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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/33787-8.txt b/33787-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d65724a --- /dev/null +++ b/33787-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9137 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rockhaven, by Charles Munn + +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: Rockhaven + +Author: Charles Munn + +Illustrator: Frank Merrill + +Release Date: September 21, 2010 [EBook #33787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROCKHAVEN *** + + + + +Produced by Matthew Rongey, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + ROCKHAVEN + + BY CHARLES CLARK MUNN + + AUTHOR OF "POCKET ISLAND" AND "UNCLE TERRY" + + + _ILLUSTRATED BY_ + _FRANK T. MERRILL_ + + + BOSTON + LEE AND SHEPARD + MCMII + + Published March, 1902. + + Copyright, 1902, by Lee and Shepard. + + _All Rights Reserved._ + + Rockhaven. + + Norwood Press + J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith + Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + To All + WHO DESPISE HYPOCRISY AND DECEPTION + WHO ADMIRE MANLY COURAGE AND WOMANLY DEVOTION + WHOSE HEARTS YET VIBRATE TO THE + CHORDS OF ROMANCE + AND WHO RESPECT SIMPLE FAITH IN AND + GRATITUDE TO GOD + This Book is Respectfully Dedicated + BY THE AUTHOR + + +[Illustration: THE OLD TIDE-MILL.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. ON ROCKHAVEN + +II. WINN HARDY + +III. THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY + +IV. WHERE THE SEA-GULLS COME + +V. JESS HUTTON + +VI. THE BUD OF A ROMANCE + +VII. SUNDAY ON ROCKHAVEN + +VIII. THE HAND OF FATE + +IX. A FRIENDLY HAND + +X. MONA HUTTON + +XI. THE DEVIL'S OVEN + +XII. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS + +XIII. WILD ROSES + +XIV. J. MALCOLM WESTON + +XV. A MATTER OF BUSINESS + +XVI. THE GROWTH OF A BUBBLE + +XVII. IN THE PATH OF MOONLIGHT + +XVIII. IN A FOG + +XIX. A PHILOSOPHER + +XX. A CLOUD OVER ROCKHAVEN + +XXI. THE MOOD OF THE BELLS + +XXII. TWO RASCALS + +XXIII. THE STARTING OF A "CORNER" + +XXIV. THE PROGRESS OF A "CORNER" + +XXV. A SUMMER DAY + +XXVI. A CLIMAX + +XXVII. SEVERING THE TIES + +XXVIII. ON 'CHANGE + +XXIX. THE BUBBLE RISES + +XXX. THE BUBBLE BURSTS + +XXXI. TWO DOGS AND A BONE + +XXXII. THE AFTERMATH OF A SWINDLE + +XXXIII. A TOUCH OF HEROISM + +XXXIV. A WOMAN'S WILES + +XXXV. THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE + +XXXVI. GOING, GOING, GONE! + +XXXVII. A SOCIAL CYNIC + +XXXVIII. THE END OF AN IDYL + +XXXIX. A GRAY-HAIRED ROMANCE + +XL. A GOOD SEND-OFF + +XLI. EIN WUNDERBARES FRAULEIN + +XLII. THE ROAD TO THE TEMPLE + +XLIII. THE CYNIC'S SHADOW + +XLIV. ONLY A MOOD + +XLV. THE OLD HOME + +XLVI. A NEW STAR + +XLVII. LOVE ETERNAL + +XLVIII. CONCLUSION + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE OLD TIDE-MILL + +MONA + +JESS HUTTON, PHILOSOPHER + +THE DEVIL'S OVEN + +THE BUBBLE BURSTS + +ROCKHAVEN + + + + +ROCKHAVEN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ON ROCKHAVEN + + +"It ain't more'n onct in a lifetime," said Jess Hutton to the crowd of +friends in his store, "that luck comes thick 'n' fat to any on us 'n' so +fer that reason I sent over to the mainland fer suthin' o' a liquid +natur; 'n' now take hold, all hands, 'n' injie yerselves on Jess." + +With that he began setting forth upon the counter, in battle array, +dozens upon dozens of bottles filled with dark brown liquid and +interspersed with boxes of cigars. For Jess Hutton, the oracle, +principal storekeeper, first selectman, school committeeman, prize story +teller, philosopher and friend to everybody on Rockhaven island, had +sold a few acres of granite ledge he set no value upon, for two thousand +dollars, half cash down; and being a man of generous impulses, had +invited the circle of friends most congenial, to "drop round ternight +'n' I'll set 'em up." + +It is true that the cigars he passed out so freely were not imported, +still they were the best he kept, and not the cheap brand most in demand +on Rockhaven, and the bottles contained the vintage of hops and malt +instead of "extra dry," but both were urged upon all in a way that left +refusal impossible. + +And of that unique gathering of men, with sea-tanned faces, garbed +mainly in shirt, trousers, and sailor caps, some wearing boots, some +slippers, some barefoot, nearly all addressed one another as "Cap" or +"Cap'n," for to own a fishing sloop or jigger on Rockhaven meant +distinction. + +"I dunno how it all come about," said Jess, when the popping of corks +had ceased and the incense of cabbage leaves began to arise, "but I was +sorter dozin' on the counter that day when this bloomin' freak, with +white duck pants, 'n' cap, 'n' shirt, 'n' gray side whiskers, blew in, +'n' the fust I know'd, I heerd him say, 'Come, wake up, Rip Van Winkle! +I want ter buy yer quarry!' + +"Then I sot up 'n' rubbed my eyes 'n' looked at him, sure he must be one +o' them make-believe sailors off a yacht I'd seen run in the night +afore, 'n' had come ashore with skates on. + +"'Want ter buy what?' I sez. 'Want ter buy yer quarry,' he sez again. 'I +heerd ye owned the one t'other side o' the harbor, 'n' if ye want ter +sell it cheap, I'll buy it.' Then I looked at him harder'n ever; sure he +had a jag 'n' was makin' game o' me. + +"'Yes,' I sez, 'I'll sell ye the quarry, or the hull island, if ye ain't +sure ye own it already. Better go into the back o' the store 'n' lay +down on a pile o' old sails ye'll find thar, 'n' sleep it off. Things'll +look more nat'ral to ye by that time.' With that he laffed fit ter +split. 'You're all right, old sport,' he sez, 'but I ain't drunk, 'n' if +ye'll set the price low enough, I'll buy yer quarry and pay ye cash +fer't.' + +"'Wal,' I sez, thinkin' I'd set the price high 'nough ter knock him +galley west, 'I'll take three thousand dollars fer't.' + +"'I'll give ye two,' he said, ''n' pay yer half down.' 'Hev ye got it +with ye?' I sed. 'I hev,' he said, 'aboord the boat, or I'll give ye a +check.' 'Checks don't go here,' I said, 'but if ye've got real money, +'n' mean business, it's yourn at that figger.' Then he went off, 'n' I +was so sure I'd never set eyes on him ag'in I went ter sleep. It didn't +seem five minutes till he blew in ag'in. 'How many acres o' that ledge +do ye own,' he said, 'an' how many goes with the quarry?' 'Wall,' I +said, 'there's about a hundred, 'n' if that ain't nuff ter keep ye busy +blastin' the rest o' yer nateral life, I'll throw in the hull o' Norse +Hill jist ter bind the bargain,' fer I didn't no more s'pose he meant +bizniss than I s'posed I'd got wings. 'Wal,' he says, pullin' out a roll +o' bills bigger'n my arm. 'Here's the kale seed, an' when ye'll show me +what I'm buyin' 'n' a deed on't, it's yourn.' + +"Wal, I jist pinched myself, ter see if I was 'wake, an' jumpin' off the +counter, fished a deed out o' my safe 'n' took it 'long, an' showed him +round the ledge, believin' all the time when he'd seen it, he'd tell me +ter go soak my head, er suthin' o' that sort. But he didn't, an' arter I +got hold o' the money 'n' counted it, wonderin' if it wasn't all bogus, +'n' give him a receipt, 'n' he'd gone off, I went 'n' stuck a pin into +my leg, jist ter be sure I was awake, after all. That was a week ago," +continued Jess, lighting one of the cigars he had set forth, "but I +didn't say nuthin' 'bout it till I'd gone ashore with the money an' the +bank folks hed said it was all right, 'n' now I think I've lost jist a +thousand dollars by not askin' four for't. Why, the loonytic acted as +though he owned a printin' press that made money, an' was goin' all the +time." + +"Wish I'd been ashore," observed Captain Moore, who was one of the +group, "I'd a tackled him ter buy the _Nancy Jane_. She's been lyin' +inside o' the harbor, half full o' bilge water, fer more'n a year, an' +ain't wuth scuttlin'. Ye'd orter 'a thought on't, Jess, an' persuaded +him he could 'a used 'r to carry stun in." + +"An' if I'd a-knowed it," put in Cap'n Jet Doty, another of the group, +"I'd a tried him on 'bout a hundred kit o' mackerel we've got that's a +trifful rusty. He cud a-used 'em somehow. Ye'd orter think o' yer +neighbors, Jess, in such a case, an' let 'em in on't." + +"I dunno but ye're right," responded Jess; "but I wus caught nappin', +'n' I cac'late that if any o' ye hed been woke up by sech a lubber with +gray whiskers, like stun'sls, an' dude cloes like these jackdaw yachters +wear, an offerin' ye two thousand dollars fer what ye'd sell fer fifty, +an' no takers, ye'd a-bin sot back, so ter speak. If I'd a hed time ter +think an' knowed what an easy mark the cuss was, I'd a-laid ter sell him +the hull island 'n' divided it up all round." + +And be it said that if all the landowners of Rockhaven had obtained even +what they valued their holdings at, they would have sold cheerfully, for +out of the eighty odd square miles of the island, not one quarter was of +soil, and much of that so sandy that only bayberry bushes and wild +roses grew on it, or else thickets of stunted spruce. The only means of +livelihood to most was the sea, and if nature had not endowed the island +with a capacious land-locked harbor and a few acres of productive soil +beyond it, and shut in by wall-like shores, Rockhaven would have been +left to the sea-gulls that infested its cliffs, or the fish-hawks that +found its harbor good fishing ground. + +"What'd ye s'pose he's goin' ter do with it, now he's got it?" put in +Cap'n Doty, when Jess had finished his recital, and having in mind his +stock of rusty mackerel. "Will he come down here 'n' go ter quarryin'?" + +"Mebbe he wants it fer ballast fer a new boat," interposed young Dave +Moore. "Or fer buildin' a house," put in Dave's brother, Sam. "Cheer up, +uncle, we may sell him the _Nancy Jane_ yit. He'll hev ter hire or buy +suthin' ter carry stun 'way from the island. He can't make a raft on't." + +"An' if he does," asserted Cap'n Moore, addressing Cap'n Doty, who sat +opposite him on a cracker barrel, "ye'd git a chance to work off them +mackerel." + +"I dunno what he's goin' ter do with it," asserted Jess, when a pause +came, "nor care, so long's I git t'other thousand as is comin' when +deeds is passed. I ain't sure I'll git that, either," he added +candidly, "but if I don't the quarry's still mine 'n' a cool thousand o' +that freak's good money's gone out o' circulation anyhow, which is some +comfort." + +Then came a lull in conversation, and in place the popping of more corks +and "Here's to yer good luck, Jess," as bottles were elevated and +pointed downward. + +"Come, Jess," said Dave Moore, when this second libation had been +indulged in, and who was in a mood for hearing yarns, "tell 'em 'bout +old Bill Atlas." + +Now this tale, antedating the day and generation of most of Jess +Hutton's auditors, was nevertheless a favorite with him and one he +always enjoyed telling. + +"Wal," he said, "if ye want ter hear 'bout old Bill, I'll tell ye, +though some o' ye here hez heerd 'bout him afore, I reckon. It's been a +good many years since Bill took to his wings, humsoever, 'n' so his +hist'ry may be divartin'. Bill used ter live all 'lone in a little shack +he'd built out o' drift, half way 'tween here and Northaven. That is, he +slept thar nights when he was ashore, fer he was away fishin' most o' +the time. He were the worst soaker on the island, an' from the time he +sot foot ashore 'n' got his pay until every cent was spent, he didn't +draw a sober breath. Thar wan't no use arguin' with Bill, or doin' +anything to reform him. Jist the moment he got a dollar, jist that +moment he started in ter git drunk 'n' allus succeeded. Even Parson +Bush, who hed jist come here then 'n' anxious ter do good, failed on +Bill. No 'mount o' argufyin' 'bout the worm that never dies or the fate +o' sinners hed a mite o' influence on Bill. + +"'Parson,' he'd say, 'thar ain't no use a-talkin' ter me. Licker was +made ter be drunk, else why was it made at all, 'n' if the Lord Almighty +didn't cac'late fer me ter drink it, why did he make me hanker for't? Ye +jist preach ter them as is like ter mind it an'll foller it. I ain't, +an' it'll do no good.' An' then Bill'd roll away an' fill up. He wa'n't +a quarrelsome cuss, jist a good-natured soaker who meant ter git drunk, +'n' done it, an' never meant ter bother nobody when he was. + +"But some on us young folks in them days sot out to hev fun with Bill +once upon a time, an' we did, an' more'n that, we joggled him so he quit +drinkin' fer most a year. He'd had one er two fits o' tremens afore that +time, 'n' had sorter got skeery 'bout seein' things, so our trick worked +fust rate. One o' the smacks hed jist brought in a hogfish that day, an' +it was the worst lookin' critter that ever growed in the sea. It +weighed 'bout fifty poun' 'n' was 'most all mouth 'n' teeth. Bill was up +in the corner o' a fish house sleepin' off a jag when the critter was +h'isted onto the dock, 'n' the moment we spied it we said we'd try it on +Bill. We told everybody ter keep quiet 'n' then we went at it. Fust we +lugged the hogfish over ter Bill's shack, which was out on the end o' a +little pint 'n' sorter shut in 'tween the rocks, 'n' then we got an old +bit o' sail and went ter work. We sot the critter up on stuns, right in +front o' the shack, 'n' made a tail 'bout forty feet long out o' the +sail, an' stuffed it nat'ral like, 'n' then rigged lines running over +the shanty to work the critter's mouth 'n' tail up 'n' down when the +time come. It was 'long in the arternoon when we sot about 'n' we +cac'lated Bill 'd wake up sometime arter dark 'n' come to his shack in +jist the mood ter 'preciate the good thing that we hed waitin' fer him. +Then to sorter liven up matters, we took a handful o' matches, an' +dampenin' 'em, rubbed the ends round the eyes an' mouth o' the critter, +'n' in spots 'long the tail, where we was to hist it a little. It was +clear dark afore we got the trap all sot 'n' baited, 'n' then five on us +took the lines and tried the joke. It worked pretty slick, 'n' ter see +that critter's mouth, more'n a foot long 'n' full o' teeth, 'n' eyes +with rings of phosphorus round 'em, a-workin' up an' down, to say +nothin' 'bout the tail, would a-skeered a sober man into fits arter +dark, let alone one who 'spected snakes. When Bill's welcome home was +all ready, we sot a watch on Bill, who was still asleep, 'n' the rest on +us went home ter supper. Then we got together, 'bout two dozen on us +that knew Bill best, 'n' gittin' sheets ter wrap up in, to sorter +stiffen the hogfish effect, all hands hid round his shanty an' inside +on't. It was purty late 'fore Bill showed up, but he came 'long finally, +kind o' wobblin' some and hummin':-- + + "'I'm a gallant lass as ever you see, + And the roving sailor winked at me.' + +"Bill was allus feelin' that way when half full 'n' now jist happy 'n' +comfortable like. There was a new moon that sorter lit up the path, 'n' +jist as he got to where it made a turn, 'bout ten feet from the shanty, +I made a signal by squeakin' like a gull, an' the boys begun workin' the +lines, 'n' 'bout two dozen white figgers rose up from behind the rocks +or stepped out o' the cabin. I never knew which skeered Bill the worst, +the awful critter snappin' at him thar in the path, or the ghosts, for +Bill gave one screech that could a' been heard five mile, 'n' ye never +seen a man run the way he did. He didn't stop ter keep in the path +either, but jist went right over the rocks anywhere. He tumbled two or +three times 'fore he got out o' sight, 'n' you'd a-thought he was made +o' rubber, the way he got up 'n' yelled, 'Help, help, O Lord,' all the +time. I'll 'low it was the fust time he'd ever called on the Lord fer +help, but it wa'n't the last, fer he made straight fer the parson's +house 'n' begun pummellin' on the door. + +"'O Lord, take me in,' he said when the parson opened it, 'I'm come fer +at last 'n' the divil's arter me. Pray fer me, parson, an' for God's +sake, do it quick!' An' then he went down on his knees, 'n' sayin', +'Lordy, Lordy, I'll never drink 'nother drop's long's I live!' Parson +Bush was a good deal took back, fer he didn't know the joke, 'n' 'lowed +Bill had the tremens. 'Better go back to yer shanty, ye sot,' he said, +'an' when you git sober come here 'n' I'll talk with ye,' an' with that +he shet the door 'n' Bill jist laid down 'n' bellowed like a calf. 'N' +he didn't go back to his shanty, either, that night, not by a jugful; +he'd seen 'nough o' that spot ter last him quite a spell. 'N' when he +did thar warn't nuthin' out o' ordinary, fer we'd chucked the hogfish +off the rocks, 'n' 'twas more 'n a year 'fore Bill found out the trick +we played, 'n' in all that time he kept sober. He did find out arter a +spell, fer a joke like that can't be kept allus, 'n' when Bill did, he +took ter drink agin, 'n' finally jumped off the dock one night in a fit +o' the jims 'n' that was the last o' him. It's hard to larn an old dog +new tricks." + +For an hour the little crowd of Jess Hutton's friends lingered, +wondering and speculating on what the outcome of this investment in a +granite ledge would be. To most it seemed a piece of folly or the act of +a madman. These worthless rocks had stared them in the face so many +years, had so interfered with house building, or the convenient placing +of fish racks, or road making, that they had one and all come to hate +their very sight. In their estimation they were a nuisance and a curse, +and for any sane man to buy twenty acres of ledge to quarry and +transport five hundred miles, seemed worse than folly. + +Then, having given due expression to this common sentiment, and +congratulating Jess upon his good luck, they shook hands with him and +went their way. And when the sound of their footsteps upon the one +narrow plank walk of Rockhaven had ceased, and only the murmur of the +near-by ocean was heard, Jess, as was his wont when lonesome, drew his +old brown fiddle from its hiding place and sought consolation from its +strings. And also, as usual, the melodies were the songs of Bonnie +Scotland. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WINN HARDY + + +Winn Hardy, born and reared where the tinkle of the cow bells on the +hillside pastures, or the call of the village church bell on Sunday was +the most exciting incident, and a crossroads schoolhouse the only temple +of learning, reached the age of fourteen as utterly untainted by +knowledge of the world as the birds that annually visited the old farm +orchards. And then came a catastrophe in his life which ended in two +freshly made graves in the village cemetery, and he was thrust into the +whirl of city life, to make his home with a widowed aunt, a Mrs. +Converse, who felt it her duty to complete his education by a two years' +course at a business college. + +It was a scant educational outfit with which to carve his way to fame +and fortune, but many a man succeeds who has less, and Winn might have +been worse off. + +He had one unfortunate and serious fact to contend with, however, and +that was a mercurial disposition. When the world and his associates +seemed to smile, he soared amid the rosy clouds of optimism, and when +things went wrong, he lost his courage. + +His first step in wage-earning (a menial position in a store, with +scanty pay which scarce sufficed to clothe him) soon convinced him how +hard a task earning a livelihood was, and that no one obtained a penny +unless he fought for it. Then through the influence of his aunt, he +obtained an easier berth as copy clerk in the office of Weston & Hill, +whose business was the investing of other people's money, and while his +hours of service were less, his pay was no better. Three years of this +resulted in slow advancement to a junior bookkeeper's desk and better +pay. It also broadened his list of acquaintances, for he joined a club, +the membership of which was decidedly mixed, and not all of the best +kind of associates for Winn. + +His aunt, a shallow though well-meaning woman, devoted to church work, +gossip, and her pet poodle, considering Winn an unfortunate addition to +her cares, held but scant influence over him. She furnished him a home +to sleep and eat in without cost, urged him to attend church with her, +cautioned him against evil associates; but beyond that she could not and +did not go. So Winn drifted. He saved a little money, realizing that he +must, or be forever helpless and dependent; he learned the slang of the +town and its ways, and forgot for a time the wholesome lessons of his +early life. He also grew more mercurial, and, worse than that, he grew +cynical. + +On all sides, and go where he would, the arrogance of wealth seemed to +hedge him about and force upon him the realization that he was but a +poorly paid bookkeeper, and not likely to become aught else. And then a +worse mishap befell him--he met and became attached to Jack Nickerson. + +There is in every club, and in every walk in life, wherever a young +man's feet may stray, some one it were better he never met--a +Mephistopheles in male garb, whose wit and ways of pleasure-taking are +alluring, whose manners are perfect, whose pockets are well filled; and +alas, whose morals are a matter of convenience. + +That Winn, honest and wholesome-minded country-born fellow that he was, +should be attracted by this product of fast city life is not strange. It +is the attraction that allures the moth toward the flame, the good +toward evil. Follow Nickerson in that course, Winn would not and did +not; he merely admired him for his wit, felt half tempted to emulate his +vices, absorbed his scepticism--for Jack Nickerson in addition to his +vices was a cynic of the most implacable sort. With him all religion was +hypocrisy, all virtue a folly, and all truth a farce. He had income +sufficient to live well upon, gambled for a pastime, was at the race +tracks whenever chance offered, was cheek by jowl with the sporting +fraternity, a man about town and hail fellow well met with all. + +Per contra, he was generous to a fault, laughed most when he uttered his +sharpest sneers, was polished and refined in his tastes and a gentleman +always. + +One distinguished novelist has deified such a man, and made him a hero +of her numerous tales. + +To Winn he appealed more as a fascinating, world-wise sceptic, whose +shafts of satire were gospel truths, and whose Sybarite sort of +existence was worthy of emulation, if one only had the money to follow +it. + +Then, as if to cap the climax and Winn's cynical education, he fell in +love with Ethel Sherman, a beauty and a natural-born flirt, whose ideas +of life and maternal training had convinced her that marriage was a +matter of business, and a means by which to obtain position and wealth. + +Her family were people of moderate means, living near neighbors to +Winn's aunt and attending the same church. She had an elder sister, +Grace, who had, in her estimation, wrecked her life by marrying a poor +man. And when Winn Hardy, young, handsome and callow, first met her, she +was just home from boarding-school, ready to spread her social wings, +and ripe for conquest. + +Winn's aunt was also somewhat to blame in the matter, for she, like many +good women, loved to dabble in match-making, and in her simple mind +fancied it a wise move to bring one about between Ethel and Winn. + +Its results were disastrous to his peace of mind, for, after dancing +attendance for a year and spending half he earned on flowers and theatre +tickets, his suit was laughed at and he was assured that only a rich +young man was eligible to her favor. + +Then he went back to Jack Nickerson, and, though he outgrew his folly, +his impulsive nature became more pronounced and he a more bitter cynic +than ever. For two years he was but a cipher in business and social +life, a poorly paid bookkeeper in the office of Weston & Hill, a drop in +the rushing, pushing, strenuous life of the city; and then came a +change. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY + + +"Please step into my private office, Mr. Hardy," said J. Malcolm Weston, +head of Weston & Hill, bankers, brokers, and investment securities, as +stated on the two massive nickel plates that flanked their doorway, "I +have a matter of business to discuss with you." + +Ordinarily Mr. J. Malcolm Weston would have said, "You may step into my +private office, Mr. Hardy," when, as in this case, he addressed his +bookkeeper, for Mr. Weston never forgot his dignity in the presence of a +subordinate. It may be added that he never forgot to address a possible +customer as though he owned millions, for J. Malcolm Weston was master +of the fine art of obsequious deference, and his persuasive smile, +cordial hand grasp, and copious use of flowery language had cost many a +cautious man hundreds of dollars. Mr. Weston can best be described as +unctuous, and belonged to that class of men who part their names and +hair in the middle, but make no division in money matters, merely taking +it all. + +When Winn Hardy had obeyed his employer's suave invitation and was +seated in his presence, he was made to feel that he had suddenly stepped +into a sunnier clime. + +"It gives me great pleasure, Mr. Hardy," continued Weston, "to inform +you that we have decided to enlarge your sphere of duty with us, and I +may say, responsibilities. Mr. Hill and myself have considered the +matter carefully, and, in view of your faithful and efficient services, +we shall from now on confide to you the management of an outside matter +of great importance. Please examine this prospectus, which will appear +to-morrow in all the papers of this city." + +Winn took the typewritten document tendered him and carefully scanned +its contents. To show its importance it is given in full, though with +reduced headlines:-- + + THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY. + CAPITAL, $1,000,000.00. + Stock non-assessable. Shares $1.00 each. + Par Value, $10.00. + President, J. MALCOLM WESTON. + BOARD OF DIRECTORS: + J. Malcolm Weston of Weston & Hill. + William M. Simmons, Member of Stock Exchange. + William B. Codman, President National Bank of Discount. + Samuel H. Wiseman, Real Estate Broker. + L. Orton Brown, Secretary Board of Trade. + Office of Company: Weston & Hill, Bankers, Brokers, and Investments. + + PROSPECTUS + + This Company has purchased and now owns the finest granite + quarries in the world, over one mile in length and half that in + width, fronting upon the land-locked harbor on the island of + Rockhaven. It has a full and perfect equipment of steam drills, + engines, derricks, an excellent wharf, vessels for transporting + freight, and all modern appliances for carrying on the business + of quarrying. + + It is well known that the rapid growth of architectural taste + produces an ever increasing demand for this, the best of all + building stone, and as we furnish the finest quality of + granite, having that beautiful pink tint so much admired by + architects, you can readily see that our advantages and + prospects are limitless. This is no delusive scheme for gold + mining or oil boring, but a solid and practical business that + guarantees sure returns and certain dividends. + + Our supply of granite is exhaustless, the market limitless, and + all that we need to develop this quarry and obtain lucrative + returns is a little additional capital. For this purpose fifty + thousand shares of the capital stock are now offered for sale + at one dollar per share, so that the investor may receive the + benefit of the advance to par which will follow, as well as the + liberal dividends which will surely accrue. + + The price of stock will be advanced from time to time, as it is + taken up. + + Subscription books now open at the office of + + WESTON & HILL, Financiers. + +"It reads well," observed Winn, after he had perused this alluring +advertisement, "and I should imagine an investment in a granite quarry +might seem a safe one." + +"Yes, decidedly safe as well as secure," replied J. Malcolm Weston, with +a twinkle in his steely blue eyes not observed by Winn. "I wrote that ad +with the intention of attracting investors who desire a solid investment +for their money, and fancy I have succeeded. You noticed, perhaps, my +allusion to gold mines and oil wells that have recently proved so +elusive." Then taking a box of cigars, and passing them to Winn, and +elevating his feet to a desk, as if to enjoy the telling of a pleasant +episode, Mr. Weston continued: "That prospectus (which I pride myself is +an artistic piece of work) will attract just the class of men who have +grown suspicious of all sorts of schemes. It is this element of solidity +and certainty that we shall elaborate upon. Now I will tell you about +our plan and how you are to assist us in carrying it out. As you may +recall, I was away last summer with Simmons on his yacht, and while on +our trip we landed upon an island called Rockhaven, up the north coast. +It is sort of a double island, half cut in two by a safe harbor, and +populated by a few hundred simple fisher-folk. We remained there a few +days looking over the island, and I noticed that some one had started +quarrying the granite of which the island is composed. That, and the +location of the quarry, which faced this harbor, set me thinking. It +ended in my inquiring out the owner, an eccentric old fellow who kept a +small store and fiddled when he hadn't any customers, and finally buying +the quarry. I paid him one thousand down, and we are to pay him one +thousand more when deeds are passed. We are now going to send you up +there to complete the purchase, paying him the balance, if you can, in +stock; then hire men, improve the dock, set up the machinery we shall +send you, and begin quarrying operations. That will be one of your +duties. The other, and principal, one will be to get the natives +interested in this home industry, and sell stock to them. To this end it +may be necessary for you to give a little away to those whose influence +may be of value. We have already booked several orders for building +stone, which you will get out as per specifications and shipments. It +will be necessary for you to hire one or two vessels for this purpose, +or else contract for delivery of stone to us at so much per cargo. There +is a small steamer which makes regular trips to this island, so we can +reach you by mail. + +"Now there is another matter, also of great importance. In order to +stimulate your interest in the success of this enterprise, we shall make +you a present of five hundred shares of this stock provided you can +raise the money to purchase, at one dollar per share, another block of +five hundred, or, what would answer as well, induce your aunt to do so." + +It was the glittering bait, intended by the wily Weston to catch and +hold his dupe, Winn Hardy. + +"I have some money laid away," answered Winn, his sense of caution +obscured by this alluring offer, "and with a little help from my aunt, I +feel sure I can manage it; at least, I will try." + +"We do not need this investment of five hundred dollars on your part, +Mr. Hardy," continued Weston, in a grandiloquent tone; "as you must be +aware, it is but a drop in the bucket, and we only wish it to induce +your more hearty coöperation in pushing this enterprise to a successful +ending. If we make money, as we are sure to do, you will also share in +it. It is needless for me to tell you that this is the golden +opportunity of your life, and if you take hold with a will, and not only +manage this quarry with good business discretion, but, what is of more +importance, sell all the stock you can, you will reap a small fortune. +This enterprise is sure to be a money-maker and we expect inside of a +year to see Rockhaven go to ten, twenty, or possibly thirty dollars per +share." + +And Winn Hardy, though sophisticated in a minor degree, believed it, and +true to his nature, leaped at once into the clouds, where sudden riches +and all that follows seemed within his grasp. Not only did he easily +persuade his excellent, though credulous, aunt, to lend him the money he +needed, but when he left for his new field of labor, he had so impressed +her with his newly acquired delusion that she made haste to call upon +Weston & Hill and invest a few thousand herself. + +How disastrous that venture proved and how much woe and sorrow followed +need not be specified at present. True to her feminine nature, she told +no one, not even Winn, of her investment; and until the meteoric career +of Rockhaven had become ancient history on the street, only the books of +those shrewd schemers and her own safe deposit box knew her secret. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +WHERE THE SEA-GULLS COME + + +Like a pair of Titanic spectacles joined with a bridge of granite, the +two halves of Rockhaven faced the Atlantic billows, as grim and defiant +as when Leif Ericson's crew of fearless Norsemen sailed into its +beautiful harbor. With a coast line of bold cliffs, indented by +occasional fissures and crested with stunted spruce, the interior, +sloping toward the centre, hears only the whisper of the ocean winds. + +Rockhaven has a history, and it is one filled with the pathos of +poverty, from that day, long ago, when Captain Carver first sailed into +its land-locked harbor to split, salt, and dry his sloop load of cod on +the sunny slope of a granite ledge, until now, when two straggling +villages of tiny houses, interspersed with racks for drying cod, a few +untidy fishing smacks tied up at its small wharves, and a little +steamboat that daily journeys back and forth to the main land, thirty +miles distant, entitles it to be called inhabited. In that history also +is incorporated many ghastly tales of shipwreck on its forbidding and +wave-beaten shores, of long winters when its ledges and ravines were +buried beneath a pall of snow, its little fleet of fishermen +storm-stayed in the harbor, and food and fuel scarce. It also has its +romantic tales of love and waiting to end in despair, when some fisher +boy sailed away and never came back; and one that had a tragic ending, +when a fond and foolish maiden ended years of waiting by hanging herself +in the old tide mill. + +And, too, it has had its religious revival, when a wave of Bible reading +and conversion swept over its poorly fed people, to be followed by a +split in its one Baptist church on the merits and truths of close +communion or its opposite, to end in the formation of another. + +It also had its moods, fair and charming when the warm south wind barely +ripples the blue sea about, the wild roses smile between its granite +ledges, and the sea-gulls sail leisurely over them; or else gloomy and +solemn when it lies hid under a pall of fog while the ocean surges boom +and bellow along its rock-ribbed shore. + +On the inner and right-hand shore of the secure harbor, a small fishing +village fringes both sides of a long street, and at the head of the +harbor, one mile away, stands another hamlet. The first and larger +village is called Rockhaven, the other Northaven. Each has its little +church and schoolhouse, also used for town meetings, its one or two +general stores, and a post-office. Those in Rockhaven, where fishing is +the sole industry, are permeated with that salty odor of cured fish, +combined with tar, coffee, and kerosene; and scattered over the interior +are a score of modest farmhouses. + +At one end of the harbor, and where the village of Northaven stands, a +natural gateway of rock almost cuts off a portion of the harbor, and +here was an old tide mill, built of unhewn stone, but now unused, its +roof fallen in, its gates rotted away, and the abutments that once held +it in place now used to support a bridge. + +On one of the headlands just north of Rockhaven village, and known as +Norse Hill, stands a peculiar structure, a circular stone tower open at +the top and with an entrance on the inner or landward side. Tradition +says this was built by the Norsemen as a place of worship. Beyond this +hill, at the highest point of the island, is a deep fissure in the +coast, ending in a small open cave above tidewater and facing the south. +This is known as the Devil's Oven. On either side of this gorge, and +extending back from it, is a thicket of stunted spruce. The bottom and +sides of this inlet, semicircular in shape, are coated thick with +rockweed and bare at low tide. On the side of the harbor opposite +Rockhaven, and facing it, is a small granite quarry owned and +occasionally operated by one of the natives, a quaint old bachelor named +Jesse Hutton. In summer, and until late in the fall, each morning a +small fleet of fishing craft spread their wings and sail away, to return +each night. On the wharves and between most of the small brown houses +back of them, are fish racks of various sizes, interspersed with tiny +sheds built beside rocks, old battered boats, piles of rotting nets, +broken lobster pots, and a medley of wrack of all sorts and kinds, +beaten and bleached by the salty sea. + +In summer, too, a white-winged yacht, trim and trig, with her brass +rails, tiny cannon, and duck-clad crew, occasionally sails into the +harbor and anchors, to send her complement of fashionable +pleasure-seekers ashore. Here they ramble along the one main street, +with its plank walk, peeping curiously into the open doors and windows +of the shops, at the simply clad women and barefooted children who eye +them with awe. Each are as wide apart from the other as the poles in +their dress, manners, and ways of living, and each as much a curiosity +to the other. + +Of the social life of the island there is little to be said, for it is +as simple as the garb of its plain people, who never grow rich and are +seldom very poor. Each of the two villages is blessed with a diminutive +church, Baptist in denomination, the one at Rockhaven the oldest and +known as Hard-Shell; that at Northaven as Free-Will. Each calls together +most of the womenkind and grown-up children, as well as a few of the +men, every Sunday, while the rest of the men, if in summer, lounge +around the wharves smoking and swapping yarns. There is no great +interest in religion among either sex, and church attendance seems more +a social pleasure than a duty. + +Occasionally a few of the young people will get together, as young folks +always do, to play games; and though it is in the creed of both churches +that dancing is to be abjured, nevertheless old Jess Hutton, whose +fiddle was his wife, child, and sole companion in his solitude, was +occasionally induced to play and call off for the lads and lasses of the +town, with a fringe of old folks around the walls as spectators. + +"I like to see 'em dance," he always said, "fer they look so happy when +at it; 'sides, when they get old they won't want to. Dancin's as nat'ral +to young folks as grass growin' in spring." + +Every small village has its oracle, whose opinion on all matters passes +current as law and gospel, whose stories and jokes are repeated by all, +and who is by tacit consent chosen moderator at town meetings, holds the +office of selectman and chairman of the school committee for life, is +accepted as referee in all disputes, and the friend, counsellor, and +adviser of all. Such a man in Rockhaven was Jesse Hutton. Though he +argued with the Rev. Jason Bush, who officiated at Rockhaven on Sundays, +about the unsocial nature of close communion, and occasionally met and +had a tilt with the Northaven minister, he was a friend to both. + +"Goin' to church and believin' in a futur'," he would say, "is jest as +necessary to livin' and happiness as sparkin' on the part of young folks +is necessary to the makin' o' homes." + +For Jesse Hutton, or simply Jess, as old and young called him, was in +his way a bit of a philosopher, and his philosophy may be summed up by +saying that he had the happy faculty of looking upon the dark side of +life cheerfully. It also may be said that he looked upon the cheerful +side of life temperately. + +And here it may be prudent to insert a little of Jess Hutton's history. +He was the elder of two brothers, schoolboys on the island when its +population numbered less than one hundred, and one small brown +schoolhouse served as a place of worship on Sundays as well as a temple +of learning on week-days. Here the two boys Jesse and Jethro, received +scant education, and at the age of fourteen and sixteen, respectively, +knew more about the sailing of fishing smacks and the catching and +curing of cod and mackerel than of decimal fractions and the rule of +three. + +And then the Civil War came on, and when its wave of patriotism reached +far-off Rockhaven, Jess Hutton, then a sturdy young man, enlisting in +the navy under Farragut, served his country bravely and well. Then Jess +came back, a limping hero, to find his brother Jethro deeply in love +with pretty Letty Carver, for whom Jess had cherished a boyish +admiration, and in a fair way to secure a home, with her as a chief +incentive. Jess made no comment when he saw which way the wind blew in +that quarter, but, philosopher that he was, even then, quietly but +promptly turned his face away from the island and for a score of years +Rockhaven knew not of his whereabouts. Gossips, recalling how he and +Letty, as grown-up school children, had played together along the sandy +beach of the little harbor or by the old tide mill, then grinding its +grist, asserted that Jess had been driven away by disappointment; but +beyond surmise they could not go, for to no one did he impart one word +of his reasons for leaving the island and the scenes of his boyhood. + +Twenty years later, Letty Carver, who had become Mrs. Jethro Hutton, was +left a widow with one child, a little girl named Mona, a small white +cottage on Rock Lane, and, so far as any one knew, not much else. + +And then Jess Hutton returned. + +Once more the gossips became busy with what Jess would or should do, +especially as he seemed to have brought back sufficient means to at once +build a respectable dwelling place, the upper half fitted for a domicile +and the lower for a store. + +But all surmise came to naught, together with all the well-meant and +excellent domestic paths mapped out by the busybodies for Jess and the +widow to follow, for when the combination house was done and the store +stocked, Jess Hutton attended regularly to the latter and kept +bachelor's hall in the former; and though he was an occasional caller at +the cottage in Rock Lane and usually walked to church with the widow and +little Mona on Sundays, the store and its customers by day or night were +his chief care, and his solitary home merely a place to sleep in. And +yet not; for beyond that, during his many years of wandering on the +mainland, he had contracted the habit of amusing himself with the +violin when lonesome, and Jess, the eccentric old bachelor, as some +termed him, and his fiddle became a curiosity among the odd and yet +simple people of Rockhaven. Then, too, the little girl, Mona, his niece, +became, as she grew up, his protégée and care, and he her one +inseparable friend and adviser. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +JESS HUTTON + + +Like one of the spruces that towered high above others on Rockhaven, +like one of the granite cliffs bidding defiance to storm and wave, so +did Jess Hutton tower above his fellow-men. Not from stature, though he +stood full six feet, or that he was impressive in other ways--far from +it. He was like a child among men in simplicity, in tenderness, in truth +and kindly nature--a man among children in strict adherence to his +conscience, to justice and right living. And all on Rockhaven knew it, +and all had the same unvarying confidence in his good sense and justice, +his truth and honor, conscience and kindness. What he predicted nearly +always came true; what he promised he always fulfilled, and no one ever +asked his aid in vain. Others quarrelled, made mistakes, repented of +errors, lost time in fruitless ventures; but Jess--never. He was like a +great ship moving majestically among boats, a lighthouse pointing to +safe harbor, a walking conscience like a compass, a giant among pigmies +in scope of mind, keenness of insight, and accurate reading of others' +moods and impulses. + +And so he towered above all on Rockhaven. + +Beyond that he was a philosopher who saw a silver lining behind all +clouds, laughed at all vanities, and made a jest of all follies. To him +men were grown-up children who needed to be amused and directed; and +women the custodians of life and morals, home, and happiness. They +deserved the mantle of charity and patience, love, and tenderness. + +He was not religious. He had never felt a so-called change of heart, and +yet he was a walking example of the best that religion encourages, for +he governed himself, set the pace of right living, and illustrated the +golden rule. + +He believed in that first and foremost, and in setting a good example as +far as lay in his power, but not in any professions. + +"Ye mustn't feel I ain't on yer side," he said once to Parson Bush, who +had urged him to join the church, "for I am, only it's agin my natur ter +'low I've had a special dispensation o' the Lord's grace in my behalf. +I'm a weak vessel, like all on us, an' my impulses need caulkin'. I do +the best I kin, 'cordin' to my light, 'n' that's all any man kin. The +Lord won't go back on us fer not gittin' dipped, an' if there's a +heaven beyond, our only chance o' a seat is by startin' an annex right +here on airth. Sayin' you've joined the Lord's army's well enough, but +doin' what ye feel the Lord's tryin' to, is better. + +"Ez Sally Harper used ter say in meetin', 'We're all on us poor +critters, an' if we jine, there's no tellin' when we'll backslide.'" + +It was perhaps the consciousness of inherent human weakness that kept +Jess out of the fold. + +"A man may do right 'n' keep on doin' right 'most all his life long," he +said, "an' some day up pops a temptation, when he's least prepared +for't, and over he goes like a sailboat 'thout ballast in a gale o' +wind. An' then what becomes o' all yer 'lowin' the Lord's opened yer +eyes 'n' gin ye extra grace? Ye only get laughed at by the scoffers 'n' +yer influence gone fer good. Human nature's brittle stuff, an' them as +does right 'thout any change o' heart, come purty near bein' leaders in +the percession toward the Throne." + +His philosophy, broad as infinite mercy and humble as a child's +happiness, permeated all his thoughts and tinged all his speeches. + +"No joy's quite so comfortin' as we cac'late," he would say, "an' no +sorrer quite so worryin'. We go through life anticipatin' happy +termorrers and glorious next days, and when we git to 'em, somehow +they've sorter faded away, and it's to be the next day and the next as +is ter be the bright uns. Then, we are all on us like boys, chasing jack +o' lanterns over a swamp medder, an' if we 'low they're clus to an' jest +ready to grab, the next we know we've stumbled inter a ditch. + +"And then we borrer trouble, heaps on't, all through life. From the day +we git scared at thought o' speakin' pieces at school, till the doctor +shakes his head an' asks us if we've got our will made, we are dreadin' +suthin'. If 'taint sickness or bein' robbed, it's worryin' 'bout our +nabors havin' more'n we do. The feller courtin' worries for fear the gal +won't say 'yes,' an' when she does he is likely to see the time he +wishes she hadn't, an' worries 'cause he's got her. We worry ourselves +old 'n' wrinkled 'n' gray, an' then, more'n all this world, worry 'bout +the next. An' thar's whar the parson 'n' I allus split tacks. He says +the Lord made the brimstone lake fer sinners, 'n' I say the Lord made +conscience as a means o' torture, an' here or hereafter it's hot 'nuff." + +And here it must be inserted that Jess was to a certain extent a thorn +in the parson's side, from the fact that his influence and following +were stronger than that worthy man's. It was what Jess believed and +said that was quoted rather than the parson's assertions; and although +Jess seldom failed to be one of his listeners, and contributed more than +any five or ten others toward his scant salary, there were times when he +was made to feel that if Jess occupied the pulpit the church would be +packed. And so it would, humiliating as that fact was to him. + +And here also may be related an incident in Rockhaven history which +illustrates how slim a hold the parson and his preaching had upon those +islanders. As it happened that year, mackerel were late in reaching the +coast. The price was correspondingly high, and Rockhaven's band of +fishermen eager to make the first haul. Most of them attended church, +but now, while the suspense was on, when Sunday came, two or three +watchers were stationed on convenient cliffs with orders to report to +the church if a school was sighted. + +This was kept up for three weeks, and then, one Sunday, just as the +first morning hymn in long metre had been sung, and the parson, with +closed eyes, had got well started in his prayer, down through the +village street bounded one of those sentinels, yelling, "Mack'rel, +mack'rel, millions on 'em!" + +And in less than five minutes there wasn't a man, woman, or child left +in the church except Jess Hutton and the parson. And when that good man +had said "Amen," Jess arose and suggested they too follow the crowd. + +"Ye might's well," said Jess, with a twinkle in his eye, "the model o' +all Christianity sot the example, 'cordin' to Scriptur', an' ye might do +good by follerin' it." + +But the worthy leader of that flock who had thus deserted him failed to +see the humor of the situation and sadly shook his head. He remained in +the sanctuary and Jess joined the fishermen. + +It was such a peculiar, sympathetic, and broad understanding of these +fisher-folk's carnal as well as spiritual needs that made Jess the +oracle and leader of the island. + +"Thar wa'n't no need o' gettin' fussy over it," he said later to the +good dominie, with a laugh, "religion's good 'nuff when mack'rel's +fetchin only a dollar a kit; but when three's offered 'n' scace at that, +prayers hain't got their usual grip. And ye oughtn't ter 'spect it, +parson. The way to reach 'em's to be one with 'em and sorter feel thar +needs, and make em feel they're yer own. If ye'd gone with 'em that day +and helped 'em make a haul, an' then invited 'em to join ye in a prayer +o' thankfulness, thar want one but 'ud a-kneeled down at yer bidding +and said 'Amen.'" + +And that was Jess Hutton and partially the secret of his supremacy on +Rockhaven. + +Another point--he had always believed and practised the sterling rule of +"paying scot and lot as you go." While Jess forgot injuries, he always +remembered favors. If an unwashed, uncombed, and even unnamed child +brought him but a sea-shell, Jess never failed to reward the act. And so +on, upward, to each and all he returned all favors, paid all debts, and +rewarded all kindnesses. And how they trusted him! A fisher lad, saving +up for a new suit of clothes or a boat of his own, would, before +starting on a trip, leave his money with Jess for safe keeping. The +owner of a smack or schooner, ready for another cruise, would ask Jess +to take charge of the quintals and kits of fish just landed, sell them +to best advantage, and hold the proceeds till he returned, or longer. +Not only was Jess selling agent for most of them, but the safe in his +store was a bank of deposit for them also. What he did not keep to +supply their needs, they told him to get without bargaining, sure it +would be what they wanted, and at right, or lowest price. + +And this trust was mutual. + +"If I ain't here, help yourselves," while not a sign over his door, was +understood by all to be the rule; and every one in the island, from a +child wanting a stick of candy to the skipper needing a dozen suits of +oilers, followed it. + +Jess had habits, and one was to devote all the time his dearly loved +niece, Mona Hutton, claimed to her amusement; and when she asked that he +accompany her flower or shell hunting of a summer afternoon, the store +could run itself for all that he cared. + +It may be surmised that children exposed to the temptation of candy, +oranges, and nuts in his store, would pilfer, and some did; but that did +not annoy him. + +"Hookin' things allus carries its own whip," he would say, "an' if they +wanter try it, let 'em. It's bound to be found out, one way or 'nother, +and when I've shamed 'em once or twice, they'll larn it's cheaper to ask +for 'em." + +Children were seldom refused in his store, for he was like a boy baiting +squirrels with nuts in his desire to lure children there. + +They were his chief solace and companions by day, for he kept bachelor's +hall over his store, and to have a crowd of them around was the company +he best enjoyed. + +And what a godsend and wellspring of delight Jess and his store were to +all Rockhaven's progeny. In summer they came in barefooted bunches, even +to the toddlers who could scarce lisp their own names. They played hide +and seek behind his barrels and beneath his counter; they hid in empty +boxes and under piles of old sails in his back room. They littered his +piazza with crabs, starfish, long strips of kelpie and shells, they had +gathered among the rocks and on the beach, and left the few poor toys +and rag babies they possessed there. They ran riot over him and his +store; and as a climax to the happy after-school hour, Jess would +produce his old fiddle, and if there is any music that will reach a +child's heart, it is that. + +And while Jess played they leaped, danced, crowed, and shouted as +insanely happy children will. + +To him it was also supreme delight. + +To them he was a perpetual Santa Claus, a wonder among men, a father +bountiful, whose welcome never failed, whose smile was always cordial, +and whose love seemed limitless. And they would obey a shake of his head +even. And when the frolic had lasted long enough and he said, "Run home +now," off they scampered. It is small wonder Jess Hutton was chief man +of Rockhaven. + +But Jess had a vein of satire as well as philosophy. + +"It's human natur," he would say, "for all of us to think our own +children's brighter'n our neighbor's, an' our own joys and sorrers o' +more account, and 'specially our aches and pains, 'n' them we never get +tired o' tellin' 'bout. + +"There was the Widder Bunker, fer instance; she had a heap o' trouble +and the only comfort she got was tellin' on't. She had rumatiz 'n' biles +'n' janders 'n' liver complaint, ever since she was left a widder, an' +all she could talk 'bout was what ailed her an' how long it had lasted +an' what the symptoms were an' what she was doin' fer 'em. She'd run on +fer hours 'bout all her ailin's till folks 'ud go off 'n' leave her. She +got so daft on this subject, finally, everybody'd run fer safety and +hide when they saw her comin'. She used ter talk in meetin' onct in a +while, 'n' arter a spell her aches got sorter mixed up with her +religion, an' as nobody else 'ud listen to her 'bout 'em, the first we +knowed, she 'gan tellin' the Lord how her asmer bothered her and how her +rumatiz acted. She enjied it so much, an' the Lord seemed to listen so +well, she kept at it over an hour, until the parson had to ask her to +quit. + +"It was sorter rough on the widder, an' as I told the parson arterward, +it really wa'n't any wuss fer the Lord to hev to listen to her bodily +aches and pains than the spiritual ones the rest allus told him 'bout; +'sides it gin a spice o' variety ter the meetin'. + +"But he said her tellin' the Lord how she'd hump herself to get breath, +and how the rumatiz had started in her big toe and skipped from one jint +to 'tother, 'ud set the boys in the back seats to titterin' 'n' break up +the meetin'. + +"I allus felt sorry for the Widder Bunker, fer she had considerable hair +on her upper lip an' a hair mole on her chin, 'sides bein' poorer'n a +church mouse, an' sich unfortunate critters hez to take back seats at +the Lord's table." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BUD OF A ROMANCE + + +The little steamer _Rockhaven_ was but a speck on the southern horizon, +the fishermen that had earlier spread their wings were still in sight +that June morning, and Jess Hutton, having swept his store, sat tilted +back in an arm-chair on his piazza, smoking while he watched the white +sails to the eastward, when a tall, well-formed, and city-garbed young +man approached. + +"My name's Hardy," he said, smiling as his brown eyes took in Jess and +his surroundings at a glance, "and I represent Weston & Hill and have +come to open and manage the quarry they own here. You are Mr. Hutton, I +believe?" + +Jess rose and extended a brown and wrinkled hand. "That's my name," he +said, "'n' I'm glad ter see ye. But ter tell ye the truth, I never +'spected ter. It's been most a year now since yer boss landed here and +bought my ledge o' stun, and I've made up my mind he did it jist fer +fun, 'n' havin' money ter throw 'way. Hev a cheer, won't ye?" And +stepping inside he brought one out. + +Winn seated himself, and glancing down at the row of small, brown houses +and sheds that fringed the harbor shore below them, and then across to +where the ledge of granite faced them, replied, "Oh, Mr. Weston is not +the man to throw away money, but it takes time to organize a company and +get ready to operate a quarry;" and pausing to draw from an inside +pocket a red pocketbook, and extracting a crisp bit of paper, he added, +"the first duty, Mr. Hutton, is to pay the balance due you, and here is +a check to cover it." + +Jess eyed it curiously. + +"It's good, I guess," he said as he looked it over, "but out here we +don't use checks; it's money down or no trade." + +Then without more words he arose, and limping a little as he entered the +store, handed Winn a long, yellow envelope. "Here's the deed; an' the +quarry's yourn, an' ye kin begin blasting soon's ye like." + +"I cannot do anything for a few days," replied Winn, "for the tools and +machinery have not yet arrived, and in the meantime I must look about +and hire some men. In this matter I must ask you to aid me, and in +fact, I must ask your help in many ways." + +"I'll do what I kin," answered Jess, "an' it won't be hard ter git men. +Most on 'em here ain't doin' more'n keepin' soul an' body together +fishin' an'll jump at the chance o' airnin' fair wages quarryin'. + +"Where did yer put up, if I may ask? I heerd last night a stranger had +fetched in on the steamer." + +"I found lodging with a Mrs. Moore," answered Winn; "the boat's skipper +showed me where she lived; and now, if you will be good enough, I would +like to have you show me the quarry and then I will look around for men +to work it." + +"Ye don't come here cac'latin' to waste much time," observed Jess, +smiling, "but as fer hirin' men, ye best let me do it." + +"I should be grateful if you will," answered Winn, "I feel I must ask +you to aid me in many ways. What we want," he continued, having in mind +his instructions, "is to establish a permanent and paying industry here, +and enlist the interest of those who have means to invest. We want to +make it a sort of coöperative business, as it were." + +"I don't quite ketch yer drift," replied Jess. + +"I mean," responded Winn, "that we want to make this a home industry, +and to get all those here who have means to take stock in it and share +in the profits." + +Jess made no immediate answer, evidently thinking. "Wal, we'll see 'bout +that bimeby," he said finally. "It's a matter as won't do ter hurry. +Folks here are mighty keerful, 'n' none on 'em's likely ter do much +bakin' till their oven's hot. 'Sides, there ain't many as own more'n the +roof that shelters 'em, and not over well shingled, at that. Money's +skeercer'n hen's teeth here, Mr. Hardy." + +"I shall be guided by your opinion," answered Winn, realizing the truth +of what Jess had said, "and we will let that matter rest for the +present. Now if you will show me the quarry, I will look it over and let +you see what can be done in the way of getting men to work it. Whatever +you do for us we shall insist on paying you for." + +"Queer old fellow," mused Winn to himself two hours later, after he had +parted from Jess, "but I doubt if he buys much of this quarry stock." It +is likely that surmise would have been a positive certainty if Jess +Hutton, with horse sense as hard as this granite ledge and wits as keen +as the briars that grew on top of it, had known that the quarry he had +sold for two thousand dollars and considered it well paid for, was the +sole basis for a stock company capitalized at one million dollars. But +he did not, and neither does many another blind fool who buys +"gilt-edged" stock in gold mines, oil wells, and schemes of all sorts, +know that his investment rests on as insecure and trifling a basis; for +the world is full of sharpers who continually set traps for the unwary +and always catch them, and, although their name is legion, their dupes +are as the sands of the sea. + +But of Winn Hardy, who had come to Rockhaven, as he honestly believed +and felt, to carry out a legitimate business enterprise, it must not be +thought that he for one moment understood the deep-laid schemes of J. +Malcolm Weston, for he did not. While the ratio of value between the +capitalization of the Rockhaven Granite Company and the original cost of +the quarry seemed absurd, it did not follow but that Weston & Hill might +not intend actually to put capital into it sufficient to warrant such an +issue of stock. All of which would go to show that Winn Hardy had not as +yet entirely escaped the trammels of his inherited honesty and bringing +up, which insensibly led him to judge others by himself. + +And that afternoon, having nothing to do, and curious to explore this +rock-ribbed island that was like to be his home for some months, he +started out on a tour of exploration. First he followed the seldom-used +road that connects the two villages, up to Northaven, and looked that +over. There was a little green in the centre where stood the small +church, and grouped about, a dozen or two houses and two or three +stores, while back of this, and below an arm of the harbor, it narrowed +down to where the roadway crossed it. Beside this stood an old stone +mill, or what was once the walls of one, for the roof was gone. He +examined it carefully, peering into its ghostly interior and down to +where the ebb tide had left its base walls bare. To this, and to the +piles that had once held the tide gates, were clinging masses of black +mussels, with here and there a pink starfish nestled among them. Then, +following this arm of the sea until it ended, he crossed a half mile of +billowing ledges of rock between which were grass-grown and bush-choked +dingles, and came to the ocean. Then, following the coast line as well +as possible, owing to the jutting cliffs, he reached a deep inlet with +almost precipitous sides, and, turning inland, found its banks ended in +a dense thicket of spruce. + +Through this wound a well-defined path, shadowy beneath the canopy of +evergreen boughs, and velvety with fallen needles. Following this a +little way, he came to an opening view of the ocean once more. The day +was wondrously fair, the blue water all about barely rippled by a gentle +breeze, while here and there and far to seaward gleamed the white sails +of coasters. Below him, where the rock-walled gorge broadened to meet +the ocean, the undulating ground swells leisurely tossed the rockweed +and brown kelpie upward, as they swept over the sloping rocks. For a few +moments he stood spellbound by the silent and solemn grandeur of the +limitless ocean view and the colossal pathway to the water's edge below +him, and then suddenly there came to his ears the faint sound of a +violin. Now low and soft, hardly above the rhythmic pulse of the sea, +and again clear and distinct, it seemed to come up out of the rocks +ahead, a strange, weird, ghostly harmony that, mingling with the whisper +of the distant wave-wash, sounded exquisitely sweet. + +Breathless with astonishment now, he crept forward slowly, step by step, +until at the head of this deep chasm, and down beneath him, he heard the +well-recognized strains of "Annie Laurie" played by invisible hands. + +The sun was low in the west, the sea an unruffled mirror, the coast line +a fretwork of foam fringe where the ground swells met it, and above its +murmur, trilling and quivering in the still air, came that old, old +strain:-- + + "And for bonnie Annie Laurie + I'd lay me doon and dee," + +repeated again and again, until Winn, enraptured, spellbound, moving not +a finger but listening ever, heard it no more. Then presently, as +watching and wondering still whence and from whose hand had come this +almost uncanny music, he saw, deep down amid the tangle of rocks below +him, a slight, girlish figure emerge, with a dark green bag clasped +tenderly under one arm, and slowly pick her way up the sides of the +defile and disappear toward the village. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SUNDAY ON ROCKHAVEN + + +For a few days Winn Hardy was so occupied with the cares of his new +position that he thought of little else. It was a pleasing freedom, for +never before had he known what it was to be his own master; but now the +hiring of men and directing operations gave him a sense of power and +responsibility that was exhilarating. + +Jess Hutton aided him in many ways and, in fact, seemed anxious to +assist in this new enterprise that was likely to be of material benefit +to Rockhaven. Winn wisely let the stock matter rest, feeling that a +practical demonstration of the Rockhaven Granite Company's enterprise +and intentions would in due time establish confidence. + +He wondered many times who the girl was that had hid herself in that +weird cluster of rocks to play the violin, and marvelled that any maid, +born and reared amid the half-starved residents of Rockhaven, should +even have that laudable ambition; but he asked no questions. In a way, +the romance of it also kept him from inquiries. "I will bide my time," +he thought, "and some day I will go over and surprise this maid of the +gorge." + +He had noticed a rather immaturely formed girl with dark, lustrous eyes +once or twice in the dooryard of a little white house in the same lane +where he had found lodgment, and had met her once on the village street +and half surmised she might be this mysterious violinist. He gave little +thought to it, however, for his new position and the open path to +success and possible riches that seemed before him was enough to put +cave-seeking maids, however charming, out of his mind. Then, too, he had +not quite recovered from Ethel Sherman. + +When Sunday came, a new, and in a way pleasurable, experience came with +it. His landlady, Mrs. Moore, a widow whose two sons were away on a long +fishing voyage, and who seemed so afraid of her solitary boarder as to +no more than ask if he wanted this or that during his lonely meals, now +appeared to gain courage with the advent of the Lord's day. + +"I'd be pleased, sir," she said humbly, "if ye'd attend sarvice with me +at the meetin'-house this morning." + +And though Winn had planned to turn his back on the coop-like houses +that composed the town, and take a long stroll over the island, there +was such an appealing hope in this good woman's invitation that he could +not resist it, and at once consented to attend "sarvice" with her. And +he was not sorry he did, for when the little bell began calling the +piously inclined together, and he issued forth with Mrs. Moore, who was +dressed in a shiny black silk and a "bunnit" the like of which his +grandmother used to wear, and looking both proud and pleased, he felt it +a pleasant duty. On the way to the small brown church which stood just +beyond the steamer landing and at the foot of a sloping hill dotted +thick with tombstones, he felt that he was the observed of all +observers, and when seated in Mrs. Moore's pew, cushioned with faded +green rep, whichever way he looked some one was peeping curiously at +him. In a way it made him feel unpleasant, and he wondered if his +necktie was awry; then as he looked around at the worn and out-of-date +garb of the few men and almost grotesque raiment of the women and girls, +what Jess had said of the people recurred to him in a forcible way. The +usual service that followed, similar in kind to any country church, was +interesting to Winn mainly because it recalled his boyhood days. When +the minister, a thin, gray-haired man, began his sermon, Winn grew +curious. He was accustomed to pulpit oratory of a high class, and +wondered now what manner of discourse was like to emanate from this +humble desk. The text was the old and time-worn "The Lord will provide," +that has instilled courage and hope into millions of despondent hearts, +and now used once more to encourage this little band of simple +worshippers. The preacher made no new deductions, in fact, seemed to, as +usual, lay stress upon the need of faith that the Lord would provide, +come what might. To this end he quoted freely from Scripture, and Winn +was beginning to lose interest and look around the bare and smoky walls +and out of one window that commanded a view of the rippled harbor, when +suddenly his attention was arrested by a direct reference to himself, or +rather, his errand to Rockhaven. "We have," asserted the minister, in +slow and solemn voice, "a certain and sure proof that the Lord watches +over and cares for us, and that we on this lonely island, striving to +live righteously, are not forgotten by Him. Our acres fit to till are +few and lack fertility; our winters dreary and full of the menace of +storm and shipwreck to those who must pursue their calling abroad; and +yet it seems that He who holds the waters in the hollow of His hand, +realizing our needs, has turned the minds of moneyed men toward our +barren home, and through them blessed us with a new source of +livelihood. Through them heretofore worthless ledges of granite are to +be reared into dwellings, or perhaps churches in the great city. It is +to me a certain and signal proof that the good Lord watches over us +here, as well as over others who dwell in more favored spots, and that +we have a new and greater cause for thankfulness. Many times we have +repined at our hard lot, at our scanty stores of sustenance and the +bitterness of poverty; many times, too, some of us have felt the burden +of our lives hard to bear, and almost doubted the good Lord's +watchfulness and care over all who believe in His word. It is this lack +of faith, and this lesson of His goodness, even unto us, that I wish to +impress upon your minds to-day, for, although we are but poor and +humble, illy fed and thinly clad, yet we are not forgotten by Him, the +Great Ruler of the Universe." + +This peculiar and unusual reference to a mere matter of business and +Winn's mission to Rockhaven did not end his discourse, but it kept that +young man's attention away from all else until the minister closed and +bowed his head in prayer, and, when the inevitable and long-handled +collection box was passed, Winn felt he must, perforce, contribute +liberally, which he did. + +When the congregation was dismissed and he and Mrs. Moore reached the +porch, there was Jess with two ladies, one elderly, and the girl Winn +had noticed in Rock Lane, seemingly awaiting him. An introduction to +Mrs. and Miss Hutton followed, and then all five walked homeward +together. + +It is said that trifles determine our course in life, that, like chips +floating down the stream, we are moved hither and yon by imperceptible +forces. If it is so with one, it is with all, and was so with the people +of Rockhaven, and their estimate and subsequent opinion of Winn Hardy. +He attended that poor little church that day out of kindly regard for +Mrs. Moore's wishes, he listened patiently to services and the sermon, +only a few sentences of which interested him, and, of course, conducted +himself as any well-behaved and well-bred young man would. And yet that +trivial act was the starting-point in the good will and confidence of +those people, the worth of which he realized not at all then and never +fully until long afterward. + +Neither was he entitled to special credit for his self-sacrifice, except +it be that his desire to please that worthy matron, Mrs. Moore, overcame +his selfishness. But whether or not, it led to immediate, though minor +reward, for late that afternoon, and upon his return from a short +stroll over Norse Hill, he found her on the porch of the white cottage +next to her home, chatting with the two ladies he met at church, and he +was invited to join them. How cordially the two elderly ladies +endeavored to interest him and what a soft witchery the dark eyes of the +younger one held for him need not be enlarged upon. It mattered not that +Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Hutton were neither cultured nor fashionable; they +were at least sincere in their enjoyment of his society and meant what +they uttered, which is more than can be said of many women of position. +He learned that the girl's name was Mona, that she had never been away +from the island, and, as might be expected, was somewhat bashful and a +little afraid of him. He had a mind to ask her if she played the violin, +but a romantic desire to surprise her, or whoever the mysterious +violinist was, restrained him. + +The stars were out, a perfect quietude had fallen upon the little +village, and only the ceaseless murmur of the near-by ocean whispered in +the still air, when Mrs. Moore arose to go, and, much against his will, +Winn felt compelled to follow. + +In his room he smoked for an hour in solitude, buoyant with hope for his +own future, amply satisfied with the business and social progress he had +so far made, and mentally contrasting the life he had left behind him +with the new one he had entered upon; and into these meditations, it +must be stated, came the faces of Ethel Sherman and Mona Hutton. + +And so ended Winn's first Sunday on Rockhaven. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HAND OF FATE + + +For a few days Winn Hardy was the busiest man on Rockhaven. What with +setting up the steam drill that had been sent him, finding a man to work +it, adjusting the derricks, and laying out work for the dozen men Jess +had secured, he had no more time than occasionally to think of who the +mysterious violin-playing maid might be. He arose early, worked late, +and evenings wrote his firm a detailed statement of his progress, or +discussed matters with Jess at the store. By tacit consent that had +become a sort of office for the Rockhaven Granite Company, and evening +lounging place for not only the men who were at work for Winn, but +others interested in the new enterprise, and, in fact, all who were not +away on fishing trips. + +Here, also, Winn met the Rev. Jason Bush, a worthy, if attenuated, +parson and pedagogue, who had so astonished Winn that first Sunday and +who seemed more interested than any one else in the quarry. It was all +the more pleasant experience to Winn, thus to feel that he was bringing +a business blessing to these hard-working and needy people, and the +barometer of his hopes and spirits was at top notch when Friday came and +with it funds from the firm to pay the men. He felt, indeed, that his +mission was bearing excellent fruit. + +Then, too, he received a letter of praise from his employers, +congratulating him on the progress he was making, and reminding him +that, as soon as advisable, he should endeavor to interest those who had +means and induce them to invest in Rockhaven stock. It was all right, of +course, and a part of his mission there; and Winn, guileless of the +cloven hoof hidden beneath it, assured himself that he must carry out +their wishes as soon as possible. + +It was while speculating on this part of his duty the next afternoon, +and wondering who except Jess was likely to have money to invest in this +stock, that he felt an unaccountable impulse to visit the gorge again +and at once. It was as if some invisible voice was calling him and must +be answered, and yet he could not explain what it was and how his +thought, at that particular moment, had turned to this spot. He was not +a believer in fate; he was just an ambitious and practical young man, +with good common sense and wholesome ideas, and though a little +embittered by the treatment he had received at the hands of Ethel +Sherman and not likely to fall in love easily with another girl, yet he +was the last person who would admit that fate was playing, or would +play, any part in his movements, as it did; and more than that, it led +him that balmy June afternoon, when the sea and sky were in perfect +accord, to the gorge and to the very spot where, ten days before, he had +been mystified. And now he was more so, for not only did he hear the +same low, sweet strains mingling with the ocean's murmur, but he began +to realize that some invisible influence, quite beyond his +understanding, had brought him hither. What it was he could not tell, or +where, or from whence it came, only that he felt it and obeyed. + +And so forcibly did this uncanny sense of helplessness oppress him, that +the weird strains of music, issuing from the rocks below, seemed ten +times more so. For one instant he could not help feeling almost scared, +and thought it well to pinch himself to see if he were awake, and the +music and his presence there not a dream. Then he sat down. Surely, if +it were a dream, it was a most exquisite one, for away to the eastward +and all around, a half-circle, the boundless ocean, with here and there +a white-winged vessel, and white-crested waves flashing in the +sunlight, lay before; while beneath him and sloping V-shaped a hundred +feet below, and to where the billows leaped over the weed-clad rocks, +lay this chasm. Back of him, and casting their conical shadows over the +chaos of boulders in the gorge, was a thicket of spruce, and to add a +touch of heaven to this desolate but grand vision, the faint whisper of +music mingling with the monotone of the waves and the sighing of winds +in the spruces. + +And then the wonder of it all, and what a romantic and singular fancy of +this fisher maid to thus hide herself where only the mermaids of old +might have come to sing sad ditties while they combed their sea-green +tresses. That it was Mona Hutton he felt almost certain, and his first +impulse was to descend into the chasm at once and surprise her. Then he +thought, if perchance it were not, would that be the act of a gentleman? +Doubtless whoever it was had come there to find seclusion, and for him +to thus intrude would certainly be rude. The next thought, and the one +he acted upon, was to go back a little of the way he came, hide himself, +and, when she appeared, advance to meet her. The way to the village was +over a rounded hill a full mile in length, with scattered clusters of +bayberry bushes between. Back over this a hundred rods Winn retreated, +and not thinking how his presence there would affect this unknown girl, +hid himself behind a rock. He had not long to wait, and soon saw the +same lithe figure, and under her arm the same bundle, emerge from the +gorge, and, as she advanced rapidly, saw that it was Mona. Still +unthinking, he stepped out into view and forward to meet her. In one +instant he saw her halt, turn back a step, then around, facing him, and +stand still; and as he neared her and she saw who it was, she sank to +the earth. Then, as he reached her side and saw her, half reclining +against a small ledge, and looking up at him, her face and lips ashen +white, he realized for the first time what a foolish thing he had done. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, and removing his +hat on the instant, "I see that I have scared you half to death and I am +sorry; I didn't mean to." + +And as she sat up, still looking at him with pitiful eyes, a realizing +sense of his own idiotic action came to him, and he told her, a little +incoherently, perhaps, but truthfully how he had come there both days, +and for what reason. + +Frankness is said to be a virtue, and in this case it was more, for it +saved the reputation of Winn Hardy as a man of honor and a gentleman, +in the eyes of Mona Hutton. + +"Yes, I was frightened," she said at last, in response to his repeated +plea for forgiveness, after he had told her his story, "and I almost +fainted. It is foolish of me to go there, I know, for mother has told me +it is not safe." + +Then as she picked up the green bag that had fallen at her feet and +started to rise once more, Winn's wits came to his rescue, and in an +instant he grasped her hand and arm and almost lifted her to her feet. + +"I shall never forgive myself for this day's stupidity," he said, "but I +have wondered a hundred times since that day who on earth it could be +that hid herself in that forbidding spot. I heard you play only one air +then, and that the sweetest ever composed by mortal man. I have heard it +many, many times, but never once when it reached my heart as it did that +day. What blind intuition brought me here I cannot say; but some impulse +did, and if you will believe what I say and that your playing has +wrought a spell over me, I shall be grateful." + +To simple and utterly unsophisticated Mona Hutton words like these were +as new as life to a babe, and while she could not and did not believe he +meant them all, as uttered, nevertheless they were sweet to her. It is +likely, also, they were colored by the plight Winn found himself in and +his desire to set himself right in the eyes of Mona. + +"I do not know why it is," she responded, "but when I go there I seem to +enjoy my practice better, and then I feel that no one can hear me. +Mother says that no one will ever want to," she added naïvely. + +Winn smiled. + +"But I want to," he said, "I want to go there with you some day and hear +you play 'Annie Laurie' again; will you let me?" + +"I won't promise," she replied, and perhaps mindful of her mother's +opinion added: "Mother doesn't approve of my playing a fiddle. She says +it's not graceful." + +This time Winn laughed. "I don't believe you could do anything and not +be graceful," he said. "As for that, I have seen Camilla Urso playing +one before an audience of thousands, and no one thought her ungraceful." + +"Who is Camilla Urso?" asked Mona. + +"She was a wonderful violinist," answered Winn, "and charmed the whole +world, years ago. If you will let me come to this spot with you, I will +tell you all about her." + +Mona turned her face away. + +"I don't go there very often," she replied evasively; "and if you have +heard such wonderful playing, I wouldn't dare let you hear me. I don't +know anything except what Uncle Jess has taught me." Then as she started +onward she added, "You must ask him to play for you some time; he knows +how." + +"But it is you I want to hear," Winn asserted, and then, as an intuition +came to him, he added: "I think it best you go on home alone, Miss +Hutton; it might cause comment if we go on together. I passed a most +delightful hour with you and your mother last Sunday evening, and, with +your permission, I shall repeat it." + +And then, having delivered this polite speech, so utterly unlike what +Mona was accustomed to hear, he raised his hat and turned away. + +On the brink of the gorge he halted, and, turning again, watched her +rapidly nearing the top of the hill. Reaching its crest, she faced about +and looked back. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A FRIENDLY HAND + + +The suggestion Jess had made regarding the scarcity of money on +Rockhaven was plainly evident to Winn, now that he had become +acquainted. It made him feel that his firm's enterprise was almost a +godsend to the island, and that first Saturday night when his men +gathered, as requested, at Jess Hutton's store, and secured their pay, +Winn, who in his time had also felt the need of more money, found it a +keen pleasure to pay these needy men their earnings. When they had +departed and he and Jess were alone, the worthy man who seemed to feel a +share of the general satisfaction, beamed with good nature. + +"Money makes the mar' go," he said, "an', as the Irishman said, 'it's +swate Saturday night and sour Monday morning.' Ye've made a fine start, +Mr. Hardy, an' if things go well an' this 'ere company o' yourn don't +bust up, ye'll cum pretty near bein' the hull thing here. There's an old +saying here that 'It's time to dry fish when the sun shines,' an' now +with your sun shinin' it's purty good wisdom for ye to dry all the fish +ye kin. Things are onsartin in this world, an' there's no tellin' when a +sunny day's comin'. I'm goin' ter help yer all I kin, an' out o' good +will toward ye, 'n' hope things'll turn out all right. I'm sartin it +won't be yer fault if they don't." + +"I'm glad to feel I've won your confidence, Mr. Hutton," answered Winn, +"and I feel sure there is no need of fearing any collapse of this +company. They are reputable business men, and have ample means; granite +is in good demand in the city, and certainly they would not have +invested in the quarry and set out to develop it, unless it was to make +money." + +"Wal, mebbe," answered Jess, after a long pause, "an' I'm goin' to think +so. Distrustin' don't help matters, an' for the sake o' those men who +hev gone home happy to-night, I hope things'll turn out as ye 'spect." + +Winn looked depressed, and for reason. To have the one man in Rockhaven +whose confidence he valued most express a word of distrust hurt. + +"Oh, I ain't doubtin' you a mite," continued Jess, "an' no reason to +mistrust yer consarn, only I've had squalls hit me when least 'spectin' +'em, 'n' so got into the habit o' watchin' out fer 'em. It's jist as +well in this world, 'n' then ye ain't quite so likely to be caught +nappin'. Now t'other day ye mentioned the matter o' sellin' stock to us +folks here, an' that is all right, only it sorter 'curred to me if this +consarn o' yourn 'spected to make money quarryin' here, thar wa'n't no +real reason why they should want ter divide it with us folks, which is +what sellin' us stock 'mounts to in the end, an' as old Cap'n Doty would +say, 'hence my 'spicions.' I've hed a good many ups 'n' downs in this +world," he continued, in a philosophic tone, "an' while I allus try to +look on the bright side o' trouble, an' when it comes am glad 'tain't +any wuss, I've larned to be keerful--mighty keerful. Human natur's +slippery stuff, an' money a dum sight more so, an' every storeman allus +puts the best apples on top o' the basket. I've bought and paid for a +mighty lot o' 'sperience 'bout mankind, an' all I've got to show for +most on't is the 'sperience. I've picked up a little money, too, 'tween +times, but the only reason I hev, was 'cause I got sight on't 'fore the +other feller did. I like you, Mr. Hardy, fust-rate, on so short +acquaintance, an' know yer honest 'n' all right, but the side-whiskered +feller who blew in here last summer 'n' bought this yer quarry +offhand--wal, I mean no disrespect to yer firm, but in my humble +'pinion he'd bear watchin'. Now I'm goin' ter stand by ye in this matter +'n' do all I ken to help you make a go on't, an' if ye'll trust me all +the time, ye won't regret it." + +It was a pleasant assurance, but the cloud on Winn's face remained. He +had from the outset hoped to interest this old man, who he realized held +the key of Rockhaven, as it were, and whose opinion of his mission +there, and the merits of Rockhaven stock as an investment, would without +doubt be accepted by others as final. His own belief in it was +optimistic, and beyond that it meant to him a success in business and an +avenue to prosperity that included all wealth meant to any one. So far +in life he had been but a mere menial, a poorly paid drudge, a slave to +so many hours a day. Now he was at once elevated to the management of +men and money, and assumed that it would be to his credit and necessary +that he interest the people and induce them to invest their money. For +these reasons the lack of confidence on Jess Hutton's part meant +discouragement. + +"Ye mustn't mind my notions," Jess said at last, reading Winn's face; "I +mean to help ye, 'n' I will, only as I said I'm a leetle skeery o' yer +consarn. Ef things go on right fer a spell, I most likely'll feel +different. I've got pinched in schemes afore, an' grown cautious. +Faith, ez the parson says, is a mustard seed 'n' needs time to sprout. +We'll watch thet air mustard seed o' yourn, 'n' gin it time ter sprout. +Now, to sorter drive away your blues an' mine, I'm goin' to fiddle a +spell; ye won't mind, will ye?" + +"I should be delighted," answered Winn, with sudden eagerness, "I have +heard you were an expert with a violin. Mr. Weston said you were." He +did not deem it wise just then to say who else had stated that fact. + +Without further comment, Jess brought out his violin. + +"Fiddlin's to me," he said, as he turned it up, "a good deal ez licker +used to be to old Bill Atlas, a cure-all fer everything from death to +the toothache. Bill was quite a case in his day, an' said licker was +made fer the purpose o' drownin' sorrow. He drowned his purty stiddy +in't anyhow, an' finally was driv' to his death by the tremens." + +Then he began and fiddled away for an hour, his eyes closed, his kindly +face glowing with the pleasure of his own art, and one foot keeping time +on the floor. And, to Winn's surprise, his selections were all of Scotch +origin, and the liveliest of those best of all harmonies. From one to +another he skipped, a medley of those old tunes that have lived as no +other nation's music ever did or ever will live, because none other has +quite the same life and soul. + +And Winn, listening as that quaint old man fiddled away, forgot his +troubles, carried to fair Scotland's banks and braes, where Wallace +bled, Prince Charlie fought, and Bonnie Dundee rallied his henchmen to +give battle, and, too, Winn heard the love plaint of many a Scotch lad +and lassie, centuries old, and yet reaching his heart as they always did +and always will all human kind. And as, entranced, he lived once more in +the olden days of chivalry and love faithful unto death, he thought of +Mona and how she had touched the same chord in his heart only a few +hours before. + +And when Jess had tired of his pastime, and Winn, on his way to his +solitary room in Rock Lane, passed the white cottage next to it, he +halted a moment, wondering if Mona was asleep, or if not, was she +thinking of him. + +For such is man, and so do the rose petals of love first unclose. + +[Illustration: MONA.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MONA HUTTON + + +Mona Hutton was, as Winn instinctively felt that Sunday when he first +glanced into her well-like eyes, a girl but little akin to her +surroundings--a child of the island, full of strange moods and fancies, +sombre as the thickets of spruce that grew dense and dark between the +ledges of granite, and solemn as the unceasing boom of ocean billows +below its cliffs. Even as a barefoot schoolgirl she had found the sea an +enticing playmate, and to watch its white-crested waves lifting the +rockweed and brown kelpie, as they swept over the rocks and into the +gorges and fissures, was of more interest than her schoolmates. She +would hide between the ledges and watch the sea-gulls sailing over them +for hours, build playhouses in out-of-the-way spots with lone +contentment, filling them with shells, starfish, and crabs, dig wells in +the sandy margin of the harbor, and catch minnows to put in them. She +loved to watch the fishing boats sailing away, the coasters pass the +island, the current sweeping in and out beneath the old tide mill, and +as she grew up and gained in courage roamed over the entire island at +will. The Devil's Oven, out of sight and sound of everybody, became a +charming spot for her; and here she would sit for hours watching the +waves leap into the gorge and wondering why they never sounded twice +alike. And so on, as she developed, she absorbed the mood of the ocean, +its grandeur shaped her thoughts, its mystery tinged her emotion, and +its solemnity, like the voice of eternity, gave expression to her eyes. + +Companions of her own age she had none, leaving them to play as they +chose while she sought solitude, and found contentment on the lonely +shores. Uncle Jess only was akin to her, and if she could lead him away +as playmate, then was she happy. + +And so she grew up. + +With only a limited education, such as the island schools afforded, a +scant knowledge of books, since but few ever reached Rockhaven, a love +of music that amounted to a passion, no knowledge of the world except +that gleaned from Uncle Jess, a deep religious feeling, partially shaped +by the "Hardshell" Baptist teachings of the Rev. Jason Bush, and more by +the ocean billows that forever thundered against the island shores, she +was at twenty a girl to be pitied by those capable of understanding her +nature or realizing how incompatible to it was her environment. Of music +she knew but little, and that taught her by the genial old soul who, +since her babyhood, had been father, uncle, and companion. His constant +assistance had been hers through her pinafore days at school; his genial +philosophy and keen insight into human impulse had done more to develop +her mind afterward than the three R's she mastered there. His gentle +hand had taught her the scales on his old brown fiddle, and now that she +had reached that mystic line where girlhood ends and womanhood begins, +her future was of more concern to him than all else in his life. That +she must and would, in the course of human nature, love and marry, he +fully expected; that it was like to be a mateship with some of the +simple and hard-working fishermen's sons, he expected; and yet, with +dread for her far more than any one else, even her mother, he realized +that such an alliance would be but a lifelong slavery for Mona. To mate +a poetic soul like hers, that heard the voice of eternity in the +white-crested billows, the footsteps of angels in the music he drew from +his violin, and the whisper of God in the sea winds that murmured +through the spruce thickets they visited, as he knew she did, seemed as +unnatural as confining one of the white gulls that circled about the +island in a coop with the barnyard fowls. + +To Mona herself no thought of this had come. Though the young men with +whom as schoolmates she had studied, and who now as fishermen, with +ill-smelling garb and sea-tanned hands and faces, often sought her, to +none did she give encouragement, and with none found agreeable +companionship. What her future might be, and with whom spent, gave her +no concern. Each day she lived as it came, helping her mother in the +simple home life and the making of their raiment, stealing away +occasionally to spend a few hours with Uncle Jess, or in summer to hide +herself in the Devil's Oven, and play on the violin he had given her, or +practise with him as a teacher. This violin and its playing, it must be +stated, had been and was the only bone of contention between Mona and +her mother, and just why that mother found it hard to explain, except +that it was a man's instrument and not a woman's. Their humble parlor +boasted a small cottage organ. "Let Mona learn to play on that," she had +said when Jess first began to teach Mona the art of the bowstrings, +"it's more graceful for a girl to do that than sawing across a fiddle +stuck under her chin." And this matter of grace, so vital to that +mother's peace of mind, was the only point of dispute between them. But +Uncle Jess sided with Mona, and the mother gave in, for with her, for +many potent reasons, the will and wishes of Uncle Jess must not be +thwarted, even if wrong. However, the dispute drove Mona and the fiddle +out of the house, and when she had finally mastered it (at least in a +measure), it stayed out. + +In this connection, it may be said, there was also a difference in +opinion between Mrs. Hutton and Jess regarding the future of Mona, and +though never discussed before her, for obvious reasons, it existed. With +Mrs. Hutton the measure of her own life, or what it had been, as well as +that of her neighbors, was broad enough for Mona. + +"It's going to spoil her," she asserted on one of these occasions, "this +getting the idea into her head that those she has been brought up with +are not good enough for her. They may not be, but we are here and likely +to stay here, and once a girl gets her head full o' high notions and +that she's better than the rest, it's all day with her." + +"Thar ain't no use interferin'," Jess responded, "whatever notions +Mona's got, she's got, an' ye can't change 'em. If she likes the smell +o' wild roses better'n fishin' togs, she does; and if she turns up her +nose at them as don't think 'nough o' pleasin' her ter change togs when +they come round, I 'gree with her. Wimmin, an' young wimmin 'specially, +air notional, an' though most on 'em 'round here has ter work purty +hard, it ain't no sign their notions shouldn't be considered. I've +stayed in houses whar wimmin wa'n't 'lowed to lift a finger an' had +sarvants ter fan 'em when 'twas hot, an' though that ain't no sign +Mona'll git it done for her, I hope I'll never live ter see her drudgin' +like some on 'em here." + +"If you'd had the bringing o' Mona up," Mrs. Hutton had responded rather +sharply, "you would a-made a doll baby out o' her, an' only fit to have +servants to fan her." At which parting shot, Jess had usually taken to +his heels, muttering, "It's a waste o' time argufyin' with a woman." + +But Mrs. Hutton was far from being as "sot" in her way as might be +inferred, as she always had, and still desired, to rear her only child +in the way she considered best, and in accordance with her surroundings. +To be a fine lady on Rockhaven, as Mrs. Hutton would put it, was +impossible; and unless Mona was likely to be transplanted to another +world, as it were, it seemed wisest to keep her from exalted ideas and +high-bred tastes. But back of that, and deep in the mother's love, lay +the hope of better things for her child than she had known, though how +they were to come, and in what way, she could not see. + +Mere pebbles of chance shape our destiny, and so it was in the life of +Winn Hardy, and the trifle, light as air, that turned his footsteps, was +the sound of church bells that Sunday morning in Rockhaven. + +Had they not recalled his boyhood, he would have spent the day in +roaming over the island as he had planned, instead of accepting Mrs. +Moore's invitation to accompany her to church, with the sequence of +events that followed. And the one most potent was the accent of +cordiality in Mrs. Hutton's neighborly invitation to call. It may be +supposed, and naturally, that the expressive eyes of her daughter were +the real magnets; but in this case they were not. Instead it was the +mother with whom he desired to visit, and when he called that first +evening it was with her he held most converse. Out of the medley of +subjects they chatted about, and what was said by either, so little is +pertinent to this narrative, it need not be quoted. Winn gave a brief +account of his early life and more of the latter part, since he had been +a resident of the city, together with a full explanation of how the +Rockhaven Granite Company was likely to affect the island, and his +mission there. This latter recital, he felt, would be a wise stroke of +policy, as apt to be repeated by Mrs. Hutton, as in truth it was, later +on. While she was not inquisitive, he found she was keenly interested in +the new industry he had established there, and discerning enough to see +that, if successful, it would be a great benefit to the island. Winn +discovered also that in addition to being a most excellent and devoted +mother, she was fairly well posted in current events, had visited +relatives on the mainland many times, and in the city once, and was far +from being narrow-minded. With Mona, who sat a quiet listener, he +exchanged but a few words, and those in connection with the church and +social life of the village. In truth, he found her disinclined to say +much and apparently afraid of him. His call was brief and not +particularly interesting, except that it made him feel a little more at +home on the island, and when he rose to go, he received the expected +invitation to call again; and when he had reached his room, the only +features of the call that remained in his mind were that Mrs. Hutton +seemed interested in his mission there, and her daughter had eyes that +haunted him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE DEVIL'S OVEN + + +The time-worn saw that two is company and three a crowd never struck +Winn so forcibly as that evening when he called again on Mrs. Hutton. On +the first occasion he had only felt interested to make the acquaintance +of that excellent lady, who, in many ways, reminded him of his own +departed mother; but now it was the daughter. But Mona was shy as +before, perhaps more so, and hardly ventured a remark, while the mother +was as cordial and chatty as ever. Once Winn came near speaking of the +little episode that had occurred the day before, but some quick +intuition prevented, and after an hour's visit he bade the two good +night and left them. + +It was evident Mona had not confided the incident to her mother, and +until she had Winn thought it his place to keep silent. He did not know +that the girl's secrecy was solely due to fear of a scolding, and that +between her mother and herself existed that foolish, but often +dangerous barrier. It was several days after before Winn obtained a +suitable chance to speak with Mona alone, and then he met her just +coming from the store of Jess Hutton. + +"When am I to hear you play again?" he asked pleasantly, "I wanted to +ask you the evening I called, but in view of what you said about your +mother's dislike of it, decided not to." + +"I am glad you did," she replied, coloring a little. + +"I am going over to that gorge this afternoon," continued Winn boldly, +"and I want you to promise to come and bring your violin. Will you?" + +"I won't promise," she replied timidly, and all unconscious that his +proposal was not in strict propriety, "I may come, but if I do I shall +not dare play before you." + +"Oh, I am harmless," he replied lightly, "and if you knew how anxious I +am to hear you, you would favor me, I am sure." + +And that afternoon Winn betook himself once more to what was now likely +to be a trysting place, only instead of going directly, the way Mona +would naturally, over Norse Hill, he walked a mile extra around through +Worthaven. And this to protect the good name of a girl with a face like +a marguerite and eyes like deep waters. + +She was not there when he arrived, and in truth Mona was having a hard +struggle to decide whether to go or not, for this man, with earnest +brown eyes, blond mustache, stylish garb, ways and manners so utterly +unlike any that had come under her ken, was one to awe her. + +Then, would it be right, and what would her mother and Uncle Jess, and +all the good people of Rockhaven, say if it were known she met him thus? +For Mona, wise as only Rockhaven was, and pure as the flowers her face +resembled, was yet conscious what evil tongues might say, and dreaded +lest they be set wagging. + +But a lurking impulse, first implanted in Mother Eve's heart, and +budding in Mona's since the hour she saw Winn's kindly eyes looking down +into her own, won the day, and taking her dearly-loved, old, brown +fiddle and bow safe in their green bag, she walked rapidly to the edge +of the gorge, with throbbing heart and flushed face. + +Winn was there waiting, as full well she knew he would be, lazily +puffing a cigar while he leaned against a sloping bank and watched the +ocean below. When he saw Mona he threw the weed away and sprung to his +feet. + +"I'm very glad you came, Miss Hutton," he said, raising his hat, "yet I +did not dare hope you would," and then extending one hand to take the +bag and the other to assist her, he added, "It's a risky place to come +down into, and you had best let me assist you." + +"I'll go first," she replied quickly, "for I know the way and can go +alone, and you can follow me." + +And follow her he had to, but not easily, for with steps as fearless and +leaps as graceful as an antelope, she led the way down into the chaos of +boulders and then up through them, until she paused in a sheltering +embrasure. + +When Winn reached her side he was out of breath, and as he handed her +the bag and looked about, he was almost speechless at the wild, rocky +grandeur of the spot. And well he might be, for seldom had he seen one +like it. He had looked down into the gorge from above, but now he was in +a half-circular, wide-open cave the size of a small room, far below +where he had stood, and looking out upon cliff-like walls down to where +the ocean waves were beating. + +"And so this is the Devil's Oven," he said when he had looked all about, +and finally at Mona seated upon a jutting ledge and watching him. "I +think it a shame to have given such a hideous name to a place so grand +and picturesque. Rather should it have been called the Mermaid's Grotto. +I dislike this idea of naming all the beautiful bits of natural scenery +after his satanship. It's not fair." Then seating himself as far away +from Mona as possible he added gently, "Now, Miss Hutton, I am ready for +my treat. Please don't think or feel that I am here, but play to +yourself and for yourself, just as you did the day I first heard you." + +And Mona, charmed a little by his gentle, courteous ways and speech, and +her sense of fear lulled by his entirely respectful manner, drew her +violin from its case. + +It may have been the spot that inspired her, or the tender admiration +she saw in his eyes, or a little of both, but from the first moment she +drew the bow across the strings of her violin, a wondrous sweetness and +feeling graced her playing, and strange to say, all the melodies she +rendered bore the Scotch flavor. Most of them had been heard by Winn at +one time or another, but never played upon an instrument that seemed so +sweet or with such an exquisite touch as now. When "Bonnie Dundee" came, +he could almost see that gallant chieftain with waving plume and Tartan +plaid, and hear him say:-- + + "Come fill up my cup, + Come fill up my can; + Come saddle my horses + And call up my men." + +And when "The Campbells are Coming" echoed out of that rock-walled cave, +Winn could hear the bagpipes in the distance and see the dauntless hosts +of fair Scotland marching to battle. + +When after an hour, during which Mona sat with lithe body swaying to the +measure of her music, rounded cheek pressed tenderly to her instrument, +and her eyes closed, as if lost to the world, she came to that old +utterance of love, sweet "Annie Laurie," Winn was enthralled as never in +his life before. And when the last exquisite note had floated out of the +cave and into the sad monotone of the ocean, and Mona paused, his eyes +were dimmed with tears. + +"Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, brushing them away, "no words of mine +can tell you how much I have enjoyed this treat or with what rare +feeling you have played. If you could play as you have here before an +audience they would bury you under flowers and lavish wealth upon you." + +These were warm words, and without doubt at the moment Winn felt all +they meant, but he little realized what an influence they would instil +into the heart of Mona Hutton or what fruit they were destined to bear. + +"Who was that wonderful woman you told me about the other day?" asked +Mona, making no response to his flattering words. "I did not know women +ever played in public." + +"Oh, yes, they do," answered Winn, "and there are many like her who have +gained fame and riches. You could if you would set about it and had the +courage to do it. You would have to study, of course, under a teacher +and learn to play classical music." + +"And what is classical music?" asked Mona. + +"It is what no one understands, though many claim to; or perhaps better +described as soulless sound," answered Winn. "I do not care for it. +There is no feeling, no pulse, no heart in it." + +"Then why is the world willing to pay for it?" she asked. + +"The world is ready to buy anything that comes high," he answered, "and +the more in proportion to its value that is asked, the quicker they will +buy it. But do not ask about the world, Miss Hutton. It is not in +harmony with this spot. We are out of it here." + +Mona looked at him curiously. "You are a queer man," she said suddenly, +"and at first I was very much afraid of you." + +Winn laughed. "You need not be," he replied, "I never harmed man, woman, +or child." Then as a sudden thought came to him he added, "Did you tell +your mother you met me here the other day?" + +"No," she replied, looking confused and coloring. It was on her lips to +say that she dreaded a scolding if she did, but she restrained herself. + +"It is time you were starting home," he said suddenly, looking at his +watch, "and I am so sorry," and rising he added, "you must pardon me for +saying so, but I think you had best mention to your mother you met me +here, by accident of course. If you do not, and if she hears of it, she +will think it strange." When he had assisted her down the rocky pathway +and up the steep sides, the while carrying her precious violin, and they +reached the brink of the chasm, he paused. + +The gorge was all in shadow, the wind fallen away, and only the long +sweeping ground swells caught and mirrored the red glow of the sun now +almost at the horizon line. For a moment Winn looked out over the broad +ocean and then turned to the girl beside him. + +"Little one," he said gently, "I thank you for the confidence you have +placed in me by coming here and for the pleasure you have given me. I +shall never forget it. There are two favors I want you to grant me, the +first to let me call you Mona, the next to come here some day again and +play for me. Will you?" + +"I will unless mother forbids," she answered simply. + +And then as they turned toward the village, he carrying the green bag +and still retaining the hand he clasped to assist her out of the chasm, +and guiding her footsteps along the way, a new and exalted sense of +happiness came to her. But little was said by either, for she like a +timid child waited for him to speak, and he was so hushed by the mood of +the afternoon in the gorge, and the blessed unity of sea and sky and +sunset here, he enjoyed silence best. + +When they came in sight of the village he released her hand, and when +her home was reached handed her the bag, and with a whispered "good +night, Mona," passed on. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE PARTING OF THE WAYS + + +When Winn passed out of Rockhaven the next morning, Mona was in her +dooryard kneeling beside a bed of flowers, her face shaded by a checked +calico sunbonnet. At the gate he paused. + +"Good morning, little girl," he said pleasantly, "do I get a flower for +my good looks this morning?" Had Mona been a cultured society girl she +would have replied in the same coin, instead she merely answered his +greeting and plucking one each of a half dozen kinds, still moist with +the dew, handed them to him. And he looked into the wondrous eyes raised +to his, saw a new light lingering in them, and smiling softly as he took +the flowers he thanked her and went his way. + +And strange to say, when he reached the quarry, he hid that little +nosegay in a shaded nook beside the ledge where a tiny spring dripped +out, and when he returned that noon, carried them wrapped in a wet +handkerchief to his room and left them in a glass of water. And that +night when the vexation and cares of the day had passed, he, a little +homesick and with the charm of Mona's playing still lingering in his +mind, held communion with himself. And the cause was the following +missive which had reached him:-- + + "DEAR MR. HARDY: + + "I was surprised a few days ago when your aunt told me you had + left the city to be manager of the Rockhaven Granite Co., and + had gone away to some unheard of island. I had missed seeing + you for a week, and when you were not at church with your aunt, + asked her what had become of you. When she told me where you + were it seemed likely you would be glad to hear from home, and + as I am aware your worthy aunt hates letter writing, I thought + I would be good to you. There isn't a bit of news to write, and + the city is getting positively unbearable. + + "Mother and I are getting ready to go to the mountains; we + shall start early in July and your aunt goes with us. I presume + from what she said you will remain where you are this summer. I + almost envy you, for it certainly must be cool there, and no + doubt you have or will find some sweet fishermaid to flirt + with. Grace is not going with us for she says a baby is a + nuisance at a hotel and then 'hubby' can't afford it. I saw + Jack (your chum) the other evening at the Bijou with a girl who + was stunning, also Mabel Weston and her mother. + + "I do not know of anything else that will interest you except + my address for the summer, which I enclose, and the hope that + you won't forget us all before your return. + + "Yours sincerely, + "ETHEL SHERMAN." + +And this from the girl who two short years before had laughed his +marriage proposal to scorn. + +And he was like to find some simple fishermaid to flirt with, was he? +And the cool indifference to that fact; and the covert, yet openly +expressed invitation for him to write to her. + +Now Winn Hardy was not blind, and in spite of the two years, during +which he had never met or thought of Ethel Sherman without a pin-prick +in his heart, clear and distinct in his mind was the alluring glance of +her blue eyes that had led him to make a fool of himself, and the red +ripe temptation of her lips he had once stolen kisses from. And now she +was inviting him to write to her. And not two rods away was a girl as +simple and sweet as the daisies that bloomed in a meadow, as utterly +unsophisticated as though reared within convent walls, with eyes like +deep waters, and a soul trembling with passionate music! + +For one hour Winn communed with himself, glancing attentively at the +little knot of flowers on a small table near him, and the letter beside +them, and then arose and putting on his hat, left the house. It was a +still summer evening with the crescent of a new moon glinting in the +waters of Rockhaven harbor and outlining the spectral shape of the tower +on Norse Hill. To this Winn turned his steps, and seating himself where +he could look over the undulating ocean, continued his meditation. + +All his life, since the day he first entered the office of Weston & +Hill, came to him. All the many snubs he had received, all the +disappointments he had met, all the weeks, months, and years of +monotonous drudgery in that office, all the "fool's paradise" hours he +had passed with Ethel Sherman, all the harsh bitterness he had heard +from the lips of Jack Nickerson--and now the new life, new ambition, and +new influence that had come to him--passed in review. And as he +leisurely puffed his cigar, looking the while out upon the boundless +expanse that, like an eternity, lay before him, he saw himself as he +was, and knew that as a man of honor and for his own peace of mind, he +must choose between two ways. That he could not escape the island for +months and perhaps for years, he saw clearly, and if he remained, as +remain he must if he were to win success in this new project, he must +inevitably become one and a part of the social and hard-working life of +the people with whom he mingled, sharing their hopes and encouraging +their ambitions. And if he did, could he go on holding himself aloof +from all tender impulses, living the life of a recluse, as inflexible as +the granite he quarried, and as void of sentiment? + +Winn Hardy besides being impulsive was endowed with a vein of romance, +and saw and felt the poetic side of all things. The whispers of winds in +the pine trees, flowers that grew wild in out of the way nooks, birds +singing, bees gathering honey, squirrels hiding their winter store of +nuts, the sea in all its moods, clouds sailing across a summer sky and +all that was beautiful in nature appealed to him. This island whose +frowning cliffs faced the ocean billows so defiantly, the placid harbor +with its rippled sandy shore, the old tide mill an ancient ruin, the +dark thickets of spruce between the rolling ledges of granite, and the +weird gorge where this girl had hid herself, each and all seemed to him +as so many bits of poetry. Then the peculiar and romantic fact of her +going to such a picturesque spot, out of sight and sound of even the +island people, and beyond that the wonderful sweetness and pathos of her +simple music, all appealed to him as to but few. It was as if he felt in +her a kinship of soul, an echo of his own poetic nature, a response to +his own ideals in life, with a face like a flower, lips like two +rosebuds, and eyes like a Madonna. + +For a long time he sat there in communion with his own needs and nature, +sobered by the silence of night and eternity so near him. When he arose, +turning back toward the village, he paused on the brow of the hill, +looking down upon it still and silent in the faint moonlight. Away to +the right and pointing skyward, he saw the little spire of the church +whose bell had recalled his early boyhood days and all the sweet and +pure influences they had contained, even the face of his own mother, he +knew he should never look upon again. And with that recollection came +the half-pitiful words he had heard in that church that seemed like a +plea for help from starvation. + +Winn was not religious. He had never been drawn toward an open +profession of faith. He had at first felt church going and +Sabbath-school lessons an irksome task, and later a social custom, +useful because it bound together congenial people. He believed in God +but not in prayer. His heart was in sympathy with all the carnal needs +of humanity, but not the spiritual; those he considered figments of the +imagination, useful, maybe, when old age came, but needless during +healthy, active life. To the customary observance of them he always +yielded respectful attention, but felt not their influence. And musing +there it came to him that perhaps some divine power had directed his +footsteps and brought him into the lives of these simple honest people +for a purpose not understood. + +When he reached his room it was fragrant with the flowers Mona had given +him that morning, and beside them lay the letter of Ethel Sherman. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WILD ROSES + + +It has been said of the modern young lady that the more of her home life +a gentleman saw, the less likely he was to fall in love with her; but as +the days sped by and Winn saw more of Mona's, he felt that that truism +was likely to be reversed. + +Then another natural result was attained, for finding his mission there +a practical one and the money he distributed each Saturday night a +powerful argument in his favor, the islanders, from Rev. Jason Bush +downward, began to show their cordial interest in his presence. On +Sundays when he with Jess, Mrs. Hutton, and Mrs. Moore and Mona usually +formed a little group that walked together to church, in that modest +sanctuary he was the one most observed. All to whom he had been +introduced seemed to seek an opportunity to bow, and many of the men, +whose names he had not learned, showed the same courtesy. When he walked +out after the service, old and young would stand aside for him to pass. +The Rev. Jason Bush perhaps showed the most interest, and in a purely +business way, for when he had opportunities (and he found many) it was +the quarry and its management and prospects which he was desirous of +discussing, instead of the spiritual welfare of Winn, as might be +expected. In fact, the latter was never mentioned, and although Mr. Bush +lamented that Rockhaven was divided into two sects, and that neither +church had a following sufficient to support it, it was here again the +business side of the matter which seemed uppermost in that worthy +parson's mind. + +But it was the cordiality shown by Mrs. Hutton on all possible occasions +that interested Winn most, because it appealed to the domestic and +home-loving side of his nature. He had never known much of home life +since maturity, for his aunt was not a home-maker, leaving that to her +servants and scolding because they failed, and to see what thought and +care could do in that direction, even though in a modest way, attracted +him. And since her door appeared always open to him and an unfailing +welcome waiting, he would have been less than human had he not availed +himself of the opportunity. Hardly an evening passed that he did not see +or speak with either mother or daughter, and occasionally made one at +their table. It was here that Jess was often in evidence, usually eating +his dinner there--always on Sunday. Then again, as the grass-grown +dooryard of his domicile adjoined the flower-filled one of Mrs. Hutton, +by some occult process a freshly cut bunch of roses, sweet peas or +pinks, found its way to his room each day. It was a trifle, perhaps, but +it is such trifles that make up home life. + +And Mona herself, now that her timidity had worn away to a certain +extent, began to grow upon him. He had, from the evening when he +communed with himself in solitude, continually treated her with a sort +of big brother consideration; but as he saw more of her and realized the +limitations of her life, so small in comparison with her aspirations; +how day by day she lived, feeling herself a prisoner on the island, with +no one there who understood her except Jess, a little bud of pity +started in Winn's heart, and the temptation that assailed him that day +in the cave grew stronger. + +"If I should feel the witchery of her playing in that romantic spot a +few times," he said to himself, "I should fall in love with her, and +couldn't help it." + +But temptations of that nature are hard to resist, and like sweet +potations, once tested, we desire to sip again. So it came about that +one morning Winn said to her: "Mona, I am going to treat myself to a +half day away from the quarry, and if your mother is willing, I want you +to visit the gorge with me this afternoon and bring your violin. I would +rather you asked her consent," he added pointedly, "I shall enjoy it +better." + +As this perfect June afternoon and its enjoyment had much to do with +shaping the heart histories of these two young people, considerable +space can well be devoted to it, and especially to their exchange of +ideas and feelings. + +"I will let you carry the violin now," said Winn, when they had left the +village out of sight, "I want to gather a few wild roses to decorate +your trysting place. I have odd fancies about such things and believe, +as the Greeks did, that every cave and grotto is inhabited by some nymph +or gnome. From the way your playing there has affected me each time, I +am sure it is some beautiful nymph who has chosen the Devil's Oven for +her abode, so I am going to present her with a nosegay." + +"I have read about fairies," responded Mona, artlessly, "but I do not +believe such creatures ever existed." + +"But they do," asserted Winn, smiling, as he gathered his roses, "and if +your imagination is strong enough, you can feel their presence many +times. I made sure there was one hid somewhere, that day I first heard +you playing." + +"And did you think so when you hid behind the rock and scared me half to +death?" she queried. + +"No," he responded, "I knew it was a real flesh and blood fairy then, +for I had seen you come out of the gorge." + +"And so you came back to scare me," she said playfully, "that wasn't +nice. If you wanted to know who it was, why didn't you ask Uncle Jess? +He would have told you." + +"Yes, and spoiled all the romance of it," answered Winn. "It's like +detecting the presence of nymphs and fairies. If you go to a grotto or +cave alone and listen for them, you will feel or hear them always, in +some way." + +"If I believed that," replied Mona, seriously, "I would never go to the +cave alone again. I should feel it to be haunted." + +"But you admit you can play better there, and feel more of the spirit of +your music," asserted Winn; "tell me why that is." + +"Because I am alone, and feel myself to be so," she answered firmly. "I +do not believe it is due to any unseen creature." + +"But you played with wondrous feeling the day I came there with you," he +replied, "you weren't alone then." + +"I am glad you think so," she answered, turning away, "I tried to, but +was so afraid of you, I trembled." + +Winn smiled at her candor. "You don't know how to flirt, do you, Mona?" +he asked pointedly, "you utter the truth always." + +"Does flirting consist of deception?" she asked, looking earnestly at +him. + +"Yes," he answered, "and of the most adroit kind. It's the weapon that +all world-wise women use to enslave men, and the more skilled they are +at it, the more assured is their success." + +"Do men ever deceive?" she queried, her fathomless eyes still on him. + +"Yes, little girl," he answered, looking away and out over the ocean and +resolving to be sincere, "men are the same as women in that respect; +some do it in self-defence, and others out of selfishness. Then once in +a while, one will never do it, except out of kindness. Such men are +usually imposed upon." + +When they reached the brink of the chasm he took her hand. "I am so +afraid you will slip in going down," he said, "and if you were hurt, I +should never forgive myself." He retained it down the steep path and up +the devious way to the cave. When it was reached she seated herself and +said, smiling at him, "Now you are here, let me see you give your +flowers to the fairy." + +For answer he gallantly touched them with his lips and handed them to +her. "You are the fairy who lives here," he said, "for I shall never +think of this spot without seeing you in it." + +Mona colored a little and then a shade crossed her face. "Isn't that +deception?" she said. "You do not mean it." + +"I mean to say every nice thing I can think of to-day," he answered, +"and do all I can to make you enjoy it. A truly happy hour is a rare +experience in life, and I want to find one for you." Then, taking his +cigar case out and stretching himself on one side of the cave, he added: +"I wish we had brought some cushions. I will, the next time we come." + +"I do not think how hard the rock is," she answered; "when I am playing +I forget where I am, even." + +"Well, forget it quick," he said, "so I can. Only do not play 'Annie +Laurie' till the last thing. You brought a mist to my eyes with it the +other day. It's a sweet bit, full of tears." + +And then, not heeding his pleasantries, many of which she did not +understand, Mona drew her dearly loved brown fiddle out of its case, and +once more that uncanny den in the rocks echoed to its magic. A medley of +old-time ballads, jigs, reels, and dance music came forth in succession, +while Winn, forgetting his cigar, yielded to her music and watched her +lissom body encased in blue flannel, open at the throat, swaying +slightly as she played, her winsome face turned from him in profile and +eyes closed at times. Once only, when a certain air recalled the past, +did he think of the woman who had scorned him, and whose letter was +still unanswered. + +"Do not play any more now," he said finally, when Mona paused, "you must +be tired." + +"I must have tired you of it," she answered bluntly, "and I am glad. I +want to hear you talk and tell me about fairies and the great city where +you lived, and about that woman who played before people. I wish I could +learn to play as you say she did." + +"Oh, there's not much to tell about fairies," he answered, smiling at +her earnestness, "they are merely imaginary and used to amuse children. +Many years ago, when the world was young, people believed in and +worshipped them as gods and goddesses; now they are poetic fancies." + +"What are poetic fancies?" she asked, understanding him only partially. + +"Well, for instance," he answered, "a poet would describe this gorge as +a way through the cliff carved by Neptune, and this cave a shelter the +mermaids sought to comb their tresses and sing the songs of the sea. Of +old every cascade and grotto was believed to be inhabited by nymphs and +gnomes, every grove by wood sprites and brownies. If they saw a brook +rippling over the pebbles in the sunlight, they said it was elfins +dancing; and in autumn when the fallen leaves blew over the hilltops, it +was the brownies holding carnival." + +"I do not believe such creatures ever did exist," she replied, "but I +shall enjoy coming here all the better for having heard about them." + +Then as if she already looked to him as a source of all information, she +added, "Tell me about the women in your city who ride in carriages and +wear beautiful dresses." + +A shade of annoyance crossed his face. "I would rather tell you about +the fairies, little girl," he answered bitterly; "the women in my world +are mostly charming liars. They live to outshine each other in dress, +they utter pretty speeches that are false, they go to church to show off +their raiment and come back to sneer at what others wear, they consider +a man as eligible for a husband solely because he has money, and if he +tells them the truth, call him a fool. I do not admire them much, Mona, +and the less you know of them the better woman you will grow to be, and +the better wife you will make some man." + +Mona flushed slightly and raising her eyes and looking full at him, +responded, "Do all the men in your world despise women as you do, and is +there not among them one who is good and tender and truthful?" + +Winn remained silent a moment, for the delicate reproach of her words +was unexpected. + +"There may be some," he answered evasively at last, "but I have never +met them and a man is apt to judge all women by those he has known." + +"And if there is now and then one among them who is not false-hearted," +continued Mona, "is she not respected and loved for it?" + +"She might be by some," he answered doubtfully, "but most would call her +stupid." + +"Would the men call her stupid?" persisted Mona. + +"Some of them would," he answered, smiling at her earnestness, "but most +of them would take advantage of it. World-wise men grow to be selfish." +Then, as if the subject was distasteful, or her inquiries too pointed, +he added, "Do you know what love is, Mona, and have you never had a +lover among the young fishermen here?" + +"T have read about it," she answered with perfect sincerity, and smiling +at her own thought, "but I've never had much for any of the boys I've +known; they smell too fishy." + +This time Winn laughed heartily. "And is your nose the by-road to your +heart?" he asked. + +"It may be," she replied, also laughing, "if I have one." + +It was the first coquettish word she had so far uttered, and Winn did +not like it. + +"That does not sound like you, Mona," he replied soberly, "your greatest +charm, and it is a charm, is sincerity. When you speak that way you +remind me of the ladies in my world, and I do not like them." + +"And if I am always truthful," she said, "you will call me simple, won't +you?" + +"No, I told you I admired that in you," he said, "but you have not +answered my question, Mona. Have you never had a lover?" + +"I have had two or three," she replied again, looking sober, "at least +they said they loved me, but I did not return it." + +And as Winn looked at the girlish figure, just showing the rounded +curves of womanhood beneath its close-fitting blue flannel gown, and at +the pansy face with eyes like one of those purple petals, fixed on him, +he, manlike, thought how sweet it would be to moisten them with the dew +of love's light and feel the touch of her velvety lips. + +But should he try for that prize, and did he want it, if he could win +it? + +The lowering sun had thrown the shadows of the spruce trees adown the +gorge, the wind scarce ruffled the ocean and only the low lullaby of its +undulations crept up the ravine. It was the parting of day and night, +the good-by of sunshine, the peace of summer twilight. + +"Now, Mona," he half whispered, as if fearing to scare the mermaids +away, "play 'Annie Laurie'!" + +And lost to the world, he watched her bending over and caressing that +old brown fiddle, even as a mother would press her baby's face to her +own, again and once again came that whisper of a love that never dies, a +refrain that holds the pathos of life and parting in its chords, a love +cry centuries old, as sweet as heaven, as sad as death. + +"Come, little girl," he said, rising suddenly when only the ocean's +whisper reached his ears, "it's time to go home." And as, clasping her +hand, and in silence leading her out of the gorge, he noticed when one +of the roses she carried from the cave fell among the rocks, she stooped +and picked it up. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +J. MALCOLM WESTON + + +There is in this land of the free, where all men are created equal (on +paper), a class of financial sharpers, whose ambition and sole +occupation is to secure for themselves the wealth of others by the most +occult and far-reaching scheming ever evolved by human brain. They toil +not, neither do they produce, yet Satan with all his archness is not +equipped like one of these. There is no taint of illegality in their +methods, they are outwardly the best of men, heralded by the press as +great financiers, railroad magnates, oil, copper, and iron kings, +praised by the rich and toadied to by the poor. They are envied by many, +lauded by editors who seek advertisements, and (if they contribute +liberally) praised by college presidents and preachers alike. Political +fortunes are turned by their nod, laws enacted in their aid, the code of +morals shaded in their favor, club doors opened, and society bowing low +whichever way they turn. Only the toiling millions whose lives are one +long fight against poverty think or speak ill of them, and such are not +considered. Those magnates of extortion so colossal that it is legal, +have one trite expression that contains their contempt for the millions +who envy, and that is, "The public be d----d." + +Of their operation on the chess board of finance little need be said. It +is known, or at least its results are, to high or low, rich or poor. +These octopuses, or rather human sharks, organize trusts, corner every +necessity of life where conditions will permit; buy bankrupt railroads, +inflate their stock, boom it by systematic deception and then unload it +at top prices on the countless flocks of lambs ever ready to buy what is +dear, and who never by any known process can be induced to buy what is +cheap. + +And those are financiers! + +There is another class, usually with less money, but equal in brains and +audacity, who have come to be known as promoters. Relatively speaking +they should be called dogfish. They would be financiers if they could, +but lacking capital to buy railroads, or corner everything on the earth, +except water, they merely organize schemes and sell stock. How many, and +how varied those are, it is waste of space to specify. All that the +patient reader need do is consult the pages of any or all city dailies +and read the tempting list of schemes there to be found. All are alike +in the main, for all offer safe investments, sure and ample returns, +indorsed by names that glitter, and promise everything under the +sun,--except to return your money if you do not get value promised. + +Of this class was J. Malcolm Weston. + +He had organized two or three glittering bubbles before the firm of +Weston & Hill was established, but from lack of capital failed to reap +the hoped-for reward. Then along came Hill, a retired manufacturer, +whose history shall be given in due time, who had more money than brains +and more conceit than either. Weston, a shrewd and smooth-tongued +schemer, reading Hill at a glance, was not long in flattering that +gullible man into a partnership and taking him and his money into camp, +as it were. For a time, and while Winn Hardy was serving apprenticeship, +the firm conducted a fairly honest and respectable business. They bought +and sold stocks and bonds of all kinds, that is, they sold and then +bought to fill orders only,--a species of commission business perfectly +safe, but not satisfying to Weston. He longed to soar, to organize a +great scheme, a glittering bubble, to see his name in print as a king of +finance, and do it on other people's money--and Hill's. + +Then one day, while off with his broker, Simmons, on the latter's steam +yacht, visiting various north coast islands, the impulse culminated. + +"Why not buy one of these islands," said Simmons, "and start a quarry +company? You can buy one for a song and a granite-quarrying industry +_sounds_ safe and will catch the cautious. I am intending to build a +fine residence in the near future, and you can furnish me the stone. In +return, I'll market stock enough to pay for it. We can find an island +with a harbor and buy it, or a part, which is all that is needful, and +you can do the rest." And thus the scheme was hatched, and when J. +Malcolm Weston, the to-be great financier, returned to the city, he was +sole owner of Jess Hutton's unused quarry and the Rockhaven Granite +Company was born. + +It took time, however, for Hill was a cautious man, holding on to his +purse-strings with the grip of death, and Weston must needs approach him +circuitously. Then there were outsiders to warm up, as it were, men of +some financial standing whose names were of value, to interest; a +charter to be obtained, and all the legal and business detail necessary +to the carrying out of a scheme to be attended to. It also needed all of +Weston's plausible arguments to perfect the plot, and summer came around +again before the conspiracy was ready to be launched. Then "the street" +was cautious, and knowing Weston's reputation in the past, was not +eager, or even willing, to buy this stock. At first, a few credulous +people like Winn's aunt and two or three others who believed in Weston +bought small lots, and the men whose names appeared on the prospectus +were each and all given stock in due ratio to their prominence. And then +Simmons began his fine work. He knew, and so did Weston, that every +share they had given away would be offered for sale as soon as a price +for it had been established "on 'change" and then the scheme would fall +flat. But Simmons had ideas of his own. "We must wait," he said, "until +your man Hardy has shipped us one or two loads of granite, then herald +that fact repeatedly in the papers until the dear confiding public don't +know whether one or ten shiploads have arrived, and then--declare a +dividend!" + +It was not long after, and when Winn Hardy, the honest dupe that he was, +was either zealously striving to push the Rockhaven Granite Company +interests toward success, or thinking about what fine eyes Mona Hutton +had, that the _Market News_ contained the following item:-- + +"The first load of granite destined for the new and palatial residence +which Richard Simmons, the well-known broker, is about to build, has +arrived. It came from the Rockhaven Granite Company's quarries on an +island they own, which produces the finest quality of building stone +obtainable." + +A week later this item also appeared in the same financial sheet:-- + +"It is rumored that all the treasury stock of the Rockhaven Granite +Company has been subscribed for and that this enterprising corporation +is overwhelmed with orders for their excellent product. This is due to +the rapid growth of our beautiful city and the consequent demand for +building materials." + +And J. Malcolm Weston, after reading them in the privacy of his office, +stroked his abundant side whiskers with an admiring caress, while a +smile of satisfaction spread over his genial face. It was the beginning +of his long-cherished ambition to pose as a great financier and it +filled his soul with joy. + +"A dozen or more of such items will start the ball rolling in glorious +shape," he said to Hill, "and boom Rockhaven to beat the cards." + +But Hill, the narrow-minded and close-fisted man that he was, only +looked cross, and sourly asked, "What did they cost?" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A MATTER OF BUSINESS + + +As the days passed on Winn noticed that more and more interest came to +be felt in the Rockhaven Granite Company and his management. And when +the first schooner he had chartered to load with quarried stone came +into the harbor and alongside the little wharf in front of the quarry, +almost a breeze of excitement seemed to ripple through the village. The +women whose husbands were working there came down to see the loading, +children wanted to climb aboard the vessel, and even the Rev. Jason Bush +spent hours watching the massive blocks as they were swung on board. Old +Jess Hutton left his store, and the people to help themselves, every +afternoon, and perched on a convenient outpost, looked on. Only Mona +kept away, and when one evening Winn asked her why, she colored slightly +and replied, "It hurts me a little to see that old ledge Uncle Jess used +to own being blasted and carried off." + +It wasn't her only reason, though a part of it; the rest was of such a +nature that Mona kept it locked in her breast. For the good natives of +Rockhaven, as well as others, had noticed that Winn always walked with +her going and coming from church and had commented upon it, and Mona had +heard of their comments. + +Winn was not her lover as yet, she felt, and not likely to be. She could +not and would not avoid walking and talking with him, but she could +avoid seeming to pursue him over to the quarry. It was all due to a +remark Mrs. Moore had made in a neighborly way. + +"I like Mr. Hardy, right well," she had said one morning when Mona +brought in a fresh bunch of June roses and asked that she put them in +his room, "an' if I was a young gal like you, I'd set my cap for him. It +looks as if you had, a-bringin' him fresh posies, an' if ye keep it up +the right way, an' don't let him make too free with ye, ye kin. It 'ud +be a great catch for ye if ye did." + +After that Mona brought no more flowers for Winn's room, but her mother, +observant ever, and world-wise in a way, did so, and Winn never knew the +difference. + +When the second load of stone had been shipped, and the July sun had +begun to shrivel the scanty grass in Mrs. Moore's dooryard, her two +sons sailed into the harbor one day to spend a Sunday there. They were +browned by the sea-winds and redolent of its crisp odors, and when Winn +came back from the quarry at supper time he found them there. + +"I hear ye're blowin' up an' carryin' off our island," said David, the +oldest, on being introduced, "an' it's a good thing. The rock ain't o' +much account an' most on't is in the way. Thar ain't room 'nough +'longside o' the water here to dry fish, let alone settin' up houses." + +And that Saturday evening, when Winn, as usual, repaired to the store of +Jess Hutton to pay off his men, this swarthy sailor was sitting upon the +doorstep of Mrs. Hutton's home, chewing tobacco vigorously and talking +to Mona. + +The next day, too, dressed in a suit of new clothes that, to use a slang +phrase, "could be heard across the island," he boldly and with an air of +proprietorship walked beside her to church and seated himself in the +same pew. + +Winn, who had never taken this liberty, and who sat with Mrs. Moore just +to the rear, watched Mona industriously and noticed that once when the +young fisherman leaned over to whisper she edged away. All that day not +once did Winn exchange a word with her except the "good morning" that +was his early greeting, and when evening came he once more lit his cigar +and strolled up Norse Hill to commune with himself, for the sight of +that swaggering son of Neptune making himself agreeable to Mona was not +pleasant. In this respect men are all alike, and whether they want a +woman or not, a shadow of the old instinct that existed among the cave +dwellers is latent. + +It was two days after when the brothers sailed away, and by that time +Winn had decided that no matter how interested young Moore was in Mona, +she reciprocated no part of it. + +And then another, and totally unexpected success in his new life came to +him, and that from Jess. + +"I've been layin' back 'n' watchin' how things was goin' on," observed +that philosopher one evening when they were alone in the store, "an' how +ye have behaved yerself, an' I'm goin' to be plain spoken with ye. In +the fust place I've made up my mind ye're a good, honest and +well-meanin' young man, an' if 'twas goin' ter help ye any, an' if ye +are likely to make it yer home here a year or two, I'd buy a few shares +of this stock jist ter show ye 'n' yer folks Rockhaven appreciates the +wages ye're payin' out. I'm goin' ter ask ye a few questions, an' if +matters is all right, I'll take five hundred on't an' mebbe I cud git +Cap'n Moore an' Cap'n Roby n' one or two others to buy a leetle. They +would if they knew I had." + +To say that Winn was surprised was to put it mildly. + +"I will gladly answer any question you may ask, Mr. Hutton, and +truthfully," he replied. "I know how you feel in regard to this +enterprise and how much any one would hate to lose a dollar they +invested in our stock. It is because of this that I have not so far +asked a soul, not even you, to invest a cent with us, though we are +ready and shall be glad to have you. As to how long I shall stay here, +that is a matter over which I have no control. I am only a manager for +the company. I own some of the stock and draw a fair salary, and if this +quarry pays (and I shall do my best to make it) I may stay here for +life." + +"Is this here Weston wuth a good deal o' money," queried Jess in +response, "an' what sort o' man is he reckoned in the city? Is he +counted as square an' honest, or a sharper?" + +"So far as I know," responded Winn, "he is an honorable business man; +and although this quarrying company is like any other enterprise--a +venture--I do not think Mr. Weston would have gone into it unless he +felt sure of making money." + +Jess asked a good many other questions which, with their answers, not +being pertinent to the thread of this narrative, need not be quoted. +When Winn left him that night, after he had gone over in detail all he +knew regarding Weston & Hill and their business, it was with the feeling +that he had conquered Rockhaven and its oracle without an effort. He +little realized that a far more subtile influence than dividends had +interested Jess Hutton, and a desire to conserve matters to the end that +Mona might be made the happier, was the motive force that governed him. + +"I've noticed," he said a little later to Mrs. Hutton, "that this young +man sorter takes to Mona n' she kinder cottons to him. I think it 'ud be +a good idee if ye'd jest caution her not to be free with him 'n' kinder +hold herself off as it were. These city chaps have a winnin' way with +'em to a gal, n' I'd hate to see her git a heartache out on't." He did +not tell Mrs. Hutton he had bought five hundred shares of Rockhaven +stock and insisted that Winn also keep the matter a secret. + +A week later Winn received the following missive from Jack Nickerson, +only a portion of which it is necessary to quote. + +"... I hear," he wrote, "that you have captured an island and are +sending it here in shiploads according to the _Market News_ (two +clippings of which I enclose). They show the fine Italian hand of Weston +or Simmons. I hope you are enjoying yourself and drawing your per annum +with promptness and regularity. The street is growing curious as to what +deep-laid scheme Weston & Hill are preparing to spring upon it, and +Rockhaven stock is not as yet selling to any extent. I saw the gay and +festive Weston out driving yesterday and Simmons was with him. They are +a pair that will bear watching. I hope they won't play you for a +tenderfoot in this new deal. Last week I took a run up to the mountain +where Ethel Sherman and her mother are spending the summer. Ethel was, +as might be expected, deep in a flirtation with a young idiot in golf +clothes and hardly noticed me. Incidentally I heard that he was possible +heir to millions." + +"What an inveterate scoffer Jack is," was Winn's mental comment on this +missive. "He sees no good motive in any one;" and then he re-read the +long and flowery letter from Weston received the same time and +congratulating him on his excellent work. Also notifying him they had as +usual anticipated his pay-roll and expressed sufficient currency to meet +it. + +And of the two letters the one from Weston seemed to him just then to be +honest and business-like, and Jack's as but the sneering of a confirmed +cynic. + +"They wouldn't be putting good money into this quarry if they did not +see a safe and sure return," he thought, and then he took Ethel +Sherman's letter that had been lying for weeks unanswered on his table +and tore it into shreds. + +A few days later he received instructions to make a present of fifty +shares of stock to the minister of Rockhaven church, and to assure him +that the Company donated it for the good of the cause and to show their +cordial interest in the religious welfare of the island. And the Rev. +Jason Bush, who never in his life owned more than the humble roof that +sheltered him, and whose patient wife turned and dyed her raiment until +worthless, marvelled much. And more than that, twenty-four hours had not +passed ere every man, woman, and child on the island had been told it, +for such unexpected, such astounding liberality seemed nothing short of +a miracle. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE GROWTH OF A BUBBLE + + +"Young Hardy's making his mark down on the island," observed J. Malcolm +Weston to his partner that morning when they had received notice of the +stock purchase made by Jess, "and if the fellow keeps on as he has +started the quarry won't stand us out a penny." + +"I doubt if he does," responded Mr. Hill, who, be it said, fulfilled the +part of a balance wheel to Weston. "From what you have told me there +aren't many on the island who have any spare money." + +"Oh, you can't always tell by the clothes such jays wear how much they +have hid away in old stockings," responded Weston. "Those mossbacks +never spend a cent and once they grasp a dollar it passes out of +circulation." + +"I am surprised Hardy landed this man Hutton for five hundred," said +Hill, "and so early in the game." + +"I am also," replied Weston, "and if I felt sure that Hardy could be +trusted with our plans, I would tell him what our next move is, but I am +not. The trouble with him is, he is too honest, and when we begin to +throw out bait in the way of advance dividends, he will suspect our game +and I am not sure how he will take it." + +"Do not think of that yet," replied Hill, "so long as we keep all the +cards in our own hands, we know where the joker is, but never +afterward." + +"I am a good mind to take a ran down to Rockhaven," continued Weston +meditatively, "and get better acquainted with this old duffer Hutton and +the rest. Also make some of them a present of a little stock, just to +interest them. It's the way to catch mackerel and those few shares will +return us good results when we declare a dividend." + +"Better not," replied the more cautious of the two, "those old fishermen +are not fools, and will conclude that if you are willing to give stock +away, it's of no value. When we do pay a dividend this Hutton will not +keep it a secret and Hardy can then reap the harvest. Besides, he and +his honesty must be considered. It won't do to alarm him. He believes +the scheme is legitimate, and as he has a finger in the pie, will work +for his own end and sell all the stock he can. What I should advise is +that we notify him the price is now two dollars per share and let that +leaven work as it will. How much stock have we sold already?" + +"About six thousand shares," replied Weston, "counting that bought by +Hardy." + +"And two per cent on the par value of that," continued Hill, figuring on +a slip of paper, "would be twelve hundred dollars. I think one per cent +enough as a starter and that we should pay it now." + +"No," replied the more liberal Weston, "it's not best to pinch in the +matter of chum, as the fishermen say, and do things by halves. If we +must bait them now let us bait them well." + +And bait them well they did, for the next day's issue of the _Market +News_ contained the following:-- + +"It is with pleasure we announce that the Rockhaven Granite Company has +declared a dividend of two per cent on the par value of the stock, +payable at the office of Weston & Hill. As we stated a short time ago in +these columns, this well-known and reliable firm, whose enterprise is +now so agreeably proven, do nothing by halves and are only too glad to +distribute all profits as soon as accrued. The stock has already doubled +in price and we predict will reach par in the near future." + +And when Jess Hutton received by mail a check for one hundred dollars +as his share of the dividend upon the par value of five hundred shares +and the parson one for ten, Rockhaven began to get excited, and all who +had a dollar to invest made haste to call upon Winn. Captain Doty bought +one hundred shares, Captain Moore, uncle to David the irrepressible, the +same, a few others lesser amounts, and to cap the climax, poor +hard-working Mrs. Moore, Winn's landlady, came to him. + +"I've got a little money laid away in the savin's bank ashore," she +said, "an' it's only drawin' four cents a dollar, which ain't much. If +you thinks it's safe mebbe I'd best take some out an' buy some o' this +stock. They all tell me it's payin' and like to go up." + +And that night, in the seclusion of his own room, as Winn Hardy thought +matters over, and realized how this speculative excitement was starting +on Rockhaven, just a faint suspicion that the golden apple might be +rotten at the core came to him. As was his way when he wanted to think +and think hard, he at once betook himself out of sight and sound of even +that quiet village, and hied away to the top of Norse Hill. Here he lit +a cigar and planted himself beside the strange structure there, the +history of which no one knew. + +And how solemn and silent the still summer evening seemed, and how like +eternity the boundless ocean faintly visible in the starlight. Only its +low murmur at the foot of the cliff and just a faint breeze redolent of +its salty zest reached him. And of Weston & Hill and this new outcome? + +He had worked and talked to this end; he had hoped for it, striving to +bring it about, and now that the quarry was each day a busy hive of +workers, the third vessel load of quarried stone nearly all on board and +ready to ship, the entire island agog over this new industry, and not +only willing but anxious to invest their hard-earned savings in +Rockhaven stock, and a prosperous outcome to his ambition in sight, Winn +hesitated. + +And the more he ground the grist of Weston & Hill's scheme in his mind +there beside the old stone tower, the less he liked it and the deeper +the germ of suspicion took root. And the cause of it all was the two per +cent dividend! + +Winn Hardy, though a country-born boy and lacking in worldly experience, +as well as education, was no fool. He knew that two shiploads of +granite, though sold at a fabulous price, would not pay a profit equal +to half the cost the quarry had so far been, to say nothing of a +dividend, and the only conclusion was not flattering to his firm's +honesty. Then one by one, every little detail of the entire affair; +every instruction they had given; the stock they had presented to him; +the letters they had written; the donation to the parson; Jack +Nickerson's innuendoes; and now this unreasonable payment of dividends +which he knew were not earned,--all passed in review. Honest himself, he +was slow to suspect dishonesty in others, but the longer and more +carefully he weighed these facts in his mind the plainer he saw the word +"fraud" written on each one of them. + +And he had put every dollar of the few he had saved into this stock and +borrowed some besides! And worse than that; this honest old fellow Jess, +out of good will to him had put five hundred in and persuaded others to +invest also! + +Suspicion is like sailing in a fog; we cannot tell where clear air ends +and fog begins, only the first we know the air seems damp and chill, the +sun obscured and danger near. And so with Winn, there on Rockhaven, with +his vocation and paths in life all mapped out, these people looking +toward him as a benefactor and ready to trust him with their money and +the sun of success shining! And all at once the air seemed chill with +the fog of deceit and fraud, and he knew not where he was. To refuse +those who would buy more stock, he dare not, since it would awaken +suspicion; to accept it was as bad, for it compromised him the deeper. +For a long hour he tried to think a way for himself out of this fog, and +the more he thought the more positive his suspicion grew, and then he +returned to his abode. And there in Rock Lane and as if to increase his +burden of responsibility, was Mona sitting in the porch of her humble +home alone. + +"Why, little girl," he said softly, pausing at the gate, "are you not +abed and asleep?" + +And Mona, unconscious of how or in what way it would strike him, and in +the utter innocence of her heart, came quickly out to where he was +standing. + +"I was lonesome," she said simply, "and waiting for you to come back. I +saw you go up the hill and wondered what for." And Winn, despondent and +worried as he was, and looking down into the sweet face and earnest eyes +upraised to him, felt their tender sympathy wondrously sweet. + +"I went up there to think," he said, "and to be alone. It is a way I +have when business troubles me." And bidding her "good night" he left +her. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN THE PATH OF MOONLIGHT + + +For a few weeks Winn worried over the suspicions of Weston & Hill's +honesty that seemed like a cloud of danger, and then, to a certain +extent, it passed away. To no one, not even Jess, did he dare confide +them, but just drifted on, day by day, doing the duty he was paid to do. +Each week came his pay-roll and salary remittance, and an assuring and +pleasant letter from the firm. It also contained a request or hope that +he would not forget to sell stock when he could. This latter, however, +made no impression on Winn. Collectively, he had sold about one thousand +shares to these islanders, and that he felt was enough. In fact, +believing, as he had almost come to do, that the entire scheme was a +gigantic swindle, it was certainly all he intended to sell, and more +than he wished he had sold. Then there was another matter of serious +interest, and that was Mona. + +Between her and himself, these summer days, there had come a little bond +of feeling, deep-rooted in her simple but passionate nature, and more +lightly in his. To her it was a new wonder-world, and as each evening +when he chanced to linger by the gate watching her, as she cared for the +sweet williams, pinks, and peonies that grew in her dooryard, or later +when he sat with her in the vine-hid porch, chatting of commonplaces or +relating incidents of the great world outside, his earnest eyes, the +melodious tones of his voice, and the careless, half cynical, half +tender way he had of expressing himself, only increased the charm. +Occasionally, on Thursday evenings, when her mother, as usual, made one +of the little band who gathered in the church, they two would stroll +over to the cliff beyond Norse Hill or up the road to Northaven to the +old tide mill. On two occasions he had persuaded her to take her violin +and visit the gorge with him, where she played at his bidding, her heart +gladdened by the thought that he cared to hear her. But she preferred +his poetic fancies and world-taught sayings to the violin, and since she +was so charming and interested a listener, it was inevitable that he +talked much. Another matter also troubled him seriously. + +He had, at the beginning of their acquaintance, and from a desire to +utter pleasant words to Mona, assured her that she was gifted with a +remarkable talent for playing, and if she would but make the effort, +the world would bow before her. It was a kindly speech, and charmed as +he was by time, place, and the power of the old love songs she rendered +with such exquisite feeling, he really meant it, little realizing its +effect on her. Now that he did realize it, and could not fail to see +that every word he uttered was considered by her as authoritative, he +wished that he had been more cautious. Then again, he understood her +better and saw what an ardent child of nature she was, and how her heart +and soul vibrated to every pulse of the ocean and the mystic romance of +the wild gorge she sought so often. To him now she seemed like a +veritable nymph of old, or a mermaid, whose soul was attuned to the wild +voice of wind and wave sighing through the rock-walled ravine and the +thicket of spruce above it. For such a creature of moods and fancies to +thrust herself into a merciless world, where sentiment was a jest and +romance an illusion, seemed a sacrilege. And he was to blame for her +wish to do so! Then again, he felt that if the world could but see and +hear her, it must, perforce, crown her with the laurel wreath. True to +his impulsive nature, in this as in all things, he alternated in his own +opinions as to what was best for her. + +And so the summer days passed, and Winn, half conscious that she was +learning the sad lesson of love, and yet stifling his conscience with +the feeling that he was only playing the rôle of big brother, which he +had decided to adopt, allowed the (to him) pleasant pastime to continue. + +It may be said that it was unfair for him, a polished man of the world, +and knowing full well that there could be but one result to this +delightful intimacy, to allow it to continue, and yet he did. And it +must also be asserted, that under the same circumstances and like +provocation, few men there are who would not do likewise. + +One surprise came to him, however, for he had sent to the city for a +book of instructions on the violin and a supply of new music, only to +find, when he gave them to her, that she was unable to read a note. + +"I told you," she said plaintively, "that I knew nothing about music +except what Uncle Jess has taught me, and I wonder how you can think I +play so well. If only I could go away and learn even a little, I should +be so happy." + +"Yes," he responded, smiling at her, for he had come to speak as he +thought and felt, "and learn also that men admired you, and grow vain of +your looks, and become one of the artful women of society, instead of +sweet and pure-minded Mona. You are better off where you are, for here +you are happy and care-free." + +Then one evening came another, and more serious, revelation to him. + +They had strolled up to the old tide mill, and sat watching the moon +high overhead, outlining its path of silver sheen upon the rippled +waters of the harbor, while he, as usual, was giving utterance to some +of his delicately worded sayings. + +"I do not understand," she said in response to one more pointed than the +rest, "why you think so badly of womankind in the great world. Are they +all so selfish, and artful, and deceitful, as you say? I have seen some +who came here in their beautiful yachts, and they looked so nice in +their white dresses, and so sweet and gentle, I envied them." + +Winn looked at her and smiled. + +"I have no doubt, little girl, you admired and envied them, and that +they looked to you as beautiful and charming as so many fairies. That +was the principal reason they came ashore--just to be seen and admired +by you people here, who, they knew, never were, and, most likely, never +would be, clad as they were. That is all these butterflies of fashion +live for--to show off their beautiful plumage and be envied by others." + +"Maybe you know them best," she responded regretfully, as if sorry he +had spoiled an illusion, "but I thought them so beautiful and sweet and +so like pictures in books, it seemed to me they must be as described +there and never wicked or deceitful." + +"And so you have been believing all you read in books, have you, little +one?" he said, smiling again, "and that those show birds who lit on the +island flew out of the pages of story books? And yet, the other day, +when I told you about the nymphs and elfins, you did not believe me, +Mona!" + +"I have never seen those creatures," she replied, "and I have seen +these." + +"Neither have you seen God, or the Saviour, or the angels," he said, +"and yet you believe they exist." + +"I do," she answered firmly, "and I should go crazy with fear if I +didn't. But your wonderful creatures, who lived so long ago, did not +make this world, as God did." + +"People believed they did in those days," he replied quietly, "and just +as firmly as we believe God did." + +She made no answer, for the subject was beyond her, but silently +watched the beauteous moonlight picture before her. + +"I should like to go into the great world," she said at last, as if that +fascinated her, "and wear beautiful dresses and see those others wear, +and hear that wonderful woman you told about play the violin, and watch +them throw flowers at her. I should like to be one with the rest just +for a little while, and then come back." + +"If you did that you would never come back," he answered, "or if you did +you would be miserable ever after." + +"I should have to," she said, as another side of the question presented +itself to her, "if I couldn't earn my living there." + +"You would have to, surely," he answered slowly, thinking of some phases +of city existence, but allowing no hint of them to escape him. "It is +foolish to dream of these things, little girl," he continued, "for they +are impossible. Even if you had the means to join the great throng of +city revellers, you would, with your disposition, be wounded deep on all +sides. The women would say spiteful things about you, and scratch you +every way they could, as is their nature; and the men would fill your +ears with subtle flattery, and each one spread before you the most +insidious net ever woven by mortal brain. No, little sister, be content +where you are, and if you are lonely, go to the cave and listen to the +whisper of the fairies. They will never stab you to the heart, as the +worldly women will. You are like a wild rose now, and as sweet and +innocent. You say what you think and mean what you say. Your heart is +tender and true and your thoughts pure and simple. You deceive no one, +and would not, if you could." + +"But might I not learn to play as the wonderful woman did," she asked +stoutly, "and could I not earn my own living if I did? I need not know, +nor care, what these spiteful women said about me, need I?" + +Winn looked at her in surprise. + +"And so this is the bee that has crept into the heart of my wild rose, +is it?" he said. "You thirst for fame and the laurel wreath, do you, +Mona? I thought I had come to know you well, little one," he continued +tenderly, "but this surprises me. Do you know what it means, and that to +win the world's applause you must study your art for years, and step by +step win your way up the ladder, and that already ahead of you are +hundreds who will miss no chance to push you backwards? And who will pay +for all the cost of tuition and training you must go through, Mona?" + +"Uncle Jess will," she answered simply, "if I ask him. He loves me." + +Winn was silent, conscious that beside him was a creature as tender as a +flower and as innocent, with a will to do and dare, or strive to do, +what few women would, and in her heart was an ambition that, like the +bee in the flower, would rob her of all life's sweetness. + +"I am sorry," he said at last, "that you have this ambition. It is +creditable to you, but hopeless. Put it out of your mind before it +destroys your peace. Be your own sweet self here on the island, and some +day you will learn to love one of its hardy sons, like David Moore, +perhaps, and he will make you a home and strive for your happiness." + +"I do not care for him, or any of the others," she answered, "and never +shall." + +It was not the first time he had mentioned young Moore to her, but never +before in so serious a way, and it hurt. + +"I am sorry," she continued, "that I told you what I have, but somehow I +thought you understood me better than any one else. It is all right, +however, and no doubt what you say is true." + +He noticed there was a little quiver in her voice, and realized he had +hurt her. He had, but not in the way he thought. + +For a long time they sat in silence, watching the whitened ledges that +bordered the island, the spectral spruces that grew to the right of +where they were, the twinkling gleam of the lighthouse in the distance, +and the shimmering path of moonlight across the harbor that ended at +their feet. + +"It's a beautiful night," said Winn at last, "and I hate to leave this +spot, but I think it's time you were home." + +And as he spoke he stooped, and, putting his hand under her arm, lifted +her to her feet. + +As he did so, a single tear fell upon his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +IN A FOG + + +Men are very much alike in this respect: if one finds fortune or a path +that seems to lead that way, all who suspect it will try to crowd in. +The same instinct may be seen among a flock of fowl, only we do not +pursue so openly. And so, when news of the unexpected and early dividend +on Rockhaven stock circulated--as it was quick in doing--everybody on +the island who had a few dollars laid away made haste to seek Winn, +anxious to invest. The leaven worked as that shrewd swindler, Weston, +knew full well it would, and had Winn's suspicions not been aroused, and +he too honest to take advantage of these people, he might have sold five +thousand shares, and as the sequel proved, bankrupted the island. For +these hard-working people, though living in hovels and wearing clothing +a tramp would almost disdain, were frugal, and each and all had +something saved for a rainy day. The wisest had, from time to time, sent +their savings ashore by Captain Roby to deposit in a savings bank; +others kept a few dollars hid in bedticks or similarly secreted; but +now, solely because Jess Hutton, the oracle of the island, was known to +have invested in this stock and received such fabulous returns, all were +anxious to follow his lead. A little spice of envy crept in also at his +good luck, and Mrs. Moore, in chatting with a neighbor, voiced it. + +"It's allus the way," she said plaintively, "when Jess bought that ledge +o' stun from Gad Baker an' gin him a hundred dollars for't, 'most +everybody thought he was a fool, and now 'long comes this city man and +gives him two thousand for't, an' on top o' that Jess buys some o' this +stock an' gets a hundred dollars profit fust go-off. Here I've been +cookin' an' washin', year in an' year out, an' jist keepin' soul 'n' +body together, an' the boys spendin' every cent they airned--not thet +I'm complainin' on them, only if I had five hundred laid away I might +put in as much as Jess did. It don't seem right, that it don't! +Howsoever, it's the way o' the world, an' them as has, gits." + +Little did hard-working Widow Moore realize when Dame Fortune was good +to her! + +But Winn was the most worried person on the island, and his burden the +heavier to bear since he dared not hint his suspicions to any one. To +all who came and almost begged him to take their savings in exchange for +stock he made only one reply, "We have no more to sell," and had there +been a stock exchange on the island, Rockhaven would have soared to +twenty dollars a share, so eager were those credulous people to invest. + +Then another incident of life began to interest them, and, though Winn +knew it not, his attentions to Mona began to create gossip, more +especially as he was the actual and present representative of a rich +corporation. His walking to and from church with her, the hours he had +spent in her home, and more than these, the summer evening strolls up to +the old tide mill, to linger and watch the moonlight on the water, had +all been noticed and commented upon. For these people, albeit they +worked hard and lived poorly, intuitively knew where Cupid hid himself +and how and when he shot his arrows. It was all right, of course, and +though other less fortunate maids envied Mona, and many of the good +mothers voiced their congratulations to Mrs. Hutton, there was no +opposition to this summer idyl. + +One thing Winn noticed, however, and that was the pertinent fact that +when he "dropped in" at Mona's home, as he so often did, her mother +usually found some excuse to absent herself and leave the young couple +alone. Had he been desirous of wooing this winsome maid nothing would +have pleased him better, but he hardly felt that way. It was true she +interested him, for what young man could resist her sweet and tender +ways, her patience with her mother's implacable dislike of her violin +playing and the beautiful soul her truthful eyes bespoke? Then the hours +with her in the romantic spot in which she had chosen to seek the +goddess of music were more than charming. In a way this trysting place +began to seem sacred to him, and the secret hours he had passed with her +there a tender bond between them. All these sweet motive forces that +move man's nature, like so many little hands, began to entwine +themselves in his. He had no thought of marrying. He realized that he +had yet to carve his way upward to independence before thinking of a +home and wife, and beyond that the lesson of distrust Ethel Sherman had +taught him still held sway. He was not a model of discretion; he was an +unthinking young man with the germs of fine honor and sturdy honesty +latent within him, and in spite of the cynicism he had imbibed from Jack +Nickerson he was sure in the end to commit no folly, nor wrong man, +woman, or child. + +And yet, insensibly, he was doing Mona Hutton the greatest wrong in his +power--almost. + +Some realizing sense of this came to him after that evening beside the +old tide mill, when his words had caused a single tear to fall upon the +hand that helped her to arise, and yet he could not tell what he had +said that hurt her so. + +There is, perhaps, nothing so fascinating in this wide world to a young +man as the first signs of a sweet maid's budding love for him, and it +must be stated, nothing is harder to turn away from, and Winn was no +exception to young men in general. And now that he was conscious of it, +that fact, coupled with the business dilemma confronting him, created a +double burden. He saw whither he was drifting with her and seeing, had +not the heart to turn away. On the other hand, the Rockhaven Granite +Company began to seem a quagmire of fraud in which he and all who had +trusted in him might any day become entangled, their investments swept +away, the men he had hired left without pay, and he stranded on this +island. It may seem that Winn was borrowing needless worriment, and yet +once the canker spot of suspicion fastens itself upon a man's mind, it +grows until it turns all things green. + +One thing he tried to do--avoid Mona. And yet he could not to any +extent, for since she dwelt next door he must needs meet her and speak +almost daily. And strange to say, now that it was in his heart to act +indifferent, her appealing eyes and winsome face began to seem a +reproach, and his conscience troubled him. For a week he passed each +evening alone in his room trying to read one of the books he had brought +with him, or else in Jess Hutton's store, listening to the gossip of the +men who gathered there, interspersed with an occasional bit of quaint +philosophy from the lips of Jess himself, and then a bombshell in the +way of a letter to him reached the island. It was as follows:-- + + "DEAR WINN, + + "Have been back to the city now for two weeks and watching the + trend of the market. I was satisfied, as I wrote you, that + Weston & Hill were preparing to launch a skyrocket--now I know + it. What with printer's ink and that walking tombstone, + Simmons, they have managed to get Rockhaven among the unlisted + but active stocks, and by some chicanery, worked the price up + to six dollars. Page, my broker, says it's a wildcat of the + most pronounced stripe. A good many are short of it at below + its present price and yet it holds firm. I've unloaded half I + bought, so I am on Easy Street, and am watching out. It may go + up with a whoop or down with a thud. One guess is as good as + another, but what you best do is send me your stock and let + Page sell it. Also if you have sold any to your friends, give + them the tip. I know you believe in Weston and think, as you + have said, that I am a perpetual scoffer. They may be all + right, but I don't believe it, and now as you have a chance to + unload and make a good thing, better do it. + + "Yours ever, + + "JACK. + + "P.S.--I forgot to mention that Ethel Sherman is still up in + the mountains and the belle of all occasions. She asked a lot + of questions about you and in such a way I was almost tempted + to believe they were sincere. She has failed to land the golf + dude, for his mother scented danger and, like a hen, led him + away to safety." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A PHILOSOPHER + + +Winn had felt it best to keep silent regarding his suspicions of Weston +& Hill, but this new development forced him to unbosom himself to some +one and he went to Jess. He waited until the usual evening gathering of +callers had left the store, and then he told the story of his distrust +from the beginning and ended by reading a portion of Jack's letter. To +his surprise Jess received it all as unmoved as a granite ledge. + +"I ain't a mite s'rprised," he said, "I sorter felt all 'long that this +'ere boss o' yourn was a swindler 'n' foolin' ye, an' the only reason I +took any stock was jist to help ye." + +"I know it," responded Winn, "and it's that and because you have +influenced others to do so, that worries me." + +But Jess only smiled. + +"Keep cool," he said, "an' let yer hair grow. I ain't in it so deep but +I kin 'ford to lose all I've put in 'n' take keer o' the rest on 'em +here. What we want to do now is ter cac'late. When the wind gets +squally, the fust thing's to shorten sail. I'll 'low yer friend knows +his business, 'n' we'd best send this stock to him 'n' let him sell it +if he kin find fools to buy it at the price it's goin', an' then we'd +best lay the men off at the quarry 'n' let 'em go fishin'. We might keep +two or three on 'em goin'," he added as an afterthought, "jist to keep +up 'pearances 'n' lay low till the wind shifts." + +"It may be you are right," asserted Winn, "but I do not know what to do +and the situation worries me." + +"No sorter use 'n' worryin'," said Jess tersely, "ye'r healthy, ain't +ye?" + +And then Winn laughed. "Yes," he said, "I am, and no worse off than when +I came here, but it disturbs me to find I've been deceived." + +"You'll git used to that," replied Jess, "I hev. I cac'late in my time I +hev hed more'n a hundred pounds o'wool pulled into my eyes 'n' I ain't +blind yit. The only cause I've hed fer blamin' myself is 'most every +time I got skinned it was 'cause I was too dum good-hearted." + +"And that is just why I feel so bad," put in Winn; "you bought this +stock to help me, and if you lose, it's on me." + +Jess laughed heartily. + +"Well, you're shakin' hands with the divil a good ways off," he said, +"up to date I'm ahead o' the game a cool hundred 'n' a middlin' good +chance o' gittin' more'n double my money back. I cac'late, of course, +this stock ain't wuth a cuss, but if by some hocus-pocus they're sayin' +it's wuth what your friend says 'tis, I stand a fair chance o' gittin' +square. Better tell him he kin let it go fer a dollar 'n' not hang on +fer more. I'll be satisfied if I git my hat back." + +Then Jess, the big-hearted, thought of Winn. "It's none o' my bizness," +he said, "but ez you've made free to trust me, how air ye fixed on this +stock? Hev ye put much money into it?" + +"I've put five hundred, part borrowed," answered Winn candidly, "and +they made me a present of five hundred shares besides." + +"Wal, that's a credit to ye, anyhow," responded Jess with an approving +look, "an' ye kin feel ye come higher'n the parson." Then after a few +minutes' silent meditation during which he closed his eyes and stroked +his chin affectionately, he added: "As a gineral thing I'd be slow in +advisin' anybody to go crooked, but when ye feel ye're in the hands o' +sharpers, it's the only way. Now what I'd advise ye to do is to keep on +reportin' the same pay-roll right 'long 'n' lay most o' the men off fer +a week or two till ye find what yer friend's done with the stock. What +they send ye extra may come handy 'fore this cat's skinned and buried. +Then ye kin kinder take it easy for a spell 'n' look the island over so +long's yer time 'n' wages is goin' on. Let 'em do the fiddlin' while you +dance this time. They cac'late ter make ye do all the fiddlin' an' turn +about is fair play." + +[Illustration: JESS HUTTON, PHILOSOPHER.] + +"I'll take your advice and do just what you say," replied Winn eagerly, +his spirits once more raised to their normal level by this quaint +philosopher, and as it was late in the evening and the mention of fiddle +recalled Jess Hutton's hobby, he added: "You have lifted a load off my +mind, and now please give me a few tunes, Mr. Hutton. I feel like +hearing some music." + +And Jess the genial, to whom his fiddle was wife, child, friend, and +companion, once more drew it forth, and as Winn lighted a fresh cigar +and leaned back to enjoy it, again as before was he charmed by the old +man's art. + +And that spell wrought by "Money Musk," "Fisher's Hornpipe," "The +Devil's Dream" and such old-time dance tunes that followed in quick +succession carried Winn back to his boyhood days and out of the turmoil +and strife of city life, and once more he felt himself in the old farm +barn with lanterns swinging aloft and a score of country lads and +lassies keeping step with him to the same lively measures. He could see +their happy faces and the sparkle of their eyes as "balance and swing," +"do-see-do" and "all promenade" echoed from the rafters. He could even +feel the supple waist and warm handclasp of the willing maid who danced +with him, and when the evening of simple but unalloyed delight was over, +came the long walk home with that same farmer's daughter while the +moonlight silvered the landscape and the rustling leaves in the maple +lane, tinkling like tiny bells beneath their feet. Gone were all the +hectic years of city life, the stab of Ethel Sherman, the distrust of +Jack Nickerson, and the humiliation of the years with Weston & Hill. +Gone, too, all his present dread and the fog that for weeks had obscured +his course. Once more he felt full of young courage with success and +riches almost within his grasp. Then as the evening waned and Jess +Hutton's fingers strayed to the old sweet love songs of Scotland and +"Robin Adair" and "Annie Laurie" whispered the burden of their +affection, the tender eyes of Mona and the wild rock-walled gorge where +he had first heard her play the same songs touched his heart. With this +memory, so sweet in a way, came a heartache. When the evening was ended +and he, having thanked Jess for the good cheer in words and music, +betook himself to Rock Lane, he paused a moment in front of Mona's home. +Not a light was visible, not a sound except the low murmur of the +distant sea. Only a few seconds he stood there, looking and thinking, +and then kept on to his room. + +The mood of the church bells was with him still. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A CLOUD OVER ROCKHAVEN + + +A man is happiest when he has most to do, and though a woman's face +intrudes upon his thoughts and he feels her smiles are all for him, it +is life and action and the push forward toward success that interest him +most. + +And so with Winn. He had come to Rockhaven to upbuild his fortune, +believing himself in a fair way to do so. He had taken up his new life +and care with earnestness and energy, putting his best thought into it, +and not only carrying out his employer's instructions in letter and +spirit, but in addition trying to make friends of those honest islanders +and interest them in this new enterprise. The latter was not hard since +Jess, the oracle of Rockhaven, was on his side, and, in a way, sponsor +for him. Then, too, he had adopted their simple homely ways and, though +not a believer, attended church each Sunday. How much of this was due to +the occult influence of Mona's eyes, and how much to sympathy and +interest in the spiritual life of the island, is hard to say. Most of +the men considered Sunday as a day of rest, and to some extent, +recreation. A few accompanied their families to the little church, but +more spent the day lounging about the wharves, smoking and swapping +yarns, and if a boat needed caulking, a net mending, or a new sail +bending, they did not hesitate to do it. While all had sufficient +reverence for the Lord's Day not to actually start out fishing, most +were willing to get ready. And perhaps for good reason, for a livelihood +on Rockhaven was not easy to obtain and with them, as with most +hard-working people, the necessities of life displaced spiritual +influences. + +"It is a hard field to labor in," asserted the Rev. Jason Bush to Winn +one day, "and I've grown old and gray in the work. We have a little +church that has not been painted but twice since I came here forty-odd +years ago, or shingled but once. We have no carpet, and the cushions in +the pews are in rags. I have taught this generation almost all they know +of books, and laid most of their parents away in the graveyard back of +the meeting-house, and my turn will come before many years. We are poor +here, and we always have been and most likely always shall be, and at +times it has seemed to me the Lord was indifferent to our needs. Your +coming here and this new industry has seemed to me a special +providence." + +And Winn, thinking of the fifty shares of stock he had given this poor +old minister, and the ten dollars dividend that must have seemed a +godsend, felt his heart sink, for he had by this time come to realize +why he had been told to donate this stock. And perhaps that fact gave +added force to the parson's words. + +And when, after Jess had advised him to lay off some of the men and he +had done so, a sort of gloom seemed to spread over the island. A few of +the men took to their boats and fishing once more, and though Winn gave +out the plausible excuse that lack of demand for granite was the cause, +the rest who were out of work now seemed a constant reproach. + +Then, too, since his own ambition and hope received a setback he was not +content. The growing distrust was a thorn in his side, in fact it was +more than that; it was almost a certainty that his mission there was +nearing its end. To leave, he could not; to go ahead, he dared not, for +any day he might be left in the lurch with no money to pay his men. And +Friday, when he usually received his remittances, was awaited with keen +anxiety. When it came and a letter, slightly fault-finding in tone +because he had sold no more stock for some weeks, and insisting that he +must go about it at once, Winn was not only irritated but disgusted. + +"I am but a mere tool in their hands," he thought, "and they pay me to +do their bidding, be it work or to rob honest people." And then Winn had +a bad half-hour. + +"Don't ye mind 'em," said Jess consolingly, when Winn had told him what +they wrote, "but keep cheerful 'n' let 'em keep on sendin' money. It's a +long lane ez hez no turns 'n' ours'll come bimeby. Better write yer +friend 'n' git posted on what's doin'." + +But this excellent advice had scant effect on Winn, for his ambition had +been chilled, his hopes seemed like to be thwarted, his mental sun in a +cloud, and the barometer of his spirits at low tide. Then the honest +people here who had trusted him implicitly and who could ill afford to +lose became a burden to his mind. Honest himself in every impulse, to +realize that in the near future he might be cursed as a rascal only +added to his gloom. He dreaded to meet them lest they read the worriment +in his face, and especially the patient and hard-working Mrs. Moore, who +daily prepared his meals. To her the hundred dollars she had invested +was a small fortune, and then the kindly old minister whose long life +of patient work for starvation pay had made him pathetic, and who had +considered this gift as coming from the hand of God--to feel that he +also might join the rest in sorrowing hurt Winn. He dared not say a word +to any one except Jess, and what to do he knew not. At times he thought +of going to them, one and all, explain the situation, and ask them to +intrust him with their stock, when he would send it to the city to be +sold if possible. He even confided this impulse to Jess. + +"No," replied that philosopher, "it ain't my idee to cross bridges till +ye come to 'em, 'n' we'd best wait till we see which way the cat's goin' +to jump. If wuss comes to wuss, an' 'fore I'd see ye blamed, I'll stand +the loss o' every share ye've sold here." + +This was some consolation to Winn, but did not remove his gloom. + +Then Mona became a factor in his perplexity. He had tried to avoid her +to a certain extent, but he could not avoid his thoughts, and deep in +his heart he knew that whatever bond of sympathy had come between them +was due to his own seeking. He had praised her playing, passed hours in +delightful exchange of poetic thoughts and recital of old-time lore, +pathetic, romantic, and altogether alluring, and this thrusting his +personality, as it were, into the thoughts and life of this untutored +island girl could have but one ending, and full well Winn knew what that +was. + +The next Sunday chance threw them together, for Winn, to escape his +mood, if possible, had taken a long stroll over the island and up to the +north village. Returning late in the afternoon, he found her sitting by +the old mill watching the tide slowly ebbing between its mussel-coated +foundations. It was a spot romantic in its isolation, out of sight from +any dwelling and, in addition, of somewhat ghostly interest. Winn had +heard its history. It had been built a century ago and made useful for +the island's needs, but finally it fell into disuse and decay, its roof +gone, its timbers and floor removed, its windows but gaping openings in +the stone walls and akin to the eyeless sockets and mouth of a skull. +Then, too, the half-demented girl who years before had been found +hanging lifeless from one of its cross beams added an uncanny touch. +Winn had felt its grewsome interest and once or twice had visited it +with Mona. And now, coming to it just as the lowering sun had reached +the line of spruce trees fringing the western side of the harbor, he +found Mona sitting where they had sat one moonlight evening, idly +watching the motionless harbor stretching a mile away. She was not +aware of his approach, but sat leaning against an abutting stone, +looking at the setting sun's red glow on the harbor, a lonely, pathetic +figure. + +For a moment Winn watched her, and watching there beside this uncanny +old ruin, lived the past two months over again like a momentary dream, +and then drew nearer. + +"Why, Mona," he said, "what are you doing here?" + +"Nothing," she answered, straightening up and turning to face him, "only +I did not know what else to do, and so came here." She did not disclose +the impulse which brought her to this spot, for of that no man, +certainly not Winn, should be told. + +"Well," he continued, with assumed cheerfulness, "I'm glad to have come +across you, for I too have been lonesome and trying to walk it off. I've +had the blues for a week or more now," he added, feeling that some sort +of apology was due her, "and am not myself." + +"And why?" she asked interestedly, turning her fathomless eyes upon him; +"are you getting tired of us here, and wanting to go back to the city?" + +"No, little girl," he replied, assuming his usual big-brother's tone and +address, "I hate the city, as I've told you many times; but business +matters vex me, and as you may have heard, I've had to lay off some of +my men." + +"Yes, I have heard," she answered quietly, her eyes still on him, +"nothing happens here that all do not know in a few hours." + +And Winn, with the burden of dread that like a pall oppressed him just +then, wondered how long it would take for all to hear what he or Jess +could utter in five words. + +"Why did you come here, Mona, if you were lonesome?" he said, anxious to +change the subject. "It's the last spot on the island you should visit +if lonely." + +Mona colored slightly; "I always go to some lonely spot when I feel +sad," she said, unwilling to admit the real reason for her coming here. + +"And that is where you are wrong," put in Winn, forcing a laugh and +seating himself beside her. "When I am blue I go to Jess or else take a +tramp as I did to-day," he added hastily. + +Mona still watched him furtively and with an intuitive feeling that he +was concealing something. "I wish I knew how to play the violin," he +continued, looking across the harbor to where a dory had just started +toward the village, "it must be, as your uncle says, 'a heap o' comfort' +when one is lonesome." + +"It has been to him all his life long," she answered a little sadly, +"and is now." + +"And to you as well," he interposed, "it has helped you pass many a long +hour, I fancy. Do you know," he continued, anxious to talk about +anything except his present mood, "I've thought so many times of that +day I first heard you playing in the 'Devil's Oven,' and what a strange +place it was to hide yourself in. You are a queer girl, Mona, and unlike +any one I ever knew. I wish I were an artist, I'd like to make a picture +of you in that cave." + +Mona looked pleased. + +"You would make a picture," he added, smiling at her, "that the whole +world would look at with interest; I'd have you holding your violin and +looking out over the wide ocean with those sphinx-like eyes of yours, +just as if the world and all its follies had no interest for you." + +"And what is a sphinx?" asked Mona. + +"A woman that no man understands," he answered carelessly. "There are a +few such, and they are the only ones who interest men any length of +time." + +"And am I like one of them?" queried the girl. + +"Oh, no," he answered, "except your eyes, and they are absolutely +unreadable. Beyond them you are as easily understood as a flower that +only needs the sun's smiles." + +It was a bit of his poetic imagery faintly understood by Mona. "You must +not mind my odd comparison," he continued, noticing her curious look, +"it's only a fancy of mine, and then, you are an odd stick, as they used +to say up in the country where I was born." + +"And so you were not born in the city," she said with sudden interest. +"What Uncle Jess has told me and what you have said has made me hate the +city." + +"I thought you said once you envied the city girls who came here in +yachts," laughed Winn. + +"I might like to dress as they do," she answered, a little confused, +"but not to live where they do." + +"And what has that to do with where I came from," he persisted, "and why +are you glad I am country-born?" + +"Because," she replied bluntly, "Uncle Jess says country-born people are +usually honest and can be trusted." + +Winn was silent, and as he looked at this simple island girl, so +unaffected and winsome, a new admiration came for her. "Give her a +chance," he thought, "and she would hold her own with Ethel Sherman +even." + +"That is true," he said aloud, after a pause, thinking only of his own +business experience, "and the longer I remain here, the less I wish to +return to the city. I feel as your worthy uncle does, and for good +reasons. With the exception of an aunt, who has made a home for me, the +women whom I met there were not to be trusted, nor the men either. When +I left the old farm I was too young to understand people, but now that I +do, I often long for the old associates of my boyhood, and if my +business here becomes successful, I shall never go back to the city." + +A look of gladness lit up the girl's face. + +"I feel vexed over my business," continued Winn, longing to confide his +troubles to Mona and looking down into the dark mussel-coated chasm left +by the ebbing tide close by where they sat, "but I presume I shall come +out all right." + +Then, as he glanced up at the roofless wall of the old mill just back of +them, its window openings showing the dark interior, he thought of the +girl who, a century ago, had come there to end her heartache and whose +story was fresh in his mind. + +"Come, Mona," he said tenderly, as a sigh escaped him, "it's time we +returned to the village, for I am going to meeting to-night with you +and your mother." And all the long mile of sandy roadway that lay +between the mill and Rockhaven was traversed in almost unbroken silence. + +Though far apart as yet, they were nearer to one another than ever +before. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE MOOD OF THE BELLS + + +There were two church bells on Rockhaven, one at each village, and every +Sunday evening, year in and out, they called the piously inclined +together, always at the same time. That at Northaven sounded the sweeter +to Winn, since its call came over a mile of still water, like an echo to +the one in Rockhaven. He had noticed them, one answering the other, many +times before, each time to return in thought to the hillside home where +he was born and to the same sweet sound that came on Sunday from the +village two miles away. It had been to him what seemed long years since +he heard them, yet now, this evening, while he waited in the little +porch of Mona's home for her and her mother to join him churchward, and +this call came sweetly through the still evening air, it carried a new +peace to his vexed spirit, and the threatened upset of his mission to +Rockhaven faded away. Once more he was a boy again, and for a time +without a care. + +And when Mona appeared, dressed in a simple white muslin, a white hood +of knitted wool half hiding the coiled masses of her jet black hair, her +eyes filled with tender light, Winn, in spite of his moroseness and the +bitter lessons in love he had learned, felt it a proud privilege to walk +beside her. + +The usual number, mostly womankind, were emerging from the scattered +houses along the way to the church, and as Winn and Mona, together with +her mother and Mrs. Moore, followed the one plank walk which led to the +church, the last call of the bells came at longer intervals. + +When the church was reached the lamps had been lighted, but the white +headstones, dotting the upward slope just back of it, still showed +faintly in the twilight. + +The services were simple as usual, the few dozen who gathered all joined +in the same hymns of praise their ancestors had sung in the same church. +What the minister said was not new or eloquent; and yet the prayer he +uttered seemed to Winn to contain an unusually touching strain. It was +the mood of the bells still on him, for he had never known what church +believers call a change of heart; and while the devotions of the people +were pathetic in their very simplicity, they seemed more like a plea for +pity than an expression of thanks. When the services were ended, and +all rising joined in "The Sweet By and By," never before had it voiced +such a plaintive appeal as it did then in Winn's estimation. + +When he and Mona, loitering behind the rest, reached her little dooryard +where the scent of many blooming flowers saluted him, they paused a +moment. Mrs. Moore had seated herself on the porch for a social chat +with Mrs. Hutton, the faint disk of a new moon showed in the western +sky, and in spite of the resolution taken weeks before, Winn could not +resist the temptation of longer privacy with his companion. + +"Let us walk up to the top of Norse Hill," he said, "and look out over +the harbor. I feel like it to-night." + +"Here is where I come to be alone," he observed when they had reached +the ancient beacon and were looking down over the village. "I wonder who +built this odd tower and for what use; do you know?" + +"I have been told it was built by Leif Ericson," she replied, "ever so +many years ago, to prove he first discovered this country. Uncle Jess +says it was, and that is why this is called Norse Hill." + +There was a jutting ledge around its base, and they seated themselves +upon it. Winn drew out his cigar case. "You won't mind my smoking, will +you, Mona?" he said in a familiar tone, as he lighted his cigar. + +"Why, no," she answered, in the same tone, "I love to see you enjoy +yourself." + +For a time they silently scanned the peaceful picture that lay before +them. The sheltered harbor across which the faint path of moonlight +quivered in the undulating ground swell that reached in from the sea; +the old mill sombre and solemn and barely outlined to the right; beyond +it Northaven with its scattered lights, and below them the few that +twinkled in Rockhaven. Not a sound reached them except the low wave-wash +at the foot of the cliff just back of where they sat. They were alone +with their hopes and troubles, their joys and heartaches. It was not a +time or place for immediate converse, and Winn quietly contemplated the +peaceful scene while Mona covertly watched him. To her he was an +unsolved enigma, and yet his earnest, honest brown eyes, his open, frank +way, and his half-tender, half-cynical speeches had been for many weeks +her daily thought. What oppressed him now was an added mystery. She had +heard that most of his men working in the quarry had been laid off, but +not for worlds would she seem so inquisitive as to ask why. + +And so she watched him, half hoping, half expecting, he would confide in +her. + +"I have been out of sorts, little girl," he said suddenly, with an +intuitive feeling that she expected an explanation of his silence; "and +as I told you this afternoon I took a long tramp to drive my mood away. +It did not do it, but something else has, and that was your church +bells." + +"I am very glad," she responded with sudden interest, "I wish they would +ring every evening." + +"Yes," he continued, not heeding her delicate sympathy, "they have +carried me back to my boyhood and the country village near where I was +born. I wish I could go back to those days and feel as I did then," he +added, a little sadly, "but one can't. Life and its ambitions sweep us +on, and youth is forgotten or returns only in thought. If one could only +feel the keen zest of youth and enjoy small pleasures as children do, +all through life, it would be worth living. I should be grateful if I +were as happy and care-free as you are, Mona." + +"I am not very happy," she answered simply. "Did you think I was?" + +"You ought to be," he asserted; "you have nothing to worry about unless +it is your ambition to become a great artist, and as I have told you, +you had better put that out of your thoughts. You could be, but it +would bring you more heartaches than you can imagine. Put it away, Mona, +and live your simple life here. To struggle out of your orbit is to +court unhappiness. I was thrust out of mine by death and poverty," he +added sadly, "when an awkward and green country boy, knowing absolutely +nothing of city ways and manners, and placed among those who think all +who come from the farms must be but half civilized and stupid. It is the +shallow conceit of city-bred people always and the greatest mistake they +make. My aunt sent me to a business college, and for a year my life +there was a burden. The other fellows made game of my clothes, my +opinions, and, worse than that, a jest of all the moral ideas in which +my good mother had instructed me. Later on, when I began to get out into +the world, I found the same disposition to sneer at all that is pure and +good in life. The young men I became acquainted with called me a +goody-good because I acted according to conscience and refused to drink +or gamble. They seemed to take a pride in their ability to pour down +glass after glass of fiery liquor, and when I asserted that to visit +gambling dens and all other resorts of vice was to demean one's self, +and positively refused to follow them, they laughed me to scorn. They +seemed to take a pride in their vices in a way that was disgusting to +me. Then, as if to prove what a stupid greenhorn I was, they pointed out +men who stood well socially, attended church, had wives and families, +and yet led lives that were a shame and disgrace in my estimation. They +proved to me what they asserted in various ways, so I could not doubt +it. It was all a revelation, and for a time upset all my ideas and led +me to think my early training in the way I should walk a stupid waste of +opportunity. + +"Beyond that, and perhaps the worst of all, I was made to think that +religious belief was arrant nonsense and used as a cloak for evil +doings; that none except silly old women and equally silly young girls +were sincere in pious professions; that belief in God was an index to +shallowness, and prayer a farce. + +"It began to seem to me that I really had been brought up wrong and +trained in absurd ways, and that unless I threw my moral scruples to the +winds, I should be a jest and a laughing-stock to all city people. We +grow to feel, and think, and live like those we meet daily, and when I +came here, among you whose lives and morals were so unlike city folks +and so like those of the people among whom I was reared, it seemed as if +I had gone back to my boyhood home. + +"I think the sound of your church bells, Mona, was an influence more +potent than all else to carry my thoughts and feelings home again." + +He paused a moment to look out seaward and along the broadening path of +moonlight as if it led into a new life and a new world, while Mona +watched his half-averted face. All this was a revelation to her of his +inner self, his nature and impulses. She had thought tenderly of him +before; now he seemed the embodiment of all that was good and true and +manly--a hero she must fain worship. + +"Life is a puzzle-board, dear," he said at last, as if that sparkling +roadway had been followed into a better one; "we all strive for +happiness in it and know not where or how it may be found. We wish to +please ourselves first, and to share it with those who seem akin to us. +Few really desire to annoy others or give them pain. Then again we are +selfish, and our own needs and hungers seem all important. We are a +little vain ofttimes, carnal always, unthinking, and seldom generous. We +forget that it is more blessed to give than to receive, that a clear +conscience is as necessary to happiness as good digestion is to health, +and that we cannot walk alone through life. We must depend upon others +for about all the happiness we receive, and they on us. Then again we +had best remain with those we understand and who know us best. They and +they only can or will seem near to us. Your bells have carried me back +to those with whom I am allied by nature; and among them and in the pure +and simple life they live, I feel that peace and contentment may be +found. With you it is the same, my dear, and it is to keep you here +among those akin to you that I say what I have of the great world. Do +not wish to enter it; do not imagine you will find happiness there, for +you cannot. Here you are loved and understood, here are those you know +and can trust, and here every cliff, and gorge, and grove, every flower, +and bird, and ocean voice, contains a childish memory. Were you to leave +them behind every call of the church bells at eventide would carry your +heart back to these scenes again, as it has mine to those of my youth. +No, dear, be warned in time and remain content." + +He meant it for her good, but she thought only of a similar bit of +advice he had given her once before, and one that wounded her to the +heart. + +For a little longer they sat and watched the moonlight scene; Winn +unconscious that beside him was a girl whose ennobling ambition and +sweet, patient nature was a prize any man might feel proud to win, and +Mona quivering with an unaccountable heartache; and then he rose to go. + +"It is getting late, dear," he said in his familiar way, "and we'd best +go home. You may catch cold if we stay here longer." + +And Cupid, hovering on the old stone tower, turned away in sorrow for a +wasted opportunity. + +But Winn held out his hand to assist Mona, and be it said to his credit, +he retained hers in a warm clasp until her gate was reached. + +"Good night, dear," he said then as he opened it for her to enter, "and +sweet dreams." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TWO RASCALS + + +There are genial, liberal, and companionable rascals and mean, +contemptible, sneaking ones. The former attract by their apparent +honesty and cordial expressions, and are the more dangerous; the latter +repel by every look, act, and word. Of the first class J. Malcolm Weston +was a pertinent example, while Carlos B. Hill was of the latter. + +On "the street" and among his associates Weston was considered a jovial, +good-natured man, liberal in small things, a pleasant associate, but +lacking in morality and without principle. He paid for one of the best +pews in the church Winn's aunt attended, which was always occupied by +his wife and family, and by him occasionally; he contributed for +charitable and missionary work in an ostentatious way, always insisting +that it be known how much he gave; belonged to a club where gambling was +the chief amusement and the members of which were mostly stock brokers, +speculators, and fast men about town; he wore the latest and most +fashionable raiment, and drove a dashing turnout. Before the firm of +Weston & Hill had been established he had been the manager of what is +known as a bucket shop, and when that failed (as they always do, soon or +late) he began his career as a promoter. In this he was not +over-successful, mainly from lack of funds to carry out his schemes; but +when the conceited, shallow-minded Hill was induced to walk into his +parlor, Weston began to soar. Hill was a retired manufacturer and +bigoted church member who had saved a small fortune by miserly living, +stealing trade marks, copying designs, making cheap imitations of other +manufacturers' goods, and cutting prices. He thirsted for fame as a +great financier and longed to be a power in the stock market. Weston, +whose business arguments usually contained equal parts of religion and +possible profit-making, in due proportion to the credulity and piety of +his victims, and who could time a horse race, play a game of poker, or +utter a fervid exhortation with equal facility, easily led Hill into the +investment and brokerage business, and so the firm was established. + +This was J. Malcolm Weston. + +Of Hill, though his counterpart exists, but not in plenty, an explicit +description shall be given. He was of medium size with a sharp hawklike +nose, retreating forehead, deep-set fishy eyes, ears that stood out like +small wings, and a handclasp as cold and lifeless as a pump-handle. His +sole object of conversation was himself; he had pinched pennies, denied +himself all luxuries, and lived to be hated, till he grew rich. It was +one of his kind of whom the story is told that, having died rich (as +usual), a stranger passing the church on the day of the funeral asked of +the sexton at the door, "What complaint?" and received the reply, "None +whatever; everybody satisfied." + +Weston, liberal rascal that he was, was not long in learning to hate his +mean-natured partner, and by the time the Rockhaven Granite Company was +duly organized and well on toward success, had conceived another and +perhaps more excusable swindle (if any swindle is excusable), it being +not only to rob the investors in Rockhaven, but Hill as well, and then +leave for a foreign clime. But the launching of Rockhaven necessitated +outlay. Hill really held the purse-strings, so Weston, the plausible, +shrewd schemer, bided his time. But the road to success became +difficult. Each successive outlay was whined about and opposed by Hill, +who, shallow in his conceit, lacked the courage of his rascality. When +Winn was sent to Rockhaven, and money to pay men must follow, and each +successive item and advertisement in the _Market News_ (both +high-priced) only made him wince the more, it required all of Weston's +optimistic arguments to keep him from backing out. But when returns from +the sale of this absolutely worthless stock came in, Hill smiled, and +when some thirty thousand shares had been sold and, by reason of +Simmons' manipulation, it was quoted on 'change at six dollars per +share, his eyes glittered like those of a hungry shark. No thought of +the honest and confiding men and women who had contributed to swell the +total, and would share in the inevitable loss, came to him. No qualms of +conscience, no sense of guilt, no fear of retribution! only the miser's +lust of gain and the swelling of his abnormal self-esteem. And so +gratified was he in this partial success, and so eager to pocket its +results, that, had Weston now proposed dividing receipts and absconding, +he would have consented with alacrity. + +Of those who were to be the dupes of this precious pair a word will now +be said. They comprised a varied list, from poorly paid clerks who had +caught the gambling fever to Winn's aunt who, since she believed in +Weston, and being baited on by the deceptive dividend, had invested +almost her entire fortune. There was one cashier in a bank who had +"utilized" about three of the many thousands he had access to, an +innocent and underpaid stenographer in Weston & Hill's office who +persuaded her widowed mother to draw her all from the savings bank and +buy Rockhaven, and scores of small investors, trustees for estates; and +even sane business men, lured by the early and unexpected dividend and +anxious to share in the rapid advance, bought, what they at heart feared +was worthless. And so the bubble grew apace, and Weston and his +henchman, Simmons, in the privacy of their offices, smiled and +congratulated one another, and plotted and planned. They discussed the +items to be paid for in the _Market News_, how long it would be +necessary to continue the farce of quarrying carried on by Winn, and how +much stock was really being tossed back and forth among the gamblers on +'change, and how much held by honest investors. Of the quarried stone +shipped by Winn, enough had been received to build the palatial +residence Simmons had under way and some toward another and smaller +contract, taken at a price below market rates. To these consultations +Hill was seldom invited, for the best of reasons,--he was in the end to +be made the dupe of all. Of this latter and final iniquity not even +Simmons was informed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE STARTING OF A "CORNER" + + +There are always two parties in every stock exchange, well known as +bulls and bears. Those who believe in an advance, or what is to the same +end, manipulate a stock to increase its price, are said to be "bulling +it"; while those who honestly think it quoted above its worth and sell +it, or plot to depress its price, are said to "bear it." Like the ever +varying hues of the kaleidoscope, so the opinions and actions of each +individual among those men constantly change, and a bull to-day may be a +bear to-morrow. Then cliques and pools take up one little joker of +values, and seek by force of number and capital to toss it up or down. +To this end they fill the press with columns of false reports, +fictitious statements, and items of apparent news for one purpose--to +deceive. When the wildcat, Rockhaven, started on its career, the bulls +and bears, glad of a fresh toy, began to toss it back and forth. None +believed it of any actual value, but merely one of the many dice in the +speculative box. All united in asserting that it was the _avant courier_ +of a scheme; it might be pushed up to a fabulous price and it might any +day go down with a crash. It was this very certainty of being an +uncertainty--the fact that its future was an open gamble, a positive +chance--that made it interesting. None of these astute speculators were +deceived by the early dividend, even for one moment; and when Simmons, +well known as Weston's mouthpiece, openly bid two dollars for five +thousand shares or any part of it, and really obtained one hundred, and +that the identical hundred originally given a prominent man for the use +of his name, all knew that the fresh toy was on its way toward the roof +or the cellar. It may seem strange after the countless schemes which +have come to naught, that any remain who could be inveigled into a new +one, but as a wise showman once said, "the world loves to be humbugged," +and the early dividend worked its inevitable result among the real +investors, while the gamblers' chance stimulated "the street"; and +between the two Rockhaven was pushed upward. And the _Market News_, as +well as other city papers anxious to sell space, helped to swell the +bubble until Rockhaven became one of the loaded dice all speculators +love to play with. It started at two dollars a share, bid by Simmons, +who the next day offered three for it and had two hundred more sold him +by a too-confident bear who didn't own a share, and who later on bought +it in at a higher price, pocketing his loss with a smile. And so it kept +on, now up a point and back a half, then up two and down one, to go back +again when some nervous bear sought to cover. Some who owned it at the +subscription price of one dollar sold, and quadrupled their money, to +see it go still higher, and catching the fever, bought it in again; +while others who were short of it at three, bid it in at five, and +distrustful of it as ever, went short again, and so the definite stock +value in this case, as in all others, became a guess. + +In the meantime Weston, the spider in his web, and Simmons, his trusty +spokesman, watched the market and were not idle. They had sold some +thirty thousand shares, the _Market News_ kept printing items (at a cost +of fifty cents per word), the street was all guessing, and Rockhaven +bade fair to become a sensation "on 'change." + +Then a few far-seeing bulls, believing the natural sequence of stock +manipulation in this case would end in a "corner," began bidding it up, +while Simmons, quick to feel the pulse of the situation and really +holding the key to it, aided them by spreading a report to that effect, +and when the price showed weakness, buying a few hundred. As most of +"the street" asserted that the stock was valueless, his object was to +create a short interest, if possible, and in time so manipulate matters +as to scare the shorts, knowing full well what the result would be. + +The only danger he knew lay in the action of Winn Hardy and what he +might do. If that duped young man scented the game and, returning, +alarmed his aunt, who had bought ten thousand shares and locked them up, +the game would be balked. + +"We must keep your man Hardy on the island all summer," he said to +Weston, "and let him quarry stone, at whatever cost. If ever he hears +what Rockhaven is quoted at and isn't a fool, he will hurry back and not +only unload his thousand shares, but tell his aunt, and she will do the +same." + +"I doubt that he will," answered Weston; "he has few friends in the +city, and those are not posted on the market, and as for his aunt, I +have assured her that if she hopes to sell out her stock at the top +price, she must keep her investment an absolute secret. I gave her the +tip on Sunday as we were walking home from church together, and in such +a way that I feel sure she will heed it. The good woman is wrapped up in +church work and putting the matter in the way I did, and at that time, +insures her secrecy. Some people must be handled with religious gloves," +he added, smiling urbanely, "and some hit with a club." He thought of +Hill in this connection. + +And in the case of Winn Hardy, he reckoned without Jack Nickerson. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE PROGRESS OF A "CORNER" + + +There are honest and honorable stock brokers, and Page, a friend of +Nickerson's and acting broker for him, was one of them. He knew Simmons +well, and had at one time or another come in sharp conflict with the +latter in some stock deal. He had watched the bubble, Rockhaven, ever +since its inception, and accustomed as he was to the endless variety of +tricks resorted to by others of his class, had an intuitive conception +of how the general partnership of Weston & Hill and Simmons would be +carried to its culmination. + +"It's a swindle, pure and simple," he said in confidence to Nickerson, +"and while Weston is willing to dupe the confiding investors he has +persuaded to buy the stock, the real end and aim of his scheme is to get +the street short of it and, by some sort of scare, start the bears to +bidding against each other, and when the right time comes Simmons will +appear on the scene and unload Rockhaven at top price. How soon that +time will come and how far up they will push the stock before the shorts +take fright, is a guess. It is now steady at six and not much interest +in it. Then again it's an open question how much stock is owned on the +street and how great a short interest has been created. No one has any +confidence in it, and yet many are ready to take a flyer in it for a +turn. My idea is to handle it as one would a hot horseshoe. I am long a +thousand or two, you are ditto for five hundred, and we hold fifteen +hundred in trust for your friend Hardy and this islander, Hutton. +Whether to unload now and make four points or hold for a big stake, is +the question. It's a gamble either way." + +And this, be it said, fairly represented the situation. + +But Simmons, who really held the key to this well-set trap, knew very +well that he had the street all guessing, and more than that, was just +the man to keep them at it. He sold and he bought a little stock each +day, just to keep it active and quoted. He could have bought every share +on the street if necessary, but that was not his game. What he did want +was to aid the bull pool that had been formed, for every share they +bought meant one more short of that share, and when the time came, one +more scared bear to bid it up. It was an unscrupulous scheme, but one +continually being worked in one way or another by these legalized +gamblers. + +Then, as if the devil came to Simmons's aid, Rockhaven began to be +quoted in the bucket shops, and the crowd there, as usual, were all +bulls. It is a strange fact, but true, that every lamb who goes into one +of these wool-shearing offices is always sure to buy, expecting an +advance. With him, stocks are bound to advance--never go down. If they +do, he feels it's only for the time being, and they must go up again, +and so he foolishly puts up more margins, and still more, and the crafty +thief who manages this robber's den assures him he is right; they are +bound to go up, and in privacy smiles at the innocence of his victim. +And so the shearing goes on. + +In this case it helped the arch-plotter, Simmons, and his backer, +Weston, for as the stock held firm, those who were short of it at two, +three, and four, had no chance to cover. Then as it began to creep up a +little, to even up their shortage they sold still more, and every few +days a paid item in the _Market News_ helped matters on. What they were +need not be stated. They were all to the same purpose, and that to +create confidence in Rockhaven, and as usual every bear on the street +discounted these statements and felt more certain that Rockhavens were +without substantial value. + +And they were right. + +Meanwhile Weston, the great financier, as he now felt himself to be, +rubbed his hands with satisfaction and concocted more news items; and +Simmons hobnobbed with the street, assuring one and all of the other +speculative liars what a safe investment Rockhavens were, and how sure +to advance. + +"We have not sold much stock and do not care to," he said, "we know a +good thing when we see it, and in this quarry we have a certain +money-maker. It costs us a mere nothing to quarry the stone, the market +absorbs all our product at a good price, and the ledge we own is +limitless. Then we have an excellent manager in whom the firm trusts +implicitly." + +He always used "we" in speaking of the stock, that pronoun carrying a +certain assurance, as he well knew, for Simmons, who had grown old and +gray on the street, was a shrewd money-maker and well known to be worth +a million or more. + +But while Weston was happy in his prospective success, Hill was not. He +was too greedy, and, narrow-minded as he was, could not wait content +until the Rockhaven plum was ripe. He wanted to grasp it at once, even +to ruin its fruition entirely. He railed and groaned whenever a dollar +was put out, and had from the start. In his narrow vision it was so much +thrown away. Every item in the press that called for outlay, the use of +the thousands held by Simmons to manipulate the market, and especially +the hundred or more that each week had to be sent to the island, each +and all added to Hill's misery. Weston, the liberal rascal, had for a +long time felt disgusted with his partner's miserly instincts; now he +positively hated him and longed for the day when he could deal him a +crushing blow. Both were unscrupulous schemers and thieves at heart, but +of the two Hill was the worse. Not only did Weston come to hate Hill +more and more each day, but he grew tired of the sight of his pinched +and hypocritical face, his sunken eyes and clammy handshake--for shake +hands with him occasionally he must. Then Hill was so unlike Weston in +other ways it added to the feeling of disgust; he never used tobacco or +drank, and held up his hands in holy horror at any lapse from the code +of morality, and worse than that, if Weston let slip any word of +profanity, as he occasionally did, Hill exclaimed against it. + +To have one's small vices made a daily text for short sermons is +unpleasant, even to the best of us. + +But while Weston's hate and disgust grew apace, no hint of it leaked +out, and since he was the master spirit in the Rockhaven Granite Company +and in that scheme held the reins, it moved on to culmination, +unaffected by Hill's whining. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A SUMMER DAY + + +The life of suspense now forced upon Winn was not agreeable. He had too +much inborn ambition and energy of character, and once he had come to +feel himself his own master, as his mission to Rockhaven allowed, never +again could he fill a menial position and be satisfied, and the +possibility of it once more seemed degradation. Then again his present +dilemma was galling. He had followed Jess Hutton's advice, but no word +came from the city except the weekly remittance from his firm and +letters urging him to sell stock. He would not do so now, not even if +those honest people had offered any price, and what he had sold was a +source of dread. But no one wanted more, for the partial cessation of +work in the quarry was handwriting on the wall. + +And so the summer days sped by, and Winn's longing for a better +understanding with Mona grew stronger. In a way he stood in a false +position toward all these people except Jess, and the longer it +remained so the worse it seemed, so one evening he resolved to confide +in Mona. + +"Let us go over to the cave to-morrow afternoon," he said, "I've +something to tell you." It was the first step toward the right, and he +felt better for having taken it. When they were crossing the mile of +undulating ledges separating the village from this lonely gorge, Winn, +carrying the little green bag and leading Mona like a child around the +rocks, experienced a strangely sweet feeling of protection and care for +her, and with it came the determination to utter no more of the cutting +speeches so natural to him. + +"I may not be here much longer," he thought, "and it shall be a pleasant +afternoon for her to recall when I am gone." + +And be it said here that when a man feels that way toward a woman, +love's silken cord has been knotted about his heart. When they reached +the niche, at the head of the gorge, a surprise awaited Winn, for its +floor was carpeted thick with freshly gathered ferns, and bunches of +wild roses and clusters of red berries were thrust into each crevice. + +"What good fairy has been here ahead of us?" exclaimed Winn as he looked +at the charming nook. "Was it you, Mona?" + +"It must have been one of your mermaids," she answered prettily, "and +our coming has frightened her away." + +"One who plays the violin, I imagine," he answered smiling, "and has +raven tresses instead of sea-green." + +But when Mona was seated and he opposite reclined on the fresh green +carpet, he was in no hurry to tell his story, and for reason. The spot, +with its wild grandeur of cliff wall on one side, the other gently +sloping and broadening down to where the white-crested billows leaped in +among the weed-draped rocks, was beyond all question the most +picturesque bit of coast scenery he had ever seen. And now it seemed +endowed with a newer charm. Here he was, hidden away from all the wide +world and almost from himself, with Nature at her grandest and the +limitless ocean voicing eternity at his feet. For a little time he +watched the white-crested billows tossing the rockweed and brown kelpie +aloft as they swept into the gorge with a solemn roar. Somehow, just +then, it seemed to him as if he and Mona were alone with God, and the +world was young, and life all before him. And at this moment he forgot +all his troubles, and the price of Rockhaven stock seemed of less +account than the ferns he sat upon. + +"This spot makes a better man of me, Mona," he said at last, "and +to-day it lifts me into the frame of mind that the church bells always +do at eventide. I am not a believer such as you people here are who join +the church. I am only of the world, worldly, embittered somewhat by +experience and therefore rather distrustful. And yet here it all +disappears, and only God seems good to me." Then he paused, looking out +on the wide ocean once more while Mona watched him with wistful eyes, +wondering what odd speech would fall from his lips next. + +"I asked you to come here to-day, little girl," he said at last, "to +tell you the story of my life and what has made me as I am. You have +been kind and tender and patient with my whims, your mother has opened +her door to me, your uncle has trusted me and been my friend, your +minister and many others have been kind to me also, and in all ways a +welcome to me and my errand here has been extended. And now I will tell +my story." And tell it all he did, not even omitting Ethel Sherman. All +the years he had been a menial in Weston & Hill's office, his associates +the while and their influence, and then this new departure in life with +all its hopes and ambitions, to end in a fog of doubt and suspense. When +the recital was ended he felt better; how Mona felt her words can best +indicate. + +"I am glad you trust me so much," she said, "and I wish I could say a +word that would help you. Uncle Jess's advice must be for the best." And +then an intuition that all this meant Winn's leaving the island soon +brought a shadow over her face. For a little time the two sat in +silence, unconscious of the wild romance of the nook or the ceaseless +monotone of the ocean just below. + +"I have worked hard to make this venture a success," he said at last, in +a dejected tone, "and hoped for much, but now it all seems likely to +vanish, and worse than that, the good people here who have bought stock +will lose by it and blame me. I cannot tell them how matters stand, or +even leave here at present, and yet any day I may hear that the company +has dissolved. I've lost all confidence in them now, and to protect +myself am forced to act a dishonorable part and let them send money I do +not need. I have a friend to whom I sent our stock, but no word comes +from him, and so, little girl, you see why I am so disheartened." + +But Mona scarcely understood all he had said--some of it not at all. The +matter of stock values and how the present dilemma came about was quite +beyond her. What she did understand was that some grave danger +threatened Winn and he must leave the island. She had, impelled by a +sweet girlish impulse, come to the cave early that day, bringing ferns +and flowers to deck it and surprise this man whose every word and smile +seemed of so much value. She had brought her violin, glad if he cared to +hear her play; she had hoped the little outing, away from all others in +this trysting place, would be charming to him; and in her girlish heart +meant to make it so, and now the little plan had come to naught, and +instead she had heard what caused a heartache. The ferns were fast +wilting and the violin remained in its case. + +"Come, dear," said Winn, speaking freely and seeing the cloud on her +face, "let us forget this trouble and enjoy this afternoon. We may not +have another one here. Please play for me now." + +But her muse had fled, and she only turned away to hide the pain in her +face. + +"I will by and by," she said faintly; "I want to think now." + +And Winn, conscious of the blow he had dealt her, felt a strange sense +of guilt. He had known for many weeks that his every word and look and +smile was a joy to her, and while not for one instant had she +overstepped the bounds of maidenly reserve, her thoughts were of him. +And then as he looked at her with face half turned away and lips +tightly closed as if to keep back the tears, a sudden impulse to gather +her close in his arms and whisper fond and loving words came to him. But +he put it away. + +"I wish you would play for me, dear," he said very gently, "and drive +away my blues. Play something lively." And the boy god, ever hovering +where hearts are tender, sheathed his arrow and flew away. + +Many times afterward Winn thought of that moment and always with regret. + +A little longer Mona waited, and then, like an obedient child, drew her +violin from its case. + +Our moods are our masters, and be it untutored girl or world-wise man or +woman, they shadow or brighten all expression. And though Mona played at +his bidding one and another of the lively airs she knew, a minor chord +of sadness ran through them all. + +Then, to his surprise, she began one of the late light operas he had +sent for and given her weeks before. She did not play it with ease, a +halt came now and then, but she played it all through and then paused. + +"I am surprised," he said; "when and how did you learn that? You told me +you could not read a note of music." + +"I have been learning to read," she answered quietly, "and Uncle Jess +has helped me." + +And then Winn, wishing to encourage her in some way, or at least lead +her thoughts out of their present gloom, uttered a bit of foolish +advice. + +"Mona, my dear," he said earnestly, "some day I hope you may have a +chance to study music in the city. If you have, and I would advise it, +you will win a name for yourself." + +"Would you come to hear me if I did?" she answered sadly. + +"Most assuredly," he said, "and shower you with choicest flowers." + +When the lowering sun had left the gorge in shadow, and twilight had +crept into the cave, Mona picked up her violin, and, as if to utter her +own heartache, softly played the old love song Winn had first heard +whispering out of that wild gorge. Watching her and listening thus to +what seemed the quivering of that girl's heart, his eyes grew misty. + +"Come, dear," he said, when the sad song ended, "it's time to go home." + +And all the way back he held her arm and gently guided her steps among +the rocks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A CLIMAX + + +When Winn reached his room that evening, a letter from Jack Nickerson +and a clipping from the _Market News_ was awaiting him. The letter said: +"Come at once to the city, but keep shady when you arrive. Go to a hotel +and send for me. Rockhaven is up to ten, the street is all short of it, +and a bear panic may come any day. Have held your stock to unload at top +price. May do it to-morrow, but come anyway." + +The clipping was as follows: "As we predicted weeks ago, Rockhaven, in +spite of countless rumors put forth by the bears, has crept steadily +upward. Most of it is in the hands of conservative investors who know +its value, and some day those who sold it so freely for five and six +will be bidding fifteen and twenty for it. It is a safe purchase now on +any weak spot, and good for ten points more." + +And Winn, fresh from the spell of Mona's eyes and the tender mood of +that afternoon, felt that he had reached a turning-point in his life +and that independence and the end of his suspense were in sight. Go to +the city he must, and at once, that was certain, and perhaps a small +fortune was almost within his grasp! The thought made his pulses leap. +All his life long he had been hardly more than a cipher, a poorly paid +menial, and now possible freedom and escape from serfdom was near. Then +another impulse came, which was a natural sequence of the others. He had +never, since boyhood days, felt that he had a home. His aunt's was but a +free boarding place, and irksome at that; the city and its ways were not +congenial to him--even the thought of going there now was obnoxious; and +as this realization grew, there came to him, much like the sound of +church bells, the sincerity, the honest friendship, the simple truth of +those people he had for three months lived among. And into this +appreciation also entered--Mona. + +Like all men, he aspired to some wealth and the protection it means; and +now, when a little of it seemed within his grasp, there followed a +nobler impulse, and that the home-building one. Then when he thought of +the city once more, with its social hypocrisy, its vain display of +wealth, its cold, heartless life, where none seemed ready to extend a +hand to him, he felt more than ever it never was and never could be a +home for him. And then in sharp contrast to one city product, Ethel +Sherman, came a thought of the girl who that morning had decked the cave +with ferns and flowers, that it might seem more worthy of him. And now +herself and her life passed in review. He saw her at home, patient with +her mother's whims, helping when and where she could; at church bowing +in reverence to the simple devotions and joining in the singing; and in +the wild gorge where she hid herself away to practice. This last touch +of romance seemed to affect him more than all else, and as he thought of +those eyes, into which no shadow of falsehood ever entered, and how all +that was beautiful in nature, from the roses that grew between the +granite ledges of the island to the boundless ocean beating against its +cliffs, appealed to her as to him; insensibly, and quite beyond his +power to check, came the sweet illusion of love. Gone for the moment was +the memory of Ethel Sherman and the bitterness she had meted out to him, +and in its place opened a new world. Gone, too, was the influence of the +one man who, above all others, had forced his cynicism upon Winn and +taught him distrust of womankind. Almost, but not quite, did this gentle +thraldom win, and then--the reaction came. + +"I will tell Mona, as a big brother should," he thought, "all she has a +right to know, and leave the island as I came. I may return and I may +not." + +But Winn, of wayward impulse and changeful nature, now buoyant, now +despondent, knew not his own heart nor its needs, and understood not at +all how some straw, some pebble of chance, would inevitably swerve him +in spite of all resolution. + +It is thus with us all. + +And now came the business side of his dilemma. + +"It goes without sayin' ye best do as yer friend says," advised Jess, +when Winn had read the letters to him, "'n' the sooner the better. Sell +yer own stock fust, if ye kin, an' then mine if ye hev the chance, but +don't worry if ye can't. I'll take keer o' matters here while ye're +gone, an' when ye git back, we'll haul in the net 'n' see whar we +stand." + +"But how about the others here?" queried Winn, who had worried about +them fully as much as about himself. "I must see that they are taken +care of." + +"Wal," answered Jess, slowly, "ye go ahead 'n' see how the land lays, +'n' mebbe I'll follow ye if ye send me word; 'n' if ye don't, an' things +go to smash, I'll see none on 'em here is loser." + +And this was Jess Hutton, the man above all others whom J. Malcolm +Weston had urged his dupe to sell stock to! Never before did Winn feel +so ashamed that he came there as manager for the Rockhaven Granite +Company. + +"Mr. Hutton," he said earnestly, "I shall always be thankful that I told +you from the start how matters stood, and if the worst comes, you will +know it was no fault of mine." + +"I knowed ye war honest, the fust time I sot eyes on ye," responded +Jess, cordially, "an' now ez ye're goin' soon, it won't do ye no harm to +tell ye. An' more'n that, I'll tell ye I never doubted from the start +this boss o' yourn was a rascal, an' the only reason I bought a little +stock was 'cause I liked ye 'n' wanted to help ye." + +Winn felt more ashamed than ever. + +When he returned to his room late that evening, the moon, now a few days +past its full, was just rising over Norse Hill and silvering the dark +and silent houses along the way. No one was up, and so still was the +village that his footsteps on the plank walk seemed to echo across the +island. When he came to where Rock Lane joined the street, he paused. +Just beyond he could see the little church and back of it the silent +village of the dead, each stone distinct and ghostly in the moonlight, +to the left the motionless harbor, a glittering field of silver, and +beyond the old tide mill, spectral and solemn. And faintly whispered in +the stilly night the ocean voice. + +Many times afterward that picture returned to his memory. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SEVERING THE TIES + + +The next day seemed to Winn almost like preparing for a funeral. + +"I wish you would go over to the gorge with me this afternoon," he said +to Mona that morning, "I must leave here to-morrow, and I want to bid +the spot good-by." + +And she, busy among the sweet williams, pinks, and marigolds that were +her daily care, felt her heart sink. + +And Winn, believing it his last day on the island, went his way, first +to the quarry that had been his everyday duty for almost three months. +Only four men were retained, and those were to be kept at work until he +returned, or until Jess ordered otherwise. To no one could he say his +departure was final. Then he wandered about among the wharves that had +so interested him the first day on the island, and spoke with the few +fishermen busy there. All knew him, and each had a pleasant word and +nod. He watched them at their work, salting the fish they had split and +were packing, one upon another, in a large tank, or spreading cured ones +on racks to dry, and packing up in bundles those that were dried. He +sniffed the pungent odor and looked out seaward, where the fishing +craft, with all sail set, were departing. Then he strolled inward to +where the little steamer made landing. She had left for that day and her +wharf was deserted. Winn thought that on her next trip he would be a +passenger leaving the island for good. Strange to say, as he passed on +he noticed with peculiar interest the sign, "Coffins and Caskets" on a +small shop just back of a house. Then he followed the sandy shore of the +inner harbor past an old, dismantled fishing smack, beached high and +dry, on the stern of which the name "Nancy Jane" was still legible, and +then on up to the tide mill. Here he paused again, looking into the dark +interior where only the sills remained, and below them a space through +which the tide ebbed. And he thought of the girl who had ended her life +there. + +Somehow, all that morning these sad reminders of life and death on the +island seemed to thrust themselves before him. The mood they engendered +was with him when that afternoon he, with Mona for companion, started +for the gorge. And she was almost as silent as the old mill. + +"I've been bidding good-by to the island all the morning," he said, when +they reached the top of Norse Hill, "and I hate to go away." + +"But you are coming back, aren't you?" she asked, with a note of pain. + +"Oh, yes," he said cheerfully, "I hope so, but I can't tell. You know +why I go, and my business here may be at its end. But if it is, I shall +visit the island next summer, if I live. + +[Illustration: THE DEVIL'S OVEN.] + +"Come, dear," he added, when the gorge was reached and he had assisted +her down, "let's leave the violin here and hunt for sea-shells. I want +some to carry away." And like two children they clambered over the rocks +the tide had left bare, picking up the starfish, chill to the touch, +sea-urchins, snail shells, sailors' money purses, tossed above the tide +level and dried black and hard, and watching the anemones and crabs left +prisoners in pools between the rocks. Overhead the gulls circled and far +to seaward the white sails of coasters and fishermen gleamed in the +sunlight, and beside Winn, following wherever he went, Mona, with her +appealing eyes. They talked of nothings, as usual, and he stole covert +looks at her face, noting how the sea winds played havoc with her +loosened hair. + +Later they sought the cave where the ferns and flowers she had brought +the day before lay withered. + +"I am going to leave all but one each of the starfish and shells we have +gathered," he said, "here in our little nook, and see if we will find +them when I come back." + +"We shall," she replied, "for no one ever comes here but me, and I will +watch them." + +It was a child's thought, but there are moments in our lives when to act +like children is a relief. + +"I hope you will come here often," he added, "and feel this is our +playhouse, and when I think of you I shall always see you as you are now +and in this cave. And you must keep up your practice and I shall send +you some new music and write to you, and if you have a picture of +yourself, I should like it." + +"I have only one, taken when I was a little girl," she answered, "but +you shall have it." + +He could have had her heart, and soul even, had he asked it. + +"Now play for me, dear," he said very gently, "some of the old songs you +play best." + +And once again, as many times before, Winn visited the banks of "Bonnie +Doon" and the fields of heather over which the tartan-clad ranks marched +to the tune of "The Blue Bells of Scotland" and "The Campbells are +Coming." And he heard the pipes droning and saw "Bonnie Dundee" with +waving plume and the sweet lassie "Comin' thro' the Rye," and heard the +love plaint of "Robin Adair," "Auld Robin Grey," and the undying +heart-cry of sweet "Annie Laurie." + +And into these was blended the low lullaby of the ocean. + +When it was all ended and the twilight had come, without a word he held +out his hand, and slowly and in silence gently guided her footsteps out +of the gorge. Along the devious way among the ledges he led her, a +drooping flower, thirsting for one drop of the water of life, one word +of love, ay, one word of pity! + +The purple shade of coming night had crept in from the wide ocean ere +they reached the old stone tower, and here he paused. Full well he knew +what every impulse of his own heart called upon him to utter, and yet +his lips were dumb. Full well he knew how the girl who stood beside him +felt, and the heartache that was her portion. + +And still he was silent! + +The chill night breeze from the sea swept over the hill. Suddenly the +girl shivered. + +And then, as he looked out upon the darkening sea and heard the solemn +requiem sounding below the cliff, the voice of eternity and life and +death speaking there unsealed his lips. + +The next moment Mona was clasped in his arms. + +"God help me, little girl," he said, "I love you." + +Later, the moon, smiling approval, rose out of the ocean, and when the +two, now one, turned to go, once more he gathered her close to his +heart. + +"You will come back now, won't you?" she said. + +And looking into the tear-wet eyes upraised to his, he kissed her once, +twice, thrice. + +"Surely," he answered, "my heart is here now." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ON 'CHANGE + + +In Wall Street, the most gigantic gambling Mecca the world knows, where +millions change hands every hour of the five of howling delirium that +constitute a stock-exchange day, the two parties, "bulls" and "bears," +wage a financial war. + +Each has its general, recognized leader as well as a dozen lesser ones, +who organize pools and cliques, manipulate news, issue statements that +are pure fiction, pay for items in the press that are fairy tales, +gather their moneyed forces into aggregation for practical robbery of +others, and bend all energies of brain, experience, and knowledge of +conditions to one focal point, and that either to depress or enhance the +value of securities. Each main army has its general method, controls its +banks, pays enormous tolls to telegraph companies, fixes rates of +interest at will, pays for and colors the daily utterances of its own +newspapers, and buys truth and falsehood with equal readiness at so much +per line. + +This describes the two parties generally; yet the men who constitute +them are daily changing, and out of a thousand who may be among the +bears to-day, half might be found with the bulls a week hence. Some may +be on both sides at once, pushing one stock up and another down, a +kaleidoscopic jumble of half insane human beings, whose statements as to +value, conditions, and their own intentions bear no relation to the +truth and are not expected to do so. It is a contest of cunning, a war +of falsehood, a battle of deception. And those who fall by the wayside +excite no pity, receive no consideration, and if they rise not by their +own exertion, they are kicked out of the way. + +Professionally speaking, lawyers have been called legal liars, but +compared to stock manipulators they are walking examples of truth and +veracity. A lawyer may lie and can if necessary, but a stock operator +lies all the time; from sheer force of habit. A lawyer might lie to +judge, jury, or his own client, but there is some chance that he may +tell the truth to a brother lawyer; while stock brokers will lie to each +other on all occasions, and if necessary swear to it. + +And this is business in Wall Street! + +A few other great cities have their lesser Wall streets, and where +Weston & Hill, like a deadly upas tree, flourished for a time, a mimic +Wall Street existed. It had its clique of bulls and bears, its _Market +News_, its leaders, large and small, its daily contest of lies and money +power, and though Weston & Hill were not among its members, their +broker, Simmons, was--an active and unscrupulous mouthpiece, ready to +fleece all fellow-brokers, or the firm he acted for, if necessary. He +had bought or sold Rockhaven stock, as its prime mover, Weston, +directed; circulated lies galore for three months; and by the occult +process of manipulation had slowly worked the price up from one to ten +dollars per share, and had so colored his lies and so managed the +deal--now selling a thousand shares quietly, then buying them back +ostentatiously--that, as the phrase goes, "the street was kept guessing +all the time." + +Some believed it was a good investment; more felt sure it was a +"wildcat," and that soon or late the bubble would burst and the stock go +down to rise no more. Only Simmons and Weston knew what was to be the +outcome, but neither was likely to tell. More than that, they knew how +much stock was in actual circulation or held by the street, and beyond +that, a close approximation of how great a short interest had accrued. +Each day since Rockhaven had been quoted at all, Simmons had made entry +of all recorded sales, and knowing how much had been issued and how much +bought in by himself, endeavored to keep track of it. It was fallacious, +for the same stock might be bought and sold a hundred times, and the +long and short disparity remain the same. One thing he knew,--how much +had actually been sold, and out of this (a matter of thirty thousand) +fully twenty thousand, he believed, would never be heard of on the +street. + +But he reckoned without Winn Hardy. + +Rockhaven had been jeered and sneered at by the bear party; its backers, +Weston & Hill, were known to be sharpers; their broker, Simmons, bore +the same reputation; prediction that it was a wildcat and they unloading +it on to the street had been repeated a thousand times; the _Market +News_ items were considered unreliable, and on the strength of all this +hotbed of lies the knowing ones had sold the stock all the way up. Some +had covered it at a loss, and smarting from that had sold again at a +higher price, firmly believing it must fall some day; and when poor +duped Winn, unconscious of the situation, was steaming toward the +battleground, a dozen growling bears were selling Rockhaven at every +point advance. Only bears sold to bears, however; for those who held +what was out owned it at a lower price, and so long as it kept up they +parted with none. It had opened that morning at ten and one-half, by +noon rose to twelve and one-quarter, and at the delivery hour of two was +firm at fourteen. Simmons had bought a few hundred when it had dropped a +half point, just to cheer up the game, and knowing those who sold had +none to deliver. A few bulls who owned it at five and six started a +story that a corner had been engineered, and predicted that it would go +to thirty inside a week. And when the gong sounded that day, and the +market closed with Rockhaven at fifteen and one-quarter bid and sixteen +asked, a few of the fur-coated liars looked askance at one another and +went out and drank liberally to keep their courage up. + +And that night Weston and Simmons held another conference. It was a +vital one; for before it closed some ten thousand shares of general +securities Weston & Hill either owned or held in trust passed into +Simmons's possession, and when the two conspirators separated, one was +richer by nearly two hundred thousand dollars, based on the market price +of these securities, and the other gloating over the prospective +robbery of his hated partner. + +But a halt came the next day, for Simmons bid sixteen for a block of +Rockhaven, a few conservative bulls unloaded and the price dropped two +points, while the bears took courage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE BUBBLE RISES + + +It was early dawn when Winn stepped from his train and into the +ceaseless babel of the city. Market wagons were crowding the streets, +the army of workers hurrying in every direction, newsboys shouting, +humanity elbowing and pushing, draymen seemingly ready to run over +him,--and this was his welcome back into the monster hive he had left +three months before. What a contrast to Rockhaven! + +Then to a hotel, a bath, a barber; and, finally, when he had made +himself somewhat more in keeping with the well-groomed if heartless city +folk that he must now meet, he secluded himself in a corner of a dining +room, where he breakfasted behind a morning paper. He first turned to +the stock page, fully expecting to see the name "Rockhaven" staring him +in the face; but he did not. Then his eye ran down the column of +quotations until, among the unlisted securities, it rested on +"Rockhaven," thirteen bid and fourteen asked. And strange to say, the +thirteen seemed significant; and now he looked elsewhere, feeling sure +that he would find the Rockhaven Granite's Company's advertisement, but +failed. There were others equally alluring, and to his mind equally +deceptive,--oil, mining, development, building, and every other sort of +scheme confronting him, each promising safe and sure returns and +assuring the reader in fervid language that "now is the time to invest." +And so eager were these swindlers to catch the unwary, that some offered +stock for five cents a share, and non-assessable at that. Never before +had Winn realized that schemers could descend to such pitiful methods as +to issue, sign, and keep record of stock at a nickel a share! A trap to +catch even newsboys! + +Turning in disgust to the column of market gossip, he read the +following: "Out of the multiplicity of investment organizations now +crowding each other on all sides, a late one, the Rockhaven Granite +Company, has forged to the front, its stock having crept up from one to +fourteen dollars per share. But little is known of this company, and +conservative investors believe the unusually rapid advance in its stock +solely due to manipulation." + +In this great human hive and on the pages of this leading newspaper the +million-dollar scheme of Weston & Hill was only entitled to one line in +the list of quotations and a five-line news item. + +And Winn thought himself and his troubles to be of small concern. + +But his troubles enlarged rapidly when Jack Nickerson came to his room +later on. + +"Well, old man," said that cheerful sceptic, looking Winn over, "you +don't seem to have the odor of fish or any barnacles about you. You have +had a hair cut, I see; and now if you will visit a tailor, you will soon +be one of us again." + +"Yes," laughed Winn, sarcastically, "I'm back where clothes make the man +and put thieves and honest men on the same footing. But how is Rockhaven +coming on?" + +"It's not only coming, but it is here,--at least its only honest +supporter is," answered Jack. "Where is your old fiddling friend, +Hutton? I expected you would bring him along to look us swindlers over." + +"No, I left him down at Rockhaven at peace with all the world and +philosophizing on human depravity," answered Winn; "he would be as much +out of place here as you would be there." + +"Well, you'd best send for him, or else all the stock you sold on the +island," asserted Nickerson, "and do it now. Matters have reached a +climax, as I wrote you, and Page wants to 'do' old Simmons. We have held +your stock for that purpose, and we want all we can get besides. The +street is all short of it; and when they get scared, as they will soon, +and Simmons tries to unload on them, we propose to be in the dance. +Can't you wire the island?" + +And Winn, once more in touch with the active life of the city, paused to +collect himself. + +"I might wire Captain Roby," he said, "and reach the island to-night. +But Roby has bought one hundred of this stock, and if he realized the +situation, he'd faint." + +"Well, let him," answered Jack, "he'll come to quick enough when he +understands his stock is worth fourteen dollars to-day and may not be +worth one cent to-morrow. My belief is, if you wired him the price now, +he'd point his old boat for the city and shovel coal under the boiler +all the way himself." + +"He wouldn't do that," replied Winn, "but he'd start for the island at +once, and in ten minutes every one would know it." + +"Well, wire him," said Jack, "and do it now. Tell him to see your +philosopher." + +And Winn obeyed. + +"Now," said Jack, "you are a prisoner here in this room until Page says +otherwise. If ever Simmons or Weston learns you are in the city, it will +upset our plans. When your old barnacle arrives, we'll lock him up also +until the crash comes, and then take you both into the exchange and let +you see the fun. He will be all the safer anyway. Some one might sell +him a gold brick." + +"Not much," answered Winn, stoutly. "Jess Hutton can't be buncoed. He +was keen enough to see through Weston the moment he set foot in his +store, while it took me three months to do it." + +"Well, you're getting you eye teeth cut slowly," laughed Jack, "and in a +year or two you'll know sheep from goats. I'm sorry you can't go to call +on Ethel Sherman this evening, but you can't. It's just as well, for +when she hears you have come out on top of Rockhaven and are worth a few +thousand, she'll receive you with more warmth. She is back from the +mountains, brown as an autumn leaf and looking out of sight. If I didn't +know she was the most heartless and selfish hypocrite ever clad in +petticoats, I'd make love to her myself." + +And Jack Nickerson, the inveterate scoffer at all things, took himself +away. + +That day Rockhaven was bid up to twenty, the short interest more than +doubled, and the two arch conspirators, Weston and Simmons, in the +privacy of the latter's office that night, held a love feast, nudged +each other in the ribs, and laughed and joked while they smoked costly +cigars, feeling sure a small fortune was within sight. + +"I think it's best to let 'em bid it up to about forty," said Simmons, +in a self-confident tone, and as though the street were within his +grasp, "and then I'll feed those hungry bears granite chips by the +shovelful." + +"I flatter myself," he continued, "that I have engineered this deal as +but few could; and if this pious old hen, Mrs. Converse, attends +strictly to foreign missions a few days longer, all will go well." + +"No need to worry about her," responded Weston, whose spirits had also +risen. "I, too, am fairly smooth, and have persuaded her to leave her +stock with me to sell when the right time comes; and I have also +subscribed five hundred toward a home for old ladies she is interested +in. That's the way I _converse_ with her." + +And the two laughed at this poor pun. + +Little did either realize that Nemesis, with three thousand shares in +reserve, lurked in Broker Page's office, and that another thousand in +the pocket of the "fossil who fiddled," as Weston had once called Jess +Hutton, would be added to that avenging club, inside of twenty-four +hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE BUBBLE BURSTS + + +In response to Winn's summons, dressed in a somewhat faded and +nondescript garb, with bell-crowned silk hat of ancient style, Jess +Hutton reached the city. + +And he was a picture! + +His coat, a surtout with small gilt buttons, a reddish brown vest, +trousers of gray mixed stuff, a high collar with black satin stock, and +his ruddy brown face with fringe of gray beard and keen twinkling blue +eyes made him conspicuous. He carried a cane, limping a little as +always, and when he greeted Winn on the station platform, the latter +felt that all Rockhaven had arrived. + +"Ain't this a _leetle_ sudden?" he said, when the two had shaken hands. +"I sorter cac'lated ye'd send fer me, an' when I got the message I +thought o' old Abner Tucker's tombstone. He'd allus been skeered o' +lightnin', an' when he got hit his widder had his stun sot up 'n' put +on't, 'I 'spected this, but not so soon.'" + +"I'm glad you came," said Winn, heartily, "and hope you have brought all +the stock I sold on the island." + +"Oh, I fetched it all, even the parson's, 'n' he told me a blessin' went +with hisn," responded Jess. + +And then Winn, more light-hearted than ever before in his life, hurried +the old man into a carriage. + +"We are to keep in hiding," he said, "until my friends say the word, and +then I'll take you to the stock exchange and we will see our stock +sold." + +"I don't see no use in hidin' in this 'ere jumble o' humanity," asserted +Jess, as their vehicle became entangled in a street blockade, "the +puzzle on't here 'ud be to find anybody ye wanted." + +"It's best that we hide, however," replied Winn. "If Weston caught sight +of either of us, he would know our errand here at once." + +"I don't cac'late he'd 'member me," said Jess, "though I'd recklect them +gray stun'sls o' hisn out o' a million." + +And Winn, contrasting the old man's present raiment with what he usually +wore, concluded he was right. + +But that evening, when Page and Nickerson were ushered into the room +where Jess was held in (to him) durance vile, there was a scene. + +"I'm powerful glad to meet ye, gentlemen," Jess asserted, shaking the +hand of each in a way that made them wince, "I'd a sorter cac'lated +brokers had horns 'n' claws the way ye're spoken on, but ye look purty +harmless. I suppose ye air brokers," looking from one to the other, "an' +which sort air ye, bulls or bears?" + +"Either one or the other, as occasion serves," answered Page, laughing +heartily. "We get together and toss or claw one another, according to +the market, and when the fracas is over, count our cash and go out and +drink to each other's good luck." + +And this, be it said, fairly expresses the financial warfare daily waged +"on 'change." + +"I've read 'bout yer doin's," continued Jess, "an' I allus cac'lated ye +were all a purty slick crowd o' deceivers, an' best ter steer clear on. +I'm a sort o' an old barnacle livin' on an island, 'n' when this 'ere +Weston woke me up one day, I made a fairly good dicker with him, an' +'long come this young man, 'n' I'll own up I kinder took ter him, bein's +I hadn't chick nor child 'n' nothin' fer company but an old fiddle, 'n' +just ter help him out, bought a leetle stock. I got a few o' the rest to +buy some, 'greein' I'd see they wasn't to lose by it. I fetched it +'long, 'n' I tell ye, Mr. Hardy, yer message has stirred up quite a +fuss. I'll bet yer landlady, the Widder Moore, hain't slept a wink +sense, 'n' if Roby hadn't been obligated to Uncle Sam, he'd 'a' started +fer the mainland that night." + +"You are just in time, Mr. Hutton," observed Page, interested in this +honest old man at once, "and unless all signs fail, I'll sell your stock +to-morrow at ten or twenty times its cost. How would you like to carry +back five thousand dollars for yourself and double that to distribute +among your friends?" + +"They'd all hev fits," answered Jess, "an' 'ud quit fishin' an' start to +quarryin' right away. But I don't cac'late ye will, Mr. Page, an' we'll +all on us be satisfied to git our hats back. Hope ye may, though; but +thar's no use in countin' chickens till they're hatched." + +And Jess Hutton, the cool and collected philosopher that he was, did not +for one moment hope even that he would more than receive his money back. +In his understanding of the matter, this quoted price for the stock was +a mere fiction, and he felt sure that when it was actually offered for +sale, no one would buy. To him it seemed like selling so much air. Never +in his life had he set foot in a stock exchange, and when the next day, +just as the great clock in the exchange marked nine-fifty, and he with +Winn and Nickerson took seats in the gallery, no hint of the coming +turmoil came to Jess, and fortunately no suspicion of his or Hardy's +presence in the city had reached Weston or Simmons. + +Then the gong sounded and bedlam ensued. + +[Illustration: THE BUBBLE BURSTS.] + +In an instant, a hundred men who had been chatting with one another in +the pit, and as many more, as if by magic, leaped out of hiding, and a +howl went up. They gathered in knots around the poles, pushing, pulling, +yelling like demons, waving their arms aloft with fingers open, closed, +or separated--a deaf mute alphabet used by these delirious men to buy or +sell; and as they screamed and screeched and pushed and swore in a mad +scramble, fortunes melted away or were created. + +And on one side of that fiscal arena, tall, gaunt, with a fringe of gray +hair about his poll, and watching with eyes as merciless as a lynx ready +to spring, stood Simmons. + +On the other, as alert, but younger, with the easy _sang froid_ of one +skilled in this battle of values, stood Page. + +Full well he knew what his enemy's tactics would be, and that when the +crowd began to rally around the Rockhaven pole, he would creep up like a +panther, and at the right moment overbid the highest. None were buyers, +for none wanted Rockhaven at its present price, except frightened bears +seeking to cover, and well Simmons knew it. + +And so did Page, with his four thousand shares, waiting for the bear +panic sure to come. + +Rockhaven's turn now came. It opened at sixteen, then up to seventeen, +eighteen, nineteen, without a halt; a breathless trio in the balcony +attentively watched the dial where its price was recorded, or Page, who +held their fortunes in his hand. + +And then came the panic; for it had reached twenty, and Simmons, like a +spectre, advanced, bidding twenty-one for ten thousand shares! + +Then two bears, short as much each at five and six, lost their heads. + +Up, up it went by leaps of two, three, and five points, bid by these +half-crazed speculators, while Page eyed Simmons. + +Two tigers of finance, cool, calculating, merciless! + +The jam about the pole grew worse. A screaming, pushing, mad mass of +beings, insane with greed! + +Some on top, some under, and all cursing, yelling, a writhing monster, +all heads and hands, the like of which can nowhere else be found. Thirty +was bid, then thirty-two, four, six, eight! + +Then forty! + +And then Page, calculating to a nicety, leaped in! + +In an instant, almost, the price fell twenty points, for Simmons, quick +to see his enemy's offer to sell, lost his nerve and offered blocks of +ten and twenty thousand shares down, down at any price! + +And the scared bears, as quick as he to see the tide had turned, joined +the downward bidding. + +But Page had sold! + +Winn and Jess were saved! + +The bubble had burst! + +Conscience, as in all great climaxes of human feeling, was a factor in +the crash; for Simmons, knowing that he had once wronged and robbed +Page, intuitively felt that a revenge was coming, and to save what he +could out of the wrecked plot, joined the insane selling. For once in +his life he played the coward. + +After the financial delirium was over, there was a scene between him and +Weston, over which it were best to draw the veil. + +A more hilarious episode, however, occurred in Page's office, when all +met there after the exchange closed. + +"I didn't win out as I hoped," Page said to the rest, "for the market +broke like an egg-shell. I unloaded the four thousand at an average of +twenty, however, and had the pleasure of seeing Simmons gnash his false +teeth and shake his fist at me, which was worth as much more." Then +turning to Jess he added: "How did you enjoy the pow-wow?" + +Jess smiled. + +"I've seen a passel o' hungry hogs squealin' an' pawin' over a trough, +an' two dogs fightin' over a bone. I've seen a cage o' monkeys all mad +an' makin' the fur fly, an' if the whole kit 'n' boodle had been put in +a pen 'n' sot a-goin', it wouldn't 'a' ekalled the fracas I've seen +to-day. How any on 'em got out 'thout broken bones is more'n I kin see. +I'd 'a' gin a hundred to 'a' held the nozzle o' a fire-engine hose 'n' +squirted water on 'em." + +"How would you have enjoyed being among them?" put in Nickerson, to whom +the old man with his grotesque raiment and speech was a source of +merriment. + +"I wouldn't 'a' sot foot 'mong that crowd o' loony-tics fer a hundred +dollars," answered Jess. "I cac'late they'd 'a' turned to 'n' bit me, +same ez mad dogs." + +"They'd have played foot-ball with your hat," responded Jack, who knew +the ways of brokers, "and in two minutes you wouldn't have had a whole +garment on you. I've seen them tie a man's legs and drag him around the +room with a rope, then toss him in a blanket for a wind-up. They are a +tough lot, and a stranger who gets into their hands meets hard usage." + +"That's about the idee I had on 'em," said Jess; "they're wuss'n Injuns, +an' ain't satisfied with takin' a man's money, they want his hair, hide, +'n' toe nails. If ever one on 'em comes ashore on Rockhaven 'n' I'm +around, he'll think he's run into a hornet's nest. We'll use him wuss'n +we did Abe Winty. He was a shiftless cuss that got out into the island +somehow 'bout ten year ago, an' begun beggin' for a livin'. He 'lowed he +had asmer an' heart troubles an' a tech o' liver complaint, 'n' jest +couldn't do no liftin' or any sort o' hard work. He fooled us a spell, +till we began missin' things 'n' found they were gittin' into the hands +o' a low-down fellar who sold rum on the sly, 'n' then we held a sort o' +indignation caucus, 'n' Abe wa'n't invited. We had diskivered by this +time that Abe's heart 'n' liver was doin' business 'bout ez usual, 'n' +the only thing that ailed him was downright laziness. We sorter compared +idees at the meetin', an' the upshot on't was we concluded the island +wa'n't big 'nuff for him. We'd tried all manner o' talk to shame him, +but callin' names an' 'busin' him didn't hev no more 'fect than rain on +a duck's back. We'd tried coaxin' an' cussin' to git him to work, but +him 'n' work wus mortal enemies, 'n' when he couldn't beg 'nuff to eat +he'd steal it. Suthin' had to be did, 'n' we did it. Fust we ketched 'n' +shackled him 'n' locked him up in a fish-house fer two days, feedin' him +on bread 'n' water,--mostly water at that,--an' when he'd got good 'n' +hungry we sarved him a meal cooked with drug stuff, 'nuff in it to turn +the stomach o' a Digger Injun. He was that starved he et it middlin' +quick, an' then, to make the preceedin's more interestin' to Abe, the +man that took the vittles to him told him pizen had been put in 'em 'n' +he hadn't more'n an hour to live. Then we gathered round, peekin' in the +door 'n' winders ez if cac'latin' to enjie Abe's dyin' agonies. It +wa'n't long 'fore the drug stuff began workin', an' Abe, he got more +scared than old Bill Atlas was when we sot the sea sarpint up to meet +him. He hollered for mercy, an' when his vittles started to worry him he +began prayin' an' took on woful, an' we just lookin' at him sober-like, +ez if his end was clus to. The perceedin's lasted 'bout two hours, 'n' +by that time Abe wus so weak he couldn't hold up his head. Then we +straddled him on a rail 'n' carried him to the boat, 'n' Cap'n Roby sot +him ashore." + +"How would you like to serve Weston that way?" put in Winn when the +story was ended. + +"I wouldn't mind," answered Jess, chuckling at the thought, "though I +cac'late we've come purty near gettin' square with him. I'd like to see +him humsoever, jist about now, 'n' tell him old Rip Van Winkle hez woke +up, 'n' if he wants any more quarries I'll 'commodate him if he'll come +to Rockhaven." + +Then when Page had made up the accounts of all three whose stock he had +sold, handing each a check for their dues, all shook hands and +separated. + +And so warm was Winn's heart toward the old man who had "sorter took to +him on sight" that he escorted him to the hotel and remained with him +until he left for Rockhaven the next morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +TWO DOGS AND A BONE + + +When the market closed that afternoon there was a scene in Simmons's +office and an exchange of lurid language and mutual recrimination +between Weston and himself unfit for publication. + +Weston cursed Simmons for an arrant coward and a doddering old idiot, +and Simmons abused Weston for a stupid fool who believed his dupe, +Hardy, was blindly quarrying granite and selling stock to other dupes, +when, instead, he had kept posted, come to the city in the nick of time, +and tipped over their stock dish. + +"The next time you pose for a great financier," said Simmons, with +biting sarcasm, "and try to engineer a corner, you had better place half +your stock in the hands of your office boy and tell him to attend the +ball games each afternoon. Then advertise what your intentions are in +the papers. It would be on a par with what you have done. You may be +able to pray with a stupid old woman and hoodwink her, but as for doing +business with men, you have mistaken your calling. You can't even +deceive boys!" + +And J. Malcolm Weston, realizing how he had failed on Winn, who he now +knew was in the city, and had been in the exchange that day, hung his +head in shame. + +He even forgot to stroke his "stun'sls," as Jess called his side +whiskers. + +But there was one solace left him, and he proceeded to carry it out. In +fact, he had made preparation to do so already. + +"We will close up our business now, Mr. Simmons," he said in a dejected +tone, when the tirade of abuse had ceased, "and in future I will employ +another broker." + +"Yes, and you are d----d welcome to do it," asserted Simmons, whose +wrath had not cooled. "You made a holy show of me to-day and let that +upstart, Page, turn the tables on me, and I've had enough of you. You +had better go and hold a prayer service with Mrs. Converse. With +Rockhavens at nothing bid, she will be in a suitable mood for prayers. +You might ring the changes on 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away' +with her, but you won't bear any resemblance to the Lord in her +estimation. Take your business and your schemes and hide yourself +somewhere. I would suggest you go to Rockhaven and ask your 'old fossil +fiddler' to play the 'Rogues' March' for you." + +And, having thus relieved his mind, Simmons, turned to his desk, and +after a half-hour of careful computation handed Weston a statement and +check for one hundred and ten thousand dollars, which represented the +net results of the securities Weston had turned over to him, after +deducting the actual loss they had made on Rockhaven. For the money +received from the sale of some thirty thousand shares at one dollar +each, had more than been consumed in buying back stock at various prices +to affect the market, in the quarrying operations, in _Market News_ +items, and various other outgoes. + +What Weston did receive after over a year of scheming was less than the +original capital Hill had put into the firm. Weston had previously +checked out and pocketed the firm's own bank balance, and now he went +the way he had for months planned to go, and that night left the city. + +And his wife, who had shrewdly insisted that their residence be deeded +to her, in case of business reverses, shed no tears. + +It was a fitting climax to the life of a J. Malcolm Weston. + +But there was another episode of equal interest, and that the outcome of +Weston's robbery of Hill. And when that has been told, no more shall +either of these despicable men taint this narrative. + +All that day while Rockhaven was first shooting skyward and then +downward, Hill sat in his office watching the ticker. He couldn't go on +to the floor of the exchange; he knew Weston was with Simmons; and so, +like a human hyena, he lurked in his own den, waiting for his share of +the plunder. And when the tape recorded forty for Rockhaven and then +down to nothing in less time than it can be told, Hill was the happiest +of men. He knew the plan was for Simmons to sell at forty, and supposed +that he had done so. And in his greedy joy he began figuring how much +his share of the street's robbery would be. + +No thought of the poor widow, whose child was even then at her work in +his outer office, came to him. He knew this confiding woman had, at his +suggestion, invested her all in Rockhaven, and that now it had been +swept away. It mattered not. Neither did he think of Mrs. Converse, more +especially Weston's dupe, and whose stock, now worthless, was locked in +their safe. No thought of young Winn Hardy, their faithful helper, and +his loss came. No thought of anybody who had lost by them and must +suffer entered his narrow and backward-sloping cranium. He only thought +of himself. And his deep-set eyes gleamed with the miser's joy, and his +shallow conceit swelled with pride. + +Now he was a great financier! + +Now he was a power "on 'change"! + +When the market closed and the now beggared stenographer and other +office help had gone home, he still waited. Weston would surely come +soon and acquaint him with the results of their great achievement. + +But Weston came not. + +And Hill still waited. + +And as one hour and then another was ticked off by the office clock, he +ceased computing his share of the coming gains, and an intuitive sense +that all was not right came to him. He was naturally suspicious, and +being a thief at heart himself, quick to suspect others. + +And now he suspected Weston! + +Little by little his distrust increased as Hill watched the office door +and listened to the clock tick. Trifling remarks that Weston had made, +half-concealed sneers he had let escape, returned to Hill as he watched +and waited. + +Certainly he should come and divide, as any honorable thief ought to. + +But he did not! + +Never before had Weston failed to return at the close of the exchange, +where he was usually closeted with Simmons. Why not now? + +And so the demon of suspicion grew. + +When another hour had passed and the daily workers in stores were +hurrying homeward, Hill could stand the suspense no longer, and taking +his hat almost ran to Simmons's office. + +As might be expected, it was closed. + +Then in a frenzy he hurried back to his own office and rang up Weston's +home on the telephone. + +Weston was not there. + +Then he tried Simmons's home, with the same result. + +Then he went home. + +From gloating over the prospective fortune he expected to share, he had +in a few hours become almost insane with a dread suspicion. His supper +was but half eaten; he wouldn't answer his patient wife's question; he +couldn't read, or think of but one thing, and that the horrible doubt +and suspicion consuming him. + +That night his sleep was filled with fiendish dreams, and he saw Weston +running away and leering back at him over his shoulder. + +When morning came, he hurried to his office an hour earlier than usual. +Only the office boy was there, sweeping out. Hill went to his desk, +where the morning mail was left. But one letter was there, and that from +Winn Hardy, dated in the city the night before and enclosing a check for +two hundred and thirty dollars, with the information that it belonged to +the firm and that he had severed his connection with them. + +True to his nature, even in despair, Hill put it in his pocket, +resolving to say nothing to Weston about it. Then, to kill time till +Weston came, he opened the morning paper. On the front page was the +staring headlines:-- + + THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY + GONE TO SMASH + THE PRESIDENT, WESTON, SAID TO HAVE + SKIPPED + +And then cold beads of sweat gathered on the face of Carlos B. Hill! All +the horrible suspicion of the day before was now proven true! He waited +to read no more, but with a groan of despair rushed, hatless, out of +the office and ran to that of Simmons. That icicle of a man was there, +calmly reading his mail. + +"Where is Weston," almost screamed the half-insane Hill, "and what does +all this mean?" + +"I haven't the least idea where Mr. Weston is," replied Simmons, calmly. +"Neither do I care. I balanced our account with him yesterday at the +close of business, at his request, and beyond that have no interest." + +"But where is he? Tell me quick, for God's sake!" shouted Hill, now +trembling with excitement and fear. "I must know! Oh, what does this +mean!" + +"You had better go back to your own office and read the papers," +answered the imperturbable Simmons, in a tone of disgust. "And when you +go out again, put your hat on. As for Weston, I've done with him, and +good riddance. He made a mess of his scheme, an ass of me 'on 'change' +yesterday, and I hope I'll never see him again." And the always cool +Simmons turned to his mail. Nothing short of a panic on the street or an +earthquake ever disturbed him. + +"But where is all the money we made yesterday?" came from Hill, in +strident voice. "I want it, and I want it now!" + +And he did want it more than he wanted good name, fame, wife, home, +life, health, or God even! + +"We made no money out of Rockhaven," answered Simmons, too disgusted +even to be polite; "and I told you once, I have squared my account with +Weston and paid him all I owe him. If that is not enough, I'll sing it +to you." + +And Hill, too agonized to feel an insult even, turned away. Back to the +office he ran and read the long account of how Rockhaven had gone up +like a rocket and down like a stick. He also read how Simmons had, at +the critical moment, been worsted by Page, and even a description of +Jess Hutton, who was present to see the fiasco. For Page, not satisfied +with his triumph, had called up a reporter, and it is small wonder that +Simmons was thoroughly incensed. There was sarcastic reference to him in +the article: Weston was ridiculed, and even Hill did not escape, for +this sacrilegious scribe had suggested that he could cool his rage at +being baffled by fanning himself with his own ears. It was a malicious +thrust, for the one feature about himself that Hill was ashamed of was +his enormous ears. + +In the midst of this added agony, in walked a clerk from their bank to +inform him the account of Weston & Hill was overdrawn ten thousand +dollars, and to make it good inside an hour or legal proceedings would +follow. + +Then Hill, with a groan, staggered to their safe and opened the till +where securities were kept. + +It was empty! + +Then ruined, robbed, insulted, and in utter despair, he who in all his +long life of grasping greed never had had one kindly thought for others, +or of their needs, locked himself in his private office. + +And when, an hour later, an officer knocked upon the door, demanding +admittance in the name of the law, a pistol's report was the only +answer. + +And Carlos B. Hill, a cowardly sneak in life, died a coward's death. + +But the minister of his church uttered an eulogy over him, for so much +had he bought and amply paid for, and a small cortège followed him to +his last resting place. + +And among those few there was not a single sincere mourner. + +Not even his wife! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE AFTERMATH OF A SWINDLE + + +Out of all the many confiding investors who were robbed by Weston & +Hill, only a few need be mentioned. Winn's aunt, Mrs. Converse, was the +most flagrant case of pure theft, for she was deceived through the +vilest of all methods, a religious one. Weston, a merciless wolf in +sheep's clothing, a pew-holder in her church and plausible hypocrite, +who talked the golden rule, but belonged to Satan's host, easily duped +her by his professions, and worse than that, gave her no possible chance +of escape. The widow whose only aid in the battle for existence was the +scanty earnings of her child in the office of those two sharpers, was +perhaps the most pitiful one, for she lost every dollar that stood +between her and the poorhouse. There were others entitled to less +consideration,--clerks in stores who, bitten by the gambling instinct, +hazarded one or two months' wages and lost them; cashiers in two or +three banks, tempted as usual, to use money not their own to speculate +with; and men about town on the watch for a good chance to "take a +flyer." Most of these latter lost their money in the bucket shops, and +by almost as culpable methods as Weston & Hill, for those who were +buyers of Rockhaven on a margin when it went up to forty and down to +nothing in a few hours were not present in these robbers' dens to take +their profits, and when the fiasco was over, were merely told its sudden +fall had wiped them out. Those of more experience in the way of +speculation, and who had "gone short of it," as the phrase goes, were of +course sold out or closed out in Rockhaven's wild leap upward, and like +most who trust their money in a bucket-shop keeper's hands, knew nothing +about it until informed that they had lost all they invested. + +And here and now it seems a duty to interpose a word of warning against +bucket shops. + +We enact and try to enforce laws against all forms of gambling; we claim +the right to invade the privacy of homes, even, where card playing for +money is an occasional evening's pastime, and the law says that a +gambling debt is no debt at all. We even assist the loser in gambling by +allowing him to sue and recover his loss, when, as a matter of morals, +he is just as guilty as the one who wins; and yet we allow these +stock-gambling offices to open on all sides. + +There is not a city of ordinary size where half a dozen do not flourish, +and hardly a country village that has not one or more, ready to tempt +incipient speculators to invest in the gambler's chance. They all do +business on the same basis, viz., bet against the fool who buys or sells +on a margin. They do not actually buy or sell a share of stock; their +managers are merely like the dealers in a faro bank, paid to run the +game. Their sole stock in trade is a leased wire over which to receive +quotations, a handsomely fitted office bearing the legend, "Bankers and +Brokers" (it should be, Bankers and Breakers), a gilt-lettered fiction +of capital invested--and unlimited nerve! + +They know full well that the lambs who stray into their den, and by good +luck secure a small profit, will at once grow vain of their speculative +skill and invest again. Even if these dupes win twice or thrice, it only +results in a greater exultation, and the end is the same--they lose. + +It is as inevitable as the tides or the sun to the majority, and while +now and then one by sheer luck may win at this great gambling game, nine +out of ten will lose, and the keeper of the shop rides in an automobile +while they walk! + +If these parlors of temptation were open only to men who realized the +chances they were taking and could afford to lose, it would be a +different matter; but all who wish to gamble may enter, and the cashier +of your bank, paid a pittance that is but a premium on dishonesty, is +liable to be the first one. And when he, lured on and on by that elusive +hope that next time his guess may be right, has falsified books and made +ducks and drakes of your money, you wake up some fine morning to read +the old, old story, and learn that he has journeyed abroad. + +And the bucket-shop keeper across the way smiles softly to himself and +says nothing. + +And Puck, looking down upon us human ants, also smiles and says, "What +fools these mortals be." + +The Great Rockhaven Granite Company, only one out of a thousand others +of similar end and aim, was but a mere ripple on the sea of speculation. +It was active while it lasted, it brought sorrow and tears to many, a +small fortune to a few, transferring to them the money of others, and +left dishonor and disgrace in its wake. On "the street" it was a nine +days' wonder how so colossal a scheme could be foisted upon them and +carried so near a successful culmination, and then, as usual, it was +forgotten. Others as transparent took its place, and so the mad wave of +speculation rolled on in the city. + +But on Rockhaven there was rejoicing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A TOUCH OF HEROISM + + +When Winn bade good-by to Jess Hutton he realized for the first time how +closely his life had become linked to Rockhaven. The old man, burdened +with the responsibility of twenty thousand dollars safely tucked under +his pillow the night before, had not closed his eyes in sleep. He seemed +as much cast down as Winn. In truth, he was more so, for the hand of +time had swept him beyond the influence of dollars, and human sympathy +and his own feelings were of more account. + +"We, all on us, owe ye more'n we kin ever pay back," he said when the +moment of parting came, "an' if ye realize how ye stand with us on the +island 'n' how glad we'll all be to hev ye back with us, ye won't be +long in comin'. Ye had the chance to rob us, an' ye didn't. Instid ye +did the best ye could to save our money 'thout thinkin' much about yer +own, an' that, 'long o' what ye did for the men ez needed work 'n' +wages, will give ye a warm welcome back. If we could know when ye was +comin' (ez I hope ye will soon), thar ain't a man, woman, or child in +Rockhaven ez wouldn't be on the dock to meet ye, 'n' the parson'd want +'em all to make for the church at onct and jine in singin' hymns." + +"I am glad you will all think so kindly of me," answered Winn, his heart +rising to his throat at this unexpected tribute, "and I hope soon to be +with you. What I shall do now, I do not know. I have a good sum of money +now that I can call my own, thanks to luck and Mr. Page, but as for +future business or occupation, have no plans." + +"Ye might come to Rockhaven an' start the quarry on yer own hook," +responded Jess. "There's 'nuff on us ez'll be more'n glad to put money +in, an' ye needn't be feared they won't hev confidence in ye. The hull +island comes purty near bein' yourn now, fer the askin'." + +And then the "all aboard," that ends so many partings, came. + +"Don't forgit us, 'n' what I've told ye," said Jess, with a slight +tremble in his voice, as he once more shook Winn's hand, while his eyes +grew moist; "don't forgit--any on us." + +Then the train bore him away. + +And Winn, conscious now that a friend as good and true as his own +father had once been, had opened his heart to him, turned away, his own +eyes also misty. And for days, weeks, and months after, the last words +of Jess Hutton were tender in his memory. + +But the consciousness that he had now twenty thousand dollars safely on +deposit, soon lifted him into a cheerful mood again, and when he reached +his aunt's home, his spirits were at top notch. + +The most surprised and elated person in the city was that same worthy +and excellent aunt. Not a hint, even, had she received of Winn's arrival +in the city, and the great fiasco "on 'change" the day before was also +unknown to her. When Winn, using his own latch-key, walked into the +sitting room, she sat by her little table reading the latest _Zion's +Herald_, while near by her pet lap-dog slumbered in a rocking chair. + +"Why, Winn," she exclaimed, springing to her feet and kissing him +fondly, "what has brought you to the city, and why didn't you tell me +you were coming? Or did you want to surprise the old lady?" + +And Winn, a little proud of his financial success, answered: "I came +here two days ago to surprise Weston & Hill, and succeeded. So much so +that Weston has left for parts unknown, and I am twenty thousand +dollars richer for the surprise. I had to keep in hiding two days to do +it, however." + +And then a greater surprise came to Winn. + +"Mr. Weston run away," gasped his aunt, growing pale and oblivious to +Winn's twenty-thousand-dollar assertion. "What do you mean, Winn?" + +"I mean," he answered coolly, "just what I say. Weston has robbed his +partner and left the town! The Rockhaven Granite Company gone to smash! +Stock not worth a copper, and there you are! But I'm all right, auntie," +he added cheerfully, "you can't lose me." + +And then a scene came. + +For a moment Winn's aunt looked at him, her eyes dilated, mouth open. + +"The--company--gone--to--smash!" she exclaimed slowly, as the awful news +forced its way into her brain. Then she seemed to reel a moment, and the +next sank to her knees beside a chair, her face in the cushion. + +"Oh, my God," she moaned, "I am ruined, ruined, ruined!" + +And Winn, half guessing the cause of his aunt's despair, was beside her +in an instant. + +"What do you mean, auntie?" he begged. "What do you mean?" + +"All my money," she sobbed, "all my money has gone! Twenty thousand, all +I had, gone, gone, gone!" And she moaned again. + +Winn, rising, glanced at the table where only magazines and religious +papers lay, and at his aunt, still sobbing at his feet, and then a light +came to him. And it must be recorded, a curse as hearty as it was +profane rose to his lips, and the name of J. Malcolm Weston was linked +with it. + +For Winn had known how his aunt had trusted and believed in Weston, and +now the outcome of it was plain. + +A moment more only did he look at the woe-begone woman at his feet, and +then he turned and left the room, and went to his own upstairs. + +Many of us in this world do selfish things, a few of us do mean ones; +but not to one in a thousand does the chance come to do a heroic one, +and when it comes, not one in ten is equal to it. We think, we excuse, +we evade, we haggle with our conscience and selfish impulses, and in the +end self wins the day. + +But Winn, fresh from the island, where simple good will to all men ruled +supreme, and the heart-offering of Jess Hutton still warming his own, +was in the spirit for heroism. As he sat down to think in his own room, +all the years that this good aunt had been a mother to him came back. +She was simple, she was over-pious, she believed all to be like +herself,--good, kind, and true. And to Winn she had been all that a +motherly woman could be. + +Only for a moment did he hesitate, and then he wrote a check for the +small fortune he owned for a day, and descending the stairs, handed it +to his aunt. + +"Come, auntie," he said cheerfully, "don't shed any more tears over that +accursed Weston. You have been a good mother to me for many years, and +here is your money back." + +Then he swallowed a lump in his own throat and turned away. + +Over the scene that followed a veil shall be drawn. + +That evening at the tea-table, Winn, almost beyond praise now in his +aunt's estimation, told the story of his summer on Rockhaven and what +manner of people he found there, their ways of living, and all about +them, even to their dress. The little church and its poorly paid +minister, whose simple and touching prayers had reached Winn's heart as +none had before, were also mentioned; even the two bells answering one +another across the island at eventide, and the new influence upon his +life and thoughts they had wrought, were spoken of. Quaint old Jess with +his fiddle came in for a share, and the ancient tide mill and its +history as well. The old tower, the bold, frowning cliffs, and the gorge +with the Devil's Oven opening into it were described. All the island, in +fact, and all it contained, except--Mona. And when, late that evening, +Winn's aunt kissed him good night and retired to her room, she knelt +down and thanked God, who had opened her heart to care for this son of +her dead sister. + +In a different mood when he reached his room, and conscious that his +life's fortunes had yet to be wrought, Winn sat down and wrote to Mona. +And so strange a love letter was it, and so misunderstood by her, that +it must be given here. + + "Dear little Sweetheart," he wrote, "my life and hopes seem to + have come to a full stop and I do not know what to say to you. + My summer's work, and all my ambitions, as I feared, have ended + in one grand crash. Out of this I saved your uncle and those on + the island who bought stock. I also saved myself, or, as it + turned out, my aunt's fortune, for unbeknown to me she had been + led to invest in Rockhaven stock and lost all. As she has given + me all that I have known of home since boyhood, I should have + been more than ungrateful had I not taken care of her. + + "What my future plans are, I cannot say. The world is wide, and + some place in it for me will be found. Where it is, or what + doing, I know not. + + "It is but a few days since I left the island, hoping soon to + return, and now it seems months. I recall all the charming + hours we have passed together with keen interest, and yet they + seem to-night like an old, old memory, returning even as the + scenes of my boyhood return when I am despondent." + +More than this he wrote, but it need not be quoted, being merely tender +phrases and without point. + +Mona, trying to read between the lines, as well she might, imagined it +to be a farewell message and a good-by to herself. + +Reading thus, and a false reading at that, she betook herself to the old +tower, and there, all alone with her heartache, while the stars looked +down in pity and the ocean moaned close by, she cast herself upon the +cold stones and cried her heart agony away. + +And the letter was never answered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A WOMAN'S WILES + + +The bubble of Rockhaven, the flight of Weston, the suicide of Hill +furnished a few items for the city press, a little gossip among +interested ones for a week, then passed into history, to be forgotten by +most people. Page, lionized for a day by other brokers whose scalps he +had saved, resumed his operations as usual with an increased clientele; +while Simmons, the defeated one in this battle of values, was seldom +seen on the floor of the exchange. Jack Nickerson returned to his wonted +existence, speculating a little, gambling in the club when congenial +spirits gathered, and, as usual, sneering at the weaknesses of all human +kind; while Winn, growing more despondent day by day at the turn in the +tide of affairs, hardly knew what to do with himself. Occasionally he +walked past the door of Weston & Hill's office, now closed by the hand +of law, and glancing at the legal paper pasted inside it, muttered a +curse and went his way. Sometimes he visited the exchange to watch the +unceasing tossing of stock dice for an hour, to kill time; then to +Page's office to chat with him, and then to the club, feeling himself +less and less in touch with this grind of city life as the days went by. + +He lived, too, in daily expectation of a letter from Mona, and receiving +none, that added to his gloom. Just why, he could not understand; and +then a species of pride crept into his feelings, and he imagined she +might have been cautioned by her mother not to answer him. He began to +feel a little hurt at the thought that this timid girl might feel afraid +of him; and although swayed by emotions and seemingly his own when they +parted, he feared that on reflection she had decided it best to end the +matter thus. + +To one who is despondent, all things seem awry, and Winn was now so low +down in spirits that he was ready to believe himself of no account to +any one--even this simple child of nature whose soul was attuned to her +violin. That Jess was his cordial friend he felt sure; but a timid girl, +utterly lacking in worldly wisdom and as wayward in feelings as the +varying sounds of the waves beating against her island home, was another +matter. + +Winn's thoughts now were full of bitterness. + +One Sunday, coming out of church ahead of his aunt who had paused to +chat with some one, he encountered in the vestibule, dressed in +faultless fall costume, a picture of beauty and good taste,--Ethel +Sherman! + +"Why, Winn," she said, advancing and extending a gloved hand, "I am very +glad to see you back again. I've heard all about you and the fame you +have achieved and how good you have been to your aunt. I must insist +that you call this evening and tell me all about it. I've a bone to pick +with you also, you naughty boy, for not answering my letter." + +And Winn, moved as any man would be by such captivating words uttered by +a young goddess in fashionable raiment, forgot all his old-time +resentment for a moment, and answered as any well-bred and susceptible +young man would. + +"I am very glad to see you, Ethel," he said cordially, "and it's nice of +you to say such pleasant things. If you haven't any better amusement for +this evening, I will call." + +And call he did, to find this imperious beauty arrayed in an exquisite +evening gown, in his honor, fairly exhaling sweet smiles and graceful +words. And with them came back, also, all the old-time charm of her +siren voice, her keen wit, her polished sarcasms, her devil-may-care +_bon camaraderie_. + +For two years Ethel Sherman had been a daily thorn in Winn's side. He +had met her occasionally, when he simply bowed and exchanged the +civilities of polite society, but nothing more. Occasionally his aunt, a +born match-maker, had let fall a word of praise for Ethel, the intent of +which was palpable to Winn, but in spite of which he had determined to +put her out of his thoughts. When her letter reached him on the island, +he mentally contrasted her with Mona and to the former's detriment, more +than ever thinking of her as the type of a fashionable young woman +sneered at by Nickerson. His illusions regarding her had all vanished +and he saw her as she was,--a beautiful, heartless, ambitious Circe, +conscious of her power, and enjoying it. + +And this evening, seated in her daintily furnished parlor, and facing +the most exquisite adornment it contained, he regarded her as he did the +marble copy of the Greek Slave, perched on a pedestal in one corner. + +But Ethel Sherman was not the girl to be long considered marble, whether +she was or not; and was just now piqued by Winn's coolly polite +indifference. + +"Well, my dear friend," she said eagerly, when the first commonplaces +had been exchanged, "tell me all about this unheard-of island where you +have been buried all summer, and this queer old fellow you brought up +in the city, and the barefooted fisher maids you met there, and which +one caught your fancy. I've just been dying to hear." + +"You seem to want an entire chapter of a novel in one breath," answered +Winn, smiling. "How did you find out I brought any one to the city?" + +"Oh, I am still able to read the papers," she laughed, "and Jack called +the other evening. It's all over the city, as well as your firm's +collapse and the part you played in it. Oh, you have become famous in a +day, as it were, and people who have never set eyes on you are talking +about you." + +Winn smiled, for what man could resist such subtile flattery. + +"I wasn't aware that I was a mark for gossip," he said, "though Weston & +Hill must have been, and deservedly. I'm not sorry for Hill, however, +for I despised him, but I rather liked Weston, even after I discovered +he was a rascal, he was such a jolly, good-natured one." + +"So Jack says," answered Ethel, "and happily indifferent as to whom he +swindled. It was first come, first served, with him." + +"He served Hill the worst dose," said Winn, "and it looks as if Hill +were the ultimate object of his plot, and the rest of us only pawns in +his game." + +"You at least called 'checkmate' to him," answered Ethel, smiling +admiration, "but tell me about the island. That is of more interest to +me. The city end of this affair is now ancient history." + +"Oh, the island is a poem," replied Winn, earnestly, "a spot to forget +the world on and learn a new life. Its people are poor, but honest, +kind, and truthful; their houses turkey coops, their customs ancient, +their religion sincere, their livelihood gained by fishing, and the +island a wild spruce-clad ledge of granite with bold sea-washed cliffs +and an interior harbor that is a dream of peace, seldom rippled. There +is an ancient beacon built by the Norsemen on a hill nine centuries ago, +a ravine surpassingly grand with a cave called the Devil's Oven, and an +old tide-mill at the head of their harbor, where a love-lorn girl once +hanged herself." + +"A charming spot, truly," said Ethel, "and if I had known all this last +July, and there had been a comfortable hotel there, we should have +summered on this delightful island instead of on the mountains." + +"It would have amused you a week," replied Winn, smiling, "but not +longer. There were no golf links or young dudes to flirt with there." + +Ethel colored slightly. + +"That is the worst of having friends," she said, "they are bound to +gossip about one. I don't mind," she added gayly; "I am a flirt and +admit it cheerfully, but what else are men good for?" + +"Not much, I admit," answered Winn, sarcastically, "especially if they +have money or prospects of it; and if not, they are good to practise +on." + +"Now, Winn, my dear fellow, don't emulate Jack Nickerson," she responded +suavely, "the rôle doesn't become you. You can be an adorable bear, but +not a barking puppy." + +"Jack's not a puppy," asserted Winn. + +"I never said he was," answered Ethel. "He can be worse than that; he +can be a gossipy old maid, always sneering, and that is more abominable +than a puppy any day. But tell me about the people on the island, and +which fisher maid you fell in love with." + +"Why should you imagine I looked twice at any island maid?" answered +Winn. + +"Oh, you were bound to," asserted Ethel, laughing. "You wouldn't be the +delightful man you are unless you did, so tell me all about her. Did she +wear her flaxen hair in a braid and ask from beneath a sunbonnet, 'What +are the wild waves saying?' while she stood barefoot beside you on the +beach?" + +"Oh, yes, and chewed spruce gum at the same time," he responded, also +laughing. + +"Even when you kissed her?" queried Ethel. "It must have lent a +delightfully aromatic flavor." + +Winn made no answer to this pointed sally. Instead he stroked his +moustache musingly, while his thoughts flew back to Rockhaven and Mona. + +Ethel eyed him keenly. + +"Quit mooning," she said at last, "and come back to Erin. I do not +expect you to admit you kissed this fair fisher maid. It wouldn't be +gallant. But you can at least describe her. Is she dark or fair?" + +"I haven't the least idea," he said, "she was so sweet and charming; her +eyes might have been sea-green for all I can tell." + +"You evade fairly well," rejoined his tormentor, "but not over well. You +still need practice. Now tell me about this old fellow Jack described as +a 'barnacled curiosity.'" + +"Oh, Jess Hutton," replied Winn, relieved; "he is a curiosity, and of +the salt of the earth. If there was any one I fell in love with on the +island, it was he." + +"That was fairly well done," laughed Ethel; "you are improving and in +time may hope to deceive even me." + +"Never," responded Winn, sarcastically; "you are too well skilled in the +fine art of dissembling. You almost persuaded me to-day that you were +really glad to see me, instead of anxious to find out all about +Rockhaven and its fisher maids." + +"That is unkind," replied Ethel, in a hurt tone, "and you know it. +Didn't I write you a nice letter, and have I shown the least resentment +at your failure to answer it? Come now, be nice and like your old dear +self, you big bear. I don't care if you did fall in love with an island +girl. You certainly would have been stupid not to if there was one worth +it, and I respect you the more for protecting her. Your friend Nickerson +wouldn't." + +And Winn, mollified by this occult flattery, came near admitting--Mona +and all the summer's illusion--for that was Winn Hardy's way. Only one +thing saved her name from passing his lips,--the fact that no answer had +come to his letter. He began to feel that none was likely to, and that +the summer's idyl was destined to be but a memory like to the sound of +church bells in his boyhood days. + +Then, while his thoughts went back to the island and all it contained, +he told the story of his sojourn there, of Jess and his fiddle, of the +little church and its parson, the quarry and his men, of Mrs. Moore and +Captain Roby and the fishermen who each day sailed away to return at +night. + +Only Mona was omitted. + +And Ethel, listening, became entranced at his recital. + +"Your stay there has done you good," she said, when it was ended, "and +made a broader man of you. You are not the callow boy you were, and the +heroism you have shown toward your poor aunt proves it. When she told +me, the tears almost came to my eyes; and while I bow to the noble +impulse you displayed, it was foolish after all. It would have been +wiser to have kept the money in your own hands and taken care of her. +She may be led again to make ducks and drakes of her money by another +Weston. The world is full of them." + +"It didn't occur to me then," answered Winn. "I did it on a sudden +impulse, and now I think you are right." + +And be it said parenthetically that this worldly yet sincere assertion +of Ethel Sherman elevated her greatly in Winn's estimation. + +"Come, Ethel," he said after a pause, "I want to forget all this +business; now don't say any more about it. Most likely I acted +foolishly--it isn't the first time, and may not be the last. If you want +to cheer me up, play and sing for me. I've not heard a piano since I +left the city." + +Ethel, glad of the chance so to entertain him, complied. Strange to say +the song she selected and rendered, as she well could, with exquisite +feeling, was "Robin Adair." Then followed another of the same +nationality. + +"I've taken to the old Scotch songs lately," she said, when she turned +from the piano, "and they are quite a fad with me now. They have so much +more heart and soul in them than modern compositions." + +"Give me 'Annie Laurie' now," suggested Winn, a shade on his face. And +listening well while the graceful, ring-glittering fingers of Ethel +Sherman leaped lightly over the ivory keys, her sweet voice gave new +power to the immortal ballad of olden time, while he thought only of one +summer day in the cave at Rockhaven and--Mona. + +When he was taking his leave, and Ethel, unconscious of the mood she had +evoked, stood beside him in the dimly lighted hall, she held out her +hand. Her red, ripe lips were upraised, as if in temptation, and her +eyes were tender with the spirit of her songs. + +"I hope you have had a pleasant evening, Winn," she said tenderly, "and +will call again soon. I'll promise not to mention the fisher maid any +more if you will." + +And Winn, glancing into the bright eyes that had once lured him to a +heartache, held her hand a moment and then bade her good night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE + + +For weeks Winn lived an aimless life without occupation, which to him +meant misery. He walked the streets to be jostled by people in a hurry, +and wished that he also was. He looked into shop windows where dummies +stood clad in beautiful garments, and wondered how Mona would look if +robed in such. He met people hurrying home from their work at night and +almost envied them. In his club he felt so ill at ease that games, +conversation, and even the raillery of Jack Nickerson bored him. He had +a pleasant home, where his aunt always thought of his comfort; he +escorted her to church with regularity; read the daily papers; called on +Ethel occasionally, to find her always the same sweet temptation. She +neither allured nor repelled, but was always the same piquant and yet +sympathetic friend, well poised and sensible, who judged all men and +spoke of them as a mixture of nobility and selfish conceit in unequal +parts, with the latter predominating. To Winn she sometimes talked as +though he were still a big boy who needed guidance, and then again as if +he were more than mortal and out of place in a bad world. + +"You are discontented," she said to him one evening, "and out of your +sphere among the city men. You take right and wrong too seriously and +are like an eagle caged with jackdaws. City men are such in the main, +thinking more about the cut of their coats, the fit of their linen, and +color of their ties than of aught else. You are as unlike them as when +you came here a big boy with countryisms clinging to you and the scent +of new mown hay perfuming your impulses; you were always out of place +here, and the three months on that island has made you more so." + +It was a truthful and yet somewhat flattering portrayal of Winn as he +really did seem to her, but it only added to his discontent. + +"What you say may be true enough," he answered, "but what shall I do? I +can't go into an office again and be content, the taste of being my own +master on the island has spoiled me for that. I would go into some +business if only I had the capital, but I haven't; and I wouldn't ask my +aunt to loan me any, even under the existing circumstances." + +"I wish I could advise you," she replied in the sympathetic tone so +easily at her command. "I certainly would if I could. But whatever you +do, don't go into the stock gambling. I respect you now, and I might not +then." + +The time came when she wished that she had refrained from that +expression. + +But a different trend of advice came to Winn later from Jack Nickerson. + +"Why don't you open a bucket shop, my boy," said that cynic, "and make +some money? I'll back you for a few thousand to start, since you were +foolish enough to part with all Page made for you out of the Rockhaven +flurry, and it's a dead sure thing. Then again you have won quite a +little notoriety out of this Weston & Hill fiasco, and men on the street +say you have a cool, level head. I tell you, open up one of those joints +and let these smart Alecs who want to get rich quick come in and lose +their money. If you keep moping around another month you will go daft, +or fall in love with Ethel Sherman over again, which means the same. I +hear you are a frequent caller there." + +"I've got to spend my time somewhere," answered Winn, rather doggedly, +"and Ethel's good company." + +Jack eyed him curiously. + +"How the moth will flutter around the candle," he said. + +"I'm in no danger there," asserted Winn, "so don't worry. Once bit, +twice shy; and as for the bucket shop, I'll have none of it. I'd as soon +open a faro bank." + +"And why not?" queried Jack. "All the world loves to gamble, and most of +them do in one way or another. Even the good people who pray can't +resist grab bags and fish ponds, and until a few ultra prudes guessed it +was gambling, they were all the rage at church fairs. Even now, in +society of the best, bridge whist and whist for prizes, afternoon and +evening, flourishes on all sides. Oh, it's gamble, my boy, go where you +will; and you might as well take a hand in it and make money." + +"But a bucket shop is disreputable," replied Winn, "or has that +reputation, and on par with gambling dens in fact, though protected by +law. It is worse than those in one way, for men who go in feel forced to +put up margins to save themselves, and in the end go broke. Look at the +embezzlements that crop out almost daily, and nine out of ten traceable +to a bucket shop. The law ought to force them to put up a sign, 'All ye +who enter here will lose.'" + +"You have matured rapidly since you came from the island, my boy," +laughed Nickerson, "and now you are fit to do business. Put your new +scruples in your pocket and join the crowd. Only those who make money +are considered anybody. And how they make it matters little. Make it you +must, or walk in this world; and those who walk, get kicked." + +And Winn, conscious that a bitter truth lurked in his friend's words, +went his way more disconsolate than ever. + +But the memory of Rockhaven was still strong in him, and the eyes of +Mona and the heart-burst that marked their parting an ever present +memory. + +And no answer had yet come to his letter. + +One evening a little later, when a November storm, half rain, half +sleet, made the street miserable, Winn was pushing his way homeward when +he saw a girl, poorly clad, a thin summer wrap her only extra garment, +looking wistfully into a store window where tropical fruits tempted the +passers. He recognized her at once as the stenographer who had served +Weston & Hill. + +"Why, Mamie," he said, halting, "how are you and what are you doing here +in the storm?" + +"I was just wishing I could afford a basket of grapes for mother," she +answered, smiling at the sight of a friendly face, "but I can't. I've +been out of work now since the firm failed, you see." + +"I've wondered what became of you," said Winn, his sympathy aroused at +once, "and how you were getting on. Where are you working now?" + +"Nowhere," she answered. "I've been looking for a place for two months +and can't find one. Mother gave the firm all her money to invest, and +it's gone, and she is very ill. I am completely discouraged." + +Then once more a righteous curse aimed at Weston almost escaped Winn's +lips. + +"I am very sorry for you, Mamie," he said, "and I wish I could help +you." + +"If you could only find me a place," she replied eagerly, catching at +the straw of hope, "I should be so grateful. We are very poor now." + +"I'll do what I can for you," he said kindly, "and maybe I can help you. +I, too, was left stranded by that thief Weston;" and without another +word he stepped inside the store and, buying a good supply of fruit, +joined the girl outside. + +"I am going home with you, Mamie," he said cheerfully, "and take your +mother some grapes. I've an idea of writing up a history of the Weston & +Hill swindle, and I want her story." + +It was the first time he had thought of it, but it served as a ready +excuse. Then with one hand and arm loaded with bundles, and linking the +other around the shivering girl's as if she were a child, the two +started toward her home. + +"We have had to move," said the girl, as she directed their way toward +the poorer quarters of the city, "and I am ashamed to take you to my +home. We have only two rooms now." + +"Oh, you mustn't mind me," answered Winn, briskly. "I am a +fellow-sufferer with you now, you know." + +When her home was reached in a narrow side street and up three flights +of stairs at that, poverty and a woman coughing her life away beside the +kitchen stove told the tale. Winn noticed that the supper awaiting the +girl was of bread, butter, and tea only. + +"It was very kind of you to come, Mr. Hardy," said the mother, in an +almost tearful voice, when he was introduced; "and if you can find a +place for Mamie, it will help us very much." + +And then she told her story. + +It need not be repeated--its counterpart may be found by the score in +any city where legalized thieving like Weston's scheme ever dupes the +credulous, and is as common as the annals of simple drunks. To Winn it +was new, for he had no idea his former employer could be so vile as to +induce a poor widow to invest her all to meet inevitable loss. + +And be it said here, that if the world at large could realize how many +sharks are ready to prey upon them with the tempting bait of countless +schemes, promising sure and rich returns, big interest for their money, +guarantees of all kinds (on paper), and flanked by long lists of names, +they would look at "farm-mortgage bonds," "gold-mining stocks," "oil +stocks," "cumulative gold-bearing bonds," and the whole list of traps +set for the unwary, as so many financial perils. + +And be it said also, that if the securities held as collateral by half +the banks could be scrutinized, and the foundations they rested upon +understood by all the confiding depositors in these banks, a panic would +ensue that would sweep this land of credulity like a typhoon. + +Winn Hardy, who by sheer good luck had saved his aunt's fortune, +listening to this poor widow's tearful recital of her woes, gnashed his +teeth at the departed J. Malcolm Weston and vowed that he would show him +up in the press. + +When he bade good-by to the girl and her mother, promising to look out +for a place for the former, he stopped on his way home at a market and +paid for an ample supply of necessaries to be sent them on the morrow. +More than that, he went to Page and, telling the tale, insisted that he +give the girl a chance to earn a livelihood. + +And to no one, not even his aunt, did he tell what he had done. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +GOING, GOING, GONE! + + +Winn Hardy, agentle child when the hand of want was stretched out to +him, but a lion in wrath at all iniquity and injustice, was not long in +carrying out his thought to write the history of the Rockhaven Granite +Company, and for the sole purpose of a warning. + +To do so, came as an excuse to protect the pride of the poor girl who +had been his co-worker; and when it was done, the editor to whom he took +it gladly used it and, more than that, praised its writer editorially. + +Winn, as was his nature, wrote with candor, sparing not even himself or +the way he was duped, and it is needless to say that his article was +widely read. Winn looked for no compensation, but the editor, keen to +discover talent, at once offered him a position as city news reporter on +the paper. And so his reward came. It was not over ample, so far as +salary goes, but it was at least an occupation--what he just now +needed. + +One morning, when passing the closed office of Weston & Hill, he saw on +the door a notice that, at two o'clock that afternoon, all the office +fixtures and other assets of this bankrupt firm would be sold at public +auction. + +As Winn stood there that wintry morning, with the hurrying stream of +people jostling him as they passed, while he read this business epitaph +posted upon the massive doors, what a grim travesty it seemed! + +He looked at the two nickel plates flanking them, once kept bright, but +now tarnished, upon which the firm's name in bold black letters still +stared at him, at the drawn curtains where "Investment Securities" in +gold still uttered their lie; and gazing at these outward signs of +deception and fraud, all the varying changes in his own hopes, plans, +and opinions for a six months passed in review. + +And in fancy he leaped back to Rockhaven. + +He peeped into the store where quaint Jess Hutton fiddled in lieu of +company; he was one of the little gathering each Sunday at church there; +he saw the quarry with the men at work, the tiny dooryard with Mona +watering her flowers, the grand old gorge where the sea waves leaped in, +and the cave once carpeted with ferns in his honor, and (most touching +of all) the moment he had parted from a timid girl, while the moon, +rising out of a boundless ocean, smiled at them. + +Now, it was a memory of the past, and he, sore at heart, with only a few +hundred dollars in the bank, was hunting for news items at so much a +line, and the "so much" a mere pittance. + +Truly, the whirligig of time had made a toy of him! + +For full five minutes he stood, with sinking spirits, and then passed +on. + +"I'll be at this auction," he thought, "and maybe bid in my old office +chair for a keepsake. Besides, it will make an item." + +He was there on time and found that a considerable crowd had gathered. + +Most of them were brokers or their clerks who had been in business touch +with this defunct firm, and now came to witness its obsequies. Nearly +all had been losers in Rockhaven but, as stock gamblers are wont to do, +took it good-naturedly and joked one another about being "easy marks" +and "good things," and looked at this auction as an excellent object +lesson. + +The auctioneer, quick to catch the spirit of his audience, saw his +opening, and with ready wit made the most of it. The office +fittings--chairs, desks, tables, etc.--were put up first, and Winn +bought his old chair for fifty cents. Then came the pictures; and a +framed photograph of Weston, holding the reins over a fine pair of +horses, brought a quarter; another of Simmons's steam yacht, a dollar; +and then a crayon portrait of Weston, in massive gilt frame, was handed +to the auctioneer. + +"Here we have," he said, "a costly painting of J. Malcolm Weston +himself, and how much am I offered? It is, as you observe, an excellent +picture of this Napoleon of finance, and certainly cost a hundred +dollars. How much for it?" + +An offer of thirty cents was heard. + +"Thirty cents, did I hear?" he continued, in a disgusted tone, "thirty +cents for this magnificent portrait! You can't mean it! Thirty cents for +a picture of one who cost some of you many thousands! Thirty cents! Ye +gods, how have the mighty fallen! Look at his winning smile, his +Websterian brow, his eagle eye that saw Rockhaven afar! And his +whiskers! And I am offered but thirty cents! Why, gentlemen, the frame +cost as many dollars, and think what an awful warning this picture will +be to most of you. Think of the beautiful tales he told, the great +industry he started, the money he spent--your money, gentlemen, and I am +offered but thirty cents! Why, it's worth a thousand dollars as an +object lesson in finance. Come, don't let this master of the stock +exchange be sold for thirty cents! It's a shame! Thirty cents, thirty +cents once, thirty cents twice, thirty cents three times, and sold for +thirty cents!" And the broker who bought it didn't want it at that. + +The safe, with all the books it contained, was sold next, and then the +auctioneer, holding aloft an open deed with its red seal attached +said:-- + +"I now offer for sale the only real, tangible asset the great Rockhaven +Granite Company ever had, a deed of its quarry on Rockhaven Island. This +property originally cost two thousand dollars, and was the sole basis of +this gigantic scheme capitalized at one million! How much am I offered?" + +A wag bid ten cents, another a dollar. Then came a bid of fifty. And +then Winn, who up to this time had been a silent spectator of the +comedy, felt a sudden intuition that here and now was his chance. He +thought of the island, still dear to his memory, of the men to whom his +coming had been a godsend, of Jess Hutton who, at parting, had offered +hand and heart, and of Mona and the little knot of flowers he had once +kept fresh in a tiny spring that bubbled out of this same quarry. + +And thinking thus, he bid one hundred dollars. + +But the auctioneer knew not of the fine sentiment prompting the offer, +and continued his burlesque:-- + +"One hundred dollars," he said, "one hundred offered for this property, +cheap at two thousand! What are you thinking of?" + +Then, after a pause, while he waited another bid, he continued: "One +hundred I'm offered for this splendid piece of real estate, with all its +improvements; for this matchless quarry of pink granite, once called +worth a million! Why, gentlemen, have you gone daft? Don't you know a +good thing when you see it? It wasn't so long ago when I heard some of +you eagerly bidding thirty and forty dollars for a single share in this +immense property, and now you won't raise a bid of one hundred dollars +for its total valuation! Is this business? Is this finance? Come, +gentlemen, wake up and buy this rich ledge of valuable granite, going +for a song! Think of what it has seemed to you; what might again be made +out of it! Think of the thousands of dupes still anxious to buy fairy +tales and pay money for them! Think of the money you have lost in this +one! + +"And I am offered one hundred dollars for it! One hundred once, one +hundred twice, one hundred three times, and--sold!" + +And that auctioneer, really disgusted this time, stepped down and handed +the deed to Winn. + +Winn wrote a check for that amount, and utterly unconscious of how +valuable a purchase he had made, put the deed in his pocket, and left +the crowd. + +In a way, the whole affair had seemed much like a burlesque on a +funeral, and he a mourner. When the rest had laughed at the auctioneer's +sallies, no smile came to him, and he bid feeling that he was likely to +obtain a white elephant. + +That night, in the solitude of his room, he came near writing a farewell +letter to Mona and enclosing this deed as a keepsake. Only pride +restrained him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +A SOCIAL CYNIC + + +One evening, a few weeks after the auction, Winn, in his new occupation, +was detailed to report one of those affairs in high life where wealth +gathered to display its gowns, and fops, in evening dress, uttered +flattering nothings to beauty in undress. A crush of fashionable people +who ate, drank, danced, simpered, and smirked until the wee small hours +and then went home to curry one another's reputation and conduct. + +Winn, not in the swim, was made duly welcome by virtue of his errand +there, and, furnished with a list of the ladies' names and costumes by +the hostess (not forgetting her own), was about to depart when he was +accosted by Ethel Sherman. + +He had noticed her first, surrounded by gentlemen, and feeling he might +be one too many, kept away. + +"Why, Winn," she said, coming to his side and smiling graciously as she +extended her hand, "I am glad to see you. How do you happen to be +here?" + +"Business," he answered laconically; "I am a reporter now." + +"Yes, I heard so from your aunt. You have not favored me with a call now +for weeks," she said, "and you are a naughty boy to neglect me." + +"You are looking charming, as usual," he answered, glancing at her +exquisite costume, very décolleté, and feeling that it was what he must +say. + +"Of course," she replied, "every man feels that he must say that, but +you needn't. Compliments are like perfume, to be inhaled, not swallowed; +so let the rest utter them, and you can spare me. I'd rather know how +you are getting on." + +"Fairly well," he answered coolly, for he had really kept away from her +for weeks from a lurking sense of danger to his own feelings. "It is an +occupation that keeps me busy and makes a living, that is all. It may +lead to something better." + +"I read your splendid _exposé_ of Weston & Hill," she continued, still +smiling admiration, "and it did my heart good. I wish Weston could see +it. And that poor widow whose plight you described--it was pitiful." + +"Only a sample case of the evil wrought by such as Weston," Winn +answered modestly. "I wish I knew where he is; I'd mail him a marked +copy of the paper." + +Then, as some one came up to claim her for a dance, she said hurriedly, +"I must leave you now, but please promise to call to-morrow evening, +I've lots I want to ask you." + +And Winn, yielding to the magic of her luring eyes, promised and went +his way. + +It was after midnight before he finished his column account of this +affair, and turning it over to the night editor, left the newspaper +office. + +The streets were deserted, only now and then some late worker like +himself hurrying homeward; and as he pushed on, his footsteps echoed +between the brick walls of the narrow street he was following. Somehow +their clatter carried his thoughts back to Rockhaven and one night when +they had sounded so loud on the plank walk there. When his room was +reached he lighted a cigar, and as once before, when he had gone to the +tower on Norse Hill to commune with himself, he fell into a revery. + +Now, as then, it was to balance in his mind one woman's face and one +woman's influence against another's. + +He saw Mona as she was then, as she had been to him for months, a +sweet, simple, untutored girl, with the eyes of a Madonna and the soul +of a saint. He saw her in the cave, once fern-carpeted by her tender +thought, and once again heard the notes from her violin quivering in +that rock-walled gorge. + +And now it was all ended! + +Then came this other woman's face and form,--a brilliant, +self-contained, self-poised, cultured exotic, knowing men's weaknesses +and keen to reach and sway them. A social sun, where the other was but a +pale and tender moon. + +But Winn's heart was still true to Rockhaven, and the ecstatic moment, +when he had held Mona close in his arms, still seemed a sacred bond. + +"I'll never believe it is to end thus," he thought, "until I go there +and hear it from her lips." + +But he kept his promise and called on Ethel the next evening. + +She had been charming always; now she was fascinating, for somehow it +had come to this conquest-loving woman, that Winn's heart was elsewhere, +and that was a spur. + +Then beyond was a better thought, for the very indifference that piqued +her also awoke respect, and he seemed to her, as she had told him, an +eagle among jackdaws. + +"I am glad you have found an occupation," she said, as he once more sat +in her parlor, "but I wish it were less menial. You have outgrown +servitude since you went to the island. What has wrought the change? Was +it the sea winds?" + +"Maybe," answered Winn, "or constantly looking out upon a boundless +ocean. That always dwarfs humanity to me. But I have some business to +take up my mind. I was sadly discontented until this opening came." + +"I wish you had kept that money in your own hands," she said +confidentially, "and used it to buy an interest in a paper. When I read +your description of the reception this morning, it seemed to me that was +your forte." + +"Thanks for your compliment," he answered, "and I only wish you edited +the paper now. But if you did, my pencil-pushing wouldn't strike you +that way." + +"But it really did," she continued, "and the best of it was what you +didn't say, knowing, as I do, how you regard such affairs. Hiding your +own opinion so well was fine art." + +"I wasn't expected to express my views," he asserted, "but to flatter +you all judiciously; that's what makes a paper popular." + +"And do you think I wanted to be flattered?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he replied, "you are a woman." + +Ethel laughed. + +"Personally, you are wrong; in general, right. I receive so much of it, +it wearies me, knowing as I do how insincere it all is, but most of my +sex, I'll admit, feel otherwise. But tell me why you haven't called for +three weeks?" + +It was a question he could not answer truthfully, and like all the +polite world he evaded it. + +"My work is my excuse," he said; "and then I've not been in a mood for +sociability." + +Ethel looked at him long and earnestly, reading him, as she read most +men, like an open book. + +"Winn, my dear old friend," she said at last, in the open-your-heart +tone so natural to her, "I made you a promise long ago and I shall keep +it, so forgive my question. But you needn't fear me. I want to be your +friend and feel you are mine, in spite of the old score and this new +influence. And when you are ready to trust me, no one in the world shall +be more worthy of it." + +Then they drifted to commonplaces: she, as all women will, relating the +gossip of her set and chatting of the latest opera, what was on at the +theatres and the like. Now and then she let fall a word of quiet +flattery, or what was more potent, one by inference; for Ethel Sherman +was past-mistress in that art. And all the while she looked at Winn, +smiling deference to his opinions and pointing hers about others with a +keen wit so natural to her. + +She played and sang, selecting as once before (and unfortunately, +perhaps) the songs that carried his thoughts to Rockhaven. + +So charming was she in all this, when she chose, that the evening sped +by while Winn was unconscious of its lapse. + +"I wish you would be more neighborly," she said, when he rose to go; +"there are so few men in my set whom I can speak to as freely as you, +and besides I want to watch your progress toward an editorial chair. +Forget your old grudge, and let us be good friends once more." + +And when he was gone, and she ready to retire, she looked long and +earnestly at a photograph of him she had scarce glanced at thrice in +three years. "I wish he were rich," she sighed; "what a delightful lover +he would make!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE END OF AN IDYL + + +Rockhaven, a colony by itself, had slowly increased from its one family +starting-point until more than two hundred called it home. In doing this +it had, to a certain extent, sustained the individuality of its +progenitor, Captain Carver; a strictly honest, God-fearing descendant of +the Puritans; Baptist in denomination, who regarded work and economy as +religious precepts, home building as a law of God, and strict morality +and total immersion the only avenues to salvation. Long before the +little church was built he gathered the few families about him each +Sunday, while he read selections and then led them in prayer. It was his +indomitable religious will, as well as money, that erected the small +church, and for years he led services there, praying that the time might +come, and population as well, sufficient to induce a regularly ordained +minister to officiate instead. It did, for he lived to a ripe old age +and the satisfaction of his hopes, and to be buried on the sloping +hillside back of it. Also to the glory of having "Founder of Rockhaven" +inscribed on his tombstone. + +He was of Scotch descent, which accounted for a certain latent taste in +his great-granddaughter, Mona Hutton. Though stern as the granite cliffs +of the island in his religious connections, regarding works without +faith and morality, without conviction as of little value, the shadow of +his mantle in time gave way to a more charitable Christianity. And +though the offshoot of his church, the Free Will Baptist of Northaven, +was never recognized by the elect of Rockhaven, intermarriages and a +mutuality of interests reduced its separation in creed to one in name +only. + +Then, too, the isolation of the island resulted in the growth of the +feudal instinct and a tacit leadership, vested in one man whose opinion +and advice was by common consent accepted as law and gospel, and to whom +all disputes were left for final settlement. + +Captain Carver had been this authority at the start, others had +succeeded him, and when Winn Hardy came to the island Jess Hutton held +the sceptre. All this is but history, pertinent merely to show how it +came about that Winn won his way so easily, and those otherwise +hard-headed islanders followed Jess Hutton's lead without question. Winn +won him at the start, and the rest without effort. + +But a community, like a family, is upset by an unusual event, and the +starting of the quarry, the investment in its stock, and the final +return of Jess from the city, to distribute among them sums so out of +proportion to their original investments, were like so many stones +thrown into a placid mill pond. And had Winn Hardy returned with Jess, +or come later, his reception would have been like that of a conquering +hero. + +All this formed the sole topic of conversation for weeks, and hearing +Winn lauded to the skies as a benefactor, before whom all should bow, +had a peculiar effect on Mona. She, poor child, having little in common +with any other and feeling herself of small account to them or even to +her mother, felt herself still less so as this wave of universal +applause for Winn swept over the village. Then another point of pride +arose in her mind. While Winn had sought her society often, it was as a +next-door neighbor and by force of situation, rather than as a suitor, +she felt; and even his visits to the cave with her were due to a +romantic taste and his wish to hear her play. All this was, in a way, +both right and wrong, and yet to Mona, keenly imaginative, it seemed +entirely true. Then, too, her mother had made her feel that her violin +playing was no credit; no one else, except Jess, ever expressed a word +of interest in her one talent, and poor Mona readily felt it more a +discredit than otherwise. Winn only had seemed to appreciate it, and to +Winn her heart had opened like the petals of a wild rose. + +For a few days after his departure, she lived in a seventh heaven of +sweet illusions with this one king among men as her ideal--his every +word and smile and thought, all that life held for her. And then came +his letter which, to her tender heart and timid nature, seemed but a +cold farewell message. He had no plans, was uncertain of his future, and +of hers had no concern. This much she read between the lines, and +reading thus, her heart was broken, her courage crushed. How many tears +she shed no one knew; how many hours she passed alone in utter misery of +mind, no one guessed. For Mona was proud as well as tender, and not even +Uncle Jess should know that she suffered. + +Now the waning summer, the nearing of chill autumn, and desolate +ice-bound winter added to her gloom. Her mother was not a sympathetic +companion, mates among the other island girls of her own age she had +none; only Uncle Jess, her violin, the cave, the flowers, and the sea. +In summer she had company, in winter none, except Jess. + +And now summer was gone and winter nearing, and poor, timid, tender, +friendless Mona was broken-hearted. + +For only a few days more did she go to the cave, and these visits +increased her grieving; it was like visiting the grave of a dead love. +When the November gales swept the island, Mona was made a prisoner, the +store and Jess her only escape. Here she kept her violin, and here she +came to brood over her sorrow and fight her own heartache. And here, be +it said, in the company of Jess only did she find any consolation. He +had such genial philosophy, such a happy faculty for looking upon the +bright side of all troubles,--his own as well as others,--that it made +him a well spring of good cheer. + +He was not long in guessing the cause of Mona's despondency, though with +his cheerful optimism, feeling sure that in good time all would come out +right. He also discovered the new ambition that had come to her that +summer, as well as love, and in his own peculiar way set out to solve +the problem. + +And here it must be stated that a girl in love and separated from her +heart's choice, having an ambition to go out into the world and earn +fame as a musical artist, was a more complex problem than Jess had +previously attempted. Then another factor entered into Mona's troubles; +for young David Moore, who for years had cherished an open and loudly +voiced admiration for her and between voyages always sought to woo her, +now came home and, finding the coast clear, renewed his attentions. + +He was outspoken and assertive, full of enthusiasm and conceit. He +lacked refinement, but he was frugal and owned a third interest in his +uncle's fishing schooner and was very much in love with Mona. Worse than +that, her mother secretly favored his suit. + +It may seem strange that the same practical sense of utility that +governed her girlhood's impulses and led her to accept a ready-at-hand +love, instead of waiting for an absent one, now shaped her desires +toward her daughter. Romance had no place in Mrs. Hutton's nature, +neither had love of music. In her calendar, also, one man was as good as +another if he behaved himself as well, and a present lover for Mona, if +he meant business and could provide a home, was far better than an +absent one, even if the entire island cried his praises. + +So she favored young Moore and, in the many ways a mother can, gave him +opportunities. + +But to Mona, sensitive, half heart-broken, and unable to escape this new +infliction, it was inexpressible misery. + +So the days and weeks went by, and the snow came to whiten Rockhaven +ledges, the billows thundered unceasingly against them, and the little +harbor became frozen over. + +And sometimes, in the hours of bitterest desolation, Mona thought of the +old tide mill and the girl who had once gone there to end her heart +hunger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +A GRAY-HAIRED ROMANCE + + +There had been a time in the long ago of Rockhaven's history when Jess, +then a bashful young man, had loved pretty Letty Carver, now the Widow +Hutton. It had started in her school days, when they romped barefoot +along the sandy shore of the harbor, played about the old tide mill, +whose wheels then rumbled with each ebb and flow, or gathered shells on +the bits of beach between the island cliffs. When the epoch of spelling +school and walk home from Thursday evening prayer meetings came, it was +Letty whom Jess always singled out, and though she now wore shoes, he +was not always so fortunate. But the little bond of feeling was none the +less entrancing; and when later Jess sailed away to the Banks on his +first fishing trip, he carried a lock of Letty's jet-black hair as a +token, and her sweet face was ever present in his thoughts. When he +returned, browned but successful, her welcome seemed to grow in warmth; +and after two or three voyages, and he could now afford a Sunday suit +when he visited her, gossip whispered they were likely to make a match. +By this time he had begun to build the usual air-castles of youth, and +though his took the shape of a humble dwelling, nestling amid the +abutting cliffs in front of which Rockhaven stood, it was none the less +a palace to him, with Letty to be its future queen. + +And then the war came on and Jess, partly from patriotism, a little from +love of adventure, and more to earn the liberal bounty his country +offered, enlisted in the navy. Had he been a trifle less bashful and +secured the promise which Letty was then willing to give, this history +might never have been written; but Jess, a splendid young fellow, in +spite of his surroundings, lacked assurance, and all the bond that +joined them, when he sailed away, was the hope on his part of what might +be if he ever came back. + +He did in four years, covered with glory, but with a leg maimed by a bit +of shell when under Farragut, and before Vicksburg he forgot even Letty +amid the inferno of war. + +In the meantime, his younger brother, Jethro, had discovered Letty, and +she, practical as always, was not long in deciding that a suitor with +good legs and a cottage already achieved was preferable to a hero with a +lame leg and no cottage. + +Jess bore his discomfiture philosophically, as was his nature, not even +reproaching Letty by word or look; and though disposed to see a silver +lining back of all clouds, this one he thought best to avoid, and so +took himself away. He remained away, a rolling stone for fifteen years, +and though he gathered some moss, it failed to efface--Letty. + +And then a change came; for one day the smart new fishing schooner his +brother had just built with his aid sailed away on her second voyage and +never came back, and practical Letty was left a widow with one child, a +modest home on Rockhaven, and naught else. As might be expected, she +sent at once for Jess, and to him only imparted the facts of the +situation. + +Whether it was the smouldering embers of his boyhood illusion or the +winsome ways of the child Mona, now four years old, that influenced him, +no one ever knew, but he at once announced that he had decided to abide +in Rockhaven for the future and open a store. There was one already +there, but the slow growth of the village allowed a fair excuse for +another, and Jess established it. Once more the gossips, who take +cognizance of all matters, recalled the youthful attentions of Jess to +Letty, and asserted that she would, in suitable time, discard her +widow's weeds and become another Mrs. Hutton. She did put on more +cheerful habiliments in due time, but remained a widow still; and though +Jess was a frequent caller, usually walking to church with her and Mona +on Sundays, he continued, as he had started, to live by himself over his +store. + +Neither were the gossips enlightened as to the financial standing of the +widow, or how much had been laid away by her husband, or her means of a +livelihood. + +Jess knew, however, and Jess only; but he was the last person to impart +such data to a curious public. What they did see was that he at once +assumed a fatherly protectorship over his little niece, and she became +his sole charge and care in life. Though she ate and slept at home, +tripped alone to school, and to church each Sunday hand in hand with +Uncle Jess, his store was her playhouse and his love her happiness until +girlhood was reached. Often on summer days he left the store, utterly +disregarding trade, and with her took long rambles over the island, +hunting gulls' eggs and gathering shells, flowers, or berries. He built +her a boat and taught her to row it in the little harbor, talked to her +for hours of the great world and its people, of the planets and their +motions, of right and wrong, of religion and God. He aided her in her +lessons, teaching her more and faster than she learned at school; and +when her fingers could reach across the strings of his old brown violin, +he taught her the lore of its wondrous voice. + +And so the happy years of her girlhood passed, until now, a woman grown, +she had learned the lesson of loving, and had come to him with her +unspoken plea for help. Never had she appealed to him in vain, and never +would, so long as his keen mind was active and heart normal. For weeks +he pondered over this most difficult of all problems, and then he acted. + +"I've got a leetle matter to talk over with yer mother to-night, Mona," +he said, "an' if ye don't mind ye might go an' make a call on one of the +neighbors. It's a sorter peculiar business 'n' it's better we're 'lone +till it's settled." + +And it was "peculiar," and so much so that Jess talked for one hour with +Mrs. Hutton in an absent-minded way, while he studied the cheerful open +fire, cogitating, meanwhile, how best to utter what he had to say, while +she sat sewing diligently, on the opposite side of the sitting-room +table. + +"Letty," he said at last, "hev ye noticed Mona hain't been overcheerful +the last three months, an' seems to be sorter broodin' over suthin'?" + +"I have, Jess," replied Mrs. Hutton, looking up; "and it's all due to +notions that Mr. Hardy's put into her head 'bout her playin' an' +praisin' her so much. I've knowed all 'long her wastin' time fiddlin' +wouldn't serve no good purpose in the long run." + +It wasn't an auspicious opening to the subject uppermost in the mind of +Jess, but he paid no heed to it. "Letty," he continued calmly, "fiddlin' +hain't nothin' to do with the state o' Mona's mind, 'n' if ye'd watched +her as clus as I hev, ye'd know it. Do ye 'member when ye was a gal how +Hitty Baker, ez used ter live up to the north village, got crossed in +love 'n' kept broodin' on't until one day she was missin', an' 'bout a +week arter they found her hangin' in the old mill? Thar's no tellin' +what a gal'll do an' when she'll do it, if she gits to broodin' over +sich matters." + +"I hope you don't think Mona, brought up as she has been, will be such a +fool as Hitty Baker was," rejoined Mrs. Hutton, sharply. "Mona's got +more sense." + +"'Tain't a matter o' sense," Jess retorted quickly, "it's a matter o' +nater 'n' 'magination, 'n' the more o' them peculiarities a gal's got, +the more onsartin she is apt to be, 'n' ez I said, Mona ain't herself +these days, 'n' unless suthin's done to change the current o' her mind, +fust thing you'll find, some day, she's a missin'." + +"That's all your notion, Jess," answered Mrs. Hutton, now more aroused +than she was willing to admit; "an' if Mona'd listen to Dave Moore, as I +want her to, he'd soon cure such whims." + +"Did yer mother ever make ye take catnip tea when ye was a gal, Letty," +responded Jess, laconically, "an' how did ye injie the dose?" Then, not +waiting for an answer, he continued, "Dave's catnip tea to Mona, 'n' I +tell ye it's better ye quit dosin' her with Dave, 'n' purty soon, too. +She's nobody to go to but me, an' I know how she feels, 'n' I don't +think ye do." + +"Have you any better medicine to advise?" came the query, as Mrs. Hutton +laid aside her sewing and looked at Jess. + +"I hev," replied Jess, firmly, "only it'll take both on us to give it, +'n' that's what I come here for, Letty. Ye know how I feel 'bout Mona, +an' one o' these days she'll come into all I've laid by. But that's no +savin' grace jist now." + +"An' what'll savin' grace jist now be, I'd like to know," queried the +mother. "Ain't helping me and having company when she likes, all that's +needful to take up her mind? She's whimsical, an' that young feller +Hardy's put notions into her head she'd be better off without." + +Jess was making scant progress toward his ultimate object, and realized +it--also that sentiment was a matter quite beyond Mrs. Hutton's ken. +"Letty," he said at last, almost in desperation, "I've stood by ye 'n' +Mona purty middlin' well fer quite a spell now, hain't I? an' ye'll 'low +I kin see a hole in a grinstun if thar is one, 'n' what I've sot my mind +on doin' for Mona'll be the best fer her in the long run, an' that is, +we take her away from here 'n' give her a chance in the world." + +Mrs. Hutton looked at him in amazement, realizing not at all what he had +in mind. + +"How can we do that?" she questioned. + +"Thar's only one way," he answered hastily, with a now-or-never +determination; "I know I'm gittin' 'long in years 'n' one o' my legs +ain't workin' well, an' the only thing ye kin bank on, Letty, is my +heart's in the right place 'n' my feelin's toward ye hain't changed a +mite in forty year, an'--an' if ye're willin' to chance it, Letty, I'll +do all I kin to make ye happy." + +A woman is seldom surprised by a proposal, but Mrs. Hutton was. For +fifteen years now, since she had been a widow, Jess had seemed like a +good brother, which in truth he had been in all ways, and never once +had she surmised he cared for a nearer kinship. Then, as she looked at +him, his kindly face aglow with earnest feeling, his keen eyes beneath +their shaggy eyebrows questioning her, for one instant her heart +quivered. Then backward over the flight of time her memory leaped, until +she saw herself a laughing, care-free girl once more, with life opening +before her, and this same good friend and brother, grateful for her +every word and smile of favor. Then, too, came a little nagging of +conscience at the way she had ignored him on his return, a limping hero, +and how he had never once reproached her for it. And following that, the +heaping of coals upon her head when he, coming to her rescue in the hour +of poverty and bereavement, had been the only friend she had to lean +upon. All the years of his tender thought and care, all his wise +counsel, all his unselfish giving, all his countless deeds of love and +forethought came back now in an instant, like a mighty wave of feeling, +sweeping all her pride and will before it. And as she bowed her face, +covering her eyes with one hand to hide the tears she could not control, +once more he spoke. + +"Letty," he said, "ye needn't mind answerin' jist now. Think on't, an' +to-morrow or next day tell me. Thar ain't no need o' hurry. I've waited +quite a spell now, an' a day or two more won't matter." + +"It's absurd," she said at last, when the tide of feeling ebbed, "and +everybody will say so." + +"'Tain't their funeral or weddin' either, is it?" he answered. "An' mark +my words, Letty, thar's more on 'em here ez'll wish us well than ye +think." + +But when he came to go she said, "Why didn't you ask me forty years ago, +Jess?" + +"'Cause I was a durned fool 'n' dassent," he answered, "but I've +outgrowed it now." + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +A GOOD SEND-OFF + + +Out of the many weddings inevitably occurring on Rockhaven but few ever +attained to the importance of a trip to the mainland. The sense of +utility among them, the need of every dollar toward home furnishing, and +the practical side of life always uppermost in the minds of all left no +place for sentiment and honeymoon. + +But when it became known, as it soon did, that the youthful romance of +Jess Hutton and Letty Carver had finally culminated, and that the +universal opinion and expectation of what they would do when Jess +returned to the island was about to be realized a wave of enthusiasm and +friendly interest swept over Rockhaven. + +And, furthermore, when it was learned that Jess was to sell his store to +Captain Doty, and that he and his bride and Mona were to spend a few +months in the city, the excitement knew no bounds, and when Sunday came +and the three, now conspicuous ones, walked to church as usual, it was +to receive an ovation of good wishes and congratulations, and so +persistent were all in good will that, when church was out, the entire +congregation crowded around them. + +To Mona it came as the surprise of her life, and went far to change the +current of her thoughts and make her forget her own troubles. + +"I can call you papa now, can't I, Uncle Jess?" she had said, when he +had told her; and hugging him like a child she had thus made his heart +glad. It all seemed as a matter of course to young and old alike, and as +the days went by it began to dawn on Jess that he had not only been a +"durned fool" forty years ago, but continued to be one for the past +fifteen. + +It had been decided by them to have a quiet wedding at home, and the day +set barely long enough ahead to give Mrs. Doty, the dressmaker, time to +do her part; but Rockhaven, hearing of it, objected, and the next Sunday +evening a committee, headed by Captain Roby, invaded the privacy of Mrs. +Hutton's home. + +"We hev cum," said the jolly master of the island steamer, addressing +Jess in particular, and Mrs. Hutton and Mona in general, "to convey the +good wishes o' everybody here to you folks an' ask ye to hev yer +weddin' in church so ter give us all a chance to show our good will and +how much we think o' ye by bein' present. It air the univarsal feelin' +here," he continued, waving his arm, as if to include the entire island, +"that ye both desarve it, an' we ain't goin' to 'low ye two ter jist git +hitched an' sneak off quietly. My boat's at yer sarvice, an' we feel the +best's none too good fer ye both, and we hev come to ask ye to let us +all jine in and gin ye the right sort o' a send-off. I might as well +tell ye now, Jess," he added, looking at that worthy, "jist how ye stand +'mong us and how 'tarnally grateful we all feel fer all yer good deeds +toward young and old. We hain't forgot nothin' from the day ye first +come back to be one on us, up till last summer when ye saved us our +money on that stock bizness. We don't blame the young feller neither, +and if ever he cums back, we'll all jine in givin' him a welcome as +well. But now we absolutely insist we be 'lowed to start ye fair, and in +style, in the new step ye two air takin'." + +And "start them fair" they did; for although the snow lay thick on the +granite ledges of Rockhaven, when the day came, and cheerless winter +reigned, there was no lack of cheer in all that was said and done. +First, a hundred pairs of willing hands transformed the church into a +bower of green, and since flowers were not to be had, wreaths of spruce +twigs, tied with white ribbon and ropes of ground pine, were used. Then +an arch of green, wound with strips of white silk, was erected over the +gate, and the walk up to the church was carpeted with spruce boughs. The +only pleasure vehicle on the island, an ancient carryall, also decked +with green and white, was pressed with service to convey the honored +couple and Mona to church, now heated to suffocation and packed solid +with the island population, while some unable to get in waited outside. +Then, while the Rev. Jason Bush was uniting the happy pair, a dozen +young men, unable to curb their enthusiasm, unhitched the horse from the +carryall, and when they came out drew them back to the house. And then, +after the two hours of reception and hand-shaking had expired, full +fifty men were in line to draw that unique chariot to the boat. + +"It is a wonder ye didn't set out to take us on yer backs," asserted +Jess to the crowd on the wharf, when he alighted; "but all this fuss has +warmed our feelings toward ye all more'n words'll tell." + +And when three times three cheers had echoed back from the now deserted +quarry, the little steamer sailed away into the mist-hidden winter sea +and the crowd dispersed; for weeks after the sole topic around Rockhaven +firesides was what object took Jess Hutton and his bride and Mona away +from the island and how long they would stay away. + +Jess had said, "We want ter give Mona a little change o' scene 'n' +chance to see the world, 'n' jist when we'll cum back is no tellin'. Cum +back we shall some day, 'n' most likely glad ter git back tew." And then +when the affairs of the Hutton family no longer furnished food for +gossip, the island settled down once more into its monotonous winter +existence. Twice a week only now the _Rockhaven_ made her trip to the +mainland; but few people gathered for the Thursday evening prayer +meeting, for extra religion was at a discount during cold weather, and +only the most hardy of the fishermen ventured out. The tower on Norse +Hill, now coated with frozen sleet, looked like a gigantic monument; the +tides ebbed in and out the half-iced over harbor; the waves beat with +sullen roar into the gorge that no one visited, and life among the +shut-in islanders partook of the solemnity of the ocean's voice. + +The crowd that had made Jess Hutton's store their club-room still +gathered there to swap yarns and discuss fish and fishing; also whether +his all-winter's absence was likely to result in the opening of the +quarry or not. Then, too, in this news bureau, Winn Hardy and Mona came +in for a share of gossip, and many a surmise as to their future was +exchanged. For they had been noticed many times together, and Mona's +visit to the city might mean much. No one had any data as to Jess +Hutton's future intentions or whether Hardy was likely to return; and +yet, so well did he stand with them, and so hopeful were they that he +would once more open the quarry when spring came, that they readily +believed it would come about. + +Of the Rockhaven Granite Company collapse they knew not, for daily +papers never reached the island, and Jess for reasons of his own kept +silent. + +The only unhappy one, however, was David Moore; and he recited his woes +in characteristic fashion to all who would listen. He had little idea of +the proprieties, and as he had almost shouted his love from the +house-tops, so now he declared his disappointment as loudly. + +"It's my private 'pinion," he asserted, "they lugged Mona off just to +spite me and get her out o' my sight. I think it's a darn mean trick, +and I don't care who knows it! I kin see through the game, and they +calculated takin' her to the city 'nd give that feller Hardy a chance to +spark her," and he chewed his quid with an increased vigor, suggestive +of how he would like to serve his rival. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +EIN WUNDERBARES FRAULEIN + + +Fritz Geisling, who for many years had lived in two rooms, second floor, +No. 10 Amity Place, was short, fat, and bald. Each morning he arose at +seven, went out to an adjoining cafe where German cookery was served +"twenty-one meals for three dollars," as stated on its bill of fare, and +returned to his domicile, glancing at the small sign, "Violin Lessons," +placed above the upper bell, and mounting the two flights of stairs, +awaited in his office, sitting room and parlor combined, the few pupils +who came his way. At noon he absorbed another of the "twenty-one for +three dollar" productions of culinary art, washed down with a stein of +foaming beer, and then, if it were matinée day at the Alhambra Temple of +Vaudeville, betook himself thither, where he played second violin. Each +evening, from the opening in September until closing time in June, he +was at his post, sawing away like the machine he was and as devoid of +sentiment. When he escaped the Alhambra, it was to join his cronies in a +convenient saloon where pinocle, beer, and choice Teutonic gossip +relieved the monotony of his existence. Year in and year out he was the +same phlegmatic, good-natured Dutchman, and lived the same unvarying and +emotionless existence. Of the great Rockhaven stock scheme he had never +heard, and would not have understood it if he had. Of "the street" and +its multiplicity of deals where "to do" the other fellow and not let him +"do" you was the golden rule, he was equally innocent--a drop in the +throbbing artery of human existence. + +And then, one winter morning, Fritz returned to his lair to find +awaiting him a strangely clad man and a young half-scared girl. + +"I'm told ye gin lessons on the fiddle," said the man, "an' if ye do, +I've come to engage ye fer this ere gal." + +Fritz bowed low, conscious that a pair of magnificent eyes were watching +him. + +"It vash mine broveshion," he answered, "und von tollar each ish de +brice. Ish de lady to be de pupils?" + +"She's the one," came the answer; "an' I want ye to teach her all the +frills, 'n' yer money's ready an' waitin' any time." + +"Ish she von peginner?" came from Fritz. + +"Wal, sorter, 'n' sorter not," replied the man; "my name's Hutton, an' +this ere's my niece, Miss Hutton, an' I've larnt her to saw just a +leetle to start her off, ez it war. If ye'd like, she'll show ye what +she kin do with a bow. Play suthin' slow, Mona, fust," he added as a +violin was handed her, "till ye kinder ketch yerself, an' then suthin' +lively." + +Mona somewhat nervously complied, and gaining courage as she forgot +where she was, skipped over a half-dozen of the familiar Scotch airs she +could play best, while the eyes of Fritz twinkled. + +"She vash no peginner," he said elated; "she vash blain' alretty yet +very mooch." And seizing a music-rack and spreading a late composition +upon it, he added, "Ef de lady vill blease blay dot, ve'll see vot she +can do." + +"Ye've got'r now, perfessor," interposed Jess, "she can't read that +music." + +But a surprise was awaiting him, for though half-scared Mona hesitated +and made a few slips, she played the piece through to the end without a +halt. + +"Why, girlie," exclaimed Jess, "I'm proud o' ye. I didn't think ye cud +do so well. Now, perfessor, ye kin take her in hand; 'n' mind ye don't +let up on her till she's larned the hull biznes, fer fiddlin's goin' to +be her futur' perfession." + +That night, when Fritz had once more escaped the crowded theatre and was +quaffing his foaming stein, could any native American translate the +rapid fire jargon with which he related his morning experience, he would +have heard a marvellous tale. + +"Mein Gott in Himmel!" Fritz exclaimed, after the fourth glass had been +emptied, "but she blayed mit such feelin's und such eyes dot mit me made +such strangeness feels. Ach, but she vas a vonder!" + +And as time passed on, each of the two days a week when Mona came to +take her lesson only served to increase that "vonder," for now that her +timidity had worn away, the genius that lurked in her fingers asserted +itself. In technical art she was as yet a pupil, but in the far more +impressive art of inspiration and expression, so natural to her, she had +naught to learn. + +"She blays mit her heart und all ofer, und vorgets all I tells her of +bosition und oxecution," explained Fritz to his cronies, "und ven she +looks at me I forgets meinself." + +Then as the weeks went by, a new idea came to Fritz, who seldom had any; +and straightway he began to nurse it. + +"Ef she so blays mit mein violin, ven I haf heard dat music all mein +life, vot vill beoples dinks who vash to hear her on de stage?" he said +to himself. "I vill say nodding und make some surbrises by and by." + +That Mona had the same secret ambition he knew not, and most likely it +were as well he did not. But the long upward path to her goal was not an +easy one, for if Fritz had lacked emotion, he excelled in detail; and +each time Mona forgot, as she so often did, it provoked expressions from +him that tinged her cheeks with humiliation. + +"I have much to learn," she answered almost pitifully, whenever her +uncle asked of her progress, "and so much to unlearn, it seems +discouraging." + +"It'll come easier bimeby, girlie," he would respond cheerfully, "the +fust lesson in anything is allus the hardest." + +But the vexations of tuition were only a small part of Mona's burden; +for as the weeks went by, and she became accustomed to her new life and +surroundings, the old heartache returned, and as her uncle often +insisted that she and her mother go out to some evening entertainment as +a break in the quiet boarding-house life they led, a new fear assailed +her. What if on street car or in theatre lobby she should suddenly meet +Winn Hardy! His name had not been mentioned for many months, and it was +as if he were dead. + +And now Mona was unlearning the sad lesson of loving, and in its place +came a new inspiration, an ambition so broad, so uplifting, so full of +possibilities, that even the voice of love was stilled. At times the +face of Winn would return to her, however, and always bringing a thorn. + +"He is what he said all his world were," she would say to herself, +"selfish, fickle, and heartless. He wished to flatter and amuse me and +himself as well, but that was all." And then the moment he had held her +in his arms would return to give the lie to all such thoughts. + +At times she hoped that she might meet him some day, just to give one +look of reproach and pass on without a word; and then she dreaded to do +so, believing herself powerless to resist her own longings. Feeling thus +a sense of the wrong he had done her, the tender looks and words he had +uttered, and at last that one sweet moment,--all came back again. Put +him out of her mind she could not, nor his face either. By night, +thoughts of him haunted her pillow, and whenever she set foot out of +their temporary home, no matter where she went, and until she was safe +in it again, that peculiar dread was with her. + +She did not know that during all these months of her suspense, Winn +Hardy, discouraged at the utter failure of his ambition and hopeless of +his future, was not only doing his best to put her out of his thoughts, +but battling for another foothold in life. Forget her, or the obligation +whispered on Rockhaven's wave-washed cliff, he could not and did not; +but in the hard grind of life and competition of wage-earning, love +plays only a minor part. Even less so with Winn than most, for he +distrusted all sentiment, even in himself. + +Few have the scope to judge another from that person's own viewpoint of +needs and impulses; and Mona, untutored in the ways of man, was less +competent than many. + +To her, the words "I love you" were a sacred obligation, far above all +selfish needs and vulgar money making and, like the glittering star of +fame, an inspiration. + +It had been sweet to her in those summer days, but the real star of fame +was now rising in her horizon, and the lesser one slowly fading away. + +She was fast losing her old timidity, and as each day she felt herself +gaining a better mastery over her violin, the darling wish of her new +ambition grew stronger. + +And then another influence came to her aid, for phlegmatic Fritz, in +whose life the mechanical duty of each evening's playing and the +convivial hours with his cronies had measured his ambition, became +imbued with a broader one, and that to train his pupil for public +playing, and so, when thus fitted and launched in this new life under +his tuition, to pose as the discoverer of a genius. And more than that, +as her eyes began to work their spell upon him, the hope of love entered +his heart. + +"Ah, Mees Hutton," he would say to her, when her lesson had been +rendered, "you haf der spirit, der soul of der blaying alretty yet, and +some day you haf him and der vorld vill listen entranced;" and his +little eyes would twinkle and rotund face glow with an enthusiasm that +was like wine to Mona. + +And now another brand of fuel was added to the fire of her ambition, for +a great singer's appearance in the city was heralded in the press and +Jess, already warped into the world's ways of dress and amusement, took +Mona and her mother to hear this operatic star. They had already visited +most of the theatres, and though Mona had felt a constant dread of +meeting one, the sight of whose face she knew would seem like a knife +thrust, she was gradually overcoming that. At first a timid girl and +stranger to the city ways, her keen and ready observation of them had +made rapid change in her self-possession. Then, too, the difference in +her own and her mother's wardrobe had been a help, for Jess had spared +no money in his new rôle of husband and father, and so far as dress went +with all three, no observer would realize that they came from an +out-of-the-way island, where garb and deportment were unknown factors in +life. + +But that evening at the opera, with all its attendant excitement of +richly gowned womankind whose décolleté costumes and sparkling jewels +became a revelation to Mona, the handsome men, the exquisite music, the +wonderful singing, and the chief star, ablaze with diamonds, bowing and +smiling as wreaths and baskets of costly flowers were passed over the +footlights to her, wrought a spell upon Mona as nothing else could have +done. She was amazed, entranced, overwhelmed, intoxicated; and when the +seclusion of her own home was reached, the reflective heart-burst of +feeling came. + +"Father," she whispered, her face aglow, when she was about to give him +the usual good-night kiss, "if I could stand before an audience, as that +singer did, and thrill them, as she did to-night, I would be willing to +lie down and die." + +"That's a good speerit," he answered, smiling, his eyes a-twinkle; "but +if ye cud do it, ye'd a durn sight better feel ye'd like to live 'n' +keep on doin' it, 'n' make 'em pay ye good money, an' pass up flowers on +top o' that." Which sage observation perhaps best illustrates the +difference between a genius and a philosopher. + +That night, sleep was slow in reaching Mona's pillow, and when it came +she dreamed that she was standing before a vast throng and suddenly, +impressed by the fear of them, sinking into unconsciousness. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +THE ROAD TO THE TEMPLE + + +To Mona, reared beyond the world of wealth and social custom, the great +city she was now in seemed a monster hive. An endless tangle of crowded +streets, of pushing humanity, and towering buildings. The ceaseless din +of street cars and rumbling teams, the people who elbowed her aside as +they hurried on, the vehicles that halted not when she crosses a street, +the grand ladies alighting from their carriages and sweeping by her as +if she was without right; and worse than all these, the apes who ogled +at her on the street, and even followed her to her home,--each and all +became a teacher that taught her self-reliance. She grew to look at the +great city as it did at her, without feeling and without interest. They +cared not for her right, or her life even; why should she for them? It +was the best education possible, and imparted a certain indifference +toward everybody and everything, and hardened her, in a way. + +Then Fritz, with his little scheme, entered into her education, and one +day, after he had asked her to play some of her best selections, a +stranger stepped out from an inner room to be introduced to her as the +manager of the Alhambra Theatre. + +"My friend Geisling has told me about you, Miss Hutton," he said, "and I +wished to hear you play as you naturally would, so I asked to be kept in +hiding to hear you. You have a decided talent, and if you have the +courage, I think you could do a musical turn and do it well. If you will +come to the Alhambra to-morrow at ten with my friend here, we will give +you a rehearsal." + +And Mona felt as if she were at that moment facing an audience! + +"I have an ambition to play well, and some day in public," she said +faintly, and hardly realizing how it all came about, "but not yet. Oh, +no, I wouldn't dare," and she looked helplessly at her teacher. + +"Ah, Mees Hutton, but you vill," he said excitedly, "und your fader said +you vill, und dat eet vas to be you broveshion, und you vill to blease +me try, I dinks," and he placed one hand upon his heart and bowed low. + +"Oh, not yet, no! no!" exclaimed Mona, her heart sinking, as she stood +face to face with her longed-for opportunity. "I am not ready yet and +haven't the courage." + +"That is but a mere trifle, Miss Hutton," answered the manager, looking +at her saintlike eyes, her sweet face, rounded shoulders, and swelling +bosom; and calculating their commercial value for stage purposes to a +nicety. "A mere trifle; you have the face and form, you play with +exceeding grace and delicate expression, no doubt due to your native +talent, and are sure to please. All you need is to forget that you are +playing to an audience, and you will win a storm of hands." + +Then, like a shrewd man of business, he began politely to question her. +Where she came from, who taught her first, and how she came to wish to +play in public? In ten minutes he had grasped her entire history. + +"It is not necessary," he said finally, to reassure her, "that you make +your first appearance at once. Come to the theatre to-morrow and look us +over. I feel sure you will succeed and win for yourself a great name. +And, by the way, I'd like a photograph of you in evening dress cut low." + +Then, as if the matter were all settled, and this new attraction for his +vaudeville stage already engaged, he bowed himself out. + +And Fritz beamed. + +"Ein grand chance, Mees Hutton, an' der great luck you haf, und it vas +mein alretty yet," he said, "und you vill got de people crazy mit your +blayin', und I vas your teacher!" + +And he came near then and there going down on his knees and declaring +his passion. + +When Mona reached her home she was flushed and trembling with +excitement. "Oh, father," she said to Jess, "they want me to play at the +theatre, and to come to-morrow to try it with no one there; and he wants +my picture, and I am scared half to death," which incoherent speech can +easily be excused. + +"I don't approve on't an' never have," said her mother, severely. "It +ain't a girl's place to be fiddlin', an' 'fore people at that. I don't +believe in it." + +"Now, Letty," answered Jess, pleasantly, "don't go to discouragin' the +gal first go-off. We've threshed that straw all over long 'go, 'n' don't +say no more. The time'll cum, 'n' soon, too, when ye'll feel mighty +proud of Mona. We'll fix ye up, girlie," he added, addressing her, "with +one of them low-cut gowns,--not too low, but jist nice 'n' +modestlike,--'n' we'll both o' us be thar to take keer on ye an' fetch +flowers home fer ye." And that subject was disposed of. + +But Mona scarce closed her eyes in sleep that night, and when, with +Jess and her teacher to care for her, she entered the stage door of the +Alhambra at ten the next day, a new world opened before her. + +Its entrance was a tangle of painted scenery, beautiful on one side, +dirty and tobacco-stained on the other. A dozen stage carpenters and +helpers were at work with hats on, and never even looked at her. The +stage seemed a cold, cheerless barn, as large as the seating part, and a +chaos of stage properties of all sorts and shapes. A flat, painted tree +leaned against a piano, on top of which was a wooden rock. A roll of +carpet lay across a desk, and a coil of dirty rope and an imitation +fireplace were on top of an elegant sofa. + +Then the manager appeared, coatless, but with hat on. + +"Ah, good morning, Miss Hutton," he said, not even noticing Fritz or her +uncle; "glad to see you, though it's a little early. Look around and +make yourself at home, or I'll show you to a dressing room. We will hear +you play presently." + +And glad to escape from the cheerless spot, Mona signified that she +would wait his bidding in a private room. + +It was a half-hour ere he appeared, and Mona's stage training began. + +She was instructed how to step out from the wings, where to halt on the +stage, how to bow, to step side-wise and backward; and when these +lessons had been learned, the manager with a few friends and Jess and +her teacher took seats in front, and she walked out once more with her +violin. She had expected to be badly scared, but it was all so +matter-of-fact, and her deportment considered as of more importance than +her playing, that when it came to that it was the easiest of all. + +Twice she played the two selections Fritz had decided upon, the first, a +medley of Scotch airs, and for an encore, the gem of all she +knew--"Annie Laurie." + +When she concluded each time, a sincere ripple of applause from the +group of men composing her audience encouraged her. + +"She'll win 'em," asserted the manager, tersely, when Mona had retired, +"if only she can go on once and not wilt." + +"I want you to come here daily for a week," he said to Mona, when she +was ready to leave, "and get used to this matter. Your playing is +excellent, and if you can forget the audience for ten minutes and do as +well, you are made!" + +But warmer encouragement came from Jess when home was reached that day. + +"I'm proud o' ye, girlie," he said, his face glowing and his eyes +alight, "I'm proud o' ye, 'n' if ye'll fiddle as ye kin 'n' hold yer +head 'fore 'em, I'll shed tears o' joy. We'll rig ye up," he continued, +"right away, an' all ye need to do is jist to say to yerself, 'I kin do +it,' an' feel it, an' ye will." + +How easy to say, but alas, how hard to do! + +For a week Mona lived in a trance with only one thought, and that of the +awful moment when she must perforce stand alone before that hydra-headed +monster--an audience. + +Sometimes her heart failed for a moment, and it seemed she could never +do it; then a strain of the indomitable will that had come down to her +from her Carver ancestors arose, and she said to herself, "I will." + +Then back of that lay another point of pride. "Perhaps _he_ will be +there to see me," she thought. + +For all these months, while she had silently fought her own heartache, +Winn Hardy's face and words had been ever present. + +All the covert flatteries he had spoken in the cave, all the praises of +her playing, the description of the wonderful woman before whom the +world bowed, the tender words of love he had uttered, to end with one +cold letter of dismissal, and she left to rise above and conquer her +own pain alone and unaided, came back now. + +It was well that they did. + +And when the supreme moment of her trial came, and robed in spotless +white, without an ornament, save her matchless eyes, her perfect throat, +her rounded arms, she stepped into view of that audience, not for one +instant did she falter. + +The Alhambra was filled that evening with its usual gathering in search +of pleasure. A few hundred blasé men and women who had seen everything +on the boards of the regular theatres now drifted into this, hoping for +a new sensation. Twice as many more store girls whose escorts had +brought them there because admission was cheap, and a medley of all +sorts, old and young. The saucy balladist in short skirts had sung her +song, the soloist in black had picked off his banjo act, the acrobats +had leaped and twisted and turned, the magician pulled a stock of +worsted balls, a hoopskirt, and a rabbit out of a silk hat borrowed from +the audience, and then, after frying an egg in it, returned it unharmed; +and the usual vaudeville program was nearing its end when those listless +people saw Mona step out from the wings and, without once lifting her +eyes to them, bow slightly, and raising her violin, begin playing. + +And even as Winn's heart had been touched by the wonderful sweetness of +her simple music that day in the cave, so were theirs reached now. + +It was not classic, or new, or unheard before--just a medley of old-time +Scotch airs that carried the mirth of a merry dance and the mood of +tender love. But the mirth and the mood were there, thrilling, +quivering, whispering, even as a human voice would speak. + +And when the yearning of that medley ended its final appeal, and Mona +for the first time raised her eyes to them as she bowed, a storm of +applause that fairly shook the building greeted her. + +Again and again was it repeated, until, bending her queenlike head, she +once more raised her violin. + +And now came "Annie Laurie." + +Slowly caressing her violin with her face, even as a mother would her +babe, Mona played. + +And every whispered heartache, every pulse of undying love that that +old, old song contains, came forth to reach and thrill the hearts of +that audience as naught else could. + +When it was ended and Mona bowed low, what a storm came! + +Men rose and cheered and women, too, while they brushed the tears away. + +Again and again did that wave of stamping and voiced applause arise, +till the very roof quivered, and still once again. + +And Mona, the poor child, whose will, stronger than love, had carried +her through that awful ordeal without a break, now out of sight, lay +sobbing in the arms of Jess. + +She had won her fame without a flaw, and then, womanlike, had +collapsed. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE CYNIC'S SHADOW + + +The doubt and distrust of all humanity, first implanted in Winn Hardy's +mind by his friend and adviser, Nickerson, was now working its +inevitable injury. Much of it had been brushed away during Winn's +association with the simple and honest people of Rockhaven and +especially Jess; but now that he was back again in the city and in touch +with its pushing, selfish life, once more cynicism ruled him. His +vocation as reporter paid poorly; he was in daily contact with +unscrupulous and suspicious men, saw poverty begging in alleyways and +arrogant wealth riding in carriages, men obsequiously bowing before the +rich and snubbing the poor, and on all sides and in all ways he was made +to realize that money was the god the city worshipped, and show, its +religion. + +On Sunday, when the usual morning chimes answered each other, his +thoughts flew to Rockhaven and the two bells there; but when with his +aunt, in church, he listened to the operatic singing and classic +sermon, it all seemed to lack heart and sincerity, and not one solitary +note of supplication entered the minister's prayer. Then the elegantly +dressed ladies who greeted one another as at a reception, the men who +looked bored and at the close of the service seemed relieved, each and +all seemed to Winn to be there on exhibition. + +Then, too, his moral safeguards were in daily danger, and the sneering +Nickerson, their assailant. + +"Well, old boy," he said to Winn one evening at the club, "how do you +like penny-a-lining these cold winter days? Is an editorship any nearer +in sight?" + +"Nothing in sight for me except one demnition grind," replied Winn, +disconsolately; "I get discouraged sometimes and think I am no good on +earth." + +Nickerson looked at him with a sarcastic smile. + +"Winn, my dear fellow," he said at last, "I'm going to be very candid +with you, so don't be angry with me. To begin with you are too honest +and too good-hearted. You think of others first and yourself last, and +then you have scruples. Now scruples don't go here in the city, and +whoever cultivates them gets left. In the first place, Weston & Hill +played you for a dupe, and if I hadn't come to the rescue, you'd have +been stranded on the island and out five hundred, and the natives would +have been ready to ride you on a rail. Then when we saved your bacon and +you knew they were two thieves, you even returned them the little extra +money they had sent you to pay the men. I won't say anything about the +heroic way you made your aunt's loss good. It was heroic, but it wasn't +sense. + +"Now, after all this eye-opening experience, and you on your uppers, so +to speak, I offered to start you in a lawful business, you won't have +it, simply because it smacks of gambling! Winn, you are one of the best +fellows in the world, and I like you, but you are a fool--net!" + +"Well, I'll keep on being one," answered Winn warmly (for no man enjoys +plain truth), "before I'll open a bucket shop and knowingly rob people." + +"Yes, and walk while the rest ride," asserted Jack, tersely, "you know +the old deacon's advice to his son just starting out in life,--'Make +money, my son, honestly if you can, but make it!'" + +"All very good," replied Winn, "but old. I doubt whether you can change +my fool ideas, if you talk till doomsday; but you may mellow them. And +that reminds me of another fool thing I've done. I bought the sole +right, title, and deed of the Rockhaven Granite Company's quarry a few +weeks ago." + +"The wisest buy you ever made, my boy," answered Jack, quickly; "and now +if you will hustle around and get some men to put money into a new +company, you will be in luck once more." Then, as another idea came to +this quick-witted man of the world, he added, "What's the matter with +Jess Hutton and all the money we made for him?" + +But Winn was silent, while a tide of memory swept over his feelings. And +in it was Mona, with her tender love, and Jess, with the heart and hand +he offered at parting, and all the good people on the island whom Winn +knew to be his friends. And as all the possibilities Rockhaven contained +came back to him, now it suddenly dawned upon him that Jack Nickerson +had named him rightly. + +"I see I've put you to sleep," continued Jack, after the long pause +while he watched Winn, "and now I'll wake you up. I saw Ethel Sherman in +a box at the theatre last night, with our mutual friend, Simmons. He +must have reached his second childhood!" + +Then Winn did wake up. + +And more than that, a few unconsidered trifles connected with this same +vivacious Ethel assumed index shape. He recalled that she had for the +past six weeks specified the evenings she would be at home to him, for +a week ahead. He also recalled that a plenitude of choicest flowers had +always graced her parlor lately. + +"And why not," he answered coolly, "old Simmons is a widower worth a +million, has just built an elegant new residence of the granite we +quarried, and Ethel's in the market. I think she shows good sense--at +least your kind of good sense, Jack." + +"Yes, and of all experienced people," asserted Nickerson, defiantly. +"Sentiment is a fine thing in books or on the stage, it may influence +silly girls or callow boys, but it's out of date in this age." + +And Winn, recalling his own early episode with Ethel, and the lesson in +life that for weeks had been forced upon him, was more than half +inclined to believe his friend to be right. + +And yet, as he thought of this prospective January and May affair, and a +fossil like Simmons, with dyed hair, false teeth, and certainly sixty +years wrinkling his face, he felt disgusted with Ethel. And the more he +thought of the groove he was in, of the cold, selfish, grasping city +life where mammon was king and sentiment a jest, the more his heart +turned to Rockhaven. Then the thought of Mona came back to him, and a +yearning for her, impossible to resist. And with it, self-reproach that +he had let his own discouragement control his actions so long. A few +days more did he waver, and then his heart's impulse won. + +The winter had nearly passed and the days were lengthening when this +impulse came, but he waited no longer. + +"I'm going to Rockhaven," he said to his aunt that night, "and shall be +gone a few days. I've obtained a week's leave of absence from the paper, +and start to-morrow. I want to see Jess Hutton and some of my old +friends there. I've also an idea that possibly the quarry can be started +again. If I can bring it about," he added, after a pause, "how would you +feel about loaning me a few thousand dollars, auntie?" + +Then the motherly side of Mrs. Converse spoke out. + +"I'll do it gladly, Winn," she responded. "I've felt all along that the +money you saved me was more yours than mine, and you shall have all of +it that you need." + +And when Winn left the city, as once before, a new courage and new hopes +tinged his horizon. + +And first and foremost in them was the flowerlike face and soulful eyes +of Mona. + +The wisest of us, however, are but mere bats in this world, blindly +flying hither and thither. At times one may, by sheer good luck, fly +free; and then again we strike our heads against a wall. + +Yet we think we are very wise. + +And so, Winn Hardy, full of hope and love, found, when he reached the +coast town where the steamer _Rockhaven_ made landing, that her trips +were but twice a week now and he had a full day to wait. + +How slowly it passed while he chafed at the delay! how his eagerness to +be with Mona grew! how his longing increased as he counted the hours he +must wait! and with all mingled a self-reproach, need not be specified. +For it had dawned upon Winn that his conclusions regarding Mona might +have been wrong, and once we feel that we have made a mistake, we soon +feel sure that it must be so. + +And Winn was now certain. + +But he would and could repair it easily. All that was necessary was to +assure Mona that he had been discouraged or he would have written again, +and to reproach her gently for neglecting to answer his letter. + +How easily we plan excuses for our own conduct, and how like a child's +toy we are apt to consider a woman's heart! + +When, after a day's wait that seemed a week to Winn, the _Rockhaven_ +made landing, he leaped aboard to grasp Captain Roby's hand almost as +he would a father's. But a half gale was blowing outside, the captain +nervously anxious to unload, and start back; and only a word of greeting +did Winn receive until the steamer was well under way toward Rockhaven. +Then, feeling privileged, he entered the little pilot house. + +"Well, Captain Roby," he said, "how are you and how's the island?" + +"Oh, it's thar yit," answered that bronze-faced skipper, shifting the +wheel a point and heading seaward, "an' likely to stay thar. It seems +sorter nat'rel to see ye, Mr. Hardy," he added cheerfully, "an' I'm +right glad to git the chance. We've been wonderin' what become o' ye an' +how the quarryin' business was comin' out. Ye ain't thinkin' o' startin' +it up agin, air ye?" + +"Possibly," answered Winn, "in fact, that is a part of my errand here, +and to make you all a visit. The old company failed, as, I presume, you +know, and I've bought the quarry myself now." + +"I'm mighty glad on't," replied the captain cordially, "an' so'll all on +us be. We've sorter took to ye, Mr. Hardy." + +"And how is my old friend, Jess?" asked Winn, unable to withhold that +query longer, "and Mrs. Hutton and her daughter and Mrs. Moore?" + +"Wal, Jess an' the Widder Hutton took a notion to git hitched long 'fore +Christmas," answered the captain slowly, "an' they're gone to the city +'n' taken Mona with 'em. We gin 'em a great send-off, and I run ashore +jist a purpose for 'em. It's curus ye haint seen Jess up thar. I'd +a-s'posed ye would." + +Winn's heart sank. + +"When do you go back, captain?" he said finally, trying to hide his +bitter disappointment. "I supposed you made daily trips as usual." + +"Only Tuesdays and Fridays," he answered; "thar ain't much need o' +runnin' oftener." + +And this was Friday! + +And Winn, the now ardent Romeo, had three full days and four nights to +spend on Rockhaven, and Juliet was not there! + +There are many of the fair sex who will say that it served him right. + +And what a picture of cheerless desolation was this sea-girt island when +Winn neared it! A half gale was blowing, the waves leaping high against +the snow-topped cliffs, and as the _Rockhaven_, rolling, pitching, and +half coated with frozen spray, turned into the little harbor and neared +her dock, only one man, shivering in oil skins, was there to meet her. + +"I wish ye'd put up with me," said Captain Roby to Winn, when the +steamer's plank was shoved out. "We'd be more'n glad to hev ye, an'll +make ye welcome." + +And Winn, dreading the empty white cottage next to Mrs. Moore's fully as +much as that excellent woman's curiosity, accepted the captain's offer. +That evening, in spite of Winn's disappointment, was a pleasant one to +him, for the news of his arrival had flown like the wind, and a constant +stream of callers came to the captain's house. It seemed as if all +Rockhaven was desirous of extending a welcome hand, and from Parson Bush +down to men whose names Winn had never known, they kept coming. Never +before had he been so lionized or made to feel that he had so many +friends, and so cordially did they one and all greet him that, had the +Rev. Bush suggested that they all join in a hymn of thankfulness, Winn +would not have been more surprised. It recalled the parting words of +Jess, and in a forcible way. + +But alas! that genial philosopher was absent! + +Winn, however, saw his opening, and with a little natural pride, stated +that he now owned the quarry, and, if some capital could be furnished +by these island people, he was in a position to put in a matter of five +or ten thousand dollars, and the industry would be started anew. Then as +a climax to this proposition, he read to them the history of the +Rockhaven Granite Company and gave a description of the auction of its +assets. + +But he did not mention the price he had paid for the quarry. + +It was midnight ere the crowd dispersed and Winn, proud and happy, was +shown to his room. But the next day a reaction came; for when he called +upon Mrs. Moore, as he felt he must, the closed white cottage next door +and the little dooryard, now under snow, where Mona had reared her +flowers, seemed like a tomb. His worthy landlady was overjoyed to see +him, however, and gave an explicit account of the wedding that had +occurred, of Mrs. Hutton's dress, how pretty Mona looked and how happy +all were. She, too, supposed Winn must have heard of it, and marvelled +greatly that the Hutton family could have been in the city now three +months, and Winn not meet them. Where they were stopping, what doing, +and when they were to return, she knew not. So Winn left her, as much in +the dark as ever. + +And then, though the snow lay thick on the ledges swept by the ocean's +winds, like a love-lorn swain he must visit Norse Hill and go over to +the gorge to peer into its interior, and the cave, then back to the old +tide mill and to the village. When Sunday came he was really glad to +attend church, and by evening was so disconsolate that he wished for +wings to fly to the mainland. In spite of cordiality, Rockhaven was now +a desolate spot. + +And when Tuesday came and he sailed away, the sole passenger over the +misty ocean with Captain Roby, Winn was a wiser and sadder man. When he +reached the city he felt that if he could but find Mona, to kneel at her +feet and beg for her love would be a blessed privilege. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +ONLY A MOOD + + +When Winn reached home, he found two messages awaiting him, one from +Ethel Sherman asking him to call, and another bidding him journey to the +home of his boyhood and attend to a business matter at once. His +birthplace, an almost worthless hillside farm, had been leased to +strangers, but they had scarce obtained a living and, finally, having +denuded it of about everything except the stones and the old +weather-beaten farmhouse, had deserted it, leaving three years' taxes +unpaid. + +And Winn, the sole heir, was now asked to come and pay them, or allow +his boyhood home to be sold for that purpose. + +This, following the bitter disappointment of his Rockhaven trip, seemed +the last straw; and when he called upon Ethel, as perforce he felt he +must, he was in an unenviable frame of mind. + +But she was sweetness personified. + +"Why, Winn, my dear friend," she said, "what have I done to you that +you should desert me so? It's been three weeks since I've set eyes upon +you except at church, and then you would not look at me." + +"I don't imagine that you have suffered much," replied Winn, savagely, +looking at an immense bunch of American Beauty roses on the +centre-table, and thinking of Simmons. "I am a worker in the hive these +days, and 'sassiety' isn't for me." + +Ethel looked at him and laughed. + +"My dear boy," she said sweetly, "you ought to send your temper to the +laundry and feel grateful I wanted to see you. I refused an invitation +to the opera this eve just to have a visit with you, and you come cross +as two sticks." + +"I'm sorry," he answered, "but I have troubles of my own, and life isn't +all a picnic. For instance, I've got to take a two-hundred-mile ride +into the country to-morrow, pay up the taxes, and find a tenant for the +old farm. I've just returned from a business trip, away five days, and +the editor told me this afternoon if I wanted more time off now I'd +better resign." + +"He's a brute," said Ethel. + +"No, he's a business man," replied Winn, "and I'm his servant, that is +all. I don't intend to be much longer, or any man's for that matter." + +"I'm so glad," she asserted, in the cooing, sympathetic tone a woman +knows so well how to use; "you are capable of better things, Winn, and I +shall welcome the day when you are your own master." + +Then Winn, his vexed spirit soothed by this woman's gentle sympathy, his +self-respect restored by her praise, looked at her admiringly. "Ethel," +he said, "you can mark the two extremes of womankind--angel or +devil--with equal facility. If ever I attempt a novel, you shall be the +heroine." + +"Better not," she laughed. "I've no sentiment, and a heroine without a +heart would be a flat failure. No," she continued musingly, "I've not +even a little one. I used to think I had, but I've outgrown it. +Sentiment on a woman's part these days is a weakness for men to trample +upon. Sister Grace had sentiment. Now she lives in four rooms and tends +baby, while hubby escapes to the club. No, thanks. No sentiment in mine, +please." + +"I begin to think it's folly on either side," asserted Winn, soberly, +"and especially in business. Jack says 'be good and you'll be lonesome,' +and calls me a fool for being honest. You say I am out of my groove here +and that a woman with a heart is a stupid. I am inclined to think that +there is no such thing as truth, honor, and sentiment except among old +fogies and children." + +"There isn't and there is," responded Ethel, philosophically; "no one is +all bad, or at least but few are, while not many are all good. Only, in +matters of the heart, a woman who has one is bound to suffer, unless she +meets and weds a young god, and gods are scarce in this day and +generation." + +"But is she likely to be the happier by marrying for money and +position?" queried Winn, pointedly. + +"To the best of my observation--yes," she answered, understanding +perfectly well what he meant. "And it's to obtain your opinion on that +very subject I asked you to call." + +Winn looked at her long and fixedly. + +Once he had thought this girl the incarnation of all that was lovely and +lovable. Young, handsome, and yet not of the Dresden china order, but +warm, passionate, full of life and good spirits. She was all that now, +but hard-hearted, cool-headed, a diamond among her sex, but not a pansy. + +And so far as he could judge, one who would seek and accept only a +golden setting. Once he had loved her madly, now he enjoyed her keen +wit, her veiled flatteries, her perfect poise, her polished sarcasm, +realizing that she was likely to be an ornament to the man who won her, +but never a heart companion. And now he admired her intensely, but loved +her not at all. + +"Winn," she said at last, smiling, "have you analyzed me sufficiently to +answer my question now?" + +"No," he replied evasively, "and I never can. I've learned one thing, +and learned it well, and that is, it's folly to tell a woman truth in +such matters. They prefer lies that are flattering." + +"Men never do, I suppose," she said, with a tinge of sarcasm. + +"Oh, yes, they do," he admitted candidly; "men positively thirst for +flattery--especially from a woman. But it is safer to tell them the +truth. They will in time forgive that, even if it hurts, but a woman +never will." + +"That's a man's estimate," she asserted, "not a woman's. My belief is, +truth is an unsafe knife to use in either case. But you have not +answered my question." + +"It's hard to do that," he responded, "for it all depends upon what a +woman's idea of happiness is. You, who assert that you are without heart +and believe sentiment a folly, would be miserable, if mated to a poor +man, be he never so faithful in love. You want luxuries, fine gowns, and +plenty of them, since you have beauty; you move in a circle where show +is religion and extravagance a necessity. To you and your associates, +these wants have become habits and rule you all." + +Ethel sighed. + +"We are a hollow set, I'll admit," she said, "and leave the price tag on +all we give away; but still you do not answer my question." + +"No, and no man or woman can," he responded. "As they say on the street, +'it's a gamble either way.' If you marry for love and secure a cottage, +you will sigh for a mansion. If you obtain the mansion and miss the +love, you will sigh for the cottage." + +Then looking at the vase of roses standing near, as if they exhaled a +revelation, he added slowly, "You will be true to your surroundings, +Ethel, and whoever buys you will pay your price." + +She flushed slightly. + +"You put it into unvarnished words," she answered, laughing to conceal +the hurt, "but I can't complain. I asked you for the truth." Then, in +self-defence, she added, a little sadly, "It's not my fault, Winn, that +I am for sale; it's the fault of society and its dictum. I say at times, +as I said to-night, that sentiment is folly; and then again comes a +yearning for something sweeter, something better than this life of show +and shallow platitudes. Occasionally I feel it all a mistake, and envy +Grace. Last summer, when I was up in the mountains, we went driving one +day and stopped at a farmhouse to buy a glass of milk. The house was a +hovel almost; two little children barefooted and bareheaded played under +a tree, and inside a woman was singing. When she brought us the milk, +she, too, was barefoot. We passed that way later, on our return, and she +was still singing at her work. And, in spite of her surroundings, there +was something in her voice that awoke my envy. Her life was poverty +personified; there wasn't another house in sight, and yet she was +happy." + +And Winn, wondering what this all meant and marvelling that this +imperative beauty, this leader of fashion, courted, flattered, and +sought by all, could have one such touch of human feeling, looked at her +in utter astonishment. + +"Ethel," he said, "almost am I persuaded that you have a heart." + +"You had better not," she answered, with a laugh that was a sneer, "you +might pity me, and then I should despise myself;" and, pulling out one +of the roses that drooped toward the table, she slowly picked it to +pieces. + +"Life is but a succession of moods, Winn," she continued, after a pause; +"and some contain the rustle of angels' wings and some the clicking of +devils' teeth. At times I hate the whole world and envy the nuns I meet +in the street, and then again I think them fools." + +Then she arose and seated herself at the piano. For a full ten minutes +she lightly touched the keys, now a few chords of dreamy waltz music, +then a low, plaintive love song, and finally a bit of Sousa, while Winn +quietly studied her. + +Suddenly she turned. + +"Winn," she said, looking him full in the face, "I am going to be very +rude. Tell me what made you go to Rockhaven?" + +His eyes fell. "To see Jess Hutton," he answered, "and the quarry. I +bought it at the auction a month ago." + +It was fairly well said, but not over well. + +"Thanks," she replied, "and forgive my query. There is no need of +repeating it." + +And it was weeks after before it dawned on him what she wished to find +out. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THE OLD HOME + + +There was nothing that could depress Winn just now any more than to +visit his boyhood home. It had been twelve years since he left the +hillside farm, and to return to it, even for a few days and on the +errand that called him, was melancholy in the extreme. Then his trip to +Rockhaven had not helped his feelings. He had gone there expecting to +find Mona, and believing that a few words of explanation would set +matters right. He had even planned what to say and how to say it, and in +the fulness of his faith in himself and her, believed that she would +easily overlook what he now knew was a cruel neglect on his part. Just +why he had let his own discouragement rule him so long and in such a +way, he could not now understand. And the more he thought of it and saw +his own conduct as it was, the worse it seemed. Perhaps she had never +received the letter! Perhaps also she had written, and it had failed to +reach him. And when he recalled the parting, and that all her happiness +and life, almost, seemed to rest on his promise to return, he almost +cursed his own stupidity. + +Verily, a pearl of great price had been cast at his feet, and he had +been too witless to pick it up. + +And now she was here in the city, and had been for months. And other men +might be looking into her winsome eyes, and whispering of love! + +And with these self-reproaches and jealous surmises for company, Winn +sped onward toward his boyhood home. + +It was dark ere a slow-moving stage landed him at the village tavern and +a cheerless supper. + +And the next day's visit to the spot! + +The only redeeming feature seemed to be that it was warm and the sun +shone--one of those first spring days that come the last of March, and +with it the early-arriving bluebirds. They were there when Winn reached +the now deserted farmhouse, where a snow-drift still lingered against +its northern side and patches of the same winter pall draped each stone +wall. The brook which crossed the meadow in front was a brimming +torrent; the barn shed across the road was filled with a confusion of +worn-out vehicles, broken and rusted farming tools half buried in snow, +a drift of which remained in the empty barn, the door of which had +fallen to earth: the fences had great gaps in them; gates were missing; +and ruin and desolation were visible on all sides. + +The house that had once been "Home, Sweet Home," to Winn was the most +lugubrious blotch of all. It had grown brown and moss-covered with time +and the elements, missing window-panes were replaced with rags, bushes +choked the dooryard, and, as he peered into what had once been the "best +room," snow lay on the floor and strips of paper hung from the walls. + +How small the house seemed to what it once had! The old well-sweep had +been used to patch the garden fence, the woodshed roof had fallen in, +and a silence that seemed to crawl out of that old ruin brooded over it. + +This was his boyhood home, and on it lay the burden of three years' +taxes and a mortgage! + +And as Winn looked into windows and then entered, crossing floors +gingerly, lest they give way and pitch him into the cellar, he felt that +it would be a mercy to the world to set the old rookery on fire and +remove it from human sight. + +The solitary note of joy about it was a bluebird piping away in the +near-by orchard, and for that bird's presence there, Winn felt grateful. + +Then he wandered over the orchard, searching for the tree that had +borne seek-no-further apples, and another where he had once met a colony +of angry hang-legs while climbing to rob a bird's nest. He failed to +reach the nest, but those vicious wasps reached him easily enough, and +as Winn recalled the incident he smiled--the first time that day. + +For two hours he roamed about the farm, now hunting for the tree where +he had shot his first squirrel, and then the thicket in which he had +once kept a box-trap set for rabbits. He followed the brook up to the +gorge, sauntered through the chestnut grove and back to where a group of +sugar maples and a sap house stood, thankful that the familiar rocks yet +remained and that the trees had not been cut away, and for the +bluebirds, chirping a welcome. + +Then he left the scenes of his boyhood days, so happy in memory, and as +he drove away, turned for a last look at the old brown house, feeling +much as one does after visiting an ancient graveyard where ancestors lie +buried. + +He had a week's leave of absence from his duties, now ahead of him, and +he went cousining. He also hunted up a few old schoolmates, putting +himself in touch with their rustic lives and talking over school days. + +Then he returned to the city, feeling that luck had dealt unfairly by +him and that he was more out of place than ever. + +And now began a period in Winn's life which he never afterward recalled +without a chill of dread. To no one did he confide his feelings, for no +one, he felt, could understand them. It was not exactly a love-lorn fit +of despondency, and yet it was, for Mona was ever present in his +thoughts. He avoided Jack Nickerson, hating to listen to his inevitable +sneering, and kept away from Ethel Sherman. He hunted for news items, as +duty called him, visiting the stock exchange, the theatre, the court +rooms, and the morgue. And while he looked for news, recording simple +drunks and their penalties, suicides and their names and history, and +the advent of theatrical stars with equal indifference, he scanned the +crowded streets and all public places, ever on the watch for one fair +face. Often he would stand on a corner for an hour, watching the passing +throng, and then at a theatre entrance until all had departed. And +though he was one of that busy throng of pushing people, a spectator of +careless, laughing humanity crowding into and out of playhouses, he was +not of them. Instead was he a disappointed, discouraged man, whose +ambitions had come to naught and whose hopes were in shadow. He was +moody and silent at home and aimless at his work, and as the days went +by with never one glimpse of the face he now longed to see more than all +else in the world, he grew utterly hopeless. + +How many times had he lived over those summer days on Rockhaven, how +often fancied himself in the cave listening to the artless words and +simple music of that child of nature, and how he cursed his own +stupidity and lack of appreciation, need not be specified. + +With him, as with us all, the blessings that had been his seemed to +brighten and grow dearer as they took flight. + +And of Mona or her whereabouts, not one word or hint had reached him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +A NEW STAR + + +To that city, surfeited with pleasure, a new sensation had come, and +while Winn Hardy was aimlessly gathering news items, too disconsolate to +read the amusement notes even, and caring not at all what happened in +stage-land, it was slowly spreading. A little ripple at first, when the +few who could appreciate the exquisite nature of Mona's simple music, +heard her to go away charmed and come again, the while telling all whom +they knew of it, until the "Alhambra" was packed each night and "Mlle. +Mona in Scotch Melodies," as the sign that flanked either side of the +stage read, was all the rage. Then the papers picked it up and the +musical critics exhausted their vocabularies about her. They extolled +her pose, expression, and inflection; they went into raptures over +technique, time, and timbre; they lauded her classic profile, her arm, +her throat, her eyes; while Mona, unmindful of all their clatter, forgot +herself each night as she threw her very heart and soul into her +playing. + +And Fritz grew mad with love! + +She practised still, hours each day on new and classic music; he +insisted that she should, and when some soulless sonata, some delirious +composition full of leaps and quivers and trills was learned, she +executed it at night. + +But it was the simple and sweet old songs of Bonnie Scotland that won +applause. + +And when, as happened almost nightly, some admirer gave a basket or +bouquet of costly flowers to an usher to be passed up over the +footlights to her, they were usually tied with tartan ribbon. + +And the little German teacher had almost lost his reason. + +Twice he had been on his knees before her, and with hand on heart and in +broken English, disclosed his love for "Mein Fraulein Liebchen." + +But Mona only shook her head. + +He wept, he raved, he smote his breast, and would have kissed the shoes +she wore, if she would have but stood still and allowed it. + +There were others who sent her notes tucked in baskets of flowers, they +begged for an interview, for just one word of reply. They covered pages +with wild declarations of love, they sent her costly jewels tied to love +missives, in the vain hope of an answer, and gathered at the stage door +to see her pass in and out. But Jess, like an old watch dog, was always +on guard. He went with her to the "Alhambra" each night and waited until +she had "done her turn," and after she had changed her garb, helped her +into a carriage and rode home with her. + +He well might care for her, for each week the manager paid for her "act" +what would have been regarded on Rockhaven as a small fortune, and +considered it cheap at that price. + +And Mona, growing accustomed now to the sea of faces she had once +feared, watched them covertly each evening, hoping and yet dreading to +catch sight of a certain one among them. + +It was all a new wonder world, a strange, sweet intoxication, and like a +dream to her. She rejoiced in her power, conscious, as well she might +be, how she could sway the thousands to wild applause and some to tears. +And when it was all over and she away from the scene of her triumph each +time, she wondered if _he_ had made one in that audience. And what would +he say and think, if he was? And what would he do? Had he quite +forgotten the simple child who amused him one summer, or would he seek +her out? + +And when she thought of how like a silly girl she had raised her lips +to him at the moment of parting, and the tears she had shed, her face +burned. + +Then pride came forth, and she felt that, if he ever did seek her again, +he would have to beg forgiveness on his knees, protesting even as Fritz +had, before she would extend a hand even. For Mona was growing proud and +conscious of her own power at this time. + +The weeks during which she had nightly reigned as a queen over +thousands, the storms of applause she had heard when bowing and smiling +before them, and all the flatteries of flowers and words that had been +showered upon her, had wrought its inevitable change. Only to Uncle Jess +was she the same. And he? + +Well, never in his life had so much happiness come as now. He seemed to +grow younger each day, for in the new joy that had come to Mona he found +his own. Then, too, a change came to Mona's mother. No longer did she +consider "fiddlin' a man's business," and frown at her child. In their +temporary home that daughter ruled supreme, her every wish gratified, +her every whim considered just right. + +"We'll go back 'n' visit the island fer a spell," Jess said, when the +season at the "Alhambra" was nearing its close; "an' then we'll take ye +'round, girlie, an' let ye see the world. I kin 'ford it now, 'n' the +best is none too good fer ye." + +But the current of Fate twists and turns us at will, while adown the +stream of life we float, and sometimes we drift into smooth waters and +again we are dashed against the rocks. With our will or against our +will, no matter, we are swept on. + +And a Power quite beyond our ken is ever in control. + +And one evening, despondent, aimless, and feeling life a hopeless fight +and Fate against him, Winn Hardy drifted into the "Alhambra." + +No knowledge of the star that nightly blazed there had reached him, and +if he had read of her, it was as of others who were noticed by the press +and unknown to him. He came in, as he entered other theatres, on a +reporter's pass, privileged to take a seat if not occupied, or else +stand. In this case, it seemed the latter, for the house was packed and +a fringe of men circled the foyer. The boxes were also filled; and as +Winn glanced across to them, there in one, dressed in evening gown, her +arms and shoulders bare, and slowly fanning herself, sat Ethel Sherman. +And with her--Simmons! + +It was nothing to Winn, of course, and yet it awoke disgust. + +The usual vaudeville acts were on in turn, and Winn, somewhat weary with +life, and watching one particular box more than the stage, was about to +leave when suddenly a wild burst of applause swept over the house, and +there, just tripping on to the stage, bowing and smiling as she came +was--Mona! + +For one instant his heart stopped beating. + +Great Heavens, could it be possible, or was this some insane dream! He +gasped for breath. + +The house seemed to twist and turn. + +And then, as he leaned against a pillar to steady himself, a hush came. + +And what a picture stood before him! + +Not the half-developed, ill-clad girl who had sat with him in the cave! +Not the timid child with wondering eyes, looking up to him as a superior +being! Not the gentle Mona, the sweet flower, awaiting his hand. Oh, no! + +Instead, a proud and beautiful woman, erect and smiling, with conscious +power. A stately creature with rounded arms, dimpled throat, and perfect +shoulders like marble, emerging from the soft white silk that trailed +upon the stage. And in the crowning coils of hair, black as night, a +single pink rosebud, half open, and in her hand the same old brown +violin! + +Then bowing to right and left, as she swept that vast audience with her +eyes, while the storm of applause continued, she raised it to her chin. + +Not a breath, not a whisper now, as the matchless voice of her music +rippled forth, tinkling like tiny bells on a mountain side, murmuring +like a brook in forest stillness, sweet as a bird singing in the +sunlight. + +And when she had held that vast throng spellbound, entranced, +breathless, until the last exquisite note had vibrated in their hearts, +and bowed again once more, a tornado of sound burst forth. While they +cheered and shouted, adown each aisle ushers hurried with costly flowers +and wreaths, and baskets and bunches of them were tossed upon the stage +like so many leaves. + +Then Winn saw Ethel Sherman rise in her box and throw the great bunch of +orchids she had held into the pile at Mona's feet. + +And then that queen in white raised her violin once more. And once +again, as many times before, the old love song that has thrilled the +world for centuries carried Winn's heart back to the cave on Rockhaven +and the twilight hour when its voice of undying love had mingled with +the ocean requiem. + +Lost was he now to the time and place and that spellbound audience; lost +to the burst of applause that again shook the very building, to the men +who cheered, the women who wept. Lost to all and everything except his +own heartache. + +And as he brushed his eyes free from the mist that had gathered, and +turned away, it was in utter despondency and humiliation, believing his +love hopeless now, and forgiveness from Mona impossible. + +The next morning, reading the double-leaded headlines announcing the +farewell appearance of this peerless queen of melody and the columns of +fulsome praise that followed, only increased that feeling. Her laurels +had been won, her crown secured, and now his love would be a worthless +toy in her estimation. + +All that was left was to see her, if he could, and beg her forgiveness. + +But even this was denied him. + +"I'm a friend of Miss Hutton's," he said to the "Alhambra" manager early +that day, "and I wish to obtain her address." + +"I've no doubt of it," replied the man, in a sneering tone; "lots of her +admirers have wanted it, and kept on wanting it for all me." + +"But I am a friend of hers," persisted Winn, his ire rising, "and I wish +to see her." + +"Well, go hunt for her," came the insolent answer. "She's in the city; +but her address is her private property, and you don't learn it from +me." And he turned away. + +And Winn did likewise, too angry for further parley. + +And that night, impelled a little by penitence and more by despondency, +he called on Ethel Sherman. + +"How did you enjoy Scotch melodies last evening?" he said gently, not +wishing to seem inquisitive; "I saw you in a box at the 'Alhambra.'" + +"Enjoy hardly expresses it," she answered earnestly; "I was spellbound, +enraptured, and moved to tears. It was silly, I know, but I couldn't +help it. Did you see me throw my flowers at the girl?" + +"I did," he replied, his heart throbbing; "and you were not alone in +your enthusiasm. She seemed to carry the house by storm. It was her +farewell appearance, I noticed by the papers this morning." + +He was trying to speak indifferently, but it was not easy. + +"I am sorry," she responded, eyeing him keenly; "I've heard her five +times in the past two weeks, and yesterday learned she was from +Rockhaven. Did you ever hear her before?" + +Then Winn knew that his secret was a secret no longer. + +"I have," he admitted modestly; "she is the niece of Jess Hutton." + +"And it was to see her that you went to the island two weeks ago," +pursued Ethel, smiling; "I thought as much then." + +For a moment she tapped the carpet with one dainty slipper, while her +lips were pressed tightly together, and then she continued:-- + +"I knew last summer," she said, in a cool and even voice, "that you had +left your heart on the island when you came back. Permit me to +congratulate you. The girl is a marvel." + +"It is very kind of you to say so," he responded dejectedly, "but +useless. I didn't find her when I went there, and it's all over between +us, I presume." + +Then Ethel laughed, but it was unnatural, and like the rattle of dry +bones. "Not a bit of it," she said briskly; "women with such eyes as +hers do not unlearn the lesson of love easily. You may have to beg +forgiveness for your neglect on your knees, but you will receive it. It +is such souls as hers that give the lie to all our worldly philosophy." + +"Have you such a one?" he queried thoughtlessly. + +Her eyes flashed. + +"No," she answered bitterly; "no one ever accused me of such folly. I +have no heart, and am for sale to the highest bidder." + +"I beg your pardon, Ethel," he said humbly, "I was only thinking of the +long ago, and forgot what I was then." + +"You need not," she replied, turning away. "I only am to blame, but--it +hurt--from you." + +Then, covering her eyes with one hand, she added slowly, as if the words +came hard: "It's all past and gone, Winn, but--but I did not know myself +then, and now it's too late. God help me!" + +At the door she laid a detaining hand on his arm. + +"I wish you well," she said, with a quiver in her voice; "I wish you all +that's best and holiest in life. Go to your island girl, and at once. +She is worthy of you, and you of her. We have been good friends, and I +hope always will be. Love is only an illusion, but friendship endless. +And now, good-by, and God bless you!" + +And Winn, going out into the night, knew that the proud girl was reaping +the pain she had sown. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +LOVE ETERNAL + +The first warm days of spring had come to Rockhaven ere Mona and her +parents returned. The sunny slopes back of the village were growing +green, the tulips and daffodils in Mona's dooryard just peeping out, the +gulls on the cliffs nest-building, the fishermen painting their boats +and mending nets, Parson Bush, with two helpers, thanks to Rockhaven +stock, shingling the church, and life on the island budding forth into +vernal activity. No hint of Mona's proud life in the city and wonderful +triumph had reached those people, and the Hutton family were welcomed +back as returning from a pleasure trip. + +It was Mona's expressed wish that no mention be made of her musical +ambition and its success, and as her desires were now law with Jess and +her mother, she was obeyed. Captain Roby had told them of Winn's +astonishing and unexpected visit before they set foot on the island; and +it was repeated by many others with sundry comments, all converging to +one end, Mrs. Moore's being the most pointed, perhaps, and therefore +best to quote. + +"I think," said that well-intentioned gossip-monger to Mona, "he come +here to make ye a visit, more 'speshly, though he said he wanted to see +what could be done 'bout settin' the quarry a-goin'. He called on me, +and the only thing he seemed to listen to with any sort o' interest was +'bout you goin' away and when you was like to come back. I never seen a +feller act more love-struck than he was, an' more out o' sorts. He even +went a wandering over the island in the snow, like as if he was +demented." + +All this was a revelation to Mona, and unaccountable. At first it +provoked her silent derision and increased the bitterness and almost +hatred which she had come to feel toward this erstwhile lover. + +Mona Hutton was what country people would call a strange compound: a +product of a lone sea island, of its storms and the unceasing booming of +billows; of days, weeks, and months spent alone, where only the ocean +voiced eternity; of the whispers of winds in spruce thickets, of the +gorge and the cave where she hid herself; of her own moods, sad, solemn, +and contemplative. She had grown up close to God, but distant from man. +The flowers blooming in her dooryard, the wild roses clinging to life +between the granite ledges, the sea-gulls sailing over the cliffs, the +inward rush of the white-crested waves tossing the rockweed and kelpie +upward, and the starfish and anemones left by the tide had been her +playmates. She had learned to depend on these and her violin for +company. Lovers she had none, neither were other island young folk akin +to her. Between her mother and herself, also, was a chasm. It had been +opened when that unsympathetic mother forbade the violin in her house, +and was never afterward bridged. Jess only understood her. Jess, with +his quaint philosophy, tender heart, unselfish impulses, and love of +nature, had been her spiritual and moral mentor. To him had she gone +with her moods, and upon him lavished her childhood and girlhood love. + +And then had come a new and strangely sweet illusion, a glow of new +sunshine warming her heart and adding a roseate hue to her thoughts. It +was unaccountable but charming, and seemed to lend a sparkle to the sea +waves, a more impressive grandeur to the limitless ocean, a tenderer +beauty to the moonlight. The gorge and the cave seemed an enchanted nook +in fairyland, and the old tide mill a romantic ruin. + +Then had come the climax of this strange intoxication, the one ecstatic +moment when this magician over her thoughts, this Prince Perfect, had +entwined his arms about her and whispered, "I love you." + +Repel him she could not, neither did she care to do so. It was to her as +if the gates of another world were opened; and in the wondrous thrill of +his lips she forgot herself, life, and God, even. + +And then the cold and cruel message that said to her, "Forget me as I +must you." It was a summer-day dream, with no hope of renewal. + +Then came the long fight against her own heart's desire, the months of +hopeless hope, and, at last, the will to win her way to the world's +applause. + +He was there! He might, must, see or hear of her! He had said the world +would listen entranced if she had but the courage to stand before them! +And the old Carver will that was in her now nerved her to her trial. + +And in the days and weeks of the strange new life while she hoped, and +yet feared, to meet him, that one thought was her staff. It was with her +by day and by night, a silent defiance of love, a revenge for her pain. +When the supreme moment of her trial came and she stood before that sea +of faces, only her young, trembling body was there, her every thought, +her heart and soul even, were back in the cave, and he was listening. + +And it was because this cry of love, this thrill of longing, leaped out +of her fingers and spoke in every note of the songs she played, that she +won her triumph. + +For the applause she heard, the flowers showered upon her, the money +received, she cared not at all. To reach him, show him what she could +do, ay, defy him even with the skill of her art, the majesty of her +courage, was everything. + +And this was Mona Hutton, and now it was all over. + +She had won her crown, fame was hers, the world of his city had bowed +before her, but he was not there, or if he had been, she knew it not. + +For days this defiance of her own love lasted, and then a change came. +Little by little the leaven of his coming there softened her heart. +Perhaps he had been ill, or not in the city at all? Perhaps he had been, +as he wrote, discouraged and hopeless? Perhaps she had not understood +his letter? When love once sought excuses, they came in plenty, and she +began to upbraid herself. Why had she not sent him one word of love, one +message of faith? + +And then this strange child of impulses, this girl of moods and +fancies, sombre as twilight in the gorge and sad as a whisper of sea +winds in the pine trees, betook herself away from even Jess to nurse her +heart-sickness again. + +She had been proud and defiant when she faced the world, scornful while +pride lasted; now she was a contrite child, pitiful in her +self-reproaches. + +Each day she went to the tower to live over that parting in tears and +heartache, and then to the cave, striving to recall every word, and +look, and smile of his. + +A pilgrimage to the shrine of love! A journey to the grave of hope! + +Sometimes she carried her violin, but its strings remained mute. + +Sometimes she fondled and kissed the sea-shells and starfish, now dry +and hard, which his hand had carried to this trysting-place. + +Sometimes--yea, often, had tears fallen upon the cold stone floor of +that nook, even as our tears fall upon the grass-grown graves of those +we have lost. + +And then, one day, just as the twilight had darkened the gorge, and she, +hopeless and heart-broken, leaned against the cave's cold wall, she saw +him enter the ravine. + +Step by step he climbed upward until the cave was reached, and then he +knelt before her. + +"Forgive me, Mona," he said gently, extending his hands, "I have loved +you always," and as he gathered her close in his arms, God's whisper of +life and love eternal spoke from those granite walls. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +CONCLUSION + + +The ocean billows still beat unceasingly against Rockhaven's granite +cliffs and toss the rockweed and kelpie aloft. The tide still ebbs and +flows beneath the old mill, and the fishermen still mend their nets and +sail away. Parson Bush is getting old and feeble, and his hair white as +snow. He still utters fervent thanks, however, for the many blessings +that have come to this far-off island, including the new church Jess and +Winn were instrumental in building. The same old bell still hangs in its +tower, and Sunday evenings always answers the one in Northaven. Its +sound is sweet to Winn, for it always recalls his boyhood days and marks +a turning-point in his life-history. He is president of the new +Rockhaven Granite Company now, and prosperous. A beautiful residence of +granite stands back of the old tower on Norse Hill, and there Winn and +Mona abide in summer, though the city claims them winters. Mona often +entertains her friends with her violin, but no money would tempt her +again to play in public. Jess still fiddles when he is "lunsum," which +is not often, for a little girl with eyes like Mona's thinks "Gampa" the +most wonderful man who ever lived. A boy, two years older, would cut +that fiddle open to find what made the noise, if he got the chance. They +both pursue him from morn till eve and, in spite of their mother's +protest, give him no rest. + +[Illustration: ROCKHAVEN.] + +"Let 'em have all the fun they kin," he says, when Mona tries to call +them off; "they won't be young but once, an' when they git old they'll +hev' trouble 'nuff to make up." + +Winn and Mona often visit the gorge on pleasant Sunday afternoons, for +the exquisite chords of romance still vibrate in their hearts. +Occasionally she takes her violin along, and once more the old sweet +love songs whisper out of the cave. + +And hidden away in one corner of it, never disturbed, are a few +sea-shells and dried starfish. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rockhaven, by Charles Munn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROCKHAVEN *** + +***** This file should be named 33787-8.txt or 33787-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/7/8/33787/ + +Produced by Matthew Rongey, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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: Rockhaven + +Author: Charles Munn + +Illustrator: Frank Merrill + +Release Date: September 21, 2010 [EBook #33787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROCKHAVEN *** + + + + +Produced by Matthew Rongey, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>ROCKHAVEN</h1> + +<h2>BY CHARLES CLARK MUNN</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "POCKET ISLAND" AND "UNCLE TERRY"</h3> + + +<h3><i>ILLUSTRATED BY</i><br /> +<i>FRANK T. MERRILL</i></h3> + + +<h3>BOSTON<br /> +LEE AND SHEPARD<br /> +MCMII</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Published March</span>, 1902.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1902, by Lee and Shepard.</span></h3> + +<h3><i>All Rights Reserved.</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Rockhaven.</span></h3> + +<h3>Norwood Press<br /> +J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith<br /> +Norwood Mass. U.S.A.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>To All<br /> +WHO DESPISE HYPOCRISY AND DECEPTION<br /> +WHO ADMIRE MANLY COURAGE AND WOMANLY DEVOTION<br /> +WHOSE HEARTS YET VIBRATE TO THE<br /> +CHORDS OF ROMANCE<br /> +AND WHO RESPECT SIMPLE FAITH IN AND<br /> +GRATITUDE TO GOD<br /> +This Book is Respectfully Dedicated<br /> +BY THE AUTHOR</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Old Tide-mill.</span></h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">On Rockhaven</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Winn Hardy</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">The Rockhaven Granite Company</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">Where the Sea-gulls come</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">Jess Hutton</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">The Bud of a Romance</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">Sunday on Rockhaven</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">The Hand of Fate</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">A Friendly Hand</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">Mona Hutton</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">The Devil's Oven</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">The Parting of the Ways</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">Wild Roses</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">J. Malcolm Weston</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">A Matter of Business</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">The Growth of a Bubble</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">In the Path of Moonlight</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">In a Fog</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">A Philosopher</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">A Cloud over Rockhaven</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">The Mood of the Bells</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">Two Rascals</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">The Starting of a "Corner"</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. <span class="smcap">The Progress of a "Corner"</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. <span class="smcap">A Summer Day</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. <span class="smcap">A Climax</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII. <span class="smcap">Severing the Ties</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. <span class="smcap">On 'Change</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX. <span class="smcap">The Bubble rises</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX. <span class="smcap">The Bubble bursts</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI. <span class="smcap">Two Dogs and a Bone</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII. <span class="smcap">The Aftermath of a Swindle</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII. <span class="smcap">A Touch of Heroism</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV. <span class="smcap">A Woman's Wiles</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV. <span class="smcap">The Wheel of Fortune</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI. <span class="smcap">Going, Going, Gone!</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII. <span class="smcap">A Social Cynic</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII. <span class="smcap">The End of an Idyl</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX. <span class="smcap">A Gray-haired Romance</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL. <span class="smcap">A Good Send-off</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI. <span class="smcap">Ein Wunderbares Fraulein</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII. <span class="smcap">The Road to the Temple</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII. <span class="smcap">The Cynic's Shadow</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV. <span class="smcap">Only a Mood</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV. <span class="smcap">The Old Home</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI. <span class="smcap">A New Star</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII. <span class="smcap">Love Eternal</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII. <span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<p><a href="#illus1"><span class="smcap">The Old Tide-Mill</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus2"><span class="smcap">Mona</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus3"><span class="smcap">Jess Hutton, Philosopher</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus4"><span class="smcap">The Devil's Oven</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus5"><span class="smcap">The Bubble Bursts</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus6"><span class="smcap">Rockhaven</span></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ROCKHAVEN</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>ON ROCKHAVEN</h3> + + +<p>"It ain't more'n onct in a lifetime," said Jess Hutton to the crowd of +friends in his store, "that luck comes thick 'n' fat to any on us 'n' so +fer that reason I sent over to the mainland fer suthin' o' a liquid +natur; 'n' now take hold, all hands, 'n' injie yerselves on Jess."</p> + +<p>With that he began setting forth upon the counter, in battle array, +dozens upon dozens of bottles filled with dark brown liquid and +interspersed with boxes of cigars. For Jess Hutton, the oracle, +principal storekeeper, first selectman, school committeeman, prize story +teller, philosopher and friend to everybody on Rockhaven island, had +sold a few acres of granite ledge he set no value upon, for two thousand +dollars, half cash down; and being a man of generous impulses, had +invited the circle of friends most congenial, to "drop round ternight +'n' I'll set 'em up."</p> + +<p>It is true that the cigars he passed out so freely were not imported, +still they were the best he kept, and not the cheap brand most in demand +on Rockhaven, and the bottles contained the vintage of hops and malt +instead of "extra dry," but both were urged upon all in a way that left +refusal impossible.</p> + +<p>And of that unique gathering of men, with sea-tanned faces, garbed +mainly in shirt, trousers, and sailor caps, some wearing boots, some +slippers, some barefoot, nearly all addressed one another as "Cap" or +"Cap'n," for to own a fishing sloop or jigger on Rockhaven meant +distinction.</p> + +<p>"I dunno how it all come about," said Jess, when the popping of corks +had ceased and the incense of cabbage leaves began to arise, "but I was +sorter dozin' on the counter that day when this bloomin' freak, with +white duck pants, 'n' cap, 'n' shirt, 'n' gray side whiskers, blew in, +'n' the fust I know'd, I heerd him say, 'Come, wake up, Rip Van Winkle! +I want ter buy yer quarry!'</p> + +<p>"Then I sot up 'n' rubbed my eyes 'n' looked at him, sure he must be one +o' them make-believe sailors off a yacht I'd seen run in the night +afore, 'n' had come ashore with skates on.</p> + +<p>"'Want ter buy what?' I sez. 'Want ter buy yer quarry,' he sez again. 'I +heerd ye owned the one t'other side o' the harbor, 'n' if ye want ter +sell it cheap, I'll buy it.' Then I looked at him harder'n ever; sure he +had a jag 'n' was makin' game o' me.</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' I sez, 'I'll sell ye the quarry, or the hull island, if ye ain't +sure ye own it already. Better go into the back o' the store 'n' lay +down on a pile o' old sails ye'll find thar, 'n' sleep it off. Things'll +look more nat'ral to ye by that time.' With that he laffed fit ter +split. 'You're all right, old sport,' he sez, 'but I ain't drunk, 'n' if +ye'll set the price low enough, I'll buy yer quarry and pay ye cash +fer't.'</p> + +<p>"'Wal,' I sez, thinkin' I'd set the price high 'nough ter knock him +galley west, 'I'll take three thousand dollars fer't.'</p> + +<p>"'I'll give ye two,' he said, ''n' pay yer half down.' 'Hev ye got it +with ye?' I sed. 'I hev,' he said, 'aboord the boat, or I'll give ye a +check.' 'Checks don't go here,' I said, 'but if ye've got real money, +'n' mean business, it's yourn at that figger.' Then he went off, 'n' I +was so sure I'd never set eyes on him ag'in I went ter sleep. It didn't +seem five minutes till he blew in ag'in. 'How many acres o' that ledge +do ye own,' he said, 'an' how many goes with the quarry?' 'Wall,' I +said, 'there's about a hundred, 'n' if that ain't nuff ter keep ye busy +blastin' the rest o' yer nateral life, I'll throw in the hull o' Norse +Hill jist ter bind the bargain,' fer I didn't no more s'pose he meant +bizniss than I s'posed I'd got wings. 'Wal,' he says, pullin' out a roll +o' bills bigger'n my arm. 'Here's the kale seed, an' when ye'll show me +what I'm buyin' 'n' a deed on't, it's yourn.'</p> + +<p>"Wal, I jist pinched myself, ter see if I was 'wake, an' jumpin' off the +counter, fished a deed out o' my safe 'n' took it 'long, an' showed him +round the ledge, believin' all the time when he'd seen it, he'd tell me +ter go soak my head, er suthin' o' that sort. But he didn't, an' arter I +got hold o' the money 'n' counted it, wonderin' if it wasn't all bogus, +'n' give him a receipt, 'n' he'd gone off, I went 'n' stuck a pin into +my leg, jist ter be sure I was awake, after all. That was a week ago," +continued Jess, lighting one of the cigars he had set forth, "but I +didn't say nuthin' 'bout it till I'd gone ashore with the money an' the +bank folks hed said it was all right, 'n' now I think I've lost jist a +thousand dollars by not askin' four for't. Why, the loonytic acted as +though he owned a printin' press that made money, an' was goin' all the +time."</p> + +<p>"Wish I'd been ashore," observed Captain Moore, who was one of the +group, "I'd a tackled him ter buy the <i>Nancy Jane</i>. She's been lyin' +inside o' the harbor, half full o' bilge water, fer more'n a year, an' +ain't wuth scuttlin'. Ye'd orter 'a thought on't, Jess, an' persuaded +him he could 'a used 'r to carry stun in."</p> + +<p>"An' if I'd a-knowed it," put in Cap'n Jet Doty, another of the group, +"I'd a tried him on 'bout a hundred kit o' mackerel we've got that's a +trifful rusty. He cud a-used 'em somehow. Ye'd orter think o' yer +neighbors, Jess, in such a case, an' let 'em in on't."</p> + +<p>"I dunno but ye're right," responded Jess; "but I wus caught nappin', +'n' I cac'late that if any o' ye hed been woke up by sech a lubber with +gray whiskers, like stun'sls, an' dude cloes like these jackdaw yachters +wear, an offerin' ye two thousand dollars fer what ye'd sell fer fifty, +an' no takers, ye'd a-bin sot back, so ter speak. If I'd a hed time ter +think an' knowed what an easy mark the cuss was, I'd a-laid ter sell him +the hull island 'n' divided it up all round."</p> + +<p>And be it said that if all the landowners of Rockhaven had obtained even +what they valued their holdings at, they would have sold cheerfully, for +out of the eighty odd square miles of the island, not one quarter was of +soil, and much of that so sandy that only bayberry bushes and wild +roses grew on it, or else thickets of stunted spruce. The only means of +livelihood to most was the sea, and if nature had not endowed the island +with a capacious land-locked harbor and a few acres of productive soil +beyond it, and shut in by wall-like shores, Rockhaven would have been +left to the sea-gulls that infested its cliffs, or the fish-hawks that +found its harbor good fishing ground.</p> + +<p>"What'd ye s'pose he's goin' ter do with it, now he's got it?" put in +Cap'n Doty, when Jess had finished his recital, and having in mind his +stock of rusty mackerel. "Will he come down here 'n' go ter quarryin'?"</p> + +<p>"Mebbe he wants it fer ballast fer a new boat," interposed young Dave +Moore. "Or fer buildin' a house," put in Dave's brother, Sam. "Cheer up, +uncle, we may sell him the <i>Nancy Jane</i> yit. He'll hev ter hire or buy +suthin' ter carry stun 'way from the island. He can't make a raft on't."</p> + +<p>"An' if he does," asserted Cap'n Moore, addressing Cap'n Doty, who sat +opposite him on a cracker barrel, "ye'd git a chance to work off them +mackerel."</p> + +<p>"I dunno what he's goin' ter do with it," asserted Jess, when a pause +came, "nor care, so long's I git t'other thousand as is comin' when +deeds is passed. I ain't sure I'll git that, either," he added +candidly, "but if I don't the quarry's still mine 'n' a cool thousand o' +that freak's good money's gone out o' circulation anyhow, which is some +comfort."</p> + +<p>Then came a lull in conversation, and in place the popping of more corks +and "Here's to yer good luck, Jess," as bottles were elevated and +pointed downward.</p> + +<p>"Come, Jess," said Dave Moore, when this second libation had been +indulged in, and who was in a mood for hearing yarns, "tell 'em 'bout +old Bill Atlas."</p> + +<p>Now this tale, antedating the day and generation of most of Jess +Hutton's auditors, was nevertheless a favorite with him and one he +always enjoyed telling.</p> + +<p>"Wal," he said, "if ye want ter hear 'bout old Bill, I'll tell ye, +though some o' ye here hez heerd 'bout him afore, I reckon. It's been a +good many years since Bill took to his wings, humsoever, 'n' so his +hist'ry may be divartin'. Bill used ter live all 'lone in a little shack +he'd built out o' drift, half way 'tween here and Northaven. That is, he +slept thar nights when he was ashore, fer he was away fishin' most o' +the time. He were the worst soaker on the island, an' from the time he +sot foot ashore 'n' got his pay until every cent was spent, he didn't +draw a sober breath. Thar wan't no use arguin' with Bill, or doin' +anything to reform him. Jist the moment he got a dollar, jist that +moment he started in ter git drunk 'n' allus succeeded. Even Parson +Bush, who hed jist come here then 'n' anxious ter do good, failed on +Bill. No 'mount o' argufyin' 'bout the worm that never dies or the fate +o' sinners hed a mite o' influence on Bill.</p> + +<p>"'Parson,' he'd say, 'thar ain't no use a-talkin' ter me. Licker was +made ter be drunk, else why was it made at all, 'n' if the Lord Almighty +didn't cac'late fer me ter drink it, why did he make me hanker for't? Ye +jist preach ter them as is like ter mind it an'll foller it. I ain't, +an' it'll do no good.' An' then Bill'd roll away an' fill up. He wa'n't +a quarrelsome cuss, jist a good-natured soaker who meant ter git drunk, +'n' done it, an' never meant ter bother nobody when he was.</p> + +<p>"But some on us young folks in them days sot out to hev fun with Bill +once upon a time, an' we did, an' more'n that, we joggled him so he quit +drinkin' fer most a year. He'd had one er two fits o' tremens afore that +time, 'n' had sorter got skeery 'bout seein' things, so our trick worked +fust rate. One o' the smacks hed jist brought in a hogfish that day, an' +it was the worst lookin' critter that ever growed in the sea. It +weighed 'bout fifty poun' 'n' was 'most all mouth 'n' teeth. Bill was up +in the corner o' a fish house sleepin' off a jag when the critter was +h'isted onto the dock, 'n' the moment we spied it we said we'd try it on +Bill. We told everybody ter keep quiet 'n' then we went at it. Fust we +lugged the hogfish over ter Bill's shack, which was out on the end o' a +little pint 'n' sorter shut in 'tween the rocks, 'n' then we got an old +bit o' sail and went ter work. We sot the critter up on stuns, right in +front o' the shack, 'n' made a tail 'bout forty feet long out o' the +sail, an' stuffed it nat'ral like, 'n' then rigged lines running over +the shanty to work the critter's mouth 'n' tail up 'n' down when the +time come. It was 'long in the arternoon when we sot about 'n' we +cac'lated Bill 'd wake up sometime arter dark 'n' come to his shack in +jist the mood ter 'preciate the good thing that we hed waitin' fer him. +Then to sorter liven up matters, we took a handful o' matches, an' +dampenin' 'em, rubbed the ends round the eyes an' mouth o' the critter, +'n' in spots 'long the tail, where we was to hist it a little. It was +clear dark afore we got the trap all sot 'n' baited, 'n' then five on us +took the lines and tried the joke. It worked pretty slick, 'n' ter see +that critter's mouth, more'n a foot long 'n' full o' teeth, 'n' eyes +with rings of phosphorus round 'em, a-workin' up an' down, to say +nothin' 'bout the tail, would a-skeered a sober man into fits arter +dark, let alone one who 'spected snakes. When Bill's welcome home was +all ready, we sot a watch on Bill, who was still asleep, 'n' the rest on +us went home ter supper. Then we got together, 'bout two dozen on us +that knew Bill best, 'n' gittin' sheets ter wrap up in, to sorter +stiffen the hogfish effect, all hands hid round his shanty an' inside +on't. It was purty late 'fore Bill showed up, but he came 'long finally, +kind o' wobblin' some and hummin':—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'I'm a gallant lass as ever you see,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the roving sailor winked at me.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Bill was allus feelin' that way when half full 'n' now jist happy 'n' +comfortable like. There was a new moon that sorter lit up the path, 'n' +jist as he got to where it made a turn, 'bout ten feet from the shanty, +I made a signal by squeakin' like a gull, an' the boys begun workin' the +lines, 'n' 'bout two dozen white figgers rose up from behind the rocks +or stepped out o' the cabin. I never knew which skeered Bill the worst, +the awful critter snappin' at him thar in the path, or the ghosts, for +Bill gave one screech that could a' been heard five mile, 'n' ye never +seen a man run the way he did. He didn't stop ter keep in the path +either, but jist went right over the rocks anywhere. He tumbled two or +three times 'fore he got out o' sight, 'n' you'd a-thought he was made +o' rubber, the way he got up 'n' yelled, 'Help, help, O Lord,' all the +time. I'll 'low it was the fust time he'd ever called on the Lord fer +help, but it wa'n't the last, fer he made straight fer the parson's +house 'n' begun pummellin' on the door.</p> + +<p>"'O Lord, take me in,' he said when the parson opened it, 'I'm come fer +at last 'n' the divil's arter me. Pray fer me, parson, an' for God's +sake, do it quick!' An' then he went down on his knees, 'n' sayin', +'Lordy, Lordy, I'll never drink 'nother drop's long's I live!' Parson +Bush was a good deal took back, fer he didn't know the joke, 'n' 'lowed +Bill had the tremens. 'Better go back to yer shanty, ye sot,' he said, +'an' when you git sober come here 'n' I'll talk with ye,' an' with that +he shet the door 'n' Bill jist laid down 'n' bellowed like a calf. 'N' +he didn't go back to his shanty, either, that night, not by a jugful; +he'd seen 'nough o' that spot ter last him quite a spell. 'N' when he +did thar warn't nuthin' out o' ordinary, fer we'd chucked the hogfish +off the rocks, 'n' 'twas more 'n a year 'fore Bill found out the trick +we played, 'n' in all that time he kept sober. He did find out arter a +spell, fer a joke like that can't be kept allus, 'n' when Bill did, he +took ter drink agin, 'n' finally jumped off the dock one night in a fit +o' the jims 'n' that was the last o' him. It's hard to larn an old dog +new tricks."</p> + +<p>For an hour the little crowd of Jess Hutton's friends lingered, +wondering and speculating on what the outcome of this investment in a +granite ledge would be. To most it seemed a piece of folly or the act of +a madman. These worthless rocks had stared them in the face so many +years, had so interfered with house building, or the convenient placing +of fish racks, or road making, that they had one and all come to hate +their very sight. In their estimation they were a nuisance and a curse, +and for any sane man to buy twenty acres of ledge to quarry and +transport five hundred miles, seemed worse than folly.</p> + +<p>Then, having given due expression to this common sentiment, and +congratulating Jess upon his good luck, they shook hands with him and +went their way. And when the sound of their footsteps upon the one +narrow plank walk of Rockhaven had ceased, and only the murmur of the +near-by ocean was heard, Jess, as was his wont when lonesome, drew his +old brown fiddle from its hiding place and sought consolation from its +strings. And also, as usual, the melodies were the songs of Bonnie +Scotland.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>WINN HARDY</h3> + + +<p>Winn Hardy, born and reared where the tinkle of the cow bells on the +hillside pastures, or the call of the village church bell on Sunday was +the most exciting incident, and a crossroads schoolhouse the only temple +of learning, reached the age of fourteen as utterly untainted by +knowledge of the world as the birds that annually visited the old farm +orchards. And then came a catastrophe in his life which ended in two +freshly made graves in the village cemetery, and he was thrust into the +whirl of city life, to make his home with a widowed aunt, a Mrs. +Converse, who felt it her duty to complete his education by a two years' +course at a business college.</p> + +<p>It was a scant educational outfit with which to carve his way to fame +and fortune, but many a man succeeds who has less, and Winn might have +been worse off.</p> + +<p>He had one unfortunate and serious fact to contend with, however, and +that was a mercurial disposition. When the world and his associates +seemed to smile, he soared amid the rosy clouds of optimism, and when +things went wrong, he lost his courage.</p> + +<p>His first step in wage-earning (a menial position in a store, with +scanty pay which scarce sufficed to clothe him) soon convinced him how +hard a task earning a livelihood was, and that no one obtained a penny +unless he fought for it. Then through the influence of his aunt, he +obtained an easier berth as copy clerk in the office of Weston & Hill, +whose business was the investing of other people's money, and while his +hours of service were less, his pay was no better. Three years of this +resulted in slow advancement to a junior bookkeeper's desk and better +pay. It also broadened his list of acquaintances, for he joined a club, +the membership of which was decidedly mixed, and not all of the best +kind of associates for Winn.</p> + +<p>His aunt, a shallow though well-meaning woman, devoted to church work, +gossip, and her pet poodle, considering Winn an unfortunate addition to +her cares, held but scant influence over him. She furnished him a home +to sleep and eat in without cost, urged him to attend church with her, +cautioned him against evil associates; but beyond that she could not and +did not go. So Winn drifted. He saved a little money, realizing that he +must, or be forever helpless and dependent; he learned the slang of the +town and its ways, and forgot for a time the wholesome lessons of his +early life. He also grew more mercurial, and, worse than that, he grew +cynical.</p> + +<p>On all sides, and go where he would, the arrogance of wealth seemed to +hedge him about and force upon him the realization that he was but a +poorly paid bookkeeper, and not likely to become aught else. And then a +worse mishap befell him—he met and became attached to Jack Nickerson.</p> + +<p>There is in every club, and in every walk in life, wherever a young +man's feet may stray, some one it were better he never met—a +Mephistopheles in male garb, whose wit and ways of pleasure-taking are +alluring, whose manners are perfect, whose pockets are well filled; and +alas, whose morals are a matter of convenience.</p> + +<p>That Winn, honest and wholesome-minded country-born fellow that he was, +should be attracted by this product of fast city life is not strange. It +is the attraction that allures the moth toward the flame, the good +toward evil. Follow Nickerson in that course, Winn would not and did +not; he merely admired him for his wit, felt half tempted to emulate his +vices, absorbed his scepticism—for Jack Nickerson in addition to his +vices was a cynic of the most implacable sort. With him all religion was +hypocrisy, all virtue a folly, and all truth a farce. He had income +sufficient to live well upon, gambled for a pastime, was at the race +tracks whenever chance offered, was cheek by jowl with the sporting +fraternity, a man about town and hail fellow well met with all.</p> + +<p>Per contra, he was generous to a fault, laughed most when he uttered his +sharpest sneers, was polished and refined in his tastes and a gentleman +always.</p> + +<p>One distinguished novelist has deified such a man, and made him a hero +of her numerous tales.</p> + +<p>To Winn he appealed more as a fascinating, world-wise sceptic, whose +shafts of satire were gospel truths, and whose Sybarite sort of +existence was worthy of emulation, if one only had the money to follow +it.</p> + +<p>Then, as if to cap the climax and Winn's cynical education, he fell in +love with Ethel Sherman, a beauty and a natural-born flirt, whose ideas +of life and maternal training had convinced her that marriage was a +matter of business, and a means by which to obtain position and wealth.</p> + +<p>Her family were people of moderate means, living near neighbors to +Winn's aunt and attending the same church. She had an elder sister, +Grace, who had, in her estimation, wrecked her life by marrying a poor +man. And when Winn Hardy, young, handsome and callow, first met her, she +was just home from boarding-school, ready to spread her social wings, +and ripe for conquest.</p> + +<p>Winn's aunt was also somewhat to blame in the matter, for she, like many +good women, loved to dabble in match-making, and in her simple mind +fancied it a wise move to bring one about between Ethel and Winn.</p> + +<p>Its results were disastrous to his peace of mind, for, after dancing +attendance for a year and spending half he earned on flowers and theatre +tickets, his suit was laughed at and he was assured that only a rich +young man was eligible to her favor.</p> + +<p>Then he went back to Jack Nickerson, and, though he outgrew his folly, +his impulsive nature became more pronounced and he a more bitter cynic +than ever. For two years he was but a cipher in business and social +life, a poorly paid bookkeeper in the office of Weston & Hill, a drop in +the rushing, pushing, strenuous life of the city; and then came a +change.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY</h3> + + +<p>"Please step into my private office, Mr. Hardy," said J. Malcolm Weston, +head of Weston & Hill, bankers, brokers, and investment securities, as +stated on the two massive nickel plates that flanked their doorway, "I +have a matter of business to discuss with you."</p> + +<p>Ordinarily Mr. J. Malcolm Weston would have said, "You may step into my +private office, Mr. Hardy," when, as in this case, he addressed his +bookkeeper, for Mr. Weston never forgot his dignity in the presence of a +subordinate. It may be added that he never forgot to address a possible +customer as though he owned millions, for J. Malcolm Weston was master +of the fine art of obsequious deference, and his persuasive smile, +cordial hand grasp, and copious use of flowery language had cost many a +cautious man hundreds of dollars. Mr. Weston can best be described as +unctuous, and belonged to that class of men who part their names and +hair in the middle, but make no division in money matters, merely taking +it all.</p> + +<p>When Winn Hardy had obeyed his employer's suave invitation and was +seated in his presence, he was made to feel that he had suddenly stepped +into a sunnier clime.</p> + +<p>"It gives me great pleasure, Mr. Hardy," continued Weston, "to inform +you that we have decided to enlarge your sphere of duty with us, and I +may say, responsibilities. Mr. Hill and myself have considered the +matter carefully, and, in view of your faithful and efficient services, +we shall from now on confide to you the management of an outside matter +of great importance. Please examine this prospectus, which will appear +to-morrow in all the papers of this city."</p> + +<p>Winn took the typewritten document tendered him and carefully scanned +its contents. To show its importance it is given in full, though with +reduced headlines:—</p> + +<h4>THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY.</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">CAPITAL, $1,000,000.00.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stock non-assessable. Shares $1.00 each.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Par Value, $10.00.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">President, J. <span class="smcap">Malcolm Weston</span>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8"><span class="smcap">Board of Directors</span>:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">J. Malcolm Weston of Weston & Hill.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">William M. Simmons, Member of Stock Exchange.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">William B. Codman, President National Bank of Discount.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Samuel H. Wiseman, Real Estate Broker.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">L. Orton Brown, Secretary Board of Trade.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Office of Company: Weston & Hill, Bankers, Brokers, and Investments.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<h4>PROSPECTUS</h4> + +<blockquote> + +<p>This Company has purchased and now owns the finest granite +quarries in the world, over one mile in length and half that in +width, fronting upon the land-locked harbor on the island of +Rockhaven. It has a full and perfect equipment of steam drills, +engines, derricks, an excellent wharf, vessels for transporting +freight, and all modern appliances for carrying on the business +of quarrying.</p> + +<p>It is well known that the rapid growth of architectural taste +produces an ever increasing demand for this, the best of all +building stone, and as we furnish the finest quality of +granite, having that beautiful pink tint so much admired by +architects, you can readily see that our advantages and +prospects are limitless. This is no delusive scheme for gold +mining or oil boring, but a solid and practical business that +guarantees sure returns and certain dividends.</p> + +<p>Our supply of granite is exhaustless, the market limitless, and +all that we need to develop this quarry and obtain lucrative +returns is a little additional capital. For this purpose fifty +thousand shares of the capital stock are now offered for sale +at one dollar per share, so that the investor may receive the +benefit of the advance to par which will follow, as well as the +liberal dividends which will surely accrue.</p> + +<p>The price of stock will be advanced from time to time, as it is +taken up.</p> + +<p>Subscription books now open at the office of</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Weston & Hill</span>, Financiers.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"It reads well," observed Winn, after he had perused this alluring +advertisement, "and I should imagine an investment in a granite quarry +might seem a safe one."</p> + +<p>"Yes, decidedly safe as well as secure," replied J. Malcolm Weston, with +a twinkle in his steely blue eyes not observed by Winn. "I wrote that ad +with the intention of attracting investors who desire a solid investment +for their money, and fancy I have succeeded. You noticed, perhaps, my +allusion to gold mines and oil wells that have recently proved so +elusive." Then taking a box of cigars, and passing them to Winn, and +elevating his feet to a desk, as if to enjoy the telling of a pleasant +episode, Mr. Weston continued: "That prospectus (which I pride myself is +an artistic piece of work) will attract just the class of men who have +grown suspicious of all sorts of schemes. It is this element of solidity +and certainty that we shall elaborate upon. Now I will tell you about +our plan and how you are to assist us in carrying it out. As you may +recall, I was away last summer with Simmons on his yacht, and while on +our trip we landed upon an island called Rockhaven, up the north coast. +It is sort of a double island, half cut in two by a safe harbor, and +populated by a few hundred simple fisher-folk. We remained there a few +days looking over the island, and I noticed that some one had started +quarrying the granite of which the island is composed. That, and the +location of the quarry, which faced this harbor, set me thinking. It +ended in my inquiring out the owner, an eccentric old fellow who kept a +small store and fiddled when he hadn't any customers, and finally buying +the quarry. I paid him one thousand down, and we are to pay him one +thousand more when deeds are passed. We are now going to send you up +there to complete the purchase, paying him the balance, if you can, in +stock; then hire men, improve the dock, set up the machinery we shall +send you, and begin quarrying operations. That will be one of your +duties. The other, and principal, one will be to get the natives +interested in this home industry, and sell stock to them. To this end it +may be necessary for you to give a little away to those whose influence +may be of value. We have already booked several orders for building +stone, which you will get out as per specifications and shipments. It +will be necessary for you to hire one or two vessels for this purpose, +or else contract for delivery of stone to us at so much per cargo. There +is a small steamer which makes regular trips to this island, so we can +reach you by mail.</p> + +<p>"Now there is another matter, also of great importance. In order to +stimulate your interest in the success of this enterprise, we shall make +you a present of five hundred shares of this stock provided you can +raise the money to purchase, at one dollar per share, another block of +five hundred, or, what would answer as well, induce your aunt to do so."</p> + +<p>It was the glittering bait, intended by the wily Weston to catch and +hold his dupe, Winn Hardy.</p> + +<p>"I have some money laid away," answered Winn, his sense of caution +obscured by this alluring offer, "and with a little help from my aunt, I +feel sure I can manage it; at least, I will try."</p> + +<p>"We do not need this investment of five hundred dollars on your part, +Mr. Hardy," continued Weston, in a grandiloquent tone; "as you must be +aware, it is but a drop in the bucket, and we only wish it to induce +your more hearty coöperation in pushing this enterprise to a successful +ending. If we make money, as we are sure to do, you will also share in +it. It is needless for me to tell you that this is the golden +opportunity of your life, and if you take hold with a will, and not only +manage this quarry with good business discretion, but, what is of more +importance, sell all the stock you can, you will reap a small fortune. +This enterprise is sure to be a money-maker and we expect inside of a +year to see Rockhaven go to ten, twenty, or possibly thirty dollars per +share."</p> + +<p>And Winn Hardy, though sophisticated in a minor degree, believed it, and +true to his nature, leaped at once into the clouds, where sudden riches +and all that follows seemed within his grasp. Not only did he easily +persuade his excellent, though credulous, aunt, to lend him the money he +needed, but when he left for his new field of labor, he had so impressed +her with his newly acquired delusion that she made haste to call upon +Weston & Hill and invest a few thousand herself.</p> + +<p>How disastrous that venture proved and how much woe and sorrow followed +need not be specified at present. True to her feminine nature, she told +no one, not even Winn, of her investment; and until the meteoric career +of Rockhaven had become ancient history on the street, only the books of +those shrewd schemers and her own safe deposit box knew her secret.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>WHERE THE SEA-GULLS COME</h3> + + +<p>Like a pair of Titanic spectacles joined with a bridge of granite, the +two halves of Rockhaven faced the Atlantic billows, as grim and defiant +as when Leif Ericson's crew of fearless Norsemen sailed into its +beautiful harbor. With a coast line of bold cliffs, indented by +occasional fissures and crested with stunted spruce, the interior, +sloping toward the centre, hears only the whisper of the ocean winds.</p> + +<p>Rockhaven has a history, and it is one filled with the pathos of +poverty, from that day, long ago, when Captain Carver first sailed into +its land-locked harbor to split, salt, and dry his sloop load of cod on +the sunny slope of a granite ledge, until now, when two straggling +villages of tiny houses, interspersed with racks for drying cod, a few +untidy fishing smacks tied up at its small wharves, and a little +steamboat that daily journeys back and forth to the main land, thirty +miles distant, entitles it to be called inhabited. In that history also +is incorporated many ghastly tales of shipwreck on its forbidding and +wave-beaten shores, of long winters when its ledges and ravines were +buried beneath a pall of snow, its little fleet of fishermen +storm-stayed in the harbor, and food and fuel scarce. It also has its +romantic tales of love and waiting to end in despair, when some fisher +boy sailed away and never came back; and one that had a tragic ending, +when a fond and foolish maiden ended years of waiting by hanging herself +in the old tide mill.</p> + +<p>And, too, it has had its religious revival, when a wave of Bible reading +and conversion swept over its poorly fed people, to be followed by a +split in its one Baptist church on the merits and truths of close +communion or its opposite, to end in the formation of another.</p> + +<p>It also had its moods, fair and charming when the warm south wind barely +ripples the blue sea about, the wild roses smile between its granite +ledges, and the sea-gulls sail leisurely over them; or else gloomy and +solemn when it lies hid under a pall of fog while the ocean surges boom +and bellow along its rock-ribbed shore.</p> + +<p>On the inner and right-hand shore of the secure harbor, a small fishing +village fringes both sides of a long street, and at the head of the +harbor, one mile away, stands another hamlet. The first and larger +village is called Rockhaven, the other Northaven. Each has its little +church and schoolhouse, also used for town meetings, its one or two +general stores, and a post-office. Those in Rockhaven, where fishing is +the sole industry, are permeated with that salty odor of cured fish, +combined with tar, coffee, and kerosene; and scattered over the interior +are a score of modest farmhouses.</p> + +<p>At one end of the harbor, and where the village of Northaven stands, a +natural gateway of rock almost cuts off a portion of the harbor, and +here was an old tide mill, built of unhewn stone, but now unused, its +roof fallen in, its gates rotted away, and the abutments that once held +it in place now used to support a bridge.</p> + +<p>On one of the headlands just north of Rockhaven village, and known as +Norse Hill, stands a peculiar structure, a circular stone tower open at +the top and with an entrance on the inner or landward side. Tradition +says this was built by the Norsemen as a place of worship. Beyond this +hill, at the highest point of the island, is a deep fissure in the +coast, ending in a small open cave above tidewater and facing the south. +This is known as the Devil's Oven. On either side of this gorge, and +extending back from it, is a thicket of stunted spruce. The bottom and +sides of this inlet, semicircular in shape, are coated thick with +rockweed and bare at low tide. On the side of the harbor opposite +Rockhaven, and facing it, is a small granite quarry owned and +occasionally operated by one of the natives, a quaint old bachelor named +Jesse Hutton. In summer, and until late in the fall, each morning a +small fleet of fishing craft spread their wings and sail away, to return +each night. On the wharves and between most of the small brown houses +back of them, are fish racks of various sizes, interspersed with tiny +sheds built beside rocks, old battered boats, piles of rotting nets, +broken lobster pots, and a medley of wrack of all sorts and kinds, +beaten and bleached by the salty sea.</p> + +<p>In summer, too, a white-winged yacht, trim and trig, with her brass +rails, tiny cannon, and duck-clad crew, occasionally sails into the +harbor and anchors, to send her complement of fashionable +pleasure-seekers ashore. Here they ramble along the one main street, +with its plank walk, peeping curiously into the open doors and windows +of the shops, at the simply clad women and barefooted children who eye +them with awe. Each are as wide apart from the other as the poles in +their dress, manners, and ways of living, and each as much a curiosity +to the other.</p> + +<p>Of the social life of the island there is little to be said, for it is +as simple as the garb of its plain people, who never grow rich and are +seldom very poor. Each of the two villages is blessed with a diminutive +church, Baptist in denomination, the one at Rockhaven the oldest and +known as Hard-Shell; that at Northaven as Free-Will. Each calls together +most of the womenkind and grown-up children, as well as a few of the +men, every Sunday, while the rest of the men, if in summer, lounge +around the wharves smoking and swapping yarns. There is no great +interest in religion among either sex, and church attendance seems more +a social pleasure than a duty.</p> + +<p>Occasionally a few of the young people will get together, as young folks +always do, to play games; and though it is in the creed of both churches +that dancing is to be abjured, nevertheless old Jess Hutton, whose +fiddle was his wife, child, and sole companion in his solitude, was +occasionally induced to play and call off for the lads and lasses of the +town, with a fringe of old folks around the walls as spectators.</p> + +<p>"I like to see 'em dance," he always said, "fer they look so happy when +at it; 'sides, when they get old they won't want to. Dancin's as nat'ral +to young folks as grass growin' in spring."</p> + +<p>Every small village has its oracle, whose opinion on all matters passes +current as law and gospel, whose stories and jokes are repeated by all, +and who is by tacit consent chosen moderator at town meetings, holds the +office of selectman and chairman of the school committee for life, is +accepted as referee in all disputes, and the friend, counsellor, and +adviser of all. Such a man in Rockhaven was Jesse Hutton. Though he +argued with the Rev. Jason Bush, who officiated at Rockhaven on Sundays, +about the unsocial nature of close communion, and occasionally met and +had a tilt with the Northaven minister, he was a friend to both.</p> + +<p>"Goin' to church and believin' in a futur'," he would say, "is jest as +necessary to livin' and happiness as sparkin' on the part of young folks +is necessary to the makin' o' homes."</p> + +<p>For Jesse Hutton, or simply Jess, as old and young called him, was in +his way a bit of a philosopher, and his philosophy may be summed up by +saying that he had the happy faculty of looking upon the dark side of +life cheerfully. It also may be said that he looked upon the cheerful +side of life temperately.</p> + +<p>And here it may be prudent to insert a little of Jess Hutton's history. +He was the elder of two brothers, schoolboys on the island when its +population numbered less than one hundred, and one small brown +schoolhouse served as a place of worship on Sundays as well as a temple +of learning on week-days. Here the two boys Jesse and Jethro, received +scant education, and at the age of fourteen and sixteen, respectively, +knew more about the sailing of fishing smacks and the catching and +curing of cod and mackerel than of decimal fractions and the rule of +three.</p> + +<p>And then the Civil War came on, and when its wave of patriotism reached +far-off Rockhaven, Jess Hutton, then a sturdy young man, enlisting in +the navy under Farragut, served his country bravely and well. Then Jess +came back, a limping hero, to find his brother Jethro deeply in love +with pretty Letty Carver, for whom Jess had cherished a boyish +admiration, and in a fair way to secure a home, with her as a chief +incentive. Jess made no comment when he saw which way the wind blew in +that quarter, but, philosopher that he was, even then, quietly but +promptly turned his face away from the island and for a score of years +Rockhaven knew not of his whereabouts. Gossips, recalling how he and +Letty, as grown-up school children, had played together along the sandy +beach of the little harbor or by the old tide mill, then grinding its +grist, asserted that Jess had been driven away by disappointment; but +beyond surmise they could not go, for to no one did he impart one word +of his reasons for leaving the island and the scenes of his boyhood.</p> + +<p>Twenty years later, Letty Carver, who had become Mrs. Jethro Hutton, was +left a widow with one child, a little girl named Mona, a small white +cottage on Rock Lane, and, so far as any one knew, not much else.</p> + +<p>And then Jess Hutton returned.</p> + +<p>Once more the gossips became busy with what Jess would or should do, +especially as he seemed to have brought back sufficient means to at once +build a respectable dwelling place, the upper half fitted for a domicile +and the lower for a store.</p> + +<p>But all surmise came to naught, together with all the well-meant and +excellent domestic paths mapped out by the busybodies for Jess and the +widow to follow, for when the combination house was done and the store +stocked, Jess Hutton attended regularly to the latter and kept +bachelor's hall in the former; and though he was an occasional caller at +the cottage in Rock Lane and usually walked to church with the widow and +little Mona on Sundays, the store and its customers by day or night were +his chief care, and his solitary home merely a place to sleep in. And +yet not; for beyond that, during his many years of wandering on the +mainland, he had contracted the habit of amusing himself with the +violin when lonesome, and Jess, the eccentric old bachelor, as some +termed him, and his fiddle became a curiosity among the odd and yet +simple people of Rockhaven. Then, too, the little girl, Mona, his niece, +became, as she grew up, his protégée and care, and he her one +inseparable friend and adviser.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>JESS HUTTON</h3> + + +<p>Like one of the spruces that towered high above others on Rockhaven, +like one of the granite cliffs bidding defiance to storm and wave, so +did Jess Hutton tower above his fellow-men. Not from stature, though he +stood full six feet, or that he was impressive in other ways—far from +it. He was like a child among men in simplicity, in tenderness, in truth +and kindly nature—a man among children in strict adherence to his +conscience, to justice and right living. And all on Rockhaven knew it, +and all had the same unvarying confidence in his good sense and justice, +his truth and honor, conscience and kindness. What he predicted nearly +always came true; what he promised he always fulfilled, and no one ever +asked his aid in vain. Others quarrelled, made mistakes, repented of +errors, lost time in fruitless ventures; but Jess—never. He was like a +great ship moving majestically among boats, a lighthouse pointing to +safe harbor, a walking conscience like a compass, a giant among pigmies +in scope of mind, keenness of insight, and accurate reading of others' +moods and impulses.</p> + +<p>And so he towered above all on Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>Beyond that he was a philosopher who saw a silver lining behind all +clouds, laughed at all vanities, and made a jest of all follies. To him +men were grown-up children who needed to be amused and directed; and +women the custodians of life and morals, home, and happiness. They +deserved the mantle of charity and patience, love, and tenderness.</p> + +<p>He was not religious. He had never felt a so-called change of heart, and +yet he was a walking example of the best that religion encourages, for +he governed himself, set the pace of right living, and illustrated the +golden rule.</p> + +<p>He believed in that first and foremost, and in setting a good example as +far as lay in his power, but not in any professions.</p> + +<p>"Ye mustn't feel I ain't on yer side," he said once to Parson Bush, who +had urged him to join the church, "for I am, only it's agin my natur ter +'low I've had a special dispensation o' the Lord's grace in my behalf. +I'm a weak vessel, like all on us, an' my impulses need caulkin'. I do +the best I kin, 'cordin' to my light, 'n' that's all any man kin. The +Lord won't go back on us fer not gittin' dipped, an' if there's a +heaven beyond, our only chance o' a seat is by startin' an annex right +here on airth. Sayin' you've joined the Lord's army's well enough, but +doin' what ye feel the Lord's tryin' to, is better.</p> + +<p>"Ez Sally Harper used ter say in meetin', 'We're all on us poor +critters, an' if we jine, there's no tellin' when we'll backslide.'"</p> + +<p>It was perhaps the consciousness of inherent human weakness that kept +Jess out of the fold.</p> + +<p>"A man may do right 'n' keep on doin' right 'most all his life long," he +said, "an' some day up pops a temptation, when he's least prepared +for't, and over he goes like a sailboat 'thout ballast in a gale o' +wind. An' then what becomes o' all yer 'lowin' the Lord's opened yer +eyes 'n' gin ye extra grace? Ye only get laughed at by the scoffers 'n' +yer influence gone fer good. Human nature's brittle stuff, an' them as +does right 'thout any change o' heart, come purty near bein' leaders in +the percession toward the Throne."</p> + +<p>His philosophy, broad as infinite mercy and humble as a child's +happiness, permeated all his thoughts and tinged all his speeches.</p> + +<p>"No joy's quite so comfortin' as we cac'late," he would say, "an' no +sorrer quite so worryin'. We go through life anticipatin' happy +termorrers and glorious next days, and when we git to 'em, somehow +they've sorter faded away, and it's to be the next day and the next as +is ter be the bright uns. Then, we are all on us like boys, chasing jack +o' lanterns over a swamp medder, an' if we 'low they're clus to an' jest +ready to grab, the next we know we've stumbled inter a ditch.</p> + +<p>"And then we borrer trouble, heaps on't, all through life. From the day +we git scared at thought o' speakin' pieces at school, till the doctor +shakes his head an' asks us if we've got our will made, we are dreadin' +suthin'. If 'taint sickness or bein' robbed, it's worryin' 'bout our +nabors havin' more'n we do. The feller courtin' worries for fear the gal +won't say 'yes,' an' when she does he is likely to see the time he +wishes she hadn't, an' worries 'cause he's got her. We worry ourselves +old 'n' wrinkled 'n' gray, an' then, more'n all this world, worry 'bout +the next. An' thar's whar the parson 'n' I allus split tacks. He says +the Lord made the brimstone lake fer sinners, 'n' I say the Lord made +conscience as a means o' torture, an' here or hereafter it's hot 'nuff."</p> + +<p>And here it must be inserted that Jess was to a certain extent a thorn +in the parson's side, from the fact that his influence and following +were stronger than that worthy man's. It was what Jess believed and +said that was quoted rather than the parson's assertions; and although +Jess seldom failed to be one of his listeners, and contributed more than +any five or ten others toward his scant salary, there were times when he +was made to feel that if Jess occupied the pulpit the church would be +packed. And so it would, humiliating as that fact was to him.</p> + +<p>And here also may be related an incident in Rockhaven history which +illustrates how slim a hold the parson and his preaching had upon those +islanders. As it happened that year, mackerel were late in reaching the +coast. The price was correspondingly high, and Rockhaven's band of +fishermen eager to make the first haul. Most of them attended church, +but now, while the suspense was on, when Sunday came, two or three +watchers were stationed on convenient cliffs with orders to report to +the church if a school was sighted.</p> + +<p>This was kept up for three weeks, and then, one Sunday, just as the +first morning hymn in long metre had been sung, and the parson, with +closed eyes, had got well started in his prayer, down through the +village street bounded one of those sentinels, yelling, "Mack'rel, +mack'rel, millions on 'em!"</p> + +<p>And in less than five minutes there wasn't a man, woman, or child left +in the church except Jess Hutton and the parson. And when that good man +had said "Amen," Jess arose and suggested they too follow the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Ye might's well," said Jess, with a twinkle in his eye, "the model o' +all Christianity sot the example, 'cordin' to Scriptur', an' ye might do +good by follerin' it."</p> + +<p>But the worthy leader of that flock who had thus deserted him failed to +see the humor of the situation and sadly shook his head. He remained in +the sanctuary and Jess joined the fishermen.</p> + +<p>It was such a peculiar, sympathetic, and broad understanding of these +fisher-folk's carnal as well as spiritual needs that made Jess the +oracle and leader of the island.</p> + +<p>"Thar wa'n't no need o' gettin' fussy over it," he said later to the +good dominie, with a laugh, "religion's good 'nuff when mack'rel's +fetchin only a dollar a kit; but when three's offered 'n' scace at that, +prayers hain't got their usual grip. And ye oughtn't ter 'spect it, +parson. The way to reach 'em's to be one with 'em and sorter feel thar +needs, and make em feel they're yer own. If ye'd gone with 'em that day +and helped 'em make a haul, an' then invited 'em to join ye in a prayer +o' thankfulness, thar want one but 'ud a-kneeled down at yer bidding +and said 'Amen.'"</p> + +<p>And that was Jess Hutton and partially the secret of his supremacy on +Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>Another point—he had always believed and practised the sterling rule of +"paying scot and lot as you go." While Jess forgot injuries, he always +remembered favors. If an unwashed, uncombed, and even unnamed child +brought him but a sea-shell, Jess never failed to reward the act. And so +on, upward, to each and all he returned all favors, paid all debts, and +rewarded all kindnesses. And how they trusted him! A fisher lad, saving +up for a new suit of clothes or a boat of his own, would, before +starting on a trip, leave his money with Jess for safe keeping. The +owner of a smack or schooner, ready for another cruise, would ask Jess +to take charge of the quintals and kits of fish just landed, sell them +to best advantage, and hold the proceeds till he returned, or longer. +Not only was Jess selling agent for most of them, but the safe in his +store was a bank of deposit for them also. What he did not keep to +supply their needs, they told him to get without bargaining, sure it +would be what they wanted, and at right, or lowest price.</p> + +<p>And this trust was mutual.</p> + +<p>"If I ain't here, help yourselves," while not a sign over his door, was +understood by all to be the rule; and every one in the island, from a +child wanting a stick of candy to the skipper needing a dozen suits of +oilers, followed it.</p> + +<p>Jess had habits, and one was to devote all the time his dearly loved +niece, Mona Hutton, claimed to her amusement; and when she asked that he +accompany her flower or shell hunting of a summer afternoon, the store +could run itself for all that he cared.</p> + +<p>It may be surmised that children exposed to the temptation of candy, +oranges, and nuts in his store, would pilfer, and some did; but that did +not annoy him.</p> + +<p>"Hookin' things allus carries its own whip," he would say, "an' if they +wanter try it, let 'em. It's bound to be found out, one way or 'nother, +and when I've shamed 'em once or twice, they'll larn it's cheaper to ask +for 'em."</p> + +<p>Children were seldom refused in his store, for he was like a boy baiting +squirrels with nuts in his desire to lure children there.</p> + +<p>They were his chief solace and companions by day, for he kept bachelor's +hall over his store, and to have a crowd of them around was the company +he best enjoyed.</p> + +<p>And what a godsend and wellspring of delight Jess and his store were to +all Rockhaven's progeny. In summer they came in barefooted bunches, even +to the toddlers who could scarce lisp their own names. They played hide +and seek behind his barrels and beneath his counter; they hid in empty +boxes and under piles of old sails in his back room. They littered his +piazza with crabs, starfish, long strips of kelpie and shells, they had +gathered among the rocks and on the beach, and left the few poor toys +and rag babies they possessed there. They ran riot over him and his +store; and as a climax to the happy after-school hour, Jess would +produce his old fiddle, and if there is any music that will reach a +child's heart, it is that.</p> + +<p>And while Jess played they leaped, danced, crowed, and shouted as +insanely happy children will.</p> + +<p>To him it was also supreme delight.</p> + +<p>To them he was a perpetual Santa Claus, a wonder among men, a father +bountiful, whose welcome never failed, whose smile was always cordial, +and whose love seemed limitless. And they would obey a shake of his head +even. And when the frolic had lasted long enough and he said, "Run home +now," off they scampered. It is small wonder Jess Hutton was chief man +of Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>But Jess had a vein of satire as well as philosophy.</p> + +<p>"It's human natur," he would say, "for all of us to think our own +children's brighter'n our neighbor's, an' our own joys and sorrers o' +more account, and 'specially our aches and pains, 'n' them we never get +tired o' tellin' 'bout.</p> + +<p>"There was the Widder Bunker, fer instance; she had a heap o' trouble +and the only comfort she got was tellin' on't. She had rumatiz 'n' biles +'n' janders 'n' liver complaint, ever since she was left a widder, an' +all she could talk 'bout was what ailed her an' how long it had lasted +an' what the symptoms were an' what she was doin' fer 'em. She'd run on +fer hours 'bout all her ailin's till folks 'ud go off 'n' leave her. She +got so daft on this subject, finally, everybody'd run fer safety and +hide when they saw her comin'. She used ter talk in meetin' onct in a +while, 'n' arter a spell her aches got sorter mixed up with her +religion, an' as nobody else 'ud listen to her 'bout 'em, the first we +knowed, she 'gan tellin' the Lord how her asmer bothered her and how her +rumatiz acted. She enjied it so much, an' the Lord seemed to listen so +well, she kept at it over an hour, until the parson had to ask her to +quit.</p> + +<p>"It was sorter rough on the widder, an' as I told the parson arterward, +it really wa'n't any wuss fer the Lord to hev to listen to her bodily +aches and pains than the spiritual ones the rest allus told him 'bout; +'sides it gin a spice o' variety ter the meetin'.</p> + +<p>"But he said her tellin' the Lord how she'd hump herself to get breath, +and how the rumatiz had started in her big toe and skipped from one jint +to 'tother, 'ud set the boys in the back seats to titterin' 'n' break up +the meetin'.</p> + +<p>"I allus felt sorry for the Widder Bunker, fer she had considerable hair +on her upper lip an' a hair mole on her chin, 'sides bein' poorer'n a +church mouse, an' sich unfortunate critters hez to take back seats at +the Lord's table."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE BUD OF A ROMANCE</h3> + + +<p>The little steamer <i>Rockhaven</i> was but a speck on the southern horizon, +the fishermen that had earlier spread their wings were still in sight +that June morning, and Jess Hutton, having swept his store, sat tilted +back in an arm-chair on his piazza, smoking while he watched the white +sails to the eastward, when a tall, well-formed, and city-garbed young +man approached.</p> + +<p>"My name's Hardy," he said, smiling as his brown eyes took in Jess and +his surroundings at a glance, "and I represent Weston & Hill and have +come to open and manage the quarry they own here. You are Mr. Hutton, I +believe?"</p> + +<p>Jess rose and extended a brown and wrinkled hand. "That's my name," he +said, "'n' I'm glad ter see ye. But ter tell ye the truth, I never +'spected ter. It's been most a year now since yer boss landed here and +bought my ledge o' stun, and I've made up my mind he did it jist fer +fun, 'n' havin' money ter throw 'way. Hev a cheer, won't ye?" And +stepping inside he brought one out.</p> + +<p>Winn seated himself, and glancing down at the row of small, brown houses +and sheds that fringed the harbor shore below them, and then across to +where the ledge of granite faced them, replied, "Oh, Mr. Weston is not +the man to throw away money, but it takes time to organize a company and +get ready to operate a quarry;" and pausing to draw from an inside +pocket a red pocketbook, and extracting a crisp bit of paper, he added, +"the first duty, Mr. Hutton, is to pay the balance due you, and here is +a check to cover it."</p> + +<p>Jess eyed it curiously.</p> + +<p>"It's good, I guess," he said as he looked it over, "but out here we +don't use checks; it's money down or no trade."</p> + +<p>Then without more words he arose, and limping a little as he entered the +store, handed Winn a long, yellow envelope. "Here's the deed; an' the +quarry's yourn, an' ye kin begin blasting soon's ye like."</p> + +<p>"I cannot do anything for a few days," replied Winn, "for the tools and +machinery have not yet arrived, and in the meantime I must look about +and hire some men. In this matter I must ask you to aid me, and in +fact, I must ask your help in many ways."</p> + +<p>"I'll do what I kin," answered Jess, "an' it won't be hard ter git men. +Most on 'em here ain't doin' more'n keepin' soul an' body together +fishin' an'll jump at the chance o' airnin' fair wages quarryin'.</p> + +<p>"Where did yer put up, if I may ask? I heerd last night a stranger had +fetched in on the steamer."</p> + +<p>"I found lodging with a Mrs. Moore," answered Winn; "the boat's skipper +showed me where she lived; and now, if you will be good enough, I would +like to have you show me the quarry and then I will look around for men +to work it."</p> + +<p>"Ye don't come here cac'latin' to waste much time," observed Jess, +smiling, "but as fer hirin' men, ye best let me do it."</p> + +<p>"I should be grateful if you will," answered Winn, "I feel I must ask +you to aid me in many ways. What we want," he continued, having in mind +his instructions, "is to establish a permanent and paying industry here, +and enlist the interest of those who have means to invest. We want to +make it a sort of coöperative business, as it were."</p> + +<p>"I don't quite ketch yer drift," replied Jess.</p> + +<p>"I mean," responded Winn, "that we want to make this a home industry, +and to get all those here who have means to take stock in it and share +in the profits."</p> + +<p>Jess made no immediate answer, evidently thinking. "Wal, we'll see 'bout +that bimeby," he said finally. "It's a matter as won't do ter hurry. +Folks here are mighty keerful, 'n' none on 'em's likely ter do much +bakin' till their oven's hot. 'Sides, there ain't many as own more'n the +roof that shelters 'em, and not over well shingled, at that. Money's +skeercer'n hen's teeth here, Mr. Hardy."</p> + +<p>"I shall be guided by your opinion," answered Winn, realizing the truth +of what Jess had said, "and we will let that matter rest for the +present. Now if you will show me the quarry, I will look it over and let +you see what can be done in the way of getting men to work it. Whatever +you do for us we shall insist on paying you for."</p> + +<p>"Queer old fellow," mused Winn to himself two hours later, after he had +parted from Jess, "but I doubt if he buys much of this quarry stock." It +is likely that surmise would have been a positive certainty if Jess +Hutton, with horse sense as hard as this granite ledge and wits as keen +as the briars that grew on top of it, had known that the quarry he had +sold for two thousand dollars and considered it well paid for, was the +sole basis for a stock company capitalized at one million dollars. But +he did not, and neither does many another blind fool who buys +"gilt-edged" stock in gold mines, oil wells, and schemes of all sorts, +know that his investment rests on as insecure and trifling a basis; for +the world is full of sharpers who continually set traps for the unwary +and always catch them, and, although their name is legion, their dupes +are as the sands of the sea.</p> + +<p>But of Winn Hardy, who had come to Rockhaven, as he honestly believed +and felt, to carry out a legitimate business enterprise, it must not be +thought that he for one moment understood the deep-laid schemes of J. +Malcolm Weston, for he did not. While the ratio of value between the +capitalization of the Rockhaven Granite Company and the original cost of +the quarry seemed absurd, it did not follow but that Weston & Hill might +not intend actually to put capital into it sufficient to warrant such an +issue of stock. All of which would go to show that Winn Hardy had not as +yet entirely escaped the trammels of his inherited honesty and bringing +up, which insensibly led him to judge others by himself.</p> + +<p>And that afternoon, having nothing to do, and curious to explore this +rock-ribbed island that was like to be his home for some months, he +started out on a tour of exploration. First he followed the seldom-used +road that connects the two villages, up to Northaven, and looked that +over. There was a little green in the centre where stood the small +church, and grouped about, a dozen or two houses and two or three +stores, while back of this, and below an arm of the harbor, it narrowed +down to where the roadway crossed it. Beside this stood an old stone +mill, or what was once the walls of one, for the roof was gone. He +examined it carefully, peering into its ghostly interior and down to +where the ebb tide had left its base walls bare. To this, and to the +piles that had once held the tide gates, were clinging masses of black +mussels, with here and there a pink starfish nestled among them. Then, +following this arm of the sea until it ended, he crossed a half mile of +billowing ledges of rock between which were grass-grown and bush-choked +dingles, and came to the ocean. Then, following the coast line as well +as possible, owing to the jutting cliffs, he reached a deep inlet with +almost precipitous sides, and, turning inland, found its banks ended in +a dense thicket of spruce.</p> + +<p>Through this wound a well-defined path, shadowy beneath the canopy of +evergreen boughs, and velvety with fallen needles. Following this a +little way, he came to an opening view of the ocean once more. The day +was wondrously fair, the blue water all about barely rippled by a gentle +breeze, while here and there and far to seaward gleamed the white sails +of coasters. Below him, where the rock-walled gorge broadened to meet +the ocean, the undulating ground swells leisurely tossed the rockweed +and brown kelpie upward, as they swept over the sloping rocks. For a few +moments he stood spellbound by the silent and solemn grandeur of the +limitless ocean view and the colossal pathway to the water's edge below +him, and then suddenly there came to his ears the faint sound of a +violin. Now low and soft, hardly above the rhythmic pulse of the sea, +and again clear and distinct, it seemed to come up out of the rocks +ahead, a strange, weird, ghostly harmony that, mingling with the whisper +of the distant wave-wash, sounded exquisitely sweet.</p> + +<p>Breathless with astonishment now, he crept forward slowly, step by step, +until at the head of this deep chasm, and down beneath him, he heard the +well-recognized strains of "Annie Laurie" played by invisible hands.</p> + +<p>The sun was low in the west, the sea an unruffled mirror, the coast line +a fretwork of foam fringe where the ground swells met it, and above its +murmur, trilling and quivering in the still air, came that old, old +strain:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And for bonnie Annie Laurie<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'd lay me doon and dee,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>repeated again and again, until Winn, enraptured, spellbound, moving not +a finger but listening ever, heard it no more. Then presently, as +watching and wondering still whence and from whose hand had come this +almost uncanny music, he saw, deep down amid the tangle of rocks below +him, a slight, girlish figure emerge, with a dark green bag clasped +tenderly under one arm, and slowly pick her way up the sides of the +defile and disappear toward the village.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>SUNDAY ON ROCKHAVEN</h3> + + +<p>For a few days Winn Hardy was so occupied with the cares of his new +position that he thought of little else. It was a pleasing freedom, for +never before had he known what it was to be his own master; but now the +hiring of men and directing operations gave him a sense of power and +responsibility that was exhilarating.</p> + +<p>Jess Hutton aided him in many ways and, in fact, seemed anxious to +assist in this new enterprise that was likely to be of material benefit +to Rockhaven. Winn wisely let the stock matter rest, feeling that a +practical demonstration of the Rockhaven Granite Company's enterprise +and intentions would in due time establish confidence.</p> + +<p>He wondered many times who the girl was that had hid herself in that +weird cluster of rocks to play the violin, and marvelled that any maid, +born and reared amid the half-starved residents of Rockhaven, should +even have that laudable ambition; but he asked no questions. In a way, +the romance of it also kept him from inquiries. "I will bide my time," +he thought, "and some day I will go over and surprise this maid of the +gorge."</p> + +<p>He had noticed a rather immaturely formed girl with dark, lustrous eyes +once or twice in the dooryard of a little white house in the same lane +where he had found lodgment, and had met her once on the village street +and half surmised she might be this mysterious violinist. He gave little +thought to it, however, for his new position and the open path to +success and possible riches that seemed before him was enough to put +cave-seeking maids, however charming, out of his mind. Then, too, he had +not quite recovered from Ethel Sherman.</p> + +<p>When Sunday came, a new, and in a way pleasurable, experience came with +it. His landlady, Mrs. Moore, a widow whose two sons were away on a long +fishing voyage, and who seemed so afraid of her solitary boarder as to +no more than ask if he wanted this or that during his lonely meals, now +appeared to gain courage with the advent of the Lord's day.</p> + +<p>"I'd be pleased, sir," she said humbly, "if ye'd attend sarvice with me +at the meetin'-house this morning."</p> + +<p>And though Winn had planned to turn his back on the coop-like houses +that composed the town, and take a long stroll over the island, there +was such an appealing hope in this good woman's invitation that he could +not resist it, and at once consented to attend "sarvice" with her. And +he was not sorry he did, for when the little bell began calling the +piously inclined together, and he issued forth with Mrs. Moore, who was +dressed in a shiny black silk and a "bunnit" the like of which his +grandmother used to wear, and looking both proud and pleased, he felt it +a pleasant duty. On the way to the small brown church which stood just +beyond the steamer landing and at the foot of a sloping hill dotted +thick with tombstones, he felt that he was the observed of all +observers, and when seated in Mrs. Moore's pew, cushioned with faded +green rep, whichever way he looked some one was peeping curiously at +him. In a way it made him feel unpleasant, and he wondered if his +necktie was awry; then as he looked around at the worn and out-of-date +garb of the few men and almost grotesque raiment of the women and girls, +what Jess had said of the people recurred to him in a forcible way. The +usual service that followed, similar in kind to any country church, was +interesting to Winn mainly because it recalled his boyhood days. When +the minister, a thin, gray-haired man, began his sermon, Winn grew +curious. He was accustomed to pulpit oratory of a high class, and +wondered now what manner of discourse was like to emanate from this +humble desk. The text was the old and time-worn "The Lord will provide," +that has instilled courage and hope into millions of despondent hearts, +and now used once more to encourage this little band of simple +worshippers. The preacher made no new deductions, in fact, seemed to, as +usual, lay stress upon the need of faith that the Lord would provide, +come what might. To this end he quoted freely from Scripture, and Winn +was beginning to lose interest and look around the bare and smoky walls +and out of one window that commanded a view of the rippled harbor, when +suddenly his attention was arrested by a direct reference to himself, or +rather, his errand to Rockhaven. "We have," asserted the minister, in +slow and solemn voice, "a certain and sure proof that the Lord watches +over and cares for us, and that we on this lonely island, striving to +live righteously, are not forgotten by Him. Our acres fit to till are +few and lack fertility; our winters dreary and full of the menace of +storm and shipwreck to those who must pursue their calling abroad; and +yet it seems that He who holds the waters in the hollow of His hand, +realizing our needs, has turned the minds of moneyed men toward our +barren home, and through them blessed us with a new source of +livelihood. Through them heretofore worthless ledges of granite are to +be reared into dwellings, or perhaps churches in the great city. It is +to me a certain and signal proof that the good Lord watches over us +here, as well as over others who dwell in more favored spots, and that +we have a new and greater cause for thankfulness. Many times we have +repined at our hard lot, at our scanty stores of sustenance and the +bitterness of poverty; many times, too, some of us have felt the burden +of our lives hard to bear, and almost doubted the good Lord's +watchfulness and care over all who believe in His word. It is this lack +of faith, and this lesson of His goodness, even unto us, that I wish to +impress upon your minds to-day, for, although we are but poor and +humble, illy fed and thinly clad, yet we are not forgotten by Him, the +Great Ruler of the Universe."</p> + +<p>This peculiar and unusual reference to a mere matter of business and +Winn's mission to Rockhaven did not end his discourse, but it kept that +young man's attention away from all else until the minister closed and +bowed his head in prayer, and, when the inevitable and long-handled +collection box was passed, Winn felt he must, perforce, contribute +liberally, which he did.</p> + +<p>When the congregation was dismissed and he and Mrs. Moore reached the +porch, there was Jess with two ladies, one elderly, and the girl Winn +had noticed in Rock Lane, seemingly awaiting him. An introduction to +Mrs. and Miss Hutton followed, and then all five walked homeward +together.</p> + +<p>It is said that trifles determine our course in life, that, like chips +floating down the stream, we are moved hither and yon by imperceptible +forces. If it is so with one, it is with all, and was so with the people +of Rockhaven, and their estimate and subsequent opinion of Winn Hardy. +He attended that poor little church that day out of kindly regard for +Mrs. Moore's wishes, he listened patiently to services and the sermon, +only a few sentences of which interested him, and, of course, conducted +himself as any well-behaved and well-bred young man would. And yet that +trivial act was the starting-point in the good will and confidence of +those people, the worth of which he realized not at all then and never +fully until long afterward.</p> + +<p>Neither was he entitled to special credit for his self-sacrifice, except +it be that his desire to please that worthy matron, Mrs. Moore, overcame +his selfishness. But whether or not, it led to immediate, though minor +reward, for late that afternoon, and upon his return from a short +stroll over Norse Hill, he found her on the porch of the white cottage +next to her home, chatting with the two ladies he met at church, and he +was invited to join them. How cordially the two elderly ladies +endeavored to interest him and what a soft witchery the dark eyes of the +younger one held for him need not be enlarged upon. It mattered not that +Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Hutton were neither cultured nor fashionable; they +were at least sincere in their enjoyment of his society and meant what +they uttered, which is more than can be said of many women of position. +He learned that the girl's name was Mona, that she had never been away +from the island, and, as might be expected, was somewhat bashful and a +little afraid of him. He had a mind to ask her if she played the violin, +but a romantic desire to surprise her, or whoever the mysterious +violinist was, restrained him.</p> + +<p>The stars were out, a perfect quietude had fallen upon the little +village, and only the ceaseless murmur of the near-by ocean whispered in +the still air, when Mrs. Moore arose to go, and, much against his will, +Winn felt compelled to follow.</p> + +<p>In his room he smoked for an hour in solitude, buoyant with hope for his +own future, amply satisfied with the business and social progress he had +so far made, and mentally contrasting the life he had left behind him +with the new one he had entered upon; and into these meditations, it +must be stated, came the faces of Ethel Sherman and Mona Hutton.</p> + +<p>And so ended Winn's first Sunday on Rockhaven.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE HAND OF FATE</h3> + + +<p>For a few days Winn Hardy was the busiest man on Rockhaven. What with +setting up the steam drill that had been sent him, finding a man to work +it, adjusting the derricks, and laying out work for the dozen men Jess +had secured, he had no more time than occasionally to think of who the +mysterious violin-playing maid might be. He arose early, worked late, +and evenings wrote his firm a detailed statement of his progress, or +discussed matters with Jess at the store. By tacit consent that had +become a sort of office for the Rockhaven Granite Company, and evening +lounging place for not only the men who were at work for Winn, but +others interested in the new enterprise, and, in fact, all who were not +away on fishing trips.</p> + +<p>Here, also, Winn met the Rev. Jason Bush, a worthy, if attenuated, +parson and pedagogue, who had so astonished Winn that first Sunday and +who seemed more interested than any one else in the quarry. It was all +the more pleasant experience to Winn, thus to feel that he was bringing +a business blessing to these hard-working and needy people, and the +barometer of his hopes and spirits was at top notch when Friday came and +with it funds from the firm to pay the men. He felt, indeed, that his +mission was bearing excellent fruit.</p> + +<p>Then, too, he received a letter of praise from his employers, +congratulating him on the progress he was making, and reminding him +that, as soon as advisable, he should endeavor to interest those who had +means and induce them to invest in Rockhaven stock. It was all right, of +course, and a part of his mission there; and Winn, guileless of the +cloven hoof hidden beneath it, assured himself that he must carry out +their wishes as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>It was while speculating on this part of his duty the next afternoon, +and wondering who except Jess was likely to have money to invest in this +stock, that he felt an unaccountable impulse to visit the gorge again +and at once. It was as if some invisible voice was calling him and must +be answered, and yet he could not explain what it was and how his +thought, at that particular moment, had turned to this spot. He was not +a believer in fate; he was just an ambitious and practical young man, +with good common sense and wholesome ideas, and though a little +embittered by the treatment he had received at the hands of Ethel +Sherman and not likely to fall in love easily with another girl, yet he +was the last person who would admit that fate was playing, or would +play, any part in his movements, as it did; and more than that, it led +him that balmy June afternoon, when the sea and sky were in perfect +accord, to the gorge and to the very spot where, ten days before, he had +been mystified. And now he was more so, for not only did he hear the +same low, sweet strains mingling with the ocean's murmur, but he began +to realize that some invisible influence, quite beyond his +understanding, had brought him hither. What it was he could not tell, or +where, or from whence it came, only that he felt it and obeyed.</p> + +<p>And so forcibly did this uncanny sense of helplessness oppress him, that +the weird strains of music, issuing from the rocks below, seemed ten +times more so. For one instant he could not help feeling almost scared, +and thought it well to pinch himself to see if he were awake, and the +music and his presence there not a dream. Then he sat down. Surely, if +it were a dream, it was a most exquisite one, for away to the eastward +and all around, a half-circle, the boundless ocean, with here and there +a white-winged vessel, and white-crested waves flashing in the +sunlight, lay before; while beneath him and sloping V-shaped a hundred +feet below, and to where the billows leaped over the weed-clad rocks, +lay this chasm. Back of him, and casting their conical shadows over the +chaos of boulders in the gorge, was a thicket of spruce, and to add a +touch of heaven to this desolate but grand vision, the faint whisper of +music mingling with the monotone of the waves and the sighing of winds +in the spruces.</p> + +<p>And then the wonder of it all, and what a romantic and singular fancy of +this fisher maid to thus hide herself where only the mermaids of old +might have come to sing sad ditties while they combed their sea-green +tresses. That it was Mona Hutton he felt almost certain, and his first +impulse was to descend into the chasm at once and surprise her. Then he +thought, if perchance it were not, would that be the act of a gentleman? +Doubtless whoever it was had come there to find seclusion, and for him +to thus intrude would certainly be rude. The next thought, and the one +he acted upon, was to go back a little of the way he came, hide himself, +and, when she appeared, advance to meet her. The way to the village was +over a rounded hill a full mile in length, with scattered clusters of +bayberry bushes between. Back over this a hundred rods Winn retreated, +and not thinking how his presence there would affect this unknown girl, +hid himself behind a rock. He had not long to wait, and soon saw the +same lithe figure, and under her arm the same bundle, emerge from the +gorge, and, as she advanced rapidly, saw that it was Mona. Still +unthinking, he stepped out into view and forward to meet her. In one +instant he saw her halt, turn back a step, then around, facing him, and +stand still; and as he neared her and she saw who it was, she sank to +the earth. Then, as he reached her side and saw her, half reclining +against a small ledge, and looking up at him, her face and lips ashen +white, he realized for the first time what a foolish thing he had done.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, and removing his +hat on the instant, "I see that I have scared you half to death and I am +sorry; I didn't mean to."</p> + +<p>And as she sat up, still looking at him with pitiful eyes, a realizing +sense of his own idiotic action came to him, and he told her, a little +incoherently, perhaps, but truthfully how he had come there both days, +and for what reason.</p> + +<p>Frankness is said to be a virtue, and in this case it was more, for it +saved the reputation of Winn Hardy as a man of honor and a gentleman, +in the eyes of Mona Hutton.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I was frightened," she said at last, in response to his repeated +plea for forgiveness, after he had told her his story, "and I almost +fainted. It is foolish of me to go there, I know, for mother has told me +it is not safe."</p> + +<p>Then as she picked up the green bag that had fallen at her feet and +started to rise once more, Winn's wits came to his rescue, and in an +instant he grasped her hand and arm and almost lifted her to her feet.</p> + +<p>"I shall never forgive myself for this day's stupidity," he said, "but I +have wondered a hundred times since that day who on earth it could be +that hid herself in that forbidding spot. I heard you play only one air +then, and that the sweetest ever composed by mortal man. I have heard it +many, many times, but never once when it reached my heart as it did that +day. What blind intuition brought me here I cannot say; but some impulse +did, and if you will believe what I say and that your playing has +wrought a spell over me, I shall be grateful."</p> + +<p>To simple and utterly unsophisticated Mona Hutton words like these were +as new as life to a babe, and while she could not and did not believe he +meant them all, as uttered, nevertheless they were sweet to her. It is +likely, also, they were colored by the plight Winn found himself in and +his desire to set himself right in the eyes of Mona.</p> + +<p>"I do not know why it is," she responded, "but when I go there I seem to +enjoy my practice better, and then I feel that no one can hear me. +Mother says that no one will ever want to," she added naïvely.</p> + +<p>Winn smiled.</p> + +<p>"But I want to," he said, "I want to go there with you some day and hear +you play 'Annie Laurie' again; will you let me?"</p> + +<p>"I won't promise," she replied, and perhaps mindful of her mother's +opinion added: "Mother doesn't approve of my playing a fiddle. She says +it's not graceful."</p> + +<p>This time Winn laughed. "I don't believe you could do anything and not +be graceful," he said. "As for that, I have seen Camilla Urso playing +one before an audience of thousands, and no one thought her ungraceful."</p> + +<p>"Who is Camilla Urso?" asked Mona.</p> + +<p>"She was a wonderful violinist," answered Winn, "and charmed the whole +world, years ago. If you will let me come to this spot with you, I will +tell you all about her."</p> + +<p>Mona turned her face away.</p> + +<p>"I don't go there very often," she replied evasively; "and if you have +heard such wonderful playing, I wouldn't dare let you hear me. I don't +know anything except what Uncle Jess has taught me." Then as she started +onward she added, "You must ask him to play for you some time; he knows +how."</p> + +<p>"But it is you I want to hear," Winn asserted, and then, as an intuition +came to him, he added: "I think it best you go on home alone, Miss +Hutton; it might cause comment if we go on together. I passed a most +delightful hour with you and your mother last Sunday evening, and, with +your permission, I shall repeat it."</p> + +<p>And then, having delivered this polite speech, so utterly unlike what +Mona was accustomed to hear, he raised his hat and turned away.</p> + +<p>On the brink of the gorge he halted, and, turning again, watched her +rapidly nearing the top of the hill. Reaching its crest, she faced about +and looked back.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>A FRIENDLY HAND</h3> + + +<p>The suggestion Jess had made regarding the scarcity of money on +Rockhaven was plainly evident to Winn, now that he had become +acquainted. It made him feel that his firm's enterprise was almost a +godsend to the island, and that first Saturday night when his men +gathered, as requested, at Jess Hutton's store, and secured their pay, +Winn, who in his time had also felt the need of more money, found it a +keen pleasure to pay these needy men their earnings. When they had +departed and he and Jess were alone, the worthy man who seemed to feel a +share of the general satisfaction, beamed with good nature.</p> + +<p>"Money makes the mar' go," he said, "an', as the Irishman said, 'it's +swate Saturday night and sour Monday morning.' Ye've made a fine start, +Mr. Hardy, an' if things go well an' this 'ere company o' yourn don't +bust up, ye'll cum pretty near bein' the hull thing here. There's an old +saying here that 'It's time to dry fish when the sun shines,' an' now +with your sun shinin' it's purty good wisdom for ye to dry all the fish +ye kin. Things are onsartin in this world, an' there's no tellin' when a +sunny day's comin'. I'm goin' ter help yer all I kin, an' out o' good +will toward ye, 'n' hope things'll turn out all right. I'm sartin it +won't be yer fault if they don't."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to feel I've won your confidence, Mr. Hutton," answered Winn, +"and I feel sure there is no need of fearing any collapse of this +company. They are reputable business men, and have ample means; granite +is in good demand in the city, and certainly they would not have +invested in the quarry and set out to develop it, unless it was to make +money."</p> + +<p>"Wal, mebbe," answered Jess, after a long pause, "an' I'm goin' to think +so. Distrustin' don't help matters, an' for the sake o' those men who +hev gone home happy to-night, I hope things'll turn out as ye 'spect."</p> + +<p>Winn looked depressed, and for reason. To have the one man in Rockhaven +whose confidence he valued most express a word of distrust hurt.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't doubtin' you a mite," continued Jess, "an' no reason to +mistrust yer consarn, only I've had squalls hit me when least 'spectin' +'em, 'n' so got into the habit o' watchin' out fer 'em. It's jist as +well in this world, 'n' then ye ain't quite so likely to be caught +nappin'. Now t'other day ye mentioned the matter o' sellin' stock to us +folks here, an' that is all right, only it sorter 'curred to me if this +consarn o' yourn 'spected to make money quarryin' here, thar wa'n't no +real reason why they should want ter divide it with us folks, which is +what sellin' us stock 'mounts to in the end, an' as old Cap'n Doty would +say, 'hence my 'spicions.' I've hed a good many ups 'n' downs in this +world," he continued, in a philosophic tone, "an' while I allus try to +look on the bright side o' trouble, an' when it comes am glad 'tain't +any wuss, I've larned to be keerful—mighty keerful. Human natur's +slippery stuff, an' money a dum sight more so, an' every storeman allus +puts the best apples on top o' the basket. I've bought and paid for a +mighty lot o' 'sperience 'bout mankind, an' all I've got to show for +most on't is the 'sperience. I've picked up a little money, too, 'tween +times, but the only reason I hev, was 'cause I got sight on't 'fore the +other feller did. I like you, Mr. Hardy, fust-rate, on so short +acquaintance, an' know yer honest 'n' all right, but the side-whiskered +feller who blew in here last summer 'n' bought this yer quarry +offhand—wal, I mean no disrespect to yer firm, but in my humble +'pinion he'd bear watchin'. Now I'm goin' ter stand by ye in this matter +'n' do all I ken to help you make a go on't, an' if ye'll trust me all +the time, ye won't regret it."</p> + +<p>It was a pleasant assurance, but the cloud on Winn's face remained. He +had from the outset hoped to interest this old man, who he realized held +the key of Rockhaven, as it were, and whose opinion of his mission +there, and the merits of Rockhaven stock as an investment, would without +doubt be accepted by others as final. His own belief in it was +optimistic, and beyond that it meant to him a success in business and an +avenue to prosperity that included all wealth meant to any one. So far +in life he had been but a mere menial, a poorly paid drudge, a slave to +so many hours a day. Now he was at once elevated to the management of +men and money, and assumed that it would be to his credit and necessary +that he interest the people and induce them to invest their money. For +these reasons the lack of confidence on Jess Hutton's part meant +discouragement.</p> + +<p>"Ye mustn't mind my notions," Jess said at last, reading Winn's face; "I +mean to help ye, 'n' I will, only as I said I'm a leetle skeery o' yer +consarn. Ef things go on right fer a spell, I most likely'll feel +different. I've got pinched in schemes afore, an' grown cautious. +Faith, ez the parson says, is a mustard seed 'n' needs time to sprout. +We'll watch thet air mustard seed o' yourn, 'n' gin it time ter sprout. +Now, to sorter drive away your blues an' mine, I'm goin' to fiddle a +spell; ye won't mind, will ye?"</p> + +<p>"I should be delighted," answered Winn, with sudden eagerness, "I have +heard you were an expert with a violin. Mr. Weston said you were." He +did not deem it wise just then to say who else had stated that fact.</p> + +<p>Without further comment, Jess brought out his violin.</p> + +<p>"Fiddlin's to me," he said, as he turned it up, "a good deal ez licker +used to be to old Bill Atlas, a cure-all fer everything from death to +the toothache. Bill was quite a case in his day, an' said licker was +made fer the purpose o' drownin' sorrow. He drowned his purty stiddy +in't anyhow, an' finally was driv' to his death by the tremens."</p> + +<p>Then he began and fiddled away for an hour, his eyes closed, his kindly +face glowing with the pleasure of his own art, and one foot keeping time +on the floor. And, to Winn's surprise, his selections were all of Scotch +origin, and the liveliest of those best of all harmonies. From one to +another he skipped, a medley of those old tunes that have lived as no +other nation's music ever did or ever will live, because none other has +quite the same life and soul.</p> + +<p>And Winn, listening as that quaint old man fiddled away, forgot his +troubles, carried to fair Scotland's banks and braes, where Wallace +bled, Prince Charlie fought, and Bonnie Dundee rallied his henchmen to +give battle, and, too, Winn heard the love plaint of many a Scotch lad +and lassie, centuries old, and yet reaching his heart as they always did +and always will all human kind. And as, entranced, he lived once more in +the olden days of chivalry and love faithful unto death, he thought of +Mona and how she had touched the same chord in his heart only a few +hours before.</p> + +<p>And when Jess had tired of his pastime, and Winn, on his way to his +solitary room in Rock Lane, passed the white cottage next to it, he +halted a moment, wondering if Mona was asleep, or if not, was she +thinking of him.</p> + +<p>For such is man, and so do the rose petals of love first unclose.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Mona.</span></h3> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>MONA HUTTON</h3> + + +<p>Mona Hutton was, as Winn instinctively felt that Sunday when he first +glanced into her well-like eyes, a girl but little akin to her +surroundings—a child of the island, full of strange moods and fancies, +sombre as the thickets of spruce that grew dense and dark between the +ledges of granite, and solemn as the unceasing boom of ocean billows +below its cliffs. Even as a barefoot schoolgirl she had found the sea an +enticing playmate, and to watch its white-crested waves lifting the +rockweed and brown kelpie, as they swept over the rocks and into the +gorges and fissures, was of more interest than her schoolmates. She +would hide between the ledges and watch the sea-gulls sailing over them +for hours, build playhouses in out-of-the-way spots with lone +contentment, filling them with shells, starfish, and crabs, dig wells in +the sandy margin of the harbor, and catch minnows to put in them. She +loved to watch the fishing boats sailing away, the coasters pass the +island, the current sweeping in and out beneath the old tide mill, and +as she grew up and gained in courage roamed over the entire island at +will. The Devil's Oven, out of sight and sound of everybody, became a +charming spot for her; and here she would sit for hours watching the +waves leap into the gorge and wondering why they never sounded twice +alike. And so on, as she developed, she absorbed the mood of the ocean, +its grandeur shaped her thoughts, its mystery tinged her emotion, and +its solemnity, like the voice of eternity, gave expression to her eyes.</p> + +<p>Companions of her own age she had none, leaving them to play as they +chose while she sought solitude, and found contentment on the lonely +shores. Uncle Jess only was akin to her, and if she could lead him away +as playmate, then was she happy.</p> + +<p>And so she grew up.</p> + +<p>With only a limited education, such as the island schools afforded, a +scant knowledge of books, since but few ever reached Rockhaven, a love +of music that amounted to a passion, no knowledge of the world except +that gleaned from Uncle Jess, a deep religious feeling, partially shaped +by the "Hardshell" Baptist teachings of the Rev. Jason Bush, and more by +the ocean billows that forever thundered against the island shores, she +was at twenty a girl to be pitied by those capable of understanding her +nature or realizing how incompatible to it was her environment. Of music +she knew but little, and that taught her by the genial old soul who, +since her babyhood, had been father, uncle, and companion. His constant +assistance had been hers through her pinafore days at school; his genial +philosophy and keen insight into human impulse had done more to develop +her mind afterward than the three R's she mastered there. His gentle +hand had taught her the scales on his old brown fiddle, and now that she +had reached that mystic line where girlhood ends and womanhood begins, +her future was of more concern to him than all else in his life. That +she must and would, in the course of human nature, love and marry, he +fully expected; that it was like to be a mateship with some of the +simple and hard-working fishermen's sons, he expected; and yet, with +dread for her far more than any one else, even her mother, he realized +that such an alliance would be but a lifelong slavery for Mona. To mate +a poetic soul like hers, that heard the voice of eternity in the +white-crested billows, the footsteps of angels in the music he drew from +his violin, and the whisper of God in the sea winds that murmured +through the spruce thickets they visited, as he knew she did, seemed as +unnatural as confining one of the white gulls that circled about the +island in a coop with the barnyard fowls.</p> + +<p>To Mona herself no thought of this had come. Though the young men with +whom as schoolmates she had studied, and who now as fishermen, with +ill-smelling garb and sea-tanned hands and faces, often sought her, to +none did she give encouragement, and with none found agreeable +companionship. What her future might be, and with whom spent, gave her +no concern. Each day she lived as it came, helping her mother in the +simple home life and the making of their raiment, stealing away +occasionally to spend a few hours with Uncle Jess, or in summer to hide +herself in the Devil's Oven, and play on the violin he had given her, or +practise with him as a teacher. This violin and its playing, it must be +stated, had been and was the only bone of contention between Mona and +her mother, and just why that mother found it hard to explain, except +that it was a man's instrument and not a woman's. Their humble parlor +boasted a small cottage organ. "Let Mona learn to play on that," she had +said when Jess first began to teach Mona the art of the bowstrings, +"it's more graceful for a girl to do that than sawing across a fiddle +stuck under her chin." And this matter of grace, so vital to that +mother's peace of mind, was the only point of dispute between them. But +Uncle Jess sided with Mona, and the mother gave in, for with her, for +many potent reasons, the will and wishes of Uncle Jess must not be +thwarted, even if wrong. However, the dispute drove Mona and the fiddle +out of the house, and when she had finally mastered it (at least in a +measure), it stayed out.</p> + +<p>In this connection, it may be said, there was also a difference in +opinion between Mrs. Hutton and Jess regarding the future of Mona, and +though never discussed before her, for obvious reasons, it existed. With +Mrs. Hutton the measure of her own life, or what it had been, as well as +that of her neighbors, was broad enough for Mona.</p> + +<p>"It's going to spoil her," she asserted on one of these occasions, "this +getting the idea into her head that those she has been brought up with +are not good enough for her. They may not be, but we are here and likely +to stay here, and once a girl gets her head full o' high notions and +that she's better than the rest, it's all day with her."</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't no use interferin'," Jess responded, "whatever notions +Mona's got, she's got, an' ye can't change 'em. If she likes the smell +o' wild roses better'n fishin' togs, she does; and if she turns up her +nose at them as don't think 'nough o' pleasin' her ter change togs when +they come round, I 'gree with her. Wimmin, an' young wimmin 'specially, +air notional, an' though most on 'em 'round here has ter work purty +hard, it ain't no sign their notions shouldn't be considered. I've +stayed in houses whar wimmin wa'n't 'lowed to lift a finger an' had +sarvants ter fan 'em when 'twas hot, an' though that ain't no sign +Mona'll git it done for her, I hope I'll never live ter see her drudgin' +like some on 'em here."</p> + +<p>"If you'd had the bringing o' Mona up," Mrs. Hutton had responded rather +sharply, "you would a-made a doll baby out o' her, an' only fit to have +servants to fan her." At which parting shot, Jess had usually taken to +his heels, muttering, "It's a waste o' time argufyin' with a woman."</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Hutton was far from being as "sot" in her way as might be +inferred, as she always had, and still desired, to rear her only child +in the way she considered best, and in accordance with her surroundings. +To be a fine lady on Rockhaven, as Mrs. Hutton would put it, was +impossible; and unless Mona was likely to be transplanted to another +world, as it were, it seemed wisest to keep her from exalted ideas and +high-bred tastes. But back of that, and deep in the mother's love, lay +the hope of better things for her child than she had known, though how +they were to come, and in what way, she could not see.</p> + +<p>Mere pebbles of chance shape our destiny, and so it was in the life of +Winn Hardy, and the trifle, light as air, that turned his footsteps, was +the sound of church bells that Sunday morning in Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>Had they not recalled his boyhood, he would have spent the day in +roaming over the island as he had planned, instead of accepting Mrs. +Moore's invitation to accompany her to church, with the sequence of +events that followed. And the one most potent was the accent of +cordiality in Mrs. Hutton's neighborly invitation to call. It may be +supposed, and naturally, that the expressive eyes of her daughter were +the real magnets; but in this case they were not. Instead it was the +mother with whom he desired to visit, and when he called that first +evening it was with her he held most converse. Out of the medley of +subjects they chatted about, and what was said by either, so little is +pertinent to this narrative, it need not be quoted. Winn gave a brief +account of his early life and more of the latter part, since he had been +a resident of the city, together with a full explanation of how the +Rockhaven Granite Company was likely to affect the island, and his +mission there. This latter recital, he felt, would be a wise stroke of +policy, as apt to be repeated by Mrs. Hutton, as in truth it was, later +on. While she was not inquisitive, he found she was keenly interested in +the new industry he had established there, and discerning enough to see +that, if successful, it would be a great benefit to the island. Winn +discovered also that in addition to being a most excellent and devoted +mother, she was fairly well posted in current events, had visited +relatives on the mainland many times, and in the city once, and was far +from being narrow-minded. With Mona, who sat a quiet listener, he +exchanged but a few words, and those in connection with the church and +social life of the village. In truth, he found her disinclined to say +much and apparently afraid of him. His call was brief and not +particularly interesting, except that it made him feel a little more at +home on the island, and when he rose to go, he received the expected +invitation to call again; and when he had reached his room, the only +features of the call that remained in his mind were that Mrs. Hutton +seemed interested in his mission there, and her daughter had eyes that +haunted him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE DEVIL'S OVEN</h3> + + +<p>The time-worn saw that two is company and three a crowd never struck +Winn so forcibly as that evening when he called again on Mrs. Hutton. On +the first occasion he had only felt interested to make the acquaintance +of that excellent lady, who, in many ways, reminded him of his own +departed mother; but now it was the daughter. But Mona was shy as +before, perhaps more so, and hardly ventured a remark, while the mother +was as cordial and chatty as ever. Once Winn came near speaking of the +little episode that had occurred the day before, but some quick +intuition prevented, and after an hour's visit he bade the two good +night and left them.</p> + +<p>It was evident Mona had not confided the incident to her mother, and +until she had Winn thought it his place to keep silent. He did not know +that the girl's secrecy was solely due to fear of a scolding, and that +between her mother and herself existed that foolish, but often +dangerous barrier. It was several days after before Winn obtained a +suitable chance to speak with Mona alone, and then he met her just +coming from the store of Jess Hutton.</p> + +<p>"When am I to hear you play again?" he asked pleasantly, "I wanted to +ask you the evening I called, but in view of what you said about your +mother's dislike of it, decided not to."</p> + +<p>"I am glad you did," she replied, coloring a little.</p> + +<p>"I am going over to that gorge this afternoon," continued Winn boldly, +"and I want you to promise to come and bring your violin. Will you?"</p> + +<p>"I won't promise," she replied timidly, and all unconscious that his +proposal was not in strict propriety, "I may come, but if I do I shall +not dare play before you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am harmless," he replied lightly, "and if you knew how anxious I +am to hear you, you would favor me, I am sure."</p> + +<p>And that afternoon Winn betook himself once more to what was now likely +to be a trysting place, only instead of going directly, the way Mona +would naturally, over Norse Hill, he walked a mile extra around through +Worthaven. And this to protect the good name of a girl with a face like +a marguerite and eyes like deep waters.</p> + +<p>She was not there when he arrived, and in truth Mona was having a hard +struggle to decide whether to go or not, for this man, with earnest +brown eyes, blond mustache, stylish garb, ways and manners so utterly +unlike any that had come under her ken, was one to awe her.</p> + +<p>Then, would it be right, and what would her mother and Uncle Jess, and +all the good people of Rockhaven, say if it were known she met him thus? +For Mona, wise as only Rockhaven was, and pure as the flowers her face +resembled, was yet conscious what evil tongues might say, and dreaded +lest they be set wagging.</p> + +<p>But a lurking impulse, first implanted in Mother Eve's heart, and +budding in Mona's since the hour she saw Winn's kindly eyes looking down +into her own, won the day, and taking her dearly-loved, old, brown +fiddle and bow safe in their green bag, she walked rapidly to the edge +of the gorge, with throbbing heart and flushed face.</p> + +<p>Winn was there waiting, as full well she knew he would be, lazily +puffing a cigar while he leaned against a sloping bank and watched the +ocean below. When he saw Mona he threw the weed away and sprung to his +feet.</p> + +<p>"I'm very glad you came, Miss Hutton," he said, raising his hat, "yet I +did not dare hope you would," and then extending one hand to take the +bag and the other to assist her, he added, "It's a risky place to come +down into, and you had best let me assist you."</p> + +<p>"I'll go first," she replied quickly, "for I know the way and can go +alone, and you can follow me."</p> + +<p>And follow her he had to, but not easily, for with steps as fearless and +leaps as graceful as an antelope, she led the way down into the chaos of +boulders and then up through them, until she paused in a sheltering +embrasure.</p> + +<p>When Winn reached her side he was out of breath, and as he handed her +the bag and looked about, he was almost speechless at the wild, rocky +grandeur of the spot. And well he might be, for seldom had he seen one +like it. He had looked down into the gorge from above, but now he was in +a half-circular, wide-open cave the size of a small room, far below +where he had stood, and looking out upon cliff-like walls down to where +the ocean waves were beating.</p> + +<p>"And so this is the Devil's Oven," he said when he had looked all about, +and finally at Mona seated upon a jutting ledge and watching him. "I +think it a shame to have given such a hideous name to a place so grand +and picturesque. Rather should it have been called the Mermaid's Grotto. +I dislike this idea of naming all the beautiful bits of natural scenery +after his satanship. It's not fair." Then seating himself as far away +from Mona as possible he added gently, "Now, Miss Hutton, I am ready for +my treat. Please don't think or feel that I am here, but play to +yourself and for yourself, just as you did the day I first heard you."</p> + +<p>And Mona, charmed a little by his gentle, courteous ways and speech, and +her sense of fear lulled by his entirely respectful manner, drew her +violin from its case.</p> + +<p>It may have been the spot that inspired her, or the tender admiration +she saw in his eyes, or a little of both, but from the first moment she +drew the bow across the strings of her violin, a wondrous sweetness and +feeling graced her playing, and strange to say, all the melodies she +rendered bore the Scotch flavor. Most of them had been heard by Winn at +one time or another, but never played upon an instrument that seemed so +sweet or with such an exquisite touch as now. When "Bonnie Dundee" came, +he could almost see that gallant chieftain with waving plume and Tartan +plaid, and hear him say:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Come fill up my cup,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come fill up my can;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come saddle my horses<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And call up my men."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And when "The Campbells are Coming" echoed out of that rock-walled cave, +Winn could hear the bagpipes in the distance and see the dauntless hosts +of fair Scotland marching to battle.</p> + +<p>When after an hour, during which Mona sat with lithe body swaying to the +measure of her music, rounded cheek pressed tenderly to her instrument, +and her eyes closed, as if lost to the world, she came to that old +utterance of love, sweet "Annie Laurie," Winn was enthralled as never in +his life before. And when the last exquisite note had floated out of the +cave and into the sad monotone of the ocean, and Mona paused, his eyes +were dimmed with tears.</p> + +<p>"Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, brushing them away, "no words of mine +can tell you how much I have enjoyed this treat or with what rare +feeling you have played. If you could play as you have here before an +audience they would bury you under flowers and lavish wealth upon you."</p> + +<p>These were warm words, and without doubt at the moment Winn felt all +they meant, but he little realized what an influence they would instil +into the heart of Mona Hutton or what fruit they were destined to bear.</p> + +<p>"Who was that wonderful woman you told me about the other day?" asked +Mona, making no response to his flattering words. "I did not know women +ever played in public."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, they do," answered Winn, "and there are many like her who have +gained fame and riches. You could if you would set about it and had the +courage to do it. You would have to study, of course, under a teacher +and learn to play classical music."</p> + +<p>"And what is classical music?" asked Mona.</p> + +<p>"It is what no one understands, though many claim to; or perhaps better +described as soulless sound," answered Winn. "I do not care for it. +There is no feeling, no pulse, no heart in it."</p> + +<p>"Then why is the world willing to pay for it?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"The world is ready to buy anything that comes high," he answered, "and +the more in proportion to its value that is asked, the quicker they will +buy it. But do not ask about the world, Miss Hutton. It is not in +harmony with this spot. We are out of it here."</p> + +<p>Mona looked at him curiously. "You are a queer man," she said suddenly, +"and at first I was very much afraid of you."</p> + +<p>Winn laughed. "You need not be," he replied, "I never harmed man, woman, +or child." Then as a sudden thought came to him he added, "Did you tell +your mother you met me here the other day?"</p> + +<p>"No," she replied, looking confused and coloring. It was on her lips to +say that she dreaded a scolding if she did, but she restrained herself.</p> + +<p>"It is time you were starting home," he said suddenly, looking at his +watch, "and I am so sorry," and rising he added, "you must pardon me for +saying so, but I think you had best mention to your mother you met me +here, by accident of course. If you do not, and if she hears of it, she +will think it strange." When he had assisted her down the rocky pathway +and up the steep sides, the while carrying her precious violin, and they +reached the brink of the chasm, he paused.</p> + +<p>The gorge was all in shadow, the wind fallen away, and only the long +sweeping ground swells caught and mirrored the red glow of the sun now +almost at the horizon line. For a moment Winn looked out over the broad +ocean and then turned to the girl beside him.</p> + +<p>"Little one," he said gently, "I thank you for the confidence you have +placed in me by coming here and for the pleasure you have given me. I +shall never forget it. There are two favors I want you to grant me, the +first to let me call you Mona, the next to come here some day again and +play for me. Will you?"</p> + +<p>"I will unless mother forbids," she answered simply.</p> + +<p>And then as they turned toward the village, he carrying the green bag +and still retaining the hand he clasped to assist her out of the chasm, +and guiding her footsteps along the way, a new and exalted sense of +happiness came to her. But little was said by either, for she like a +timid child waited for him to speak, and he was so hushed by the mood of +the afternoon in the gorge, and the blessed unity of sea and sky and +sunset here, he enjoyed silence best.</p> + +<p>When they came in sight of the village he released her hand, and when +her home was reached handed her the bag, and with a whispered "good +night, Mona," passed on.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE PARTING OF THE WAYS</h3> + + +<p>When Winn passed out of Rockhaven the next morning, Mona was in her +dooryard kneeling beside a bed of flowers, her face shaded by a checked +calico sunbonnet. At the gate he paused.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, little girl," he said pleasantly, "do I get a flower for +my good looks this morning?" Had Mona been a cultured society girl she +would have replied in the same coin, instead she merely answered his +greeting and plucking one each of a half dozen kinds, still moist with +the dew, handed them to him. And he looked into the wondrous eyes raised +to his, saw a new light lingering in them, and smiling softly as he took +the flowers he thanked her and went his way.</p> + +<p>And strange to say, when he reached the quarry, he hid that little +nosegay in a shaded nook beside the ledge where a tiny spring dripped +out, and when he returned that noon, carried them wrapped in a wet +handkerchief to his room and left them in a glass of water. And that +night when the vexation and cares of the day had passed, he, a little +homesick and with the charm of Mona's playing still lingering in his +mind, held communion with himself. And the cause was the following +missive which had reached him:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Hardy</span>:</p> + +<p>"I was surprised a few days ago when your aunt told me you had +left the city to be manager of the Rockhaven Granite Co., and +had gone away to some unheard of island. I had missed seeing +you for a week, and when you were not at church with your aunt, +asked her what had become of you. When she told me where you +were it seemed likely you would be glad to hear from home, and +as I am aware your worthy aunt hates letter writing, I thought +I would be good to you. There isn't a bit of news to write, and +the city is getting positively unbearable.</p> + +<p>"Mother and I are getting ready to go to the mountains; we +shall start early in July and your aunt goes with us. I presume +from what she said you will remain where you are this summer. I +almost envy you, for it certainly must be cool there, and no +doubt you have or will find some sweet fishermaid to flirt +with. Grace is not going with us for she says a baby is a +nuisance at a hotel and then 'hubby' can't afford it. I saw +Jack (your chum) the other evening at the Bijou with a girl who +was stunning, also Mabel Weston and her mother.</p> + +<p>"I do not know of anything else that will interest you except +my address for the summer, which I enclose, and the hope that +you won't forget us all before your return.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Yours sincerely,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"<span class="smcap">Ethel Sherman.</span>"<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>And this from the girl who two short years before had laughed his +marriage proposal to scorn.</p> + +<p>And he was like to find some simple fishermaid to flirt with, was he? +And the cool indifference to that fact; and the covert, yet openly +expressed invitation for him to write to her.</p> + +<p>Now Winn Hardy was not blind, and in spite of the two years, during +which he had never met or thought of Ethel Sherman without a pin-prick +in his heart, clear and distinct in his mind was the alluring glance of +her blue eyes that had led him to make a fool of himself, and the red +ripe temptation of her lips he had once stolen kisses from. And now she +was inviting him to write to her. And not two rods away was a girl as +simple and sweet as the daisies that bloomed in a meadow, as utterly +unsophisticated as though reared within convent walls, with eyes like +deep waters, and a soul trembling with passionate music!</p> + +<p>For one hour Winn communed with himself, glancing attentively at the +little knot of flowers on a small table near him, and the letter beside +them, and then arose and putting on his hat, left the house. It was a +still summer evening with the crescent of a new moon glinting in the +waters of Rockhaven harbor and outlining the spectral shape of the tower +on Norse Hill. To this Winn turned his steps, and seating himself where +he could look over the undulating ocean, continued his meditation.</p> + +<p>All his life, since the day he first entered the office of Weston & +Hill, came to him. All the many snubs he had received, all the +disappointments he had met, all the weeks, months, and years of +monotonous drudgery in that office, all the "fool's paradise" hours he +had passed with Ethel Sherman, all the harsh bitterness he had heard +from the lips of Jack Nickerson—and now the new life, new ambition, and +new influence that had come to him—passed in review. And as he +leisurely puffed his cigar, looking the while out upon the boundless +expanse that, like an eternity, lay before him, he saw himself as he +was, and knew that as a man of honor and for his own peace of mind, he +must choose between two ways. That he could not escape the island for +months and perhaps for years, he saw clearly, and if he remained, as +remain he must if he were to win success in this new project, he must +inevitably become one and a part of the social and hard-working life of +the people with whom he mingled, sharing their hopes and encouraging +their ambitions. And if he did, could he go on holding himself aloof +from all tender impulses, living the life of a recluse, as inflexible as +the granite he quarried, and as void of sentiment?</p> + +<p>Winn Hardy besides being impulsive was endowed with a vein of romance, +and saw and felt the poetic side of all things. The whispers of winds in +the pine trees, flowers that grew wild in out of the way nooks, birds +singing, bees gathering honey, squirrels hiding their winter store of +nuts, the sea in all its moods, clouds sailing across a summer sky and +all that was beautiful in nature appealed to him. This island whose +frowning cliffs faced the ocean billows so defiantly, the placid harbor +with its rippled sandy shore, the old tide mill an ancient ruin, the +dark thickets of spruce between the rolling ledges of granite, and the +weird gorge where this girl had hid herself, each and all seemed to him +as so many bits of poetry. Then the peculiar and romantic fact of her +going to such a picturesque spot, out of sight and sound of even the +island people, and beyond that the wonderful sweetness and pathos of her +simple music, all appealed to him as to but few. It was as if he felt in +her a kinship of soul, an echo of his own poetic nature, a response to +his own ideals in life, with a face like a flower, lips like two +rosebuds, and eyes like a Madonna.</p> + +<p>For a long time he sat there in communion with his own needs and nature, +sobered by the silence of night and eternity so near him. When he arose, +turning back toward the village, he paused on the brow of the hill, +looking down upon it still and silent in the faint moonlight. Away to +the right and pointing skyward, he saw the little spire of the church +whose bell had recalled his early boyhood days and all the sweet and +pure influences they had contained, even the face of his own mother, he +knew he should never look upon again. And with that recollection came +the half-pitiful words he had heard in that church that seemed like a +plea for help from starvation.</p> + +<p>Winn was not religious. He had never been drawn toward an open +profession of faith. He had at first felt church going and +Sabbath-school lessons an irksome task, and later a social custom, +useful because it bound together congenial people. He believed in God +but not in prayer. His heart was in sympathy with all the carnal needs +of humanity, but not the spiritual; those he considered figments of the +imagination, useful, maybe, when old age came, but needless during +healthy, active life. To the customary observance of them he always +yielded respectful attention, but felt not their influence. And musing +there it came to him that perhaps some divine power had directed his +footsteps and brought him into the lives of these simple honest people +for a purpose not understood.</p> + +<p>When he reached his room it was fragrant with the flowers Mona had given +him that morning, and beside them lay the letter of Ethel Sherman.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>WILD ROSES</h3> + + +<p>It has been said of the modern young lady that the more of her home life +a gentleman saw, the less likely he was to fall in love with her; but as +the days sped by and Winn saw more of Mona's, he felt that that truism +was likely to be reversed.</p> + +<p>Then another natural result was attained, for finding his mission there +a practical one and the money he distributed each Saturday night a +powerful argument in his favor, the islanders, from Rev. Jason Bush +downward, began to show their cordial interest in his presence. On +Sundays when he with Jess, Mrs. Hutton, and Mrs. Moore and Mona usually +formed a little group that walked together to church, in that modest +sanctuary he was the one most observed. All to whom he had been +introduced seemed to seek an opportunity to bow, and many of the men, +whose names he had not learned, showed the same courtesy. When he walked +out after the service, old and young would stand aside for him to pass. +The Rev. Jason Bush perhaps showed the most interest, and in a purely +business way, for when he had opportunities (and he found many) it was +the quarry and its management and prospects which he was desirous of +discussing, instead of the spiritual welfare of Winn, as might be +expected. In fact, the latter was never mentioned, and although Mr. Bush +lamented that Rockhaven was divided into two sects, and that neither +church had a following sufficient to support it, it was here again the +business side of the matter which seemed uppermost in that worthy +parson's mind.</p> + +<p>But it was the cordiality shown by Mrs. Hutton on all possible occasions +that interested Winn most, because it appealed to the domestic and +home-loving side of his nature. He had never known much of home life +since maturity, for his aunt was not a home-maker, leaving that to her +servants and scolding because they failed, and to see what thought and +care could do in that direction, even though in a modest way, attracted +him. And since her door appeared always open to him and an unfailing +welcome waiting, he would have been less than human had he not availed +himself of the opportunity. Hardly an evening passed that he did not see +or speak with either mother or daughter, and occasionally made one at +their table. It was here that Jess was often in evidence, usually eating +his dinner there—always on Sunday. Then again, as the grass-grown +dooryard of his domicile adjoined the flower-filled one of Mrs. Hutton, +by some occult process a freshly cut bunch of roses, sweet peas or +pinks, found its way to his room each day. It was a trifle, perhaps, but +it is such trifles that make up home life.</p> + +<p>And Mona herself, now that her timidity had worn away to a certain +extent, began to grow upon him. He had, from the evening when he +communed with himself in solitude, continually treated her with a sort +of big brother consideration; but as he saw more of her and realized the +limitations of her life, so small in comparison with her aspirations; +how day by day she lived, feeling herself a prisoner on the island, with +no one there who understood her except Jess, a little bud of pity +started in Winn's heart, and the temptation that assailed him that day +in the cave grew stronger.</p> + +<p>"If I should feel the witchery of her playing in that romantic spot a +few times," he said to himself, "I should fall in love with her, and +couldn't help it."</p> + +<p>But temptations of that nature are hard to resist, and like sweet +potations, once tested, we desire to sip again. So it came about that +one morning Winn said to her: "Mona, I am going to treat myself to a +half day away from the quarry, and if your mother is willing, I want you +to visit the gorge with me this afternoon and bring your violin. I would +rather you asked her consent," he added pointedly, "I shall enjoy it +better."</p> + +<p>As this perfect June afternoon and its enjoyment had much to do with +shaping the heart histories of these two young people, considerable +space can well be devoted to it, and especially to their exchange of +ideas and feelings.</p> + +<p>"I will let you carry the violin now," said Winn, when they had left the +village out of sight, "I want to gather a few wild roses to decorate +your trysting place. I have odd fancies about such things and believe, +as the Greeks did, that every cave and grotto is inhabited by some nymph +or gnome. From the way your playing there has affected me each time, I +am sure it is some beautiful nymph who has chosen the Devil's Oven for +her abode, so I am going to present her with a nosegay."</p> + +<p>"I have read about fairies," responded Mona, artlessly, "but I do not +believe such creatures ever existed."</p> + +<p>"But they do," asserted Winn, smiling, as he gathered his roses, "and if +your imagination is strong enough, you can feel their presence many +times. I made sure there was one hid somewhere, that day I first heard +you playing."</p> + +<p>"And did you think so when you hid behind the rock and scared me half to +death?" she queried.</p> + +<p>"No," he responded, "I knew it was a real flesh and blood fairy then, +for I had seen you come out of the gorge."</p> + +<p>"And so you came back to scare me," she said playfully, "that wasn't +nice. If you wanted to know who it was, why didn't you ask Uncle Jess? +He would have told you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and spoiled all the romance of it," answered Winn. "It's like +detecting the presence of nymphs and fairies. If you go to a grotto or +cave alone and listen for them, you will feel or hear them always, in +some way."</p> + +<p>"If I believed that," replied Mona, seriously, "I would never go to the +cave alone again. I should feel it to be haunted."</p> + +<p>"But you admit you can play better there, and feel more of the spirit of +your music," asserted Winn; "tell me why that is."</p> + +<p>"Because I am alone, and feel myself to be so," she answered firmly. "I +do not believe it is due to any unseen creature."</p> + +<p>"But you played with wondrous feeling the day I came there with you," he +replied, "you weren't alone then."</p> + +<p>"I am glad you think so," she answered, turning away, "I tried to, but +was so afraid of you, I trembled."</p> + +<p>Winn smiled at her candor. "You don't know how to flirt, do you, Mona?" +he asked pointedly, "you utter the truth always."</p> + +<p>"Does flirting consist of deception?" she asked, looking earnestly at +him.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered, "and of the most adroit kind. It's the weapon that +all world-wise women use to enslave men, and the more skilled they are +at it, the more assured is their success."</p> + +<p>"Do men ever deceive?" she queried, her fathomless eyes still on him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, little girl," he answered, looking away and out over the ocean and +resolving to be sincere, "men are the same as women in that respect; +some do it in self-defence, and others out of selfishness. Then once in +a while, one will never do it, except out of kindness. Such men are +usually imposed upon."</p> + +<p>When they reached the brink of the chasm he took her hand. "I am so +afraid you will slip in going down," he said, "and if you were hurt, I +should never forgive myself." He retained it down the steep path and up +the devious way to the cave. When it was reached she seated herself and +said, smiling at him, "Now you are here, let me see you give your +flowers to the fairy."</p> + +<p>For answer he gallantly touched them with his lips and handed them to +her. "You are the fairy who lives here," he said, "for I shall never +think of this spot without seeing you in it."</p> + +<p>Mona colored a little and then a shade crossed her face. "Isn't that +deception?" she said. "You do not mean it."</p> + +<p>"I mean to say every nice thing I can think of to-day," he answered, +"and do all I can to make you enjoy it. A truly happy hour is a rare +experience in life, and I want to find one for you." Then, taking his +cigar case out and stretching himself on one side of the cave, he added: +"I wish we had brought some cushions. I will, the next time we come."</p> + +<p>"I do not think how hard the rock is," she answered; "when I am playing +I forget where I am, even."</p> + +<p>"Well, forget it quick," he said, "so I can. Only do not play 'Annie +Laurie' till the last thing. You brought a mist to my eyes with it the +other day. It's a sweet bit, full of tears."</p> + +<p>And then, not heeding his pleasantries, many of which she did not +understand, Mona drew her dearly loved brown fiddle out of its case, and +once more that uncanny den in the rocks echoed to its magic. A medley of +old-time ballads, jigs, reels, and dance music came forth in succession, +while Winn, forgetting his cigar, yielded to her music and watched her +lissom body encased in blue flannel, open at the throat, swaying +slightly as she played, her winsome face turned from him in profile and +eyes closed at times. Once only, when a certain air recalled the past, +did he think of the woman who had scorned him, and whose letter was +still unanswered.</p> + +<p>"Do not play any more now," he said finally, when Mona paused, "you must +be tired."</p> + +<p>"I must have tired you of it," she answered bluntly, "and I am glad. I +want to hear you talk and tell me about fairies and the great city where +you lived, and about that woman who played before people. I wish I could +learn to play as you say she did."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's not much to tell about fairies," he answered, smiling at +her earnestness, "they are merely imaginary and used to amuse children. +Many years ago, when the world was young, people believed in and +worshipped them as gods and goddesses; now they are poetic fancies."</p> + +<p>"What are poetic fancies?" she asked, understanding him only partially.</p> + +<p>"Well, for instance," he answered, "a poet would describe this gorge as +a way through the cliff carved by Neptune, and this cave a shelter the +mermaids sought to comb their tresses and sing the songs of the sea. Of +old every cascade and grotto was believed to be inhabited by nymphs and +gnomes, every grove by wood sprites and brownies. If they saw a brook +rippling over the pebbles in the sunlight, they said it was elfins +dancing; and in autumn when the fallen leaves blew over the hilltops, it +was the brownies holding carnival."</p> + +<p>"I do not believe such creatures ever did exist," she replied, "but I +shall enjoy coming here all the better for having heard about them."</p> + +<p>Then as if she already looked to him as a source of all information, she +added, "Tell me about the women in your city who ride in carriages and +wear beautiful dresses."</p> + +<p>A shade of annoyance crossed his face. "I would rather tell you about +the fairies, little girl," he answered bitterly; "the women in my world +are mostly charming liars. They live to outshine each other in dress, +they utter pretty speeches that are false, they go to church to show off +their raiment and come back to sneer at what others wear, they consider +a man as eligible for a husband solely because he has money, and if he +tells them the truth, call him a fool. I do not admire them much, Mona, +and the less you know of them the better woman you will grow to be, and +the better wife you will make some man."</p> + +<p>Mona flushed slightly and raising her eyes and looking full at him, +responded, "Do all the men in your world despise women as you do, and is +there not among them one who is good and tender and truthful?"</p> + +<p>Winn remained silent a moment, for the delicate reproach of her words +was unexpected.</p> + +<p>"There may be some," he answered evasively at last, "but I have never +met them and a man is apt to judge all women by those he has known."</p> + +<p>"And if there is now and then one among them who is not false-hearted," +continued Mona, "is she not respected and loved for it?"</p> + +<p>"She might be by some," he answered doubtfully, "but most would call her +stupid."</p> + +<p>"Would the men call her stupid?" persisted Mona.</p> + +<p>"Some of them would," he answered, smiling at her earnestness, "but most +of them would take advantage of it. World-wise men grow to be selfish." +Then, as if the subject was distasteful, or her inquiries too pointed, +he added, "Do you know what love is, Mona, and have you never had a +lover among the young fishermen here?"</p> + +<p>"T have read about it," she answered with perfect sincerity, and smiling +at her own thought, "but I've never had much for any of the boys I've +known; they smell too fishy."</p> + +<p>This time Winn laughed heartily. "And is your nose the by-road to your +heart?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"It may be," she replied, also laughing, "if I have one."</p> + +<p>It was the first coquettish word she had so far uttered, and Winn did +not like it.</p> + +<p>"That does not sound like you, Mona," he replied soberly, "your greatest +charm, and it is a charm, is sincerity. When you speak that way you +remind me of the ladies in my world, and I do not like them."</p> + +<p>"And if I am always truthful," she said, "you will call me simple, won't +you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I told you I admired that in you," he said, "but you have not +answered my question, Mona. Have you never had a lover?"</p> + +<p>"I have had two or three," she replied again, looking sober, "at least +they said they loved me, but I did not return it."</p> + +<p>And as Winn looked at the girlish figure, just showing the rounded +curves of womanhood beneath its close-fitting blue flannel gown, and at +the pansy face with eyes like one of those purple petals, fixed on him, +he, manlike, thought how sweet it would be to moisten them with the dew +of love's light and feel the touch of her velvety lips.</p> + +<p>But should he try for that prize, and did he want it, if he could win +it?</p> + +<p>The lowering sun had thrown the shadows of the spruce trees adown the +gorge, the wind scarce ruffled the ocean and only the low lullaby of its +undulations crept up the ravine. It was the parting of day and night, +the good-by of sunshine, the peace of summer twilight.</p> + +<p>"Now, Mona," he half whispered, as if fearing to scare the mermaids +away, "play 'Annie Laurie'!"</p> + +<p>And lost to the world, he watched her bending over and caressing that +old brown fiddle, even as a mother would press her baby's face to her +own, again and once again came that whisper of a love that never dies, a +refrain that holds the pathos of life and parting in its chords, a love +cry centuries old, as sweet as heaven, as sad as death.</p> + +<p>"Come, little girl," he said, rising suddenly when only the ocean's +whisper reached his ears, "it's time to go home." And as, clasping her +hand, and in silence leading her out of the gorge, he noticed when one +of the roses she carried from the cave fell among the rocks, she stooped +and picked it up.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>J. MALCOLM WESTON</h3> + + +<p>There is in this land of the free, where all men are created equal (on +paper), a class of financial sharpers, whose ambition and sole +occupation is to secure for themselves the wealth of others by the most +occult and far-reaching scheming ever evolved by human brain. They toil +not, neither do they produce, yet Satan with all his archness is not +equipped like one of these. There is no taint of illegality in their +methods, they are outwardly the best of men, heralded by the press as +great financiers, railroad magnates, oil, copper, and iron kings, +praised by the rich and toadied to by the poor. They are envied by many, +lauded by editors who seek advertisements, and (if they contribute +liberally) praised by college presidents and preachers alike. Political +fortunes are turned by their nod, laws enacted in their aid, the code of +morals shaded in their favor, club doors opened, and society bowing low +whichever way they turn. Only the toiling millions whose lives are one +long fight against poverty think or speak ill of them, and such are not +considered. Those magnates of extortion so colossal that it is legal, +have one trite expression that contains their contempt for the millions +who envy, and that is, "The public be d——d."</p> + +<p>Of their operation on the chess board of finance little need be said. It +is known, or at least its results are, to high or low, rich or poor. +These octopuses, or rather human sharks, organize trusts, corner every +necessity of life where conditions will permit; buy bankrupt railroads, +inflate their stock, boom it by systematic deception and then unload it +at top prices on the countless flocks of lambs ever ready to buy what is +dear, and who never by any known process can be induced to buy what is +cheap.</p> + +<p>And those are financiers!</p> + +<p>There is another class, usually with less money, but equal in brains and +audacity, who have come to be known as promoters. Relatively speaking +they should be called dogfish. They would be financiers if they could, +but lacking capital to buy railroads, or corner everything on the earth, +except water, they merely organize schemes and sell stock. How many, and +how varied those are, it is waste of space to specify. All that the +patient reader need do is consult the pages of any or all city dailies +and read the tempting list of schemes there to be found. All are alike +in the main, for all offer safe investments, sure and ample returns, +indorsed by names that glitter, and promise everything under the +sun,—except to return your money if you do not get value promised.</p> + +<p>Of this class was J. Malcolm Weston.</p> + +<p>He had organized two or three glittering bubbles before the firm of +Weston & Hill was established, but from lack of capital failed to reap +the hoped-for reward. Then along came Hill, a retired manufacturer, +whose history shall be given in due time, who had more money than brains +and more conceit than either. Weston, a shrewd and smooth-tongued +schemer, reading Hill at a glance, was not long in flattering that +gullible man into a partnership and taking him and his money into camp, +as it were. For a time, and while Winn Hardy was serving apprenticeship, +the firm conducted a fairly honest and respectable business. They bought +and sold stocks and bonds of all kinds, that is, they sold and then +bought to fill orders only,—a species of commission business perfectly +safe, but not satisfying to Weston. He longed to soar, to organize a +great scheme, a glittering bubble, to see his name in print as a king of +finance, and do it on other people's money—and Hill's.</p> + +<p>Then one day, while off with his broker, Simmons, on the latter's steam +yacht, visiting various north coast islands, the impulse culminated.</p> + +<p>"Why not buy one of these islands," said Simmons, "and start a quarry +company? You can buy one for a song and a granite-quarrying industry +<i>sounds</i> safe and will catch the cautious. I am intending to build a +fine residence in the near future, and you can furnish me the stone. In +return, I'll market stock enough to pay for it. We can find an island +with a harbor and buy it, or a part, which is all that is needful, and +you can do the rest." And thus the scheme was hatched, and when J. +Malcolm Weston, the to-be great financier, returned to the city, he was +sole owner of Jess Hutton's unused quarry and the Rockhaven Granite +Company was born.</p> + +<p>It took time, however, for Hill was a cautious man, holding on to his +purse-strings with the grip of death, and Weston must needs approach him +circuitously. Then there were outsiders to warm up, as it were, men of +some financial standing whose names were of value, to interest; a +charter to be obtained, and all the legal and business detail necessary +to the carrying out of a scheme to be attended to. It also needed all of +Weston's plausible arguments to perfect the plot, and summer came around +again before the conspiracy was ready to be launched. Then "the street" +was cautious, and knowing Weston's reputation in the past, was not +eager, or even willing, to buy this stock. At first, a few credulous +people like Winn's aunt and two or three others who believed in Weston +bought small lots, and the men whose names appeared on the prospectus +were each and all given stock in due ratio to their prominence. And then +Simmons began his fine work. He knew, and so did Weston, that every +share they had given away would be offered for sale as soon as a price +for it had been established "on 'change" and then the scheme would fall +flat. But Simmons had ideas of his own. "We must wait," he said, "until +your man Hardy has shipped us one or two loads of granite, then herald +that fact repeatedly in the papers until the dear confiding public don't +know whether one or ten shiploads have arrived, and then—declare a +dividend!"</p> + +<p>It was not long after, and when Winn Hardy, the honest dupe that he was, +was either zealously striving to push the Rockhaven Granite Company +interests toward success, or thinking about what fine eyes Mona Hutton +had, that the <i>Market News</i> contained the following item:—</p> + +<p>"The first load of granite destined for the new and palatial residence +which Richard Simmons, the well-known broker, is about to build, has +arrived. It came from the Rockhaven Granite Company's quarries on an +island they own, which produces the finest quality of building stone +obtainable."</p> + +<p>A week later this item also appeared in the same financial sheet:—</p> + +<p>"It is rumored that all the treasury stock of the Rockhaven Granite +Company has been subscribed for and that this enterprising corporation +is overwhelmed with orders for their excellent product. This is due to +the rapid growth of our beautiful city and the consequent demand for +building materials."</p> + +<p>And J. Malcolm Weston, after reading them in the privacy of his office, +stroked his abundant side whiskers with an admiring caress, while a +smile of satisfaction spread over his genial face. It was the beginning +of his long-cherished ambition to pose as a great financier and it +filled his soul with joy.</p> + +<p>"A dozen or more of such items will start the ball rolling in glorious +shape," he said to Hill, "and boom Rockhaven to beat the cards."</p> + +<p>But Hill, the narrow-minded and close-fisted man that he was, only +looked cross, and sourly asked, "What did they cost?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>A MATTER OF BUSINESS</h3> + + +<p>As the days passed on Winn noticed that more and more interest came to +be felt in the Rockhaven Granite Company and his management. And when +the first schooner he had chartered to load with quarried stone came +into the harbor and alongside the little wharf in front of the quarry, +almost a breeze of excitement seemed to ripple through the village. The +women whose husbands were working there came down to see the loading, +children wanted to climb aboard the vessel, and even the Rev. Jason Bush +spent hours watching the massive blocks as they were swung on board. Old +Jess Hutton left his store, and the people to help themselves, every +afternoon, and perched on a convenient outpost, looked on. Only Mona +kept away, and when one evening Winn asked her why, she colored slightly +and replied, "It hurts me a little to see that old ledge Uncle Jess used +to own being blasted and carried off."</p> + +<p>It wasn't her only reason, though a part of it; the rest was of such a +nature that Mona kept it locked in her breast. For the good natives of +Rockhaven, as well as others, had noticed that Winn always walked with +her going and coming from church and had commented upon it, and Mona had +heard of their comments.</p> + +<p>Winn was not her lover as yet, she felt, and not likely to be. She could +not and would not avoid walking and talking with him, but she could +avoid seeming to pursue him over to the quarry. It was all due to a +remark Mrs. Moore had made in a neighborly way.</p> + +<p>"I like Mr. Hardy, right well," she had said one morning when Mona +brought in a fresh bunch of June roses and asked that she put them in +his room, "an' if I was a young gal like you, I'd set my cap for him. It +looks as if you had, a-bringin' him fresh posies, an' if ye keep it up +the right way, an' don't let him make too free with ye, ye kin. It 'ud +be a great catch for ye if ye did."</p> + +<p>After that Mona brought no more flowers for Winn's room, but her mother, +observant ever, and world-wise in a way, did so, and Winn never knew the +difference.</p> + +<p>When the second load of stone had been shipped, and the July sun had +begun to shrivel the scanty grass in Mrs. Moore's dooryard, her two +sons sailed into the harbor one day to spend a Sunday there. They were +browned by the sea-winds and redolent of its crisp odors, and when Winn +came back from the quarry at supper time he found them there.</p> + +<p>"I hear ye're blowin' up an' carryin' off our island," said David, the +oldest, on being introduced, "an' it's a good thing. The rock ain't o' +much account an' most on't is in the way. Thar ain't room 'nough +'longside o' the water here to dry fish, let alone settin' up houses."</p> + +<p>And that Saturday evening, when Winn, as usual, repaired to the store of +Jess Hutton to pay off his men, this swarthy sailor was sitting upon the +doorstep of Mrs. Hutton's home, chewing tobacco vigorously and talking +to Mona.</p> + +<p>The next day, too, dressed in a suit of new clothes that, to use a slang +phrase, "could be heard across the island," he boldly and with an air of +proprietorship walked beside her to church and seated himself in the +same pew.</p> + +<p>Winn, who had never taken this liberty, and who sat with Mrs. Moore just +to the rear, watched Mona industriously and noticed that once when the +young fisherman leaned over to whisper she edged away. All that day not +once did Winn exchange a word with her except the "good morning" that +was his early greeting, and when evening came he once more lit his cigar +and strolled up Norse Hill to commune with himself, for the sight of +that swaggering son of Neptune making himself agreeable to Mona was not +pleasant. In this respect men are all alike, and whether they want a +woman or not, a shadow of the old instinct that existed among the cave +dwellers is latent.</p> + +<p>It was two days after when the brothers sailed away, and by that time +Winn had decided that no matter how interested young Moore was in Mona, +she reciprocated no part of it.</p> + +<p>And then another, and totally unexpected success in his new life came to +him, and that from Jess.</p> + +<p>"I've been layin' back 'n' watchin' how things was goin' on," observed +that philosopher one evening when they were alone in the store, "an' how +ye have behaved yerself, an' I'm goin' to be plain spoken with ye. In +the fust place I've made up my mind ye're a good, honest and +well-meanin' young man, an' if 'twas goin' ter help ye any, an' if ye +are likely to make it yer home here a year or two, I'd buy a few shares +of this stock jist ter show ye 'n' yer folks Rockhaven appreciates the +wages ye're payin' out. I'm goin' ter ask ye a few questions, an' if +matters is all right, I'll take five hundred on't an' mebbe I cud git +Cap'n Moore an' Cap'n Roby n' one or two others to buy a leetle. They +would if they knew I had."</p> + +<p>To say that Winn was surprised was to put it mildly.</p> + +<p>"I will gladly answer any question you may ask, Mr. Hutton, and +truthfully," he replied. "I know how you feel in regard to this +enterprise and how much any one would hate to lose a dollar they +invested in our stock. It is because of this that I have not so far +asked a soul, not even you, to invest a cent with us, though we are +ready and shall be glad to have you. As to how long I shall stay here, +that is a matter over which I have no control. I am only a manager for +the company. I own some of the stock and draw a fair salary, and if this +quarry pays (and I shall do my best to make it) I may stay here for +life."</p> + +<p>"Is this here Weston wuth a good deal o' money," queried Jess in +response, "an' what sort o' man is he reckoned in the city? Is he +counted as square an' honest, or a sharper?"</p> + +<p>"So far as I know," responded Winn, "he is an honorable business man; +and although this quarrying company is like any other enterprise—a +venture—I do not think Mr. Weston would have gone into it unless he +felt sure of making money."</p> + +<p>Jess asked a good many other questions which, with their answers, not +being pertinent to the thread of this narrative, need not be quoted. +When Winn left him that night, after he had gone over in detail all he +knew regarding Weston & Hill and their business, it was with the feeling +that he had conquered Rockhaven and its oracle without an effort. He +little realized that a far more subtile influence than dividends had +interested Jess Hutton, and a desire to conserve matters to the end that +Mona might be made the happier, was the motive force that governed him.</p> + +<p>"I've noticed," he said a little later to Mrs. Hutton, "that this young +man sorter takes to Mona n' she kinder cottons to him. I think it 'ud be +a good idee if ye'd jest caution her not to be free with him 'n' kinder +hold herself off as it were. These city chaps have a winnin' way with +'em to a gal, n' I'd hate to see her git a heartache out on't." He did +not tell Mrs. Hutton he had bought five hundred shares of Rockhaven +stock and insisted that Winn also keep the matter a secret.</p> + +<p>A week later Winn received the following missive from Jack Nickerson, +only a portion of which it is necessary to quote.</p> + +<p>"... I hear," he wrote, "that you have captured an island and are +sending it here in shiploads according to the <i>Market News</i> (two +clippings of which I enclose). They show the fine Italian hand of Weston +or Simmons. I hope you are enjoying yourself and drawing your per annum +with promptness and regularity. The street is growing curious as to what +deep-laid scheme Weston & Hill are preparing to spring upon it, and +Rockhaven stock is not as yet selling to any extent. I saw the gay and +festive Weston out driving yesterday and Simmons was with him. They are +a pair that will bear watching. I hope they won't play you for a +tenderfoot in this new deal. Last week I took a run up to the mountain +where Ethel Sherman and her mother are spending the summer. Ethel was, +as might be expected, deep in a flirtation with a young idiot in golf +clothes and hardly noticed me. Incidentally I heard that he was possible +heir to millions."</p> + +<p>"What an inveterate scoffer Jack is," was Winn's mental comment on this +missive. "He sees no good motive in any one;" and then he re-read the +long and flowery letter from Weston received the same time and +congratulating him on his excellent work. Also notifying him they had as +usual anticipated his pay-roll and expressed sufficient currency to meet +it.</p> + +<p>And of the two letters the one from Weston seemed to him just then to be +honest and business-like, and Jack's as but the sneering of a confirmed +cynic.</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't be putting good money into this quarry if they did not +see a safe and sure return," he thought, and then he took Ethel +Sherman's letter that had been lying for weeks unanswered on his table +and tore it into shreds.</p> + +<p>A few days later he received instructions to make a present of fifty +shares of stock to the minister of Rockhaven church, and to assure him +that the Company donated it for the good of the cause and to show their +cordial interest in the religious welfare of the island. And the Rev. +Jason Bush, who never in his life owned more than the humble roof that +sheltered him, and whose patient wife turned and dyed her raiment until +worthless, marvelled much. And more than that, twenty-four hours had not +passed ere every man, woman, and child on the island had been told it, +for such unexpected, such astounding liberality seemed nothing short of +a miracle.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>THE GROWTH OF A BUBBLE</h3> + + +<p>"Young Hardy's making his mark down on the island," observed J. Malcolm +Weston to his partner that morning when they had received notice of the +stock purchase made by Jess, "and if the fellow keeps on as he has +started the quarry won't stand us out a penny."</p> + +<p>"I doubt if he does," responded Mr. Hill, who, be it said, fulfilled the +part of a balance wheel to Weston. "From what you have told me there +aren't many on the island who have any spare money."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you can't always tell by the clothes such jays wear how much they +have hid away in old stockings," responded Weston. "Those mossbacks +never spend a cent and once they grasp a dollar it passes out of +circulation."</p> + +<p>"I am surprised Hardy landed this man Hutton for five hundred," said +Hill, "and so early in the game."</p> + +<p>"I am also," replied Weston, "and if I felt sure that Hardy could be +trusted with our plans, I would tell him what our next move is, but I am +not. The trouble with him is, he is too honest, and when we begin to +throw out bait in the way of advance dividends, he will suspect our game +and I am not sure how he will take it."</p> + +<p>"Do not think of that yet," replied Hill, "so long as we keep all the +cards in our own hands, we know where the joker is, but never +afterward."</p> + +<p>"I am a good mind to take a ran down to Rockhaven," continued Weston +meditatively, "and get better acquainted with this old duffer Hutton and +the rest. Also make some of them a present of a little stock, just to +interest them. It's the way to catch mackerel and those few shares will +return us good results when we declare a dividend."</p> + +<p>"Better not," replied the more cautious of the two, "those old fishermen +are not fools, and will conclude that if you are willing to give stock +away, it's of no value. When we do pay a dividend this Hutton will not +keep it a secret and Hardy can then reap the harvest. Besides, he and +his honesty must be considered. It won't do to alarm him. He believes +the scheme is legitimate, and as he has a finger in the pie, will work +for his own end and sell all the stock he can. What I should advise is +that we notify him the price is now two dollars per share and let that +leaven work as it will. How much stock have we sold already?"</p> + +<p>"About six thousand shares," replied Weston, "counting that bought by +Hardy."</p> + +<p>"And two per cent on the par value of that," continued Hill, figuring on +a slip of paper, "would be twelve hundred dollars. I think one per cent +enough as a starter and that we should pay it now."</p> + +<p>"No," replied the more liberal Weston, "it's not best to pinch in the +matter of chum, as the fishermen say, and do things by halves. If we +must bait them now let us bait them well."</p> + +<p>And bait them well they did, for the next day's issue of the <i>Market +News</i> contained the following:—</p> + +<p>"It is with pleasure we announce that the Rockhaven Granite Company has +declared a dividend of two per cent on the par value of the stock, +payable at the office of Weston & Hill. As we stated a short time ago in +these columns, this well-known and reliable firm, whose enterprise is +now so agreeably proven, do nothing by halves and are only too glad to +distribute all profits as soon as accrued. The stock has already doubled +in price and we predict will reach par in the near future."</p> + +<p>And when Jess Hutton received by mail a check for one hundred dollars +as his share of the dividend upon the par value of five hundred shares +and the parson one for ten, Rockhaven began to get excited, and all who +had a dollar to invest made haste to call upon Winn. Captain Doty bought +one hundred shares, Captain Moore, uncle to David the irrepressible, the +same, a few others lesser amounts, and to cap the climax, poor +hard-working Mrs. Moore, Winn's landlady, came to him.</p> + +<p>"I've got a little money laid away in the savin's bank ashore," she +said, "an' it's only drawin' four cents a dollar, which ain't much. If +you thinks it's safe mebbe I'd best take some out an' buy some o' this +stock. They all tell me it's payin' and like to go up."</p> + +<p>And that night, in the seclusion of his own room, as Winn Hardy thought +matters over, and realized how this speculative excitement was starting +on Rockhaven, just a faint suspicion that the golden apple might be +rotten at the core came to him. As was his way when he wanted to think +and think hard, he at once betook himself out of sight and sound of even +that quiet village, and hied away to the top of Norse Hill. Here he lit +a cigar and planted himself beside the strange structure there, the +history of which no one knew.</p> + +<p>And how solemn and silent the still summer evening seemed, and how like +eternity the boundless ocean faintly visible in the starlight. Only its +low murmur at the foot of the cliff and just a faint breeze redolent of +its salty zest reached him. And of Weston & Hill and this new outcome?</p> + +<p>He had worked and talked to this end; he had hoped for it, striving to +bring it about, and now that the quarry was each day a busy hive of +workers, the third vessel load of quarried stone nearly all on board and +ready to ship, the entire island agog over this new industry, and not +only willing but anxious to invest their hard-earned savings in +Rockhaven stock, and a prosperous outcome to his ambition in sight, Winn +hesitated.</p> + +<p>And the more he ground the grist of Weston & Hill's scheme in his mind +there beside the old stone tower, the less he liked it and the deeper +the germ of suspicion took root. And the cause of it all was the two per +cent dividend!</p> + +<p>Winn Hardy, though a country-born boy and lacking in worldly experience, +as well as education, was no fool. He knew that two shiploads of +granite, though sold at a fabulous price, would not pay a profit equal +to half the cost the quarry had so far been, to say nothing of a +dividend, and the only conclusion was not flattering to his firm's +honesty. Then one by one, every little detail of the entire affair; +every instruction they had given; the stock they had presented to him; +the letters they had written; the donation to the parson; Jack +Nickerson's innuendoes; and now this unreasonable payment of dividends +which he knew were not earned,—all passed in review. Honest himself, he +was slow to suspect dishonesty in others, but the longer and more +carefully he weighed these facts in his mind the plainer he saw the word +"fraud" written on each one of them.</p> + +<p>And he had put every dollar of the few he had saved into this stock and +borrowed some besides! And worse than that; this honest old fellow Jess, +out of good will to him had put five hundred in and persuaded others to +invest also!</p> + +<p>Suspicion is like sailing in a fog; we cannot tell where clear air ends +and fog begins, only the first we know the air seems damp and chill, the +sun obscured and danger near. And so with Winn, there on Rockhaven, with +his vocation and paths in life all mapped out, these people looking +toward him as a benefactor and ready to trust him with their money and +the sun of success shining! And all at once the air seemed chill with +the fog of deceit and fraud, and he knew not where he was. To refuse +those who would buy more stock, he dare not, since it would awaken +suspicion; to accept it was as bad, for it compromised him the deeper. +For a long hour he tried to think a way for himself out of this fog, and +the more he thought the more positive his suspicion grew, and then he +returned to his abode. And there in Rock Lane and as if to increase his +burden of responsibility, was Mona sitting in the porch of her humble +home alone.</p> + +<p>"Why, little girl," he said softly, pausing at the gate, "are you not +abed and asleep?"</p> + +<p>And Mona, unconscious of how or in what way it would strike him, and in +the utter innocence of her heart, came quickly out to where he was +standing.</p> + +<p>"I was lonesome," she said simply, "and waiting for you to come back. I +saw you go up the hill and wondered what for." And Winn, despondent and +worried as he was, and looking down into the sweet face and earnest eyes +upraised to him, felt their tender sympathy wondrously sweet.</p> + +<p>"I went up there to think," he said, "and to be alone. It is a way I +have when business troubles me." And bidding her "good night" he left +her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE PATH OF MOONLIGHT</h3> + + +<p>For a few weeks Winn worried over the suspicions of Weston & Hill's +honesty that seemed like a cloud of danger, and then, to a certain +extent, it passed away. To no one, not even Jess, did he dare confide +them, but just drifted on, day by day, doing the duty he was paid to do. +Each week came his pay-roll and salary remittance, and an assuring and +pleasant letter from the firm. It also contained a request or hope that +he would not forget to sell stock when he could. This latter, however, +made no impression on Winn. Collectively, he had sold about one thousand +shares to these islanders, and that he felt was enough. In fact, +believing, as he had almost come to do, that the entire scheme was a +gigantic swindle, it was certainly all he intended to sell, and more +than he wished he had sold. Then there was another matter of serious +interest, and that was Mona.</p> + +<p>Between her and himself, these summer days, there had come a little bond +of feeling, deep-rooted in her simple but passionate nature, and more +lightly in his. To her it was a new wonder-world, and as each evening +when he chanced to linger by the gate watching her, as she cared for the +sweet williams, pinks, and peonies that grew in her dooryard, or later +when he sat with her in the vine-hid porch, chatting of commonplaces or +relating incidents of the great world outside, his earnest eyes, the +melodious tones of his voice, and the careless, half cynical, half +tender way he had of expressing himself, only increased the charm. +Occasionally, on Thursday evenings, when her mother, as usual, made one +of the little band who gathered in the church, they two would stroll +over to the cliff beyond Norse Hill or up the road to Northaven to the +old tide mill. On two occasions he had persuaded her to take her violin +and visit the gorge with him, where she played at his bidding, her heart +gladdened by the thought that he cared to hear her. But she preferred +his poetic fancies and world-taught sayings to the violin, and since she +was so charming and interested a listener, it was inevitable that he +talked much. Another matter also troubled him seriously.</p> + +<p>He had, at the beginning of their acquaintance, and from a desire to +utter pleasant words to Mona, assured her that she was gifted with a +remarkable talent for playing, and if she would but make the effort, +the world would bow before her. It was a kindly speech, and charmed as +he was by time, place, and the power of the old love songs she rendered +with such exquisite feeling, he really meant it, little realizing its +effect on her. Now that he did realize it, and could not fail to see +that every word he uttered was considered by her as authoritative, he +wished that he had been more cautious. Then again, he understood her +better and saw what an ardent child of nature she was, and how her heart +and soul vibrated to every pulse of the ocean and the mystic romance of +the wild gorge she sought so often. To him now she seemed like a +veritable nymph of old, or a mermaid, whose soul was attuned to the wild +voice of wind and wave sighing through the rock-walled ravine and the +thicket of spruce above it. For such a creature of moods and fancies to +thrust herself into a merciless world, where sentiment was a jest and +romance an illusion, seemed a sacrilege. And he was to blame for her +wish to do so! Then again, he felt that if the world could but see and +hear her, it must, perforce, crown her with the laurel wreath. True to +his impulsive nature, in this as in all things, he alternated in his own +opinions as to what was best for her.</p> + +<p>And so the summer days passed, and Winn, half conscious that she was +learning the sad lesson of love, and yet stifling his conscience with +the feeling that he was only playing the rôle of big brother, which he +had decided to adopt, allowed the (to him) pleasant pastime to continue.</p> + +<p>It may be said that it was unfair for him, a polished man of the world, +and knowing full well that there could be but one result to this +delightful intimacy, to allow it to continue, and yet he did. And it +must also be asserted, that under the same circumstances and like +provocation, few men there are who would not do likewise.</p> + +<p>One surprise came to him, however, for he had sent to the city for a +book of instructions on the violin and a supply of new music, only to +find, when he gave them to her, that she was unable to read a note.</p> + +<p>"I told you," she said plaintively, "that I knew nothing about music +except what Uncle Jess has taught me, and I wonder how you can think I +play so well. If only I could go away and learn even a little, I should +be so happy."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he responded, smiling at her, for he had come to speak as he +thought and felt, "and learn also that men admired you, and grow vain of +your looks, and become one of the artful women of society, instead of +sweet and pure-minded Mona. You are better off where you are, for here +you are happy and care-free."</p> + +<p>Then one evening came another, and more serious, revelation to him.</p> + +<p>They had strolled up to the old tide mill, and sat watching the moon +high overhead, outlining its path of silver sheen upon the rippled +waters of the harbor, while he, as usual, was giving utterance to some +of his delicately worded sayings.</p> + +<p>"I do not understand," she said in response to one more pointed than the +rest, "why you think so badly of womankind in the great world. Are they +all so selfish, and artful, and deceitful, as you say? I have seen some +who came here in their beautiful yachts, and they looked so nice in +their white dresses, and so sweet and gentle, I envied them."</p> + +<p>Winn looked at her and smiled.</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt, little girl, you admired and envied them, and that +they looked to you as beautiful and charming as so many fairies. That +was the principal reason they came ashore—just to be seen and admired +by you people here, who, they knew, never were, and, most likely, never +would be, clad as they were. That is all these butterflies of fashion +live for—to show off their beautiful plumage and be envied by others."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you know them best," she responded regretfully, as if sorry he +had spoiled an illusion, "but I thought them so beautiful and sweet and +so like pictures in books, it seemed to me they must be as described +there and never wicked or deceitful."</p> + +<p>"And so you have been believing all you read in books, have you, little +one?" he said, smiling again, "and that those show birds who lit on the +island flew out of the pages of story books? And yet, the other day, +when I told you about the nymphs and elfins, you did not believe me, +Mona!"</p> + +<p>"I have never seen those creatures," she replied, "and I have seen +these."</p> + +<p>"Neither have you seen God, or the Saviour, or the angels," he said, +"and yet you believe they exist."</p> + +<p>"I do," she answered firmly, "and I should go crazy with fear if I +didn't. But your wonderful creatures, who lived so long ago, did not +make this world, as God did."</p> + +<p>"People believed they did in those days," he replied quietly, "and just +as firmly as we believe God did."</p> + +<p>She made no answer, for the subject was beyond her, but silently +watched the beauteous moonlight picture before her.</p> + +<p>"I should like to go into the great world," she said at last, as if that +fascinated her, "and wear beautiful dresses and see those others wear, +and hear that wonderful woman you told about play the violin, and watch +them throw flowers at her. I should like to be one with the rest just +for a little while, and then come back."</p> + +<p>"If you did that you would never come back," he answered, "or if you did +you would be miserable ever after."</p> + +<p>"I should have to," she said, as another side of the question presented +itself to her, "if I couldn't earn my living there."</p> + +<p>"You would have to, surely," he answered slowly, thinking of some phases +of city existence, but allowing no hint of them to escape him. "It is +foolish to dream of these things, little girl," he continued, "for they +are impossible. Even if you had the means to join the great throng of +city revellers, you would, with your disposition, be wounded deep on all +sides. The women would say spiteful things about you, and scratch you +every way they could, as is their nature; and the men would fill your +ears with subtle flattery, and each one spread before you the most +insidious net ever woven by mortal brain. No, little sister, be content +where you are, and if you are lonely, go to the cave and listen to the +whisper of the fairies. They will never stab you to the heart, as the +worldly women will. You are like a wild rose now, and as sweet and +innocent. You say what you think and mean what you say. Your heart is +tender and true and your thoughts pure and simple. You deceive no one, +and would not, if you could."</p> + +<p>"But might I not learn to play as the wonderful woman did," she asked +stoutly, "and could I not earn my own living if I did? I need not know, +nor care, what these spiteful women said about me, need I?"</p> + +<p>Winn looked at her in surprise.</p> + +<p>"And so this is the bee that has crept into the heart of my wild rose, +is it?" he said. "You thirst for fame and the laurel wreath, do you, +Mona? I thought I had come to know you well, little one," he continued +tenderly, "but this surprises me. Do you know what it means, and that to +win the world's applause you must study your art for years, and step by +step win your way up the ladder, and that already ahead of you are +hundreds who will miss no chance to push you backwards? And who will pay +for all the cost of tuition and training you must go through, Mona?"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Jess will," she answered simply, "if I ask him. He loves me."</p> + +<p>Winn was silent, conscious that beside him was a creature as tender as a +flower and as innocent, with a will to do and dare, or strive to do, +what few women would, and in her heart was an ambition that, like the +bee in the flower, would rob her of all life's sweetness.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," he said at last, "that you have this ambition. It is +creditable to you, but hopeless. Put it out of your mind before it +destroys your peace. Be your own sweet self here on the island, and some +day you will learn to love one of its hardy sons, like David Moore, +perhaps, and he will make you a home and strive for your happiness."</p> + +<p>"I do not care for him, or any of the others," she answered, "and never +shall."</p> + +<p>It was not the first time he had mentioned young Moore to her, but never +before in so serious a way, and it hurt.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," she continued, "that I told you what I have, but somehow I +thought you understood me better than any one else. It is all right, +however, and no doubt what you say is true."</p> + +<p>He noticed there was a little quiver in her voice, and realized he had +hurt her. He had, but not in the way he thought.</p> + +<p>For a long time they sat in silence, watching the whitened ledges that +bordered the island, the spectral spruces that grew to the right of +where they were, the twinkling gleam of the lighthouse in the distance, +and the shimmering path of moonlight across the harbor that ended at +their feet.</p> + +<p>"It's a beautiful night," said Winn at last, "and I hate to leave this +spot, but I think it's time you were home."</p> + +<p>And as he spoke he stooped, and, putting his hand under her arm, lifted +her to her feet.</p> + +<p>As he did so, a single tear fell upon his hand.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>IN A FOG</h3> + + +<p>Men are very much alike in this respect: if one finds fortune or a path +that seems to lead that way, all who suspect it will try to crowd in. +The same instinct may be seen among a flock of fowl, only we do not +pursue so openly. And so, when news of the unexpected and early dividend +on Rockhaven stock circulated—as it was quick in doing—everybody on +the island who had a few dollars laid away made haste to seek Winn, +anxious to invest. The leaven worked as that shrewd swindler, Weston, +knew full well it would, and had Winn's suspicions not been aroused, and +he too honest to take advantage of these people, he might have sold five +thousand shares, and as the sequel proved, bankrupted the island. For +these hard-working people, though living in hovels and wearing clothing +a tramp would almost disdain, were frugal, and each and all had +something saved for a rainy day. The wisest had, from time to time, sent +their savings ashore by Captain Roby to deposit in a savings bank; +others kept a few dollars hid in bedticks or similarly secreted; but +now, solely because Jess Hutton, the oracle of the island, was known to +have invested in this stock and received such fabulous returns, all were +anxious to follow his lead. A little spice of envy crept in also at his +good luck, and Mrs. Moore, in chatting with a neighbor, voiced it.</p> + +<p>"It's allus the way," she said plaintively, "when Jess bought that ledge +o' stun from Gad Baker an' gin him a hundred dollars for't, 'most +everybody thought he was a fool, and now 'long comes this city man and +gives him two thousand for't, an' on top o' that Jess buys some o' this +stock an' gets a hundred dollars profit fust go-off. Here I've been +cookin' an' washin', year in an' year out, an' jist keepin' soul 'n' +body together, an' the boys spendin' every cent they airned—not thet +I'm complainin' on them, only if I had five hundred laid away I might +put in as much as Jess did. It don't seem right, that it don't! +Howsoever, it's the way o' the world, an' them as has, gits."</p> + +<p>Little did hard-working Widow Moore realize when Dame Fortune was good +to her!</p> + +<p>But Winn was the most worried person on the island, and his burden the +heavier to bear since he dared not hint his suspicions to any one. To +all who came and almost begged him to take their savings in exchange for +stock he made only one reply, "We have no more to sell," and had there +been a stock exchange on the island, Rockhaven would have soared to +twenty dollars a share, so eager were those credulous people to invest.</p> + +<p>Then another incident of life began to interest them, and, though Winn +knew it not, his attentions to Mona began to create gossip, more +especially as he was the actual and present representative of a rich +corporation. His walking to and from church with her, the hours he had +spent in her home, and more than these, the summer evening strolls up to +the old tide mill, to linger and watch the moonlight on the water, had +all been noticed and commented upon. For these people, albeit they +worked hard and lived poorly, intuitively knew where Cupid hid himself +and how and when he shot his arrows. It was all right, of course, and +though other less fortunate maids envied Mona, and many of the good +mothers voiced their congratulations to Mrs. Hutton, there was no +opposition to this summer idyl.</p> + +<p>One thing Winn noticed, however, and that was the pertinent fact that +when he "dropped in" at Mona's home, as he so often did, her mother +usually found some excuse to absent herself and leave the young couple +alone. Had he been desirous of wooing this winsome maid nothing would +have pleased him better, but he hardly felt that way. It was true she +interested him, for what young man could resist her sweet and tender +ways, her patience with her mother's implacable dislike of her violin +playing and the beautiful soul her truthful eyes bespoke? Then the hours +with her in the romantic spot in which she had chosen to seek the +goddess of music were more than charming. In a way this trysting place +began to seem sacred to him, and the secret hours he had passed with her +there a tender bond between them. All these sweet motive forces that +move man's nature, like so many little hands, began to entwine +themselves in his. He had no thought of marrying. He realized that he +had yet to carve his way upward to independence before thinking of a +home and wife, and beyond that the lesson of distrust Ethel Sherman had +taught him still held sway. He was not a model of discretion; he was an +unthinking young man with the germs of fine honor and sturdy honesty +latent within him, and in spite of the cynicism he had imbibed from Jack +Nickerson he was sure in the end to commit no folly, nor wrong man, +woman, or child.</p> + +<p>And yet, insensibly, he was doing Mona Hutton the greatest wrong in his +power—almost.</p> + +<p>Some realizing sense of this came to him after that evening beside the +old tide mill, when his words had caused a single tear to fall upon the +hand that helped her to arise, and yet he could not tell what he had +said that hurt her so.</p> + +<p>There is, perhaps, nothing so fascinating in this wide world to a young +man as the first signs of a sweet maid's budding love for him, and it +must be stated, nothing is harder to turn away from, and Winn was no +exception to young men in general. And now that he was conscious of it, +that fact, coupled with the business dilemma confronting him, created a +double burden. He saw whither he was drifting with her and seeing, had +not the heart to turn away. On the other hand, the Rockhaven Granite +Company began to seem a quagmire of fraud in which he and all who had +trusted in him might any day become entangled, their investments swept +away, the men he had hired left without pay, and he stranded on this +island. It may seem that Winn was borrowing needless worriment, and yet +once the canker spot of suspicion fastens itself upon a man's mind, it +grows until it turns all things green.</p> + +<p>One thing he tried to do—avoid Mona. And yet he could not to any +extent, for since she dwelt next door he must needs meet her and speak +almost daily. And strange to say, now that it was in his heart to act +indifferent, her appealing eyes and winsome face began to seem a +reproach, and his conscience troubled him. For a week he passed each +evening alone in his room trying to read one of the books he had brought +with him, or else in Jess Hutton's store, listening to the gossip of the +men who gathered there, interspersed with an occasional bit of quaint +philosophy from the lips of Jess himself, and then a bombshell in the +way of a letter to him reached the island. It was as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Winn</span>,</p> + +<p>"Have been back to the city now for two weeks and watching the +trend of the market. I was satisfied, as I wrote you, that +Weston & Hill were preparing to launch a skyrocket—now I know +it. What with printer's ink and that walking tombstone, +Simmons, they have managed to get Rockhaven among the unlisted +but active stocks, and by some chicanery, worked the price up +to six dollars. Page, my broker, says it's a wildcat of the +most pronounced stripe. A good many are short of it at below +its present price and yet it holds firm. I've unloaded half I +bought, so I am on Easy Street, and am watching out. It may go +up with a whoop or down with a thud. One guess is as good as +another, but what you best do is send me your stock and let +Page sell it. Also if you have sold any to your friends, give +them the tip. I know you believe in Weston and think, as you +have said, that I am a perpetual scoffer. They may be all +right, but I don't believe it, and now as you have a chance to +unload and make a good thing, better do it.</p> + +<p>"Yours ever,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Jack.</span></p> + +<p>"P.S.—I forgot to mention that Ethel Sherman is still up in +the mountains and the belle of all occasions. She asked a lot +of questions about you and in such a way I was almost tempted +to believe they were sincere. She has failed to land the golf +dude, for his mother scented danger and, like a hen, led him +away to safety."</p></blockquote> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>A PHILOSOPHER</h3> + + +<p>Winn had felt it best to keep silent regarding his suspicions of Weston +& Hill, but this new development forced him to unbosom himself to some +one and he went to Jess. He waited until the usual evening gathering of +callers had left the store, and then he told the story of his distrust +from the beginning and ended by reading a portion of Jack's letter. To +his surprise Jess received it all as unmoved as a granite ledge.</p> + +<p>"I ain't a mite s'rprised," he said, "I sorter felt all 'long that this +'ere boss o' yourn was a swindler 'n' foolin' ye, an' the only reason I +took any stock was jist to help ye."</p> + +<p>"I know it," responded Winn, "and it's that and because you have +influenced others to do so, that worries me."</p> + +<p>But Jess only smiled.</p> + +<p>"Keep cool," he said, "an' let yer hair grow. I ain't in it so deep but +I kin 'ford to lose all I've put in 'n' take keer o' the rest on 'em +here. What we want to do now is ter cac'late. When the wind gets +squally, the fust thing's to shorten sail. I'll 'low yer friend knows +his business, 'n' we'd best send this stock to him 'n' let him sell it +if he kin find fools to buy it at the price it's goin', an' then we'd +best lay the men off at the quarry 'n' let 'em go fishin'. We might keep +two or three on 'em goin'," he added as an afterthought, "jist to keep +up 'pearances 'n' lay low till the wind shifts."</p> + +<p>"It may be you are right," asserted Winn, "but I do not know what to do +and the situation worries me."</p> + +<p>"No sorter use 'n' worryin'," said Jess tersely, "ye'r healthy, ain't +ye?"</p> + +<p>And then Winn laughed. "Yes," he said, "I am, and no worse off than when +I came here, but it disturbs me to find I've been deceived."</p> + +<p>"You'll git used to that," replied Jess, "I hev. I cac'late in my time I +hev hed more'n a hundred pounds o'wool pulled into my eyes 'n' I ain't +blind yit. The only cause I've hed fer blamin' myself is 'most every +time I got skinned it was 'cause I was too dum good-hearted."</p> + +<p>"And that is just why I feel so bad," put in Winn; "you bought this +stock to help me, and if you lose, it's on me."</p> + +<p>Jess laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're shakin' hands with the divil a good ways off," he said, +"up to date I'm ahead o' the game a cool hundred 'n' a middlin' good +chance o' gittin' more'n double my money back. I cac'late, of course, +this stock ain't wuth a cuss, but if by some hocus-pocus they're sayin' +it's wuth what your friend says 'tis, I stand a fair chance o' gittin' +square. Better tell him he kin let it go fer a dollar 'n' not hang on +fer more. I'll be satisfied if I git my hat back."</p> + +<p>Then Jess, the big-hearted, thought of Winn. "It's none o' my bizness," +he said, "but ez you've made free to trust me, how air ye fixed on this +stock? Hev ye put much money into it?"</p> + +<p>"I've put five hundred, part borrowed," answered Winn candidly, "and +they made me a present of five hundred shares besides."</p> + +<p>"Wal, that's a credit to ye, anyhow," responded Jess with an approving +look, "an' ye kin feel ye come higher'n the parson." Then after a few +minutes' silent meditation during which he closed his eyes and stroked +his chin affectionately, he added: "As a gineral thing I'd be slow in +advisin' anybody to go crooked, but when ye feel ye're in the hands o' +sharpers, it's the only way. Now what I'd advise ye to do is to keep on +reportin' the same pay-roll right 'long 'n' lay most o' the men off fer +a week or two till ye find what yer friend's done with the stock. What +they send ye extra may come handy 'fore this cat's skinned and buried. +Then ye kin kinder take it easy for a spell 'n' look the island over so +long's yer time 'n' wages is goin' on. Let 'em do the fiddlin' while you +dance this time. They cac'late ter make ye do all the fiddlin' an' turn +about is fair play."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Jess Hutton, Philosopher.</span></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"I'll take your advice and do just what you say," replied Winn eagerly, +his spirits once more raised to their normal level by this quaint +philosopher, and as it was late in the evening and the mention of fiddle +recalled Jess Hutton's hobby, he added: "You have lifted a load off my +mind, and now please give me a few tunes, Mr. Hutton. I feel like +hearing some music."</p> + +<p>And Jess the genial, to whom his fiddle was wife, child, friend, and +companion, once more drew it forth, and as Winn lighted a fresh cigar +and leaned back to enjoy it, again as before was he charmed by the old +man's art.</p> + +<p>And that spell wrought by "Money Musk," "Fisher's Hornpipe," "The +Devil's Dream" and such old-time dance tunes that followed in quick +succession carried Winn back to his boyhood days and out of the turmoil +and strife of city life, and once more he felt himself in the old farm +barn with lanterns swinging aloft and a score of country lads and +lassies keeping step with him to the same lively measures. He could see +their happy faces and the sparkle of their eyes as "balance and swing," +"do-see-do" and "all promenade" echoed from the rafters. He could even +feel the supple waist and warm handclasp of the willing maid who danced +with him, and when the evening of simple but unalloyed delight was over, +came the long walk home with that same farmer's daughter while the +moonlight silvered the landscape and the rustling leaves in the maple +lane, tinkling like tiny bells beneath their feet. Gone were all the +hectic years of city life, the stab of Ethel Sherman, the distrust of +Jack Nickerson, and the humiliation of the years with Weston & Hill. +Gone, too, all his present dread and the fog that for weeks had obscured +his course. Once more he felt full of young courage with success and +riches almost within his grasp. Then as the evening waned and Jess +Hutton's fingers strayed to the old sweet love songs of Scotland and +"Robin Adair" and "Annie Laurie" whispered the burden of their +affection, the tender eyes of Mona and the wild rock-walled gorge where +he had first heard her play the same songs touched his heart. With this +memory, so sweet in a way, came a heartache. When the evening was ended +and he, having thanked Jess for the good cheer in words and music, +betook himself to Rock Lane, he paused a moment in front of Mona's home. +Not a light was visible, not a sound except the low murmur of the +distant sea. Only a few seconds he stood there, looking and thinking, +and then kept on to his room.</p> + +<p>The mood of the church bells was with him still.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>A CLOUD OVER ROCKHAVEN</h3> + + +<p>A man is happiest when he has most to do, and though a woman's face +intrudes upon his thoughts and he feels her smiles are all for him, it +is life and action and the push forward toward success that interest him +most.</p> + +<p>And so with Winn. He had come to Rockhaven to upbuild his fortune, +believing himself in a fair way to do so. He had taken up his new life +and care with earnestness and energy, putting his best thought into it, +and not only carrying out his employer's instructions in letter and +spirit, but in addition trying to make friends of those honest islanders +and interest them in this new enterprise. The latter was not hard since +Jess, the oracle of Rockhaven, was on his side, and, in a way, sponsor +for him. Then, too, he had adopted their simple homely ways and, though +not a believer, attended church each Sunday. How much of this was due to +the occult influence of Mona's eyes, and how much to sympathy and +interest in the spiritual life of the island, is hard to say. Most of +the men considered Sunday as a day of rest, and to some extent, +recreation. A few accompanied their families to the little church, but +more spent the day lounging about the wharves, smoking and swapping +yarns, and if a boat needed caulking, a net mending, or a new sail +bending, they did not hesitate to do it. While all had sufficient +reverence for the Lord's Day not to actually start out fishing, most +were willing to get ready. And perhaps for good reason, for a livelihood +on Rockhaven was not easy to obtain and with them, as with most +hard-working people, the necessities of life displaced spiritual +influences.</p> + +<p>"It is a hard field to labor in," asserted the Rev. Jason Bush to Winn +one day, "and I've grown old and gray in the work. We have a little +church that has not been painted but twice since I came here forty-odd +years ago, or shingled but once. We have no carpet, and the cushions in +the pews are in rags. I have taught this generation almost all they know +of books, and laid most of their parents away in the graveyard back of +the meeting-house, and my turn will come before many years. We are poor +here, and we always have been and most likely always shall be, and at +times it has seemed to me the Lord was indifferent to our needs. Your +coming here and this new industry has seemed to me a special +providence."</p> + +<p>And Winn, thinking of the fifty shares of stock he had given this poor +old minister, and the ten dollars dividend that must have seemed a +godsend, felt his heart sink, for he had by this time come to realize +why he had been told to donate this stock. And perhaps that fact gave +added force to the parson's words.</p> + +<p>And when, after Jess had advised him to lay off some of the men and he +had done so, a sort of gloom seemed to spread over the island. A few of +the men took to their boats and fishing once more, and though Winn gave +out the plausible excuse that lack of demand for granite was the cause, +the rest who were out of work now seemed a constant reproach.</p> + +<p>Then, too, since his own ambition and hope received a setback he was not +content. The growing distrust was a thorn in his side, in fact it was +more than that; it was almost a certainty that his mission there was +nearing its end. To leave, he could not; to go ahead, he dared not, for +any day he might be left in the lurch with no money to pay his men. And +Friday, when he usually received his remittances, was awaited with keen +anxiety. When it came and a letter, slightly fault-finding in tone +because he had sold no more stock for some weeks, and insisting that he +must go about it at once, Winn was not only irritated but disgusted.</p> + +<p>"I am but a mere tool in their hands," he thought, "and they pay me to +do their bidding, be it work or to rob honest people." And then Winn had +a bad half-hour.</p> + +<p>"Don't ye mind 'em," said Jess consolingly, when Winn had told him what +they wrote, "but keep cheerful 'n' let 'em keep on sendin' money. It's a +long lane ez hez no turns 'n' ours'll come bimeby. Better write yer +friend 'n' git posted on what's doin'."</p> + +<p>But this excellent advice had scant effect on Winn, for his ambition had +been chilled, his hopes seemed like to be thwarted, his mental sun in a +cloud, and the barometer of his spirits at low tide. Then the honest +people here who had trusted him implicitly and who could ill afford to +lose became a burden to his mind. Honest himself in every impulse, to +realize that in the near future he might be cursed as a rascal only +added to his gloom. He dreaded to meet them lest they read the worriment +in his face, and especially the patient and hard-working Mrs. Moore, who +daily prepared his meals. To her the hundred dollars she had invested +was a small fortune, and then the kindly old minister whose long life +of patient work for starvation pay had made him pathetic, and who had +considered this gift as coming from the hand of God—to feel that he +also might join the rest in sorrowing hurt Winn. He dared not say a word +to any one except Jess, and what to do he knew not. At times he thought +of going to them, one and all, explain the situation, and ask them to +intrust him with their stock, when he would send it to the city to be +sold if possible. He even confided this impulse to Jess.</p> + +<p>"No," replied that philosopher, "it ain't my idee to cross bridges till +ye come to 'em, 'n' we'd best wait till we see which way the cat's goin' +to jump. If wuss comes to wuss, an' 'fore I'd see ye blamed, I'll stand +the loss o' every share ye've sold here."</p> + +<p>This was some consolation to Winn, but did not remove his gloom.</p> + +<p>Then Mona became a factor in his perplexity. He had tried to avoid her +to a certain extent, but he could not avoid his thoughts, and deep in +his heart he knew that whatever bond of sympathy had come between them +was due to his own seeking. He had praised her playing, passed hours in +delightful exchange of poetic thoughts and recital of old-time lore, +pathetic, romantic, and altogether alluring, and this thrusting his +personality, as it were, into the thoughts and life of this untutored +island girl could have but one ending, and full well Winn knew what that +was.</p> + +<p>The next Sunday chance threw them together, for Winn, to escape his +mood, if possible, had taken a long stroll over the island and up to the +north village. Returning late in the afternoon, he found her sitting by +the old mill watching the tide slowly ebbing between its mussel-coated +foundations. It was a spot romantic in its isolation, out of sight from +any dwelling and, in addition, of somewhat ghostly interest. Winn had +heard its history. It had been built a century ago and made useful for +the island's needs, but finally it fell into disuse and decay, its roof +gone, its timbers and floor removed, its windows but gaping openings in +the stone walls and akin to the eyeless sockets and mouth of a skull. +Then, too, the half-demented girl who years before had been found +hanging lifeless from one of its cross beams added an uncanny touch. +Winn had felt its grewsome interest and once or twice had visited it +with Mona. And now, coming to it just as the lowering sun had reached +the line of spruce trees fringing the western side of the harbor, he +found Mona sitting where they had sat one moonlight evening, idly +watching the motionless harbor stretching a mile away. She was not +aware of his approach, but sat leaning against an abutting stone, +looking at the setting sun's red glow on the harbor, a lonely, pathetic +figure.</p> + +<p>For a moment Winn watched her, and watching there beside this uncanny +old ruin, lived the past two months over again like a momentary dream, +and then drew nearer.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mona," he said, "what are you doing here?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," she answered, straightening up and turning to face him, "only +I did not know what else to do, and so came here." She did not disclose +the impulse which brought her to this spot, for of that no man, +certainly not Winn, should be told.</p> + +<p>"Well," he continued, with assumed cheerfulness, "I'm glad to have come +across you, for I too have been lonesome and trying to walk it off. I've +had the blues for a week or more now," he added, feeling that some sort +of apology was due her, "and am not myself."</p> + +<p>"And why?" she asked interestedly, turning her fathomless eyes upon him; +"are you getting tired of us here, and wanting to go back to the city?"</p> + +<p>"No, little girl," he replied, assuming his usual big-brother's tone and +address, "I hate the city, as I've told you many times; but business +matters vex me, and as you may have heard, I've had to lay off some of +my men."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have heard," she answered quietly, her eyes still on him, +"nothing happens here that all do not know in a few hours."</p> + +<p>And Winn, with the burden of dread that like a pall oppressed him just +then, wondered how long it would take for all to hear what he or Jess +could utter in five words.</p> + +<p>"Why did you come here, Mona, if you were lonesome?" he said, anxious to +change the subject. "It's the last spot on the island you should visit +if lonely."</p> + +<p>Mona colored slightly; "I always go to some lonely spot when I feel +sad," she said, unwilling to admit the real reason for her coming here.</p> + +<p>"And that is where you are wrong," put in Winn, forcing a laugh and +seating himself beside her. "When I am blue I go to Jess or else take a +tramp as I did to-day," he added hastily.</p> + +<p>Mona still watched him furtively and with an intuitive feeling that he +was concealing something. "I wish I knew how to play the violin," he +continued, looking across the harbor to where a dory had just started +toward the village, "it must be, as your uncle says, 'a heap o' comfort' +when one is lonesome."</p> + +<p>"It has been to him all his life long," she answered a little sadly, +"and is now."</p> + +<p>"And to you as well," he interposed, "it has helped you pass many a long +hour, I fancy. Do you know," he continued, anxious to talk about +anything except his present mood, "I've thought so many times of that +day I first heard you playing in the 'Devil's Oven,' and what a strange +place it was to hide yourself in. You are a queer girl, Mona, and unlike +any one I ever knew. I wish I were an artist, I'd like to make a picture +of you in that cave."</p> + +<p>Mona looked pleased.</p> + +<p>"You would make a picture," he added, smiling at her, "that the whole +world would look at with interest; I'd have you holding your violin and +looking out over the wide ocean with those sphinx-like eyes of yours, +just as if the world and all its follies had no interest for you."</p> + +<p>"And what is a sphinx?" asked Mona.</p> + +<p>"A woman that no man understands," he answered carelessly. "There are a +few such, and they are the only ones who interest men any length of +time."</p> + +<p>"And am I like one of them?" queried the girl.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," he answered, "except your eyes, and they are absolutely +unreadable. Beyond them you are as easily understood as a flower that +only needs the sun's smiles."</p> + +<p>It was a bit of his poetic imagery faintly understood by Mona. "You must +not mind my odd comparison," he continued, noticing her curious look, +"it's only a fancy of mine, and then, you are an odd stick, as they used +to say up in the country where I was born."</p> + +<p>"And so you were not born in the city," she said with sudden interest. +"What Uncle Jess has told me and what you have said has made me hate the +city."</p> + +<p>"I thought you said once you envied the city girls who came here in +yachts," laughed Winn.</p> + +<p>"I might like to dress as they do," she answered, a little confused, +"but not to live where they do."</p> + +<p>"And what has that to do with where I came from," he persisted, "and why +are you glad I am country-born?"</p> + +<p>"Because," she replied bluntly, "Uncle Jess says country-born people are +usually honest and can be trusted."</p> + +<p>Winn was silent, and as he looked at this simple island girl, so +unaffected and winsome, a new admiration came for her. "Give her a +chance," he thought, "and she would hold her own with Ethel Sherman +even."</p> + +<p>"That is true," he said aloud, after a pause, thinking only of his own +business experience, "and the longer I remain here, the less I wish to +return to the city. I feel as your worthy uncle does, and for good +reasons. With the exception of an aunt, who has made a home for me, the +women whom I met there were not to be trusted, nor the men either. When +I left the old farm I was too young to understand people, but now that I +do, I often long for the old associates of my boyhood, and if my +business here becomes successful, I shall never go back to the city."</p> + +<p>A look of gladness lit up the girl's face.</p> + +<p>"I feel vexed over my business," continued Winn, longing to confide his +troubles to Mona and looking down into the dark mussel-coated chasm left +by the ebbing tide close by where they sat, "but I presume I shall come +out all right."</p> + +<p>Then, as he glanced up at the roofless wall of the old mill just back of +them, its window openings showing the dark interior, he thought of the +girl who, a century ago, had come there to end her heartache and whose +story was fresh in his mind.</p> + +<p>"Come, Mona," he said tenderly, as a sigh escaped him, "it's time we +returned to the village, for I am going to meeting to-night with you +and your mother." And all the long mile of sandy roadway that lay +between the mill and Rockhaven was traversed in almost unbroken silence.</p> + +<p>Though far apart as yet, they were nearer to one another than ever +before.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>THE MOOD OF THE BELLS</h3> + + +<p>There were two church bells on Rockhaven, one at each village, and every +Sunday evening, year in and out, they called the piously inclined +together, always at the same time. That at Northaven sounded the sweeter +to Winn, since its call came over a mile of still water, like an echo to +the one in Rockhaven. He had noticed them, one answering the other, many +times before, each time to return in thought to the hillside home where +he was born and to the same sweet sound that came on Sunday from the +village two miles away. It had been to him what seemed long years since +he heard them, yet now, this evening, while he waited in the little +porch of Mona's home for her and her mother to join him churchward, and +this call came sweetly through the still evening air, it carried a new +peace to his vexed spirit, and the threatened upset of his mission to +Rockhaven faded away. Once more he was a boy again, and for a time +without a care.</p> + +<p>And when Mona appeared, dressed in a simple white muslin, a white hood +of knitted wool half hiding the coiled masses of her jet black hair, her +eyes filled with tender light, Winn, in spite of his moroseness and the +bitter lessons in love he had learned, felt it a proud privilege to walk +beside her.</p> + +<p>The usual number, mostly womankind, were emerging from the scattered +houses along the way to the church, and as Winn and Mona, together with +her mother and Mrs. Moore, followed the one plank walk which led to the +church, the last call of the bells came at longer intervals.</p> + +<p>When the church was reached the lamps had been lighted, but the white +headstones, dotting the upward slope just back of it, still showed +faintly in the twilight.</p> + +<p>The services were simple as usual, the few dozen who gathered all joined +in the same hymns of praise their ancestors had sung in the same church. +What the minister said was not new or eloquent; and yet the prayer he +uttered seemed to Winn to contain an unusually touching strain. It was +the mood of the bells still on him, for he had never known what church +believers call a change of heart; and while the devotions of the people +were pathetic in their very simplicity, they seemed more like a plea for +pity than an expression of thanks. When the services were ended, and +all rising joined in "The Sweet By and By," never before had it voiced +such a plaintive appeal as it did then in Winn's estimation.</p> + +<p>When he and Mona, loitering behind the rest, reached her little dooryard +where the scent of many blooming flowers saluted him, they paused a +moment. Mrs. Moore had seated herself on the porch for a social chat +with Mrs. Hutton, the faint disk of a new moon showed in the western +sky, and in spite of the resolution taken weeks before, Winn could not +resist the temptation of longer privacy with his companion.</p> + +<p>"Let us walk up to the top of Norse Hill," he said, "and look out over +the harbor. I feel like it to-night."</p> + +<p>"Here is where I come to be alone," he observed when they had reached +the ancient beacon and were looking down over the village. "I wonder who +built this odd tower and for what use; do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I have been told it was built by Leif Ericson," she replied, "ever so +many years ago, to prove he first discovered this country. Uncle Jess +says it was, and that is why this is called Norse Hill."</p> + +<p>There was a jutting ledge around its base, and they seated themselves +upon it. Winn drew out his cigar case. "You won't mind my smoking, will +you, Mona?" he said in a familiar tone, as he lighted his cigar.</p> + +<p>"Why, no," she answered, in the same tone, "I love to see you enjoy +yourself."</p> + +<p>For a time they silently scanned the peaceful picture that lay before +them. The sheltered harbor across which the faint path of moonlight +quivered in the undulating ground swell that reached in from the sea; +the old mill sombre and solemn and barely outlined to the right; beyond +it Northaven with its scattered lights, and below them the few that +twinkled in Rockhaven. Not a sound reached them except the low wave-wash +at the foot of the cliff just back of where they sat. They were alone +with their hopes and troubles, their joys and heartaches. It was not a +time or place for immediate converse, and Winn quietly contemplated the +peaceful scene while Mona covertly watched him. To her he was an +unsolved enigma, and yet his earnest, honest brown eyes, his open, frank +way, and his half-tender, half-cynical speeches had been for many weeks +her daily thought. What oppressed him now was an added mystery. She had +heard that most of his men working in the quarry had been laid off, but +not for worlds would she seem so inquisitive as to ask why.</p> + +<p>And so she watched him, half hoping, half expecting, he would confide in +her.</p> + +<p>"I have been out of sorts, little girl," he said suddenly, with an +intuitive feeling that she expected an explanation of his silence; "and +as I told you this afternoon I took a long tramp to drive my mood away. +It did not do it, but something else has, and that was your church +bells."</p> + +<p>"I am very glad," she responded with sudden interest, "I wish they would +ring every evening."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he continued, not heeding her delicate sympathy, "they have +carried me back to my boyhood and the country village near where I was +born. I wish I could go back to those days and feel as I did then," he +added, a little sadly, "but one can't. Life and its ambitions sweep us +on, and youth is forgotten or returns only in thought. If one could only +feel the keen zest of youth and enjoy small pleasures as children do, +all through life, it would be worth living. I should be grateful if I +were as happy and care-free as you are, Mona."</p> + +<p>"I am not very happy," she answered simply. "Did you think I was?"</p> + +<p>"You ought to be," he asserted; "you have nothing to worry about unless +it is your ambition to become a great artist, and as I have told you, +you had better put that out of your thoughts. You could be, but it +would bring you more heartaches than you can imagine. Put it away, Mona, +and live your simple life here. To struggle out of your orbit is to +court unhappiness. I was thrust out of mine by death and poverty," he +added sadly, "when an awkward and green country boy, knowing absolutely +nothing of city ways and manners, and placed among those who think all +who come from the farms must be but half civilized and stupid. It is the +shallow conceit of city-bred people always and the greatest mistake they +make. My aunt sent me to a business college, and for a year my life +there was a burden. The other fellows made game of my clothes, my +opinions, and, worse than that, a jest of all the moral ideas in which +my good mother had instructed me. Later on, when I began to get out into +the world, I found the same disposition to sneer at all that is pure and +good in life. The young men I became acquainted with called me a +goody-good because I acted according to conscience and refused to drink +or gamble. They seemed to take a pride in their ability to pour down +glass after glass of fiery liquor, and when I asserted that to visit +gambling dens and all other resorts of vice was to demean one's self, +and positively refused to follow them, they laughed me to scorn. They +seemed to take a pride in their vices in a way that was disgusting to +me. Then, as if to prove what a stupid greenhorn I was, they pointed out +men who stood well socially, attended church, had wives and families, +and yet led lives that were a shame and disgrace in my estimation. They +proved to me what they asserted in various ways, so I could not doubt +it. It was all a revelation, and for a time upset all my ideas and led +me to think my early training in the way I should walk a stupid waste of +opportunity.</p> + +<p>"Beyond that, and perhaps the worst of all, I was made to think that +religious belief was arrant nonsense and used as a cloak for evil +doings; that none except silly old women and equally silly young girls +were sincere in pious professions; that belief in God was an index to +shallowness, and prayer a farce.</p> + +<p>"It began to seem to me that I really had been brought up wrong and +trained in absurd ways, and that unless I threw my moral scruples to the +winds, I should be a jest and a laughing-stock to all city people. We +grow to feel, and think, and live like those we meet daily, and when I +came here, among you whose lives and morals were so unlike city folks +and so like those of the people among whom I was reared, it seemed as if +I had gone back to my boyhood home.</p> + +<p>"I think the sound of your church bells, Mona, was an influence more +potent than all else to carry my thoughts and feelings home again."</p> + +<p>He paused a moment to look out seaward and along the broadening path of +moonlight as if it led into a new life and a new world, while Mona +watched his half-averted face. All this was a revelation to her of his +inner self, his nature and impulses. She had thought tenderly of him +before; now he seemed the embodiment of all that was good and true and +manly—a hero she must fain worship.</p> + +<p>"Life is a puzzle-board, dear," he said at last, as if that sparkling +roadway had been followed into a better one; "we all strive for +happiness in it and know not where or how it may be found. We wish to +please ourselves first, and to share it with those who seem akin to us. +Few really desire to annoy others or give them pain. Then again we are +selfish, and our own needs and hungers seem all important. We are a +little vain ofttimes, carnal always, unthinking, and seldom generous. We +forget that it is more blessed to give than to receive, that a clear +conscience is as necessary to happiness as good digestion is to health, +and that we cannot walk alone through life. We must depend upon others +for about all the happiness we receive, and they on us. Then again we +had best remain with those we understand and who know us best. They and +they only can or will seem near to us. Your bells have carried me back +to those with whom I am allied by nature; and among them and in the pure +and simple life they live, I feel that peace and contentment may be +found. With you it is the same, my dear, and it is to keep you here +among those akin to you that I say what I have of the great world. Do +not wish to enter it; do not imagine you will find happiness there, for +you cannot. Here you are loved and understood, here are those you know +and can trust, and here every cliff, and gorge, and grove, every flower, +and bird, and ocean voice, contains a childish memory. Were you to leave +them behind every call of the church bells at eventide would carry your +heart back to these scenes again, as it has mine to those of my youth. +No, dear, be warned in time and remain content."</p> + +<p>He meant it for her good, but she thought only of a similar bit of +advice he had given her once before, and one that wounded her to the +heart.</p> + +<p>For a little longer they sat and watched the moonlight scene; Winn +unconscious that beside him was a girl whose ennobling ambition and +sweet, patient nature was a prize any man might feel proud to win, and +Mona quivering with an unaccountable heartache; and then he rose to go.</p> + +<p>"It is getting late, dear," he said in his familiar way, "and we'd best +go home. You may catch cold if we stay here longer."</p> + +<p>And Cupid, hovering on the old stone tower, turned away in sorrow for a +wasted opportunity.</p> + +<p>But Winn held out his hand to assist Mona, and be it said to his credit, +he retained hers in a warm clasp until her gate was reached.</p> + +<p>"Good night, dear," he said then as he opened it for her to enter, "and +sweet dreams."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>TWO RASCALS</h3> + + +<p>There are genial, liberal, and companionable rascals and mean, +contemptible, sneaking ones. The former attract by their apparent +honesty and cordial expressions, and are the more dangerous; the latter +repel by every look, act, and word. Of the first class J. Malcolm Weston +was a pertinent example, while Carlos B. Hill was of the latter.</p> + +<p>On "the street" and among his associates Weston was considered a jovial, +good-natured man, liberal in small things, a pleasant associate, but +lacking in morality and without principle. He paid for one of the best +pews in the church Winn's aunt attended, which was always occupied by +his wife and family, and by him occasionally; he contributed for +charitable and missionary work in an ostentatious way, always insisting +that it be known how much he gave; belonged to a club where gambling was +the chief amusement and the members of which were mostly stock brokers, +speculators, and fast men about town; he wore the latest and most +fashionable raiment, and drove a dashing turnout. Before the firm of +Weston & Hill had been established he had been the manager of what is +known as a bucket shop, and when that failed (as they always do, soon or +late) he began his career as a promoter. In this he was not +over-successful, mainly from lack of funds to carry out his schemes; but +when the conceited, shallow-minded Hill was induced to walk into his +parlor, Weston began to soar. Hill was a retired manufacturer and +bigoted church member who had saved a small fortune by miserly living, +stealing trade marks, copying designs, making cheap imitations of other +manufacturers' goods, and cutting prices. He thirsted for fame as a +great financier and longed to be a power in the stock market. Weston, +whose business arguments usually contained equal parts of religion and +possible profit-making, in due proportion to the credulity and piety of +his victims, and who could time a horse race, play a game of poker, or +utter a fervid exhortation with equal facility, easily led Hill into the +investment and brokerage business, and so the firm was established.</p> + +<p>This was J. Malcolm Weston.</p> + +<p>Of Hill, though his counterpart exists, but not in plenty, an explicit +description shall be given. He was of medium size with a sharp hawklike +nose, retreating forehead, deep-set fishy eyes, ears that stood out like +small wings, and a handclasp as cold and lifeless as a pump-handle. His +sole object of conversation was himself; he had pinched pennies, denied +himself all luxuries, and lived to be hated, till he grew rich. It was +one of his kind of whom the story is told that, having died rich (as +usual), a stranger passing the church on the day of the funeral asked of +the sexton at the door, "What complaint?" and received the reply, "None +whatever; everybody satisfied."</p> + +<p>Weston, liberal rascal that he was, was not long in learning to hate his +mean-natured partner, and by the time the Rockhaven Granite Company was +duly organized and well on toward success, had conceived another and +perhaps more excusable swindle (if any swindle is excusable), it being +not only to rob the investors in Rockhaven, but Hill as well, and then +leave for a foreign clime. But the launching of Rockhaven necessitated +outlay. Hill really held the purse-strings, so Weston, the plausible, +shrewd schemer, bided his time. But the road to success became +difficult. Each successive outlay was whined about and opposed by Hill, +who, shallow in his conceit, lacked the courage of his rascality. When +Winn was sent to Rockhaven, and money to pay men must follow, and each +successive item and advertisement in the <i>Market News</i> (both +high-priced) only made him wince the more, it required all of Weston's +optimistic arguments to keep him from backing out. But when returns from +the sale of this absolutely worthless stock came in, Hill smiled, and +when some thirty thousand shares had been sold and, by reason of +Simmons' manipulation, it was quoted on 'change at six dollars per +share, his eyes glittered like those of a hungry shark. No thought of +the honest and confiding men and women who had contributed to swell the +total, and would share in the inevitable loss, came to him. No qualms of +conscience, no sense of guilt, no fear of retribution! only the miser's +lust of gain and the swelling of his abnormal self-esteem. And so +gratified was he in this partial success, and so eager to pocket its +results, that, had Weston now proposed dividing receipts and absconding, +he would have consented with alacrity.</p> + +<p>Of those who were to be the dupes of this precious pair a word will now +be said. They comprised a varied list, from poorly paid clerks who had +caught the gambling fever to Winn's aunt who, since she believed in +Weston, and being baited on by the deceptive dividend, had invested +almost her entire fortune. There was one cashier in a bank who had +"utilized" about three of the many thousands he had access to, an +innocent and underpaid stenographer in Weston & Hill's office who +persuaded her widowed mother to draw her all from the savings bank and +buy Rockhaven, and scores of small investors, trustees for estates; and +even sane business men, lured by the early and unexpected dividend and +anxious to share in the rapid advance, bought, what they at heart feared +was worthless. And so the bubble grew apace, and Weston and his +henchman, Simmons, in the privacy of their offices, smiled and +congratulated one another, and plotted and planned. They discussed the +items to be paid for in the <i>Market News</i>, how long it would be +necessary to continue the farce of quarrying carried on by Winn, and how +much stock was really being tossed back and forth among the gamblers on +'change, and how much held by honest investors. Of the quarried stone +shipped by Winn, enough had been received to build the palatial +residence Simmons had under way and some toward another and smaller +contract, taken at a price below market rates. To these consultations +Hill was seldom invited, for the best of reasons,—he was in the end to +be made the dupe of all. Of this latter and final iniquity not even +Simmons was informed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>THE STARTING OF A "CORNER"</h3> + + +<p>There are always two parties in every stock exchange, well known as +bulls and bears. Those who believe in an advance, or what is to the same +end, manipulate a stock to increase its price, are said to be "bulling +it"; while those who honestly think it quoted above its worth and sell +it, or plot to depress its price, are said to "bear it." Like the ever +varying hues of the kaleidoscope, so the opinions and actions of each +individual among those men constantly change, and a bull to-day may be a +bear to-morrow. Then cliques and pools take up one little joker of +values, and seek by force of number and capital to toss it up or down. +To this end they fill the press with columns of false reports, +fictitious statements, and items of apparent news for one purpose—to +deceive. When the wildcat, Rockhaven, started on its career, the bulls +and bears, glad of a fresh toy, began to toss it back and forth. None +believed it of any actual value, but merely one of the many dice in the +speculative box. All united in asserting that it was the <i>avant courier</i> +of a scheme; it might be pushed up to a fabulous price and it might any +day go down with a crash. It was this very certainty of being an +uncertainty—the fact that its future was an open gamble, a positive +chance—that made it interesting. None of these astute speculators were +deceived by the early dividend, even for one moment; and when Simmons, +well known as Weston's mouthpiece, openly bid two dollars for five +thousand shares or any part of it, and really obtained one hundred, and +that the identical hundred originally given a prominent man for the use +of his name, all knew that the fresh toy was on its way toward the roof +or the cellar. It may seem strange after the countless schemes which +have come to naught, that any remain who could be inveigled into a new +one, but as a wise showman once said, "the world loves to be humbugged," +and the early dividend worked its inevitable result among the real +investors, while the gamblers' chance stimulated "the street"; and +between the two Rockhaven was pushed upward. And the <i>Market News</i>, as +well as other city papers anxious to sell space, helped to swell the +bubble until Rockhaven became one of the loaded dice all speculators +love to play with. It started at two dollars a share, bid by Simmons, +who the next day offered three for it and had two hundred more sold him +by a too-confident bear who didn't own a share, and who later on bought +it in at a higher price, pocketing his loss with a smile. And so it kept +on, now up a point and back a half, then up two and down one, to go back +again when some nervous bear sought to cover. Some who owned it at the +subscription price of one dollar sold, and quadrupled their money, to +see it go still higher, and catching the fever, bought it in again; +while others who were short of it at three, bid it in at five, and +distrustful of it as ever, went short again, and so the definite stock +value in this case, as in all others, became a guess.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Weston, the spider in his web, and Simmons, his trusty +spokesman, watched the market and were not idle. They had sold some +thirty thousand shares, the <i>Market News</i> kept printing items (at a cost +of fifty cents per word), the street was all guessing, and Rockhaven +bade fair to become a sensation "on 'change."</p> + +<p>Then a few far-seeing bulls, believing the natural sequence of stock +manipulation in this case would end in a "corner," began bidding it up, +while Simmons, quick to feel the pulse of the situation and really +holding the key to it, aided them by spreading a report to that effect, +and when the price showed weakness, buying a few hundred. As most of +"the street" asserted that the stock was valueless, his object was to +create a short interest, if possible, and in time so manipulate matters +as to scare the shorts, knowing full well what the result would be.</p> + +<p>The only danger he knew lay in the action of Winn Hardy and what he +might do. If that duped young man scented the game and, returning, +alarmed his aunt, who had bought ten thousand shares and locked them up, +the game would be balked.</p> + +<p>"We must keep your man Hardy on the island all summer," he said to +Weston, "and let him quarry stone, at whatever cost. If ever he hears +what Rockhaven is quoted at and isn't a fool, he will hurry back and not +only unload his thousand shares, but tell his aunt, and she will do the +same."</p> + +<p>"I doubt that he will," answered Weston; "he has few friends in the +city, and those are not posted on the market, and as for his aunt, I +have assured her that if she hopes to sell out her stock at the top +price, she must keep her investment an absolute secret. I gave her the +tip on Sunday as we were walking home from church together, and in such +a way that I feel sure she will heed it. The good woman is wrapped up in +church work and putting the matter in the way I did, and at that time, +insures her secrecy. Some people must be handled with religious gloves," +he added, smiling urbanely, "and some hit with a club." He thought of +Hill in this connection.</p> + +<p>And in the case of Winn Hardy, he reckoned without Jack Nickerson.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>THE PROGRESS OF A "CORNER"</h3> + + +<p>There are honest and honorable stock brokers, and Page, a friend of +Nickerson's and acting broker for him, was one of them. He knew Simmons +well, and had at one time or another come in sharp conflict with the +latter in some stock deal. He had watched the bubble, Rockhaven, ever +since its inception, and accustomed as he was to the endless variety of +tricks resorted to by others of his class, had an intuitive conception +of how the general partnership of Weston & Hill and Simmons would be +carried to its culmination.</p> + +<p>"It's a swindle, pure and simple," he said in confidence to Nickerson, +"and while Weston is willing to dupe the confiding investors he has +persuaded to buy the stock, the real end and aim of his scheme is to get +the street short of it and, by some sort of scare, start the bears to +bidding against each other, and when the right time comes Simmons will +appear on the scene and unload Rockhaven at top price. How soon that +time will come and how far up they will push the stock before the shorts +take fright, is a guess. It is now steady at six and not much interest +in it. Then again it's an open question how much stock is owned on the +street and how great a short interest has been created. No one has any +confidence in it, and yet many are ready to take a flyer in it for a +turn. My idea is to handle it as one would a hot horseshoe. I am long a +thousand or two, you are ditto for five hundred, and we hold fifteen +hundred in trust for your friend Hardy and this islander, Hutton. +Whether to unload now and make four points or hold for a big stake, is +the question. It's a gamble either way."</p> + +<p>And this, be it said, fairly represented the situation.</p> + +<p>But Simmons, who really held the key to this well-set trap, knew very +well that he had the street all guessing, and more than that, was just +the man to keep them at it. He sold and he bought a little stock each +day, just to keep it active and quoted. He could have bought every share +on the street if necessary, but that was not his game. What he did want +was to aid the bull pool that had been formed, for every share they +bought meant one more short of that share, and when the time came, one +more scared bear to bid it up. It was an unscrupulous scheme, but one +continually being worked in one way or another by these legalized +gamblers.</p> + +<p>Then, as if the devil came to Simmons's aid, Rockhaven began to be +quoted in the bucket shops, and the crowd there, as usual, were all +bulls. It is a strange fact, but true, that every lamb who goes into one +of these wool-shearing offices is always sure to buy, expecting an +advance. With him, stocks are bound to advance—never go down. If they +do, he feels it's only for the time being, and they must go up again, +and so he foolishly puts up more margins, and still more, and the crafty +thief who manages this robber's den assures him he is right; they are +bound to go up, and in privacy smiles at the innocence of his victim. +And so the shearing goes on.</p> + +<p>In this case it helped the arch-plotter, Simmons, and his backer, +Weston, for as the stock held firm, those who were short of it at two, +three, and four, had no chance to cover. Then as it began to creep up a +little, to even up their shortage they sold still more, and every few +days a paid item in the <i>Market News</i> helped matters on. What they were +need not be stated. They were all to the same purpose, and that to +create confidence in Rockhaven, and as usual every bear on the street +discounted these statements and felt more certain that Rockhavens were +without substantial value.</p> + +<p>And they were right.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Weston, the great financier, as he now felt himself to be, +rubbed his hands with satisfaction and concocted more news items; and +Simmons hobnobbed with the street, assuring one and all of the other +speculative liars what a safe investment Rockhavens were, and how sure +to advance.</p> + +<p>"We have not sold much stock and do not care to," he said, "we know a +good thing when we see it, and in this quarry we have a certain +money-maker. It costs us a mere nothing to quarry the stone, the market +absorbs all our product at a good price, and the ledge we own is +limitless. Then we have an excellent manager in whom the firm trusts +implicitly."</p> + +<p>He always used "we" in speaking of the stock, that pronoun carrying a +certain assurance, as he well knew, for Simmons, who had grown old and +gray on the street, was a shrewd money-maker and well known to be worth +a million or more.</p> + +<p>But while Weston was happy in his prospective success, Hill was not. He +was too greedy, and, narrow-minded as he was, could not wait content +until the Rockhaven plum was ripe. He wanted to grasp it at once, even +to ruin its fruition entirely. He railed and groaned whenever a dollar +was put out, and had from the start. In his narrow vision it was so much +thrown away. Every item in the press that called for outlay, the use of +the thousands held by Simmons to manipulate the market, and especially +the hundred or more that each week had to be sent to the island, each +and all added to Hill's misery. Weston, the liberal rascal, had for a +long time felt disgusted with his partner's miserly instincts; now he +positively hated him and longed for the day when he could deal him a +crushing blow. Both were unscrupulous schemers and thieves at heart, but +of the two Hill was the worse. Not only did Weston come to hate Hill +more and more each day, but he grew tired of the sight of his pinched +and hypocritical face, his sunken eyes and clammy handshake—for shake +hands with him occasionally he must. Then Hill was so unlike Weston in +other ways it added to the feeling of disgust; he never used tobacco or +drank, and held up his hands in holy horror at any lapse from the code +of morality, and worse than that, if Weston let slip any word of +profanity, as he occasionally did, Hill exclaimed against it.</p> + +<p>To have one's small vices made a daily text for short sermons is +unpleasant, even to the best of us.</p> + +<p>But while Weston's hate and disgust grew apace, no hint of it leaked +out, and since he was the master spirit in the Rockhaven Granite Company +and in that scheme held the reins, it moved on to culmination, +unaffected by Hill's whining.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>A SUMMER DAY</h3> + + +<p>The life of suspense now forced upon Winn was not agreeable. He had too +much inborn ambition and energy of character, and once he had come to +feel himself his own master, as his mission to Rockhaven allowed, never +again could he fill a menial position and be satisfied, and the +possibility of it once more seemed degradation. Then again his present +dilemma was galling. He had followed Jess Hutton's advice, but no word +came from the city except the weekly remittance from his firm and +letters urging him to sell stock. He would not do so now, not even if +those honest people had offered any price, and what he had sold was a +source of dread. But no one wanted more, for the partial cessation of +work in the quarry was handwriting on the wall.</p> + +<p>And so the summer days sped by, and Winn's longing for a better +understanding with Mona grew stronger. In a way he stood in a false +position toward all these people except Jess, and the longer it +remained so the worse it seemed, so one evening he resolved to confide +in Mona.</p> + +<p>"Let us go over to the cave to-morrow afternoon," he said, "I've +something to tell you." It was the first step toward the right, and he +felt better for having taken it. When they were crossing the mile of +undulating ledges separating the village from this lonely gorge, Winn, +carrying the little green bag and leading Mona like a child around the +rocks, experienced a strangely sweet feeling of protection and care for +her, and with it came the determination to utter no more of the cutting +speeches so natural to him.</p> + +<p>"I may not be here much longer," he thought, "and it shall be a pleasant +afternoon for her to recall when I am gone."</p> + +<p>And be it said here that when a man feels that way toward a woman, +love's silken cord has been knotted about his heart. When they reached +the niche, at the head of the gorge, a surprise awaited Winn, for its +floor was carpeted thick with freshly gathered ferns, and bunches of +wild roses and clusters of red berries were thrust into each crevice.</p> + +<p>"What good fairy has been here ahead of us?" exclaimed Winn as he looked +at the charming nook. "Was it you, Mona?"</p> + +<p>"It must have been one of your mermaids," she answered prettily, "and +our coming has frightened her away."</p> + +<p>"One who plays the violin, I imagine," he answered smiling, "and has +raven tresses instead of sea-green."</p> + +<p>But when Mona was seated and he opposite reclined on the fresh green +carpet, he was in no hurry to tell his story, and for reason. The spot, +with its wild grandeur of cliff wall on one side, the other gently +sloping and broadening down to where the white-crested billows leaped in +among the weed-draped rocks, was beyond all question the most +picturesque bit of coast scenery he had ever seen. And now it seemed +endowed with a newer charm. Here he was, hidden away from all the wide +world and almost from himself, with Nature at her grandest and the +limitless ocean voicing eternity at his feet. For a little time he +watched the white-crested billows tossing the rockweed and brown kelpie +aloft as they swept into the gorge with a solemn roar. Somehow, just +then, it seemed to him as if he and Mona were alone with God, and the +world was young, and life all before him. And at this moment he forgot +all his troubles, and the price of Rockhaven stock seemed of less +account than the ferns he sat upon.</p> + +<p>"This spot makes a better man of me, Mona," he said at last, "and +to-day it lifts me into the frame of mind that the church bells always +do at eventide. I am not a believer such as you people here are who join +the church. I am only of the world, worldly, embittered somewhat by +experience and therefore rather distrustful. And yet here it all +disappears, and only God seems good to me." Then he paused, looking out +on the wide ocean once more while Mona watched him with wistful eyes, +wondering what odd speech would fall from his lips next.</p> + +<p>"I asked you to come here to-day, little girl," he said at last, "to +tell you the story of my life and what has made me as I am. You have +been kind and tender and patient with my whims, your mother has opened +her door to me, your uncle has trusted me and been my friend, your +minister and many others have been kind to me also, and in all ways a +welcome to me and my errand here has been extended. And now I will tell +my story." And tell it all he did, not even omitting Ethel Sherman. All +the years he had been a menial in Weston & Hill's office, his associates +the while and their influence, and then this new departure in life with +all its hopes and ambitions, to end in a fog of doubt and suspense. When +the recital was ended he felt better; how Mona felt her words can best +indicate.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you trust me so much," she said, "and I wish I could say a +word that would help you. Uncle Jess's advice must be for the best." And +then an intuition that all this meant Winn's leaving the island soon +brought a shadow over her face. For a little time the two sat in +silence, unconscious of the wild romance of the nook or the ceaseless +monotone of the ocean just below.</p> + +<p>"I have worked hard to make this venture a success," he said at last, in +a dejected tone, "and hoped for much, but now it all seems likely to +vanish, and worse than that, the good people here who have bought stock +will lose by it and blame me. I cannot tell them how matters stand, or +even leave here at present, and yet any day I may hear that the company +has dissolved. I've lost all confidence in them now, and to protect +myself am forced to act a dishonorable part and let them send money I do +not need. I have a friend to whom I sent our stock, but no word comes +from him, and so, little girl, you see why I am so disheartened."</p> + +<p>But Mona scarcely understood all he had said—some of it not at all. The +matter of stock values and how the present dilemma came about was quite +beyond her. What she did understand was that some grave danger +threatened Winn and he must leave the island. She had, impelled by a +sweet girlish impulse, come to the cave early that day, bringing ferns +and flowers to deck it and surprise this man whose every word and smile +seemed of so much value. She had brought her violin, glad if he cared to +hear her play; she had hoped the little outing, away from all others in +this trysting place, would be charming to him; and in her girlish heart +meant to make it so, and now the little plan had come to naught, and +instead she had heard what caused a heartache. The ferns were fast +wilting and the violin remained in its case.</p> + +<p>"Come, dear," said Winn, speaking freely and seeing the cloud on her +face, "let us forget this trouble and enjoy this afternoon. We may not +have another one here. Please play for me now."</p> + +<p>But her muse had fled, and she only turned away to hide the pain in her +face.</p> + +<p>"I will by and by," she said faintly; "I want to think now."</p> + +<p>And Winn, conscious of the blow he had dealt her, felt a strange sense +of guilt. He had known for many weeks that his every word and look and +smile was a joy to her, and while not for one instant had she +overstepped the bounds of maidenly reserve, her thoughts were of him. +And then as he looked at her with face half turned away and lips +tightly closed as if to keep back the tears, a sudden impulse to gather +her close in his arms and whisper fond and loving words came to him. But +he put it away.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would play for me, dear," he said very gently, "and drive +away my blues. Play something lively." And the boy god, ever hovering +where hearts are tender, sheathed his arrow and flew away.</p> + +<p>Many times afterward Winn thought of that moment and always with regret.</p> + +<p>A little longer Mona waited, and then, like an obedient child, drew her +violin from its case.</p> + +<p>Our moods are our masters, and be it untutored girl or world-wise man or +woman, they shadow or brighten all expression. And though Mona played at +his bidding one and another of the lively airs she knew, a minor chord +of sadness ran through them all.</p> + +<p>Then, to his surprise, she began one of the late light operas he had +sent for and given her weeks before. She did not play it with ease, a +halt came now and then, but she played it all through and then paused.</p> + +<p>"I am surprised," he said; "when and how did you learn that? You told me +you could not read a note of music."</p> + +<p>"I have been learning to read," she answered quietly, "and Uncle Jess +has helped me."</p> + +<p>And then Winn, wishing to encourage her in some way, or at least lead +her thoughts out of their present gloom, uttered a bit of foolish +advice.</p> + +<p>"Mona, my dear," he said earnestly, "some day I hope you may have a +chance to study music in the city. If you have, and I would advise it, +you will win a name for yourself."</p> + +<p>"Would you come to hear me if I did?" she answered sadly.</p> + +<p>"Most assuredly," he said, "and shower you with choicest flowers."</p> + +<p>When the lowering sun had left the gorge in shadow, and twilight had +crept into the cave, Mona picked up her violin, and, as if to utter her +own heartache, softly played the old love song Winn had first heard +whispering out of that wild gorge. Watching her and listening thus to +what seemed the quivering of that girl's heart, his eyes grew misty.</p> + +<p>"Come, dear," he said, when the sad song ended, "it's time to go home."</p> + +<p>And all the way back he held her arm and gently guided her steps among +the rocks.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<h3>A CLIMAX</h3> + + +<p>When Winn reached his room that evening, a letter from Jack Nickerson +and a clipping from the <i>Market News</i> was awaiting him. The letter said: +"Come at once to the city, but keep shady when you arrive. Go to a hotel +and send for me. Rockhaven is up to ten, the street is all short of it, +and a bear panic may come any day. Have held your stock to unload at top +price. May do it to-morrow, but come anyway."</p> + +<p>The clipping was as follows: "As we predicted weeks ago, Rockhaven, in +spite of countless rumors put forth by the bears, has crept steadily +upward. Most of it is in the hands of conservative investors who know +its value, and some day those who sold it so freely for five and six +will be bidding fifteen and twenty for it. It is a safe purchase now on +any weak spot, and good for ten points more."</p> + +<p>And Winn, fresh from the spell of Mona's eyes and the tender mood of +that afternoon, felt that he had reached a turning-point in his life +and that independence and the end of his suspense were in sight. Go to +the city he must, and at once, that was certain, and perhaps a small +fortune was almost within his grasp! The thought made his pulses leap. +All his life long he had been hardly more than a cipher, a poorly paid +menial, and now possible freedom and escape from serfdom was near. Then +another impulse came, which was a natural sequence of the others. He had +never, since boyhood days, felt that he had a home. His aunt's was but a +free boarding place, and irksome at that; the city and its ways were not +congenial to him—even the thought of going there now was obnoxious; and +as this realization grew, there came to him, much like the sound of +church bells, the sincerity, the honest friendship, the simple truth of +those people he had for three months lived among. And into this +appreciation also entered—Mona.</p> + +<p>Like all men, he aspired to some wealth and the protection it means; and +now, when a little of it seemed within his grasp, there followed a +nobler impulse, and that the home-building one. Then when he thought of +the city once more, with its social hypocrisy, its vain display of +wealth, its cold, heartless life, where none seemed ready to extend a +hand to him, he felt more than ever it never was and never could be a +home for him. And then in sharp contrast to one city product, Ethel +Sherman, came a thought of the girl who that morning had decked the cave +with ferns and flowers, that it might seem more worthy of him. And now +herself and her life passed in review. He saw her at home, patient with +her mother's whims, helping when and where she could; at church bowing +in reverence to the simple devotions and joining in the singing; and in +the wild gorge where she hid herself away to practice. This last touch +of romance seemed to affect him more than all else, and as he thought of +those eyes, into which no shadow of falsehood ever entered, and how all +that was beautiful in nature, from the roses that grew between the +granite ledges of the island to the boundless ocean beating against its +cliffs, appealed to her as to him; insensibly, and quite beyond his +power to check, came the sweet illusion of love. Gone for the moment was +the memory of Ethel Sherman and the bitterness she had meted out to him, +and in its place opened a new world. Gone, too, was the influence of the +one man who, above all others, had forced his cynicism upon Winn and +taught him distrust of womankind. Almost, but not quite, did this gentle +thraldom win, and then—the reaction came.</p> + +<p>"I will tell Mona, as a big brother should," he thought, "all she has a +right to know, and leave the island as I came. I may return and I may +not."</p> + +<p>But Winn, of wayward impulse and changeful nature, now buoyant, now +despondent, knew not his own heart nor its needs, and understood not at +all how some straw, some pebble of chance, would inevitably swerve him +in spite of all resolution.</p> + +<p>It is thus with us all.</p> + +<p>And now came the business side of his dilemma.</p> + +<p>"It goes without sayin' ye best do as yer friend says," advised Jess, +when Winn had read the letters to him, "'n' the sooner the better. Sell +yer own stock fust, if ye kin, an' then mine if ye hev the chance, but +don't worry if ye can't. I'll take keer o' matters here while ye're +gone, an' when ye git back, we'll haul in the net 'n' see whar we +stand."</p> + +<p>"But how about the others here?" queried Winn, who had worried about +them fully as much as about himself. "I must see that they are taken +care of."</p> + +<p>"Wal," answered Jess, slowly, "ye go ahead 'n' see how the land lays, +'n' mebbe I'll follow ye if ye send me word; 'n' if ye don't, an' things +go to smash, I'll see none on 'em here is loser."</p> + +<p>And this was Jess Hutton, the man above all others whom J. Malcolm +Weston had urged his dupe to sell stock to! Never before did Winn feel +so ashamed that he came there as manager for the Rockhaven Granite +Company.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hutton," he said earnestly, "I shall always be thankful that I told +you from the start how matters stood, and if the worst comes, you will +know it was no fault of mine."</p> + +<p>"I knowed ye war honest, the fust time I sot eyes on ye," responded +Jess, cordially, "an' now ez ye're goin' soon, it won't do ye no harm to +tell ye. An' more'n that, I'll tell ye I never doubted from the start +this boss o' yourn was a rascal, an' the only reason I bought a little +stock was 'cause I liked ye 'n' wanted to help ye."</p> + +<p>Winn felt more ashamed than ever.</p> + +<p>When he returned to his room late that evening, the moon, now a few days +past its full, was just rising over Norse Hill and silvering the dark +and silent houses along the way. No one was up, and so still was the +village that his footsteps on the plank walk seemed to echo across the +island. When he came to where Rock Lane joined the street, he paused. +Just beyond he could see the little church and back of it the silent +village of the dead, each stone distinct and ghostly in the moonlight, +to the left the motionless harbor, a glittering field of silver, and +beyond the old tide mill, spectral and solemn. And faintly whispered in +the stilly night the ocean voice.</p> + +<p>Many times afterward that picture returned to his memory.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<h3>SEVERING THE TIES</h3> + + +<p>The next day seemed to Winn almost like preparing for a funeral.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would go over to the gorge with me this afternoon," he said +to Mona that morning, "I must leave here to-morrow, and I want to bid +the spot good-by."</p> + +<p>And she, busy among the sweet williams, pinks, and marigolds that were +her daily care, felt her heart sink.</p> + +<p>And Winn, believing it his last day on the island, went his way, first +to the quarry that had been his everyday duty for almost three months. +Only four men were retained, and those were to be kept at work until he +returned, or until Jess ordered otherwise. To no one could he say his +departure was final. Then he wandered about among the wharves that had +so interested him the first day on the island, and spoke with the few +fishermen busy there. All knew him, and each had a pleasant word and +nod. He watched them at their work, salting the fish they had split and +were packing, one upon another, in a large tank, or spreading cured ones +on racks to dry, and packing up in bundles those that were dried. He +sniffed the pungent odor and looked out seaward, where the fishing +craft, with all sail set, were departing. Then he strolled inward to +where the little steamer made landing. She had left for that day and her +wharf was deserted. Winn thought that on her next trip he would be a +passenger leaving the island for good. Strange to say, as he passed on +he noticed with peculiar interest the sign, "Coffins and Caskets" on a +small shop just back of a house. Then he followed the sandy shore of the +inner harbor past an old, dismantled fishing smack, beached high and +dry, on the stern of which the name "Nancy Jane" was still legible, and +then on up to the tide mill. Here he paused again, looking into the dark +interior where only the sills remained, and below them a space through +which the tide ebbed. And he thought of the girl who had ended her life +there.</p> + +<p>Somehow, all that morning these sad reminders of life and death on the +island seemed to thrust themselves before him. The mood they engendered +was with him when that afternoon he, with Mona for companion, started +for the gorge. And she was almost as silent as the old mill.</p> + +<p>"I've been bidding good-by to the island all the morning," he said, when +they reached the top of Norse Hill, "and I hate to go away."</p> + +<p>"But you are coming back, aren't you?" she asked, with a note of pain.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," he said cheerfully, "I hope so, but I can't tell. You know +why I go, and my business here may be at its end. But if it is, I shall +visit the island next summer, if I live.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Devil's Oven.</span></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"Come, dear," he added, when the gorge was reached and he had assisted +her down, "let's leave the violin here and hunt for sea-shells. I want +some to carry away." And like two children they clambered over the rocks +the tide had left bare, picking up the starfish, chill to the touch, +sea-urchins, snail shells, sailors' money purses, tossed above the tide +level and dried black and hard, and watching the anemones and crabs left +prisoners in pools between the rocks. Overhead the gulls circled and far +to seaward the white sails of coasters and fishermen gleamed in the +sunlight, and beside Winn, following wherever he went, Mona, with her +appealing eyes. They talked of nothings, as usual, and he stole covert +looks at her face, noting how the sea winds played havoc with her +loosened hair.</p> + +<p>Later they sought the cave where the ferns and flowers she had brought +the day before lay withered.</p> + +<p>"I am going to leave all but one each of the starfish and shells we have +gathered," he said, "here in our little nook, and see if we will find +them when I come back."</p> + +<p>"We shall," she replied, "for no one ever comes here but me, and I will +watch them."</p> + +<p>It was a child's thought, but there are moments in our lives when to act +like children is a relief.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will come here often," he added, "and feel this is our +playhouse, and when I think of you I shall always see you as you are now +and in this cave. And you must keep up your practice and I shall send +you some new music and write to you, and if you have a picture of +yourself, I should like it."</p> + +<p>"I have only one, taken when I was a little girl," she answered, "but +you shall have it."</p> + +<p>He could have had her heart, and soul even, had he asked it.</p> + +<p>"Now play for me, dear," he said very gently, "some of the old songs you +play best."</p> + +<p>And once again, as many times before, Winn visited the banks of "Bonnie +Doon" and the fields of heather over which the tartan-clad ranks marched +to the tune of "The Blue Bells of Scotland" and "The Campbells are +Coming." And he heard the pipes droning and saw "Bonnie Dundee" with +waving plume and the sweet lassie "Comin' thro' the Rye," and heard the +love plaint of "Robin Adair," "Auld Robin Grey," and the undying +heart-cry of sweet "Annie Laurie."</p> + +<p>And into these was blended the low lullaby of the ocean.</p> + +<p>When it was all ended and the twilight had come, without a word he held +out his hand, and slowly and in silence gently guided her footsteps out +of the gorge. Along the devious way among the ledges he led her, a +drooping flower, thirsting for one drop of the water of life, one word +of love, ay, one word of pity!</p> + +<p>The purple shade of coming night had crept in from the wide ocean ere +they reached the old stone tower, and here he paused. Full well he knew +what every impulse of his own heart called upon him to utter, and yet +his lips were dumb. Full well he knew how the girl who stood beside him +felt, and the heartache that was her portion.</p> + +<p>And still he was silent!</p> + +<p>The chill night breeze from the sea swept over the hill. Suddenly the +girl shivered.</p> + +<p>And then, as he looked out upon the darkening sea and heard the solemn +requiem sounding below the cliff, the voice of eternity and life and +death speaking there unsealed his lips.</p> + +<p>The next moment Mona was clasped in his arms.</p> + +<p>"God help me, little girl," he said, "I love you."</p> + +<p>Later, the moon, smiling approval, rose out of the ocean, and when the +two, now one, turned to go, once more he gathered her close to his +heart.</p> + +<p>"You will come back now, won't you?" she said.</p> + +<p>And looking into the tear-wet eyes upraised to his, he kissed her once, +twice, thrice.</p> + +<p>"Surely," he answered, "my heart is here now."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<h3>ON 'CHANGE</h3> + + +<p>In Wall Street, the most gigantic gambling Mecca the world knows, where +millions change hands every hour of the five of howling delirium that +constitute a stock-exchange day, the two parties, "bulls" and "bears," +wage a financial war.</p> + +<p>Each has its general, recognized leader as well as a dozen lesser ones, +who organize pools and cliques, manipulate news, issue statements that +are pure fiction, pay for items in the press that are fairy tales, +gather their moneyed forces into aggregation for practical robbery of +others, and bend all energies of brain, experience, and knowledge of +conditions to one focal point, and that either to depress or enhance the +value of securities. Each main army has its general method, controls its +banks, pays enormous tolls to telegraph companies, fixes rates of +interest at will, pays for and colors the daily utterances of its own +newspapers, and buys truth and falsehood with equal readiness at so much +per line.</p> + +<p>This describes the two parties generally; yet the men who constitute +them are daily changing, and out of a thousand who may be among the +bears to-day, half might be found with the bulls a week hence. Some may +be on both sides at once, pushing one stock up and another down, a +kaleidoscopic jumble of half insane human beings, whose statements as to +value, conditions, and their own intentions bear no relation to the +truth and are not expected to do so. It is a contest of cunning, a war +of falsehood, a battle of deception. And those who fall by the wayside +excite no pity, receive no consideration, and if they rise not by their +own exertion, they are kicked out of the way.</p> + +<p>Professionally speaking, lawyers have been called legal liars, but +compared to stock manipulators they are walking examples of truth and +veracity. A lawyer may lie and can if necessary, but a stock operator +lies all the time; from sheer force of habit. A lawyer might lie to +judge, jury, or his own client, but there is some chance that he may +tell the truth to a brother lawyer; while stock brokers will lie to each +other on all occasions, and if necessary swear to it.</p> + +<p>And this is business in Wall Street!</p> + +<p>A few other great cities have their lesser Wall streets, and where +Weston & Hill, like a deadly upas tree, flourished for a time, a mimic +Wall Street existed. It had its clique of bulls and bears, its <i>Market +News</i>, its leaders, large and small, its daily contest of lies and money +power, and though Weston & Hill were not among its members, their +broker, Simmons, was—an active and unscrupulous mouthpiece, ready to +fleece all fellow-brokers, or the firm he acted for, if necessary. He +had bought or sold Rockhaven stock, as its prime mover, Weston, +directed; circulated lies galore for three months; and by the occult +process of manipulation had slowly worked the price up from one to ten +dollars per share, and had so colored his lies and so managed the +deal—now selling a thousand shares quietly, then buying them back +ostentatiously—that, as the phrase goes, "the street was kept guessing +all the time."</p> + +<p>Some believed it was a good investment; more felt sure it was a +"wildcat," and that soon or late the bubble would burst and the stock go +down to rise no more. Only Simmons and Weston knew what was to be the +outcome, but neither was likely to tell. More than that, they knew how +much stock was in actual circulation or held by the street, and beyond +that, a close approximation of how great a short interest had accrued. +Each day since Rockhaven had been quoted at all, Simmons had made entry +of all recorded sales, and knowing how much had been issued and how much +bought in by himself, endeavored to keep track of it. It was fallacious, +for the same stock might be bought and sold a hundred times, and the +long and short disparity remain the same. One thing he knew,—how much +had actually been sold, and out of this (a matter of thirty thousand) +fully twenty thousand, he believed, would never be heard of on the +street.</p> + +<p>But he reckoned without Winn Hardy.</p> + +<p>Rockhaven had been jeered and sneered at by the bear party; its backers, +Weston & Hill, were known to be sharpers; their broker, Simmons, bore +the same reputation; prediction that it was a wildcat and they unloading +it on to the street had been repeated a thousand times; the <i>Market +News</i> items were considered unreliable, and on the strength of all this +hotbed of lies the knowing ones had sold the stock all the way up. Some +had covered it at a loss, and smarting from that had sold again at a +higher price, firmly believing it must fall some day; and when poor +duped Winn, unconscious of the situation, was steaming toward the +battleground, a dozen growling bears were selling Rockhaven at every +point advance. Only bears sold to bears, however; for those who held +what was out owned it at a lower price, and so long as it kept up they +parted with none. It had opened that morning at ten and one-half, by +noon rose to twelve and one-quarter, and at the delivery hour of two was +firm at fourteen. Simmons had bought a few hundred when it had dropped a +half point, just to cheer up the game, and knowing those who sold had +none to deliver. A few bulls who owned it at five and six started a +story that a corner had been engineered, and predicted that it would go +to thirty inside a week. And when the gong sounded that day, and the +market closed with Rockhaven at fifteen and one-quarter bid and sixteen +asked, a few of the fur-coated liars looked askance at one another and +went out and drank liberally to keep their courage up.</p> + +<p>And that night Weston and Simmons held another conference. It was a +vital one; for before it closed some ten thousand shares of general +securities Weston & Hill either owned or held in trust passed into +Simmons's possession, and when the two conspirators separated, one was +richer by nearly two hundred thousand dollars, based on the market price +of these securities, and the other gloating over the prospective +robbery of his hated partner.</p> + +<p>But a halt came the next day, for Simmons bid sixteen for a block of +Rockhaven, a few conservative bulls unloaded and the price dropped two +points, while the bears took courage.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + +<h3>THE BUBBLE RISES</h3> + + +<p>It was early dawn when Winn stepped from his train and into the +ceaseless babel of the city. Market wagons were crowding the streets, +the army of workers hurrying in every direction, newsboys shouting, +humanity elbowing and pushing, draymen seemingly ready to run over +him,—and this was his welcome back into the monster hive he had left +three months before. What a contrast to Rockhaven!</p> + +<p>Then to a hotel, a bath, a barber; and, finally, when he had made +himself somewhat more in keeping with the well-groomed if heartless city +folk that he must now meet, he secluded himself in a corner of a dining +room, where he breakfasted behind a morning paper. He first turned to +the stock page, fully expecting to see the name "Rockhaven" staring him +in the face; but he did not. Then his eye ran down the column of +quotations until, among the unlisted securities, it rested on +"Rockhaven," thirteen bid and fourteen asked. And strange to say, the +thirteen seemed significant; and now he looked elsewhere, feeling sure +that he would find the Rockhaven Granite's Company's advertisement, but +failed. There were others equally alluring, and to his mind equally +deceptive,—oil, mining, development, building, and every other sort of +scheme confronting him, each promising safe and sure returns and +assuring the reader in fervid language that "now is the time to invest." +And so eager were these swindlers to catch the unwary, that some offered +stock for five cents a share, and non-assessable at that. Never before +had Winn realized that schemers could descend to such pitiful methods as +to issue, sign, and keep record of stock at a nickel a share! A trap to +catch even newsboys!</p> + +<p>Turning in disgust to the column of market gossip, he read the +following: "Out of the multiplicity of investment organizations now +crowding each other on all sides, a late one, the Rockhaven Granite +Company, has forged to the front, its stock having crept up from one to +fourteen dollars per share. But little is known of this company, and +conservative investors believe the unusually rapid advance in its stock +solely due to manipulation."</p> + +<p>In this great human hive and on the pages of this leading newspaper the +million-dollar scheme of Weston & Hill was only entitled to one line in +the list of quotations and a five-line news item.</p> + +<p>And Winn thought himself and his troubles to be of small concern.</p> + +<p>But his troubles enlarged rapidly when Jack Nickerson came to his room +later on.</p> + +<p>"Well, old man," said that cheerful sceptic, looking Winn over, "you +don't seem to have the odor of fish or any barnacles about you. You have +had a hair cut, I see; and now if you will visit a tailor, you will soon +be one of us again."</p> + +<p>"Yes," laughed Winn, sarcastically, "I'm back where clothes make the man +and put thieves and honest men on the same footing. But how is Rockhaven +coming on?"</p> + +<p>"It's not only coming, but it is here,—at least its only honest +supporter is," answered Jack. "Where is your old fiddling friend, +Hutton? I expected you would bring him along to look us swindlers over."</p> + +<p>"No, I left him down at Rockhaven at peace with all the world and +philosophizing on human depravity," answered Winn; "he would be as much +out of place here as you would be there."</p> + +<p>"Well, you'd best send for him, or else all the stock you sold on the +island," asserted Nickerson, "and do it now. Matters have reached a +climax, as I wrote you, and Page wants to 'do' old Simmons. We have held +your stock for that purpose, and we want all we can get besides. The +street is all short of it; and when they get scared, as they will soon, +and Simmons tries to unload on them, we propose to be in the dance. +Can't you wire the island?"</p> + +<p>And Winn, once more in touch with the active life of the city, paused to +collect himself.</p> + +<p>"I might wire Captain Roby," he said, "and reach the island to-night. +But Roby has bought one hundred of this stock, and if he realized the +situation, he'd faint."</p> + +<p>"Well, let him," answered Jack, "he'll come to quick enough when he +understands his stock is worth fourteen dollars to-day and may not be +worth one cent to-morrow. My belief is, if you wired him the price now, +he'd point his old boat for the city and shovel coal under the boiler +all the way himself."</p> + +<p>"He wouldn't do that," replied Winn, "but he'd start for the island at +once, and in ten minutes every one would know it."</p> + +<p>"Well, wire him," said Jack, "and do it now. Tell him to see your +philosopher."</p> + +<p>And Winn obeyed.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Jack, "you are a prisoner here in this room until Page says +otherwise. If ever Simmons or Weston learns you are in the city, it will +upset our plans. When your old barnacle arrives, we'll lock him up also +until the crash comes, and then take you both into the exchange and let +you see the fun. He will be all the safer anyway. Some one might sell +him a gold brick."</p> + +<p>"Not much," answered Winn, stoutly. "Jess Hutton can't be buncoed. He +was keen enough to see through Weston the moment he set foot in his +store, while it took me three months to do it."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're getting you eye teeth cut slowly," laughed Jack, "and in a +year or two you'll know sheep from goats. I'm sorry you can't go to call +on Ethel Sherman this evening, but you can't. It's just as well, for +when she hears you have come out on top of Rockhaven and are worth a few +thousand, she'll receive you with more warmth. She is back from the +mountains, brown as an autumn leaf and looking out of sight. If I didn't +know she was the most heartless and selfish hypocrite ever clad in +petticoats, I'd make love to her myself."</p> + +<p>And Jack Nickerson, the inveterate scoffer at all things, took himself +away.</p> + +<p>That day Rockhaven was bid up to twenty, the short interest more than +doubled, and the two arch conspirators, Weston and Simmons, in the +privacy of the latter's office that night, held a love feast, nudged +each other in the ribs, and laughed and joked while they smoked costly +cigars, feeling sure a small fortune was within sight.</p> + +<p>"I think it's best to let 'em bid it up to about forty," said Simmons, +in a self-confident tone, and as though the street were within his +grasp, "and then I'll feed those hungry bears granite chips by the +shovelful."</p> + +<p>"I flatter myself," he continued, "that I have engineered this deal as +but few could; and if this pious old hen, Mrs. Converse, attends +strictly to foreign missions a few days longer, all will go well."</p> + +<p>"No need to worry about her," responded Weston, whose spirits had also +risen. "I, too, am fairly smooth, and have persuaded her to leave her +stock with me to sell when the right time comes; and I have also +subscribed five hundred toward a home for old ladies she is interested +in. That's the way I <i>converse</i> with her."</p> + +<p>And the two laughed at this poor pun.</p> + +<p>Little did either realize that Nemesis, with three thousand shares in +reserve, lurked in Broker Page's office, and that another thousand in +the pocket of the "fossil who fiddled," as Weston had once called Jess +Hutton, would be added to that avenging club, inside of twenty-four +hours.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX</h2> + +<h3>THE BUBBLE BURSTS</h3> + + +<p>In response to Winn's summons, dressed in a somewhat faded and +nondescript garb, with bell-crowned silk hat of ancient style, Jess +Hutton reached the city.</p> + +<p>And he was a picture!</p> + +<p>His coat, a surtout with small gilt buttons, a reddish brown vest, +trousers of gray mixed stuff, a high collar with black satin stock, and +his ruddy brown face with fringe of gray beard and keen twinkling blue +eyes made him conspicuous. He carried a cane, limping a little as +always, and when he greeted Winn on the station platform, the latter +felt that all Rockhaven had arrived.</p> + +<p>"Ain't this a <i>leetle</i> sudden?" he said, when the two had shaken hands. +"I sorter cac'lated ye'd send fer me, an' when I got the message I +thought o' old Abner Tucker's tombstone. He'd allus been skeered o' +lightnin', an' when he got hit his widder had his stun sot up 'n' put +on't, 'I 'spected this, but not so soon.'"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you came," said Winn, heartily, "and hope you have brought all +the stock I sold on the island."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I fetched it all, even the parson's, 'n' he told me a blessin' went +with hisn," responded Jess.</p> + +<p>And then Winn, more light-hearted than ever before in his life, hurried +the old man into a carriage.</p> + +<p>"We are to keep in hiding," he said, "until my friends say the word, and +then I'll take you to the stock exchange and we will see our stock +sold."</p> + +<p>"I don't see no use in hidin' in this 'ere jumble o' humanity," asserted +Jess, as their vehicle became entangled in a street blockade, "the +puzzle on't here 'ud be to find anybody ye wanted."</p> + +<p>"It's best that we hide, however," replied Winn. "If Weston caught sight +of either of us, he would know our errand here at once."</p> + +<p>"I don't cac'late he'd 'member me," said Jess, "though I'd recklect them +gray stun'sls o' hisn out o' a million."</p> + +<p>And Winn, contrasting the old man's present raiment with what he usually +wore, concluded he was right.</p> + +<p>But that evening, when Page and Nickerson were ushered into the room +where Jess was held in (to him) durance vile, there was a scene.</p> + +<p>"I'm powerful glad to meet ye, gentlemen," Jess asserted, shaking the +hand of each in a way that made them wince, "I'd a sorter cac'lated +brokers had horns 'n' claws the way ye're spoken on, but ye look purty +harmless. I suppose ye air brokers," looking from one to the other, "an' +which sort air ye, bulls or bears?"</p> + +<p>"Either one or the other, as occasion serves," answered Page, laughing +heartily. "We get together and toss or claw one another, according to +the market, and when the fracas is over, count our cash and go out and +drink to each other's good luck."</p> + +<p>And this, be it said, fairly expresses the financial warfare daily waged +"on 'change."</p> + +<p>"I've read 'bout yer doin's," continued Jess, "an' I allus cac'lated ye +were all a purty slick crowd o' deceivers, an' best ter steer clear on. +I'm a sort o' an old barnacle livin' on an island, 'n' when this 'ere +Weston woke me up one day, I made a fairly good dicker with him, an' +'long come this young man, 'n' I'll own up I kinder took ter him, bein's +I hadn't chick nor child 'n' nothin' fer company but an old fiddle, 'n' +just ter help him out, bought a leetle stock. I got a few o' the rest to +buy some, 'greein' I'd see they wasn't to lose by it. I fetched it +'long, 'n' I tell ye, Mr. Hardy, yer message has stirred up quite a +fuss. I'll bet yer landlady, the Widder Moore, hain't slept a wink +sense, 'n' if Roby hadn't been obligated to Uncle Sam, he'd 'a' started +fer the mainland that night."</p> + +<p>"You are just in time, Mr. Hutton," observed Page, interested in this +honest old man at once, "and unless all signs fail, I'll sell your stock +to-morrow at ten or twenty times its cost. How would you like to carry +back five thousand dollars for yourself and double that to distribute +among your friends?"</p> + +<p>"They'd all hev fits," answered Jess, "an' 'ud quit fishin' an' start to +quarryin' right away. But I don't cac'late ye will, Mr. Page, an' we'll +all on us be satisfied to git our hats back. Hope ye may, though; but +thar's no use in countin' chickens till they're hatched."</p> + +<p>And Jess Hutton, the cool and collected philosopher that he was, did not +for one moment hope even that he would more than receive his money back. +In his understanding of the matter, this quoted price for the stock was +a mere fiction, and he felt sure that when it was actually offered for +sale, no one would buy. To him it seemed like selling so much air. Never +in his life had he set foot in a stock exchange, and when the next day, +just as the great clock in the exchange marked nine-fifty, and he with +Winn and Nickerson took seats in the gallery, no hint of the coming +turmoil came to Jess, and fortunately no suspicion of his or Hardy's +presence in the city had reached Weston or Simmons.</p> + +<p>Then the gong sounded and bedlam ensued.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus5" id="illus5"></a> +<img src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Bubble Bursts.</span></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>In an instant, a hundred men who had been chatting with one another in +the pit, and as many more, as if by magic, leaped out of hiding, and a +howl went up. They gathered in knots around the poles, pushing, pulling, +yelling like demons, waving their arms aloft with fingers open, closed, +or separated—a deaf mute alphabet used by these delirious men to buy or +sell; and as they screamed and screeched and pushed and swore in a mad +scramble, fortunes melted away or were created.</p> + +<p>And on one side of that fiscal arena, tall, gaunt, with a fringe of gray +hair about his poll, and watching with eyes as merciless as a lynx ready +to spring, stood Simmons.</p> + +<p>On the other, as alert, but younger, with the easy <i>sang froid</i> of one +skilled in this battle of values, stood Page.</p> + +<p>Full well he knew what his enemy's tactics would be, and that when the +crowd began to rally around the Rockhaven pole, he would creep up like a +panther, and at the right moment overbid the highest. None were buyers, +for none wanted Rockhaven at its present price, except frightened bears +seeking to cover, and well Simmons knew it.</p> + +<p>And so did Page, with his four thousand shares, waiting for the bear +panic sure to come.</p> + +<p>Rockhaven's turn now came. It opened at sixteen, then up to seventeen, +eighteen, nineteen, without a halt; a breathless trio in the balcony +attentively watched the dial where its price was recorded, or Page, who +held their fortunes in his hand.</p> + +<p>And then came the panic; for it had reached twenty, and Simmons, like a +spectre, advanced, bidding twenty-one for ten thousand shares!</p> + +<p>Then two bears, short as much each at five and six, lost their heads.</p> + +<p>Up, up it went by leaps of two, three, and five points, bid by these +half-crazed speculators, while Page eyed Simmons.</p> + +<p>Two tigers of finance, cool, calculating, merciless!</p> + +<p>The jam about the pole grew worse. A screaming, pushing, mad mass of +beings, insane with greed!</p> + +<p>Some on top, some under, and all cursing, yelling, a writhing monster, +all heads and hands, the like of which can nowhere else be found. Thirty +was bid, then thirty-two, four, six, eight!</p> + +<p>Then forty!</p> + +<p>And then Page, calculating to a nicety, leaped in!</p> + +<p>In an instant, almost, the price fell twenty points, for Simmons, quick +to see his enemy's offer to sell, lost his nerve and offered blocks of +ten and twenty thousand shares down, down at any price!</p> + +<p>And the scared bears, as quick as he to see the tide had turned, joined +the downward bidding.</p> + +<p>But Page had sold!</p> + +<p>Winn and Jess were saved!</p> + +<p>The bubble had burst!</p> + +<p>Conscience, as in all great climaxes of human feeling, was a factor in +the crash; for Simmons, knowing that he had once wronged and robbed +Page, intuitively felt that a revenge was coming, and to save what he +could out of the wrecked plot, joined the insane selling. For once in +his life he played the coward.</p> + +<p>After the financial delirium was over, there was a scene between him and +Weston, over which it were best to draw the veil.</p> + +<p>A more hilarious episode, however, occurred in Page's office, when all +met there after the exchange closed.</p> + +<p>"I didn't win out as I hoped," Page said to the rest, "for the market +broke like an egg-shell. I unloaded the four thousand at an average of +twenty, however, and had the pleasure of seeing Simmons gnash his false +teeth and shake his fist at me, which was worth as much more." Then +turning to Jess he added: "How did you enjoy the pow-wow?"</p> + +<p>Jess smiled.</p> + +<p>"I've seen a passel o' hungry hogs squealin' an' pawin' over a trough, +an' two dogs fightin' over a bone. I've seen a cage o' monkeys all mad +an' makin' the fur fly, an' if the whole kit 'n' boodle had been put in +a pen 'n' sot a-goin', it wouldn't 'a' ekalled the fracas I've seen +to-day. How any on 'em got out 'thout broken bones is more'n I kin see. +I'd 'a' gin a hundred to 'a' held the nozzle o' a fire-engine hose 'n' +squirted water on 'em."</p> + +<p>"How would you have enjoyed being among them?" put in Nickerson, to whom +the old man with his grotesque raiment and speech was a source of +merriment.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't 'a' sot foot 'mong that crowd o' loony-tics fer a hundred +dollars," answered Jess. "I cac'late they'd 'a' turned to 'n' bit me, +same ez mad dogs."</p> + +<p>"They'd have played foot-ball with your hat," responded Jack, who knew +the ways of brokers, "and in two minutes you wouldn't have had a whole +garment on you. I've seen them tie a man's legs and drag him around the +room with a rope, then toss him in a blanket for a wind-up. They are a +tough lot, and a stranger who gets into their hands meets hard usage."</p> + +<p>"That's about the idee I had on 'em," said Jess; "they're wuss'n Injuns, +an' ain't satisfied with takin' a man's money, they want his hair, hide, +'n' toe nails. If ever one on 'em comes ashore on Rockhaven 'n' I'm +around, he'll think he's run into a hornet's nest. We'll use him wuss'n +we did Abe Winty. He was a shiftless cuss that got out into the island +somehow 'bout ten year ago, an' begun beggin' for a livin'. He 'lowed he +had asmer an' heart troubles an' a tech o' liver complaint, 'n' jest +couldn't do no liftin' or any sort o' hard work. He fooled us a spell, +till we began missin' things 'n' found they were gittin' into the hands +o' a low-down fellar who sold rum on the sly, 'n' then we held a sort o' +indignation caucus, 'n' Abe wa'n't invited. We had diskivered by this +time that Abe's heart 'n' liver was doin' business 'bout ez usual, 'n' +the only thing that ailed him was downright laziness. We sorter compared +idees at the meetin', an' the upshot on't was we concluded the island +wa'n't big 'nuff for him. We'd tried all manner o' talk to shame him, +but callin' names an' 'busin' him didn't hev no more 'fect than rain on +a duck's back. We'd tried coaxin' an' cussin' to git him to work, but +him 'n' work wus mortal enemies, 'n' when he couldn't beg 'nuff to eat +he'd steal it. Suthin' had to be did, 'n' we did it. Fust we ketched 'n' +shackled him 'n' locked him up in a fish-house fer two days, feedin' him +on bread 'n' water,—mostly water at that,—an' when he'd got good 'n' +hungry we sarved him a meal cooked with drug stuff, 'nuff in it to turn +the stomach o' a Digger Injun. He was that starved he et it middlin' +quick, an' then, to make the preceedin's more interestin' to Abe, the +man that took the vittles to him told him pizen had been put in 'em 'n' +he hadn't more'n an hour to live. Then we gathered round, peekin' in the +door 'n' winders ez if cac'latin' to enjie Abe's dyin' agonies. It +wa'n't long 'fore the drug stuff began workin', an' Abe, he got more +scared than old Bill Atlas was when we sot the sea sarpint up to meet +him. He hollered for mercy, an' when his vittles started to worry him he +began prayin' an' took on woful, an' we just lookin' at him sober-like, +ez if his end was clus to. The perceedin's lasted 'bout two hours, 'n' +by that time Abe wus so weak he couldn't hold up his head. Then we +straddled him on a rail 'n' carried him to the boat, 'n' Cap'n Roby sot +him ashore."</p> + +<p>"How would you like to serve Weston that way?" put in Winn when the +story was ended.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't mind," answered Jess, chuckling at the thought, "though I +cac'late we've come purty near gettin' square with him. I'd like to see +him humsoever, jist about now, 'n' tell him old Rip Van Winkle hez woke +up, 'n' if he wants any more quarries I'll 'commodate him if he'll come +to Rockhaven."</p> + +<p>Then when Page had made up the accounts of all three whose stock he had +sold, handing each a check for their dues, all shook hands and +separated.</p> + +<p>And so warm was Winn's heart toward the old man who had "sorter took to +him on sight" that he escorted him to the hotel and remained with him +until he left for Rockhaven the next morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI</h2> + +<h3>TWO DOGS AND A BONE</h3> + + +<p>When the market closed that afternoon there was a scene in Simmons's +office and an exchange of lurid language and mutual recrimination +between Weston and himself unfit for publication.</p> + +<p>Weston cursed Simmons for an arrant coward and a doddering old idiot, +and Simmons abused Weston for a stupid fool who believed his dupe, +Hardy, was blindly quarrying granite and selling stock to other dupes, +when, instead, he had kept posted, come to the city in the nick of time, +and tipped over their stock dish.</p> + +<p>"The next time you pose for a great financier," said Simmons, with +biting sarcasm, "and try to engineer a corner, you had better place half +your stock in the hands of your office boy and tell him to attend the +ball games each afternoon. Then advertise what your intentions are in +the papers. It would be on a par with what you have done. You may be +able to pray with a stupid old woman and hoodwink her, but as for doing +business with men, you have mistaken your calling. You can't even +deceive boys!"</p> + +<p>And J. Malcolm Weston, realizing how he had failed on Winn, who he now +knew was in the city, and had been in the exchange that day, hung his +head in shame.</p> + +<p>He even forgot to stroke his "stun'sls," as Jess called his side +whiskers.</p> + +<p>But there was one solace left him, and he proceeded to carry it out. In +fact, he had made preparation to do so already.</p> + +<p>"We will close up our business now, Mr. Simmons," he said in a dejected +tone, when the tirade of abuse had ceased, "and in future I will employ +another broker."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and you are d——d welcome to do it," asserted Simmons, whose +wrath had not cooled. "You made a holy show of me to-day and let that +upstart, Page, turn the tables on me, and I've had enough of you. You +had better go and hold a prayer service with Mrs. Converse. With +Rockhavens at nothing bid, she will be in a suitable mood for prayers. +You might ring the changes on 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away' +with her, but you won't bear any resemblance to the Lord in her +estimation. Take your business and your schemes and hide yourself +somewhere. I would suggest you go to Rockhaven and ask your 'old fossil +fiddler' to play the 'Rogues' March' for you."</p> + +<p>And, having thus relieved his mind, Simmons, turned to his desk, and +after a half-hour of careful computation handed Weston a statement and +check for one hundred and ten thousand dollars, which represented the +net results of the securities Weston had turned over to him, after +deducting the actual loss they had made on Rockhaven. For the money +received from the sale of some thirty thousand shares at one dollar +each, had more than been consumed in buying back stock at various prices +to affect the market, in the quarrying operations, in <i>Market News</i> +items, and various other outgoes.</p> + +<p>What Weston did receive after over a year of scheming was less than the +original capital Hill had put into the firm. Weston had previously +checked out and pocketed the firm's own bank balance, and now he went +the way he had for months planned to go, and that night left the city.</p> + +<p>And his wife, who had shrewdly insisted that their residence be deeded +to her, in case of business reverses, shed no tears.</p> + +<p>It was a fitting climax to the life of a J. Malcolm Weston.</p> + +<p>But there was another episode of equal interest, and that the outcome of +Weston's robbery of Hill. And when that has been told, no more shall +either of these despicable men taint this narrative.</p> + +<p>All that day while Rockhaven was first shooting skyward and then +downward, Hill sat in his office watching the ticker. He couldn't go on +to the floor of the exchange; he knew Weston was with Simmons; and so, +like a human hyena, he lurked in his own den, waiting for his share of +the plunder. And when the tape recorded forty for Rockhaven and then +down to nothing in less time than it can be told, Hill was the happiest +of men. He knew the plan was for Simmons to sell at forty, and supposed +that he had done so. And in his greedy joy he began figuring how much +his share of the street's robbery would be.</p> + +<p>No thought of the poor widow, whose child was even then at her work in +his outer office, came to him. He knew this confiding woman had, at his +suggestion, invested her all in Rockhaven, and that now it had been +swept away. It mattered not. Neither did he think of Mrs. Converse, more +especially Weston's dupe, and whose stock, now worthless, was locked in +their safe. No thought of young Winn Hardy, their faithful helper, and +his loss came. No thought of anybody who had lost by them and must +suffer entered his narrow and backward-sloping cranium. He only thought +of himself. And his deep-set eyes gleamed with the miser's joy, and his +shallow conceit swelled with pride.</p> + +<p>Now he was a great financier!</p> + +<p>Now he was a power "on 'change"!</p> + +<p>When the market closed and the now beggared stenographer and other +office help had gone home, he still waited. Weston would surely come +soon and acquaint him with the results of their great achievement.</p> + +<p>But Weston came not.</p> + +<p>And Hill still waited.</p> + +<p>And as one hour and then another was ticked off by the office clock, he +ceased computing his share of the coming gains, and an intuitive sense +that all was not right came to him. He was naturally suspicious, and +being a thief at heart himself, quick to suspect others.</p> + +<p>And now he suspected Weston!</p> + +<p>Little by little his distrust increased as Hill watched the office door +and listened to the clock tick. Trifling remarks that Weston had made, +half-concealed sneers he had let escape, returned to Hill as he watched +and waited.</p> + +<p>Certainly he should come and divide, as any honorable thief ought to.</p> + +<p>But he did not!</p> + +<p>Never before had Weston failed to return at the close of the exchange, +where he was usually closeted with Simmons. Why not now?</p> + +<p>And so the demon of suspicion grew.</p> + +<p>When another hour had passed and the daily workers in stores were +hurrying homeward, Hill could stand the suspense no longer, and taking +his hat almost ran to Simmons's office.</p> + +<p>As might be expected, it was closed.</p> + +<p>Then in a frenzy he hurried back to his own office and rang up Weston's +home on the telephone.</p> + +<p>Weston was not there.</p> + +<p>Then he tried Simmons's home, with the same result.</p> + +<p>Then he went home.</p> + +<p>From gloating over the prospective fortune he expected to share, he had +in a few hours become almost insane with a dread suspicion. His supper +was but half eaten; he wouldn't answer his patient wife's question; he +couldn't read, or think of but one thing, and that the horrible doubt +and suspicion consuming him.</p> + +<p>That night his sleep was filled with fiendish dreams, and he saw Weston +running away and leering back at him over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>When morning came, he hurried to his office an hour earlier than usual. +Only the office boy was there, sweeping out. Hill went to his desk, +where the morning mail was left. But one letter was there, and that from +Winn Hardy, dated in the city the night before and enclosing a check for +two hundred and thirty dollars, with the information that it belonged to +the firm and that he had severed his connection with them.</p> + +<p>True to his nature, even in despair, Hill put it in his pocket, +resolving to say nothing to Weston about it. Then, to kill time till +Weston came, he opened the morning paper. On the front page was the +staring headlines:—</p> + + +<h4>THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY<br /> +GONE TO SMASH<br /> +THE PRESIDENT, WESTON, SAID TO HAVE SKIPPED</h4> + +<p>And then cold beads of sweat gathered on the face of Carlos B. Hill! All +the horrible suspicion of the day before was now proven true! He waited +to read no more, but with a groan of despair rushed, hatless, out of +the office and ran to that of Simmons. That icicle of a man was there, +calmly reading his mail.</p> + +<p>"Where is Weston," almost screamed the half-insane Hill, "and what does +all this mean?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't the least idea where Mr. Weston is," replied Simmons, calmly. +"Neither do I care. I balanced our account with him yesterday at the +close of business, at his request, and beyond that have no interest."</p> + +<p>"But where is he? Tell me quick, for God's sake!" shouted Hill, now +trembling with excitement and fear. "I must know! Oh, what does this +mean!"</p> + +<p>"You had better go back to your own office and read the papers," +answered the imperturbable Simmons, in a tone of disgust. "And when you +go out again, put your hat on. As for Weston, I've done with him, and +good riddance. He made a mess of his scheme, an ass of me 'on 'change' +yesterday, and I hope I'll never see him again." And the always cool +Simmons turned to his mail. Nothing short of a panic on the street or an +earthquake ever disturbed him.</p> + +<p>"But where is all the money we made yesterday?" came from Hill, in +strident voice. "I want it, and I want it now!"</p> + +<p>And he did want it more than he wanted good name, fame, wife, home, +life, health, or God even!</p> + +<p>"We made no money out of Rockhaven," answered Simmons, too disgusted +even to be polite; "and I told you once, I have squared my account with +Weston and paid him all I owe him. If that is not enough, I'll sing it +to you."</p> + +<p>And Hill, too agonized to feel an insult even, turned away. Back to the +office he ran and read the long account of how Rockhaven had gone up +like a rocket and down like a stick. He also read how Simmons had, at +the critical moment, been worsted by Page, and even a description of +Jess Hutton, who was present to see the fiasco. For Page, not satisfied +with his triumph, had called up a reporter, and it is small wonder that +Simmons was thoroughly incensed. There was sarcastic reference to him in +the article: Weston was ridiculed, and even Hill did not escape, for +this sacrilegious scribe had suggested that he could cool his rage at +being baffled by fanning himself with his own ears. It was a malicious +thrust, for the one feature about himself that Hill was ashamed of was +his enormous ears.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this added agony, in walked a clerk from their bank to +inform him the account of Weston & Hill was overdrawn ten thousand +dollars, and to make it good inside an hour or legal proceedings would +follow.</p> + +<p>Then Hill, with a groan, staggered to their safe and opened the till +where securities were kept.</p> + +<p>It was empty!</p> + +<p>Then ruined, robbed, insulted, and in utter despair, he who in all his +long life of grasping greed never had had one kindly thought for others, +or of their needs, locked himself in his private office.</p> + +<p>And when, an hour later, an officer knocked upon the door, demanding +admittance in the name of the law, a pistol's report was the only +answer.</p> + +<p>And Carlos B. Hill, a cowardly sneak in life, died a coward's death.</p> + +<p>But the minister of his church uttered an eulogy over him, for so much +had he bought and amply paid for, and a small cortège followed him to +his last resting place.</p> + +<p>And among those few there was not a single sincere mourner.</p> + +<p>Not even his wife!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII</h2> + +<h3>THE AFTERMATH OF A SWINDLE</h3> + + +<p>Out of all the many confiding investors who were robbed by Weston & +Hill, only a few need be mentioned. Winn's aunt, Mrs. Converse, was the +most flagrant case of pure theft, for she was deceived through the +vilest of all methods, a religious one. Weston, a merciless wolf in +sheep's clothing, a pew-holder in her church and plausible hypocrite, +who talked the golden rule, but belonged to Satan's host, easily duped +her by his professions, and worse than that, gave her no possible chance +of escape. The widow whose only aid in the battle for existence was the +scanty earnings of her child in the office of those two sharpers, was +perhaps the most pitiful one, for she lost every dollar that stood +between her and the poorhouse. There were others entitled to less +consideration,—clerks in stores who, bitten by the gambling instinct, +hazarded one or two months' wages and lost them; cashiers in two or +three banks, tempted as usual, to use money not their own to speculate +with; and men about town on the watch for a good chance to "take a +flyer." Most of these latter lost their money in the bucket shops, and +by almost as culpable methods as Weston & Hill, for those who were +buyers of Rockhaven on a margin when it went up to forty and down to +nothing in a few hours were not present in these robbers' dens to take +their profits, and when the fiasco was over, were merely told its sudden +fall had wiped them out. Those of more experience in the way of +speculation, and who had "gone short of it," as the phrase goes, were of +course sold out or closed out in Rockhaven's wild leap upward, and like +most who trust their money in a bucket-shop keeper's hands, knew nothing +about it until informed that they had lost all they invested.</p> + +<p>And here and now it seems a duty to interpose a word of warning against +bucket shops.</p> + +<p>We enact and try to enforce laws against all forms of gambling; we claim +the right to invade the privacy of homes, even, where card playing for +money is an occasional evening's pastime, and the law says that a +gambling debt is no debt at all. We even assist the loser in gambling by +allowing him to sue and recover his loss, when, as a matter of morals, +he is just as guilty as the one who wins; and yet we allow these +stock-gambling offices to open on all sides.</p> + +<p>There is not a city of ordinary size where half a dozen do not flourish, +and hardly a country village that has not one or more, ready to tempt +incipient speculators to invest in the gambler's chance. They all do +business on the same basis, viz., bet against the fool who buys or sells +on a margin. They do not actually buy or sell a share of stock; their +managers are merely like the dealers in a faro bank, paid to run the +game. Their sole stock in trade is a leased wire over which to receive +quotations, a handsomely fitted office bearing the legend, "Bankers and +Brokers" (it should be, Bankers and Breakers), a gilt-lettered fiction +of capital invested—and unlimited nerve!</p> + +<p>They know full well that the lambs who stray into their den, and by good +luck secure a small profit, will at once grow vain of their speculative +skill and invest again. Even if these dupes win twice or thrice, it only +results in a greater exultation, and the end is the same—they lose.</p> + +<p>It is as inevitable as the tides or the sun to the majority, and while +now and then one by sheer luck may win at this great gambling game, nine +out of ten will lose, and the keeper of the shop rides in an automobile +while they walk!</p> + +<p>If these parlors of temptation were open only to men who realized the +chances they were taking and could afford to lose, it would be a +different matter; but all who wish to gamble may enter, and the cashier +of your bank, paid a pittance that is but a premium on dishonesty, is +liable to be the first one. And when he, lured on and on by that elusive +hope that next time his guess may be right, has falsified books and made +ducks and drakes of your money, you wake up some fine morning to read +the old, old story, and learn that he has journeyed abroad.</p> + +<p>And the bucket-shop keeper across the way smiles softly to himself and +says nothing.</p> + +<p>And Puck, looking down upon us human ants, also smiles and says, "What +fools these mortals be."</p> + +<p>The Great Rockhaven Granite Company, only one out of a thousand others +of similar end and aim, was but a mere ripple on the sea of speculation. +It was active while it lasted, it brought sorrow and tears to many, a +small fortune to a few, transferring to them the money of others, and +left dishonor and disgrace in its wake. On "the street" it was a nine +days' wonder how so colossal a scheme could be foisted upon them and +carried so near a successful culmination, and then, as usual, it was +forgotten. Others as transparent took its place, and so the mad wave of +speculation rolled on in the city.</p> + +<p>But on Rockhaven there was rejoicing.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII</h2> + +<h3>A TOUCH OF HEROISM</h3> + + +<p>When Winn bade good-by to Jess Hutton he realized for the first time how +closely his life had become linked to Rockhaven. The old man, burdened +with the responsibility of twenty thousand dollars safely tucked under +his pillow the night before, had not closed his eyes in sleep. He seemed +as much cast down as Winn. In truth, he was more so, for the hand of +time had swept him beyond the influence of dollars, and human sympathy +and his own feelings were of more account.</p> + +<p>"We, all on us, owe ye more'n we kin ever pay back," he said when the +moment of parting came, "an' if ye realize how ye stand with us on the +island 'n' how glad we'll all be to hev ye back with us, ye won't be +long in comin'. Ye had the chance to rob us, an' ye didn't. Instid ye +did the best ye could to save our money 'thout thinkin' much about yer +own, an' that, 'long o' what ye did for the men ez needed work 'n' +wages, will give ye a warm welcome back. If we could know when ye was +comin' (ez I hope ye will soon), thar ain't a man, woman, or child in +Rockhaven ez wouldn't be on the dock to meet ye, 'n' the parson'd want +'em all to make for the church at onct and jine in singin' hymns."</p> + +<p>"I am glad you will all think so kindly of me," answered Winn, his heart +rising to his throat at this unexpected tribute, "and I hope soon to be +with you. What I shall do now, I do not know. I have a good sum of money +now that I can call my own, thanks to luck and Mr. Page, but as for +future business or occupation, have no plans."</p> + +<p>"Ye might come to Rockhaven an' start the quarry on yer own hook," +responded Jess. "There's 'nuff on us ez'll be more'n glad to put money +in, an' ye needn't be feared they won't hev confidence in ye. The hull +island comes purty near bein' yourn now, fer the askin'."</p> + +<p>And then the "all aboard," that ends so many partings, came.</p> + +<p>"Don't forgit us, 'n' what I've told ye," said Jess, with a slight +tremble in his voice, as he once more shook Winn's hand, while his eyes +grew moist; "don't forgit—any on us."</p> + +<p>Then the train bore him away.</p> + +<p>And Winn, conscious now that a friend as good and true as his own +father had once been, had opened his heart to him, turned away, his own +eyes also misty. And for days, weeks, and months after, the last words +of Jess Hutton were tender in his memory.</p> + +<p>But the consciousness that he had now twenty thousand dollars safely on +deposit, soon lifted him into a cheerful mood again, and when he reached +his aunt's home, his spirits were at top notch.</p> + +<p>The most surprised and elated person in the city was that same worthy +and excellent aunt. Not a hint, even, had she received of Winn's arrival +in the city, and the great fiasco "on 'change" the day before was also +unknown to her. When Winn, using his own latch-key, walked into the +sitting room, she sat by her little table reading the latest <i>Zion's +Herald</i>, while near by her pet lap-dog slumbered in a rocking chair.</p> + +<p>"Why, Winn," she exclaimed, springing to her feet and kissing him +fondly, "what has brought you to the city, and why didn't you tell me +you were coming? Or did you want to surprise the old lady?"</p> + +<p>And Winn, a little proud of his financial success, answered: "I came +here two days ago to surprise Weston & Hill, and succeeded. So much so +that Weston has left for parts unknown, and I am twenty thousand +dollars richer for the surprise. I had to keep in hiding two days to do +it, however."</p> + +<p>And then a greater surprise came to Winn.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Weston run away," gasped his aunt, growing pale and oblivious to +Winn's twenty-thousand-dollar assertion. "What do you mean, Winn?"</p> + +<p>"I mean," he answered coolly, "just what I say. Weston has robbed his +partner and left the town! The Rockhaven Granite Company gone to smash! +Stock not worth a copper, and there you are! But I'm all right, auntie," +he added cheerfully, "you can't lose me."</p> + +<p>And then a scene came.</p> + +<p>For a moment Winn's aunt looked at him, her eyes dilated, mouth open.</p> + +<p>"The—company—gone—to—smash!" she exclaimed slowly, as the awful news +forced its way into her brain. Then she seemed to reel a moment, and the +next sank to her knees beside a chair, her face in the cushion.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my God," she moaned, "I am ruined, ruined, ruined!"</p> + +<p>And Winn, half guessing the cause of his aunt's despair, was beside her +in an instant.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, auntie?" he begged. "What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"All my money," she sobbed, "all my money has gone! Twenty thousand, all +I had, gone, gone, gone!" And she moaned again.</p> + +<p>Winn, rising, glanced at the table where only magazines and religious +papers lay, and at his aunt, still sobbing at his feet, and then a light +came to him. And it must be recorded, a curse as hearty as it was +profane rose to his lips, and the name of J. Malcolm Weston was linked +with it.</p> + +<p>For Winn had known how his aunt had trusted and believed in Weston, and +now the outcome of it was plain.</p> + +<p>A moment more only did he look at the woe-begone woman at his feet, and +then he turned and left the room, and went to his own upstairs.</p> + +<p>Many of us in this world do selfish things, a few of us do mean ones; +but not to one in a thousand does the chance come to do a heroic one, +and when it comes, not one in ten is equal to it. We think, we excuse, +we evade, we haggle with our conscience and selfish impulses, and in the +end self wins the day.</p> + +<p>But Winn, fresh from the island, where simple good will to all men ruled +supreme, and the heart-offering of Jess Hutton still warming his own, +was in the spirit for heroism. As he sat down to think in his own room, +all the years that this good aunt had been a mother to him came back. +She was simple, she was over-pious, she believed all to be like +herself,—good, kind, and true. And to Winn she had been all that a +motherly woman could be.</p> + +<p>Only for a moment did he hesitate, and then he wrote a check for the +small fortune he owned for a day, and descending the stairs, handed it +to his aunt.</p> + +<p>"Come, auntie," he said cheerfully, "don't shed any more tears over that +accursed Weston. You have been a good mother to me for many years, and +here is your money back."</p> + +<p>Then he swallowed a lump in his own throat and turned away.</p> + +<p>Over the scene that followed a veil shall be drawn.</p> + +<p>That evening at the tea-table, Winn, almost beyond praise now in his +aunt's estimation, told the story of his summer on Rockhaven and what +manner of people he found there, their ways of living, and all about +them, even to their dress. The little church and its poorly paid +minister, whose simple and touching prayers had reached Winn's heart as +none had before, were also mentioned; even the two bells answering one +another across the island at eventide, and the new influence upon his +life and thoughts they had wrought, were spoken of. Quaint old Jess with +his fiddle came in for a share, and the ancient tide mill and its +history as well. The old tower, the bold, frowning cliffs, and the gorge +with the Devil's Oven opening into it were described. All the island, in +fact, and all it contained, except—Mona. And when, late that evening, +Winn's aunt kissed him good night and retired to her room, she knelt +down and thanked God, who had opened her heart to care for this son of +her dead sister.</p> + +<p>In a different mood when he reached his room, and conscious that his +life's fortunes had yet to be wrought, Winn sat down and wrote to Mona. +And so strange a love letter was it, and so misunderstood by her, that +it must be given here.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Dear little Sweetheart," he wrote, "my life and hopes seem to +have come to a full stop and I do not know what to say to you. +My summer's work, and all my ambitions, as I feared, have ended +in one grand crash. Out of this I saved your uncle and those on +the island who bought stock. I also saved myself, or, as it +turned out, my aunt's fortune, for unbeknown to me she had been +led to invest in Rockhaven stock and lost all. As she has given +me all that I have known of home since boyhood, I should have +been more than ungrateful had I not taken care of her.</p> + +<p>"What my future plans are, I cannot say. The world is wide, and +some place in it for me will be found. Where it is, or what +doing, I know not.</p> + +<p>"It is but a few days since I left the island, hoping soon to +return, and now it seems months. I recall all the charming +hours we have passed together with keen interest, and yet they +seem to-night like an old, old memory, returning even as the +scenes of my boyhood return when I am despondent."</p></blockquote> + +<p>More than this he wrote, but it need not be quoted, being merely tender +phrases and without point.</p> + +<p>Mona, trying to read between the lines, as well she might, imagined it +to be a farewell message and a good-by to herself.</p> + +<p>Reading thus, and a false reading at that, she betook herself to the old +tower, and there, all alone with her heartache, while the stars looked +down in pity and the ocean moaned close by, she cast herself upon the +cold stones and cried her heart agony away.</p> + +<p>And the letter was never answered.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV</h2> + +<h3>A WOMAN'S WILES</h3> + + +<p>The bubble of Rockhaven, the flight of Weston, the suicide of Hill +furnished a few items for the city press, a little gossip among +interested ones for a week, then passed into history, to be forgotten by +most people. Page, lionized for a day by other brokers whose scalps he +had saved, resumed his operations as usual with an increased clientele; +while Simmons, the defeated one in this battle of values, was seldom +seen on the floor of the exchange. Jack Nickerson returned to his wonted +existence, speculating a little, gambling in the club when congenial +spirits gathered, and, as usual, sneering at the weaknesses of all human +kind; while Winn, growing more despondent day by day at the turn in the +tide of affairs, hardly knew what to do with himself. Occasionally he +walked past the door of Weston & Hill's office, now closed by the hand +of law, and glancing at the legal paper pasted inside it, muttered a +curse and went his way. Sometimes he visited the exchange to watch the +unceasing tossing of stock dice for an hour, to kill time; then to +Page's office to chat with him, and then to the club, feeling himself +less and less in touch with this grind of city life as the days went by.</p> + +<p>He lived, too, in daily expectation of a letter from Mona, and receiving +none, that added to his gloom. Just why, he could not understand; and +then a species of pride crept into his feelings, and he imagined she +might have been cautioned by her mother not to answer him. He began to +feel a little hurt at the thought that this timid girl might feel afraid +of him; and although swayed by emotions and seemingly his own when they +parted, he feared that on reflection she had decided it best to end the +matter thus.</p> + +<p>To one who is despondent, all things seem awry, and Winn was now so low +down in spirits that he was ready to believe himself of no account to +any one—even this simple child of nature whose soul was attuned to her +violin. That Jess was his cordial friend he felt sure; but a timid girl, +utterly lacking in worldly wisdom and as wayward in feelings as the +varying sounds of the waves beating against her island home, was another +matter.</p> + +<p>Winn's thoughts now were full of bitterness.</p> + +<p>One Sunday, coming out of church ahead of his aunt who had paused to +chat with some one, he encountered in the vestibule, dressed in +faultless fall costume, a picture of beauty and good taste,—Ethel +Sherman!</p> + +<p>"Why, Winn," she said, advancing and extending a gloved hand, "I am very +glad to see you back again. I've heard all about you and the fame you +have achieved and how good you have been to your aunt. I must insist +that you call this evening and tell me all about it. I've a bone to pick +with you also, you naughty boy, for not answering my letter."</p> + +<p>And Winn, moved as any man would be by such captivating words uttered by +a young goddess in fashionable raiment, forgot all his old-time +resentment for a moment, and answered as any well-bred and susceptible +young man would.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to see you, Ethel," he said cordially, "and it's nice of +you to say such pleasant things. If you haven't any better amusement for +this evening, I will call."</p> + +<p>And call he did, to find this imperious beauty arrayed in an exquisite +evening gown, in his honor, fairly exhaling sweet smiles and graceful +words. And with them came back, also, all the old-time charm of her +siren voice, her keen wit, her polished sarcasms, her devil-may-care +<i>bon camaraderie</i>.</p> + +<p>For two years Ethel Sherman had been a daily thorn in Winn's side. He +had met her occasionally, when he simply bowed and exchanged the +civilities of polite society, but nothing more. Occasionally his aunt, a +born match-maker, had let fall a word of praise for Ethel, the intent of +which was palpable to Winn, but in spite of which he had determined to +put her out of his thoughts. When her letter reached him on the island, +he mentally contrasted her with Mona and to the former's detriment, more +than ever thinking of her as the type of a fashionable young woman +sneered at by Nickerson. His illusions regarding her had all vanished +and he saw her as she was,—a beautiful, heartless, ambitious Circe, +conscious of her power, and enjoying it.</p> + +<p>And this evening, seated in her daintily furnished parlor, and facing +the most exquisite adornment it contained, he regarded her as he did the +marble copy of the Greek Slave, perched on a pedestal in one corner.</p> + +<p>But Ethel Sherman was not the girl to be long considered marble, whether +she was or not; and was just now piqued by Winn's coolly polite +indifference.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear friend," she said eagerly, when the first commonplaces +had been exchanged, "tell me all about this unheard-of island where you +have been buried all summer, and this queer old fellow you brought up +in the city, and the barefooted fisher maids you met there, and which +one caught your fancy. I've just been dying to hear."</p> + +<p>"You seem to want an entire chapter of a novel in one breath," answered +Winn, smiling. "How did you find out I brought any one to the city?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am still able to read the papers," she laughed, "and Jack called +the other evening. It's all over the city, as well as your firm's +collapse and the part you played in it. Oh, you have become famous in a +day, as it were, and people who have never set eyes on you are talking +about you."</p> + +<p>Winn smiled, for what man could resist such subtile flattery.</p> + +<p>"I wasn't aware that I was a mark for gossip," he said, "though Weston & +Hill must have been, and deservedly. I'm not sorry for Hill, however, +for I despised him, but I rather liked Weston, even after I discovered +he was a rascal, he was such a jolly, good-natured one."</p> + +<p>"So Jack says," answered Ethel, "and happily indifferent as to whom he +swindled. It was first come, first served, with him."</p> + +<p>"He served Hill the worst dose," said Winn, "and it looks as if Hill +were the ultimate object of his plot, and the rest of us only pawns in +his game."</p> + +<p>"You at least called 'checkmate' to him," answered Ethel, smiling +admiration, "but tell me about the island. That is of more interest to +me. The city end of this affair is now ancient history."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the island is a poem," replied Winn, earnestly, "a spot to forget +the world on and learn a new life. Its people are poor, but honest, +kind, and truthful; their houses turkey coops, their customs ancient, +their religion sincere, their livelihood gained by fishing, and the +island a wild spruce-clad ledge of granite with bold sea-washed cliffs +and an interior harbor that is a dream of peace, seldom rippled. There +is an ancient beacon built by the Norsemen on a hill nine centuries ago, +a ravine surpassingly grand with a cave called the Devil's Oven, and an +old tide-mill at the head of their harbor, where a love-lorn girl once +hanged herself."</p> + +<p>"A charming spot, truly," said Ethel, "and if I had known all this last +July, and there had been a comfortable hotel there, we should have +summered on this delightful island instead of on the mountains."</p> + +<p>"It would have amused you a week," replied Winn, smiling, "but not +longer. There were no golf links or young dudes to flirt with there."</p> + +<p>Ethel colored slightly.</p> + +<p>"That is the worst of having friends," she said, "they are bound to +gossip about one. I don't mind," she added gayly; "I am a flirt and +admit it cheerfully, but what else are men good for?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, I admit," answered Winn, sarcastically, "especially if they +have money or prospects of it; and if not, they are good to practise +on."</p> + +<p>"Now, Winn, my dear fellow, don't emulate Jack Nickerson," she responded +suavely, "the rôle doesn't become you. You can be an adorable bear, but +not a barking puppy."</p> + +<p>"Jack's not a puppy," asserted Winn.</p> + +<p>"I never said he was," answered Ethel. "He can be worse than that; he +can be a gossipy old maid, always sneering, and that is more abominable +than a puppy any day. But tell me about the people on the island, and +which fisher maid you fell in love with."</p> + +<p>"Why should you imagine I looked twice at any island maid?" answered +Winn.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you were bound to," asserted Ethel, laughing. "You wouldn't be the +delightful man you are unless you did, so tell me all about her. Did she +wear her flaxen hair in a braid and ask from beneath a sunbonnet, 'What +are the wild waves saying?' while she stood barefoot beside you on the +beach?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, and chewed spruce gum at the same time," he responded, also +laughing.</p> + +<p>"Even when you kissed her?" queried Ethel. "It must have lent a +delightfully aromatic flavor."</p> + +<p>Winn made no answer to this pointed sally. Instead he stroked his +moustache musingly, while his thoughts flew back to Rockhaven and Mona.</p> + +<p>Ethel eyed him keenly.</p> + +<p>"Quit mooning," she said at last, "and come back to Erin. I do not +expect you to admit you kissed this fair fisher maid. It wouldn't be +gallant. But you can at least describe her. Is she dark or fair?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't the least idea," he said, "she was so sweet and charming; her +eyes might have been sea-green for all I can tell."</p> + +<p>"You evade fairly well," rejoined his tormentor, "but not over well. You +still need practice. Now tell me about this old fellow Jack described as +a 'barnacled curiosity.'"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jess Hutton," replied Winn, relieved; "he is a curiosity, and of +the salt of the earth. If there was any one I fell in love with on the +island, it was he."</p> + +<p>"That was fairly well done," laughed Ethel; "you are improving and in +time may hope to deceive even me."</p> + +<p>"Never," responded Winn, sarcastically; "you are too well skilled in the +fine art of dissembling. You almost persuaded me to-day that you were +really glad to see me, instead of anxious to find out all about +Rockhaven and its fisher maids."</p> + +<p>"That is unkind," replied Ethel, in a hurt tone, "and you know it. +Didn't I write you a nice letter, and have I shown the least resentment +at your failure to answer it? Come now, be nice and like your old dear +self, you big bear. I don't care if you did fall in love with an island +girl. You certainly would have been stupid not to if there was one worth +it, and I respect you the more for protecting her. Your friend Nickerson +wouldn't."</p> + +<p>And Winn, mollified by this occult flattery, came near admitting—Mona +and all the summer's illusion—for that was Winn Hardy's way. Only one +thing saved her name from passing his lips,—the fact that no answer had +come to his letter. He began to feel that none was likely to, and that +the summer's idyl was destined to be but a memory like to the sound of +church bells in his boyhood days.</p> + +<p>Then, while his thoughts went back to the island and all it contained, +he told the story of his sojourn there, of Jess and his fiddle, of the +little church and its parson, the quarry and his men, of Mrs. Moore and +Captain Roby and the fishermen who each day sailed away to return at +night.</p> + +<p>Only Mona was omitted.</p> + +<p>And Ethel, listening, became entranced at his recital.</p> + +<p>"Your stay there has done you good," she said, when it was ended, "and +made a broader man of you. You are not the callow boy you were, and the +heroism you have shown toward your poor aunt proves it. When she told +me, the tears almost came to my eyes; and while I bow to the noble +impulse you displayed, it was foolish after all. It would have been +wiser to have kept the money in your own hands and taken care of her. +She may be led again to make ducks and drakes of her money by another +Weston. The world is full of them."</p> + +<p>"It didn't occur to me then," answered Winn. "I did it on a sudden +impulse, and now I think you are right."</p> + +<p>And be it said parenthetically that this worldly yet sincere assertion +of Ethel Sherman elevated her greatly in Winn's estimation.</p> + +<p>"Come, Ethel," he said after a pause, "I want to forget all this +business; now don't say any more about it. Most likely I acted +foolishly—it isn't the first time, and may not be the last. If you want +to cheer me up, play and sing for me. I've not heard a piano since I +left the city."</p> + +<p>Ethel, glad of the chance so to entertain him, complied. Strange to say +the song she selected and rendered, as she well could, with exquisite +feeling, was "Robin Adair." Then followed another of the same +nationality.</p> + +<p>"I've taken to the old Scotch songs lately," she said, when she turned +from the piano, "and they are quite a fad with me now. They have so much +more heart and soul in them than modern compositions."</p> + +<p>"Give me 'Annie Laurie' now," suggested Winn, a shade on his face. And +listening well while the graceful, ring-glittering fingers of Ethel +Sherman leaped lightly over the ivory keys, her sweet voice gave new +power to the immortal ballad of olden time, while he thought only of one +summer day in the cave at Rockhaven and—Mona.</p> + +<p>When he was taking his leave, and Ethel, unconscious of the mood she had +evoked, stood beside him in the dimly lighted hall, she held out her +hand. Her red, ripe lips were upraised, as if in temptation, and her +eyes were tender with the spirit of her songs.</p> + +<p>"I hope you have had a pleasant evening, Winn," she said tenderly, "and +will call again soon. I'll promise not to mention the fisher maid any +more if you will."</p> + +<p>And Winn, glancing into the bright eyes that had once lured him to a +heartache, held her hand a moment and then bade her good night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV</h2> + +<h3>THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE</h3> + + +<p>For weeks Winn lived an aimless life without occupation, which to him +meant misery. He walked the streets to be jostled by people in a hurry, +and wished that he also was. He looked into shop windows where dummies +stood clad in beautiful garments, and wondered how Mona would look if +robed in such. He met people hurrying home from their work at night and +almost envied them. In his club he felt so ill at ease that games, +conversation, and even the raillery of Jack Nickerson bored him. He had +a pleasant home, where his aunt always thought of his comfort; he +escorted her to church with regularity; read the daily papers; called on +Ethel occasionally, to find her always the same sweet temptation. She +neither allured nor repelled, but was always the same piquant and yet +sympathetic friend, well poised and sensible, who judged all men and +spoke of them as a mixture of nobility and selfish conceit in unequal +parts, with the latter predominating. To Winn she sometimes talked as +though he were still a big boy who needed guidance, and then again as if +he were more than mortal and out of place in a bad world.</p> + +<p>"You are discontented," she said to him one evening, "and out of your +sphere among the city men. You take right and wrong too seriously and +are like an eagle caged with jackdaws. City men are such in the main, +thinking more about the cut of their coats, the fit of their linen, and +color of their ties than of aught else. You are as unlike them as when +you came here a big boy with countryisms clinging to you and the scent +of new mown hay perfuming your impulses; you were always out of place +here, and the three months on that island has made you more so."</p> + +<p>It was a truthful and yet somewhat flattering portrayal of Winn as he +really did seem to her, but it only added to his discontent.</p> + +<p>"What you say may be true enough," he answered, "but what shall I do? I +can't go into an office again and be content, the taste of being my own +master on the island has spoiled me for that. I would go into some +business if only I had the capital, but I haven't; and I wouldn't ask my +aunt to loan me any, even under the existing circumstances."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could advise you," she replied in the sympathetic tone so +easily at her command. "I certainly would if I could. But whatever you +do, don't go into the stock gambling. I respect you now, and I might not +then."</p> + +<p>The time came when she wished that she had refrained from that +expression.</p> + +<p>But a different trend of advice came to Winn later from Jack Nickerson.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you open a bucket shop, my boy," said that cynic, "and make +some money? I'll back you for a few thousand to start, since you were +foolish enough to part with all Page made for you out of the Rockhaven +flurry, and it's a dead sure thing. Then again you have won quite a +little notoriety out of this Weston & Hill fiasco, and men on the street +say you have a cool, level head. I tell you, open up one of those joints +and let these smart Alecs who want to get rich quick come in and lose +their money. If you keep moping around another month you will go daft, +or fall in love with Ethel Sherman over again, which means the same. I +hear you are a frequent caller there."</p> + +<p>"I've got to spend my time somewhere," answered Winn, rather doggedly, +"and Ethel's good company."</p> + +<p>Jack eyed him curiously.</p> + +<p>"How the moth will flutter around the candle," he said.</p> + +<p>"I'm in no danger there," asserted Winn, "so don't worry. Once bit, +twice shy; and as for the bucket shop, I'll have none of it. I'd as soon +open a faro bank."</p> + +<p>"And why not?" queried Jack. "All the world loves to gamble, and most of +them do in one way or another. Even the good people who pray can't +resist grab bags and fish ponds, and until a few ultra prudes guessed it +was gambling, they were all the rage at church fairs. Even now, in +society of the best, bridge whist and whist for prizes, afternoon and +evening, flourishes on all sides. Oh, it's gamble, my boy, go where you +will; and you might as well take a hand in it and make money."</p> + +<p>"But a bucket shop is disreputable," replied Winn, "or has that +reputation, and on par with gambling dens in fact, though protected by +law. It is worse than those in one way, for men who go in feel forced to +put up margins to save themselves, and in the end go broke. Look at the +embezzlements that crop out almost daily, and nine out of ten traceable +to a bucket shop. The law ought to force them to put up a sign, 'All ye +who enter here will lose.'"</p> + +<p>"You have matured rapidly since you came from the island, my boy," +laughed Nickerson, "and now you are fit to do business. Put your new +scruples in your pocket and join the crowd. Only those who make money +are considered anybody. And how they make it matters little. Make it you +must, or walk in this world; and those who walk, get kicked."</p> + +<p>And Winn, conscious that a bitter truth lurked in his friend's words, +went his way more disconsolate than ever.</p> + +<p>But the memory of Rockhaven was still strong in him, and the eyes of +Mona and the heart-burst that marked their parting an ever present +memory.</p> + +<p>And no answer had yet come to his letter.</p> + +<p>One evening a little later, when a November storm, half rain, half +sleet, made the street miserable, Winn was pushing his way homeward when +he saw a girl, poorly clad, a thin summer wrap her only extra garment, +looking wistfully into a store window where tropical fruits tempted the +passers. He recognized her at once as the stenographer who had served +Weston & Hill.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mamie," he said, halting, "how are you and what are you doing here +in the storm?"</p> + +<p>"I was just wishing I could afford a basket of grapes for mother," she +answered, smiling at the sight of a friendly face, "but I can't. I've +been out of work now since the firm failed, you see."</p> + +<p>"I've wondered what became of you," said Winn, his sympathy aroused at +once, "and how you were getting on. Where are you working now?"</p> + +<p>"Nowhere," she answered. "I've been looking for a place for two months +and can't find one. Mother gave the firm all her money to invest, and +it's gone, and she is very ill. I am completely discouraged."</p> + +<p>Then once more a righteous curse aimed at Weston almost escaped Winn's +lips.</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry for you, Mamie," he said, "and I wish I could help +you."</p> + +<p>"If you could only find me a place," she replied eagerly, catching at +the straw of hope, "I should be so grateful. We are very poor now."</p> + +<p>"I'll do what I can for you," he said kindly, "and maybe I can help you. +I, too, was left stranded by that thief Weston;" and without another +word he stepped inside the store and, buying a good supply of fruit, +joined the girl outside.</p> + +<p>"I am going home with you, Mamie," he said cheerfully, "and take your +mother some grapes. I've an idea of writing up a history of the Weston & +Hill swindle, and I want her story."</p> + +<p>It was the first time he had thought of it, but it served as a ready +excuse. Then with one hand and arm loaded with bundles, and linking the +other around the shivering girl's as if she were a child, the two +started toward her home.</p> + +<p>"We have had to move," said the girl, as she directed their way toward +the poorer quarters of the city, "and I am ashamed to take you to my +home. We have only two rooms now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mustn't mind me," answered Winn, briskly. "I am a +fellow-sufferer with you now, you know."</p> + +<p>When her home was reached in a narrow side street and up three flights +of stairs at that, poverty and a woman coughing her life away beside the +kitchen stove told the tale. Winn noticed that the supper awaiting the +girl was of bread, butter, and tea only.</p> + +<p>"It was very kind of you to come, Mr. Hardy," said the mother, in an +almost tearful voice, when he was introduced; "and if you can find a +place for Mamie, it will help us very much."</p> + +<p>And then she told her story.</p> + +<p>It need not be repeated—its counterpart may be found by the score in +any city where legalized thieving like Weston's scheme ever dupes the +credulous, and is as common as the annals of simple drunks. To Winn it +was new, for he had no idea his former employer could be so vile as to +induce a poor widow to invest her all to meet inevitable loss.</p> + +<p>And be it said here, that if the world at large could realize how many +sharks are ready to prey upon them with the tempting bait of countless +schemes, promising sure and rich returns, big interest for their money, +guarantees of all kinds (on paper), and flanked by long lists of names, +they would look at "farm-mortgage bonds," "gold-mining stocks," "oil +stocks," "cumulative gold-bearing bonds," and the whole list of traps +set for the unwary, as so many financial perils.</p> + +<p>And be it said also, that if the securities held as collateral by half +the banks could be scrutinized, and the foundations they rested upon +understood by all the confiding depositors in these banks, a panic would +ensue that would sweep this land of credulity like a typhoon.</p> + +<p>Winn Hardy, who by sheer good luck had saved his aunt's fortune, +listening to this poor widow's tearful recital of her woes, gnashed his +teeth at the departed J. Malcolm Weston and vowed that he would show him +up in the press.</p> + +<p>When he bade good-by to the girl and her mother, promising to look out +for a place for the former, he stopped on his way home at a market and +paid for an ample supply of necessaries to be sent them on the morrow. +More than that, he went to Page and, telling the tale, insisted that he +give the girl a chance to earn a livelihood.</p> + +<p>And to no one, not even his aunt, did he tell what he had done.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI</h2> + +<h3>GOING, GOING, GONE!</h3> + + +<p>Winn Hardy, agentle child when the hand of want was stretched out to +him, but a lion in wrath at all iniquity and injustice, was not long in +carrying out his thought to write the history of the Rockhaven Granite +Company, and for the sole purpose of a warning.</p> + +<p>To do so, came as an excuse to protect the pride of the poor girl who +had been his co-worker; and when it was done, the editor to whom he took +it gladly used it and, more than that, praised its writer editorially.</p> + +<p>Winn, as was his nature, wrote with candor, sparing not even himself or +the way he was duped, and it is needless to say that his article was +widely read. Winn looked for no compensation, but the editor, keen to +discover talent, at once offered him a position as city news reporter on +the paper. And so his reward came. It was not over ample, so far as +salary goes, but it was at least an occupation—what he just now +needed.</p> + +<p>One morning, when passing the closed office of Weston & Hill, he saw on +the door a notice that, at two o'clock that afternoon, all the office +fixtures and other assets of this bankrupt firm would be sold at public +auction.</p> + +<p>As Winn stood there that wintry morning, with the hurrying stream of +people jostling him as they passed, while he read this business epitaph +posted upon the massive doors, what a grim travesty it seemed!</p> + +<p>He looked at the two nickel plates flanking them, once kept bright, but +now tarnished, upon which the firm's name in bold black letters still +stared at him, at the drawn curtains where "Investment Securities" in +gold still uttered their lie; and gazing at these outward signs of +deception and fraud, all the varying changes in his own hopes, plans, +and opinions for a six months passed in review.</p> + +<p>And in fancy he leaped back to Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>He peeped into the store where quaint Jess Hutton fiddled in lieu of +company; he was one of the little gathering each Sunday at church there; +he saw the quarry with the men at work, the tiny dooryard with Mona +watering her flowers, the grand old gorge where the sea waves leaped in, +and the cave once carpeted with ferns in his honor, and (most touching +of all) the moment he had parted from a timid girl, while the moon, +rising out of a boundless ocean, smiled at them.</p> + +<p>Now, it was a memory of the past, and he, sore at heart, with only a few +hundred dollars in the bank, was hunting for news items at so much a +line, and the "so much" a mere pittance.</p> + +<p>Truly, the whirligig of time had made a toy of him!</p> + +<p>For full five minutes he stood, with sinking spirits, and then passed +on.</p> + +<p>"I'll be at this auction," he thought, "and maybe bid in my old office +chair for a keepsake. Besides, it will make an item."</p> + +<p>He was there on time and found that a considerable crowd had gathered.</p> + +<p>Most of them were brokers or their clerks who had been in business touch +with this defunct firm, and now came to witness its obsequies. Nearly +all had been losers in Rockhaven but, as stock gamblers are wont to do, +took it good-naturedly and joked one another about being "easy marks" +and "good things," and looked at this auction as an excellent object +lesson.</p> + +<p>The auctioneer, quick to catch the spirit of his audience, saw his +opening, and with ready wit made the most of it. The office +fittings—chairs, desks, tables, etc.—were put up first, and Winn +bought his old chair for fifty cents. Then came the pictures; and a +framed photograph of Weston, holding the reins over a fine pair of +horses, brought a quarter; another of Simmons's steam yacht, a dollar; +and then a crayon portrait of Weston, in massive gilt frame, was handed +to the auctioneer.</p> + +<p>"Here we have," he said, "a costly painting of J. Malcolm Weston +himself, and how much am I offered? It is, as you observe, an excellent +picture of this Napoleon of finance, and certainly cost a hundred +dollars. How much for it?"</p> + +<p>An offer of thirty cents was heard.</p> + +<p>"Thirty cents, did I hear?" he continued, in a disgusted tone, "thirty +cents for this magnificent portrait! You can't mean it! Thirty cents for +a picture of one who cost some of you many thousands! Thirty cents! Ye +gods, how have the mighty fallen! Look at his winning smile, his +Websterian brow, his eagle eye that saw Rockhaven afar! And his +whiskers! And I am offered but thirty cents! Why, gentlemen, the frame +cost as many dollars, and think what an awful warning this picture will +be to most of you. Think of the beautiful tales he told, the great +industry he started, the money he spent—your money, gentlemen, and I am +offered but thirty cents! Why, it's worth a thousand dollars as an +object lesson in finance. Come, don't let this master of the stock +exchange be sold for thirty cents! It's a shame! Thirty cents, thirty +cents once, thirty cents twice, thirty cents three times, and sold for +thirty cents!" And the broker who bought it didn't want it at that.</p> + +<p>The safe, with all the books it contained, was sold next, and then the +auctioneer, holding aloft an open deed with its red seal attached +said:—</p> + +<p>"I now offer for sale the only real, tangible asset the great Rockhaven +Granite Company ever had, a deed of its quarry on Rockhaven Island. This +property originally cost two thousand dollars, and was the sole basis of +this gigantic scheme capitalized at one million! How much am I offered?"</p> + +<p>A wag bid ten cents, another a dollar. Then came a bid of fifty. And +then Winn, who up to this time had been a silent spectator of the +comedy, felt a sudden intuition that here and now was his chance. He +thought of the island, still dear to his memory, of the men to whom his +coming had been a godsend, of Jess Hutton who, at parting, had offered +hand and heart, and of Mona and the little knot of flowers he had once +kept fresh in a tiny spring that bubbled out of this same quarry.</p> + +<p>And thinking thus, he bid one hundred dollars.</p> + +<p>But the auctioneer knew not of the fine sentiment prompting the offer, +and continued his burlesque:—</p> + +<p>"One hundred dollars," he said, "one hundred offered for this property, +cheap at two thousand! What are you thinking of?"</p> + +<p>Then, after a pause, while he waited another bid, he continued: "One +hundred I'm offered for this splendid piece of real estate, with all its +improvements; for this matchless quarry of pink granite, once called +worth a million! Why, gentlemen, have you gone daft? Don't you know a +good thing when you see it? It wasn't so long ago when I heard some of +you eagerly bidding thirty and forty dollars for a single share in this +immense property, and now you won't raise a bid of one hundred dollars +for its total valuation! Is this business? Is this finance? Come, +gentlemen, wake up and buy this rich ledge of valuable granite, going +for a song! Think of what it has seemed to you; what might again be made +out of it! Think of the thousands of dupes still anxious to buy fairy +tales and pay money for them! Think of the money you have lost in this +one!</p> + +<p>"And I am offered one hundred dollars for it! One hundred once, one +hundred twice, one hundred three times, and—sold!"</p> + +<p>And that auctioneer, really disgusted this time, stepped down and handed +the deed to Winn.</p> + +<p>Winn wrote a check for that amount, and utterly unconscious of how +valuable a purchase he had made, put the deed in his pocket, and left +the crowd.</p> + +<p>In a way, the whole affair had seemed much like a burlesque on a +funeral, and he a mourner. When the rest had laughed at the auctioneer's +sallies, no smile came to him, and he bid feeling that he was likely to +obtain a white elephant.</p> + +<p>That night, in the solitude of his room, he came near writing a farewell +letter to Mona and enclosing this deed as a keepsake. Only pride +restrained him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2> + +<h3>A SOCIAL CYNIC</h3> + + +<p>One evening, a few weeks after the auction, Winn, in his new occupation, +was detailed to report one of those affairs in high life where wealth +gathered to display its gowns, and fops, in evening dress, uttered +flattering nothings to beauty in undress. A crush of fashionable people +who ate, drank, danced, simpered, and smirked until the wee small hours +and then went home to curry one another's reputation and conduct.</p> + +<p>Winn, not in the swim, was made duly welcome by virtue of his errand +there, and, furnished with a list of the ladies' names and costumes by +the hostess (not forgetting her own), was about to depart when he was +accosted by Ethel Sherman.</p> + +<p>He had noticed her first, surrounded by gentlemen, and feeling he might +be one too many, kept away.</p> + +<p>"Why, Winn," she said, coming to his side and smiling graciously as she +extended her hand, "I am glad to see you. How do you happen to be +here?"</p> + +<p>"Business," he answered laconically; "I am a reporter now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I heard so from your aunt. You have not favored me with a call now +for weeks," she said, "and you are a naughty boy to neglect me."</p> + +<p>"You are looking charming, as usual," he answered, glancing at her +exquisite costume, very décolleté, and feeling that it was what he must +say.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she replied, "every man feels that he must say that, but +you needn't. Compliments are like perfume, to be inhaled, not swallowed; +so let the rest utter them, and you can spare me. I'd rather know how +you are getting on."</p> + +<p>"Fairly well," he answered coolly, for he had really kept away from her +for weeks from a lurking sense of danger to his own feelings. "It is an +occupation that keeps me busy and makes a living, that is all. It may +lead to something better."</p> + +<p>"I read your splendid <i>exposé</i> of Weston & Hill," she continued, still +smiling admiration, "and it did my heart good. I wish Weston could see +it. And that poor widow whose plight you described—it was pitiful."</p> + +<p>"Only a sample case of the evil wrought by such as Weston," Winn +answered modestly. "I wish I knew where he is; I'd mail him a marked +copy of the paper."</p> + +<p>Then, as some one came up to claim her for a dance, she said hurriedly, +"I must leave you now, but please promise to call to-morrow evening, +I've lots I want to ask you."</p> + +<p>And Winn, yielding to the magic of her luring eyes, promised and went +his way.</p> + +<p>It was after midnight before he finished his column account of this +affair, and turning it over to the night editor, left the newspaper +office.</p> + +<p>The streets were deserted, only now and then some late worker like +himself hurrying homeward; and as he pushed on, his footsteps echoed +between the brick walls of the narrow street he was following. Somehow +their clatter carried his thoughts back to Rockhaven and one night when +they had sounded so loud on the plank walk there. When his room was +reached he lighted a cigar, and as once before, when he had gone to the +tower on Norse Hill to commune with himself, he fell into a revery.</p> + +<p>Now, as then, it was to balance in his mind one woman's face and one +woman's influence against another's.</p> + +<p>He saw Mona as she was then, as she had been to him for months, a +sweet, simple, untutored girl, with the eyes of a Madonna and the soul +of a saint. He saw her in the cave, once fern-carpeted by her tender +thought, and once again heard the notes from her violin quivering in +that rock-walled gorge.</p> + +<p>And now it was all ended!</p> + +<p>Then came this other woman's face and form,—a brilliant, +self-contained, self-poised, cultured exotic, knowing men's weaknesses +and keen to reach and sway them. A social sun, where the other was but a +pale and tender moon.</p> + +<p>But Winn's heart was still true to Rockhaven, and the ecstatic moment, +when he had held Mona close in his arms, still seemed a sacred bond.</p> + +<p>"I'll never believe it is to end thus," he thought, "until I go there +and hear it from her lips."</p> + +<p>But he kept his promise and called on Ethel the next evening.</p> + +<p>She had been charming always; now she was fascinating, for somehow it +had come to this conquest-loving woman, that Winn's heart was elsewhere, +and that was a spur.</p> + +<p>Then beyond was a better thought, for the very indifference that piqued +her also awoke respect, and he seemed to her, as she had told him, an +eagle among jackdaws.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you have found an occupation," she said, as he once more sat +in her parlor, "but I wish it were less menial. You have outgrown +servitude since you went to the island. What has wrought the change? Was +it the sea winds?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe," answered Winn, "or constantly looking out upon a boundless +ocean. That always dwarfs humanity to me. But I have some business to +take up my mind. I was sadly discontented until this opening came."</p> + +<p>"I wish you had kept that money in your own hands," she said +confidentially, "and used it to buy an interest in a paper. When I read +your description of the reception this morning, it seemed to me that was +your forte."</p> + +<p>"Thanks for your compliment," he answered, "and I only wish you edited +the paper now. But if you did, my pencil-pushing wouldn't strike you +that way."</p> + +<p>"But it really did," she continued, "and the best of it was what you +didn't say, knowing, as I do, how you regard such affairs. Hiding your +own opinion so well was fine art."</p> + +<p>"I wasn't expected to express my views," he asserted, "but to flatter +you all judiciously; that's what makes a paper popular."</p> + +<p>"And do you think I wanted to be flattered?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he replied, "you are a woman."</p> + +<p>Ethel laughed.</p> + +<p>"Personally, you are wrong; in general, right. I receive so much of it, +it wearies me, knowing as I do how insincere it all is, but most of my +sex, I'll admit, feel otherwise. But tell me why you haven't called for +three weeks?"</p> + +<p>It was a question he could not answer truthfully, and like all the +polite world he evaded it.</p> + +<p>"My work is my excuse," he said; "and then I've not been in a mood for +sociability."</p> + +<p>Ethel looked at him long and earnestly, reading him, as she read most +men, like an open book.</p> + +<p>"Winn, my dear old friend," she said at last, in the open-your-heart +tone so natural to her, "I made you a promise long ago and I shall keep +it, so forgive my question. But you needn't fear me. I want to be your +friend and feel you are mine, in spite of the old score and this new +influence. And when you are ready to trust me, no one in the world shall +be more worthy of it."</p> + +<p>Then they drifted to commonplaces: she, as all women will, relating the +gossip of her set and chatting of the latest opera, what was on at the +theatres and the like. Now and then she let fall a word of quiet +flattery, or what was more potent, one by inference; for Ethel Sherman +was past-mistress in that art. And all the while she looked at Winn, +smiling deference to his opinions and pointing hers about others with a +keen wit so natural to her.</p> + +<p>She played and sang, selecting as once before (and unfortunately, +perhaps) the songs that carried his thoughts to Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>So charming was she in all this, when she chose, that the evening sped +by while Winn was unconscious of its lapse.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would be more neighborly," she said, when he rose to go; +"there are so few men in my set whom I can speak to as freely as you, +and besides I want to watch your progress toward an editorial chair. +Forget your old grudge, and let us be good friends once more."</p> + +<p>And when he was gone, and she ready to retire, she looked long and +earnestly at a photograph of him she had scarce glanced at thrice in +three years. "I wish he were rich," she sighed; "what a delightful lover +he would make!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE END OF AN IDYL</h3> + + +<p>Rockhaven, a colony by itself, had slowly increased from its one family +starting-point until more than two hundred called it home. In doing this +it had, to a certain extent, sustained the individuality of its +progenitor, Captain Carver; a strictly honest, God-fearing descendant of +the Puritans; Baptist in denomination, who regarded work and economy as +religious precepts, home building as a law of God, and strict morality +and total immersion the only avenues to salvation. Long before the +little church was built he gathered the few families about him each +Sunday, while he read selections and then led them in prayer. It was his +indomitable religious will, as well as money, that erected the small +church, and for years he led services there, praying that the time might +come, and population as well, sufficient to induce a regularly ordained +minister to officiate instead. It did, for he lived to a ripe old age +and the satisfaction of his hopes, and to be buried on the sloping +hillside back of it. Also to the glory of having "Founder of Rockhaven" +inscribed on his tombstone.</p> + +<p>He was of Scotch descent, which accounted for a certain latent taste in +his great-granddaughter, Mona Hutton. Though stern as the granite cliffs +of the island in his religious connections, regarding works without +faith and morality, without conviction as of little value, the shadow of +his mantle in time gave way to a more charitable Christianity. And +though the offshoot of his church, the Free Will Baptist of Northaven, +was never recognized by the elect of Rockhaven, intermarriages and a +mutuality of interests reduced its separation in creed to one in name +only.</p> + +<p>Then, too, the isolation of the island resulted in the growth of the +feudal instinct and a tacit leadership, vested in one man whose opinion +and advice was by common consent accepted as law and gospel, and to whom +all disputes were left for final settlement.</p> + +<p>Captain Carver had been this authority at the start, others had +succeeded him, and when Winn Hardy came to the island Jess Hutton held +the sceptre. All this is but history, pertinent merely to show how it +came about that Winn won his way so easily, and those otherwise +hard-headed islanders followed Jess Hutton's lead without question. Winn +won him at the start, and the rest without effort.</p> + +<p>But a community, like a family, is upset by an unusual event, and the +starting of the quarry, the investment in its stock, and the final +return of Jess from the city, to distribute among them sums so out of +proportion to their original investments, were like so many stones +thrown into a placid mill pond. And had Winn Hardy returned with Jess, +or come later, his reception would have been like that of a conquering +hero.</p> + +<p>All this formed the sole topic of conversation for weeks, and hearing +Winn lauded to the skies as a benefactor, before whom all should bow, +had a peculiar effect on Mona. She, poor child, having little in common +with any other and feeling herself of small account to them or even to +her mother, felt herself still less so as this wave of universal +applause for Winn swept over the village. Then another point of pride +arose in her mind. While Winn had sought her society often, it was as a +next-door neighbor and by force of situation, rather than as a suitor, +she felt; and even his visits to the cave with her were due to a +romantic taste and his wish to hear her play. All this was, in a way, +both right and wrong, and yet to Mona, keenly imaginative, it seemed +entirely true. Then, too, her mother had made her feel that her violin +playing was no credit; no one else, except Jess, ever expressed a word +of interest in her one talent, and poor Mona readily felt it more a +discredit than otherwise. Winn only had seemed to appreciate it, and to +Winn her heart had opened like the petals of a wild rose.</p> + +<p>For a few days after his departure, she lived in a seventh heaven of +sweet illusions with this one king among men as her ideal—his every +word and smile and thought, all that life held for her. And then came +his letter which, to her tender heart and timid nature, seemed but a +cold farewell message. He had no plans, was uncertain of his future, and +of hers had no concern. This much she read between the lines, and +reading thus, her heart was broken, her courage crushed. How many tears +she shed no one knew; how many hours she passed alone in utter misery of +mind, no one guessed. For Mona was proud as well as tender, and not even +Uncle Jess should know that she suffered.</p> + +<p>Now the waning summer, the nearing of chill autumn, and desolate +ice-bound winter added to her gloom. Her mother was not a sympathetic +companion, mates among the other island girls of her own age she had +none; only Uncle Jess, her violin, the cave, the flowers, and the sea. +In summer she had company, in winter none, except Jess.</p> + +<p>And now summer was gone and winter nearing, and poor, timid, tender, +friendless Mona was broken-hearted.</p> + +<p>For only a few days more did she go to the cave, and these visits +increased her grieving; it was like visiting the grave of a dead love. +When the November gales swept the island, Mona was made a prisoner, the +store and Jess her only escape. Here she kept her violin, and here she +came to brood over her sorrow and fight her own heartache. And here, be +it said, in the company of Jess only did she find any consolation. He +had such genial philosophy, such a happy faculty for looking upon the +bright side of all troubles,—his own as well as others,—that it made +him a well spring of good cheer.</p> + +<p>He was not long in guessing the cause of Mona's despondency, though with +his cheerful optimism, feeling sure that in good time all would come out +right. He also discovered the new ambition that had come to her that +summer, as well as love, and in his own peculiar way set out to solve +the problem.</p> + +<p>And here it must be stated that a girl in love and separated from her +heart's choice, having an ambition to go out into the world and earn +fame as a musical artist, was a more complex problem than Jess had +previously attempted. Then another factor entered into Mona's troubles; +for young David Moore, who for years had cherished an open and loudly +voiced admiration for her and between voyages always sought to woo her, +now came home and, finding the coast clear, renewed his attentions.</p> + +<p>He was outspoken and assertive, full of enthusiasm and conceit. He +lacked refinement, but he was frugal and owned a third interest in his +uncle's fishing schooner and was very much in love with Mona. Worse than +that, her mother secretly favored his suit.</p> + +<p>It may seem strange that the same practical sense of utility that +governed her girlhood's impulses and led her to accept a ready-at-hand +love, instead of waiting for an absent one, now shaped her desires +toward her daughter. Romance had no place in Mrs. Hutton's nature, +neither had love of music. In her calendar, also, one man was as good as +another if he behaved himself as well, and a present lover for Mona, if +he meant business and could provide a home, was far better than an +absent one, even if the entire island cried his praises.</p> + +<p>So she favored young Moore and, in the many ways a mother can, gave him +opportunities.</p> + +<p>But to Mona, sensitive, half heart-broken, and unable to escape this new +infliction, it was inexpressible misery.</p> + +<p>So the days and weeks went by, and the snow came to whiten Rockhaven +ledges, the billows thundered unceasingly against them, and the little +harbor became frozen over.</p> + +<p>And sometimes, in the hours of bitterest desolation, Mona thought of the +old tide mill and the girl who had once gone there to end her heart +hunger.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX</h2> + +<h3>A GRAY-HAIRED ROMANCE</h3> + + +<p>There had been a time in the long ago of Rockhaven's history when Jess, +then a bashful young man, had loved pretty Letty Carver, now the Widow +Hutton. It had started in her school days, when they romped barefoot +along the sandy shore of the harbor, played about the old tide mill, +whose wheels then rumbled with each ebb and flow, or gathered shells on +the bits of beach between the island cliffs. When the epoch of spelling +school and walk home from Thursday evening prayer meetings came, it was +Letty whom Jess always singled out, and though she now wore shoes, he +was not always so fortunate. But the little bond of feeling was none the +less entrancing; and when later Jess sailed away to the Banks on his +first fishing trip, he carried a lock of Letty's jet-black hair as a +token, and her sweet face was ever present in his thoughts. When he +returned, browned but successful, her welcome seemed to grow in warmth; +and after two or three voyages, and he could now afford a Sunday suit +when he visited her, gossip whispered they were likely to make a match. +By this time he had begun to build the usual air-castles of youth, and +though his took the shape of a humble dwelling, nestling amid the +abutting cliffs in front of which Rockhaven stood, it was none the less +a palace to him, with Letty to be its future queen.</p> + +<p>And then the war came on and Jess, partly from patriotism, a little from +love of adventure, and more to earn the liberal bounty his country +offered, enlisted in the navy. Had he been a trifle less bashful and +secured the promise which Letty was then willing to give, this history +might never have been written; but Jess, a splendid young fellow, in +spite of his surroundings, lacked assurance, and all the bond that +joined them, when he sailed away, was the hope on his part of what might +be if he ever came back.</p> + +<p>He did in four years, covered with glory, but with a leg maimed by a bit +of shell when under Farragut, and before Vicksburg he forgot even Letty +amid the inferno of war.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, his younger brother, Jethro, had discovered Letty, and +she, practical as always, was not long in deciding that a suitor with +good legs and a cottage already achieved was preferable to a hero with a +lame leg and no cottage.</p> + +<p>Jess bore his discomfiture philosophically, as was his nature, not even +reproaching Letty by word or look; and though disposed to see a silver +lining back of all clouds, this one he thought best to avoid, and so +took himself away. He remained away, a rolling stone for fifteen years, +and though he gathered some moss, it failed to efface—Letty.</p> + +<p>And then a change came; for one day the smart new fishing schooner his +brother had just built with his aid sailed away on her second voyage and +never came back, and practical Letty was left a widow with one child, a +modest home on Rockhaven, and naught else. As might be expected, she +sent at once for Jess, and to him only imparted the facts of the +situation.</p> + +<p>Whether it was the smouldering embers of his boyhood illusion or the +winsome ways of the child Mona, now four years old, that influenced him, +no one ever knew, but he at once announced that he had decided to abide +in Rockhaven for the future and open a store. There was one already +there, but the slow growth of the village allowed a fair excuse for +another, and Jess established it. Once more the gossips, who take +cognizance of all matters, recalled the youthful attentions of Jess to +Letty, and asserted that she would, in suitable time, discard her +widow's weeds and become another Mrs. Hutton. She did put on more +cheerful habiliments in due time, but remained a widow still; and though +Jess was a frequent caller, usually walking to church with her and Mona +on Sundays, he continued, as he had started, to live by himself over his +store.</p> + +<p>Neither were the gossips enlightened as to the financial standing of the +widow, or how much had been laid away by her husband, or her means of a +livelihood.</p> + +<p>Jess knew, however, and Jess only; but he was the last person to impart +such data to a curious public. What they did see was that he at once +assumed a fatherly protectorship over his little niece, and she became +his sole charge and care in life. Though she ate and slept at home, +tripped alone to school, and to church each Sunday hand in hand with +Uncle Jess, his store was her playhouse and his love her happiness until +girlhood was reached. Often on summer days he left the store, utterly +disregarding trade, and with her took long rambles over the island, +hunting gulls' eggs and gathering shells, flowers, or berries. He built +her a boat and taught her to row it in the little harbor, talked to her +for hours of the great world and its people, of the planets and their +motions, of right and wrong, of religion and God. He aided her in her +lessons, teaching her more and faster than she learned at school; and +when her fingers could reach across the strings of his old brown violin, +he taught her the lore of its wondrous voice.</p> + +<p>And so the happy years of her girlhood passed, until now, a woman grown, +she had learned the lesson of loving, and had come to him with her +unspoken plea for help. Never had she appealed to him in vain, and never +would, so long as his keen mind was active and heart normal. For weeks +he pondered over this most difficult of all problems, and then he acted.</p> + +<p>"I've got a leetle matter to talk over with yer mother to-night, Mona," +he said, "an' if ye don't mind ye might go an' make a call on one of the +neighbors. It's a sorter peculiar business 'n' it's better we're 'lone +till it's settled."</p> + +<p>And it was "peculiar," and so much so that Jess talked for one hour with +Mrs. Hutton in an absent-minded way, while he studied the cheerful open +fire, cogitating, meanwhile, how best to utter what he had to say, while +she sat sewing diligently, on the opposite side of the sitting-room +table.</p> + +<p>"Letty," he said at last, "hev ye noticed Mona hain't been overcheerful +the last three months, an' seems to be sorter broodin' over suthin'?"</p> + +<p>"I have, Jess," replied Mrs. Hutton, looking up; "and it's all due to +notions that Mr. Hardy's put into her head 'bout her playin' an' +praisin' her so much. I've knowed all 'long her wastin' time fiddlin' +wouldn't serve no good purpose in the long run."</p> + +<p>It wasn't an auspicious opening to the subject uppermost in the mind of +Jess, but he paid no heed to it. "Letty," he continued calmly, "fiddlin' +hain't nothin' to do with the state o' Mona's mind, 'n' if ye'd watched +her as clus as I hev, ye'd know it. Do ye 'member when ye was a gal how +Hitty Baker, ez used ter live up to the north village, got crossed in +love 'n' kept broodin' on't until one day she was missin', an' 'bout a +week arter they found her hangin' in the old mill? Thar's no tellin' +what a gal'll do an' when she'll do it, if she gits to broodin' over +sich matters."</p> + +<p>"I hope you don't think Mona, brought up as she has been, will be such a +fool as Hitty Baker was," rejoined Mrs. Hutton, sharply. "Mona's got +more sense."</p> + +<p>"'Tain't a matter o' sense," Jess retorted quickly, "it's a matter o' +nater 'n' 'magination, 'n' the more o' them peculiarities a gal's got, +the more onsartin she is apt to be, 'n' ez I said, Mona ain't herself +these days, 'n' unless suthin's done to change the current o' her mind, +fust thing you'll find, some day, she's a missin'."</p> + +<p>"That's all your notion, Jess," answered Mrs. Hutton, now more aroused +than she was willing to admit; "an' if Mona'd listen to Dave Moore, as I +want her to, he'd soon cure such whims."</p> + +<p>"Did yer mother ever make ye take catnip tea when ye was a gal, Letty," +responded Jess, laconically, "an' how did ye injie the dose?" Then, not +waiting for an answer, he continued, "Dave's catnip tea to Mona, 'n' I +tell ye it's better ye quit dosin' her with Dave, 'n' purty soon, too. +She's nobody to go to but me, an' I know how she feels, 'n' I don't +think ye do."</p> + +<p>"Have you any better medicine to advise?" came the query, as Mrs. Hutton +laid aside her sewing and looked at Jess.</p> + +<p>"I hev," replied Jess, firmly, "only it'll take both on us to give it, +'n' that's what I come here for, Letty. Ye know how I feel 'bout Mona, +an' one o' these days she'll come into all I've laid by. But that's no +savin' grace jist now."</p> + +<p>"An' what'll savin' grace jist now be, I'd like to know," queried the +mother. "Ain't helping me and having company when she likes, all that's +needful to take up her mind? She's whimsical, an' that young feller +Hardy's put notions into her head she'd be better off without."</p> + +<p>Jess was making scant progress toward his ultimate object, and realized +it—also that sentiment was a matter quite beyond Mrs. Hutton's ken. +"Letty," he said at last, almost in desperation, "I've stood by ye 'n' +Mona purty middlin' well fer quite a spell now, hain't I? an' ye'll 'low +I kin see a hole in a grinstun if thar is one, 'n' what I've sot my mind +on doin' for Mona'll be the best fer her in the long run, an' that is, +we take her away from here 'n' give her a chance in the world."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hutton looked at him in amazement, realizing not at all what he had +in mind.</p> + +<p>"How can we do that?" she questioned.</p> + +<p>"Thar's only one way," he answered hastily, with a now-or-never +determination; "I know I'm gittin' 'long in years 'n' one o' my legs +ain't workin' well, an' the only thing ye kin bank on, Letty, is my +heart's in the right place 'n' my feelin's toward ye hain't changed a +mite in forty year, an'—an' if ye're willin' to chance it, Letty, I'll +do all I kin to make ye happy."</p> + +<p>A woman is seldom surprised by a proposal, but Mrs. Hutton was. For +fifteen years now, since she had been a widow, Jess had seemed like a +good brother, which in truth he had been in all ways, and never once +had she surmised he cared for a nearer kinship. Then, as she looked at +him, his kindly face aglow with earnest feeling, his keen eyes beneath +their shaggy eyebrows questioning her, for one instant her heart +quivered. Then backward over the flight of time her memory leaped, until +she saw herself a laughing, care-free girl once more, with life opening +before her, and this same good friend and brother, grateful for her +every word and smile of favor. Then, too, came a little nagging of +conscience at the way she had ignored him on his return, a limping hero, +and how he had never once reproached her for it. And following that, the +heaping of coals upon her head when he, coming to her rescue in the hour +of poverty and bereavement, had been the only friend she had to lean +upon. All the years of his tender thought and care, all his wise +counsel, all his unselfish giving, all his countless deeds of love and +forethought came back now in an instant, like a mighty wave of feeling, +sweeping all her pride and will before it. And as she bowed her face, +covering her eyes with one hand to hide the tears she could not control, +once more he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Letty," he said, "ye needn't mind answerin' jist now. Think on't, an' +to-morrow or next day tell me. Thar ain't no need o' hurry. I've waited +quite a spell now, an' a day or two more won't matter."</p> + +<p>"It's absurd," she said at last, when the tide of feeling ebbed, "and +everybody will say so."</p> + +<p>"'Tain't their funeral or weddin' either, is it?" he answered. "An' mark +my words, Letty, thar's more on 'em here ez'll wish us well than ye +think."</p> + +<p>But when he came to go she said, "Why didn't you ask me forty years ago, +Jess?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause I was a durned fool 'n' dassent," he answered, "but I've +outgrowed it now."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL</h2> + +<h3>A GOOD SEND-OFF</h3> + + +<p>Out of the many weddings inevitably occurring on Rockhaven but few ever +attained to the importance of a trip to the mainland. The sense of +utility among them, the need of every dollar toward home furnishing, and +the practical side of life always uppermost in the minds of all left no +place for sentiment and honeymoon.</p> + +<p>But when it became known, as it soon did, that the youthful romance of +Jess Hutton and Letty Carver had finally culminated, and that the +universal opinion and expectation of what they would do when Jess +returned to the island was about to be realized a wave of enthusiasm and +friendly interest swept over Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>And, furthermore, when it was learned that Jess was to sell his store to +Captain Doty, and that he and his bride and Mona were to spend a few +months in the city, the excitement knew no bounds, and when Sunday came +and the three, now conspicuous ones, walked to church as usual, it was +to receive an ovation of good wishes and congratulations, and so +persistent were all in good will that, when church was out, the entire +congregation crowded around them.</p> + +<p>To Mona it came as the surprise of her life, and went far to change the +current of her thoughts and make her forget her own troubles.</p> + +<p>"I can call you papa now, can't I, Uncle Jess?" she had said, when he +had told her; and hugging him like a child she had thus made his heart +glad. It all seemed as a matter of course to young and old alike, and as +the days went by it began to dawn on Jess that he had not only been a +"durned fool" forty years ago, but continued to be one for the past +fifteen.</p> + +<p>It had been decided by them to have a quiet wedding at home, and the day +set barely long enough ahead to give Mrs. Doty, the dressmaker, time to +do her part; but Rockhaven, hearing of it, objected, and the next Sunday +evening a committee, headed by Captain Roby, invaded the privacy of Mrs. +Hutton's home.</p> + +<p>"We hev cum," said the jolly master of the island steamer, addressing +Jess in particular, and Mrs. Hutton and Mona in general, "to convey the +good wishes o' everybody here to you folks an' ask ye to hev yer +weddin' in church so ter give us all a chance to show our good will and +how much we think o' ye by bein' present. It air the univarsal feelin' +here," he continued, waving his arm, as if to include the entire island, +"that ye both desarve it, an' we ain't goin' to 'low ye two ter jist git +hitched an' sneak off quietly. My boat's at yer sarvice, an' we feel the +best's none too good fer ye both, and we hev come to ask ye to let us +all jine in and gin ye the right sort o' a send-off. I might as well +tell ye now, Jess," he added, looking at that worthy, "jist how ye stand +'mong us and how 'tarnally grateful we all feel fer all yer good deeds +toward young and old. We hain't forgot nothin' from the day ye first +come back to be one on us, up till last summer when ye saved us our +money on that stock bizness. We don't blame the young feller neither, +and if ever he cums back, we'll all jine in givin' him a welcome as +well. But now we absolutely insist we be 'lowed to start ye fair, and in +style, in the new step ye two air takin'."</p> + +<p>And "start them fair" they did; for although the snow lay thick on the +granite ledges of Rockhaven, when the day came, and cheerless winter +reigned, there was no lack of cheer in all that was said and done. +First, a hundred pairs of willing hands transformed the church into a +bower of green, and since flowers were not to be had, wreaths of spruce +twigs, tied with white ribbon and ropes of ground pine, were used. Then +an arch of green, wound with strips of white silk, was erected over the +gate, and the walk up to the church was carpeted with spruce boughs. The +only pleasure vehicle on the island, an ancient carryall, also decked +with green and white, was pressed with service to convey the honored +couple and Mona to church, now heated to suffocation and packed solid +with the island population, while some unable to get in waited outside. +Then, while the Rev. Jason Bush was uniting the happy pair, a dozen +young men, unable to curb their enthusiasm, unhitched the horse from the +carryall, and when they came out drew them back to the house. And then, +after the two hours of reception and hand-shaking had expired, full +fifty men were in line to draw that unique chariot to the boat.</p> + +<p>"It is a wonder ye didn't set out to take us on yer backs," asserted +Jess to the crowd on the wharf, when he alighted; "but all this fuss has +warmed our feelings toward ye all more'n words'll tell."</p> + +<p>And when three times three cheers had echoed back from the now deserted +quarry, the little steamer sailed away into the mist-hidden winter sea +and the crowd dispersed; for weeks after the sole topic around Rockhaven +firesides was what object took Jess Hutton and his bride and Mona away +from the island and how long they would stay away.</p> + +<p>Jess had said, "We want ter give Mona a little change o' scene 'n' +chance to see the world, 'n' jist when we'll cum back is no tellin'. Cum +back we shall some day, 'n' most likely glad ter git back tew." And then +when the affairs of the Hutton family no longer furnished food for +gossip, the island settled down once more into its monotonous winter +existence. Twice a week only now the <i>Rockhaven</i> made her trip to the +mainland; but few people gathered for the Thursday evening prayer +meeting, for extra religion was at a discount during cold weather, and +only the most hardy of the fishermen ventured out. The tower on Norse +Hill, now coated with frozen sleet, looked like a gigantic monument; the +tides ebbed in and out the half-iced over harbor; the waves beat with +sullen roar into the gorge that no one visited, and life among the +shut-in islanders partook of the solemnity of the ocean's voice.</p> + +<p>The crowd that had made Jess Hutton's store their club-room still +gathered there to swap yarns and discuss fish and fishing; also whether +his all-winter's absence was likely to result in the opening of the +quarry or not. Then, too, in this news bureau, Winn Hardy and Mona came +in for a share of gossip, and many a surmise as to their future was +exchanged. For they had been noticed many times together, and Mona's +visit to the city might mean much. No one had any data as to Jess +Hutton's future intentions or whether Hardy was likely to return; and +yet, so well did he stand with them, and so hopeful were they that he +would once more open the quarry when spring came, that they readily +believed it would come about.</p> + +<p>Of the Rockhaven Granite Company collapse they knew not, for daily +papers never reached the island, and Jess for reasons of his own kept +silent.</p> + +<p>The only unhappy one, however, was David Moore; and he recited his woes +in characteristic fashion to all who would listen. He had little idea of +the proprieties, and as he had almost shouted his love from the +house-tops, so now he declared his disappointment as loudly.</p> + +<p>"It's my private 'pinion," he asserted, "they lugged Mona off just to +spite me and get her out o' my sight. I think it's a darn mean trick, +and I don't care who knows it! I kin see through the game, and they +calculated takin' her to the city 'nd give that feller Hardy a chance to +spark her," and he chewed his quid with an increased vigor, suggestive +of how he would like to serve his rival.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI</h2> + +<h3>EIN WUNDERBARES FRAULEIN</h3> + + +<p>Fritz Geisling, who for many years had lived in two rooms, second floor, +No. 10 Amity Place, was short, fat, and bald. Each morning he arose at +seven, went out to an adjoining cafe where German cookery was served +"twenty-one meals for three dollars," as stated on its bill of fare, and +returned to his domicile, glancing at the small sign, "Violin Lessons," +placed above the upper bell, and mounting the two flights of stairs, +awaited in his office, sitting room and parlor combined, the few pupils +who came his way. At noon he absorbed another of the "twenty-one for +three dollar" productions of culinary art, washed down with a stein of +foaming beer, and then, if it were matinée day at the Alhambra Temple of +Vaudeville, betook himself thither, where he played second violin. Each +evening, from the opening in September until closing time in June, he +was at his post, sawing away like the machine he was and as devoid of +sentiment. When he escaped the Alhambra, it was to join his cronies in a +convenient saloon where pinocle, beer, and choice Teutonic gossip +relieved the monotony of his existence. Year in and year out he was the +same phlegmatic, good-natured Dutchman, and lived the same unvarying and +emotionless existence. Of the great Rockhaven stock scheme he had never +heard, and would not have understood it if he had. Of "the street" and +its multiplicity of deals where "to do" the other fellow and not let him +"do" you was the golden rule, he was equally innocent—a drop in the +throbbing artery of human existence.</p> + +<p>And then, one winter morning, Fritz returned to his lair to find +awaiting him a strangely clad man and a young half-scared girl.</p> + +<p>"I'm told ye gin lessons on the fiddle," said the man, "an' if ye do, +I've come to engage ye fer this ere gal."</p> + +<p>Fritz bowed low, conscious that a pair of magnificent eyes were watching +him.</p> + +<p>"It vash mine broveshion," he answered, "und von tollar each ish de +brice. Ish de lady to be de pupils?"</p> + +<p>"She's the one," came the answer; "an' I want ye to teach her all the +frills, 'n' yer money's ready an' waitin' any time."</p> + +<p>"Ish she von peginner?" came from Fritz.</p> + +<p>"Wal, sorter, 'n' sorter not," replied the man; "my name's Hutton, an' +this ere's my niece, Miss Hutton, an' I've larnt her to saw just a +leetle to start her off, ez it war. If ye'd like, she'll show ye what +she kin do with a bow. Play suthin' slow, Mona, fust," he added as a +violin was handed her, "till ye kinder ketch yerself, an' then suthin' +lively."</p> + +<p>Mona somewhat nervously complied, and gaining courage as she forgot +where she was, skipped over a half-dozen of the familiar Scotch airs she +could play best, while the eyes of Fritz twinkled.</p> + +<p>"She vash no peginner," he said elated; "she vash blain' alretty yet +very mooch." And seizing a music-rack and spreading a late composition +upon it, he added, "Ef de lady vill blease blay dot, ve'll see vot she +can do."</p> + +<p>"Ye've got'r now, perfessor," interposed Jess, "she can't read that +music."</p> + +<p>But a surprise was awaiting him, for though half-scared Mona hesitated +and made a few slips, she played the piece through to the end without a +halt.</p> + +<p>"Why, girlie," exclaimed Jess, "I'm proud o' ye. I didn't think ye cud +do so well. Now, perfessor, ye kin take her in hand; 'n' mind ye don't +let up on her till she's larned the hull biznes, fer fiddlin's goin' to +be her futur' perfession."</p> + +<p>That night, when Fritz had once more escaped the crowded theatre and was +quaffing his foaming stein, could any native American translate the +rapid fire jargon with which he related his morning experience, he would +have heard a marvellous tale.</p> + +<p>"Mein Gott in Himmel!" Fritz exclaimed, after the fourth glass had been +emptied, "but she blayed mit such feelin's und such eyes dot mit me made +such strangeness feels. Ach, but she vas a vonder!"</p> + +<p>And as time passed on, each of the two days a week when Mona came to +take her lesson only served to increase that "vonder," for now that her +timidity had worn away, the genius that lurked in her fingers asserted +itself. In technical art she was as yet a pupil, but in the far more +impressive art of inspiration and expression, so natural to her, she had +naught to learn.</p> + +<p>"She blays mit her heart und all ofer, und vorgets all I tells her of +bosition und oxecution," explained Fritz to his cronies, "und ven she +looks at me I forgets meinself."</p> + +<p>Then as the weeks went by, a new idea came to Fritz, who seldom had any; +and straightway he began to nurse it.</p> + +<p>"Ef she so blays mit mein violin, ven I haf heard dat music all mein +life, vot vill beoples dinks who vash to hear her on de stage?" he said +to himself. "I vill say nodding und make some surbrises by and by."</p> + +<p>That Mona had the same secret ambition he knew not, and most likely it +were as well he did not. But the long upward path to her goal was not an +easy one, for if Fritz had lacked emotion, he excelled in detail; and +each time Mona forgot, as she so often did, it provoked expressions from +him that tinged her cheeks with humiliation.</p> + +<p>"I have much to learn," she answered almost pitifully, whenever her +uncle asked of her progress, "and so much to unlearn, it seems +discouraging."</p> + +<p>"It'll come easier bimeby, girlie," he would respond cheerfully, "the +fust lesson in anything is allus the hardest."</p> + +<p>But the vexations of tuition were only a small part of Mona's burden; +for as the weeks went by, and she became accustomed to her new life and +surroundings, the old heartache returned, and as her uncle often +insisted that she and her mother go out to some evening entertainment as +a break in the quiet boarding-house life they led, a new fear assailed +her. What if on street car or in theatre lobby she should suddenly meet +Winn Hardy! His name had not been mentioned for many months, and it was +as if he were dead.</p> + +<p>And now Mona was unlearning the sad lesson of loving, and in its place +came a new inspiration, an ambition so broad, so uplifting, so full of +possibilities, that even the voice of love was stilled. At times the +face of Winn would return to her, however, and always bringing a thorn.</p> + +<p>"He is what he said all his world were," she would say to herself, +"selfish, fickle, and heartless. He wished to flatter and amuse me and +himself as well, but that was all." And then the moment he had held her +in his arms would return to give the lie to all such thoughts.</p> + +<p>At times she hoped that she might meet him some day, just to give one +look of reproach and pass on without a word; and then she dreaded to do +so, believing herself powerless to resist her own longings. Feeling thus +a sense of the wrong he had done her, the tender looks and words he had +uttered, and at last that one sweet moment,—all came back again. Put +him out of her mind she could not, nor his face either. By night, +thoughts of him haunted her pillow, and whenever she set foot out of +their temporary home, no matter where she went, and until she was safe +in it again, that peculiar dread was with her.</p> + +<p>She did not know that during all these months of her suspense, Winn +Hardy, discouraged at the utter failure of his ambition and hopeless of +his future, was not only doing his best to put her out of his thoughts, +but battling for another foothold in life. Forget her, or the obligation +whispered on Rockhaven's wave-washed cliff, he could not and did not; +but in the hard grind of life and competition of wage-earning, love +plays only a minor part. Even less so with Winn than most, for he +distrusted all sentiment, even in himself.</p> + +<p>Few have the scope to judge another from that person's own viewpoint of +needs and impulses; and Mona, untutored in the ways of man, was less +competent than many.</p> + +<p>To her, the words "I love you" were a sacred obligation, far above all +selfish needs and vulgar money making and, like the glittering star of +fame, an inspiration.</p> + +<p>It had been sweet to her in those summer days, but the real star of fame +was now rising in her horizon, and the lesser one slowly fading away.</p> + +<p>She was fast losing her old timidity, and as each day she felt herself +gaining a better mastery over her violin, the darling wish of her new +ambition grew stronger.</p> + +<p>And then another influence came to her aid, for phlegmatic Fritz, in +whose life the mechanical duty of each evening's playing and the +convivial hours with his cronies had measured his ambition, became +imbued with a broader one, and that to train his pupil for public +playing, and so, when thus fitted and launched in this new life under +his tuition, to pose as the discoverer of a genius. And more than that, +as her eyes began to work their spell upon him, the hope of love entered +his heart.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Mees Hutton," he would say to her, when her lesson had been +rendered, "you haf der spirit, der soul of der blaying alretty yet, and +some day you haf him and der vorld vill listen entranced;" and his +little eyes would twinkle and rotund face glow with an enthusiasm that +was like wine to Mona.</p> + +<p>And now another brand of fuel was added to the fire of her ambition, for +a great singer's appearance in the city was heralded in the press and +Jess, already warped into the world's ways of dress and amusement, took +Mona and her mother to hear this operatic star. They had already visited +most of the theatres, and though Mona had felt a constant dread of +meeting one, the sight of whose face she knew would seem like a knife +thrust, she was gradually overcoming that. At first a timid girl and +stranger to the city ways, her keen and ready observation of them had +made rapid change in her self-possession. Then, too, the difference in +her own and her mother's wardrobe had been a help, for Jess had spared +no money in his new rôle of husband and father, and so far as dress went +with all three, no observer would realize that they came from an +out-of-the-way island, where garb and deportment were unknown factors in +life.</p> + +<p>But that evening at the opera, with all its attendant excitement of +richly gowned womankind whose décolleté costumes and sparkling jewels +became a revelation to Mona, the handsome men, the exquisite music, the +wonderful singing, and the chief star, ablaze with diamonds, bowing and +smiling as wreaths and baskets of costly flowers were passed over the +footlights to her, wrought a spell upon Mona as nothing else could have +done. She was amazed, entranced, overwhelmed, intoxicated; and when the +seclusion of her own home was reached, the reflective heart-burst of +feeling came.</p> + +<p>"Father," she whispered, her face aglow, when she was about to give him +the usual good-night kiss, "if I could stand before an audience, as that +singer did, and thrill them, as she did to-night, I would be willing to +lie down and die."</p> + +<p>"That's a good speerit," he answered, smiling, his eyes a-twinkle; "but +if ye cud do it, ye'd a durn sight better feel ye'd like to live 'n' +keep on doin' it, 'n' make 'em pay ye good money, an' pass up flowers on +top o' that." Which sage observation perhaps best illustrates the +difference between a genius and a philosopher.</p> + +<p>That night, sleep was slow in reaching Mona's pillow, and when it came +she dreamed that she was standing before a vast throng and suddenly, +impressed by the fear of them, sinking into unconsciousness.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII"></a>CHAPTER XLII</h2> + +<h3>THE ROAD TO THE TEMPLE</h3> + + +<p>To Mona, reared beyond the world of wealth and social custom, the great +city she was now in seemed a monster hive. An endless tangle of crowded +streets, of pushing humanity, and towering buildings. The ceaseless din +of street cars and rumbling teams, the people who elbowed her aside as +they hurried on, the vehicles that halted not when she crosses a street, +the grand ladies alighting from their carriages and sweeping by her as +if she was without right; and worse than all these, the apes who ogled +at her on the street, and even followed her to her home,—each and all +became a teacher that taught her self-reliance. She grew to look at the +great city as it did at her, without feeling and without interest. They +cared not for her right, or her life even; why should she for them? It +was the best education possible, and imparted a certain indifference +toward everybody and everything, and hardened her, in a way.</p> + +<p>Then Fritz, with his little scheme, entered into her education, and one +day, after he had asked her to play some of her best selections, a +stranger stepped out from an inner room to be introduced to her as the +manager of the Alhambra Theatre.</p> + +<p>"My friend Geisling has told me about you, Miss Hutton," he said, "and I +wished to hear you play as you naturally would, so I asked to be kept in +hiding to hear you. You have a decided talent, and if you have the +courage, I think you could do a musical turn and do it well. If you will +come to the Alhambra to-morrow at ten with my friend here, we will give +you a rehearsal."</p> + +<p>And Mona felt as if she were at that moment facing an audience!</p> + +<p>"I have an ambition to play well, and some day in public," she said +faintly, and hardly realizing how it all came about, "but not yet. Oh, +no, I wouldn't dare," and she looked helplessly at her teacher.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Mees Hutton, but you vill," he said excitedly, "und your fader said +you vill, und dat eet vas to be you broveshion, und you vill to blease +me try, I dinks," and he placed one hand upon his heart and bowed low.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not yet, no! no!" exclaimed Mona, her heart sinking, as she stood +face to face with her longed-for opportunity. "I am not ready yet and +haven't the courage."</p> + +<p>"That is but a mere trifle, Miss Hutton," answered the manager, looking +at her saintlike eyes, her sweet face, rounded shoulders, and swelling +bosom; and calculating their commercial value for stage purposes to a +nicety. "A mere trifle; you have the face and form, you play with +exceeding grace and delicate expression, no doubt due to your native +talent, and are sure to please. All you need is to forget that you are +playing to an audience, and you will win a storm of hands."</p> + +<p>Then, like a shrewd man of business, he began politely to question her. +Where she came from, who taught her first, and how she came to wish to +play in public? In ten minutes he had grasped her entire history.</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary," he said finally, to reassure her, "that you make +your first appearance at once. Come to the theatre to-morrow and look us +over. I feel sure you will succeed and win for yourself a great name. +And, by the way, I'd like a photograph of you in evening dress cut low."</p> + +<p>Then, as if the matter were all settled, and this new attraction for his +vaudeville stage already engaged, he bowed himself out.</p> + +<p>And Fritz beamed.</p> + +<p>"Ein grand chance, Mees Hutton, an' der great luck you haf, und it vas +mein alretty yet," he said, "und you vill got de people crazy mit your +blayin', und I vas your teacher!"</p> + +<p>And he came near then and there going down on his knees and declaring +his passion.</p> + +<p>When Mona reached her home she was flushed and trembling with +excitement. "Oh, father," she said to Jess, "they want me to play at the +theatre, and to come to-morrow to try it with no one there; and he wants +my picture, and I am scared half to death," which incoherent speech can +easily be excused.</p> + +<p>"I don't approve on't an' never have," said her mother, severely. "It +ain't a girl's place to be fiddlin', an' 'fore people at that. I don't +believe in it."</p> + +<p>"Now, Letty," answered Jess, pleasantly, "don't go to discouragin' the +gal first go-off. We've threshed that straw all over long 'go, 'n' don't +say no more. The time'll cum, 'n' soon, too, when ye'll feel mighty +proud of Mona. We'll fix ye up, girlie," he added, addressing her, "with +one of them low-cut gowns,—not too low, but jist nice 'n' +modestlike,—'n' we'll both o' us be thar to take keer on ye an' fetch +flowers home fer ye." And that subject was disposed of.</p> + +<p>But Mona scarce closed her eyes in sleep that night, and when, with +Jess and her teacher to care for her, she entered the stage door of the +Alhambra at ten the next day, a new world opened before her.</p> + +<p>Its entrance was a tangle of painted scenery, beautiful on one side, +dirty and tobacco-stained on the other. A dozen stage carpenters and +helpers were at work with hats on, and never even looked at her. The +stage seemed a cold, cheerless barn, as large as the seating part, and a +chaos of stage properties of all sorts and shapes. A flat, painted tree +leaned against a piano, on top of which was a wooden rock. A roll of +carpet lay across a desk, and a coil of dirty rope and an imitation +fireplace were on top of an elegant sofa.</p> + +<p>Then the manager appeared, coatless, but with hat on.</p> + +<p>"Ah, good morning, Miss Hutton," he said, not even noticing Fritz or her +uncle; "glad to see you, though it's a little early. Look around and +make yourself at home, or I'll show you to a dressing room. We will hear +you play presently."</p> + +<p>And glad to escape from the cheerless spot, Mona signified that she +would wait his bidding in a private room.</p> + +<p>It was a half-hour ere he appeared, and Mona's stage training began.</p> + +<p>She was instructed how to step out from the wings, where to halt on the +stage, how to bow, to step side-wise and backward; and when these +lessons had been learned, the manager with a few friends and Jess and +her teacher took seats in front, and she walked out once more with her +violin. She had expected to be badly scared, but it was all so +matter-of-fact, and her deportment considered as of more importance than +her playing, that when it came to that it was the easiest of all.</p> + +<p>Twice she played the two selections Fritz had decided upon, the first, a +medley of Scotch airs, and for an encore, the gem of all she +knew—"Annie Laurie."</p> + +<p>When she concluded each time, a sincere ripple of applause from the +group of men composing her audience encouraged her.</p> + +<p>"She'll win 'em," asserted the manager, tersely, when Mona had retired, +"if only she can go on once and not wilt."</p> + +<p>"I want you to come here daily for a week," he said to Mona, when she +was ready to leave, "and get used to this matter. Your playing is +excellent, and if you can forget the audience for ten minutes and do as +well, you are made!"</p> + +<p>But warmer encouragement came from Jess when home was reached that day.</p> + +<p>"I'm proud o' ye, girlie," he said, his face glowing and his eyes +alight, "I'm proud o' ye, 'n' if ye'll fiddle as ye kin 'n' hold yer +head 'fore 'em, I'll shed tears o' joy. We'll rig ye up," he continued, +"right away, an' all ye need to do is jist to say to yerself, 'I kin do +it,' an' feel it, an' ye will."</p> + +<p>How easy to say, but alas, how hard to do!</p> + +<p>For a week Mona lived in a trance with only one thought, and that of the +awful moment when she must perforce stand alone before that hydra-headed +monster—an audience.</p> + +<p>Sometimes her heart failed for a moment, and it seemed she could never +do it; then a strain of the indomitable will that had come down to her +from her Carver ancestors arose, and she said to herself, "I will."</p> + +<p>Then back of that lay another point of pride. "Perhaps <i>he</i> will be +there to see me," she thought.</p> + +<p>For all these months, while she had silently fought her own heartache, +Winn Hardy's face and words had been ever present.</p> + +<p>All the covert flatteries he had spoken in the cave, all the praises of +her playing, the description of the wonderful woman before whom the +world bowed, the tender words of love he had uttered, to end with one +cold letter of dismissal, and she left to rise above and conquer her +own pain alone and unaided, came back now.</p> + +<p>It was well that they did.</p> + +<p>And when the supreme moment of her trial came, and robed in spotless +white, without an ornament, save her matchless eyes, her perfect throat, +her rounded arms, she stepped into view of that audience, not for one +instant did she falter.</p> + +<p>The Alhambra was filled that evening with its usual gathering in search +of pleasure. A few hundred blasé men and women who had seen everything +on the boards of the regular theatres now drifted into this, hoping for +a new sensation. Twice as many more store girls whose escorts had +brought them there because admission was cheap, and a medley of all +sorts, old and young. The saucy balladist in short skirts had sung her +song, the soloist in black had picked off his banjo act, the acrobats +had leaped and twisted and turned, the magician pulled a stock of +worsted balls, a hoopskirt, and a rabbit out of a silk hat borrowed from +the audience, and then, after frying an egg in it, returned it unharmed; +and the usual vaudeville program was nearing its end when those listless +people saw Mona step out from the wings and, without once lifting her +eyes to them, bow slightly, and raising her violin, begin playing.</p> + +<p>And even as Winn's heart had been touched by the wonderful sweetness of +her simple music that day in the cave, so were theirs reached now.</p> + +<p>It was not classic, or new, or unheard before—just a medley of old-time +Scotch airs that carried the mirth of a merry dance and the mood of +tender love. But the mirth and the mood were there, thrilling, +quivering, whispering, even as a human voice would speak.</p> + +<p>And when the yearning of that medley ended its final appeal, and Mona +for the first time raised her eyes to them as she bowed, a storm of +applause that fairly shook the building greeted her.</p> + +<p>Again and again was it repeated, until, bending her queenlike head, she +once more raised her violin.</p> + +<p>And now came "Annie Laurie."</p> + +<p>Slowly caressing her violin with her face, even as a mother would her +babe, Mona played.</p> + +<p>And every whispered heartache, every pulse of undying love that that +old, old song contains, came forth to reach and thrill the hearts of +that audience as naught else could.</p> + +<p>When it was ended and Mona bowed low, what a storm came!</p> + +<p>Men rose and cheered and women, too, while they brushed the tears away.</p> + +<p>Again and again did that wave of stamping and voiced applause arise, +till the very roof quivered, and still once again.</p> + +<p>And Mona, the poor child, whose will, stronger than love, had carried +her through that awful ordeal without a break, now out of sight, lay +sobbing in the arms of Jess.</p> + +<p>She had won her fame without a flaw, and then, womanlike, had +collapsed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII"></a>CHAPTER XLIII</h2> + +<h3>THE CYNIC'S SHADOW</h3> + + +<p>The doubt and distrust of all humanity, first implanted in Winn Hardy's +mind by his friend and adviser, Nickerson, was now working its +inevitable injury. Much of it had been brushed away during Winn's +association with the simple and honest people of Rockhaven and +especially Jess; but now that he was back again in the city and in touch +with its pushing, selfish life, once more cynicism ruled him. His +vocation as reporter paid poorly; he was in daily contact with +unscrupulous and suspicious men, saw poverty begging in alleyways and +arrogant wealth riding in carriages, men obsequiously bowing before the +rich and snubbing the poor, and on all sides and in all ways he was made +to realize that money was the god the city worshipped, and show, its +religion.</p> + +<p>On Sunday, when the usual morning chimes answered each other, his +thoughts flew to Rockhaven and the two bells there; but when with his +aunt, in church, he listened to the operatic singing and classic +sermon, it all seemed to lack heart and sincerity, and not one solitary +note of supplication entered the minister's prayer. Then the elegantly +dressed ladies who greeted one another as at a reception, the men who +looked bored and at the close of the service seemed relieved, each and +all seemed to Winn to be there on exhibition.</p> + +<p>Then, too, his moral safeguards were in daily danger, and the sneering +Nickerson, their assailant.</p> + +<p>"Well, old boy," he said to Winn one evening at the club, "how do you +like penny-a-lining these cold winter days? Is an editorship any nearer +in sight?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing in sight for me except one demnition grind," replied Winn, +disconsolately; "I get discouraged sometimes and think I am no good on +earth."</p> + +<p>Nickerson looked at him with a sarcastic smile.</p> + +<p>"Winn, my dear fellow," he said at last, "I'm going to be very candid +with you, so don't be angry with me. To begin with you are too honest +and too good-hearted. You think of others first and yourself last, and +then you have scruples. Now scruples don't go here in the city, and +whoever cultivates them gets left. In the first place, Weston & Hill +played you for a dupe, and if I hadn't come to the rescue, you'd have +been stranded on the island and out five hundred, and the natives would +have been ready to ride you on a rail. Then when we saved your bacon and +you knew they were two thieves, you even returned them the little extra +money they had sent you to pay the men. I won't say anything about the +heroic way you made your aunt's loss good. It was heroic, but it wasn't +sense.</p> + +<p>"Now, after all this eye-opening experience, and you on your uppers, so +to speak, I offered to start you in a lawful business, you won't have +it, simply because it smacks of gambling! Winn, you are one of the best +fellows in the world, and I like you, but you are a fool—net!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll keep on being one," answered Winn warmly (for no man enjoys +plain truth), "before I'll open a bucket shop and knowingly rob people."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and walk while the rest ride," asserted Jack, tersely, "you know +the old deacon's advice to his son just starting out in life,—'Make +money, my son, honestly if you can, but make it!'"</p> + +<p>"All very good," replied Winn, "but old. I doubt whether you can change +my fool ideas, if you talk till doomsday; but you may mellow them. And +that reminds me of another fool thing I've done. I bought the sole +right, title, and deed of the Rockhaven Granite Company's quarry a few +weeks ago."</p> + +<p>"The wisest buy you ever made, my boy," answered Jack, quickly; "and now +if you will hustle around and get some men to put money into a new +company, you will be in luck once more." Then, as another idea came to +this quick-witted man of the world, he added, "What's the matter with +Jess Hutton and all the money we made for him?"</p> + +<p>But Winn was silent, while a tide of memory swept over his feelings. And +in it was Mona, with her tender love, and Jess, with the heart and hand +he offered at parting, and all the good people on the island whom Winn +knew to be his friends. And as all the possibilities Rockhaven contained +came back to him, now it suddenly dawned upon him that Jack Nickerson +had named him rightly.</p> + +<p>"I see I've put you to sleep," continued Jack, after the long pause +while he watched Winn, "and now I'll wake you up. I saw Ethel Sherman in +a box at the theatre last night, with our mutual friend, Simmons. He +must have reached his second childhood!"</p> + +<p>Then Winn did wake up.</p> + +<p>And more than that, a few unconsidered trifles connected with this same +vivacious Ethel assumed index shape. He recalled that she had for the +past six weeks specified the evenings she would be at home to him, for +a week ahead. He also recalled that a plenitude of choicest flowers had +always graced her parlor lately.</p> + +<p>"And why not," he answered coolly, "old Simmons is a widower worth a +million, has just built an elegant new residence of the granite we +quarried, and Ethel's in the market. I think she shows good sense—at +least your kind of good sense, Jack."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and of all experienced people," asserted Nickerson, defiantly. +"Sentiment is a fine thing in books or on the stage, it may influence +silly girls or callow boys, but it's out of date in this age."</p> + +<p>And Winn, recalling his own early episode with Ethel, and the lesson in +life that for weeks had been forced upon him, was more than half +inclined to believe his friend to be right.</p> + +<p>And yet, as he thought of this prospective January and May affair, and a +fossil like Simmons, with dyed hair, false teeth, and certainly sixty +years wrinkling his face, he felt disgusted with Ethel. And the more he +thought of the groove he was in, of the cold, selfish, grasping city +life where mammon was king and sentiment a jest, the more his heart +turned to Rockhaven. Then the thought of Mona came back to him, and a +yearning for her, impossible to resist. And with it, self-reproach that +he had let his own discouragement control his actions so long. A few +days more did he waver, and then his heart's impulse won.</p> + +<p>The winter had nearly passed and the days were lengthening when this +impulse came, but he waited no longer.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to Rockhaven," he said to his aunt that night, "and shall be +gone a few days. I've obtained a week's leave of absence from the paper, +and start to-morrow. I want to see Jess Hutton and some of my old +friends there. I've also an idea that possibly the quarry can be started +again. If I can bring it about," he added, after a pause, "how would you +feel about loaning me a few thousand dollars, auntie?"</p> + +<p>Then the motherly side of Mrs. Converse spoke out.</p> + +<p>"I'll do it gladly, Winn," she responded. "I've felt all along that the +money you saved me was more yours than mine, and you shall have all of +it that you need."</p> + +<p>And when Winn left the city, as once before, a new courage and new hopes +tinged his horizon.</p> + +<p>And first and foremost in them was the flowerlike face and soulful eyes +of Mona.</p> + +<p>The wisest of us, however, are but mere bats in this world, blindly +flying hither and thither. At times one may, by sheer good luck, fly +free; and then again we strike our heads against a wall.</p> + +<p>Yet we think we are very wise.</p> + +<p>And so, Winn Hardy, full of hope and love, found, when he reached the +coast town where the steamer <i>Rockhaven</i> made landing, that her trips +were but twice a week now and he had a full day to wait.</p> + +<p>How slowly it passed while he chafed at the delay! how his eagerness to +be with Mona grew! how his longing increased as he counted the hours he +must wait! and with all mingled a self-reproach, need not be specified. +For it had dawned upon Winn that his conclusions regarding Mona might +have been wrong, and once we feel that we have made a mistake, we soon +feel sure that it must be so.</p> + +<p>And Winn was now certain.</p> + +<p>But he would and could repair it easily. All that was necessary was to +assure Mona that he had been discouraged or he would have written again, +and to reproach her gently for neglecting to answer his letter.</p> + +<p>How easily we plan excuses for our own conduct, and how like a child's +toy we are apt to consider a woman's heart!</p> + +<p>When, after a day's wait that seemed a week to Winn, the <i>Rockhaven</i> +made landing, he leaped aboard to grasp Captain Roby's hand almost as +he would a father's. But a half gale was blowing outside, the captain +nervously anxious to unload, and start back; and only a word of greeting +did Winn receive until the steamer was well under way toward Rockhaven. +Then, feeling privileged, he entered the little pilot house.</p> + +<p>"Well, Captain Roby," he said, "how are you and how's the island?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's thar yit," answered that bronze-faced skipper, shifting the +wheel a point and heading seaward, "an' likely to stay thar. It seems +sorter nat'rel to see ye, Mr. Hardy," he added cheerfully, "an' I'm +right glad to git the chance. We've been wonderin' what become o' ye an' +how the quarryin' business was comin' out. Ye ain't thinkin' o' startin' +it up agin, air ye?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly," answered Winn, "in fact, that is a part of my errand here, +and to make you all a visit. The old company failed, as, I presume, you +know, and I've bought the quarry myself now."</p> + +<p>"I'm mighty glad on't," replied the captain cordially, "an' so'll all on +us be. We've sorter took to ye, Mr. Hardy."</p> + +<p>"And how is my old friend, Jess?" asked Winn, unable to withhold that +query longer, "and Mrs. Hutton and her daughter and Mrs. Moore?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, Jess an' the Widder Hutton took a notion to git hitched long 'fore +Christmas," answered the captain slowly, "an' they're gone to the city +'n' taken Mona with 'em. We gin 'em a great send-off, and I run ashore +jist a purpose for 'em. It's curus ye haint seen Jess up thar. I'd +a-s'posed ye would."</p> + +<p>Winn's heart sank.</p> + +<p>"When do you go back, captain?" he said finally, trying to hide his +bitter disappointment. "I supposed you made daily trips as usual."</p> + +<p>"Only Tuesdays and Fridays," he answered; "thar ain't much need o' +runnin' oftener."</p> + +<p>And this was Friday!</p> + +<p>And Winn, the now ardent Romeo, had three full days and four nights to +spend on Rockhaven, and Juliet was not there!</p> + +<p>There are many of the fair sex who will say that it served him right.</p> + +<p>And what a picture of cheerless desolation was this sea-girt island when +Winn neared it! A half gale was blowing, the waves leaping high against +the snow-topped cliffs, and as the <i>Rockhaven</i>, rolling, pitching, and +half coated with frozen spray, turned into the little harbor and neared +her dock, only one man, shivering in oil skins, was there to meet her.</p> + +<p>"I wish ye'd put up with me," said Captain Roby to Winn, when the +steamer's plank was shoved out. "We'd be more'n glad to hev ye, an'll +make ye welcome."</p> + +<p>And Winn, dreading the empty white cottage next to Mrs. Moore's fully as +much as that excellent woman's curiosity, accepted the captain's offer. +That evening, in spite of Winn's disappointment, was a pleasant one to +him, for the news of his arrival had flown like the wind, and a constant +stream of callers came to the captain's house. It seemed as if all +Rockhaven was desirous of extending a welcome hand, and from Parson Bush +down to men whose names Winn had never known, they kept coming. Never +before had he been so lionized or made to feel that he had so many +friends, and so cordially did they one and all greet him that, had the +Rev. Bush suggested that they all join in a hymn of thankfulness, Winn +would not have been more surprised. It recalled the parting words of +Jess, and in a forcible way.</p> + +<p>But alas! that genial philosopher was absent!</p> + +<p>Winn, however, saw his opening, and with a little natural pride, stated +that he now owned the quarry, and, if some capital could be furnished +by these island people, he was in a position to put in a matter of five +or ten thousand dollars, and the industry would be started anew. Then as +a climax to this proposition, he read to them the history of the +Rockhaven Granite Company and gave a description of the auction of its +assets.</p> + +<p>But he did not mention the price he had paid for the quarry.</p> + +<p>It was midnight ere the crowd dispersed and Winn, proud and happy, was +shown to his room. But the next day a reaction came; for when he called +upon Mrs. Moore, as he felt he must, the closed white cottage next door +and the little dooryard, now under snow, where Mona had reared her +flowers, seemed like a tomb. His worthy landlady was overjoyed to see +him, however, and gave an explicit account of the wedding that had +occurred, of Mrs. Hutton's dress, how pretty Mona looked and how happy +all were. She, too, supposed Winn must have heard of it, and marvelled +greatly that the Hutton family could have been in the city now three +months, and Winn not meet them. Where they were stopping, what doing, +and when they were to return, she knew not. So Winn left her, as much in +the dark as ever.</p> + +<p>And then, though the snow lay thick on the ledges swept by the ocean's +winds, like a love-lorn swain he must visit Norse Hill and go over to +the gorge to peer into its interior, and the cave, then back to the old +tide mill and to the village. When Sunday came he was really glad to +attend church, and by evening was so disconsolate that he wished for +wings to fly to the mainland. In spite of cordiality, Rockhaven was now +a desolate spot.</p> + +<p>And when Tuesday came and he sailed away, the sole passenger over the +misty ocean with Captain Roby, Winn was a wiser and sadder man. When he +reached the city he felt that if he could but find Mona, to kneel at her +feet and beg for her love would be a blessed privilege.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIV" id="CHAPTER_XLIV"></a>CHAPTER XLIV</h2> + +<h3>ONLY A MOOD</h3> + + +<p>When Winn reached home, he found two messages awaiting him, one from +Ethel Sherman asking him to call, and another bidding him journey to the +home of his boyhood and attend to a business matter at once. His +birthplace, an almost worthless hillside farm, had been leased to +strangers, but they had scarce obtained a living and, finally, having +denuded it of about everything except the stones and the old +weather-beaten farmhouse, had deserted it, leaving three years' taxes +unpaid.</p> + +<p>And Winn, the sole heir, was now asked to come and pay them, or allow +his boyhood home to be sold for that purpose.</p> + +<p>This, following the bitter disappointment of his Rockhaven trip, seemed +the last straw; and when he called upon Ethel, as perforce he felt he +must, he was in an unenviable frame of mind.</p> + +<p>But she was sweetness personified.</p> + +<p>"Why, Winn, my dear friend," she said, "what have I done to you that +you should desert me so? It's been three weeks since I've set eyes upon +you except at church, and then you would not look at me."</p> + +<p>"I don't imagine that you have suffered much," replied Winn, savagely, +looking at an immense bunch of American Beauty roses on the +centre-table, and thinking of Simmons. "I am a worker in the hive these +days, and 'sassiety' isn't for me."</p> + +<p>Ethel looked at him and laughed.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy," she said sweetly, "you ought to send your temper to the +laundry and feel grateful I wanted to see you. I refused an invitation +to the opera this eve just to have a visit with you, and you come cross +as two sticks."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," he answered, "but I have troubles of my own, and life isn't +all a picnic. For instance, I've got to take a two-hundred-mile ride +into the country to-morrow, pay up the taxes, and find a tenant for the +old farm. I've just returned from a business trip, away five days, and +the editor told me this afternoon if I wanted more time off now I'd +better resign."</p> + +<p>"He's a brute," said Ethel.</p> + +<p>"No, he's a business man," replied Winn, "and I'm his servant, that is +all. I don't intend to be much longer, or any man's for that matter."</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad," she asserted, in the cooing, sympathetic tone a woman +knows so well how to use; "you are capable of better things, Winn, and I +shall welcome the day when you are your own master."</p> + +<p>Then Winn, his vexed spirit soothed by this woman's gentle sympathy, his +self-respect restored by her praise, looked at her admiringly. "Ethel," +he said, "you can mark the two extremes of womankind—angel or +devil—with equal facility. If ever I attempt a novel, you shall be the +heroine."</p> + +<p>"Better not," she laughed. "I've no sentiment, and a heroine without a +heart would be a flat failure. No," she continued musingly, "I've not +even a little one. I used to think I had, but I've outgrown it. +Sentiment on a woman's part these days is a weakness for men to trample +upon. Sister Grace had sentiment. Now she lives in four rooms and tends +baby, while hubby escapes to the club. No, thanks. No sentiment in mine, +please."</p> + +<p>"I begin to think it's folly on either side," asserted Winn, soberly, +"and especially in business. Jack says 'be good and you'll be lonesome,' +and calls me a fool for being honest. You say I am out of my groove here +and that a woman with a heart is a stupid. I am inclined to think that +there is no such thing as truth, honor, and sentiment except among old +fogies and children."</p> + +<p>"There isn't and there is," responded Ethel, philosophically; "no one is +all bad, or at least but few are, while not many are all good. Only, in +matters of the heart, a woman who has one is bound to suffer, unless she +meets and weds a young god, and gods are scarce in this day and +generation."</p> + +<p>"But is she likely to be the happier by marrying for money and +position?" queried Winn, pointedly.</p> + +<p>"To the best of my observation—yes," she answered, understanding +perfectly well what he meant. "And it's to obtain your opinion on that +very subject I asked you to call."</p> + +<p>Winn looked at her long and fixedly.</p> + +<p>Once he had thought this girl the incarnation of all that was lovely and +lovable. Young, handsome, and yet not of the Dresden china order, but +warm, passionate, full of life and good spirits. She was all that now, +but hard-hearted, cool-headed, a diamond among her sex, but not a pansy.</p> + +<p>And so far as he could judge, one who would seek and accept only a +golden setting. Once he had loved her madly, now he enjoyed her keen +wit, her veiled flatteries, her perfect poise, her polished sarcasm, +realizing that she was likely to be an ornament to the man who won her, +but never a heart companion. And now he admired her intensely, but loved +her not at all.</p> + +<p>"Winn," she said at last, smiling, "have you analyzed me sufficiently to +answer my question now?"</p> + +<p>"No," he replied evasively, "and I never can. I've learned one thing, +and learned it well, and that is, it's folly to tell a woman truth in +such matters. They prefer lies that are flattering."</p> + +<p>"Men never do, I suppose," she said, with a tinge of sarcasm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, they do," he admitted candidly; "men positively thirst for +flattery—especially from a woman. But it is safer to tell them the +truth. They will in time forgive that, even if it hurts, but a woman +never will."</p> + +<p>"That's a man's estimate," she asserted, "not a woman's. My belief is, +truth is an unsafe knife to use in either case. But you have not +answered my question."</p> + +<p>"It's hard to do that," he responded, "for it all depends upon what a +woman's idea of happiness is. You, who assert that you are without heart +and believe sentiment a folly, would be miserable, if mated to a poor +man, be he never so faithful in love. You want luxuries, fine gowns, and +plenty of them, since you have beauty; you move in a circle where show +is religion and extravagance a necessity. To you and your associates, +these wants have become habits and rule you all."</p> + +<p>Ethel sighed.</p> + +<p>"We are a hollow set, I'll admit," she said, "and leave the price tag on +all we give away; but still you do not answer my question."</p> + +<p>"No, and no man or woman can," he responded. "As they say on the street, +'it's a gamble either way.' If you marry for love and secure a cottage, +you will sigh for a mansion. If you obtain the mansion and miss the +love, you will sigh for the cottage."</p> + +<p>Then looking at the vase of roses standing near, as if they exhaled a +revelation, he added slowly, "You will be true to your surroundings, +Ethel, and whoever buys you will pay your price."</p> + +<p>She flushed slightly.</p> + +<p>"You put it into unvarnished words," she answered, laughing to conceal +the hurt, "but I can't complain. I asked you for the truth." Then, in +self-defence, she added, a little sadly, "It's not my fault, Winn, that +I am for sale; it's the fault of society and its dictum. I say at times, +as I said to-night, that sentiment is folly; and then again comes a +yearning for something sweeter, something better than this life of show +and shallow platitudes. Occasionally I feel it all a mistake, and envy +Grace. Last summer, when I was up in the mountains, we went driving one +day and stopped at a farmhouse to buy a glass of milk. The house was a +hovel almost; two little children barefooted and bareheaded played under +a tree, and inside a woman was singing. When she brought us the milk, +she, too, was barefoot. We passed that way later, on our return, and she +was still singing at her work. And, in spite of her surroundings, there +was something in her voice that awoke my envy. Her life was poverty +personified; there wasn't another house in sight, and yet she was +happy."</p> + +<p>And Winn, wondering what this all meant and marvelling that this +imperative beauty, this leader of fashion, courted, flattered, and +sought by all, could have one such touch of human feeling, looked at her +in utter astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Ethel," he said, "almost am I persuaded that you have a heart."</p> + +<p>"You had better not," she answered, with a laugh that was a sneer, "you +might pity me, and then I should despise myself;" and, pulling out one +of the roses that drooped toward the table, she slowly picked it to +pieces.</p> + +<p>"Life is but a succession of moods, Winn," she continued, after a pause; +"and some contain the rustle of angels' wings and some the clicking of +devils' teeth. At times I hate the whole world and envy the nuns I meet +in the street, and then again I think them fools."</p> + +<p>Then she arose and seated herself at the piano. For a full ten minutes +she lightly touched the keys, now a few chords of dreamy waltz music, +then a low, plaintive love song, and finally a bit of Sousa, while Winn +quietly studied her.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she turned.</p> + +<p>"Winn," she said, looking him full in the face, "I am going to be very +rude. Tell me what made you go to Rockhaven?"</p> + +<p>His eyes fell. "To see Jess Hutton," he answered, "and the quarry. I +bought it at the auction a month ago."</p> + +<p>It was fairly well said, but not over well.</p> + +<p>"Thanks," she replied, "and forgive my query. There is no need of +repeating it."</p> + +<p>And it was weeks after before it dawned on him what she wished to find +out.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLV" id="CHAPTER_XLV"></a>CHAPTER XLV</h2> + +<h3>THE OLD HOME</h3> + + +<p>There was nothing that could depress Winn just now any more than to +visit his boyhood home. It had been twelve years since he left the +hillside farm, and to return to it, even for a few days and on the +errand that called him, was melancholy in the extreme. Then his trip to +Rockhaven had not helped his feelings. He had gone there expecting to +find Mona, and believing that a few words of explanation would set +matters right. He had even planned what to say and how to say it, and in +the fulness of his faith in himself and her, believed that she would +easily overlook what he now knew was a cruel neglect on his part. Just +why he had let his own discouragement rule him so long and in such a +way, he could not now understand. And the more he thought of it and saw +his own conduct as it was, the worse it seemed. Perhaps she had never +received the letter! Perhaps also she had written, and it had failed to +reach him. And when he recalled the parting, and that all her happiness +and life, almost, seemed to rest on his promise to return, he almost +cursed his own stupidity.</p> + +<p>Verily, a pearl of great price had been cast at his feet, and he had +been too witless to pick it up.</p> + +<p>And now she was here in the city, and had been for months. And other men +might be looking into her winsome eyes, and whispering of love!</p> + +<p>And with these self-reproaches and jealous surmises for company, Winn +sped onward toward his boyhood home.</p> + +<p>It was dark ere a slow-moving stage landed him at the village tavern and +a cheerless supper.</p> + +<p>And the next day's visit to the spot!</p> + +<p>The only redeeming feature seemed to be that it was warm and the sun +shone—one of those first spring days that come the last of March, and +with it the early-arriving bluebirds. They were there when Winn reached +the now deserted farmhouse, where a snow-drift still lingered against +its northern side and patches of the same winter pall draped each stone +wall. The brook which crossed the meadow in front was a brimming +torrent; the barn shed across the road was filled with a confusion of +worn-out vehicles, broken and rusted farming tools half buried in snow, +a drift of which remained in the empty barn, the door of which had +fallen to earth: the fences had great gaps in them; gates were missing; +and ruin and desolation were visible on all sides.</p> + +<p>The house that had once been "Home, Sweet Home," to Winn was the most +lugubrious blotch of all. It had grown brown and moss-covered with time +and the elements, missing window-panes were replaced with rags, bushes +choked the dooryard, and, as he peered into what had once been the "best +room," snow lay on the floor and strips of paper hung from the walls.</p> + +<p>How small the house seemed to what it once had! The old well-sweep had +been used to patch the garden fence, the woodshed roof had fallen in, +and a silence that seemed to crawl out of that old ruin brooded over it.</p> + +<p>This was his boyhood home, and on it lay the burden of three years' +taxes and a mortgage!</p> + +<p>And as Winn looked into windows and then entered, crossing floors +gingerly, lest they give way and pitch him into the cellar, he felt that +it would be a mercy to the world to set the old rookery on fire and +remove it from human sight.</p> + +<p>The solitary note of joy about it was a bluebird piping away in the +near-by orchard, and for that bird's presence there, Winn felt grateful.</p> + +<p>Then he wandered over the orchard, searching for the tree that had +borne seek-no-further apples, and another where he had once met a colony +of angry hang-legs while climbing to rob a bird's nest. He failed to +reach the nest, but those vicious wasps reached him easily enough, and +as Winn recalled the incident he smiled—the first time that day.</p> + +<p>For two hours he roamed about the farm, now hunting for the tree where +he had shot his first squirrel, and then the thicket in which he had +once kept a box-trap set for rabbits. He followed the brook up to the +gorge, sauntered through the chestnut grove and back to where a group of +sugar maples and a sap house stood, thankful that the familiar rocks yet +remained and that the trees had not been cut away, and for the +bluebirds, chirping a welcome.</p> + +<p>Then he left the scenes of his boyhood days, so happy in memory, and as +he drove away, turned for a last look at the old brown house, feeling +much as one does after visiting an ancient graveyard where ancestors lie +buried.</p> + +<p>He had a week's leave of absence from his duties, now ahead of him, and +he went cousining. He also hunted up a few old schoolmates, putting +himself in touch with their rustic lives and talking over school days.</p> + +<p>Then he returned to the city, feeling that luck had dealt unfairly by +him and that he was more out of place than ever.</p> + +<p>And now began a period in Winn's life which he never afterward recalled +without a chill of dread. To no one did he confide his feelings, for no +one, he felt, could understand them. It was not exactly a love-lorn fit +of despondency, and yet it was, for Mona was ever present in his +thoughts. He avoided Jack Nickerson, hating to listen to his inevitable +sneering, and kept away from Ethel Sherman. He hunted for news items, as +duty called him, visiting the stock exchange, the theatre, the court +rooms, and the morgue. And while he looked for news, recording simple +drunks and their penalties, suicides and their names and history, and +the advent of theatrical stars with equal indifference, he scanned the +crowded streets and all public places, ever on the watch for one fair +face. Often he would stand on a corner for an hour, watching the passing +throng, and then at a theatre entrance until all had departed. And +though he was one of that busy throng of pushing people, a spectator of +careless, laughing humanity crowding into and out of playhouses, he was +not of them. Instead was he a disappointed, discouraged man, whose +ambitions had come to naught and whose hopes were in shadow. He was +moody and silent at home and aimless at his work, and as the days went +by with never one glimpse of the face he now longed to see more than all +else in the world, he grew utterly hopeless.</p> + +<p>How many times had he lived over those summer days on Rockhaven, how +often fancied himself in the cave listening to the artless words and +simple music of that child of nature, and how he cursed his own +stupidity and lack of appreciation, need not be specified.</p> + +<p>With him, as with us all, the blessings that had been his seemed to +brighten and grow dearer as they took flight.</p> + +<p>And of Mona or her whereabouts, not one word or hint had reached him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVI" id="CHAPTER_XLVI"></a>CHAPTER XLVI</h2> + +<h3>A NEW STAR</h3> + + +<p>To that city, surfeited with pleasure, a new sensation had come, and +while Winn Hardy was aimlessly gathering news items, too disconsolate to +read the amusement notes even, and caring not at all what happened in +stage-land, it was slowly spreading. A little ripple at first, when the +few who could appreciate the exquisite nature of Mona's simple music, +heard her to go away charmed and come again, the while telling all whom +they knew of it, until the "Alhambra" was packed each night and "Mlle. +Mona in Scotch Melodies," as the sign that flanked either side of the +stage read, was all the rage. Then the papers picked it up and the +musical critics exhausted their vocabularies about her. They extolled +her pose, expression, and inflection; they went into raptures over +technique, time, and timbre; they lauded her classic profile, her arm, +her throat, her eyes; while Mona, unmindful of all their clatter, forgot +herself each night as she threw her very heart and soul into her +playing.</p> + +<p>And Fritz grew mad with love!</p> + +<p>She practised still, hours each day on new and classic music; he +insisted that she should, and when some soulless sonata, some delirious +composition full of leaps and quivers and trills was learned, she +executed it at night.</p> + +<p>But it was the simple and sweet old songs of Bonnie Scotland that won +applause.</p> + +<p>And when, as happened almost nightly, some admirer gave a basket or +bouquet of costly flowers to an usher to be passed up over the +footlights to her, they were usually tied with tartan ribbon.</p> + +<p>And the little German teacher had almost lost his reason.</p> + +<p>Twice he had been on his knees before her, and with hand on heart and in +broken English, disclosed his love for "Mein Fraulein Liebchen."</p> + +<p>But Mona only shook her head.</p> + +<p>He wept, he raved, he smote his breast, and would have kissed the shoes +she wore, if she would have but stood still and allowed it.</p> + +<p>There were others who sent her notes tucked in baskets of flowers, they +begged for an interview, for just one word of reply. They covered pages +with wild declarations of love, they sent her costly jewels tied to love +missives, in the vain hope of an answer, and gathered at the stage door +to see her pass in and out. But Jess, like an old watch dog, was always +on guard. He went with her to the "Alhambra" each night and waited until +she had "done her turn," and after she had changed her garb, helped her +into a carriage and rode home with her.</p> + +<p>He well might care for her, for each week the manager paid for her "act" +what would have been regarded on Rockhaven as a small fortune, and +considered it cheap at that price.</p> + +<p>And Mona, growing accustomed now to the sea of faces she had once +feared, watched them covertly each evening, hoping and yet dreading to +catch sight of a certain one among them.</p> + +<p>It was all a new wonder world, a strange, sweet intoxication, and like a +dream to her. She rejoiced in her power, conscious, as well she might +be, how she could sway the thousands to wild applause and some to tears. +And when it was all over and she away from the scene of her triumph each +time, she wondered if <i>he</i> had made one in that audience. And what would +he say and think, if he was? And what would he do? Had he quite +forgotten the simple child who amused him one summer, or would he seek +her out?</p> + +<p>And when she thought of how like a silly girl she had raised her lips +to him at the moment of parting, and the tears she had shed, her face +burned.</p> + +<p>Then pride came forth, and she felt that, if he ever did seek her again, +he would have to beg forgiveness on his knees, protesting even as Fritz +had, before she would extend a hand even. For Mona was growing proud and +conscious of her own power at this time.</p> + +<p>The weeks during which she had nightly reigned as a queen over +thousands, the storms of applause she had heard when bowing and smiling +before them, and all the flatteries of flowers and words that had been +showered upon her, had wrought its inevitable change. Only to Uncle Jess +was she the same. And he?</p> + +<p>Well, never in his life had so much happiness come as now. He seemed to +grow younger each day, for in the new joy that had come to Mona he found +his own. Then, too, a change came to Mona's mother. No longer did she +consider "fiddlin' a man's business," and frown at her child. In their +temporary home that daughter ruled supreme, her every wish gratified, +her every whim considered just right.</p> + +<p>"We'll go back 'n' visit the island fer a spell," Jess said, when the +season at the "Alhambra" was nearing its close; "an' then we'll take ye +'round, girlie, an' let ye see the world. I kin 'ford it now, 'n' the +best is none too good fer ye."</p> + +<p>But the current of Fate twists and turns us at will, while adown the +stream of life we float, and sometimes we drift into smooth waters and +again we are dashed against the rocks. With our will or against our +will, no matter, we are swept on.</p> + +<p>And a Power quite beyond our ken is ever in control.</p> + +<p>And one evening, despondent, aimless, and feeling life a hopeless fight +and Fate against him, Winn Hardy drifted into the "Alhambra."</p> + +<p>No knowledge of the star that nightly blazed there had reached him, and +if he had read of her, it was as of others who were noticed by the press +and unknown to him. He came in, as he entered other theatres, on a +reporter's pass, privileged to take a seat if not occupied, or else +stand. In this case, it seemed the latter, for the house was packed and +a fringe of men circled the foyer. The boxes were also filled; and as +Winn glanced across to them, there in one, dressed in evening gown, her +arms and shoulders bare, and slowly fanning herself, sat Ethel Sherman. +And with her—Simmons!</p> + +<p>It was nothing to Winn, of course, and yet it awoke disgust.</p> + +<p>The usual vaudeville acts were on in turn, and Winn, somewhat weary with +life, and watching one particular box more than the stage, was about to +leave when suddenly a wild burst of applause swept over the house, and +there, just tripping on to the stage, bowing and smiling as she came +was—Mona!</p> + +<p>For one instant his heart stopped beating.</p> + +<p>Great Heavens, could it be possible, or was this some insane dream! He +gasped for breath.</p> + +<p>The house seemed to twist and turn.</p> + +<p>And then, as he leaned against a pillar to steady himself, a hush came.</p> + +<p>And what a picture stood before him!</p> + +<p>Not the half-developed, ill-clad girl who had sat with him in the cave! +Not the timid child with wondering eyes, looking up to him as a superior +being! Not the gentle Mona, the sweet flower, awaiting his hand. Oh, no!</p> + +<p>Instead, a proud and beautiful woman, erect and smiling, with conscious +power. A stately creature with rounded arms, dimpled throat, and perfect +shoulders like marble, emerging from the soft white silk that trailed +upon the stage. And in the crowning coils of hair, black as night, a +single pink rosebud, half open, and in her hand the same old brown +violin!</p> + +<p>Then bowing to right and left, as she swept that vast audience with her +eyes, while the storm of applause continued, she raised it to her chin.</p> + +<p>Not a breath, not a whisper now, as the matchless voice of her music +rippled forth, tinkling like tiny bells on a mountain side, murmuring +like a brook in forest stillness, sweet as a bird singing in the +sunlight.</p> + +<p>And when she had held that vast throng spellbound, entranced, +breathless, until the last exquisite note had vibrated in their hearts, +and bowed again once more, a tornado of sound burst forth. While they +cheered and shouted, adown each aisle ushers hurried with costly flowers +and wreaths, and baskets and bunches of them were tossed upon the stage +like so many leaves.</p> + +<p>Then Winn saw Ethel Sherman rise in her box and throw the great bunch of +orchids she had held into the pile at Mona's feet.</p> + +<p>And then that queen in white raised her violin once more. And once +again, as many times before, the old love song that has thrilled the +world for centuries carried Winn's heart back to the cave on Rockhaven +and the twilight hour when its voice of undying love had mingled with +the ocean requiem.</p> + +<p>Lost was he now to the time and place and that spellbound audience; lost +to the burst of applause that again shook the very building, to the men +who cheered, the women who wept. Lost to all and everything except his +own heartache.</p> + +<p>And as he brushed his eyes free from the mist that had gathered, and +turned away, it was in utter despondency and humiliation, believing his +love hopeless now, and forgiveness from Mona impossible.</p> + +<p>The next morning, reading the double-leaded headlines announcing the +farewell appearance of this peerless queen of melody and the columns of +fulsome praise that followed, only increased that feeling. Her laurels +had been won, her crown secured, and now his love would be a worthless +toy in her estimation.</p> + +<p>All that was left was to see her, if he could, and beg her forgiveness.</p> + +<p>But even this was denied him.</p> + +<p>"I'm a friend of Miss Hutton's," he said to the "Alhambra" manager early +that day, "and I wish to obtain her address."</p> + +<p>"I've no doubt of it," replied the man, in a sneering tone; "lots of her +admirers have wanted it, and kept on wanting it for all me."</p> + +<p>"But I am a friend of hers," persisted Winn, his ire rising, "and I wish +to see her."</p> + +<p>"Well, go hunt for her," came the insolent answer. "She's in the city; +but her address is her private property, and you don't learn it from +me." And he turned away.</p> + +<p>And Winn did likewise, too angry for further parley.</p> + +<p>And that night, impelled a little by penitence and more by despondency, +he called on Ethel Sherman.</p> + +<p>"How did you enjoy Scotch melodies last evening?" he said gently, not +wishing to seem inquisitive; "I saw you in a box at the 'Alhambra.'"</p> + +<p>"Enjoy hardly expresses it," she answered earnestly; "I was spellbound, +enraptured, and moved to tears. It was silly, I know, but I couldn't +help it. Did you see me throw my flowers at the girl?"</p> + +<p>"I did," he replied, his heart throbbing; "and you were not alone in +your enthusiasm. She seemed to carry the house by storm. It was her +farewell appearance, I noticed by the papers this morning."</p> + +<p>He was trying to speak indifferently, but it was not easy.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," she responded, eyeing him keenly; "I've heard her five +times in the past two weeks, and yesterday learned she was from +Rockhaven. Did you ever hear her before?"</p> + +<p>Then Winn knew that his secret was a secret no longer.</p> + +<p>"I have," he admitted modestly; "she is the niece of Jess Hutton."</p> + +<p>"And it was to see her that you went to the island two weeks ago," +pursued Ethel, smiling; "I thought as much then."</p> + +<p>For a moment she tapped the carpet with one dainty slipper, while her +lips were pressed tightly together, and then she continued:—</p> + +<p>"I knew last summer," she said, in a cool and even voice, "that you had +left your heart on the island when you came back. Permit me to +congratulate you. The girl is a marvel."</p> + +<p>"It is very kind of you to say so," he responded dejectedly, "but +useless. I didn't find her when I went there, and it's all over between +us, I presume."</p> + +<p>Then Ethel laughed, but it was unnatural, and like the rattle of dry +bones. "Not a bit of it," she said briskly; "women with such eyes as +hers do not unlearn the lesson of love easily. You may have to beg +forgiveness for your neglect on your knees, but you will receive it. It +is such souls as hers that give the lie to all our worldly philosophy."</p> + +<p>"Have you such a one?" he queried thoughtlessly.</p> + +<p>Her eyes flashed.</p> + +<p>"No," she answered bitterly; "no one ever accused me of such folly. I +have no heart, and am for sale to the highest bidder."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Ethel," he said humbly, "I was only thinking of the +long ago, and forgot what I was then."</p> + +<p>"You need not," she replied, turning away. "I only am to blame, but—it +hurt—from you."</p> + +<p>Then, covering her eyes with one hand, she added slowly, as if the words +came hard: "It's all past and gone, Winn, but—but I did not know myself +then, and now it's too late. God help me!"</p> + +<p>At the door she laid a detaining hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>"I wish you well," she said, with a quiver in her voice; "I wish you all +that's best and holiest in life. Go to your island girl, and at once. +She is worthy of you, and you of her. We have been good friends, and I +hope always will be. Love is only an illusion, but friendship endless. +And now, good-by, and God bless you!"</p> + +<p>And Winn, going out into the night, knew that the proud girl was reaping +the pain she had sown.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVII" id="CHAPTER_XLVII"></a>CHAPTER XLVII</h2> + +<h3>LOVE ETERNAL</h3> + +<p>The first warm days of spring had come to Rockhaven ere Mona and her +parents returned. The sunny slopes back of the village were growing +green, the tulips and daffodils in Mona's dooryard just peeping out, the +gulls on the cliffs nest-building, the fishermen painting their boats +and mending nets, Parson Bush, with two helpers, thanks to Rockhaven +stock, shingling the church, and life on the island budding forth into +vernal activity. No hint of Mona's proud life in the city and wonderful +triumph had reached those people, and the Hutton family were welcomed +back as returning from a pleasure trip.</p> + +<p>It was Mona's expressed wish that no mention be made of her musical +ambition and its success, and as her desires were now law with Jess and +her mother, she was obeyed. Captain Roby had told them of Winn's +astonishing and unexpected visit before they set foot on the island; and +it was repeated by many others with sundry comments, all converging to +one end, Mrs. Moore's being the most pointed, perhaps, and therefore +best to quote.</p> + +<p>"I think," said that well-intentioned gossip-monger to Mona, "he come +here to make ye a visit, more 'speshly, though he said he wanted to see +what could be done 'bout settin' the quarry a-goin'. He called on me, +and the only thing he seemed to listen to with any sort o' interest was +'bout you goin' away and when you was like to come back. I never seen a +feller act more love-struck than he was, an' more out o' sorts. He even +went a wandering over the island in the snow, like as if he was +demented."</p> + +<p>All this was a revelation to Mona, and unaccountable. At first it +provoked her silent derision and increased the bitterness and almost +hatred which she had come to feel toward this erstwhile lover.</p> + +<p>Mona Hutton was what country people would call a strange compound: a +product of a lone sea island, of its storms and the unceasing booming of +billows; of days, weeks, and months spent alone, where only the ocean +voiced eternity; of the whispers of winds in spruce thickets, of the +gorge and the cave where she hid herself; of her own moods, sad, solemn, +and contemplative. She had grown up close to God, but distant from man. +The flowers blooming in her dooryard, the wild roses clinging to life +between the granite ledges, the sea-gulls sailing over the cliffs, the +inward rush of the white-crested waves tossing the rockweed and kelpie +upward, and the starfish and anemones left by the tide had been her +playmates. She had learned to depend on these and her violin for +company. Lovers she had none, neither were other island young folk akin +to her. Between her mother and herself, also, was a chasm. It had been +opened when that unsympathetic mother forbade the violin in her house, +and was never afterward bridged. Jess only understood her. Jess, with +his quaint philosophy, tender heart, unselfish impulses, and love of +nature, had been her spiritual and moral mentor. To him had she gone +with her moods, and upon him lavished her childhood and girlhood love.</p> + +<p>And then had come a new and strangely sweet illusion, a glow of new +sunshine warming her heart and adding a roseate hue to her thoughts. It +was unaccountable but charming, and seemed to lend a sparkle to the sea +waves, a more impressive grandeur to the limitless ocean, a tenderer +beauty to the moonlight. The gorge and the cave seemed an enchanted nook +in fairyland, and the old tide mill a romantic ruin.</p> + +<p>Then had come the climax of this strange intoxication, the one ecstatic +moment when this magician over her thoughts, this Prince Perfect, had +entwined his arms about her and whispered, "I love you."</p> + +<p>Repel him she could not, neither did she care to do so. It was to her as +if the gates of another world were opened; and in the wondrous thrill of +his lips she forgot herself, life, and God, even.</p> + +<p>And then the cold and cruel message that said to her, "Forget me as I +must you." It was a summer-day dream, with no hope of renewal.</p> + +<p>Then came the long fight against her own heart's desire, the months of +hopeless hope, and, at last, the will to win her way to the world's +applause.</p> + +<p>He was there! He might, must, see or hear of her! He had said the world +would listen entranced if she had but the courage to stand before them! +And the old Carver will that was in her now nerved her to her trial.</p> + +<p>And in the days and weeks of the strange new life while she hoped, and +yet feared, to meet him, that one thought was her staff. It was with her +by day and by night, a silent defiance of love, a revenge for her pain. +When the supreme moment of her trial came and she stood before that sea +of faces, only her young, trembling body was there, her every thought, +her heart and soul even, were back in the cave, and he was listening.</p> + +<p>And it was because this cry of love, this thrill of longing, leaped out +of her fingers and spoke in every note of the songs she played, that she +won her triumph.</p> + +<p>For the applause she heard, the flowers showered upon her, the money +received, she cared not at all. To reach him, show him what she could +do, ay, defy him even with the skill of her art, the majesty of her +courage, was everything.</p> + +<p>And this was Mona Hutton, and now it was all over.</p> + +<p>She had won her crown, fame was hers, the world of his city had bowed +before her, but he was not there, or if he had been, she knew it not.</p> + +<p>For days this defiance of her own love lasted, and then a change came. +Little by little the leaven of his coming there softened her heart. +Perhaps he had been ill, or not in the city at all? Perhaps he had been, +as he wrote, discouraged and hopeless? Perhaps she had not understood +his letter? When love once sought excuses, they came in plenty, and she +began to upbraid herself. Why had she not sent him one word of love, one +message of faith?</p> + +<p>And then this strange child of impulses, this girl of moods and +fancies, sombre as twilight in the gorge and sad as a whisper of sea +winds in the pine trees, betook herself away from even Jess to nurse her +heart-sickness again.</p> + +<p>She had been proud and defiant when she faced the world, scornful while +pride lasted; now she was a contrite child, pitiful in her +self-reproaches.</p> + +<p>Each day she went to the tower to live over that parting in tears and +heartache, and then to the cave, striving to recall every word, and +look, and smile of his.</p> + +<p>A pilgrimage to the shrine of love! A journey to the grave of hope!</p> + +<p>Sometimes she carried her violin, but its strings remained mute.</p> + +<p>Sometimes she fondled and kissed the sea-shells and starfish, now dry +and hard, which his hand had carried to this trysting-place.</p> + +<p>Sometimes—yea, often, had tears fallen upon the cold stone floor of +that nook, even as our tears fall upon the grass-grown graves of those +we have lost.</p> + +<p>And then, one day, just as the twilight had darkened the gorge, and she, +hopeless and heart-broken, leaned against the cave's cold wall, she saw +him enter the ravine.</p> + +<p>Step by step he climbed upward until the cave was reached, and then he +knelt before her.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Mona," he said gently, extending his hands, "I have loved +you always," and as he gathered her close in his arms, God's whisper of +life and love eternal spoke from those granite walls.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVIII" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII"></a>CHAPTER XLVIII</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> + + +<p>The ocean billows still beat unceasingly against Rockhaven's granite +cliffs and toss the rockweed and kelpie aloft. The tide still ebbs and +flows beneath the old mill, and the fishermen still mend their nets and +sail away. Parson Bush is getting old and feeble, and his hair white as +snow. He still utters fervent thanks, however, for the many blessings +that have come to this far-off island, including the new church Jess and +Winn were instrumental in building. The same old bell still hangs in its +tower, and Sunday evenings always answers the one in Northaven. Its +sound is sweet to Winn, for it always recalls his boyhood days and marks +a turning-point in his life-history. He is president of the new +Rockhaven Granite Company now, and prosperous. A beautiful residence of +granite stands back of the old tower on Norse Hill, and there Winn and +Mona abide in summer, though the city claims them winters. Mona often +entertains her friends with her violin, but no money would tempt her +again to play in public. Jess still fiddles when he is "lunsum," which +is not often, for a little girl with eyes like Mona's thinks "Gampa" the +most wonderful man who ever lived. A boy, two years older, would cut +that fiddle open to find what made the noise, if he got the chance. They +both pursue him from morn till eve and, in spite of their mother's +protest, give him no rest.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus6" id="illus6"></a> +<img src="images/illus6.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Rockhaven.</span></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"Let 'em have all the fun they kin," he says, when Mona tries to call +them off; "they won't be young but once, an' when they git old they'll +hev' trouble 'nuff to make up."</p> + +<p>Winn and Mona often visit the gorge on pleasant Sunday afternoons, for +the exquisite chords of romance still vibrate in their hearts. +Occasionally she takes her violin along, and once more the old sweet +love songs whisper out of the cave.</p> + +<p>And hidden away in one corner of it, never disturbed, are a few +sea-shells and dried starfish.</p> + + +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rockhaven, by Charles Munn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROCKHAVEN *** + +***** This file should be named 33787-h.htm or 33787-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/7/8/33787/ + +Produced by Matthew Rongey, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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: Rockhaven + +Author: Charles Munn + +Illustrator: Frank Merrill + +Release Date: September 21, 2010 [EBook #33787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROCKHAVEN *** + + + + +Produced by Matthew Rongey, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + ROCKHAVEN + + BY CHARLES CLARK MUNN + + AUTHOR OF "POCKET ISLAND" AND "UNCLE TERRY" + + + _ILLUSTRATED BY_ + _FRANK T. MERRILL_ + + + BOSTON + LEE AND SHEPARD + MCMII + + Published March, 1902. + + Copyright, 1902, by Lee and Shepard. + + _All Rights Reserved._ + + Rockhaven. + + Norwood Press + J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith + Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + To All + WHO DESPISE HYPOCRISY AND DECEPTION + WHO ADMIRE MANLY COURAGE AND WOMANLY DEVOTION + WHOSE HEARTS YET VIBRATE TO THE + CHORDS OF ROMANCE + AND WHO RESPECT SIMPLE FAITH IN AND + GRATITUDE TO GOD + This Book is Respectfully Dedicated + BY THE AUTHOR + + +[Illustration: THE OLD TIDE-MILL.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. ON ROCKHAVEN + +II. WINN HARDY + +III. THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY + +IV. WHERE THE SEA-GULLS COME + +V. JESS HUTTON + +VI. THE BUD OF A ROMANCE + +VII. SUNDAY ON ROCKHAVEN + +VIII. THE HAND OF FATE + +IX. A FRIENDLY HAND + +X. MONA HUTTON + +XI. THE DEVIL'S OVEN + +XII. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS + +XIII. WILD ROSES + +XIV. J. MALCOLM WESTON + +XV. A MATTER OF BUSINESS + +XVI. THE GROWTH OF A BUBBLE + +XVII. IN THE PATH OF MOONLIGHT + +XVIII. IN A FOG + +XIX. A PHILOSOPHER + +XX. A CLOUD OVER ROCKHAVEN + +XXI. THE MOOD OF THE BELLS + +XXII. TWO RASCALS + +XXIII. THE STARTING OF A "CORNER" + +XXIV. THE PROGRESS OF A "CORNER" + +XXV. A SUMMER DAY + +XXVI. A CLIMAX + +XXVII. SEVERING THE TIES + +XXVIII. ON 'CHANGE + +XXIX. THE BUBBLE RISES + +XXX. THE BUBBLE BURSTS + +XXXI. TWO DOGS AND A BONE + +XXXII. THE AFTERMATH OF A SWINDLE + +XXXIII. A TOUCH OF HEROISM + +XXXIV. A WOMAN'S WILES + +XXXV. THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE + +XXXVI. GOING, GOING, GONE! + +XXXVII. A SOCIAL CYNIC + +XXXVIII. THE END OF AN IDYL + +XXXIX. A GRAY-HAIRED ROMANCE + +XL. A GOOD SEND-OFF + +XLI. EIN WUNDERBARES FRAULEIN + +XLII. THE ROAD TO THE TEMPLE + +XLIII. THE CYNIC'S SHADOW + +XLIV. ONLY A MOOD + +XLV. THE OLD HOME + +XLVI. A NEW STAR + +XLVII. LOVE ETERNAL + +XLVIII. CONCLUSION + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE OLD TIDE-MILL + +MONA + +JESS HUTTON, PHILOSOPHER + +THE DEVIL'S OVEN + +THE BUBBLE BURSTS + +ROCKHAVEN + + + + +ROCKHAVEN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ON ROCKHAVEN + + +"It ain't more'n onct in a lifetime," said Jess Hutton to the crowd of +friends in his store, "that luck comes thick 'n' fat to any on us 'n' so +fer that reason I sent over to the mainland fer suthin' o' a liquid +natur; 'n' now take hold, all hands, 'n' injie yerselves on Jess." + +With that he began setting forth upon the counter, in battle array, +dozens upon dozens of bottles filled with dark brown liquid and +interspersed with boxes of cigars. For Jess Hutton, the oracle, +principal storekeeper, first selectman, school committeeman, prize story +teller, philosopher and friend to everybody on Rockhaven island, had +sold a few acres of granite ledge he set no value upon, for two thousand +dollars, half cash down; and being a man of generous impulses, had +invited the circle of friends most congenial, to "drop round ternight +'n' I'll set 'em up." + +It is true that the cigars he passed out so freely were not imported, +still they were the best he kept, and not the cheap brand most in demand +on Rockhaven, and the bottles contained the vintage of hops and malt +instead of "extra dry," but both were urged upon all in a way that left +refusal impossible. + +And of that unique gathering of men, with sea-tanned faces, garbed +mainly in shirt, trousers, and sailor caps, some wearing boots, some +slippers, some barefoot, nearly all addressed one another as "Cap" or +"Cap'n," for to own a fishing sloop or jigger on Rockhaven meant +distinction. + +"I dunno how it all come about," said Jess, when the popping of corks +had ceased and the incense of cabbage leaves began to arise, "but I was +sorter dozin' on the counter that day when this bloomin' freak, with +white duck pants, 'n' cap, 'n' shirt, 'n' gray side whiskers, blew in, +'n' the fust I know'd, I heerd him say, 'Come, wake up, Rip Van Winkle! +I want ter buy yer quarry!' + +"Then I sot up 'n' rubbed my eyes 'n' looked at him, sure he must be one +o' them make-believe sailors off a yacht I'd seen run in the night +afore, 'n' had come ashore with skates on. + +"'Want ter buy what?' I sez. 'Want ter buy yer quarry,' he sez again. 'I +heerd ye owned the one t'other side o' the harbor, 'n' if ye want ter +sell it cheap, I'll buy it.' Then I looked at him harder'n ever; sure he +had a jag 'n' was makin' game o' me. + +"'Yes,' I sez, 'I'll sell ye the quarry, or the hull island, if ye ain't +sure ye own it already. Better go into the back o' the store 'n' lay +down on a pile o' old sails ye'll find thar, 'n' sleep it off. Things'll +look more nat'ral to ye by that time.' With that he laffed fit ter +split. 'You're all right, old sport,' he sez, 'but I ain't drunk, 'n' if +ye'll set the price low enough, I'll buy yer quarry and pay ye cash +fer't.' + +"'Wal,' I sez, thinkin' I'd set the price high 'nough ter knock him +galley west, 'I'll take three thousand dollars fer't.' + +"'I'll give ye two,' he said, ''n' pay yer half down.' 'Hev ye got it +with ye?' I sed. 'I hev,' he said, 'aboord the boat, or I'll give ye a +check.' 'Checks don't go here,' I said, 'but if ye've got real money, +'n' mean business, it's yourn at that figger.' Then he went off, 'n' I +was so sure I'd never set eyes on him ag'in I went ter sleep. It didn't +seem five minutes till he blew in ag'in. 'How many acres o' that ledge +do ye own,' he said, 'an' how many goes with the quarry?' 'Wall,' I +said, 'there's about a hundred, 'n' if that ain't nuff ter keep ye busy +blastin' the rest o' yer nateral life, I'll throw in the hull o' Norse +Hill jist ter bind the bargain,' fer I didn't no more s'pose he meant +bizniss than I s'posed I'd got wings. 'Wal,' he says, pullin' out a roll +o' bills bigger'n my arm. 'Here's the kale seed, an' when ye'll show me +what I'm buyin' 'n' a deed on't, it's yourn.' + +"Wal, I jist pinched myself, ter see if I was 'wake, an' jumpin' off the +counter, fished a deed out o' my safe 'n' took it 'long, an' showed him +round the ledge, believin' all the time when he'd seen it, he'd tell me +ter go soak my head, er suthin' o' that sort. But he didn't, an' arter I +got hold o' the money 'n' counted it, wonderin' if it wasn't all bogus, +'n' give him a receipt, 'n' he'd gone off, I went 'n' stuck a pin into +my leg, jist ter be sure I was awake, after all. That was a week ago," +continued Jess, lighting one of the cigars he had set forth, "but I +didn't say nuthin' 'bout it till I'd gone ashore with the money an' the +bank folks hed said it was all right, 'n' now I think I've lost jist a +thousand dollars by not askin' four for't. Why, the loonytic acted as +though he owned a printin' press that made money, an' was goin' all the +time." + +"Wish I'd been ashore," observed Captain Moore, who was one of the +group, "I'd a tackled him ter buy the _Nancy Jane_. She's been lyin' +inside o' the harbor, half full o' bilge water, fer more'n a year, an' +ain't wuth scuttlin'. Ye'd orter 'a thought on't, Jess, an' persuaded +him he could 'a used 'r to carry stun in." + +"An' if I'd a-knowed it," put in Cap'n Jet Doty, another of the group, +"I'd a tried him on 'bout a hundred kit o' mackerel we've got that's a +trifful rusty. He cud a-used 'em somehow. Ye'd orter think o' yer +neighbors, Jess, in such a case, an' let 'em in on't." + +"I dunno but ye're right," responded Jess; "but I wus caught nappin', +'n' I cac'late that if any o' ye hed been woke up by sech a lubber with +gray whiskers, like stun'sls, an' dude cloes like these jackdaw yachters +wear, an offerin' ye two thousand dollars fer what ye'd sell fer fifty, +an' no takers, ye'd a-bin sot back, so ter speak. If I'd a hed time ter +think an' knowed what an easy mark the cuss was, I'd a-laid ter sell him +the hull island 'n' divided it up all round." + +And be it said that if all the landowners of Rockhaven had obtained even +what they valued their holdings at, they would have sold cheerfully, for +out of the eighty odd square miles of the island, not one quarter was of +soil, and much of that so sandy that only bayberry bushes and wild +roses grew on it, or else thickets of stunted spruce. The only means of +livelihood to most was the sea, and if nature had not endowed the island +with a capacious land-locked harbor and a few acres of productive soil +beyond it, and shut in by wall-like shores, Rockhaven would have been +left to the sea-gulls that infested its cliffs, or the fish-hawks that +found its harbor good fishing ground. + +"What'd ye s'pose he's goin' ter do with it, now he's got it?" put in +Cap'n Doty, when Jess had finished his recital, and having in mind his +stock of rusty mackerel. "Will he come down here 'n' go ter quarryin'?" + +"Mebbe he wants it fer ballast fer a new boat," interposed young Dave +Moore. "Or fer buildin' a house," put in Dave's brother, Sam. "Cheer up, +uncle, we may sell him the _Nancy Jane_ yit. He'll hev ter hire or buy +suthin' ter carry stun 'way from the island. He can't make a raft on't." + +"An' if he does," asserted Cap'n Moore, addressing Cap'n Doty, who sat +opposite him on a cracker barrel, "ye'd git a chance to work off them +mackerel." + +"I dunno what he's goin' ter do with it," asserted Jess, when a pause +came, "nor care, so long's I git t'other thousand as is comin' when +deeds is passed. I ain't sure I'll git that, either," he added +candidly, "but if I don't the quarry's still mine 'n' a cool thousand o' +that freak's good money's gone out o' circulation anyhow, which is some +comfort." + +Then came a lull in conversation, and in place the popping of more corks +and "Here's to yer good luck, Jess," as bottles were elevated and +pointed downward. + +"Come, Jess," said Dave Moore, when this second libation had been +indulged in, and who was in a mood for hearing yarns, "tell 'em 'bout +old Bill Atlas." + +Now this tale, antedating the day and generation of most of Jess +Hutton's auditors, was nevertheless a favorite with him and one he +always enjoyed telling. + +"Wal," he said, "if ye want ter hear 'bout old Bill, I'll tell ye, +though some o' ye here hez heerd 'bout him afore, I reckon. It's been a +good many years since Bill took to his wings, humsoever, 'n' so his +hist'ry may be divartin'. Bill used ter live all 'lone in a little shack +he'd built out o' drift, half way 'tween here and Northaven. That is, he +slept thar nights when he was ashore, fer he was away fishin' most o' +the time. He were the worst soaker on the island, an' from the time he +sot foot ashore 'n' got his pay until every cent was spent, he didn't +draw a sober breath. Thar wan't no use arguin' with Bill, or doin' +anything to reform him. Jist the moment he got a dollar, jist that +moment he started in ter git drunk 'n' allus succeeded. Even Parson +Bush, who hed jist come here then 'n' anxious ter do good, failed on +Bill. No 'mount o' argufyin' 'bout the worm that never dies or the fate +o' sinners hed a mite o' influence on Bill. + +"'Parson,' he'd say, 'thar ain't no use a-talkin' ter me. Licker was +made ter be drunk, else why was it made at all, 'n' if the Lord Almighty +didn't cac'late fer me ter drink it, why did he make me hanker for't? Ye +jist preach ter them as is like ter mind it an'll foller it. I ain't, +an' it'll do no good.' An' then Bill'd roll away an' fill up. He wa'n't +a quarrelsome cuss, jist a good-natured soaker who meant ter git drunk, +'n' done it, an' never meant ter bother nobody when he was. + +"But some on us young folks in them days sot out to hev fun with Bill +once upon a time, an' we did, an' more'n that, we joggled him so he quit +drinkin' fer most a year. He'd had one er two fits o' tremens afore that +time, 'n' had sorter got skeery 'bout seein' things, so our trick worked +fust rate. One o' the smacks hed jist brought in a hogfish that day, an' +it was the worst lookin' critter that ever growed in the sea. It +weighed 'bout fifty poun' 'n' was 'most all mouth 'n' teeth. Bill was up +in the corner o' a fish house sleepin' off a jag when the critter was +h'isted onto the dock, 'n' the moment we spied it we said we'd try it on +Bill. We told everybody ter keep quiet 'n' then we went at it. Fust we +lugged the hogfish over ter Bill's shack, which was out on the end o' a +little pint 'n' sorter shut in 'tween the rocks, 'n' then we got an old +bit o' sail and went ter work. We sot the critter up on stuns, right in +front o' the shack, 'n' made a tail 'bout forty feet long out o' the +sail, an' stuffed it nat'ral like, 'n' then rigged lines running over +the shanty to work the critter's mouth 'n' tail up 'n' down when the +time come. It was 'long in the arternoon when we sot about 'n' we +cac'lated Bill 'd wake up sometime arter dark 'n' come to his shack in +jist the mood ter 'preciate the good thing that we hed waitin' fer him. +Then to sorter liven up matters, we took a handful o' matches, an' +dampenin' 'em, rubbed the ends round the eyes an' mouth o' the critter, +'n' in spots 'long the tail, where we was to hist it a little. It was +clear dark afore we got the trap all sot 'n' baited, 'n' then five on us +took the lines and tried the joke. It worked pretty slick, 'n' ter see +that critter's mouth, more'n a foot long 'n' full o' teeth, 'n' eyes +with rings of phosphorus round 'em, a-workin' up an' down, to say +nothin' 'bout the tail, would a-skeered a sober man into fits arter +dark, let alone one who 'spected snakes. When Bill's welcome home was +all ready, we sot a watch on Bill, who was still asleep, 'n' the rest on +us went home ter supper. Then we got together, 'bout two dozen on us +that knew Bill best, 'n' gittin' sheets ter wrap up in, to sorter +stiffen the hogfish effect, all hands hid round his shanty an' inside +on't. It was purty late 'fore Bill showed up, but he came 'long finally, +kind o' wobblin' some and hummin':-- + + "'I'm a gallant lass as ever you see, + And the roving sailor winked at me.' + +"Bill was allus feelin' that way when half full 'n' now jist happy 'n' +comfortable like. There was a new moon that sorter lit up the path, 'n' +jist as he got to where it made a turn, 'bout ten feet from the shanty, +I made a signal by squeakin' like a gull, an' the boys begun workin' the +lines, 'n' 'bout two dozen white figgers rose up from behind the rocks +or stepped out o' the cabin. I never knew which skeered Bill the worst, +the awful critter snappin' at him thar in the path, or the ghosts, for +Bill gave one screech that could a' been heard five mile, 'n' ye never +seen a man run the way he did. He didn't stop ter keep in the path +either, but jist went right over the rocks anywhere. He tumbled two or +three times 'fore he got out o' sight, 'n' you'd a-thought he was made +o' rubber, the way he got up 'n' yelled, 'Help, help, O Lord,' all the +time. I'll 'low it was the fust time he'd ever called on the Lord fer +help, but it wa'n't the last, fer he made straight fer the parson's +house 'n' begun pummellin' on the door. + +"'O Lord, take me in,' he said when the parson opened it, 'I'm come fer +at last 'n' the divil's arter me. Pray fer me, parson, an' for God's +sake, do it quick!' An' then he went down on his knees, 'n' sayin', +'Lordy, Lordy, I'll never drink 'nother drop's long's I live!' Parson +Bush was a good deal took back, fer he didn't know the joke, 'n' 'lowed +Bill had the tremens. 'Better go back to yer shanty, ye sot,' he said, +'an' when you git sober come here 'n' I'll talk with ye,' an' with that +he shet the door 'n' Bill jist laid down 'n' bellowed like a calf. 'N' +he didn't go back to his shanty, either, that night, not by a jugful; +he'd seen 'nough o' that spot ter last him quite a spell. 'N' when he +did thar warn't nuthin' out o' ordinary, fer we'd chucked the hogfish +off the rocks, 'n' 'twas more 'n a year 'fore Bill found out the trick +we played, 'n' in all that time he kept sober. He did find out arter a +spell, fer a joke like that can't be kept allus, 'n' when Bill did, he +took ter drink agin, 'n' finally jumped off the dock one night in a fit +o' the jims 'n' that was the last o' him. It's hard to larn an old dog +new tricks." + +For an hour the little crowd of Jess Hutton's friends lingered, +wondering and speculating on what the outcome of this investment in a +granite ledge would be. To most it seemed a piece of folly or the act of +a madman. These worthless rocks had stared them in the face so many +years, had so interfered with house building, or the convenient placing +of fish racks, or road making, that they had one and all come to hate +their very sight. In their estimation they were a nuisance and a curse, +and for any sane man to buy twenty acres of ledge to quarry and +transport five hundred miles, seemed worse than folly. + +Then, having given due expression to this common sentiment, and +congratulating Jess upon his good luck, they shook hands with him and +went their way. And when the sound of their footsteps upon the one +narrow plank walk of Rockhaven had ceased, and only the murmur of the +near-by ocean was heard, Jess, as was his wont when lonesome, drew his +old brown fiddle from its hiding place and sought consolation from its +strings. And also, as usual, the melodies were the songs of Bonnie +Scotland. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WINN HARDY + + +Winn Hardy, born and reared where the tinkle of the cow bells on the +hillside pastures, or the call of the village church bell on Sunday was +the most exciting incident, and a crossroads schoolhouse the only temple +of learning, reached the age of fourteen as utterly untainted by +knowledge of the world as the birds that annually visited the old farm +orchards. And then came a catastrophe in his life which ended in two +freshly made graves in the village cemetery, and he was thrust into the +whirl of city life, to make his home with a widowed aunt, a Mrs. +Converse, who felt it her duty to complete his education by a two years' +course at a business college. + +It was a scant educational outfit with which to carve his way to fame +and fortune, but many a man succeeds who has less, and Winn might have +been worse off. + +He had one unfortunate and serious fact to contend with, however, and +that was a mercurial disposition. When the world and his associates +seemed to smile, he soared amid the rosy clouds of optimism, and when +things went wrong, he lost his courage. + +His first step in wage-earning (a menial position in a store, with +scanty pay which scarce sufficed to clothe him) soon convinced him how +hard a task earning a livelihood was, and that no one obtained a penny +unless he fought for it. Then through the influence of his aunt, he +obtained an easier berth as copy clerk in the office of Weston & Hill, +whose business was the investing of other people's money, and while his +hours of service were less, his pay was no better. Three years of this +resulted in slow advancement to a junior bookkeeper's desk and better +pay. It also broadened his list of acquaintances, for he joined a club, +the membership of which was decidedly mixed, and not all of the best +kind of associates for Winn. + +His aunt, a shallow though well-meaning woman, devoted to church work, +gossip, and her pet poodle, considering Winn an unfortunate addition to +her cares, held but scant influence over him. She furnished him a home +to sleep and eat in without cost, urged him to attend church with her, +cautioned him against evil associates; but beyond that she could not and +did not go. So Winn drifted. He saved a little money, realizing that he +must, or be forever helpless and dependent; he learned the slang of the +town and its ways, and forgot for a time the wholesome lessons of his +early life. He also grew more mercurial, and, worse than that, he grew +cynical. + +On all sides, and go where he would, the arrogance of wealth seemed to +hedge him about and force upon him the realization that he was but a +poorly paid bookkeeper, and not likely to become aught else. And then a +worse mishap befell him--he met and became attached to Jack Nickerson. + +There is in every club, and in every walk in life, wherever a young +man's feet may stray, some one it were better he never met--a +Mephistopheles in male garb, whose wit and ways of pleasure-taking are +alluring, whose manners are perfect, whose pockets are well filled; and +alas, whose morals are a matter of convenience. + +That Winn, honest and wholesome-minded country-born fellow that he was, +should be attracted by this product of fast city life is not strange. It +is the attraction that allures the moth toward the flame, the good +toward evil. Follow Nickerson in that course, Winn would not and did +not; he merely admired him for his wit, felt half tempted to emulate his +vices, absorbed his scepticism--for Jack Nickerson in addition to his +vices was a cynic of the most implacable sort. With him all religion was +hypocrisy, all virtue a folly, and all truth a farce. He had income +sufficient to live well upon, gambled for a pastime, was at the race +tracks whenever chance offered, was cheek by jowl with the sporting +fraternity, a man about town and hail fellow well met with all. + +Per contra, he was generous to a fault, laughed most when he uttered his +sharpest sneers, was polished and refined in his tastes and a gentleman +always. + +One distinguished novelist has deified such a man, and made him a hero +of her numerous tales. + +To Winn he appealed more as a fascinating, world-wise sceptic, whose +shafts of satire were gospel truths, and whose Sybarite sort of +existence was worthy of emulation, if one only had the money to follow +it. + +Then, as if to cap the climax and Winn's cynical education, he fell in +love with Ethel Sherman, a beauty and a natural-born flirt, whose ideas +of life and maternal training had convinced her that marriage was a +matter of business, and a means by which to obtain position and wealth. + +Her family were people of moderate means, living near neighbors to +Winn's aunt and attending the same church. She had an elder sister, +Grace, who had, in her estimation, wrecked her life by marrying a poor +man. And when Winn Hardy, young, handsome and callow, first met her, she +was just home from boarding-school, ready to spread her social wings, +and ripe for conquest. + +Winn's aunt was also somewhat to blame in the matter, for she, like many +good women, loved to dabble in match-making, and in her simple mind +fancied it a wise move to bring one about between Ethel and Winn. + +Its results were disastrous to his peace of mind, for, after dancing +attendance for a year and spending half he earned on flowers and theatre +tickets, his suit was laughed at and he was assured that only a rich +young man was eligible to her favor. + +Then he went back to Jack Nickerson, and, though he outgrew his folly, +his impulsive nature became more pronounced and he a more bitter cynic +than ever. For two years he was but a cipher in business and social +life, a poorly paid bookkeeper in the office of Weston & Hill, a drop in +the rushing, pushing, strenuous life of the city; and then came a +change. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY + + +"Please step into my private office, Mr. Hardy," said J. Malcolm Weston, +head of Weston & Hill, bankers, brokers, and investment securities, as +stated on the two massive nickel plates that flanked their doorway, "I +have a matter of business to discuss with you." + +Ordinarily Mr. J. Malcolm Weston would have said, "You may step into my +private office, Mr. Hardy," when, as in this case, he addressed his +bookkeeper, for Mr. Weston never forgot his dignity in the presence of a +subordinate. It may be added that he never forgot to address a possible +customer as though he owned millions, for J. Malcolm Weston was master +of the fine art of obsequious deference, and his persuasive smile, +cordial hand grasp, and copious use of flowery language had cost many a +cautious man hundreds of dollars. Mr. Weston can best be described as +unctuous, and belonged to that class of men who part their names and +hair in the middle, but make no division in money matters, merely taking +it all. + +When Winn Hardy had obeyed his employer's suave invitation and was +seated in his presence, he was made to feel that he had suddenly stepped +into a sunnier clime. + +"It gives me great pleasure, Mr. Hardy," continued Weston, "to inform +you that we have decided to enlarge your sphere of duty with us, and I +may say, responsibilities. Mr. Hill and myself have considered the +matter carefully, and, in view of your faithful and efficient services, +we shall from now on confide to you the management of an outside matter +of great importance. Please examine this prospectus, which will appear +to-morrow in all the papers of this city." + +Winn took the typewritten document tendered him and carefully scanned +its contents. To show its importance it is given in full, though with +reduced headlines:-- + + THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY. + CAPITAL, $1,000,000.00. + Stock non-assessable. Shares $1.00 each. + Par Value, $10.00. + President, J. MALCOLM WESTON. + BOARD OF DIRECTORS: + J. Malcolm Weston of Weston & Hill. + William M. Simmons, Member of Stock Exchange. + William B. Codman, President National Bank of Discount. + Samuel H. Wiseman, Real Estate Broker. + L. Orton Brown, Secretary Board of Trade. + Office of Company: Weston & Hill, Bankers, Brokers, and Investments. + + PROSPECTUS + + This Company has purchased and now owns the finest granite + quarries in the world, over one mile in length and half that in + width, fronting upon the land-locked harbor on the island of + Rockhaven. It has a full and perfect equipment of steam drills, + engines, derricks, an excellent wharf, vessels for transporting + freight, and all modern appliances for carrying on the business + of quarrying. + + It is well known that the rapid growth of architectural taste + produces an ever increasing demand for this, the best of all + building stone, and as we furnish the finest quality of + granite, having that beautiful pink tint so much admired by + architects, you can readily see that our advantages and + prospects are limitless. This is no delusive scheme for gold + mining or oil boring, but a solid and practical business that + guarantees sure returns and certain dividends. + + Our supply of granite is exhaustless, the market limitless, and + all that we need to develop this quarry and obtain lucrative + returns is a little additional capital. For this purpose fifty + thousand shares of the capital stock are now offered for sale + at one dollar per share, so that the investor may receive the + benefit of the advance to par which will follow, as well as the + liberal dividends which will surely accrue. + + The price of stock will be advanced from time to time, as it is + taken up. + + Subscription books now open at the office of + + WESTON & HILL, Financiers. + +"It reads well," observed Winn, after he had perused this alluring +advertisement, "and I should imagine an investment in a granite quarry +might seem a safe one." + +"Yes, decidedly safe as well as secure," replied J. Malcolm Weston, with +a twinkle in his steely blue eyes not observed by Winn. "I wrote that ad +with the intention of attracting investors who desire a solid investment +for their money, and fancy I have succeeded. You noticed, perhaps, my +allusion to gold mines and oil wells that have recently proved so +elusive." Then taking a box of cigars, and passing them to Winn, and +elevating his feet to a desk, as if to enjoy the telling of a pleasant +episode, Mr. Weston continued: "That prospectus (which I pride myself is +an artistic piece of work) will attract just the class of men who have +grown suspicious of all sorts of schemes. It is this element of solidity +and certainty that we shall elaborate upon. Now I will tell you about +our plan and how you are to assist us in carrying it out. As you may +recall, I was away last summer with Simmons on his yacht, and while on +our trip we landed upon an island called Rockhaven, up the north coast. +It is sort of a double island, half cut in two by a safe harbor, and +populated by a few hundred simple fisher-folk. We remained there a few +days looking over the island, and I noticed that some one had started +quarrying the granite of which the island is composed. That, and the +location of the quarry, which faced this harbor, set me thinking. It +ended in my inquiring out the owner, an eccentric old fellow who kept a +small store and fiddled when he hadn't any customers, and finally buying +the quarry. I paid him one thousand down, and we are to pay him one +thousand more when deeds are passed. We are now going to send you up +there to complete the purchase, paying him the balance, if you can, in +stock; then hire men, improve the dock, set up the machinery we shall +send you, and begin quarrying operations. That will be one of your +duties. The other, and principal, one will be to get the natives +interested in this home industry, and sell stock to them. To this end it +may be necessary for you to give a little away to those whose influence +may be of value. We have already booked several orders for building +stone, which you will get out as per specifications and shipments. It +will be necessary for you to hire one or two vessels for this purpose, +or else contract for delivery of stone to us at so much per cargo. There +is a small steamer which makes regular trips to this island, so we can +reach you by mail. + +"Now there is another matter, also of great importance. In order to +stimulate your interest in the success of this enterprise, we shall make +you a present of five hundred shares of this stock provided you can +raise the money to purchase, at one dollar per share, another block of +five hundred, or, what would answer as well, induce your aunt to do so." + +It was the glittering bait, intended by the wily Weston to catch and +hold his dupe, Winn Hardy. + +"I have some money laid away," answered Winn, his sense of caution +obscured by this alluring offer, "and with a little help from my aunt, I +feel sure I can manage it; at least, I will try." + +"We do not need this investment of five hundred dollars on your part, +Mr. Hardy," continued Weston, in a grandiloquent tone; "as you must be +aware, it is but a drop in the bucket, and we only wish it to induce +your more hearty cooeperation in pushing this enterprise to a successful +ending. If we make money, as we are sure to do, you will also share in +it. It is needless for me to tell you that this is the golden +opportunity of your life, and if you take hold with a will, and not only +manage this quarry with good business discretion, but, what is of more +importance, sell all the stock you can, you will reap a small fortune. +This enterprise is sure to be a money-maker and we expect inside of a +year to see Rockhaven go to ten, twenty, or possibly thirty dollars per +share." + +And Winn Hardy, though sophisticated in a minor degree, believed it, and +true to his nature, leaped at once into the clouds, where sudden riches +and all that follows seemed within his grasp. Not only did he easily +persuade his excellent, though credulous, aunt, to lend him the money he +needed, but when he left for his new field of labor, he had so impressed +her with his newly acquired delusion that she made haste to call upon +Weston & Hill and invest a few thousand herself. + +How disastrous that venture proved and how much woe and sorrow followed +need not be specified at present. True to her feminine nature, she told +no one, not even Winn, of her investment; and until the meteoric career +of Rockhaven had become ancient history on the street, only the books of +those shrewd schemers and her own safe deposit box knew her secret. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +WHERE THE SEA-GULLS COME + + +Like a pair of Titanic spectacles joined with a bridge of granite, the +two halves of Rockhaven faced the Atlantic billows, as grim and defiant +as when Leif Ericson's crew of fearless Norsemen sailed into its +beautiful harbor. With a coast line of bold cliffs, indented by +occasional fissures and crested with stunted spruce, the interior, +sloping toward the centre, hears only the whisper of the ocean winds. + +Rockhaven has a history, and it is one filled with the pathos of +poverty, from that day, long ago, when Captain Carver first sailed into +its land-locked harbor to split, salt, and dry his sloop load of cod on +the sunny slope of a granite ledge, until now, when two straggling +villages of tiny houses, interspersed with racks for drying cod, a few +untidy fishing smacks tied up at its small wharves, and a little +steamboat that daily journeys back and forth to the main land, thirty +miles distant, entitles it to be called inhabited. In that history also +is incorporated many ghastly tales of shipwreck on its forbidding and +wave-beaten shores, of long winters when its ledges and ravines were +buried beneath a pall of snow, its little fleet of fishermen +storm-stayed in the harbor, and food and fuel scarce. It also has its +romantic tales of love and waiting to end in despair, when some fisher +boy sailed away and never came back; and one that had a tragic ending, +when a fond and foolish maiden ended years of waiting by hanging herself +in the old tide mill. + +And, too, it has had its religious revival, when a wave of Bible reading +and conversion swept over its poorly fed people, to be followed by a +split in its one Baptist church on the merits and truths of close +communion or its opposite, to end in the formation of another. + +It also had its moods, fair and charming when the warm south wind barely +ripples the blue sea about, the wild roses smile between its granite +ledges, and the sea-gulls sail leisurely over them; or else gloomy and +solemn when it lies hid under a pall of fog while the ocean surges boom +and bellow along its rock-ribbed shore. + +On the inner and right-hand shore of the secure harbor, a small fishing +village fringes both sides of a long street, and at the head of the +harbor, one mile away, stands another hamlet. The first and larger +village is called Rockhaven, the other Northaven. Each has its little +church and schoolhouse, also used for town meetings, its one or two +general stores, and a post-office. Those in Rockhaven, where fishing is +the sole industry, are permeated with that salty odor of cured fish, +combined with tar, coffee, and kerosene; and scattered over the interior +are a score of modest farmhouses. + +At one end of the harbor, and where the village of Northaven stands, a +natural gateway of rock almost cuts off a portion of the harbor, and +here was an old tide mill, built of unhewn stone, but now unused, its +roof fallen in, its gates rotted away, and the abutments that once held +it in place now used to support a bridge. + +On one of the headlands just north of Rockhaven village, and known as +Norse Hill, stands a peculiar structure, a circular stone tower open at +the top and with an entrance on the inner or landward side. Tradition +says this was built by the Norsemen as a place of worship. Beyond this +hill, at the highest point of the island, is a deep fissure in the +coast, ending in a small open cave above tidewater and facing the south. +This is known as the Devil's Oven. On either side of this gorge, and +extending back from it, is a thicket of stunted spruce. The bottom and +sides of this inlet, semicircular in shape, are coated thick with +rockweed and bare at low tide. On the side of the harbor opposite +Rockhaven, and facing it, is a small granite quarry owned and +occasionally operated by one of the natives, a quaint old bachelor named +Jesse Hutton. In summer, and until late in the fall, each morning a +small fleet of fishing craft spread their wings and sail away, to return +each night. On the wharves and between most of the small brown houses +back of them, are fish racks of various sizes, interspersed with tiny +sheds built beside rocks, old battered boats, piles of rotting nets, +broken lobster pots, and a medley of wrack of all sorts and kinds, +beaten and bleached by the salty sea. + +In summer, too, a white-winged yacht, trim and trig, with her brass +rails, tiny cannon, and duck-clad crew, occasionally sails into the +harbor and anchors, to send her complement of fashionable +pleasure-seekers ashore. Here they ramble along the one main street, +with its plank walk, peeping curiously into the open doors and windows +of the shops, at the simply clad women and barefooted children who eye +them with awe. Each are as wide apart from the other as the poles in +their dress, manners, and ways of living, and each as much a curiosity +to the other. + +Of the social life of the island there is little to be said, for it is +as simple as the garb of its plain people, who never grow rich and are +seldom very poor. Each of the two villages is blessed with a diminutive +church, Baptist in denomination, the one at Rockhaven the oldest and +known as Hard-Shell; that at Northaven as Free-Will. Each calls together +most of the womenkind and grown-up children, as well as a few of the +men, every Sunday, while the rest of the men, if in summer, lounge +around the wharves smoking and swapping yarns. There is no great +interest in religion among either sex, and church attendance seems more +a social pleasure than a duty. + +Occasionally a few of the young people will get together, as young folks +always do, to play games; and though it is in the creed of both churches +that dancing is to be abjured, nevertheless old Jess Hutton, whose +fiddle was his wife, child, and sole companion in his solitude, was +occasionally induced to play and call off for the lads and lasses of the +town, with a fringe of old folks around the walls as spectators. + +"I like to see 'em dance," he always said, "fer they look so happy when +at it; 'sides, when they get old they won't want to. Dancin's as nat'ral +to young folks as grass growin' in spring." + +Every small village has its oracle, whose opinion on all matters passes +current as law and gospel, whose stories and jokes are repeated by all, +and who is by tacit consent chosen moderator at town meetings, holds the +office of selectman and chairman of the school committee for life, is +accepted as referee in all disputes, and the friend, counsellor, and +adviser of all. Such a man in Rockhaven was Jesse Hutton. Though he +argued with the Rev. Jason Bush, who officiated at Rockhaven on Sundays, +about the unsocial nature of close communion, and occasionally met and +had a tilt with the Northaven minister, he was a friend to both. + +"Goin' to church and believin' in a futur'," he would say, "is jest as +necessary to livin' and happiness as sparkin' on the part of young folks +is necessary to the makin' o' homes." + +For Jesse Hutton, or simply Jess, as old and young called him, was in +his way a bit of a philosopher, and his philosophy may be summed up by +saying that he had the happy faculty of looking upon the dark side of +life cheerfully. It also may be said that he looked upon the cheerful +side of life temperately. + +And here it may be prudent to insert a little of Jess Hutton's history. +He was the elder of two brothers, schoolboys on the island when its +population numbered less than one hundred, and one small brown +schoolhouse served as a place of worship on Sundays as well as a temple +of learning on week-days. Here the two boys Jesse and Jethro, received +scant education, and at the age of fourteen and sixteen, respectively, +knew more about the sailing of fishing smacks and the catching and +curing of cod and mackerel than of decimal fractions and the rule of +three. + +And then the Civil War came on, and when its wave of patriotism reached +far-off Rockhaven, Jess Hutton, then a sturdy young man, enlisting in +the navy under Farragut, served his country bravely and well. Then Jess +came back, a limping hero, to find his brother Jethro deeply in love +with pretty Letty Carver, for whom Jess had cherished a boyish +admiration, and in a fair way to secure a home, with her as a chief +incentive. Jess made no comment when he saw which way the wind blew in +that quarter, but, philosopher that he was, even then, quietly but +promptly turned his face away from the island and for a score of years +Rockhaven knew not of his whereabouts. Gossips, recalling how he and +Letty, as grown-up school children, had played together along the sandy +beach of the little harbor or by the old tide mill, then grinding its +grist, asserted that Jess had been driven away by disappointment; but +beyond surmise they could not go, for to no one did he impart one word +of his reasons for leaving the island and the scenes of his boyhood. + +Twenty years later, Letty Carver, who had become Mrs. Jethro Hutton, was +left a widow with one child, a little girl named Mona, a small white +cottage on Rock Lane, and, so far as any one knew, not much else. + +And then Jess Hutton returned. + +Once more the gossips became busy with what Jess would or should do, +especially as he seemed to have brought back sufficient means to at once +build a respectable dwelling place, the upper half fitted for a domicile +and the lower for a store. + +But all surmise came to naught, together with all the well-meant and +excellent domestic paths mapped out by the busybodies for Jess and the +widow to follow, for when the combination house was done and the store +stocked, Jess Hutton attended regularly to the latter and kept +bachelor's hall in the former; and though he was an occasional caller at +the cottage in Rock Lane and usually walked to church with the widow and +little Mona on Sundays, the store and its customers by day or night were +his chief care, and his solitary home merely a place to sleep in. And +yet not; for beyond that, during his many years of wandering on the +mainland, he had contracted the habit of amusing himself with the +violin when lonesome, and Jess, the eccentric old bachelor, as some +termed him, and his fiddle became a curiosity among the odd and yet +simple people of Rockhaven. Then, too, the little girl, Mona, his niece, +became, as she grew up, his protegee and care, and he her one +inseparable friend and adviser. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +JESS HUTTON + + +Like one of the spruces that towered high above others on Rockhaven, +like one of the granite cliffs bidding defiance to storm and wave, so +did Jess Hutton tower above his fellow-men. Not from stature, though he +stood full six feet, or that he was impressive in other ways--far from +it. He was like a child among men in simplicity, in tenderness, in truth +and kindly nature--a man among children in strict adherence to his +conscience, to justice and right living. And all on Rockhaven knew it, +and all had the same unvarying confidence in his good sense and justice, +his truth and honor, conscience and kindness. What he predicted nearly +always came true; what he promised he always fulfilled, and no one ever +asked his aid in vain. Others quarrelled, made mistakes, repented of +errors, lost time in fruitless ventures; but Jess--never. He was like a +great ship moving majestically among boats, a lighthouse pointing to +safe harbor, a walking conscience like a compass, a giant among pigmies +in scope of mind, keenness of insight, and accurate reading of others' +moods and impulses. + +And so he towered above all on Rockhaven. + +Beyond that he was a philosopher who saw a silver lining behind all +clouds, laughed at all vanities, and made a jest of all follies. To him +men were grown-up children who needed to be amused and directed; and +women the custodians of life and morals, home, and happiness. They +deserved the mantle of charity and patience, love, and tenderness. + +He was not religious. He had never felt a so-called change of heart, and +yet he was a walking example of the best that religion encourages, for +he governed himself, set the pace of right living, and illustrated the +golden rule. + +He believed in that first and foremost, and in setting a good example as +far as lay in his power, but not in any professions. + +"Ye mustn't feel I ain't on yer side," he said once to Parson Bush, who +had urged him to join the church, "for I am, only it's agin my natur ter +'low I've had a special dispensation o' the Lord's grace in my behalf. +I'm a weak vessel, like all on us, an' my impulses need caulkin'. I do +the best I kin, 'cordin' to my light, 'n' that's all any man kin. The +Lord won't go back on us fer not gittin' dipped, an' if there's a +heaven beyond, our only chance o' a seat is by startin' an annex right +here on airth. Sayin' you've joined the Lord's army's well enough, but +doin' what ye feel the Lord's tryin' to, is better. + +"Ez Sally Harper used ter say in meetin', 'We're all on us poor +critters, an' if we jine, there's no tellin' when we'll backslide.'" + +It was perhaps the consciousness of inherent human weakness that kept +Jess out of the fold. + +"A man may do right 'n' keep on doin' right 'most all his life long," he +said, "an' some day up pops a temptation, when he's least prepared +for't, and over he goes like a sailboat 'thout ballast in a gale o' +wind. An' then what becomes o' all yer 'lowin' the Lord's opened yer +eyes 'n' gin ye extra grace? Ye only get laughed at by the scoffers 'n' +yer influence gone fer good. Human nature's brittle stuff, an' them as +does right 'thout any change o' heart, come purty near bein' leaders in +the percession toward the Throne." + +His philosophy, broad as infinite mercy and humble as a child's +happiness, permeated all his thoughts and tinged all his speeches. + +"No joy's quite so comfortin' as we cac'late," he would say, "an' no +sorrer quite so worryin'. We go through life anticipatin' happy +termorrers and glorious next days, and when we git to 'em, somehow +they've sorter faded away, and it's to be the next day and the next as +is ter be the bright uns. Then, we are all on us like boys, chasing jack +o' lanterns over a swamp medder, an' if we 'low they're clus to an' jest +ready to grab, the next we know we've stumbled inter a ditch. + +"And then we borrer trouble, heaps on't, all through life. From the day +we git scared at thought o' speakin' pieces at school, till the doctor +shakes his head an' asks us if we've got our will made, we are dreadin' +suthin'. If 'taint sickness or bein' robbed, it's worryin' 'bout our +nabors havin' more'n we do. The feller courtin' worries for fear the gal +won't say 'yes,' an' when she does he is likely to see the time he +wishes she hadn't, an' worries 'cause he's got her. We worry ourselves +old 'n' wrinkled 'n' gray, an' then, more'n all this world, worry 'bout +the next. An' thar's whar the parson 'n' I allus split tacks. He says +the Lord made the brimstone lake fer sinners, 'n' I say the Lord made +conscience as a means o' torture, an' here or hereafter it's hot 'nuff." + +And here it must be inserted that Jess was to a certain extent a thorn +in the parson's side, from the fact that his influence and following +were stronger than that worthy man's. It was what Jess believed and +said that was quoted rather than the parson's assertions; and although +Jess seldom failed to be one of his listeners, and contributed more than +any five or ten others toward his scant salary, there were times when he +was made to feel that if Jess occupied the pulpit the church would be +packed. And so it would, humiliating as that fact was to him. + +And here also may be related an incident in Rockhaven history which +illustrates how slim a hold the parson and his preaching had upon those +islanders. As it happened that year, mackerel were late in reaching the +coast. The price was correspondingly high, and Rockhaven's band of +fishermen eager to make the first haul. Most of them attended church, +but now, while the suspense was on, when Sunday came, two or three +watchers were stationed on convenient cliffs with orders to report to +the church if a school was sighted. + +This was kept up for three weeks, and then, one Sunday, just as the +first morning hymn in long metre had been sung, and the parson, with +closed eyes, had got well started in his prayer, down through the +village street bounded one of those sentinels, yelling, "Mack'rel, +mack'rel, millions on 'em!" + +And in less than five minutes there wasn't a man, woman, or child left +in the church except Jess Hutton and the parson. And when that good man +had said "Amen," Jess arose and suggested they too follow the crowd. + +"Ye might's well," said Jess, with a twinkle in his eye, "the model o' +all Christianity sot the example, 'cordin' to Scriptur', an' ye might do +good by follerin' it." + +But the worthy leader of that flock who had thus deserted him failed to +see the humor of the situation and sadly shook his head. He remained in +the sanctuary and Jess joined the fishermen. + +It was such a peculiar, sympathetic, and broad understanding of these +fisher-folk's carnal as well as spiritual needs that made Jess the +oracle and leader of the island. + +"Thar wa'n't no need o' gettin' fussy over it," he said later to the +good dominie, with a laugh, "religion's good 'nuff when mack'rel's +fetchin only a dollar a kit; but when three's offered 'n' scace at that, +prayers hain't got their usual grip. And ye oughtn't ter 'spect it, +parson. The way to reach 'em's to be one with 'em and sorter feel thar +needs, and make em feel they're yer own. If ye'd gone with 'em that day +and helped 'em make a haul, an' then invited 'em to join ye in a prayer +o' thankfulness, thar want one but 'ud a-kneeled down at yer bidding +and said 'Amen.'" + +And that was Jess Hutton and partially the secret of his supremacy on +Rockhaven. + +Another point--he had always believed and practised the sterling rule of +"paying scot and lot as you go." While Jess forgot injuries, he always +remembered favors. If an unwashed, uncombed, and even unnamed child +brought him but a sea-shell, Jess never failed to reward the act. And so +on, upward, to each and all he returned all favors, paid all debts, and +rewarded all kindnesses. And how they trusted him! A fisher lad, saving +up for a new suit of clothes or a boat of his own, would, before +starting on a trip, leave his money with Jess for safe keeping. The +owner of a smack or schooner, ready for another cruise, would ask Jess +to take charge of the quintals and kits of fish just landed, sell them +to best advantage, and hold the proceeds till he returned, or longer. +Not only was Jess selling agent for most of them, but the safe in his +store was a bank of deposit for them also. What he did not keep to +supply their needs, they told him to get without bargaining, sure it +would be what they wanted, and at right, or lowest price. + +And this trust was mutual. + +"If I ain't here, help yourselves," while not a sign over his door, was +understood by all to be the rule; and every one in the island, from a +child wanting a stick of candy to the skipper needing a dozen suits of +oilers, followed it. + +Jess had habits, and one was to devote all the time his dearly loved +niece, Mona Hutton, claimed to her amusement; and when she asked that he +accompany her flower or shell hunting of a summer afternoon, the store +could run itself for all that he cared. + +It may be surmised that children exposed to the temptation of candy, +oranges, and nuts in his store, would pilfer, and some did; but that did +not annoy him. + +"Hookin' things allus carries its own whip," he would say, "an' if they +wanter try it, let 'em. It's bound to be found out, one way or 'nother, +and when I've shamed 'em once or twice, they'll larn it's cheaper to ask +for 'em." + +Children were seldom refused in his store, for he was like a boy baiting +squirrels with nuts in his desire to lure children there. + +They were his chief solace and companions by day, for he kept bachelor's +hall over his store, and to have a crowd of them around was the company +he best enjoyed. + +And what a godsend and wellspring of delight Jess and his store were to +all Rockhaven's progeny. In summer they came in barefooted bunches, even +to the toddlers who could scarce lisp their own names. They played hide +and seek behind his barrels and beneath his counter; they hid in empty +boxes and under piles of old sails in his back room. They littered his +piazza with crabs, starfish, long strips of kelpie and shells, they had +gathered among the rocks and on the beach, and left the few poor toys +and rag babies they possessed there. They ran riot over him and his +store; and as a climax to the happy after-school hour, Jess would +produce his old fiddle, and if there is any music that will reach a +child's heart, it is that. + +And while Jess played they leaped, danced, crowed, and shouted as +insanely happy children will. + +To him it was also supreme delight. + +To them he was a perpetual Santa Claus, a wonder among men, a father +bountiful, whose welcome never failed, whose smile was always cordial, +and whose love seemed limitless. And they would obey a shake of his head +even. And when the frolic had lasted long enough and he said, "Run home +now," off they scampered. It is small wonder Jess Hutton was chief man +of Rockhaven. + +But Jess had a vein of satire as well as philosophy. + +"It's human natur," he would say, "for all of us to think our own +children's brighter'n our neighbor's, an' our own joys and sorrers o' +more account, and 'specially our aches and pains, 'n' them we never get +tired o' tellin' 'bout. + +"There was the Widder Bunker, fer instance; she had a heap o' trouble +and the only comfort she got was tellin' on't. She had rumatiz 'n' biles +'n' janders 'n' liver complaint, ever since she was left a widder, an' +all she could talk 'bout was what ailed her an' how long it had lasted +an' what the symptoms were an' what she was doin' fer 'em. She'd run on +fer hours 'bout all her ailin's till folks 'ud go off 'n' leave her. She +got so daft on this subject, finally, everybody'd run fer safety and +hide when they saw her comin'. She used ter talk in meetin' onct in a +while, 'n' arter a spell her aches got sorter mixed up with her +religion, an' as nobody else 'ud listen to her 'bout 'em, the first we +knowed, she 'gan tellin' the Lord how her asmer bothered her and how her +rumatiz acted. She enjied it so much, an' the Lord seemed to listen so +well, she kept at it over an hour, until the parson had to ask her to +quit. + +"It was sorter rough on the widder, an' as I told the parson arterward, +it really wa'n't any wuss fer the Lord to hev to listen to her bodily +aches and pains than the spiritual ones the rest allus told him 'bout; +'sides it gin a spice o' variety ter the meetin'. + +"But he said her tellin' the Lord how she'd hump herself to get breath, +and how the rumatiz had started in her big toe and skipped from one jint +to 'tother, 'ud set the boys in the back seats to titterin' 'n' break up +the meetin'. + +"I allus felt sorry for the Widder Bunker, fer she had considerable hair +on her upper lip an' a hair mole on her chin, 'sides bein' poorer'n a +church mouse, an' sich unfortunate critters hez to take back seats at +the Lord's table." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BUD OF A ROMANCE + + +The little steamer _Rockhaven_ was but a speck on the southern horizon, +the fishermen that had earlier spread their wings were still in sight +that June morning, and Jess Hutton, having swept his store, sat tilted +back in an arm-chair on his piazza, smoking while he watched the white +sails to the eastward, when a tall, well-formed, and city-garbed young +man approached. + +"My name's Hardy," he said, smiling as his brown eyes took in Jess and +his surroundings at a glance, "and I represent Weston & Hill and have +come to open and manage the quarry they own here. You are Mr. Hutton, I +believe?" + +Jess rose and extended a brown and wrinkled hand. "That's my name," he +said, "'n' I'm glad ter see ye. But ter tell ye the truth, I never +'spected ter. It's been most a year now since yer boss landed here and +bought my ledge o' stun, and I've made up my mind he did it jist fer +fun, 'n' havin' money ter throw 'way. Hev a cheer, won't ye?" And +stepping inside he brought one out. + +Winn seated himself, and glancing down at the row of small, brown houses +and sheds that fringed the harbor shore below them, and then across to +where the ledge of granite faced them, replied, "Oh, Mr. Weston is not +the man to throw away money, but it takes time to organize a company and +get ready to operate a quarry;" and pausing to draw from an inside +pocket a red pocketbook, and extracting a crisp bit of paper, he added, +"the first duty, Mr. Hutton, is to pay the balance due you, and here is +a check to cover it." + +Jess eyed it curiously. + +"It's good, I guess," he said as he looked it over, "but out here we +don't use checks; it's money down or no trade." + +Then without more words he arose, and limping a little as he entered the +store, handed Winn a long, yellow envelope. "Here's the deed; an' the +quarry's yourn, an' ye kin begin blasting soon's ye like." + +"I cannot do anything for a few days," replied Winn, "for the tools and +machinery have not yet arrived, and in the meantime I must look about +and hire some men. In this matter I must ask you to aid me, and in +fact, I must ask your help in many ways." + +"I'll do what I kin," answered Jess, "an' it won't be hard ter git men. +Most on 'em here ain't doin' more'n keepin' soul an' body together +fishin' an'll jump at the chance o' airnin' fair wages quarryin'. + +"Where did yer put up, if I may ask? I heerd last night a stranger had +fetched in on the steamer." + +"I found lodging with a Mrs. Moore," answered Winn; "the boat's skipper +showed me where she lived; and now, if you will be good enough, I would +like to have you show me the quarry and then I will look around for men +to work it." + +"Ye don't come here cac'latin' to waste much time," observed Jess, +smiling, "but as fer hirin' men, ye best let me do it." + +"I should be grateful if you will," answered Winn, "I feel I must ask +you to aid me in many ways. What we want," he continued, having in mind +his instructions, "is to establish a permanent and paying industry here, +and enlist the interest of those who have means to invest. We want to +make it a sort of cooeperative business, as it were." + +"I don't quite ketch yer drift," replied Jess. + +"I mean," responded Winn, "that we want to make this a home industry, +and to get all those here who have means to take stock in it and share +in the profits." + +Jess made no immediate answer, evidently thinking. "Wal, we'll see 'bout +that bimeby," he said finally. "It's a matter as won't do ter hurry. +Folks here are mighty keerful, 'n' none on 'em's likely ter do much +bakin' till their oven's hot. 'Sides, there ain't many as own more'n the +roof that shelters 'em, and not over well shingled, at that. Money's +skeercer'n hen's teeth here, Mr. Hardy." + +"I shall be guided by your opinion," answered Winn, realizing the truth +of what Jess had said, "and we will let that matter rest for the +present. Now if you will show me the quarry, I will look it over and let +you see what can be done in the way of getting men to work it. Whatever +you do for us we shall insist on paying you for." + +"Queer old fellow," mused Winn to himself two hours later, after he had +parted from Jess, "but I doubt if he buys much of this quarry stock." It +is likely that surmise would have been a positive certainty if Jess +Hutton, with horse sense as hard as this granite ledge and wits as keen +as the briars that grew on top of it, had known that the quarry he had +sold for two thousand dollars and considered it well paid for, was the +sole basis for a stock company capitalized at one million dollars. But +he did not, and neither does many another blind fool who buys +"gilt-edged" stock in gold mines, oil wells, and schemes of all sorts, +know that his investment rests on as insecure and trifling a basis; for +the world is full of sharpers who continually set traps for the unwary +and always catch them, and, although their name is legion, their dupes +are as the sands of the sea. + +But of Winn Hardy, who had come to Rockhaven, as he honestly believed +and felt, to carry out a legitimate business enterprise, it must not be +thought that he for one moment understood the deep-laid schemes of J. +Malcolm Weston, for he did not. While the ratio of value between the +capitalization of the Rockhaven Granite Company and the original cost of +the quarry seemed absurd, it did not follow but that Weston & Hill might +not intend actually to put capital into it sufficient to warrant such an +issue of stock. All of which would go to show that Winn Hardy had not as +yet entirely escaped the trammels of his inherited honesty and bringing +up, which insensibly led him to judge others by himself. + +And that afternoon, having nothing to do, and curious to explore this +rock-ribbed island that was like to be his home for some months, he +started out on a tour of exploration. First he followed the seldom-used +road that connects the two villages, up to Northaven, and looked that +over. There was a little green in the centre where stood the small +church, and grouped about, a dozen or two houses and two or three +stores, while back of this, and below an arm of the harbor, it narrowed +down to where the roadway crossed it. Beside this stood an old stone +mill, or what was once the walls of one, for the roof was gone. He +examined it carefully, peering into its ghostly interior and down to +where the ebb tide had left its base walls bare. To this, and to the +piles that had once held the tide gates, were clinging masses of black +mussels, with here and there a pink starfish nestled among them. Then, +following this arm of the sea until it ended, he crossed a half mile of +billowing ledges of rock between which were grass-grown and bush-choked +dingles, and came to the ocean. Then, following the coast line as well +as possible, owing to the jutting cliffs, he reached a deep inlet with +almost precipitous sides, and, turning inland, found its banks ended in +a dense thicket of spruce. + +Through this wound a well-defined path, shadowy beneath the canopy of +evergreen boughs, and velvety with fallen needles. Following this a +little way, he came to an opening view of the ocean once more. The day +was wondrously fair, the blue water all about barely rippled by a gentle +breeze, while here and there and far to seaward gleamed the white sails +of coasters. Below him, where the rock-walled gorge broadened to meet +the ocean, the undulating ground swells leisurely tossed the rockweed +and brown kelpie upward, as they swept over the sloping rocks. For a few +moments he stood spellbound by the silent and solemn grandeur of the +limitless ocean view and the colossal pathway to the water's edge below +him, and then suddenly there came to his ears the faint sound of a +violin. Now low and soft, hardly above the rhythmic pulse of the sea, +and again clear and distinct, it seemed to come up out of the rocks +ahead, a strange, weird, ghostly harmony that, mingling with the whisper +of the distant wave-wash, sounded exquisitely sweet. + +Breathless with astonishment now, he crept forward slowly, step by step, +until at the head of this deep chasm, and down beneath him, he heard the +well-recognized strains of "Annie Laurie" played by invisible hands. + +The sun was low in the west, the sea an unruffled mirror, the coast line +a fretwork of foam fringe where the ground swells met it, and above its +murmur, trilling and quivering in the still air, came that old, old +strain:-- + + "And for bonnie Annie Laurie + I'd lay me doon and dee," + +repeated again and again, until Winn, enraptured, spellbound, moving not +a finger but listening ever, heard it no more. Then presently, as +watching and wondering still whence and from whose hand had come this +almost uncanny music, he saw, deep down amid the tangle of rocks below +him, a slight, girlish figure emerge, with a dark green bag clasped +tenderly under one arm, and slowly pick her way up the sides of the +defile and disappear toward the village. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SUNDAY ON ROCKHAVEN + + +For a few days Winn Hardy was so occupied with the cares of his new +position that he thought of little else. It was a pleasing freedom, for +never before had he known what it was to be his own master; but now the +hiring of men and directing operations gave him a sense of power and +responsibility that was exhilarating. + +Jess Hutton aided him in many ways and, in fact, seemed anxious to +assist in this new enterprise that was likely to be of material benefit +to Rockhaven. Winn wisely let the stock matter rest, feeling that a +practical demonstration of the Rockhaven Granite Company's enterprise +and intentions would in due time establish confidence. + +He wondered many times who the girl was that had hid herself in that +weird cluster of rocks to play the violin, and marvelled that any maid, +born and reared amid the half-starved residents of Rockhaven, should +even have that laudable ambition; but he asked no questions. In a way, +the romance of it also kept him from inquiries. "I will bide my time," +he thought, "and some day I will go over and surprise this maid of the +gorge." + +He had noticed a rather immaturely formed girl with dark, lustrous eyes +once or twice in the dooryard of a little white house in the same lane +where he had found lodgment, and had met her once on the village street +and half surmised she might be this mysterious violinist. He gave little +thought to it, however, for his new position and the open path to +success and possible riches that seemed before him was enough to put +cave-seeking maids, however charming, out of his mind. Then, too, he had +not quite recovered from Ethel Sherman. + +When Sunday came, a new, and in a way pleasurable, experience came with +it. His landlady, Mrs. Moore, a widow whose two sons were away on a long +fishing voyage, and who seemed so afraid of her solitary boarder as to +no more than ask if he wanted this or that during his lonely meals, now +appeared to gain courage with the advent of the Lord's day. + +"I'd be pleased, sir," she said humbly, "if ye'd attend sarvice with me +at the meetin'-house this morning." + +And though Winn had planned to turn his back on the coop-like houses +that composed the town, and take a long stroll over the island, there +was such an appealing hope in this good woman's invitation that he could +not resist it, and at once consented to attend "sarvice" with her. And +he was not sorry he did, for when the little bell began calling the +piously inclined together, and he issued forth with Mrs. Moore, who was +dressed in a shiny black silk and a "bunnit" the like of which his +grandmother used to wear, and looking both proud and pleased, he felt it +a pleasant duty. On the way to the small brown church which stood just +beyond the steamer landing and at the foot of a sloping hill dotted +thick with tombstones, he felt that he was the observed of all +observers, and when seated in Mrs. Moore's pew, cushioned with faded +green rep, whichever way he looked some one was peeping curiously at +him. In a way it made him feel unpleasant, and he wondered if his +necktie was awry; then as he looked around at the worn and out-of-date +garb of the few men and almost grotesque raiment of the women and girls, +what Jess had said of the people recurred to him in a forcible way. The +usual service that followed, similar in kind to any country church, was +interesting to Winn mainly because it recalled his boyhood days. When +the minister, a thin, gray-haired man, began his sermon, Winn grew +curious. He was accustomed to pulpit oratory of a high class, and +wondered now what manner of discourse was like to emanate from this +humble desk. The text was the old and time-worn "The Lord will provide," +that has instilled courage and hope into millions of despondent hearts, +and now used once more to encourage this little band of simple +worshippers. The preacher made no new deductions, in fact, seemed to, as +usual, lay stress upon the need of faith that the Lord would provide, +come what might. To this end he quoted freely from Scripture, and Winn +was beginning to lose interest and look around the bare and smoky walls +and out of one window that commanded a view of the rippled harbor, when +suddenly his attention was arrested by a direct reference to himself, or +rather, his errand to Rockhaven. "We have," asserted the minister, in +slow and solemn voice, "a certain and sure proof that the Lord watches +over and cares for us, and that we on this lonely island, striving to +live righteously, are not forgotten by Him. Our acres fit to till are +few and lack fertility; our winters dreary and full of the menace of +storm and shipwreck to those who must pursue their calling abroad; and +yet it seems that He who holds the waters in the hollow of His hand, +realizing our needs, has turned the minds of moneyed men toward our +barren home, and through them blessed us with a new source of +livelihood. Through them heretofore worthless ledges of granite are to +be reared into dwellings, or perhaps churches in the great city. It is +to me a certain and signal proof that the good Lord watches over us +here, as well as over others who dwell in more favored spots, and that +we have a new and greater cause for thankfulness. Many times we have +repined at our hard lot, at our scanty stores of sustenance and the +bitterness of poverty; many times, too, some of us have felt the burden +of our lives hard to bear, and almost doubted the good Lord's +watchfulness and care over all who believe in His word. It is this lack +of faith, and this lesson of His goodness, even unto us, that I wish to +impress upon your minds to-day, for, although we are but poor and +humble, illy fed and thinly clad, yet we are not forgotten by Him, the +Great Ruler of the Universe." + +This peculiar and unusual reference to a mere matter of business and +Winn's mission to Rockhaven did not end his discourse, but it kept that +young man's attention away from all else until the minister closed and +bowed his head in prayer, and, when the inevitable and long-handled +collection box was passed, Winn felt he must, perforce, contribute +liberally, which he did. + +When the congregation was dismissed and he and Mrs. Moore reached the +porch, there was Jess with two ladies, one elderly, and the girl Winn +had noticed in Rock Lane, seemingly awaiting him. An introduction to +Mrs. and Miss Hutton followed, and then all five walked homeward +together. + +It is said that trifles determine our course in life, that, like chips +floating down the stream, we are moved hither and yon by imperceptible +forces. If it is so with one, it is with all, and was so with the people +of Rockhaven, and their estimate and subsequent opinion of Winn Hardy. +He attended that poor little church that day out of kindly regard for +Mrs. Moore's wishes, he listened patiently to services and the sermon, +only a few sentences of which interested him, and, of course, conducted +himself as any well-behaved and well-bred young man would. And yet that +trivial act was the starting-point in the good will and confidence of +those people, the worth of which he realized not at all then and never +fully until long afterward. + +Neither was he entitled to special credit for his self-sacrifice, except +it be that his desire to please that worthy matron, Mrs. Moore, overcame +his selfishness. But whether or not, it led to immediate, though minor +reward, for late that afternoon, and upon his return from a short +stroll over Norse Hill, he found her on the porch of the white cottage +next to her home, chatting with the two ladies he met at church, and he +was invited to join them. How cordially the two elderly ladies +endeavored to interest him and what a soft witchery the dark eyes of the +younger one held for him need not be enlarged upon. It mattered not that +Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Hutton were neither cultured nor fashionable; they +were at least sincere in their enjoyment of his society and meant what +they uttered, which is more than can be said of many women of position. +He learned that the girl's name was Mona, that she had never been away +from the island, and, as might be expected, was somewhat bashful and a +little afraid of him. He had a mind to ask her if she played the violin, +but a romantic desire to surprise her, or whoever the mysterious +violinist was, restrained him. + +The stars were out, a perfect quietude had fallen upon the little +village, and only the ceaseless murmur of the near-by ocean whispered in +the still air, when Mrs. Moore arose to go, and, much against his will, +Winn felt compelled to follow. + +In his room he smoked for an hour in solitude, buoyant with hope for his +own future, amply satisfied with the business and social progress he had +so far made, and mentally contrasting the life he had left behind him +with the new one he had entered upon; and into these meditations, it +must be stated, came the faces of Ethel Sherman and Mona Hutton. + +And so ended Winn's first Sunday on Rockhaven. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HAND OF FATE + + +For a few days Winn Hardy was the busiest man on Rockhaven. What with +setting up the steam drill that had been sent him, finding a man to work +it, adjusting the derricks, and laying out work for the dozen men Jess +had secured, he had no more time than occasionally to think of who the +mysterious violin-playing maid might be. He arose early, worked late, +and evenings wrote his firm a detailed statement of his progress, or +discussed matters with Jess at the store. By tacit consent that had +become a sort of office for the Rockhaven Granite Company, and evening +lounging place for not only the men who were at work for Winn, but +others interested in the new enterprise, and, in fact, all who were not +away on fishing trips. + +Here, also, Winn met the Rev. Jason Bush, a worthy, if attenuated, +parson and pedagogue, who had so astonished Winn that first Sunday and +who seemed more interested than any one else in the quarry. It was all +the more pleasant experience to Winn, thus to feel that he was bringing +a business blessing to these hard-working and needy people, and the +barometer of his hopes and spirits was at top notch when Friday came and +with it funds from the firm to pay the men. He felt, indeed, that his +mission was bearing excellent fruit. + +Then, too, he received a letter of praise from his employers, +congratulating him on the progress he was making, and reminding him +that, as soon as advisable, he should endeavor to interest those who had +means and induce them to invest in Rockhaven stock. It was all right, of +course, and a part of his mission there; and Winn, guileless of the +cloven hoof hidden beneath it, assured himself that he must carry out +their wishes as soon as possible. + +It was while speculating on this part of his duty the next afternoon, +and wondering who except Jess was likely to have money to invest in this +stock, that he felt an unaccountable impulse to visit the gorge again +and at once. It was as if some invisible voice was calling him and must +be answered, and yet he could not explain what it was and how his +thought, at that particular moment, had turned to this spot. He was not +a believer in fate; he was just an ambitious and practical young man, +with good common sense and wholesome ideas, and though a little +embittered by the treatment he had received at the hands of Ethel +Sherman and not likely to fall in love easily with another girl, yet he +was the last person who would admit that fate was playing, or would +play, any part in his movements, as it did; and more than that, it led +him that balmy June afternoon, when the sea and sky were in perfect +accord, to the gorge and to the very spot where, ten days before, he had +been mystified. And now he was more so, for not only did he hear the +same low, sweet strains mingling with the ocean's murmur, but he began +to realize that some invisible influence, quite beyond his +understanding, had brought him hither. What it was he could not tell, or +where, or from whence it came, only that he felt it and obeyed. + +And so forcibly did this uncanny sense of helplessness oppress him, that +the weird strains of music, issuing from the rocks below, seemed ten +times more so. For one instant he could not help feeling almost scared, +and thought it well to pinch himself to see if he were awake, and the +music and his presence there not a dream. Then he sat down. Surely, if +it were a dream, it was a most exquisite one, for away to the eastward +and all around, a half-circle, the boundless ocean, with here and there +a white-winged vessel, and white-crested waves flashing in the +sunlight, lay before; while beneath him and sloping V-shaped a hundred +feet below, and to where the billows leaped over the weed-clad rocks, +lay this chasm. Back of him, and casting their conical shadows over the +chaos of boulders in the gorge, was a thicket of spruce, and to add a +touch of heaven to this desolate but grand vision, the faint whisper of +music mingling with the monotone of the waves and the sighing of winds +in the spruces. + +And then the wonder of it all, and what a romantic and singular fancy of +this fisher maid to thus hide herself where only the mermaids of old +might have come to sing sad ditties while they combed their sea-green +tresses. That it was Mona Hutton he felt almost certain, and his first +impulse was to descend into the chasm at once and surprise her. Then he +thought, if perchance it were not, would that be the act of a gentleman? +Doubtless whoever it was had come there to find seclusion, and for him +to thus intrude would certainly be rude. The next thought, and the one +he acted upon, was to go back a little of the way he came, hide himself, +and, when she appeared, advance to meet her. The way to the village was +over a rounded hill a full mile in length, with scattered clusters of +bayberry bushes between. Back over this a hundred rods Winn retreated, +and not thinking how his presence there would affect this unknown girl, +hid himself behind a rock. He had not long to wait, and soon saw the +same lithe figure, and under her arm the same bundle, emerge from the +gorge, and, as she advanced rapidly, saw that it was Mona. Still +unthinking, he stepped out into view and forward to meet her. In one +instant he saw her halt, turn back a step, then around, facing him, and +stand still; and as he neared her and she saw who it was, she sank to +the earth. Then, as he reached her side and saw her, half reclining +against a small ledge, and looking up at him, her face and lips ashen +white, he realized for the first time what a foolish thing he had done. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, and removing his +hat on the instant, "I see that I have scared you half to death and I am +sorry; I didn't mean to." + +And as she sat up, still looking at him with pitiful eyes, a realizing +sense of his own idiotic action came to him, and he told her, a little +incoherently, perhaps, but truthfully how he had come there both days, +and for what reason. + +Frankness is said to be a virtue, and in this case it was more, for it +saved the reputation of Winn Hardy as a man of honor and a gentleman, +in the eyes of Mona Hutton. + +"Yes, I was frightened," she said at last, in response to his repeated +plea for forgiveness, after he had told her his story, "and I almost +fainted. It is foolish of me to go there, I know, for mother has told me +it is not safe." + +Then as she picked up the green bag that had fallen at her feet and +started to rise once more, Winn's wits came to his rescue, and in an +instant he grasped her hand and arm and almost lifted her to her feet. + +"I shall never forgive myself for this day's stupidity," he said, "but I +have wondered a hundred times since that day who on earth it could be +that hid herself in that forbidding spot. I heard you play only one air +then, and that the sweetest ever composed by mortal man. I have heard it +many, many times, but never once when it reached my heart as it did that +day. What blind intuition brought me here I cannot say; but some impulse +did, and if you will believe what I say and that your playing has +wrought a spell over me, I shall be grateful." + +To simple and utterly unsophisticated Mona Hutton words like these were +as new as life to a babe, and while she could not and did not believe he +meant them all, as uttered, nevertheless they were sweet to her. It is +likely, also, they were colored by the plight Winn found himself in and +his desire to set himself right in the eyes of Mona. + +"I do not know why it is," she responded, "but when I go there I seem to +enjoy my practice better, and then I feel that no one can hear me. +Mother says that no one will ever want to," she added naively. + +Winn smiled. + +"But I want to," he said, "I want to go there with you some day and hear +you play 'Annie Laurie' again; will you let me?" + +"I won't promise," she replied, and perhaps mindful of her mother's +opinion added: "Mother doesn't approve of my playing a fiddle. She says +it's not graceful." + +This time Winn laughed. "I don't believe you could do anything and not +be graceful," he said. "As for that, I have seen Camilla Urso playing +one before an audience of thousands, and no one thought her ungraceful." + +"Who is Camilla Urso?" asked Mona. + +"She was a wonderful violinist," answered Winn, "and charmed the whole +world, years ago. If you will let me come to this spot with you, I will +tell you all about her." + +Mona turned her face away. + +"I don't go there very often," she replied evasively; "and if you have +heard such wonderful playing, I wouldn't dare let you hear me. I don't +know anything except what Uncle Jess has taught me." Then as she started +onward she added, "You must ask him to play for you some time; he knows +how." + +"But it is you I want to hear," Winn asserted, and then, as an intuition +came to him, he added: "I think it best you go on home alone, Miss +Hutton; it might cause comment if we go on together. I passed a most +delightful hour with you and your mother last Sunday evening, and, with +your permission, I shall repeat it." + +And then, having delivered this polite speech, so utterly unlike what +Mona was accustomed to hear, he raised his hat and turned away. + +On the brink of the gorge he halted, and, turning again, watched her +rapidly nearing the top of the hill. Reaching its crest, she faced about +and looked back. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A FRIENDLY HAND + + +The suggestion Jess had made regarding the scarcity of money on +Rockhaven was plainly evident to Winn, now that he had become +acquainted. It made him feel that his firm's enterprise was almost a +godsend to the island, and that first Saturday night when his men +gathered, as requested, at Jess Hutton's store, and secured their pay, +Winn, who in his time had also felt the need of more money, found it a +keen pleasure to pay these needy men their earnings. When they had +departed and he and Jess were alone, the worthy man who seemed to feel a +share of the general satisfaction, beamed with good nature. + +"Money makes the mar' go," he said, "an', as the Irishman said, 'it's +swate Saturday night and sour Monday morning.' Ye've made a fine start, +Mr. Hardy, an' if things go well an' this 'ere company o' yourn don't +bust up, ye'll cum pretty near bein' the hull thing here. There's an old +saying here that 'It's time to dry fish when the sun shines,' an' now +with your sun shinin' it's purty good wisdom for ye to dry all the fish +ye kin. Things are onsartin in this world, an' there's no tellin' when a +sunny day's comin'. I'm goin' ter help yer all I kin, an' out o' good +will toward ye, 'n' hope things'll turn out all right. I'm sartin it +won't be yer fault if they don't." + +"I'm glad to feel I've won your confidence, Mr. Hutton," answered Winn, +"and I feel sure there is no need of fearing any collapse of this +company. They are reputable business men, and have ample means; granite +is in good demand in the city, and certainly they would not have +invested in the quarry and set out to develop it, unless it was to make +money." + +"Wal, mebbe," answered Jess, after a long pause, "an' I'm goin' to think +so. Distrustin' don't help matters, an' for the sake o' those men who +hev gone home happy to-night, I hope things'll turn out as ye 'spect." + +Winn looked depressed, and for reason. To have the one man in Rockhaven +whose confidence he valued most express a word of distrust hurt. + +"Oh, I ain't doubtin' you a mite," continued Jess, "an' no reason to +mistrust yer consarn, only I've had squalls hit me when least 'spectin' +'em, 'n' so got into the habit o' watchin' out fer 'em. It's jist as +well in this world, 'n' then ye ain't quite so likely to be caught +nappin'. Now t'other day ye mentioned the matter o' sellin' stock to us +folks here, an' that is all right, only it sorter 'curred to me if this +consarn o' yourn 'spected to make money quarryin' here, thar wa'n't no +real reason why they should want ter divide it with us folks, which is +what sellin' us stock 'mounts to in the end, an' as old Cap'n Doty would +say, 'hence my 'spicions.' I've hed a good many ups 'n' downs in this +world," he continued, in a philosophic tone, "an' while I allus try to +look on the bright side o' trouble, an' when it comes am glad 'tain't +any wuss, I've larned to be keerful--mighty keerful. Human natur's +slippery stuff, an' money a dum sight more so, an' every storeman allus +puts the best apples on top o' the basket. I've bought and paid for a +mighty lot o' 'sperience 'bout mankind, an' all I've got to show for +most on't is the 'sperience. I've picked up a little money, too, 'tween +times, but the only reason I hev, was 'cause I got sight on't 'fore the +other feller did. I like you, Mr. Hardy, fust-rate, on so short +acquaintance, an' know yer honest 'n' all right, but the side-whiskered +feller who blew in here last summer 'n' bought this yer quarry +offhand--wal, I mean no disrespect to yer firm, but in my humble +'pinion he'd bear watchin'. Now I'm goin' ter stand by ye in this matter +'n' do all I ken to help you make a go on't, an' if ye'll trust me all +the time, ye won't regret it." + +It was a pleasant assurance, but the cloud on Winn's face remained. He +had from the outset hoped to interest this old man, who he realized held +the key of Rockhaven, as it were, and whose opinion of his mission +there, and the merits of Rockhaven stock as an investment, would without +doubt be accepted by others as final. His own belief in it was +optimistic, and beyond that it meant to him a success in business and an +avenue to prosperity that included all wealth meant to any one. So far +in life he had been but a mere menial, a poorly paid drudge, a slave to +so many hours a day. Now he was at once elevated to the management of +men and money, and assumed that it would be to his credit and necessary +that he interest the people and induce them to invest their money. For +these reasons the lack of confidence on Jess Hutton's part meant +discouragement. + +"Ye mustn't mind my notions," Jess said at last, reading Winn's face; "I +mean to help ye, 'n' I will, only as I said I'm a leetle skeery o' yer +consarn. Ef things go on right fer a spell, I most likely'll feel +different. I've got pinched in schemes afore, an' grown cautious. +Faith, ez the parson says, is a mustard seed 'n' needs time to sprout. +We'll watch thet air mustard seed o' yourn, 'n' gin it time ter sprout. +Now, to sorter drive away your blues an' mine, I'm goin' to fiddle a +spell; ye won't mind, will ye?" + +"I should be delighted," answered Winn, with sudden eagerness, "I have +heard you were an expert with a violin. Mr. Weston said you were." He +did not deem it wise just then to say who else had stated that fact. + +Without further comment, Jess brought out his violin. + +"Fiddlin's to me," he said, as he turned it up, "a good deal ez licker +used to be to old Bill Atlas, a cure-all fer everything from death to +the toothache. Bill was quite a case in his day, an' said licker was +made fer the purpose o' drownin' sorrow. He drowned his purty stiddy +in't anyhow, an' finally was driv' to his death by the tremens." + +Then he began and fiddled away for an hour, his eyes closed, his kindly +face glowing with the pleasure of his own art, and one foot keeping time +on the floor. And, to Winn's surprise, his selections were all of Scotch +origin, and the liveliest of those best of all harmonies. From one to +another he skipped, a medley of those old tunes that have lived as no +other nation's music ever did or ever will live, because none other has +quite the same life and soul. + +And Winn, listening as that quaint old man fiddled away, forgot his +troubles, carried to fair Scotland's banks and braes, where Wallace +bled, Prince Charlie fought, and Bonnie Dundee rallied his henchmen to +give battle, and, too, Winn heard the love plaint of many a Scotch lad +and lassie, centuries old, and yet reaching his heart as they always did +and always will all human kind. And as, entranced, he lived once more in +the olden days of chivalry and love faithful unto death, he thought of +Mona and how she had touched the same chord in his heart only a few +hours before. + +And when Jess had tired of his pastime, and Winn, on his way to his +solitary room in Rock Lane, passed the white cottage next to it, he +halted a moment, wondering if Mona was asleep, or if not, was she +thinking of him. + +For such is man, and so do the rose petals of love first unclose. + +[Illustration: MONA.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MONA HUTTON + + +Mona Hutton was, as Winn instinctively felt that Sunday when he first +glanced into her well-like eyes, a girl but little akin to her +surroundings--a child of the island, full of strange moods and fancies, +sombre as the thickets of spruce that grew dense and dark between the +ledges of granite, and solemn as the unceasing boom of ocean billows +below its cliffs. Even as a barefoot schoolgirl she had found the sea an +enticing playmate, and to watch its white-crested waves lifting the +rockweed and brown kelpie, as they swept over the rocks and into the +gorges and fissures, was of more interest than her schoolmates. She +would hide between the ledges and watch the sea-gulls sailing over them +for hours, build playhouses in out-of-the-way spots with lone +contentment, filling them with shells, starfish, and crabs, dig wells in +the sandy margin of the harbor, and catch minnows to put in them. She +loved to watch the fishing boats sailing away, the coasters pass the +island, the current sweeping in and out beneath the old tide mill, and +as she grew up and gained in courage roamed over the entire island at +will. The Devil's Oven, out of sight and sound of everybody, became a +charming spot for her; and here she would sit for hours watching the +waves leap into the gorge and wondering why they never sounded twice +alike. And so on, as she developed, she absorbed the mood of the ocean, +its grandeur shaped her thoughts, its mystery tinged her emotion, and +its solemnity, like the voice of eternity, gave expression to her eyes. + +Companions of her own age she had none, leaving them to play as they +chose while she sought solitude, and found contentment on the lonely +shores. Uncle Jess only was akin to her, and if she could lead him away +as playmate, then was she happy. + +And so she grew up. + +With only a limited education, such as the island schools afforded, a +scant knowledge of books, since but few ever reached Rockhaven, a love +of music that amounted to a passion, no knowledge of the world except +that gleaned from Uncle Jess, a deep religious feeling, partially shaped +by the "Hardshell" Baptist teachings of the Rev. Jason Bush, and more by +the ocean billows that forever thundered against the island shores, she +was at twenty a girl to be pitied by those capable of understanding her +nature or realizing how incompatible to it was her environment. Of music +she knew but little, and that taught her by the genial old soul who, +since her babyhood, had been father, uncle, and companion. His constant +assistance had been hers through her pinafore days at school; his genial +philosophy and keen insight into human impulse had done more to develop +her mind afterward than the three R's she mastered there. His gentle +hand had taught her the scales on his old brown fiddle, and now that she +had reached that mystic line where girlhood ends and womanhood begins, +her future was of more concern to him than all else in his life. That +she must and would, in the course of human nature, love and marry, he +fully expected; that it was like to be a mateship with some of the +simple and hard-working fishermen's sons, he expected; and yet, with +dread for her far more than any one else, even her mother, he realized +that such an alliance would be but a lifelong slavery for Mona. To mate +a poetic soul like hers, that heard the voice of eternity in the +white-crested billows, the footsteps of angels in the music he drew from +his violin, and the whisper of God in the sea winds that murmured +through the spruce thickets they visited, as he knew she did, seemed as +unnatural as confining one of the white gulls that circled about the +island in a coop with the barnyard fowls. + +To Mona herself no thought of this had come. Though the young men with +whom as schoolmates she had studied, and who now as fishermen, with +ill-smelling garb and sea-tanned hands and faces, often sought her, to +none did she give encouragement, and with none found agreeable +companionship. What her future might be, and with whom spent, gave her +no concern. Each day she lived as it came, helping her mother in the +simple home life and the making of their raiment, stealing away +occasionally to spend a few hours with Uncle Jess, or in summer to hide +herself in the Devil's Oven, and play on the violin he had given her, or +practise with him as a teacher. This violin and its playing, it must be +stated, had been and was the only bone of contention between Mona and +her mother, and just why that mother found it hard to explain, except +that it was a man's instrument and not a woman's. Their humble parlor +boasted a small cottage organ. "Let Mona learn to play on that," she had +said when Jess first began to teach Mona the art of the bowstrings, +"it's more graceful for a girl to do that than sawing across a fiddle +stuck under her chin." And this matter of grace, so vital to that +mother's peace of mind, was the only point of dispute between them. But +Uncle Jess sided with Mona, and the mother gave in, for with her, for +many potent reasons, the will and wishes of Uncle Jess must not be +thwarted, even if wrong. However, the dispute drove Mona and the fiddle +out of the house, and when she had finally mastered it (at least in a +measure), it stayed out. + +In this connection, it may be said, there was also a difference in +opinion between Mrs. Hutton and Jess regarding the future of Mona, and +though never discussed before her, for obvious reasons, it existed. With +Mrs. Hutton the measure of her own life, or what it had been, as well as +that of her neighbors, was broad enough for Mona. + +"It's going to spoil her," she asserted on one of these occasions, "this +getting the idea into her head that those she has been brought up with +are not good enough for her. They may not be, but we are here and likely +to stay here, and once a girl gets her head full o' high notions and +that she's better than the rest, it's all day with her." + +"Thar ain't no use interferin'," Jess responded, "whatever notions +Mona's got, she's got, an' ye can't change 'em. If she likes the smell +o' wild roses better'n fishin' togs, she does; and if she turns up her +nose at them as don't think 'nough o' pleasin' her ter change togs when +they come round, I 'gree with her. Wimmin, an' young wimmin 'specially, +air notional, an' though most on 'em 'round here has ter work purty +hard, it ain't no sign their notions shouldn't be considered. I've +stayed in houses whar wimmin wa'n't 'lowed to lift a finger an' had +sarvants ter fan 'em when 'twas hot, an' though that ain't no sign +Mona'll git it done for her, I hope I'll never live ter see her drudgin' +like some on 'em here." + +"If you'd had the bringing o' Mona up," Mrs. Hutton had responded rather +sharply, "you would a-made a doll baby out o' her, an' only fit to have +servants to fan her." At which parting shot, Jess had usually taken to +his heels, muttering, "It's a waste o' time argufyin' with a woman." + +But Mrs. Hutton was far from being as "sot" in her way as might be +inferred, as she always had, and still desired, to rear her only child +in the way she considered best, and in accordance with her surroundings. +To be a fine lady on Rockhaven, as Mrs. Hutton would put it, was +impossible; and unless Mona was likely to be transplanted to another +world, as it were, it seemed wisest to keep her from exalted ideas and +high-bred tastes. But back of that, and deep in the mother's love, lay +the hope of better things for her child than she had known, though how +they were to come, and in what way, she could not see. + +Mere pebbles of chance shape our destiny, and so it was in the life of +Winn Hardy, and the trifle, light as air, that turned his footsteps, was +the sound of church bells that Sunday morning in Rockhaven. + +Had they not recalled his boyhood, he would have spent the day in +roaming over the island as he had planned, instead of accepting Mrs. +Moore's invitation to accompany her to church, with the sequence of +events that followed. And the one most potent was the accent of +cordiality in Mrs. Hutton's neighborly invitation to call. It may be +supposed, and naturally, that the expressive eyes of her daughter were +the real magnets; but in this case they were not. Instead it was the +mother with whom he desired to visit, and when he called that first +evening it was with her he held most converse. Out of the medley of +subjects they chatted about, and what was said by either, so little is +pertinent to this narrative, it need not be quoted. Winn gave a brief +account of his early life and more of the latter part, since he had been +a resident of the city, together with a full explanation of how the +Rockhaven Granite Company was likely to affect the island, and his +mission there. This latter recital, he felt, would be a wise stroke of +policy, as apt to be repeated by Mrs. Hutton, as in truth it was, later +on. While she was not inquisitive, he found she was keenly interested in +the new industry he had established there, and discerning enough to see +that, if successful, it would be a great benefit to the island. Winn +discovered also that in addition to being a most excellent and devoted +mother, she was fairly well posted in current events, had visited +relatives on the mainland many times, and in the city once, and was far +from being narrow-minded. With Mona, who sat a quiet listener, he +exchanged but a few words, and those in connection with the church and +social life of the village. In truth, he found her disinclined to say +much and apparently afraid of him. His call was brief and not +particularly interesting, except that it made him feel a little more at +home on the island, and when he rose to go, he received the expected +invitation to call again; and when he had reached his room, the only +features of the call that remained in his mind were that Mrs. Hutton +seemed interested in his mission there, and her daughter had eyes that +haunted him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE DEVIL'S OVEN + + +The time-worn saw that two is company and three a crowd never struck +Winn so forcibly as that evening when he called again on Mrs. Hutton. On +the first occasion he had only felt interested to make the acquaintance +of that excellent lady, who, in many ways, reminded him of his own +departed mother; but now it was the daughter. But Mona was shy as +before, perhaps more so, and hardly ventured a remark, while the mother +was as cordial and chatty as ever. Once Winn came near speaking of the +little episode that had occurred the day before, but some quick +intuition prevented, and after an hour's visit he bade the two good +night and left them. + +It was evident Mona had not confided the incident to her mother, and +until she had Winn thought it his place to keep silent. He did not know +that the girl's secrecy was solely due to fear of a scolding, and that +between her mother and herself existed that foolish, but often +dangerous barrier. It was several days after before Winn obtained a +suitable chance to speak with Mona alone, and then he met her just +coming from the store of Jess Hutton. + +"When am I to hear you play again?" he asked pleasantly, "I wanted to +ask you the evening I called, but in view of what you said about your +mother's dislike of it, decided not to." + +"I am glad you did," she replied, coloring a little. + +"I am going over to that gorge this afternoon," continued Winn boldly, +"and I want you to promise to come and bring your violin. Will you?" + +"I won't promise," she replied timidly, and all unconscious that his +proposal was not in strict propriety, "I may come, but if I do I shall +not dare play before you." + +"Oh, I am harmless," he replied lightly, "and if you knew how anxious I +am to hear you, you would favor me, I am sure." + +And that afternoon Winn betook himself once more to what was now likely +to be a trysting place, only instead of going directly, the way Mona +would naturally, over Norse Hill, he walked a mile extra around through +Worthaven. And this to protect the good name of a girl with a face like +a marguerite and eyes like deep waters. + +She was not there when he arrived, and in truth Mona was having a hard +struggle to decide whether to go or not, for this man, with earnest +brown eyes, blond mustache, stylish garb, ways and manners so utterly +unlike any that had come under her ken, was one to awe her. + +Then, would it be right, and what would her mother and Uncle Jess, and +all the good people of Rockhaven, say if it were known she met him thus? +For Mona, wise as only Rockhaven was, and pure as the flowers her face +resembled, was yet conscious what evil tongues might say, and dreaded +lest they be set wagging. + +But a lurking impulse, first implanted in Mother Eve's heart, and +budding in Mona's since the hour she saw Winn's kindly eyes looking down +into her own, won the day, and taking her dearly-loved, old, brown +fiddle and bow safe in their green bag, she walked rapidly to the edge +of the gorge, with throbbing heart and flushed face. + +Winn was there waiting, as full well she knew he would be, lazily +puffing a cigar while he leaned against a sloping bank and watched the +ocean below. When he saw Mona he threw the weed away and sprung to his +feet. + +"I'm very glad you came, Miss Hutton," he said, raising his hat, "yet I +did not dare hope you would," and then extending one hand to take the +bag and the other to assist her, he added, "It's a risky place to come +down into, and you had best let me assist you." + +"I'll go first," she replied quickly, "for I know the way and can go +alone, and you can follow me." + +And follow her he had to, but not easily, for with steps as fearless and +leaps as graceful as an antelope, she led the way down into the chaos of +boulders and then up through them, until she paused in a sheltering +embrasure. + +When Winn reached her side he was out of breath, and as he handed her +the bag and looked about, he was almost speechless at the wild, rocky +grandeur of the spot. And well he might be, for seldom had he seen one +like it. He had looked down into the gorge from above, but now he was in +a half-circular, wide-open cave the size of a small room, far below +where he had stood, and looking out upon cliff-like walls down to where +the ocean waves were beating. + +"And so this is the Devil's Oven," he said when he had looked all about, +and finally at Mona seated upon a jutting ledge and watching him. "I +think it a shame to have given such a hideous name to a place so grand +and picturesque. Rather should it have been called the Mermaid's Grotto. +I dislike this idea of naming all the beautiful bits of natural scenery +after his satanship. It's not fair." Then seating himself as far away +from Mona as possible he added gently, "Now, Miss Hutton, I am ready for +my treat. Please don't think or feel that I am here, but play to +yourself and for yourself, just as you did the day I first heard you." + +And Mona, charmed a little by his gentle, courteous ways and speech, and +her sense of fear lulled by his entirely respectful manner, drew her +violin from its case. + +It may have been the spot that inspired her, or the tender admiration +she saw in his eyes, or a little of both, but from the first moment she +drew the bow across the strings of her violin, a wondrous sweetness and +feeling graced her playing, and strange to say, all the melodies she +rendered bore the Scotch flavor. Most of them had been heard by Winn at +one time or another, but never played upon an instrument that seemed so +sweet or with such an exquisite touch as now. When "Bonnie Dundee" came, +he could almost see that gallant chieftain with waving plume and Tartan +plaid, and hear him say:-- + + "Come fill up my cup, + Come fill up my can; + Come saddle my horses + And call up my men." + +And when "The Campbells are Coming" echoed out of that rock-walled cave, +Winn could hear the bagpipes in the distance and see the dauntless hosts +of fair Scotland marching to battle. + +When after an hour, during which Mona sat with lithe body swaying to the +measure of her music, rounded cheek pressed tenderly to her instrument, +and her eyes closed, as if lost to the world, she came to that old +utterance of love, sweet "Annie Laurie," Winn was enthralled as never in +his life before. And when the last exquisite note had floated out of the +cave and into the sad monotone of the ocean, and Mona paused, his eyes +were dimmed with tears. + +"Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, brushing them away, "no words of mine +can tell you how much I have enjoyed this treat or with what rare +feeling you have played. If you could play as you have here before an +audience they would bury you under flowers and lavish wealth upon you." + +These were warm words, and without doubt at the moment Winn felt all +they meant, but he little realized what an influence they would instil +into the heart of Mona Hutton or what fruit they were destined to bear. + +"Who was that wonderful woman you told me about the other day?" asked +Mona, making no response to his flattering words. "I did not know women +ever played in public." + +"Oh, yes, they do," answered Winn, "and there are many like her who have +gained fame and riches. You could if you would set about it and had the +courage to do it. You would have to study, of course, under a teacher +and learn to play classical music." + +"And what is classical music?" asked Mona. + +"It is what no one understands, though many claim to; or perhaps better +described as soulless sound," answered Winn. "I do not care for it. +There is no feeling, no pulse, no heart in it." + +"Then why is the world willing to pay for it?" she asked. + +"The world is ready to buy anything that comes high," he answered, "and +the more in proportion to its value that is asked, the quicker they will +buy it. But do not ask about the world, Miss Hutton. It is not in +harmony with this spot. We are out of it here." + +Mona looked at him curiously. "You are a queer man," she said suddenly, +"and at first I was very much afraid of you." + +Winn laughed. "You need not be," he replied, "I never harmed man, woman, +or child." Then as a sudden thought came to him he added, "Did you tell +your mother you met me here the other day?" + +"No," she replied, looking confused and coloring. It was on her lips to +say that she dreaded a scolding if she did, but she restrained herself. + +"It is time you were starting home," he said suddenly, looking at his +watch, "and I am so sorry," and rising he added, "you must pardon me for +saying so, but I think you had best mention to your mother you met me +here, by accident of course. If you do not, and if she hears of it, she +will think it strange." When he had assisted her down the rocky pathway +and up the steep sides, the while carrying her precious violin, and they +reached the brink of the chasm, he paused. + +The gorge was all in shadow, the wind fallen away, and only the long +sweeping ground swells caught and mirrored the red glow of the sun now +almost at the horizon line. For a moment Winn looked out over the broad +ocean and then turned to the girl beside him. + +"Little one," he said gently, "I thank you for the confidence you have +placed in me by coming here and for the pleasure you have given me. I +shall never forget it. There are two favors I want you to grant me, the +first to let me call you Mona, the next to come here some day again and +play for me. Will you?" + +"I will unless mother forbids," she answered simply. + +And then as they turned toward the village, he carrying the green bag +and still retaining the hand he clasped to assist her out of the chasm, +and guiding her footsteps along the way, a new and exalted sense of +happiness came to her. But little was said by either, for she like a +timid child waited for him to speak, and he was so hushed by the mood of +the afternoon in the gorge, and the blessed unity of sea and sky and +sunset here, he enjoyed silence best. + +When they came in sight of the village he released her hand, and when +her home was reached handed her the bag, and with a whispered "good +night, Mona," passed on. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE PARTING OF THE WAYS + + +When Winn passed out of Rockhaven the next morning, Mona was in her +dooryard kneeling beside a bed of flowers, her face shaded by a checked +calico sunbonnet. At the gate he paused. + +"Good morning, little girl," he said pleasantly, "do I get a flower for +my good looks this morning?" Had Mona been a cultured society girl she +would have replied in the same coin, instead she merely answered his +greeting and plucking one each of a half dozen kinds, still moist with +the dew, handed them to him. And he looked into the wondrous eyes raised +to his, saw a new light lingering in them, and smiling softly as he took +the flowers he thanked her and went his way. + +And strange to say, when he reached the quarry, he hid that little +nosegay in a shaded nook beside the ledge where a tiny spring dripped +out, and when he returned that noon, carried them wrapped in a wet +handkerchief to his room and left them in a glass of water. And that +night when the vexation and cares of the day had passed, he, a little +homesick and with the charm of Mona's playing still lingering in his +mind, held communion with himself. And the cause was the following +missive which had reached him:-- + + "DEAR MR. HARDY: + + "I was surprised a few days ago when your aunt told me you had + left the city to be manager of the Rockhaven Granite Co., and + had gone away to some unheard of island. I had missed seeing + you for a week, and when you were not at church with your aunt, + asked her what had become of you. When she told me where you + were it seemed likely you would be glad to hear from home, and + as I am aware your worthy aunt hates letter writing, I thought + I would be good to you. There isn't a bit of news to write, and + the city is getting positively unbearable. + + "Mother and I are getting ready to go to the mountains; we + shall start early in July and your aunt goes with us. I presume + from what she said you will remain where you are this summer. I + almost envy you, for it certainly must be cool there, and no + doubt you have or will find some sweet fishermaid to flirt + with. Grace is not going with us for she says a baby is a + nuisance at a hotel and then 'hubby' can't afford it. I saw + Jack (your chum) the other evening at the Bijou with a girl who + was stunning, also Mabel Weston and her mother. + + "I do not know of anything else that will interest you except + my address for the summer, which I enclose, and the hope that + you won't forget us all before your return. + + "Yours sincerely, + "ETHEL SHERMAN." + +And this from the girl who two short years before had laughed his +marriage proposal to scorn. + +And he was like to find some simple fishermaid to flirt with, was he? +And the cool indifference to that fact; and the covert, yet openly +expressed invitation for him to write to her. + +Now Winn Hardy was not blind, and in spite of the two years, during +which he had never met or thought of Ethel Sherman without a pin-prick +in his heart, clear and distinct in his mind was the alluring glance of +her blue eyes that had led him to make a fool of himself, and the red +ripe temptation of her lips he had once stolen kisses from. And now she +was inviting him to write to her. And not two rods away was a girl as +simple and sweet as the daisies that bloomed in a meadow, as utterly +unsophisticated as though reared within convent walls, with eyes like +deep waters, and a soul trembling with passionate music! + +For one hour Winn communed with himself, glancing attentively at the +little knot of flowers on a small table near him, and the letter beside +them, and then arose and putting on his hat, left the house. It was a +still summer evening with the crescent of a new moon glinting in the +waters of Rockhaven harbor and outlining the spectral shape of the tower +on Norse Hill. To this Winn turned his steps, and seating himself where +he could look over the undulating ocean, continued his meditation. + +All his life, since the day he first entered the office of Weston & +Hill, came to him. All the many snubs he had received, all the +disappointments he had met, all the weeks, months, and years of +monotonous drudgery in that office, all the "fool's paradise" hours he +had passed with Ethel Sherman, all the harsh bitterness he had heard +from the lips of Jack Nickerson--and now the new life, new ambition, and +new influence that had come to him--passed in review. And as he +leisurely puffed his cigar, looking the while out upon the boundless +expanse that, like an eternity, lay before him, he saw himself as he +was, and knew that as a man of honor and for his own peace of mind, he +must choose between two ways. That he could not escape the island for +months and perhaps for years, he saw clearly, and if he remained, as +remain he must if he were to win success in this new project, he must +inevitably become one and a part of the social and hard-working life of +the people with whom he mingled, sharing their hopes and encouraging +their ambitions. And if he did, could he go on holding himself aloof +from all tender impulses, living the life of a recluse, as inflexible as +the granite he quarried, and as void of sentiment? + +Winn Hardy besides being impulsive was endowed with a vein of romance, +and saw and felt the poetic side of all things. The whispers of winds in +the pine trees, flowers that grew wild in out of the way nooks, birds +singing, bees gathering honey, squirrels hiding their winter store of +nuts, the sea in all its moods, clouds sailing across a summer sky and +all that was beautiful in nature appealed to him. This island whose +frowning cliffs faced the ocean billows so defiantly, the placid harbor +with its rippled sandy shore, the old tide mill an ancient ruin, the +dark thickets of spruce between the rolling ledges of granite, and the +weird gorge where this girl had hid herself, each and all seemed to him +as so many bits of poetry. Then the peculiar and romantic fact of her +going to such a picturesque spot, out of sight and sound of even the +island people, and beyond that the wonderful sweetness and pathos of her +simple music, all appealed to him as to but few. It was as if he felt in +her a kinship of soul, an echo of his own poetic nature, a response to +his own ideals in life, with a face like a flower, lips like two +rosebuds, and eyes like a Madonna. + +For a long time he sat there in communion with his own needs and nature, +sobered by the silence of night and eternity so near him. When he arose, +turning back toward the village, he paused on the brow of the hill, +looking down upon it still and silent in the faint moonlight. Away to +the right and pointing skyward, he saw the little spire of the church +whose bell had recalled his early boyhood days and all the sweet and +pure influences they had contained, even the face of his own mother, he +knew he should never look upon again. And with that recollection came +the half-pitiful words he had heard in that church that seemed like a +plea for help from starvation. + +Winn was not religious. He had never been drawn toward an open +profession of faith. He had at first felt church going and +Sabbath-school lessons an irksome task, and later a social custom, +useful because it bound together congenial people. He believed in God +but not in prayer. His heart was in sympathy with all the carnal needs +of humanity, but not the spiritual; those he considered figments of the +imagination, useful, maybe, when old age came, but needless during +healthy, active life. To the customary observance of them he always +yielded respectful attention, but felt not their influence. And musing +there it came to him that perhaps some divine power had directed his +footsteps and brought him into the lives of these simple honest people +for a purpose not understood. + +When he reached his room it was fragrant with the flowers Mona had given +him that morning, and beside them lay the letter of Ethel Sherman. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WILD ROSES + + +It has been said of the modern young lady that the more of her home life +a gentleman saw, the less likely he was to fall in love with her; but as +the days sped by and Winn saw more of Mona's, he felt that that truism +was likely to be reversed. + +Then another natural result was attained, for finding his mission there +a practical one and the money he distributed each Saturday night a +powerful argument in his favor, the islanders, from Rev. Jason Bush +downward, began to show their cordial interest in his presence. On +Sundays when he with Jess, Mrs. Hutton, and Mrs. Moore and Mona usually +formed a little group that walked together to church, in that modest +sanctuary he was the one most observed. All to whom he had been +introduced seemed to seek an opportunity to bow, and many of the men, +whose names he had not learned, showed the same courtesy. When he walked +out after the service, old and young would stand aside for him to pass. +The Rev. Jason Bush perhaps showed the most interest, and in a purely +business way, for when he had opportunities (and he found many) it was +the quarry and its management and prospects which he was desirous of +discussing, instead of the spiritual welfare of Winn, as might be +expected. In fact, the latter was never mentioned, and although Mr. Bush +lamented that Rockhaven was divided into two sects, and that neither +church had a following sufficient to support it, it was here again the +business side of the matter which seemed uppermost in that worthy +parson's mind. + +But it was the cordiality shown by Mrs. Hutton on all possible occasions +that interested Winn most, because it appealed to the domestic and +home-loving side of his nature. He had never known much of home life +since maturity, for his aunt was not a home-maker, leaving that to her +servants and scolding because they failed, and to see what thought and +care could do in that direction, even though in a modest way, attracted +him. And since her door appeared always open to him and an unfailing +welcome waiting, he would have been less than human had he not availed +himself of the opportunity. Hardly an evening passed that he did not see +or speak with either mother or daughter, and occasionally made one at +their table. It was here that Jess was often in evidence, usually eating +his dinner there--always on Sunday. Then again, as the grass-grown +dooryard of his domicile adjoined the flower-filled one of Mrs. Hutton, +by some occult process a freshly cut bunch of roses, sweet peas or +pinks, found its way to his room each day. It was a trifle, perhaps, but +it is such trifles that make up home life. + +And Mona herself, now that her timidity had worn away to a certain +extent, began to grow upon him. He had, from the evening when he +communed with himself in solitude, continually treated her with a sort +of big brother consideration; but as he saw more of her and realized the +limitations of her life, so small in comparison with her aspirations; +how day by day she lived, feeling herself a prisoner on the island, with +no one there who understood her except Jess, a little bud of pity +started in Winn's heart, and the temptation that assailed him that day +in the cave grew stronger. + +"If I should feel the witchery of her playing in that romantic spot a +few times," he said to himself, "I should fall in love with her, and +couldn't help it." + +But temptations of that nature are hard to resist, and like sweet +potations, once tested, we desire to sip again. So it came about that +one morning Winn said to her: "Mona, I am going to treat myself to a +half day away from the quarry, and if your mother is willing, I want you +to visit the gorge with me this afternoon and bring your violin. I would +rather you asked her consent," he added pointedly, "I shall enjoy it +better." + +As this perfect June afternoon and its enjoyment had much to do with +shaping the heart histories of these two young people, considerable +space can well be devoted to it, and especially to their exchange of +ideas and feelings. + +"I will let you carry the violin now," said Winn, when they had left the +village out of sight, "I want to gather a few wild roses to decorate +your trysting place. I have odd fancies about such things and believe, +as the Greeks did, that every cave and grotto is inhabited by some nymph +or gnome. From the way your playing there has affected me each time, I +am sure it is some beautiful nymph who has chosen the Devil's Oven for +her abode, so I am going to present her with a nosegay." + +"I have read about fairies," responded Mona, artlessly, "but I do not +believe such creatures ever existed." + +"But they do," asserted Winn, smiling, as he gathered his roses, "and if +your imagination is strong enough, you can feel their presence many +times. I made sure there was one hid somewhere, that day I first heard +you playing." + +"And did you think so when you hid behind the rock and scared me half to +death?" she queried. + +"No," he responded, "I knew it was a real flesh and blood fairy then, +for I had seen you come out of the gorge." + +"And so you came back to scare me," she said playfully, "that wasn't +nice. If you wanted to know who it was, why didn't you ask Uncle Jess? +He would have told you." + +"Yes, and spoiled all the romance of it," answered Winn. "It's like +detecting the presence of nymphs and fairies. If you go to a grotto or +cave alone and listen for them, you will feel or hear them always, in +some way." + +"If I believed that," replied Mona, seriously, "I would never go to the +cave alone again. I should feel it to be haunted." + +"But you admit you can play better there, and feel more of the spirit of +your music," asserted Winn; "tell me why that is." + +"Because I am alone, and feel myself to be so," she answered firmly. "I +do not believe it is due to any unseen creature." + +"But you played with wondrous feeling the day I came there with you," he +replied, "you weren't alone then." + +"I am glad you think so," she answered, turning away, "I tried to, but +was so afraid of you, I trembled." + +Winn smiled at her candor. "You don't know how to flirt, do you, Mona?" +he asked pointedly, "you utter the truth always." + +"Does flirting consist of deception?" she asked, looking earnestly at +him. + +"Yes," he answered, "and of the most adroit kind. It's the weapon that +all world-wise women use to enslave men, and the more skilled they are +at it, the more assured is their success." + +"Do men ever deceive?" she queried, her fathomless eyes still on him. + +"Yes, little girl," he answered, looking away and out over the ocean and +resolving to be sincere, "men are the same as women in that respect; +some do it in self-defence, and others out of selfishness. Then once in +a while, one will never do it, except out of kindness. Such men are +usually imposed upon." + +When they reached the brink of the chasm he took her hand. "I am so +afraid you will slip in going down," he said, "and if you were hurt, I +should never forgive myself." He retained it down the steep path and up +the devious way to the cave. When it was reached she seated herself and +said, smiling at him, "Now you are here, let me see you give your +flowers to the fairy." + +For answer he gallantly touched them with his lips and handed them to +her. "You are the fairy who lives here," he said, "for I shall never +think of this spot without seeing you in it." + +Mona colored a little and then a shade crossed her face. "Isn't that +deception?" she said. "You do not mean it." + +"I mean to say every nice thing I can think of to-day," he answered, +"and do all I can to make you enjoy it. A truly happy hour is a rare +experience in life, and I want to find one for you." Then, taking his +cigar case out and stretching himself on one side of the cave, he added: +"I wish we had brought some cushions. I will, the next time we come." + +"I do not think how hard the rock is," she answered; "when I am playing +I forget where I am, even." + +"Well, forget it quick," he said, "so I can. Only do not play 'Annie +Laurie' till the last thing. You brought a mist to my eyes with it the +other day. It's a sweet bit, full of tears." + +And then, not heeding his pleasantries, many of which she did not +understand, Mona drew her dearly loved brown fiddle out of its case, and +once more that uncanny den in the rocks echoed to its magic. A medley of +old-time ballads, jigs, reels, and dance music came forth in succession, +while Winn, forgetting his cigar, yielded to her music and watched her +lissom body encased in blue flannel, open at the throat, swaying +slightly as she played, her winsome face turned from him in profile and +eyes closed at times. Once only, when a certain air recalled the past, +did he think of the woman who had scorned him, and whose letter was +still unanswered. + +"Do not play any more now," he said finally, when Mona paused, "you must +be tired." + +"I must have tired you of it," she answered bluntly, "and I am glad. I +want to hear you talk and tell me about fairies and the great city where +you lived, and about that woman who played before people. I wish I could +learn to play as you say she did." + +"Oh, there's not much to tell about fairies," he answered, smiling at +her earnestness, "they are merely imaginary and used to amuse children. +Many years ago, when the world was young, people believed in and +worshipped them as gods and goddesses; now they are poetic fancies." + +"What are poetic fancies?" she asked, understanding him only partially. + +"Well, for instance," he answered, "a poet would describe this gorge as +a way through the cliff carved by Neptune, and this cave a shelter the +mermaids sought to comb their tresses and sing the songs of the sea. Of +old every cascade and grotto was believed to be inhabited by nymphs and +gnomes, every grove by wood sprites and brownies. If they saw a brook +rippling over the pebbles in the sunlight, they said it was elfins +dancing; and in autumn when the fallen leaves blew over the hilltops, it +was the brownies holding carnival." + +"I do not believe such creatures ever did exist," she replied, "but I +shall enjoy coming here all the better for having heard about them." + +Then as if she already looked to him as a source of all information, she +added, "Tell me about the women in your city who ride in carriages and +wear beautiful dresses." + +A shade of annoyance crossed his face. "I would rather tell you about +the fairies, little girl," he answered bitterly; "the women in my world +are mostly charming liars. They live to outshine each other in dress, +they utter pretty speeches that are false, they go to church to show off +their raiment and come back to sneer at what others wear, they consider +a man as eligible for a husband solely because he has money, and if he +tells them the truth, call him a fool. I do not admire them much, Mona, +and the less you know of them the better woman you will grow to be, and +the better wife you will make some man." + +Mona flushed slightly and raising her eyes and looking full at him, +responded, "Do all the men in your world despise women as you do, and is +there not among them one who is good and tender and truthful?" + +Winn remained silent a moment, for the delicate reproach of her words +was unexpected. + +"There may be some," he answered evasively at last, "but I have never +met them and a man is apt to judge all women by those he has known." + +"And if there is now and then one among them who is not false-hearted," +continued Mona, "is she not respected and loved for it?" + +"She might be by some," he answered doubtfully, "but most would call her +stupid." + +"Would the men call her stupid?" persisted Mona. + +"Some of them would," he answered, smiling at her earnestness, "but most +of them would take advantage of it. World-wise men grow to be selfish." +Then, as if the subject was distasteful, or her inquiries too pointed, +he added, "Do you know what love is, Mona, and have you never had a +lover among the young fishermen here?" + +"T have read about it," she answered with perfect sincerity, and smiling +at her own thought, "but I've never had much for any of the boys I've +known; they smell too fishy." + +This time Winn laughed heartily. "And is your nose the by-road to your +heart?" he asked. + +"It may be," she replied, also laughing, "if I have one." + +It was the first coquettish word she had so far uttered, and Winn did +not like it. + +"That does not sound like you, Mona," he replied soberly, "your greatest +charm, and it is a charm, is sincerity. When you speak that way you +remind me of the ladies in my world, and I do not like them." + +"And if I am always truthful," she said, "you will call me simple, won't +you?" + +"No, I told you I admired that in you," he said, "but you have not +answered my question, Mona. Have you never had a lover?" + +"I have had two or three," she replied again, looking sober, "at least +they said they loved me, but I did not return it." + +And as Winn looked at the girlish figure, just showing the rounded +curves of womanhood beneath its close-fitting blue flannel gown, and at +the pansy face with eyes like one of those purple petals, fixed on him, +he, manlike, thought how sweet it would be to moisten them with the dew +of love's light and feel the touch of her velvety lips. + +But should he try for that prize, and did he want it, if he could win +it? + +The lowering sun had thrown the shadows of the spruce trees adown the +gorge, the wind scarce ruffled the ocean and only the low lullaby of its +undulations crept up the ravine. It was the parting of day and night, +the good-by of sunshine, the peace of summer twilight. + +"Now, Mona," he half whispered, as if fearing to scare the mermaids +away, "play 'Annie Laurie'!" + +And lost to the world, he watched her bending over and caressing that +old brown fiddle, even as a mother would press her baby's face to her +own, again and once again came that whisper of a love that never dies, a +refrain that holds the pathos of life and parting in its chords, a love +cry centuries old, as sweet as heaven, as sad as death. + +"Come, little girl," he said, rising suddenly when only the ocean's +whisper reached his ears, "it's time to go home." And as, clasping her +hand, and in silence leading her out of the gorge, he noticed when one +of the roses she carried from the cave fell among the rocks, she stooped +and picked it up. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +J. MALCOLM WESTON + + +There is in this land of the free, where all men are created equal (on +paper), a class of financial sharpers, whose ambition and sole +occupation is to secure for themselves the wealth of others by the most +occult and far-reaching scheming ever evolved by human brain. They toil +not, neither do they produce, yet Satan with all his archness is not +equipped like one of these. There is no taint of illegality in their +methods, they are outwardly the best of men, heralded by the press as +great financiers, railroad magnates, oil, copper, and iron kings, +praised by the rich and toadied to by the poor. They are envied by many, +lauded by editors who seek advertisements, and (if they contribute +liberally) praised by college presidents and preachers alike. Political +fortunes are turned by their nod, laws enacted in their aid, the code of +morals shaded in their favor, club doors opened, and society bowing low +whichever way they turn. Only the toiling millions whose lives are one +long fight against poverty think or speak ill of them, and such are not +considered. Those magnates of extortion so colossal that it is legal, +have one trite expression that contains their contempt for the millions +who envy, and that is, "The public be d----d." + +Of their operation on the chess board of finance little need be said. It +is known, or at least its results are, to high or low, rich or poor. +These octopuses, or rather human sharks, organize trusts, corner every +necessity of life where conditions will permit; buy bankrupt railroads, +inflate their stock, boom it by systematic deception and then unload it +at top prices on the countless flocks of lambs ever ready to buy what is +dear, and who never by any known process can be induced to buy what is +cheap. + +And those are financiers! + +There is another class, usually with less money, but equal in brains and +audacity, who have come to be known as promoters. Relatively speaking +they should be called dogfish. They would be financiers if they could, +but lacking capital to buy railroads, or corner everything on the earth, +except water, they merely organize schemes and sell stock. How many, and +how varied those are, it is waste of space to specify. All that the +patient reader need do is consult the pages of any or all city dailies +and read the tempting list of schemes there to be found. All are alike +in the main, for all offer safe investments, sure and ample returns, +indorsed by names that glitter, and promise everything under the +sun,--except to return your money if you do not get value promised. + +Of this class was J. Malcolm Weston. + +He had organized two or three glittering bubbles before the firm of +Weston & Hill was established, but from lack of capital failed to reap +the hoped-for reward. Then along came Hill, a retired manufacturer, +whose history shall be given in due time, who had more money than brains +and more conceit than either. Weston, a shrewd and smooth-tongued +schemer, reading Hill at a glance, was not long in flattering that +gullible man into a partnership and taking him and his money into camp, +as it were. For a time, and while Winn Hardy was serving apprenticeship, +the firm conducted a fairly honest and respectable business. They bought +and sold stocks and bonds of all kinds, that is, they sold and then +bought to fill orders only,--a species of commission business perfectly +safe, but not satisfying to Weston. He longed to soar, to organize a +great scheme, a glittering bubble, to see his name in print as a king of +finance, and do it on other people's money--and Hill's. + +Then one day, while off with his broker, Simmons, on the latter's steam +yacht, visiting various north coast islands, the impulse culminated. + +"Why not buy one of these islands," said Simmons, "and start a quarry +company? You can buy one for a song and a granite-quarrying industry +_sounds_ safe and will catch the cautious. I am intending to build a +fine residence in the near future, and you can furnish me the stone. In +return, I'll market stock enough to pay for it. We can find an island +with a harbor and buy it, or a part, which is all that is needful, and +you can do the rest." And thus the scheme was hatched, and when J. +Malcolm Weston, the to-be great financier, returned to the city, he was +sole owner of Jess Hutton's unused quarry and the Rockhaven Granite +Company was born. + +It took time, however, for Hill was a cautious man, holding on to his +purse-strings with the grip of death, and Weston must needs approach him +circuitously. Then there were outsiders to warm up, as it were, men of +some financial standing whose names were of value, to interest; a +charter to be obtained, and all the legal and business detail necessary +to the carrying out of a scheme to be attended to. It also needed all of +Weston's plausible arguments to perfect the plot, and summer came around +again before the conspiracy was ready to be launched. Then "the street" +was cautious, and knowing Weston's reputation in the past, was not +eager, or even willing, to buy this stock. At first, a few credulous +people like Winn's aunt and two or three others who believed in Weston +bought small lots, and the men whose names appeared on the prospectus +were each and all given stock in due ratio to their prominence. And then +Simmons began his fine work. He knew, and so did Weston, that every +share they had given away would be offered for sale as soon as a price +for it had been established "on 'change" and then the scheme would fall +flat. But Simmons had ideas of his own. "We must wait," he said, "until +your man Hardy has shipped us one or two loads of granite, then herald +that fact repeatedly in the papers until the dear confiding public don't +know whether one or ten shiploads have arrived, and then--declare a +dividend!" + +It was not long after, and when Winn Hardy, the honest dupe that he was, +was either zealously striving to push the Rockhaven Granite Company +interests toward success, or thinking about what fine eyes Mona Hutton +had, that the _Market News_ contained the following item:-- + +"The first load of granite destined for the new and palatial residence +which Richard Simmons, the well-known broker, is about to build, has +arrived. It came from the Rockhaven Granite Company's quarries on an +island they own, which produces the finest quality of building stone +obtainable." + +A week later this item also appeared in the same financial sheet:-- + +"It is rumored that all the treasury stock of the Rockhaven Granite +Company has been subscribed for and that this enterprising corporation +is overwhelmed with orders for their excellent product. This is due to +the rapid growth of our beautiful city and the consequent demand for +building materials." + +And J. Malcolm Weston, after reading them in the privacy of his office, +stroked his abundant side whiskers with an admiring caress, while a +smile of satisfaction spread over his genial face. It was the beginning +of his long-cherished ambition to pose as a great financier and it +filled his soul with joy. + +"A dozen or more of such items will start the ball rolling in glorious +shape," he said to Hill, "and boom Rockhaven to beat the cards." + +But Hill, the narrow-minded and close-fisted man that he was, only +looked cross, and sourly asked, "What did they cost?" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A MATTER OF BUSINESS + + +As the days passed on Winn noticed that more and more interest came to +be felt in the Rockhaven Granite Company and his management. And when +the first schooner he had chartered to load with quarried stone came +into the harbor and alongside the little wharf in front of the quarry, +almost a breeze of excitement seemed to ripple through the village. The +women whose husbands were working there came down to see the loading, +children wanted to climb aboard the vessel, and even the Rev. Jason Bush +spent hours watching the massive blocks as they were swung on board. Old +Jess Hutton left his store, and the people to help themselves, every +afternoon, and perched on a convenient outpost, looked on. Only Mona +kept away, and when one evening Winn asked her why, she colored slightly +and replied, "It hurts me a little to see that old ledge Uncle Jess used +to own being blasted and carried off." + +It wasn't her only reason, though a part of it; the rest was of such a +nature that Mona kept it locked in her breast. For the good natives of +Rockhaven, as well as others, had noticed that Winn always walked with +her going and coming from church and had commented upon it, and Mona had +heard of their comments. + +Winn was not her lover as yet, she felt, and not likely to be. She could +not and would not avoid walking and talking with him, but she could +avoid seeming to pursue him over to the quarry. It was all due to a +remark Mrs. Moore had made in a neighborly way. + +"I like Mr. Hardy, right well," she had said one morning when Mona +brought in a fresh bunch of June roses and asked that she put them in +his room, "an' if I was a young gal like you, I'd set my cap for him. It +looks as if you had, a-bringin' him fresh posies, an' if ye keep it up +the right way, an' don't let him make too free with ye, ye kin. It 'ud +be a great catch for ye if ye did." + +After that Mona brought no more flowers for Winn's room, but her mother, +observant ever, and world-wise in a way, did so, and Winn never knew the +difference. + +When the second load of stone had been shipped, and the July sun had +begun to shrivel the scanty grass in Mrs. Moore's dooryard, her two +sons sailed into the harbor one day to spend a Sunday there. They were +browned by the sea-winds and redolent of its crisp odors, and when Winn +came back from the quarry at supper time he found them there. + +"I hear ye're blowin' up an' carryin' off our island," said David, the +oldest, on being introduced, "an' it's a good thing. The rock ain't o' +much account an' most on't is in the way. Thar ain't room 'nough +'longside o' the water here to dry fish, let alone settin' up houses." + +And that Saturday evening, when Winn, as usual, repaired to the store of +Jess Hutton to pay off his men, this swarthy sailor was sitting upon the +doorstep of Mrs. Hutton's home, chewing tobacco vigorously and talking +to Mona. + +The next day, too, dressed in a suit of new clothes that, to use a slang +phrase, "could be heard across the island," he boldly and with an air of +proprietorship walked beside her to church and seated himself in the +same pew. + +Winn, who had never taken this liberty, and who sat with Mrs. Moore just +to the rear, watched Mona industriously and noticed that once when the +young fisherman leaned over to whisper she edged away. All that day not +once did Winn exchange a word with her except the "good morning" that +was his early greeting, and when evening came he once more lit his cigar +and strolled up Norse Hill to commune with himself, for the sight of +that swaggering son of Neptune making himself agreeable to Mona was not +pleasant. In this respect men are all alike, and whether they want a +woman or not, a shadow of the old instinct that existed among the cave +dwellers is latent. + +It was two days after when the brothers sailed away, and by that time +Winn had decided that no matter how interested young Moore was in Mona, +she reciprocated no part of it. + +And then another, and totally unexpected success in his new life came to +him, and that from Jess. + +"I've been layin' back 'n' watchin' how things was goin' on," observed +that philosopher one evening when they were alone in the store, "an' how +ye have behaved yerself, an' I'm goin' to be plain spoken with ye. In +the fust place I've made up my mind ye're a good, honest and +well-meanin' young man, an' if 'twas goin' ter help ye any, an' if ye +are likely to make it yer home here a year or two, I'd buy a few shares +of this stock jist ter show ye 'n' yer folks Rockhaven appreciates the +wages ye're payin' out. I'm goin' ter ask ye a few questions, an' if +matters is all right, I'll take five hundred on't an' mebbe I cud git +Cap'n Moore an' Cap'n Roby n' one or two others to buy a leetle. They +would if they knew I had." + +To say that Winn was surprised was to put it mildly. + +"I will gladly answer any question you may ask, Mr. Hutton, and +truthfully," he replied. "I know how you feel in regard to this +enterprise and how much any one would hate to lose a dollar they +invested in our stock. It is because of this that I have not so far +asked a soul, not even you, to invest a cent with us, though we are +ready and shall be glad to have you. As to how long I shall stay here, +that is a matter over which I have no control. I am only a manager for +the company. I own some of the stock and draw a fair salary, and if this +quarry pays (and I shall do my best to make it) I may stay here for +life." + +"Is this here Weston wuth a good deal o' money," queried Jess in +response, "an' what sort o' man is he reckoned in the city? Is he +counted as square an' honest, or a sharper?" + +"So far as I know," responded Winn, "he is an honorable business man; +and although this quarrying company is like any other enterprise--a +venture--I do not think Mr. Weston would have gone into it unless he +felt sure of making money." + +Jess asked a good many other questions which, with their answers, not +being pertinent to the thread of this narrative, need not be quoted. +When Winn left him that night, after he had gone over in detail all he +knew regarding Weston & Hill and their business, it was with the feeling +that he had conquered Rockhaven and its oracle without an effort. He +little realized that a far more subtile influence than dividends had +interested Jess Hutton, and a desire to conserve matters to the end that +Mona might be made the happier, was the motive force that governed him. + +"I've noticed," he said a little later to Mrs. Hutton, "that this young +man sorter takes to Mona n' she kinder cottons to him. I think it 'ud be +a good idee if ye'd jest caution her not to be free with him 'n' kinder +hold herself off as it were. These city chaps have a winnin' way with +'em to a gal, n' I'd hate to see her git a heartache out on't." He did +not tell Mrs. Hutton he had bought five hundred shares of Rockhaven +stock and insisted that Winn also keep the matter a secret. + +A week later Winn received the following missive from Jack Nickerson, +only a portion of which it is necessary to quote. + +"... I hear," he wrote, "that you have captured an island and are +sending it here in shiploads according to the _Market News_ (two +clippings of which I enclose). They show the fine Italian hand of Weston +or Simmons. I hope you are enjoying yourself and drawing your per annum +with promptness and regularity. The street is growing curious as to what +deep-laid scheme Weston & Hill are preparing to spring upon it, and +Rockhaven stock is not as yet selling to any extent. I saw the gay and +festive Weston out driving yesterday and Simmons was with him. They are +a pair that will bear watching. I hope they won't play you for a +tenderfoot in this new deal. Last week I took a run up to the mountain +where Ethel Sherman and her mother are spending the summer. Ethel was, +as might be expected, deep in a flirtation with a young idiot in golf +clothes and hardly noticed me. Incidentally I heard that he was possible +heir to millions." + +"What an inveterate scoffer Jack is," was Winn's mental comment on this +missive. "He sees no good motive in any one;" and then he re-read the +long and flowery letter from Weston received the same time and +congratulating him on his excellent work. Also notifying him they had as +usual anticipated his pay-roll and expressed sufficient currency to meet +it. + +And of the two letters the one from Weston seemed to him just then to be +honest and business-like, and Jack's as but the sneering of a confirmed +cynic. + +"They wouldn't be putting good money into this quarry if they did not +see a safe and sure return," he thought, and then he took Ethel +Sherman's letter that had been lying for weeks unanswered on his table +and tore it into shreds. + +A few days later he received instructions to make a present of fifty +shares of stock to the minister of Rockhaven church, and to assure him +that the Company donated it for the good of the cause and to show their +cordial interest in the religious welfare of the island. And the Rev. +Jason Bush, who never in his life owned more than the humble roof that +sheltered him, and whose patient wife turned and dyed her raiment until +worthless, marvelled much. And more than that, twenty-four hours had not +passed ere every man, woman, and child on the island had been told it, +for such unexpected, such astounding liberality seemed nothing short of +a miracle. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE GROWTH OF A BUBBLE + + +"Young Hardy's making his mark down on the island," observed J. Malcolm +Weston to his partner that morning when they had received notice of the +stock purchase made by Jess, "and if the fellow keeps on as he has +started the quarry won't stand us out a penny." + +"I doubt if he does," responded Mr. Hill, who, be it said, fulfilled the +part of a balance wheel to Weston. "From what you have told me there +aren't many on the island who have any spare money." + +"Oh, you can't always tell by the clothes such jays wear how much they +have hid away in old stockings," responded Weston. "Those mossbacks +never spend a cent and once they grasp a dollar it passes out of +circulation." + +"I am surprised Hardy landed this man Hutton for five hundred," said +Hill, "and so early in the game." + +"I am also," replied Weston, "and if I felt sure that Hardy could be +trusted with our plans, I would tell him what our next move is, but I am +not. The trouble with him is, he is too honest, and when we begin to +throw out bait in the way of advance dividends, he will suspect our game +and I am not sure how he will take it." + +"Do not think of that yet," replied Hill, "so long as we keep all the +cards in our own hands, we know where the joker is, but never +afterward." + +"I am a good mind to take a ran down to Rockhaven," continued Weston +meditatively, "and get better acquainted with this old duffer Hutton and +the rest. Also make some of them a present of a little stock, just to +interest them. It's the way to catch mackerel and those few shares will +return us good results when we declare a dividend." + +"Better not," replied the more cautious of the two, "those old fishermen +are not fools, and will conclude that if you are willing to give stock +away, it's of no value. When we do pay a dividend this Hutton will not +keep it a secret and Hardy can then reap the harvest. Besides, he and +his honesty must be considered. It won't do to alarm him. He believes +the scheme is legitimate, and as he has a finger in the pie, will work +for his own end and sell all the stock he can. What I should advise is +that we notify him the price is now two dollars per share and let that +leaven work as it will. How much stock have we sold already?" + +"About six thousand shares," replied Weston, "counting that bought by +Hardy." + +"And two per cent on the par value of that," continued Hill, figuring on +a slip of paper, "would be twelve hundred dollars. I think one per cent +enough as a starter and that we should pay it now." + +"No," replied the more liberal Weston, "it's not best to pinch in the +matter of chum, as the fishermen say, and do things by halves. If we +must bait them now let us bait them well." + +And bait them well they did, for the next day's issue of the _Market +News_ contained the following:-- + +"It is with pleasure we announce that the Rockhaven Granite Company has +declared a dividend of two per cent on the par value of the stock, +payable at the office of Weston & Hill. As we stated a short time ago in +these columns, this well-known and reliable firm, whose enterprise is +now so agreeably proven, do nothing by halves and are only too glad to +distribute all profits as soon as accrued. The stock has already doubled +in price and we predict will reach par in the near future." + +And when Jess Hutton received by mail a check for one hundred dollars +as his share of the dividend upon the par value of five hundred shares +and the parson one for ten, Rockhaven began to get excited, and all who +had a dollar to invest made haste to call upon Winn. Captain Doty bought +one hundred shares, Captain Moore, uncle to David the irrepressible, the +same, a few others lesser amounts, and to cap the climax, poor +hard-working Mrs. Moore, Winn's landlady, came to him. + +"I've got a little money laid away in the savin's bank ashore," she +said, "an' it's only drawin' four cents a dollar, which ain't much. If +you thinks it's safe mebbe I'd best take some out an' buy some o' this +stock. They all tell me it's payin' and like to go up." + +And that night, in the seclusion of his own room, as Winn Hardy thought +matters over, and realized how this speculative excitement was starting +on Rockhaven, just a faint suspicion that the golden apple might be +rotten at the core came to him. As was his way when he wanted to think +and think hard, he at once betook himself out of sight and sound of even +that quiet village, and hied away to the top of Norse Hill. Here he lit +a cigar and planted himself beside the strange structure there, the +history of which no one knew. + +And how solemn and silent the still summer evening seemed, and how like +eternity the boundless ocean faintly visible in the starlight. Only its +low murmur at the foot of the cliff and just a faint breeze redolent of +its salty zest reached him. And of Weston & Hill and this new outcome? + +He had worked and talked to this end; he had hoped for it, striving to +bring it about, and now that the quarry was each day a busy hive of +workers, the third vessel load of quarried stone nearly all on board and +ready to ship, the entire island agog over this new industry, and not +only willing but anxious to invest their hard-earned savings in +Rockhaven stock, and a prosperous outcome to his ambition in sight, Winn +hesitated. + +And the more he ground the grist of Weston & Hill's scheme in his mind +there beside the old stone tower, the less he liked it and the deeper +the germ of suspicion took root. And the cause of it all was the two per +cent dividend! + +Winn Hardy, though a country-born boy and lacking in worldly experience, +as well as education, was no fool. He knew that two shiploads of +granite, though sold at a fabulous price, would not pay a profit equal +to half the cost the quarry had so far been, to say nothing of a +dividend, and the only conclusion was not flattering to his firm's +honesty. Then one by one, every little detail of the entire affair; +every instruction they had given; the stock they had presented to him; +the letters they had written; the donation to the parson; Jack +Nickerson's innuendoes; and now this unreasonable payment of dividends +which he knew were not earned,--all passed in review. Honest himself, he +was slow to suspect dishonesty in others, but the longer and more +carefully he weighed these facts in his mind the plainer he saw the word +"fraud" written on each one of them. + +And he had put every dollar of the few he had saved into this stock and +borrowed some besides! And worse than that; this honest old fellow Jess, +out of good will to him had put five hundred in and persuaded others to +invest also! + +Suspicion is like sailing in a fog; we cannot tell where clear air ends +and fog begins, only the first we know the air seems damp and chill, the +sun obscured and danger near. And so with Winn, there on Rockhaven, with +his vocation and paths in life all mapped out, these people looking +toward him as a benefactor and ready to trust him with their money and +the sun of success shining! And all at once the air seemed chill with +the fog of deceit and fraud, and he knew not where he was. To refuse +those who would buy more stock, he dare not, since it would awaken +suspicion; to accept it was as bad, for it compromised him the deeper. +For a long hour he tried to think a way for himself out of this fog, and +the more he thought the more positive his suspicion grew, and then he +returned to his abode. And there in Rock Lane and as if to increase his +burden of responsibility, was Mona sitting in the porch of her humble +home alone. + +"Why, little girl," he said softly, pausing at the gate, "are you not +abed and asleep?" + +And Mona, unconscious of how or in what way it would strike him, and in +the utter innocence of her heart, came quickly out to where he was +standing. + +"I was lonesome," she said simply, "and waiting for you to come back. I +saw you go up the hill and wondered what for." And Winn, despondent and +worried as he was, and looking down into the sweet face and earnest eyes +upraised to him, felt their tender sympathy wondrously sweet. + +"I went up there to think," he said, "and to be alone. It is a way I +have when business troubles me." And bidding her "good night" he left +her. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN THE PATH OF MOONLIGHT + + +For a few weeks Winn worried over the suspicions of Weston & Hill's +honesty that seemed like a cloud of danger, and then, to a certain +extent, it passed away. To no one, not even Jess, did he dare confide +them, but just drifted on, day by day, doing the duty he was paid to do. +Each week came his pay-roll and salary remittance, and an assuring and +pleasant letter from the firm. It also contained a request or hope that +he would not forget to sell stock when he could. This latter, however, +made no impression on Winn. Collectively, he had sold about one thousand +shares to these islanders, and that he felt was enough. In fact, +believing, as he had almost come to do, that the entire scheme was a +gigantic swindle, it was certainly all he intended to sell, and more +than he wished he had sold. Then there was another matter of serious +interest, and that was Mona. + +Between her and himself, these summer days, there had come a little bond +of feeling, deep-rooted in her simple but passionate nature, and more +lightly in his. To her it was a new wonder-world, and as each evening +when he chanced to linger by the gate watching her, as she cared for the +sweet williams, pinks, and peonies that grew in her dooryard, or later +when he sat with her in the vine-hid porch, chatting of commonplaces or +relating incidents of the great world outside, his earnest eyes, the +melodious tones of his voice, and the careless, half cynical, half +tender way he had of expressing himself, only increased the charm. +Occasionally, on Thursday evenings, when her mother, as usual, made one +of the little band who gathered in the church, they two would stroll +over to the cliff beyond Norse Hill or up the road to Northaven to the +old tide mill. On two occasions he had persuaded her to take her violin +and visit the gorge with him, where she played at his bidding, her heart +gladdened by the thought that he cared to hear her. But she preferred +his poetic fancies and world-taught sayings to the violin, and since she +was so charming and interested a listener, it was inevitable that he +talked much. Another matter also troubled him seriously. + +He had, at the beginning of their acquaintance, and from a desire to +utter pleasant words to Mona, assured her that she was gifted with a +remarkable talent for playing, and if she would but make the effort, +the world would bow before her. It was a kindly speech, and charmed as +he was by time, place, and the power of the old love songs she rendered +with such exquisite feeling, he really meant it, little realizing its +effect on her. Now that he did realize it, and could not fail to see +that every word he uttered was considered by her as authoritative, he +wished that he had been more cautious. Then again, he understood her +better and saw what an ardent child of nature she was, and how her heart +and soul vibrated to every pulse of the ocean and the mystic romance of +the wild gorge she sought so often. To him now she seemed like a +veritable nymph of old, or a mermaid, whose soul was attuned to the wild +voice of wind and wave sighing through the rock-walled ravine and the +thicket of spruce above it. For such a creature of moods and fancies to +thrust herself into a merciless world, where sentiment was a jest and +romance an illusion, seemed a sacrilege. And he was to blame for her +wish to do so! Then again, he felt that if the world could but see and +hear her, it must, perforce, crown her with the laurel wreath. True to +his impulsive nature, in this as in all things, he alternated in his own +opinions as to what was best for her. + +And so the summer days passed, and Winn, half conscious that she was +learning the sad lesson of love, and yet stifling his conscience with +the feeling that he was only playing the role of big brother, which he +had decided to adopt, allowed the (to him) pleasant pastime to continue. + +It may be said that it was unfair for him, a polished man of the world, +and knowing full well that there could be but one result to this +delightful intimacy, to allow it to continue, and yet he did. And it +must also be asserted, that under the same circumstances and like +provocation, few men there are who would not do likewise. + +One surprise came to him, however, for he had sent to the city for a +book of instructions on the violin and a supply of new music, only to +find, when he gave them to her, that she was unable to read a note. + +"I told you," she said plaintively, "that I knew nothing about music +except what Uncle Jess has taught me, and I wonder how you can think I +play so well. If only I could go away and learn even a little, I should +be so happy." + +"Yes," he responded, smiling at her, for he had come to speak as he +thought and felt, "and learn also that men admired you, and grow vain of +your looks, and become one of the artful women of society, instead of +sweet and pure-minded Mona. You are better off where you are, for here +you are happy and care-free." + +Then one evening came another, and more serious, revelation to him. + +They had strolled up to the old tide mill, and sat watching the moon +high overhead, outlining its path of silver sheen upon the rippled +waters of the harbor, while he, as usual, was giving utterance to some +of his delicately worded sayings. + +"I do not understand," she said in response to one more pointed than the +rest, "why you think so badly of womankind in the great world. Are they +all so selfish, and artful, and deceitful, as you say? I have seen some +who came here in their beautiful yachts, and they looked so nice in +their white dresses, and so sweet and gentle, I envied them." + +Winn looked at her and smiled. + +"I have no doubt, little girl, you admired and envied them, and that +they looked to you as beautiful and charming as so many fairies. That +was the principal reason they came ashore--just to be seen and admired +by you people here, who, they knew, never were, and, most likely, never +would be, clad as they were. That is all these butterflies of fashion +live for--to show off their beautiful plumage and be envied by others." + +"Maybe you know them best," she responded regretfully, as if sorry he +had spoiled an illusion, "but I thought them so beautiful and sweet and +so like pictures in books, it seemed to me they must be as described +there and never wicked or deceitful." + +"And so you have been believing all you read in books, have you, little +one?" he said, smiling again, "and that those show birds who lit on the +island flew out of the pages of story books? And yet, the other day, +when I told you about the nymphs and elfins, you did not believe me, +Mona!" + +"I have never seen those creatures," she replied, "and I have seen +these." + +"Neither have you seen God, or the Saviour, or the angels," he said, +"and yet you believe they exist." + +"I do," she answered firmly, "and I should go crazy with fear if I +didn't. But your wonderful creatures, who lived so long ago, did not +make this world, as God did." + +"People believed they did in those days," he replied quietly, "and just +as firmly as we believe God did." + +She made no answer, for the subject was beyond her, but silently +watched the beauteous moonlight picture before her. + +"I should like to go into the great world," she said at last, as if that +fascinated her, "and wear beautiful dresses and see those others wear, +and hear that wonderful woman you told about play the violin, and watch +them throw flowers at her. I should like to be one with the rest just +for a little while, and then come back." + +"If you did that you would never come back," he answered, "or if you did +you would be miserable ever after." + +"I should have to," she said, as another side of the question presented +itself to her, "if I couldn't earn my living there." + +"You would have to, surely," he answered slowly, thinking of some phases +of city existence, but allowing no hint of them to escape him. "It is +foolish to dream of these things, little girl," he continued, "for they +are impossible. Even if you had the means to join the great throng of +city revellers, you would, with your disposition, be wounded deep on all +sides. The women would say spiteful things about you, and scratch you +every way they could, as is their nature; and the men would fill your +ears with subtle flattery, and each one spread before you the most +insidious net ever woven by mortal brain. No, little sister, be content +where you are, and if you are lonely, go to the cave and listen to the +whisper of the fairies. They will never stab you to the heart, as the +worldly women will. You are like a wild rose now, and as sweet and +innocent. You say what you think and mean what you say. Your heart is +tender and true and your thoughts pure and simple. You deceive no one, +and would not, if you could." + +"But might I not learn to play as the wonderful woman did," she asked +stoutly, "and could I not earn my own living if I did? I need not know, +nor care, what these spiteful women said about me, need I?" + +Winn looked at her in surprise. + +"And so this is the bee that has crept into the heart of my wild rose, +is it?" he said. "You thirst for fame and the laurel wreath, do you, +Mona? I thought I had come to know you well, little one," he continued +tenderly, "but this surprises me. Do you know what it means, and that to +win the world's applause you must study your art for years, and step by +step win your way up the ladder, and that already ahead of you are +hundreds who will miss no chance to push you backwards? And who will pay +for all the cost of tuition and training you must go through, Mona?" + +"Uncle Jess will," she answered simply, "if I ask him. He loves me." + +Winn was silent, conscious that beside him was a creature as tender as a +flower and as innocent, with a will to do and dare, or strive to do, +what few women would, and in her heart was an ambition that, like the +bee in the flower, would rob her of all life's sweetness. + +"I am sorry," he said at last, "that you have this ambition. It is +creditable to you, but hopeless. Put it out of your mind before it +destroys your peace. Be your own sweet self here on the island, and some +day you will learn to love one of its hardy sons, like David Moore, +perhaps, and he will make you a home and strive for your happiness." + +"I do not care for him, or any of the others," she answered, "and never +shall." + +It was not the first time he had mentioned young Moore to her, but never +before in so serious a way, and it hurt. + +"I am sorry," she continued, "that I told you what I have, but somehow I +thought you understood me better than any one else. It is all right, +however, and no doubt what you say is true." + +He noticed there was a little quiver in her voice, and realized he had +hurt her. He had, but not in the way he thought. + +For a long time they sat in silence, watching the whitened ledges that +bordered the island, the spectral spruces that grew to the right of +where they were, the twinkling gleam of the lighthouse in the distance, +and the shimmering path of moonlight across the harbor that ended at +their feet. + +"It's a beautiful night," said Winn at last, "and I hate to leave this +spot, but I think it's time you were home." + +And as he spoke he stooped, and, putting his hand under her arm, lifted +her to her feet. + +As he did so, a single tear fell upon his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +IN A FOG + + +Men are very much alike in this respect: if one finds fortune or a path +that seems to lead that way, all who suspect it will try to crowd in. +The same instinct may be seen among a flock of fowl, only we do not +pursue so openly. And so, when news of the unexpected and early dividend +on Rockhaven stock circulated--as it was quick in doing--everybody on +the island who had a few dollars laid away made haste to seek Winn, +anxious to invest. The leaven worked as that shrewd swindler, Weston, +knew full well it would, and had Winn's suspicions not been aroused, and +he too honest to take advantage of these people, he might have sold five +thousand shares, and as the sequel proved, bankrupted the island. For +these hard-working people, though living in hovels and wearing clothing +a tramp would almost disdain, were frugal, and each and all had +something saved for a rainy day. The wisest had, from time to time, sent +their savings ashore by Captain Roby to deposit in a savings bank; +others kept a few dollars hid in bedticks or similarly secreted; but +now, solely because Jess Hutton, the oracle of the island, was known to +have invested in this stock and received such fabulous returns, all were +anxious to follow his lead. A little spice of envy crept in also at his +good luck, and Mrs. Moore, in chatting with a neighbor, voiced it. + +"It's allus the way," she said plaintively, "when Jess bought that ledge +o' stun from Gad Baker an' gin him a hundred dollars for't, 'most +everybody thought he was a fool, and now 'long comes this city man and +gives him two thousand for't, an' on top o' that Jess buys some o' this +stock an' gets a hundred dollars profit fust go-off. Here I've been +cookin' an' washin', year in an' year out, an' jist keepin' soul 'n' +body together, an' the boys spendin' every cent they airned--not thet +I'm complainin' on them, only if I had five hundred laid away I might +put in as much as Jess did. It don't seem right, that it don't! +Howsoever, it's the way o' the world, an' them as has, gits." + +Little did hard-working Widow Moore realize when Dame Fortune was good +to her! + +But Winn was the most worried person on the island, and his burden the +heavier to bear since he dared not hint his suspicions to any one. To +all who came and almost begged him to take their savings in exchange for +stock he made only one reply, "We have no more to sell," and had there +been a stock exchange on the island, Rockhaven would have soared to +twenty dollars a share, so eager were those credulous people to invest. + +Then another incident of life began to interest them, and, though Winn +knew it not, his attentions to Mona began to create gossip, more +especially as he was the actual and present representative of a rich +corporation. His walking to and from church with her, the hours he had +spent in her home, and more than these, the summer evening strolls up to +the old tide mill, to linger and watch the moonlight on the water, had +all been noticed and commented upon. For these people, albeit they +worked hard and lived poorly, intuitively knew where Cupid hid himself +and how and when he shot his arrows. It was all right, of course, and +though other less fortunate maids envied Mona, and many of the good +mothers voiced their congratulations to Mrs. Hutton, there was no +opposition to this summer idyl. + +One thing Winn noticed, however, and that was the pertinent fact that +when he "dropped in" at Mona's home, as he so often did, her mother +usually found some excuse to absent herself and leave the young couple +alone. Had he been desirous of wooing this winsome maid nothing would +have pleased him better, but he hardly felt that way. It was true she +interested him, for what young man could resist her sweet and tender +ways, her patience with her mother's implacable dislike of her violin +playing and the beautiful soul her truthful eyes bespoke? Then the hours +with her in the romantic spot in which she had chosen to seek the +goddess of music were more than charming. In a way this trysting place +began to seem sacred to him, and the secret hours he had passed with her +there a tender bond between them. All these sweet motive forces that +move man's nature, like so many little hands, began to entwine +themselves in his. He had no thought of marrying. He realized that he +had yet to carve his way upward to independence before thinking of a +home and wife, and beyond that the lesson of distrust Ethel Sherman had +taught him still held sway. He was not a model of discretion; he was an +unthinking young man with the germs of fine honor and sturdy honesty +latent within him, and in spite of the cynicism he had imbibed from Jack +Nickerson he was sure in the end to commit no folly, nor wrong man, +woman, or child. + +And yet, insensibly, he was doing Mona Hutton the greatest wrong in his +power--almost. + +Some realizing sense of this came to him after that evening beside the +old tide mill, when his words had caused a single tear to fall upon the +hand that helped her to arise, and yet he could not tell what he had +said that hurt her so. + +There is, perhaps, nothing so fascinating in this wide world to a young +man as the first signs of a sweet maid's budding love for him, and it +must be stated, nothing is harder to turn away from, and Winn was no +exception to young men in general. And now that he was conscious of it, +that fact, coupled with the business dilemma confronting him, created a +double burden. He saw whither he was drifting with her and seeing, had +not the heart to turn away. On the other hand, the Rockhaven Granite +Company began to seem a quagmire of fraud in which he and all who had +trusted in him might any day become entangled, their investments swept +away, the men he had hired left without pay, and he stranded on this +island. It may seem that Winn was borrowing needless worriment, and yet +once the canker spot of suspicion fastens itself upon a man's mind, it +grows until it turns all things green. + +One thing he tried to do--avoid Mona. And yet he could not to any +extent, for since she dwelt next door he must needs meet her and speak +almost daily. And strange to say, now that it was in his heart to act +indifferent, her appealing eyes and winsome face began to seem a +reproach, and his conscience troubled him. For a week he passed each +evening alone in his room trying to read one of the books he had brought +with him, or else in Jess Hutton's store, listening to the gossip of the +men who gathered there, interspersed with an occasional bit of quaint +philosophy from the lips of Jess himself, and then a bombshell in the +way of a letter to him reached the island. It was as follows:-- + + "DEAR WINN, + + "Have been back to the city now for two weeks and watching the + trend of the market. I was satisfied, as I wrote you, that + Weston & Hill were preparing to launch a skyrocket--now I know + it. What with printer's ink and that walking tombstone, + Simmons, they have managed to get Rockhaven among the unlisted + but active stocks, and by some chicanery, worked the price up + to six dollars. Page, my broker, says it's a wildcat of the + most pronounced stripe. A good many are short of it at below + its present price and yet it holds firm. I've unloaded half I + bought, so I am on Easy Street, and am watching out. It may go + up with a whoop or down with a thud. One guess is as good as + another, but what you best do is send me your stock and let + Page sell it. Also if you have sold any to your friends, give + them the tip. I know you believe in Weston and think, as you + have said, that I am a perpetual scoffer. They may be all + right, but I don't believe it, and now as you have a chance to + unload and make a good thing, better do it. + + "Yours ever, + + "JACK. + + "P.S.--I forgot to mention that Ethel Sherman is still up in + the mountains and the belle of all occasions. She asked a lot + of questions about you and in such a way I was almost tempted + to believe they were sincere. She has failed to land the golf + dude, for his mother scented danger and, like a hen, led him + away to safety." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A PHILOSOPHER + + +Winn had felt it best to keep silent regarding his suspicions of Weston +& Hill, but this new development forced him to unbosom himself to some +one and he went to Jess. He waited until the usual evening gathering of +callers had left the store, and then he told the story of his distrust +from the beginning and ended by reading a portion of Jack's letter. To +his surprise Jess received it all as unmoved as a granite ledge. + +"I ain't a mite s'rprised," he said, "I sorter felt all 'long that this +'ere boss o' yourn was a swindler 'n' foolin' ye, an' the only reason I +took any stock was jist to help ye." + +"I know it," responded Winn, "and it's that and because you have +influenced others to do so, that worries me." + +But Jess only smiled. + +"Keep cool," he said, "an' let yer hair grow. I ain't in it so deep but +I kin 'ford to lose all I've put in 'n' take keer o' the rest on 'em +here. What we want to do now is ter cac'late. When the wind gets +squally, the fust thing's to shorten sail. I'll 'low yer friend knows +his business, 'n' we'd best send this stock to him 'n' let him sell it +if he kin find fools to buy it at the price it's goin', an' then we'd +best lay the men off at the quarry 'n' let 'em go fishin'. We might keep +two or three on 'em goin'," he added as an afterthought, "jist to keep +up 'pearances 'n' lay low till the wind shifts." + +"It may be you are right," asserted Winn, "but I do not know what to do +and the situation worries me." + +"No sorter use 'n' worryin'," said Jess tersely, "ye'r healthy, ain't +ye?" + +And then Winn laughed. "Yes," he said, "I am, and no worse off than when +I came here, but it disturbs me to find I've been deceived." + +"You'll git used to that," replied Jess, "I hev. I cac'late in my time I +hev hed more'n a hundred pounds o'wool pulled into my eyes 'n' I ain't +blind yit. The only cause I've hed fer blamin' myself is 'most every +time I got skinned it was 'cause I was too dum good-hearted." + +"And that is just why I feel so bad," put in Winn; "you bought this +stock to help me, and if you lose, it's on me." + +Jess laughed heartily. + +"Well, you're shakin' hands with the divil a good ways off," he said, +"up to date I'm ahead o' the game a cool hundred 'n' a middlin' good +chance o' gittin' more'n double my money back. I cac'late, of course, +this stock ain't wuth a cuss, but if by some hocus-pocus they're sayin' +it's wuth what your friend says 'tis, I stand a fair chance o' gittin' +square. Better tell him he kin let it go fer a dollar 'n' not hang on +fer more. I'll be satisfied if I git my hat back." + +Then Jess, the big-hearted, thought of Winn. "It's none o' my bizness," +he said, "but ez you've made free to trust me, how air ye fixed on this +stock? Hev ye put much money into it?" + +"I've put five hundred, part borrowed," answered Winn candidly, "and +they made me a present of five hundred shares besides." + +"Wal, that's a credit to ye, anyhow," responded Jess with an approving +look, "an' ye kin feel ye come higher'n the parson." Then after a few +minutes' silent meditation during which he closed his eyes and stroked +his chin affectionately, he added: "As a gineral thing I'd be slow in +advisin' anybody to go crooked, but when ye feel ye're in the hands o' +sharpers, it's the only way. Now what I'd advise ye to do is to keep on +reportin' the same pay-roll right 'long 'n' lay most o' the men off fer +a week or two till ye find what yer friend's done with the stock. What +they send ye extra may come handy 'fore this cat's skinned and buried. +Then ye kin kinder take it easy for a spell 'n' look the island over so +long's yer time 'n' wages is goin' on. Let 'em do the fiddlin' while you +dance this time. They cac'late ter make ye do all the fiddlin' an' turn +about is fair play." + +[Illustration: JESS HUTTON, PHILOSOPHER.] + +"I'll take your advice and do just what you say," replied Winn eagerly, +his spirits once more raised to their normal level by this quaint +philosopher, and as it was late in the evening and the mention of fiddle +recalled Jess Hutton's hobby, he added: "You have lifted a load off my +mind, and now please give me a few tunes, Mr. Hutton. I feel like +hearing some music." + +And Jess the genial, to whom his fiddle was wife, child, friend, and +companion, once more drew it forth, and as Winn lighted a fresh cigar +and leaned back to enjoy it, again as before was he charmed by the old +man's art. + +And that spell wrought by "Money Musk," "Fisher's Hornpipe," "The +Devil's Dream" and such old-time dance tunes that followed in quick +succession carried Winn back to his boyhood days and out of the turmoil +and strife of city life, and once more he felt himself in the old farm +barn with lanterns swinging aloft and a score of country lads and +lassies keeping step with him to the same lively measures. He could see +their happy faces and the sparkle of their eyes as "balance and swing," +"do-see-do" and "all promenade" echoed from the rafters. He could even +feel the supple waist and warm handclasp of the willing maid who danced +with him, and when the evening of simple but unalloyed delight was over, +came the long walk home with that same farmer's daughter while the +moonlight silvered the landscape and the rustling leaves in the maple +lane, tinkling like tiny bells beneath their feet. Gone were all the +hectic years of city life, the stab of Ethel Sherman, the distrust of +Jack Nickerson, and the humiliation of the years with Weston & Hill. +Gone, too, all his present dread and the fog that for weeks had obscured +his course. Once more he felt full of young courage with success and +riches almost within his grasp. Then as the evening waned and Jess +Hutton's fingers strayed to the old sweet love songs of Scotland and +"Robin Adair" and "Annie Laurie" whispered the burden of their +affection, the tender eyes of Mona and the wild rock-walled gorge where +he had first heard her play the same songs touched his heart. With this +memory, so sweet in a way, came a heartache. When the evening was ended +and he, having thanked Jess for the good cheer in words and music, +betook himself to Rock Lane, he paused a moment in front of Mona's home. +Not a light was visible, not a sound except the low murmur of the +distant sea. Only a few seconds he stood there, looking and thinking, +and then kept on to his room. + +The mood of the church bells was with him still. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A CLOUD OVER ROCKHAVEN + + +A man is happiest when he has most to do, and though a woman's face +intrudes upon his thoughts and he feels her smiles are all for him, it +is life and action and the push forward toward success that interest him +most. + +And so with Winn. He had come to Rockhaven to upbuild his fortune, +believing himself in a fair way to do so. He had taken up his new life +and care with earnestness and energy, putting his best thought into it, +and not only carrying out his employer's instructions in letter and +spirit, but in addition trying to make friends of those honest islanders +and interest them in this new enterprise. The latter was not hard since +Jess, the oracle of Rockhaven, was on his side, and, in a way, sponsor +for him. Then, too, he had adopted their simple homely ways and, though +not a believer, attended church each Sunday. How much of this was due to +the occult influence of Mona's eyes, and how much to sympathy and +interest in the spiritual life of the island, is hard to say. Most of +the men considered Sunday as a day of rest, and to some extent, +recreation. A few accompanied their families to the little church, but +more spent the day lounging about the wharves, smoking and swapping +yarns, and if a boat needed caulking, a net mending, or a new sail +bending, they did not hesitate to do it. While all had sufficient +reverence for the Lord's Day not to actually start out fishing, most +were willing to get ready. And perhaps for good reason, for a livelihood +on Rockhaven was not easy to obtain and with them, as with most +hard-working people, the necessities of life displaced spiritual +influences. + +"It is a hard field to labor in," asserted the Rev. Jason Bush to Winn +one day, "and I've grown old and gray in the work. We have a little +church that has not been painted but twice since I came here forty-odd +years ago, or shingled but once. We have no carpet, and the cushions in +the pews are in rags. I have taught this generation almost all they know +of books, and laid most of their parents away in the graveyard back of +the meeting-house, and my turn will come before many years. We are poor +here, and we always have been and most likely always shall be, and at +times it has seemed to me the Lord was indifferent to our needs. Your +coming here and this new industry has seemed to me a special +providence." + +And Winn, thinking of the fifty shares of stock he had given this poor +old minister, and the ten dollars dividend that must have seemed a +godsend, felt his heart sink, for he had by this time come to realize +why he had been told to donate this stock. And perhaps that fact gave +added force to the parson's words. + +And when, after Jess had advised him to lay off some of the men and he +had done so, a sort of gloom seemed to spread over the island. A few of +the men took to their boats and fishing once more, and though Winn gave +out the plausible excuse that lack of demand for granite was the cause, +the rest who were out of work now seemed a constant reproach. + +Then, too, since his own ambition and hope received a setback he was not +content. The growing distrust was a thorn in his side, in fact it was +more than that; it was almost a certainty that his mission there was +nearing its end. To leave, he could not; to go ahead, he dared not, for +any day he might be left in the lurch with no money to pay his men. And +Friday, when he usually received his remittances, was awaited with keen +anxiety. When it came and a letter, slightly fault-finding in tone +because he had sold no more stock for some weeks, and insisting that he +must go about it at once, Winn was not only irritated but disgusted. + +"I am but a mere tool in their hands," he thought, "and they pay me to +do their bidding, be it work or to rob honest people." And then Winn had +a bad half-hour. + +"Don't ye mind 'em," said Jess consolingly, when Winn had told him what +they wrote, "but keep cheerful 'n' let 'em keep on sendin' money. It's a +long lane ez hez no turns 'n' ours'll come bimeby. Better write yer +friend 'n' git posted on what's doin'." + +But this excellent advice had scant effect on Winn, for his ambition had +been chilled, his hopes seemed like to be thwarted, his mental sun in a +cloud, and the barometer of his spirits at low tide. Then the honest +people here who had trusted him implicitly and who could ill afford to +lose became a burden to his mind. Honest himself in every impulse, to +realize that in the near future he might be cursed as a rascal only +added to his gloom. He dreaded to meet them lest they read the worriment +in his face, and especially the patient and hard-working Mrs. Moore, who +daily prepared his meals. To her the hundred dollars she had invested +was a small fortune, and then the kindly old minister whose long life +of patient work for starvation pay had made him pathetic, and who had +considered this gift as coming from the hand of God--to feel that he +also might join the rest in sorrowing hurt Winn. He dared not say a word +to any one except Jess, and what to do he knew not. At times he thought +of going to them, one and all, explain the situation, and ask them to +intrust him with their stock, when he would send it to the city to be +sold if possible. He even confided this impulse to Jess. + +"No," replied that philosopher, "it ain't my idee to cross bridges till +ye come to 'em, 'n' we'd best wait till we see which way the cat's goin' +to jump. If wuss comes to wuss, an' 'fore I'd see ye blamed, I'll stand +the loss o' every share ye've sold here." + +This was some consolation to Winn, but did not remove his gloom. + +Then Mona became a factor in his perplexity. He had tried to avoid her +to a certain extent, but he could not avoid his thoughts, and deep in +his heart he knew that whatever bond of sympathy had come between them +was due to his own seeking. He had praised her playing, passed hours in +delightful exchange of poetic thoughts and recital of old-time lore, +pathetic, romantic, and altogether alluring, and this thrusting his +personality, as it were, into the thoughts and life of this untutored +island girl could have but one ending, and full well Winn knew what that +was. + +The next Sunday chance threw them together, for Winn, to escape his +mood, if possible, had taken a long stroll over the island and up to the +north village. Returning late in the afternoon, he found her sitting by +the old mill watching the tide slowly ebbing between its mussel-coated +foundations. It was a spot romantic in its isolation, out of sight from +any dwelling and, in addition, of somewhat ghostly interest. Winn had +heard its history. It had been built a century ago and made useful for +the island's needs, but finally it fell into disuse and decay, its roof +gone, its timbers and floor removed, its windows but gaping openings in +the stone walls and akin to the eyeless sockets and mouth of a skull. +Then, too, the half-demented girl who years before had been found +hanging lifeless from one of its cross beams added an uncanny touch. +Winn had felt its grewsome interest and once or twice had visited it +with Mona. And now, coming to it just as the lowering sun had reached +the line of spruce trees fringing the western side of the harbor, he +found Mona sitting where they had sat one moonlight evening, idly +watching the motionless harbor stretching a mile away. She was not +aware of his approach, but sat leaning against an abutting stone, +looking at the setting sun's red glow on the harbor, a lonely, pathetic +figure. + +For a moment Winn watched her, and watching there beside this uncanny +old ruin, lived the past two months over again like a momentary dream, +and then drew nearer. + +"Why, Mona," he said, "what are you doing here?" + +"Nothing," she answered, straightening up and turning to face him, "only +I did not know what else to do, and so came here." She did not disclose +the impulse which brought her to this spot, for of that no man, +certainly not Winn, should be told. + +"Well," he continued, with assumed cheerfulness, "I'm glad to have come +across you, for I too have been lonesome and trying to walk it off. I've +had the blues for a week or more now," he added, feeling that some sort +of apology was due her, "and am not myself." + +"And why?" she asked interestedly, turning her fathomless eyes upon him; +"are you getting tired of us here, and wanting to go back to the city?" + +"No, little girl," he replied, assuming his usual big-brother's tone and +address, "I hate the city, as I've told you many times; but business +matters vex me, and as you may have heard, I've had to lay off some of +my men." + +"Yes, I have heard," she answered quietly, her eyes still on him, +"nothing happens here that all do not know in a few hours." + +And Winn, with the burden of dread that like a pall oppressed him just +then, wondered how long it would take for all to hear what he or Jess +could utter in five words. + +"Why did you come here, Mona, if you were lonesome?" he said, anxious to +change the subject. "It's the last spot on the island you should visit +if lonely." + +Mona colored slightly; "I always go to some lonely spot when I feel +sad," she said, unwilling to admit the real reason for her coming here. + +"And that is where you are wrong," put in Winn, forcing a laugh and +seating himself beside her. "When I am blue I go to Jess or else take a +tramp as I did to-day," he added hastily. + +Mona still watched him furtively and with an intuitive feeling that he +was concealing something. "I wish I knew how to play the violin," he +continued, looking across the harbor to where a dory had just started +toward the village, "it must be, as your uncle says, 'a heap o' comfort' +when one is lonesome." + +"It has been to him all his life long," she answered a little sadly, +"and is now." + +"And to you as well," he interposed, "it has helped you pass many a long +hour, I fancy. Do you know," he continued, anxious to talk about +anything except his present mood, "I've thought so many times of that +day I first heard you playing in the 'Devil's Oven,' and what a strange +place it was to hide yourself in. You are a queer girl, Mona, and unlike +any one I ever knew. I wish I were an artist, I'd like to make a picture +of you in that cave." + +Mona looked pleased. + +"You would make a picture," he added, smiling at her, "that the whole +world would look at with interest; I'd have you holding your violin and +looking out over the wide ocean with those sphinx-like eyes of yours, +just as if the world and all its follies had no interest for you." + +"And what is a sphinx?" asked Mona. + +"A woman that no man understands," he answered carelessly. "There are a +few such, and they are the only ones who interest men any length of +time." + +"And am I like one of them?" queried the girl. + +"Oh, no," he answered, "except your eyes, and they are absolutely +unreadable. Beyond them you are as easily understood as a flower that +only needs the sun's smiles." + +It was a bit of his poetic imagery faintly understood by Mona. "You must +not mind my odd comparison," he continued, noticing her curious look, +"it's only a fancy of mine, and then, you are an odd stick, as they used +to say up in the country where I was born." + +"And so you were not born in the city," she said with sudden interest. +"What Uncle Jess has told me and what you have said has made me hate the +city." + +"I thought you said once you envied the city girls who came here in +yachts," laughed Winn. + +"I might like to dress as they do," she answered, a little confused, +"but not to live where they do." + +"And what has that to do with where I came from," he persisted, "and why +are you glad I am country-born?" + +"Because," she replied bluntly, "Uncle Jess says country-born people are +usually honest and can be trusted." + +Winn was silent, and as he looked at this simple island girl, so +unaffected and winsome, a new admiration came for her. "Give her a +chance," he thought, "and she would hold her own with Ethel Sherman +even." + +"That is true," he said aloud, after a pause, thinking only of his own +business experience, "and the longer I remain here, the less I wish to +return to the city. I feel as your worthy uncle does, and for good +reasons. With the exception of an aunt, who has made a home for me, the +women whom I met there were not to be trusted, nor the men either. When +I left the old farm I was too young to understand people, but now that I +do, I often long for the old associates of my boyhood, and if my +business here becomes successful, I shall never go back to the city." + +A look of gladness lit up the girl's face. + +"I feel vexed over my business," continued Winn, longing to confide his +troubles to Mona and looking down into the dark mussel-coated chasm left +by the ebbing tide close by where they sat, "but I presume I shall come +out all right." + +Then, as he glanced up at the roofless wall of the old mill just back of +them, its window openings showing the dark interior, he thought of the +girl who, a century ago, had come there to end her heartache and whose +story was fresh in his mind. + +"Come, Mona," he said tenderly, as a sigh escaped him, "it's time we +returned to the village, for I am going to meeting to-night with you +and your mother." And all the long mile of sandy roadway that lay +between the mill and Rockhaven was traversed in almost unbroken silence. + +Though far apart as yet, they were nearer to one another than ever +before. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE MOOD OF THE BELLS + + +There were two church bells on Rockhaven, one at each village, and every +Sunday evening, year in and out, they called the piously inclined +together, always at the same time. That at Northaven sounded the sweeter +to Winn, since its call came over a mile of still water, like an echo to +the one in Rockhaven. He had noticed them, one answering the other, many +times before, each time to return in thought to the hillside home where +he was born and to the same sweet sound that came on Sunday from the +village two miles away. It had been to him what seemed long years since +he heard them, yet now, this evening, while he waited in the little +porch of Mona's home for her and her mother to join him churchward, and +this call came sweetly through the still evening air, it carried a new +peace to his vexed spirit, and the threatened upset of his mission to +Rockhaven faded away. Once more he was a boy again, and for a time +without a care. + +And when Mona appeared, dressed in a simple white muslin, a white hood +of knitted wool half hiding the coiled masses of her jet black hair, her +eyes filled with tender light, Winn, in spite of his moroseness and the +bitter lessons in love he had learned, felt it a proud privilege to walk +beside her. + +The usual number, mostly womankind, were emerging from the scattered +houses along the way to the church, and as Winn and Mona, together with +her mother and Mrs. Moore, followed the one plank walk which led to the +church, the last call of the bells came at longer intervals. + +When the church was reached the lamps had been lighted, but the white +headstones, dotting the upward slope just back of it, still showed +faintly in the twilight. + +The services were simple as usual, the few dozen who gathered all joined +in the same hymns of praise their ancestors had sung in the same church. +What the minister said was not new or eloquent; and yet the prayer he +uttered seemed to Winn to contain an unusually touching strain. It was +the mood of the bells still on him, for he had never known what church +believers call a change of heart; and while the devotions of the people +were pathetic in their very simplicity, they seemed more like a plea for +pity than an expression of thanks. When the services were ended, and +all rising joined in "The Sweet By and By," never before had it voiced +such a plaintive appeal as it did then in Winn's estimation. + +When he and Mona, loitering behind the rest, reached her little dooryard +where the scent of many blooming flowers saluted him, they paused a +moment. Mrs. Moore had seated herself on the porch for a social chat +with Mrs. Hutton, the faint disk of a new moon showed in the western +sky, and in spite of the resolution taken weeks before, Winn could not +resist the temptation of longer privacy with his companion. + +"Let us walk up to the top of Norse Hill," he said, "and look out over +the harbor. I feel like it to-night." + +"Here is where I come to be alone," he observed when they had reached +the ancient beacon and were looking down over the village. "I wonder who +built this odd tower and for what use; do you know?" + +"I have been told it was built by Leif Ericson," she replied, "ever so +many years ago, to prove he first discovered this country. Uncle Jess +says it was, and that is why this is called Norse Hill." + +There was a jutting ledge around its base, and they seated themselves +upon it. Winn drew out his cigar case. "You won't mind my smoking, will +you, Mona?" he said in a familiar tone, as he lighted his cigar. + +"Why, no," she answered, in the same tone, "I love to see you enjoy +yourself." + +For a time they silently scanned the peaceful picture that lay before +them. The sheltered harbor across which the faint path of moonlight +quivered in the undulating ground swell that reached in from the sea; +the old mill sombre and solemn and barely outlined to the right; beyond +it Northaven with its scattered lights, and below them the few that +twinkled in Rockhaven. Not a sound reached them except the low wave-wash +at the foot of the cliff just back of where they sat. They were alone +with their hopes and troubles, their joys and heartaches. It was not a +time or place for immediate converse, and Winn quietly contemplated the +peaceful scene while Mona covertly watched him. To her he was an +unsolved enigma, and yet his earnest, honest brown eyes, his open, frank +way, and his half-tender, half-cynical speeches had been for many weeks +her daily thought. What oppressed him now was an added mystery. She had +heard that most of his men working in the quarry had been laid off, but +not for worlds would she seem so inquisitive as to ask why. + +And so she watched him, half hoping, half expecting, he would confide in +her. + +"I have been out of sorts, little girl," he said suddenly, with an +intuitive feeling that she expected an explanation of his silence; "and +as I told you this afternoon I took a long tramp to drive my mood away. +It did not do it, but something else has, and that was your church +bells." + +"I am very glad," she responded with sudden interest, "I wish they would +ring every evening." + +"Yes," he continued, not heeding her delicate sympathy, "they have +carried me back to my boyhood and the country village near where I was +born. I wish I could go back to those days and feel as I did then," he +added, a little sadly, "but one can't. Life and its ambitions sweep us +on, and youth is forgotten or returns only in thought. If one could only +feel the keen zest of youth and enjoy small pleasures as children do, +all through life, it would be worth living. I should be grateful if I +were as happy and care-free as you are, Mona." + +"I am not very happy," she answered simply. "Did you think I was?" + +"You ought to be," he asserted; "you have nothing to worry about unless +it is your ambition to become a great artist, and as I have told you, +you had better put that out of your thoughts. You could be, but it +would bring you more heartaches than you can imagine. Put it away, Mona, +and live your simple life here. To struggle out of your orbit is to +court unhappiness. I was thrust out of mine by death and poverty," he +added sadly, "when an awkward and green country boy, knowing absolutely +nothing of city ways and manners, and placed among those who think all +who come from the farms must be but half civilized and stupid. It is the +shallow conceit of city-bred people always and the greatest mistake they +make. My aunt sent me to a business college, and for a year my life +there was a burden. The other fellows made game of my clothes, my +opinions, and, worse than that, a jest of all the moral ideas in which +my good mother had instructed me. Later on, when I began to get out into +the world, I found the same disposition to sneer at all that is pure and +good in life. The young men I became acquainted with called me a +goody-good because I acted according to conscience and refused to drink +or gamble. They seemed to take a pride in their ability to pour down +glass after glass of fiery liquor, and when I asserted that to visit +gambling dens and all other resorts of vice was to demean one's self, +and positively refused to follow them, they laughed me to scorn. They +seemed to take a pride in their vices in a way that was disgusting to +me. Then, as if to prove what a stupid greenhorn I was, they pointed out +men who stood well socially, attended church, had wives and families, +and yet led lives that were a shame and disgrace in my estimation. They +proved to me what they asserted in various ways, so I could not doubt +it. It was all a revelation, and for a time upset all my ideas and led +me to think my early training in the way I should walk a stupid waste of +opportunity. + +"Beyond that, and perhaps the worst of all, I was made to think that +religious belief was arrant nonsense and used as a cloak for evil +doings; that none except silly old women and equally silly young girls +were sincere in pious professions; that belief in God was an index to +shallowness, and prayer a farce. + +"It began to seem to me that I really had been brought up wrong and +trained in absurd ways, and that unless I threw my moral scruples to the +winds, I should be a jest and a laughing-stock to all city people. We +grow to feel, and think, and live like those we meet daily, and when I +came here, among you whose lives and morals were so unlike city folks +and so like those of the people among whom I was reared, it seemed as if +I had gone back to my boyhood home. + +"I think the sound of your church bells, Mona, was an influence more +potent than all else to carry my thoughts and feelings home again." + +He paused a moment to look out seaward and along the broadening path of +moonlight as if it led into a new life and a new world, while Mona +watched his half-averted face. All this was a revelation to her of his +inner self, his nature and impulses. She had thought tenderly of him +before; now he seemed the embodiment of all that was good and true and +manly--a hero she must fain worship. + +"Life is a puzzle-board, dear," he said at last, as if that sparkling +roadway had been followed into a better one; "we all strive for +happiness in it and know not where or how it may be found. We wish to +please ourselves first, and to share it with those who seem akin to us. +Few really desire to annoy others or give them pain. Then again we are +selfish, and our own needs and hungers seem all important. We are a +little vain ofttimes, carnal always, unthinking, and seldom generous. We +forget that it is more blessed to give than to receive, that a clear +conscience is as necessary to happiness as good digestion is to health, +and that we cannot walk alone through life. We must depend upon others +for about all the happiness we receive, and they on us. Then again we +had best remain with those we understand and who know us best. They and +they only can or will seem near to us. Your bells have carried me back +to those with whom I am allied by nature; and among them and in the pure +and simple life they live, I feel that peace and contentment may be +found. With you it is the same, my dear, and it is to keep you here +among those akin to you that I say what I have of the great world. Do +not wish to enter it; do not imagine you will find happiness there, for +you cannot. Here you are loved and understood, here are those you know +and can trust, and here every cliff, and gorge, and grove, every flower, +and bird, and ocean voice, contains a childish memory. Were you to leave +them behind every call of the church bells at eventide would carry your +heart back to these scenes again, as it has mine to those of my youth. +No, dear, be warned in time and remain content." + +He meant it for her good, but she thought only of a similar bit of +advice he had given her once before, and one that wounded her to the +heart. + +For a little longer they sat and watched the moonlight scene; Winn +unconscious that beside him was a girl whose ennobling ambition and +sweet, patient nature was a prize any man might feel proud to win, and +Mona quivering with an unaccountable heartache; and then he rose to go. + +"It is getting late, dear," he said in his familiar way, "and we'd best +go home. You may catch cold if we stay here longer." + +And Cupid, hovering on the old stone tower, turned away in sorrow for a +wasted opportunity. + +But Winn held out his hand to assist Mona, and be it said to his credit, +he retained hers in a warm clasp until her gate was reached. + +"Good night, dear," he said then as he opened it for her to enter, "and +sweet dreams." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TWO RASCALS + + +There are genial, liberal, and companionable rascals and mean, +contemptible, sneaking ones. The former attract by their apparent +honesty and cordial expressions, and are the more dangerous; the latter +repel by every look, act, and word. Of the first class J. Malcolm Weston +was a pertinent example, while Carlos B. Hill was of the latter. + +On "the street" and among his associates Weston was considered a jovial, +good-natured man, liberal in small things, a pleasant associate, but +lacking in morality and without principle. He paid for one of the best +pews in the church Winn's aunt attended, which was always occupied by +his wife and family, and by him occasionally; he contributed for +charitable and missionary work in an ostentatious way, always insisting +that it be known how much he gave; belonged to a club where gambling was +the chief amusement and the members of which were mostly stock brokers, +speculators, and fast men about town; he wore the latest and most +fashionable raiment, and drove a dashing turnout. Before the firm of +Weston & Hill had been established he had been the manager of what is +known as a bucket shop, and when that failed (as they always do, soon or +late) he began his career as a promoter. In this he was not +over-successful, mainly from lack of funds to carry out his schemes; but +when the conceited, shallow-minded Hill was induced to walk into his +parlor, Weston began to soar. Hill was a retired manufacturer and +bigoted church member who had saved a small fortune by miserly living, +stealing trade marks, copying designs, making cheap imitations of other +manufacturers' goods, and cutting prices. He thirsted for fame as a +great financier and longed to be a power in the stock market. Weston, +whose business arguments usually contained equal parts of religion and +possible profit-making, in due proportion to the credulity and piety of +his victims, and who could time a horse race, play a game of poker, or +utter a fervid exhortation with equal facility, easily led Hill into the +investment and brokerage business, and so the firm was established. + +This was J. Malcolm Weston. + +Of Hill, though his counterpart exists, but not in plenty, an explicit +description shall be given. He was of medium size with a sharp hawklike +nose, retreating forehead, deep-set fishy eyes, ears that stood out like +small wings, and a handclasp as cold and lifeless as a pump-handle. His +sole object of conversation was himself; he had pinched pennies, denied +himself all luxuries, and lived to be hated, till he grew rich. It was +one of his kind of whom the story is told that, having died rich (as +usual), a stranger passing the church on the day of the funeral asked of +the sexton at the door, "What complaint?" and received the reply, "None +whatever; everybody satisfied." + +Weston, liberal rascal that he was, was not long in learning to hate his +mean-natured partner, and by the time the Rockhaven Granite Company was +duly organized and well on toward success, had conceived another and +perhaps more excusable swindle (if any swindle is excusable), it being +not only to rob the investors in Rockhaven, but Hill as well, and then +leave for a foreign clime. But the launching of Rockhaven necessitated +outlay. Hill really held the purse-strings, so Weston, the plausible, +shrewd schemer, bided his time. But the road to success became +difficult. Each successive outlay was whined about and opposed by Hill, +who, shallow in his conceit, lacked the courage of his rascality. When +Winn was sent to Rockhaven, and money to pay men must follow, and each +successive item and advertisement in the _Market News_ (both +high-priced) only made him wince the more, it required all of Weston's +optimistic arguments to keep him from backing out. But when returns from +the sale of this absolutely worthless stock came in, Hill smiled, and +when some thirty thousand shares had been sold and, by reason of +Simmons' manipulation, it was quoted on 'change at six dollars per +share, his eyes glittered like those of a hungry shark. No thought of +the honest and confiding men and women who had contributed to swell the +total, and would share in the inevitable loss, came to him. No qualms of +conscience, no sense of guilt, no fear of retribution! only the miser's +lust of gain and the swelling of his abnormal self-esteem. And so +gratified was he in this partial success, and so eager to pocket its +results, that, had Weston now proposed dividing receipts and absconding, +he would have consented with alacrity. + +Of those who were to be the dupes of this precious pair a word will now +be said. They comprised a varied list, from poorly paid clerks who had +caught the gambling fever to Winn's aunt who, since she believed in +Weston, and being baited on by the deceptive dividend, had invested +almost her entire fortune. There was one cashier in a bank who had +"utilized" about three of the many thousands he had access to, an +innocent and underpaid stenographer in Weston & Hill's office who +persuaded her widowed mother to draw her all from the savings bank and +buy Rockhaven, and scores of small investors, trustees for estates; and +even sane business men, lured by the early and unexpected dividend and +anxious to share in the rapid advance, bought, what they at heart feared +was worthless. And so the bubble grew apace, and Weston and his +henchman, Simmons, in the privacy of their offices, smiled and +congratulated one another, and plotted and planned. They discussed the +items to be paid for in the _Market News_, how long it would be +necessary to continue the farce of quarrying carried on by Winn, and how +much stock was really being tossed back and forth among the gamblers on +'change, and how much held by honest investors. Of the quarried stone +shipped by Winn, enough had been received to build the palatial +residence Simmons had under way and some toward another and smaller +contract, taken at a price below market rates. To these consultations +Hill was seldom invited, for the best of reasons,--he was in the end to +be made the dupe of all. Of this latter and final iniquity not even +Simmons was informed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE STARTING OF A "CORNER" + + +There are always two parties in every stock exchange, well known as +bulls and bears. Those who believe in an advance, or what is to the same +end, manipulate a stock to increase its price, are said to be "bulling +it"; while those who honestly think it quoted above its worth and sell +it, or plot to depress its price, are said to "bear it." Like the ever +varying hues of the kaleidoscope, so the opinions and actions of each +individual among those men constantly change, and a bull to-day may be a +bear to-morrow. Then cliques and pools take up one little joker of +values, and seek by force of number and capital to toss it up or down. +To this end they fill the press with columns of false reports, +fictitious statements, and items of apparent news for one purpose--to +deceive. When the wildcat, Rockhaven, started on its career, the bulls +and bears, glad of a fresh toy, began to toss it back and forth. None +believed it of any actual value, but merely one of the many dice in the +speculative box. All united in asserting that it was the _avant courier_ +of a scheme; it might be pushed up to a fabulous price and it might any +day go down with a crash. It was this very certainty of being an +uncertainty--the fact that its future was an open gamble, a positive +chance--that made it interesting. None of these astute speculators were +deceived by the early dividend, even for one moment; and when Simmons, +well known as Weston's mouthpiece, openly bid two dollars for five +thousand shares or any part of it, and really obtained one hundred, and +that the identical hundred originally given a prominent man for the use +of his name, all knew that the fresh toy was on its way toward the roof +or the cellar. It may seem strange after the countless schemes which +have come to naught, that any remain who could be inveigled into a new +one, but as a wise showman once said, "the world loves to be humbugged," +and the early dividend worked its inevitable result among the real +investors, while the gamblers' chance stimulated "the street"; and +between the two Rockhaven was pushed upward. And the _Market News_, as +well as other city papers anxious to sell space, helped to swell the +bubble until Rockhaven became one of the loaded dice all speculators +love to play with. It started at two dollars a share, bid by Simmons, +who the next day offered three for it and had two hundred more sold him +by a too-confident bear who didn't own a share, and who later on bought +it in at a higher price, pocketing his loss with a smile. And so it kept +on, now up a point and back a half, then up two and down one, to go back +again when some nervous bear sought to cover. Some who owned it at the +subscription price of one dollar sold, and quadrupled their money, to +see it go still higher, and catching the fever, bought it in again; +while others who were short of it at three, bid it in at five, and +distrustful of it as ever, went short again, and so the definite stock +value in this case, as in all others, became a guess. + +In the meantime Weston, the spider in his web, and Simmons, his trusty +spokesman, watched the market and were not idle. They had sold some +thirty thousand shares, the _Market News_ kept printing items (at a cost +of fifty cents per word), the street was all guessing, and Rockhaven +bade fair to become a sensation "on 'change." + +Then a few far-seeing bulls, believing the natural sequence of stock +manipulation in this case would end in a "corner," began bidding it up, +while Simmons, quick to feel the pulse of the situation and really +holding the key to it, aided them by spreading a report to that effect, +and when the price showed weakness, buying a few hundred. As most of +"the street" asserted that the stock was valueless, his object was to +create a short interest, if possible, and in time so manipulate matters +as to scare the shorts, knowing full well what the result would be. + +The only danger he knew lay in the action of Winn Hardy and what he +might do. If that duped young man scented the game and, returning, +alarmed his aunt, who had bought ten thousand shares and locked them up, +the game would be balked. + +"We must keep your man Hardy on the island all summer," he said to +Weston, "and let him quarry stone, at whatever cost. If ever he hears +what Rockhaven is quoted at and isn't a fool, he will hurry back and not +only unload his thousand shares, but tell his aunt, and she will do the +same." + +"I doubt that he will," answered Weston; "he has few friends in the +city, and those are not posted on the market, and as for his aunt, I +have assured her that if she hopes to sell out her stock at the top +price, she must keep her investment an absolute secret. I gave her the +tip on Sunday as we were walking home from church together, and in such +a way that I feel sure she will heed it. The good woman is wrapped up in +church work and putting the matter in the way I did, and at that time, +insures her secrecy. Some people must be handled with religious gloves," +he added, smiling urbanely, "and some hit with a club." He thought of +Hill in this connection. + +And in the case of Winn Hardy, he reckoned without Jack Nickerson. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE PROGRESS OF A "CORNER" + + +There are honest and honorable stock brokers, and Page, a friend of +Nickerson's and acting broker for him, was one of them. He knew Simmons +well, and had at one time or another come in sharp conflict with the +latter in some stock deal. He had watched the bubble, Rockhaven, ever +since its inception, and accustomed as he was to the endless variety of +tricks resorted to by others of his class, had an intuitive conception +of how the general partnership of Weston & Hill and Simmons would be +carried to its culmination. + +"It's a swindle, pure and simple," he said in confidence to Nickerson, +"and while Weston is willing to dupe the confiding investors he has +persuaded to buy the stock, the real end and aim of his scheme is to get +the street short of it and, by some sort of scare, start the bears to +bidding against each other, and when the right time comes Simmons will +appear on the scene and unload Rockhaven at top price. How soon that +time will come and how far up they will push the stock before the shorts +take fright, is a guess. It is now steady at six and not much interest +in it. Then again it's an open question how much stock is owned on the +street and how great a short interest has been created. No one has any +confidence in it, and yet many are ready to take a flyer in it for a +turn. My idea is to handle it as one would a hot horseshoe. I am long a +thousand or two, you are ditto for five hundred, and we hold fifteen +hundred in trust for your friend Hardy and this islander, Hutton. +Whether to unload now and make four points or hold for a big stake, is +the question. It's a gamble either way." + +And this, be it said, fairly represented the situation. + +But Simmons, who really held the key to this well-set trap, knew very +well that he had the street all guessing, and more than that, was just +the man to keep them at it. He sold and he bought a little stock each +day, just to keep it active and quoted. He could have bought every share +on the street if necessary, but that was not his game. What he did want +was to aid the bull pool that had been formed, for every share they +bought meant one more short of that share, and when the time came, one +more scared bear to bid it up. It was an unscrupulous scheme, but one +continually being worked in one way or another by these legalized +gamblers. + +Then, as if the devil came to Simmons's aid, Rockhaven began to be +quoted in the bucket shops, and the crowd there, as usual, were all +bulls. It is a strange fact, but true, that every lamb who goes into one +of these wool-shearing offices is always sure to buy, expecting an +advance. With him, stocks are bound to advance--never go down. If they +do, he feels it's only for the time being, and they must go up again, +and so he foolishly puts up more margins, and still more, and the crafty +thief who manages this robber's den assures him he is right; they are +bound to go up, and in privacy smiles at the innocence of his victim. +And so the shearing goes on. + +In this case it helped the arch-plotter, Simmons, and his backer, +Weston, for as the stock held firm, those who were short of it at two, +three, and four, had no chance to cover. Then as it began to creep up a +little, to even up their shortage they sold still more, and every few +days a paid item in the _Market News_ helped matters on. What they were +need not be stated. They were all to the same purpose, and that to +create confidence in Rockhaven, and as usual every bear on the street +discounted these statements and felt more certain that Rockhavens were +without substantial value. + +And they were right. + +Meanwhile Weston, the great financier, as he now felt himself to be, +rubbed his hands with satisfaction and concocted more news items; and +Simmons hobnobbed with the street, assuring one and all of the other +speculative liars what a safe investment Rockhavens were, and how sure +to advance. + +"We have not sold much stock and do not care to," he said, "we know a +good thing when we see it, and in this quarry we have a certain +money-maker. It costs us a mere nothing to quarry the stone, the market +absorbs all our product at a good price, and the ledge we own is +limitless. Then we have an excellent manager in whom the firm trusts +implicitly." + +He always used "we" in speaking of the stock, that pronoun carrying a +certain assurance, as he well knew, for Simmons, who had grown old and +gray on the street, was a shrewd money-maker and well known to be worth +a million or more. + +But while Weston was happy in his prospective success, Hill was not. He +was too greedy, and, narrow-minded as he was, could not wait content +until the Rockhaven plum was ripe. He wanted to grasp it at once, even +to ruin its fruition entirely. He railed and groaned whenever a dollar +was put out, and had from the start. In his narrow vision it was so much +thrown away. Every item in the press that called for outlay, the use of +the thousands held by Simmons to manipulate the market, and especially +the hundred or more that each week had to be sent to the island, each +and all added to Hill's misery. Weston, the liberal rascal, had for a +long time felt disgusted with his partner's miserly instincts; now he +positively hated him and longed for the day when he could deal him a +crushing blow. Both were unscrupulous schemers and thieves at heart, but +of the two Hill was the worse. Not only did Weston come to hate Hill +more and more each day, but he grew tired of the sight of his pinched +and hypocritical face, his sunken eyes and clammy handshake--for shake +hands with him occasionally he must. Then Hill was so unlike Weston in +other ways it added to the feeling of disgust; he never used tobacco or +drank, and held up his hands in holy horror at any lapse from the code +of morality, and worse than that, if Weston let slip any word of +profanity, as he occasionally did, Hill exclaimed against it. + +To have one's small vices made a daily text for short sermons is +unpleasant, even to the best of us. + +But while Weston's hate and disgust grew apace, no hint of it leaked +out, and since he was the master spirit in the Rockhaven Granite Company +and in that scheme held the reins, it moved on to culmination, +unaffected by Hill's whining. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A SUMMER DAY + + +The life of suspense now forced upon Winn was not agreeable. He had too +much inborn ambition and energy of character, and once he had come to +feel himself his own master, as his mission to Rockhaven allowed, never +again could he fill a menial position and be satisfied, and the +possibility of it once more seemed degradation. Then again his present +dilemma was galling. He had followed Jess Hutton's advice, but no word +came from the city except the weekly remittance from his firm and +letters urging him to sell stock. He would not do so now, not even if +those honest people had offered any price, and what he had sold was a +source of dread. But no one wanted more, for the partial cessation of +work in the quarry was handwriting on the wall. + +And so the summer days sped by, and Winn's longing for a better +understanding with Mona grew stronger. In a way he stood in a false +position toward all these people except Jess, and the longer it +remained so the worse it seemed, so one evening he resolved to confide +in Mona. + +"Let us go over to the cave to-morrow afternoon," he said, "I've +something to tell you." It was the first step toward the right, and he +felt better for having taken it. When they were crossing the mile of +undulating ledges separating the village from this lonely gorge, Winn, +carrying the little green bag and leading Mona like a child around the +rocks, experienced a strangely sweet feeling of protection and care for +her, and with it came the determination to utter no more of the cutting +speeches so natural to him. + +"I may not be here much longer," he thought, "and it shall be a pleasant +afternoon for her to recall when I am gone." + +And be it said here that when a man feels that way toward a woman, +love's silken cord has been knotted about his heart. When they reached +the niche, at the head of the gorge, a surprise awaited Winn, for its +floor was carpeted thick with freshly gathered ferns, and bunches of +wild roses and clusters of red berries were thrust into each crevice. + +"What good fairy has been here ahead of us?" exclaimed Winn as he looked +at the charming nook. "Was it you, Mona?" + +"It must have been one of your mermaids," she answered prettily, "and +our coming has frightened her away." + +"One who plays the violin, I imagine," he answered smiling, "and has +raven tresses instead of sea-green." + +But when Mona was seated and he opposite reclined on the fresh green +carpet, he was in no hurry to tell his story, and for reason. The spot, +with its wild grandeur of cliff wall on one side, the other gently +sloping and broadening down to where the white-crested billows leaped in +among the weed-draped rocks, was beyond all question the most +picturesque bit of coast scenery he had ever seen. And now it seemed +endowed with a newer charm. Here he was, hidden away from all the wide +world and almost from himself, with Nature at her grandest and the +limitless ocean voicing eternity at his feet. For a little time he +watched the white-crested billows tossing the rockweed and brown kelpie +aloft as they swept into the gorge with a solemn roar. Somehow, just +then, it seemed to him as if he and Mona were alone with God, and the +world was young, and life all before him. And at this moment he forgot +all his troubles, and the price of Rockhaven stock seemed of less +account than the ferns he sat upon. + +"This spot makes a better man of me, Mona," he said at last, "and +to-day it lifts me into the frame of mind that the church bells always +do at eventide. I am not a believer such as you people here are who join +the church. I am only of the world, worldly, embittered somewhat by +experience and therefore rather distrustful. And yet here it all +disappears, and only God seems good to me." Then he paused, looking out +on the wide ocean once more while Mona watched him with wistful eyes, +wondering what odd speech would fall from his lips next. + +"I asked you to come here to-day, little girl," he said at last, "to +tell you the story of my life and what has made me as I am. You have +been kind and tender and patient with my whims, your mother has opened +her door to me, your uncle has trusted me and been my friend, your +minister and many others have been kind to me also, and in all ways a +welcome to me and my errand here has been extended. And now I will tell +my story." And tell it all he did, not even omitting Ethel Sherman. All +the years he had been a menial in Weston & Hill's office, his associates +the while and their influence, and then this new departure in life with +all its hopes and ambitions, to end in a fog of doubt and suspense. When +the recital was ended he felt better; how Mona felt her words can best +indicate. + +"I am glad you trust me so much," she said, "and I wish I could say a +word that would help you. Uncle Jess's advice must be for the best." And +then an intuition that all this meant Winn's leaving the island soon +brought a shadow over her face. For a little time the two sat in +silence, unconscious of the wild romance of the nook or the ceaseless +monotone of the ocean just below. + +"I have worked hard to make this venture a success," he said at last, in +a dejected tone, "and hoped for much, but now it all seems likely to +vanish, and worse than that, the good people here who have bought stock +will lose by it and blame me. I cannot tell them how matters stand, or +even leave here at present, and yet any day I may hear that the company +has dissolved. I've lost all confidence in them now, and to protect +myself am forced to act a dishonorable part and let them send money I do +not need. I have a friend to whom I sent our stock, but no word comes +from him, and so, little girl, you see why I am so disheartened." + +But Mona scarcely understood all he had said--some of it not at all. The +matter of stock values and how the present dilemma came about was quite +beyond her. What she did understand was that some grave danger +threatened Winn and he must leave the island. She had, impelled by a +sweet girlish impulse, come to the cave early that day, bringing ferns +and flowers to deck it and surprise this man whose every word and smile +seemed of so much value. She had brought her violin, glad if he cared to +hear her play; she had hoped the little outing, away from all others in +this trysting place, would be charming to him; and in her girlish heart +meant to make it so, and now the little plan had come to naught, and +instead she had heard what caused a heartache. The ferns were fast +wilting and the violin remained in its case. + +"Come, dear," said Winn, speaking freely and seeing the cloud on her +face, "let us forget this trouble and enjoy this afternoon. We may not +have another one here. Please play for me now." + +But her muse had fled, and she only turned away to hide the pain in her +face. + +"I will by and by," she said faintly; "I want to think now." + +And Winn, conscious of the blow he had dealt her, felt a strange sense +of guilt. He had known for many weeks that his every word and look and +smile was a joy to her, and while not for one instant had she +overstepped the bounds of maidenly reserve, her thoughts were of him. +And then as he looked at her with face half turned away and lips +tightly closed as if to keep back the tears, a sudden impulse to gather +her close in his arms and whisper fond and loving words came to him. But +he put it away. + +"I wish you would play for me, dear," he said very gently, "and drive +away my blues. Play something lively." And the boy god, ever hovering +where hearts are tender, sheathed his arrow and flew away. + +Many times afterward Winn thought of that moment and always with regret. + +A little longer Mona waited, and then, like an obedient child, drew her +violin from its case. + +Our moods are our masters, and be it untutored girl or world-wise man or +woman, they shadow or brighten all expression. And though Mona played at +his bidding one and another of the lively airs she knew, a minor chord +of sadness ran through them all. + +Then, to his surprise, she began one of the late light operas he had +sent for and given her weeks before. She did not play it with ease, a +halt came now and then, but she played it all through and then paused. + +"I am surprised," he said; "when and how did you learn that? You told me +you could not read a note of music." + +"I have been learning to read," she answered quietly, "and Uncle Jess +has helped me." + +And then Winn, wishing to encourage her in some way, or at least lead +her thoughts out of their present gloom, uttered a bit of foolish +advice. + +"Mona, my dear," he said earnestly, "some day I hope you may have a +chance to study music in the city. If you have, and I would advise it, +you will win a name for yourself." + +"Would you come to hear me if I did?" she answered sadly. + +"Most assuredly," he said, "and shower you with choicest flowers." + +When the lowering sun had left the gorge in shadow, and twilight had +crept into the cave, Mona picked up her violin, and, as if to utter her +own heartache, softly played the old love song Winn had first heard +whispering out of that wild gorge. Watching her and listening thus to +what seemed the quivering of that girl's heart, his eyes grew misty. + +"Come, dear," he said, when the sad song ended, "it's time to go home." + +And all the way back he held her arm and gently guided her steps among +the rocks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A CLIMAX + + +When Winn reached his room that evening, a letter from Jack Nickerson +and a clipping from the _Market News_ was awaiting him. The letter said: +"Come at once to the city, but keep shady when you arrive. Go to a hotel +and send for me. Rockhaven is up to ten, the street is all short of it, +and a bear panic may come any day. Have held your stock to unload at top +price. May do it to-morrow, but come anyway." + +The clipping was as follows: "As we predicted weeks ago, Rockhaven, in +spite of countless rumors put forth by the bears, has crept steadily +upward. Most of it is in the hands of conservative investors who know +its value, and some day those who sold it so freely for five and six +will be bidding fifteen and twenty for it. It is a safe purchase now on +any weak spot, and good for ten points more." + +And Winn, fresh from the spell of Mona's eyes and the tender mood of +that afternoon, felt that he had reached a turning-point in his life +and that independence and the end of his suspense were in sight. Go to +the city he must, and at once, that was certain, and perhaps a small +fortune was almost within his grasp! The thought made his pulses leap. +All his life long he had been hardly more than a cipher, a poorly paid +menial, and now possible freedom and escape from serfdom was near. Then +another impulse came, which was a natural sequence of the others. He had +never, since boyhood days, felt that he had a home. His aunt's was but a +free boarding place, and irksome at that; the city and its ways were not +congenial to him--even the thought of going there now was obnoxious; and +as this realization grew, there came to him, much like the sound of +church bells, the sincerity, the honest friendship, the simple truth of +those people he had for three months lived among. And into this +appreciation also entered--Mona. + +Like all men, he aspired to some wealth and the protection it means; and +now, when a little of it seemed within his grasp, there followed a +nobler impulse, and that the home-building one. Then when he thought of +the city once more, with its social hypocrisy, its vain display of +wealth, its cold, heartless life, where none seemed ready to extend a +hand to him, he felt more than ever it never was and never could be a +home for him. And then in sharp contrast to one city product, Ethel +Sherman, came a thought of the girl who that morning had decked the cave +with ferns and flowers, that it might seem more worthy of him. And now +herself and her life passed in review. He saw her at home, patient with +her mother's whims, helping when and where she could; at church bowing +in reverence to the simple devotions and joining in the singing; and in +the wild gorge where she hid herself away to practice. This last touch +of romance seemed to affect him more than all else, and as he thought of +those eyes, into which no shadow of falsehood ever entered, and how all +that was beautiful in nature, from the roses that grew between the +granite ledges of the island to the boundless ocean beating against its +cliffs, appealed to her as to him; insensibly, and quite beyond his +power to check, came the sweet illusion of love. Gone for the moment was +the memory of Ethel Sherman and the bitterness she had meted out to him, +and in its place opened a new world. Gone, too, was the influence of the +one man who, above all others, had forced his cynicism upon Winn and +taught him distrust of womankind. Almost, but not quite, did this gentle +thraldom win, and then--the reaction came. + +"I will tell Mona, as a big brother should," he thought, "all she has a +right to know, and leave the island as I came. I may return and I may +not." + +But Winn, of wayward impulse and changeful nature, now buoyant, now +despondent, knew not his own heart nor its needs, and understood not at +all how some straw, some pebble of chance, would inevitably swerve him +in spite of all resolution. + +It is thus with us all. + +And now came the business side of his dilemma. + +"It goes without sayin' ye best do as yer friend says," advised Jess, +when Winn had read the letters to him, "'n' the sooner the better. Sell +yer own stock fust, if ye kin, an' then mine if ye hev the chance, but +don't worry if ye can't. I'll take keer o' matters here while ye're +gone, an' when ye git back, we'll haul in the net 'n' see whar we +stand." + +"But how about the others here?" queried Winn, who had worried about +them fully as much as about himself. "I must see that they are taken +care of." + +"Wal," answered Jess, slowly, "ye go ahead 'n' see how the land lays, +'n' mebbe I'll follow ye if ye send me word; 'n' if ye don't, an' things +go to smash, I'll see none on 'em here is loser." + +And this was Jess Hutton, the man above all others whom J. Malcolm +Weston had urged his dupe to sell stock to! Never before did Winn feel +so ashamed that he came there as manager for the Rockhaven Granite +Company. + +"Mr. Hutton," he said earnestly, "I shall always be thankful that I told +you from the start how matters stood, and if the worst comes, you will +know it was no fault of mine." + +"I knowed ye war honest, the fust time I sot eyes on ye," responded +Jess, cordially, "an' now ez ye're goin' soon, it won't do ye no harm to +tell ye. An' more'n that, I'll tell ye I never doubted from the start +this boss o' yourn was a rascal, an' the only reason I bought a little +stock was 'cause I liked ye 'n' wanted to help ye." + +Winn felt more ashamed than ever. + +When he returned to his room late that evening, the moon, now a few days +past its full, was just rising over Norse Hill and silvering the dark +and silent houses along the way. No one was up, and so still was the +village that his footsteps on the plank walk seemed to echo across the +island. When he came to where Rock Lane joined the street, he paused. +Just beyond he could see the little church and back of it the silent +village of the dead, each stone distinct and ghostly in the moonlight, +to the left the motionless harbor, a glittering field of silver, and +beyond the old tide mill, spectral and solemn. And faintly whispered in +the stilly night the ocean voice. + +Many times afterward that picture returned to his memory. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SEVERING THE TIES + + +The next day seemed to Winn almost like preparing for a funeral. + +"I wish you would go over to the gorge with me this afternoon," he said +to Mona that morning, "I must leave here to-morrow, and I want to bid +the spot good-by." + +And she, busy among the sweet williams, pinks, and marigolds that were +her daily care, felt her heart sink. + +And Winn, believing it his last day on the island, went his way, first +to the quarry that had been his everyday duty for almost three months. +Only four men were retained, and those were to be kept at work until he +returned, or until Jess ordered otherwise. To no one could he say his +departure was final. Then he wandered about among the wharves that had +so interested him the first day on the island, and spoke with the few +fishermen busy there. All knew him, and each had a pleasant word and +nod. He watched them at their work, salting the fish they had split and +were packing, one upon another, in a large tank, or spreading cured ones +on racks to dry, and packing up in bundles those that were dried. He +sniffed the pungent odor and looked out seaward, where the fishing +craft, with all sail set, were departing. Then he strolled inward to +where the little steamer made landing. She had left for that day and her +wharf was deserted. Winn thought that on her next trip he would be a +passenger leaving the island for good. Strange to say, as he passed on +he noticed with peculiar interest the sign, "Coffins and Caskets" on a +small shop just back of a house. Then he followed the sandy shore of the +inner harbor past an old, dismantled fishing smack, beached high and +dry, on the stern of which the name "Nancy Jane" was still legible, and +then on up to the tide mill. Here he paused again, looking into the dark +interior where only the sills remained, and below them a space through +which the tide ebbed. And he thought of the girl who had ended her life +there. + +Somehow, all that morning these sad reminders of life and death on the +island seemed to thrust themselves before him. The mood they engendered +was with him when that afternoon he, with Mona for companion, started +for the gorge. And she was almost as silent as the old mill. + +"I've been bidding good-by to the island all the morning," he said, when +they reached the top of Norse Hill, "and I hate to go away." + +"But you are coming back, aren't you?" she asked, with a note of pain. + +"Oh, yes," he said cheerfully, "I hope so, but I can't tell. You know +why I go, and my business here may be at its end. But if it is, I shall +visit the island next summer, if I live. + +[Illustration: THE DEVIL'S OVEN.] + +"Come, dear," he added, when the gorge was reached and he had assisted +her down, "let's leave the violin here and hunt for sea-shells. I want +some to carry away." And like two children they clambered over the rocks +the tide had left bare, picking up the starfish, chill to the touch, +sea-urchins, snail shells, sailors' money purses, tossed above the tide +level and dried black and hard, and watching the anemones and crabs left +prisoners in pools between the rocks. Overhead the gulls circled and far +to seaward the white sails of coasters and fishermen gleamed in the +sunlight, and beside Winn, following wherever he went, Mona, with her +appealing eyes. They talked of nothings, as usual, and he stole covert +looks at her face, noting how the sea winds played havoc with her +loosened hair. + +Later they sought the cave where the ferns and flowers she had brought +the day before lay withered. + +"I am going to leave all but one each of the starfish and shells we have +gathered," he said, "here in our little nook, and see if we will find +them when I come back." + +"We shall," she replied, "for no one ever comes here but me, and I will +watch them." + +It was a child's thought, but there are moments in our lives when to act +like children is a relief. + +"I hope you will come here often," he added, "and feel this is our +playhouse, and when I think of you I shall always see you as you are now +and in this cave. And you must keep up your practice and I shall send +you some new music and write to you, and if you have a picture of +yourself, I should like it." + +"I have only one, taken when I was a little girl," she answered, "but +you shall have it." + +He could have had her heart, and soul even, had he asked it. + +"Now play for me, dear," he said very gently, "some of the old songs you +play best." + +And once again, as many times before, Winn visited the banks of "Bonnie +Doon" and the fields of heather over which the tartan-clad ranks marched +to the tune of "The Blue Bells of Scotland" and "The Campbells are +Coming." And he heard the pipes droning and saw "Bonnie Dundee" with +waving plume and the sweet lassie "Comin' thro' the Rye," and heard the +love plaint of "Robin Adair," "Auld Robin Grey," and the undying +heart-cry of sweet "Annie Laurie." + +And into these was blended the low lullaby of the ocean. + +When it was all ended and the twilight had come, without a word he held +out his hand, and slowly and in silence gently guided her footsteps out +of the gorge. Along the devious way among the ledges he led her, a +drooping flower, thirsting for one drop of the water of life, one word +of love, ay, one word of pity! + +The purple shade of coming night had crept in from the wide ocean ere +they reached the old stone tower, and here he paused. Full well he knew +what every impulse of his own heart called upon him to utter, and yet +his lips were dumb. Full well he knew how the girl who stood beside him +felt, and the heartache that was her portion. + +And still he was silent! + +The chill night breeze from the sea swept over the hill. Suddenly the +girl shivered. + +And then, as he looked out upon the darkening sea and heard the solemn +requiem sounding below the cliff, the voice of eternity and life and +death speaking there unsealed his lips. + +The next moment Mona was clasped in his arms. + +"God help me, little girl," he said, "I love you." + +Later, the moon, smiling approval, rose out of the ocean, and when the +two, now one, turned to go, once more he gathered her close to his +heart. + +"You will come back now, won't you?" she said. + +And looking into the tear-wet eyes upraised to his, he kissed her once, +twice, thrice. + +"Surely," he answered, "my heart is here now." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ON 'CHANGE + + +In Wall Street, the most gigantic gambling Mecca the world knows, where +millions change hands every hour of the five of howling delirium that +constitute a stock-exchange day, the two parties, "bulls" and "bears," +wage a financial war. + +Each has its general, recognized leader as well as a dozen lesser ones, +who organize pools and cliques, manipulate news, issue statements that +are pure fiction, pay for items in the press that are fairy tales, +gather their moneyed forces into aggregation for practical robbery of +others, and bend all energies of brain, experience, and knowledge of +conditions to one focal point, and that either to depress or enhance the +value of securities. Each main army has its general method, controls its +banks, pays enormous tolls to telegraph companies, fixes rates of +interest at will, pays for and colors the daily utterances of its own +newspapers, and buys truth and falsehood with equal readiness at so much +per line. + +This describes the two parties generally; yet the men who constitute +them are daily changing, and out of a thousand who may be among the +bears to-day, half might be found with the bulls a week hence. Some may +be on both sides at once, pushing one stock up and another down, a +kaleidoscopic jumble of half insane human beings, whose statements as to +value, conditions, and their own intentions bear no relation to the +truth and are not expected to do so. It is a contest of cunning, a war +of falsehood, a battle of deception. And those who fall by the wayside +excite no pity, receive no consideration, and if they rise not by their +own exertion, they are kicked out of the way. + +Professionally speaking, lawyers have been called legal liars, but +compared to stock manipulators they are walking examples of truth and +veracity. A lawyer may lie and can if necessary, but a stock operator +lies all the time; from sheer force of habit. A lawyer might lie to +judge, jury, or his own client, but there is some chance that he may +tell the truth to a brother lawyer; while stock brokers will lie to each +other on all occasions, and if necessary swear to it. + +And this is business in Wall Street! + +A few other great cities have their lesser Wall streets, and where +Weston & Hill, like a deadly upas tree, flourished for a time, a mimic +Wall Street existed. It had its clique of bulls and bears, its _Market +News_, its leaders, large and small, its daily contest of lies and money +power, and though Weston & Hill were not among its members, their +broker, Simmons, was--an active and unscrupulous mouthpiece, ready to +fleece all fellow-brokers, or the firm he acted for, if necessary. He +had bought or sold Rockhaven stock, as its prime mover, Weston, +directed; circulated lies galore for three months; and by the occult +process of manipulation had slowly worked the price up from one to ten +dollars per share, and had so colored his lies and so managed the +deal--now selling a thousand shares quietly, then buying them back +ostentatiously--that, as the phrase goes, "the street was kept guessing +all the time." + +Some believed it was a good investment; more felt sure it was a +"wildcat," and that soon or late the bubble would burst and the stock go +down to rise no more. Only Simmons and Weston knew what was to be the +outcome, but neither was likely to tell. More than that, they knew how +much stock was in actual circulation or held by the street, and beyond +that, a close approximation of how great a short interest had accrued. +Each day since Rockhaven had been quoted at all, Simmons had made entry +of all recorded sales, and knowing how much had been issued and how much +bought in by himself, endeavored to keep track of it. It was fallacious, +for the same stock might be bought and sold a hundred times, and the +long and short disparity remain the same. One thing he knew,--how much +had actually been sold, and out of this (a matter of thirty thousand) +fully twenty thousand, he believed, would never be heard of on the +street. + +But he reckoned without Winn Hardy. + +Rockhaven had been jeered and sneered at by the bear party; its backers, +Weston & Hill, were known to be sharpers; their broker, Simmons, bore +the same reputation; prediction that it was a wildcat and they unloading +it on to the street had been repeated a thousand times; the _Market +News_ items were considered unreliable, and on the strength of all this +hotbed of lies the knowing ones had sold the stock all the way up. Some +had covered it at a loss, and smarting from that had sold again at a +higher price, firmly believing it must fall some day; and when poor +duped Winn, unconscious of the situation, was steaming toward the +battleground, a dozen growling bears were selling Rockhaven at every +point advance. Only bears sold to bears, however; for those who held +what was out owned it at a lower price, and so long as it kept up they +parted with none. It had opened that morning at ten and one-half, by +noon rose to twelve and one-quarter, and at the delivery hour of two was +firm at fourteen. Simmons had bought a few hundred when it had dropped a +half point, just to cheer up the game, and knowing those who sold had +none to deliver. A few bulls who owned it at five and six started a +story that a corner had been engineered, and predicted that it would go +to thirty inside a week. And when the gong sounded that day, and the +market closed with Rockhaven at fifteen and one-quarter bid and sixteen +asked, a few of the fur-coated liars looked askance at one another and +went out and drank liberally to keep their courage up. + +And that night Weston and Simmons held another conference. It was a +vital one; for before it closed some ten thousand shares of general +securities Weston & Hill either owned or held in trust passed into +Simmons's possession, and when the two conspirators separated, one was +richer by nearly two hundred thousand dollars, based on the market price +of these securities, and the other gloating over the prospective +robbery of his hated partner. + +But a halt came the next day, for Simmons bid sixteen for a block of +Rockhaven, a few conservative bulls unloaded and the price dropped two +points, while the bears took courage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE BUBBLE RISES + + +It was early dawn when Winn stepped from his train and into the +ceaseless babel of the city. Market wagons were crowding the streets, +the army of workers hurrying in every direction, newsboys shouting, +humanity elbowing and pushing, draymen seemingly ready to run over +him,--and this was his welcome back into the monster hive he had left +three months before. What a contrast to Rockhaven! + +Then to a hotel, a bath, a barber; and, finally, when he had made +himself somewhat more in keeping with the well-groomed if heartless city +folk that he must now meet, he secluded himself in a corner of a dining +room, where he breakfasted behind a morning paper. He first turned to +the stock page, fully expecting to see the name "Rockhaven" staring him +in the face; but he did not. Then his eye ran down the column of +quotations until, among the unlisted securities, it rested on +"Rockhaven," thirteen bid and fourteen asked. And strange to say, the +thirteen seemed significant; and now he looked elsewhere, feeling sure +that he would find the Rockhaven Granite's Company's advertisement, but +failed. There were others equally alluring, and to his mind equally +deceptive,--oil, mining, development, building, and every other sort of +scheme confronting him, each promising safe and sure returns and +assuring the reader in fervid language that "now is the time to invest." +And so eager were these swindlers to catch the unwary, that some offered +stock for five cents a share, and non-assessable at that. Never before +had Winn realized that schemers could descend to such pitiful methods as +to issue, sign, and keep record of stock at a nickel a share! A trap to +catch even newsboys! + +Turning in disgust to the column of market gossip, he read the +following: "Out of the multiplicity of investment organizations now +crowding each other on all sides, a late one, the Rockhaven Granite +Company, has forged to the front, its stock having crept up from one to +fourteen dollars per share. But little is known of this company, and +conservative investors believe the unusually rapid advance in its stock +solely due to manipulation." + +In this great human hive and on the pages of this leading newspaper the +million-dollar scheme of Weston & Hill was only entitled to one line in +the list of quotations and a five-line news item. + +And Winn thought himself and his troubles to be of small concern. + +But his troubles enlarged rapidly when Jack Nickerson came to his room +later on. + +"Well, old man," said that cheerful sceptic, looking Winn over, "you +don't seem to have the odor of fish or any barnacles about you. You have +had a hair cut, I see; and now if you will visit a tailor, you will soon +be one of us again." + +"Yes," laughed Winn, sarcastically, "I'm back where clothes make the man +and put thieves and honest men on the same footing. But how is Rockhaven +coming on?" + +"It's not only coming, but it is here,--at least its only honest +supporter is," answered Jack. "Where is your old fiddling friend, +Hutton? I expected you would bring him along to look us swindlers over." + +"No, I left him down at Rockhaven at peace with all the world and +philosophizing on human depravity," answered Winn; "he would be as much +out of place here as you would be there." + +"Well, you'd best send for him, or else all the stock you sold on the +island," asserted Nickerson, "and do it now. Matters have reached a +climax, as I wrote you, and Page wants to 'do' old Simmons. We have held +your stock for that purpose, and we want all we can get besides. The +street is all short of it; and when they get scared, as they will soon, +and Simmons tries to unload on them, we propose to be in the dance. +Can't you wire the island?" + +And Winn, once more in touch with the active life of the city, paused to +collect himself. + +"I might wire Captain Roby," he said, "and reach the island to-night. +But Roby has bought one hundred of this stock, and if he realized the +situation, he'd faint." + +"Well, let him," answered Jack, "he'll come to quick enough when he +understands his stock is worth fourteen dollars to-day and may not be +worth one cent to-morrow. My belief is, if you wired him the price now, +he'd point his old boat for the city and shovel coal under the boiler +all the way himself." + +"He wouldn't do that," replied Winn, "but he'd start for the island at +once, and in ten minutes every one would know it." + +"Well, wire him," said Jack, "and do it now. Tell him to see your +philosopher." + +And Winn obeyed. + +"Now," said Jack, "you are a prisoner here in this room until Page says +otherwise. If ever Simmons or Weston learns you are in the city, it will +upset our plans. When your old barnacle arrives, we'll lock him up also +until the crash comes, and then take you both into the exchange and let +you see the fun. He will be all the safer anyway. Some one might sell +him a gold brick." + +"Not much," answered Winn, stoutly. "Jess Hutton can't be buncoed. He +was keen enough to see through Weston the moment he set foot in his +store, while it took me three months to do it." + +"Well, you're getting you eye teeth cut slowly," laughed Jack, "and in a +year or two you'll know sheep from goats. I'm sorry you can't go to call +on Ethel Sherman this evening, but you can't. It's just as well, for +when she hears you have come out on top of Rockhaven and are worth a few +thousand, she'll receive you with more warmth. She is back from the +mountains, brown as an autumn leaf and looking out of sight. If I didn't +know she was the most heartless and selfish hypocrite ever clad in +petticoats, I'd make love to her myself." + +And Jack Nickerson, the inveterate scoffer at all things, took himself +away. + +That day Rockhaven was bid up to twenty, the short interest more than +doubled, and the two arch conspirators, Weston and Simmons, in the +privacy of the latter's office that night, held a love feast, nudged +each other in the ribs, and laughed and joked while they smoked costly +cigars, feeling sure a small fortune was within sight. + +"I think it's best to let 'em bid it up to about forty," said Simmons, +in a self-confident tone, and as though the street were within his +grasp, "and then I'll feed those hungry bears granite chips by the +shovelful." + +"I flatter myself," he continued, "that I have engineered this deal as +but few could; and if this pious old hen, Mrs. Converse, attends +strictly to foreign missions a few days longer, all will go well." + +"No need to worry about her," responded Weston, whose spirits had also +risen. "I, too, am fairly smooth, and have persuaded her to leave her +stock with me to sell when the right time comes; and I have also +subscribed five hundred toward a home for old ladies she is interested +in. That's the way I _converse_ with her." + +And the two laughed at this poor pun. + +Little did either realize that Nemesis, with three thousand shares in +reserve, lurked in Broker Page's office, and that another thousand in +the pocket of the "fossil who fiddled," as Weston had once called Jess +Hutton, would be added to that avenging club, inside of twenty-four +hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE BUBBLE BURSTS + + +In response to Winn's summons, dressed in a somewhat faded and +nondescript garb, with bell-crowned silk hat of ancient style, Jess +Hutton reached the city. + +And he was a picture! + +His coat, a surtout with small gilt buttons, a reddish brown vest, +trousers of gray mixed stuff, a high collar with black satin stock, and +his ruddy brown face with fringe of gray beard and keen twinkling blue +eyes made him conspicuous. He carried a cane, limping a little as +always, and when he greeted Winn on the station platform, the latter +felt that all Rockhaven had arrived. + +"Ain't this a _leetle_ sudden?" he said, when the two had shaken hands. +"I sorter cac'lated ye'd send fer me, an' when I got the message I +thought o' old Abner Tucker's tombstone. He'd allus been skeered o' +lightnin', an' when he got hit his widder had his stun sot up 'n' put +on't, 'I 'spected this, but not so soon.'" + +"I'm glad you came," said Winn, heartily, "and hope you have brought all +the stock I sold on the island." + +"Oh, I fetched it all, even the parson's, 'n' he told me a blessin' went +with hisn," responded Jess. + +And then Winn, more light-hearted than ever before in his life, hurried +the old man into a carriage. + +"We are to keep in hiding," he said, "until my friends say the word, and +then I'll take you to the stock exchange and we will see our stock +sold." + +"I don't see no use in hidin' in this 'ere jumble o' humanity," asserted +Jess, as their vehicle became entangled in a street blockade, "the +puzzle on't here 'ud be to find anybody ye wanted." + +"It's best that we hide, however," replied Winn. "If Weston caught sight +of either of us, he would know our errand here at once." + +"I don't cac'late he'd 'member me," said Jess, "though I'd recklect them +gray stun'sls o' hisn out o' a million." + +And Winn, contrasting the old man's present raiment with what he usually +wore, concluded he was right. + +But that evening, when Page and Nickerson were ushered into the room +where Jess was held in (to him) durance vile, there was a scene. + +"I'm powerful glad to meet ye, gentlemen," Jess asserted, shaking the +hand of each in a way that made them wince, "I'd a sorter cac'lated +brokers had horns 'n' claws the way ye're spoken on, but ye look purty +harmless. I suppose ye air brokers," looking from one to the other, "an' +which sort air ye, bulls or bears?" + +"Either one or the other, as occasion serves," answered Page, laughing +heartily. "We get together and toss or claw one another, according to +the market, and when the fracas is over, count our cash and go out and +drink to each other's good luck." + +And this, be it said, fairly expresses the financial warfare daily waged +"on 'change." + +"I've read 'bout yer doin's," continued Jess, "an' I allus cac'lated ye +were all a purty slick crowd o' deceivers, an' best ter steer clear on. +I'm a sort o' an old barnacle livin' on an island, 'n' when this 'ere +Weston woke me up one day, I made a fairly good dicker with him, an' +'long come this young man, 'n' I'll own up I kinder took ter him, bein's +I hadn't chick nor child 'n' nothin' fer company but an old fiddle, 'n' +just ter help him out, bought a leetle stock. I got a few o' the rest to +buy some, 'greein' I'd see they wasn't to lose by it. I fetched it +'long, 'n' I tell ye, Mr. Hardy, yer message has stirred up quite a +fuss. I'll bet yer landlady, the Widder Moore, hain't slept a wink +sense, 'n' if Roby hadn't been obligated to Uncle Sam, he'd 'a' started +fer the mainland that night." + +"You are just in time, Mr. Hutton," observed Page, interested in this +honest old man at once, "and unless all signs fail, I'll sell your stock +to-morrow at ten or twenty times its cost. How would you like to carry +back five thousand dollars for yourself and double that to distribute +among your friends?" + +"They'd all hev fits," answered Jess, "an' 'ud quit fishin' an' start to +quarryin' right away. But I don't cac'late ye will, Mr. Page, an' we'll +all on us be satisfied to git our hats back. Hope ye may, though; but +thar's no use in countin' chickens till they're hatched." + +And Jess Hutton, the cool and collected philosopher that he was, did not +for one moment hope even that he would more than receive his money back. +In his understanding of the matter, this quoted price for the stock was +a mere fiction, and he felt sure that when it was actually offered for +sale, no one would buy. To him it seemed like selling so much air. Never +in his life had he set foot in a stock exchange, and when the next day, +just as the great clock in the exchange marked nine-fifty, and he with +Winn and Nickerson took seats in the gallery, no hint of the coming +turmoil came to Jess, and fortunately no suspicion of his or Hardy's +presence in the city had reached Weston or Simmons. + +Then the gong sounded and bedlam ensued. + +[Illustration: THE BUBBLE BURSTS.] + +In an instant, a hundred men who had been chatting with one another in +the pit, and as many more, as if by magic, leaped out of hiding, and a +howl went up. They gathered in knots around the poles, pushing, pulling, +yelling like demons, waving their arms aloft with fingers open, closed, +or separated--a deaf mute alphabet used by these delirious men to buy or +sell; and as they screamed and screeched and pushed and swore in a mad +scramble, fortunes melted away or were created. + +And on one side of that fiscal arena, tall, gaunt, with a fringe of gray +hair about his poll, and watching with eyes as merciless as a lynx ready +to spring, stood Simmons. + +On the other, as alert, but younger, with the easy _sang froid_ of one +skilled in this battle of values, stood Page. + +Full well he knew what his enemy's tactics would be, and that when the +crowd began to rally around the Rockhaven pole, he would creep up like a +panther, and at the right moment overbid the highest. None were buyers, +for none wanted Rockhaven at its present price, except frightened bears +seeking to cover, and well Simmons knew it. + +And so did Page, with his four thousand shares, waiting for the bear +panic sure to come. + +Rockhaven's turn now came. It opened at sixteen, then up to seventeen, +eighteen, nineteen, without a halt; a breathless trio in the balcony +attentively watched the dial where its price was recorded, or Page, who +held their fortunes in his hand. + +And then came the panic; for it had reached twenty, and Simmons, like a +spectre, advanced, bidding twenty-one for ten thousand shares! + +Then two bears, short as much each at five and six, lost their heads. + +Up, up it went by leaps of two, three, and five points, bid by these +half-crazed speculators, while Page eyed Simmons. + +Two tigers of finance, cool, calculating, merciless! + +The jam about the pole grew worse. A screaming, pushing, mad mass of +beings, insane with greed! + +Some on top, some under, and all cursing, yelling, a writhing monster, +all heads and hands, the like of which can nowhere else be found. Thirty +was bid, then thirty-two, four, six, eight! + +Then forty! + +And then Page, calculating to a nicety, leaped in! + +In an instant, almost, the price fell twenty points, for Simmons, quick +to see his enemy's offer to sell, lost his nerve and offered blocks of +ten and twenty thousand shares down, down at any price! + +And the scared bears, as quick as he to see the tide had turned, joined +the downward bidding. + +But Page had sold! + +Winn and Jess were saved! + +The bubble had burst! + +Conscience, as in all great climaxes of human feeling, was a factor in +the crash; for Simmons, knowing that he had once wronged and robbed +Page, intuitively felt that a revenge was coming, and to save what he +could out of the wrecked plot, joined the insane selling. For once in +his life he played the coward. + +After the financial delirium was over, there was a scene between him and +Weston, over which it were best to draw the veil. + +A more hilarious episode, however, occurred in Page's office, when all +met there after the exchange closed. + +"I didn't win out as I hoped," Page said to the rest, "for the market +broke like an egg-shell. I unloaded the four thousand at an average of +twenty, however, and had the pleasure of seeing Simmons gnash his false +teeth and shake his fist at me, which was worth as much more." Then +turning to Jess he added: "How did you enjoy the pow-wow?" + +Jess smiled. + +"I've seen a passel o' hungry hogs squealin' an' pawin' over a trough, +an' two dogs fightin' over a bone. I've seen a cage o' monkeys all mad +an' makin' the fur fly, an' if the whole kit 'n' boodle had been put in +a pen 'n' sot a-goin', it wouldn't 'a' ekalled the fracas I've seen +to-day. How any on 'em got out 'thout broken bones is more'n I kin see. +I'd 'a' gin a hundred to 'a' held the nozzle o' a fire-engine hose 'n' +squirted water on 'em." + +"How would you have enjoyed being among them?" put in Nickerson, to whom +the old man with his grotesque raiment and speech was a source of +merriment. + +"I wouldn't 'a' sot foot 'mong that crowd o' loony-tics fer a hundred +dollars," answered Jess. "I cac'late they'd 'a' turned to 'n' bit me, +same ez mad dogs." + +"They'd have played foot-ball with your hat," responded Jack, who knew +the ways of brokers, "and in two minutes you wouldn't have had a whole +garment on you. I've seen them tie a man's legs and drag him around the +room with a rope, then toss him in a blanket for a wind-up. They are a +tough lot, and a stranger who gets into their hands meets hard usage." + +"That's about the idee I had on 'em," said Jess; "they're wuss'n Injuns, +an' ain't satisfied with takin' a man's money, they want his hair, hide, +'n' toe nails. If ever one on 'em comes ashore on Rockhaven 'n' I'm +around, he'll think he's run into a hornet's nest. We'll use him wuss'n +we did Abe Winty. He was a shiftless cuss that got out into the island +somehow 'bout ten year ago, an' begun beggin' for a livin'. He 'lowed he +had asmer an' heart troubles an' a tech o' liver complaint, 'n' jest +couldn't do no liftin' or any sort o' hard work. He fooled us a spell, +till we began missin' things 'n' found they were gittin' into the hands +o' a low-down fellar who sold rum on the sly, 'n' then we held a sort o' +indignation caucus, 'n' Abe wa'n't invited. We had diskivered by this +time that Abe's heart 'n' liver was doin' business 'bout ez usual, 'n' +the only thing that ailed him was downright laziness. We sorter compared +idees at the meetin', an' the upshot on't was we concluded the island +wa'n't big 'nuff for him. We'd tried all manner o' talk to shame him, +but callin' names an' 'busin' him didn't hev no more 'fect than rain on +a duck's back. We'd tried coaxin' an' cussin' to git him to work, but +him 'n' work wus mortal enemies, 'n' when he couldn't beg 'nuff to eat +he'd steal it. Suthin' had to be did, 'n' we did it. Fust we ketched 'n' +shackled him 'n' locked him up in a fish-house fer two days, feedin' him +on bread 'n' water,--mostly water at that,--an' when he'd got good 'n' +hungry we sarved him a meal cooked with drug stuff, 'nuff in it to turn +the stomach o' a Digger Injun. He was that starved he et it middlin' +quick, an' then, to make the preceedin's more interestin' to Abe, the +man that took the vittles to him told him pizen had been put in 'em 'n' +he hadn't more'n an hour to live. Then we gathered round, peekin' in the +door 'n' winders ez if cac'latin' to enjie Abe's dyin' agonies. It +wa'n't long 'fore the drug stuff began workin', an' Abe, he got more +scared than old Bill Atlas was when we sot the sea sarpint up to meet +him. He hollered for mercy, an' when his vittles started to worry him he +began prayin' an' took on woful, an' we just lookin' at him sober-like, +ez if his end was clus to. The perceedin's lasted 'bout two hours, 'n' +by that time Abe wus so weak he couldn't hold up his head. Then we +straddled him on a rail 'n' carried him to the boat, 'n' Cap'n Roby sot +him ashore." + +"How would you like to serve Weston that way?" put in Winn when the +story was ended. + +"I wouldn't mind," answered Jess, chuckling at the thought, "though I +cac'late we've come purty near gettin' square with him. I'd like to see +him humsoever, jist about now, 'n' tell him old Rip Van Winkle hez woke +up, 'n' if he wants any more quarries I'll 'commodate him if he'll come +to Rockhaven." + +Then when Page had made up the accounts of all three whose stock he had +sold, handing each a check for their dues, all shook hands and +separated. + +And so warm was Winn's heart toward the old man who had "sorter took to +him on sight" that he escorted him to the hotel and remained with him +until he left for Rockhaven the next morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +TWO DOGS AND A BONE + + +When the market closed that afternoon there was a scene in Simmons's +office and an exchange of lurid language and mutual recrimination +between Weston and himself unfit for publication. + +Weston cursed Simmons for an arrant coward and a doddering old idiot, +and Simmons abused Weston for a stupid fool who believed his dupe, +Hardy, was blindly quarrying granite and selling stock to other dupes, +when, instead, he had kept posted, come to the city in the nick of time, +and tipped over their stock dish. + +"The next time you pose for a great financier," said Simmons, with +biting sarcasm, "and try to engineer a corner, you had better place half +your stock in the hands of your office boy and tell him to attend the +ball games each afternoon. Then advertise what your intentions are in +the papers. It would be on a par with what you have done. You may be +able to pray with a stupid old woman and hoodwink her, but as for doing +business with men, you have mistaken your calling. You can't even +deceive boys!" + +And J. Malcolm Weston, realizing how he had failed on Winn, who he now +knew was in the city, and had been in the exchange that day, hung his +head in shame. + +He even forgot to stroke his "stun'sls," as Jess called his side +whiskers. + +But there was one solace left him, and he proceeded to carry it out. In +fact, he had made preparation to do so already. + +"We will close up our business now, Mr. Simmons," he said in a dejected +tone, when the tirade of abuse had ceased, "and in future I will employ +another broker." + +"Yes, and you are d----d welcome to do it," asserted Simmons, whose +wrath had not cooled. "You made a holy show of me to-day and let that +upstart, Page, turn the tables on me, and I've had enough of you. You +had better go and hold a prayer service with Mrs. Converse. With +Rockhavens at nothing bid, she will be in a suitable mood for prayers. +You might ring the changes on 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away' +with her, but you won't bear any resemblance to the Lord in her +estimation. Take your business and your schemes and hide yourself +somewhere. I would suggest you go to Rockhaven and ask your 'old fossil +fiddler' to play the 'Rogues' March' for you." + +And, having thus relieved his mind, Simmons, turned to his desk, and +after a half-hour of careful computation handed Weston a statement and +check for one hundred and ten thousand dollars, which represented the +net results of the securities Weston had turned over to him, after +deducting the actual loss they had made on Rockhaven. For the money +received from the sale of some thirty thousand shares at one dollar +each, had more than been consumed in buying back stock at various prices +to affect the market, in the quarrying operations, in _Market News_ +items, and various other outgoes. + +What Weston did receive after over a year of scheming was less than the +original capital Hill had put into the firm. Weston had previously +checked out and pocketed the firm's own bank balance, and now he went +the way he had for months planned to go, and that night left the city. + +And his wife, who had shrewdly insisted that their residence be deeded +to her, in case of business reverses, shed no tears. + +It was a fitting climax to the life of a J. Malcolm Weston. + +But there was another episode of equal interest, and that the outcome of +Weston's robbery of Hill. And when that has been told, no more shall +either of these despicable men taint this narrative. + +All that day while Rockhaven was first shooting skyward and then +downward, Hill sat in his office watching the ticker. He couldn't go on +to the floor of the exchange; he knew Weston was with Simmons; and so, +like a human hyena, he lurked in his own den, waiting for his share of +the plunder. And when the tape recorded forty for Rockhaven and then +down to nothing in less time than it can be told, Hill was the happiest +of men. He knew the plan was for Simmons to sell at forty, and supposed +that he had done so. And in his greedy joy he began figuring how much +his share of the street's robbery would be. + +No thought of the poor widow, whose child was even then at her work in +his outer office, came to him. He knew this confiding woman had, at his +suggestion, invested her all in Rockhaven, and that now it had been +swept away. It mattered not. Neither did he think of Mrs. Converse, more +especially Weston's dupe, and whose stock, now worthless, was locked in +their safe. No thought of young Winn Hardy, their faithful helper, and +his loss came. No thought of anybody who had lost by them and must +suffer entered his narrow and backward-sloping cranium. He only thought +of himself. And his deep-set eyes gleamed with the miser's joy, and his +shallow conceit swelled with pride. + +Now he was a great financier! + +Now he was a power "on 'change"! + +When the market closed and the now beggared stenographer and other +office help had gone home, he still waited. Weston would surely come +soon and acquaint him with the results of their great achievement. + +But Weston came not. + +And Hill still waited. + +And as one hour and then another was ticked off by the office clock, he +ceased computing his share of the coming gains, and an intuitive sense +that all was not right came to him. He was naturally suspicious, and +being a thief at heart himself, quick to suspect others. + +And now he suspected Weston! + +Little by little his distrust increased as Hill watched the office door +and listened to the clock tick. Trifling remarks that Weston had made, +half-concealed sneers he had let escape, returned to Hill as he watched +and waited. + +Certainly he should come and divide, as any honorable thief ought to. + +But he did not! + +Never before had Weston failed to return at the close of the exchange, +where he was usually closeted with Simmons. Why not now? + +And so the demon of suspicion grew. + +When another hour had passed and the daily workers in stores were +hurrying homeward, Hill could stand the suspense no longer, and taking +his hat almost ran to Simmons's office. + +As might be expected, it was closed. + +Then in a frenzy he hurried back to his own office and rang up Weston's +home on the telephone. + +Weston was not there. + +Then he tried Simmons's home, with the same result. + +Then he went home. + +From gloating over the prospective fortune he expected to share, he had +in a few hours become almost insane with a dread suspicion. His supper +was but half eaten; he wouldn't answer his patient wife's question; he +couldn't read, or think of but one thing, and that the horrible doubt +and suspicion consuming him. + +That night his sleep was filled with fiendish dreams, and he saw Weston +running away and leering back at him over his shoulder. + +When morning came, he hurried to his office an hour earlier than usual. +Only the office boy was there, sweeping out. Hill went to his desk, +where the morning mail was left. But one letter was there, and that from +Winn Hardy, dated in the city the night before and enclosing a check for +two hundred and thirty dollars, with the information that it belonged to +the firm and that he had severed his connection with them. + +True to his nature, even in despair, Hill put it in his pocket, +resolving to say nothing to Weston about it. Then, to kill time till +Weston came, he opened the morning paper. On the front page was the +staring headlines:-- + + THE ROCKHAVEN GRANITE COMPANY + GONE TO SMASH + THE PRESIDENT, WESTON, SAID TO HAVE + SKIPPED + +And then cold beads of sweat gathered on the face of Carlos B. Hill! All +the horrible suspicion of the day before was now proven true! He waited +to read no more, but with a groan of despair rushed, hatless, out of +the office and ran to that of Simmons. That icicle of a man was there, +calmly reading his mail. + +"Where is Weston," almost screamed the half-insane Hill, "and what does +all this mean?" + +"I haven't the least idea where Mr. Weston is," replied Simmons, calmly. +"Neither do I care. I balanced our account with him yesterday at the +close of business, at his request, and beyond that have no interest." + +"But where is he? Tell me quick, for God's sake!" shouted Hill, now +trembling with excitement and fear. "I must know! Oh, what does this +mean!" + +"You had better go back to your own office and read the papers," +answered the imperturbable Simmons, in a tone of disgust. "And when you +go out again, put your hat on. As for Weston, I've done with him, and +good riddance. He made a mess of his scheme, an ass of me 'on 'change' +yesterday, and I hope I'll never see him again." And the always cool +Simmons turned to his mail. Nothing short of a panic on the street or an +earthquake ever disturbed him. + +"But where is all the money we made yesterday?" came from Hill, in +strident voice. "I want it, and I want it now!" + +And he did want it more than he wanted good name, fame, wife, home, +life, health, or God even! + +"We made no money out of Rockhaven," answered Simmons, too disgusted +even to be polite; "and I told you once, I have squared my account with +Weston and paid him all I owe him. If that is not enough, I'll sing it +to you." + +And Hill, too agonized to feel an insult even, turned away. Back to the +office he ran and read the long account of how Rockhaven had gone up +like a rocket and down like a stick. He also read how Simmons had, at +the critical moment, been worsted by Page, and even a description of +Jess Hutton, who was present to see the fiasco. For Page, not satisfied +with his triumph, had called up a reporter, and it is small wonder that +Simmons was thoroughly incensed. There was sarcastic reference to him in +the article: Weston was ridiculed, and even Hill did not escape, for +this sacrilegious scribe had suggested that he could cool his rage at +being baffled by fanning himself with his own ears. It was a malicious +thrust, for the one feature about himself that Hill was ashamed of was +his enormous ears. + +In the midst of this added agony, in walked a clerk from their bank to +inform him the account of Weston & Hill was overdrawn ten thousand +dollars, and to make it good inside an hour or legal proceedings would +follow. + +Then Hill, with a groan, staggered to their safe and opened the till +where securities were kept. + +It was empty! + +Then ruined, robbed, insulted, and in utter despair, he who in all his +long life of grasping greed never had had one kindly thought for others, +or of their needs, locked himself in his private office. + +And when, an hour later, an officer knocked upon the door, demanding +admittance in the name of the law, a pistol's report was the only +answer. + +And Carlos B. Hill, a cowardly sneak in life, died a coward's death. + +But the minister of his church uttered an eulogy over him, for so much +had he bought and amply paid for, and a small cortege followed him to +his last resting place. + +And among those few there was not a single sincere mourner. + +Not even his wife! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE AFTERMATH OF A SWINDLE + + +Out of all the many confiding investors who were robbed by Weston & +Hill, only a few need be mentioned. Winn's aunt, Mrs. Converse, was the +most flagrant case of pure theft, for she was deceived through the +vilest of all methods, a religious one. Weston, a merciless wolf in +sheep's clothing, a pew-holder in her church and plausible hypocrite, +who talked the golden rule, but belonged to Satan's host, easily duped +her by his professions, and worse than that, gave her no possible chance +of escape. The widow whose only aid in the battle for existence was the +scanty earnings of her child in the office of those two sharpers, was +perhaps the most pitiful one, for she lost every dollar that stood +between her and the poorhouse. There were others entitled to less +consideration,--clerks in stores who, bitten by the gambling instinct, +hazarded one or two months' wages and lost them; cashiers in two or +three banks, tempted as usual, to use money not their own to speculate +with; and men about town on the watch for a good chance to "take a +flyer." Most of these latter lost their money in the bucket shops, and +by almost as culpable methods as Weston & Hill, for those who were +buyers of Rockhaven on a margin when it went up to forty and down to +nothing in a few hours were not present in these robbers' dens to take +their profits, and when the fiasco was over, were merely told its sudden +fall had wiped them out. Those of more experience in the way of +speculation, and who had "gone short of it," as the phrase goes, were of +course sold out or closed out in Rockhaven's wild leap upward, and like +most who trust their money in a bucket-shop keeper's hands, knew nothing +about it until informed that they had lost all they invested. + +And here and now it seems a duty to interpose a word of warning against +bucket shops. + +We enact and try to enforce laws against all forms of gambling; we claim +the right to invade the privacy of homes, even, where card playing for +money is an occasional evening's pastime, and the law says that a +gambling debt is no debt at all. We even assist the loser in gambling by +allowing him to sue and recover his loss, when, as a matter of morals, +he is just as guilty as the one who wins; and yet we allow these +stock-gambling offices to open on all sides. + +There is not a city of ordinary size where half a dozen do not flourish, +and hardly a country village that has not one or more, ready to tempt +incipient speculators to invest in the gambler's chance. They all do +business on the same basis, viz., bet against the fool who buys or sells +on a margin. They do not actually buy or sell a share of stock; their +managers are merely like the dealers in a faro bank, paid to run the +game. Their sole stock in trade is a leased wire over which to receive +quotations, a handsomely fitted office bearing the legend, "Bankers and +Brokers" (it should be, Bankers and Breakers), a gilt-lettered fiction +of capital invested--and unlimited nerve! + +They know full well that the lambs who stray into their den, and by good +luck secure a small profit, will at once grow vain of their speculative +skill and invest again. Even if these dupes win twice or thrice, it only +results in a greater exultation, and the end is the same--they lose. + +It is as inevitable as the tides or the sun to the majority, and while +now and then one by sheer luck may win at this great gambling game, nine +out of ten will lose, and the keeper of the shop rides in an automobile +while they walk! + +If these parlors of temptation were open only to men who realized the +chances they were taking and could afford to lose, it would be a +different matter; but all who wish to gamble may enter, and the cashier +of your bank, paid a pittance that is but a premium on dishonesty, is +liable to be the first one. And when he, lured on and on by that elusive +hope that next time his guess may be right, has falsified books and made +ducks and drakes of your money, you wake up some fine morning to read +the old, old story, and learn that he has journeyed abroad. + +And the bucket-shop keeper across the way smiles softly to himself and +says nothing. + +And Puck, looking down upon us human ants, also smiles and says, "What +fools these mortals be." + +The Great Rockhaven Granite Company, only one out of a thousand others +of similar end and aim, was but a mere ripple on the sea of speculation. +It was active while it lasted, it brought sorrow and tears to many, a +small fortune to a few, transferring to them the money of others, and +left dishonor and disgrace in its wake. On "the street" it was a nine +days' wonder how so colossal a scheme could be foisted upon them and +carried so near a successful culmination, and then, as usual, it was +forgotten. Others as transparent took its place, and so the mad wave of +speculation rolled on in the city. + +But on Rockhaven there was rejoicing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A TOUCH OF HEROISM + + +When Winn bade good-by to Jess Hutton he realized for the first time how +closely his life had become linked to Rockhaven. The old man, burdened +with the responsibility of twenty thousand dollars safely tucked under +his pillow the night before, had not closed his eyes in sleep. He seemed +as much cast down as Winn. In truth, he was more so, for the hand of +time had swept him beyond the influence of dollars, and human sympathy +and his own feelings were of more account. + +"We, all on us, owe ye more'n we kin ever pay back," he said when the +moment of parting came, "an' if ye realize how ye stand with us on the +island 'n' how glad we'll all be to hev ye back with us, ye won't be +long in comin'. Ye had the chance to rob us, an' ye didn't. Instid ye +did the best ye could to save our money 'thout thinkin' much about yer +own, an' that, 'long o' what ye did for the men ez needed work 'n' +wages, will give ye a warm welcome back. If we could know when ye was +comin' (ez I hope ye will soon), thar ain't a man, woman, or child in +Rockhaven ez wouldn't be on the dock to meet ye, 'n' the parson'd want +'em all to make for the church at onct and jine in singin' hymns." + +"I am glad you will all think so kindly of me," answered Winn, his heart +rising to his throat at this unexpected tribute, "and I hope soon to be +with you. What I shall do now, I do not know. I have a good sum of money +now that I can call my own, thanks to luck and Mr. Page, but as for +future business or occupation, have no plans." + +"Ye might come to Rockhaven an' start the quarry on yer own hook," +responded Jess. "There's 'nuff on us ez'll be more'n glad to put money +in, an' ye needn't be feared they won't hev confidence in ye. The hull +island comes purty near bein' yourn now, fer the askin'." + +And then the "all aboard," that ends so many partings, came. + +"Don't forgit us, 'n' what I've told ye," said Jess, with a slight +tremble in his voice, as he once more shook Winn's hand, while his eyes +grew moist; "don't forgit--any on us." + +Then the train bore him away. + +And Winn, conscious now that a friend as good and true as his own +father had once been, had opened his heart to him, turned away, his own +eyes also misty. And for days, weeks, and months after, the last words +of Jess Hutton were tender in his memory. + +But the consciousness that he had now twenty thousand dollars safely on +deposit, soon lifted him into a cheerful mood again, and when he reached +his aunt's home, his spirits were at top notch. + +The most surprised and elated person in the city was that same worthy +and excellent aunt. Not a hint, even, had she received of Winn's arrival +in the city, and the great fiasco "on 'change" the day before was also +unknown to her. When Winn, using his own latch-key, walked into the +sitting room, she sat by her little table reading the latest _Zion's +Herald_, while near by her pet lap-dog slumbered in a rocking chair. + +"Why, Winn," she exclaimed, springing to her feet and kissing him +fondly, "what has brought you to the city, and why didn't you tell me +you were coming? Or did you want to surprise the old lady?" + +And Winn, a little proud of his financial success, answered: "I came +here two days ago to surprise Weston & Hill, and succeeded. So much so +that Weston has left for parts unknown, and I am twenty thousand +dollars richer for the surprise. I had to keep in hiding two days to do +it, however." + +And then a greater surprise came to Winn. + +"Mr. Weston run away," gasped his aunt, growing pale and oblivious to +Winn's twenty-thousand-dollar assertion. "What do you mean, Winn?" + +"I mean," he answered coolly, "just what I say. Weston has robbed his +partner and left the town! The Rockhaven Granite Company gone to smash! +Stock not worth a copper, and there you are! But I'm all right, auntie," +he added cheerfully, "you can't lose me." + +And then a scene came. + +For a moment Winn's aunt looked at him, her eyes dilated, mouth open. + +"The--company--gone--to--smash!" she exclaimed slowly, as the awful news +forced its way into her brain. Then she seemed to reel a moment, and the +next sank to her knees beside a chair, her face in the cushion. + +"Oh, my God," she moaned, "I am ruined, ruined, ruined!" + +And Winn, half guessing the cause of his aunt's despair, was beside her +in an instant. + +"What do you mean, auntie?" he begged. "What do you mean?" + +"All my money," she sobbed, "all my money has gone! Twenty thousand, all +I had, gone, gone, gone!" And she moaned again. + +Winn, rising, glanced at the table where only magazines and religious +papers lay, and at his aunt, still sobbing at his feet, and then a light +came to him. And it must be recorded, a curse as hearty as it was +profane rose to his lips, and the name of J. Malcolm Weston was linked +with it. + +For Winn had known how his aunt had trusted and believed in Weston, and +now the outcome of it was plain. + +A moment more only did he look at the woe-begone woman at his feet, and +then he turned and left the room, and went to his own upstairs. + +Many of us in this world do selfish things, a few of us do mean ones; +but not to one in a thousand does the chance come to do a heroic one, +and when it comes, not one in ten is equal to it. We think, we excuse, +we evade, we haggle with our conscience and selfish impulses, and in the +end self wins the day. + +But Winn, fresh from the island, where simple good will to all men ruled +supreme, and the heart-offering of Jess Hutton still warming his own, +was in the spirit for heroism. As he sat down to think in his own room, +all the years that this good aunt had been a mother to him came back. +She was simple, she was over-pious, she believed all to be like +herself,--good, kind, and true. And to Winn she had been all that a +motherly woman could be. + +Only for a moment did he hesitate, and then he wrote a check for the +small fortune he owned for a day, and descending the stairs, handed it +to his aunt. + +"Come, auntie," he said cheerfully, "don't shed any more tears over that +accursed Weston. You have been a good mother to me for many years, and +here is your money back." + +Then he swallowed a lump in his own throat and turned away. + +Over the scene that followed a veil shall be drawn. + +That evening at the tea-table, Winn, almost beyond praise now in his +aunt's estimation, told the story of his summer on Rockhaven and what +manner of people he found there, their ways of living, and all about +them, even to their dress. The little church and its poorly paid +minister, whose simple and touching prayers had reached Winn's heart as +none had before, were also mentioned; even the two bells answering one +another across the island at eventide, and the new influence upon his +life and thoughts they had wrought, were spoken of. Quaint old Jess with +his fiddle came in for a share, and the ancient tide mill and its +history as well. The old tower, the bold, frowning cliffs, and the gorge +with the Devil's Oven opening into it were described. All the island, in +fact, and all it contained, except--Mona. And when, late that evening, +Winn's aunt kissed him good night and retired to her room, she knelt +down and thanked God, who had opened her heart to care for this son of +her dead sister. + +In a different mood when he reached his room, and conscious that his +life's fortunes had yet to be wrought, Winn sat down and wrote to Mona. +And so strange a love letter was it, and so misunderstood by her, that +it must be given here. + + "Dear little Sweetheart," he wrote, "my life and hopes seem to + have come to a full stop and I do not know what to say to you. + My summer's work, and all my ambitions, as I feared, have ended + in one grand crash. Out of this I saved your uncle and those on + the island who bought stock. I also saved myself, or, as it + turned out, my aunt's fortune, for unbeknown to me she had been + led to invest in Rockhaven stock and lost all. As she has given + me all that I have known of home since boyhood, I should have + been more than ungrateful had I not taken care of her. + + "What my future plans are, I cannot say. The world is wide, and + some place in it for me will be found. Where it is, or what + doing, I know not. + + "It is but a few days since I left the island, hoping soon to + return, and now it seems months. I recall all the charming + hours we have passed together with keen interest, and yet they + seem to-night like an old, old memory, returning even as the + scenes of my boyhood return when I am despondent." + +More than this he wrote, but it need not be quoted, being merely tender +phrases and without point. + +Mona, trying to read between the lines, as well she might, imagined it +to be a farewell message and a good-by to herself. + +Reading thus, and a false reading at that, she betook herself to the old +tower, and there, all alone with her heartache, while the stars looked +down in pity and the ocean moaned close by, she cast herself upon the +cold stones and cried her heart agony away. + +And the letter was never answered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A WOMAN'S WILES + + +The bubble of Rockhaven, the flight of Weston, the suicide of Hill +furnished a few items for the city press, a little gossip among +interested ones for a week, then passed into history, to be forgotten by +most people. Page, lionized for a day by other brokers whose scalps he +had saved, resumed his operations as usual with an increased clientele; +while Simmons, the defeated one in this battle of values, was seldom +seen on the floor of the exchange. Jack Nickerson returned to his wonted +existence, speculating a little, gambling in the club when congenial +spirits gathered, and, as usual, sneering at the weaknesses of all human +kind; while Winn, growing more despondent day by day at the turn in the +tide of affairs, hardly knew what to do with himself. Occasionally he +walked past the door of Weston & Hill's office, now closed by the hand +of law, and glancing at the legal paper pasted inside it, muttered a +curse and went his way. Sometimes he visited the exchange to watch the +unceasing tossing of stock dice for an hour, to kill time; then to +Page's office to chat with him, and then to the club, feeling himself +less and less in touch with this grind of city life as the days went by. + +He lived, too, in daily expectation of a letter from Mona, and receiving +none, that added to his gloom. Just why, he could not understand; and +then a species of pride crept into his feelings, and he imagined she +might have been cautioned by her mother not to answer him. He began to +feel a little hurt at the thought that this timid girl might feel afraid +of him; and although swayed by emotions and seemingly his own when they +parted, he feared that on reflection she had decided it best to end the +matter thus. + +To one who is despondent, all things seem awry, and Winn was now so low +down in spirits that he was ready to believe himself of no account to +any one--even this simple child of nature whose soul was attuned to her +violin. That Jess was his cordial friend he felt sure; but a timid girl, +utterly lacking in worldly wisdom and as wayward in feelings as the +varying sounds of the waves beating against her island home, was another +matter. + +Winn's thoughts now were full of bitterness. + +One Sunday, coming out of church ahead of his aunt who had paused to +chat with some one, he encountered in the vestibule, dressed in +faultless fall costume, a picture of beauty and good taste,--Ethel +Sherman! + +"Why, Winn," she said, advancing and extending a gloved hand, "I am very +glad to see you back again. I've heard all about you and the fame you +have achieved and how good you have been to your aunt. I must insist +that you call this evening and tell me all about it. I've a bone to pick +with you also, you naughty boy, for not answering my letter." + +And Winn, moved as any man would be by such captivating words uttered by +a young goddess in fashionable raiment, forgot all his old-time +resentment for a moment, and answered as any well-bred and susceptible +young man would. + +"I am very glad to see you, Ethel," he said cordially, "and it's nice of +you to say such pleasant things. If you haven't any better amusement for +this evening, I will call." + +And call he did, to find this imperious beauty arrayed in an exquisite +evening gown, in his honor, fairly exhaling sweet smiles and graceful +words. And with them came back, also, all the old-time charm of her +siren voice, her keen wit, her polished sarcasms, her devil-may-care +_bon camaraderie_. + +For two years Ethel Sherman had been a daily thorn in Winn's side. He +had met her occasionally, when he simply bowed and exchanged the +civilities of polite society, but nothing more. Occasionally his aunt, a +born match-maker, had let fall a word of praise for Ethel, the intent of +which was palpable to Winn, but in spite of which he had determined to +put her out of his thoughts. When her letter reached him on the island, +he mentally contrasted her with Mona and to the former's detriment, more +than ever thinking of her as the type of a fashionable young woman +sneered at by Nickerson. His illusions regarding her had all vanished +and he saw her as she was,--a beautiful, heartless, ambitious Circe, +conscious of her power, and enjoying it. + +And this evening, seated in her daintily furnished parlor, and facing +the most exquisite adornment it contained, he regarded her as he did the +marble copy of the Greek Slave, perched on a pedestal in one corner. + +But Ethel Sherman was not the girl to be long considered marble, whether +she was or not; and was just now piqued by Winn's coolly polite +indifference. + +"Well, my dear friend," she said eagerly, when the first commonplaces +had been exchanged, "tell me all about this unheard-of island where you +have been buried all summer, and this queer old fellow you brought up +in the city, and the barefooted fisher maids you met there, and which +one caught your fancy. I've just been dying to hear." + +"You seem to want an entire chapter of a novel in one breath," answered +Winn, smiling. "How did you find out I brought any one to the city?" + +"Oh, I am still able to read the papers," she laughed, "and Jack called +the other evening. It's all over the city, as well as your firm's +collapse and the part you played in it. Oh, you have become famous in a +day, as it were, and people who have never set eyes on you are talking +about you." + +Winn smiled, for what man could resist such subtile flattery. + +"I wasn't aware that I was a mark for gossip," he said, "though Weston & +Hill must have been, and deservedly. I'm not sorry for Hill, however, +for I despised him, but I rather liked Weston, even after I discovered +he was a rascal, he was such a jolly, good-natured one." + +"So Jack says," answered Ethel, "and happily indifferent as to whom he +swindled. It was first come, first served, with him." + +"He served Hill the worst dose," said Winn, "and it looks as if Hill +were the ultimate object of his plot, and the rest of us only pawns in +his game." + +"You at least called 'checkmate' to him," answered Ethel, smiling +admiration, "but tell me about the island. That is of more interest to +me. The city end of this affair is now ancient history." + +"Oh, the island is a poem," replied Winn, earnestly, "a spot to forget +the world on and learn a new life. Its people are poor, but honest, +kind, and truthful; their houses turkey coops, their customs ancient, +their religion sincere, their livelihood gained by fishing, and the +island a wild spruce-clad ledge of granite with bold sea-washed cliffs +and an interior harbor that is a dream of peace, seldom rippled. There +is an ancient beacon built by the Norsemen on a hill nine centuries ago, +a ravine surpassingly grand with a cave called the Devil's Oven, and an +old tide-mill at the head of their harbor, where a love-lorn girl once +hanged herself." + +"A charming spot, truly," said Ethel, "and if I had known all this last +July, and there had been a comfortable hotel there, we should have +summered on this delightful island instead of on the mountains." + +"It would have amused you a week," replied Winn, smiling, "but not +longer. There were no golf links or young dudes to flirt with there." + +Ethel colored slightly. + +"That is the worst of having friends," she said, "they are bound to +gossip about one. I don't mind," she added gayly; "I am a flirt and +admit it cheerfully, but what else are men good for?" + +"Not much, I admit," answered Winn, sarcastically, "especially if they +have money or prospects of it; and if not, they are good to practise +on." + +"Now, Winn, my dear fellow, don't emulate Jack Nickerson," she responded +suavely, "the role doesn't become you. You can be an adorable bear, but +not a barking puppy." + +"Jack's not a puppy," asserted Winn. + +"I never said he was," answered Ethel. "He can be worse than that; he +can be a gossipy old maid, always sneering, and that is more abominable +than a puppy any day. But tell me about the people on the island, and +which fisher maid you fell in love with." + +"Why should you imagine I looked twice at any island maid?" answered +Winn. + +"Oh, you were bound to," asserted Ethel, laughing. "You wouldn't be the +delightful man you are unless you did, so tell me all about her. Did she +wear her flaxen hair in a braid and ask from beneath a sunbonnet, 'What +are the wild waves saying?' while she stood barefoot beside you on the +beach?" + +"Oh, yes, and chewed spruce gum at the same time," he responded, also +laughing. + +"Even when you kissed her?" queried Ethel. "It must have lent a +delightfully aromatic flavor." + +Winn made no answer to this pointed sally. Instead he stroked his +moustache musingly, while his thoughts flew back to Rockhaven and Mona. + +Ethel eyed him keenly. + +"Quit mooning," she said at last, "and come back to Erin. I do not +expect you to admit you kissed this fair fisher maid. It wouldn't be +gallant. But you can at least describe her. Is she dark or fair?" + +"I haven't the least idea," he said, "she was so sweet and charming; her +eyes might have been sea-green for all I can tell." + +"You evade fairly well," rejoined his tormentor, "but not over well. You +still need practice. Now tell me about this old fellow Jack described as +a 'barnacled curiosity.'" + +"Oh, Jess Hutton," replied Winn, relieved; "he is a curiosity, and of +the salt of the earth. If there was any one I fell in love with on the +island, it was he." + +"That was fairly well done," laughed Ethel; "you are improving and in +time may hope to deceive even me." + +"Never," responded Winn, sarcastically; "you are too well skilled in the +fine art of dissembling. You almost persuaded me to-day that you were +really glad to see me, instead of anxious to find out all about +Rockhaven and its fisher maids." + +"That is unkind," replied Ethel, in a hurt tone, "and you know it. +Didn't I write you a nice letter, and have I shown the least resentment +at your failure to answer it? Come now, be nice and like your old dear +self, you big bear. I don't care if you did fall in love with an island +girl. You certainly would have been stupid not to if there was one worth +it, and I respect you the more for protecting her. Your friend Nickerson +wouldn't." + +And Winn, mollified by this occult flattery, came near admitting--Mona +and all the summer's illusion--for that was Winn Hardy's way. Only one +thing saved her name from passing his lips,--the fact that no answer had +come to his letter. He began to feel that none was likely to, and that +the summer's idyl was destined to be but a memory like to the sound of +church bells in his boyhood days. + +Then, while his thoughts went back to the island and all it contained, +he told the story of his sojourn there, of Jess and his fiddle, of the +little church and its parson, the quarry and his men, of Mrs. Moore and +Captain Roby and the fishermen who each day sailed away to return at +night. + +Only Mona was omitted. + +And Ethel, listening, became entranced at his recital. + +"Your stay there has done you good," she said, when it was ended, "and +made a broader man of you. You are not the callow boy you were, and the +heroism you have shown toward your poor aunt proves it. When she told +me, the tears almost came to my eyes; and while I bow to the noble +impulse you displayed, it was foolish after all. It would have been +wiser to have kept the money in your own hands and taken care of her. +She may be led again to make ducks and drakes of her money by another +Weston. The world is full of them." + +"It didn't occur to me then," answered Winn. "I did it on a sudden +impulse, and now I think you are right." + +And be it said parenthetically that this worldly yet sincere assertion +of Ethel Sherman elevated her greatly in Winn's estimation. + +"Come, Ethel," he said after a pause, "I want to forget all this +business; now don't say any more about it. Most likely I acted +foolishly--it isn't the first time, and may not be the last. If you want +to cheer me up, play and sing for me. I've not heard a piano since I +left the city." + +Ethel, glad of the chance so to entertain him, complied. Strange to say +the song she selected and rendered, as she well could, with exquisite +feeling, was "Robin Adair." Then followed another of the same +nationality. + +"I've taken to the old Scotch songs lately," she said, when she turned +from the piano, "and they are quite a fad with me now. They have so much +more heart and soul in them than modern compositions." + +"Give me 'Annie Laurie' now," suggested Winn, a shade on his face. And +listening well while the graceful, ring-glittering fingers of Ethel +Sherman leaped lightly over the ivory keys, her sweet voice gave new +power to the immortal ballad of olden time, while he thought only of one +summer day in the cave at Rockhaven and--Mona. + +When he was taking his leave, and Ethel, unconscious of the mood she had +evoked, stood beside him in the dimly lighted hall, she held out her +hand. Her red, ripe lips were upraised, as if in temptation, and her +eyes were tender with the spirit of her songs. + +"I hope you have had a pleasant evening, Winn," she said tenderly, "and +will call again soon. I'll promise not to mention the fisher maid any +more if you will." + +And Winn, glancing into the bright eyes that had once lured him to a +heartache, held her hand a moment and then bade her good night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE + + +For weeks Winn lived an aimless life without occupation, which to him +meant misery. He walked the streets to be jostled by people in a hurry, +and wished that he also was. He looked into shop windows where dummies +stood clad in beautiful garments, and wondered how Mona would look if +robed in such. He met people hurrying home from their work at night and +almost envied them. In his club he felt so ill at ease that games, +conversation, and even the raillery of Jack Nickerson bored him. He had +a pleasant home, where his aunt always thought of his comfort; he +escorted her to church with regularity; read the daily papers; called on +Ethel occasionally, to find her always the same sweet temptation. She +neither allured nor repelled, but was always the same piquant and yet +sympathetic friend, well poised and sensible, who judged all men and +spoke of them as a mixture of nobility and selfish conceit in unequal +parts, with the latter predominating. To Winn she sometimes talked as +though he were still a big boy who needed guidance, and then again as if +he were more than mortal and out of place in a bad world. + +"You are discontented," she said to him one evening, "and out of your +sphere among the city men. You take right and wrong too seriously and +are like an eagle caged with jackdaws. City men are such in the main, +thinking more about the cut of their coats, the fit of their linen, and +color of their ties than of aught else. You are as unlike them as when +you came here a big boy with countryisms clinging to you and the scent +of new mown hay perfuming your impulses; you were always out of place +here, and the three months on that island has made you more so." + +It was a truthful and yet somewhat flattering portrayal of Winn as he +really did seem to her, but it only added to his discontent. + +"What you say may be true enough," he answered, "but what shall I do? I +can't go into an office again and be content, the taste of being my own +master on the island has spoiled me for that. I would go into some +business if only I had the capital, but I haven't; and I wouldn't ask my +aunt to loan me any, even under the existing circumstances." + +"I wish I could advise you," she replied in the sympathetic tone so +easily at her command. "I certainly would if I could. But whatever you +do, don't go into the stock gambling. I respect you now, and I might not +then." + +The time came when she wished that she had refrained from that +expression. + +But a different trend of advice came to Winn later from Jack Nickerson. + +"Why don't you open a bucket shop, my boy," said that cynic, "and make +some money? I'll back you for a few thousand to start, since you were +foolish enough to part with all Page made for you out of the Rockhaven +flurry, and it's a dead sure thing. Then again you have won quite a +little notoriety out of this Weston & Hill fiasco, and men on the street +say you have a cool, level head. I tell you, open up one of those joints +and let these smart Alecs who want to get rich quick come in and lose +their money. If you keep moping around another month you will go daft, +or fall in love with Ethel Sherman over again, which means the same. I +hear you are a frequent caller there." + +"I've got to spend my time somewhere," answered Winn, rather doggedly, +"and Ethel's good company." + +Jack eyed him curiously. + +"How the moth will flutter around the candle," he said. + +"I'm in no danger there," asserted Winn, "so don't worry. Once bit, +twice shy; and as for the bucket shop, I'll have none of it. I'd as soon +open a faro bank." + +"And why not?" queried Jack. "All the world loves to gamble, and most of +them do in one way or another. Even the good people who pray can't +resist grab bags and fish ponds, and until a few ultra prudes guessed it +was gambling, they were all the rage at church fairs. Even now, in +society of the best, bridge whist and whist for prizes, afternoon and +evening, flourishes on all sides. Oh, it's gamble, my boy, go where you +will; and you might as well take a hand in it and make money." + +"But a bucket shop is disreputable," replied Winn, "or has that +reputation, and on par with gambling dens in fact, though protected by +law. It is worse than those in one way, for men who go in feel forced to +put up margins to save themselves, and in the end go broke. Look at the +embezzlements that crop out almost daily, and nine out of ten traceable +to a bucket shop. The law ought to force them to put up a sign, 'All ye +who enter here will lose.'" + +"You have matured rapidly since you came from the island, my boy," +laughed Nickerson, "and now you are fit to do business. Put your new +scruples in your pocket and join the crowd. Only those who make money +are considered anybody. And how they make it matters little. Make it you +must, or walk in this world; and those who walk, get kicked." + +And Winn, conscious that a bitter truth lurked in his friend's words, +went his way more disconsolate than ever. + +But the memory of Rockhaven was still strong in him, and the eyes of +Mona and the heart-burst that marked their parting an ever present +memory. + +And no answer had yet come to his letter. + +One evening a little later, when a November storm, half rain, half +sleet, made the street miserable, Winn was pushing his way homeward when +he saw a girl, poorly clad, a thin summer wrap her only extra garment, +looking wistfully into a store window where tropical fruits tempted the +passers. He recognized her at once as the stenographer who had served +Weston & Hill. + +"Why, Mamie," he said, halting, "how are you and what are you doing here +in the storm?" + +"I was just wishing I could afford a basket of grapes for mother," she +answered, smiling at the sight of a friendly face, "but I can't. I've +been out of work now since the firm failed, you see." + +"I've wondered what became of you," said Winn, his sympathy aroused at +once, "and how you were getting on. Where are you working now?" + +"Nowhere," she answered. "I've been looking for a place for two months +and can't find one. Mother gave the firm all her money to invest, and +it's gone, and she is very ill. I am completely discouraged." + +Then once more a righteous curse aimed at Weston almost escaped Winn's +lips. + +"I am very sorry for you, Mamie," he said, "and I wish I could help +you." + +"If you could only find me a place," she replied eagerly, catching at +the straw of hope, "I should be so grateful. We are very poor now." + +"I'll do what I can for you," he said kindly, "and maybe I can help you. +I, too, was left stranded by that thief Weston;" and without another +word he stepped inside the store and, buying a good supply of fruit, +joined the girl outside. + +"I am going home with you, Mamie," he said cheerfully, "and take your +mother some grapes. I've an idea of writing up a history of the Weston & +Hill swindle, and I want her story." + +It was the first time he had thought of it, but it served as a ready +excuse. Then with one hand and arm loaded with bundles, and linking the +other around the shivering girl's as if she were a child, the two +started toward her home. + +"We have had to move," said the girl, as she directed their way toward +the poorer quarters of the city, "and I am ashamed to take you to my +home. We have only two rooms now." + +"Oh, you mustn't mind me," answered Winn, briskly. "I am a +fellow-sufferer with you now, you know." + +When her home was reached in a narrow side street and up three flights +of stairs at that, poverty and a woman coughing her life away beside the +kitchen stove told the tale. Winn noticed that the supper awaiting the +girl was of bread, butter, and tea only. + +"It was very kind of you to come, Mr. Hardy," said the mother, in an +almost tearful voice, when he was introduced; "and if you can find a +place for Mamie, it will help us very much." + +And then she told her story. + +It need not be repeated--its counterpart may be found by the score in +any city where legalized thieving like Weston's scheme ever dupes the +credulous, and is as common as the annals of simple drunks. To Winn it +was new, for he had no idea his former employer could be so vile as to +induce a poor widow to invest her all to meet inevitable loss. + +And be it said here, that if the world at large could realize how many +sharks are ready to prey upon them with the tempting bait of countless +schemes, promising sure and rich returns, big interest for their money, +guarantees of all kinds (on paper), and flanked by long lists of names, +they would look at "farm-mortgage bonds," "gold-mining stocks," "oil +stocks," "cumulative gold-bearing bonds," and the whole list of traps +set for the unwary, as so many financial perils. + +And be it said also, that if the securities held as collateral by half +the banks could be scrutinized, and the foundations they rested upon +understood by all the confiding depositors in these banks, a panic would +ensue that would sweep this land of credulity like a typhoon. + +Winn Hardy, who by sheer good luck had saved his aunt's fortune, +listening to this poor widow's tearful recital of her woes, gnashed his +teeth at the departed J. Malcolm Weston and vowed that he would show him +up in the press. + +When he bade good-by to the girl and her mother, promising to look out +for a place for the former, he stopped on his way home at a market and +paid for an ample supply of necessaries to be sent them on the morrow. +More than that, he went to Page and, telling the tale, insisted that he +give the girl a chance to earn a livelihood. + +And to no one, not even his aunt, did he tell what he had done. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +GOING, GOING, GONE! + + +Winn Hardy, agentle child when the hand of want was stretched out to +him, but a lion in wrath at all iniquity and injustice, was not long in +carrying out his thought to write the history of the Rockhaven Granite +Company, and for the sole purpose of a warning. + +To do so, came as an excuse to protect the pride of the poor girl who +had been his co-worker; and when it was done, the editor to whom he took +it gladly used it and, more than that, praised its writer editorially. + +Winn, as was his nature, wrote with candor, sparing not even himself or +the way he was duped, and it is needless to say that his article was +widely read. Winn looked for no compensation, but the editor, keen to +discover talent, at once offered him a position as city news reporter on +the paper. And so his reward came. It was not over ample, so far as +salary goes, but it was at least an occupation--what he just now +needed. + +One morning, when passing the closed office of Weston & Hill, he saw on +the door a notice that, at two o'clock that afternoon, all the office +fixtures and other assets of this bankrupt firm would be sold at public +auction. + +As Winn stood there that wintry morning, with the hurrying stream of +people jostling him as they passed, while he read this business epitaph +posted upon the massive doors, what a grim travesty it seemed! + +He looked at the two nickel plates flanking them, once kept bright, but +now tarnished, upon which the firm's name in bold black letters still +stared at him, at the drawn curtains where "Investment Securities" in +gold still uttered their lie; and gazing at these outward signs of +deception and fraud, all the varying changes in his own hopes, plans, +and opinions for a six months passed in review. + +And in fancy he leaped back to Rockhaven. + +He peeped into the store where quaint Jess Hutton fiddled in lieu of +company; he was one of the little gathering each Sunday at church there; +he saw the quarry with the men at work, the tiny dooryard with Mona +watering her flowers, the grand old gorge where the sea waves leaped in, +and the cave once carpeted with ferns in his honor, and (most touching +of all) the moment he had parted from a timid girl, while the moon, +rising out of a boundless ocean, smiled at them. + +Now, it was a memory of the past, and he, sore at heart, with only a few +hundred dollars in the bank, was hunting for news items at so much a +line, and the "so much" a mere pittance. + +Truly, the whirligig of time had made a toy of him! + +For full five minutes he stood, with sinking spirits, and then passed +on. + +"I'll be at this auction," he thought, "and maybe bid in my old office +chair for a keepsake. Besides, it will make an item." + +He was there on time and found that a considerable crowd had gathered. + +Most of them were brokers or their clerks who had been in business touch +with this defunct firm, and now came to witness its obsequies. Nearly +all had been losers in Rockhaven but, as stock gamblers are wont to do, +took it good-naturedly and joked one another about being "easy marks" +and "good things," and looked at this auction as an excellent object +lesson. + +The auctioneer, quick to catch the spirit of his audience, saw his +opening, and with ready wit made the most of it. The office +fittings--chairs, desks, tables, etc.--were put up first, and Winn +bought his old chair for fifty cents. Then came the pictures; and a +framed photograph of Weston, holding the reins over a fine pair of +horses, brought a quarter; another of Simmons's steam yacht, a dollar; +and then a crayon portrait of Weston, in massive gilt frame, was handed +to the auctioneer. + +"Here we have," he said, "a costly painting of J. Malcolm Weston +himself, and how much am I offered? It is, as you observe, an excellent +picture of this Napoleon of finance, and certainly cost a hundred +dollars. How much for it?" + +An offer of thirty cents was heard. + +"Thirty cents, did I hear?" he continued, in a disgusted tone, "thirty +cents for this magnificent portrait! You can't mean it! Thirty cents for +a picture of one who cost some of you many thousands! Thirty cents! Ye +gods, how have the mighty fallen! Look at his winning smile, his +Websterian brow, his eagle eye that saw Rockhaven afar! And his +whiskers! And I am offered but thirty cents! Why, gentlemen, the frame +cost as many dollars, and think what an awful warning this picture will +be to most of you. Think of the beautiful tales he told, the great +industry he started, the money he spent--your money, gentlemen, and I am +offered but thirty cents! Why, it's worth a thousand dollars as an +object lesson in finance. Come, don't let this master of the stock +exchange be sold for thirty cents! It's a shame! Thirty cents, thirty +cents once, thirty cents twice, thirty cents three times, and sold for +thirty cents!" And the broker who bought it didn't want it at that. + +The safe, with all the books it contained, was sold next, and then the +auctioneer, holding aloft an open deed with its red seal attached +said:-- + +"I now offer for sale the only real, tangible asset the great Rockhaven +Granite Company ever had, a deed of its quarry on Rockhaven Island. This +property originally cost two thousand dollars, and was the sole basis of +this gigantic scheme capitalized at one million! How much am I offered?" + +A wag bid ten cents, another a dollar. Then came a bid of fifty. And +then Winn, who up to this time had been a silent spectator of the +comedy, felt a sudden intuition that here and now was his chance. He +thought of the island, still dear to his memory, of the men to whom his +coming had been a godsend, of Jess Hutton who, at parting, had offered +hand and heart, and of Mona and the little knot of flowers he had once +kept fresh in a tiny spring that bubbled out of this same quarry. + +And thinking thus, he bid one hundred dollars. + +But the auctioneer knew not of the fine sentiment prompting the offer, +and continued his burlesque:-- + +"One hundred dollars," he said, "one hundred offered for this property, +cheap at two thousand! What are you thinking of?" + +Then, after a pause, while he waited another bid, he continued: "One +hundred I'm offered for this splendid piece of real estate, with all its +improvements; for this matchless quarry of pink granite, once called +worth a million! Why, gentlemen, have you gone daft? Don't you know a +good thing when you see it? It wasn't so long ago when I heard some of +you eagerly bidding thirty and forty dollars for a single share in this +immense property, and now you won't raise a bid of one hundred dollars +for its total valuation! Is this business? Is this finance? Come, +gentlemen, wake up and buy this rich ledge of valuable granite, going +for a song! Think of what it has seemed to you; what might again be made +out of it! Think of the thousands of dupes still anxious to buy fairy +tales and pay money for them! Think of the money you have lost in this +one! + +"And I am offered one hundred dollars for it! One hundred once, one +hundred twice, one hundred three times, and--sold!" + +And that auctioneer, really disgusted this time, stepped down and handed +the deed to Winn. + +Winn wrote a check for that amount, and utterly unconscious of how +valuable a purchase he had made, put the deed in his pocket, and left +the crowd. + +In a way, the whole affair had seemed much like a burlesque on a +funeral, and he a mourner. When the rest had laughed at the auctioneer's +sallies, no smile came to him, and he bid feeling that he was likely to +obtain a white elephant. + +That night, in the solitude of his room, he came near writing a farewell +letter to Mona and enclosing this deed as a keepsake. Only pride +restrained him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +A SOCIAL CYNIC + + +One evening, a few weeks after the auction, Winn, in his new occupation, +was detailed to report one of those affairs in high life where wealth +gathered to display its gowns, and fops, in evening dress, uttered +flattering nothings to beauty in undress. A crush of fashionable people +who ate, drank, danced, simpered, and smirked until the wee small hours +and then went home to curry one another's reputation and conduct. + +Winn, not in the swim, was made duly welcome by virtue of his errand +there, and, furnished with a list of the ladies' names and costumes by +the hostess (not forgetting her own), was about to depart when he was +accosted by Ethel Sherman. + +He had noticed her first, surrounded by gentlemen, and feeling he might +be one too many, kept away. + +"Why, Winn," she said, coming to his side and smiling graciously as she +extended her hand, "I am glad to see you. How do you happen to be +here?" + +"Business," he answered laconically; "I am a reporter now." + +"Yes, I heard so from your aunt. You have not favored me with a call now +for weeks," she said, "and you are a naughty boy to neglect me." + +"You are looking charming, as usual," he answered, glancing at her +exquisite costume, very decollete, and feeling that it was what he must +say. + +"Of course," she replied, "every man feels that he must say that, but +you needn't. Compliments are like perfume, to be inhaled, not swallowed; +so let the rest utter them, and you can spare me. I'd rather know how +you are getting on." + +"Fairly well," he answered coolly, for he had really kept away from her +for weeks from a lurking sense of danger to his own feelings. "It is an +occupation that keeps me busy and makes a living, that is all. It may +lead to something better." + +"I read your splendid _expose_ of Weston & Hill," she continued, still +smiling admiration, "and it did my heart good. I wish Weston could see +it. And that poor widow whose plight you described--it was pitiful." + +"Only a sample case of the evil wrought by such as Weston," Winn +answered modestly. "I wish I knew where he is; I'd mail him a marked +copy of the paper." + +Then, as some one came up to claim her for a dance, she said hurriedly, +"I must leave you now, but please promise to call to-morrow evening, +I've lots I want to ask you." + +And Winn, yielding to the magic of her luring eyes, promised and went +his way. + +It was after midnight before he finished his column account of this +affair, and turning it over to the night editor, left the newspaper +office. + +The streets were deserted, only now and then some late worker like +himself hurrying homeward; and as he pushed on, his footsteps echoed +between the brick walls of the narrow street he was following. Somehow +their clatter carried his thoughts back to Rockhaven and one night when +they had sounded so loud on the plank walk there. When his room was +reached he lighted a cigar, and as once before, when he had gone to the +tower on Norse Hill to commune with himself, he fell into a revery. + +Now, as then, it was to balance in his mind one woman's face and one +woman's influence against another's. + +He saw Mona as she was then, as she had been to him for months, a +sweet, simple, untutored girl, with the eyes of a Madonna and the soul +of a saint. He saw her in the cave, once fern-carpeted by her tender +thought, and once again heard the notes from her violin quivering in +that rock-walled gorge. + +And now it was all ended! + +Then came this other woman's face and form,--a brilliant, +self-contained, self-poised, cultured exotic, knowing men's weaknesses +and keen to reach and sway them. A social sun, where the other was but a +pale and tender moon. + +But Winn's heart was still true to Rockhaven, and the ecstatic moment, +when he had held Mona close in his arms, still seemed a sacred bond. + +"I'll never believe it is to end thus," he thought, "until I go there +and hear it from her lips." + +But he kept his promise and called on Ethel the next evening. + +She had been charming always; now she was fascinating, for somehow it +had come to this conquest-loving woman, that Winn's heart was elsewhere, +and that was a spur. + +Then beyond was a better thought, for the very indifference that piqued +her also awoke respect, and he seemed to her, as she had told him, an +eagle among jackdaws. + +"I am glad you have found an occupation," she said, as he once more sat +in her parlor, "but I wish it were less menial. You have outgrown +servitude since you went to the island. What has wrought the change? Was +it the sea winds?" + +"Maybe," answered Winn, "or constantly looking out upon a boundless +ocean. That always dwarfs humanity to me. But I have some business to +take up my mind. I was sadly discontented until this opening came." + +"I wish you had kept that money in your own hands," she said +confidentially, "and used it to buy an interest in a paper. When I read +your description of the reception this morning, it seemed to me that was +your forte." + +"Thanks for your compliment," he answered, "and I only wish you edited +the paper now. But if you did, my pencil-pushing wouldn't strike you +that way." + +"But it really did," she continued, "and the best of it was what you +didn't say, knowing, as I do, how you regard such affairs. Hiding your +own opinion so well was fine art." + +"I wasn't expected to express my views," he asserted, "but to flatter +you all judiciously; that's what makes a paper popular." + +"And do you think I wanted to be flattered?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he replied, "you are a woman." + +Ethel laughed. + +"Personally, you are wrong; in general, right. I receive so much of it, +it wearies me, knowing as I do how insincere it all is, but most of my +sex, I'll admit, feel otherwise. But tell me why you haven't called for +three weeks?" + +It was a question he could not answer truthfully, and like all the +polite world he evaded it. + +"My work is my excuse," he said; "and then I've not been in a mood for +sociability." + +Ethel looked at him long and earnestly, reading him, as she read most +men, like an open book. + +"Winn, my dear old friend," she said at last, in the open-your-heart +tone so natural to her, "I made you a promise long ago and I shall keep +it, so forgive my question. But you needn't fear me. I want to be your +friend and feel you are mine, in spite of the old score and this new +influence. And when you are ready to trust me, no one in the world shall +be more worthy of it." + +Then they drifted to commonplaces: she, as all women will, relating the +gossip of her set and chatting of the latest opera, what was on at the +theatres and the like. Now and then she let fall a word of quiet +flattery, or what was more potent, one by inference; for Ethel Sherman +was past-mistress in that art. And all the while she looked at Winn, +smiling deference to his opinions and pointing hers about others with a +keen wit so natural to her. + +She played and sang, selecting as once before (and unfortunately, +perhaps) the songs that carried his thoughts to Rockhaven. + +So charming was she in all this, when she chose, that the evening sped +by while Winn was unconscious of its lapse. + +"I wish you would be more neighborly," she said, when he rose to go; +"there are so few men in my set whom I can speak to as freely as you, +and besides I want to watch your progress toward an editorial chair. +Forget your old grudge, and let us be good friends once more." + +And when he was gone, and she ready to retire, she looked long and +earnestly at a photograph of him she had scarce glanced at thrice in +three years. "I wish he were rich," she sighed; "what a delightful lover +he would make!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE END OF AN IDYL + + +Rockhaven, a colony by itself, had slowly increased from its one family +starting-point until more than two hundred called it home. In doing this +it had, to a certain extent, sustained the individuality of its +progenitor, Captain Carver; a strictly honest, God-fearing descendant of +the Puritans; Baptist in denomination, who regarded work and economy as +religious precepts, home building as a law of God, and strict morality +and total immersion the only avenues to salvation. Long before the +little church was built he gathered the few families about him each +Sunday, while he read selections and then led them in prayer. It was his +indomitable religious will, as well as money, that erected the small +church, and for years he led services there, praying that the time might +come, and population as well, sufficient to induce a regularly ordained +minister to officiate instead. It did, for he lived to a ripe old age +and the satisfaction of his hopes, and to be buried on the sloping +hillside back of it. Also to the glory of having "Founder of Rockhaven" +inscribed on his tombstone. + +He was of Scotch descent, which accounted for a certain latent taste in +his great-granddaughter, Mona Hutton. Though stern as the granite cliffs +of the island in his religious connections, regarding works without +faith and morality, without conviction as of little value, the shadow of +his mantle in time gave way to a more charitable Christianity. And +though the offshoot of his church, the Free Will Baptist of Northaven, +was never recognized by the elect of Rockhaven, intermarriages and a +mutuality of interests reduced its separation in creed to one in name +only. + +Then, too, the isolation of the island resulted in the growth of the +feudal instinct and a tacit leadership, vested in one man whose opinion +and advice was by common consent accepted as law and gospel, and to whom +all disputes were left for final settlement. + +Captain Carver had been this authority at the start, others had +succeeded him, and when Winn Hardy came to the island Jess Hutton held +the sceptre. All this is but history, pertinent merely to show how it +came about that Winn won his way so easily, and those otherwise +hard-headed islanders followed Jess Hutton's lead without question. Winn +won him at the start, and the rest without effort. + +But a community, like a family, is upset by an unusual event, and the +starting of the quarry, the investment in its stock, and the final +return of Jess from the city, to distribute among them sums so out of +proportion to their original investments, were like so many stones +thrown into a placid mill pond. And had Winn Hardy returned with Jess, +or come later, his reception would have been like that of a conquering +hero. + +All this formed the sole topic of conversation for weeks, and hearing +Winn lauded to the skies as a benefactor, before whom all should bow, +had a peculiar effect on Mona. She, poor child, having little in common +with any other and feeling herself of small account to them or even to +her mother, felt herself still less so as this wave of universal +applause for Winn swept over the village. Then another point of pride +arose in her mind. While Winn had sought her society often, it was as a +next-door neighbor and by force of situation, rather than as a suitor, +she felt; and even his visits to the cave with her were due to a +romantic taste and his wish to hear her play. All this was, in a way, +both right and wrong, and yet to Mona, keenly imaginative, it seemed +entirely true. Then, too, her mother had made her feel that her violin +playing was no credit; no one else, except Jess, ever expressed a word +of interest in her one talent, and poor Mona readily felt it more a +discredit than otherwise. Winn only had seemed to appreciate it, and to +Winn her heart had opened like the petals of a wild rose. + +For a few days after his departure, she lived in a seventh heaven of +sweet illusions with this one king among men as her ideal--his every +word and smile and thought, all that life held for her. And then came +his letter which, to her tender heart and timid nature, seemed but a +cold farewell message. He had no plans, was uncertain of his future, and +of hers had no concern. This much she read between the lines, and +reading thus, her heart was broken, her courage crushed. How many tears +she shed no one knew; how many hours she passed alone in utter misery of +mind, no one guessed. For Mona was proud as well as tender, and not even +Uncle Jess should know that she suffered. + +Now the waning summer, the nearing of chill autumn, and desolate +ice-bound winter added to her gloom. Her mother was not a sympathetic +companion, mates among the other island girls of her own age she had +none; only Uncle Jess, her violin, the cave, the flowers, and the sea. +In summer she had company, in winter none, except Jess. + +And now summer was gone and winter nearing, and poor, timid, tender, +friendless Mona was broken-hearted. + +For only a few days more did she go to the cave, and these visits +increased her grieving; it was like visiting the grave of a dead love. +When the November gales swept the island, Mona was made a prisoner, the +store and Jess her only escape. Here she kept her violin, and here she +came to brood over her sorrow and fight her own heartache. And here, be +it said, in the company of Jess only did she find any consolation. He +had such genial philosophy, such a happy faculty for looking upon the +bright side of all troubles,--his own as well as others,--that it made +him a well spring of good cheer. + +He was not long in guessing the cause of Mona's despondency, though with +his cheerful optimism, feeling sure that in good time all would come out +right. He also discovered the new ambition that had come to her that +summer, as well as love, and in his own peculiar way set out to solve +the problem. + +And here it must be stated that a girl in love and separated from her +heart's choice, having an ambition to go out into the world and earn +fame as a musical artist, was a more complex problem than Jess had +previously attempted. Then another factor entered into Mona's troubles; +for young David Moore, who for years had cherished an open and loudly +voiced admiration for her and between voyages always sought to woo her, +now came home and, finding the coast clear, renewed his attentions. + +He was outspoken and assertive, full of enthusiasm and conceit. He +lacked refinement, but he was frugal and owned a third interest in his +uncle's fishing schooner and was very much in love with Mona. Worse than +that, her mother secretly favored his suit. + +It may seem strange that the same practical sense of utility that +governed her girlhood's impulses and led her to accept a ready-at-hand +love, instead of waiting for an absent one, now shaped her desires +toward her daughter. Romance had no place in Mrs. Hutton's nature, +neither had love of music. In her calendar, also, one man was as good as +another if he behaved himself as well, and a present lover for Mona, if +he meant business and could provide a home, was far better than an +absent one, even if the entire island cried his praises. + +So she favored young Moore and, in the many ways a mother can, gave him +opportunities. + +But to Mona, sensitive, half heart-broken, and unable to escape this new +infliction, it was inexpressible misery. + +So the days and weeks went by, and the snow came to whiten Rockhaven +ledges, the billows thundered unceasingly against them, and the little +harbor became frozen over. + +And sometimes, in the hours of bitterest desolation, Mona thought of the +old tide mill and the girl who had once gone there to end her heart +hunger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +A GRAY-HAIRED ROMANCE + + +There had been a time in the long ago of Rockhaven's history when Jess, +then a bashful young man, had loved pretty Letty Carver, now the Widow +Hutton. It had started in her school days, when they romped barefoot +along the sandy shore of the harbor, played about the old tide mill, +whose wheels then rumbled with each ebb and flow, or gathered shells on +the bits of beach between the island cliffs. When the epoch of spelling +school and walk home from Thursday evening prayer meetings came, it was +Letty whom Jess always singled out, and though she now wore shoes, he +was not always so fortunate. But the little bond of feeling was none the +less entrancing; and when later Jess sailed away to the Banks on his +first fishing trip, he carried a lock of Letty's jet-black hair as a +token, and her sweet face was ever present in his thoughts. When he +returned, browned but successful, her welcome seemed to grow in warmth; +and after two or three voyages, and he could now afford a Sunday suit +when he visited her, gossip whispered they were likely to make a match. +By this time he had begun to build the usual air-castles of youth, and +though his took the shape of a humble dwelling, nestling amid the +abutting cliffs in front of which Rockhaven stood, it was none the less +a palace to him, with Letty to be its future queen. + +And then the war came on and Jess, partly from patriotism, a little from +love of adventure, and more to earn the liberal bounty his country +offered, enlisted in the navy. Had he been a trifle less bashful and +secured the promise which Letty was then willing to give, this history +might never have been written; but Jess, a splendid young fellow, in +spite of his surroundings, lacked assurance, and all the bond that +joined them, when he sailed away, was the hope on his part of what might +be if he ever came back. + +He did in four years, covered with glory, but with a leg maimed by a bit +of shell when under Farragut, and before Vicksburg he forgot even Letty +amid the inferno of war. + +In the meantime, his younger brother, Jethro, had discovered Letty, and +she, practical as always, was not long in deciding that a suitor with +good legs and a cottage already achieved was preferable to a hero with a +lame leg and no cottage. + +Jess bore his discomfiture philosophically, as was his nature, not even +reproaching Letty by word or look; and though disposed to see a silver +lining back of all clouds, this one he thought best to avoid, and so +took himself away. He remained away, a rolling stone for fifteen years, +and though he gathered some moss, it failed to efface--Letty. + +And then a change came; for one day the smart new fishing schooner his +brother had just built with his aid sailed away on her second voyage and +never came back, and practical Letty was left a widow with one child, a +modest home on Rockhaven, and naught else. As might be expected, she +sent at once for Jess, and to him only imparted the facts of the +situation. + +Whether it was the smouldering embers of his boyhood illusion or the +winsome ways of the child Mona, now four years old, that influenced him, +no one ever knew, but he at once announced that he had decided to abide +in Rockhaven for the future and open a store. There was one already +there, but the slow growth of the village allowed a fair excuse for +another, and Jess established it. Once more the gossips, who take +cognizance of all matters, recalled the youthful attentions of Jess to +Letty, and asserted that she would, in suitable time, discard her +widow's weeds and become another Mrs. Hutton. She did put on more +cheerful habiliments in due time, but remained a widow still; and though +Jess was a frequent caller, usually walking to church with her and Mona +on Sundays, he continued, as he had started, to live by himself over his +store. + +Neither were the gossips enlightened as to the financial standing of the +widow, or how much had been laid away by her husband, or her means of a +livelihood. + +Jess knew, however, and Jess only; but he was the last person to impart +such data to a curious public. What they did see was that he at once +assumed a fatherly protectorship over his little niece, and she became +his sole charge and care in life. Though she ate and slept at home, +tripped alone to school, and to church each Sunday hand in hand with +Uncle Jess, his store was her playhouse and his love her happiness until +girlhood was reached. Often on summer days he left the store, utterly +disregarding trade, and with her took long rambles over the island, +hunting gulls' eggs and gathering shells, flowers, or berries. He built +her a boat and taught her to row it in the little harbor, talked to her +for hours of the great world and its people, of the planets and their +motions, of right and wrong, of religion and God. He aided her in her +lessons, teaching her more and faster than she learned at school; and +when her fingers could reach across the strings of his old brown violin, +he taught her the lore of its wondrous voice. + +And so the happy years of her girlhood passed, until now, a woman grown, +she had learned the lesson of loving, and had come to him with her +unspoken plea for help. Never had she appealed to him in vain, and never +would, so long as his keen mind was active and heart normal. For weeks +he pondered over this most difficult of all problems, and then he acted. + +"I've got a leetle matter to talk over with yer mother to-night, Mona," +he said, "an' if ye don't mind ye might go an' make a call on one of the +neighbors. It's a sorter peculiar business 'n' it's better we're 'lone +till it's settled." + +And it was "peculiar," and so much so that Jess talked for one hour with +Mrs. Hutton in an absent-minded way, while he studied the cheerful open +fire, cogitating, meanwhile, how best to utter what he had to say, while +she sat sewing diligently, on the opposite side of the sitting-room +table. + +"Letty," he said at last, "hev ye noticed Mona hain't been overcheerful +the last three months, an' seems to be sorter broodin' over suthin'?" + +"I have, Jess," replied Mrs. Hutton, looking up; "and it's all due to +notions that Mr. Hardy's put into her head 'bout her playin' an' +praisin' her so much. I've knowed all 'long her wastin' time fiddlin' +wouldn't serve no good purpose in the long run." + +It wasn't an auspicious opening to the subject uppermost in the mind of +Jess, but he paid no heed to it. "Letty," he continued calmly, "fiddlin' +hain't nothin' to do with the state o' Mona's mind, 'n' if ye'd watched +her as clus as I hev, ye'd know it. Do ye 'member when ye was a gal how +Hitty Baker, ez used ter live up to the north village, got crossed in +love 'n' kept broodin' on't until one day she was missin', an' 'bout a +week arter they found her hangin' in the old mill? Thar's no tellin' +what a gal'll do an' when she'll do it, if she gits to broodin' over +sich matters." + +"I hope you don't think Mona, brought up as she has been, will be such a +fool as Hitty Baker was," rejoined Mrs. Hutton, sharply. "Mona's got +more sense." + +"'Tain't a matter o' sense," Jess retorted quickly, "it's a matter o' +nater 'n' 'magination, 'n' the more o' them peculiarities a gal's got, +the more onsartin she is apt to be, 'n' ez I said, Mona ain't herself +these days, 'n' unless suthin's done to change the current o' her mind, +fust thing you'll find, some day, she's a missin'." + +"That's all your notion, Jess," answered Mrs. Hutton, now more aroused +than she was willing to admit; "an' if Mona'd listen to Dave Moore, as I +want her to, he'd soon cure such whims." + +"Did yer mother ever make ye take catnip tea when ye was a gal, Letty," +responded Jess, laconically, "an' how did ye injie the dose?" Then, not +waiting for an answer, he continued, "Dave's catnip tea to Mona, 'n' I +tell ye it's better ye quit dosin' her with Dave, 'n' purty soon, too. +She's nobody to go to but me, an' I know how she feels, 'n' I don't +think ye do." + +"Have you any better medicine to advise?" came the query, as Mrs. Hutton +laid aside her sewing and looked at Jess. + +"I hev," replied Jess, firmly, "only it'll take both on us to give it, +'n' that's what I come here for, Letty. Ye know how I feel 'bout Mona, +an' one o' these days she'll come into all I've laid by. But that's no +savin' grace jist now." + +"An' what'll savin' grace jist now be, I'd like to know," queried the +mother. "Ain't helping me and having company when she likes, all that's +needful to take up her mind? She's whimsical, an' that young feller +Hardy's put notions into her head she'd be better off without." + +Jess was making scant progress toward his ultimate object, and realized +it--also that sentiment was a matter quite beyond Mrs. Hutton's ken. +"Letty," he said at last, almost in desperation, "I've stood by ye 'n' +Mona purty middlin' well fer quite a spell now, hain't I? an' ye'll 'low +I kin see a hole in a grinstun if thar is one, 'n' what I've sot my mind +on doin' for Mona'll be the best fer her in the long run, an' that is, +we take her away from here 'n' give her a chance in the world." + +Mrs. Hutton looked at him in amazement, realizing not at all what he had +in mind. + +"How can we do that?" she questioned. + +"Thar's only one way," he answered hastily, with a now-or-never +determination; "I know I'm gittin' 'long in years 'n' one o' my legs +ain't workin' well, an' the only thing ye kin bank on, Letty, is my +heart's in the right place 'n' my feelin's toward ye hain't changed a +mite in forty year, an'--an' if ye're willin' to chance it, Letty, I'll +do all I kin to make ye happy." + +A woman is seldom surprised by a proposal, but Mrs. Hutton was. For +fifteen years now, since she had been a widow, Jess had seemed like a +good brother, which in truth he had been in all ways, and never once +had she surmised he cared for a nearer kinship. Then, as she looked at +him, his kindly face aglow with earnest feeling, his keen eyes beneath +their shaggy eyebrows questioning her, for one instant her heart +quivered. Then backward over the flight of time her memory leaped, until +she saw herself a laughing, care-free girl once more, with life opening +before her, and this same good friend and brother, grateful for her +every word and smile of favor. Then, too, came a little nagging of +conscience at the way she had ignored him on his return, a limping hero, +and how he had never once reproached her for it. And following that, the +heaping of coals upon her head when he, coming to her rescue in the hour +of poverty and bereavement, had been the only friend she had to lean +upon. All the years of his tender thought and care, all his wise +counsel, all his unselfish giving, all his countless deeds of love and +forethought came back now in an instant, like a mighty wave of feeling, +sweeping all her pride and will before it. And as she bowed her face, +covering her eyes with one hand to hide the tears she could not control, +once more he spoke. + +"Letty," he said, "ye needn't mind answerin' jist now. Think on't, an' +to-morrow or next day tell me. Thar ain't no need o' hurry. I've waited +quite a spell now, an' a day or two more won't matter." + +"It's absurd," she said at last, when the tide of feeling ebbed, "and +everybody will say so." + +"'Tain't their funeral or weddin' either, is it?" he answered. "An' mark +my words, Letty, thar's more on 'em here ez'll wish us well than ye +think." + +But when he came to go she said, "Why didn't you ask me forty years ago, +Jess?" + +"'Cause I was a durned fool 'n' dassent," he answered, "but I've +outgrowed it now." + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +A GOOD SEND-OFF + + +Out of the many weddings inevitably occurring on Rockhaven but few ever +attained to the importance of a trip to the mainland. The sense of +utility among them, the need of every dollar toward home furnishing, and +the practical side of life always uppermost in the minds of all left no +place for sentiment and honeymoon. + +But when it became known, as it soon did, that the youthful romance of +Jess Hutton and Letty Carver had finally culminated, and that the +universal opinion and expectation of what they would do when Jess +returned to the island was about to be realized a wave of enthusiasm and +friendly interest swept over Rockhaven. + +And, furthermore, when it was learned that Jess was to sell his store to +Captain Doty, and that he and his bride and Mona were to spend a few +months in the city, the excitement knew no bounds, and when Sunday came +and the three, now conspicuous ones, walked to church as usual, it was +to receive an ovation of good wishes and congratulations, and so +persistent were all in good will that, when church was out, the entire +congregation crowded around them. + +To Mona it came as the surprise of her life, and went far to change the +current of her thoughts and make her forget her own troubles. + +"I can call you papa now, can't I, Uncle Jess?" she had said, when he +had told her; and hugging him like a child she had thus made his heart +glad. It all seemed as a matter of course to young and old alike, and as +the days went by it began to dawn on Jess that he had not only been a +"durned fool" forty years ago, but continued to be one for the past +fifteen. + +It had been decided by them to have a quiet wedding at home, and the day +set barely long enough ahead to give Mrs. Doty, the dressmaker, time to +do her part; but Rockhaven, hearing of it, objected, and the next Sunday +evening a committee, headed by Captain Roby, invaded the privacy of Mrs. +Hutton's home. + +"We hev cum," said the jolly master of the island steamer, addressing +Jess in particular, and Mrs. Hutton and Mona in general, "to convey the +good wishes o' everybody here to you folks an' ask ye to hev yer +weddin' in church so ter give us all a chance to show our good will and +how much we think o' ye by bein' present. It air the univarsal feelin' +here," he continued, waving his arm, as if to include the entire island, +"that ye both desarve it, an' we ain't goin' to 'low ye two ter jist git +hitched an' sneak off quietly. My boat's at yer sarvice, an' we feel the +best's none too good fer ye both, and we hev come to ask ye to let us +all jine in and gin ye the right sort o' a send-off. I might as well +tell ye now, Jess," he added, looking at that worthy, "jist how ye stand +'mong us and how 'tarnally grateful we all feel fer all yer good deeds +toward young and old. We hain't forgot nothin' from the day ye first +come back to be one on us, up till last summer when ye saved us our +money on that stock bizness. We don't blame the young feller neither, +and if ever he cums back, we'll all jine in givin' him a welcome as +well. But now we absolutely insist we be 'lowed to start ye fair, and in +style, in the new step ye two air takin'." + +And "start them fair" they did; for although the snow lay thick on the +granite ledges of Rockhaven, when the day came, and cheerless winter +reigned, there was no lack of cheer in all that was said and done. +First, a hundred pairs of willing hands transformed the church into a +bower of green, and since flowers were not to be had, wreaths of spruce +twigs, tied with white ribbon and ropes of ground pine, were used. Then +an arch of green, wound with strips of white silk, was erected over the +gate, and the walk up to the church was carpeted with spruce boughs. The +only pleasure vehicle on the island, an ancient carryall, also decked +with green and white, was pressed with service to convey the honored +couple and Mona to church, now heated to suffocation and packed solid +with the island population, while some unable to get in waited outside. +Then, while the Rev. Jason Bush was uniting the happy pair, a dozen +young men, unable to curb their enthusiasm, unhitched the horse from the +carryall, and when they came out drew them back to the house. And then, +after the two hours of reception and hand-shaking had expired, full +fifty men were in line to draw that unique chariot to the boat. + +"It is a wonder ye didn't set out to take us on yer backs," asserted +Jess to the crowd on the wharf, when he alighted; "but all this fuss has +warmed our feelings toward ye all more'n words'll tell." + +And when three times three cheers had echoed back from the now deserted +quarry, the little steamer sailed away into the mist-hidden winter sea +and the crowd dispersed; for weeks after the sole topic around Rockhaven +firesides was what object took Jess Hutton and his bride and Mona away +from the island and how long they would stay away. + +Jess had said, "We want ter give Mona a little change o' scene 'n' +chance to see the world, 'n' jist when we'll cum back is no tellin'. Cum +back we shall some day, 'n' most likely glad ter git back tew." And then +when the affairs of the Hutton family no longer furnished food for +gossip, the island settled down once more into its monotonous winter +existence. Twice a week only now the _Rockhaven_ made her trip to the +mainland; but few people gathered for the Thursday evening prayer +meeting, for extra religion was at a discount during cold weather, and +only the most hardy of the fishermen ventured out. The tower on Norse +Hill, now coated with frozen sleet, looked like a gigantic monument; the +tides ebbed in and out the half-iced over harbor; the waves beat with +sullen roar into the gorge that no one visited, and life among the +shut-in islanders partook of the solemnity of the ocean's voice. + +The crowd that had made Jess Hutton's store their club-room still +gathered there to swap yarns and discuss fish and fishing; also whether +his all-winter's absence was likely to result in the opening of the +quarry or not. Then, too, in this news bureau, Winn Hardy and Mona came +in for a share of gossip, and many a surmise as to their future was +exchanged. For they had been noticed many times together, and Mona's +visit to the city might mean much. No one had any data as to Jess +Hutton's future intentions or whether Hardy was likely to return; and +yet, so well did he stand with them, and so hopeful were they that he +would once more open the quarry when spring came, that they readily +believed it would come about. + +Of the Rockhaven Granite Company collapse they knew not, for daily +papers never reached the island, and Jess for reasons of his own kept +silent. + +The only unhappy one, however, was David Moore; and he recited his woes +in characteristic fashion to all who would listen. He had little idea of +the proprieties, and as he had almost shouted his love from the +house-tops, so now he declared his disappointment as loudly. + +"It's my private 'pinion," he asserted, "they lugged Mona off just to +spite me and get her out o' my sight. I think it's a darn mean trick, +and I don't care who knows it! I kin see through the game, and they +calculated takin' her to the city 'nd give that feller Hardy a chance to +spark her," and he chewed his quid with an increased vigor, suggestive +of how he would like to serve his rival. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +EIN WUNDERBARES FRAULEIN + + +Fritz Geisling, who for many years had lived in two rooms, second floor, +No. 10 Amity Place, was short, fat, and bald. Each morning he arose at +seven, went out to an adjoining cafe where German cookery was served +"twenty-one meals for three dollars," as stated on its bill of fare, and +returned to his domicile, glancing at the small sign, "Violin Lessons," +placed above the upper bell, and mounting the two flights of stairs, +awaited in his office, sitting room and parlor combined, the few pupils +who came his way. At noon he absorbed another of the "twenty-one for +three dollar" productions of culinary art, washed down with a stein of +foaming beer, and then, if it were matinee day at the Alhambra Temple of +Vaudeville, betook himself thither, where he played second violin. Each +evening, from the opening in September until closing time in June, he +was at his post, sawing away like the machine he was and as devoid of +sentiment. When he escaped the Alhambra, it was to join his cronies in a +convenient saloon where pinocle, beer, and choice Teutonic gossip +relieved the monotony of his existence. Year in and year out he was the +same phlegmatic, good-natured Dutchman, and lived the same unvarying and +emotionless existence. Of the great Rockhaven stock scheme he had never +heard, and would not have understood it if he had. Of "the street" and +its multiplicity of deals where "to do" the other fellow and not let him +"do" you was the golden rule, he was equally innocent--a drop in the +throbbing artery of human existence. + +And then, one winter morning, Fritz returned to his lair to find +awaiting him a strangely clad man and a young half-scared girl. + +"I'm told ye gin lessons on the fiddle," said the man, "an' if ye do, +I've come to engage ye fer this ere gal." + +Fritz bowed low, conscious that a pair of magnificent eyes were watching +him. + +"It vash mine broveshion," he answered, "und von tollar each ish de +brice. Ish de lady to be de pupils?" + +"She's the one," came the answer; "an' I want ye to teach her all the +frills, 'n' yer money's ready an' waitin' any time." + +"Ish she von peginner?" came from Fritz. + +"Wal, sorter, 'n' sorter not," replied the man; "my name's Hutton, an' +this ere's my niece, Miss Hutton, an' I've larnt her to saw just a +leetle to start her off, ez it war. If ye'd like, she'll show ye what +she kin do with a bow. Play suthin' slow, Mona, fust," he added as a +violin was handed her, "till ye kinder ketch yerself, an' then suthin' +lively." + +Mona somewhat nervously complied, and gaining courage as she forgot +where she was, skipped over a half-dozen of the familiar Scotch airs she +could play best, while the eyes of Fritz twinkled. + +"She vash no peginner," he said elated; "she vash blain' alretty yet +very mooch." And seizing a music-rack and spreading a late composition +upon it, he added, "Ef de lady vill blease blay dot, ve'll see vot she +can do." + +"Ye've got'r now, perfessor," interposed Jess, "she can't read that +music." + +But a surprise was awaiting him, for though half-scared Mona hesitated +and made a few slips, she played the piece through to the end without a +halt. + +"Why, girlie," exclaimed Jess, "I'm proud o' ye. I didn't think ye cud +do so well. Now, perfessor, ye kin take her in hand; 'n' mind ye don't +let up on her till she's larned the hull biznes, fer fiddlin's goin' to +be her futur' perfession." + +That night, when Fritz had once more escaped the crowded theatre and was +quaffing his foaming stein, could any native American translate the +rapid fire jargon with which he related his morning experience, he would +have heard a marvellous tale. + +"Mein Gott in Himmel!" Fritz exclaimed, after the fourth glass had been +emptied, "but she blayed mit such feelin's und such eyes dot mit me made +such strangeness feels. Ach, but she vas a vonder!" + +And as time passed on, each of the two days a week when Mona came to +take her lesson only served to increase that "vonder," for now that her +timidity had worn away, the genius that lurked in her fingers asserted +itself. In technical art she was as yet a pupil, but in the far more +impressive art of inspiration and expression, so natural to her, she had +naught to learn. + +"She blays mit her heart und all ofer, und vorgets all I tells her of +bosition und oxecution," explained Fritz to his cronies, "und ven she +looks at me I forgets meinself." + +Then as the weeks went by, a new idea came to Fritz, who seldom had any; +and straightway he began to nurse it. + +"Ef she so blays mit mein violin, ven I haf heard dat music all mein +life, vot vill beoples dinks who vash to hear her on de stage?" he said +to himself. "I vill say nodding und make some surbrises by and by." + +That Mona had the same secret ambition he knew not, and most likely it +were as well he did not. But the long upward path to her goal was not an +easy one, for if Fritz had lacked emotion, he excelled in detail; and +each time Mona forgot, as she so often did, it provoked expressions from +him that tinged her cheeks with humiliation. + +"I have much to learn," she answered almost pitifully, whenever her +uncle asked of her progress, "and so much to unlearn, it seems +discouraging." + +"It'll come easier bimeby, girlie," he would respond cheerfully, "the +fust lesson in anything is allus the hardest." + +But the vexations of tuition were only a small part of Mona's burden; +for as the weeks went by, and she became accustomed to her new life and +surroundings, the old heartache returned, and as her uncle often +insisted that she and her mother go out to some evening entertainment as +a break in the quiet boarding-house life they led, a new fear assailed +her. What if on street car or in theatre lobby she should suddenly meet +Winn Hardy! His name had not been mentioned for many months, and it was +as if he were dead. + +And now Mona was unlearning the sad lesson of loving, and in its place +came a new inspiration, an ambition so broad, so uplifting, so full of +possibilities, that even the voice of love was stilled. At times the +face of Winn would return to her, however, and always bringing a thorn. + +"He is what he said all his world were," she would say to herself, +"selfish, fickle, and heartless. He wished to flatter and amuse me and +himself as well, but that was all." And then the moment he had held her +in his arms would return to give the lie to all such thoughts. + +At times she hoped that she might meet him some day, just to give one +look of reproach and pass on without a word; and then she dreaded to do +so, believing herself powerless to resist her own longings. Feeling thus +a sense of the wrong he had done her, the tender looks and words he had +uttered, and at last that one sweet moment,--all came back again. Put +him out of her mind she could not, nor his face either. By night, +thoughts of him haunted her pillow, and whenever she set foot out of +their temporary home, no matter where she went, and until she was safe +in it again, that peculiar dread was with her. + +She did not know that during all these months of her suspense, Winn +Hardy, discouraged at the utter failure of his ambition and hopeless of +his future, was not only doing his best to put her out of his thoughts, +but battling for another foothold in life. Forget her, or the obligation +whispered on Rockhaven's wave-washed cliff, he could not and did not; +but in the hard grind of life and competition of wage-earning, love +plays only a minor part. Even less so with Winn than most, for he +distrusted all sentiment, even in himself. + +Few have the scope to judge another from that person's own viewpoint of +needs and impulses; and Mona, untutored in the ways of man, was less +competent than many. + +To her, the words "I love you" were a sacred obligation, far above all +selfish needs and vulgar money making and, like the glittering star of +fame, an inspiration. + +It had been sweet to her in those summer days, but the real star of fame +was now rising in her horizon, and the lesser one slowly fading away. + +She was fast losing her old timidity, and as each day she felt herself +gaining a better mastery over her violin, the darling wish of her new +ambition grew stronger. + +And then another influence came to her aid, for phlegmatic Fritz, in +whose life the mechanical duty of each evening's playing and the +convivial hours with his cronies had measured his ambition, became +imbued with a broader one, and that to train his pupil for public +playing, and so, when thus fitted and launched in this new life under +his tuition, to pose as the discoverer of a genius. And more than that, +as her eyes began to work their spell upon him, the hope of love entered +his heart. + +"Ah, Mees Hutton," he would say to her, when her lesson had been +rendered, "you haf der spirit, der soul of der blaying alretty yet, and +some day you haf him and der vorld vill listen entranced;" and his +little eyes would twinkle and rotund face glow with an enthusiasm that +was like wine to Mona. + +And now another brand of fuel was added to the fire of her ambition, for +a great singer's appearance in the city was heralded in the press and +Jess, already warped into the world's ways of dress and amusement, took +Mona and her mother to hear this operatic star. They had already visited +most of the theatres, and though Mona had felt a constant dread of +meeting one, the sight of whose face she knew would seem like a knife +thrust, she was gradually overcoming that. At first a timid girl and +stranger to the city ways, her keen and ready observation of them had +made rapid change in her self-possession. Then, too, the difference in +her own and her mother's wardrobe had been a help, for Jess had spared +no money in his new role of husband and father, and so far as dress went +with all three, no observer would realize that they came from an +out-of-the-way island, where garb and deportment were unknown factors in +life. + +But that evening at the opera, with all its attendant excitement of +richly gowned womankind whose decollete costumes and sparkling jewels +became a revelation to Mona, the handsome men, the exquisite music, the +wonderful singing, and the chief star, ablaze with diamonds, bowing and +smiling as wreaths and baskets of costly flowers were passed over the +footlights to her, wrought a spell upon Mona as nothing else could have +done. She was amazed, entranced, overwhelmed, intoxicated; and when the +seclusion of her own home was reached, the reflective heart-burst of +feeling came. + +"Father," she whispered, her face aglow, when she was about to give him +the usual good-night kiss, "if I could stand before an audience, as that +singer did, and thrill them, as she did to-night, I would be willing to +lie down and die." + +"That's a good speerit," he answered, smiling, his eyes a-twinkle; "but +if ye cud do it, ye'd a durn sight better feel ye'd like to live 'n' +keep on doin' it, 'n' make 'em pay ye good money, an' pass up flowers on +top o' that." Which sage observation perhaps best illustrates the +difference between a genius and a philosopher. + +That night, sleep was slow in reaching Mona's pillow, and when it came +she dreamed that she was standing before a vast throng and suddenly, +impressed by the fear of them, sinking into unconsciousness. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +THE ROAD TO THE TEMPLE + + +To Mona, reared beyond the world of wealth and social custom, the great +city she was now in seemed a monster hive. An endless tangle of crowded +streets, of pushing humanity, and towering buildings. The ceaseless din +of street cars and rumbling teams, the people who elbowed her aside as +they hurried on, the vehicles that halted not when she crosses a street, +the grand ladies alighting from their carriages and sweeping by her as +if she was without right; and worse than all these, the apes who ogled +at her on the street, and even followed her to her home,--each and all +became a teacher that taught her self-reliance. She grew to look at the +great city as it did at her, without feeling and without interest. They +cared not for her right, or her life even; why should she for them? It +was the best education possible, and imparted a certain indifference +toward everybody and everything, and hardened her, in a way. + +Then Fritz, with his little scheme, entered into her education, and one +day, after he had asked her to play some of her best selections, a +stranger stepped out from an inner room to be introduced to her as the +manager of the Alhambra Theatre. + +"My friend Geisling has told me about you, Miss Hutton," he said, "and I +wished to hear you play as you naturally would, so I asked to be kept in +hiding to hear you. You have a decided talent, and if you have the +courage, I think you could do a musical turn and do it well. If you will +come to the Alhambra to-morrow at ten with my friend here, we will give +you a rehearsal." + +And Mona felt as if she were at that moment facing an audience! + +"I have an ambition to play well, and some day in public," she said +faintly, and hardly realizing how it all came about, "but not yet. Oh, +no, I wouldn't dare," and she looked helplessly at her teacher. + +"Ah, Mees Hutton, but you vill," he said excitedly, "und your fader said +you vill, und dat eet vas to be you broveshion, und you vill to blease +me try, I dinks," and he placed one hand upon his heart and bowed low. + +"Oh, not yet, no! no!" exclaimed Mona, her heart sinking, as she stood +face to face with her longed-for opportunity. "I am not ready yet and +haven't the courage." + +"That is but a mere trifle, Miss Hutton," answered the manager, looking +at her saintlike eyes, her sweet face, rounded shoulders, and swelling +bosom; and calculating their commercial value for stage purposes to a +nicety. "A mere trifle; you have the face and form, you play with +exceeding grace and delicate expression, no doubt due to your native +talent, and are sure to please. All you need is to forget that you are +playing to an audience, and you will win a storm of hands." + +Then, like a shrewd man of business, he began politely to question her. +Where she came from, who taught her first, and how she came to wish to +play in public? In ten minutes he had grasped her entire history. + +"It is not necessary," he said finally, to reassure her, "that you make +your first appearance at once. Come to the theatre to-morrow and look us +over. I feel sure you will succeed and win for yourself a great name. +And, by the way, I'd like a photograph of you in evening dress cut low." + +Then, as if the matter were all settled, and this new attraction for his +vaudeville stage already engaged, he bowed himself out. + +And Fritz beamed. + +"Ein grand chance, Mees Hutton, an' der great luck you haf, und it vas +mein alretty yet," he said, "und you vill got de people crazy mit your +blayin', und I vas your teacher!" + +And he came near then and there going down on his knees and declaring +his passion. + +When Mona reached her home she was flushed and trembling with +excitement. "Oh, father," she said to Jess, "they want me to play at the +theatre, and to come to-morrow to try it with no one there; and he wants +my picture, and I am scared half to death," which incoherent speech can +easily be excused. + +"I don't approve on't an' never have," said her mother, severely. "It +ain't a girl's place to be fiddlin', an' 'fore people at that. I don't +believe in it." + +"Now, Letty," answered Jess, pleasantly, "don't go to discouragin' the +gal first go-off. We've threshed that straw all over long 'go, 'n' don't +say no more. The time'll cum, 'n' soon, too, when ye'll feel mighty +proud of Mona. We'll fix ye up, girlie," he added, addressing her, "with +one of them low-cut gowns,--not too low, but jist nice 'n' +modestlike,--'n' we'll both o' us be thar to take keer on ye an' fetch +flowers home fer ye." And that subject was disposed of. + +But Mona scarce closed her eyes in sleep that night, and when, with +Jess and her teacher to care for her, she entered the stage door of the +Alhambra at ten the next day, a new world opened before her. + +Its entrance was a tangle of painted scenery, beautiful on one side, +dirty and tobacco-stained on the other. A dozen stage carpenters and +helpers were at work with hats on, and never even looked at her. The +stage seemed a cold, cheerless barn, as large as the seating part, and a +chaos of stage properties of all sorts and shapes. A flat, painted tree +leaned against a piano, on top of which was a wooden rock. A roll of +carpet lay across a desk, and a coil of dirty rope and an imitation +fireplace were on top of an elegant sofa. + +Then the manager appeared, coatless, but with hat on. + +"Ah, good morning, Miss Hutton," he said, not even noticing Fritz or her +uncle; "glad to see you, though it's a little early. Look around and +make yourself at home, or I'll show you to a dressing room. We will hear +you play presently." + +And glad to escape from the cheerless spot, Mona signified that she +would wait his bidding in a private room. + +It was a half-hour ere he appeared, and Mona's stage training began. + +She was instructed how to step out from the wings, where to halt on the +stage, how to bow, to step side-wise and backward; and when these +lessons had been learned, the manager with a few friends and Jess and +her teacher took seats in front, and she walked out once more with her +violin. She had expected to be badly scared, but it was all so +matter-of-fact, and her deportment considered as of more importance than +her playing, that when it came to that it was the easiest of all. + +Twice she played the two selections Fritz had decided upon, the first, a +medley of Scotch airs, and for an encore, the gem of all she +knew--"Annie Laurie." + +When she concluded each time, a sincere ripple of applause from the +group of men composing her audience encouraged her. + +"She'll win 'em," asserted the manager, tersely, when Mona had retired, +"if only she can go on once and not wilt." + +"I want you to come here daily for a week," he said to Mona, when she +was ready to leave, "and get used to this matter. Your playing is +excellent, and if you can forget the audience for ten minutes and do as +well, you are made!" + +But warmer encouragement came from Jess when home was reached that day. + +"I'm proud o' ye, girlie," he said, his face glowing and his eyes +alight, "I'm proud o' ye, 'n' if ye'll fiddle as ye kin 'n' hold yer +head 'fore 'em, I'll shed tears o' joy. We'll rig ye up," he continued, +"right away, an' all ye need to do is jist to say to yerself, 'I kin do +it,' an' feel it, an' ye will." + +How easy to say, but alas, how hard to do! + +For a week Mona lived in a trance with only one thought, and that of the +awful moment when she must perforce stand alone before that hydra-headed +monster--an audience. + +Sometimes her heart failed for a moment, and it seemed she could never +do it; then a strain of the indomitable will that had come down to her +from her Carver ancestors arose, and she said to herself, "I will." + +Then back of that lay another point of pride. "Perhaps _he_ will be +there to see me," she thought. + +For all these months, while she had silently fought her own heartache, +Winn Hardy's face and words had been ever present. + +All the covert flatteries he had spoken in the cave, all the praises of +her playing, the description of the wonderful woman before whom the +world bowed, the tender words of love he had uttered, to end with one +cold letter of dismissal, and she left to rise above and conquer her +own pain alone and unaided, came back now. + +It was well that they did. + +And when the supreme moment of her trial came, and robed in spotless +white, without an ornament, save her matchless eyes, her perfect throat, +her rounded arms, she stepped into view of that audience, not for one +instant did she falter. + +The Alhambra was filled that evening with its usual gathering in search +of pleasure. A few hundred blase men and women who had seen everything +on the boards of the regular theatres now drifted into this, hoping for +a new sensation. Twice as many more store girls whose escorts had +brought them there because admission was cheap, and a medley of all +sorts, old and young. The saucy balladist in short skirts had sung her +song, the soloist in black had picked off his banjo act, the acrobats +had leaped and twisted and turned, the magician pulled a stock of +worsted balls, a hoopskirt, and a rabbit out of a silk hat borrowed from +the audience, and then, after frying an egg in it, returned it unharmed; +and the usual vaudeville program was nearing its end when those listless +people saw Mona step out from the wings and, without once lifting her +eyes to them, bow slightly, and raising her violin, begin playing. + +And even as Winn's heart had been touched by the wonderful sweetness of +her simple music that day in the cave, so were theirs reached now. + +It was not classic, or new, or unheard before--just a medley of old-time +Scotch airs that carried the mirth of a merry dance and the mood of +tender love. But the mirth and the mood were there, thrilling, +quivering, whispering, even as a human voice would speak. + +And when the yearning of that medley ended its final appeal, and Mona +for the first time raised her eyes to them as she bowed, a storm of +applause that fairly shook the building greeted her. + +Again and again was it repeated, until, bending her queenlike head, she +once more raised her violin. + +And now came "Annie Laurie." + +Slowly caressing her violin with her face, even as a mother would her +babe, Mona played. + +And every whispered heartache, every pulse of undying love that that +old, old song contains, came forth to reach and thrill the hearts of +that audience as naught else could. + +When it was ended and Mona bowed low, what a storm came! + +Men rose and cheered and women, too, while they brushed the tears away. + +Again and again did that wave of stamping and voiced applause arise, +till the very roof quivered, and still once again. + +And Mona, the poor child, whose will, stronger than love, had carried +her through that awful ordeal without a break, now out of sight, lay +sobbing in the arms of Jess. + +She had won her fame without a flaw, and then, womanlike, had +collapsed. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE CYNIC'S SHADOW + + +The doubt and distrust of all humanity, first implanted in Winn Hardy's +mind by his friend and adviser, Nickerson, was now working its +inevitable injury. Much of it had been brushed away during Winn's +association with the simple and honest people of Rockhaven and +especially Jess; but now that he was back again in the city and in touch +with its pushing, selfish life, once more cynicism ruled him. His +vocation as reporter paid poorly; he was in daily contact with +unscrupulous and suspicious men, saw poverty begging in alleyways and +arrogant wealth riding in carriages, men obsequiously bowing before the +rich and snubbing the poor, and on all sides and in all ways he was made +to realize that money was the god the city worshipped, and show, its +religion. + +On Sunday, when the usual morning chimes answered each other, his +thoughts flew to Rockhaven and the two bells there; but when with his +aunt, in church, he listened to the operatic singing and classic +sermon, it all seemed to lack heart and sincerity, and not one solitary +note of supplication entered the minister's prayer. Then the elegantly +dressed ladies who greeted one another as at a reception, the men who +looked bored and at the close of the service seemed relieved, each and +all seemed to Winn to be there on exhibition. + +Then, too, his moral safeguards were in daily danger, and the sneering +Nickerson, their assailant. + +"Well, old boy," he said to Winn one evening at the club, "how do you +like penny-a-lining these cold winter days? Is an editorship any nearer +in sight?" + +"Nothing in sight for me except one demnition grind," replied Winn, +disconsolately; "I get discouraged sometimes and think I am no good on +earth." + +Nickerson looked at him with a sarcastic smile. + +"Winn, my dear fellow," he said at last, "I'm going to be very candid +with you, so don't be angry with me. To begin with you are too honest +and too good-hearted. You think of others first and yourself last, and +then you have scruples. Now scruples don't go here in the city, and +whoever cultivates them gets left. In the first place, Weston & Hill +played you for a dupe, and if I hadn't come to the rescue, you'd have +been stranded on the island and out five hundred, and the natives would +have been ready to ride you on a rail. Then when we saved your bacon and +you knew they were two thieves, you even returned them the little extra +money they had sent you to pay the men. I won't say anything about the +heroic way you made your aunt's loss good. It was heroic, but it wasn't +sense. + +"Now, after all this eye-opening experience, and you on your uppers, so +to speak, I offered to start you in a lawful business, you won't have +it, simply because it smacks of gambling! Winn, you are one of the best +fellows in the world, and I like you, but you are a fool--net!" + +"Well, I'll keep on being one," answered Winn warmly (for no man enjoys +plain truth), "before I'll open a bucket shop and knowingly rob people." + +"Yes, and walk while the rest ride," asserted Jack, tersely, "you know +the old deacon's advice to his son just starting out in life,--'Make +money, my son, honestly if you can, but make it!'" + +"All very good," replied Winn, "but old. I doubt whether you can change +my fool ideas, if you talk till doomsday; but you may mellow them. And +that reminds me of another fool thing I've done. I bought the sole +right, title, and deed of the Rockhaven Granite Company's quarry a few +weeks ago." + +"The wisest buy you ever made, my boy," answered Jack, quickly; "and now +if you will hustle around and get some men to put money into a new +company, you will be in luck once more." Then, as another idea came to +this quick-witted man of the world, he added, "What's the matter with +Jess Hutton and all the money we made for him?" + +But Winn was silent, while a tide of memory swept over his feelings. And +in it was Mona, with her tender love, and Jess, with the heart and hand +he offered at parting, and all the good people on the island whom Winn +knew to be his friends. And as all the possibilities Rockhaven contained +came back to him, now it suddenly dawned upon him that Jack Nickerson +had named him rightly. + +"I see I've put you to sleep," continued Jack, after the long pause +while he watched Winn, "and now I'll wake you up. I saw Ethel Sherman in +a box at the theatre last night, with our mutual friend, Simmons. He +must have reached his second childhood!" + +Then Winn did wake up. + +And more than that, a few unconsidered trifles connected with this same +vivacious Ethel assumed index shape. He recalled that she had for the +past six weeks specified the evenings she would be at home to him, for +a week ahead. He also recalled that a plenitude of choicest flowers had +always graced her parlor lately. + +"And why not," he answered coolly, "old Simmons is a widower worth a +million, has just built an elegant new residence of the granite we +quarried, and Ethel's in the market. I think she shows good sense--at +least your kind of good sense, Jack." + +"Yes, and of all experienced people," asserted Nickerson, defiantly. +"Sentiment is a fine thing in books or on the stage, it may influence +silly girls or callow boys, but it's out of date in this age." + +And Winn, recalling his own early episode with Ethel, and the lesson in +life that for weeks had been forced upon him, was more than half +inclined to believe his friend to be right. + +And yet, as he thought of this prospective January and May affair, and a +fossil like Simmons, with dyed hair, false teeth, and certainly sixty +years wrinkling his face, he felt disgusted with Ethel. And the more he +thought of the groove he was in, of the cold, selfish, grasping city +life where mammon was king and sentiment a jest, the more his heart +turned to Rockhaven. Then the thought of Mona came back to him, and a +yearning for her, impossible to resist. And with it, self-reproach that +he had let his own discouragement control his actions so long. A few +days more did he waver, and then his heart's impulse won. + +The winter had nearly passed and the days were lengthening when this +impulse came, but he waited no longer. + +"I'm going to Rockhaven," he said to his aunt that night, "and shall be +gone a few days. I've obtained a week's leave of absence from the paper, +and start to-morrow. I want to see Jess Hutton and some of my old +friends there. I've also an idea that possibly the quarry can be started +again. If I can bring it about," he added, after a pause, "how would you +feel about loaning me a few thousand dollars, auntie?" + +Then the motherly side of Mrs. Converse spoke out. + +"I'll do it gladly, Winn," she responded. "I've felt all along that the +money you saved me was more yours than mine, and you shall have all of +it that you need." + +And when Winn left the city, as once before, a new courage and new hopes +tinged his horizon. + +And first and foremost in them was the flowerlike face and soulful eyes +of Mona. + +The wisest of us, however, are but mere bats in this world, blindly +flying hither and thither. At times one may, by sheer good luck, fly +free; and then again we strike our heads against a wall. + +Yet we think we are very wise. + +And so, Winn Hardy, full of hope and love, found, when he reached the +coast town where the steamer _Rockhaven_ made landing, that her trips +were but twice a week now and he had a full day to wait. + +How slowly it passed while he chafed at the delay! how his eagerness to +be with Mona grew! how his longing increased as he counted the hours he +must wait! and with all mingled a self-reproach, need not be specified. +For it had dawned upon Winn that his conclusions regarding Mona might +have been wrong, and once we feel that we have made a mistake, we soon +feel sure that it must be so. + +And Winn was now certain. + +But he would and could repair it easily. All that was necessary was to +assure Mona that he had been discouraged or he would have written again, +and to reproach her gently for neglecting to answer his letter. + +How easily we plan excuses for our own conduct, and how like a child's +toy we are apt to consider a woman's heart! + +When, after a day's wait that seemed a week to Winn, the _Rockhaven_ +made landing, he leaped aboard to grasp Captain Roby's hand almost as +he would a father's. But a half gale was blowing outside, the captain +nervously anxious to unload, and start back; and only a word of greeting +did Winn receive until the steamer was well under way toward Rockhaven. +Then, feeling privileged, he entered the little pilot house. + +"Well, Captain Roby," he said, "how are you and how's the island?" + +"Oh, it's thar yit," answered that bronze-faced skipper, shifting the +wheel a point and heading seaward, "an' likely to stay thar. It seems +sorter nat'rel to see ye, Mr. Hardy," he added cheerfully, "an' I'm +right glad to git the chance. We've been wonderin' what become o' ye an' +how the quarryin' business was comin' out. Ye ain't thinkin' o' startin' +it up agin, air ye?" + +"Possibly," answered Winn, "in fact, that is a part of my errand here, +and to make you all a visit. The old company failed, as, I presume, you +know, and I've bought the quarry myself now." + +"I'm mighty glad on't," replied the captain cordially, "an' so'll all on +us be. We've sorter took to ye, Mr. Hardy." + +"And how is my old friend, Jess?" asked Winn, unable to withhold that +query longer, "and Mrs. Hutton and her daughter and Mrs. Moore?" + +"Wal, Jess an' the Widder Hutton took a notion to git hitched long 'fore +Christmas," answered the captain slowly, "an' they're gone to the city +'n' taken Mona with 'em. We gin 'em a great send-off, and I run ashore +jist a purpose for 'em. It's curus ye haint seen Jess up thar. I'd +a-s'posed ye would." + +Winn's heart sank. + +"When do you go back, captain?" he said finally, trying to hide his +bitter disappointment. "I supposed you made daily trips as usual." + +"Only Tuesdays and Fridays," he answered; "thar ain't much need o' +runnin' oftener." + +And this was Friday! + +And Winn, the now ardent Romeo, had three full days and four nights to +spend on Rockhaven, and Juliet was not there! + +There are many of the fair sex who will say that it served him right. + +And what a picture of cheerless desolation was this sea-girt island when +Winn neared it! A half gale was blowing, the waves leaping high against +the snow-topped cliffs, and as the _Rockhaven_, rolling, pitching, and +half coated with frozen spray, turned into the little harbor and neared +her dock, only one man, shivering in oil skins, was there to meet her. + +"I wish ye'd put up with me," said Captain Roby to Winn, when the +steamer's plank was shoved out. "We'd be more'n glad to hev ye, an'll +make ye welcome." + +And Winn, dreading the empty white cottage next to Mrs. Moore's fully as +much as that excellent woman's curiosity, accepted the captain's offer. +That evening, in spite of Winn's disappointment, was a pleasant one to +him, for the news of his arrival had flown like the wind, and a constant +stream of callers came to the captain's house. It seemed as if all +Rockhaven was desirous of extending a welcome hand, and from Parson Bush +down to men whose names Winn had never known, they kept coming. Never +before had he been so lionized or made to feel that he had so many +friends, and so cordially did they one and all greet him that, had the +Rev. Bush suggested that they all join in a hymn of thankfulness, Winn +would not have been more surprised. It recalled the parting words of +Jess, and in a forcible way. + +But alas! that genial philosopher was absent! + +Winn, however, saw his opening, and with a little natural pride, stated +that he now owned the quarry, and, if some capital could be furnished +by these island people, he was in a position to put in a matter of five +or ten thousand dollars, and the industry would be started anew. Then as +a climax to this proposition, he read to them the history of the +Rockhaven Granite Company and gave a description of the auction of its +assets. + +But he did not mention the price he had paid for the quarry. + +It was midnight ere the crowd dispersed and Winn, proud and happy, was +shown to his room. But the next day a reaction came; for when he called +upon Mrs. Moore, as he felt he must, the closed white cottage next door +and the little dooryard, now under snow, where Mona had reared her +flowers, seemed like a tomb. His worthy landlady was overjoyed to see +him, however, and gave an explicit account of the wedding that had +occurred, of Mrs. Hutton's dress, how pretty Mona looked and how happy +all were. She, too, supposed Winn must have heard of it, and marvelled +greatly that the Hutton family could have been in the city now three +months, and Winn not meet them. Where they were stopping, what doing, +and when they were to return, she knew not. So Winn left her, as much in +the dark as ever. + +And then, though the snow lay thick on the ledges swept by the ocean's +winds, like a love-lorn swain he must visit Norse Hill and go over to +the gorge to peer into its interior, and the cave, then back to the old +tide mill and to the village. When Sunday came he was really glad to +attend church, and by evening was so disconsolate that he wished for +wings to fly to the mainland. In spite of cordiality, Rockhaven was now +a desolate spot. + +And when Tuesday came and he sailed away, the sole passenger over the +misty ocean with Captain Roby, Winn was a wiser and sadder man. When he +reached the city he felt that if he could but find Mona, to kneel at her +feet and beg for her love would be a blessed privilege. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +ONLY A MOOD + + +When Winn reached home, he found two messages awaiting him, one from +Ethel Sherman asking him to call, and another bidding him journey to the +home of his boyhood and attend to a business matter at once. His +birthplace, an almost worthless hillside farm, had been leased to +strangers, but they had scarce obtained a living and, finally, having +denuded it of about everything except the stones and the old +weather-beaten farmhouse, had deserted it, leaving three years' taxes +unpaid. + +And Winn, the sole heir, was now asked to come and pay them, or allow +his boyhood home to be sold for that purpose. + +This, following the bitter disappointment of his Rockhaven trip, seemed +the last straw; and when he called upon Ethel, as perforce he felt he +must, he was in an unenviable frame of mind. + +But she was sweetness personified. + +"Why, Winn, my dear friend," she said, "what have I done to you that +you should desert me so? It's been three weeks since I've set eyes upon +you except at church, and then you would not look at me." + +"I don't imagine that you have suffered much," replied Winn, savagely, +looking at an immense bunch of American Beauty roses on the +centre-table, and thinking of Simmons. "I am a worker in the hive these +days, and 'sassiety' isn't for me." + +Ethel looked at him and laughed. + +"My dear boy," she said sweetly, "you ought to send your temper to the +laundry and feel grateful I wanted to see you. I refused an invitation +to the opera this eve just to have a visit with you, and you come cross +as two sticks." + +"I'm sorry," he answered, "but I have troubles of my own, and life isn't +all a picnic. For instance, I've got to take a two-hundred-mile ride +into the country to-morrow, pay up the taxes, and find a tenant for the +old farm. I've just returned from a business trip, away five days, and +the editor told me this afternoon if I wanted more time off now I'd +better resign." + +"He's a brute," said Ethel. + +"No, he's a business man," replied Winn, "and I'm his servant, that is +all. I don't intend to be much longer, or any man's for that matter." + +"I'm so glad," she asserted, in the cooing, sympathetic tone a woman +knows so well how to use; "you are capable of better things, Winn, and I +shall welcome the day when you are your own master." + +Then Winn, his vexed spirit soothed by this woman's gentle sympathy, his +self-respect restored by her praise, looked at her admiringly. "Ethel," +he said, "you can mark the two extremes of womankind--angel or +devil--with equal facility. If ever I attempt a novel, you shall be the +heroine." + +"Better not," she laughed. "I've no sentiment, and a heroine without a +heart would be a flat failure. No," she continued musingly, "I've not +even a little one. I used to think I had, but I've outgrown it. +Sentiment on a woman's part these days is a weakness for men to trample +upon. Sister Grace had sentiment. Now she lives in four rooms and tends +baby, while hubby escapes to the club. No, thanks. No sentiment in mine, +please." + +"I begin to think it's folly on either side," asserted Winn, soberly, +"and especially in business. Jack says 'be good and you'll be lonesome,' +and calls me a fool for being honest. You say I am out of my groove here +and that a woman with a heart is a stupid. I am inclined to think that +there is no such thing as truth, honor, and sentiment except among old +fogies and children." + +"There isn't and there is," responded Ethel, philosophically; "no one is +all bad, or at least but few are, while not many are all good. Only, in +matters of the heart, a woman who has one is bound to suffer, unless she +meets and weds a young god, and gods are scarce in this day and +generation." + +"But is she likely to be the happier by marrying for money and +position?" queried Winn, pointedly. + +"To the best of my observation--yes," she answered, understanding +perfectly well what he meant. "And it's to obtain your opinion on that +very subject I asked you to call." + +Winn looked at her long and fixedly. + +Once he had thought this girl the incarnation of all that was lovely and +lovable. Young, handsome, and yet not of the Dresden china order, but +warm, passionate, full of life and good spirits. She was all that now, +but hard-hearted, cool-headed, a diamond among her sex, but not a pansy. + +And so far as he could judge, one who would seek and accept only a +golden setting. Once he had loved her madly, now he enjoyed her keen +wit, her veiled flatteries, her perfect poise, her polished sarcasm, +realizing that she was likely to be an ornament to the man who won her, +but never a heart companion. And now he admired her intensely, but loved +her not at all. + +"Winn," she said at last, smiling, "have you analyzed me sufficiently to +answer my question now?" + +"No," he replied evasively, "and I never can. I've learned one thing, +and learned it well, and that is, it's folly to tell a woman truth in +such matters. They prefer lies that are flattering." + +"Men never do, I suppose," she said, with a tinge of sarcasm. + +"Oh, yes, they do," he admitted candidly; "men positively thirst for +flattery--especially from a woman. But it is safer to tell them the +truth. They will in time forgive that, even if it hurts, but a woman +never will." + +"That's a man's estimate," she asserted, "not a woman's. My belief is, +truth is an unsafe knife to use in either case. But you have not +answered my question." + +"It's hard to do that," he responded, "for it all depends upon what a +woman's idea of happiness is. You, who assert that you are without heart +and believe sentiment a folly, would be miserable, if mated to a poor +man, be he never so faithful in love. You want luxuries, fine gowns, and +plenty of them, since you have beauty; you move in a circle where show +is religion and extravagance a necessity. To you and your associates, +these wants have become habits and rule you all." + +Ethel sighed. + +"We are a hollow set, I'll admit," she said, "and leave the price tag on +all we give away; but still you do not answer my question." + +"No, and no man or woman can," he responded. "As they say on the street, +'it's a gamble either way.' If you marry for love and secure a cottage, +you will sigh for a mansion. If you obtain the mansion and miss the +love, you will sigh for the cottage." + +Then looking at the vase of roses standing near, as if they exhaled a +revelation, he added slowly, "You will be true to your surroundings, +Ethel, and whoever buys you will pay your price." + +She flushed slightly. + +"You put it into unvarnished words," she answered, laughing to conceal +the hurt, "but I can't complain. I asked you for the truth." Then, in +self-defence, she added, a little sadly, "It's not my fault, Winn, that +I am for sale; it's the fault of society and its dictum. I say at times, +as I said to-night, that sentiment is folly; and then again comes a +yearning for something sweeter, something better than this life of show +and shallow platitudes. Occasionally I feel it all a mistake, and envy +Grace. Last summer, when I was up in the mountains, we went driving one +day and stopped at a farmhouse to buy a glass of milk. The house was a +hovel almost; two little children barefooted and bareheaded played under +a tree, and inside a woman was singing. When she brought us the milk, +she, too, was barefoot. We passed that way later, on our return, and she +was still singing at her work. And, in spite of her surroundings, there +was something in her voice that awoke my envy. Her life was poverty +personified; there wasn't another house in sight, and yet she was +happy." + +And Winn, wondering what this all meant and marvelling that this +imperative beauty, this leader of fashion, courted, flattered, and +sought by all, could have one such touch of human feeling, looked at her +in utter astonishment. + +"Ethel," he said, "almost am I persuaded that you have a heart." + +"You had better not," she answered, with a laugh that was a sneer, "you +might pity me, and then I should despise myself;" and, pulling out one +of the roses that drooped toward the table, she slowly picked it to +pieces. + +"Life is but a succession of moods, Winn," she continued, after a pause; +"and some contain the rustle of angels' wings and some the clicking of +devils' teeth. At times I hate the whole world and envy the nuns I meet +in the street, and then again I think them fools." + +Then she arose and seated herself at the piano. For a full ten minutes +she lightly touched the keys, now a few chords of dreamy waltz music, +then a low, plaintive love song, and finally a bit of Sousa, while Winn +quietly studied her. + +Suddenly she turned. + +"Winn," she said, looking him full in the face, "I am going to be very +rude. Tell me what made you go to Rockhaven?" + +His eyes fell. "To see Jess Hutton," he answered, "and the quarry. I +bought it at the auction a month ago." + +It was fairly well said, but not over well. + +"Thanks," she replied, "and forgive my query. There is no need of +repeating it." + +And it was weeks after before it dawned on him what she wished to find +out. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THE OLD HOME + + +There was nothing that could depress Winn just now any more than to +visit his boyhood home. It had been twelve years since he left the +hillside farm, and to return to it, even for a few days and on the +errand that called him, was melancholy in the extreme. Then his trip to +Rockhaven had not helped his feelings. He had gone there expecting to +find Mona, and believing that a few words of explanation would set +matters right. He had even planned what to say and how to say it, and in +the fulness of his faith in himself and her, believed that she would +easily overlook what he now knew was a cruel neglect on his part. Just +why he had let his own discouragement rule him so long and in such a +way, he could not now understand. And the more he thought of it and saw +his own conduct as it was, the worse it seemed. Perhaps she had never +received the letter! Perhaps also she had written, and it had failed to +reach him. And when he recalled the parting, and that all her happiness +and life, almost, seemed to rest on his promise to return, he almost +cursed his own stupidity. + +Verily, a pearl of great price had been cast at his feet, and he had +been too witless to pick it up. + +And now she was here in the city, and had been for months. And other men +might be looking into her winsome eyes, and whispering of love! + +And with these self-reproaches and jealous surmises for company, Winn +sped onward toward his boyhood home. + +It was dark ere a slow-moving stage landed him at the village tavern and +a cheerless supper. + +And the next day's visit to the spot! + +The only redeeming feature seemed to be that it was warm and the sun +shone--one of those first spring days that come the last of March, and +with it the early-arriving bluebirds. They were there when Winn reached +the now deserted farmhouse, where a snow-drift still lingered against +its northern side and patches of the same winter pall draped each stone +wall. The brook which crossed the meadow in front was a brimming +torrent; the barn shed across the road was filled with a confusion of +worn-out vehicles, broken and rusted farming tools half buried in snow, +a drift of which remained in the empty barn, the door of which had +fallen to earth: the fences had great gaps in them; gates were missing; +and ruin and desolation were visible on all sides. + +The house that had once been "Home, Sweet Home," to Winn was the most +lugubrious blotch of all. It had grown brown and moss-covered with time +and the elements, missing window-panes were replaced with rags, bushes +choked the dooryard, and, as he peered into what had once been the "best +room," snow lay on the floor and strips of paper hung from the walls. + +How small the house seemed to what it once had! The old well-sweep had +been used to patch the garden fence, the woodshed roof had fallen in, +and a silence that seemed to crawl out of that old ruin brooded over it. + +This was his boyhood home, and on it lay the burden of three years' +taxes and a mortgage! + +And as Winn looked into windows and then entered, crossing floors +gingerly, lest they give way and pitch him into the cellar, he felt that +it would be a mercy to the world to set the old rookery on fire and +remove it from human sight. + +The solitary note of joy about it was a bluebird piping away in the +near-by orchard, and for that bird's presence there, Winn felt grateful. + +Then he wandered over the orchard, searching for the tree that had +borne seek-no-further apples, and another where he had once met a colony +of angry hang-legs while climbing to rob a bird's nest. He failed to +reach the nest, but those vicious wasps reached him easily enough, and +as Winn recalled the incident he smiled--the first time that day. + +For two hours he roamed about the farm, now hunting for the tree where +he had shot his first squirrel, and then the thicket in which he had +once kept a box-trap set for rabbits. He followed the brook up to the +gorge, sauntered through the chestnut grove and back to where a group of +sugar maples and a sap house stood, thankful that the familiar rocks yet +remained and that the trees had not been cut away, and for the +bluebirds, chirping a welcome. + +Then he left the scenes of his boyhood days, so happy in memory, and as +he drove away, turned for a last look at the old brown house, feeling +much as one does after visiting an ancient graveyard where ancestors lie +buried. + +He had a week's leave of absence from his duties, now ahead of him, and +he went cousining. He also hunted up a few old schoolmates, putting +himself in touch with their rustic lives and talking over school days. + +Then he returned to the city, feeling that luck had dealt unfairly by +him and that he was more out of place than ever. + +And now began a period in Winn's life which he never afterward recalled +without a chill of dread. To no one did he confide his feelings, for no +one, he felt, could understand them. It was not exactly a love-lorn fit +of despondency, and yet it was, for Mona was ever present in his +thoughts. He avoided Jack Nickerson, hating to listen to his inevitable +sneering, and kept away from Ethel Sherman. He hunted for news items, as +duty called him, visiting the stock exchange, the theatre, the court +rooms, and the morgue. And while he looked for news, recording simple +drunks and their penalties, suicides and their names and history, and +the advent of theatrical stars with equal indifference, he scanned the +crowded streets and all public places, ever on the watch for one fair +face. Often he would stand on a corner for an hour, watching the passing +throng, and then at a theatre entrance until all had departed. And +though he was one of that busy throng of pushing people, a spectator of +careless, laughing humanity crowding into and out of playhouses, he was +not of them. Instead was he a disappointed, discouraged man, whose +ambitions had come to naught and whose hopes were in shadow. He was +moody and silent at home and aimless at his work, and as the days went +by with never one glimpse of the face he now longed to see more than all +else in the world, he grew utterly hopeless. + +How many times had he lived over those summer days on Rockhaven, how +often fancied himself in the cave listening to the artless words and +simple music of that child of nature, and how he cursed his own +stupidity and lack of appreciation, need not be specified. + +With him, as with us all, the blessings that had been his seemed to +brighten and grow dearer as they took flight. + +And of Mona or her whereabouts, not one word or hint had reached him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +A NEW STAR + + +To that city, surfeited with pleasure, a new sensation had come, and +while Winn Hardy was aimlessly gathering news items, too disconsolate to +read the amusement notes even, and caring not at all what happened in +stage-land, it was slowly spreading. A little ripple at first, when the +few who could appreciate the exquisite nature of Mona's simple music, +heard her to go away charmed and come again, the while telling all whom +they knew of it, until the "Alhambra" was packed each night and "Mlle. +Mona in Scotch Melodies," as the sign that flanked either side of the +stage read, was all the rage. Then the papers picked it up and the +musical critics exhausted their vocabularies about her. They extolled +her pose, expression, and inflection; they went into raptures over +technique, time, and timbre; they lauded her classic profile, her arm, +her throat, her eyes; while Mona, unmindful of all their clatter, forgot +herself each night as she threw her very heart and soul into her +playing. + +And Fritz grew mad with love! + +She practised still, hours each day on new and classic music; he +insisted that she should, and when some soulless sonata, some delirious +composition full of leaps and quivers and trills was learned, she +executed it at night. + +But it was the simple and sweet old songs of Bonnie Scotland that won +applause. + +And when, as happened almost nightly, some admirer gave a basket or +bouquet of costly flowers to an usher to be passed up over the +footlights to her, they were usually tied with tartan ribbon. + +And the little German teacher had almost lost his reason. + +Twice he had been on his knees before her, and with hand on heart and in +broken English, disclosed his love for "Mein Fraulein Liebchen." + +But Mona only shook her head. + +He wept, he raved, he smote his breast, and would have kissed the shoes +she wore, if she would have but stood still and allowed it. + +There were others who sent her notes tucked in baskets of flowers, they +begged for an interview, for just one word of reply. They covered pages +with wild declarations of love, they sent her costly jewels tied to love +missives, in the vain hope of an answer, and gathered at the stage door +to see her pass in and out. But Jess, like an old watch dog, was always +on guard. He went with her to the "Alhambra" each night and waited until +she had "done her turn," and after she had changed her garb, helped her +into a carriage and rode home with her. + +He well might care for her, for each week the manager paid for her "act" +what would have been regarded on Rockhaven as a small fortune, and +considered it cheap at that price. + +And Mona, growing accustomed now to the sea of faces she had once +feared, watched them covertly each evening, hoping and yet dreading to +catch sight of a certain one among them. + +It was all a new wonder world, a strange, sweet intoxication, and like a +dream to her. She rejoiced in her power, conscious, as well she might +be, how she could sway the thousands to wild applause and some to tears. +And when it was all over and she away from the scene of her triumph each +time, she wondered if _he_ had made one in that audience. And what would +he say and think, if he was? And what would he do? Had he quite +forgotten the simple child who amused him one summer, or would he seek +her out? + +And when she thought of how like a silly girl she had raised her lips +to him at the moment of parting, and the tears she had shed, her face +burned. + +Then pride came forth, and she felt that, if he ever did seek her again, +he would have to beg forgiveness on his knees, protesting even as Fritz +had, before she would extend a hand even. For Mona was growing proud and +conscious of her own power at this time. + +The weeks during which she had nightly reigned as a queen over +thousands, the storms of applause she had heard when bowing and smiling +before them, and all the flatteries of flowers and words that had been +showered upon her, had wrought its inevitable change. Only to Uncle Jess +was she the same. And he? + +Well, never in his life had so much happiness come as now. He seemed to +grow younger each day, for in the new joy that had come to Mona he found +his own. Then, too, a change came to Mona's mother. No longer did she +consider "fiddlin' a man's business," and frown at her child. In their +temporary home that daughter ruled supreme, her every wish gratified, +her every whim considered just right. + +"We'll go back 'n' visit the island fer a spell," Jess said, when the +season at the "Alhambra" was nearing its close; "an' then we'll take ye +'round, girlie, an' let ye see the world. I kin 'ford it now, 'n' the +best is none too good fer ye." + +But the current of Fate twists and turns us at will, while adown the +stream of life we float, and sometimes we drift into smooth waters and +again we are dashed against the rocks. With our will or against our +will, no matter, we are swept on. + +And a Power quite beyond our ken is ever in control. + +And one evening, despondent, aimless, and feeling life a hopeless fight +and Fate against him, Winn Hardy drifted into the "Alhambra." + +No knowledge of the star that nightly blazed there had reached him, and +if he had read of her, it was as of others who were noticed by the press +and unknown to him. He came in, as he entered other theatres, on a +reporter's pass, privileged to take a seat if not occupied, or else +stand. In this case, it seemed the latter, for the house was packed and +a fringe of men circled the foyer. The boxes were also filled; and as +Winn glanced across to them, there in one, dressed in evening gown, her +arms and shoulders bare, and slowly fanning herself, sat Ethel Sherman. +And with her--Simmons! + +It was nothing to Winn, of course, and yet it awoke disgust. + +The usual vaudeville acts were on in turn, and Winn, somewhat weary with +life, and watching one particular box more than the stage, was about to +leave when suddenly a wild burst of applause swept over the house, and +there, just tripping on to the stage, bowing and smiling as she came +was--Mona! + +For one instant his heart stopped beating. + +Great Heavens, could it be possible, or was this some insane dream! He +gasped for breath. + +The house seemed to twist and turn. + +And then, as he leaned against a pillar to steady himself, a hush came. + +And what a picture stood before him! + +Not the half-developed, ill-clad girl who had sat with him in the cave! +Not the timid child with wondering eyes, looking up to him as a superior +being! Not the gentle Mona, the sweet flower, awaiting his hand. Oh, no! + +Instead, a proud and beautiful woman, erect and smiling, with conscious +power. A stately creature with rounded arms, dimpled throat, and perfect +shoulders like marble, emerging from the soft white silk that trailed +upon the stage. And in the crowning coils of hair, black as night, a +single pink rosebud, half open, and in her hand the same old brown +violin! + +Then bowing to right and left, as she swept that vast audience with her +eyes, while the storm of applause continued, she raised it to her chin. + +Not a breath, not a whisper now, as the matchless voice of her music +rippled forth, tinkling like tiny bells on a mountain side, murmuring +like a brook in forest stillness, sweet as a bird singing in the +sunlight. + +And when she had held that vast throng spellbound, entranced, +breathless, until the last exquisite note had vibrated in their hearts, +and bowed again once more, a tornado of sound burst forth. While they +cheered and shouted, adown each aisle ushers hurried with costly flowers +and wreaths, and baskets and bunches of them were tossed upon the stage +like so many leaves. + +Then Winn saw Ethel Sherman rise in her box and throw the great bunch of +orchids she had held into the pile at Mona's feet. + +And then that queen in white raised her violin once more. And once +again, as many times before, the old love song that has thrilled the +world for centuries carried Winn's heart back to the cave on Rockhaven +and the twilight hour when its voice of undying love had mingled with +the ocean requiem. + +Lost was he now to the time and place and that spellbound audience; lost +to the burst of applause that again shook the very building, to the men +who cheered, the women who wept. Lost to all and everything except his +own heartache. + +And as he brushed his eyes free from the mist that had gathered, and +turned away, it was in utter despondency and humiliation, believing his +love hopeless now, and forgiveness from Mona impossible. + +The next morning, reading the double-leaded headlines announcing the +farewell appearance of this peerless queen of melody and the columns of +fulsome praise that followed, only increased that feeling. Her laurels +had been won, her crown secured, and now his love would be a worthless +toy in her estimation. + +All that was left was to see her, if he could, and beg her forgiveness. + +But even this was denied him. + +"I'm a friend of Miss Hutton's," he said to the "Alhambra" manager early +that day, "and I wish to obtain her address." + +"I've no doubt of it," replied the man, in a sneering tone; "lots of her +admirers have wanted it, and kept on wanting it for all me." + +"But I am a friend of hers," persisted Winn, his ire rising, "and I wish +to see her." + +"Well, go hunt for her," came the insolent answer. "She's in the city; +but her address is her private property, and you don't learn it from +me." And he turned away. + +And Winn did likewise, too angry for further parley. + +And that night, impelled a little by penitence and more by despondency, +he called on Ethel Sherman. + +"How did you enjoy Scotch melodies last evening?" he said gently, not +wishing to seem inquisitive; "I saw you in a box at the 'Alhambra.'" + +"Enjoy hardly expresses it," she answered earnestly; "I was spellbound, +enraptured, and moved to tears. It was silly, I know, but I couldn't +help it. Did you see me throw my flowers at the girl?" + +"I did," he replied, his heart throbbing; "and you were not alone in +your enthusiasm. She seemed to carry the house by storm. It was her +farewell appearance, I noticed by the papers this morning." + +He was trying to speak indifferently, but it was not easy. + +"I am sorry," she responded, eyeing him keenly; "I've heard her five +times in the past two weeks, and yesterday learned she was from +Rockhaven. Did you ever hear her before?" + +Then Winn knew that his secret was a secret no longer. + +"I have," he admitted modestly; "she is the niece of Jess Hutton." + +"And it was to see her that you went to the island two weeks ago," +pursued Ethel, smiling; "I thought as much then." + +For a moment she tapped the carpet with one dainty slipper, while her +lips were pressed tightly together, and then she continued:-- + +"I knew last summer," she said, in a cool and even voice, "that you had +left your heart on the island when you came back. Permit me to +congratulate you. The girl is a marvel." + +"It is very kind of you to say so," he responded dejectedly, "but +useless. I didn't find her when I went there, and it's all over between +us, I presume." + +Then Ethel laughed, but it was unnatural, and like the rattle of dry +bones. "Not a bit of it," she said briskly; "women with such eyes as +hers do not unlearn the lesson of love easily. You may have to beg +forgiveness for your neglect on your knees, but you will receive it. It +is such souls as hers that give the lie to all our worldly philosophy." + +"Have you such a one?" he queried thoughtlessly. + +Her eyes flashed. + +"No," she answered bitterly; "no one ever accused me of such folly. I +have no heart, and am for sale to the highest bidder." + +"I beg your pardon, Ethel," he said humbly, "I was only thinking of the +long ago, and forgot what I was then." + +"You need not," she replied, turning away. "I only am to blame, but--it +hurt--from you." + +Then, covering her eyes with one hand, she added slowly, as if the words +came hard: "It's all past and gone, Winn, but--but I did not know myself +then, and now it's too late. God help me!" + +At the door she laid a detaining hand on his arm. + +"I wish you well," she said, with a quiver in her voice; "I wish you all +that's best and holiest in life. Go to your island girl, and at once. +She is worthy of you, and you of her. We have been good friends, and I +hope always will be. Love is only an illusion, but friendship endless. +And now, good-by, and God bless you!" + +And Winn, going out into the night, knew that the proud girl was reaping +the pain she had sown. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +LOVE ETERNAL + +The first warm days of spring had come to Rockhaven ere Mona and her +parents returned. The sunny slopes back of the village were growing +green, the tulips and daffodils in Mona's dooryard just peeping out, the +gulls on the cliffs nest-building, the fishermen painting their boats +and mending nets, Parson Bush, with two helpers, thanks to Rockhaven +stock, shingling the church, and life on the island budding forth into +vernal activity. No hint of Mona's proud life in the city and wonderful +triumph had reached those people, and the Hutton family were welcomed +back as returning from a pleasure trip. + +It was Mona's expressed wish that no mention be made of her musical +ambition and its success, and as her desires were now law with Jess and +her mother, she was obeyed. Captain Roby had told them of Winn's +astonishing and unexpected visit before they set foot on the island; and +it was repeated by many others with sundry comments, all converging to +one end, Mrs. Moore's being the most pointed, perhaps, and therefore +best to quote. + +"I think," said that well-intentioned gossip-monger to Mona, "he come +here to make ye a visit, more 'speshly, though he said he wanted to see +what could be done 'bout settin' the quarry a-goin'. He called on me, +and the only thing he seemed to listen to with any sort o' interest was +'bout you goin' away and when you was like to come back. I never seen a +feller act more love-struck than he was, an' more out o' sorts. He even +went a wandering over the island in the snow, like as if he was +demented." + +All this was a revelation to Mona, and unaccountable. At first it +provoked her silent derision and increased the bitterness and almost +hatred which she had come to feel toward this erstwhile lover. + +Mona Hutton was what country people would call a strange compound: a +product of a lone sea island, of its storms and the unceasing booming of +billows; of days, weeks, and months spent alone, where only the ocean +voiced eternity; of the whispers of winds in spruce thickets, of the +gorge and the cave where she hid herself; of her own moods, sad, solemn, +and contemplative. She had grown up close to God, but distant from man. +The flowers blooming in her dooryard, the wild roses clinging to life +between the granite ledges, the sea-gulls sailing over the cliffs, the +inward rush of the white-crested waves tossing the rockweed and kelpie +upward, and the starfish and anemones left by the tide had been her +playmates. She had learned to depend on these and her violin for +company. Lovers she had none, neither were other island young folk akin +to her. Between her mother and herself, also, was a chasm. It had been +opened when that unsympathetic mother forbade the violin in her house, +and was never afterward bridged. Jess only understood her. Jess, with +his quaint philosophy, tender heart, unselfish impulses, and love of +nature, had been her spiritual and moral mentor. To him had she gone +with her moods, and upon him lavished her childhood and girlhood love. + +And then had come a new and strangely sweet illusion, a glow of new +sunshine warming her heart and adding a roseate hue to her thoughts. It +was unaccountable but charming, and seemed to lend a sparkle to the sea +waves, a more impressive grandeur to the limitless ocean, a tenderer +beauty to the moonlight. The gorge and the cave seemed an enchanted nook +in fairyland, and the old tide mill a romantic ruin. + +Then had come the climax of this strange intoxication, the one ecstatic +moment when this magician over her thoughts, this Prince Perfect, had +entwined his arms about her and whispered, "I love you." + +Repel him she could not, neither did she care to do so. It was to her as +if the gates of another world were opened; and in the wondrous thrill of +his lips she forgot herself, life, and God, even. + +And then the cold and cruel message that said to her, "Forget me as I +must you." It was a summer-day dream, with no hope of renewal. + +Then came the long fight against her own heart's desire, the months of +hopeless hope, and, at last, the will to win her way to the world's +applause. + +He was there! He might, must, see or hear of her! He had said the world +would listen entranced if she had but the courage to stand before them! +And the old Carver will that was in her now nerved her to her trial. + +And in the days and weeks of the strange new life while she hoped, and +yet feared, to meet him, that one thought was her staff. It was with her +by day and by night, a silent defiance of love, a revenge for her pain. +When the supreme moment of her trial came and she stood before that sea +of faces, only her young, trembling body was there, her every thought, +her heart and soul even, were back in the cave, and he was listening. + +And it was because this cry of love, this thrill of longing, leaped out +of her fingers and spoke in every note of the songs she played, that she +won her triumph. + +For the applause she heard, the flowers showered upon her, the money +received, she cared not at all. To reach him, show him what she could +do, ay, defy him even with the skill of her art, the majesty of her +courage, was everything. + +And this was Mona Hutton, and now it was all over. + +She had won her crown, fame was hers, the world of his city had bowed +before her, but he was not there, or if he had been, she knew it not. + +For days this defiance of her own love lasted, and then a change came. +Little by little the leaven of his coming there softened her heart. +Perhaps he had been ill, or not in the city at all? Perhaps he had been, +as he wrote, discouraged and hopeless? Perhaps she had not understood +his letter? When love once sought excuses, they came in plenty, and she +began to upbraid herself. Why had she not sent him one word of love, one +message of faith? + +And then this strange child of impulses, this girl of moods and +fancies, sombre as twilight in the gorge and sad as a whisper of sea +winds in the pine trees, betook herself away from even Jess to nurse her +heart-sickness again. + +She had been proud and defiant when she faced the world, scornful while +pride lasted; now she was a contrite child, pitiful in her +self-reproaches. + +Each day she went to the tower to live over that parting in tears and +heartache, and then to the cave, striving to recall every word, and +look, and smile of his. + +A pilgrimage to the shrine of love! A journey to the grave of hope! + +Sometimes she carried her violin, but its strings remained mute. + +Sometimes she fondled and kissed the sea-shells and starfish, now dry +and hard, which his hand had carried to this trysting-place. + +Sometimes--yea, often, had tears fallen upon the cold stone floor of +that nook, even as our tears fall upon the grass-grown graves of those +we have lost. + +And then, one day, just as the twilight had darkened the gorge, and she, +hopeless and heart-broken, leaned against the cave's cold wall, she saw +him enter the ravine. + +Step by step he climbed upward until the cave was reached, and then he +knelt before her. + +"Forgive me, Mona," he said gently, extending his hands, "I have loved +you always," and as he gathered her close in his arms, God's whisper of +life and love eternal spoke from those granite walls. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +CONCLUSION + + +The ocean billows still beat unceasingly against Rockhaven's granite +cliffs and toss the rockweed and kelpie aloft. The tide still ebbs and +flows beneath the old mill, and the fishermen still mend their nets and +sail away. Parson Bush is getting old and feeble, and his hair white as +snow. He still utters fervent thanks, however, for the many blessings +that have come to this far-off island, including the new church Jess and +Winn were instrumental in building. The same old bell still hangs in its +tower, and Sunday evenings always answers the one in Northaven. Its +sound is sweet to Winn, for it always recalls his boyhood days and marks +a turning-point in his life-history. He is president of the new +Rockhaven Granite Company now, and prosperous. A beautiful residence of +granite stands back of the old tower on Norse Hill, and there Winn and +Mona abide in summer, though the city claims them winters. Mona often +entertains her friends with her violin, but no money would tempt her +again to play in public. Jess still fiddles when he is "lunsum," which +is not often, for a little girl with eyes like Mona's thinks "Gampa" the +most wonderful man who ever lived. A boy, two years older, would cut +that fiddle open to find what made the noise, if he got the chance. They +both pursue him from morn till eve and, in spite of their mother's +protest, give him no rest. + +[Illustration: ROCKHAVEN.] + +"Let 'em have all the fun they kin," he says, when Mona tries to call +them off; "they won't be young but once, an' when they git old they'll +hev' trouble 'nuff to make up." + +Winn and Mona often visit the gorge on pleasant Sunday afternoons, for +the exquisite chords of romance still vibrate in their hearts. +Occasionally she takes her violin along, and once more the old sweet +love songs whisper out of the cave. + +And hidden away in one corner of it, never disturbed, are a few +sea-shells and dried starfish. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rockhaven, by Charles Munn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROCKHAVEN *** + +***** This file should be named 33787.txt or 33787.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/7/8/33787/ + +Produced by Matthew Rongey, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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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