agreed Billy, "for you +certainly know how to make your money work overtime. I can always tell +when Uncle Monty gives me any of the tired cash he wins out of you from +the gratitude it shows for getting a little rest." + +Cosden did not like Billy's come-backs, and he did not like the +amusement which he saw restrained in Merry's face. Still, he accepted +the responsibility in large measure for putting himself on the boy's +level. + +"I'd like to have charge of your business education," he said +significantly. + +"It may come to that," the boy said with a total lack of enthusiasm. +"That's the one real threat Uncle Monty always holds over me." + +"You are impertinent--" Cosden realized that the ragging was going too +far. + +"Who began it?" was the retort. + +"Who is going to invite me to have some strawberries and cream?" Merry +interrupted, feeling it to be her mission to come to the rescue, and +recognizing Billy's mistake in antagonizing so close a friend of his +uncle. + +Billy was on his feet in an instant, but Cosden was ahead of him. + +"I know the place," Merry said. "You see, I'm the old settler here, so +I'll show you all the attractions. Think of strawberries and cream in +January!--Won't you go ahead of us, Mr. Cosden, and ask the boy to put a +table out on the piazza? It will be lovely there." + +As Cosden moved out of earshot she turned to her companion. + +"You must not upset him like that, Billy," she reproved him firmly; +"your uncle will never forgive you." + +"He has no right to butt in on us," the boy protested gloomily. + +"But he's here, and you must be civil to him. Think how much older he is +than you are, and you're quarreling with him as if he were your own +age." + +"Oh, I'll be civil to him if he'll only can his grouch. Why, he got sore +with me for kidding him about his age, yet you noticed how old he is +yourself." + +"He isn't old, Billy. Why, he's younger than Mr. Huntington, isn't he?" + +"Perhaps he is; but Uncle Monty always makes you feel that he's your own +age. I never think of him any differently than I do of any of my other +pals. But Mr. Cosden--ugh!" + +"I know, Billy; but you don't want to say anything that will queer you +with your uncle, do you?" + +Billy looked at her quizzically before he replied, then his broad, +good-natured grin replaced the frown. + +"I get you, Stevie--what's the feminine for Steve, anyhow? You mean that +a fellow ought not to make _pate de foie gras_ out of the goose that +lays the golden eggs.--Say, Merry, you're wonderful, you are,--simply +wonderful!" + + + + + * * * * * + +IX + + * * * * * + + +On their return from the Barracks Mrs. Thatcher and Edith Stevens left +the men on the piazza and went up-stairs for the ostensible purpose of +lying down, but with that ease with which two women change their plans +when once alone they found themselves sitting in Marian's room, engaged +in a heart-to-heart conversation. + +"I really think he might do," Edith remarked, a propos of nothing. + +As Mrs. Thatcher was intimately acquainted with Edith's mental processes +the remark was more intelligible than might have been expected. + +"You don't mean Philip Hamlen?" + +Edith laughed. "No; you warned me off of him yesterday. I mean Mr. +Cosden." + +"At it again?" Marian laughed. "Edith, you are absolutely incorrigible! +It has been so long since you have played ducks and drakes with a man +that I really believed you had reformed. You are old enough to know +better!" + +"I presume it will be the same with him as with the others," Edith +sighed. "That is my great weakness, I admit: I like a man just so long, +and then he bores me stiff. I don't see how a married woman stands it +to have only one man around her all the time. If you were as honest as I +am you would admit that it would be a relief to you, every now and then +if you could pour out your breakfast coffee with some one else sitting +in front of you instead of Harry." + +"Harry answers very well, thank you." + +"Habit, nothing else," Edith insisted. "He's as much a part of the +family furniture as the grand piano. But that's what gives me hope: if +you and so many other women can endure it, why can't I?" + +"There are hundreds of men; why pick on Mr. Cosden?" + +"I had a long, experimental conversation with him last night while you +and Mr. Huntington were holding your revival meeting on the pier, and I +really think he might do. Tell me what you know about him." + +"Only what Harry has told me. They have had some business dealings +together, and Harry says he has made a lot of money. The fact that Monty +Huntington is his friend is his best recommendation." + +"Mr. Huntington has a good social position in Boston, hasn't he?" + +"Good heavens, yes! I believe one of his ancestors discovered Beacon +Street, or something of that kind; but that doesn't imply that Mr. +Cosden has the same position. A bachelor may have friends at his clubs +whom he does not necessarily bring into his social circle,--especially +in Boston." + +"Mr. Cosden is frightfully commercial," Edith meditated aloud. + +"So are you," Marian broke in laughing. + +"I don't mind that," Edith continued, "so long as he has a human side. +I believe I could serve as a counter-irritant to keep him from remaining +merely a machine. + +"You mustn't take away his capacity as provider," Marian teased her; "he +would need a fairly stiff income to sail the good ship 'Edith Stevens.'" + +"With everything I want costing more and everything I own yielding less, +that is of vital importance, of course. But I really believe +Cossie--Connie--whatever they call him, might do." + +"Well, it's fine to have that all settled, my dear," Marian agreed, +still showing her amusement. "Now, when are you going to break the news +to him?" + +"Ah! that's another question!" Edith answered, entirely unabashed. +"Couldn't you find out from Mr. Huntington something about his hobbies +and his antipathies?" + +"Of course; unless you select some one else in the mean time. Perhaps +we'd better wait until after luncheon." + +"Oh, I'm serious," Edith protested,--"provided of course that he +measures up all right. The more I think it over the more serious I +become. Ricky was particularly trying this morning; I'm aghast at the +amount of last month's bills, and all in all it makes me realize the +importance of not letting one's age become an indiscretion. Even you +referred to my passing years." + +"Poor Ricky!" Marian said sympathetically; "he never gets any credit for +sacrificing himself." + +"I've acted in the interests of my sex," Edith asserted stoutly. "Ricky +is a joke. Except for the fact that he's my own brother I'd say he was +a scream. If it hadn't been for me he would have married some girl and +bored her to extinction. She couldn't have escaped him, but I can. +Somebody owes me a debt of gratitude." + +"Well," Marian sighed, "I wish you luck; if Mr. Cosden isn't smart +enough to protect himself it will be his own fault." + +"Why be catty, Marian?" Edith retorted with asperity. "It isn't +becoming." + +Marian laughed. "You silly child!" she said. "You are the most supremely +selfish creature in the world, but you are so blissfully unconscious of +the fact that I love you for it. Some one has to stand up for Ricky; +Heaven knows he can't stand up for himself." + +"Very good." Edith was only partly mollified. "I've no doubt Ricky will +be exceedingly grateful, but if you were to ask me I'd say that you have +men enough on your hands already without him. Now, I'm going to my room +to dress for luncheon. Afterwards, when you find an opportunity, I want +you to pump Mr. Huntington dry about Cossie--Connie--I'll never get used +to that name!--and leave me to do the rest." + +Unconscious of plots and counterplots, Cosden and Huntington sauntered +innocently onto the piazza after their noonday meal. Billy had managed +to get himself invited to the Thatchers' table, so the two friends had +lunched by themselves. Both were self-centered, but neither noticed it +because of his own abstraction. Cosden was measuring up the girl as his +opportunity for observation broadened, Huntington was still affected by +his experience with Hamlen. Curiously enough, in spite of their +friendship, or perhaps because their intimacy gave each so clear a +knowledge of the other's characteristics neither one cared to speak of +the subject which was uppermost in his mind. "Monty is too much of a +cynic to appreciate my situation here," Cosden told himself; and +Huntington, without even mentally putting it into words, knew that +Hamlen did not and never would appeal to Cosden. + +Shortly after the men had lighted their cigars the party from the +Thatchers' table joined them. Marian noticed that Edith casually dropped +into the chair beside Cosden's, and was amused to see that she began +operations at once. + +"What are we going to do this afternoon?" Edith queried breezily. + +"We've all been going since breakfast," Stevens suggested; "why not sit +still for a while?" + +"Ricky!" said his sister severely, "no one asked your opinion. What in +the world is the use of sitting still? We can do that at home." + +"What do you suggest?" Cosden asked her incautiously. + +"Have you been to Harrington Sound?" + +"No," he admitted; recognizing at once that he had given an unwise +opening. + +"Then why don't you let me show you the way?" Edith asked, as if the +thought had only just occurred to her. + +A chorus of approval went up from Huntington, Mrs. Thatcher and Billy. + +"Suppose we all go," Cosden said, seeking safety in numbers. + +"We have taken the drive several times," Mrs. Thatcher abetted Edith in +her conspiracy, "and I am sure Mr. Huntington is too gallant to leave +us. You can drive over and back comfortably by dinner-time." + +"Won't you stop on the way home and get me some coral sand?" Merry +asked. "Edith will show you the beach." + +A drive with Miss Stevens was the last thing Cosden had intended, but as +there seemed no possible escape he rose to the occasion and at once +ordered the victoria. Nor was the enthusiasm of Billy's send-off +balm-of-Gilead to his soul as the carriage moved away from the hotel +steps. Edith, in a suit of white Bermuda doe-skin, with a small purple +hat perched rakishly on her head, and carrying a purple parasol with +handle of abalone pearl, was looking her best, and to the amused +onlookers her snapping eyes and beaming countenance seemed to promise +compensation. + +"I wish we might have a word together about Hamlen," Huntington remarked +to Marian as they turned back to the piazza. + +"That is the very subject which is uppermost in my mind," she replied +eagerly. "You saw him this morning?" + +"Yes; and he has absorbed my thoughts ever since. Suppose we sit down +and talk him over." + +The others in the party left them to themselves. They had heard +Huntington's preliminary remark, and understood that they had no part in +the conversation. + +"He is a pathetic figure," Huntington continued, "and he has won a +sympathy from me which I never remember to have given to any one before. +Think of twenty years of solitude! By Jove! he is the Modern Edmond +Dantes!" + +"I've known him since he was a boy," Marian said as Huntington paused +for a moment. "If you are to understand the situation, perhaps I ought +to tell you more. For a time, we were engaged, but these relations were +broken off soon after his graduation. In fact I feel that I am to a +certain extent responsible for his present condition, for he left +America as soon as he heard of my engagement to Mr. Thatcher." + +Huntington looked up quickly. "That gives Hamlen and me another bond of +sympathy," he said quietly. + +"What do you mean?" she asked, surprised. + +"That same announcement produced disastrous effects upon my life as +well." + +"Why, you never saw me half a dozen times--" + +"Once was enough," he replied seriously. + +"Your imagination is as highly developed as your gallantry, Mr. +Huntington," Marian laughed; "but we mustn't let ourselves become +diverted.--Philip Hamlen was always sensitive and moody, but until I +discovered him down here I had no idea these characteristics could +become so exaggerated." + +"He believes himself always to have been misunderstood," Huntington +added. "To-day he felt that we met on common ground, and the gratitude +in his eyes still haunts me." + +"Can't we do something for him, between us?" she asked earnestly. + +"We must," Huntington assented with decision. "I am still puzzling over +the problem. Have you anything to suggest?" + +Mrs. Thatcher did not reply at once, and Huntington respected her +silence. He realized that her answer could not be given spontaneously, +that the proposition was too vital for anything but the most serious +consideration. As a matter of fact, however, she had already considered +it. Marian Thatcher was a woman of strong impulses, with strength of +will equal to carry them through to success. She had been appalled by +Hamlen's condition, and felt keenly her personal responsibility. During +the hours which had intervened since the accidental meeting, many of +them sleepless hours of the night, she had searched her mind for some +expedient which should in part work restitution. She had discovered a +possible solution, but it was of a nature so intimate that she hesitated +to take Huntington into her confidence. + +"I had thought--" she began at length, but then she paused. "We must +pull him out of himself," she began again; "we must get him where he +will find something to think of other than himself." + +"Suppose that to be accomplished, what then?" + +"I had thought--he needs--he needs a woman who believes in him, to give +him courage, to restore his lost faith in himself. A friendship such as +you or any other man can give will help much, but if the right woman +could happen to come into his life--" + +"Isn't that taking too long a step for a first one? Huntington +inquired. + +"Perhaps; but I feel myself so largely responsible that it would mean +much to me to atone--" + +Marian's intensity made its impression upon Huntington even as it had +upon Hamlen; but he could not follow her. How a married woman could make +atonement just at this crisis was not clearly apparent. She realized +that her stumbling remarks must be confusing. + +"It is difficult for me to tell you just what I have in mind," she +stated definitely at length. "You don't know me well enough not to +misunderstand, and you don't know Merry. But if I am to accept your aid +I must run that risk, mustn't I?" + +"I shall try not to misunderstand--" + +"You mustn't think me unmotherly or indelicate," she continued. "It may +be the last thing in the world which ought to happen, but if Philip +Hamlen and Merry should take it into their heads to marry it would seem +almost like poetic justice, wouldn't it?" + +"By Jove, no!" Huntington ejaculated hastily, with visions of Cosden +swimming before his eyes. + +"Of course you are surprised," Marian said, laughing consciously; "but +if you think of it you must admit that Merry would make him an ideal +wife, and I believe he would be a wonderful husband. Her interest has +always been in men older than herself, and he is only now ready to enjoy +his youth. Of course, it is only an idea, but stranger things than that +have happened." + +"Well," he said guardedly, sparring for time, "that may be the ultimate +outcome; but first of all we must do a bit of humanizing. I would like +to take him back to Boston to pay me a long visit if he would go. After +that, we could see how things worked out." + +"Splendid!" Marian exclaimed; "and being in Boston he would be nearer my +Philip. That was the one suggestion which seemed to appeal to him when I +tried to persuade him to leave Bermuda. He would be much more likely to +accept the suggestion from you than from me. The boy is named for him, +and I believe they could do much for each other." + +"Capital!" echoed Huntington. "I know from experience how much a boy can +do to keep an older man from thinking too much about himself. We are +making progress. I will do my best to drag him away from here, and if I +succeed we will arrange with Philip to take charge of that side of his +education." + +Marian smiled gratefully as she heard the plan put definitely into +words. "You have relieved me of an oppressive burden," she said +feelingly. "It is such a relief to talk the matter over with some one +who really understands. Don't misjudge me by what I suggest about Merry. +I can't forget the closeness of those earlier relations, I can't forget +my responsibility, and I shouldn't be true to myself if I failed to do +all in my power to bring Philip Hamlen back to himself." + +"His natural qualities and his helplessness form a strong appeal," +Huntington replied evasively. "I shall be glad to assist in this +socialistic experiment, Mrs. Thatcher, but I'm not quite sure that I am +wholly sympathetic." + +"You will see more reason in my suggestion after you know them both +better," Marian said confidently, placing her hand within the one +outstretched to her. "When you do, I am sure I shall have your cordial +co-operation in bringing about the match." + +"If you are right, I shall ask that my case be placed next upon the +calendar." + +"Willingly!" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "I'll find a wife within a month." + +"Heaven forbid!" he cried. "Unless--" he added slyly;--"unless you +become a widow in the mean time!" + + + + + * * * * * + +X + + * * * * * + + +For some reason best known to himself Huntington did not confide to +Cosden the fact that Mrs. Thatcher had suggested the possibility of a +match between Merry and Hamlen. She had referred to it as "poetic +justice"; perhaps Huntington, knowing his friend to be unsympathetic in +his relations toward poetry in general, might fail to appreciate the +present application, particularly since he himself, though possessing +pronounced fondness for the poets, had not fully risen to the idea. As a +matter of fact, the suggestion shocked him no less than Cosden's +business-like proposition concerning his own marriage. What were people +thinking of, these days! + +He looked forward to the morrow and to the sailing of the "Arcadian" +with a sense of partial relief, for Billy's boyish infatuation and +Cosden's impatient demands for interference had considerably disturbed +his tranquillity. Huntington was a man of action when he so elected, and +he enjoyed doing things when they were of his own choice and could be +done in his own time and way; but nothing annoyed him more than to be +forced into action by another's choice or election. Now, just as he saw +one disturbing element about to be eliminated, another of seemingly +greater magnitude loomed up on the horizon, and he cordially wished +himself back in Boston with nothing more serious than the east winds to +worry him. + +But no disturbing element was apparent in his face as he stepped out +onto the piazza after his leisurely breakfast the following morning. +Glancing around, he discovered Cosden and Miss Stevens standing at the +further corner, watching the hustle of the departing guests. + +"You're just in time to witness the great event of the day," she greeted +him as he joined them, pleased that she had Cosden and Huntington even +temporarily to herself. "One of the best things they do down here is to +arrange the sailings to New York at a time when one may see the boat off +without getting up at all hours of the night." + +Cosden started to speak and then paused, looking at her narrowly to make +certain that by no possible construction could any answer of his be +twisted into an invitation to drive to St. George's, or to some other +point equally remote. + +"Your remark shows that you and Mr. Huntington have much in common," he +observed at length. + +"Ability to sleep is an evidence of a clear conscience," she asserted. + +"Which explains my restless nights, and the necessity of making up my +quota at the wrong end," Huntington said. + +"But you come from New England, Mr. Huntington," Edith expostulated. +"I've always heard a lot about the New England conscience." + +"I'll wager you never heard anything good about it," Huntington smiled. + +"Does it ever really keep any one from doing the things he wants to do?" +she asked mischievously. + +"No," Huntington answered gravely; "it simply makes him very +uncomfortable while he's doing them." + +"I thought your sleeplessness might be caused by anxiety lest that +precious nephew of yours forget to take the boat this morning," Cosden +remarked dryly. + +Huntington was quietly amused. "How about you?" he asked. + +"I'm here to throw him bodily on board at the first sign of any change +of plan." + +"You speak as if you had a grudge against the boy," Edith said, looking +surprised. + +"Not at all," Cosden demurred; "Billy is all right, but he covers too +much territory. Since he landed I haven't been able to put my foot on +the ground without stepping on him. His Alma Mater needs Billy more than +I do, and, as Monty says, we alumni must be loyal to our Dear Mother." + +"His Alma Mater will have to do without him for a few days longer unless +he appears soon," Edith remarked calmly, pointing toward the dock. "The +tender has just started and will be here at the pier in a moment." + +Both men sprang to their feet. + +"Where in the world can that boy be?" Huntington demanded with real +concern. + +"You go up to his room and I'll look around down here," Cosden said, +taking command of the situation. + +Huntington disappeared with astonishing alacrity, while his friend +deserted Miss Stevens to pursue the search down-stairs. + +"Why don't you find Miss Thatcher?" Cosden suggested, coming back to her +as the idea struck him; "that will probably locate the boy." + +"I'd rather watch the man-hunt from here," she retorted coolly. "I don't +want to miss seeing you throw him bodily on board." + +The tender came slowly alongside the "Princess" steps, taking on board +the passengers from the hotel. Cosden and Huntington both appeared from +different directions as the gang-plank was drawn up and the little +steamer's screw began to churn. Huntington was out of breath, but not +empty-handed--he carried with him a bag which showed evidences of hectic +packing, with pajama strings hanging out from the partially closed top. + +"He hadn't even packed his things!" Huntington panted indignantly. + +"Stay here a moment," Cosden said, leaving him standing irresolutely at +the top of the stone steps, watching the stretch of water increase +between the departing tender and the pier. + +"Please turn this way," Edith called, leveling her camera at him from +the piazza rail. "I want to be sure to get that suit-case into the +picture." + +"Wait until Connie comes back," Huntington begged. + +At that moment a disheveled figure appeared running frantically up the +"Princess" driveway. + +"I've lost my boat!" Billy cried with well-simulated despair. + +"You did it deliberately, you young rascal!" Huntington cried, aroused +at last to exasperation. + +"Uncle Monty!" Billy's face wore an injured expression which would have +fitted a Raphael cherub. "You know I wouldn't have missed that boat for +anything. I'm sure to be rooked if I'm not in Cambridge Thursday." + +Cosden joined them in time to hear Billy's expostulations. "We couldn't +let that happen," he said comfortingly. "Come on; I've fixed it up with +the jolly skipper in this motor-boat. He swears he can reach the +'Arcadian' before the tender does. Quick! there isn't a minute to lose!" + +"But I haven't packed my bag--" + +"Here it is!" + +Huntington removed Billy's one remaining hope, and the boy saw that he +was fairly beaten. + +The broad grin returned to his face as he took his bag. "That's mighty +good of you, Mr. Cosden," he said, with such apparent sincerity that it +disarmed his uncle's wrath. "There aren't many men who would help a +fellow out like that. I won't forget it!" + +He ran down the stone steps and took his place in the stern of the +motor-boat. "Good-bye, everybody! Say, Uncle Monty, explain to Merry why +I didn't have time to say 'good-bye' to her, and don't forget that this +joy-ride is on Mr. Cosden. Good-bye!" + +They watched the little boat speed after the tender, which by this time +had reached the narrows; then they turned back to the piazza. + +"We've succeeded in making ourselves fairly conspicuous," Cosden +remarked. "A good deal of fuss over one small boy, eh, Monty?" + +"Thank you so much!" Edith cried enthusiastically as they joined her. "I +haven't seen so much excitement since I arrived,--and I love to watch +two live men in action." + +"It's frightful, being stared at, isn't it?" Cosden protested. + +"Don't believe a word he says, Miss Stevens," Huntington retaliated. "He +really loves to be stared at; it's the disappointment on the people's +faces after looking at him that causes the worry.--Now, Connie, you can +put your foot on the ground without stepping on Billy. How are you +planning to take advantage of your opportunity?" + +Cosden glanced at his watch. "I have an appointment with Thatcher at +eleven on that little business proposition. We're to meet at the +'Hamilton.' I've just about time to keep it. As for you, I suggest that +you invite Miss Stevens to show you the way to the Devil's Hole. They +have a wonderful collection of fish over there, which the Scotch keeper +puts through their paces every little while whenever he needs the money. +I commend your attention to the bachelor-fish: it has a bad disposition, +makes itself obnoxious to its fellow-creatures, and would be sarcastic +in its conversation if it had the power of speech." + +With this parting shot Cosden made his excuses to Miss Stevens and +walked over to the "Hamilton." His spirits had improved immensely within +the past half-hour, and the proximity of his appointment caused him to +forget for the moment that his vacation trip thus far had distinctly +bored him. To Cosden a vacation consisted, as Henry James would have +described it, of "agitated scraps of rest, snatched by the liveliest +violence." On other occasions, when he sought relaxation, he had found +it in strenuous physical exercise; in the present instance he had +intended to engage himself in the more unfamiliar occupation of offering +a partnership to Merry Thatcher in the "Cosden Social Development +Company, Limited," although he had not expressed it to himself in just +these words. In this expectation he had so far signally failed. Had he +been a baron of old he might have seized the prospective bride bodily +and made off with her to his ancestral castle, but, even with the +handicap imposed by modern civilization, now that the diverting +influence had been eliminated, he believed the opportunity was nearer to +the point of offering itself. The fact that Thatcher had turned to him +in this proposition, whatever it was, not only pleased him as a further +evidence of recognition, but supplied him with an agreeable outlet for +his pent-up energy. + +Cosden had told Huntington that Thatcher was a "big man," and his +friend, having learned his business vocabulary, understood what was +meant by this designation: Thatcher was a man of substantial means, held +influential positions on important boards, and wielded a power in the +financial circles in which he moved. Cosden had been far-sighted, he +told himself, to have happened upon the scene at this particular +juncture, for Thatcher would scarcely have gone out of his way to invite +him to join in the enterprise except for the coincidence of their +meeting; and Cosden was not averse to being included in the Thatcher +group of operators. + +Thatcher was awaiting him on the lower piazza when he arrived at the +"Hamilton." + +"I wanted to have a few words with you before we join this promoter +person up-stairs," he explained, "so I sent Stevens on ahead to tell him +we are on our way. Duncan is the man's name. He's a Scotchman who has +lived down here for many years. He has little education, and you could +cut his brogue with a knife." + +"I won't object to his brogue if his signature is any good at the foot +of a check," Cosden interrupted. + +"He doesn't come in on that end," Thatcher continued. "The idea is his, +and he can be of service later on if we proceed with it. It isn't very +large, and we can finance it easily if the thing is worth taking up at +all. The scheme is to fit Bermuda out with a trolley system, and to +bring the right tidy little island down to the twentieth century." + +"Not a bad suggestion," Cosden commented,--"and a great improvement upon +the present system of bicycling." Billy would have rejoiced had he known +how stiff his adversary's legs were after the famous ride to Elba Beach. +"Why hasn't some one thought of it before?" + +"Duncan will tell you the story as he has told me," Thatcher said +rising. "Come, let us go to him now. Ricky will have exhausted his +vocabulary by this time." + +Cosden smiled at the mention of Stevens' name. "He's a curious +fellow,--Stevens," he remarked. "With that vacant expression on his face +he ought to make a corking poker-player. Is he interested in this +deal?" + +"Ricky interested in business?" Thatcher laughed. "He would run a mile +to avoid it! No, he's just a messenger this morning; but Ricky is all +right in his way. He's the society member of his family. He isn't a +heavy-weight, but when it comes to dancing or the latest word in men's +attire, you can't overlook Ricky." + + * * * * * + +Cosden's departure left Huntington and Miss Stevens together on the +piazza of the hotel. The bustle attendant upon the sailing had quieted +down but Huntington had not recovered from the unusually violent action +of the past few moments. + +"I was going over to have another visit with Hamlen," he remarked, "but +the morning is gone." + +"It isn't eleven o'clock yet," Miss Stevens commented. + +"By Jove! is that all? Well, it's too late now, but I'll go this +afternoon.--It seems as if ages had passed since breakfast! Do you +suppose they'll keep that boy on board once they get him there?" + +"Of course," she laughed. "Why worry about him?" + +"I'm not worrying," Huntington protested. "I never worry,--I don't +believe in it. Worry is for parents and married people generally." + +"What a cynic you are on the subject of marriage," Edith remarked; "you +never pass an opportunity to knock it, do you?" + +"Am I so heartless as all that?" Huntington inquired by way of answer. +"But why can't you and I, who may class ourselves among those fortunate +ones who have escaped the snares, be honest with each other and enjoy +watching the thraldom of others who have shown themselves less +discreet?" + +"How do you know that I do class myself among the fortunate ones?" + +"Because you are unmarried, and seeing you is to know that you could not +enjoy that blessed state except through choice." + +Edith smiled at his gallantry, wondering whether he was really as +flippant as he would have her think. + +"If a woman were to take that position she would be accused of 'sour +grapes,' wouldn't she?" + +"Probably; such is the instinctive pessimism of the times. It is so much +easier to do the conventional when one sees it going on all about him +that people are intellectually incapable of comprehending that to avoid +the obvious may be a matter of pre-determination, and an evidence of +strength rather than the result of accident or an act of omission." + +"Does Mr. Cosden share your views upon this subject?" Edith inquired. + +"Not at the present moment, if I am credibly informed by my +observations." + +Edith looked at him critically. "Do you mean that he is engaged?" she +asked pointedly. + +"Oh, no," Huntington disclaimed promptly, conscious that he was talking +of his friend with considerable freedom, but suddenly inspired with the +idea that it might help the situation; "no, I didn't mean that at all. +He isn't as careful as he used to be about exposing himself; that is +what I was trying to say. You see, I don't know how long inoculation +holds good: it's seven years for smallpox, and three years for typhoid. +How long should you say a man could hold out against matrimony on the +same ratio?" + +"When was Mr. Cosden 'inoculated,' as you call it?" she asked, smiling. + +"When he started out to make his fortune, about fifteen years ago." + +"Then I'm sure it has run out of his system long since," she laughed. +"He ought to be very susceptible." + +"I'm afraid you're right," Huntington sighed. "Of course, Connie has a +strong, robust constitution and he may pull through, but I will admit +that I've seen symptoms lately which cause me some anxiety. Did you +notice anything while you were out driving?" + +"I noticed a good many things, but nothing which would contribute to the +subject you mention. He was about as responsive as the wrong side of a +mirror, but I talked at him until he had to say something in +self-defense." + +"Dear me!" Huntington held up his hands deprecatingly. "That is one of +the worst symptoms possible. I had no idea that it had gone as far as +that. You and I must take Connie in hand." + +"Who is the girl?" Edith demanded abruptly. + +"Ah! I am counting on you to help me find out." + +"It all must have happened before you came down here." + +"On the contrary; Connie was quite himself until he reached Bermuda. +Since then--" + +"Why, he hasn't met any one here except--" + +"You and Miss Thatcher," Huntington completed. "You see how the search +narrows itself. I shall continue my investigations until I discover the +truth. + +"How perfectly ridiculous!" Edith cried, not yet convinced as to his +sincerity. "Why, Merry is a mere child, and--what makes you think there +is anything of that kind in Mr. Cosden's mind?" + +"His vindictiveness. Haven't you noticed the way he treated Billy? And +he has actually been harsh with me on two occasions. It isn't like +Connie; and if it affects him like this now, Heaven alone knows what the +outcome will be if matters go further. You know the old song: + + "_You may carve it on his tombstone, you may cut it on his card, + That a young man married is a young man marred._" + +"There you go again," laughed Edith; "the cynic once more leaps into the +limelight." + +"But won't you pledge yourself to assist me in my noble work? Why not +form ourselves into a society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Single +Persons, and be sworn to do all we can to intervene between matrimony +and its victims?" + +"Of course each would be at liberty to use his own judgment?" queried +Edith, amused. + +"Yes; so long as he did not confound judgment with sentiment." + +"That is a capital suggestion," she agreed smiling. "I will gladly join +you. Our first undertaking, I presume, will be to prevent affairs from +going any further between Merry and Mr. Cosden--granting that they +exist?" + +"I don't say that. I recognize in you a superior person, and as such I +have absolute confidence that you will act in accord with the unwritten +constitution of our Society." + +"Thank you for that confidence," Edith said still smiling. Then she +added enigmatically, "Whenever I accept a responsibility I always rise +promptly to the emergency. In the present instance it requires careful +consideration. Now, if you will excuse me I will take my morning +constitutional." + +Huntington was not sorry to have a few moments of solitary +contemplation. Throwing away a half-smoked cigar, he drew his pipe from +his pocket and filled it with his favorite mixture--unchanged since he +first became acquainted with it at college. A cigarette represented to +Huntington the casual inconsequence of youth, a cigar the aristocracy of +smoking, a pipe that comfortable companionship which encourages +relaxation and introspective thought. With the first whiff he pulled his +hat down over his face, settled deep in his chair, and began to run over +the events of the past few days. Huntington's mind was methodical if not +always orderly, and his account of stock, when finally classified under +the head of "responsibilities," summed up about as follows: + + _Responsibility 1_: To keep peace with Connie, and yet + persuade him against or frighten him out of his present + assinine intentions. + + _Responsibility 2_: To pull Hamlen out of the solitary life + which he had affected, and to force him to assume that + position in the world to which he rightly belonged. + + _Responsibility 3_: To demonstrate to Mrs. Thatcher that her + unmotherly idea of making restitution to Hamlen by throwing + her daughter at his head was the product of an overwrought + sentimentality rather than a rational suggestion. + + _Responsibility 4_: To become sufficiently intimate with + Merry, the direct or indirect occasion of the entire + complication, to be able to judge as to the probable outcome + of all the other responsibilities. + +The sum total of his obligations appalled him, and he found himself +proceeding in a mental circle, making no progress beyond the +recapitulation. He was not displeased, therefore, when he found himself +interrupted in his reveries by a bell-boy who stood before him, holding +out a tray containing a telegram. He took it mechanically, wondering who +had located him in this island retreat. Opening the yellow envelope he +read the following message, sent by wireless from the "Arcadian": + + "_That Cosden person has slipped it over on me this time, + but I depend on you to watch out for my interests with + Merry. She is the one best bet. Don't let that antique + vintage of 1875 annoy her with his attentions. I know I can + trust you. Please cable money to me in New York care of + Hotel Biltmore to pay for this message and other expenses to + Cambridge._ + + "BILLY." + +Huntington groaned aloud as he twisted uncomfortably in his chair. +"Another responsibility to add to the others!" he cried, "and I believed +bachelor's life one of freedom and ease! If ever I get out of this mess +I'll bury myself in some monastery, and let its cold grey walls protect +me against the matrimonial madness of the world!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XI + + * * * * * + + +By a curious coincidence Edith Stevens' "morning constitutional" took +her in the direction of the "Hamilton," and by another coincidence, +equally curious, she met Thatcher, Cosden, and her brother as they +emerged from the hotel after their conference with Duncan. Cosden was +still in an elated mental condition as a result of the fact that he had +again placed himself within the control of his master passion. Even +though Thatcher spoke of the enterprise as "small," it was an opening +wedge, and Cosden knew how to make the most of an opening. + +The visit to Bermuda had already taught him that he was engaging in a +game of which he did not know even the first rudiments. It had seemed +easy enough to him when he first undertook it, but the experience of +these few days had undeceived him. When in the past he had wanted +anything, he simply played the game until he won out; now he saw that in +spite of his claim that marriage firmly rested upon basic business +principles, there was a certain hiatus which could not be filled in by +the education derived from every-day business routine in a +counting-room. He had met no discouragements as yet, but he was making +no beginning, and that of course was retrogression. + +As he saw Miss Stevens approaching Cosden was seized with one of those +inspirations which had made his business career so signal a success. It +was stupid of him not to have thought of it before! Whenever he wanted +advice upon factory management he employed the best expert he could +secure; now that he required specialized service in the matter of +approaching Miss Thatcher upon the delicate subject he had in mind, why +should he not employ the same method? Every woman was by nature a +specialist in affairs of this kind, and from what he had already seen of +Miss Stevens he believed he could scarcely have selected one better +fitted to act in the capacity suggested. + +It was easy enough to manoeuver matters so that he should walk back +with her to the "Princess," especially as she seemed unconsciously to +fall in with his plans by addressing her greeting particularly to him. +Cosden's response was so cordial and his pleasure in seeing her so +sincere that Edith was thoroughly mystified. Previously he had seemed +preoccupied, and appeared to endure her companionship rather than seek +it; now he threw aside his indifference and met her as a comrade. An +instant understanding flashed across her mind: Huntington had hinted +that his friend had suddenly developed interesting tendencies, and had +said plainly that the objective was either Merry Thatcher or herself. +Could it be that--well, perhaps it would not be necessary to use force +after all! Then, as a result of that curious feminine paradox, her next +thought was contradictory: "If he is really interested in me then I +shall lose interest in him." Still, the game was worth playing out. + +They turned in at the little shaded lane which offers a short cut to the +hotel, but instead of entering the hallway Cosden stopped and indicated +the steps leading down to the tennis-courts. + +"Would you mind having a very personal conversation with me down there?" +he asked with so much significance in his voice that Edith became almost +agitated. + +"I'd love to sit down for a moment," she assented. "I've been walking so +long that I could take that bench in my arms and hug it." + +"I'm in a quandary," Cosden began without preliminaries as soon as Edith +had adjusted herself where she would appear to best advantage. "I have +an idea that you can help me out." + +"First aid to the wounded is right in my line," Edith assured him +helpfully. + +Even with the inspiration which expectancy on the part of an audience is +always supposed to give a speaker, Cosden's fluency became somewhat +modified when he actually touched upon his main topic. + +"I'm a peculiar sort of man, I've no doubt--" + +"I wouldn't give a snap of my finger for a man who didn't possess +individuality," she interrupted emphatically. + +"Well, perhaps it is more than individuality. Men seem to understand me +all right, but I've never had a sister, and I've been too tied down by +my business to cultivate women. I'm a man's man--I suppose that about +expresses it." + +"That's a good recommendation; look at my brother,--he's a lady's man. +Would you change individualities with Ricky?" + +"Perhaps not," Cosden said guardedly; "still in this matter your brother +could probably give me a pointer or two.--Hang it all! when I talk to a +man I don't have any difficulty in making myself understood, but here I +am, floundering round with you like a school-boy!" + +"Just imagine for the moment that I am a man and that you are talking to +me about some one else--" + +"That's it exactly; I knew you would understand. I thought Monty would +help me out, but he absolutely refuses to take me seriously. The truth +of the matter is that I've decided to get married." + +Even with the preparation given her by Huntington's remarks Cosden's +statement came with an abruptness which surprised Edith into a becoming +flutter. Her eyes fell for the moment and she could feel a flush come +into her face. Knowing how some men admire the combination of blue eyes +and rosy cheeks she hastened to look up, but was disappointed to find +her companion's gaze resting upon the distant horizon. + +"You have decided?" she asked archly; "where does the girl come in?" + +"Oh, she'll come in all right at the finish, I've no doubt," Cosden +replied. "I'm taking you at your word, and I'm talking to you just as I +would to a man. I want you to tell me what I ought to do to make sure +that nothing goes wrong. I've always got what I've gone after, and it +would break me all up to come a cropper just because I hadn't handled +the matter right." + +"Have you given the prospective bride any suggestion of your +intentions?" Edith inquired, her eyes again drooping. + +"Not a word. That's not my way. I always plan things out to the finish, +and then it's plain sailing to the end." + +"Have you reason to think she cares for you?" + +"She has no more idea that I think of marrying anybody than you had +before I began to tell you; but I don't see why she should have any +special objection to me. The whole point is, I'm somewhat older than +she, and I'm not sure that I speak the same language." + +Edith's mind executed some lightning mathematical calculations, and she +wondered if he were older than he looked. + +"There is not too much difference, I am sure." + +"Just eighteen years," Cosden announced with finality. + +The color left Edith's face, and then it returned with greater strength. +Her surprise showed only in her snapping eyes, for she held herself well +in hand; but her mind was working fast. She was thankful enough that he +had been so wrapped up in himself that he was oblivious to her mistake. + +"It would serve him right if I did marry him, to pay him back for this," +was what her eyes said, but the words she spoke fitted well enough into +Cosden's understanding. + +"Well, of course, eighteen years is a good deal--" + +"Just the proper handicap." Cosden repeated the phrase he had used in +his discussion with Huntington. "Women grow old faster than men." + +Edith bit her lip to hold back the caustic reply which was almost +spoken. He certainly was intent upon his purpose, but that did not +excuse his lack of gallantry. His friend could give him points on that! +The responsibility she had told Huntington she would assume became a +real one! + +"Perhaps," she seemed to assent; "but of course it makes a difference +who the girl is. If I knew her--" + +"You know her all right; it's Merry Thatcher." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, as if the identity was a complete surprise. "Yes, +you would have to plan your campaign pretty carefully with Merry. She is +a girl with definite ideas of her own, and she might not be influenced +by the fact that you always get what you go after." + +Cosden looked at her suspiciously. + +"Yes; I think I could help you," she added quickly. + +"I'd be mighty grateful if you would," Cosden said with obvious relief. + +"Now, let me see--" Edith proceeded carefully, but the way was clearing +before her. "I think you will need to take quite a course of training," +she laughed. "Are you prepared to do that?" + +"When I place myself in my doctor's hands I usually take his medicines." + +"All right; then we'll start in at once. I must ask you a lot of +questions. Are you fond of athletics?" + +"Next to my business, it's my longest suit." + +"There is the first point of common interest. You are making a good +start.--Are you fond of reading? + +"I like a good detective story." + +"How about Stevenson and Ibsen and Lafcadio Hearn?" + +"Not in mine, except 'Treasure Island' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.'" + +Edith pursed her lips. "Not so good on the second test, Mr. Cosden. How +about opera?" + +"My favorites are 'Lohengrin' and the 'Merry Widow.'" + +"Horrors! That you must keep sacredly hidden from the dear girl. I've +known her to go to the opera eight times in one week, and sigh for more. +Of course you adore orchestral music?" + +"You'll have to score zeros against me on music, but perhaps I can come +back strong in some other branches." + +She held up a finger chidingly. "You from Boston, and don't rave over +your Symphony Orchestra! That is a real blow! I supposed every one in +Boston went to the Symphony concerts just for the prestige, even though +he couldn't tell whether the orchestra was playing or only tuning up." + +"You see I'm not trying to sail under false colors." + +"Well, now I come to the supreme test of all: do you dance?" + +Cosden threw up his hands in real despair. "You are making me look +ridiculous," he said. "I knew the old dances, but I've never put myself +up against the new ones. I suppose I could learn." + +"Well, well, well!" ejaculated the fair inquisitor. "All I can say is +that you showed real business judgment in coming to me first. Merry +would have made short work of you; she's crazy about dancing. Oh, don't +look so serious; the case may not be so hopeless as it seems." + +"I don't see how it could be much worse." Cosden was genuinely +chagrined. + +"It isn't every one who finds a fairy godmother waiting for him when he +comes out of his chrysalis, Mr. Cosden," Edith explained. "She will help +young Lochinvar to throw aside his antiquity and come down to date. In +two weeks' time you'll feel so spritely that Mr. Huntington and his +friends of equal age will bore you,--all provided that you follow your +instructor's precepts." + +Cosden caught the contagion of her optimism. "It's mighty good of you, +Miss Stevens. I have no right to ask so much of a comparative stranger." + +"Don't worry a bit," Edith reassured him. "You are to start right in and +practise on me. I'll teach you the new steps, and coach you in all +that's needful. You may lose your breath and a few friends, but I'll +guarantee to show you how to win a wife. Now you may begin your +education by leading me in to luncheon." + + + + + * * * * * + +XII + + * * * * * + + +Out of the helpless floundering in the lap of his "responsibilities" a +realization came to Huntington that immediate action of some sort was +imperative to prevent him from breaking his most zealously observed +commandment, "Thou shalt not worry." His antipathy to this favorite +pastime was not due to an acceptance of the Japanese theory that worry +produces poison in the human system, but rather to a willingness on his +part to let others do what he himself found distasteful. It was an +article of faith with him to avoid the unpleasant. During luncheon +Cosden was wrapped in his own thoughts, which gave final opportunity for +this realization to crystallize into a conclusion that the moment was at +hand to demonstrate his good intentions to Mrs. Thatcher, and to become +better acquainted with her daughter,--all in a single operation. + +"If my leaving the table won't disturb your reflections--" he began. + +Cosden looked up quickly and smiled. "I didn't intend to be such poor +company, Monty," he apologized. "The fact is, I have a good deal on my +mind. Of course you can't understand what that means; all you have to do +is to eat three meals a day, stand still while Dixon dolls you up at +stated intervals and go to sleep at night after he tucks you away in +your little trundle-bed." + +There was an indulgent expression in Huntington's eye as he listened. +"Yes," he acquiesced; "it is always difficult for any one to see the +other fellow's viewpoint. But don't apologize; I think I like you better +when you're quiet.--Now, if you don't mind, I'll have a word with Mrs. +Thatcher." + +He strolled leisurely to the table where the Thatcher party sat. + +"I am going over to Mr. Hamlen's villa this afternoon," he announced; "I +wonder if Miss Merry would care to go with me." + +"I'd love to," the girl replied promptly, with evident eagerness in her +voice. "Especially if you are going to talk with him as you did the +other evening," she added. + +"You're taking that Hamlen chap rather seriously, aren't you?" Stevens +volunteered. + +"He's entitled to it," Huntington said with a decision which Stevens +took to be a rebuff, and subsided. + +Mrs. Thatcher was quick to understand that Huntington was acting in +response to her suggestion of the night before, and her face showed her +appreciation. + +"I have wanted Merry to see those wonderful grounds," she exclaimed; +"this is just the time to do it." + +"When does our Society go into executive session?" asked Edith, with a +significant smile; "my committee wishes to report progress." + +"Splendid!" Huntington responded. "The notices shall be sent out at +once." Then he turned again to Merry. "You'll go?" he asked. + +"Of course I will; I'll be ready whenever you say." + +"I'll telephone Hamlen and see what time he would prefer to have us +come." + + * * * * * + +"Shall we walk?" she asked him, as they met at the appointed hour on the +piazza of the hotel. + +"It's over two miles," he suggested doubtfully. The idea of walking +anywhere when a conveyance was within reach never occurred to Huntington +naturally. + +"I don't mind the distance at all unless you do," she replied; "I always +walk when I can, and the afternoon is delightful." + +As Huntington regarded his vivacious companion he was conscious of +another shock similar to those he had experienced when he first saw her +and her mother the evening of his arrival. She had discarded the +unconventional costume of the morning, exchanging it for an afternoon +gown of softest texture, so girlish, yet to the practised eye revealing +in every detail the artist's creation,--arraying herself with such +special care that her escort could not fail to understand her +appreciation of his attention. It was Marian Seymour once more whose +hand he held in his as he assisted the girl down the long steps, and his +mind leaped back again over the five and twenty years. But what a +difference at his end of the picture! She was the same, but he--well, +the years had dealt kindly with him he must admit, but forty-five at +best must pay homage to twenty! Her youthful figure was disguised but +not hidden by the quaint gown of white Georgette crepe and lace, +relieved from its monotone by a soft, moon-blue satin girdle, +embroidered with roses and leaves in pastel shades. The wide-brimmed hat +of the same crepe, its crown of blue satin banded with flowers, the +dainty parasol, and the white kid colonials completed a becoming +costume. Huntington concluded that his slipper, so carefully preserved +at home, was as antique a souvenir as himself! "Shall we walk?" she +asked; he would have liked nothing better than to parade up and down +forever before every one he knew with this splendid young creature +beside him, exhaling all that glowing health and youth could add to the +natural charms which were her birthright! Particularly was he unable to +resist giving Cosden a look of triumph as they passed by him at the +steps. + +"Room for one more in your party?" Cosden asked, rising impulsively. + +"Full house, Connie," was the uncompromising response. "We're off on a +missionary trip, and you wouldn't be interested." + +To Merry herself this was an adventure as pleasing as it was unusual. +Huntington had made a deep impression upon her on that one occasion to +which she so often referred. In her quiet, tense way the girl was a +hero-worshiper, and in that single moment Huntington had qualified for +the hero's crown. That he should have selected her as his companion for +this afternoon was enough to set her cheeks aglow and to make her eyes +sparkle with girlish anticipation. + +"I'm afraid my nephew Billy has been imposing on your good-nature, these +days," he began. + +"Billy?" she laughed. "Not a bit of it! Billy is the best fun ever. I +never saw such an irrepressible boy; he's just like a big St. Bernard +pup!" + +Huntington decided to remember this for later use in time of need. + +"I suppose we old-stagers forget how youthful we were at his age, but +sometimes it seems to me as if Billy would never grow up." + +"Oh, he's all right, Mr. Huntington," Merry reassured him. "My brother +Phil is older, but every now and then he breaks out just the same. I +think they're lots of fun. It's only when they become serious that I +feel worried about them." + +"Billy isn't often guilty of that," was Huntington's comment. "When he +and I are alone I don't mind having him bubble over. It keeps me young, +so I rather like it; but down here it seemed as if he was getting in +every one's way,--just like a puppy, as you say. Mr. Cosden--" + +"I'm afraid Mr. Cosden doesn't remember his own boyhood as well as you +remember yours," Merry interrupted. "How much more he would enjoy +himself if he had a bump of humor, wouldn't he?" + +"Connie? Why, I never noticed that he lacked humor. Of course Connie is +very intense; he goes at his business as if it were the only thing in +life, and when it comes to play it's the same way. Now that you speak +about it, I don't know that I have noticed much sense of humor in him. +Perhaps that's why we pull together so well." + +"I'm glad you asked me to go with you this afternoon," Merry continued. +"Mother has told me something about Mr. Hamlen, and I feel terribly +sorry for him. He was so miserably unhappy the other evening. She says +he has one of the most wonderful places she ever saw." + +"He has; but I believe you will be even more interested in studying the +man than his frame. The morning I spent with him stands out as an event +in my life. You heard us discussing college the other evening; well, +Hamlen is the product of the one great fault in the life at Harvard when +we were there." + +"For Phil's sake, I hope all the faults are overcome by now." + +Huntington smiled. His face was one which smiled easily, adding to the +charm of his low, well-modulated voice. + +"Most of the faults have been eradicated," he replied, "but weaknesses +will always exist. Perhaps I should have called this a weakness. To-day +it is partially remedied, and I believe that the new freshman +dormitories are going to be a large insurance clause against it." + +"I don't believe I understand--" + +"Nor can you until I cease speaking in enigmas," laughed Huntington. "I +once went to a lecture William James gave on Pragmatism, and all I took +away as a reward for my hour of careful listening was that 'nothing is +the only resultant of the one thing which isn't.' I upbraided him for it +when next we met, and he explained that the prerogative of a philosopher +is that he can retreat behind meaningless expressions and still be +considered wise. I am no philosopher, so it is cowardly of me to try to +take similar advantage of you. Hamlen is a college-made recluse, and +there is no denying the fact that at Harvard there has been less effort +made by the students to find out the personal characteristics of their +classmates than at any of the other colleges. Each fellow has had to +show them forth himself, and it had to be done his freshman year. If he +held back, as Hamlen did, they have let him stay in his shell; then he +concluded they didn't like him." + +"But a boy can't advertise his characteristics--" + +"No; but he can manifest them in legitimate ways. Why, my freshman year +there was a little fellow in the Class who didn't weigh a hundred +pounds, and had no more strength than a cat; but he went in for crew, +football, baseball, track athletics, debating,--and everything else you +could imagine. He was no good in any of them, and didn't come within a +mile of making any team. We all made fun of him and we all loved him for +his grit. He didn't have to advertise; we knew him through and through. +That is the kind of boy that makes good at Harvard." + +"Some boys wouldn't realize the importance of this until too late, with +no one to tell them, would they?" + +"That is the whole point, Miss Merry, and it hasn't taken you as long to +see it as it has taken the college authorities. When Hamlen and I were +there no one made any effort to shake us up together. I had my own small +circle of friends, and we cared precious little for any one outside of +it. If I had known Hamlen then as I have come to know him here in less +than a week, I should have insisted on his being one of that little +circle; but I didn't know him at all. I am watching this segregation of +the freshmen with great interest. It seems as if they must get to know +each other better now; but if this experiment doesn't solve the problem +then the authorities must keep on trying until they find one that does." + +They walked on in silence for several moments. Huntington was deeply in +earnest, and Merry eager to hear every word. Her father, not being a +college man, had always been more or less intolerant of the claims made +by college graduates, so her ideas had naturally been colored by his +views. Her brother was sent to Harvard because his mother wished it, not +because Thatcher had changed his opinions, and Merry's new views, as +gained by her brother's life there, had not given her any deeper +understanding. What Huntington said to Hamlen supplied her with another +viewpoint, and she was keenly interested in this continuation of the +same subject. + +"Hamlen is a man cowed and embittered by his experiences," Huntington +said, speaking again. "Every time he has gone out into the world it has +been head foremost, without looking. He has butted against stone wall +after stone wall when he could have seen the opening had he used his +eyes. Each time he has been bruised he has fancied that the world struck +him, when in reality the wound was self-inflicted." + +"Has he no friends--no hobby which can take him out of himself?" + +"He believes himself to be friendless, but he has a hobby; I discovered +it when I was at his villa yesterday. Do you happen by any chance to +know anything of the artistic side of bookmaking?" + +"I took some lessons from Cobden-Sanderson while we were in London two +winters ago, but I haven't done much with what I learned." + +"Did you really?" Huntington stopped short and looked at her in genuine +surprise. "That is a curious coincidence! I hadn't the remotest idea, +when I asked the question, that you knew there was anything in a book +except the story. Well, that does simplify matters! Hamlen has a +hand-press and a miniature bindery, and has made some really exquisite +volumes. It is his one remaining human trait. I've known the books for +years, but no one could find out who made them. Well, well! I promise +that you shall see Hamlen this afternoon in a mood quite different from +the one you saw him in the other night; you shall know the man as I know +him, and better than he knows himself!" + + * * * * * + +Huntington noticed a new light in Hamlen's eyes as he greeted them at +the villa. The man was more reserved in the presence of a third person, +but Huntington was relieved to find that the fact of Merry's coming did +not throw his host back into that restrained attitude which he +manifested when first they met. + +"I have brought you another congenial soul," Huntington explained. + +"Can there be such--for me?" Hamlen demanded, but his guest continued as +if he had not heard. + +"Quite accidentally I find that Miss Merry has been a pupil of +Cobden-Sanderson's, and I want her to see what you have done in this +miniature island press of yours." + +"I should be so interested," Merry exclaimed eagerly. + +"How can it interest any one but me?" Hamlen asked incredulously. "I am +parading my inmost self in public, and it seems indecent." + +"I should not wish to intrude--" the girl began but Hamlen held up a +deprecating hand, and the expression on his face refuted the apparent +lack of courtesy. + +"I am sure you won't misunderstand, Miss Thatcher, being, as Mr. +Huntington says, a congenial soul. It is I who am apologizing. To have +any one show interest in what I do is a new experience, and I hesitate +for fear I may be indelicate. And yet I want to show you what I've +done!" + +"Of course I understand," Merry replied cordially; "I'm proud to be +among the first to see your work." + +"Before we go indoors, may I not take you around the grounds?" he turned +to Huntington. "Perhaps you are in the mood for it to-day?" + +"By all means," his guest responded. "It will give us exactly the right +atmosphere for what is to follow." + +Huntington rejoiced to see Hamlen's attitude. For an hour they wandered +from one point to another, Merry in a state of ecstasy from the superb +beauty of it all, Hamlen supremely happy in this sympathetic +companionship of which he knew so little, and Huntington contentedly +watching the life-drama enacting before his eyes. On the stage such a +sudden change from tragedy to comedy would have been considered crude, +for who could write lines of such delicacy as to portray the yearning of +a human soul, or what actors are there so great that they could mimic +the birth of hope? "God is the master-dramatist, after all," Huntington +murmured to himself as he studied the changes which made the tortured +derelict of a few days before into the contained and self-respecting +host. + +They returned to the house, and Hamlen took them to his press and +bindery. Huntington purposely kept in the background, asking a question +now and then, adding a word only where it was necessary, and giving his +host the opportunity of explaining the finer points of the work to the +responsive and comprehending mind of the girl. Little by little he could +see the real Hamlen emerge from his manufactured self under the +influences around him. + +But his interest was not wholly centered in Hamlen. Until to-day +Huntington had observed Merry only in her relation to others; now he +felt a personal pride in the way she carried herself, in her quick +understanding, her sympathetic responsiveness. He felt unconsciously for +these brief moments a pleasurable sense of possession which added to his +enjoyment. + +"Now take us to your library," he said to Hamlen at length. "You told me +that you had there some examples of the old master-printers at which you +had scarcely looked. I want to see them; perhaps they may show us the +influences which unconsciously affected your work." + +"Most of them belonged to my father," Hamlen explained, as he opened the +door for his guests to pass through into the larger room. + +"He was a collector, then?" + +"In a small way. As I look back, he must have known a good deal about +old books; but I had no interest then, so they made little impression." + +Huntington glanced around at the shelves critically. + +"Classics, classics, classics!" he cried. "Good heavens, man, do you +mean to tell me that you haven't any modern books at all?" + +Hamlen flushed. "There are many of these which I don't know well yet," +was his reply. "Until then why should I accept counterfeits?" + +Huntington had already found the shelf which held the _incunabula_ and +the later examples of printing. + +"Jenson, Aldus--ah, here is the 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili,' and a +splendid copy! That is the only illustrated volume Aldus ever issued," +he explained to Merry as he turned the pages. "Here is where you found +that half-diamond formation of the type," he added, speaking to Hamlen, +and pointing to the printed page. + +Hamlen bent forward. "I didn't even remember that it had ever been +used," he said. "I simply felt the necessity of filling out my page." + +"So did Aldus," Huntington answered significantly. "Here is one of +Etienne's Greek books. Splendid work, isn't it? And yet, after giving +France the crown of typographical supremacy which Italy had lost, he had +to flee for his life because he wouldn't let his books be censored!" + +"My father had a fine copy of Plantin's 'Polyglot Bible.'" Hamlen drew +one of the massive volumes from the shelf. + +"Yes," Huntington replied, glancing critically at it and then at several +of the other books; "your father must have known his subject well, for +these examples follow the supremacy of printing from Italy down to +modern times. See, starting with Aldus, you have one of Etienne's, then +one of Plantin's, representing the period when Belgium snatched the +prestige from France, then here is a 'Terence' of Elzevir's, printed +when Holland was supreme; then Baskerville's 'Vergil,' which gave +England the crown in the eighteenth century--" + +"Where does Caxton come in?" Merry asked. + +"He belongs to the period of Aldus, but his work was distinctly inferior +to that of his Italian rival.--I say, Hamlen, where did your father go, +after Baskerville?" + +Huntington, continuing his examination of the volumes, answered his own +question. "Here it is,--a beautiful example of Didot's 'Racine,' printed +in that type which he and Bodoni cut together. Splendid judgment your +father showed! This explains everything: you come naturally by your +genius. What you have called instinct is really inheritance. Now the +next; what is it?" Huntington became impatient in his eagerness. + +"That is as late as my father's collection went." + +"But surely you have a Kelmscott 'Chaucer'?" + +"Yes; I bought one when I was in England." + +"Put it up here just after the 'Racine.' There you are: except for +Gutenberg's 'Mazzarine Bible,' which you may be excused for not +possessing because of its rarity, you have a complete set representing +the best printing which has been done in each epoch." + +"You see how little I realized it," Hamlen apologized. + +"You expressed your realization in the most tangible way possible, my +dear fellow! You produced examples which are worthy to stand on the same +shelf with those masterpieces. We won't put any living printer's work +there yet, until Time has placed its value upon it, but I'll wager that +when the next selection is made the books of Philip Hamlen will receive +consideration." + +"I wish I might believe that," Hamlen said with deep feeling; "it would +mean everything to me." + +"You must believe it. When you come to Boston, and find out how other +collectors regard your work, you'll think my praise is tame. Until then, +believe what I tell you, and take out of it the gratification which +belongs to you.--I want you to go back to Boston with me, Hamlen, and +pay me a visit. Will you do it?" + +The change in subject was so abrupt that it took his host entirely +unawares. + +"Do you mean that, Huntington?" he asked. + +"Of course I mean it. In fact, I insist upon it. I want to take you home +to exhibit to my jealous friends as my own discovery.--Then it's all +agreed." + +"I couldn't leave here," Hamlen said soberly. + +"I'll wait for you," Huntington replied. "I'm really in no hurry at +all." + +Hamlen laughed, and it was the first time Huntington had seen his +reserve break down. He could not help contrasting it with the burst of +emotion which had preceded his departure only the day before. + +"You are a hard man to resist," Hamlen said lightly; "but that is +something for the future. Let me have it to look forward to." + +"Well, I haven't left Bermuda yet, and I don't want to go without +you.--Now, Miss Merry, I must get you safely back to the hotel. Do you +feel equal to another walk?" + +"I'm eager for it," she replied. + +At the door Hamlen managed to have a word alone with Huntington. + +"You knew her mother when she was a girl, you said?" + +"Yes;--slightly," was the guarded reply. + +"She was wonderful!" he exclaimed with much feeling. Then he added, "The +daughter is very like her, don't you think?" + + + + + * * * * * + +XIII + + * * * * * + + +Hamlen's remark remained in Huntington's mind long after it was spoken. +He himself had been impressed by Merry's resemblance to her mother as +they set out on their afternoon's pilgrimage; yet his reply to Hamlen's +question was a prompt denial. Huntington's mind centered itself upon +this paradox as they walked down the long driveway, and he wondered why +he had impulsively yet deliberately given an impression so at variance +with what he knew to be the facts. Seeking for self-justification, he +turned his head slightly so that he might inspect his companion more +closely without attracting her attention. After all, he satisfied +himself, the resemblance was occasioned more by certain intangible +characteristics than by any similarity of features. Marian Seymour +possessed a beauty of more startling type than her daughter; indeed, +until that afternoon Huntington had thought of Merry as an attractive +rather than a beautiful girl. Now that the subject forced itself upon +him he realized she was both, and that the type proved so satisfying +that he had been content to enjoy it without the temptation of analysis. + +Huntington's further acquaintance with the daughter emphasized his +disapproval of her mother's idea regarding her possible marriage to +Hamlen, and this led him to make a comparison between Marian Seymour as +she was to-day and the idealization with which he had been so long +familiar. Her beauty still remained, her fascination was perhaps greater +since experience had given substance to her girlish vivacity and charm, +and her energy was such that she unconsciously dominated every situation +of which she was a factor. She was evidently devoted to her husband and +to her children, but her force of personality dominated them as it did +all others with whom she came in contact. Huntington had rather admired +this trait in a woman, but now it clashed with his own judgment. He gave +her credit for believing that she would be acting in her daughter's +interest, but her suggestion did shock him, for it seemed to show a lack +of sympathetic understanding. The idea of Merry married to Philip +Hamlen! The man was all right, in his way, of course. Eventually he +might become less of the recluse and more nearly human; but obviously he +was too old and too settled in his eccentricities to be inflicted on any +woman, and least of all on a girl like this. + +"But still, confound him!" Huntington said to himself, "he came out of +his chrysalis far enough to take notice!" + +Then his thoughts jumped from Hamlen to Cosden. Connie was more alive +than Hamlen could ever be expected to become, but the same arguments +applied to him in greater or less degree. It was easy enough to +understand what had attracted him, for Connie always instinctively +sensed in anything the really vital assets. Now that Huntington was +becoming better acquainted with Merry he resented more and more the idea +of this coldly-calculated courtship, and he wondered why this +characteristic of Cosden's had not more often offended him in the past. + +From this point it was an easy shift to Billy,--dear, lovable, spoiled, +heedless Billy! Of course he loved Merry, just as he had always loved +every beautiful object he had ever seen; and, naturally enough, he +wanted this beautiful object just as he had wanted hundreds of others +during his brief but meteoric career. And still of course, he looked to +his Uncle Monty to gratify his whim in this as in all other cases! It +was going to the other extreme: Billy was as much too young and +irresponsible as the others were too old and unsuitable. This much +Huntington was able to settle definitely in his mind, and his arrival at +a conclusion brought with it a sense of relief. + +Huntington suddenly became aware that his introspection had occupied +more time than courtesy permitted, but Merry, absorbed in her own +thoughts, had not noticed his abstraction. He tried to relieve the +tension. + +"'Silence is golden, speech is silvern,'" he quoted. "What do you say to +our adopting a silver standard?" + +Merry's laugh showed that the interruption was welcome. "You always say +the least expected thing, Mr. Huntington!" she exclaimed. "My mind was a +thousand miles from here." + +"A thousand miles," Huntington repeated reflectively. "I'm fairly good +in geography, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask you the direction before +I locate the spot." + +"Straight up," she responded, half entering into his mood, half +returning to her serious vein,--"straight in that kingdom where desire +to do the right and wise thing is not hampered by a lack of knowledge." + +"You would like to help Hamlen?" + +"Indeed I would!" + +What a serious face it was! Huntington studied it with satisfaction yet +with twinges of conscience. + +"I should not burden you with my problem," he said penitently. "Why +should youth be made to carry loads which belong to older shoulders?" + +"Please--" the girl protested eagerly. "I want you to do it. I +appreciate your confidence so much that I am eager to be of some real +service." + +"You like--responsibilities?" he queried. + +"It isn't living to be without them, is it? They seem to come of their +own accord to men: a woman usually has to work hard to find any that are +worth while." + +"Some women do," Huntington admitted; "others have more than their share +without deserving them. Burdens usually seek and find the willing +shoulders." + +"Of course; but I mean the women who have been brought up as I have +been. I've always had everything I wanted, and my parents have protected +me against everything. They even protest when I rebel against my own +uselessness by going into settlement work, and in other small ways try +to express my individuality." + +"Such as the course in bookbinding with Cobden-Sanderson?" + +Merry smiled consciously. "That was such a poor attempt, because I had +no ability. My squares were uneven, my backs were wrinkled, and it was +really such sloppy work." + +"Granting that what you say is true, yet the experience gained in doing +it enabled you to understand Hamlen to-day far better than if you had +never attempted it. That is the main point, isn't it?" + +"I suppose nothing we do is ever wholly lost," she admitted. "I did +understand Mr. Hamlen, but that understanding has brought me no nearer +to the point where I can help him." + +"You helped him to-day more than any one has ever done except +myself.--You see how frankly I accept first glory." + +"I helped him?" Merry protested. "Why, I only listened and allowed +myself to be entertained." + +"Yes; but there is a difference in the way one does even that. He +hesitated to show you his work and yet he wanted to show it to you. That +was the struggle between the habit of years to restrain his real feeling +and the desire which your sympathetic personality created in him. And +the desire won out. Each time the habit is broken its power over him +becomes weaker. Now do you see the value of the service you rendered +him?" + +"It is wonderful how clearly you analyze things!" the girl exclaimed +admiringly. "All I could see was depressing, but you found encouragement +in everything." + +"Surely those beautiful books encouraged you?" + +"Yes; but they emphasized the awful pity of the deliberate repression of +his full ability." + +"Still; the fact that the demand for expression was as stronger than the +will to repress it shows the character beneath." + +"Then not to express one's individuality shows a lack of character?" +Merry inquired soberly. + +"I think I sense some personal application," Huntington answered +guardedly. "I must know more before I utter further words of wisdom." + +The girl looked up into his face inquiringly, and then laughed +consciously. "I am really becoming frightened by your power to +understand," she said, only half jokingly. "I do mean to make a personal +application. I want to express myself individually, but, being a woman, +I cannot find the opportunity. If I really had character I'm sure that I +should force the opportunity." + +Huntington realized that in hesitating to answer her question he had +been wiser than he knew. The seriousness which appeared from time to +time on the girl's face, then, was not a passing mood, but rather the +index of warring emotions. An unguarded word at this moment might do +much injury to a nature which was striving to find itself. + +"Do you know yet what form you wish your individuality to take?" he +asked cautiously. + +"Not exactly," was the frank response. "What I object to, is that a girl +isn't allowed to become interested in anything that is worth while. She +is given her education and 'brought out,' after which, whether she likes +it or not, she seems to be placed in a position of waiting for some man +to come along to marry her. Why can't she be allowed to do something, +just as a boy is, until she finds out whether she wants to marry or +not?" + +"That would be a fatal error!" Huntington explained with mock gravity, +hoping to lighten the serious turn the conversation had taken. "If any +such idea gained ground marriage would become the exception rather than +the rule. How many girls do you think would ever marry if they were +permitted to find any other real interest in life?" + +"But I'm serious, Mr. Huntington," Merry protested, showing that she +felt hurt by his flippancy. "I couldn't bear to be a nonentity all my +days. Think of realizing one's own ambitions only by marrying a man who +could fulfil them! I could not be happy unless I contributed my share to +the real life which we jointly lived." + +"You could do it," Huntington said with conviction, "but not every woman +could.--See that old man bowing to us. Suppose we go and speak with him. +Do you mind?" + +"Every one is so courteous here," she exclaimed as they crossed the +narrow road. "I never pass one of the natives without receiving a +greeting of some kind, and the children are forever shyly forcing +flowers or fruit upon me. It makes one love the place." + +The old man was overjoyed to have attracted attention. He hobbled +forward with difficulty as they approached, and bowed as low as his +infirmities would permit. + +"You are welcome to Bermuda," he said with a cracked, high-pitched +voice. "We are pleased to have strangers visit us." + +"Your visitors remain strangers but a little while," Huntington answered +him, "because of your hospitality." + +"Won't you come in and sit down?" the old man urged. + +"Not to-day, thank you; but if we should not be intruding it would be a +pleasure to return some other time." + +"You could not intrude, sir," he insisted; "for I am only waiting." + +"Waiting?" Huntington questioned. + +"Yes; waiting for that," and he pointed to a tall cedar growing inside +the yard, beside which was the stump of another tree. + +"He wants to tell us something," Merry whispered. + +"They were planted there sixty years ago," the old man continued, "the +two of them. They were little slips, stuck in our wedding-cake as is our +custom here, when my wife and I were married. We put them in the ground, +for everything takes root in this soil, and they grew side by side for +fifty years. Then that one fell"--pointing to the stump,--"and the next +day my wife was taken sick and died. We made her coffin from the cedar +wood of that tree, sir. Now I'm waiting for the other one to fall. That +was ten years ago now, so it won't be long." + +"Isn't that a beautiful idea?" Merry exclaimed, touched by the +unconscious pathos of the old man's words. "We would like to come back +and have you tell us about your wife." + +"She was a sweet, young girl like yourself when I married her," he +replied. "We were both born here and never left the island. But the maps +aren't fair to us; we're not so small"--he straightened and waved his +arm--"we're not so small, as you can see." + +They left him happy over the unusual break in his monotony, and +continued their walk to the hotel. + +"Here is the other side to the picture," Huntington remarked. "This old +man and his wife, and hundreds of others no doubt, live their lives out +here happy and contented with their nineteen square miles of world, yet +you and I are pitying Hamlen because of his self-exile under +circumstances infinitely more acceptable!" + +"It is a question of what one has within, isn't it?" Merry asked, "that +something which keeps one from being satisfied with anything less than +the most and the best that life can give him and he can give to life." + +Huntington looked at her with undisguised admiration. "You couldn't have +stated it better if you had taken all the college courses in the world," +he said. "You're a wonderful little girl, Miss Merry, and if you don't +let your heart play pranks with that well-balanced head of yours you +will certainly achieve your great ambition." + +They were near the hotel now, and the conversation had strayed so far +from the original subject that the girl did not follow him. + +"My great ambition?" she asked. "And that is--" + +"I won't tell you until we're up the steps." + +"Well?" she demanded archly, as at length they stood on the piazza. + +"You will marry a man who will let you contribute your share to the real +life which you will jointly live." + +The laughing response which he had looked for was not spoken, but to his +amazement Merry turned from him without a word and disappeared within +the hallway. + + + + + * * * * * + +XIV + + * * * * * + + +Thatcher and Cosden chartered one of the hotel carriages the next +morning and started on a tour of inspection over the route plotted out +by Duncan for the proposed trolley-line. After passing beyond the town +limits, and with the long stretch of superb coral road ahead of them, +Thatcher turned to his companion. + +"Why can't we get together on the Consolidated Machinery?" he asked +pointedly. + +"The public demands that your nefarious trust be compelled to recognize +its rights," Cosden replied smiling. + +"Good!" Thatcher smiled in response. "Now that you have that piffle off +your chest, please go on." + +"This time we have the goods," Cosden added significantly. + +"If you are so sure of it, why don't you show them to us? Then we can +tell whether it's a real hold-up or merely an attempt." + +"That's just the point, and the sooner your crowd realizes it the less +time you will waste. This is not a hold-up game; we have the goods, and +we can make a better thing by operating than by selling out." + +"You have courage to buck up against an organization as strong as ours." + +"Not only courage but capital enough to see us through." + +The antiquated stage-coach, plying between St. George's and Hamilton, +lumbered past them. Cosden smiled as he turned to his companion. + +"There's a perfect illustration of the situation," he said. "Your +machines belong to the same vintage as that old coach, yet by +maintaining a monopoly, as you have been able to do until now, you have +succeeded in forcing manufacturers to employ antique methods, and to pay +you a whacking big royalty for the privilege of remaining twenty years +behind the times. That stage-coach will stand as much chance of +continuing on its beat, if our trolley scheme goes through, as your +machines have of keeping out of the scrap-heap when ours once get on the +market. This isn't any news to you, Thatcher, and that's what makes your +whole crowd so anxious." + +"If what Duncan tells us is correct," Thatcher retorted quickly, "we +have just about as much show of pulling off the trolley scheme as you +fellows have of putting this machinery game over on us. Somebody has +been going to do this to us for twenty years, but somehow the +manufacturers keep coming back to renew their contracts." + +"Of course they do," Cosden admitted; "they haven't dared to do anything +else. Look at the terms in your leases! Any manufacturer would have to +be absolutely sure that the new machines were backed strongly enough to +keep you from punishing him for his temerity. That can now be +guaranteed, and with the element of fear eliminated they will flock to +us, rejoicing that they have the opportunity to leave their shackles of +bondage behind them." + +"Another Emancipation Proclamation!" laughed Thatcher; but Cosden found +the moment to impress the enemy with the strength of his position too +opportune to allow himself to be diverted. + +"Think of it, Thatcher," he cried with characteristic enthusiasm. "In +less than two years they can save enough, through the economies of +production, to buy their machines outright, instead of continuing year +after year to pay you tribute with nothing at the end to show for it. We +give them methods as well as machines, and show them how an ordinary +workman can produce the high-grade output of a skilled operative by +means of the improved automatic features of our machinery. The makers of +medium-quality goods can now turn out work equal to that heretofore +produced only by high-grade manufacturers." + +"You're a grand salesman, Cosden," Thatcher said lightly. "Your company +ought to put you on the road! Our people would pay you a big salary to +handle the sales end of our organization." + +"I shouldn't be worth ten dollars a week to them. There are three kinds +of salesmen, Thatcher: one sells his concern, another sells his +customers, and the third sells his goods. A man can't belong in the +third class unless he himself believes in what he's selling. I've been +making these machines for our crowd for five years, including the +experimental period, and I know what I'm talking about. Four big plants +are now being equipped, and when they once begin running you'll see your +royalties dropping away from you like friends after a failure. The fact +that you have had a monopoly has encouraged your people to keep their +eyes on the stock-market instead of on the improvement of their +machines, and our biggest asset is the fact that every manufacturer who +is leasing from you to-day is sore over his treatment." + +"That goes without saying," Thatcher admitted; "they would be sore if we +gave them the machines outright. But if you are so sure your +improvements are valuable, why go to the expense of duplicating our +selling and manufacturing equipment when we stand ready to make a fair +trade?" + +"The new machines wouldn't be worth as much to you as they are to us." + +"Why not?" + +"Because you would never use them. The improved models would simply be +side-tracked to keep them from competing against your antiques. You +would be paying whatever it cost to get hold of them for hush money, +just as you have done a hundred times before." + +"Suppose we did: what difference would it make to you, so long as you +get a good thing out of it? I don't understand that your company was +organized for philanthropic purposes." + +"No; business and philanthropy usually work better when they're given +allowances for separate maintenance, but in this particular case the two +seem to be walking along hand in hand. Self-interest, Thatcher, is the +strongest motive in the world, and when you find a proposition which +offers self-interest to the buyer as well as to the seller you have an +irresistible argument." + +"This is a great road-bed for a trolley-line," Thatcher remarked, +leaning over the side of the carriage. "The construction problem ought +to be a simple one." + +"The proposition to have a line of cars run here is so obvious that +there must have been powerful objections to obstruct it all these +years," Cosden answered, quite content to await Thatcher's pleasure in +resuming the main topic of their conversation. + +It was a beautiful clear, cool morning, and the sea at their left +sparkled brilliantly in its sapphire splendor. To the right of the +carriage road were attractive cottages, overgrown with blooming +_bougainvillea_ or other less spectacular foliage. Every now and then a +more pretentious mansion appeared, built on some elevation which +commanded a view of the water on either side, and surrounded by heavy +clumps of cedar and fan-leaved palmettos. Frequently the road passed +between high walls of solid coral limestone, from the crevices of which +the ever-decorative Bermuda vegetation showed scarlet, orange and purple +blooms against the green. + +"There must be something more than sentiment," Thatcher commented. "I +suspect that we shall uncover some large personal interests here which +have been strong enough to protect themselves--" + +"And find concealment behind the convenient screen of sentimentality," +completed Cosden. + +"Exactly. I wouldn't spend any time on it at all except that it seems so +important to the people themselves." + +Cosden laughed so spontaneously that Thatcher looked up quickly, trying +to grasp the unintended humor in his last remark. His companion was +hugely amused and made no effort to conceal it. + +"Well?" Thatcher interrogated good-naturedly; "aren't you going to let +me in on it?" + +"It's funny, that's all," Cosden replied; "but it's perfectly good +business either way you work it. Simply a question of how you sit when +you have your picture taken." + +Thatcher's face demanded further explanation, but before Cosden spoke +again by way of enlightenment his amused expression disappeared, and he +became serious. + +"I don't know as it is so funny, after all," he said. "When you spoke of +being interested in this trolley scheme principally because it was so +important to the people, I couldn't help thinking how inconsistent you +were." + +"Inconsistent?" Thatcher echoed. + +"Suppose you owned that line of stage-coaches, and leased it out just as +you do these machines. Then some men came along and proposed to build a +trolley-line which would push the stage-coaches off the map. That's what +our new machines will do to your old ones. In one case you're interested +in the improved method because it is so important to the people; in the +other you say, 'The people be damned.' But you're no different from the +rest of us. Our so-called consistency is as full of holes as a sieve; +but it's always the other fellow who sees it. We're too close to +ourselves to get the perspective." + +"I am relieved," Thatcher said. "If it is only a question of +inconsistency I'll take a chance on holding my own. But sometimes we are +not so inconsistent as we seem. The 'other fellow' thinks he has a joke +on us when in reality he only sees part of the situation. This +'nefarious trust,' for example which you cite as a hideous illustration +of grinding monopoly, took hold of an industry, twenty years ago, and +brought system out of chaos, shouldered all the risk, taught +manufacturers how to make money out of their business, and enabled small +factories to become big ones by leasing them machines which they could +not afford to buy. The trust has prospered, but so have the +manufacturers. Who shall say that those who took the risks are not +entitled to the rewards, or that the system introduced and developed by +the trust was not as much in the interests of the people as this +trolley-line we are proposing?" + +"There isn't much of anything we can't prove if we argue long enough, is +there?" Cosden retorted. "If I hadn't heard all that before, and if I +hadn't seen the way the 'system' worked out, I should be almost +persuaded. Some one told me once that there were two sides to every +story except that of Cain and Abel, but I came across an Icelandic myth +a while ago in which Abel was the murderer, and since then I've refused +to believe anything until I know the other side. Probably the only way +for you and me to agree on this question is for each of us to buy some +stock in the other fellow's company." + + + + + * * * * * + +XV + + * * * * * + + +Edith had secured the necessary records for the victrola from the hotel +office, and she and Cosden were alone in the ball-room ready for the +first lesson in modern dancing. Cosden had never before noticed how +enormous the room was, or how many of its windows opened onto the +piazza, or how curious the average hotel guest is when a novice is about +to be initiated into the mysteries of terpsichorean art. + +"Pay no attention to them," Edith reassured him. "Those who know how to +dance have had to go through it, and those who haven't learned are +perishing for an opportunity. Listen!" she cried, as the music began. +"Can you possibly make your feet behave when you hear that heavenly +one-step? Look!" + +Lifting her skirts gracefully above her ankles, Edith made herself a +veritable part of the music, pirouetting up and down and around, while +he watched her in mingled admiration and trepidation. + +"There!" she cried, stopping before him; "it's perfectly simple, you +see. Now, you try it." + +"By myself?" he inquired. + +"Of course," she laughed. "How else can you learn?" + +"All right," was the dubious assent; "but don't you think we might pull +those curtains down?" + +"Nonsense! You might as well start in,--you couldn't look more foolish +than you do now." + +"All right," he again assented, and took his place on the floor. + +"Now, left foot forward--one, two, three, four. No; left foot, I said. +That's it. Now rise a little on your toes. Don't be so heavy, and for +Heaven's sake look as cheerful as you can!" + +"This is awful!" Cosden ejaculated, mopping his forehead. "Don't you +think it's too warm a day to begin?" + +"It isn't warm; it's really cool, and you haven't begun to begin yet. +Now start in again. Left foot,--left I say, one, two--oh! that miserable +victrola has stopped!" + +"Let me wind it up," Cosden insisted quickly, glad of the opportunity to +struggle with something tangible. + +"Now we'll try again," Edith said amiably. "This time get started before +the music runs down. Watch me just a moment. There,--now you know what +to do. Left, dear man, left,--not right, and rise on your toes, one, +two, three, four. Why don't you pay attention to the music?" + +"I think I could learn better without the music. It throws me off." + +"Move with it; then it will help you." + +"I can't; it mixes me up." + +"Don't you feel any impulse to move your feet when you hear that music?" + +"Yes; I feel an inordinate desire to run out of the room." + +"But, seriously, doesn't the rhythm of that one-step make you +instinctively want to dance?" + +"Not the slightest. I never wanted to dance in my life until now, and +only now because you tell me that it's part of the game." + +"Did you ever play any musical instrument?" + +"Oh, yes; when I was a boy I played the bones in a minstrel show." + +"Well, there's a ray of hope.--Wind up the victrola again, and we'll +start all over. You do wind it beautifully!" + +"This is too big a job you've undertaken," he told her as they again +stood facing each other. "Let's call it off." + +"No, indeed," Edith protested. "It is only fair to say that you are not +what would be called a natural dancer, but that will bring all the more +glory to your instructor when once you've learned. Why, look at the +tricks they teach animals! I'm not a bit discouraged, are you?" + +"Are we down-hearted?" he echoed in a spirit of bravado. + +"Not a bit of it; now we'll dance together, and I'll try to pull you +around. There, put your arm around my waist,--that's right. Hold me +closer,--don't be afraid. Imagine I'm your sister if it will keep you +from being embarrassed. Left foot forward--ta, ta, ta, ta--that's +better. No, let me lead. There, we can go forwards and backwards anyway, +but you mustn't step on my feet. That's the first thing to learn,--dance +on your own feet." + +"I beg your pardon--" + +"That's all right; I don't mind it at all. But when we stop dancing, +you know, you must take your arm away from my waist. How quickly you +overcame that early embarrassment!" + +"I don't intend to give you another chance to suggest that I'm afraid," +Cosden retorted. "I may not know much about girls or dancing, but if you +think I haven't nerve enough to put my arm around your waist,--well, +it's up to me to demonstrate." + +"You bold, bad man!" Edith pointed her finger at him in mock-reproach. +"I sha'n't dare go on with the lesson until I've forgotten your +threatening attitude! Now let's see if a little turn on the piazza won't +give us courage to continue." + +Cosden assented with alacrity. "Splendid notion!" he exclaimed; "that +will give me a chance to cool off." + +"You are warm," she admitted, looking him over critically and noting +that his collar was completely wrecked. "You must read the Polite Book +of Dancing Etiquette--" + +"Oh, Lord!" Cosden groaned. + +"You will find there many useful suggestions which will add to your +popularity with your partners. For instance, it tells you that when +overheated by the exercise you should stand erect and throw your chin +out; then the perspiration will run down the back of your neck and be +less noticeable.--Come now, see what a light Bermuda breeze will do to +cheer you up." + +Edith was well pleased with the results of the first lesson. She had +felt some misgivings, for Cosden was the most masterful man she had ever +met. If this masterfulness could not be broken down, then her plans +could not be carried out; but she recalled the fact that Henry Thatcher, +so pliable in his wife's hands, was spoken of as dictatorial and +self-confident in his business relations. If this was true of Thatcher, +it might be equally true of Cosden, and the experiment was well worth +trying. In the hour just past Edith had proved her sagacity to herself. +Cosden explained his present docility by saying that he always obeyed +his doctor's orders; Edith had discovered in that brief time two facts +unknown even to himself: that his confidence came only from a knowledge +of his own strength, that in treading new and unknown paths he was not +only willing to be led but accepted guidance gratefully. + +After this important discovery, she intuitively came to a better +understanding of the man. "Men know more than they understand, and women +understand more than they know," some one has tritely said. Edith +Stevens was a woman, and understanding was enough; she did not crave to +know. When Cosden stated so flatly, "I always get what I go after," she +had thought him a tactless braggart, who deserved to be shown his place; +now, with this new light thrown upon his character, she understood his +remark quite differently. The man knew but one way to accomplish his +purpose, and that was to go directly at it, head-on, overpowering +opposition by the force of his momentum. In his beginnings, Edith +surmised, he had not always felt so confident, and these bold assertions +were made partly to give himself additional courage and partly to +conceal from the world the existence of any doubt as to his ultimate +success. What had been first a policy became a habit, and if Edith were +correct in her analysis Cosden was at the present moment repeating his +early experiences. + + * * * * * + +Time in Bermuda cannot be figured by calendar days. Whether this is due +to the evenness and perfection of the temperature, which so satisfies +the physical demands as to eliminate all desire for change, or to the +natural beauty which exorcises those sordid demands life elsewhere +compels, it would be difficult to determine; but the fact remains that +except for the sailing of the little steamers a week is like a long, +delicious day, with the nights a passing incident,--a curtain drawn for +a moment to deprive the vision of its wondrous panorama, lest the spirit +become satiated and thus less appreciative. + +More than a fortnight had passed since Billy Huntington's spectacular +departure, yet no one suggested that vacation days were drawing to an +end. It was Thatcher who found least to occupy him, yet even he had +fallen beneath the spell and was content to drift. By this time Marian +was fully convinced that a match between Hamlen and Merry was +foreordained, and that her mission was to drag him forth from his exile; +but she was not satisfied with her progress in either one of her +self-imposed labors. Hamlen was a changed man since the new +companionship came into his life, but whenever he was brought up against +the question of leaving his retreat the old terror seized him, and he +slipped back behind his defenses. + +"I wish I might," said he to her one day, "believe me, I wish I might; +but you don't know what you ask. The bitterness of my attitude toward +the world has become an abnormal condition which you could not be +expected to understand. Your visit here has tempered it--I know now that +there are exceptions; but don't urge me against my better judgment. Let +me remember this visit in all its happiness; perhaps its memory will +enable me later to do as you suggest." + +Huntington was no more successful in his efforts. His classmate listened +to him patiently and showed a full appreciation of the friendly +suggestions; but no promise could be exacted, and Hamlen seemed stronger +than the combined forces against him. Yet, in spite of disappointments, +Huntington was optimistic. + +"We may not be able to take him with us," he admitted to Marian, "but +after we are gone he will find this place unendurable. Time will be our +ally." + +Cosden's sudden intimacy with Edith Stevens mystified Huntington, but he +welcomed it as a temporary respite. So long as Cosden was making no +exertion to advance his interests with Merry, no more active effort +could be expected from his friend. He asked no questions and Cosden +vouchsafed no information, which on both sides marked a change in the +relations of the two men. + +Edith was equally mysterious with Marian, smiling sagely when her friend +tried to draw her out; but she admitted or denied nothing. She +faithfully performed her self-assumed duties, and Cosden lived up to his +agreement to take the medicine his doctor prescribed. By this time he +was able to pull through on the one-step and the canter waltz, but his +great success was the fox-trot. This, he discovered without assistance, +is danced in as many ways as there are individual dancers, so he +developed an original "series" which gave him supreme satisfaction, +since as he explained, no one could prove whether he or his partner was +at fault when a mistake was made. Edith had long since given up all hope +of having him follow the music, but he had actually learned the steps, +and his persistency in pursuing with grim relentlessness what she knew +to be an irksome duty could but win her respect. + +In fact, she looked upon the result of her experiment with no little +pride. Each afternoon the two might be seen on the ball-room floor, +working away as if their lives depended upon it, with the Victrola +repeating over and over the same tunes which, except for her own +persistency, would have driven Edith mad. Always after the dancing +lesson they promenaded the hotel piazza "to cool off," and their joint +devotion to their undertaking was so assiduous that it became almost a +feature of the hotel life. Edith's triumph came when Merry was called in +to "assist" at one of the later lessons. Try as they would, Cosden and +his new partner were at odds in each effort they made to dance together, +while with Edith he succeeded passably well. In Cosden's mind there +could be but one explanation. + +"I always thought she knew how to dance," he expressed it after Merry +left them alone. "How little you can judge of anything until you know +how to do it yourself!" And Edith, wise person that she was, did not +explain to him that this was the first time he had danced without her +guiding hand! + +Cosden had become dependent upon his chief adviser in other ways than +dancing. He found her so sympathetic in listening to his problems and so +helpfully intelligent in discussing them that he gradually confided to +her more of his intimate affairs than he had ever shared with any one +else. Ostensibly, she was adviser only in his affair with Merry, but it +was a short step to extend her line of operations without having him +realize that she was exceeding her contract. She explained matters which +seemed subtle to him with such clearness, her counsels were so wise and +her criticisms so fearless that Cosden's admiration was profound. + +"You are a bit severe, you know," he said to her one day; "but I like +it. The only reason I go to a specialist is because I know he +understands his subject better than I do, and so I swallow what he tells +me, hook, line and sinker. And you are a great success as an expert in +your line, Miss Stevens,--you're all right." + +Whereupon Edith courtesied gracefully and answered demurely, "Thank you, +sir; I am glad I give satisfaction." + +Thatcher and Cosden had carried the trolley proposition as far as lay +within their power, and awaited a response from the Bermuda government +before they could proceed. This threw Cosden back again upon his +original purpose, to which he clung with a bulldog tenacity. Edith knew +by this time that when his mind once settled upon a course diversion was +an impossibility, so she encouraged rather than opposed him. She left +Cosden's confidence in himself undisturbed while she encouraged his +dependence, and complacently permitted affairs to take their course. +Just when the master stroke would be delivered she could not tell, but +she was prepared to have it descend suddenly at any moment. + +The fortnight had given Huntington a new lease of life. His efforts to +humanize Hamlen forced him out of his habitual course along the line of +least resistance, and without analyzing his new sensations he found them +to be agreeable. In addition to this Merry and he were boon companions +now, and he discovered that the vivacity of a young girl was no less +effective in making him forget his years than the noisier enthusiasm of +his youthful nephew. Merry accepted her responsibilities with great +seriousness, and discussed Hamlen's persistent obstinacy with Huntington +from every possible angle. In fact, Huntington made a point of inventing +new angles in order to prolong the discussions, and to supply the excuse +for walks and drives which threw them much together. + +As a result of their growing intimacy Huntington came to favor Billy's +ambitions far above those of Cosden. He had not changed in his +conviction that neither one of them was at all suited to the girl, but +if it could be possible to hold matters in abeyance until the boy might +be developed up to her, there would at least be much satisfaction to him +personally if Merry could be kept in the family. Of course he must be +loyal to his friend, but as Cosden seemed to be finding much pleasure in +Miss Stevens' companionship his conscience did not suffer any twinges +which were too painful to be endured. + +But complacency is ever a forerunner of seismic upheavals. The days had +repeated themselves often enough now for Huntington to regard their +routine as practically fixed, and he was anticipating the usual quiet, +after-breakfast smoke on the piazza, during which period he would +discuss with Merry some new attack upon Hamlen's obstinacy, or some new +trip during which the attack could be devised. This had seemed such a +certainty to Huntington that Cosden's words were in the nature of a +shock. + +"Miss Thatcher and I are going sailing this morning," he announced. + +"Eh--what? Oh, sailing--are you?" Huntington stumbled a bit before +recovering himself. "It's a fine morning for that," he continued with +decision. + +"You've been doing better lately, Monty," Cosden complimented him. "At +first I didn't think you were going to help me out at all, but for some +time now you've been putting yourself right into it, just as I wanted +you to. What have you to say about the girl now? She's all right, isn't +she?" + +"You don't mean that you're still serious in that direction--" + +"Of course I am. Why should you think I had changed my mind?" Cosden +interrupted. "I don't often do that, do I?" + +"But you have hardly seen her." + +"I've been biding my time, Monty, that's all, while Miss Stevens coached +me up a bit. It's really a great game,--there's more to it than I +thought." + +"You are absolutely unsuited to each other." + +"Why, Monty, I believe you're jealous!" + +"Well, suppose I am?" + +Cosden showed his amusement. "I would take that as a challenge from any +one but an old cynic like you," he laughed. + +Huntington failed to enter into Cosden's lightheartedness. "This is a +serious matter, Connie," he insisted. "That little girl is too fine to +have her name bandied like this. I give you warning right here that I +step down and out on this proposition. I can't imagine a worse crime +than to harness a high-strung, thoughtful, sentimental child like that +to a human adding-machine like you, and I won't be a party to it." + +The younger man realized at last that his friend was serious. He looked +at him soberly for a moment, then he placed his hand on his shoulder. + +"Is this all our friendship amounts to?" he asked. + +"It is the greatest act of friendship I have ever been called upon to +show you," Huntington returned. "You would be as wretched with her as +she with you. I felt sure that you had come to the same conclusion, and +I admired your good sense." + +"Is there by any chance some deeper reason?" Cosden demanded pointedly. + +"No, Connie," Huntington replied quickly; "don't be ridiculous! I am +just as unsuited to her as you are. Why, I'm old enough to be her +father! But somewhere there is a man who is meant for her and who is +worthy of her, and I only hope that he will appear before any one +persuades her into making a mistake. + +"Don't you think her capable of taking care of that herself?" + +"Frankly, I do. I don't think you have the remotest chance of +interesting her." + +"What has happened to lower me so in your estimation?" Cosden persisted, +puzzled rather than resentful. "Our friendship dates back a good many +years, Monty, and this is the first time you ever made me feel you +disapproved of me. Does it mean--" + +"It means that I'm proving my friendship now," Huntington interrupted, +"by telling you an unpleasant truth. During this long friendship, which +I never prized more highly than I do this moment, I have watched you +work out your success, often against heavy odds. All this I have +admired, Connie, but to win as you have done has been at a cost I had +not realized until I saw you under these new conditions: it has kept you +from developing those finer instincts which a man needs to guide him at +a time like this." + +"You mean romance, I suppose, and sentiment." + +"I mean a sensing of the proportions and a respect for appropriateness +even if it interferes with your preconceived plans. Your interest in +this girl exists admittedly because of what an alliance with her will do +for you: it will bring you closer to the group of operators of which her +father is the head, she will preside with credit over your household, +through her you may perhaps secure social advantages which now you feel +are beyond your reach." + +"Isn't all that legitimate?" + +"Entirely legitimate, measured by laws of barter and sale,--but to my +mind eminently improper when applied to Miss Thatcher." + +As Huntington grew more and more intense Cosden's attitude gradually +became normal again, and an indulgent expression replaced the serious +aspect which his face had assumed as their conversation progressed. + +"Well, Monty," he said, slapping him on the back, "you've got that off +your mind, and it's a good thing to have happen. What you want is to +take your endorsement off my social note; that's all right,--consider it +done. Your sentimental notions are great in story-books but less +valuable in every-day life. You stick to your ideals, and I will to +mine. I've made up my mind to get married, and you know what happens +when once my mind is made up." + +"You are absolutely hopeless!" Huntington cried despondently. + +"Hopeful, you mean," laughed Cosden, "in spite of your gloomy +forebodings. What you say ought to shake my confidence in myself, no +doubt, but somehow I think I'd rather hear it direct from Miss Thatcher +herself. Hello!" he exclaimed as he looked at his watch, "it's time to +start. Cheer up, Monty! Really, things aren't half as bad as they look +from where you sit!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XVI + + * * * * * + + +However abrupt Cosden's action may have appeared to Miss Stevens or to +Huntington, in his own mind he believed himself to have selected the +psychological moment for which he had patiently waited. It was true that +he had seen comparatively little of Merry Thatcher, but the time had +been well spent in preparation for the grand event. Now, particularly +since Huntington had spoken as he did, Cosden was eager to put his +new-found knowledge to the test, and to disprove his friend's +contention. + +It was a business axiom with Cosden that an order must be half sold +before the salesman approached the prospective buyer. "People don't buy +anything these days," he hammered into his sales-manager; "they have to +be sold." And Cosden was a man who practised what he preached. The +frankly-admitted lack of familiarity on his part with the particular +market in which he proposed to trade was offset, he believed, by the +expert coaching he had received from Miss Stevens; and this should have +prepared him for any emergency. After all, were not the principles the +same the world over? Somewhere, back in the hazy, academic past when +Latin had been compulsory, he remembered that a certain gentleman whose +name he could not then recall had plunged _in medias res_. He remembered +distinctly how much this act had won his admiration; now he proposed to +emulate his illustrious predecessor. + +Even granting that Cosden's self-analysis was correct to the extent that +he possessed no romance in his make-up, the present surroundings were +such as to suggest the "psychological moment" even to the most obtuse. +The sloop, after running before the wind, was skilfully guided in and +out among the little islands and past the beautiful shores of Boaz and +Somerset by a hand on the tiller to which sailing was evidently +second-nature. The girl rested against the gunwale, her eye alert, her +face lighted by a smile of quiet contentment, her white, lithe figure +brightly contrasted against the varying background of blue water and the +green of the islands as they were left behind. + +"Where did you learn to handle a boat?" Cosden asked her, interrupting +the silence which she seemed content to accept. + +"Oh, there's nothing to it here," she answered. "I wonder if they have a +breeze like this all the time in Bermuda? It seems to be ready-made for +the visitors. But I think it would become monotonous, don't you? I like +something to work against." + +"You have evidently sailed a boat before." + +"I'm on the water a good deal every summer. Father gave me a knockabout +two years ago, and I've had lots of fun in her. It isn't always as +simple on Narragansett Bay as it appears to be here." + +"You seem to be pretty good at anything you undertake." + +"Oh, no!" Merry laughed deprecatingly. "I play at everything, and +perhaps that is why I am not particularly good at anything. Phil says I +have more courage than judgment." + +"That sounds like jealousy! I'll wager you can beat him in most games, +unless he is better than the youngsters I know." + +"I can, in some," she admitted, "but Phil is a great oarsman. He's on +the crew at Harvard, you know," she added with a pride which amused +Cosden; "he will probably row against Yale again this year. But Phil +doesn't go at other sports as hard as I do. I have to go at them hard. I +simply must be doing something. Mother calls it restlessness and Father +says it's because I haven't grown up yet. Perhaps they are both right; +but whatever it is I just can't help it." + +"I hope you will never grow up, if to lose your enthusiasm is the +penalty." + +"Then you don't think it's unwomanly?" she asked, grateful for his +approval. + +"On the contrary," Cosden asserted. "It is enthusiasm which wins in +everything to-day. Confidence in one's self, belief in one's subject, +enthusiasm in its presentation; that is my daily creed." + +"But you are a man," Merry protested. "You have made your success, so +you have a right to have confidence in yourself--" + +"My success is only partially complete," Cosden interrupted, quick to +seize the easy opening. "When I left college I undertook to make money: +I did make it. Then I undertook to compel that money to earn me a place +in the business world: I made that dream come true. Now I have reached +the third effort. My money is of value only so far as it secures for me +what I want, and a part of what I want I can't get alone: that is a +home, with the right woman in it. A man can make his clubs and all that +sort of thing by himself, but it takes a woman to secure for him the +social life which he ought to have. I'm looking for that woman now, and +I intend to get her." + +A smile crossed Merry's face as Cosden concluded his matter-of-fact +statement. "You are demonstrating your daily creed," she said. + +"Of course I am. If I didn't you would accuse me of inconsistency." + +"Have you found the woman you--intend to get?" + +"I'm not sure. What kind of woman do you think she ought to be?" + +Merry's face sobered, and she became thoughtfully serious. "First of +all, a woman who loved you," she said at length; "that goes without +saying." + +It was Cosden who smiled this time. "I see you still have some +old-fashioned ideas left; I had looked upon you as absolutely +up-to-date." + +"Is love old-fashioned?" + +"Love is a result rather than a cause. It comes from the combination of +one or more causes: propinquity, similarity of tastes, natural +attributes, I might go on indefinitely. Two natures are attracted to +each other before marriage, but love really comes as a result of the +closer companionship which follows. Could anything be more common-sense +or scientific than that?" + +"Is that what men believe?" she asked. + +"Not all; which explains the appalling list of matrimonial bankrupts." + +They were out beyond Ireland Island now, past the great dry-dock and the +barracks. The girl brought the boat about and started on the homeward +tack. + +"That is a very interesting idea," she said soberly as she shifted to +starboard. "It never occurred to me that love had become a commodity. +That is very interesting." + +"But you haven't told me what kind of woman you think my wife should +be," Cosden insisted. + +"She should be a poor girl, of good birth and personal attractions," she +answered promptly. + +"Why poor?" + +"Because otherwise she would be giving everything and you nothing. You +must supply something which she lacks or it wouldn't be a fair trade, +would it? If a woman loves a man, there is no need to measure what she +gives against what she receives, but your 'common-sense' plan suggests +it, and from a 'scientific' standpoint I should think it absolutely +essential." + +"But your statement is not correct, Miss Merry," Cosden protested +earnestly. "You would do me an injustice if you stopped at that point: +am I not offering her my name and my protection?" + +"Of course all this is an imaginary situation," Merry laughed +mischievously, "or I shouldn't dare to speak so freely; but in justice +to my sex I can't stop now: suppose her name is as good as yours, and +that she is entirely competent to protect herself?" + +"Great Scott! Don't tell me you are a suffragist!" + +"But you would want this woman you--intend to get to be a suffragist, +wouldn't you?" + +"Not under any circumstances!" + +"Still, your marriage is to be on an up-to-date common-sense, scientific +basis: can it be unless you and your wife stand on equal terms?" + +"I never saw such a girl to ask questions," Cosden protested almost +petulantly. "You must have been going to woman's suffrage meetings all +winter." + +Merry laughed outright. Her triumph was too obvious not to be enjoyed; +but she quickly checked herself. + +"I have been very rude," she said contritely; "but what you said so +completely destroys the vision which every girl has in her heart that I +couldn't resist the temptation to tease you. No, Mr. Cosden; I'm not a +suffragist, and I never attended a public meeting in my life. Mother +thinks I'm too young to enter into such things; but I've read a good +deal, and I can't see why, in this scientific age, men and women +shouldn't stand side by side at the ballot-box as well as elsewhere. For +myself, I'm not quite ready for it, but I admit that it is nothing but +sentiment--a holding on to a bit of old-fashioned precedent if you +like--which holds me back. It seems to mar that vision I just spoke of, +Mr. Cosden, even as your ideas completely destroy it." + +She was in earnest now, and the girlish, mischievous attitude had +completely vanished. Her grasp upon the tiller tightened, her eyes +looked far ahead and Cosden knew that in this mood she would have +welcomed a young typhoon--anything to struggle with, rather than the +smooth lapping of the water against the sides of the boat as the light +wind bore them tranquilly on toward their landing. Even to him, +unaccustomed as he was to the finer sensibilities which expressed +themselves in every feature of the girl's face, the surging thoughts +which forced so tense a silence commanded silence in his own response. +It was the closest he had ever come into a woman's inner shrine, and +instinctively he respected it. + +It was her own movement--a brushing back of a strand of hair which the +breeze had loosened and blown across her face--which finally broke the +tension, but her eyes did not drop. Still looking far ahead of her she +spoke again, but the words seemed addressed more to herself than to her +companion. + +"I can't bear to give that vision up," she said quietly, "and yet I +never expect to see it realized." + +"Tell me what it is," Cosden urged as she paused. "Visions aren't +exactly in my line, but perhaps you can make me see this one." + +"It's silly of me; you wouldn't be interested, of course." + +"But I am," he insisted. "Please go on." + +"Well," the girl said consciously, "since you have confided your creed +to me, I'll tell you what my vision is,--but you mustn't laugh at it for +it means a great deal to me." + +"I promise--cross my heart," Cosden replied. + +"In this vision each one of us atoms, man or woman, has a distinct +individuality, and each atom is intended to express its own +individuality alone and in its own way unless two atoms become joined +together by laws of natural attraction. In that case these two continue +on their way together, each strengthened by the combination, and thus +enabled to express their joint individuality as neither could do alone. +But love must be the crucible, Mr Cosden. Common-sense won't merge them, +science won't do it. The two atoms can't be made into one without the +crucible." + +They were almost at the "Princess" landing now, and Merry gave her full +attention to her duties as skipper. As the boatman took possession, +Cosden assisted her onto the landing and they walked slowly up the stone +steps. At the top she turned to him suddenly, the brightest of smiles +replacing her former seriousness. Cosden marveled at the rapidity with +which her mood changed. + +"That's my vision, Mr. Cosden," she said simply; "don't think it too +foolish. I must have some guide just as you have your daily creed. I +haven't confidence in myself, but I do believe in my subject, and you +tell me that I have enthusiasm. Please let that atone." + +"But that vision of yours--" Cosden demanded doubtfully. "You asked me +if all men regard marriage as I do; let me ask you if all women have +that vision, as you call it." + +"I suppose they have. If not, why should they give up their +independence?" + +"I thought all women wanted to marry--" + +"That is where _you_ are not up-to-date, Mr. Cosden," she laughed. +"Perhaps the woman you--intend to get has no vision; if so, it will be +that much easier. But she must be poor, Mr. Cosden,--you really mustn't +take advantage of her!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XVII + + * * * * * + + +Huntington passed an uncomfortable half hour after watching Merry and +Cosden start off on their sailing-trip, and he was glad to have Edith +Stevens break in upon his unprofitable self-communion. Cosden had put +into words a fact which until then Huntington had stubbornly refused to +acknowledge: he had actually reached a point where he heartily +disapproved of his friend. Connie had said it, and the realization that +what he said was true shook the long-established friendship to the core. + +As he analyzed the case Huntington found it difficult to explain why +this complete change in conditions should suddenly have taken place. +Cosden was no different from what he had been during all these years of +their intimacy. In fact, he knew no one among his friends who was so +absolutely consistent in conducting his life in accord with principles +established before their friendship began. Others had commented on +Cosden's commercial instincts, and Huntington always defended him, yet +now these same traits caused him to criticise his friend even more +severely than those whose attitude he had previously thought +unwarranted. + +The change, then, Huntington concluded was in himself rather than in +Cosden; and from this point he tried to discover what that change really +was. What had their relations been during these years? They had never +come together in any business way, and Huntington now for the first time +wondered why it would not have been natural for Cosden to turn over to +his office some of his frequent cases in litigation. It had not +previously occurred to him that he might have expected it, but now he +wondered. This in itself was evidence that his friend did not consider +him seriously in the practice of his profession. The real fact was that +they had played together, and that their intimacy had stopped at that +point. Huntington now recalled that in gratifying those characteristics +which found enjoyment in music, art or literature he instinctively +sought the companionship of other friends, and the same analysis +revealed to him that Cosden had done likewise in turning to other and +more kindred spirits in living that part of his life with which his +friend had little sympathy. It had all happened so naturally that +Huntington had never realized until now that in spite of their intimacy +there was a side to each man's life into which the other never entered. + +This was the explanation as Huntington thought it out, and the fact that +it could be explained at all gave promise of readjustment. The present +situation did not require any change in the relations of the two +friends. It had been precipitated by the accidental pulling aside of a +curtain which revealed a picture Huntington must always have known was +there, but at which he had always steadfastly refused to look. The +mistake came when Cosden insisted that he peer behind the curtain, and +became intensified when he permitted himself to be drawn into that side +of his friend's life in which he should have known he had no part. The +friendship need be in no way affected: simply restore the old relations, +use greater discretion in keeping them within the bounds which Nature +had prescribed for them, and all would be as before. + +Huntington abhorred an enigma because when once focused in his mind a +mental impossibility was created to rid himself of it. He found it +lurking behind his _Transcript_ in the evening, it tried to crystallize +itself in the smoke of his last pipe before retiring, it flirted with +him coyly over his coffee-cup the next morning. Until the figment became +a reality and was dismissed it was a haunting menace to his peace of +mind. Now that he had discovered an explanation of his disapproval of +Connie and had found the antidote, that particular enigma was disposed +of, and he should have been free to resume his normal state; but to his +further discomfiture this was just what he found he could not do. He had +cut off one of the Hydra's heads, but others remained which spat at him +viciously. + +Why was it that Cosden's attitude caused him such peculiar annoyance at +this particular time? Had he been entirely straightforward with his +friend, had he been quite frank in answering Hamlen's question regarding +Merry's resemblance to her mother? Huntington's disgust with himself at +that first slip became intensified by its repetition. He recalled De +Quincey's arraignment of the murderer on the ground that murder so +dulls the sensibilities that it is an easy step from this to falsehood. +Huntington, with his Puritan ancestry, would have allowed himself to be +torn by wild horses before he would deliberately tell an untruth, yet +here, on two separate occasions, he had undeniably juggled with the +facts. + +When Cosden suggested that there might be some deeper reason for his +objections he promptly and equivocably denied the implication that he +had any interest in Merry beyond that of an older friend; yet he now +knew that the denial was absolutely false. What he told Cosden was what +ought to be the case rather than what the case really was. This was his +secret, and he had protected it in the easiest way, which as usual was a +cowardly subterfuge. The fact that he had made a misstatement or that he +had a secret to conceal had come to him only during this period of +self-communion since the little sloop sailed away, leaving him alone +with his reflections. What he said to Cosden, that he was equally +unsuited to Merry and that he was old enough to be her father, expressed +the cold, hard facts; but he needed no second-sight to tell himself that +during these days of companionship, such as he had never before known, +the girl's sweet personality had penetrated the sham armor of the cynic, +and that he was face to face with an emotion far deeper than any he had +experienced from time to time in his library, in front of that table +with its curious exhibits, with the stage-like accessories of the +albatross-stem pipe and the flickering light from the burning logs. How +tinsel-like it all seemed to him now, compared with this +flesh-and-blood experience in the open air, with its glorious setting of +the sea and the beautiful island foliage! + +He had reached this point in his mental activities when he saw Miss +Stevens approaching, and he greeted her cordially. Face to face with +this latest revelation, he disliked his own company. His +responsibilities, which had seemed terrifying to him so short a time +before, now appeared insignificant compared with the new responsibility +with which he had saddled himself. He thought little at this moment of +the burdens imposed upon him by Mrs. Thatcher, by Cosden, or by Billy: +he must now protect the girl against himself, and that would be the +hardest task of all. + +Edith Stevens, as well as Huntington, found herself without her usual +occupation this morning. Cosden told her, the evening before, of his +plan to take Merry sailing, so she reverted to her natural habit of late +rising, from which she had temporarily reformed herself, knowing that +Cosden always breakfasted early and was usually looking for +companionship. Seeing Huntington absorbed in self-contemplation she +gravitated in his direction. + +"We've lost our little playmates, haven't we?" she said cheerfully, as +he rose and pulled up another piazza chair for her. "Why isn't this a +good time for our Society to go into executive session?" + +"Capital!" Huntington assented, replying only to the second part of her +question. "Is the secret-service department ready to make its report?" + +"I've found the girl," she announced bluntly; "but I imagine you know +already who she is." + +"The girl Connie is going to marry?" Huntington simulated a proper +attitude of interrogation. + +"The girl he thinks he wants to marry," she corrected. + +"Oh! he only thinks so. That's it, is it?" + +Edith raised her eyes from the toe of her buckskin shoe, which she had +been poking vigorously with her sunshade, and smiled brightly. + +"Yes," she said; "that's it." + +"You speak with conviction." + +"Well," Edith explained, "I know Mr. Cosden better now than when the +Society last met. He wants to get married, and he thinks he has picked +out the right girl, but--" + +"But--what?" + +"But--he hasn't; that's all." And again Edith smiled brightly into +Huntington's face. + +"Connie isn't in the habit of making mistakes; he usually gets what he +goes after." + +"So he told me," she admitted, with an expression on her face which +Huntington thought significant; "but there's always a first time to +everything; and this is where Mr. Cosden meets his Waterloo." + +"I understood that you had been coaching him--" + +"So I have." + +"But I thought we agreed--" + +"We did; and I've lived up to our agreement. You watch his face when he +comes in! I'm oozing out the balance of the morning here simply to give +myself that satisfaction." + +"You must have some inside information which has not been incorporated +in your report." + +"Not exactly; but I know Mr. Cosden and I know Merry. When he begins to +trade for a wife she won't understand the language, and if he tries to +teach it to her--well, he may learn something himself." + +"You think he will propose to her this morning?" + +"If she lets him get as far as that. He's been working up to this point +ever since he arrived, and the only way to cure him was to let him have +his own way." + +It was a novel experience to Huntington to see any one other than Cosden +himself undertake to manage his personal affairs. The certainty with +which Miss Stevens spoke evidenced a closer acquaintanceship with Connie +than Huntington had realized existed. + +"What will happen when this episode is over? Do you care to prophesy?" +he asked. + +"He will come back to his counsel to have his wounds bandaged, and then +the education of Mr. Cosden will continue from the point where it was +temporarily interrupted." + +"You are assuming a great responsibility," Huntington suggested. + +"I'm still retained," she answered demurely. "That's what you lawyers +call it, isn't it?" + +Edith rose and sat for a moment on the edge of the piazza rail, her eyes +looking down the harbor. She was impatient for the returning boat, and +made no attempt to conceal it. At last her vigilance was rewarded, and +she returned to her chair. + +"S-ssh! they're coming!" she said mysteriously, placing her finger on +her lips. "We mustn't seem to be waiting for them. Talk to me!" + +Huntington tried to obey her instructions during the intervening +moments, but it was obvious that Miss Stevens heard little of what he +said. She was intently watching the steps yet endeavoring to appear +entirely unconcerned. Merry was the first to see them, and she came +forward with her usual animation and enthusiasm. + +"We've had a wonderful sail!" she said. "The morning was simply perfect, +and it is such fun to play hide-and-seek among these little islands." + +"She knows how to handle a boat all right," Cosden said from behind, but +his tone did not reflect the girl's vivacity. + +"Why, it's like sailing a toy boat in a bath-tub," Merry disclaimed. +"You come down to the shore some time when there's a good breeze and +I'll show you some real sailing. Mr. Cosden is such good company!" she +added, turning to the others. "He has given me some really new ideas, +and that is more than one usually gains from a sailing-party. I'm going +to think them over so that I can argue with him more intelligently next +time we have a discussion.--I must run up now and get ready for lunch." + +Cosden remained behind. + +"Come sit down with us, Connie," Huntington urged. + +"I prefer to stand," was the unexpected answer, yet in spite of his +remark he sat down on the piazza rail which Miss Stevens had so recently +vacated. He too looked down the harbor, but his companions realized that +it was not the panorama which interested him. They also sensed the +kindliness of silence. At last he turned toward them. + +"I don't know why I shouldn't speak before both of you," he said. "You, +Monty, are my oldest friend, and Miss Stevens has been good enough to +let me take her into my confidence. I want you both to look me over and +tell me what's the matter with me." + +"You look perfectly good to me, Connie," Huntington replied lightly, +scenting unpleasantness, and helplessly trying to divert it. + +"You know what I mean," Cosden replied brusquely, determined to force +the issue, "and I want you to take me seriously. What you said this +morning gave me a jolt, of course, but it didn't sink in deep enough to +affect my confidence in myself. Now it's gone all the way through and +come out the other side, and at the present moment I feel as big as a +two-spot in a pinochle deck." + +"Did she refuse you?" Edith asked, with almost too much eagerness in her +voice. + +"Refuse me?" he echoed. "She didn't even give me the satisfaction of +recognizing that I had the slightest intention to propose." + +"Then what did happen?" Huntington demanded. "You seemed to be on the +best of terms when you came up here, and Merry complimented you on being +good company." + +"She was rubbing it in, that's all. We didn't have any trouble; that +isn't the point. I planned this out, as you both know, with the definite +idea of asking her to marry me, and before I knew what had happened she +had twisted the situation around where I was on the defensive and had +made myself look so ridiculous that I wouldn't have had the nerve to +propose to a colored cook. There is something in all this which I don't +understand, and I must understand it. I'm average intelligent, I've had +some experience in life, and if a slip of a girl like that can make me +lose my confidence then there's something radically wrong. You struck it +right this morning, Monty, and I tell you it hurts!" + +The man's humiliation was so complete that both his companions were +eager to relieve him. Huntington's loyalty to his friend caused instant +forgetfulness of his recent resentment. + +"Don't mind what I said, Connie," he urged contritely. "I had no right +to speak as I did." + +"You had every right," Cosden insisted. "All these years you have seen +the lack of this something in me, and you've overlooked it because you +were my friend. This morning you had sand enough to tell me the +unpleasant truth when you knew I ought to hear it. What I want to find +out now is what these 'finer instincts' are, and how I am to get them." + +The momentary silence which followed was evidence of the difficulty his +auditors found in answering his appeal. He was in such deadly earnest +that it was impossible to avoid direct reply. When this mood was on him, +Huntington knew that he would deal with nothing but facts. + +"Let me leave you and Mr. Huntington to discuss this," Edith said, +rising. + +"Please," Cosden detained her. "We are past the point of sensitiveness. +I want your advice as well as Monty's. I'm up against something I don't +understand," he repeated, "and I'm looking to you two to show me up to +myself." + +"What is the use, Connie?" Huntington expostulated. "You have gone alone +all these years living your own life; why disturb yourself now over +something to which you have always been blissfully indifferent?" + +"Can't you see that the situation has changed, Monty? It was all right +until I found out that I was different from other people. This is what +the boys at the Club meant when they jollied us about our friendship. I +always thought I was as good as anybody, but if an experience like this +can make me lose my confidence in myself then the matter is really +serious. It is this confidence which has made it possible for me to +accomplish what I have, and if I once lose it then my strength is gone. +It's all I have, Monty,--I can see that now. I must protect it, and you +must help me. You must tell me what the trouble really is; I don't care +how brutally frank you are so long as you tell me." + +"Then come over here and sit down," the older man said gently. "I will +try to make it clearer to you. The finer instincts I referred to can't +be bought, for they are not for sale; they come from every-day contact +with the humanities, and with those whose lives are spent in this +atmosphere. Your business has been your religion, Connie, and you are +branded with its ear-marks as plainly as the goods your factories +produce. Now, for the first time, you find yourself in an atmosphere +which considers business only as a means to bring the refinements of +life within closer reach, and it stifles you because of your +unfamiliarity with it." + +Cosden listened patiently to the lengthy discussion which followed with +the same attention which he gave to Thatcher when the trolley +proposition was outlined, but his expression when Huntington finally +paused and looked up showed bewilderment rather than comprehension. + +"I hear your words, Monty," he said frankly, "and your meaning is as +dense as Merry's talk about her 'vision.' But there's one thing you +haven't said, probably because you want to spare my feelings, which no +doubt explains the whole thing. This knowledge of the 'finer instincts' +comes naturally to you, Monty, because you were born in that atmosphere +you speak of; I wasn't. Some men acquire them as a result of their own +efforts, some devote their efforts to other things, as I have done. 'You +can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.' Isn't that what you really +mean to say, Monty?" + +"You are too severe on yourself, Mr. Cosden," Edith said +sympathetically, affected by the spectacle of this strong, +self-sufficient man suffering under the lash without realizing in the +least the power which wielded it. In his complacent mood she had longed +for the ability to wound his self-assurance, but the climax had been +reached without her assistance, and the woman in her failed to find the +satisfaction she had anticipated. + +"Well," Cosden said finally, rising and holding out a hand to each, "I +can't say that you've given me much enlightenment, but you've made some +things fairly clear. It will be a long time before I can look my +business in the face without blushing; but I count on those who are +really my friends to stand by me while I pumice down the marks of the +branding-iron. In the meantime, don't you think for a moment that I'm +indifferent to this thing we're talking about. Now that I know it +exists, in spite of your doubts, I intend to get it. If business +interferes, I'll cut out business. I refuse to let anything stand +between me and what I want." + + + + + * * * * * + +XVIII + + * * * * * + + +Cosden pursued the subject now uppermost in his mind with the same +relentless energy which he applied to other and more agreeable +undertakings. He had no desire to make himself a "ladies' man," such as +Edith Stevens described her brother and as he knew him to be; but this +idea that he was unfitted to enter into any circle he might choose, +provided he could force the entrance, was as novel as it was +disagreeable. When Huntington first intimated that he lacked certain +qualities Cosden had not taken him seriously. Monty was a Brahmin, +albeit one of the best of fellows, and this class had never been an +object of his envy nor considered by him an example to be emulated. +Cosden had discovered that those who constituted it were eager enough to +know him and to be intimate with him when once they came to realize, in +a business way, that this relationship might serve their own best +interests. Born outside the sacred circle, he expected nothing else, and +the fact of his friendship with Huntington, and his close +acquaintanceship with others of the same stamp, seemed to him a triumph +of merit over birth. If a man could trace his ancestry back to the right +people he became a member of this group automatically, and in spite of +lack of personal achievement. How much more credit, Cosden argued, to +the man who forced recognition through sheer accomplishment alone. + +For this reason he felt that Monty's criticism, if it was to be taken as +such, was the expression of a class rather than an individual. It was +not to be expected that his friend, reared in so unpractical an +atmosphere, should sympathize with or even understand this common-sense +approach to the subject of marriage. It was natural, indeed, that he +should be shocked by it; yet it had been a surprise to have the +easy-going Monty rouse himself to the extent of making definite +objections to the method of procedure. But Cosden had observed that +Huntington's conscience every now and then, like his liver, became +overburdened, and on these rare occasions he was liable to make remarks +which would sting if taken seriously. + +Now, however, it had been brought home to him that perhaps, after all, +his friend's comments might contain a grain of truth. The fact was +forced home not so much by what Merry Thatcher said to him as the wide +divergence of viewpoint which became apparent as a result of their +discussion. Cosden instinctively felt himself in the presence of +something higher and finer than himself, and this feeling put him at a +disadvantage. When he had ridden to Elba Beach with Merry and Billy they +were companions and all met on the same footing; now, with Merry alone, +he realized that the girl looked upon him as a man with ideas rather +than ideals, and with a creed of life which she neither understood nor +cared to understand. Yet he was not the first man to apply business +principles to this all-important partnership, and others had not made +themselves ridiculous. "Your business has been your religion and you are +branded with its ear-marks," Monty told him. It was the branding which +caused the trouble, Cosden concluded. The "finer instincts" could not be +bought, perhaps, but surely they might be acquired. He had been too +crude in the manner of expression. It came down to a question of finesse +in this as in any other transaction of life, and when reduced to this +medium he thought he understood. + +To arrive at this point required time. After a brief and silent luncheon +with Huntington Cosden set out by himself for a long walk, returning in +season for dinner in what appeared outwardly his normal mental +condition. In the evening he visited with the little group which had +formed the habit of taking their coffee together on the piazza, however +far their paths might diverge during the day. Even Edith Stevens was +deceived, but Huntington knew his friend's temperament well enough to +realize that he was working everything out in his mind preparatory to +the next step, by which he would endeavor to regain the lost ground. + +By the following morning Cosden had arrived at several definite +conclusions, and his courage returned. He breakfasted at his usual early +hour, and Edith Stevens, for some reason best known to herself, came +down-stairs at about the same time. After breakfast, as had become +almost a habit, they sat together on the piazza, he with his cigar, she +with an infinite nothing upon which from time to time she plied a not +overworked needle. + +"Well," he said at length, knocking off the ash from his cigar and +regarding it contemplatively for some moments before he +continued,--"Monty gave it to me good and straight yesterday, didn't +he?" + +"You asked him to--" + +"I know I did. You remember the man who said he didn't get what he +expected, and some one told him he was lucky not to get what he +deserved? Well, I got both." + +"Mr. Huntington had to say what he thought; you forced him to." + +"But I didn't really believe he did think it. I've been bowling along +all these years, and I suppose I've become too complacent. When I called +myself names yesterday I hadn't the slightest idea that any one would +agree with me. It was a case where I wanted to be contradicted." + +"Oh!" was all that Edith said, but the exclamation conveyed more to +Cosden regarding her real attitude than a whole vocabulary. + +"Then you agree with Monty?" he demanded. + +Edith had expected this crisis to come, so it did not find her wholly +unprepared. In fact she had been awaiting it as the point from which his +education was to be continued, as she had explained to Huntington. She +pursed her lips a little as she replied. + +"Yes--and no," she answered slowly, showing a serious consideration of +the subject which impressed Cosden. "I think he was right in saying that +business has left its mark upon you, but entirely wrong in his +assumption that what you lack can't be acquired." + +"Of course it can," Cosden agreed emphatically; "and what is more, it's +going to be acquired. I don't intend to have anything stand in my way. +The only thing to consider is just how and when." + +"Exactly," she encouraged him,--"just how and when. These are the +questions. Have you answered them?" + +"Not yet. I'm trying first to understand what Monty meant. I thought I +had learned the game. While, as I've told you, I started out with the +definite intention of making money, I've bent over backwards to conduct +my affairs so that they should be absolutely above criticism. I believed +that in doing this I proved that I had those 'finer instincts' which +mean so much to Monty. I've made other people play the game square with +me, but I've always played it square with them. My principle has been to +fix things so that the other fellow would do right because he had to, +and I would do right because I wanted to. You have to do that because +the other fellow doesn't always want to. Take one case for example: I +had a contract for a number of years with a house to supply them with +goods of a certain standard, made in accord with a fixed formula. Six +months ago my superintendent told me that by some mistake at the factory +these goods had been ten per cent. below the standard called for, +covering a period of nearly five years. My customer had made no +complaint--he supposed he was getting what the contract called for, and +so did I. The natural thing to do was to make all future deliveries up +to standard and to let it go at that; but that isn't my way. The man had +paid for something he hadn't received, and it was up to me to make good. +So I figured out the difference between the two grades, and the volume +of business, and sent him an explanation and a check for $6500." + +"That must have been a pleasant surprise for him, and you made a +customer for life." + +"Yes," Cosden replied, with a queer expression on his face: "it was a +pleasant surprise for him all right. He wrote me a beautiful letter, +telling me what a noble, upright thing it was to do, and that he didn't +believe another man in the trade would have done it. He even expressed +his deep appreciation. Last month the contract came up to be renewed, +and he canceled it because another house cut me a quarter of a cent a +pound, and I wouldn't meet it." + +"I never heard of such a thing!" Edith cried indignantly. "But you have +the satisfaction of knowing that you did the right thing." + +"Yes; I have the satisfaction and the other fellow has the contract. But +I am only telling you about it to show you why I can't understand Monty. +I thought I was showing some of those finer things he says I don't +possess. The man who canceled that contract was born with those +wonderful 'instincts,' and exhales them with every breath." + +"I don't believe you do understand just what Mr. Huntington means," she +said quietly. + +"Let me tell you something more," Cosden went on. "There is many a +corporation right in the city of Boston that spends more money in +lobbying at the State House than it does in producing its goods, yet +the officers of those same corporations go around without having their +best friends tell them they are 'branded with the ear-marks' of their +business. They are just as commercial as I am, and some of them aren't +nearly as careful to play the game straight. That is where I can't +comprehend Monty's attitude. If a man observes the 'finer instincts' in +his business, as I believe I do, why isn't the brand it marks him with a +hall-mark of respectability in any society in which he wants to mingle?" + +Edith had been very busy with her fancy-work, and she did not look up +when Cosden appealed to her for an answer. + +"Now you're getting nearer to what Mr. Huntington means," she said with +decision. "You know your business world,--its customs and its standards, +and as you have just explained they are not always consistent. The same +is true of the social world, and that, as I understand it, Mr. +Huntington knows better than you do. The social world has its customs +and standards just the same, and in many cases they are equally +inconsistent. You can't explain these inconsistencies in one any more +than in the other; they simply exist. What you still have to do is to +become familiar with them as you have with those in the business world." + +"That is where the wife comes in,--that's what she's for," Cosden +insisted. "That's the very reason I want to marry a woman who knows that +end of the game. When I select a partner in my business I don't want him +to handle my end, but rather some part of it which he can do better than +I can. And the same thing ought to apply here." + +"Perhaps it ought, Mr. Cosden, but that is just the point,--it doesn't; +and the first thing Mr. Huntington would tell you is that the two don't +mix. Here are two distinct worlds which touch each other very closely; +the one admits the other to a certain extent, the other never admits the +one." + +"Then the wife won't do it?" + +"Not alone. Many a wife has accomplished for her husband what he never +could have gained for himself, but only when the man has permitted her +to teach him how to leave his business behind him when he leaves his +office. Business plays its part in the social world, but it is one of +those polite amenities not to recognize the machinery which makes +society possible." + +Cosden moved uncomfortably in his chair. "I'm not a climber," he said. +"I haven't any desire to force myself in where I'm not wanted; but here +I am, a member of some of the best clubs in my own city, recognized in +the business world, and acquainted with every one who is worth knowing. +Until within twenty-four hours I supposed that I was as much a part of +the social organization as I chose to be,--no more, no less. Now, the +best friend I have in the world tells me point blank that the very thing +I supposed was most to my credit is a bar across the path I have elected +to take. I'm not ready yet to admit it. Monty says that I've lost +something, but he's wrong: apparently the attributes he has in mind I +never even possessed." + +"Then the more reason to exert yourself until you do possess them." + +"But if I lack them, why haven't I felt the lack before?" he appealed. +"I'm thrown all the time with the very men on whom the social life of +Boston rests." + +"Where, if I may ask?" + +"In business, and at my clubs." + +"But not in their homes?" Edith pursued. + +"No," Cosden admitted; "there has never been any reason to meet them +there." + +Edith folded her work deliberately and looked squarely at her companion. + +"My friend," she said with decision, "'the time has come, the Walrus +said, to talk of many things.' Some one must set you right. You have too +much knowledge in other directions to be so childlike in this. If you +still look upon me as confidential adviser, I'll appoint myself that +one." + +"I should be eternally grateful." + +"Then don't be offended if I speak plainly. I believe that I understand +the situation exactly: you have pursued the even tenor of your way all +these years, following a definite plan, and accomplishing your set +purpose. In the confidence of having accomplished it, you decide that +the moment has arrived to exercise a side of your nature which up to +that moment has scarcely interested you, and you try to put your new +thought into execution as mechanically as you have carried through every +other purpose which you have ever had. Your election to your clubs, no +doubt, was the result of careful and business-like plans, laid down when +your name was first proposed, and followed up with the same +irreproachable persistency which would be applied to any other business +undertaking." + +"Of course," he acknowledged: "that is the only way to put anything +through." + +"So your clubs, which you have looked upon to certain extent as social +achievements, have been only a part of your every-day business routine, +after all?" + +"Yes; if you choose to put it that way." + +"Then let me tell you that however intimate you become with any man, you +are not admitted to his social circle until he has presented you to his +wife or sisters, and has invited you to his home. Every woman knows +that, and I supposed every man did." + +"My ignorance is perhaps the best evidence of how crude I really am," +Cosden said soberly. + +"Don't say crude," Edith protested considerately; "say rather that your +social life has been undeveloped. Until this new desire for a home came +to you the necessity of considering that side had not appealed, and when +you once decided to make the grand plunge the only way you knew how to +go at it was as if you were selecting a partner in your business. +Perhaps, as you say, the same rules ought to apply, but I assure you +they don't. And that is just where you stand now." + +"Then I will learn the rules which do apply," he asserted with +determination. "But why, if this is so all-important, have you yourself +so little use for society?" + +"It is a very different matter, my friend, to make light of something +which you have and something which you lack. I may despise society, but +if it was society that despised me you'd see me starting a campaign in +New York that would make a football game look like a funeral +procession." + +Cosden regarded his animated companion for some moments in silence, but +any one who knew him would have recognized that his mind had seized upon +the germ of a new idea which pleased him, but which he was considering +critically for the moment. + +"Look here," he said suddenly. "It doesn't take me long to make up my +mind. Why couldn't I persuade you to start a campaign like that for +me--for us--in Boston?" + +The abruptness of the suggestion, and the complete change from the +subdued and humiliated seeker after light back to the dominating man of +affairs who forces the solution of his dilemma, took even the astute +Edith by surprise. + +"Am I by any chance to consider that as an offer of marriage?" she +demanded. + +"That is just what I mean. What do you say?" + +"Well, of all things!" She rose to her feet and walked up and down the +piazza with Cosden following close behind. It was a moment or two before +she recovered herself, and then she turned on him. + +"I take back all the sympathy I ever gave you," she cried indignantly, +"and I hate myself for having tried to help you with my advice." + +Cosden regarded her outbreak with consternation. "I always supposed an +offer of marriage was the greatest compliment a man could pay a woman," +he exclaimed surprised. + +"It is no compliment when such an offer is based so cold-bloodedly upon +business advantage. You come down here to get a wife, which you have +decided in your counting-room will increase your assets. The first girl +you select doesn't fit into your plans, as you had expected, so you look +me over critically, tell me it doesn't take you long to make up your +mind, and offer me a partnership.--All that remains, I suppose, is for +us to discuss office hours and the division of the profits! My word! You +are the most mercenary human creature I ever met!" + +Edith was splendid in her anger, but Cosden refused to take her +seriously. + +"Come," he insisted; "you are far too sensible to look at it that way. +Why, every one in the hotel is asking if we are engaged. What shall I +tell them?" + +"Tell them you proposed to me and that I refused you," she retorted +defiantly, turning from him and disappearing through the open door. + + + + + * * * * * + +XIX + + * * * * * + + +"Well Marian, my play-time is over for the present," Thatcher remarked +as he folded a cable he had just received and placed it in his pocket. +"They need me at the office, so I'll sail on Monday. There's no reason +for you to leave until later unless you wish to." + +She looked up at him with an expression of such real disappointment that +he felt the unspoken reproach. + +"We have stayed a month longer than we intended, as it is," he +explained, "and my going need not hasten your plans at all." + +"I don't want you to return alone, Harry, and I loathe the thought of +turning my back on this enchanting spot. Truly, each day makes it more +difficult to leave it." + +"Then if you don't go at once the problem may become serious," he +laughed. + +"You are so different down here, Harry, I hate to give you up to +business again. That is a wife's real rival; I'm jealous of it." + +"A rival which has made our pleasures possible, so you should be +friends. Only a few years more of it, little woman, and then you may +plan my days as well as yours. Then we'll have one long play-time +together." + +"You've been saying that for five years," she protested petulantly; "but +we seem to come no nearer. Haven't we enough to do that now?" + +"Who shall say what 'enough' really is?" he smiled, taking her hand in +his and looking with affection into her deep eyes. "That isn't what +holds me; it takes time to work out of the old interests without serious +loss, Marian, and present conditions aren't helpful." + +"I suppose not," she agreed unwillingly; "but do make the period of +waiting as short as possible. Merry and Philip are grown now, and I'm +hungry for another honeymoon, such as we have been having here." + +"Some day, little woman, some day!" + +"Don't say that, Harry!" she protested again, this time more vigorously. +"There is no expression in the English language I detest so much as +'some day.' When I was a little girl I had an uncle who was forever +going to take me somewhere or give me something 'some day'; and 'some +day' never came! I've always looked upon those two words as a diabolical +combination invented by older people as an aggravation to children. But +I will be patient, Harry. Can't you start in now to take some medicine +which will be sure to clear your blood of business by the time these +things you speak of work themselves out?" + +"If present conditions continue," he laughed, "they will accomplish what +you wish better than anything so homeopathic as physic. We shall all be +thrown out of business whether we like it or not. This cable I have just +received," he continued more soberly, "is a case in point: the +government is starting in to 'investigate' one of our pet interests, and +the stock has begun to drop out of sight already. It is paternalism with +a vengeance: protecting the infant industries to encourage their growth, +and then spanking them when they respond!" + +"Well," Marian sighed, "it's all Greek to me, but if you say it's wrong +then I know it is. Now," she added, slipping her arm through his, "let's +go over to the pool and see what is going on there." + +Shouts of laughter and sounds of splashing greeted them as they reached +the top of the tiled steps of the "Princess" pool, and they paused for a +moment to see the finish of an exciting race. + +"You're too fast for us, Miss Merry," Huntington acknowledged his +defeat. Then he turned to Cosden who finished just behind him. + +"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to let a girl beat you like that, +Connie?" he demanded. + +"How about yourself?" was the retort; "you always claimed to be some +swimmer." + +"You let me win!" Merry declared. + +"Indeed I didn't," Huntington protested stoutly. "It is eminently unfit +that woman should defeat man in any athletic contest; she has beaten us +out in everything else, and we must reserve something. Perhaps Connie +let you beat him,--did you, Connie?" + +Cosden laughed consciously. "Did I ever let any one beat me in anything +when I could prevent it?" he asked. + +"There you are," Huntington waved his arms dramatically. "We admit +ourselves temporarily defeated, but not disgraced. As for myself, I +shall immediately go into strict training, in an endeavor to alter my +lines from endurance to speed." + +The Thatchers strolled along the edge of the pool and seated themselves +on one of the benches at the farther end of the enclosure. + +"Here come Edith and Philip Hamlen," Marian called her husband's +attention to the new arrivals; "where do you suppose she found him?" + +"Hello, people," Edith greeted them. "Mr. Hamlen has been waiting for +you in the hotel, and I told him I thought we should find you here. This +looks to me like a perfectly good party." + +"Come sit with us," Thatcher urged, drawing up another bench. "We +elderly folk will watch the children at play." + +Edith suddenly caught sight of Cosden and she perceptibly stiffened. +"Children!" she echoed, with an inflection of her voice and a toss of +the head which attracted Marian's attention. "How is it that Mr. Cosden +goes into the water? I should think he would be afraid of rust." + +"I supposed it was by your orders, Edith," Marian said smiling. "Isn't +he still acting under your instructions? But why 'rust'?" + +"Certainly not by any orders of mine," she replied with emphasis. "What +he needs as an adviser is a machinist to keep that wonderful business +head of his in repair. Wouldn't you think it would rust if he got it +wet?" + +Edith's new attitude was more intelligible to Marian than to the men, +but discretion suggested a change of subject. + +"Harry is taking us home with him on Monday," she announced, suddenly +turning to Hamlen and watching him narrowly as she spoke. + +"On Monday?" Hamlen repeated after her. The color rushed into his +usually pale face, and a tremor in his voice showed how much the news +affected him. "You are going Monday?" + +"The Thatcher family intact," Marian answered him; "I don't know about +the others." + +"Of course Ricky and I go when you do," Edith added. "I'm quite ready. +The place is beginning to pall on me." + +There was an injured look in Hamlen's face as he turned to her quickly. +"Don't say that of my beautiful island!" he begged. + +"Oh, the place is all right," Edith assured him; "it is simply some of +the foreign element I don't like." + +"Must you really go?" Hamlen asked Thatcher appealingly. + +"It is my master's voice, and we slaves of the market dare not disregard +the call." + +Hamlen forced a smile. "I shall miss you," he said simply. + +"Come with us," Marian urged in a low voice. "That would make our visit +here complete." + +The man made no response, yet she could see no signs of weakening. The +color left his face and it was now more ashen than before. The lips were +tightly compressed as if he feared to trust them, and his hands clenched +the walking-stick he held in front of him with a grip of iron. He +mastered himself at last, and the pathetic smile which wrung Marian's +heart whenever she saw it returned to his face. It was too clearly the +reflection of a wound which pride alone concealed from sight. + +"You are too generous," he said at length, feeling the necessity of +making some response,--"far too generous; but it is like you, Marian. +Huntington is generous too, but you both are mistaken in your kindness. +There are some exotic growths which can't be transplanted; I am one of +those." + +He paused for a moment; then he continued: "I must ask one more favor +before you go--come to me to-morrow afternoon and let us have a final +celebration in honor of our reunion. Come to my villa, all of you, and +in the midst of the family I have created--my flowers, my trees--let me +dedicate my home anew to the dear friends who have brought life back to +me, even though they too will soon join the memories amongst which I +must continue to live. Give me this last experience to remain with me +after you are gone." + +"Of course we will, Philip,--we would love to come," Marian replied, +affected by his words and the depth of emotion which his voice +expressed. "It will be the one remembrance we would most rejoice to take +back with us if we can't take you. For these days, Philip," she added in +a voice so low that he alone could hear,--"these days have not been +vital ones for you alone, dear friend. Our meeting has brought back much +to me which I shall always cherish, and beyond all I wish I might be the +means of giving you back that happiness you lost through me." + +"No, no! You mustn't say that, Marian!" + +"Oh, but I feel the burden of it, Philip! You give me no chance to make +restitution. If you would only come--" + +A tremor ran through his frame but he quickly controlled himself. "No, +Marian," he said firmly; "you must come to me!" + +While the little group were conversing together the bathers had left the +pool, and now one by one appeared from the bath-houses, radiant from +their invigorating exercise, and looking for new worlds to conquer. +Cosden was first, and he seated himself on the bench beside Edith. + +"Am I forgiven?" he asked in a low tone, but with a smile which +expressed confidence in the answer. + +"I never talk shop outside of business hours," was the chilling +response, as she drew herself slightly away from him and looked straight +ahead. + +Merry was not far behind, and her appearance prevented Edith's hauteur +from becoming too apparent. + +"Mr. Huntington and I are going to have another race to-morrow morning," +she announced. "I'm sure he let me beat him this time just to humiliate +me the more when he shows what he can really do." + +"I'd back you against the field if I could find any takers," Cosden +insisted. "That shows what I think of his chances." + +"It's great fun, anyway. Isn't this a fine old world, Momsie?" she cried +impulsively, throwing her arms around her mother's neck and kissing her. + +"'Here comes the bride,'" chanted Cosden as Huntington finally walked +toward them with his dignified stride. "If I took as much time to prink +as you do I believe I could fuss myself up to look like something." + +"You'd need a file!" Edith ejaculated spitefully. + +"I beg your pardon?" Cosden interrogated, but no explanation was +vouchsafed. + +"This looks to me like a council of war," Huntington remarked. + +"Call it rather a demobilization," Thatcher corrected. "I have made +myself everlastingly unpopular by deciding to return to New York on +Monday. Marian insists on leaving when I do, and the Stevenses are +equally considerate of my pleasure. So I've spoiled everything." + +"I have only been waiting for some one stronger than I to determine my +own departure, so I include myself among the refugees. And Hamlen will +go with me, won't you, my friend?" + +Hamlen held up his hand deprecatingly. "I must complete my sentence of +exile," he said with finality. + +"Have you heard anything from New York?" Cosden inquired. "I left orders +not to cable." + +"The market is bad, and liable to become worse." + +"Then my vacation is over, too. How about the trolley project?" + +"Another postponement. I'll give you the details later." + +"Mr. Hamlen has invited us to have tea with him to-morrow afternoon as a +farewell celebration, and I have accepted for all." + +"Not a farewell, Mrs. Thatcher," Huntington corrected, looking across at +Hamlen. "There are some souls to whom we never say farewell. If he +won't come with us now it simply means a brief postponement. This friend +of mine cannot come into my life as he has done these weeks and then go +out of it again. He and I have already lost too many years of the +companionship which should have been ours; now together we must make up +for lost time." + +Hamlen looked at him gratefully but did not answer. In single file the +little party walked along the narrow edge of the pool, down the steps +and back to the hotel. Cosden manoeuvered so that he had a word with +Edith before they separated. + +"I sha'n't let you be cross with me," he said. + +"I'm not cross; 'disgusted' is the word if you really want to know." + +"But suppose my speaking was more sudden than my decision?" + +"I would rather not discuss it, if you please." + +"I've seen a great deal more of you than I have of Merry--" + +"But when you make up your mind, Mr. Cosden--" Edith recalled his own +words. + +"I never change it without reason," he replied. "And more than that, it +is very unprofessional to desert a client just when he needs you most." + +"When a client disregards his counsel's advice it is time to change +counsel," she retorted with decision. + +"Oh, dear, no!" Cosden replied in so conciliatory a tone that she was +partly mollified. The words rang with greater sincerity than she had +believed him to possess. "That isn't the way real counsels do at all, +especially when the client is so contrite." + +"What is their custom?" Edith asked, amused in spite of herself. + +"They charge it up on the bill and make him pay handsomely for his +presumption." + +"Oh!" she said, weakening a little in the caustic attitude she had +assumed. "If it comes down to a matter of bookkeeping perhaps we can +effect a compromise." + + + + + * * * * * + +XX + + * * * * * + + +"To-day, Connie, is Saturday, to-morrow is the Sabbath, in which we are +not permitted to toil, neither can we spin, and on the day which +followeth we sail," Huntington remarked at luncheon. + +Cosden regarded his companion critically. "It doesn't rhyme so I know it +isn't poetry; then it must be Scripture." + +"Freely paraphrased, it means that this afternoon is the last +opportunity we shall have to exercise our golf-clubs on Bermudian soil." + +"Enough said," Cosden answered sententiously; "I'll be ready whenever +you are. What a relief it will be to play on a real course again when +the season opens at home!" + +"I admit that this is the one great deficiency of an otherwise admirably +ordered resort," Huntington agreed. "Still, it is a whole lot better +than no course at all, so let us be philosophers.--I'll be ready in an +hour." + +The afternoon's round proved an eventful one to Huntington. Not that his +clubs were under better control, or that he was less penalized by the +atrocious lies encountered so frequently. Not that he succeeded in +defeating his opponent, which was usually the measure of an eventful +day; but he found Cosden in a state of mind which gave him infinite +relief. + +The weak spots shown up by the analysis Huntington had made of his +friendship with Cosden caused him real anxiety, explain them as he +would. It was one thing to play with a man three times a week and +another to live with him for a month of consecutive holidays. He had +wondered whether their relations could ever return to what he had +believed them to be before the shock came to his sense of propriety. +Cosden's new state of mind shifted the balance so that the scales hung +even, and the hope thus engendered made him indifferent to sliced +drives, bad lies, or topped approaches. To Huntington, a friendship such +as this had been assumed the proportions of a trust, and to disturb it +was to shake the foundations of his every-day life to a most disquieting +extent. + +"This visit to Bermuda hasn't been at all what I expected," Cosden +confided to him; "but I'm inclined to think it has been a success after +all." + +"I have found much to interest me here," Huntington admitted. + +"Between you and Miss Stevens I've learned a few things about myself I +didn't know before. The experience hasn't been altogether palatable, but +perhaps it will prove salutary." + +"That is ancient history now, Connie," Huntington protested, following +his usual custom of avoiding the unpleasant. "Why bring it up again? +Keep your mind on your game." + +"It hasn't become ancient history yet," he insisted. "I want you to +understand that I appreciate your friendliness in going out of your way +to say disagreeable things when you thought I needed to hear them. It +isn't every one who would have done it." + +"That's all right; now let's forget it." + +"I don't want to forget it. In fact I'm particularly keen on remembering +it. I tackled a job before I knew how to handle it, with the inevitable +consequences. Now I think I can come nearer to understanding what the +game is." + +He paused long enough to negotiate a particularly difficult stymie which +Huntington had laid him on the third green. As the ball dropped into the +cup he looked up with a satisfied smile. + +"You see I can play a game that I do understand, don't you, Monty? I'm +going to play this new game just as well after I'm on to it. You were +right: that little Thatcher girl is all I thought she was, but we are +absolutely unsuited. I had to find it out for myself, but now it is as +clear to me as it has been to you from the beginning. And this isn't the +only thing I've found out." + +"The air is pretty clear down here, Connie; one can see a long ways." + +"Yes, when he's supplied with a pair of binoculars like you and Miss +Stevens. The thing I can see clearest now is that I'm not ready to marry +any girl just at present." + +Huntington stopped as he was about to swing, dropped his club, and +seized Cosden by the shoulders. + +"Then you aren't going to desert me!" + +"Hold on!" Cosden cried as he released himself; "you're going too fast! +Don't overlook the fact that I said 'just at present.' It may be I +shall never marry, but something tells me that there are wedding-bells +for me before I get through with it. There's no doubt at all, however, +that before that takes place I must acquire some of those flossy things +you've taught me to look for. I'm going to take a few hundred shares in +some humanizing company and see what it does for me. Then I'll find out +just what there is in it, and let the future take care of itself." + +Now that Cosden had come to these eminently satisfactory conclusions +Huntington was too wise to offer any advice. His courage rose as this +responsibility rolled away from his overburdened shoulders, and he dared +hope that before he reached New York Mrs. Thatcher would voluntarily +abandon her quixotic notion concerning Merry and Hamlen. This would +leave him free to pull the strings for Billy,--but here he sighed. Could +he hope ever to bring the boy up to the standard he himself would insist +upon before permitting any thought of an alliance? And was the sigh all +because of doubts of Billy? Forty-five must give way to twenty, but he +admitted to himself that the supreme burden of all remained. If some of +those years could only be turned back! But he knew himself now, and in +that knowledge rested power. + +Sunday dawned bright and clear, one of those superlative days which +Bermuda produces now and then as an aggravation to her departing +visitors, and to demonstrate that she herself can improve even upon her +own perfection. Those who had planned to devote the morning to packing +against the morrow's sailing found the voice of duty too weak to make +itself heard above the irresistible call to the open. Mr. and Mrs. +Thatcher seized the opportunity to drive again to Harrington Sound, +Merry and Huntington took a final walk to Elba Beach, while Cosden +insisted that Edith Stevens permit him to escort her to the Barracks and +the band concert. This left Ricky Stevens entirely out in the cold, but +he was so accustomed to it that he did not even notice that it had +happened again. Cheerfully lighting a cigarette, after the others had +departed, and swinging his stick with an energy deserving of better +things, he devoted the morning to making a final round of the +tobacco-shops, laying in a huge amount of additional smoking materials. + +By afternoon all were again united, and set off together for Hamlen's +villa. Their host elected to receive them in the garden instead of at +the house, and as the guests passed through the rustic arbor, vivid in +the coloring of the _poinsettia_ which bore it down, each felt in +varying degree the dramatic effect of the reception. Hamlen stepped +quietly forward to receive them, clad in the familiar white doe-skin +suit which was never so effective as against its present background. His +manner was courtly, but the reserve his friends had seen broken down +during their visit again possessed him, and his face, even when he +smiled to welcome them, was reminiscent of some great renunciation. + +"Forgive me for not meeting you when you first drove up," Hamlen said to +Marian. "In my sentimentality I preferred to greet you here. These +trees, these shrubs, these flowers," he indicated, "I planted one by +one. I tended them in their infancy, I have watched them in their +growth. To me they have personalities as much as human beings. They +represent my family, they are all I have, and, as I told you yesterday, +I want them to join me in this last meeting before you depart and leave +us to ourselves." + +Their host's attitude was not fully appreciated except by the three who +knew him best, so it was natural that by degrees the party separated in +such a way that Mrs. Thatcher, Merry and Huntington were left with him +while the others explored the grounds in greater detail. + +"For the first time in my life, Marian," Hamlen said, "I shall regret to +see a steamer pass my Point and leave me cut off from the world. As I +told you, always before I have gloried in it. To-morrow--" + +"We shall be waving to you to-morrow, Philip, and wishing you were with +us." + +"It won't be long," Huntington added, "before you will be on one of +those same steamers on your way to us." + +"I hope so," was the non-committal reply. + +"We do want you, all of us," Merry smiled persuadingly. "We have come to +know each other so well here that we shall miss not being where we can +run in to disturb you in your work." + +"I shall miss those interruptions too, and the work will be all I +shall have to fall back upon. Somehow," he added, turning to +Huntington,--"somehow I haven't been able to do the same work since you +have been here. I don't understand it. I have been happier during these +weeks than in all the years which preceded them, yet my work has not +been so good. Why is it?" + +"The reason is obvious," Huntington answered quietly, but with a degree +of satisfaction in his tone. "In what you say I find a pledge that you +will come to us. Our visit, Hamlen, has disturbed the equilibrium of +your life; it can never be the same again. Your work now is not so good +because your mind has found a new horizon, and refuses to confine itself +within the narrow compass which it had before. You can't do as good work +again until your life finds new anchorage. Then you will reach heights +beyond your dreams; but it will be through your friends that the new +anchorage will come. We can afford to be patient, Hamlen, for you must +surely turn to us; you cannot avoid it no matter how hard you try." + +Huntington's magnetic voice affected Hamlen as deeply as his words. His +vision seemed so clear, his domination so complete that it startled the +weaker man. Mrs. Thatcher and Merry knew at that moment that, if he +chose, Huntington could have compelled Hamlen to follow him to the ends +of the earth; and the response their host made showed that he recognized +it too. + +"You won't force me, Huntington?" he appealed. + +"It must come only when you wish it," was the reassuring reply; "but +when that moment does arrive, know well, dear friend, how hearty a +welcome awaits you." + +Hamlen took his hand in both his own and gazed for a long moment into +Huntington's face. "Classmate--friend," was all he said, but those who +heard the words knew them to be enough. + +As they mixed again with the others, and the conversation became more +general, the seriousness of Hamlen's earlier bearing partially wore +away, relieving the unnatural tension which had almost turned an +informal social function into the observance of a religious rite. Then +the shadows lengthened, and two of the servants brought out a rustic +table laden with eatables, with a huge bowl of strawberries as a +centerpiece. There was no need of decoration beyond its cut-glass and +rare china, for each dish was a selected masterpiece. + +"A Class Day spread in February!" Merry exclaimed enthusiastically. "How +we shall miss these strawberries when we get home!" + +"'Strawberries may come and strawberries may go, but prunes go on +forever,'" Cosden added, glancing at Edith for approval. + +The whole experience affected Mrs. Thatcher deeply. She saw the Hamlen +of her youth full of promise and ambition, she saw the Hamlen of to-day +bound hand and foot in the bonds of his false sophistry. What would he +have been had she not broken her word to him? She was vaguely conscious +that her present emotion was deeper than any she had ever been called +upon to feel for her husband or for her children; she half-sensed the +fact that previously her deepest feelings had been for herself. Now she +felt a sympathy which demanded restitution, and the impulse must be +worthy since it was for the happiness of some one other than herself. Of +course, Merry should not be coerced against her will,--but if it could +only be! + +Every episode, however epochful, must end, and Marian rose at length, +indicating that the good-byes must be spoken. + +"You'll be down to see us off, Philip?" she asked. + +"No," he answered unexpectedly; "if you will excuse me I should prefer +to watch you from my Point up there. I want you to remember me amid my +own surroundings, rather than as a part of something to which I don't +belong." + + * * * * * + +Next morning, as the little tender passed Spanish Point, carrying its +passengers to the "Arcadian," three persons stood in the stern waving to +a solitary figure standing erect and motionless. When he made out the +greetings from the boat he raised his arm high above his head and held +it there, like a Roman of old, in stately recognition. He gave no sign +that he saw their further salutes, yet they knew he could not fail to +see them. They remained there until the figure became smaller and +smaller, and then finally was cut off altogether by a turn in their +course. + +"This is too much for me!" Mrs. Thatcher cried suddenly, as if +apologizing for the break in her voice. "If I don't get my mind on +something else I shall burst into tears! I'm going forward with the +others." + +Merry and Huntington still lingered, hoping that they might catch one +more glimpse of the solitary watcher; but in vain. When the girl turned +toward him Huntington saw that tears glistened in her eyes. + +"That is the most pathetic figure I have ever seen!" + +Huntington made no answer, but at that moment he became conscious that +he was holding a small hand tightly grasped within his own. Impulsively +he raised it to his lips, then he as suddenly released it. + +"To seal our friendship," he explained consciously, "at this crisis in +the life of one who has been the means of bringing us together. I owe +him much for that!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXI + + * * * * * + + +The "Arcadian" rested lazily at anchor just outside the harbor, +apparently as willing as other visitors to drift on the tide of peace +and contentment. The coils of smoke, rising straight upward from its +funnels, supplied the only sign of intended departure. The bustle and +activity usually attendant upon a sailing seemed absent, and the boat +lay there like a pleasure-yacht ready to take on board its master's +guests. + +This impression deepened as the passengers from the tender were +transferred on board and moved about the spacious decks, visiting their +state-rooms resplendent with inviting brass bedsteads in place of the +discouraging berths, and inspecting the swimming-pool. + +"You must be sure of your weather before you indulge yourself there," +Cosden remarked. "They told us, coming down, of a dignified British +admiral who was tempted to a plunge, but no sooner was he in the pool +than a young cyclone struck the boat, and for twenty minutes he was +thrown forwards and backwards and sideways in spite of the efforts of +the stewards to get him out. As he weighed nearly three hundred pounds +the situation became serious. Finally, when the water was drawn off, he +was dragged upon the stone slabs more dead than alive and held there +until the storm abated, indifferent to the dignity of his person or to +the glory of the British navy." + +"That ought to act as an excellent flesh-reducer," Huntington commented. +"Perhaps it would serve in my efforts to alter my lines for speed." + +"I don't see that you need it," Edith laughed; "but we'll all be down to +give encouragement." + +"About that time you'll be making love to your little brass bedstead," +remarked Mrs. Thatcher. + +Edith's face fell. "I forgot all about that!" she cried aghast. "You +don't think it will be as rough going back as it was coming down, do +you? Oh! I forgot all about that!" + +"It's certain to be bad enough to make you feel 'very annoyed,'" Marian +confirmed maliciously. + +"Let's go on deck," Ricky Stevens said with a sudden show of interest; +"it's so awfully stuffy down here!" + +Edith gave him a glance of approval. "For once in your life, Richard +Stevens, you have a real idea. I can feel the boat beginning to roll +now." + +"Nonsense!" Huntington laughed, "we're scarcely out of the harbor yet; +but the deck is much the better place; we are passing close to the shore +and this last view of the islands is beautiful. We shall have ample +opportunity to inspect the boat later on." + +"I've seen all I want to," Edith asserted, as they started back to the +companion way. "It was silly of me to forget that awful experience +coming down. I am sure the boat is rolling, in spite of your denials." + +"Then look," Huntington insisted, as they stepped out on the deck again. +"You could navigate this sea in a canoe." + +"Well, anyway," she compromised, "I shall be much more comfortable in my +little steamer chair, so lead me to it." + +Mrs. Thatcher, still affected by her last sight of Hamlen, was glad to +sit down beside her friend while the others walked up and down the +decks, watching the passing panorama of the shore, knowing that it would +last too short a time at best. + +"Marian," Edith said suddenly, "I have a presentiment that I shall die +of seasickness on this trip home, and there is something I want to say +to you while I can." + +"No one ever died of seasickness, child," Marian laughed; "but if you +have something serious on your conscience the sooner you get it off the +better." + +"It's Mr. Cosden," Edith explained. + +"I noticed that something had gone wrong in that quarter. Has he escaped +you, after all?" + +"It is really too bad of you to take advantage of me when I'm so ill!" + +"My poor Edith!" Marian said soothingly, "forgive me, dear; I forgot +your serious condition for the moment. Tell me about Mr. Cosden." + +"He is impossible," the invalid announced. "I really thought there was +some hope for him until a few days ago, but he is so frightfully +commercial that he crocks." + +"He--what?" + +"It comes off on everything he touches. He can't look at anything from +any other standpoint. It's a tragic disappointment to me, and I think +it just as well that I am going to expire from this awful seasickness. I +really thought I could train him, but he's too crude. That is the only +word to use." + +"He can't be that or he couldn't be Monty Huntington's friend. I rather +like him. He's blunt and matter-of-fact and all that; but I like to see +a man with confidence in himself." + +"I have an idea that Mr. Huntington has somewhat revised his opinions. I +certainly have; and whatever anybody else may think I agree with +myself." + +"That ought to be comforting to you, my dear; but I'm really sorry +things haven't pulled through this time. I'm afraid it's your last +chance. What did he do that was crude,--refuse to propose?" + +Edith sat bolt upright, her cheeks flaming, with all signs of her recent +indisposition vanished. + +"I hate you in that tantalizing mood, Marian Thatcher! You always put +the meanest interpretation on everything! Of course he proposed, but he +didn't do it in a nice way; he just figured it out as if it was one of +his business deals, and made me feel as if I ought to go right to the +shipping department and get packed up." + +"My dear Edith," Marian expostulated; "you mustn't be so fastidious. It +doesn't make so much difference how these men propose; the main thing is +to have them do it. Truly, I'm disappointed in you! Here you have been +working desperately to lead him to a point where he would let you put +the ball and chain on him, and then, for some silly little reason, you +let him get away from you! Really, I'm disappointed! From what I've +seen, you two seem admirably suited to each other." + +"You don't understand, Marian," she protested; "he made this trip for +the express purpose of picking out a wife--" + +"In Bermuda? Why couldn't he find one nearer home?" + +"The girl he had selected for the distinguished honor was in Bermuda--" + +Marian Thatcher was interested. Her amusement over her friend's +annoyances, real or imagined, became tempered by curiosity, and that +changed a passing incident into an event. + +"He told you this and yet proposed to you? Who was the other girl?" + +"You really don't know?" + +"Certainly not. Why should I know? This is all news to me." + +"I'm glad to be able to tell you something, my dear Marian," Edith said +complacently. "You are so terribly superior it really cheers me up to +have the chance to add to your knowledge, even in a small way. Mr. +Cosden came down here for the purpose of proposing to Merry." + +"To Merry!" Marian cried. "That man had the audacity to think he could +marry my child! Well, upon my soul! Why, he never saw her more than two +or three times before he came to Bermuda! How could he possibly have +fallen in love--" + +"In love!" Edith laughed. "Love? That's a real joke! Mr. Cosden has +never dealt in that commodity! I tell you, Marian, he just picks out the +thing he wants, and then he gets it--" + +"He could never get _my_ daughter." + +"But you just said you admired men who had confidence in themselves--" + +"I didn't say I cared for men with such unmitigated nerve as that. The +idea!" + +"You thought us well suited to each other." + +"Certainly I did; that's an entirely different matter. You are just as +mercenary as he, and I think you would make a perfect team,--but Merry! +Ho, ho! The audacity of it!" + +Sitting on the edge of her steamer chair Marian tapped the deck +excitedly with her toe and carefully adjusted an imaginary crease in her +skirt. Suddenly she turned again to her companion. + +"So he came down to get Merry,--and proposed to you?" + +"Yes; rather well manoeuvered, wasn't it? You see, don't you, that my +mercenary instincts saved you from an unpleasant maternal duty?" + +"I bless you for it," Marian said heartily; "but you've refused him, so +that leaves him loose to begin over again. He's not safe yet." + +"I wouldn't worry about that just now," Edith reassured her. "Mr. Cosden +has learned a few things since he has been under my instruction, and I +think he will be less precipitate." + +"Why don't you continue the good work and polish him up for yourself? +You must have found some good points or you wouldn't have gone to all +this trouble." + +"No, Marian; it's too big a contract. I once had hopes but they are +gone. The first thing I knew he'd have me packed up in spite of myself +and shipped off somewhere. I'm very disappointed, but I dare not take +the chance." + +It was fortunate, if Miss Stevens was to unburden her heart to her +friend at all, that she acted so promptly, for after the headland of St. +George's and St. David's light-house faded away in the distance it +became apparent that the elements were not kindly disposed toward those +on board the "Arcadian." The air became oppressive in its sultriness, +and the clouds gathered ominously. Within an hour the calmness of the +sea was forgotten. The little party playing shuffleboard found it +difficult to keep their feet, and of a sudden a sharp, vicious squall +struck the boat, sending all uncertain passengers to their state-rooms. +Luncheon, served with difficulty, found a reasonable number at their +seats, but by dinner-time the "good sailors" might have selected any +locations they chose. Nature had declared a division, and the state-room +stewards found far greater demand upon their services than did those in +the dining-saloon. The majority of the passengers simply endured until +the safe haven of New York harbor might be reached, the minority +adjusted themselves to the conditions and made the most of them. + +Merry and Huntington were among the fortunate minority. + +"At last I have found something to struggle against!" she cried +enthusiastically during the storm, as they stood in a sheltered position +on deck watching the quivering steamer plow steadfastly through the +great waves. + +"Still eager for a struggle!" Huntington exclaimed smiling, +understanding the spirit of the girl better than he cared to +acknowledge. "I don't like to think of you as struggling at all." + +"I must," she said firmly. "Unless I do, I feel myself slipping +backwards." + +"Of course," he admitted, "struggling means development, yet my wish for +you is freedom from anything which opposes. Is it selfishness on my +part, this desire to keep you as you are, or is it merely another of +those paradoxes of which life is made up?" + +"Whatever it is," Merry answered simply, "I know that your wish is for +my good, for I know you are my friend." + +She turned toward him as she spoke and looked full in his face with an +expression of confidence in her own which tested Huntington's +self-denial. But the years--the inexorable years--were there! + +"It is you who have made me realize the necessity of struggling," she +continued. "It is through the companionship I have had these weeks with +you, and your friendship, that I have been able to crystallize ideas +which before were so uncontrolled that they made me restless and +discontented. What I heard you say to Mr. Hamlen, what I have seen in +your every-day philosophy has taught me to concentrate my efforts in one +grand struggle with myself." + +"If you keep it there," Huntington answered, "I shall be content; it +would be no kindness to wish it otherwise. But one of these days, little +friend, some man will come along with a nature equal to your own, and in +the division of the struggle you will find the happiness multiplied. +That will be your chance to contribute your share to the real life which +you will jointly live." + +"You have remembered what I said that first time we walked home from Mr. +Hamlen's!" + +"I shall always remember it. From it I first learned the depth and +beauty of your womanhood." + +"Please, Mr. Huntington--" she begged deprecatingly; but her companion +saw no reason to recall the words. + +On the second morning the passengers came up on deck in anticipation of +landing in the afternoon. Even Edith Stevens had passed through the +ordeal without the fatal results she had predicted. Cosden seized the +first opportunity for a final word of reconciliation. + +"Don't give me up," he urged. "I've learned a lot of things down here, +and I appreciate what you have done for me more than I have shown. I'm +going to do a bit of sandpapering when I get home, and I want you to let +me run in to see you once in a while in New York, just to report +progress." + +And Edith, either because after her experiences she felt too weak to +combat him, or because she thought he needed encouragement, ingloriously +capitulated. + +The final good-byes were said on the dock, after the customs officials +had completed their inspection. + +"Of course we'll see you in New York now and then," Mrs. Thatcher said +to the two men; "and when we open up at the shore we must plan a real +reunion." + +"I shall hope to have Hamlen here by then," Huntington remarked. + +"You are more optimistic than I; but in the mean time I shall be eager +to receive news of him through you." + +"Drop in at the office next time you're in town, Cosden," said Thatcher; +"we'll talk over Consolidated Machinery and the Bermuda Trolleys." + +"I'm thinking of getting out of business altogether, to devote myself to +art," was Cosden's enigmatical reply; but the expression on Edith +Stevens' face showed that at least she understood. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXII + + * * * * * + + +Nearly a month passed after their return to Boston before Huntington and +Cosden really saw anything of each other. They met casually, they +telephoned, they lunched in company with other friends at down-town +clubs, but neither one suggested an old-time getting together, and each +felt relieved by the omission of the other. Yet the reason each man held +for this feeling, had he openly acknowledged it, was as opposed to the +other's as were the characteristics of the men themselves. Huntington +craved nothing so much as an opportunity to be alone, that he might +review the extraordinary happenings of the past few weeks and thus +fortify himself sufficiently to prevent any lapse from what he knew to +be his duty; Cosden required a return to his usual feverish business +activity in order to digest his new ideas. Huntington remembered the +wonderful sunshine and the fragrant flowers, in the midst of which he +always saw a sweetly serious face peering out at him in spite of his +efforts at banishment; Cosden forgot everything except that he had been +shown up to himself in a light which demanded immediate and drastic +consideration. To both men the weeks just ended, including those which +had elapsed since their return had been epoch-making. But +self-confidence revives with time, however great a shock it may receive +and when Huntington finally invited his friend to dine with him Cosden +found himself quite ready to accept. + +This first meeting was more formal than any which had taken place during +the many years of their acquaintance. Cosden often spoke of the relief +it was to him to be permitted to drop in at his friend's house in such +an intimate way,--without "fussing up," as he expressed it; now he +appeared in his dinner-coat, dressed as immaculately as Huntington +himself always was. His manner was more contained, and even though it +was evident that his restraint was studied Huntington was interested and +pleased to observe that as yet, at all events, the influence of the +Bermuda experiences made itself felt. + +"Well, Monty," Cosden said as he lifted his cocktail-glass, "I'm glad to +be aboard again. I've been associating a good deal lately with a fellow +named Conover Cosden, and I must admit he bores me. Let's have this and +then a little dividend just for good luck.--By the way, I saw you at the +Symphony last night." + +"At the Symphony?" Huntington echoed surprised. "You don't mean to +say--" + +"Oh, yes, I do!" he laughed rather consciously. "Not that it means much +to me yet, but I've reached a point where I can call it an orchestra +instead of a band, anyway. Mighty fine concert, wasn't it? I know I'm +right, for I read the criticism in the paper this morning." + +"How long are you going to keep this up?" + +"To the bitter end!" Cosden declared dramatically. "If music has charms +to calm the savage beast now is its chance to demonstrate! That isn't +all, but you wouldn't believe any more. As a matter of fact I'm taking +in everything which begins with H for fear I may miss some one of those +'humanities'!" + +Huntington gazed at him in sheer amazement. + +"That's right," Cosden emphasized, only slightly embarrassed by the +expression of incredulity on his friend's face. "Instead of being merely +a 'sow's ear' I'm going the whole hog, and so far I've managed to pull +through without casualties. Now what do you and Edith Stevens think of +your handiwork!" + +"By Jove, Connie!" Huntington exclaimed feelingly, "it's wonderful, and +I congratulate you. I had no idea--" + +"Other than that I would remain without those 'finer instincts' all my +life," he finished for him. "Well, maybe I will, even at that; but at +all events I'm giving the whole thing the once over. If my health and +strength hold out perhaps when you and I make another vacation trip +together you won't be mortified by your friend as you were last time." + +"Nonsense, Connie!" Huntington protested. "We both got out a little +beyond our depth down there, and things didn't look quite normal to us." + +"Both?" Cosden demanded. "Where do you come in? That was my party, if I +remember correctly, and I got all the presents." + +Huntington for the moment had been forgetful that he alone knew how much +the Bermuda days had disturbed his own equilibrium, and he recognized +that he had been almost guilty of betraying himself. + +"Well," he said lightly, "I interjected myself into your affairs in a +shameless fashion, so whatever blame there is I insist on taking my full +share.--What you tell me is simply incredible!" + +"Don't give me too much credit for it yet. Like everything else in my +life there's a selfish motive back of it. Edith Stevens never said a +truer thing than that it is a different matter making light of something +which you have and something which you lack. Measuring things up on this +basis shows me that nearly every time I've opened my mouth I've put my +foot in it. Now I'm going to play safe and make myself very, very wise +on some subjects regarding which I've been a bit of a scoffer. Then, if +I don't want to, I won't do them, but never again because I can't do +them!" + +"You needn't be ashamed of your motive; many a man has had one less +worthy. But what is your business doing all this time?" + +"Well, well, well!" Cosden laughed. "Good old Monty! We've been together +nearly an hour, and you are the first to mention business! You wouldn't +have believed I could go as long as that without speaking of it, would +you? But let me tell you I have them all guessing down at the office. I +can see it every day. Of course, I'm keeping my eye on things as much as +ever, but I'm not making so much noise about it. You see this is +something I have, so I can afford to treat it lightly. Now I have +something to measure myself by, and it helps a lot.--But don't let us +spend all the time talking about me; what have you been doing with +yourself?" + +"Drifting, as usual," Huntington replied, regretting that the +conversation turned on him; "wishing I might take twenty years off my +life and begin over again." + +"Why, Monty! You say that so seriously I really believe you mean it! +What's happened? It isn't like you." + +"Nothing, dear boy, nothing at all," Huntington disclaimed quickly, +trying to throw off the mood which had so promptly attracted his +friend's attention. "I've seen quite a bit of Billy and his friend Phil +Thatcher since I came home, and--I envy them their youth." + +Cosden looked at him long and searchingly before he spoke. "You're in a +curious mood to-night," he said at length. "During the years I've known +you I've never before seen you other than a philosopher, taking life day +by day as you found it, and getting all there was out of it." + +"What is philosophy unless one can find the stone?" Huntington exclaimed +with feeling. "It is the philosopher's stone I want to-night, and I +can't get it. I'm feeling my age, Connie, and the sensation isn't +agreeable." + +"Your age!" Cosden determined to overpower the surprising obsession. +"The idea of talking age at forty-five! Out with it, man! Tell me what +has taken hold of you. I've left you too much by yourself lately, and it +hasn't been a good thing for you." + +"That's it, Connie," Huntington smiled weakly. "You mustn't do it again. +First you take the heart out of me by declaring that you are going to +get married, then you cheer me up by becoming normal again, and lastly +you neglect me just as if you had taken the fatal step after all." + +"That's better," Cosden said, rising from his dessert and putting his +arm around his friend's shoulders. "Come on up-stairs and we'll gossip +over our cigars like two old cats. It won't be long before we can get +out on the links again, and then you'll forget that you have any age at +all. Age! the idea! Why, Monty, you and I have only just begun to live!" + +Arm in arm they walked slowly to the library in silence, but each one +wondered at the new characteristic he had discovered in the other. +Huntington was touched by Cosden's show of affection, the first time he +had ever seen it manifested; Cosden marveled at the first break he had +ever seen in his friend's self-possession. However easy-going Huntington +might be, he always held himself well in hand; and Cosden envied him +this trait. Huntington knew Cosden to be kind-hearted, but believed him +to consider any outward demonstration as an evidence of weakness. The +mutual discovery, surprising as it was, drew them closer together, and +each realized that whatever had been the means a change had come in +their relations which placed their friendship on a higher plane. + +"There's something deeper in this than appears on the surface," Cosden +declared insistently as he held the light for Huntington and then lit +his own cigar. "You said down-stairs that we both got out beyond our +depth at Bermuda, and perhaps you meant more than I realized. Then, +when we met the Thatchers, it developed that you and Mrs. Thatcher had +known each other years ago. Now, tell me, is there any association +between these two ideas, and is this by chance the explanation of the +changed Monty I find here to-night?" + +Huntington did not reply at once. He was annoyed with himself that he +had uncovered so much of his heart, and he had been pondering how to +extricate himself from the delicate position. Under no circumstances +must Cosden or any one else know how deep an impression Merry Thatcher +had made upon him. The first duty he owed to her was to stand before the +world simply as a devoted, older friend; his duty to himself was to +prevent his associates from discovering how many kinds of fool he was to +permit any such ridiculous condition to arise as that which at present +existed. Now Cosden had unconsciously shown him the way out. + +"Yes, Connie," he replied calmly; "there is an association which may be +made of those ideas, and since you have spoken of it I will ask you to +stand by me at the finish. There is something I have intended to do ever +since I came home, but I lacked the courage; now you have given it to +me." + +Huntington rose abruptly, and crossing to the opposite side of the +library he lifted the little mahogany table which stood there, placing +it before the fire in front of the easy-chair from which he had just +risen. Then he seated himself, and taking from his pocket the key to the +small drawer he turned it in the lock. Cosden watched him with an +interest far deeper than curiosity, for he felt from his friend's +manner that the turning of the key unlocked something within him which +until that moment had been closely hidden. + +"It will be better to get it out of my system," Huntington said finally, +after bringing all the accessories together.--"You never knew of my +romance, did you?" + +"Never," Cosden acknowledged; "I supposed you were the one man who had +passed through life unscathed." + +"I couldn't have told you of it before because you wouldn't have +understood, but now you will appreciate matters better if you know the +facts.--Do you remember my surprise when you first mentioned the name of +Marian Thatcher?" + +"Why, yes; you asked if she was a widow." + +"Exactly. Mrs. Thatcher was Marian Seymour when I first met her, my +senior year at college. There is no need to go into particulars; the +fact remains that I was hard hit.--Look at these!" + +He pulled out the drawer and laid the various exhibits on the top of the +table. Cosden leaned forward and gingerly lifted the long white glove, +looking into Huntington's face with a curious expression as he did so. +Huntington met his gaze squarely, nodding his head in affirmation of the +unasked question. + +"What's this?" Cosden demanded, laying down the glove and picking up the +slipper. + +"You see," was the unabashed reply; "it went as deep as that. Laugh if +you like; I sha'n't mind. We'll clean up this whole business to-night, +and the more ridiculous you make it the shorter work it will be." + +"I would have laughed a month ago," Cosden admitted; "but, as you say, I +understand some things now that I didn't before. Every man has a +right to a romance, and he's entitled to have it respected." + +"Thanks, dear boy; but romances don't belong to five-and-forty, and this +farce has gone far enough. Now we'll watch it go up in smoke, as most +romances do. But first let us pay it befitting honor." + +Dixon appeared in response to the bell. + +"A bottle of Moet & Chandon, '98," Huntington ordered. + +During the time required by Dixon the two men puffed silently at their +cigars. Huntington feared lest some inopportune word might disturb the +success of his stratagem; Cosden, believing that he was witnessing the +final act in the tragedy of his friend's life, respected the solemnity +of the occasion. + +"Now, Connie," Huntington rose with the glass in his hand, "I ask you to +drink to the dearest girl in the world, past, present and future,--to +Marian Thatcher, God bless her!" + +"To Marian Thatcher--God bless her!" Cosden repeated after him; and +Huntington turned away to chuckle to himself that he had paid homage to +the reality while his friend believed him to be giving tribute to the +figment. He blessed the figment for bestowing her name upon the reality! + +"Now for the renunciation," Huntington said solemnly, and one by one he +laid the long-cherished trophies upon the fire, watching in silence +their reduction to the elements. His success filled him with a spirit +of bravado. The opportunity might never come again. + +"Once again, Connie old boy!" he cried. + +He held out his disengaged hand and grasped Cosden's as he lifted his +refilled glass. + +"To Marian Thatcher--God bless her!" + +Cosden still held his glass after his friend placed his on the table. + +"Would it seem a sacrilege if I asked you to join me in a toast?" he +asked, with an unnatural hesitation in his voice. + +"Why,--no," Huntington said wonderingly. "Fill up the glasses again." + +Then he held his high, waiting for his friend to speak. + +"To Edith Stevens," Cosden finally blurted out,--"God bless her!" + +"Edith Stevens!" Huntington almost choked in his surprise. "You don't +mean--" + +"I don't know what I mean," Cosden admitted, blushing furiously; "but I +miss her like blazes, and I'm either in love or else I'm suffering from +a new disease the doctors haven't named!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXIII + + * * * * * + + +The letter postmarked "New York," announcing Hamlen's arrival, did not +take Huntington by surprise, but it fulfilled his expectations sooner +than he expected. The desirability of making certain changes in +investments, the letter explained, made it necessary for Hamlen to come +to the States, and if his classmate's invitation to Boston still held +good he would be glad to avail himself of the opportunity to renew their +friendship. + +This announcement found Huntington in the introspective mood which had +alarmed Cosden, and suggested a comparison in which he placed himself +under the microscope for a mercilessly minute analysis. Hamlen was +convinced that he had made a failure of life, but what had he, +Huntington demanded of himself, accomplished which could entitle him to +claim success? He had not separated himself from his fellow-men, it was +true, he had been a decent citizen, performing such duties as came to +him with faithfulness and ability,--yet what had he really contributed +to the community or to the life in which he lived which made it better +because he had been a part of it? He had created nothing, nor even made +an effort to create. No painting bore his signature; no volume added +his contribution to the world's knowledge on any subject; no +philanthropic or business enterprise owed its inception to his +initiative; no child of his was growing up to bear its share in the +struggle of to-morrow or to bless his memory for parental sacrifice and +guidance. Hamlen at least had given himself to the world in the +wonderful volumes which would live after him, even though their +creator's identity never was disclosed. Hamlen at least had made the +flowers and the shrubs of his island estate bear witness to the power +within him which refused to be restrained; but Huntington's labors, if +he could dignify them by so serious a name, had been perfunctory at +best. He was rich in the world's goods and in human friendships, he was +respected by all who knew him. For what? he demanded: because his +grandfather and his father before him had created, and had played their +part so well in the developing life of the city of their birth that a +luster had been given to the family name. His virtues were wholly +negative; his was a reflected glory and undeserved. The position in the +community which Huntington knew himself to occupy, and the fact that +Hamlen, because of his exile, would be considered to have forfeited his +position, struck him as a commentary on the value of popular esteem and +the lack of proportion in accrediting to each individual what was his +proper due. + +Hamlen had nothing to his credit in the columns where Huntington scored +heaviest: he was a poor citizen in his relations to those around him; he +took no part in making others happier for his companionship or stronger +by his example; his life had always been pointed inward, and yet, even +with the limitations needlessly imposed upon it, there had been +something within him, which Huntington had never felt within himself, +great enough and strong enough to rise superior to these limitations, to +burst the bonds by which Hamlen had sought to hold it back, and to force +the expression of its own individuality! There, at least, was something +positive; and yet the world would have called Huntington a success and +Hamlen a failure! "We have torn off the bandages too fast," Huntington +had complacently told Hamlen on that eventful first visit. Was it not +presumption on his part when until now his own vision had been equally +restricted? Huntington's first impulse was to make a frank admission, +when Hamlen arrived, of the wide divergence between what people credited +to him and what his real position ought to be; then he realized that his +friend needed some one to look up to. He must, for a time at least, +accept the position, however ironical it seemed; but he felt himself an +impostor and a fraud. + +Since his return home Huntington had been more than ever grateful for +the diverting influence of Billy's irresponsibility, and he encouraged +him to come frequently to the house and to bring his friends with him. +He would not have believed that a two months' absence could produce so +momentous a change of his entire viewpoint. The calm tranquillity in his +mental equipoise was seriously disturbed, and he welcomed anything which +took his mind off himself and his personal affairs. + +He had urged Billy to bring young Thatcher in to dine with him, for in +view of what Marian had said he hoped that Hamlen and the boy would make +good with each other when once they met. Thus far Billy had always +selected an evening when Huntington was engaged, but with the certainty +that Hamlen would soon arrive a special effort produced a mutually +convenient date, and the two boys appeared eager for their dinner and +obviously ready to be entertained. + +Philip Thatcher carried himself better than his friend, and seemed +older. His work on the crew had developed his frame and given him a +poise which does not come to those college students who watch athletic +sports from the side-lines. He had represented his university in +competition, and this responsibility showed itself to his advantage. +Those same "animal spirits" which gave Billy his boyish manner found a +natural outlet, in Philip's case, during the hours of physical athletic +training. His face was more his father's than like Mrs. Thatcher's; yet +at times Huntington discovered expressions or mannerisms resembling his +sister, which was enough to add to the interest he had already taken in +the boy. + +"Hello, Uncle Monty!" Billy announced their arrival. "We've come in to +eat ourselves out of shape." + +When this operation had been performed, and the coffee period took them +back to the library, Huntington settled down to the real purpose of the +evening. + +"Philip," he said, "there is a man coming to visit me next week whom I +want you to know and who wants to know you. He is an unusual character. +I wish you would show him something of what Harvard life is to-day, and +when you get acquainted tell me what you think of him." + +"I should be glad to meet any friend of yours, Mr. Huntington," the boy +answered. + +"He has a greater claim on you than simply as my friend," Huntington +continued. "He was also a friend of your mother's, years ago, and while +we were in Bermuda he showed us all a great deal of attention. He lives +there." + +"You mean that Hamlen chap?" Billy asked. "Is he really coming here? +He's a dead one!" + +"Don't let Billy's remarks prejudice you, Philip," Huntington urged. +"Hamlen is a classmate of mine who has passed through some unfortunate +experiences. He has lived by himself ever since he graduated, seeing +hardly any one, and he will find much that is unusual when he returns to +Boston and Cambridge after his long exile. He is a real man, Philip, and +I want you to help me bring him back into the present again. Will you do +it?" + +"I'll try,--gladly," was the hearty answer. "It sounds like a pretty big +contract, but if I can really help I shall be glad to do it." + +"I know you will," Huntington said; "I was sure of it." + +"Why don't you ask me?" Billy demanded. "Why go out of the family?" + +"You may come into it later, but I want his first impressions to be +favorable." + +"Stung!" Billy cried, laughing. "But I don't care. I don't care what +happens now, for Phil has asked me to spend the Easter recess with him +in New York, and I shall see Merry again." + +"So it is still 'Merry,' is it?" Huntington asked, looking at him with +an expression which any one other than a boy would have noticed. "By +this time I thought there might have been a dozen others." + +"Merry is still the one best bet," Billy insisted. "Phil here doesn't +know what a cinch it is to have a sister like that." + +"I believe it's because of Merry that you like me," Phil declared, half +seriously. + +"Well," Billy said guardedly, "it may have been the fact that you were +her brother that first attracted me--" + +"Why, you never saw her until we'd known each other several months--" + +"We were acquainted before that," was the admission; "but I really came +to know you after you introduced me to her. That, Phil, was the best +thing you ever did. It was after I met Merry that I discovered that you +were the finest old scout in the world." + +"You make me tired!" Philip answered disgustedly. "I never saw any one +so crazy over a girl. There are lots of other things in the world, +Billy, besides girls. I'd hate to think of getting engaged up and having +to train around with just one girl all my life." + +"That's because you can't marry Merry,--she's your sister." + +"I don't make any exceptions,--Merry's just a girl, like the rest of +them." + +"You don't appreciate her, that's all." + +"Oh, Merry is all right, of course. She and I have always been good +pals, and we've played together like two boys. She'd make any one a good +wife if he didn't mind being bossed." + +Huntington listened to the tilt between the boys with amusement, and yet +with a real feeling of envy. What riches these youths possessed with +life all before them, its mysteries still unexplained, its illusions +still unshattered! + +"I thought your sister the finest girl I ever met," he said to Philip, +curious to see what response the boy would make. + +"Oh, she wouldn't show that side to you," Philip replied; "it's only +with people her own age." + +Huntington winced. There it was again, and again he had brought it upon +himself! To these boys he seemed an antique fossil of humanity, entitled +to respect and veneration! He must appear the same to her. "People of +her own age,"--of course, that was the natural thing as it would appear +to any one. Again he cursed himself inwardly for being fool enough +deliberately to open up the wound. + +Billy was delighted to hear his uncle's comment on the girl, and beamed +contentedly. + +"You see, Phil," he said, "even Uncle Monty noticed what a corker she +is, and usually he never looks at a girl twice. Uncle Monty is a cynic +on marriage, a woman-hater and all that sort of thing. Yet even he +noticed Merry." + +"Don't say that, Billy!" Huntington protested with unusual vehemence. + +"But you are," the boy insisted. "The last time I dined here with you +and Mr. Cosden, before you went to Bermuda, I heard you tell him that +many a married man who seemed contented was only resigned." + +"That doesn't mean that I'm a 'woman-hater'; I won't stand for it! Be +careful what you say!" + +Billy looked at him in amazement. It was a rare thing to see his uncle +ruffled. + +"I beg your pardon, Uncle Monty," he apologized. "I didn't intend to +bump any one's feelings. Truly I wasn't joshing at all,--I thought you +meant it! But I'm glad you didn't, for now you'll be more sympathetic +with me, and you can help me a lot." + +"All right, boy," Huntington said soberly. "I know you didn't mean +anything by what you said, but marriage is a mighty sacred thing and you +ought not to speak lightly of it." + +"How's Mr. Cosden?" Billy asked, eager to get the conversation onto +safer grounds. + +"Well and happy; he dined with me last week." + +"Say, but he can ride a bicycle!--What did he have against me down at +Bermuda?" + +"He said you covered too much territory." + +"I don't see where I got in his way, but he was forever butting in on +Merry and me. And the way he hustled me off in that little speed-boat! I +never had any one take such an interest in my getting back to college on +time! That must have cost him quite a bit of kale. I can't understand +it." + +"It was because he is so good a friend of mine," Huntington explained. +"He saw a youngster down there who flopped around like a big St. Bernard +pup"--Huntington was gratified that his memory still retained Merry's +simile,--"and he served the best interests of his friend by keeping you +from making a mistake on your latest flop. Doesn't that clear things +up?" + +"As clear as mud," Billy grunted. "I guess I need one of those +glass-bottomed boats they use down there to see the spinach and the +gold-fish. I could see the gold-fish all right, but the spinach was on +me.--That reminds me, Uncle Monty, will you lend me a hundred dollars?" + +"For what, this time?" + +"I want to lend it to Phil,--he's broke because his father has cut down +his allowance." + +"Billy!" Philip cried aghast; "I told you that in confidence. I wouldn't +think of borrowing money from Mr. Huntington." + +"How in the world do you expect to get a hundred dollars out of me +unless I land Uncle Monty for it?--and he asked, 'for what?' You heard +him." + +"It's all right, Phil," Huntington said reassuringly. "Billy doesn't +have any secrets from me because he can't keep them. I would much rather +lend the money to you than to him." + +"That isn't fair," Billy protested. "Phil is sure to pay it back, and I +need it." + +"I don't know what has happened," Philip explained without paying any +attention to what his friend was trying to say, "but all of a sudden Dad +wrote that I must cut my expenses in two. That's a hard thing to do in a +minute, and I don't see why I should do it anyway, for Dad has all kinds +of money." + +"These are hard times in Wall Street, my boy," Huntington answered him, +"and many a rich man's son has to cut his corners. If your father has +written you that I advise you to follow his instructions. He isn't a man +to say it unless he means it.--I'll gladly help you out while you're +getting adjusted." + +"Thank you, Mr. Huntington, but perhaps I won't need it. Even cut in two +my allowance is bigger than most of the boys'." + +"Fathers are so inconsiderate," Billy yawned; "very few of them +understand their sons." + +"A paraphrase of the old saw, Billy," Huntington commented. "To-day we +would say that it is a wise stock which knows its own par." + +"Or a wise corn which knows its own popper," laughed Billy. + +"Or a wise beast which knows its own fodder," Philip added,--"now we're +all even!" + +"Speaking of fodder," Billy said, showing renewed signs of life, "let's +go down to the Copley-Plaza and get something to eat." + +"After the dinner you ate?" Huntington demanded. + +"That was over two hours ago, and I'm as hollow as a tin can. Come on, +Phil." + +"You can't be serious, Billy," insisted Huntington. + +"I sure am. Whenever I get a real square feed I have a pain, and +to-night I've felt perfectly comfortable." + +"All right, go on if you feel that way," his uncle replied. "Take him +away, Phil, and let him stuff himself until he has a pain! I'll let you +know when Hamlen arrives, and then I'll count on you to help me out. + +"Better include me," Billy insisted. + +"The next time I ask you to dine with me, young man, I'll thank you to +get filled up at the hotel first!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXIV + + * * * * * + + +The Stevenses, brother and sister, lived together in the old family +mansion in Washington Square. The income from the property left behind +by the elder members of the family would have been ample if Richard had +contributed even a modest amount as a result of his daily exertion; but +as exertion had never proved one of Ricky's strong points, except in +opposition to his sister's efforts to bully him into business, Edith was +forced to practise many economies to make the divided sum serve her +requirements. + +"If you ever showed half the ability after you got into business that +you do in keeping out of it, you'd make a howling success," she told +him; yet in spite of her perennial resentment she made many personal +sacrifices to enable her brother to lead his aimless existence. They +were a curious combination of selfishness and generosity, each going to +extremes in both. Each criticised the other in unstinted terms, yet +underneath it all lay an affection which would have carried either +through fire and brimstone had the other required it. + +Richard Stevens still kept up his social activities, but Edith moved in +a smaller and quieter circle made up of old-time friends. She knew she +could not compete, in these days of extravagant entertainment, and +unless she could repay her social obligations in kind she preferred not +to accept. She could not have everything she wished, so she selected +what she believed contributed most to her happiness and peace of mind. +All this had been carefully considered, and having been thus settled she +philosophically accepted conditions as they were. She exacted much from +her brother by way of attention, and he responded willingly, still +finding ample leisure outside her demands to live his own life in a +manner which satisfied himself. + +It was the morning after one of Richard's off nights, when Edith sat +leisurely finishing her late breakfast and reading the head-lines in the +morning paper, that her brother put in his belated appearance. + +"Morning, Ricky," she greeted him cheerfully. "Up for all day?" + +"I think so," was the doubtful answer. "I'm awfully tired. I'd have been +down sooner except that I couldn't decide whether to stay in bed until +lunchtime and give up my breakfast, or get up and have my breakfast and +give up my rest. Even now I believe I made a mistake, for I'm awfully +tired and I don't feel hungry." + +"You might go back to bed again," Edith suggested helpfully. + +"No; I'm dressed now, and that would be too much trouble.--I think I'll +make my breakfast off a jolly little bottle of Celestin." + +Edith laughed. "Too much wine last night, Ricky?" + +Stevens made a wry face. "I'll have to give up dancing or drinking, one +or the other," he said emphatically; "it isn't scientific. Wine should +be allowed to stand in the stomach just as it ought to stand in the +bottle. This idea of churning it up by dancing is all wrong. I'd rather +dance while I'm dancing and drink while I'm drinking; but every one else +wants to do both things at the same time. It's all wrong.--That Celestin +has a beastly bad taste this morning." He examined the bottle +critically. "I was afraid the maid had brought me Hunyadi by mistake." + +"I was in at Marian's yesterday," Edith remarked. "Mr. Hamlen has +arrived, and she expects Philip and Billy Huntington at the house over +Easter." + +"Has Hamlen been there yet? He's a melancholy sort,--about as cheerful +as a hearse. Feeling as I do this morning I think I'd rather like to see +him; but I hope to feel better soon." + +"No; he hasn't been there yet. Marian tried to get him out for dinner, +but some other friends were to dine with her so he wouldn't come." + +"He's a queer one,--but that reminds me: that Cosden man is in town." + +"He is?" Edith exclaimed, arresting her coffee-cup on its way to her +lips and poising it in mid-air. "Why didn't you tell me before?" + +"I couldn't until now; it was only yesterday I saw him. He was much more +civil than in Bermuda. Wanted to know about you and all that sort of +thing. He's going to telephone you before he goes back." + +"Very kind of him, I'm sure," Edith sniffed. "Perhaps I'll be in and +perhaps I won't." + +"Well that's your affair; you needn't see him on my account. But if you +were to ask me, I'd say he's not such a bad sort." + +"I didn't ask you, Ricky," Edith said significantly, and Stevens, with +precedent to guide him, refrained from further discussion of the topic. + +Yet in spite of the snap in her eyes when she commented on Cosden's +inquiry it so happened that she was in when he telephoned, and she was +also at home, arrayed in her most fetching afternoon gown, when he +called an hour later. Not that he would notice whether she wore gingham +or alpaca, she told herself, but she owed it to her self-respect to +appear her best. + +She had expected to see Cosden in his business suit with bulky contracts +and other papers bulging from his pockets, rushing in and out again like +a hurricane; but instead she beheld him entirely at his ease in cutaway +and silk hat, with immaculate grey spats over his patent-leather boots. +He carried himself with an air quite different from that she had become +familiar with in Bermuda, and the reception she had planned for +him--brief, matter-of-fact and bristling with satire--required a certain +modification. + +"I wasn't looking for a social call," Edith said guardedly after a +non-committal greeting. "I thought perhaps you had some business matter +to discuss." + +"Still unforgiving!" Cosden smiled. "What can I do to make you +forgetful?" + +"Of what?" Edith asked with well-feigned surprise. + +"Then suppose we assume that you have forgotten." + +"Aren't you over here on business?" + +"Yes; and pleasure, too. This is the pleasure." + +Her mystification was genuine. Was this the self-assertive, vivified +piece of machinery she had known three months before? Cosden could but +see her surprise and it pleased him. + +"I told you I should find out what was the matter with me. Have I +partially succeeded?" + +"Yes," she acknowledged frankly; "what did it?" + +"Huntington and--you." + +"But you couldn't change like this in so short a time; no one could." + +"Most of it is probably on the surface," he admitted cheerfully. +"Underneath is the same Cosden branded with the ear-marks of his +business. But I'm on my way, and if there's enough of a change to have +you notice it, then there's hope!" + +"Have you seen the Thatchers?" Edith asked, not knowing just how to +answer him. + +"I saw Mr. Thatcher yesterday. He asked me to dine with them to-night, +but I thought I'd wait until next time I'm over. He says Mrs. Thatcher +is planning to have our whole Bermuda party down at the shore in July. +You will be there, of course?" + +"If it's in July, I shall be. Marian has invited me to spend the month +with her." + +"Good! that was one of the things I called to find out." + +"What are the others?" + +"Whether you are forgiving and--forgetful." + +Edith laughed at the serious way he asked the question. + +"Are you laughing at me or with me?" he demanded half in earnest. + +"Why, I don't know what to make of you." + +"Make whatever you like,--it's in your hands!" + +"But I feel we ought to become acquainted all over again. + +"So do I; that is another one of the things I wanted to find out.--Will +you dine with me to-night, and then go to the theater afterwards?" + +"Why--" she hesitated. + +"It's the best possible way to get acquainted over again," he insisted. + +"I'm not sure that I want to," Edith retorted; "but I will admit that +you've excited my curiosity." + +"That's something," Cosden replied good-naturedly. "Why isn't an evening +together the easiest way to satisfy it?" + +"All right," Edith said with sudden decision. "I really must know more +about this." + +"The veneer may wear off before the evening is over." + +"That's what I'm thinking," she answered frankly. "I'm wondering how +deep it really goes." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXV + + * * * * * + + +Easter came to New York, as it did to other places, and with it came +Billy Huntington and Philip to the Thatchers. "Always have something to +radiate from," some one once advised, "if only a fly-speck." To Billy, +Boston was the fly-speck, entirely satisfactory as a point of radiation +but far too respectable, much too decorous, and altogether too near home +to be associated with his idea of a good time. Billy's life had been +running so long on high gear that the lower speeds had almost been +forgotten. This was typical of the times rather than a suggestion that +the boy himself exceeded the speed limit. It was the limit which +insisted upon exceeding itself, and he simply extended his pace to keep +up with everything around him,--the limit of yesterday kept becoming the +commonplace of to-day. + +In New York Billy always found the limit just enough ahead of what it +was in Boston to give him the additional thrill which added zest to his +life. The very atmosphere seemed charged with a different ozone, filled +with microbes impelling incessant activity. Everything not already in +motion seemed straining at its leash, impatient to dash forward at the +earliest opportunity. No one ever seemed satisfied to where he was, but +hurried onward to somewhere else or something different. It was the city +of unrest but never of discontent, for the changing, kaleidoscopic +conditions came as a result of a demand from those who had the price to +pay. It fascinated Billy, as it fascinates its tens of thousands, and as +he leaned back in the Thatchers' limousine, held up by the lines of +traffic on Fifth Avenue, then dashing forward to make up for lost time +between the intersecting streets, he turned his beaming face toward his +friend and murmured contentedly, "This is the life!" + +"The ride home gets worse every time I take it," was Philip's comment. +"If things keep on they will have to make the Avenue a double-decker +street." + +"By that time New-Yorkers will ride home in their aeroplanes," Billy +replied. "You can't hold them down by a little thing like congestion." + +Billy loved it, and for him the car turned off the Avenue all too soon, +in its final dash for the East Side. He wanted more time between his +arrival at the Grand Central Station and his appearance at the Thatcher +mansion to shake off what he felt to be his Boston provincialism, and to +feel outwardly as well as inwardly the real New-Yorker which he craved +to be. + +"What are we doing to-night?" Billy asked as they drew near their +destination. + +"I wrote Dad to get tickets for some show. You said you wanted to see +everything in town." + +"Great! Merry will go, won't she?" + +"I don't know. I can manage Mother and Dad all right, but when it comes +to Merry, that's different." + +"But she knows I'm coming--" Billy showed signs of feeling aggrieved. + +"Oh, she'll probably go all right. Why fuss until we find out? But I +don't think she's as crazy about you as you are about her." + +"Girls always conceal their real feelings," Billy explained sagely. + +"Perhaps," Philip conceded very little; "but Merry isn't like most +girls. Sometimes she seems about my own age and sometimes old enough to +be my mother. But have it your own way; I should worry." + +The welcome was hearty enough to satisfy even Billy, so the pessimism of +his friend was at once forgotten. Mrs. Thatcher opened her arms wide to +both boys, while Merry, though less demonstrative, was equally cordial +in her reception. + +"I'm awfully glad to see you," Billy said with a sincerity which could +not be doubted, and grinning all over. "It seems ages since Mr. Cosden +and Uncle Monty pushed me off the pier down at Bermuda." + +Merry laughed. "That was a splendid idea of yours, Billy, to miss the +steamer, but I was afraid you couldn't work it." + +"S-ssh," Billy placed a finger on his lips. "Don't ever breathe that +where Uncle Monty could hear you! I've made him believe it was a real +accident." + +"We're dining at seven, boys," Mrs. Thatcher interrupted; "that will +give us comfortable time to reach the theater." + +"Are we all going?" Phil asked. + +"All but your father; he's feeling too tired to-night." + +"Dad's well, isn't he?" Philip demanded quickly. + +"Yes,--but tired," his mother answered. "He's all right. Now run along +and dress or you'll be late for dinner." + +On his way up-stairs Philip stopped in his father's room. "Hello, Dad!" +he cried, pushing the door open unceremoniously. "Why, Dad,--you're not +well! Mother said you were only tired." + +Thatcher was sitting in front of the great, old-fashioned desk which +Philip had associated with business and mystery since his childhood +days, and when the door was unexpectedly thrown open it disclosed him +resting his head upon his hands. The papers which Philip usually saw +spread out on the desk were lacking, so the position his father had +taken was the result of habit rather than present necessity. It was the +expression on the elder man's face which forced the exclamation. + +Thatcher rose quickly and stepped forward to greet his son. "Nonsense, +boy! I'm all right," he exclaimed with an effort to speak lightly which +did not escape Philip; "I'm just tired, as your mother said.--I didn't +hear you come in or I would have been down-stairs to meet you." + +"You're not all right," Philip protested stoutly, still holding his +father's hand and looking squarely into his face. "You don't need to do +this with me, Dad; I'm a man now, and we ought to talk together like +men.--Has this anything to do with what you wrote me about my +allowance?" + +"We'll discuss it in the morning, Phil," Thatcher evaded. "Get dressed +now, and later we'll talk things over like two men, as you say. It will +help me to do that. Don't worry, boy; everything will come out all +right." + +"That's a promise, Dad?" + +"Yes; we'll put our heads together in the morning." + +Thatcher was as gay as the young people when they sat down to dinner, +and entered into the enjoyment of the home-coming so heartily that +Marian was relieved. + +"All you needed, Harry, was to have Phil come home," she said. "Couldn't +you telephone for another ticket and go with us?" + +"Not to-night; I have work to do. To-morrow Phil is going to lend a +hand, and then perhaps we'll have some play together.--Tell us of your +uncle, Billy." + +"Oh, Uncle Monty is all right,--except that he's become so terribly +sober and serious. What did you people do to him down at Bermuda? He +hasn't been the same since." + +"He was serious down there," Merry asserted. + +"Oh, he never was a cut-up, of course," Billy explained; "but he was +always saying things to make you laugh, and I could jolly him just as if +he was one of the fellows." + +"Can't you do it now?" Mrs. Thatcher inquired. + +"No; if I do he gets sore. Why, only the other night Phil and I went in +there to dinner. I made some remark about his being a woman-hater, and +he got huffed up in a minute. Didn't he, Phil?" + +"Monty Huntington a woman-hater?" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "No wonder he +was 'huffed'!" + +"But he never married, did he? Isn't that a sure sign that he's a +woman-hater?" + +"Oh, dear no!" Mrs. Thatcher insisted. "That may be taken quite as much +as an evidence of his profoundest respect and veneration for woman. In +fact, if fifty per cent. of the men who do marry would refrain from it +no greater tribute could be paid us!" + +The boy looked at her inquiringly. "Do all older people run marriage +down like that?" he inquired. "Every time the subject comes up some one +gives it a knock. With Uncle Monty, of course, it's sour grapes, because +now he's so old no one would think of marrying him, but--" + +"He's not so old," Merry interrupted unexpectedly and with such force +that Billy was taken by surprise. + +"Oh, ho!" Billy cried. "So that's the way the land lies! Now you've said +a mouthful. This is a case of mutual admiration! Uncle Monty told us the +other night that you were the finest girl he ever saw." + +"He did!" Merry cried, the blood rushing into her cheeks and her face +aglow with pleasure. "I wish I thought he really meant it!" + +"He meant it all right," Philip corroborated. "Mr. Huntington doesn't +make mouth-bets. He was calling me down for saying that you were just +like other girls." + +"Were you so ungallant as that?" Thatcher asked. "Whatever else +happens, Phil, we must stand up for the family." + +"Of course," he admitted; "but Billy was talking about Merry in +superlatives as usual, and I was trying to quiet him down." + +"Phil is doing his best to put me in wrong again," Billy protested. "Now +I'll tell you just what happened and you can judge for yourselves: I was +telling Uncle Monty how happy I was to be invited here for Easter, and +how glad I should be to see you all--" + +"You never said a word about any one but Merry," Philip interrupted. + +Billy looked vindictively at his friend and then smiled sheepishly. + +"I meant all of you, of course. Then Phil tried to jolly me about caring +for girls and for Merry in particular--" + +"Don't be foolish, Billy!" Merry exclaimed. + +"My! but it's hard to tell a story here, but I'm going to do it if I +burst a blood-vessel! Uncle Monty agreed with me, and then said that +Merry was the finest girl he ever saw. That from him is some praise, +because he never cuts in on girls at all; but you've made a hit with +him, Merry, and you might as well know it." + +"I'm glad he hasn't forgotten me," she said quietly, but the color +remained in her face after the conversation turned upon other topics. + +"What I said a moment ago isn't 'knocking,' as you call it, Billy," Mrs. +Thatcher resumed; "it is experience. We older folk know from what we've +seen, and from what we've been through, the dangers young people run +during the inflammable age; so we sound the warning. You are at that age +now, Billy, so your friends are trying to protect you. Philip apparently +hasn't arrived there yet, but he will; and then we'll try to protect him +from the idea that the 'only girl' is the one he happens to fancy while +the period lasts." + +"You're making me look like a flivver!" the boy said with mortification +in his voice; "and before Merry, too!" + +"No, my dear; you mustn't take it that way. I'm talking no more freely +than you have been. We consider you one of the family, so I'm speaking +to you just as I would to Philip." + +Billy's face was fiery red, but he never flinched in his dogged +determination. + +"I don't care who knows how much I think of Merry," he said defiantly. +"You've spoiled my visit! I'm not a bit ashamed--" + +"Forgive me, Billy," she soothed him gently,--"of course you're not +ashamed. I wouldn't speak to you like this if you weren't one of my own +boys; but I do want you to realize that it is seldom that early fancies +are more than impersonal idealizations. I'm glad you and Merry like each +other, and I hope you will always be the best of friends; but, in +applying our idealization to the one who at the moment comes nearest to +the realization, a mistake is usually made because the one we are really +looking for hasn't yet crossed our horizon." + +"Sometimes, perhaps," Billy conceded; "but there are exceptions." + +Mrs. Thatcher smiled at his persistency. She liked the boy, and had +seized on this opportunity to spare him the greater disappointment which +she felt sure would come. + +"Yes," she answered kindly; "there are exceptions. I know of one in my +own experience, but in this case it only made it more unfortunate. I +knew a boy once who applied the idealization formed during the +inflammable period to a girl who at that time thought she cared for him. +Then her horizon broadened and she found and married the man she really +loved; but the boy held on to his early ideal, becoming a recluse, +embittered against the world and incapable of seeing that unless the +ideal becomes a reality to both it can never safely amount to anything." + +Thatcher looked at his wife questioningly, and Merry's eyes also +fastened themselves upon her mother's face. Marian's voice as much as +her words disclosed more than she intended. As she paused Philip, +supposing the conversation to be concluded, mentioned the name which was +in each one's mind except the boys'. + +"By the way, Mother," he remarked, "Mr. Huntington wants me to meet a +friend of his named Hamlen, who, he says, used to be a friend of yours." + +"Yes," she said, looking up at him quickly,--"yes; I, too, wish you to +meet Mr. Hamlen. He is in New York now. Perhaps you will see him before +you return. I want you to know him well." + +As Thatcher assisted them in getting off to the theater, he managed to +draw Marian one side. + +"Hamlen's name is Philip, isn't it?" he asked. + +She nodded, wondering at the question. + +"Was that why you gave our boy the same name--and was it Hamlen you +referred to just now?" + +"Yes, Harry." + +He drew her gently to him and kissed her. "Poor chap!" he said. "If I +had known that I would have made a greater effort to be friendly with +him." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXVI + + * * * * * + + +During these depressed months Thatcher was not the only man of affairs +who saw the successes of his career threatened with disaster as a result +of the unnecessary burdens imposed by inexperienced and impractical +officials at Washington. Business groaned aloud as destructive control +and regulation delayed and paralyzed commerce. Labor, hand in hand with +its new ally Theory, stalked abroad through the land, demanding shorter +hours and increased wages, receiving recognition as a privileged class +from those in authority, exempt from respecting others' rights, which is +necessary to create and preserve responsibility: substance when it +struck at Capital, shadow when Capital in self-defense struck back. The +corporations which formed the pulse of the country's life were so +harassed that they paused in their constructive energies, wondering what +new menace would rise up before them, and yet were expected to give +better service while bound hand and foot by unwise legislative +restrictions, and burdened by unnecessary legislative demands for +increased expenditure. Samson, shorn of his strength by the shears of a +legalized Delilah, was expected to hold up with his enervated arms the +pillars of the temple which "psychological" complacency was pulling +down. + +The first serious rumors reached Thatcher in Bermuda, and when he +returned to his office his far-sighted perception told him that the +business world was face to face with a real crisis. Many of his +enterprises were in a condition where to pause in aggressive action +meant going backwards, entailing loss upon all concerned; yet to proceed +in the face of conditions as they were was to invite disaster and even +to imperil the stability of his firm. + +Cosden had felt the result of the depression in decreased business, but +he did not realize as soon as Thatcher the far-reaching results +inevitable from the new governmental policy. His horizon was local +compared to that of the New York operator, and he regarded the +conditions as a phase of business life, bound to appear once in so +often, rather than a blow at the basis upon which the commercial world +rested. He cut down his expenses in proportion to his reduced volume of +business, strengthened his relations at his banks, and considered his +sails trimmed to weather any storm. + +Thatcher had invited him to call, and Cosden had no idea other than to +make the most of the intimacy which had developed in Bermuda. More than +that, the machinery matter they had touched upon had progressed even +better than he expected. If Thatcher was still curious to learn more +about the details the time had now come when he could safely be told. +But to Cosden's surprise the subject was not once directly referred to +during their interview. Thatcher was cordial and affable, seemingly +interested in the general conversation and frank in his discussion of +various topics which presented themselves, but, as it appeared to +Cosden, strangely reticent upon certain specific subjects on which he +would have been glad to draw him out. It was only when Cosden paused for +a moment at the door of the private office that Thatcher made any remark +which gave his visitor an insight as to what was in his mind. + +"The full meaning of these present conditions evidently has not struck +Boston yet," he said. "Let me tell you that these are times when the +wise man learns how to wait. Instead of blaming your customers who +hesitate to give you the usual orders you should scrupulously +investigate the credit of those who do." + +"I can wait," Cosden said confidently. "I've always held myself back +from spreading out too thin, and if there's a storm coming on top of +this sloppy weather I'm fixed where I can meet it better perhaps than +some others." + +"You are to be congratulated," Thatcher told him with so much feeling +that Cosden took it as a personal compliment and departed well satisfied +with his interview. + +When he next met Huntington in Boston they discussed this among other +topics, and Cosden was surprised to have his friend ask him point-blank +whether he had heard rumors regarding Thatcher's firm. + +"You're dreaming, Monty," he replied with conviction. "Thatcher is a man +who makes money whichever way the market turns. That's what I admire so +much in him. I only win out when things go one way, but he wins coming +and going. What in the world put that idea in your head?" + +The chance remark which Billy had made regarding the reduction in +Philip's allowance was too much in the nature of a confidence to be +repeated, but it had left Huntington with a definite impression that +Thatcher must be feeling the conditions acutely or he would not have +begun to curtail expenses at home. To a man who lived as Thatcher did, +Huntington knew that this would be the hardest duty he would find to +perform. Cosden's question was answered lightly. + +"Wall Street is being hit hard," he said. "I am hoping that so good a +fellow as Thatcher won't be caught in the reaction." + +"Don't worry about that," Cosden laughed. "You'll find when the sky +clears that he has looked far enough ahead to make even the storm pay +him tribute." + +"Hamlen arrives to-morrow," Huntington remarked, changing the subject +lest his question raise some doubts in Cosden's mind which might linger. +"I shall give myself up to him a good deal while he is here, so you +mustn't be surprised if you don't see as much of me as usual. He needs +me more than you do." + +"That may be," Cosden admitted, "but how about you? I have an idea that, +with the peculiar state of mind you've been in lately, you will forget +your overpowering sense of age better with me than you will with him." + +"Perhaps," Huntington admitted, smiling; "but I must think of him +first." + +"You don't mind my butting in on you both once in a while?" + +"On the contrary; but I know how little you have in common with Hamlen. +I'm afraid he may bore you." + +"You forget my reincarnation," Cosden said dryly. "Who knows but that I +was a professor of classical antiquities in my previous existence? If he +bores me I'll cut out; but I've an idea that he can teach me a thing or +two, and just now I'm keen on becoming educated." + +There was a marked restraint in Hamlen's manner when Huntington met him +at the station and motored him to the Beacon Street house. His +embarrassment and the all too obvious efforts he made to impress upon +his friend the occasion of his leaving Bermuda would have convinced +Huntington, if he had not already known, that the real reason was that +which he had already anticipated in his prediction to Mrs. Thatcher. Yet +no one but Hamlen knew the agony of loneliness he had experienced when, +after watching the steamer disappear, he returned to his empty villa. No +one but Hamlen knew of the struggle he had passed through in his efforts +to readjust his life, or of the terror which came to him with the final +realization that he could no longer find solace in the work which he had +previously forced to absorb his waking hours. + +It was this terror Huntington saw in his classmate's eyes which told him +all that any one would ever know of the real tragedy. Hamlen looked +years older,--his face was more sallow, his hair more grey. Huntington +looked at him in pity, and felt apprehensive lest the task he had +allotted to himself had been too long postponed. Then the thought came +back to him, "He considers himself a failure and me a success!" + +The welcome was such as to reassure Hamlen as much as anything could. +Huntington made him feel as much at home as was possible for one whose +mental poise was so sadly disordered. No special effort was made at +conversation; everything was treated as a matter of course. Little by +little Hamlen found himself, and as he spoke more freely Huntington +entered into his spirit, but followed rather than led. + +"It is a relief to get into this quieter atmosphere after New York," +Hamlen remarked after they had sat in silence for some moments at the +table after dinner. "I felt as if I had been suddenly put down in a +whirling maelstrom, and there wasn't a minute when I did not expect to +be annihilated the next!" + +Huntington laughed quietly. "A New-Yorker would consider that the most +subtle compliment you could pay his city. It is not enough to have the +stranger merely impressed; he must be appalled!" + +Hamlen raised his hands in a silent gesture. + +"Have you arranged your business matters to your satisfaction?" +Huntington asked, rather by way of conversation than from curiosity. + +"Yes," Hamlen answered, but with a mental reservation which his friend +noticed,--"yes; and yet even that wasn't as I expected." + +He paused a moment, gazing into the fire which Huntington had ordered +lighted to take off the chill which the late Spring still left in the +air. + +"I am puzzled about it," Hamlen continued. "You see, most of my +investments have been in England, and it seemed to me that it would be +wise to take advantage of an opportunity I had to realize on them, and +to reinvest here in the States while everything is so much below its +real value. Knowing Mr. Thatcher as I did I naturally went straight to +him about it. He was most kind in advising me to hold off a while +longer, as securities are likely to fall still further; but when I asked +him to accept my money on deposit he declined, and offered instead to +give me a letter of introduction to a bank." + +"Why, Thatcher's house does a large banking business." + +"That is what puzzles me; why should he decline my account?" + +"I don't believe he meant just that," Huntington explained; "he probably +wanted you to understand that he was not looking for business from his +friends." + +"No, he flatly refused to accept it; for I tried to insist upon it. I +know few people here now, and I didn't feel like entrusting so +considerable a sum to any institution, however well recommended, without +personal acquaintance with some of its officers." + +"I don't understand it." + +"Nor I. Of course, I had no alternative, so I deposited it in the bank +Thatcher suggested." + +"Did you see much of the family while you were in New York?" Huntington +queried. + +Hamlen looked up quickly, with a return of the apprehensive expression +his face had worn earlier. + +"I saw them several times," he said. Then, after a moment's hesitation, +he added: "Later, you must let me impose still further upon your +friendship. I have no one else to counsel me." + +Hamlen's voice was apologetic. + +"I sha'n't consider that you accept my friendship at its par value +unless you call upon me in any way I can be of service to you." + +"Then perhaps you won't mind if I speak now," Hamlen responded eagerly. +"It really has been preying upon me until I am unfitted for anything +else. It would be a relief to share it." + +After saying this Hamlen found it more difficult to continue. "You +probably don't know," he said at length, "that Mrs. Thatcher and I knew +each other intimately years ago." + +"Yes," Huntington acknowledged frankly; "Mrs. Thatcher told me, while we +were in Bermuda." + +Hamlen was relieved. "It was a very close intimacy," he continued. "I +feel that perhaps I ought to be guided by her judgment now, yet I find +it difficult to accept for many reasons. In short, she thinks that I +should marry." + +During the last few moments Huntington had anticipated this +announcement, but he refrained from making comment. Hamlen looked over +at him for a word of encouragement, but as none came he went on. + +"I know myself to be entirely unfitted, and it is the last thing in the +world I should have thought of; but lately I have mistrusted my own +judgment, which leaves me absolutely without a guide of any kind. So +when any one I respect as I do Mrs. Thatcher makes such a statement, +and even suggests the possibility of my marrying her own daughter, I +don't know what to do. I can't believe that the girl would consider me +as a husband, yet Marian is confident that if it could be arranged it +would be for the happiness of all concerned." + +"Are you fond of Merry?" Huntington demanded. + +"As Marian's daughter, yes. I admire her tremendously, for in some ways +she reminds me of her mother. But what in the world have I to offer +her?" + +"What has any man to offer the woman he marries," Huntington replied +with feeling, "in comparison to what she brings into his life? He stakes +nothing but his liberty; she stakes her future as well as her present." + +"I know; but what do you advise me to do?" + +"Has it occurred to you that Mrs. Thatcher is assuming a great +responsibility in pledging her daughter's consent?" + +"Yes; I am afraid her influence over the girl is as strong as it is over +me. She is a very magnetic woman." + +"Do you mean that you question your own strength?" + +"That is exactly what I mean," he answered, dropping his eyes. + +"My promise of assistance was an empty one, after all," Huntington said +with more bitterness than had ever before crept into his voice. "The +alchemy of a woman's heart is past the comprehension of a bachelor like +myself. But why settle your problem so hastily? You are here with me +now, and what I intend to show you of life will fit you better than +anything else to answer that question for yourself. Don't let it +overwhelm you. See how far you can enter into what goes on about you, +and then draw your conclusions regarding the probabilities of the +future." + +"Are marriages ever successful when one's heart is made up of burnt +ashes?" + +"Don't ask me that, my friend!" Huntington begged. "You and I have +reached an age where we are entitled to use logic and judgment, and to +live the years which remain to us as those two attributes may dictate. +For the next few weeks I want you to imagine that you are back in +college again, with no responsibilities heavier than that of enjoying +yourself better than before because your sense of proportion has been +developed by experience. When these weeks are past, we may again +consider whether our hearts are made up of burnt ashes or of rich +Harvard crimson blood. Until then, my friend, let us steadfastly refuse +to be stampeded, and claim the benefit of every doubt." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXVII + + * * * * * + + +Philip Thatcher responded to the suggestion made by Huntington and his +mother with such conspicuous success that within a fortnight Hamlen +accepted his leadership from one experience to another with wonderment +and devotion. The fact that the boy was his namesake formed the first +bond, and with confidence once established intimacy developed rapidly. +Boys to Hamlen had been unknown quantities, creatures to be endured if +necessary but avoided if possible, and Philip did much to raise the +standard of his genus in the older man's mind. Billy's explosive +outbursts startled him for a time, but he learned to understand even +these, and accepted them at their true value. + +The responsibility came to young Thatcher at just the time when he was +best prepared to accept it. During the Easter recess his father suddenly +discovered that the boy had become a man, and it was with real +gratification that he took him into his confidence. To Philip, the +statement of present conditions made impending disaster seem conclusive, +and it was with difficulty that Thatcher persuaded him that many things +might happen to ease the situation before calamity really overtook him. +The boy wanted to leave college at once, and to throw himself into some +sphere of business activity so that his income might be added to the +family exchequer to keep the wolf from the door! His father, +strengthened by the youthful loyalty and enthusiasm, pointed out the +value, as a personal asset to himself, of actually possessing a college +degree, now so nearly secured, and sent the boy back to Cambridge with a +determination to make the most of the few remaining months in preparing +himself to rush into the breach and save his family from the threatening +malignant specters. + +The whole experience was a sobering one to Philip, and resulted in +putting him nearer on a plane with Hamlen. To the one, the world had +already proved its unreliability; to the other, it was now on trial with +every presumption of speedy conviction. Each event in the day took on a +new significance in the boy's mind, and Hamlen's dependence made him +feel that he was already man-grown, taking his place in the front rank +of the battle of life. + +Huntington watched these developments with a curious sensation of +interest and surprise. The most he had hoped was that Philip might take +the man far enough into undergraduate activities to give him by +assimilation a fresh viewpoint, but he found his guest largely taken off +his hands by one who was accomplishing the desired results far better +than he himself could do. Day by day he saw Philip winning a deeper hold +upon the affections of his older friend, and he marveled at the changes +taking place in Hamlen. For himself, he quietly forced him to meet such +of their classmates as were in Boston, preparing them by a brief outline +of Hamlen's experiences to extend a fitting welcome; but he left it to +Philip to show him what the new Harvard really is. + +It was impossible to have all this happen without misgivings and +questioning on the part of his guest. + +"I appreciate all this," Hamlen said to him one evening; "but don't for +a minute think that I take credit for the sudden interest on the part of +the fellows who never noticed me when I was in college. That belongs to +you. With the position you had then, and which you hold in the Class +to-day, the boys would drink healths and sing, 'For he's a jolly good +fellow' to a Fiji islander if he happened to be your friend." + +"Suppose we grant all that," Huntington answered frankly; "what +difference does it make? Didn't you tell me that you owned a piece of +land in Oklahoma on which oil was struck?" + +"Yes," Hamlen replied; surprised that his friend should so abruptly turn +the conversation. "What has that to do with our discussion?" + +"How much did you value it before you discovered what it contained?" + +"It was a joke; I begrudged even paying the taxes." + +"Now you consider it well worth including among your investments?" + +"Naturally. It is one of the best things I own." + +Huntington smiled at him quietly. "Don't you see the application? It is +no reflection on those who walked over that land that they were ignorant +of the riches which lay beneath their feet. It is no reflection on the +sincerity of your classmates that they like you now and did not know you +before. I discovered what you really are, Hamlen, quite as accidentally +as you struck oil in that apparently worthless land in Oklahoma. Now I +stand simply as the promoter of a property which has proved its worth." + +When Hamlen unpacked his trunk at Huntington's house he produced a +volume of Milton's "Areopagitica" which he placed in his friend's hand. + +"This is the latest issue from the 'Island Press,'" he said. "It was +nearly completed before you all came down to Bermuda and disturbed my +peace of mind. I put the covers on after you left, but I haven't been +able to produce a thing since. I believe this is the last book I shall +ever make." + +Huntington turned the leaves with great interest. "Exquisite!" he +exclaimed. "Quite the best example you have turned out. I love that type +of yours, Hamlen, for I feel it is the exemplification of William +Morris' definition of the Type Ideal,--'pure in form, severe without +needless excrescences, solid without the thickening and thinning of the +line, and not compressed laterally.' You have carried out what he set +himself to do and failed. How many copies did you print?" + +"Only fifty." + +"Splendid! But I am selfish enough to wish there was but one, and that I +owned it! I never saw finer presswork in my life." + +"You may gratify your wish if you like," Hamlen replied indifferently. +"I have the whole lot in my trunk up-stairs, and you may destroy the +other forty-nine if you choose. They are yours to do with as you will." + +"You don't mean it!" Huntington cried, enthusiastically. + +He fondled the copy in his hand, and his face was lighted by the +pleasure of the moment. Then he laughed. + +"It is a frightful temptation, Hamlen! Think of owning the only copy in +existence of a book like that! Bibliomania leads one on almost to crime, +and it would be nothing less to prevent other collectors from enjoying +this wonderful volume. I accept the gift proudly, Hamlen; I will make +good use of it." + +At the next monthly gathering of his fellow-collectors in their +attractive club-house Huntington took Hamlen with him as his guest. He +introduced him to his friends, but made no reference to the fact that he +was the creator of the productions of the Island Press. They listened to +an interesting paper, and then seated themselves at the long +supper-table to prove that even bibliomaniacs are human. Here Huntington +adroitly turned the conversation upon the subject of Hamlen's work. + +Huntington had told his friend that when once he heard the opinions of +other collectors the words of praise spoken at Bermuda would seem mild; +and the prediction proved true. Hamlen's cheeks burned as he heard his +work extolled and himself compared to the master-printers of the past. +There could be no doubt of the sincerity of the comment, for no one but +Huntington knew his identity; and the pleasure he felt was so intense +that it almost overcame him. + +As the discussion waned Huntington made his dramatic play. Each member +present was handed a copy of the "Areopagitica," on the fly-leaf of +which Hamlen had written his autograph. + +"A gift from our guest," Huntington explained; "and each copy is +inscribed by the master-printer of the Island Press." + +The silence which followed heightened the effect of Huntington's _coup_, +and Hamlen felt the blood rushing to his face. Huntington watched the +proceedings with evident relish, and as comprehension followed surprise +in the minds of his fellow-members he held his glass aloft. + +"To the health, gentlemen, of Philip Hamlen, our master-printer, an +American, thank God, who knows how to preserve that art preservative of +all arts!" + +It was the first triumph Hamlen had ever tasted, and as Huntington +watched his face he feared that in the desire to give him the confidence +of approval he had over-estimated his friend's physical strength. But +joy never kills, and the first weakness was conquered by the necessity +of living up to the position which had been thrust upon him. He +responded bravely, and Huntington smiled contentedly as he saw still +another barrier broken down between Philip Hamlen and the world he +believed to be against him. On their way home no word was spoken in the +motor-car, but when safe within the retreat of the library, which Hamlen +had learned to love, the pent-up emotion burst forth. + +"Then I have done something after all!" he cried. "My life has not been +all a mistake! Heaven knows what a mess I've made of it, but at least +there is something saved out of the wreck? You think they meant it, +don't you, Huntington?" he asked beseechingly, and he found his answer +in the beaming countenance of his friend. "I had no idea it would mean +so much, that so wonderful an experience as I had to-night could ever +come to me. Even now I can't understand it. Those little books are only +expressions of myself; I made them merely for personal gratification." + +"In doing so, my friend, you gave yourself to us; and more than that no +man can do!" + +The wonderful weeks went by, filled with a bewildering series of unusual +experiences for Hamlen and of continuing satisfaction to Huntington. +Philip unfolded to him day by day the various elements which went to +make the new Harvard spirit, and Huntington supplemented the boy's +efforts by keeping his guest in touch with the graduate activities +centered in and reaching their climax in the building of the "Home of +the Harvard Club" in Boston, dedicated as "the tomb of Harvard +indifference." Hamlen saw the freshmen segregated in their own +dormitories, and forced to become acquainted one with another, and he +realized what it would have meant to him at a similar time in his life +if heads wiser than his own had compelled him to show himself to his +classmates. He stood within the massive Stadium, he went to a +mass-meeting at the Harvard Union, he followed the crew on the Charles +in the launch "John Harvard," proud that Philip, his namesake, had won +a place in the boat. He spent many hours at the Harvard Club with +Huntington, watching the democracy which means unity, and the unity +which means fellowship. For the first time he felt a pride to be a part +of it, for the first time his degree stood to him as something more than +what he learned from books. Philip was to row against Yale, and he felt +that he himself, at last, was to take part in an intercollegiate +contest, once the ambition of his life. He was no longer a man without a +college, but was one of that great brotherhood which recognizes its +heritage, and stands ready to live up to the responsibilities this +heritage entails. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXVIII + + * * * * * + + +Huntington placed his house at the disposal of the Thatchers during +Class Day week, and urged them to arrive the Saturday before so that he +might show them something of Boston before the college festivities set +in. He had corresponded freely with Mrs. Thatcher during the weeks +Hamlen had been his guest, sharing with her his own gratification that +their joint undertaking proceeded with such promise of success. But each +letter she wrote contained some reference to her desire to carry the +rejuvenation to a climax. + +"Don't let him get too young," she wrote in one, "or Merry won't care +for him. She always feels more at home with older men." + +In another, accepting Huntington's invitation, she added: "Your +suggestion is particularly fortunate as it will give Merry a chance to +see Philip Hamlen under ideal conditions." + +There was no escape. Mrs. Thatcher still assumed that he was as eager to +bring about the match as she herself, and with woman's pertinacity +presented the matter to him in such a way that he was forced to act as +her ally whether he chose to do so or not. He had no restitution to make +to his classmate, he stoutly assured himself, and because a charming +woman felt a moral obligation to bring about "poetic justice" there was +no reason why he should be stampeded into aiding and abetting a scheme +of which he thoroughly disapproved. Huntington reasoned it out logically +and conclusively, arrived at a definite determination to have no part in +it, and then did the one thing which Mrs. Thatcher most desired by +inviting them all to his home. Such is the innate inconsistency of man +when he attempts to defeat the plans of a clever woman who always has +her way! + +Yet, curiously enough, Huntington believed that he was acting on his own +initiative, and that this plot of his to have the girl near by, where he +could again enjoy her companionship without betraying how much she had +become to him, was a triumph of diplomatic genius. He even dreaded lest +a refusal of his hospitality should defeat his carefully-laid plans, +never realizing that the idea itself had come through the most delicate +psychological suggestion between the lines of a letter which touched on +every subject but the one in point. Such is the inevitable climax of +man's originality when his plans include feminine co-operation! + +Hamlen did not again refer to the matter on which he had sought advice +until Huntington told him that the Thatchers were to arrive. Then his +manner took on that phase which his host knew well, and the old +apprehensiveness returned. The change was so noticeable that it could +not be passed by without comment. + +"Don't you want to see them?" Huntington demanded flatly. "You act as if +their coming really frightened you." + +"It does," Hamlen admitted frankly. + +"Why should it?" + +Huntington had come closely enough to him now to speak pointedly, and +Hamlen seemed grateful for it. He wanted to be treated like other men, +even though at times the new experience hurt; and his friend more and +more took him at his word. "Why should it?" Huntington repeated. + +"Because I can't trust myself yet. All is going so well that I fear +something may happen to cause a setback." + +"Nonsense! The old dread of meeting people hasn't worn off yet, but you +are making splendid strides. I shall be proud to have Mrs. Thatcher see +you as you are now." + +"I am not myself when I am with her," Hamlen insisted, avoiding his +friend's eyes as he spoke. + +"If you prefer, I'll put you up at the Club while they're here." + +"I should prefer it; but I think I had better fight it out while I have +you near at hand to help me." + +There was a new note of determination in his voice, but the dread was +still there. "I do not want to marry Miss Thatcher, Huntington," he said +slowly, with emphasis on every word; "yet unless you help me I shall do +it. I cannot resist Mrs. Thatcher if she is determined to accomplish +this. You spoke of logic and judgment when we talked of it before, but +these are not enough. Marian is a wonderful woman. She believes that +this marriage will be for our happiness, but I tell you, Huntington, it +would be a tragedy for us both. I have never had but one woman in my +heart, and any effort to dethrone that image would produce a condition +for which I cannot hold myself responsible. That is what I fear, and you +must help me." + +"Of course I'll help you, my dear fellow," Huntington reassured him, +"but are you not exaggerating Mrs. Thatcher's attitude? I can't believe +that she will proceed further when she knows how you really feel." + +Hamlen shook his head. "You have heard of men who lost their reason by +being accidentally locked in a tomb overnight--think what it has meant +to me to live with the specters of the dead for twenty years! As I look +back, I wonder that I've held together at all! I'm not rational even +now,--I know that; but I'm improving every day. What you have looked +upon as an obsession, an eccentricity, has been a condition over which I +have had no control, but through you I have been able to partially +extricate myself. Mrs. Thatcher stirred the dead embers when she found +me in Bermuda, and beneath them lay the smoldering flames which had +slowly consumed my life. That I was able to hold them in check there +gave me courage to accept your point of view, and I know that I have +gained strength during these weeks I have spent with you." + +"You are stronger in every way," Huntington said with decision. "If you +were able to hold yourself in check then, you should now feel doubly +safe." + +"Perhaps," Hamlen admitted doubtfully; "that is why I don't follow my +strong impulse to let you put me up at the Club. I want to test myself +still further. Whenever Marian Thatcher's name is mentioned I feel such +a confusion of emotions that I realize how far I am yet from being my +own master. I must either conquer or else return to the old life." + +"I'll stand by you--of course I will!" Huntington laughed, hoping to +lessen Hamlen's apprehension by treating the subject lightly. "Keep the +specters of the past back among the dead where they belong; don't let +them stalk in your present in which you are just beginning to find what +life really is. Mrs. Thatcher is a beautiful woman of flesh and blood +and not an avenging Nemesis!" + +"My God, Huntington! can't I make even you understand!" Hamlen cried +out. "It is the fact that Marian Seymour is a beautiful woman of flesh +and blood that the specter stalks! You who have never loved can't +sympathize as I do with the aboriginal man who struck down whomever +stood between himself and the woman he wanted, and carried his prize +bodily to his cave. I boasted that these twenty years had given me +opportunity for super-intellectual development, but instead I find +myself controlled by almost primeval instincts. My respect for law is +weakened, my regard for the rights of others seems stultified. This +woman has been mine since we were boy and girl together, Huntington, and +I want my woman! Before she broke the engagement my domination was too +complete, for it made her fear me; when we met twenty years later it was +she who dominated. Now, as I am coming back to myself, I feel my former +power returning, and I know that if I chose I could compel a +subservience of her will to mine. That is what I dread, for my exile +has destroyed my sense of proportion. If I do not exercise my own +strength then I must let her will be supreme, and that means that I +shall marry the girl while I worship the mother.--Don't belittle my +fearfulness, Huntington; it is a real thing to be reckoned with." + +"Whether real or not," Huntington said kindly, "the fact that you think +it so is enough. I shall not advise you nor urge you to do anything +except what you yourself think wise, and so far as I can, whenever or +wherever you wish it, I will help you." + +This discussion left a deep impression upon Huntington. He had never +looked upon Hamlen as a man of force, but rather as a visionary of +nervous tenseness; yet this outburst showed a strength which would have +carried his classmate far had it been properly directed. In spite of his +present activities Huntington could see that Hamlen still lived much in +his past,--the unconscious return to Mrs. Thatcher's girlhood name was +evidence of that, his reference to the ghostly companions of his Bermuda +life was equally convincing. What puzzled him was Hamlen's conviction +that Mrs. Thatcher was determined to compel the suggested alliance +against his will. This Huntington could not believe. She had expressly +stated to him that it was only an idea to be acted upon in case it +proved wise. Had Hamlen shown an interest in Merry, then undoubtedly +Marian's influence would be exercised in his behalf; but surely a +mother's heart would not be insistent in so serious a crisis! In this at +least Hamlen's apprehensions carried him too far. + +The opportunity to satisfy himself came to Huntington the day after his +guests arrived. They had motored down the North Shore and back to the +Club for lunch on a bright Sunday morning which seemed prepared +especially to show Boston's environs off to best advantage; and as they +strolled about the Club grounds he found himself paired off with Mrs. +Thatcher. + +The evening before had developed nothing of any moment. The two boys +rushed in after dinner, completely monopolized the situation for such +time as they were present, and then dashed off to keep a college +engagement. Things were too "thick," Billy explained to Merry, to have a +real visit. Thatcher seemed worn out and asked the indulgence of his +host to permit his early retiring; Mrs. Thatcher was happy and +complacent, rejoicing in the change she found in Hamlen and grateful to +her ally for having brought it about; Merry appeared strangely quiet, +but even if her presence had been wholly silent it would have seemed a +benediction to Huntington, whose sentiments no one suspected, and on +whom all depended for the expression of their individual purposes. +Huntington smiled grimly to himself as he recalled Hamlen's +matter-of-fact assumption that love had never entered into his life; he +even questioned whether his friend's self-imposed restraint was more +difficult than the repression of his own emotion! + +After luncheon they walked out onto the golf links, Huntington and +Marian finding a retreat in one of the thatched-roof shelters from which +they could command an extended view on all sides. Thatcher and Hamlen +had fallen behind, following Merry, who was eager to secure a better +idea of the earlier holes in the course. Marian seated herself and then +looked up into Huntington's face with an expression of complete +satisfaction. + +"It is simply wonderful!" she exclaimed. + +"It is a fine course--" + +"I'm not thinking of the course," she interrupted. "What you have done +with Philip Hamlen is simply wonderful!" + +"You must give your boy his share of the credit; his influence over +Hamlen is no less than mine." + +"I am glad my son could do something toward paying his mother's debt," +she replied feelingly. "Now if you and I can complete the work I shall +feel that restitution has been amply made." + +"You refer to your daughter?" + +"Yes; if I can see Merry married to Philip Hamlen I shall be blissfully +content." + +Huntington did not reply at once. He must be fair to this woman of whose +determination he could now have no doubt; he must be fair to Hamlen, but +above all he must be fair to the girl herself. Could he assume any +position of impartiality? Would not each word really be a cry from his +own heart, not against Hamlen but against any one who should create a +barrier between himself and her? But Hamlen had besought his aid, so +after all a responsibility existed, not of his making, which could not +be shirked. He would meet the issue squarely with special care to +eliminate himself. + +"I regret to say that I cannot sympathize with that plan," he said +deliberately. + +Mrs. Thatcher looked at him in complete surprise. "I thought we +agreed--" + +"I have had greater opportunity to study Hamlen since we last talked." + +She was genuinely distressed by Huntington's attitude. "I have set my +heart upon it," she said firmly. "Through me his life was wrecked; it +would be only justice if I helped him to find his happiness." + +At that moment Huntington wondered how Marian Seymour could ever have +attracted him. He had told Hamlen that the alchemy of a woman's heart +was past his comprehension, but he had believed that mothers' hearts +were all the same. He knew that Mrs. Thatcher was devoted to her +daughter, yet her insistence appeared to him inexplicable and +reprehensible. Had his companion been a man he would have told him so; +under the present circumstances he spoke more guardedly. + +"Being friends and allies, we should be frank in expressing our +conviction," he explained; "this must excuse my otherwise unwarranted +objections." + +"You know Merry now. Don't you agree with me that her interest is in men +older than herself?" + +"Has she been consulted?" + +Mrs. Thatcher flushed. "No," she answered; "I shall not speak to her +until Philip Hamlen has been persuaded." + +"You think she will acquiesce?" + +"I am sure of it. She may not understand at first, but I am certain that +she will feel as I do. Who could fail to see that he would be an ideal +husband for her?" + +"What would your life have been if you had married Hamlen?" + +"But he has changed,--he has learned much from his experience." + +"He is still, and always will be an abnormal personality," Huntington +insisted. "Marriage, in my opinion, has no place in his life, and no +woman could possibly endure his eccentricities. He can still find much +to interest him among men, but I beg of you not to pursue an experiment +which contains so many elements of danger." + +"You put it strongly, Mr. Huntington." + +"I feel it strongly; that must be my excuse." + +Mrs. Thatcher was visibly affected. It was several moments before she +spoke, and Huntington could see that she resented his attitude. + +"You look at it wholly from a man's standpoint," she protested. "No one +with Philip Hamlen's temperament can find the life he craves in +companionship with men alone. Of course I respect your convictions, but +you in turn must respect mine. I am so sure I am right that I cannot +abandon the hope I have so long cherished. It will be more difficult of +accomplishment without you, but if necessary I must carry it through +alone." + +"Forgive me, Mrs. Thatcher,--but are you not thinking of him and of your +obligation more than of your daughter?" + +"You surely don't think I would force Merry against her will!" + +"Sometimes we leave one a free moral agent," Huntington said pointedly, +"and at the same time bind him with chains stronger than iron by +expression of our own desires." + +The approach of Hamlen and Merry brought the unsatisfactory discussion +to a forced conclusion, and Huntington rejoiced that it saved him from +further expostulations. Thatcher had returned to the club-house to +telephone, leaving Hamlen and Merry by themselves. Hamlen responded to +Merry's spontaneous vivacity, and both were in the best of spirits as +they walked toward the shelter. He was heavier now and it became him. +The sallowness had left his face and a slight color appeared in his +cheeks. The girl beside him, as always when enthusiastic, radiated +happiness. Her companion could scarcely keep up with her as she half +walked half ran up the slight incline. + +"Look at them!" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, turning to Huntington. "Who are +you to tell me I am wrong!" + +Huntington was spared the necessity of reply for Merry had reached them. +Mrs. Thatcher rose and strolled away by herself to relieve her +overwrought feelings. + +"Oh, for a golf-skirt and a bag of clubs!" the girl cried. "When may I +play this adorable course?" + +"To-morrow morning," Huntington replied promptly, "if my guests permit +me to provide them with other entertainment. After to-morrow I must give +you up to those most exalted of personages, the Seniors." + +"I'd love to play this course," Merry said gratefully,--"but you're +going over for Class Day, aren't you?" + +"Yes; but we old grads don't count as against the Seniors. They are the +heroes and we bend the knee. On Thursday we shall walk respectfully up +to the graduating class, bow politely, and say, 'We who are about to +die, salute you'!" + +Merry laughed gaily. "Then, the next day, these heroes jump down off +their pedestals, walk respectfully up to the old grads, bow politely, +and say, 'Please give us a job'!" + +"Don't be an iconoclast, Miss Merry," Huntington retorted. "These boys +may be looking for jobs, but they are richer than any of us: they have +youth, and life is before them." + +"Grandpa!" the girl laughed mischievously. + +"I sha'n't let you call me that!" he cried, really piqued. + +"Then don't be so unfair to yourself!" she retaliated; "you are the +youngest 'old' man I ever met!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXIX + + * * * * * + + +It was with real regret the following morning that Huntington watched +his ball drop into the cup on the eighteenth green. The round had been +too perfect, the experience too enjoyable to come to an end so soon. + +"Five down," Merry remarked. "That looks to me like a real defeat." + +"I'm glad to find some game I can play better than you," Huntington +replied banteringly. "I'm still sore over our swimming-races in Bermuda. +But in all fairness I must admit that this course is built for a man's +game, and the premium on the length of the wooden clubs was all that +saved me to-day." + +"You are generous,--but I acknowledge my defeat. Do we have to go home +now?" + +"There is at least an hour between us and the rigid convention of +luncheon," Huntington answered. "Shall we spend it on the piazza?" + +"It is much nicer beneath one of these great trees," she said, suiting +her action to the word and sitting down upon the grass. "Come. Let us +imagine that we're back in Bermuda again!" + +Huntington seated himself beside her, still rebellious that their +moments together were passing so swiftly. He had wondered how she would +appear to him when he saw her again, half hoping to find that the charm +of the earlier setting had exaggerated her attractiveness, half dreading +an awakening. This would have simplified his problem, but it would also +have robbed his life of the richness which had entered it. Even though +he saw his course plainly plotted out for him, there was a delicious joy +in knowing that there existed one who had awakened in him that which +alone is best and without which no man's experience can be complete. + +But his half-hope was not to be gratified nor his half-dread realized. +The girl was different, but the intervening months had done their work +well. She seemed older and more mature, yet this passing of the girl +into womanhood had been accomplished without marring those +characteristics which he had before admired. His eyes rested on her face +longer than he realized, as these thoughts passed through his mind, but +until she spoke he had no idea that she had noticed the closeness of his +scrutiny. + +"Well," she said smiling, "do you approve?" + +He made no apology, for they understood each other too well, but instead +accepted her question seriously. + +"Entirely," he replied with an air of sincerity which forced the color +into her face. "The expression of the mouth, the tilt of the head, the +sparkle in the eyes,--all is perfection. But you suggested that we +imagine ourselves back in Bermuda. For myself, I should not dare to try +it, for it could never be the same." + +"Should we want it to be?" she asked earnestly. "An experience repeated +must have something added or it fails to satisfy. To be the same would +bring disappointment. I've argued that all out with myself, so I'm sure +I'm right." + +"Why should you have done that?" he demanded. + +"Because those were the most wonderful days I have ever known," she +explained simply and without embarrassment. "I found myself wishing them +back; then I realized that if I could have my wish gratified it wouldn't +satisfy me. I was unhappy when I went down there for no reason in the +world except that I couldn't seem to find my place. With all their love +no one at home has ever understood me, and I had reached a point where I +didn't understand myself. Then you gave me the chance to know Mr. +Hamlen, and in what you said to him and to me I saw what happens when +one has no anchorage. That was what had made me unhappy,--I was drifting +horribly." + +"You concealed it well," Huntington said. "All the time we were together +I never suspected that you had a care in the world." + +"That is a compliment to yourself," the girl answered. "With your +optimism you draw out the best in every one. See what you did with Mr. +Hamlen down there, and what you have done with him since! You are the +most completely happy person I have ever met, and--don't scold!--I have +tried to imitate you. I haven't been very successful yet, but I'm +trying. Some time, when the supreme test comes, I shall accept it, and +then you will see what your example has accomplished." + +The sincerity of the girl's words made Huntington uncomfortable. At +first it pleased him to discover how genuine was her respect, but as she +continued he found himself embarrassed by the character she gave him. + +"I shall begin to think myself somebody if you go on," he expostulated. +"You are crediting me with attributes I don't seem to recognize." + +"That is because they come so naturally to you," she explained. "You are +happy because your life is spent in making other people happy. That is +the lesson I learned." + +"You were doing that long before I met you, and you are doing it now." + +"No," she insisted; "it may have seemed so to you, but I was really +trying to find happiness for myself, and because I was thinking of +myself it didn't come. Since I returned home I've tried your plan, and +so far it has worked splendidly." + +"But the supreme test," Huntington asked,--"what is that to be?" + +"Oh, I don't know," she answered with an effort to speak indifferently; +"being a girl I suppose it will be my marriage." + +"That should be the supreme triumph of your happiness rather than the +test." + +"I used to think so but I've changed my mind. I had a vision once of +what I thought marriage ought to be.--We spoke of it in Bermuda, and you +made fun of it, don't you remember? I'm convinced now that it was all +wrong." + +"You said that you would marry only a man who would let you contribute +your share to the real life which you would jointly live." + +"Yes," Merry answered consciously; "and you laughed at me! But you were +right. I ought not to think so much of myself." She paused a moment. +"The man I really loved probably wouldn't care for me at all," she +continued soberly, her eyes averted. "If I am convinced that I can make +the man I marry happy, then I am more certain of finding happiness +myself. That is making a tremendous compromise with sentiment, but don't +you think it more sensible, after all?" + +"Then the supreme test, as I understand it, would be to marry a man you +thought you could make happy whether you cared for him or not?" + +Merry nodded her head in affirmation. A sudden suspicion came into +Huntington's mind, and he looked at the girl curiously. + +"Has your mother been talking to you upon this subject?" he demanded +with more directness than he had a right to use. + +"Why, no," she answered, showing her surprise. "She thinks me too +indifferent to men; but we have never discussed the matter seriously +because there has been no occasion." + +Huntington was relieved by her words but her ideas were not reassuring. +He started to tell her that she was entirely wrong, but he checked +himself because he realized that differing with people had now come to +be a habit with him. Two days before he had carefully explained to +Hamlen how erroneous his convictions were only to discover that he +himself had been in error. Yesterday he had differed with Mrs. Thatcher, +and now he found his ideas at variance with Merry's. Instead, he lifted +the girl's left hand, which rested on the grass beside him, and gently +pointing to the third finger he looked earnestly into her deep eyes. + +"Merry," he said calling her by her name for the first time, "when the +moment comes for some man to slip a gold band on there I want you to +remember what I tell you now. You have pictured me as an apostle of +optimism and as the happiest person you know. I could tell you something +about that, but instead I'll try to live up to your picture. But this +much is gospel truth, and I want you to remember it: that gold band will +stand as a symbol and the circle means completeness. It doesn't stand +for sacrifice, or for supreme tests, or for anything of that sort,--it +does stand for just what you saw in your 'vision.' A very wise person +once said that marriage was either a complete union or a complete +isolation, and he was right. My friends think me a cynic on this +subject, but my cynicism is a result of the complete isolation I see +every day in the lives of my friends. I want your marriage to be a +complete union, little girl, and that can't come if you apply your +present ideas to a sacrament so sacred that every-day principles become +meaningless. Marriage is the merging of all that is beautiful in two +lives, and unless the love on each side strives to outdo the other in +contributing to the joint account, the beauty fades, and the gold +circlet stands as a symbol of slavery instead of representing the most +wonderful relation which mortals are permitted to enjoy." + +"Mr. Huntington!" she exclaimed in a low tone, "I had no idea you looked +upon marriage like that! I didn't believe any man did! It makes me have +more faith in my vision. Still, after all, that doesn't change the fact +itself, for you are the exception. But, feeling as you do, I know now +that the only reason you are not married is that you have never found +the girl." + +Huntington looked full into her face before he turned his head aside. "I +did find the girl," he answered with a depth of feeling in his voice; +"but I found her too late." + +"Forgive me!" Merry cried impulsively, convinced that she had torn open +a concealed wound. + +"There is nothing to forgive, dear child," he said quickly. Then with +that smile which took the world in its embrace he added, "Don't waste +your sympathy on me; life has already given me more than I deserve." + +"I am so sorry," Merry replied soberly. "She must have been a wonderful +girl to win such a love." + +"She was," he answered. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXX + + * * * * * + + +Billy Huntington was the founder of an original secret organization +called the "Club for Undesirables." Being the founder he was privileged +to write the By-Laws, and these consisted of a single Article: "The +members of this Club shall be elected by the non-members." Exercising +his prerogative he had proposed, seconded and elected Cosden and others +of his acquaintance who failed to attain the standards he demanded of +those around him; and now he unanimously declared Mrs. Thatcher a member +in full standing. + +These were not red-letter days for the boy. Ever since his visit to New +York at Easter the times had been out of joint, and he blamed Merry's +mother for it all. From his viewpoint the visit had been a "frost," and +he nursed his resentment so successfully that he came to look upon it as +a virtue. Uncle Monty noticed the change, but having no knowledge of the +cause gave Billy credit for at last showing symptoms of growing up. +Philip looked upon his tragedy as a huge joke, and made his friend's +life wholly unendurable by frequent veiled allusions to the "inflammable +age," rubbed in as only a college chum can do. The sympathy he craved +was sadly lacking, so he sought compensation by sympathizing with +himself. + +Billy would have been better satisfied with the completeness of his +martyrdom had he been able to include Merry among those who abused him, +but he could discover no point where she had failed to preserve an +aggravatingly consistent neutrality. She was always friendly, accepting +his extravagant expressions of devotion with a good-natured indifference +which robbed them of all significance She had taken no exceptions to her +mother's humiliation of him, nor had she taken advantage of it; +everything progressed with a disgusting sameness, when he had +confidently expected that the result of his visit would be to acclaim +him Merry's accepted suitor, and thus raise him to the seventh heaven of +delight. + +While Hamlen had been in Boston Billy found himself again side-tracked. +Not only was Uncle Monty engaged, but Philip devoted much of his time to +his new responsibility. Everything conspired to throw Billy back upon +his own resources, and here he developed a decided hiatus. The boy's +strongest point was his ability to fit in with some one else's plans, +and of all his friends Philip proved most fertile in his suggestions. + +Now Class Day was at hand, and as it was not his Class Day he felt +himself eclipsed by the added glory which came to Philip and the other +Seniors. As an under-class man he counted for absolutely nothing. When +he was a freshman, the comparative size of the halos worn by his Class +and the graduating students was an open question of debate; from a +sophomore's standpoint, he was near enough the freshmen to be able to +look down upon them with a gratifying sense of superiority; but as a +Junior there was nothing to do but to wait for the coming year,--and +waiting was a game not included among Billy's favorite indoor or outdoor +sports. He had expected little from the visit of the New York friends, +owing to the presence of "the Gorgon" as he christened Mrs. Thatcher, +and in this expectation he was not disappointed. Merry herself was fully +occupied, and her mother took every opportunity to prevent diverting +influences from affecting what she considered a crucial moment. So +Billy, thoroughly disgruntled, drew himself up with a dignity which he +did not know he possessed, denied himself to the visiting friends, and +permitted the procession to move on without him. + +Philip himself, being at New London with the crew, was prevented from +taking personal participation in the Class Day festivities, but the +classmate whom he delegated as substitute proved an ideal host. In +Philip's absence Huntington had no compunctions in joining with Hamlen +in the Thatchers' celebration; had the boy been there he would have felt +it an intrusion for any one outside the family to share with them the +triumph which comes but once in a college man's life. So they passed +together from spread to spread, in and out of the Yard, listening to the +music, admiring the attractive costumes and the still more attractive +girls, entering into everything with a spirit which even Hamlen felt, +and which took Huntington back to his own Class Day, so many years +before. + +When the march to the Stadium was formed Huntington led Hamlen to that +portion of the line where their own classmates were assembled, and +presented him to each. Only a few remembered him, but all gave him a +welcome which confirmed Huntington's predictions. Hamlen noticed who the +men were standing side by side, and was impressed by the fact that while +in college the groups had been made up quite differently. He and +Huntington, then, did not form so grotesque a combination as he had +imagined. Other members of his Class, who knew each other but slightly +while in Cambridge, since then had discovered characteristics in each +other which drew them together. As Huntington said to him in Bermuda, +the ratio had become readjusted, the essentials only were remembered, +and the real bond was the fact of being members of the great fellowship. +Then the procession started, and he fell into step with the new life +which it had taken him so long to find. + +After the exercises at the Stadium, Cosden, at Huntington's suggestion, +took Hamlen with him to the Varsity Club, where the athletic heroes of +past and present congregated. There was a motive back of the suggestion, +and the effect on Hamlen of seeing these men, whose importance college +ideals had magnified, in their present relation to the world and to +their fellow-men, justified the experiment. Some of the old captains or +record-holders showed unmistakably their continued pre-eminence; others +had fallen back into the ranks after their temporary standard-bearing. +Hamlen could understand it now: what they did in college was of +importance only to the extent that it fitted them for what was to +follow; it was the use they made of this fitting in the after-life which +produced the permanent effect. This was the difference between the means +and the end which Marian tried to explain to him in Bermuda. + +Then came Commencement as a crescendo. It would have meant little to +Hamlen had it preceded Class Day, but each new experience gave him +fuller understanding and richer enjoyment. He saw again the same members +of his Class and felt now that he knew them; he met others, and was able +to mingle freely as a fellow-classmate. On Class Day the alumni came as +a unit, on Commencement they separated into Class groups, each with its +own spread and reunion, offering greater opportunity for intimate +exchanges of personal experience and mutual confidence. + +The climax came the following day with the boat-race at New London. The +Thatchers had returned home immediately after Class Day with plans of +their own still to be carried out, so Huntington and Cosden formed the +body-guard which convoyed Hamlen to the great event. Huntington knew +that he could not credit his friend's feverish anticipation wholly to +the dawning interest in Harvard events, but was equally content to see +how personal a triumph Philip's seat in the boat had become to him. Had +Hamlen's nervousness been shared by his namesake and the other oarsmen +the result of the race might have been foreshadowed! He changed his mind +about going so many times that Huntington finally insisted upon a +definite decision. + +"Of course I want to go," he explained; "but I never saw a Harvard crew +win and I can't believe I'm going to now." + +"Perhaps you won't," was the frank disavowal of responsibility. "The +worm must turn again some time, and it may be that this is the year, but +Harvard has the habit of winning now, and that goes a long way." + +"It would kill me to see Phil lose!" Harden said with deep feeling. + +"Tell me," Huntington said,--"tell me frankly for my gratification, is +your eagerness to see Harvard win to-morrow wholly on Phil's account, or +have these days brought your crimson blood near enough to the surface to +make you keen for the crew to win because it's a Harvard crew? Don't +deceive yourself or me. I really want to know." + +Hamlen hesitated before making reply, then he returned Huntington's look +with a frankness which conveyed much. His eye was clear and responsive +now; the haunting terror had left it. He met the question squarely. + +"Until this moment," he said, "I supposed myself sincere in believing +that my interest lay wholly in having that boy come through victorious, +but as you put it to me now I know there is a reason which lies deeper +still. Thanks to you, dear friend, notes in my life which have always +before been mute have now been struck, and I am finding a wonderful joy +in the melody produced. I have awakened to my heritage, and I realize +what I have missed in denying myself its privileges. I want Harvard to +win, Huntington, because it's Harvard. I shall always want Harvard to +win for the same reason. It may be better for the sport to have the +victories alternate, it may be impossible to defend anything so selfish +as a desire for an unbroken line of victories for years to come; but +still I want it. There is no occasion to argue it, there is no logic to +support it; I just simply want it!" + +Huntington regarded him with a satisfaction too deep for outward +exuberance. "I knew the spirit was too strong to accept limitations!" he +exclaimed quietly but with an exultant ring in his voice. "I knew that +no man could once place himself within the influence of college ideals +and not recognize their existence. You have tested my convictions, +Hamlen, but my faith has remained 'calm rising through change and +through storm.'" + +The strength of Huntington's emotion impressed Hamlen deeply. His own +dawning was so recent that at first he could not believe it possible for +his friend to be so affected by the subject under discussion. + +"Do other Harvard men feel as strongly as you do?" he demanded +questioningly. + +"Of course," Huntington replied; "but it isn't a question of Harvard any +more than of other colleges. We shout for our Alma Mater, but no more +lustily than the Yale or the Princeton man or the men of the smaller +colleges shout for theirs. It is merely the expression of the spirit of +loyalty and the sense of obligation, Hamlen. Not to express it is +unnatural, not to feel gratified when another laurel wreath is placed +upon the brow of our Dear Mother is a lack of filial devotion which I +refuse to believe exists." + +They elected to see the race from the observation-train, that they +might watch the positions of the crews from beginning to end rather than +at any fixed point. There was no novelty in the experience for +Huntington or Cosden except the ever-present uncertainty of the outcome, +but to Hamlen even the crowds which he had previously avoided added to +his excitement by imparting to him the thrill of their repressed +expectancy. He resented the calmness of his companions as they perused +their morning papers on the train. He tried to follow their example, but +found himself mechanically reading over and over again the statistics of +the two crews. Harvard was the favorite, but that he took as a bad omen +for he still remembered the Harvard teams which had gone into their +contests with the odds on their side, and had failed to win the expected +victories. Harvard overconfidence was a byword when he was in college, +and it was overconfidence which he feared now. + +They took their places on the improvised seats of the platform +freight-cars, ready to be hauled to the point of vantage at the start, +but the train seemed frightfully deliberate in getting under way. Hamlen +glanced at his watch nervously and was surprised that so little time had +elapsed since his last observation. Finally they found themselves +opposite the judge's boat. Harvard was already nearing the mark and the +Yale crew followed only a few lengths in her wake. Hamlen watched the +manoeuvers, disturbed by the conflicting cheers coming in sharp +staccato from every direction. At last the boats lined up in position. +Hamlen fancied that he could hear the referee's challenge: "Ready, +Harvard? Ready, Yale?" Then the pistol cracked out with reverberating +echoes, the oars gripped the water, the shells shot forward, and the +race was on! + +Hamlen's face set grimly and he sat bolt upright, taking no part in the +mad cheering or the boisterous excitement. His eyes followed every +stroke of the oars, and he suffered keenly as the Yale boat took a lead +of half-a-length at the quarter-mile. Then he saw Harvard settle down to +her work with a stroke quickened enough to enable her to take the +advantage. The same stroke kept the crimson boat forging steadily ahead. +At the half-mile the positions were reversed, at the mile clear water +showed between the shells, another mile added two lengths more, in spite +of Yale's plucky efforts to close in on the gaping space. At three miles +Harvard had five lengths to the good, and for the first time Hamlen +relaxed his tense attitude. + +"If it would not be a case of overconfidence," he said quietly to his +companions, "I should say that Harvard was going to win!" + +"Nothing but an act of God can save Eli now!" Cosden replied between his +cheers. "Why don't you yell?" + +"I can't," Hamlen said; "I feel it too much!" + +Still the crimson boat gained, and the contest had changed into a +procession. + +"Do they ever lose with a lead like that?" he asked Huntington +anxiously. + +"Lose!" his friend shouted,--"lose! They're gaining every stroke! Rah! +rah! rah! Harvard! Harvard! Harvard! There they go across the line!" + +He threw his arms deliriously around Cosden and Hamlen and they +performed a war-dance on the unsubstantial seats. Every Harvard +sympathizer on the train had gone mad, and the Yale streamers were +buried in the avalanche of crimson flags. + +"Another one!" Huntington shouted; "another wreath for the Alma Mater, +Hamlen! Rah, rah, rah! Harvard!" + +Hamlen had caught the contagion and was as affected with delirium as +those around him. He shouted his college yell over and over again, +unconscious that it was the first time in his life he had ever done so. +Huntington, the sedate Huntington, was cavorting like a two-year-old, +yet Hamlen saw nothing incongruous in his conduct. Cosden was so hoarse +that his cries resembled a wheezy calliope, yet they were sweet music in +Hamlen's ears. Harvard had won, Philip had won, he had won! + +At the station a crowd of undergraduates were singing hilariously: + + "_Bring the bacon home, John, + We cannot eat it all. + We sometimes got a taste of it + When you and I were small. + But now you bring it home, John, + In springtime and in fall. + It seems an awful waste of it, + We cannot eat it all._" + +There was the hectic scramble for seats on the special train. Snatches +of other songs came from here and there, and spasmodic cheering; but +gradually the excitement settled down into the quieter calm of satisfied +accomplishment. It was an orderly crowd which deserted the train at +Back Bay, but the men bunched on the platform, before they separated, +and again burst into song. The jibes were forgotten, the boastings +hushed. These had their place only in the first expressions of exultant +victory. A deeper sentiment seized the celebrating host, which was +expressed with uncovered heads: + + "_Fair Harvard! thy sons to thy jubilee throng, + And with blessings surrender thee o'er, + By these festival rites, from the age which is past + To the age which is waiting before._" + +Hamlen watched them in silence, touched with a new emotion by the sound +of the words, familiar enough, but which now took on a different +meaning. Huntington was right: it was not a boat-race he had just +witnessed, it was not the celebration of a victory over Yale, it was a +"festival rite," consecrating anew to its Alma Mater that brotherhood to +which he belonged, in grateful acknowledgment of the character and power +developed beneath her beneficent influence which placed within its reach +"the Earth and all that's in it." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXI + + * * * * * + + +In July, commercial stagnation increased, and the machinery of business +which before had creaked dismally in its daily routine now groaned aloud +in its travail; and the pity was that the conditions which caused it +were artificially created. There was capital enough, but the banks +hoarded it against possible contingencies; the crops were heavy, but it +was suicidal for the railroads to move them at the rates legislated by +the government; there were contracts to be let, but no one dared give +them out or accept them because of the shadow which hung gloomily over +every great industry in the shape of governmental paternalism and +interference. Stocks representing property intrinsically valuable +dropped lower and lower in the market, dividends which had been earned +were diverted into surplus as further margin of safety against future +developments, unknown and therefore to be feared. Incomes shrank in some +cases almost to the vanishing-point, while Washington reveled in an orgy +of those good intentions with which they say Hell is paved. + +Cosden by this time had come to a full realization of the significance +of Thatcher's warning, and he understood now why the New York operator +had shown so little interest in the attack on the Consolidated Machinery +corporation which had seemed inevitable. In view of conditions as they +had developed, and as Thatcher had foreseen them, no new enterprise +would be launched until opportunity presented itself to take advantage +of its inherent strength. The old-established company need fear no +competition while its own business was dropping off in such alarming +proportions. So Cosden again reduced expenses, still further extended +his bank affiliations, and settled back to meet whatever conditions +might arise, knowing that his sagacity had placed him outside the pale +of those fighting for their existence. + +In this latter class was Thatcher. The very success of his varied +interests now made them shining lights to attract the attention of the +authorities in Washington. One by one he saw them attacked, and day by +day he watched the dropping values of the stocks, called on by the banks +to increase his collateral, drawing deeper and deeper into his personal +resources which he had considered ample for any emergency. The strain +was terrific yet the only break he permitted himself was during the week +of his son's graduation. + +The question of the summer home gave Thatcher much concern. The heavy +expense of its upkeep made it an item to be considered at this time, yet +he could not bring himself to the point of doing what he knew would be +an act of wisdom. In their town house the Thatchers lived the usual +formal life which belonged to their position, but it was Sagamore Hall +they always meant when they spoke of "home." To relinquish it, even +temporarily, seemed to Thatcher nothing less than sacrilege. + +The estate consisted of some sixty acres wonderfully located on +Narragansett Bay with nearly a mile frontage on the sea. A rolling, +close-cropped lawn, bordered on either side by avenues of trees, ran +back three hundred yards from the beach before the stately, old English, +half-timbered mansion was reached, the broad expanse of green carpeting +making a perfect harmony of perspective. The two great end gables of the +house formed a shallow forecourt, filled in by a brick terrace with +balustrade. Between these gables, the central facade, a double-storied +loggia of stone, reminiscent of a Dorsetshire manor house, was +strikingly beautiful with its splendid sculptured decorations. + +The opposite front of the mansion faced the road, though removed some +distance from it, and was approached through a gateway and a winding +avenue in keeping with the dignity of the building itself. To the south, +connected by shaded walks, was an unusual garden, the boundaries of +which were marked by rare trees and shrubs so arranged that they formed +a pyramidal mass of verdure, against which perennial blooms of rare and +beautiful plants showed their bewildering colors to the best advantage. +This garden represented what Marian had put of herself into the estate +during the twenty years they had lived there, and to her and to Thatcher +each flower, shrub or tree represented something personal and recalled +some happy experience. + +At Sagamore Hall Marian really lived, keeping out of doors most of the +time, entertaining her friends in a manner which made every one feel +that each of the many attractions had been arranged for his own special +enjoyment. Here the Bermuda party was again united. Thatcher still kept +his wife in ignorance of the business complications which now seemed +certain to overwhelm him. Marian noticed that he was tired and worried, +but this had happened so many times before that she had come to look +upon these conditions as deplorable but none the less inevitable factors +in her husband's business life. In fact he had so explained on earlier +occasions when she questioned him, and had discouraged her from showing +too much concern. She recognized that he was scarcely in a mood for the +reunion she had planned, but justified her insistence on the ground that +he needed the relaxation; while he deemed it wise to yield rather than +attempt an explanation. + +Edith Stevens had been their guest for a fortnight before the other +members of the party arrived. Philip was entertaining several of his +college chums, including Billy Huntington, but Mrs. Thatcher +particularly requested her daughter to have no guests during this visit, +holding herself free to assist in the entertainment. + +Since her return home after the Class Day festivities Merry had shown +little interest in what went on around her. Had her mother noticed it +she would have passed it over lightly as "one of the child's moods," but +Mrs. Thatcher was too completely engrossed in her own great scheme to be +keenly sensitive to anything around her. In fact Merry's attitude +seemed peculiarly receptive, and encouraged her, a few days before +Hamlen was expected, to take her daughter into her confidence. + +In answering Huntington's question Marian expressed greater confidence +in Merry's acquiescence than she really felt. To herself she admitted +that she did not understand her daughter. Since the elaborate plans for +Merry's social life fell through because of the girl's lack of interest +and failure to respond, Marian had almost given up in despair. Merry was +unlike the daughters of the Thatchers' friends, who might be counted on +at all times to do the expected thing when given the expected +conditions; with her it was always the unexpected which happened. She +loved athletics, not because of the companionship of boys, as other +girls did, but for the games themselves; she was fond of dancing, but +she would as soon dance with another girl as with a man,--it was the +rhythmic motion of the dance itself which fascinated her; she had no +interest nor ability in making "small talk," but was always eager to +discuss problems which her mother felt she might better leave alone; she +tolerated young people of her own age, but expressed her real self only +when thrown with older friends. Mrs. Thatcher worried more over her +daughter's future than over any other phase of the family life, and the +solution which now seemed to offer itself contained so much promise that +Marian believed it to be foreordained. + +It was not easy to broach the subject, but when once accomplished Marian +talked on for some time without waiting for Merry to enter into the +discussion. It was important, she felt, that the girl should know the +whole story before being permitted to express an opinion. As the full +significance of her mother's words dawned upon Merry there was an +instinctive recoil, but she listened with outward calm. Marian believed +herself to be suggesting nothing save deepest concern for her daughter's +future; Merry heard nothing but a personal appeal for sacrifice. The +romance of her mother's early experience, the results which came from +the breaking of the engagement, her own interest and participation in +Hamlen's new life,--all went to strengthen the appeal, but still it +asked for sacrifice. + +As she listened Merry's mind was working fast. What were the relations +existing between them? She admired her mother tremendously, and was +proud of the attention her beauty excited wherever they went. She +respected her, for no wife or mother ever carried herself in these +positions with greater regard for the proprieties. Did she love her? Of +course! what a question to come to a girl's mind! Did she? The question +repeated itself insistently. Merry wondered. If this were disloyalty, +then the thought itself formed the offense; to analyze it was imperative +before putting it aside. The girl knew that she was face to face with +the crisis of her life, that the question now in mind had really been +the cause of that unrest she had failed to understand. + +"Is this something which you ask me to do?" Merry inquired at length. + +"No, my dear; that would be exceeding a mother's rights." + +"But you wish it?" + +"Yes; that is a different matter." + +"I wonder if it is," the girl said soberly. + +"It is a very different matter," Marian insisted. "I am thinking only of +you, dear child. Unless you felt convinced, as I do, that your marriage +would mean your happiness, I should be the last one to wish it." + +"Why don't you let me wait, as other girls do, until I find the man I +love?" + +"Because you're not like other girls, Merry--" + +"I've always been a disappointment to you, haven't I, Momsie?" she asked +suddenly. + +"Not that, dear," Marian disclaimed. "Of course it has worried me that +you would never be intimate with young people your own age. I have never +understood it--" + +"That is because I never had any girlhood, Momsie," Merry explained +seriously. "I grew up too soon. When I was little I couldn't play like +other children because my governess was always teaching me manners; so I +had nothing to do but think." + +"What are you talking about, child!" Mrs. Thatcher protested. "You are a +perfect tomboy, even to-day!" + +"I've had to make up for lost time, Momsie. You never saw me play when I +was little; that came after I became old enough to have my own way. Then +I learned games, but not as a child learns them; they were serious +problems, to be thought out because I had formed the habit of thinking. +While I was away at school I felt older than the other girls there, and +I wasn't interested in what interested them; that gave me a chance to +think some more. Then I came home, and you gave me that wonderful +coming-out party! It was after that I disappointed you most, wasn't it, +Momsie? I couldn't live the life the other debutantes did--talking silly +nonsense until early morning with men who hadn't any sense at all, +rushing to _thes dansants_ smoking cigarettes, and all that sort of +thing." + +"I never knew that you did smoke cigarettes," Marian said severely. + +"I don't suppose the mothers of the other girls knew it either; it was +the secrecy which made it sporty and gave the smoking its only interest. +I couldn't stand it, Momsie! I had to be doing something worth while! +Finally you let me have my own way, very much against your will, and +since then I've been a tomboy, as you say. Father gave in on the boat, +and I've spent hours in her, all by myself, trying to find out what the +things worth while are. I haven't been very successful yet, Momsie, but +I do know that it is a waste of time to fool around with boys like Ted +Erskine when one may find a chance to talk with a real man like Mr. +Huntington." + +"Mr. Hamlen is a real man, too, Merry. If you knew something of life--" + +"It's because I know too much of life, and understand too little. Mr. +Huntington has helped me to understand." + +"I had hoped that by being so much with him, you would be the more +prepared to appreciate Mr. Hamlen," Mrs. Thatcher said. + +"I wish I might have been more with you, dearie." + +Marian looked up quickly. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded. +"Haven't I given all my leisure to my family?" + +"You have had so very little leisure, Momsie." + +"I have had my own interests, of course--" + +"I'm not criticising you, dearie," Merry hastened to interpose; "I'm +only trying to explain myself to you." + +"I have done my best to prepare my children for the life they would +naturally enter--" + +"Isn't life what we live every day, Momsie? It isn't all made up of +worldly things, is it?" + +"Upon my word!" Marian cried. "One would think that I had entirely +neglected my family!" + +"No, Momsie; you have been most ambitious for us, and have made sure +that we could have everything you thought we ought to have. Truly it +isn't that I don't appreciate what you have done; I simply can't +understand why any one should want the things you consider essential. +Why, for instance, are you so anxious for me to be married?" + +"Because it is natural at this time in your life, Merry." Mrs. Thatcher +was determined to have no quarrel, in spite of what she considered just +provocation. "It is a mother's duty to advise her daughter when she sees +her on the verge of a mistake." + +"Suppose I felt that I didn't care to marry, Momsie, that I should be +happier to go through life expressing my own individuality?" + +"Don't let us get started on that," Marian protested. "You know how +little patience I have with feminism in any form. I do wish we might +discuss some subject in a normal way as other mothers and daughters do, +Merry," she continued, softening. "I have your interests on my mind all +the time, I want to help you to understand yourself and life, I love you +so, dear child,--and yet, whenever we try to talk anything over, it +always turns into an argument. What I have suggested to-day I have +thought of for months, I have considered it from every standpoint before +presenting it to you, but you give me no credit for that. Before you +even know how you feel about it you are ready to dismiss it. I really +think my efforts for your happiness are entitled to more consideration." + +"You think this would be for Mr. Hamlen's happiness too?" Merry asked +soberly. + +"I am sure of it," Marian replied, seeming to see a sign of yielding in +the girl's question. + +"Why hasn't he spoken to me himself?" Merry asked at length. + +"He will speak, of course; but to meet with another disappointment would +undo all the advance he has made." + +"I can't think of Mr. Hamlen as a married man," Merry continued; "I +can't believe that he would be happy under conditions changed from what +they are now. If he could only go on living with Mr. Huntington--" + +"That is out of the question, of course," Mrs. Thatcher answered. "Mr. +Huntington has accomplished a miracle in bringing him out of his old +obsession, and if it were possible to surround him now with normal +conditions there is no limit to the heights he might reach." + +"Has he told you that he cared for me?" + +"Not in so many words," her mother admitted; "that is scarcely to be +expected. I understand him so much better than he does himself. He +disparages his abilities, which is not a bad characteristic in a +husband, and without some assurance of success I doubt if he would ever +mention the subject to you. But you know what it would mean to him. I +shall never urge you against your will, my dear," she repeated with real +feeling,--"you know that without my telling you; but I do feel my own +responsibility so keenly! He was a boy of such promise, as he is to-day +a man of rare capabilities if the right one could only guide him in +making use of his talents. Haven't you felt this yourself, my dear, when +you have been with him?" + +Merry passed her hand wearily over her forehead. She could not +understand why she did not at once protest against what she felt to be +an unnatural suggestion. Still, the constancy of the lover, the sympathy +which she had felt for Hamlen since their first meeting in Bermuda, and +her own state of uncertainty combined in a confused way in the girl's +mind. Huntington's face was before her as her mother spoke of Hamlen, +his voice was in her ears, his words echoed in her heart: "I found the +girl too late!" Mrs. Thatcher thought Merry's hesitation came from a +consideration of the arguments just advanced, but what Huntington had +said formed the greatest argument of all. This closed for her all hope +of happiness coming as a direct response to the craving of her heart, +and left her only the possibility of attaining it through the indirect +means of giving happiness to some one else. + +"That is what he would do," she whispered; and the thought brought +comfort. + +"Haven't you felt this?" Mrs. Thatcher repeated at length, to recall the +girl to herself. "You have always seemed so much more at home with older +men, and he must have appealed to you. He would respond so quickly to +the sympathy you could give him." + +"Wouldn't it be wrong to marry a man you didn't love?" Merry asked +quietly. + +"But you respect him, don't you, dear? And respect is the first step +toward love. I wouldn't have you marry him unless that came, but there +is plenty of time before the wedding need be considered." + +"I am very unhappy!" Merry exclaimed suddenly, with a little catch in +her voice. + +"Unhappy, my dear!" Mrs. Thatcher cried with real sympathy, drawing the +girl's head upon her shoulder. "Why should you be unhappy? Tell Mother." + +"I don't know, myself," Merry admitted, crying softly. "I've been +unhappy ever so long. Now and then things have seemed to straighten out, +but never for long at a time. Now I'm more unsettled than I have ever +been, and I don't feel as if I could be much of a success in making any +one else happy while I feel so miserable myself." + +"This may be just what you need to help you find yourself, my dear," +Mrs. Thatcher answered, kissing her affectionately. "Oftentimes, when +we are wretched ourselves, we find happiness in giving it to others. +Don't promise me anything, dear child, except that you will think the +matter over carefully, and be prepared to settle it wisely when the time +comes. Let me say again, unless you decide for yourself that your life +will be made richer and brighter by marrying Philip Hamlen, of course I +should not wish you to consider it." + +Unconsciously Mrs. Thatcher had touched upon the same argument Merry had +used with herself. The girl had striven for happiness and failed to find +it; she had evolved a creed which called for ideals which she had come +to believe did not exist; she had demanded something for herself before +she thought of giving of herself. In her failure she had proved her +fallacy. The one person who had it in his power to disprove her present +contentions must consider her a visionary without the character to make +the visions real. Romance had already come to him, and having found the +girl too late that chapter in his life was closed. He was happy because +he always thought of others rather than himself. That was the only royal +road after all. There was nothing repellent about Hamlen. He had many +attributes which compelled admiration, and if he once became settled, +that in itself might release the indisputable abilities he possessed to +accomplish the great work which might lay before him. But would marriage +give that to him? Was she the one to bring about the metamorphosis which +her mother so confidently predicted? Would happiness come to her as a +result of giving it to him? + +The thoughts and the questions crowded through her mind in such numbers +and with such conflicting incoherence that she could hope to find no +answers. But her decision need not be made now--that one fact remained +clear and she clung to it. Perhaps another day would bring relief. + +"I will think it over, Momsie," she promised in a tired voice. "Forgive +me if I haven't seemed considerate. I want to do the right thing, dear, +but it is so hard to know what that is." + +"You are a darling!" Mrs. Thatcher cried, kissing her affectionately. +"Don't worry about that. Mother will help you to find out." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXII + + * * * * * + + +Merry's promise to consider the suggestion was equivalent to a victory, +in her mother's mind. True, it had not been won without a cost, for the +girl's plain, straightforward comments left their sting; but, after all, +they represented only a child's distorted viewpoint which failed to +appreciate the manifold demands upon a parent's time. Marian knew that +she had been a devoted mother, and she craved appreciation; but this was +more than she could expect. Merry's strictures were merely another +expression of her peculiar and unfathomable nature. + +The promise was the most that Marian could ask for, and with this +concession she did not doubt her ability finally to show the child that +the older judgment was wise and far-sighted. She knew that Merry had not +given the promise lightly, and that once given she would be +conscientious in fulfilling it. Her yielding, even to this extent, +atoned for many instances in the past where the girl had seemed +self-willed in insisting upon following her own judgment in spite of +advice from all the family to the contrary; but these were unimportant +incidents compared with the one at issue. Marian was now quite content +to let her daughter have her own way in anything and everything provided +she did not interfere in the gratification of carrying this one great +desire of her mother's life to a happy conclusion. + +The relations which had existed between her and Philip Hamlen, and the +responsibility she assumed for the aftermath, had become greatly +magnified during these months. It was natural that she should feel a +real satisfaction if she were able to repair the harm she had +unwittingly inflicted; but Huntington's question, "Are you not thinking +of him and of your obligation more than of your daughter?" proved so +disquieting that before speaking to Merry she had made doubly sure in +her own mind that the only way her responsibility affected her present +actions was to color the result with the romance of the past. She was +sincere in her conviction that at every step of her progress she had +been guided solely by a desire for her daughter's complete and final +welfare, and in her efforts she could find nothing other than a mother's +natural love and anxiety. + +There was another satisfaction, Marian admitted to herself, but it had +no bearing upon the situation until after she became convinced that her +attitude was justified from Merry's standpoint. She had never forgotten +Hamlen's domination over her as a girl. At the moment when she met him +so unexpectedly in Bermuda she felt the old-time sensation of dread she +had experienced so many times when alone with him during their childhood +days and the period of their engagement. She had never loved him; this +knowledge had come clearly to her during the years which had +intervened. When she accepted the tacit understanding of an engagement +it was because of the dominating influence of his mind over hers rather +than a response from her heart to his fierce devotion. The break came on +the occasion of the Senior Dance at Harvard to which she accepted Monty +Huntington's escort. Hamlen, bitter against college and college life, +and having no interest in the graduating festivities, not only refused +to attend the dance but forbade her to go without him. Her indignation +gave her strength to rebel against his domination. Later she sailed for +Europe, feeling a profound sense of relief that she had been able to +break the fetters which had bound her, she then realized, against her +will. + +The Hamlen she met at Bermuda was not the unreasonable boy of twenty +years before. He was still bitter, but they met on terms which gave her +the ascendency. Those traits which she had admired were accentuated, and +the fierce intensity had become modified. Now it was her mind which +controlled and his which yielded. He had tried to hold out against her +in refusing to come to America, but he had yielded; he was now trying to +hold out against her judgment that his marriage to Merry would restore +the lost equilibrium, but again he would yield. + +Still, above all other considerations, the great fact stood out in +Marian's mind that the match itself was ideal. Merry would find in him +an intellectual force which would satisfy her natural predilections; she +would give him in her spontaneity a leaven to perpetuate the normal +expressions of life which Huntington had taught him to understand. She +would give him the youth which he had lost, he would give her the +response which her unusual development could never obtain from a younger +man. The balance was perfect. The mother's heart rejoiced that her +efforts could make so noble a gift to her daughter, while the woman's +heart found equal satisfaction that these same efforts could pay the +debt of years in ample measure. + +It would have been a relief if her plans for entertaining the Bermuda +party could have been carried through without including Huntington, but, +entirely aside from the fact that this omission would have been a marked +slight, his co-operation in bringing Hamlen to this satisfactory +condition had been so conspicuous that there was no alternative. Mrs. +Thatcher was apprehensive lest he take advantage of his influence with +Hamlen to strengthen his will against her judgment; but this was a +chance she had to take. + +Could she have read his mind Marian would have found nothing to fear +from Huntington. His familiarity with Merry's nature made him aware, +soon after his arrival, of the fact that something of unusual moment had +occurred. There was a hectic excitement in her welcome, a yearning in +her eyes, otherwise unexplained, which went straight to his heart and +prepared him for the climax in the great renunciation of his life. + +"When the supreme test comes," she had told him, "I shall accept it"; +and he was convinced that the test had come and been accepted. + +"Ah, well!" he sighed deeply, "who am I to interfere?" + +It was the second day after his arrival before they finally found +themselves alone together, and he realized that Merry had been awaiting +this opportunity to have with him one of those intimate conversations +which previously he had so much enjoyed. Now, knowing what was coming, +he dreaded it. Until the words were spoken he could at least deceive +himself into believing that he might be wrong, and this self-deception +was all he now had left. + +"Let us sit down here in the sand," she said to him, "just as we used to +at Elba Beach." + +"I wish we were back there now," he answered feelingly, as he responded +to her request. + +"We always wish for something we have had, instead of something we are +going to have, don't we?" she asked, her hand modeling indefinite +figures in the damp sand. "I wonder why that is." + +"Because the past is known, and we can select the happy moments as we +choose. The future is unknown, and we must take it as it comes." + +"Oh, if we could only look into that future!" she exclaimed suddenly. +"If we could only be sure that in it we could correct our mistakes! How +that would simplify the problems of the present!" + +"Why speak so strongly?" he asked. "That belongs to those who have +mistakes to correct." + +"I have been thinking of myself all my life," she replied, at once +making the personal application. "I formed an ideal which I insisted +upon realizing, and when I found it at last it proved beyond my reach." + +"To have found it at all is more than most of us can claim." + +Her hand paused in its idle motions, and she looked up at him +inquiringly. + +"But you found yours." + +"Don't!" he said softly, a twinge of pain crossing his face. + +"I've hurt you again!" she cried impulsively. "Don't you see how selfish +I am? That proves it! There is no one I wouldn't rather hurt than you, +yet twice I've done it. Please forgive me; I'll not do it again." + +"There is nothing to forgive," he insisted as he did before. "I'm too +sensitive, that is all. Sometimes Life draws back the curtain and shows +us a wonderful picture of what might have been, to test the strength of +the philosophy the years should have taught us. The strong say, 'That is +not for me,' and pass it by; the weak stretch out their arms and cry in +vain for what they ought to know is not for them. I am among the weak." + +"You among the weak!" she cried incredulously. "How little you +appreciate yourself! It is of your strength which you must give me now, +for I am trying to be true to what you have taught me by your example: +by making some one else happy I am going to seek for happiness myself." + +It had come! Huntington needed no further confidence to complete the +avowal. He must be careful not to endanger the possibility of success +coming to the efforts which this brave spirit was prepared to make. +Hamlen was almost normal now. If this must be, Huntington knew that he +had played his part in preparing his classmate for the supreme joy which +ought to come to him in sharing the life of such a girl. At least he had +made her happiness possible. But the irony of her reference to his +teachings! + +"Then you are ready for the supreme test?" he asked in a low voice. + +"If it comes." + +Then it had not come! The reaction took him to an absurd extreme until +his sober sense returned and he realized that this made no change. If +Hamlen were eliminated, still the years remained. He saw still more +clearly that his opposition was not impartial. If Merry were to tell him +of her engagement to some younger man of whom he might wholly approve, +how could he take their hands in his and pronounce the banal +benediction, "God bless you, my children!" His heart would cry out and +his spirit rebel as bitterly in one case as in the other. Except for the +question of age he must admit that Hamlen was eligible; that what he +lacked in certain traits was offset by super-abundance in others. If +Huntington were to be consistent he must efface himself; to interfere +would be to accept greater responsibility than he had a right to assume. + +"You are prepared to marry a man you do not love because you hope to +make him happy, and thus gain happiness yourself?" he repeated the +problem slowly, emphasizing every word. + +"Yes," she replied deliberately; "and the reason I so want to peer into +the future is to make certain that either one of these results is +assured." + +"I suppose Hamlen is the man," Huntington said soberly. + +"He has spoken of it to you?" + +"Yes; he mentioned it soon after he came to visit me." + +"Then he does care for me? I had not realized that." + +How could the question be answered? Even if Huntington felt himself free +to repeat the confidence Hamlen had given him it would mar the +perfection of the sacrifice for Merry to know the truth. Her very +eagerness for happiness might bring it, and at whatever cost to himself +he wanted that to come to her! + +"When we spoke of it Mr. Hamlen was not in a condition to know what his +feelings really were," Huntington replied guardedly. "He realized his +limitations, and questioned, much as you do, the possibility of making +any other person happy. Since he has learned more of the world he is +greatly changed, but we have not again referred to the subject." + +"With us both feeling our limitations, and with both striving to +accomplish the same result, don't you think we ought to be successful?" + +There was an appealing expression in Merry's face which besought a +confirming answer. Huntington could not resist it. + +"It must be so," he said with decision. He smiled into her tense face +with a confidence his heart denied. "It must be so," he repeated. +"Somewhere there must be a divinity which watches over gentle souls like +yours, and brings them their reward." + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXIII + + * * * * * + + +While Huntington's spirits sank lower and lower Cosden's rose to a point +which made him oblivious to the cares and worries of the world around +him. He had passed through the probationary period with Edith Stevens +with marked success, and this opportunity of consecutive days with her +amid such congenial surroundings filled him with a delight which he had +never found in his business successes. Edith was right, Huntington was +right, Cosden admitted, in their contention that there was something +finer and more satisfying than business ideals; but he gave Edith the +credit for having proved it to him. + +He went to extremes in this swing of the pendulum as in all others, but +the net result was a smoothing down of many of the rough corners, and a +tempering of the aggressive individualism which had often offended. +Cosden sized himself up correctly when he remarked to Edith, "I never +expect to be the finished product Monty is, but I'm going to quit +advertising the fact." + +Edith could but admire the persistency with which he worked upon his +disagreeable problem. Her curiosity to see "how deep it went" developed +during the course of several other experiences together, into a complete +willingness to forget past delinquencies, and a real desire to encourage +him in the pursuit of his new course. It interested her to see that the +same forcefulness which had made itself disagreeable before was the very +agent which had accomplished the change she admired; that it was this +same dogged determination which maintained the present poise and gave +him the new dignity. + +Marian was delighted by the way her guests grouped themselves, and +everything seemed to play wonderfully into her hands. Edith appropriated +Cosden and appointed herself his hostess; brother Ricky enjoyed himself +hugely motoring around the country in one of the Thatcher automobiles, +and did not ask to be considered except at meals; Philip kept his boy +friends engaged in an absorbing series of outdoor activities which +prevented Billy from interfering with her plans for Merry; Mr. Thatcher +was so engrossed with business matters that he became almost a +negligible quantity, which his guests understood and overlooked; +Huntington so far, Marian rejoiced to admit, had carried himself +admirably, dividing his time between Merry, Hamlen and herself in such a +way as to be really helpful instead of a menace to her plans. Never had +she entertained a group of friends so accommodating, and she was more +deeply appreciative at this time than she cared to state. + +Edith and Cosden strolled down a leaf-covered walk, flanked by antique +statuettes, to an attractive pavilion at the end of the vista. Here they +seated themselves after a leisurely walk about the estate. Edith knew +she was taking chances, but as she felt quite capable of defending her +position she saw no reason why she should not enjoy Cosden's continued +devotion. + +"I've ordered tea served here," she announced. "We seem to be a little +early." + +"I'm in no hurry," Cosden replied cheerfully; "are you?" + +"I have forgotten how to hurry, after these delicious weeks here," Edith +answered, leaning back in her rustic chair. "I think it agrees with me +to be deliberate, as Marian is. I am going to cultivate it." + +"You are deliberate with me, all right," he declared. "I don't quite +understand myself nowadays. Usually when I find that I am making little +progress along one line I shift onto another, but now I seem perfectly +contented to sit back and watch you act your part. That shows that +there's something deeper in all this, doesn't it?" + +"You might shift back to Merry," she replied calmly. + +"No," he said with decision; "I've learned the rules now, and you don't +catch me revoking.--Tell me, if you don't like me, why do you let me +hang around like this, and if you do like me, what's the use of putting +me off so long?" + +"There are loads of people I don't even take the trouble to like or +dislike, whom I 'put off,' as you call it." + +"Do you really dislike me?" + +"No," Edith drawled slowly, as if deliberating; "I can't say that. In +fact I think I rather like you--in spots." + +Cosden leaned forward eagerly. "Isn't it stronger than that?" he +demanded. + +"I can't say it is," she replied, her voice manifesting the same +interest which she might show if he had asked any other commonplace +question; "but don't get down on your knees now, for here comes the tea +and I loathe demonstration before servants." + +"All right," Cosden said with resignation but without losing his +cheerfulness; "you don't discourage me a bit. I guess counsel is just +collecting a little extra fee for that break in Bermuda. I'll wait." + +"I know how many lumps you take in your tea, and I know that you prefer +cream, but shall I pass you the raspberry jam?" + +"No, thank you," he replied promptly. "My mother always used to dose me +up with calomel disguised in raspberry jam, and I can't eat it now +without tasting the medicine." + +"Very well," Edith laughed, "try some honey. But please tell me what has +put your friend Monty in the dumps. At Bermuda he was stimulating, but +down here he's as cheerful as a crutch." + +"Monty in the dumps?" Cosden echoed, surprised. "Why, I hadn't noticed +it. Just before Hamlen came to visit him, he was way down,--bemoaned his +age, and all that sort of thing. I thought we'd got him out of that. I +must look him over and see what the trouble is.--Here come our hostess +and Hamlen. Did you ever see such a change in any one?" + +Marian approached with her brightest smile. "I'm glad Edith is keeping +you from being bored," she said. "I'm afraid I've been very remiss." + +"I don't see how you could divide yourself into much smaller bits, Mrs. +Thatcher," Cosden replied. "This is a big family you have at present." + +"The bigger the better," she exclaimed brightly. "I hoped I should find +you out here, and as I see the tea is still hot perhaps Edith will let +us join you. Philip and I have been walking and talking until we are +really tired." + +"I am entranced with all this," Hamlen said, turning to Edith. "I had no +idea, when I paraded my few acres at Bermuda, that I was competing with +an estate like Sagamore. I wonder some one didn't rebuke me for my +presumption!" + +"Isn't that a pretty compliment!" Marian cried. "You have put yourself +into every inch of your beautiful place, Philip; Harry and I have only +done that to a very small extent. It is beautiful, I admit, and I love +it just as I love the beauties with which you have surrounded yourself +at home." + +"It makes little difference, after all, where one finds it, so long as +it is beauty," Hamlen replied. "'The dawn is my Assyria; the sunset and +moonrise my Paphos and unimaginable realms of faerie; broad noon shall +be my England of the senses and the understanding; the night shall be my +Germany of mystic philosophy and dreams.' I used to think Emerson must +have written that in Bermuda, but it might have been written here." + +Edith caught the expression on Cosden's face and almost laughed. + +"What's the use?" he whispered to her without being detected. "This pace +is too swift for me! He reeled that off as easily as I could the latest +quotations on copper!" + +"Oh, Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, "I can't tell you what it means +to me to see you yourself again after that awful shock you gave me at +Bermuda! Truly, when we left you behind us I gave up hope." + +"What hope there was you took away with you, so I was forced to follow." + +"Come, Cossie--Connie--," Edith stumbled,--"if I'm to call you by your +given name you'll have to change it to something reasonable,--this is no +place for us." + +"Don't let us drive you away," Marian protested. + +"That's all right; we want to be driven away. If we stay longer, and Mr. +Hamlen talks like that, Mr. Cosden will become sentimental.--Bye, bye." + +Mrs. Thatcher and Hamlen watched them as they strolled leisurely up the +path, Edith swinging her parasol and Cosden walking meekly beside her. +Finally Marian turned to him and laughed. + +"What a dance that girl is leading him!" + +"Do you think she cares for him?" + +"In her way; but if he marries her he will have earned her!--He went +down to Bermuda on purpose to become engaged to Merry." + +"He did!" Hamlen exclaimed, surprised; "why, they were never together +when I saw them." + +"Nor often at other times. Of course, it was ridiculous,--but with you, +Philip, she'll be the happiest girl in all the world." + +His eyes dropped quickly as she turned the conversation, and the +expression on his face completely changed. + +"You are wrong, Marian," he protested; "no happiness can ever come to +any woman through me." + +"Don't disparage yourself," she answered gently. "You are a different +man from what you were. Do you think I would counsel this if I were not +sure?" + +"You believe it, Marian," he conceded, "and I wish I shared your +confidence. But I know myself. The time when I might have made something +of what I had passed long ago. If I am to go on at all it must be with +my real self suppressed, and the only way to do this is to plod my path +alone." + +"Why slip back, Philip? Why suppress your real self?" + +"I know the danger of permitting it to assume control." + +"When last we talked you seemed willing to accept my judgment." + +"I am still, in everything but this. I appreciate your desire for my +happiness, Marian, but you are taking a responsibility beyond what is +wise. I am complimented by your daughter's willingness to listen to an +offer of marriage from me, but if the test really came she could not +meet it." + +"She would, Philip,--she would." + +"I cannot comprehend it," he continued; "she has seen me at my worst." + +"She understands you, and appreciates the wonderful qualities you +possess. She is too young to know the depth of love, but old enough to +recognize what a man like you can become to her. If you would only +speak with her you too would understand." + +Hamlen moved uncomfortably in his chair, and was silent for what seemed +an interminable period. When at last he turned he spoke with a +conviction which shocked her. + +"No, Marian," he said deliberately; "it can never be. Let us end this +farce before it goes too far." + +"Philip!" she cried, seeing her work of months crumbling before her, and +reading in his determined face the miscarriage of what she believed to +be predestined. "I can't permit you to destroy the years which remain to +you." + +She leaned over and took his hand in hers. Success had been so near that +she could not see it slip away from her now without a supreme effort. +Merry needed such a man as this and Hamlen needed her. Why should these +false ideas, created by years of self-depreciation, stand in the way of +what she knew was best? + +"I can't let you destroy the years which remain to you," she repeated +earnestly. "I can't see my child's happiness marred by your foolish +insistence upon ideals which rest on conditions now long since passed +away. Philip, if you loved me once, show it now by your confidence in my +judgment, by your faith in my purpose. Tell me one reason why this +should not be." + +"If I loved you once?" he echoed her words with a force which startled +her. "Tell you one reason why this should not be? The one answers the +other, Marian; for that love, intensified by the denial of twenty +years, is now a power I can't withstand." + +"Philip!" she cried, striving to release her hand which he held in a +grip which hurt her, "you don't mean that you still--" + +"I mean that I have never ceased to love you, Marian. Look at me now and +tell me if you doubt it. Even while I cursed you for ruining my life, I +loved you. Every day of the twenty years I have lived alone I have had +your face before me, I have held out my arms beseeching you to come to +me, I have beaten my head against the wall in despair that the one +longing of my heart could never hope for realization." + +"You never told me--I did not know--" + +"I have at least been strong enough to keep my secret, Marian; but it is +sacrilege for you to talk to me of marriage to your daughter. Now that +you know the truth you will urge no further. Could anything be more +dishonorable than to offer myself to her when even to-day my love for +you is beating at my heart until I can scarcely contain it? No, no! let +us have an end to all this mockery! In the name of a life's devotion, in +the name of the love you once had for me--" + +"Release me, Philip," she entreated, frightened by his tenseness; but he +only tightened his grip upon her hand. She realized the importance of +terminating this impossible situation, regardless of the pain it might +inflict. + +"I never loved you, Philip," she said deliberately. "At the time, I +thought I did; but it was my mind and not my heart you dominated." + +He dropped her hand as if she had struck him, and, dazed, supported +himself against the rustic chair. + +"You never loved me?" he repeated brokenly after her. "You never--oh, +God! why did you tell me that! Why did you come back into my life to +stir up those forces which had crushed me, but which I had at last +subdued!" + +Then he turned his eyes upon her, full of the reproach which he dared +not trust himself to speak. + +"If it was the domination of my mind then, why should it not be now?" he +asked in a voice which trembled with emotion. "Look at me, Marian!" + +"Don't, Philip, I entreat of you; you frighten me! + +"Look at me!" he commanded, and she slowly raised her head and gazed +into his face. + +"Do you remember the last time you looked at me like that?" he asked +quietly, but even in his low tones there was a compelling force she +recognized. + +"Come," he said rising, and drawing her toward him. "If it was not love +which brought you to my arms before, then it must be the same impulse +to-day. Come, Marian, it is not the daughter I want, it is you,--my +beloved, my sweetheart of years gone by!" + +"Philip!" she protested feebly, "Philip--I entreat--" but the old, +irresistible influence was too strong, and he folded her in his arms. + +In a moment his face changed as if touched by a magician's wand. The +lines which years and disappointment had traced were miraculously +smoothed away, and the expression of contentment was that which comes +only when the seeker has at last reached the consummation of his quest. +The lips moved silently, the eyes looked far into the distance. The past +was forgotten, the future unheeded, but the wonderful present was his! + +A convulsive sob from Marian finally brought him to himself. He loosened +his hold, and gazed into her face with abject horror. + +"My God!" he cried, as he allowed her limp form to slip back into the +chair. "What have I done! Marian, child, speak to me! Tell me that you +forgive me! It was the years which did it, not I; Marian! speak to me! +Tell me you forgive me!" + +He gazed helplessly around as no response came. She lay there, her head +resting on the back of the chair, sobbing hysterically but giving no +sign that she even heard his words. He watched her until at last she +opened her eyes and regained control. Then he spoke again. + +"Leave it unspoken, Marian," he exclaimed with an agony in his voice +which the suspense intensified. "I have said it to myself. I have made +myself an outcast, a pariah! Let me take you to the house. Then you need +never think of me again." + +"No," she said brokenly; "leave me here." + +"This is the end, Marian!" The words came short and crisp. "I ask your +forgiveness no more. There are some things which are past forgiveness. I +only ask you to forget.--Good-bye!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXIV + + * * * * * + + +The long, sleepless night which followed Marian's harrowing experience, +painful as it was, proved the most vital moment of her life. From +girlhood it had been hers to receive rather than to give. Her beauty and +vivacity had always attracted attention and homage, her positive nature +demanded and was given leadership, until she came to regard this as +natural and to be expected. To have Huntington question her judgment was +as novel as it was unpleasant, to have Merry suggest a worldliness in +her approach to life struck her as absolutely incongruous. Mrs. Thatcher +knew herself to be a competent woman, and as no one before had +questioned her ethics, she accepted the successful outcome of her +undertakings as conclusive proof that her judgment was correct. + +She might pass Huntington's comment by as the expression of one who +could look at any question only from a man's standpoint, she could make +light of what Merry said on the ground that the girl knew so little of +life; but in her experience with Hamlen she had come face to face with a +mistake so real that it compelled a readjustment of her perspective. She +could harbor no resentment against him: the climax had come as the +direct result of her own error in judgment, and the responsibility +belonged to her alone. Ever since that eventful meeting in Bermuda she +had seen the battling of conflicting emotions. To her more than to any +one else should have come knowledge of the limit beyond which this +self-tortured soul could not be pressed. She had deceived herself in +regard to the reclamation; Hamlen's condition remained unchanged; +Huntington had simply developed him to a point where he had gained +better control. Beneath the deceptive smoothness of the surface still +surged the turmoil started twenty years before, seething with +unsatisfied yearnings, and kept under only by the superb strength of +will which she herself at last had broken down. Huntington had warned +her of the danger but she refused to recognize its existence. Marian +could blame no one but herself, and the fact that her intentions had +been of the best did not mitigate the tragedy she had perpetrated. This +latest buffet of the world would be conclusive evidence to Hamlen that +he had no place in its daily routine. + +Marian had reached this point in her mental struggle when the most awful +thought of all suddenly came to her. + +"Would the harm stop there!" + +She sat bolt upright, staring ahead into the grey dawn which lighted the +chamber through the long windows. "Merciful God!" she cried aloud,--"not +that! not that!" + +A moment later she sprang out of bed and threw a kimono about her. Then +she opened the window-door and passed out onto the little balcony. The +sun was just rising, and Marian unconsciously first felt the beauty of +the breaking day. It had been long since she had seen a sunrise! She +stood watching it for a brief moment, brushing back with her hand the +mass of beautiful hair which fell about her shoulders and lay against +her ashen cheeks. Then she stepped forward, and facing the East like a +Sun-worshiper of old fell upon her knees in an agony of prayer. The God +who made a world like this she supplicated, who flooded it with the +radiance of such a day, would not so punish her for a single act of +folly! Mistaken as it was, behind it all lay a desire to atone, an +effort for the happiness of others. He would not ask for retribution +such as that! + +Relieved by her outburst she returned to her chamber. She must see +Huntington. He would know what to do. He would be God's agent to prevent +the awful climax. But it would be several hours before she could disturb +him, and these hours must be endured. + +Huntington responded promptly to the summons when it reached him, +wondering what the occasion might be. Marian's explanation of Hamlen's +disappearance the night before had been so diplomatic that he had +accepted it, so the real story was a complete surprise. He listened +intently as she told him everything, sparing herself in no degree, +anxious only to receive from him some assurance that her fears were +unwarranted. + +"You should have told me sooner," was the only criticism Huntington +made, after learning the details. + +"I was completely dazed," Marian explained helplessly. "This awful +thought only came to me in the early morning. You don't think it too +late! Don't tell me that!" + +"It is useless to speculate," he answered gravely. "Knowing Hamlen as we +do, and knowing how high his sense of honor, the next step seems +inevitable. He will consider that he has sinned against the woman he +loves, and will demand of himself an expiation beyond what he would +exact from any one else. I shall do my best to find him. Let us hope it +will be in time." + +"Couldn't I go with you?--No, of course I couldn't,--but how can I +endure it until I know? What can I do to help?" + +Huntington had risen, ready to take his motor-car which had been +summoned when first he learned the facts. There was no excitement in his +manner, but an alert readiness to undertake his duty with the least +possible delay. As Mrs. Thatcher asked the question a sternness seemed +to come into his face, but his voice was kindly as he replied. + +"Whatever you tell the others," he said with decision, "Merry must know +the whole truth. There is another tragedy going on in that little girl's +soul which needs a mother's care. That is where you can help.--I shall +telephone you as soon as I have news." + +As the crunching of the wheels on the gravel road died away Mrs. +Thatcher rose and went to her daughter's room. Never before had she so +promptly followed another's suggestion, but at that moment she felt an +aversion to her own judgment, and welcomed the opportunity to follow +rather than to lead. + + * * * * * + +"All this mystery is getting on my nerves," Edith remarked to Cosden as +they sauntered out onto the piazza after a later breakfast. "Mr. Hamlen, +after seeming perfectly rational with us in the _bosquet_ yesterday, +rushes into the house, packs his belongings, and disappears without +saying 'good-bye' to any one. Marian, also rational when we saw her +yesterday, becomes invisible to the naked eye, and sends word she has a +headache--the first I've ever known her to have. This morning she is +down to breakfast before any one of us is up except Mr. Huntington, who +by a strange coincidence also craves an early breakfast for the first +time on record. Marian has gone up-stairs again, and our friend Monty +has motored off to Heaven knows where. Now then, what's the answer?" + +"Why not accept Mrs. Thatcher's explanation until you have a better +one?" Cosden asked, drawing his chair nearer to hers. + +"Because it's too fishy, and my curiosity is aroused." + +"In that case I'm sure you'll find out all about it," he said smiling. + +"Why aren't you interested?" + +"I'm perfectly comfortable," he explained, "and so entirely satisfied +with the present company that I can spare Hamlen, Monty, and even Mrs. +Thatcher just as well as not." + +"Then you're going to leave me to do the work?" she demanded. "That's +just like a man!" + +"I'm glad they're gone," Cosden admitted. "It gives me just the chance +I've been waiting for: will you marry me?" + +"Again?" Edith inquired. + +"No; just this once." + +"It would serve you right if I did!" + +"I dare you to!" + +"No! no! no! no!" she cried. + +"Give me an option for thirty days." + +"You silly!" she laughed. "For a sensible man you can be more kinds of +foolish than any one I know." + +"Flattery doesn't hurt anybody unless he swallows it," Cosden retorted +complacently. + +Whither their gibes would have carried them is needless to consider, for +they were interrupted by the approach of a motor-car up the driveway. + +"Monty has made a quick trip," Cosden observed, "now you can satisfy +your curiosity." + +"On the contrary," Edith retorted rising, "the plot thickens. That is +Harry Thatcher. What in the world has happened to send him motoring down +here at ten o'clock in the morning?" + +They passed through the hallway to the _porte cochere_ on the opposite +side of the house. Thatcher was just descending from the car. + +"Hello!" he greeted Edith, who was ahead. "Where's Marian?" + +"Up-stairs. What brings you home at this time of day?" + +"Don't disturb her yet," he exclaimed, disregarding her question. "I +want a word with Cosden first. You'll excuse us?" + +Locking his arm through Cosden's Thatcher led him back onto the piazza +which the two had just left. + +"What's wrong?" Cosden asked. "Market gone to pieces?" + +"It's hell,--nothing less," Thatcher answered, speaking with an +excitement unnatural to him. "I left New York at four o'clock this +morning. I've come to you, Cosden, as a last resort. We've fought each +other on every deal we've ever been in, so you understand how hard I'm +pushed. If you're fixed so that you can put me next to a bunch of cold, +hard cash, you can have anything I control at a fraction of its value. +This is your chance to make your everlasting fortune if you can command +the cash." + +"You don't mean it!" Cosden exclaimed. "Are you caught as bad as that?" + +"Worse than that. Securities are dropping out of sight. Germany will +declare war inside of a week, and there is danger of other big nations +becoming involved. If they do, God only knows what will happen to the +money system of the world; it is strained already to the breaking-point. +You may thank Heaven, Cosden, that your investments are not in +speculative stocks! But we're losing time. I must get back by three +o'clock. Is there any chance of pulling off my forlorn hope? If not, +we'll close our doors to-morrow." + +"Do you actually mean that, Thatcher?" + +"Exactly that. I don't advise you to do this unless you're fixed so that +you can carry things comfortably, for I tell you we're in for a crisis; +but if you can, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, and by sacrificing +my personal interests I can save my house." + +"How much do you need?" + +"Half a million, in cash. I'm that much short of what I must have to see +me through. It might as well be a billion!" + +"What do you offer for it?" + +"Five million in Consolidated Machinery stock." + +Cosden whistled and then became contemplative, while Thatcher waited +eagerly for his reply. The hesitation in itself was encouraging, for it +indicated that Cosden could raise the money if he cared to do it. + +"As a matter of fact, Thatcher," Cosden said at length, "I've been +laying my pipes for just this moment ever since the trouble began, and +I'm fixed where I can handle it all right; but I don't quite like the +proposition as it stands." + +"Then make your own proposition." + +"I've counted on having my available cash earn me something handsome, of +course; but I don't think I'd enjoy my profits much if I got them by +cleaning you out." + +"We must forget friendship and all else at a time like this," Thatcher +cried. "For God's sake, man, if you can do it, don't stand on any +foolish sentiment! It may ruin me, but my house will weather the storm. +I ask it as a favor." + +"How soon must you have the money?" + +"By to-morrow." + +"All right; I'll give you drafts to take back to New York." + +"Thank God!" Thatcher exclaimed feverishly. "And you'll take the stock?" + +"No, I don't want the stock. Give me your note." + +"But I haven't a dollar's worth of collateral to put up with it. +Everything I own is pledged." + +"Damn the collateral! The signature will be genuine, won't it? That's +good enough for me." + +"You advance it simply as a loan?" + +"Of course. Now let's get the drafts fixed up, and you run back to New +York and keep your finger on the pulse of the market." + +"You're sacrificing the chance of your life, Cosden," Thatcher +exclaimed. "Why should you do this for me?" + +"I don't quite understand it myself," Cosden admitted; "but as long as I +want to why not make the most of it? I might change my mind." + +"And we've always said you were a hard man, Cosden!" Thatcher exclaimed +with gratitude in his voice. + +"I was once," he admitted; "but lately I've been getting humanized, and +anybody can slip anything over on me. Now you trot back to New York and +cable Willie Kaiser that I disapprove of his declaring war." + +"You are a friend in need!" Thatcher grasped his hand cordially. "I'll +run up for a word with Marian, and then back into the vortex. Keep your +eye on the cable news, Cosden. Hell is breaking loose!" + +As Thatcher rushed up-stairs Cosden relit his cigar which had gone out +during the excitement, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked +meditatively up and down the piazza. He was immensely pleased with +himself, and felt entitled to his self-approval. + +"Even old Monty couldn't have done that better," he muttered. "Good old +Thatcher--I hope it pulls him through!" + +"What's the matter with Harry?" Edith demanded in a stage whisper, +appearing from nowhere. + +"He forgot his umbrella yesterday," Cosden lied, speciously, "and he's +afraid it's going to rain." + +"Oh, you tantalizing brute!" she cried, stamping her foot indignantly. +"I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man in the world!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXV + + * * * * * + + +Huntington's mind worked hard as he settled back in the motor-car and +surveyed the situation. It was impossible for him to have been so +intimately associated with Hamlen all these weeks without assimilating +his friend's manner of thought and action accurately enough to follow +him in this climax of his tragedy. Of his determination he had no doubt; +that he had as yet put it into execution was another matter. Huntington +believed that Hamlen would wish to see him once more before he visited +upon himself the extreme penalty which his hypersensitive nature would +decree. + +It was shortly after noon when the car drew up in front of Huntington's +home. Mrs. Thatcher, in her feverish efforts to assist, had suggested +that the fugitive might have gone across to Newport to take the boat +from there to New York; but Huntington figured it differently. Hamlen +disliked and distrusted New York, while Boston had become a second home +to him. His belongings, such as he had brought with him from Bermuda, +were still in the Beacon Street house, and Huntington was sure that +following the instincts of a homing pigeon he would return there by the +straightest path. + +Still, the doubt lingered with sufficient persistency to quicken +Huntington's movements up the brownstone steps. As he let himself in, +Dixon met him in the hallway. + +"Mr. Hamlen,--is he here?" Huntington demanded. + +"Yes, sir; he's up-stairs and very wild, sir." + +"Wild?" Huntington queried. "When did he arrive?" + +"Last night, sir, about ten o'clock. When I let him in he rushed past me +and went up-stairs, sir. I followed him, thinking he might need +something, but he turned on me and cursed me, sir. When I ventured to +take him some breakfast he swore at me again, and told me to get out of +the way. I'm glad you've come, sir. I was at a loss to know what to do +about luncheon." + +Huntington waited to hear no more, but mounted quickly to Hamlen's room +and knocked gently on the door. + +"Keep out, I tell you!" came a hoarse, guttural voice so unlike Hamlen's +that it startled him. "How many times must I tell you to leave me +alone!" + +"It is I,--Huntington." + +There was a sound of shuffling feet, the pushing back of a chair, and +the door was flung open. + +"I knew you would come to me!" Hamlen cried, extending his hand eagerly. +"You are the one man on earth who would stand by me!" + +"Of course; but you've given me a devilish shock, old man. Come +down-stairs where we can talk things over." + +"Yes, we must do that," he assented, following. "My only fear was that +you might not understand, and would delay your coming. I couldn't have +waited long." + +"I came as soon as I learned the facts." + +"I should not have doubted. Now let us sit down." + +The real shock to Huntington was that so great physical change could +take place within so short time. Hamlen seemed years older. His erect +carriage had slackened, his face was sunken, his hands and body twitched +nervously, and his eyes burned with a consuming fire. Pity filled +Huntington's heart, and he leaned over and placed his hand on his +friend's knee. + +"You mustn't take it like this," he said quietly. "There is something to +be said on both sides." + +Hamlen looked at him with a wan smile. "I wish there were," he said; +"but let us not speak of that. To you, at least, there is no need of +explanation. I told you what I dreaded,--well, the worst has come to +pass; that's all there is to it." + +"No!" Huntington contradicted, determined that he should not bear all +the blame; "there is much more to it than that. You and I are not the +only ones who understand. Mrs. Thatcher instructed me to ask your +forgiveness for her blindness. She understands, too, Hamlen, and she +knows that she brought it on herself." + +"Marian asks _my_ forgiveness!" he repeated stupefied,--"she asks me to +forgive her?" + +Huntington nodded. + +He pressed his hands against his temples. "My God, man! Is the world all +topsy-turvy! I forget my obligations toward my hostess, I am false to +my responsibilities as a friend, I force myself upon a married woman +whom in all honor I am bound to protect,--and she asks me to forgive +her! You are mocking me, Huntington. It is unworthy of you!" + +"It is the provocation she understands, Hamlen, and having unwittingly +given it, she accepts the responsibility, as she should. I'm not sure +that I myself am not the one to blame, for I knew better than she the +forces held back only by your self-control. If I had been more insistent +in my warning all might have been different." + +"That may explain, but it does not condone." + +"At least it mitigates. The beaver, innocently enough, undermines a dam +in securing material to build its home, and the waters rush down to the +destruction of the surrounding country. Surely you can't blame the +waters! Nor can you seriously blame the beaver for not comprehending +those natural laws of cause and effect.--Come, Hamlen, admit there's +something in what I say, and realize that this is an accident rather +than a tragedy." + +Again Hamlen tried to smile, but the expression on his face failed to +reassure. + +"It would be well for me if it were you upon the bench," Hamlen said +gravely. "The prisoner at the bar would receive far more leniency than +he will from me! No, Huntington; I can admit nothing. I believed that I +reached my lowest depth before I met you all in Bermuda. I believed my +life was over,--a miserable, useless, lonely life if you will, but at +least an honest one. Then you instilled hope into my dry bones. Judgment +warned me not to listen to you, human weakness tempted me to make one +further effort to redeem myself. I came to you here. Out of the bigness +of your heart you gave me of yourself, you taught me what life really +was. I acknowledge my debt, Huntington, and am grateful to you. Don't +mistake that, my friend, in what I am going to say. The joy of the new +experience lulled me into a sense of false security. I thought myself +like other men, strong enough to hold the passionate love I have always +borne that woman down, down where no one could ever see it. That was my +arrogance, Huntington; for it, I am paying the price." + +"She understands now if she never did before," Huntington reiterated. +"She felt her responsibility for your lonely years, and in trying to +atone made matters worse." + +"It is not her place to protect me," Hamlen continued with conviction. +"Take your own simile, with which you try to ease my sense of shame: +even though the waters are not to be blamed, what do people do with +them? Do they let them continue on their path of destruction? No, dear +friend, your arguments are kindly meant, but untenable. I intend to put +those waters where they will do no further harm." + +Huntington's face set in determined lines. "So you will dare to assume +the prerogatives of man and God?" he demanded sternly. + +Hamlen had never seen Huntington in this mood, and his eyes shifted +uneasily as they met the unflinching gaze of his friend. + +"There will be no scandal, Huntington," he said quietly; "I shall not +thus repay your royal hospitality. There are some matters I must turn +over to you, and as my friend I know you will accept them. Then I will +grasp your hand for the last time, thank you from the bottom of my heart +for giving me back the life I had abandoned, and pass on,--whither, it +concerns myself alone." + +"What are the matters you have in mind?" Huntington asked, hoping that +some word of Hamlen's might give him inspiration. + +"First, as to my property," Hamlen replied with returning confidence as +his friend showed willingness to listen. "Here is my will." He drew a +folded sheet from his pocket, on which he had written perhaps twenty +lines. "Please look it over, and tell me if it is legally drawn when the +necessary signatures are added." + +Huntington took the paper, with difficulty focusing his mind upon the +written words. + +"Yes," he said, looking up at length; "this document is wonderfully +simple and direct in its statements. The only possible attack upon it +would be to raise an issue as to your mental status at the time you drew +it up." + +"Could any one question that?" + +"Your later actions will determine," Huntington said significantly. + +Hamlen laughed nervously. "Fortunately there is no one left who would +have any interest to contest.--As I told you, the bulk of my property is +now in liquid form on deposit in New York, which simplifies your work as +executor. That, you see, I want to give to Harvard." + +He paused for a moment and became meditative. "How little I thought, six +months ago, that I should become a benefactor of the college I then +despised! That is your work, my friend,--making me realize my +obligation.--Hold on a minute: I want to add to that document! My +bequest shall go to Harvard as the 'William Montgomery Huntington +Foundation, given by a friend, the income to be used to foster larger +acquaintance and closer intimacy amongst the members of each freshman +class.' Make a note of that, will you? There may be other changes." + +Huntington made the necessary notations. It was best to humor him until +his entire plan was outlined. + +"Now, as to the estate in Bermuda," he went on. "You see what I've done +with it,--but have I been quite delicate? This whole affair, and its +outcome, will be humiliating to that sensitive little girl, and this +might be a constant reminder. I would like her to have it; she would +appreciate my trees and my flowers,--their fragrance might help her to +forget my grave offense. Then again, perhaps Marian would see in this +act an effort on my part to atone. I couldn't leave it to her, but do +you think the girl would understand my motive?" + +"Better than any one I know," Huntington replied. + +Hamlen seemed to have reached the end of his elaboration, and was +silent. + +"How soon is this remarkable document to become operative?" Huntington +demanded. + +"Six months from to-day if you do not hear from me to the contrary, or +upon receiving proof of death." + +"All right," Huntington rejoined with apparent complacency. "I'll have +it drafted in proper form and you can execute it to-morrow or next day. +Now listen to me." + +Hamlen looked up at him anxiously. Everything was progressing so well +that the new tone in Huntington's voice gave him apprehension. + +"It is always well to have these matters provided for, and if you +haven't a will it is time you drew one up. As to the disposition of your +property, it is yours to do with as you like, and I appreciate the +compliment you have paid to me. Up to this point I have no right to +interfere." + +Hamlen stiffened at the suggestion of interference. "There are limits," +he said quietly, "even to the rights of a friendship such as ours." + +"True; but we haven't begun to reach them yet. You acknowledge--don't +you?--that you still have an obligation to our Alma Mater which is +unsatisfied?" + +"I think I have acknowledged that in a substantial way," Hamlen replied, +surprised. + +"What can you think of an Alma Mater which would accept money in +exchange for the life of one of her sons? Do you consider her as +mercenary as that?" + +"When the son has forfeited his right to life--" + +"Who are you to take upon yourself the judicial ermine, Hamlen?" +Huntington said sternly. "You have years before you yet to devote to her +welfare. If you are a man, fulfil your obligations during your natural +lifetime, and then supplement your labors by the princely gift you have +in mind. If you will insist on assuming all the blame for this +regrettable affair, don't let it make you shirk your duty, but go at +life again with an added incentive to pay your debt." + +"You demand of me what is beyond my strength. I can't go on." + +"That is cowardice, Hamlen.--Forgive the word," he added quickly as he +saw the color mount to his friend's cheeks, "forgive the cruelty; but I +must make you see yourself." + +"It takes some courage to carry through what I have in mind," he +protested. + +"Not the slightest in the world," Huntington contradicted. "Just pull a +wretched little trigger, pump half an ounce of lead into your diseased +brain, and you think your troubles are over. I know the pleasures of +this world, my friend, but I am entirely ignorant of those of the next. +Let us take our chances on these when our time comes, not before. No, +Hamlen, the easy thing is to side-step our difficulties here; it is the +hard thing to stand up in our boots and say, 'Yes, I've broken your +laws, I've outraged your sensibilities; but I'm going to atone for what +I've done.' You have that strength, Hamlen, and I sha'n't let you pass +it up." + +"I'm sorry I waited for you!" Hamlen retorted sullenly. + +"No, you're not; for you are an honest man." It was hard for Huntington +to be brutal, but this was the moment when Hamlen must be forced to +yield if at all. "You said a moment ago that I gave you back the life +you had abandoned; then that life belongs to me. If you destroy it, you +rob me of something which is mine, and that is theft. I don't care +whether you agree with me or not, but I demand of you my property, on +which you gave up your claim. If I leave it in your hands will you +protect it for me, and deliver it to me when I am ready to make use of +it?" + +This was a new idea to Hamlen, and he could not meet it. He was only +conscious that Huntington was taking full advantage of his influence +over him, and was driving him on relentlessly. He shifted his eyes +uncomfortably, and in them was bitter resentment. + +"You leave me no alternative," he said helplessly. "For God's sake tell +me what you want!" + +"I don't know," Huntington admitted frankly; "but for the present give +me your promise that you will stay here until I reach my decision. I +must go back to Sagamore to relieve the anxiety of those who are +suffering on your account. When I return I shall hope to have found the +solution. Have I your promise?" + +Hamlen leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. + +"You are too strong for me," he muttered. "I must do as you wish." + +Huntington laid his hand kindly on the bowed head. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXVI + + * * * * * + + +In spite of Mrs. Thatcher's watchfulness, Billy had seen Merry and met +his Waterloo. Blissfully unaware of the momentous happenings about him, +and determined to "get even" with "the Gorgon," the boy developed a plot +of his own which was perfect in conception barring one important detail: +he and Merry were to slip away in a motor-car, dash over to Fall River +to a young clergyman he knew, have the knot tied before interference was +possible, and then return to Sagamore Hall for the parental blessing. +The question of license occurred to him, but that was a mere detail +which could be arranged on the way over. + +It was several days after this brilliant idea came to Billy before he +found opportunity to take Merry into his confidence, but the more he +thought it over the more strongly it appealed. The fact that she seemed +even less responsive than usual did not discourage him, for girls, he +had discovered, always act exactly contrary to their real feelings in +affairs of this kind. The details were so absurdly simple and the +outcome would be so eminently satisfactory that the possibility of +failure became more and more remote. But, as the strength of any chain +is determined by its weakest link, it was in this one omitted detail +that Billy's plan slipped up; the idea did not appeal to Merry with +sufficient force even to be given serious consideration. + +As a matter of fact the boy could not have selected a less opportune +moment for presenting his forlorn hope. Merry had reached that ecstatic +height to which martyrs attain. Joan of Arc was no more zealous to +sacrifice herself to save Orleans than was Merry to pay the debt of +honor her mother owed to Hamlen. It may be that the Maid was influenced +in her heart by other motives beyond the "heavenly voices" which are +generally accredited; it may be that Merry was more susceptible to the +"call" she believed had come to her for some reason other than a +willingness for martyrdom,--but in both cases the sincerity of the +response was too genuine to be questioned. Billy's infatuated wooing +seemed to her like sacrilege, and his mad plan for elopement too +ridiculous for discussion. + +"Let us be friends, dear Billy," she said to him sweetly and +gently,--"just friends, you and Philip and I. We'll always have the best +of times together, help each other over the hard places, and sympathize +with every sorrow which comes to any one of us." + +"No!" he protested vigorously, kicking viciously at an inoffensive root +protruding slightly beneath his foot. "Nix on this brother and sister +game; there's nothing in it." + +"I need you as a friend, Billy,--I need you this very minute!" + +Billy pricked up his ears at the words and at the pathetic note in +Merry's voice; but he did not intend to be caught off his guard. + +"What do you mean 'need me as a friend'? Want me to run an errand for +you? All right, off I go." + +"No, Billy; I need your sympathy. We're old pals, and ought to stand by +each other." + +He looked at her with a dawning understanding. + +"Merry," he said, with the conviction of one who has made a great +discovery,--"you're unhappy!" + +"Perhaps," she admitted; "I'm not sure." + +"I knew it!" he declared with satisfaction. "You are unhappy and I know +the reason why: you're in love with me without realizing it. You're +fighting against your destiny and you don't understand what the trouble +is. That's why you are unhappy." + +"No, no, Billy; that isn't it." + +"Yes, it is; you take my word for it. We'll just slip it over on the +whole bunch, get married, and then you'll see. You'll be as happy as a +lark." + +"Oh! Billy, I do wish you'd be serious!" + +"Serious? ha! I should say I was serious! And to show you how sure I am +I'm right, I'll make you a sporting proposition: if our getting married +doesn't shake your fit of blues then we'll call the whole thing off. +What do you say?" + +Merry laughed in spite of herself. "You certainly are the most +impossible boy! You speak of getting married as if it were a set of +tennis." + +"It's easy enough to get a divorce. Why don't you take a chance? Come +on, be a sport!" + +When he found this wooing ineffective, Billy adopted the tragic _motif_. +"Every time I think I've picked a rose," he declared disconsolately, "it +turns out to be poison ivy; and here I am, stung again!" + +It was unfortunate for Billy that Merry could never take him seriously. +While the boy poured out his youthful protestations she was gentle and +considerate, but her appeal to his reason proved futile because no such +thing existed. Later, when alone, the absurdity of the situation gave +her an outlet, and she laughed quietly to herself. Poor, dear, +easy-going Billy! She would have spared him even these imaginary +heart-pangs if she could, but the real meaning of life and its +responsibilities was yet for him to learn. + +Constant in the purpose to which she had consecrated herself, Merry +received her mother on that eventful morning with mind prepared to +accept the supreme test. She had been standing at the window before her +chamber door opened, looking out across the broad lawn to the wide +expanse of water sparkling in the morning sun. She had watched a stately +four-master sailing majestically by; she had watched the little pleasure +craft, darting in and out as if playing at hide and seek. The great ship +pursued its dignified course, following the track laid down for it by +the mariner's chart; the frolicsome boats went hither or thither, +whichever way the favoring wind filled their sails. The great ship by +holding steadfastly to her course would eventually reach that port +toward which she had set out, with her mission fulfilled; the little +boats would return to the moorings from which they fluttered with no +other purpose accomplished than the pleasure of the passing moment. Yes, +Merry had told herself, it was purpose which counted. She had dashed out +over and over again on brief excursions, but even her serious errands +had been undertaken because they gave her pleasure. Unless the course be +charted, unless the goal be predetermined, there could be no permanence, +no majestic dignity to any performance. The time had come when she would +permit no wavering. She would show her confidence in the experience of +the older mariner, who had plotted out the chart, by following it +without the semblance of a doubt. + +"I'm ready, Momsie," she said brightly, turning toward Mrs. +Thatcher,--"why, Momsie! what's the matter? It's all right, dearie. I'm +sure we'll be very, very happy. I'm ready to see Mr. Hamlen whenever you +say. It's all right, dearie." + +Mrs. Thatcher sat down wearily, and Merry slipped to the floor at her +feet, looking wonderingly up into her strained face. Marian leaned +forward impulsively and kissed her, resting her cheek against the girl's +face. + +"My darling!" she said in a low, tense voice. "I have made a horrible +mistake!" + +The spoken words started a flood of tears which until then Marian had +been able to restrain. The full weight of the responsibility again +rushed over her. She had dared to interfere in two lives which should +have been allowed to find their own expression, she had dared to pit her +human judgment against Nature. What would be the final outcome? With +Merry, she could not believe it would result in anything more serious +than a further confusion of ideals, but with Hamlen she knew well how +disastrous the effect must be. How could she make matters clear to this +dear child when her own brain was so bewildered! + +But when the tears had relieved the tension, and Marian felt the +sympathetic encouragement of the heart beating against her own, the +mother love, as always, rose triumphant over mental and physical +limitations. During the next hours, amid confidences and revelations +which enabled each at last to understand the other, mother and daughter +experienced that rare communion which had been denied them, but which +was theirs by right. The sacrifice Merry had been ready to make +accomplished its purpose without necessity of execution; the sincerity +of her mother's purpose became clear, and the girl discovered the +natural refuge where she might always find relief from overpowering +perplexities. When they went down-stairs together, with arms around each +other, and strolled out into the rose-garden, there was a new meaning to +the sunlight and to the fragrance of the flowers. Marian saw in it a +promise that her morning supplication might not have been in vain. + + * * * * * + +The telephone message from Huntington that Hamlen had been located and +that all was well relieved Marian's apprehensions, and left her with +such thankfulness and joy that she was able to join her remaining guests +in the day's activities. How all could be well she was unable to +comprehend, for the shock to Hamlen's nature must have been too great +for easy convalescence; but at all events the worst had not happened, +and until Huntington returned no further details could be obtained. +Merry, too, entered into the family life for the first time with any +show of interest. Philip and Billy, who now alone remained of Philip's +friends, annexed themselves in the absence of something better to do. +Billy was still disgruntled, but his malady seemed to be located in his +head rather than in the region of his heart. + +Activity was an absolute necessity to Marian, so she announced that +instead of the usual dinner they would picnic on the shore at a spot +perhaps two miles distant from Sagamore Hall. Not that this required +physical exertion for her, but it was a novelty which would prove +diverting. As the sun sank low, the little party boarded the electric +launch. + +"Excuse me for asking, Marian, but where does the picnic come in?" Edith +demanded, noting the total absence of baskets and bottles and the other +usual paraphernalia. "I don't want to criticise, but I'm no air-plant." + +Marian laughed, "Have faith," she replied. "A relief train is even now +on its way to save you from starvation." + +"Too bad for Huntington and Hamlen to miss all this," Cosden remarked, +hoping to call forth some word of explanation. + +"If you vote it a success, we may repeat it after they return," she +answered evasively. "Perhaps then we can include Harry." + +"That reminds me," Edith broke in, looking vindictively toward Cosden. +"Perhaps you will tell me why Harry rushed down here like a lost soul +and then back again to New York. Mr. Cosden is very mysterious about it, +and my curiosity is aroused." + +"There isn't any mystery," Marian assured her. "There were some papers +he had forgotten to take." + +"Why didn't he telephone me to bring them to him?" Philip demanded. "Why +is it he won't let me go to the office, when he promised me I could help +him as soon as college was over?" + +Mrs. Thatcher looked at Cosden questioningly. "Is there anything more +than Harry told me?" she asked him. + +Cosden knew that Thatcher was still trying to keep his family in +ignorance of the strain under which he was laboring. It was for him to +give such details as he chose rather than for his guest. + +"I don't know how much you already know, Mrs. Thatcher," he replied with +apparent candor. "These are strenuous days in Wall Street, and no one +can tell what is going to happen next. As for you, Philip, don't be +impatient. This is no time to initiate a youngster into any business. +War is breaking loose in Europe, and if Germany and England lock horns +there will be something doing." + +"War!" Philip cried. "Do you really think there will be a war?" + +"The idea!" Edith sniffed. "Those little savage tribes in the Balkans +may call each other names and throw things around, but Germany and +England are civilized nations. How perfectly absurd!" + +"If there is a war, I want to get in it," Philip insisted. "I've always +wanted to go to war, and never supposed I would have a chance." + +"I'll go with you," announced Billy with sudden enthusiasm, looking +significantly at Merry as he saw the solution of his troubles. "I don't +care what side I'm on or against whom I fight. Let's enlist together, +Phil." + +"You couldn't fight except for your own country, you silly," Merry +laughed. + +"Of course I could," he insisted stoutly. "You never think I can do what +I say I can, but I'll show you. I can be a soldier of fortune like +Robert Clay, or I can be a Canadian and get shot up as much as I like." + +"But this isn't in a story, Billy, and Robert Clay was. More than that, +you're no Canadian." + +"Anyhow I was in Canada once." + +"Don't mind Billy," Phil interrupted. "I'm really serious. There must be +some way I could get into it. You know, Mother, how much I've always +wanted to." + +"Yes, my boy; I do know," Mrs. Thatcher answered. "Ever since you were +old enough to play with toys it has always been soldiers and wars. I +have thanked God that war was a horror of the past, for I know how hard +it would be to hold you back if the opportunity offered." + +"If he goes, then I go with him," Billy said with decision. + +"You both had better wait until war is declared by somebody against +somebody else," Cosden suggested. + +"You don't think they'll patch it up, do you?" Philip inquired +anxiously. + +"Let us hope so," Mrs. Thatcher answered; "but this is a pleasure +expedition. Let us banish thoughts of war." + +As the launch rounded a rocky promontory a roaring fire was disclosed +burning on the beach, around which several of the house servants were +already busied in preparing supper. Back from the beach, beneath great +spreading oaks, a cloth was laid on the ground, to which the contents of +the hampers were being transferred. The usual limitations of camp life +were conspicuous by their absence, the fascinations were emphasized by +the marvelous smoothness with which everything was conducted. + +"I don't call this picnicking," Edith declared, after her first taste of +chowder. "Plant a forest of trees in Sherry's ball-room, paint an ocean +on the wall, fake a moon rising over the orchestra stage, everybody sit +cross-legged on the floor,--and there you have it. Sherry certainly +couldn't improve on the service or the food." + +"I can't find even an ant on mine," Billy complained, corroborating +Edith's praise. + +"Champagne like this is far too good for the common people," added +Cosden turning to Mrs. Thatcher. "How did you do it? It is the +apotheosis of gipsy life, and makes me reluctant to return to +civilization." + +Billy edged around until he gained a seat next to Merry. "This feast +might have been in honor of our marriage," he whispered. "It's all your +fault that I'm going to war, and if I'm shot up I'll come back and haunt +you." + +"Don't, Billy!" Merry sputtered, laughing and choking,--"you'll make me +swallow this the wrong way. There--" she continued as she recovered; +"that's better. Now don't be silly or you'll spoil our fun. We are going +to be good friends always, and that's all there is to it." + +"You wait. You've been lots happier since I told you that you loved me, +now haven't you? I know. You think it's a joke because you think I'm a +joke, but when once I've gone to war you'll understand. I'll bet you +even that you'll chase after me as a Red Cross nurse, and that I'll die +with my head in your lap. Do you take me?" + +Phil approached near enough to put an end to the proposition without +Merry's reply. + +"Do you suppose there's anything in this war talk?" he queried, sitting +down beside them. + +"Not a thing," his sister replied. "That would be too absurd." + +"If there is, I could at least go as a correspondent,--that is, if Dad +could spare me. I'm terribly keen about this." + +"How could you work me in?" Billy demanded. "I couldn't do any newspaper +stunt." + +"How about taking pictures to illustrate my articles?" + +"Great! I can shoot a Kodak like anything. Then it's all settled that we +go together?" + +"Suppose there isn't any war?" Merry persisted in throwing cold water +upon their plans. + +Both boys looked gloomily at each other. Then Billy had an inspiration. + +"If there isn't," he declared with decision, "then Phil and I will dash +over there and stir one up. We could make faces at them or do something +and get one started. That's the idea, isn't it, Phil?" + +"You make me tired!" Philip retorted. "This is too serious a matter to +joke about." + +As the older boy moved away disgustedly Billy again whispered to Merry. +"Phil is just as bad as you," he said disconsolately. "He doesn't know +seriousness when he sees it. Come on! Take a chance and be a sport!" + +The boy's persistency was the only jarring note in the whole experience, +and the extent of that was too limited to produce lasting effect. The +picnickers watched the sun set and the moon rise, then, filled with the +calm delights which Nature so generously shared with them, and +over-satiated with the creature comforts supplied by their hostess, they +re-embarked in the launch and returned to Sagamore Hall. To their +surprise, as they walked across the great lawn to the house, they saw +some one coming down to meet them. + +"Mr. Huntington has returned!" Marian cried, and she hastened toward him +in advance of the others. + +"Why, Harry!" she exclaimed surprised to discover that it was her +husband. "How did you manage to get back to-night? I'm so glad to see +you!" + +Cosden hurried forward, sensing important revelations in Thatcher's +return. The new-comer grasped his hand cordially, and his face even in +the moonlight showed a relief from the long strain. + +"With your help, old man, I've pulled through," he whispered later. "The +stock-markets of the world are closed indefinitely. Germany and England +are straining to jump at each other's throats. The history of the world +starts revision from to-day, and now I'm going to stay down here for a +while and let other people worry!" + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXVII + + * * * * * + + +Knowing that his telephone message would allay Mrs. Thatcher's greatest +anxiety, Huntington made no effort to return to the shore that night, +and when morning came it was a question whether he could go at all. He +knew that Hamlen would keep his promise so long as he remained master of +himself, but the roving eyes and the twitching nerves warned Huntington +that he must not place too great reliance upon this expectation. All +through the hours of darkness, without his friend's knowledge, he +watched over him, sharing in sympathetic silence the suffering which the +tossing body endured in expressing the tortures of the mind. When +morning came at last Hamlen was quieter, but this condition was due to +the exhaustion of high fever rather than to even temporary relief. +Hastily summoning a physician, Huntington watched the examination, +becoming more and more apprehensive as the expression of concern +deepened on the doctor's face. Together they stepped into the hall, +where the doctor shook his head gravely. + +"Tell me something of what led up to this," he demanded. + +Huntington briefly sketched Hamlen's history, and the climax. + +"It will be nip and tuck," the doctor said crisply. "His resistance is +low, but he'll probably pull through. What I'm afraid of is his reason. +We'll break this fever now, and then you must find something to interest +him outside of himself. That is his only salvation." + +"I wish I thought I could," Huntington replied doubtfully. "There will +be no help from him, for the last thing he desires is to live." + +"But if to live is to--" + +"I know,--I shall do my best." + +A week later Hamlen's life was out of danger, but at times his mental +wanderings confirmed the doctor's worst apprehensions. Yet Huntington +came to dread the depression of the saner moments more than the vagrant +hallucinations. The dramatic details of the unleashing of the war-dogs +of one nation after another should have been enough to arouse his +interest, but his only comment was, "It is a fitting end to a hollow +world, with its thin veneer of sham civilization; would to God it had +come sooner!" + +Finally it seemed safe to leave the patient in the care of the trained +nurse, and Huntington made his deferred return to Sagamore Hall. Marian +had kept in touch with Hamlen's progress as well as she could over the +telephone, but there was much which her heart craved to learn more +intimately. The illness afforded a simple explanation to the other +guests of the peculiar disappearance of both men, so Huntington's +confidences needed to be told to Mrs. Thatcher alone. Still, there was +a single exception. One of the first questions Huntington asked of +Marian was whether Merry knew the whole truth, and when he learned from +both how much each had gained from their mutual confidences he insisted +that the girl hear from him the details of what had happened since. + +He told his story simply, trying to spare Marian and making as light as +possible of the part which he himself had played, yet the whole-souled +devotion he had given his friend could be concealed no more than the +serious results of Mrs. Thatcher's persistency. Huntington had claimed +from him the life which would have been forfeited, promising to make +good use of it; now that it was at his disposal, what was he to do with +it? He admitted freely to Mrs. Thatcher and Merry that as yet he had +found no solution. + +"This necessity of doing your splendid work over again is but one of the +results of my culpable stupidity," Marian said penitently. "When I think +of it, it seems as if I should go mad!" + +Huntington rejoiced in the change which he found in Mrs. Thatcher. The +sudden view she had gained of herself was all she needed to understand +that one lack which no one could have made her see or comprehend. +Huntington felt the closer relationship between her and Merry, and he +believed the girl had found the answer to her question. + +"We must forget our mistakes," he said, anxious to relieve Marian, +"except when remembering them will prevent a repetition. We all have +tried to do our full duty by this abnormal personality, and our +shortcomings should not cause us to question the sincerity of our acts." + +"You are too generous," Mrs. Thatcher replied; "I shall never cease to +hold myself accountable, never!" + +"Don't, Momsie!" Merry begged. "Perhaps even now we can suggest +something which will undo the harm." + +"We must," Huntington said soberly. "Now, if I may finish out my visit +with you it will be a real relief after these depressing days, and we +will await the inspiration." + +"We are counting on your doing so," Marian replied promptly. "It +comforts me to have you share this time with me. I can't tell Harry the +whole story yet. And Billy is waiting for you. He and Philip are crazed +by this talk of war, and are trying to find some way to get into it. Of +course it is ridiculous, but boys are irrepressible creatures. I don't +need to tell you that!" + +"I'm not so sure that it is ridiculous," Huntington surprised them both +by saying. "I don't quite see where they could break into this war, but +as for Billy I believe a first-hand knowledge of these terrible +experiences would go far toward making a man of him." + +"You surely wouldn't have them get into the fighting!" Mrs. Thatcher +exclaimed. + +"No, not that; but there are other ways. I heard some talk of forming +ambulance squads to send to France. If they do that, I might urge +Billy's father to let him go." + +"Still, there would be danger, wouldn't there?" Merry asked. + +"Some, perhaps; but there is danger in the life which surrounds these +boys now. I am much concerned about Billy. Unless something happens to +shake him up he will never know what life really is. The nobility of +heroism, an every-day occurrence on the firing-line, is something which +could not fail to leave its impress on these youngsters. It is worth +thinking over." + +"I couldn't let Philip go," Marian said with the old-time finality in +her voice. + +"Perhaps not," Huntington replied with a significant look. "It may be +most unwise; but if Nature should seem to point strongly in that +direction we must be careful not to thwart it." + +Marian flushed. "You are right, Mr. Huntington," she said with frank +understanding; "I shall be careful, you may be sure." + +"Where are the boys now?" Huntington asked. "I would prefer to postpone +the discussion with them until I am rested. I'm not used to problems, +you know, and lately they seem to have concentrated themselves on me. +Help me to escape them for another hour!" + +"Take Mr. Huntington down to the water-garden," Marian suggested +smiling; "no one will think of looking for you there." + +"Would you like to go?" Merry asked him. + +"Nothing would rest me more." + +"Won't you come, Momsie?" + +"No, dear; you must do the honors in my stead." + +They wandered through the formal garden in silence, down the shaded +_bosquet_, and across a bit of lawn to the fresh-water garden which was +built only a little back from the shore itself. A miniature torii, from +whose crossbeam hung a replica in straw of the mystic _shimenawa_, +marked the entrance, sounding the motivation for the Oriental note +within. They passed through this and walked between the rows of Japanese +maples which formed an avenue ending in a vista of the sea. In the +moment they had transported themselves, for within the limitations +marked by the avenue of trees there was nothing to suggest anything save +the East: there were the little shrines surrounded by Oriental +flower-pots; there was a tiny lake, crossed by an arched stone bridge, +through which could be seen the luxuriant bloom of the lotus and other +rare aquatic plants, brilliant in their coloring and foliage, growing in +and out of the water and over the rocks with well-planned irregularity; +there was the lilliputian grove of dwarfed trees impudently challenging +comparison with their taller neighbors. + +"I'm glad you brought me here," Huntington said as they seated +themselves upon a curiously-carved stone. "Other parts of the estate are +far more impressive, but you have no spot which appeals to me more by +virtue of its beauty." + +"I love it too," the girl acknowledged. "Almost every one looks at it +once or twice and admires it, but no one seems to care to linger here as +I do. I am sure to be alone, so I come almost every day to read Lafcadio +Hearn and to dream of Nippon." + +"I understand," Huntington said quietly; "and I'll warrant you find +yourself spending much of your time gazing at the surface of that little +lake." + +"Yes," she exclaimed surprised; "but how do you know that, and why +should I do it?" + +"It is not so mysterious, after all," he answered smiling. "I have no +psychic powers, but I know a little of the Oriental teachings: the +surface of the lake is a mirror, symbolic of illusion and reflecting our +souls, in which alone we must seek the Buddha.--But to-day it is of a +modern divinity I would prefer to speak. These have been hard weeks for +you, Merry, and I have sympathized with you." + +"Why,--yes; in a way," she admitted. "But like everything else I do, +they haven't amounted to anything, have they?" + +"Haven't they?" he asked pointedly. "Isn't some of that unrest gone now +that you and the dear mother understand each other?" + +"Of course. That means everything to me, but again it is I who benefit. +Oh! Mr. Huntington, I want so much to do something for somebody else, +and no matter how hard I try it always turns out that I am the gainer. I +believed I had the opportunity at last, and again I was mistaken. But +this time it wasn't my fault, was it? At least I was ready to do my +part." + +"Don't you know that you can't try to do something for some one else +without having it come back to you?" + +"Do you expect that what you are doing for Mr. Hamlen will bring you a +reward?" + +"It has already given me your friendship. Isn't that enough?" + +The color came to Merry's face, and she turned her glance away. "What +can that mean to you who have so many friendships?" she asked. + +"It is the friendship I value most among them all." + +She looked up at him quickly, startled by the intensity of his tone. +"You can't mean that," she said. "To me it is different. You brought +into my life something which it never had and never would have had +except for you. To me your friendship is the grandest thing I know, but +what can mine mean to you? Something fine and splendid must come in +return for the months you have given Mr. Hamlen. I wish--" she hesitated +a moment but then continued bravely--"yes, I wish it might even bring +you back the girl you loved--and found too late!" + +"Merry! child! what are you saying!" he cried. + +"Have I hurt you again?" + +"Not hurt me; but you make it hard for me to be fair to our friendship." + +"Can't we be friends--because of her?" + +Huntington turned to her gently, taking her hand in his. His face showed +the force of the emotion which fought for supremacy, but the calmness +with which he spoke evidenced his control. + +"I have tried to be fair to our friendship," he repeated, "but you must +not misunderstand. I wonder if it would be more kind to tell you the +truth, even though it cost me what I value so." + +"Don't,--please don't!" she begged. + +"I fear I must," he said with decision, "no matter what it costs. +Whether this strain with Hamlen has weakened my resolve, or because the +romance of the Japanese Benten hovers over this spot and bids me speak, +I must tell you, little girl, that my friendship has only been a blind +to cover something far deeper, which I have no right to offer you. The +time has come for you to know that, for it will tell you what you are to +me. I would relinquish all I possess to turn back the years until they +gave me the right to ask you to be my wife." + +She started to her feet and tried to speak, but he stopped her. + +"You don't need to answer," he insisted. "I understand only too well." + +"But the girl you met too late--" + +"Was you, dear child! I am a generation ahead of my time; otherwise I +believe it might have been." + +He smiled as he always did when deeply moved, but this time the sadness +showed through the mask. As the full comprehension of his words came to +her, Merry's color faded but she looked into his face with a woman's +candor. + +"Is the difference in our ages the only reason?" she asked. + +"Alas! that is enough!" + +"No, no!" she cried impulsively. "You wouldn't let that stand between +us!" + +"Do you realize what you are saying, Merry? It can't be that you +understand!" + +"I do! I do!" she cried. "Please don't stop. Say it to me!" + +He placed his arm around her and drew her to him. "Can it possibly be?" +he demanded incredulously. "Can this really have come to me?" + +Merry hid her face on his shoulder. "Say it!" she insisted, +"please,--please say it!" + +"Merry--child--I love you!" + +Her arm crept about his neck, and then her radiant face came out from +its hiding place, and held itself ready for the consecration. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXVIII + + * * * * * + + +They lingered in happy disregard of passing time, each seeming to fear +disillusionment if they deserted their magic garden. Huntington no +longer felt the oppression of the years, Merry no longer drifted from +her anchorage. + +"Monty," she whispered slyly,--"dare I call you Monty?" + +"If you don't, I shall call you incorrigible!" + +"Monty,--who is Benten?" + +She asked the question so hesitatingly, as if ashamed to admit her +ignorance, that he laughed. + +"Benten?" he repeated after her. "Surely you know Benten! She is none +other than an adorable Japanese lady of antiquity who is known as the +deity of Beauty, the divinity of Love and the Goddess of Eloquence. I +have no doubt she has other attributes, but those are enough for us, +aren't they, little sweetheart?" + +"Oh, Monty,--you know so much!" she sighed. "It is going to be a +terrible strain!" + +She seemed very winsome in her present mood, and he smiled happily. + +"The strain will be on me, dear heart," he protested. "I have assumed +wisdom all these years with no danger of being unmasked; now you will +find me out. + +"I'm glad it happened here in this garden," she said contentedly. "I +seem to feel more at home in this atmosphere. Benten shall be my patron +saint from this day." + +"Shall we spend our honeymoon in Japan?" he asked. "Why not keep this +setting to the end?" + +She clapped her hands. "Splendid!" she cried. "That will be +Paradise;--and you'll teach me all you know about everything?" + +"Why not let your Hearn teach you of Japan? He knows it all. He would +tell you, too, that Benten is also Goddess of the Sea," he pointed to +the brilliant spot of color at the end of the avenue, now made +spectacular by the radiance of the setting sun. "He would understand +why, under this influence, I could not keep from telling you my secret; +for 'is not the sea most ancient and most excellent of speakers,--the +eternal poet, chanter of that mystic hymn whose rhythm shakes the world, +whose mighty syllables no man may learn?'" + +"Oh, Monty," she murmured, nestling closer to him in blissful happiness, +"please go on. To hear you talk is just like listening to a beautiful +symphony. And to think you're going to share it all with me! Let us stay +right here forever!" + +"Mer-ry!" came Philip's call across the lawn. + +"Uncle Mon-ty!" Billy halloed. + +"There come those horrid boys," she pouted, sitting up straight. "Why +are boys, anyway?" + +"You told me once that it was only when they became serious that you +worried about them," he teased her. + +"They are serious now,--they've found out you're here, and they're going +to talk war with you.--I don't want to give you up even for a moment!" + +"Nor I you," he whispered, as the boys were close at hand; "but we must +keep our secret a little longer." + +They rose and walked up the avenue to meet them. + +"Mother said to wait because you were tired, but Billy couldn't, so I +came with him," Philip explained lamely. + +"I am never too tired to receive a welcome like this--" + +"We want your advice," Billy interrupted. + +"Won't it wait until we get to the house?" + +"No," Billy insisted; "it's urgent. Phil and I want to go to the war, +and if we don't hurry they may call it off and then we'll be rooked." + +"I wish there was a chance they might," Huntington said feelingly. +"There's no fear of that, boy. They are in for a long and terrible +struggle." + +"Great!" cried Philip. "I've always wanted to go to war, and I never +believed there would be another." + +"I'm going because I want to get shot up just to spite Merry," added +Billy, remembering his grievance and looking at the girl gloomily. + +"The fact that you realize so little what you are saying is the greatest +argument you could advance in favor of your going," Huntington said, +looking at them gravely. + +"I didn't mean to speak as I did," Philip replied apologetically. "It +is a terrible thing, of course, but since it has come I am crazy to be a +part of it. I believe I'll run away if Mother and Dad don't let me go!" + +"I meant just what I said," Billy insisted stoutly. "Merry is very +unhappy,--haven't you noticed it?" + +"Do I look so now?" she laughed at him. + +"You shouldn't interrupt," he reproved her; "it isn't polite.--She +doesn't know what is the matter with her, but I do." + +"What is the matter, Billy?" Huntington inquired seriously. "If I knew, +perhaps I could help her." + +"Of course you could; that's why I'm telling you. She's in love with me +and she doesn't know it." + +"By Jove!" Huntington exclaimed, looking at Merry's beaming face as she +walked beside him, and then at the serious features of the boy on the +other side. "I'm afraid I can't help, after all." + +"Yes, you can," Billy insisted confidently. "Merry will believe anything +you tell her. Now if I go to war and get shot up she will realize her +destiny, and will come to the hospital over there somewhere and be a Red +Cross nurse, and fix me all up. Then we'll be married,--unless my wound +is fatal and I die," he added, gulping down the pathos which this +painful picture stirred within himself. + +"I can't stay with you, Billy, if you harrow up my feelings like this," +Huntington declared. "It isn't fair to take advantage of your +sympathetic old uncle." + +"He's just talking in bunches, Mr. Huntington," Philip said disgustedly. +"You mustn't mind what he says. His mouth is full of mush all the time +now. I'm sick of it!" + +"How about my feelings, Billy?" Merry demanded. "Have you no pity for +me?" + +"Why should I?" he retorted. "It's all your fault.--Uncle Monty, +wouldn't you like to have Merry in the family?" + +"I certainly would," was the frank response spoken with a sincerity +which gave the boy unbounded encouragement. + +"Now you've said something!" Billy exclaimed and he turned to Merry with +a gesture of finality! "I want you in the family, Uncle Monty wants you, +Phil wants me for a brother-in-law--" + +"I'm not so sure," Philip interrupted. + +"Oh, yes, he does," Billy continued unabashed.--"So it's up to you. Will +you make us all happy, or will you send me to meet my fate amid the +horrors of war?" + +"That'll be about all of that," Philip said, scowling. "We came out here +to talk war and not nonsense. I won't stand for it!" + +"We mustn't get these two great questions confused, Billy," Huntington +said soothingly. "I have something to tell you later which may solve one +of them, and we should approach the other with a calm and judicial mind. +I haven't any right to advise you, Philip, for your mother and father +probably have definite ideas which must be respected; but if a way could +be found for Billy to have some of the experiences over there without +running too much danger, I should be inclined to throw my influence in +favor of his going." + +"Hurrah!" Billy cried. + +"That is all I could possibly expect, Mr. Huntington," Philip +acknowledged. "If Billy is allowed to go, I'm sure Mother and Dad will +consent." + +"Very good. I promise you to look into it carefully, and Billy will keep +you posted as to the result." + +"What's the other solution?" Billy asked suspiciously. + +"I'll tell you later.--Now let me speak with the others. There is +nothing more for us to talk about, is there?" + +"I'm sorry I spoke so lightly about the war," Philip said, grasping +Huntington's hand as they separated. "I have fighting in my blood +somewhere, and I'm so excited over it all that I forget myself +sometimes." + +"War means to forget one's self at all times, my boy," Huntington +answered kindly. "With all its savagery, with all its brutal return to +primeval instincts, the sacrifices and the heroism it calls for ennoble +those who are drawn into its hideous vortex. No man can once feel this +and ever again look upon life in a small way. That is why, under certain +circumstances, I might favor Billy's desire." + +"That is my second desire," Billy carefully explained; "my first is that +Merry become a member of our family." + +"To that," his uncle replied, "I have already given my unqualified +approval." + +The boys left them and they continued to the house. Mr. and Mrs. +Thatcher met them at the steps. + +"I had begun to fear that you and Merry were lost," Marian said, after +Huntington greeted his host. + +"We have been lost a long time," Huntington replied, with a meaning they +did not comprehend; "now we have indeed found ourselves." + +He took Merry's hand in his and stood for a moment looking at them both. + +"Would this time be inopportune," he continued, "to ask if you can spare +this little girl to some one who loves her very dearly?" + +"So Billy has persuaded you to become his champion?" Mrs. Thatcher said +with some annoyance. "I didn't think Merry cared for him. He is so +irresponsible, Mr. Huntington. It is difficult to refuse anything you +ask, but couldn't the matter wait?" + +"The boy isn't grown up enough to think of such things yet," Thatcher +added. + +Huntington smiled quietly at the natural mistake. "It is for one who is +perhaps too far grown up I stand as champion, but I am hoping you will +not look upon that as an obstacle. I did for many months, but Merry has +a way of making one forget his years." + +"You!" Marian cried. + +"You don't mean it, my dear fellow!" Thatcher held out his hand +cordially. + +"We children ask the parental blessing." + +Merry slipped by, into her mother's arms. + +"Oh! Momsie! I am happy at last!" + +"You have certainly kept us in the dark!" Marian exclaimed, recovering +from her surprise. + +Then the pleasure in her face changed to one of concern. "You have +loved Merry, yet stood aside these weeks?" + +"I could not believe that she could care for me." + +"Almost a triple tragedy!" Marian said soberly, so low that only +Huntington heard her. "Can any one ever forgive me!" + +"Come, we must tell Edith and Cosden," Thatcher urged. "They are +consumed with impatience to see you." + +"Let us wait until dinner," Huntington suggested. "Billy must be +considered, for the dear boy believes himself madly in love with +Merry,--even as I did once with her mother." + +"Nonsense!" laughed Marian. + +"It didn't seem like nonsense then, but I forgive you since you give me +this sweet child, which I know you consider a greater gift than the one +I would have asked." + +"I never heard of this," Thatcher exclaimed. + +"No man can marry a woman like Mrs. Thatcher without finding wrecks +along the shore." + +"A very pretty remark from a son-in-law," she retorted. "I shall hold +you strictly to your loyalty!" + +"Let me find Billy while you are dressing for dinner," Huntington said. +"I'll overtake you after breaking the news gently to him." + +"Don't be late," Merry whispered to him in parting. "When I leave you I +shall think it all a dream." + +"So it is, dear heart, but one which is sure to come true!" + +Billy joined his uncle in his room, and the older man sat down beside +him on the window-seat. + +"Boy," he said, "you and I have been great pals, and I want you to be +the first to know of a wonderful thing which has happened to me." + +"You've beaten Mr. Cosden at golf," Billy guessed. + +"It is something which will hurt you for a minute but I want you to show +how good a sport you are." + +"You're not going to make me live within my allowance?" + +"Merry is going to marry me." + +"She isn't!" the boy cried, almost bursting into tears. "She +isn't,--she's going to marry me!" + +"Steady, Billy, steady! Remember what pals we are! You wouldn't want her +to marry you if she loved some one else, would you?" + +Billy quieted down, swallowing hard but saying nothing. + +"Think how many years I have waited for this wonderful thing to happen. +Think how many years you have ahead of you in which to have it happen. +For it will happen to you, boy,--it must." + +"But you are a woman-hater." + +"No, boy,--a Merry lover! Won't you forget your infatuation and wish me +joy?" + +"I shall never marry," Billy said disconsolately. + +"That is what I said, twenty years ago!" + +"You can't depend on girls, anyhow." + +"That is what I said, twenty years ago! Won't you wish me joy? It's the +first time I've ever asked you to do anything for me." + +"It's asking a whole lot." + +"It is,--and the greater the gift if you give it to me." + +"So Merry is really going to marry you?" + +Huntington nodded his head. + +"Oh, well, I suppose I shall get over it." + +"Good for you, boy! And you wish me joy?" + +"I can't; I'm a woman-hater now myself." + +"Wish me as much joy as possible under the circumstances." + +"I'll do that; but don't expect me to throw a fit in doing it." + +"All right," Huntington patted him affectionately on the shoulder. "Now +run and get ready for dinner, and don't forget that I'm keeping Merry in +the family!" + +"Oh! come. Don't rub it in!" + +"I won't, but I'm so happy that I'm kiddish!" + +"Many a married man seems contented when he's only resigned," quoted +Billy maliciously. + +"Get out!" Huntington shouted, throwing a chair-pillow at the retreating +figure. + +It was at dinner that the party reassembled, this time in its full +strength of numbers. The table was set in the Italian dining-porch, +which occupied the east gable, and by reason of its uniqueness formed a +charming background for the ceremony. Three of its sides were open, the +over-story being supported on columns; the plaster wall was covered with +masses of flowering and decorative plants, clinging to a lattice, and +broken in the center by a niche enclosing an old marble fountain. Edith +and Cosden greeted Huntington cordially when he came down, plying him +with questions until he begged for mercy. + +"You don't show any ill effects from acting as trained nurse," Cosden +remarked; "in fact I never saw you look so well. Glad you came in time +for this farewell dinner; I'm back into the harness again to-morrow." + +"I wish you could stay longer, Mr. Cosden," Marian urged. + +"I'm ashamed of the length of time I have already imposed upon your +hospitality," Cosden replied; "but you must hold Edith responsible. It +takes her an eternity to get a little word of three letters out of her +mouth." + +"That isn't a commodity which requires advertising," she remarked, +tossing her head. + +"I'll get you yet, you little devil!" whispered Cosden. + +"This dinner is epoch-making," Thatcher said seriously after they were +seated, "and the epochs divide themselves into two parts. The first one +I'm going to explain; then, as it is proper that my wife should have the +last word, Marian will tell you the second. We have with us this +evening--that's the way the toastmaster usually starts in, isn't it?--a +man whom I have known for several years, whose integrity is +unquestioned, but who has been considered by his business associates as +one who exacted his last pound of flesh." + +Cosden looked quickly at Thatcher, and reddened at the pointed glance +which Edith gave him. + +"A few days ago," Thatcher continued, "owing to extraordinary business +conditions, that man found the one house which he would like best to +control in a position where he could legitimately force it to accept his +own terms. I know, because that house was mine." + +"Cut it out, Thatcher," Cosden growled; "this isn't an experience +meeting." + +Thatcher paid no attention to him. "At this crisis, I went down on my +knees, and begged him a favor to accept a little trifle of four and a +half millions profit in exchange for saving my house and reputation." + +"Harry!" Marian cried. "I've been blind to your troubles too!" + +"This was his chance. He remarked coolly that he had been making plans +to take advantage of his opportunity when it came, handed me drafts +which enabled me to weather the storm, and refused to accept one penny +of the blood-money which I was only too ready to give him. That is the +way our friend Cosden collects his pound of flesh." + +"Connie did that?" Huntington demanded, gratified beyond measure but +speaking lightly to cover Cosden's embarrassment. "Why, Connie,--I +thought you were a business man!" + +Edith made no comment but her gaze never left Cosden's face. His +confusion was genuine, for to be made a hero in the midst of one's +friends is more than any man can stand. Marian hastened to his rescue. + +"I shall tell Mr. Cosden what I think of him when we are alone," she +said gratefully. "Now let us turn from the worship of Midas to that of a +coy little divinity who may yet teach Edith to speak in words of one +syllable. Harry says that I am to have the last word. It shall be brief: +Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thatcher announce the engagement of their only +daughter to--Mr. William Montgomery Huntington." + +The effect of this announcement was even more dramatic than the first. + +"You sly old dog!" Cosden cried, reaching over and pummeling Huntington +on the back. + +"Great work!" was Philip's congratulation, but he subsided when he saw +the expression on Billy's face. + +It was epoch-making, as Thatcher had promised. The relief over the happy +solution of the business crisis, and the surprise and joy of the +announced engagement made the dinner pass from an episode into an event. +Billy's lack of enthusiasm might be easily understood and as easily +forgiven, but Edith's subdued attitude was less comprehensible. It was +only as they left the table to go out upon the piazza that she broke her +silence. She held back after Marian and Merry passed through the door +and turned to Cosden. + +"Did you really do that?" she demanded. + +He nodded his head sheepishly. "You see, as Monty says, I'm no kind of +business man after all." + +"I think you're the greatest business genius in the world!" + +"You do!" he cried. "Then why don't you follow Merry's example?" + +"I might," she said smiling. + + + + + * * * * * + +XXXIX + + * * * * * + + +Huntington dared not extend his visit beyond a few blissful days, but +into these he crowded the full expression of his long-delayed romance. +The wonder of it never left him, the joy of it filled him with quiet +content. + +The lovers watched Cosden's departure next morning, and by virtue of the +priority of their engagement, considered themselves entitled to tease +Edith who was not to leave until the following day. + +"Well," Huntington remarked, as they turned back into the hallway, "as +Connie says, he usually gets what he goes after." + +"Don't you think he's earned me?" Edith retaliated. + +"And you him," Huntington retorted. "Everything is as it should be. You +are just the girl for him, and he will make you a husband in a thousand. +I need not tell you how cordially I have congratulated him." + +"I don't think our Society proved very effective," she remarked dryly. + +"On the contrary, it demonstrated its efficiency by the present most +satisfactory exceptions.--But you are giving me a great many mysteries +to explain to Merry!" + +The evening before Huntington felt it necessary to return to his patient +he touched upon a subject which had been avoided. + +"Mamma," he said to Mrs. Thatcher, "I think--" + +"Don't you dare to call me that, Monty Huntington!" Marian exclaimed +vehemently. "If I am to go through life with a son-in-law older than I +am, at least I won't be called 'mamma'!" + +"I'm trying to be respectful," Huntington explained mischievously. + +"Never you mind that,--call me 'Marian.' That at least will give me the +benefit of the doubt." + +"I'm sorry to mark my entrance into the family by causing +mortification," Huntington continued in mock-seriousness. "It never +occurred to me, if my prospective wife made no objections, that my age +would be offensive to her parents. But the case isn't so serious as Ned +Fordham's, is it?" + +"He married Mrs. Eustis, didn't he?" + +"Yes; and you remember that she has a married daughter and a small +grandchild. Ned said the idea of a ready-made family was fine, but he +thought it immoral for him to become a grandfather before he became a +father." + +"Rather late for him to come to that conclusion, wasn't it?" Thatcher +laughed. + +"Yes; but he found two other men in the same predicament, so the three +of them have formed a 'Society of Illegitimate Grandparents,' and now +they're looking for more members." + +"Ned would joke at his own funeral!" chuckled Thatcher. + +"It isn't your age I'm objecting to," Marian explained; "it's my own. +Merry's engagement makes me realize it." + +"She and I are going to make you forget that you have any age at all," +Huntington declared.--"But when you interrupted me I was going to speak +of a really important matter.--We mustn't be unmindful of poor Hamlen." + +"No, indeed," Marian replied seriously. "Happiness is selfish, isn't it, +in making us temporarily forgetful? Poor Philip!" + +"We are doing him no injustice," he reassured her; "in fact I think the +news I can take will please him. But I want you and Merry to go back to +Boston with me." + +"Whatever you think is wise shall be done," she acquiesced, "but +wouldn't it be better for you to go ahead to prepare him for our +coming?" + +"That is by far the wiser plan," Huntington assented promptly. + +"Take me with you, Monty," Merry whispered; "I wish we never need be +separated again." + +"Stay here, sweetheart, and plan out with the dear mother how soon that +day may be. I have been waiting too long already!" + + * * * * * + +The nurse met Huntington as he entered the door, and replied to the +question his face asked sooner than his lips. + +"There is a remarkable improvement," she announced cheerfully. "The +doctor was here this morning, and left word for you that the progress is +beyond his understanding." + +"Splendid!" he cried. "Where shall I find Hamlen? + +"In the library, Mr. Huntington; it is all I can do to persuade him to +go anywhere else." + +Huntington mounted the stairs two steps at time. "Hamlen!" he cried, +"where are you?" + +"Here!" a well-contained voice replied as he entered the room, "in your +library, sitting in your favorite chair, eating your food, drinking your +rum--in short, exercising every prerogative a man can assume who has +unfettered himself from worldly responsibilities, and awaits the command +of his master." + +"You certainly are better," Huntington exclaimed, looking at him +critically, astonished by the tone of his remark. + +"Except for my weakness," Hamlen answered, holding out his hand, "better +than I've been in all my life." + +"You amaze me!" Huntington exclaimed. "I hoped for an improvement, but +this return to more than your best self--" + +"I've fought the fight, my friend, and this is the result." + +"It is a positive triumph!" Huntington drew a chair beside the patient, +and regarded him with an expression of mystified gratification. "What in +the world has happened?" + +"You went away and gave me a chance to think," Hamlen replied seriously. +"Do you know, Huntington, I'm convinced that there ought to be a law +condemning every human being to solitary confinement for a certain +period each year, to make him think. Deprive him of his companions, his +books, his writing materials--everything, and just force him to think. +We take things so much for granted, we accept so many half-truths, we so +easily lose our sense of proportion." + +"That is a capital idea, but you've done your share of it already." + +"My thoughts were misdirected. You not only gave me the opportunity but +something basic on which to build. I wonder if you realize how +pitilessly you laid me bare!" + +"I had no intention, my dear fellow--" + +"Oh, it was right; that was the very thing which saved me. I was sincere +in feeling myself sunk in degradation, in wanting to end it all, and I +hated you for standing in my way. But when you laid claim to my life, +which I valued so slightly, I began to analyze it to discover why you +cared to have it. You have done more for me, Huntington, than any human +being ever did for a fellow-creature, and why you did it was past my +comprehension." + +"We are bound by ties of a great brotherhood," Huntington explained. + +"No man I ever saw before has considered them so sacred. You are an +idealist, Huntington. Your devotion to college and to college +responsibilities amounts to a fetish. But I thank God for your idealism: +it is not what college relations really are but what they ought to be!" + +"I never will admit that, Hamlen." + +"Of course you won't; if you did you would lose your idealism. I saw all +this, and it gave me my explanation: what you have done for me, +Huntington, you would have done for any other college man under the +same circumstances. It was not because of any claim the individual had +upon you, but rather the acknowledgment of the greater appeal made by +that brotherhood you venerate." + +"No, Hamlen; you must not depreciate the appeal which your own +personality made from the first." + +"I don't depreciate it,--I'm proud of it; but to understand your +idolatrous worship of the brotherhood makes it possible for me to accept +the heavy obligations under which you place me. When you left me I felt +that you must hate the sight of my haggard face, the sound of my +complaining voice, the burden of silly weakness which I foisted upon +your generous shoulders." + +"I understood what lay beneath." + +"You did, and to a wonderful extent; but it took me hours of bitter +fighting to understand. Then the bigness of the great central thing at +last came to me, and I recognized it. Sitting here in this chair I cried +out in my excitement. The littleness of my own previous viewpoint +overwhelmed me, and what had seemed tragedies assumed at last their +smaller proportions. The greatness of your own ideals, the claim which +the Alma Mater ought to have upon her sons, the right which the larger +world outside has to demand big things of those to whom it gives +advantages, made the petty failures of my life so insignificant that I +was ashamed to have paraded them in public. I have been lying down on my +weaknesses, Huntington, as no man ever has a right to do; but you have +seen the last of that. I'll stand up now and take my medicine, I'll pay +whatever penalty my latest indiscretion may demand, I'll practise some +of that idealism which makes you what you are, and lay the ghost which +for years has tortured me with pin-pricks." + +"You give me too much credit, Hamlen," Huntington insisted firmly; "but +since you find relief in what I've said or done I rejoice in your +exaggeration." + +"You claimed my life, my friend," Hamlen returned again to his earlier +statement, "and it belongs to you. In all honor, I must make it reflect +attributes which will give it value. With that accomplished, I stand +ready to make delivery; but with it you must also accept its +obligations. How will you have me pay them?" + +"Your obligations are not so serious as you imagine," Huntington replied +with decision; "the only one as yet unpaid is to yourself. Had I not +seen this surprising evidence of your latent strength I should not have +believed you capable of meeting it; now I do." + +"But Marian--the insult my actions gave her--" + +"Forgotten, and forgiven,--if forgiveness be required." + +"If I could see her once more, and she would listen to me--" + +"She is coming here to see you as soon as I tell her you are strong +enough." + +"Coming here?" he echoed; "I can't believe it! And the girl--can she +ever understand?" + +"On that point I can reassure you with even greater certainty, for I am +to be the substitute bridegroom!" + +Hamlen looked at him steadily to make sure he was in earnest. + +"You are to marry Miss Thatcher?" he asked deliberately. + +"The Gods have been good to me, Hamlen; they have given me the one gift +I craved." + +"Then you have loved her all these weeks?" + +"Since first I saw her." + +"My friend!" Hamlen raised himself unsteadily in his weakness, refusing +assistance, until he stood upon his feet. Then supporting himself with +one hand, he raised the other to his forehead in salute. + +"You, sir, are a great man!" he said with dramatic fervor. "You not only +possess ideals, but actually live up to them! A world that can produce +one such as you is entitled to my respect, and is a place worth living +in!" + +"Cease!" Huntington cried, genuinely embarrassed by Hamlen's tribute. +"Leave me out of this, for this is your day. To rise superior to the +habit of twenty years, to let the world knock you down time after time, +and finally come up smiling with an acknowledgment that it was your +fault after all, to stand ready to pool issues with that world which you +have always considered your enemy, is an exhibition of character which +puts you so far beyond the rest of us that you couldn't see us if we +saluted you.--I thought my happiest moment came when I discovered +unexpectedly that Merry loved me; now you have taken me to heights +beyond. + +"I believe you," Hamlen answered him, his voice weak from the strain of +the interview, but his eyes bright with excitement and his face +radiant,--"I believe every word you say. For one of your great +brotherhood to find himself at last means more to you than any personal +happiness,--such is the strength of the fetish! I wonder if the girl is +big enough to share you with your other idol!" + +"Have no fears," Huntington laughed contentedly. "She will worship at +the shrine with devotion equal to my own, and my fellow-worshipers shall +bow the knee to her." + +The nurse gave Huntington a reproving glance when she came for her +patient, but Hamlen would not permit even a suggestion that his friend +had been unmindful of his weakness. + +"It's all right," he reassured her. "I know I'm excited, I know that +I've pulled too hard on my strength, but something has come to +me--inside here--which no doctor could ever give me. You'll see. Take me +away now and I'll be as docile as a child.--But, Huntington, please +telephone Marian that instead of coming to see me, I'd rather go to her. +I would prefer to tell her what I have to say down there where the trees +are cousins to my trees, and the language of the flowers can fill in the +words when I find my own speech inadequate.--She'll understand." + + + + + * * * * * + +XL + + * * * * * + + +It was another fortnight before the fugitive was able to return to +Sagamore Hall. Huntington telephoned, as he had promised, but he also +found it necessary to run down there himself, to explain in detail the +miracle which had happened. Mrs. Thatcher appreciated his thoughtfulness +of her, Merry expressed her full approval, and incidentally he found the +experience agreeable, so the necessity of his appearance in person was +unanimously conceded. Still, the satisfaction of this visit was +completely overshadowed by his feeling of triumph when Hamlen actually +accompanied him. + +The drone of the motor-car brought Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher and Merry to +the door to greet them, for Marian wished their welcome to express to +the fullest the fact that whatever had occurred was forgotten. Hamlen +read it so, and it helped him. + +"I have to move a bit slowly yet," he explained as he rose cautiously in +the tonneau. "Another month and I'll be as good as new." + +They assisted him up the steps and through the hallway to a great easy +chair on the piazza beyond. Then, after a few moments of general +conversation, they left him alone with Marian. + +"Isn't it wonderful?" he exclaimed with frank delight. "I'm as pleased +with myself as a kitten with two tails." + +"You well may be!" she laughed at his expression, which in its nature +was eloquent of the changed mental attitude. "And our rejoicing is not +far behind yours." + +"I know it; that is the most wonderful part of the whole thing. No +matter how idiotic my actions, you and Huntington have stuck right by +me, and have proved me wrong by the bigness of your hearts." + +"Forget the past," Marian urged, "and start things from to-day." + +"No; I wouldn't want to do that, even if I could." + +He paused for a moment, and played with a tassel which fell across his +lap from the cushion she had placed in the chair. + +"Of course," he said without looking up, "much of it will always seem +like a delirious dream, but after all it is the past which has given me +the present. And except for the past I should not have Huntington." + +There was a wealth of feeling in his words which showed Mrs. Thatcher +how strong a hold his friend had gained upon him. + +"Does he know how much he means to you, I wonder?" + +Hamlen looked up quickly. "He hasn't the slightest conception," he +answered. "I have never seen a man so oblivious to the power he +exercises over others, or to the results which he obtains. He really +thinks I've come through this crisis because of some latent strength of +character, when in reality it has been the reflection of his own. He +would tell you that when I was dying of shame and mortification I took +myself by the boot-straps and pulled myself out of the abyss, and he +would never believe it was the result of the philosophy he demonstrated +by every word and act. He positively made me ashamed to do anything but +respond. And now that I am out, he has fired me with a desire to use the +years which remain in doing something for some one else. Can you wonder +that I love him?" + +Marian's face reflected the pleasure his words gave her. "This is the +real Philip Hamlen I have seen behind his mask," she exclaimed; "this is +the Philip I tried in my mistaken way to rescue from the chaos of +confused ideals. I failed but Mr. Huntington succeeded; my gratitude to +him passes all bounds." + +"You must take some of the credit whether you wish to or not," Hamlen +insisted. "When you invaded my Garden of Eden last winter and made those +disturbing statements, you weakened the barrier of false beliefs with +which I had surrounded myself. You could have restored the structure had +I permitted it, but I wasn't ready for it then. You were entirely right +when you said that I had forgotten the teachings of the masters I +venerated, that I was blind to the difference between the means and the +end. But, Marian--" for the first time his voice quavered--"that was +before I had a friend! Think of living all those years without a friend! +It was through your invasion that my horrible tranquillity was +disturbed; it was through you that I met the one man in all the world +who could take advantage of that condition to build a human structure +upon such ruins." + +"Give me all the credit you can, Philip. I need it to help me to +forget." + +"Tut! tut!" he chided her. "I may touch upon the past, but to you it is +forbidden! Through you"--he went on--"I gained my friend, and, as if to +demonstrate the philosophy he lives, in giving him to me you gained him +too; for to your daughter is assured the most wonderful of +companionships. Now, by the same token, in giving him to her, I shall +expect the reward of being admitted to full friendship in this family +whose members mean the world to me." + +"We already count you one of us, Philip, and we shall accept nothing +less." + +"Then am I rich in friendship!" he exclaimed. "The law of compensation +gives a greater joy of realization to one who has drifted than to him +who has lived a normal existence: such a man is spared the depths, but +he can never reach the heights." + +Two duster-clad, begoggled figures burst unceremoniously through the +hallway onto the piazza where Marian and Hamlen had been scrupulously +left alone by a comprehending family. + +"Well, I'm glad to find some signs of life!" cried a familiar voice. + +"Edith!" Marian exclaimed. "Where on earth did you come from? And Mr. +Cosden!" + +"Connie and I crept up on the house to surprise you," she explained, as +greetings were exchanged all around, "but we began to think the joke was +on us and we'd struck the morgue by mistake. Where are the people +anyhow? We can't stay but a minute." + +"Here we are!" Merry answered her, and as if by magic the entire family +appeared from various directions. + +"Where did you come from, where are you going, and why can't you stay +but a minute?" Huntington demanded of Cosden as he grasped his hand. + +Cosden grinned and looked at Edith. + +"Oh, go ahead and tell them if you want to," she remarked indifferently. +"They're sure to find it out some time, and it might as well be now." + +"What in the world--" Mrs. Thatcher began. + +"We're married!" Cosden announced, his face beaming with happiness and +satisfaction. + +"Yes,--that's right," Edith corroborated, seeing doubt in the eager +faces peering at them, speechless with surprise. "I told you that if +once I gave Connie half a chance he'd have me packed up and shipped +before I knew it, and that's just what has happened!" + +"Don't apologize," Marian laughed, kissing her. "I think you've done a +very smart thing to elope like this." + +"Good heavens, Connie, I never thought of that! An elopement for me +would just be the last thing in the world! How can you call it that when +there is no one to elope from but Ricky!" + +"Whatever you call it, I've got you!" Cosden declared, tapping his +pocket. "The parson gave me a perfectly good bill of sale, and it will +take some trying to break this contract. Now don't you try!" + +Thatcher was the only one who rose fully to the occasion, and as a +result of his presence of mind the butler appeared with a bottle of +Pommery from which he filled the accompanying glasses. After Thatcher +proposed the toast to the happy couple, Huntington again raised his +glass to Cosden. + +"Here's to Edith, God bless her!" he exclaimed. + +Cosden understood, and the spirit of mischief seized him. + +"How about that other toast we drank that night, Monty?" + +Huntington put his arm around Merry's waist and drew her closer to him. + +"It stands!" he replied with smiling defiance. "To Marian--little +Marian--God bless her!" + +"You rascal! You slipped it over on me!" + +"Well, good-bye, people!" Edith interrupted. + +"Stay for supper," Mrs. Thatcher urged. + +"No; here it is five o'clock and the wedding breakfast hasn't been +served yet. We're off!" + +"It is pitiful to see you kidnapped like this," Marian teased her. + +"Oh, well!" she looked slyly up into her husband's face. "Connie's not a +bad sort as men go, and I'm game to take a chance." + +"Isn't she the best ever?" Cosden cried proudly. "I'm strong for the +Benedicts and the Benedictines! Hurry up, Monty,--go and do likewise!" + +They were off like a whirlwind, then all returned to Hamlen on the +piazza. The two boys had stayed with him while the farewells were spoken +at the door. Billy felt a bond of sympathy at last, for he too had +suffered from the perfidy of woman! Philip was genuinely fond of +Hamlen, and the older man clung to his friendship with even greater +tenacity since this return to his normal condition. + +"We are talking war," Hamlen explained to Marian as they returned to +him. "These boys are eager to see what is going on over there." + +"So we've heard," she replied, smiling indulgently. "They have presented +the case to us from as many angles as a certain manufacturer has +varieties of pickles." + +"It would be a wonderful object lesson," Hamlen said meditatively. "Even +to read about it makes our own troubles insignificant; what an +opportunity, if on the spot, to give out from one's own personality, and +thus demonstrate the teachings of the humanists in practical fashion!" + +The idea seemed to take possession of him, and his rigid figure and set +features so clearly betrayed the workings of a strong emotion that no +one interrupted him. At length he turned abruptly. + +"Huntington!" he cried. + +His friend stepped quickly to his side. + +"I believe this war was started especially for me!" he declared. + +"For you?" Huntington echoed, surprised. + +"Why isn't this my opportunity? Here I am, longing for the chance to +express myself in doing something for some one else. I haven't a tie in +the world to keep me from going over there. I have money which couldn't +be devoted to a better cause, and I speak the languages like a native." + +"By Jove!" Huntington replied; "you've solved the problem! Be the first +to endow a college unit, Hamlen, and let it be for the glory of +Harvard. You can equip the outfit, select your professional corps, and +go over with it to superintend the business end. It's a capital notion!" + +"I'll do it!" Hamlen said decisively. "With a definite purpose like this +ahead of me, I'll shake this weakness in no time.--How about the boys? +I'll need some chauffeurs." + +"Not Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher cried. + +"Let me have him, Marian?" Hamlen begged. "The personal danger will be +slight, and I don't need tell you that I'll watch over him as if he were +my own son." + +She looked appealingly to her husband. + +"I'd let him go," Thatcher said. "There's no chance for him to get +started in business for several months yet, and I'm grateful to Hamlen +for offering him this opportunity under such wonderful conditions." + +Philip pleaded. "You won't hold out now, will you, Mother?" + +"I can't," she answered soberly. "With your father's approval, and with +Mr. Hamlen's assurances, I should surely be opposing Nature, shouldn't +I?" + +Her question was put to Huntington, who understood it. He smiled +approvingly. + +"Good for you, little woman," he whispered. "There are times when we +must bow to something stronger than ourselves; this is one of them." + +"How about me?" Billy demanded. + +"I think I may promise to secure consent," Huntington assured him. + +"Come on, Phil," Billy seized his chum's arm. "Let's go out in the +garage and practise on those cars." + +Marian disappeared within doors to quiet the apprehensions of her +mother-heart; Thatcher drew a chair beside Hamlen's to discuss the war, +which now assumed a personal interest; Huntington and Merry quietly +slipped down the steps, and wandered through the formal garden to their +favorite retreat. + +"Why not watch the sunset from the water-garden?" Merry asked. + +The sun set in proper and glorious fashion into the sea at the foot of +the avenue of maple trees, but the successful completion of its task did +not suggest to the lovers a return to the house. Still they sat on the +curiously-cut stone seat, and told each other that story which is older +than the stone, and which was first told long before Benten became the +Goddess of Love. Twilight deepened into dusk, and stirred within +Huntington's mind a quotation from a kindred soul who felt as he felt, +but who couched his thought in more fitting words than he himself could +choose: + +"I wonder if you love to listen to the music of the night as I do, dear +heart,--with its space, its mystery, its uplift of spirit? It is written +in the key of the ideal and in the cadence of the divine." + +"Oh, Monty!" she murmured contentedly, "I do; for it is written in the +key of happiness, and in the cadence of my beloved's voice!" + +"You forgive me for being too old?" + +"Not too old, my darling,--just born too soon!" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bachelors, by William Dana Orcutt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS *** + +***** This file should be named 33565.txt or 33565.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/5/6/33565/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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